Alois could still sense the other demon behind him. There was no doubt in his mind that Ciel was coming after him. Why? What for? What did he hope to accomplish? Alois didn't want to talk to the man at his heels. He didn't want to listen, either. All he wanted to do was run away, so that's what he tried to do.

His heard raced and so did his thoughts as they lingered on everything he knew and tried to hide from himself. Reaching up, he clutched at his necktie as he ran and pulled the knot loose. It felt like it was suffocating him so he discarded it somewhere behind him without thinking. Slowing down, he pulled at his hair as heavy breaths escaped him. His eyes watered and stung.

It was embarrassing for him to be acting this way, but it wasn't in his control at the moment. His nerves had gotten to him. Ciel made him anxious and now he knew that he should have taken the man's offer to stop dancing.

"Idiot!" he accused himself. "Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!"

Emotions ran wild in the worst possible way after being restrained for far too long. Even now, Alois was trying to get himself under control, failing to understand that he simply needed to run his course. In the meantime, however, his thoughts were unbearable.

He noticed the ring before. He knew of its existence. He just didn't make the connection as to what it was. Even now, he tried to force it away, but it was proving difficult. The man couldn't bear the physical experience of this. All of these feelings and sensations were attacking him at once. His emotions were spiraling out of control, causing him to weep, and the more he tried to suppress it and put everything back in check, the more ill he felt. Sweat trickled down his skin, mixing with the tears streaming down his face as he gasped for air. Leaning against the wall, he tried to catch his breath, but nothing worked.

Alois had a history with the bluenette that was intimate. He could not deny this fact any longer. Even though he crushed it down as long as possible, as a detective, he couldn't ignore evidence. In truth, even he wasn't certain as to why he continued to run from it. The man was fearful of what was and what will be if he acknowledges the truth. Now that he knew, his next obstacle was confronting the bluenette about it.

What were they? Truly, how were they? He hardly knew this man. He didn't know if he was happy. He didn't know if they were happy, or what kind of man Ciel was. The bluenette seemed like a good man, but Alois wasn't certain of that. There was no certainty. All that was there was crippling doubt and fear. The blonde didn't feel safe and was angry. How could Ciel keep such a secret from him for so long? Everything that came out of the bluenette's mouth was evading having to tell Alois such critical information about himself and the people around him.

Now he understood the meaning behind the "power couple" comment those party guests from before made. Was that the reason why the bluenette decided on him? To look good with the people of Gehenna? Alois wondered if he was just being used, as he wasn't noble or anything close to it. Could the reason behind lying be because he wanted to seem less frightening? Alois didn't know.

All the man could do was lean against the wall on his side and try to catch his breath and sort things out in his head. In the process, however, his senses were dulled and he couldn't see what was around him. He was sneaked up upon very easily, but the person who did it was proficient, so it was to be expected. The menace's heart almost stopped altogether when a hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Augh!" the menace shouted before having a gloved hand forced over his mouth.

"Master Alois, it's me!" Sebastian said in a hushed tone, forcing the blonde to turn around. Once he did, the butler took off his ski mask and immediately began fussing over the menace's appearance.

"What happened? Have you been drugged?" he interrogated, removing his glove and placing a hand to the blonde's moistened forehead. "Did it taste bitter? Do you have any heartburn?"

Slapping the man's hand away rather aggressively, the menace leaned with his back flat against the wall and tried to calm himself down enough to reply. "I wasn't drugged." he hissed before catching his tone. "It was… It was another attack… My head..."

"It's going to be alright." the butler said soothingly. "We have what we came here for. We can pull out now. Ciel is contacting our 'friends' as we speak."

Folding his arms, the blonde looked to the floor. Just the mention of the Watchdog was now enough to make him uncomfortable. Noticing this, Sebastian pressed on.

"We have to hurry." he said. "Wakefield is already in pursuit."

"How are we going to leave?"

"You just leave that to me, now."

Despite Sebastian's reassurance, the blonde was not at all pleased with the process. The next thing he knew, he was being man-handled as the older demon threw him over his shoulder and jumped out a window. They landed in bushes nearby, only to slink out toward the front of the house. While the house was distracted, they both entered their car and took off, disappearing into the night.

The mission objective had been fulfilled, and all but the duo's relationship was intact. In fact, despite sharing the same car, the pair failed to even acknowledge one another. It was as though they were both alone in the car with only Sebastian.

"So what happened?" the menace finally questioned, looking to the butler for answers.

"I found Wakefield's trophy room." Sebastian stated, getting right to the point. "Amoung the stuffed animal trophies, there were human heads mounted on the wall as well. One of them was that chap who was arrested from Warwick."

"So we've got him for killing humans." the blonde replied. "Anything else?"

"Very much so. I also found a Scarlet Order banner and documents indicating that he has been sending a lot of money overseas to Scandinavia while the Order was active."

"No wonder they were able to afford all of those ships..."

"That's just what I could find in the time I have. Goodness knows what he has hidden downstairs or in his garden shed."

