The duo had a mission to attend to. They had put it off for long enough for Baldassare to be buried, but they couldn't let things sit any longer. They needed to go to the Philosopher's cloning facility and shut it down before they could utilise what they had grown there to attack. It had been a while since the duo had gone one a mission of this nature and they were less than enthused about having to do so. Yet, it was a job that was required of them for the sake of the safety of their home, so they had no choice but to go forth and conquer.
Given the potential of attack elsewhere, HELLSING could not afford to send out all of their heavy hitters at once. The most powerful supernatural being in their arsenal, the vampiress Seras Victoria, stayed behind along with some of their weaker supernatural operatives to defend the home front. Meanwhile, Dame Elizabeth Hellsing opted to go with the demons, providing backup for a mission that she herself had assigned them.
The group was sped off down the road to the location in a HELLSING vehicle. It wasn't a military vehicle by any means. It was simply an ordinary car, as to not alert anyone who may be interested in their arrival that something was amiss. A helicopter would have been easier, as they wouldn't have to trudge through the forest, but for that reason, it wasn't an option. Once they arrived they got out and began walking.
"The GPS should lead us right to the base." Ciel said, holding out the device for the others to see. "That said, there are several points highlighted with yellow dots that are areas where security is usually stationed, if the information out scouts have gathered is accurate."
"I want to ask what happens if we run into a missed spot, but I assume the answer is going to be 'go around' or 'kill them before they can squeal.'" answered the menace before pointing. "It looks like this is the best-looking path through here."
"Where are we?" questioned Elizabeth, adjusting the straps on the kit attached to her back.
"We're the red dot on the map." Alois replied before pointing into the trees. "So, if we cut through that way, we should be good?"
"Sounds reasonable to me." the bluenette stated, looking up. He began walking with the others, keeping track of their own location while paying close attention to their surroundings.
The menace was keeping his senses sharp, as he had the sharpest of the bunch and could see things that they couldn't. He picked up on absolutely nothing but local wildlife. Unless the Philosophers' Society was colluding with the local squirrels, the blonde felt like nothing was out of the ordinary. The others seconded this with their smaller range.
However, Alois' ability did have one blind spot. He could sense things that were either alive, moving, or a direct and immediate threat to his body. If a possible danger fit none of those specifications, it could be overlooked. That is exactly what happened.
The red light of the surveillance camera was hidden high in the trees where none of them were looking with their eyes. It was stationary, taking footage from a fixed angle and from that angle, just on the very edge of it's range, the team could be spotted, despite their attempts to blend in. They caught the attention of security personnel, who were understandably concerned by this.
"Mister Gardener, can you see this?" asked one of the guards who were manning the monitors, pointing to one of the screens.
The old, shriveled man that had spent time at Lexington estate with the rest of the Philosophers was wheeled forward by his caretaker. He was nothing but wrinkly, flabby skin and bone. His breathing was a bit strained as he required an oxygen tank fixed to the back of his wheelchair to breathe. He strained his eyes and furrowed his white, bushy, eyebrows to see what the guard was referring to. "I need my glasses." he said, prompting his caretaker to hand him a pair of very thick spectacles. Once they were on his face, he blinked and nodded.
"That's got to be them." he said in a grainy voice. "I'd recognise that blue hair anywhere. That's a Phantomhive."
"Do we proceed with the Prince's orders, or..?" the guard questioned, arching an eyebrow.
"I'd should hope so. I've invested a lot of time in meeting this Phantomhive, and I'm afraid that's not something I can give away willy-nilly anymore." the old man stated. Then, he nodded at one of the other screens. It depicted a pair of faoladh digging a large hole in the ground with a few oblong, human-sized objects wrapped in tarp lying next to them. "What are those workers doing out there?"
"Uh, they're disposing of some of the… failed test subjects."
"There's no nicer way of putting that, is there?"
"I'm afraid not, sir."
"That's unpleasant…" Mister Gardener stated with a disgusted face. "Are they in the path of Phantomhive?"
"I'm not sure. Possibly?" the guard answered.
"You should have them come back. If they're spotted, they might be killed as a precaution."
