Fingers tapped on keyboards and faces peered into screens just as always at the H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. Intelligence Department as they underwent another day at work. Hands ached from writing and ears hurt from headphones as the Scarlet Order Taskforce continued transcribing their whereabouts and major campaigns as well as details about their ranks. Audrey was on the phone with an outpost toward the north of England about a suspected routine vampire attack and put the information on file. He would have to report the information to the head of the department for further action when the woman wasn't busy with other cases. A heavy sigh escaped the man as his eyes glanced toward the Scarlet Taskforce and dreamed of being able to assist. At the very least, he hoped for news.

It wasn't to be, however, especially after he was caught eavesdropping on the group and attempting to tune into the radio station. Fortunately, it was just his coworkers who caught him, and the leader of the Taskforce, Hadia Darzi, was merciful. The woman didn't report him and only warned him to stay away. Audrey was grateful, but still, he wanted more. He wanted to know about Preston.

His curiosity burned fiercely as he was burdened with the incessant need to know. Fortunately, he did have another resource for information. It was perhaps more reliable and easier to come by, but Audrey prided himself on being able to gather information without the help of a former client. With no other options, he asked the Phantomhives if they had any news of their former mutual friend.

"Well, what do you know already?" asked the menace. Defeated, Bones hung his head and sighed.

"Not much." he admitted. "I know that they're hanging around Scandinavia and we've been attacking their ships and their troops."

"Do you know how many we've taken out?"

"No."

"A lot." Alois answered rather vaguely. "I don't have exact numbers, but last I heard, they wiped out almost everybody on the list our mole gave intel."

"That's not all of their forces, however." the blonde's husband added. "The mole is keeping some information away from us. It's understandable. They don't know if we really are going to pardon them or not."

"Are we?" questioned Audrey.

"The council hasn't decided." Ciel informed. "It will probably be a while until then. For the time being, we need to keep them alive in case they have more to share."

"They've been quiet for a while, though..." the menace said. "We might have hit them on accident, or maybe they were caught and disposed of by the order..."

"Could be either one."

"That's not good enough information..." Bones complained, folding his arms. "We need accuracy. There needs to be a way to contact the mole..."

"If you find one out, I'm sure H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. would be thrilled." the Watchdog replied. Pausing, he took a moment to think about the reaper's situation. "When does your lunch break end, again?" he inquired, prompting the intelligence agent to abruptly stand.

"Holy shit, is it time already?!" Audrey asked, mostly to himself as he looked at his watch. His two friends still sat in the booth as the other scrambled to collect his things.

"Go on ahead. We'll take care of the bill." offered the menace, prompting their friend to respond with a slew of apologies and promises to pay them back. With that, he left in a hurry, knowing that if he was late returning to work, Lieutenant Chu would notice even if she was busy. The blonde shook his head and leaned back in the seat where his husband's arm was resting behind him.

"Nosy as always..." Alois said once the door was closed.

"That could be a good thing." replied the Watchdog. "Audrey always was good at finding information from all kinds of places. If he tries hard enough, he might just be able to come up with something."

"True. It would be great if he would." sighed the other demon. "I'd kind of like to put this whole thing behind us..."

"Indeed, but I'm afraid things happen when they happen. Patience is a virtue."

"We're demons, so shouldn't we worry more about sin?"

"There can be virtuous demons." stated the bluenette, collecting his husband's hand in his own as he spoke. "It simply depends on the demon."

"Oh yeah? Who's a virtuous demon?"

"You, for one." Ciel said. With a pause, he pressed the back of Alois' hand to his lips briefly before returning the man's gaze. "Diligent, humble, patient, charitable, kind, and very brave…"

"Must you do this right now?" questioned Alois, smiling genuinely regardless.

"Always. Telling my husband good things about him is part of my duty. I also just like to, so I hope you'll forgive me."

"I dunno… It'll be difficult, but I suppose I'll manage..." sarcastically answered the menace without a shred of seriousness.

"Don't you have a doctor's appointment soon?" Ciel asked with a raised eyebrow, prompting his spouse to abruptly look at his watch.

"Fuck! I'm gonna be cutting it close..." Complained Alois as he quickly tried to shuffle out of his seat. He stood and gathered his jacket before putting it on. The man couldn't leave, however, until he bent over and kissed his husband.

"Gotta go, babe." he said before standing straight up. "I'll see you at home, okay?"

"Alright. Text me when you're done." the other replied with a smile.

"Why?"

"So I know you haven't been tested with rosemary." Ciel jokingly answered.

"Nosy..." snorted the menace. "Love you, bye~!" The blonde walked backwards while waving to his spouse, narrowly missing a table as he exited the cafe. The other Phantomhive simply smiled and shook his head at his husband's antics, but he still waved back all the same.

The trip to headquarters was uneventful, aside from the pedestrian that decided to cross the street and just stand there while talking on the phone. It didn't ruin Alois' day, however. He still made it on time. As he walked through the hallway of the research department, he did his usual habit of holding his breath as the passed the hallway that led down into Araneus' cell. There was no conscious thought to it. It was just something he did.

Alois was eagerly awaited by Miranda Ackerman, who did her routine tests. They tested his strength and his regenerative speed; both of which had improved. His reflexes and sixth sense were still keen. After answering standard questions about his habits, his sex life, and whether or not he was experiencing anything new, Alois had nothing relevant or necessary to report. Just like that, the appointment was over, although it took several hours. With this sort of testing, however, it was necessary. It wasn't minded.

