Jim was fine. He was going to be fine. There was no need to worry about him. None whatsoever. He was merely incapacitated by a lucky shot, not dead. Ciel could feel that much with his contract. That should have been enough reassurance to keep moving without having to check on the menace, but anxiety still lingered. Ciel knew he needed to act quickly, as he didn't want Belmont to get away. That kept him going. The thought of his husband scolding him did, too.

"You let him get away to check on me?!" Ciel could imagine him saying. "I was fine! You should have known that! Now we have to go after him all over again!"

Thus, he had to keep going. He had to push his worry into the back of his mind. It was difficult, however. Very difficult. If Alois were to die, Ciel wouldn't be able to live with himself. He would need to be there to salvage his soul before someone else did and put it into a body. But, if he was fighting Belmont instead, who knew what could happen?

Don't think about it! He couldn't let even the suggestion enter his thoughts! Ciel needed to focus. Focus! As he ran down the hallway, he caught a glimpse of people running and he could hear gunfire. Just think about the fight at hand and nothing else. Everything would be fine. Trust in Alois. Once this was over, everything would be well and they could go home and not worry about this mission anymore.

A machine gun of some sort. From the sound, it didn't seem like a model that HELLSING utilizes. It sounded cheap.

"Fuck!" one of the men up ahead shouted. "Jammed again!"

Ciel hit the hammer on the head. Knowing the layout of this particular hallway beforehand, he rounded the corner and sprang into action. One of the Belmont operatives raised his gun at him, but only a clicking sound came out of it. Grabbing the agent's wrist with one hand and pushing up on his elbow with the other, Ciel promptly broke his arm, earning a loud scream. This alerted the others on his team, so as the other Belmont agents turned to face him with guns drawn, he turned the agent still in his grasp around and charged.

"No, no, no, no, no!" screamed the man, but it was too late. His compatriots were not skilled and fired at the sight of movement, riddling him full of holes as he unwillingly played the part of a human shield. Once Ciel was close enough, he carelessly threw him to the side like trash, staining the carpet and walls of his precious office building.

Upon realising what they had done, the Belmont agents were horrified, but didn't have time to dwell on it. With the palm of his hand, Ciel pushed upwards on the jaw of the closest opponent, breaking it. Then, he turned to the next one. He could see the whites of the man's tear-filled eyes, but then ducked, narrowly avoiding the exiting of an anti-freak bullet through the Belmont operative's skull.

"Missed." spoke a voice behind the operative as he fell. It was a man's voice with a German accent and as Ciel straightened his back, the demon confirmed his suspicions as to who it was.

"I was hoping to hit you, too." Heinrich added. "I suppose I should thank you, though. I'm still no match for a couple of machine guns, it seems."

"Johnathan is." Ciel replied. "Where is he?"

"Elsewhere in the building. He was assigned to a different section." the other HELLSING agent said, pulling out a cigarette and placing it between his teeth. Heinrich was a bit scruffier than the last time Ciel saw him. It might be because he was out of uniform, but it was most likely the blond beard that he was growing. How old was he again? It seemed like he was pretty young when they first met on Victor Beattie's ship, but he seemed much older. Humans. They seemed to burn out so quickly.

"No smoking in this building." the demon instructed. "It's bad enough that the place is full of dead people and blood stains. I don't need any other offending odors."

"Show me some mercy, Watchdog, I might not get another chance." Heinrich lit the cigarette anyway. The flame of his lighter illuminated his face, revealing scratches and bruises along with veins protruding from his forehead. Now that Ciel thought about it, it wasn't that he wasn't in uniform that made him look the way he did. It was the fact that his "office worker" clothes were disheveled.

"Mister Strumer," began the bluenette, "I'm going to need you to turn your head for me."