"Yes, sir… I'll get somebody who has a line to them to do that." With that, the guard picked up the phone next to her and started making a call, leaving the old man to stare at the screen and sigh.
He watched them as they made their way through the forest. They were surprised at how well things were going for them, as they hadn't seen a soul the entire way. It was a while later that they came across the partially dug graves and the bodies wrapped in tarp. Al of it was completely abandoned, including the shovels they were using to dig with.
"I don't suppose whoever was here went back because it was their lunch break, did they?" noted the menace. "You don't just leave bodies out for the world to see..."
"They were in a hurry..." Elizabeth noted, tapping the shovel with her foot.
"They chose the wrong time of year to try and hide a body. The ground is cold, so it's hard to dig up." Alois pointed out.
"I think you're both right." added Ciel, crouching down next to the tarps. They must have been here for quite a while, but left fairly recently. If that's the case, we might need to be expecting company."
Tugging on the tarp, Ciel uncovered the face and raised his brows at the discovery. He tutted. "Jim?" he asked.
"Yeah?" the blonde answered, making his way over to his husband.
"I think I found one of your missing Pomeroys." the bluenette pointed out. When Alois looked down at the body, he discovered that it was none other than Jared Pomeroy, the eldest of the Pomeroy siblings. He appeared to be in pretty bad shape. His skin was discoloured with multiple burst capillaries, but it didn't appear to be the result of any blunt trauma.
"Aw, shucks. How awful." the blonde flatly noted. "Think they might have gotten any of the others while they were at it?"
"Possibly. But what do the Pomeroys have to do with being immortal?" Ciel said, standing up again. "I can't fit this together yet."
"I'm sorry to butt in and interrupt you two, but I'm afraid that this isn't an investigation." Elizabeth reminded the others. "That's for the investigations team. We're meant to go in there, destroy their ability to produce soldiers, and kill any operatives that may be inside. We must stay focused."
"Right." the Watchdog answered.
"Sorry." Alois said.
With that, they set out again, crouching as they got closer to the base. They stayed in what little foliage there was left and stayed close to the ground. At one point, they even crawled on their stomachs as they made visual contact with the door. This base was located in yet another repurposed underground bunker from the war, much like the one that the Belmont Organisation had used. Like in that facility, this one had only one entrance and exit that was meant to be accessed by people, along with several vents to ensure that there was breathable air inside.
"I'm thinking we should try the vents." Ciel stated.
"Lizzie, do we have any blueprints for the inside?" Alois inquired.
"No." the angel said.
"No vents, then." the blonde stated. "Last time I went into a vent without knowing what was in there, I almost got cut to pieces."
"That was years ago, Jim." the bluenette reminded.
"Right, perhaps when I'm in little party-platter sized pieces, the Philosophers will grant me the decency of being served with the good toothpicks like a bougie cheese cube."
"Jesus Christ, Jim..."
"Alright, alright. Why don't we just go through the front?" Elizabeth questioned.
"Because we would be spotted right away." Ciel said.
"It will be fine if you toss in a wolfbane grenade in first." the woman replied, reaching into one of her many pockets and pulling out what appeared to be one of HELLSING's gas grenades.
"That won't hurt us, will it?" the menace inquired.
"Might sting your lungs a bit, but breathing in anything you're not supposed to does." answered the angel, handing the weapon to her in-law before taking off her backpack. She dug out a gasmask and held it up to view. "Did you two seriously not bring anything?"
"We usually only bring our weapons..."
With a roll of her eyes, she tossed the mask to the blonde before pulling out another one for her cousin and then herself. Thankfully, she thought ahead and earned the right to shake her head at them. "Men."
Putting on the masks, they decided who would open the door, who would be ready to shoot in case anything happened once they did, and who would throw the grenade. With Alois at the ready with his gun, Ciel pulled the pin before lobbing it inside once Elizabeth had the door open. They waited a few seconds until they saw smoke escape from inside. Then, using it as cover, they tactfully entered the facility with weapons drawn.
Senses still sharp, they were wary of any life outside of their group that was detected. After a while, they ventured far enough away from the smoke that the group was now exposed, so they changed formation so that they were all to each others' backs. No one could sneak up on them this way, but it didn't seem that anyone was going to.
