Down at HELLSING headquarters, several things were cleared up by interviewing Baldassare. The first was that anyone was susceptible to being captured by Belmont, even important people in Gehenna. That said, they also didn't appear to know who the vampire was or even about Gehenna. In fact, they were surprised by the fact that Baldassare had a gun! It would also appear that their method of capture was the same as reported by the other witnesses. They were told to get in the car, and they couldn't fight the compulsion to do so.

Baldassare couldn't either. He described a man in a mask who simply opened the door to the van and told him to get in. He tried to fight it, but couldn't. It got worse with each instruction. He was shown a picture of a man whom he knew didn't even exist and told to go talk to him. Even though he knew that there was no "Hercule Phantomhive," he was so entranced that he couldn't even correct his captors. He couldn't even swear at them.

"It wasn't an old fat guy, it was a young guy." the vampire said when asked about what the man in the mask was like. "Has a thing for loud shirts. Didn't give me his name and I couldn't see his face. All I could see was a skull mask. He told me to bring 'Hercule' to him so he can talk about money. Dunno what else he wanted."

"Richard Belmont tried to take money from 'Hercule'… Maybe he was mad that his first plan fell through." Elizabeth pondered aloud. "If he told someone to empty their bank account and give him the money, do you think he could?"

"Fuck yeah, I do. He could make you do anything." The man sat with his feet propped up on the table and his right arm in a cast. "He could even make you give that cute lil' ass of yours a twirl, if he wanted."

That comment made Elizabeth's expression drop immediately. She stared at him so intensely that she could have been staring directly into his soul when she said: "I'm not as nice as Ciel. I would have sliced your arm off. I'm half tempted to do so right now. Or maybe I should cut off something else?"

"That… That won't need to happen..." the man shrunk.

"So we have a 'when,' a 'where', and a 'how', but we don't have a 'what' or 'who'." sighed the HELLSING, ignoring him and thinking to herself. "Did they know that you knew where to locate Ciel?"

"No. They never asked. Instead they hired this private eye or at least a wannabe." Baldassare answered. "Young guy. Kinda pudgy. Neckbeard. Way too many Doritos."

"I get the picture." the woman said as she stood. Before turning toward the door, she added: "Someone from the medical staff will come by and take you back to your room in a bit. Thank you for your cooperation."

With that, she left and shut the door behind her. With a sigh, she looked to her right at yet another man, leaning against the wall. "Did you get all of that."

"Yeah." answered Ciel with folded arms. "Though honestly, if you cut off a finger or two, it wouldn't hurt my feelings much."

"That's not really what I meant by that..." his cousin said, looking off into space. "Anyway, what do you think?"

"It adds up. This attack was orchestrated while Belmont was in custody here, so there's no way that he could have done it. My suspicion is that he was influenced as well. From the state he's in, I'd say pretty badly. Maybe even for a long period of time. He's scared of retribution if he tells us who it is."

"How can you be sure if he knows?"

"I don't. It's just a hunch." the Watchdog replied. Turning his head, he offered a smile. "Nasty gentlemen like myself tend to have a knack for picking up on these things."

"Liar. You're not nasty..."

"If that's the way you want to look at me, then fine. Either way, watchdogs have a good nose for this. Tell Belmont that you know he was being controlled and see what you get after that." Ciel instructed. "You need to make him feel like you can keep him safe."

"Can we, with someone who can just tell someone to bring him back?" inquired Elizabeth.

"Realistically, no. But he doesn't know that. I'm not sure how to increase security for something like this. Noise-canceling headphones?"

"Then how would we communicate with each other?" Pausing, she rolled her eyes at herself. "They're headphones. Of course. I'll actually consider the idea. It's best to be prepared. It wouldn't be the first time that the base was attacked."

"It's been three times in the last two decades. Two of those were the same year!"

"You make fun, but it was attacked back in my time, too." Elizabeth informed, placing her hands on her hips somewhat indignantly. "It's not Integra's fault. It happens. All we can do is increase security and try our best to counter before it happens."

"How did you handle your attack?"

"They were a bunch of vampires with knives storming a base with guns and bullets to last weeks." the women explained with a certain amount of pride. "They were wiped out before they reached the door."

"Really? You? With a gun?" the Phantomhive chuckled with a smile and an arch of his eyebrow. "I thought swords were more of your thing."

"I prefer swords. They're a lot more elegant than guns, but sometimes, you must do what is most beneficial from a tactical standpoint."

"That makes a lot more sense. I take it that you were quite the tactician in your day."

"'Were?' I still am!" grinned his cousin. The two of them laughed, finding common ground and having a mutual understanding of one another. In truth, Ciel was somewhat certain that Elizabeth could possibly wipe the floor with him- not that he would ever tell her that.

Just as Ciel opened his mouth to reply, his phone vibrated, prompting him to reach into his pocket. "Feels like a text." he said, given the shortness of the notification. Sure enough, when he glanced over it, it was. Judging by the silliness of his expression, it was from his husband. Elizabeth could guess that much.

"What does he say?" she asked, getting in the Watchdog's space so that she could look at the message over his shoulder.

"He wrote 'Are you missing seeing my face everyday yet?' with a heart emoticon." Ciel explained as dryly as possible. He knew that he was making faces and tried to suppress them to the best of his ability, but he couldn't contain his smile. "Then he added a picture of himself."

"Let me see!" the woman insisted, peeking at the image. It was just a picture Alois had taken of himself while standing in front of the Pyestock Town Welfare Center. "Oh! That's cute!"

