The mission was a failure. Depending on how one looked at it, it was an absolute failure. Several operatives were killed while others sustained massive injuries. All the while, they failed the objective of capturing Dame Pendergraft alive. She died before they even saw her. If there was any consolation prize, however, it was the fact that she herself would no longer be a hindrance to HELLSING. Sadly, this also meant that they didn't find the source of their leak.

Although she was confident in her men, Elizabeth found herself in the medical wing. Four soldiers died and two were seriously injured. One of them shared her blood. She came to see him, but found the man's family alreadythere.

"How is he?" she asked, her voice quiet as she approached the Midfords, but Rupert, Oliver's father, only frowned.

"He'll live." the man reassured. "His spirit has taken a blow, however. It was his right arm..."

"God..." rubbing her eyebrows, the woman tried to come up with something to say. Looking up at the man, all she could think of was: "I'm so sorry..."

"Like I said, he'll live." Rupert nodded. "He doesn't want anything to do with anything right now, though. He won't even talk about prosthesis."

"May I see him?"

"That's up to him. You can try it, if you like, but I wouldn't be expecting much."

"I'll do my best." the Hellsing woman said before ducking into the room. Upon opening the door, she found Geraldine seated next to him, talking to him about seemingly nothing.

"...And they were roommates." the Geraldine concluded. "Roommates! So basically, I never want to have a roommate ever when I start looking into colleges."

"As someone whose lived with roommates, I kind of envy the idea of living by myself." Oliver replied. Upon hearing Elizabeth walk into the room, he looked over at her and spoke in an astonishingly jovial tone. "Oh. Boss is here."

"I'll leave you alone, then." his younger sister answered. "I'll call you later. I'll give you updates about drama with the people I used to go to school with."

"Why do you even care? How do you even know this? You didn't even like them?"

"I'm petty." Geraldine bluntly stated before standing up. She hesitated for a second before leaning down and wrapping her arms around her sibling's shoulders, squeezing him tightly and causing his eyes to widen. His left arm reached up to hug her back and they stayed like this for a while before Geraldine let go of him and stood back up. "Bye, Oliver."

With that, she turned around and walked past Elizabeth to exit the room. Looking over her shoulder, Elizabeth's gaze followed her out and through the glass window on the door, she could see Geraldine immediately go to hug her father, too. Looking back at Oliver, however, Elizabeth could tell he was stunned by what had just happened.

"She never hugs people." the man stated. "She usually punches people instead."

"She's worried about you." Elizabeth replied. "It's only natural for a sister to be scared for her brother."

That made the man's eyes downcast and land on his lap. "Yeah…" Leaning back, Oliver laid back down in bed and winced, his face twisting with discomfort.

"You don't need to put up a tough front."

"If I don't, she'll worry more." Oliver informed, his voice sounding more strained as he dropped his front. Right then, he was allowing himself to be injured instead of pretending he was fine. "I don't feel tough, but I have to be."

"How are you feeling?"

"Terrible."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." the man stated, now sounding more like his sister in tone. "I don't want to even think about anything. The more I think, the worse I feel."

"You're alive, so there's that." Elizabeth answered, trying to remain positive. "In time, you'll figure things out and you'll wonder why you ever felt down."

"I don't want to figure things out. I want my arm. If I had my arm, I wouldn't need to figure anything out. I could just go home and things would go on like normal."

"HELLSING has easy access to prosthesis technology, so should you decide to give it a try-"

"I don't want a prosthesis." Oliver said a bit more forcefully. "I don't want anything. I want my arm back. I want my life back. I don't have time for all of this. I'm needed out there!"

Then, he realised that his voice had been raised and he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. There's no point whining about it. What's happened, happened, and that's all there is to it. I just… I feel like shit..."

His voice cracked at the end of that and he sniffled a bit before trying to reach up with his right hand to wipe his face, only to remember that he couldn't. Taking in another very shaky breath, he tried to calm down a bit further.

"James came to see me." he continued, suddenly bringing up his older brother. "He told me that I should have just joined the army like him and dad and accepted the fast track to becoming an officer. I said some really nasty things to him. I'm still mad. Neither of them ever really understood. I don't want that kind of work. I like HELLSING." Swallowing hard, he shook his head as the water in his eyes that had threatened to spill over finally trickled down his cheeks. "I'm still not done yet."

Silently, Elizabeth listened and tried her best to understand what the man was saying. More importantly, she was listening to what Oliver wasn't. She listened to the truth that was spoken without words.