To their surprise, the facility was rather tidy. The floors and walls were clean and the hallways were brightly lit. It looked as though it were a legitimate facility for medical or otherwise scientific research. As they ventured even further, however, the surprises didn't stop.
"Wait." Ciel said before gesturing with his weapon at a wall. "I see something out of the ordinary. I want to take a look."
"Is it relevant to the mission?" Elizabeth questioned.
"It could very well be, if it's what I suspect it is." the Watchdog replied, thus giving sufficient evidence for the others to feel compelled to move the formation toward the wall. With his gun in one hand, the bluenette used the other to examine the spot he was curious about.
"This is a bullet hole." he pointed out before looking around the hallway again. "There's more over there. Signs of a struggle?"
"I think we may have an opportunity to find out." Alois informed before pointing. "Two werewolves up ahead."
The group tightened their circle again and stayed focused before moving again. Silently, they advanced and the one at the front, Alois, peeked around the corner he sensed the presence coming from. He was right about the two werewolves. They were male faoladh. One of them was setting up wet floor signs while the other was busily mopping. They didn't appear to be armed and were too busy on their task to notice the group. What really caught the menace's eye, however, was that it didn't appear as though someone had merely spilled their coffee. The liquid was red and seemed to smear a bit in one direction like whatever bled there was dragged.
"Two werewolves. Seem to be unarmed unless you count a mop as a weapon." the blonde whispered as quietly as possible. "They're mopping up blood. Something definitely happened here."
"Do you think we can sneak past?" his husband questioned, matching his volume.
"As long as we're quiet and they don't turn around." the menace stated before he started walking. He was followed by his compatriots, but not by the two personnel, so they assumed that they were in the clear. The question was, where were the clones? It came to their attention that finding them was going to be rather difficult.
At least, until one of the staff members came walking by with their mop and dirty bucket of water. It was a different person, Alois could tell, but the water in the bucket was red, so he could assume that there was a similar accident up ahead. The wolfman had earbuds in his ears, but his path was about to intersect with the intruders'. Quickly, the group scanned the area for a place to hide, but there were none. Luckily for them, the man was alone, so they could quickly and silently dispatch him without any trouble. Thus, they decided to take him by surprise.
They waited for him to round the corner so they could strike. They were patient. They were careful. Elizabeth was ready to stab the man in the heart. When the moment came, it was he who jumped.
"Whoa!" he uttered, dropping his bucket as he leapt back to escape her blade. Werewolves were quite fast, so it would be tricky to land a solid hit in such an open area, especially since he was now on his guard. Once his feet hit the ground, she was ready to lunge again, but instead of taking a fighting stance, he threw his hands up in the air.
"Aw, fuck!" the faoladh declared before pointing to the turned over bucket on the floor. "I just moped that up, innit? What the fuck are you doing, you daft bastard? You that Phantomhive lot? Go to the bloody security office and stop wanderin' around, then! We already had one incident today and I don't want to bother with another one!"
"What?" was all Elizabeth could bring herself to say. She couldn't think to do anything, either. She was just baffled at the audacity of this man and how he didn't seemed bothered in the slighted about having a sword swung at him.
"You havin' trouble hearin', love?" the unamused werewolf replied. "The base is already done fightin' for today. It's already been claimed. Go to the security office and let me mop up this shite."
"Why the security office?" Ciel said with his gun still trained on the man. "What do you mean the base has already been claimed?"
"Fer fuck's sake, mate! Do I have to spell it out for ya? Look, it's down the hall, to the left, then take a right, then another left, and it's the big room marked 'security' in big letters. Now, get that metallic cock out of my face, and fuck off, okay?"
"Hey, Ciel… So… What do we do?" Alois asked his husband. "Do we let him live, or..?"
"I… I think we should… Just… Just don't leave our backs exposed to him as we keep going." the bluenette stated. "If he tries anything, shoot him."
"Right..."