In response, Heinrich simply put his lighter in his pocket and took a drag of his cigarette. When he exhaled, smoke came from his mouth, which then formed a smile. Without another word, he raised his fun in a blink of the eye and fired, narrowly missing the demon. Immediately, Ciel understood that the situation had changed so he charged at the other HELLSING agent. Heinrich had modified pistols with a blessed bayonet on the ends, but they were still pistols. There were few enough bullets that they could be dodged. When Ciel reached for one of the guns, however, Heinrich was able to move out of the way. From the veins in his forehead, it could be deduced that he had been injected with adrenochrome.

"Heinrich! Stop wasting time! We need to get on with the mission!" Ciel ordered as he dodged and blocked the other man's attacks, while trying to get in a few swings, himself. He managed to make the other back up down the hallway, but he wasn't trying very hard to hurt him. The man was a fellow agent, after all. There were ramifications to that.

"The mission isn't my priority. My priority is killing you!" Heinrich said, his bayonet slashing Ciel's cheek. "All this time, I wanted to fight you! All this time, I was waiting! Waiting for my chance! I was too scared, though. You're just too strong. Monster!"

"Whatever Belmont's got you convinced of, it isn't right!"

"He didn't tell anything other than to kill you! And I can't agree with him more!" spoke the mortal. "Belmont's a damn monster, but so are you!"

Kicking the bluenette's chest, he forced him away long enough to dislodge the magazines from his guns so he could replace them. "You! Who killed Victor, who was a father not only to me, but he was the father of Johnathan! You even killed him, too! He was just a boy compared to a monster like you!"

"Johnathan was shooting up a school full of children. Besides, he fell on his own knife. I did nothing but dodge. As far as I'm concerned, Johnathan killed himself."

That was not the right thing to say to Heinrich at that moment. The man saw nothing but red as all of his pent-up rage was let out all at once. He loved Victor as he would a father and he loved Johnathan as he would a brother. They were both killed by the Phantomhive before him. Yes, Johnathan came back, but he was no longer the boy he used to be. This boy knew nothing of Heinrich or even his father, a kind man who did everything he could for his family, even going as far to delve into illegal activity to ensure his child the very best! Did Ciel not stop to think that Victor knew the risks or even about the damage he was doing? Did he not understand the toll of being responsible for arming people with weapons, which by nature were going to be used in the deaths of countless people? That was the sacrifice that Victor was willing to make for his boy. Wouldn't Ciel have done the same?

No, he wouldn't have. How could he? He murdered a child who was trapped in a dark place in his life, feeling hopeless and depressed. Ciel mocked him and coldly watched as the light drained from his eyes. Now, Heinrich had to watch Johnathan every single day being blissfully unaware of the fact that the Ciel Phantomhive who he looked up to and aided was the very same Ciel Phantomhive who tore the Beattie family apart. Oh, how it made his heart ache! And the only way that Heinrich would be able to continue to take care of Johnathan was by helping Ciel, himself. It was salt in the wound. Ciel may have gotten married and pretend to care about family, but it's all a farce. The head of the Phantomhive family was sadistic and didn't care about anything but killing. That's who he is. A monster. Heinrich could agree with David on that.

Ciel could justify it, but the fact remains that he killed boy Victor and Johnathan Beattie. Not only that, he keeps his hand in this a secret from the younger of the two. Doesn't he realise that for every person he kills has a life, family, and friends? Every time he kills someone, he not only ends a life, but uproots others as they are forced to mourn their loved ones. What kind or person is content with that?

The Watchdog couldn't allow Belmont to continue to exist, but Heinrich couldn't allow Ciel to either. He was too dangerous and his family had suffered enough. Thus, he needed to fight with everything he had, using everything he had learned and every skill at his disposal to kill this beast. This was not just a fight. It was a conversation. It was a means to and end. However, the longer the fight went on, the more time the adrenochrome had to wear off.