Oliver was a soldier. Knowing him, he genuinely believed in HELLSING's cause and believed that he was doing the world the most good by working there. He wanted to be on the front lives, defending Britain from supernatural danger. However, few teams would allow him to work for them without both arms. Even prosthesis were "questionable." Most soldiers with injuries like Oliver's ended up working for other departments, like Lieutenant Chu, who now heads the Intelligence Department. She too was devastated at first, but now finds purpose in her current task. Oliver needed time to heal and then he could start looking for his own. In his current state, however, all he could think about were the things that he cannot do.

He must relearn how to write with his left hand and he didn't know how to fence without using his right side. Buttoning his shirts would take some maneuvering and other daily tasks would take some creativity as well. None of it was impossible, but the wound was still fresh enough that it felt that way. Oliver had seen people at HELLSING who have moved on and become invaluable members who work behind the front lines. He, however, didn't feel like he could right then, as he wanted to do nothing more but fight.

"Well..." she began, "You'll just have to be twice as tough. Twice as skilled, too, with skin twice as thick. I can't tell you that you'll get there easily and I can't tell you that it won't be hard. It'll be difficult. Very difficult. You'll have problems. You'll feel down and people will look at you differently. There's a silver lining in this, though."

"What's that?"

"You only need one hand to fence." the woman said with a knowing look, but Mister Midford simply rolled his eyes.

"Fencing is what cost me my arm in the first place." he said. "As much as I love it, it's not 'real' sword fighting..."

"Then it's a good thing you have to start from the ground up. Now you can work on finding a style that works." She was hoping that would cheer him up, but Oliver didn't chuckle, let alone crack a smile to humour her. He laid there, silent and staring up at the ceiling as he contemplated his situation.

"I'm tired." the man stated, indicating his desire for the woman to leave without outright saying it.

"Alright." the woman nodded, taking the hint. She was sad that she couldn't help him, but maybe it simply wasn't the right time. Neither of them really knew. "I'll leave you alone, then. Stay… positive?"

"Alright, Elizabeth." Oliver replied with equal confusion at her wording as the Hellsing herself awkwardly back toward the door. "I'll try that."

Unsure of what else to say, Elizabeth fumbled for something to say before settling on giving him a thumbs' up. With her other hand, she turned the handle of the door before proceeding to walk through it, subsequently escaping the situation. Thus, Oliver was left by himself.

Out in the hallway, Elizabeth ran into the next person waiting to see Oliver and stopped him from doing so. "He wants to be alone, now." she told her cousin. "I think I just made things worse."

"Losing a limb is pretty traumatic. There's no a lot you can say to make him feel better." Ciel stated, putting his right hand on his left bicep before flexing the muscle. "You just don't want to hear it. You feel helpless and everyone around you is telling you that everything is fine when it's not fine. Just give him some space."

"Weren't you just about to head in there?"

"Yes, but now that I know he's definitely not up to it, I'm going to pass, for now." the Watchdog replied. "It does feel rude to visit Nigel and not see Oliver, though."

"How are things on the other end of the hall?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Could be better." her cousin shrugged. "He's expected to make a full recovery, but his parents are in a bit of a tizzy over it. Weirdly, Mister Irons seems to be both horrified and proud at the same time?"

"Ah, baby's first gunshot wound." nodded the woman. "It's a very special time."

That explained the Phantomhive's appearance, at least. Oliver was his family, too, so it was only expected that he give condolences and try to get a grasp of the situation. Furthermore, Nigel was injured too, and he was considered to be by the youngest of the Macken brothers, a good friend. Perhaps a half-brother, even, given the fact that they both shared one body before.

"Any updates?" Ciel questioned. "Do you have any idea who that werewolf is?"

"No. We're still figuring out why she was able to transform like that in daylight." Elizabeth informed. "You're absolutely certain that when Kristopherson transforms, only the top of his head remains dyed?"

"That's what Jim says."

"Then she shouldn't be old enough to be able to do that..." she pondered aloud. "I'll go check with Ackerman to see if she knows anything about that."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll go back to see if the others are almost ready to go home. Do you want us to start prepping for an investigation?"

"I may need you to. I'll send everything over as soon as possible."

"Alright. I'm glad employment is still strong, here. I finish one job, and another one lines itself up."

With a roll of her eyes, Elizabeth waved him off before walking away herself. "Good to have you back at work, Ciel."

"When do I get vacation days?"

"When there's no missions!"