None of them were entirely convinced that this move was the correct one. Thus, they were reluctant to leave right away. They kept their formation and slowly moved along, keeping a set of eyes and a gun trained on the lycanthrope. However, the quickest movement that the man made was when he aggressively started mopping while muttering under his breath.
"What the hell was that about?" Alois inquired with confusion occupying the entirety of his face.
"I don't know, but I think there will most likely be a trap in the security office." Elizabeth answered, reaching into her bag again. "I say we toss a wolfsbane grenade in there and take them by surprise."
"That sounds like a good plan." Ciel stated as the trio turned the last corner.
Sure enough, there was the sign that said "Security Office" in big letters, just like the janitor said. The group approached the door and made sure that the seal around their gasmasks were still solid and unbroken. Ciel resumed his previous role as the one to throw the grenade, but this time, Alois would kick the door down with his guns ready and enter while Ciel threw the grenade after him. The bluenette and Hellsing would follow as the room filled with smoke.
"Ready?" the menace questioned while his husband put his finger around the pin. "Seven people. They seem to be looking away from the door."
"Security monitors. That explains why the janitor knew we were here." the Watchdog stated.
"Just open the bloody door, Watson!" the Hellsing woman scolded. "You and Sherlock can investigate later!"
"Shit, shit, shit! Two of them are heading toward the door!" Alois declared.
"Rush them when they open it." instructed the bluenette, prompting the others to wait.
"Okay." nodded his husband. "Three… Two…" On the next beat, the handle turned and Alois harshly shoved the door open, causing it to make contact with the skull on one of the Philosopher agents on the other side. The other was quickly grabbed and spun around by the menace as the demon charged in, holding the faoladh with an arm around his neck and a gun pressed against his temple with Alois' other hand.
"Get on the fucking ground!" roared the lion while his compatriots charged in as well. Hands went up as the staff in the office did as they were told, slowly shuffling out of their seats and lying flat on their stomachs. "Put your hands on your head where I can see them!"
Only two failed to get on the ground right away. There was Mister Gardener and there was his caretaker, who looked back and forth between the old man and the armed assailants a few times before deciding to follow the instructions of the people with guns. Mister Gardener stayed put, however, as he couldn't get out of his chair by himself without getting tangled in this and that. The whole time, he was smiling while his underlings cowered.
"Who is in charge, here?" the bluenette questioned. "I demand to speak with them."
"I am acting as official for the time being until the Prince arrives." the old man replied, capturing the attention of the HELLSING operatives. "I do hope that you will refrain from using whatever that gas was you used when you first entered the building. I have an oxygen tank, you see. We are fully willing to cooperate with you and are prepared to hand over this facility to HELLSING. If you will just allow for an explanation, all of this can be sorted without violence."
Blinking, the group looked at each other for a moment, but the Watchdog shook his head, prompting the blonde to not release the hostage he had taken. "We are reluctant to believe that." Ciel replied. "We do not have sufficient evidence that you will not retaliate the moment we lower out guard."
"Understandable. May I make a case?"
"You may."
"Thank you." Mister Gardener stated. "This facility is called 'The Gardening Center' and is the facility in which The Philosopher's Society manufactures soldiers. Earlier today, we received several correspondences from Prince Philip- That's, the son of our leader, not the British crown prince. He and Farroel Whelan, son of Feargus Whelan, our leader's right hand, have decided to defect from their fathers' organisation and would like to offer this facility and whatever intelligence they may have as means to negotiate amnesty from whatever retribution may befall the rest of the Philosophers may receive for their crimes. That is the general gist of things." the old man informed, stopping to cough here and there.
"I am not in a position to accept." Ciel replied. "Elizabeth. This is your department."
Ciel took a step back before allowing his cousin to take command. She removed her mask before the old man, causing his eyes to widen. "I am Dame Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Hellsing. I am in command of this mission and can speak on behalf of HELLSING. We may not accept this facility as a bartering piece until it is handed over to the organisation with your full cooperation. We also must take everyone in command into our custody for further questioning. Those are the terms to initiate surrender."
"Of course, Lady Elizabeth." Mister Gardener replied.
Elizabeth made a perplexed expression upon being referred to in such a way by the man, but she let it slide. "You must allow us to bring further agents to secure the facility and you must cooperate with our efforts."
