Gasping, the bluenette bolted upwards out of bed, the blankets still concealing his legs and his skin covered in a thin coat of sweat. He gripped the sheets tightly and looked at his surroundings. It was just the master bedroom of the Phantomhive estate. Everything was there, accept for his clothes, it seemed. His shirt, pants, and coat was in the floor, which wasn't exactly an unusual occurrence. Blood rushed to his cheeks as he felt weight shift next to him.
His eyes darted to the side and looked down, seeing the menace in a similar state of dress, flipping over to face him. After yawning, the blonde sighed through his nose and reached out to gently clasp his hand over the Watchdog's in a sleepy fashion.
"What's wrong, baby?" Alois questioned. "Bad dream?" Blinking, the other took in a breath and relaxed just a bit.
"Yeah… I… I think so…" he answered, still shaken. That dream felt so real. It was certainly by far the most bizarre one he's had in a long while. Ciel stared straight ahead with a serious expression on his face as he tried to figure out if this was indeed reality.
"You're okay…" the other cooed, sitting up as well. The blonde leaned against Ciel's shoulder and rubbed his back soothingly. "There's nothing to be afraid of."
"I suppose…" Ciel said, looking down at his hands as the other pecked his cheek. "I just… uh…"
Pausing, the bluenette scrunched his face and tried to remember how he got here. Rubbing his forehead, he was afraid that he couldn't. Ciel had no idea how he got to bed, as he couldn't remember the night before.
"Uh…. Did something happen last night?" he questioned, looking to his spouse. Alois hummed and maintained his ministrations.
"Well, we got back from the hospital, had dinner, got ready for bed, and… well… relieved some stress." Answered the blonde. "Then we cleaned up and went to sleep."
"What happened at the hospital?" asked Ciel, perking up. "Did we find out what was causing the deaths?"
"Yeah. It was a mare. Y'know, some kind of supernatural. It also eats souls, but it traps people in sleep. We got caught, but we woke up and beat it before going home."
"How did we beat it?"
"I dunno, really."
"So the death of the creature wasn't confirmed?"
"Well… I…"
Wordlessly, the bluenette threw off the covers and threw his legs over the side of the bed. Still in his underwear, he bent down and picked up his clothes off the floor before putting them back on. The blonde watched with a concerned expression as the man hurriedly got dressed in his old clothes.
"Ciel?" he called out, only to be ignored. Ciel was thinking. He was putting the other's story together in order to verify the details. Unfortunately, they didn't add up.
He didn't remember any of that. That was wrong within itself. There was no mention of H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. arriving as well, especially since they were notified of supernatural activity. They should have briefed the soldiers upon their arrival. The details didn't match up to either protocol or to facts. Moreover, why wouldn't they confirm the death of the creature? That wasn't a mere mistake. That was failure to correctly do their job. Alois was far more competent than that. Superb at his job, there was no way that Jim "Alois" Phantomhive would fail to do something so basic. Furthermore, they never engaged in intercourse directly after a mission, as they were always drained. Either Alois was lying, or worse.
"I'm going to check with H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G." Ciel declared. "We need a mission debriefing."
"Can't we do it later?"
"No. It needs to be now." The distant nature with which he spoke caught the other off guard. The blonde had no choice but to watch as the other walked toward the door. Quickly, he tried to make his way out of bed after him.
"Wait for me! I'll go too!" he said, almost falling.
"I'm going ahead. You can follow me in the Mercedes."
"Wait, Cie—" called the blonde, but the bluenette was already out the door.
Ciel grabbed his keys and hopped on the motorcycle, being careful to avoid the butler and anyone else in the house. The trip to headquarters was shorter than he remembered, and the bike seemed to know which way to travel before he did, but Ciel was not surprised. He parked it quickly and made his way inside. The lobby had fewer people than usual.
Ordinarily, the lobby was packed, with soldiers sitting on couches and people from all departments hauling carts and running about. Ciel was displeased to find that there were copies of people as well. The dream was trying to fill in space, so some people had the same face and uniform. Ciel really hadn't woken up after all. The confirmation of this caused him to sigh.
Bypassing the front desk, he flashed his badge briefly so that he wouldn't be stopped as he made a beeline for Integra's office. He wasn't in the mood for any of this. The Phantomhive just wanted to go home—his real home, with his real husband. "Annoyed" is an understatement of what he was feeling on his way to the head office. He was done with this nonsense.
"Integra!" he called out, bursting through the door. The woman sat calmly at her desk, puffing on her cigar. She took her time responding, nonchalantly turning her head and blinking at him.
"Yes?" she finally asked, her manner of speaking irritating him further.
"What happened at the hospital?" demanded the demon. "I don't remember any of it."
"You defeated the mare, of course." Spoke the woman. "Why don't you recall? Perhaps you're still having trouble waking up. You were out for quite a while, after all. Go back downstairs and stop by the infirmary."
"I will do no such thing." Ciel defiantly stated. "I am tired of these games of yours. Stop toying with me and show yourself!"
"Whatever do you mean?" confusedly asked the woman. "You really have lost it, haven't yo—"
Her eye widened at the sight of the barrel of her employee's gun pointed at her face. Then her brow furrowed. "Are you threatening me?"
"Yes. I am. Enough of this farce. I want to go home." The Watchdog said, keeping his weapon trained on the woman.
Sighing, Integra said: "I'm not sure what to tell you. You are home. Do you really want to shoot me? If you really aren't dreaming, you will have killed a relative."
"I am still dreaming." Ciel insisted. "Nothing is right, here. None of the stories make sense. People don't act normally. Even the scenery is wrong!"