With that, Ciel shook his head, knowing full well that Elizabeth could throw him into a random mission at any moment if she wanted to. She was just nicer than Integra and didn't. Standing out in the hallway, he wondered if he should return to his group or ignore his cousin and try talking to Oliver anyway.

His household wasn't faring too well down the hall, either. Revy and Sebastian had stayed home to watch the house, but the main reason they came to see Nigel was because Luka wanted to. Despite being hooked up to machines and with patched up holes in his abdomen, Nigel seemed to be in good spirits, smiling despite the fact that he looked absolutely drained. His exhaustion was apparent and he still seemed quite pale. He was still on pain medication, too, like Oliver was, so he wasn't in the mood for particularly deep thought, either.

"The doctor says I'll be okay, so I'm gonna be fine." Nigel cheerfully said. "Don't worry about it, Luka. It's all good."

"You're high as a kite, aren't you?" Luka questioned, surprising both his brother and his brother's former teacher. "Don't scare me like that. You can't get shot in the guts too many times. You should change to a safer job."

"Luka, you can't tell Nigel what to do." Alois stated. "It's his life and he gets to do what he wants with it."

"I can, but he might not listen." the younger of the two corrected, although still very obviously not happy.

"'Fraid not, Luka." Nigel said, shaking his head. "That's just my style."

"Yeah, I thought so..." Disappointment was obvious on Luka's face as that really wasn't the answer that he wanted to hear. His brother would have to have a word with him later, as he knew how he felt. Nigel, in the bizarrest of ways, was important to Luka. They didn't talk face to face regularly, nor did they interact on special occasions, either. Yet, they were somehow still close even after they no longer shared the same body.

Apparently, possession still connected them. It was a short while, but after living the same life and same physical form, there was a mutual appreciation and understanding between them both. Luka was even on good terms with Mister Irons, as the man was one of the people who took care of him while he was hijacking Nigel's body and helped him recover when they switched consciousness at school and he was bullied for being a little kid piloting a big kid's body. There were quite a few afternoons, actually, where Mister Irons taught the boy a few moves to defend himself.

Luka hated seeing Nigel hurt. He didn't like seeing people he cared about in general in pain. Then again, Nigel wasn't exactly feeling the brunt of it from the drugs in this system right then. Eventually, they couldn't get anything else coherent out of the doped-up ginger, so the group decided that it was time to take their leave. Before he left, Luka gave Mister Irons a hug, which the usually stern man accepted. He was going to stay behind for a while longer.

"Both of you have gotten so big." the older man said. It really had been a long time. The man's red hair was starting to grey. "You finally learn to behave yourself, Trancy?"

"It's 'Phantomhive' now." Jim replied. "I'm doing my best to be a responsible adult. It's a process."

"You're not drawing on walls or twisting people's arms or being a general annoyance to your superiors, are you?"

"I can be rather clever when I want to be, Robert. That's always been my problem in school. Applying myself seemed… dumb."

"You could've been a brilliant student." Irons said, his voice softening, but still very serious. "You proved that you could time and time again, but you never… You didn't seem to think you could. So you tried to make people laugh instead."

"I know." Alois replied. "I know… I'm sorry."

"No, no, no, no. It's us, who failed you. Education is important, but what you really needed then was something none of us could really give you. You didn't think you were clever, so you made jokes at your own expense. At the expense of your own reputation, too. It's a lot easier than having people get to actually know you, isn't it?"

"Yeah. But I'm getting there. 'Leader of men' and all that."

"I hear you've been quite busy, actually."

"I mean… It's easier when the work feels important."

"Are you saying you don't think my History class what important?"

"Knowing about history is always important, especially with my line of work. History tests and presentations? Not so much… Had to prioritise the homicidal maniacs."

"No, no. That's understandable." Mister Irons agreed. "Had I known you were with HELLSING from the start, I would've been more flexible and I'm sorry for that."

"It's fine. I made it, didn't I?"

"I can see that." the demon's former teacher said. "I guess I'll let you go, then. Don't worry. I'll keep watch over this one." He added, patting Nigel's bed.

"Alright, then. I wouldn't worry to much. He's tough." with that, the demon chuckled and headed toward the door. "See ya around, old man."

"Still cheeky as ever." the older man shook with a sigh. With a flash of a knowing smile, Alois walked out the door with his younger sibling in tow, gently shutting the door behind him.

Walking down the hallway, the two were quiet for a while. There wasn't a lot that needed to be said, as far as Alois knew, but Luka had other ideas. The teen was upset with this turn of events and wanted to know what was going to happen afterwards. Specifically, he had one question in mind.