"Understood."
"Ciel." the woman said, capturing the bluenette's attention.
"Right." Pulling out a communication device, he pressed the button and contacted their reinforcements. "Watchdog to Snapping-turtle. Watchdog to Snapping-turtle. The base has voluntarily surrendered. I repeat: The base has voluntarily surrendered. Secure the base with as little violence as possible. Shoot only if necessary. Copy?"
There was a bit of a pause, prompting the old man to stare at the bluenette while a reply was pending. "Snapping-turtle to Watchdog, copy that. We will secure the base and assist in the voluntary surrender. Use of unwarranted violence is prohibited."
"Correct." Ciel stated.
"Copy that, Watchdog. We're on our way."
Then, all attention turned back to the old man as he was still under scrutiny. "Now," Elizabeth began. "Care to explain the blood and bulletholes in the hallways of your facility? One of your janitors said that there was an incident today."
"The price of defecting, I'm afraid." the old man sighed. "I don't know how many names you know, but the one previously responsible for this facility, Lord Caesar Merritt, arrived earlier today to acquire all of the soldiers he could fit in his trucks and take them to our leader, 'King' Abhartach. This was around the time that the order came in from the prince, you see. Many of those at the facility sided with the prince, but… Not everyone did… Many of them went with what Merritt could take with him as he fled."
"Did he take every operative he meant to?"
"No, my lady. He failed to acquire the entire lot. He mostly obtained experimental projects and… I feel the need to explain this: Many of the 'soldiers' he obtained are trafficking victims who have been intentionally infected with lycanthropy and such by Merritt and his team. They were promised that they will be free from slavery and be allowed all the money and freedom of a royal soldier once victory was in hand if they were to cooperate. That is what made up the majority of what he took, but he did take a few clones."
"Looks like we found the connection between the Philosiphers and Pomeroy." Alois noted. "What happened to those who didn't cooperate?"
"They were killed, I'm afraid."
"'Work a dangerous job that could kill or maim you or die.' Really switching it up, there." the menace noted.
"Indeed." Mister Gardener sadly answered before taking a particularly deep breath. "You may check the security footage if you wish to corroborate this."
"We will." Elizabeth affirmed. "In the meantime, we will wait here until backup arrives. Your people will stay on the ground until that time comes so that we can be assured that the situation is secure."
"Yes, Lady Elizabeth." The old man simply kept staring at the group, examining each of their faces closely for the entire duration. He was straining to see through the demons' gas masks and seemed intent on doing so. His odd behaviour was ignored, however, as they had more important things to focus on. Alois maintained his grasp on the hostage he had taken and Ciel was busy staying in communication with the helicopter that would be depositing more troops.
It was a while until assistance arrived, but it wasn't too long. The backup soldiers appeared on security camera and stormed the base, fanning out in small groups in order to secure the area with their guns drawn. All Gardening Center Personnel did exactly what the staff in the security office did. They surrendered and displayed that they were not a threat and when the time came that the facility was sufficiently crawling with HELLSING agents to be satisfactory to Elizabeth, she gave a new order.
"This facility is now under HELLSING control. When your leaders arrive, they will surrender themselves into our custody so that we may negotiate further terms." she declared. "In the mean time, we will begin dismantling all current cloning and experimental efforts. I will escort the remainder of your staff here to the designated location where they are being secured. They will not be harmed unless provoked, as per our terms. As for you, Mister Gardener, you will lead these two to the location of your cloning operation and you will help them dismantle it. You may take one staff member with you to assist you in getting there. Are these instructions clear?"
"Crystal." agreed Mister Gardener as the door opened and four more HELLSING operatives stepped in.
"Alright." the woman began. "Everyone put your hands on your head and stand up slowly. Form a single-file line and come with me."
It was terrifying, how easily Elizabeth took on the role of commander. To Ciel, at least. He always recalled her to be a sweet girl with a passion for all things "cute." Still, it did do his heart good to see her so accomplished, although she was now funneling a group of people to an- at this point- unknown fate. Her instructions were followed precisely by the faoladh, but Mister Gardener opted to send his attendant with them, and instead asked if one of the demons would push him to their destination.