"Nothing good." Alois said. "Is H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. going to move in?"

"No. They're going to wait until after the civilians leave."

"Good." the menace sighed with relief. "So that's the end of it, huh? They'll wipe out Wakefield and his goons, and search the place to see if he has any more information."

"It looks that way." Sebastian replied, staring straight ahead. "I'll send the images to Sir Integra as soon as we get home."

"You do that. I'm going to go to bed. Maybe sleep for a few hundred years."

"Luka will miss you if you do that."

"True..."

In reality, Alois knew that his desire to lock himself away forever was impossible, but he simply didn't want to be near the Watchdog. Even now, his very presence disturbed him. He was certainly going to hole up in his room for a while. It may be days, weeks, or even a month, but it was certainly going to be long enough for the menace to feel safe in his own home again.

Long after they drove away, the Wakefield servants had done an entire sweep of the building, but could not find the demonic duo. The computer wouldn't turn on no matter what any of them did, so checking the surveillance footage was an impossibility. It was only when Wakefield himself thought to look out a window did he discover where they went.

"Gone..." he hissed, baring his teeth with a snarl while tightening his grip on the sheathed sabre in hand. Raising his arm, his muscles tensed as he was about to throw the weapon to the floor, but he stopped, instead allowing his arm to loosely fall to his side.

"If the hunt was going to be easy, it wouldn't be worth doing. It's a game of skill, after all." he muttered to himself. "And when dealing with the king of beasts, the game is going to be especially difficult..." Turning, he made his way down the hall.

"Crystal!" Thaddeus called out. "Set up plan B."


A/N: Whelp.

Shorter chapter. Kind of rehashing things. Hopefully clarifying things?

HOPEFULLY.

It's never guaranteed...

Next chapter might be a little longer. I hope it is, there's a lot of stuff I gotta explain.

A LOT.

Hopefully, it works out the way I want to.

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!


CHARACTER SHET

Question: "I've got a question for Alois and Ciel, if you guys were to ever adopt a child, would it be human, how old would it be, would you adopt more than one, and what gender. also, for the kid(s) are there any names you guys favor?" by inuyashamunkey

Ciel: "That is all something that we would have to discuss together when we're ready. I'm not certain at the moment."

Alois: "Same."

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Question: "Hi Kris, I need an advice from you, I used to like this guy, i still kinds do. we were good friends, like really good friends, we hung out during lunch break, after class, we sat together in class. One day just out of the blue he just turns into the biggest jerk i know, degrading me in front of people and just plain out trash talking me. he did that because he wanted to date the girl who hates me, i dont even know her. i didnt blame him, encouraged him to ask her out because thats what friends do. now he's with her but has declared me his enemy and just hurts me whenever he can, sad part is i love him and want the best for him. How do i cope?" by slurpishtickles

Kristopherson: "I had to talk to Alois and Logan about this, and this probably isn't the answer you want to hear, but what it sounds to us like is that this guy isn't your friend. If he hates you because his girlfriend told him to, then that doesn't really sound like a 'friend' to me. How can someone humiliate you publicly and treat you like shit after being your friend just the day before? In my experience, someone who treats you like shit doesn't really care that much about you. They're not good for you and will only make you unhappy.

In this situation, you should do what is best for your well-being and long-term happiness. It's perfectly okay to do that. It's perfectly okay to be sad, too. Here's this guy you had feelings for and genuinely considered to be your friend, but all of a sudden, that means nothing to him and he can throw it away super easily. That's something that most people would be sad about. I would be. I was sad about breaking up with Daniel, too, but I did it because being being in a relationship with him made me unhappy. Of course I liked him. I did for a long time after, still. The fact is, though, there are times when you need to step back and look at things and ask yourself: 'is it worth it'? And be completely honest. You had good times, but how is he treating you now? How is he making you feel? My advice to you basically is: if he's not your friend and makes you miserable, you should make as much distance between you as possible. You should never have to put up with something or someone who makes you sad. If he's going to act like a prick, then don't even give him the time of day.

It's okay to miss your friend. It's normal. That's the natural reaction to this sort of thing and it's perfectly fine to feel what you're feeling. But he's not really friendly with you anymore, is he? If he can toss aside a perfectly good friendship and treat his former friends like shit at the drop of a hat, how good of friends were you really? That isn't normal behaviour. It's not okay, either, and says a lot about him. That is not a good person to be friends with and dating them would be even worse. In my honest, unprofessional opinion, you seriously dodged a bullet, here. Shitty people should be let go of. It's completely healthy and fine to leave this person behind. Try not to cling to what used to be, though. It'll make it harder and make you feel worse because there's no real 'going back to normal' after this. Your goal isn't to 'cope' with this because nobody deserves to have to put up with that. Instead, I want you to move on from this. It's not going to be easy, but it sounds like it needs to happen. Even if they break up and he tries to crawl back to you, keep him away. He's already shown his true colours and is not your friend. As Alois put it: 'He's the kind to fuck you over when it suits him.'"