"Are you gonna go kill the people that did this?" he asked, mildly surprising the Phantomhive.

"Maybe." Alois answered. He didn't want to lie to Luka, so he often talked about work with the boy, now that he was older. "Dunno. I might not be the one to do it. We'll wipe them out, eventually. First, we gotta find them. It's gonna be tricky, but we've got a few leads. Hopefully, they're still alive."

"You should go investigate them. You'll find them really fast."

"Not really. I mean, once they get a lock, we might be sent out, but finding them is a lot harder than you'd think. That's why I don't do that part. I investigate when I get there, if that's the job."

"When do I get to start learning all this stuff?"

"If I had my way? Never." the blonde stated. "But, once you're a grown up, I can't tell you what to do anymore."

"Won't I be better at the job if I start now?"

"Maybe. But it's better for you to just be a kid, for now. Grow up normally."

"You got to do all of this when you were a kid..." the younger pouted with a furrowed brow.

"Yeah, but my childhood was fucked up." Luka opened his mouth to speak, but Alois interrupted him. "You had a rough time, too. The difference is that you have an actual chance to live peacefully. You're too young to get rid of it, now. If you do, then you might regret it. That's why I'm a total nag about it."

"You are a nag… It's still no fair."

Alois let out a long, drawn out sigh at that. He paused, thinking for a moment, causing the two of them to walk in silence again for a short ways. Then, he spoke his mind.

"The world… it's fucking scary, Luka. You know that. Every time you think you've seen it all, somebody comes up with a new way to be depraved and nasty." he said. "I don't want you to go through life blissfully unaware of that. You shouldn't always do what you're told. At the same time, I want you to stay safe. I'm a nag because I'm trying to protect you. That's my job as a grownup."

"Hm..." Luka made a small sound of acknowledgment, having already known this. "I still want those guys to pay..."

"We're not going to get them out of revenge, Luka. We're going to get them because they're a threat to a lot of people. That's all. What did Ciel say about revenge?"

"'That it burns everything and leaves nothing but ash.'"

"Do you know what that means?"

To this, the boy thought for a moment. "It hurts you and the people around you."

"That's right. It even hurts the people you love and care about the most." the menace said. "After that, life just isn't worth living."

Once more, Luka hesitated with his answer. Things had taken a turn in the conversation and he hadn't expected it. As he grew older, it seemed like the younger of the two brothers was getting nothing but lectures from Alois, but looking at Revy, there might have been something to it. That said, it didn't change how unfair the situation felt. That said, Luka sort of understood it.

"Is that how you felt?" the lad finally asked.

"How I felt when?"

"When I…" the brunet hesitated. "When I burned down that village?"

"Can you handle an honest answer?" When Luka nodded, the blonde said: "Yes. I was hurt by that. I lost everything."

"I thought you hated that place?"

"I do. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about you." the elder explained. "I love you, Luka. You're my brother. Back then, you were the only thing I had. When you died… I… I dunno… It felt like I lost the good part of me for a long time."

He spoke of it like it was news and indeed, it was. Alois and Luka, despite having been reunited for several years, had hardly spoken about that night since. Alois refrained, believing Luka to have been too young to discuss it. It was heavy. Part of them worried it was too late to talk about. Here probably wasn't the best place to be doing it.

"I'm sorry..." Luka said. It's all he could say. There was nothing else he could think of. He knew what he did. There was no taking it back.

"Don't be. You didn't know. You were only eight."

"Yeah, but… That's kind of a big deal, isn't it?"

"It is, but it's not anymore. That's in the past. It does mean I worry about you a bit more." With a smile, Alois put his arm around his brother's shoulder, drawing him close before ruffling his hair. "I gotta make sure this sweet lil baby is safe!"

"I'm not a baby!"

"Baby brother~!"

"I'm being serious!" Luka protested, furrowing his brow.

"I am, too! I worry about you!" Alois replied. "It's my job to protect you and make sure you grow up happy and healthy. I don't want you to worry about all of that old stuff anymore."

When Luka didn't respond, the menace just asked "Okay?"

"Yeah, but… I dunno… I thought you'd be… mad?"

"Really? Why?"

"Because… After I died..." the younger boy looked away and shook his head, obviously not wanting to continue. How could he? How could he bring up everything terrible that happened afterwards, especially in a time when hunting the remnants of the Trancy bloodline was a priority? He couldn't. He wanted to ask why Alois was so alright with things, but didn't want to risk hurting him more.