Finally releasing his poor hostage, Jim also quickly apologised to the woman who he had hit in the face with the door before she walked out. Then, turning his attention back to his new task, he volunteered. "I'll do it." he said.
"Thank you." Mister Gardener replied while the blonde quickly made his way behind the chair and grabbed its handles. "I caught Ciel's name, but I don't think I caught yours?"
"It's Jim." the menace stated. "Jim Phantomhive."
"Another Phantomhive? The particulars of that must be rather interesting, indeed!"
"Are you familiar with the Phantomhive family?" inquired the bluenette with a suspicious look. It was hidden beneath his mask, however, so the other man missed it.
"Oh, no. Not anymore, I'm afraid." the old man replied as the blonde began pushing. "That's ancient history, I'm afraid."
"I see..." Ciel couldn't figure out how old this man was, but knew that he had made a lot of enemies over the years.
The old man looked like he could be around ninety or so years of age, which would put him as a young man who was old enough to sign up for the army around the time of the second World War. Ciel had a lot of enemies from many points in history, but that was not exactly a wonderful point in his career. If this man was in the same group as Johnnathan, it was no wonder that he knew about the Phantomhives, even if none of that was true. Ciel didn't want to rock the boat right then. Instead, he wanted to focus on the mission. As the old man gave them directions through the facility, however, Ciel couldn't help but feel as though he was being stared at. It was Alois, however, who finally broke the silence.
"Does the name 'Pomeroy' ring any bells for you?" the menace finally questioned. "They went missing a while ago and I've been wondering where they went."
"Ah… That's an unfortunate lot..." the old man replied. "The boys were taken for experimentation. Samples were taken for the possibility of cloning them, since Abhartach is very interested in the idea of 'noble blood.' Sad to say, but the eldest died during the experiments and the two younger boys were taken by Merritt. Sorry if that's not the answer you were looking for..."
"Just curious." Alois took a mental note of that. He still had three left to interrogate and execute, if this was true. "What about the daughter?"
"Her fate is tragic in its own right. She was considered to be a valuable asset by 'his majesty,' you see. In other words, she was going to be used as a bride for his son. Luckily- or… in worst-case unluckily for her, the prince is the one who also went awol and decided to hand over this facility. It's tough to say what will happen to her, now… Poor girl..."
"I see..." That was disgusting. It truly disgusted the menace. Trafficking was trafficking and that was exactly what that sounded like to Alois. He didn't care that she was a Pomeroy. No person deserved that.
"I… I regret my involvement in all this..." the old man declared. "Once the Philosophers found me, though, it was all over… I couldn't fight back at all. They took over all of my medical expenses, sure, but… that doesn't justify any of it..."
"You're saying you didn't want to participate in any of this?" questioned the bluenette.
"No… I know what it's like… I never wanted this… It's… Evil, what they've done…" answered Mister Gardener, shaking his head. "They liked what I was made of, so they took me away. I didn't have any family to take care of me, so they just plucked me from the place I was livin' in, and the nurses didn't seem to care… Honestly, though? I'd rather be dead than take part in this… There's cells in this place, you know. There's people in there. We've been letting them out and taking care of them since this morning. They're absolutely traumatised..."
"HELLSING will take it from here." the Watchdog declared. "It's their job to sort these things out. I don't know whether you're telling the truth or not. I have no proof either way. I'm inclined not to, really. It's a rather convenient story."
To that, the old man laughed a bit, smiling brightly. "It is, I suppose, isn't it?"
Eventually, they came to the door that led to the cloning operation. It was password sealed and the HELLSING operatives in the building did not bring the necessary equipment to pry it open. There was no telling what was inside. Alois could sense a few living things, but didn't know what really to expect. Fortunately, the old man knew the password and it worked when Ciel punched it in.
"Merritt always thought I was senile." Mister Gardener said. "I was paying attention, though. After a few times, I memorised it!"
"Did you never talk to him?" Alois inquired.
"Didn't need to. He assumed. Besides, it was in my best interest that he knows as little about what goes on up here as possible." the other man stated, pointing to his head.