The Phantomhive was then alerted to the sound of footsteps behind him. There, stood Seras Victoria, along with Amelie and Charlotte Garou. Accompanying them is was BRAVO team members Bruce Brasher and Captain Debra Harland, all armed to the teeth. This development wasn't at all pleasing to the Phantomhive.
"Sir! Please stop!" pleaded Seras. "We don't want to fight you!"
"Stop lying. No more lies." Growled the man. "This world is maddening. Stop wearing their faces! Bastards… Get out of my head!"
"What are you talking about?!" asked Charlotte. "Please, Mister Phantomhive!"
For a moment, Ciel almost doubted it. He didn't want to fight them. He wanted to be home more than anything. He wanted to believe them, but reality got in the way. Facts were indisputable. Even if it was a world of dreams, logic still rendered it meaningless.
Looking over his shoulder, he peered at their pleading faces again. They were almost perfect. The one behind all of this had done a good job making duplicates. That said, there was one thing that stood out.
"Harland…" he said, staring at the woman. "Your arm…?"
At that, the group turned to Captain Harland, training their gaze on her arm, or lack thereof. Her left arm was missing, and instead replaced with static. Upon noticing it she tried to conceal it, only for the rest of her to distort for a split second. It was as though the transmission of data was interrupted somehow.
"What's on your arm…" Ciel thought aloud, pondering the connection. He though hard, trying to remember. "Your tattoo…"
Suddenly, he heard a click behind him. The Integra copy had a gun to his head as his was now pointed at her heart. "That's far enough." She said. "Drop your weapons, and go with them to the infirmary."
Ignoring her orders, Ciel continued to think. Remember Harland. She always had that tattoo of the rook chesspiece on her right arm. He knew, because it was the rook from the Hellsing family crest. But what was the other arm? He knew it was some strange symbol. Did it mean something? Of course! Tattoos on H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. staff to defend against different supernatural forces were common. If he could find out what that symbol was, that could very well be his ticket out of here! First, however, he needed to find his husband.
"I will tell you only one more time, Ciel." Warned Integra. "Put down your weapons, and go wit—"
BANG!
Ciel ducked and pulled the trigger, dodging the fake's bullet while lodging one of his own in her chest. The woman's bullet struck Seras in the eye, forcing the others to leap into action. Ciel thought quick and leapt over the desk and out the window, shattering the glass. Landing on his feet, he kept running, not trusting the motorcycle.
Now with a lead on how to escape this world, Ciel's next objective was to find his spouse. Once they were together, he was certain that they would be able to escape. He was cautiously hopeful, but hopeful, all the same. Even as the scenery disappeared and the world went black.
He could still see his hand in front of his face. It was like a spotlight was on him in the darkness. The bluenette kept running, and running, with no real direction. Soon he started whipping his head around, looking for any sign of the smiling man.
"Chuckles!" he called out, not sure what to call the man. "Smiley! Where are you?! Tell me where to go!"
Then, another spotlight appeared, this time on a trap door. It opened and the smiling man peeked out, having found the Phantomhive again. Waving him over, he shut the door behind Ciel once he was inside. Ciel grew nervous as the knowledge of what this place was began to dawn on him. It was a small tunnel leading out to an alley. Smiley kicked open a grate and crawled out, helping Ciel get out as well. The two dusted their clothes off before looking at each other. Ciel smiled, while the other's eyes did.
"Good to see you again." Said the Watchdog. "I see you made it out alright. You always know the way, don't you? I need to find my husband, Jim. Can you help me?"
Holding out his hand to the other, he waited for the other to shake. The other man looked down at the offering and glanced back up. Nodding, he took the hand and shook it in an animated fashion. It was a partnership.
Letting go, he immediately started walking toward the street and peeked out between the two buildings. The Watchdog followed and watched him curiously. Looking out with him, he saw that the streets were familiar, but didn't look the way he had left it last. It was Paris, but it was an older Paris. Now his nervousness escalated.
"We have to get out of here." He said in a hushed tone. "This is in the forties. This is not a good time to be in Paris."
Smiley nodded and looked around quickly before grabbing the other man's wrist. Swiftly, he led the Watchdog down the street and into another alley, and then again, and again. They did this until they came across a somewhat narrow street near a bar. Ciel recognised this place, and was eager to leave.
Upon stepping out into view, the Phantomhive nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of gunfire and bullets whizzing past him. There was shouting in German, and Ciel's first instinct was to escape into the bar before he was shot in the schwanz this time. The gunshots died out soon after, disappearing as quickly as they came.
Ciel gripped his chest as his heart rattled against his ribcage. He was actually frightened by that, and was a bit ashamed that he ran instead of fought, but he wished to move forward and find his spouse quickly. As soon as he was met with that thought, however, he heard a clattering of metal coming from deeper inside the building.
Swallowing, he readied his gun. His accomplice followed suit, preparing his umbrella for battle as they traversed further into the bar. The sound came from the kitchen. Inside, there were pots and pans on the floor, obviously having been knocked over. As Ciel examined them, he caught movement in the corner of his eye, and swiftly turned and pointed the gun at its source, only to have another shoved in his face as well.
"Jim..?" he questioned, eye widening at the sight of the blonde. He was dirty and blood splattered his clothes, but otherwise, he seemed unharmed.
"Ciel…" the blonde called back, his look of astonishment morphing into a smile. "Oh, thank god… Ciel! I've been looking for you everywhere!"
A smile formed on the bluenette's face as well, and he lowered the gun slightly. "Oh, Jim, I—"
Then, Ciel's grin vanished in an instant. The reunion was cut short as the smiling man pointed the umbrella at Alois' face, brow furrowed and angry.