Blinking, the menace stopped in the middle of the hallway, bringing the other to a halt along side him. Turning to face the lad, the blonde gently grabbed his shoulders before guiding him to face him as well. "Luka, I wanna make something very clear with you. Look at me." He said, moving his hands to the younger Macken's cheeks. "I want you to look me right in the eyes when I say this, okay?"

"Okay?" confusedly answered the other, arching an eyebrow.

"It's not your fault." Alois told him very clearly. His face and his tone were both sincere as he said this. It was soft, but it wasn't solemn. "Alright? You were eight years old! There is absolutely no way that you could have fully grasped the weight of the situation. You could have never known what it meant. And all that shit that happened afterwards? None of that was your fault. None of it. Ever. It was all just a game of chance with really shitty odds. Okay? I was captured because I was a poor kid who wouldn't be missed and that is all there is to it. If you were there, they would've snatched you up with me. It's not your fault, so don't blame yourself, okay?"

Moving his hands to Luka's shoulders, the menace continued. "There was never a single moment where I blamed you for anything. Never. Not even once. I never did and I never will. I have never been angry or upset with you for what you did or anything that came after, okay?" Pausing, he reached up to stroke the boy's hair. "You protected me the best way you knew how. I was only sad because the person in the world I loved the most was gone. I still love you. That's why I nag at you all the time and aren't any fun anymore. I'm sorry about that. I'm just doing the best I can, too. Alright?"

Sniffling, the younger of the two siblings reached up to wipe his eye. "Yeah..." he said quietly.

"We'll talk about it more later, if you've got more you want off your chest." Keeping an arm around the other's shoulders, Alois started walking again. "I think it's about time you an I start talking about things. Like, serious things. We've always talked about 'things,' but you know what I mean."

"Yeah." Luka chuckled, albeit somewhat nervously. He was glad, though. He was glad that his brother carried no resentment or blame for him. In fact, things seemed too easy to Luka, which caused him concern. He trusted his brother, though, and would continue to do so until information came up that pointed out the contrary.

"Now," Alois began, changing the subject, "Ciel and I have been talking and given recent events, we're trying to reach a consensus on this..."

"Are you gonna have a baby?"

"No, not yet." the blonde laughed. "I mean about you and Revy. You really wanna fight and I appreciate that, but I have to know just how responsible you are before I completely agree with him."

"Responsible how?" Luka asked. "To fight?"

"Yeah. You know it's not the only answer, right? You shouldn't beat people up because they hurt your feelings. You can call them out, but you should probably only fight when you have to. You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah?"

"So if we teach you a few things, you won't abuse it?" As soon as he said that, Alois almost regretted it, as his brother immediately lit up with excitement.

"You're really gonna teach me?!" enthusiastically asked the brunet.

"Only if you don't go around beating people up because you can. You have to promise me and you have to make good on that promise. This is one of those things where you have to listen to me, alright?"

"I can do that!"

"I'm serious."

"I know. I'm just excited." the teen stated, bringing his tone down a few notches in order to reflect that acknowledgment. "It's just like, I'm finally gonna be in on everything, family-wise. It's my culture."

"Your culture?" chuckled the blonde. "How's that?"

"My older brother is the hero of Gehenna and my brother-in-law is basically the boogeyman. Revy also has a pretty important job, and Sebastian is just… He's cool. It's like I'm finally gonna fit in with you guys. You're always doing stuff and I'm always just like 'Okay, I'll just be over here, I guess.' It's boring."

"I mean, we don't exactly do it for the excitement and the notoriety, but I can see where you're coming from."

"What's 'notoriety?'"

"Fame. Appreciation. That kinda shit."

"I don't know if I want that. Appreciation, maybe." Luka confessed. "Mostly, I just wanna do important stuff and not sit around all the time."

"You'll get there one day. Kids shouldn't be doing all of this huge stuff. I just want you to be able to defend yourself, is all. I can't be there all the time, and with the house being targeted? You should at least be able to use a gun."

"I can shoot."

"Killing duck is different than killing a person."

After wandering around for quite some time without finding the other Phantomhive, Alois was just about to pull out his phone to call him when the bluenette finally decided to round the corner. Upon seeing the menace, Ciel immediately jogged toward him, picking up his pace, as he knew that he had kept them waiting.

"Sorry, some new correspondence came in to Pomeroy's email." he apologised before reaching into his pocket and unfolding a stapled together document of the exchange. "Here. I don't know if it'll be useful to you, but you never know." Pausing, he looked down, noticing Luka, before giving him a reassuring pat on the head.