The three of them walked through the door and found an area with a few desks with computers and papers scattered about. The people who were here indeed did leave in an immense hurry. There was a laptop with a cracked screen on the floor next to one of the desks, having been knocked over in the stampede, but from a glance, it appeared as though the internal components were intact, so data was still retrievable. Immediately, Ciel radioed to notify headquarters that they would need someone down there to retrieve information from every device in that room for further information on the situation. This area led to yet another door with another password, but before Ciel could enter it in, the old man stopped him.
"Wait." the old man said, prompting the bluenette to look over his shoulder.
"What is it?" Ciel questioned, still obviously wary of the situation. "Is there a trap?"
"No, it's just… What you're going to see will probably be a bit shocking." the other replied with a nod. Mister Gardener looked down at his lap as his fumbled with his hands, trying to assuage his own doubts.
"There's very little in this world that can shock me." the Watchdog declared, entering in the code. Upon opening the door, the lights came on and he was able to see the expanse of the large room.
There were rows upon rows of clear, cylindrical tanks full of liquid, each one hooked up to pipes and wires. At the base of each one, they were connected to a large machine with other bits and bobs attached to it and a monitor that displayed the vitals of the organism inside the corresponding tank. Some of them were lively with a steady pulse and healthy vitals, while others were completely flatlined with the body in that machine's tank halted at whatever stage of growth it was at due to death of tissue. It was difficult to tell which clones were alive and which ones were dead, otherwise, as many of them looked grotesque at certain points in creation, while others appeared fully formed, but asleep. Occasionally, one would twitch or kick and it was a bizarre sight. It was sort of a wonder that so few of them had maneuvered out of the cables feeding them nutrients or the sensors that monitored them.
None of this, however, appalled the bluenette. His husband, on the other hand, looked on with his mouth agape, mesmorised by the equipment and the soft glow of the machines. No, Ciel was not disgusted in the slightest. After all, he and the menace had definitely seen and been responsible for far worse, but Ciel's emotions were rather complex.
It was hard to tell with some of the clones, but many of them were of different people. Some of them were people that he recognised as lower ranking members of the Philosopher's Society, but that is not what affected him. He could see that the majority of the clones were of one person, however. It was a particular man with golden hair. It was a warmer colour than Alois' own flaxen mane, but it was still distinct to the Watchdog. All the demon could do was stare and marvel at the sight in a bizarre mix of horror, sorrow, and the smallest sliver of joy.
"Ciel?" Alois called out, as his spouse seemed awestruck and remained silent for an uncomfortable amount of time.
Removing his mask, Ciel let it fall to the ground, bouncing once before settling on the smooth floor. When the Watchdog finally turned around, his expression was like none the menace had ever seen. His eye was wide and his brows were upturned. His mouth was agape and his face registered with what the bluenette himself claimed that he could not feel: shock. Ciel Phantomhive was shocked and the sight of it made his husband's stomach drop.
Yet, Ciel's gaze was not on Alois. It was instead on the old man in the wheelchair. The Phantomhive opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to speak, but he could only let out one word.
"You..." he began, unsure where he was going to go with this, but the old man immediately understood. Instead of meeting the Watchdog with the same expression, the old man smiled at him warmly.
"You never learned how to stop being stubborn, have you, young master?" the old man questioned. "Though, from what these old eyes of mine can see, you're not so 'young' anymore, though, are you?"
"How?" Ciel shook his head, still staring at the man. "How are you still alive?"
"Well, my strength is pretty well gone by now, but what none of us knew is that there was another effect of those quack doctors' experiments: Longevity."
The Watchdog felt his throat become stiff and swell closed as his eye glistened with water. There was no thought involved- Ciel's legs moved whether he consciously willed them to or not as he slowly picked up his pace until he finally reached the old man. It seemed for a moment that he was about to obliterate him, but instead, the Phantomhive did something unthinkable. He wrapped his arms around the other's shoulders and pulled him close.
"Finny!" the Watchdog declared as he hugged his old friend.
"It's good to see you again, master Ciel!" the demon's former gardener replied, but Ciel did not return his sentiment.