With his routine checkup completed with no abnormalities, the menace left Miranda to process the results. Taking off down the hallway, Alois made his way toward the exit and back to his car. The linoleum tiles on the floor reflected the bright florescent lights on the ceiling, aiding in lighting the hallway. The light bounced off of grey walls as it searched for a splash of colour. Usually, it came from the clothing that the soldiers were wearing. Green uniforms and red berrets were the norm, but occasionally others were seen. A splash of red did capture the blonde's attention, but it came from no garment.

Alois saw a speck on the floor in the distance, but thought nothing of it. It was right in the intersection of the hallway that Alois held his breath nearby, and ordinarily, he wouldn't have slowed down. He would have looked at it but kept walking. However, something was severely wrong. The man's pace slowed as he approached, discovering that it was a footprint. There were a few more in front of it, but they faded as they stretched on. They led from the dreaded hallway, but the redness of the print disturbed Alois. As the man got closer, however, he could see that more were coming from the hallway. He dared to take a breath in and his heart dropped. The scent of iron seeped from that direction, and Alois could sense no life.

His legs were cold. He knew very well what he was going to see, but he needed to know. Alois needed to confirm it all. The footprints grew clearer with each step down the hallway he took. The clearer they became, the faster Alois walked. Then he started to run. The man almost slipped in the blood on the floor when he reached the room that housed the cell that the blood was coming from. It was a special cell that housed supernatural criminals that were used as live specimens. It was a cell commonly used by Araneus.

The door was thick and could only be opened with a key on both sides. Standing on his toes, however, Alois could peer through the glass. He saw red. Lots of it. It covered the window, but it was transparent enough that Alois could see the silhouettes of two people. His mouth became dry and he couldn't feel his fingers. Those people were humans. Moreover, they were dead. One of them was torn in half!

Shock consumed Alois as his mind completely went blank. Reeling back, the man stepped backwards until his shoulders hit the wall on the other side of the hallway. His unblinking eyes stayed transfixed on the door as he tried his best to think, but he couldn't. He couldn't form a single thought.

Fortunately, his body knew better. It was as though his fight or flight response kicked in with the way that he hit the alarm. The glass case that housed it up against the wall was smashed in with his bare hands and the stinging of broken glass cutting into flesh, the flashing red lights on the ceiling, and the blaring sound of the alarm system seemed to snap him awake. His mind returned to him, even if it was only slightly, and his legs began to move.

There was no time for Alois to process the sheer gravity of the situation. All he could do was make sure that something was done about it. In fact, he couldn't allow himself to. If he did, there was no way that he would be able to ensure the escapee's capture and execution.

He ran down the hall and appeared again in the main hall of the research department. His legs carried him swiftly, although he hadn't the foggiest idea as to where he was going. Soldiers were running around as well, trying to figure out what was happening. Eventually, he came across a security team that was tasked with getting to the bottom of the case for the alarm being activated.

"Specimen D-005 has escaped!" he bellowed out in their general direction. His movement was constant and the soldiers had to leap out of his way. He kept shouting it again and again. "D-005 has escaped! D-005 is gone! Find him!"

A few soldiers heeded his call to warn the higher ups while the security team ran tried to figure out whether to follow him or investigate the crime scene. Scientists, doctors, and researchers did their best to flee to safety, but the problem was, they didn't know where that would be. Only the demons appeared to be oblivious to all of this, as his gut was telling him where his foe would be.

Every nerve in Alois' body was screaming. His thoughts were screaming. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shut it out. Araneus, his arch-nemesis whom he despised with every fibre of his being, and who very existence repulses Alois, had escaped captivity.


A/N: YIKES

I regret everything...

I have nothing else to say...

Just...

Nuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh...

This is gonna be baaaaaaaaaaaaaddddd...

Until the next chapter, my duckies...


CHARACTER SHET

Question: "Hello Ceil, this is a strange question but i was curious to know what your opinion on spy movies is. Do you find them entertaining or more annoying (as they glorify the life of spies)?" by Hannafanbear

Ciel: "They're kind of... It's sort of... Alright, some of them are good, but either because I relate to them, or because they're so bad that it's laughable. I do find them irritating the majority of the time, however, simply because there are easier ways to do half of the things they do, and this is a completely inaccurate portrayal. It's positively ridiculous!

Awful assassins. That's what they are. Assassins! Actual spies don't work that way. At all, really. Hell, AUDREY is a 'spy'. Spies gather information on people. That is their job. That's what the word 'spy' means. When you're sent to kill people, you are an assassin, and when you assassinate people, you do it as quietly and discreetly as possible. These over the top stunts are inefficient. Why would one ever alert their target of their prescence? Why would one ever leave behind evidence of who they work for? If these 'spies' worked for me, I would fire them after their first cock-up. Well, I would actually kill them, because you can't just let an assassin go. They know too much. Regardless, the point still stands.

In my case, I have many purposes. I'm usually either an assassin, or a one man Special Ops team. Usually, it's the latter. I don't dislike these movies because they 'glorify' some lifestyle. I dislike them because they are monstrously inaccurate and just plain silly. James Bond is a bloody joke."