"Thanks, babe." smiled the blonde, taking the papers from his spouse. "What's happening?"

"The Pomeroys are in trouble since Julian is 'missing.'" Ciel explained. "He wasn't around to check on 'orders' and make sure everything was running smoothly. There's a lot of angry Johns, pimps, and other shady types, including those in the case that Lizzie is working on."

"What the fuck?!" gawked the menace. "This is a lot of people! Why are the orders so big?!"

"I don't know. I have a few guesses, though. Apart from the obvious."

"Shoot."

"If those people really do have diabolical objects, they probably don't want to use them on themselves to start with. Historically, those in positions of power feel free to use the 'scoundrels' of society as their guinea pigs, so I think that's a very logical guess, especially since the reason why Pendergraft was tracked the first time was because she did something similar with an orphanage she ran."

"Seems legit. I wouldn't doubt that for one second." Alois stated, going through the papers a bit more while standing there. Pausing, he added: "Since the little brother has taken over things, the customers are probably pretty pissed at him, and if there's somebody among them willing to kill off Pendergraft for some reason, he might be next. Not that I mind to much about him possibly getting axed, but still. A lead's a lead."

"You seem… Underwhelmed? No, that's not the word. What is it?"

"Unimpressed?" suggested Luka. "Chill?"

"Sort of like 'chill,' yes." Ciel agreed. The slang sounded odd with his manner of speaking. "You seem rather 'chill' about this." he said to his spouse, causing the younger Macken to snicker lightly.

"It's business." Alois replied rather bluntly. "There's only so much I can do right now. It always feels like I should be doing more, but unfortunately, I'm not the only one calling any shots anymore. Does Lizzie want Ian Pomeroy alive, too, or..?"

"No. You can kill him and she will just salvage any data from his personal effects posthumously."

"Alright. I'll get on it, then." the menace said, still holding the paper in his hand as he looped his arm around his husband's. With his free hand, he gently pushed on Luka's back to get the group moving. "If we're done here, we should go home. I'm behind on some shit I was supposed to do."

"Murder?" Luka asked.

"No, I've gotta look at any grievances that came into the Gehenna and Pyestock town council meetings and see if there's anything that needs fixing."

"I find it incredibly interesting how you're essentially the head of the Supernatural Relations Department yet somehow refuse to fully accept the position." Ciel pointed out, prompting the younger Macken brother to nod in agreement.

"I'm a busy guy. I need to be able to walk away for a little bit sometimes when I need to murder." the blonde explained. "Same reason I don't have a college degree."

"Are you still mad about that?"

"Yes. It pisses me off. I know I'm smart. I just don't have time for schoolwork because I'm dealing with ten million other things that actually affect people's lives. It's hard to give a shit about why some dumbass story about some angry dude and his shitty opinions on women is totally 'deep' or whatever. I don't need that to do my job, especially because it undermines disenfranchised groups like the ones I'm supposed to be taking care of! It's like, the opposite of what I'm supposed to be doing!"

To that, Ciel couldn't help but smile and chuckle at his spouse. Jim was so passionate about things like this and took his duties very seriously for someone who blew off so much coursework in school. The bluenette loved that about him and was always pleased to see when that part came out.

"I'll help you out, if you need me too." the eyepatch-wearing Phantomhive said. "I'm probably going to be asked to carry out my own investigations on my own assigned targets, but I'm more then happy to help out when I can."

"Thanks, babe~! You could always pick out a plan for an attack on Ian Pomeroy while I do supernatural work, if you're good, tonight?"

"As you wish, your highness."

With that, Luka simply stared at the bluenette with a rather unimpressed expression, having just had his phrase stolen from him. But, that was the thing about having a bigger family. Luka had to share his brother, but the boy liked everybody he had to do that with, so he was alright with it.

They would go home and resume their business. The Phantomhives would get to work while Luka would eagerly await both news about Nigel and about when the older demons will start teaching him how to fight. Business came first, however, and it was a bit rocky, due to the little information they had, but that was the way of the investigator. For others in London, it was going far worse.


A/N: A lot is happening, but it doesn't really feel like it. Actual important plot was going to happen at the end, but I'll just move it to the beginning of the next chapter because I really want to post this one now. It feels like it's taken a lot longer than usual. I don't really know if it actually has.

It was going to make things take quite a bit more time, because A LOT is going to happen, if things go as planned. Sorry, you'll have to wait a bit! It sucks that there's not actual plot, this time.

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!