"I'm sorry!" shook the Watchdog, keeping his head low so that his bangs covered his face. "I'm so, so, so sorry! I shouldn't have left you and the others to fend for yourselves! I should have never left! I'm sorry!"
Finnian blinked with a rather astonished expression on his face. He could feel Ciel shaking as he desperately clung to his former servant. Reaching up, the old man patted the Phantomhive on the back.
"Things really do change, don't they?" he observed. Never had he ever seen his master behave in such a way and neither did he expect to. In fact, he wasn't really certain as to what he was expecting. Over a century had passed since they had last seen each other and truthfully, he wondered if Ciel would remember him at all. Still, it gutted him to see his master like this.
"I'm sorry..." Ciel's voice finally broke. It painfully cracked as he tried desperately to think of something to say. He had thought about this for more than a hundred years. He had rehearsed countless times in his head what he would say to his servants in a hypothetical situation where he met them again. Yet, it was all worthless in that moment. Ciel felt like he was a child again as he begged the other man for forgiveness.
"It's alright." Finnian replied. "I was never angry with you… None of us ever were… We were just sad because you were gone and worried because we didn't hear from you again."
"I tried to find out what happened to you…" the bluenette said. "I couldn't find any traces… I'm sorry..."
"There's no need for you to apologise, master… I'm just so happy I was able to see you! You've gotten so big! Yet you're still so young! It's true what Johnathan said about what happened to you, then, isn't it?"
"I…" Ciel began, trying to think of a way to explain. "If it's Johnathan, only parts of it are true… I'm not human anymore, Finny… That's why I left… I didn't want you to know about all of that… I was too scared to tell you the truth, so… I ran away..."
"You're really a demon, then, aren't you?" the old man questioned, pushing the other man away for just a moment so he could see just a bit of his face.
"Yes..."
"I see..." The moment of concern washed away from Finny's face as he smiled. "You know..." he began, "I think this might actually be the first time I've ever seen you cry."
Blinking momentarily, the bluenette needed a moment to allow his mind to catch up. How could Finnian be so calm? How could he not despise him? How could he treat the bluenette so casually after everything he had done? Ciel had abandoned him! He had abandoned all three of the servants, leaving them the manor any no further means to fend for themselves. Yet the man had the ability to somehow smile at the demon? Ciel didn't deserve it. Honestly and truly, he felt that way.
"Why?" the bluenette questioned. "Why don't you hate me? How can you even stomach looking at me? After what I did… I shouldn't be forgiven..."
"That is for me to decide." Finnian stated. "I've decided that I forgive you and that's that. Why are you crying. Master? Have you been carrying this with you this whole time?"
"I… I couldn't..." Ciel began, "I couldn't forget… I've done so many terrible, awful things, but… I can't forgive myself for abandoning you..."
"It's over, though. What's done is done. You can't take back the past, but I am here and you are here. I waited all of this time for you. I plotted and I waited… All I wanted was to see you just one more time and I have. I'm thankful for that." the other man replied. "You don't have to forgive yourself just yet, but you should at least accept my forgiveness, and… I hope my friendship?"
"What?" the bluenette questioned, staring at his former servant in surprise.
"I'm too weak to work for you anymore." Finnian said sadly. "I hope at the very least that we can be friends, though."
The Watchdog was silent for a moment as he tried again to process things. The only thing that he could immediately muster was a soft laugh as he dispersed his unease. "Finny..." Ciel said, "You're one of my oldest friends, even if I was your master… I can't just… Move on from what I did. I still have to live with that. If you'll have me, though… I'd like that very much."
The former gardener remembered the old advice on how to keep the then "young" master at ease. He smiled widely, indicating to the Watchdog that he hadn't a care in the world. "Yes, my lord!"
A/N: I'm so mad because somebody predicted that Finny was still alive months after I had already planned to reveal that! But there you are. That's how it is. Are the bad guys still all that boring? More on this next time.
I already have like five pages on the next chapter because I was going to just combine them, but this was a much better place to cut off. Gotta keep that momentum going in the right way...
I hope this is exciting or at the very least, interesting.
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!