"It's rude to try and peek at people's private pictures."

"Is it really private?" Elizabeth teased, prompting the Watchdog to resume his typical routine of being difficult.

"He sent it to me, not you." he huffed, tilting his phone away from the angel's gaze. "It's mine."

"I'd call you selfish, but it's kind of fun to see you like this." Dame Hellsing confessed before resuming her enthusiasm over the situation. "So? Are you going to send one back?"

"Huh? I'm not really good at taking pictures, so I usually don't..."

"So you're just going to leave him without a new image of his beloved? How cruel!"

"He already has thirty thousand he's taken on his phone. What difference is one more?"

"The difference is that you took it, not him. And besides, he misses you. You liked seeing his face, didn't you? Why wouldn't he?" Elizabeth wagged her finger in the man's face before stabbing him in the chest with it. "Go for his heart! Take him by surprise! It's the best weapon you have right now!"

Her ranting made her seem like she was starting to resemble her mother more than she did as a child, much to the surprise of the bluenette. "I can't… I don't really… do that..."

"You've never taken a picture of yourself with your phone?"

"No? Why would I?"

"Don't you think Alois would like it if you did?"

"It's embarrassing!" protested the Watchdog, inadvertently setting himself up for the biggest verbal takedown that can be used against him.

"Is it too embarrassing to do for your husband?" Oh, Elizabeth had him. She smugly looked at him while he sputtered, trying to form enough words to put together an excuse. He had none. "Open up your camera and give me your phone."

"Is this really something that needs to be done in the middle of the hallway?" The bluenette questioned, yet he did this while complying to the woman's demands.

"Let's go to my office, then."

Just like that, Ciel was grabbed by the wrist and forcibly dragged to the Hellsing woman's office. Once the door was closed, the Phantomhive's cellphone was swiped from his grip, and he was instructed to stand against the wall. "So it looks like you were just relaxing there and decided to snap a picture." his cousin had said, but it did nothing to help him understand why this was necessary.

Pointing the camera at Ciel, Elizabeth provided even further instruction. "Alright, put your hands over mine. Loosely so I can work the buttons, still."

"Why?"

"So it looks like you took the picture, not me!" she continued. "Focus! Turn your head to the side a little- no, the other way. Perfect! Now tilt your chin down a little." Her brow was furrowed in concentration as she directed the poor Phantomhive into looking his best. "Now give us a smile!"

Awkwardly, the Watchdog complied, but the result was very obviously forced. Naturally, this was not good enough for Elizabeth. "You look like you want someone to put you out of your misery."

"I do." Ciel quipped back, stubbornly refusing to believe that anything other than humiliation was going to come out of this.

"Don't complain. It makes you look less handsome. Think about Alois! He sent you a photo of himself because he thought you might be lonely, but it's more than that."

"How so?"

"Well, have you stopped to think that maybe he's lonely, too? Think about it. He suddenly stopped in the middle of the work day in order to send a photo of himself in order to be closer to you! Didn't that make you happy?"

She was right. Ciel was elated when he saw the menace's face, not only for the sake of seeing his beloved, but also because of the knowledge that he was being thought about. Alois took time out of his day in order to do this for him and he was immensely appreciative. More than that, he thought it was adorable.

"Peek-a-boo!" the woman spouted, drawing the Watchdog's eye again. In that instant, he heard the click and Elizabeth relaxed her arms. "Okay, you can drop them, now."

"Did you take a picture?" Ciel asked, already knowing the answer to that question. Yet, he still hoped that he was wrong.

"Indeed, I did!" declared the angel, holding up his phone. "I think it turned out quite nicely, too."

Taking the device from her hand, the Watchdog braced himself for what he was about to see. Much to his surprise, however, it wasn't half bad. Still, he felt as though he looked a bit awkward, but it was far better than anything he could come up with on his own. In fact, he looked downright photogenic!

Poor Ciel's heart raced as he started considering the possibility of sending the image. It was the best he was going to get and he still needed a reply for the menace. In addition, he really did know that Alois would love to receive it, but the only doubt that plagued Ciel's mind was whether or not he looked presentable or not.

"Stop fretting. You look handsome! Just hit send!" Elizabeth pushed with an enthusiastic grin.

"Why are you so insistent that I do this?" the bluenette questioned. "Does this have to do with your weird 'cute' aesthetic?"

"Sort of, but I also offered to take pictures of how things were going and sending them to Alois." the woman explained. "If you do it, however, it is much cuter and I am certain that he would appreciate it more."

"Wait, so this was part of some sche- ah." Suddenly, Ciel looked down at his phone. He looked concerned and his cheeks tinted pink.

"What is the matter?"

"I sent it..."


A/N: Ciel you fucking dope... And Elizabeth is back to her usual nosy self. The master of cute is on the case.

It's really kind of funny that Ciel is willing to do things he thinks are silly for the sake of the people he cares about. When it will make the husband happy, he almost has to do it. Poor thing...

But that's not the only important thing from this chapter. That stuff from the beginning is actually what's important to the plot, so remember it.

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!


CHARACTER SHET

Question: "luka, won't you be going into high school soon? In a year or so? Are you excited for that?" by forestkiid

Luka: "Not really. Everybody says I'll get a better education that way, but all my friends are at the schoolhouse in Gehenna. I don't really want to leave. Besides, I don't really know how to deal with humans. They don't act right."