Bruised, battered, and out of bullets, Heinrich stepped forward and swung his gun, trying to hit the other with its blade. Ciel ducked and avoided it before striking the mortal man's stomach with a clenched fist. In his haste to finish this fight quickly, he punched Heinrich perhaps too hard, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to cough and sputter. In his shock, he dropped his pistols and attempted to stand up, only to lose his balance and take a few steps back in an effort to catch himself. His back hit the wall behind him and he slid down into a seated position on the floor. Ciel stood up straight and was about to address him, only for his visible eye to widen at the sight of blood around the other's mouth.

"You're coughing up blood." the Watchdog stated. "You need medical attention. Now. Something internally has ruptured."

Yet, all Heinrich could do was laugh and then cough, and then wince and sob from pain. "Nobody will get here in time." he said. "You've taken someone else, I guess."

"I didn't… I didn't mean to..."

"So you killed someone on accident? Fantastic. That makes it so much better." Blood speckled the floor as the blonde coughed. "You're a monster, through and through… What will poor Johnny think? Or will you lie to him about how I died too?"

"I can't have a demon turn against HELLSING." Ciel stated. "You know that."

"Yeah, yeah… Like your little friend? What's his name? 'Princeton' or something?"

"Preston..." the Watchdog corrected, looking down.

"Whatever… Just… Get the fuck out of here and let me die in peace..."

Looking up again, Ciel said: "That's a long, painful way to go..."

"Are you so bloodthirsty that you're eager to shoot me while I'm down?" questioned the other. "Probably lie and tell me it's a 'mercy kill'..."

"Something like that." Reaching down, Ciel grabbed one of the other's guns and a magazine. Heinrich saw him fiddle with the magazine for a moment before loading it into the gun. Then, Ciel handed it to him.

"One bullet. Not an anti-freak one, either, so don't waste it on me." he said. "If the pain gets too unbearable, you know what to do with it."

"Mother fucker..." the blonde hissed while Ciel stood straight up again.

"You're the one who refused to listen. You could have lived with Johnathan until you died peacefully. Your desire for vengeance made you ignorant to those you care about and how you may end up leaving them behind. That is the price of hatred." Walking past the man, Ciel left Heinrich behind. "Farewell, War dog."

Wide-eyed, the weight of what he had done pressed down hard upon the other man. Damn him! Damn the Watchdog! Now, would Johnathan ever know? Would he ever know who killed his father, Heinrich, or even himself? The prospect looked unlikely. What sort of twisted final act of humiliation was this?!

"Damn it..." Heinrich began to sob through grit teeth. Everything he did, everything that he worked toward was all for nothing. It was worthless. He was worthless and this is what happened to trash. "DAMN YOU! CIEL PHANTOMHIVE!"

Yelling caused him to cough up more blood as he sat there, waiting for death's embrace. He was mistaken, however. Ciel's acknowledgment of Heinrich's hatred was not mockery. It was not to throw his failures back in his face. It was an acknowledgment of Heinrich, himself, and his similarities to the Watchdog. Ciel saw himself in him and offered that as understanding. Ciel knew what the price of revenge was and considered himself lucky- blessed, even, to have escaped just enough to form the life that he had. Cruel, his actions were, perhaps, but not intentionally so. The gun was an act of mercy to his eyes. A sort apology for what he did. Ultimately, what did it matter? Angry, saddened, and hopeless, Heinrich sat alone in that dark hallway, waiting for the moment where everything would turn pitch black.


A/N: Oof... There's a lot of things to think about, here... Here is one perspective on Ciel, at least. Really, I'm setting up for a potential plot point in this chapter, so there's nothing TOO exciting going on. Hopefully, Heinrich didn't die in vain. If anything, you've got a little more information to build your assumptions of Ciel on. Is he a terrible person? Who knows...

Ah... what was I gonna do next? I really need to think this through, some... Maybe I'll take tomorrow and think more about what I'm going to do... Who knows?

Do tell me what you think, however. I'm curious as to what y'all are thinking.

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!