Ciel very rarely cried. When he did, it was something so serious that he was left with no other option but to allow his emotions to spill out in an undignified manner. He cried at his wedding to his beloved husband and before that when he had thought he had lost the blonde menace forever. Love was the one thing that was able to bring him to tears and the way he felt about his former servant was a type of love, but also, Ciel acknowledged that Finnian loved him with a devotion that he had once taken for granted. For that, Ciel could not forgive himself. The rush of relief combined with the guilt, sorrow, and fear he felt brought him to his knees, but that love is what brought tears to his eyes. It was nothing to take lightly and everyone who witnessed it was aware of this fact.

The fact that he never cried was a fact that made this moment rather concerning for the blonde menace, who was simply looking on as a third wheel. The last time he recalled his husband shedding a tear was at their wedding as the Watchdog reiterated his devotion to the menace in a setting that was more private and less rehearsed. That said, Ciel had told Alois about Finnian and the situation with which they separated. Alois knew about the guilt that Ciel felt and the fact that he regretted not keeping any sort of line of contact with them. Ciel was deeply afraid that something had happened to them that he could have shielded them from.

"I'll leave you two to it for a bit." Alois said, politely excusing himself. "I'm going to go see if there's any data I can collect."

He walked past the old man and had nearly passed Ciel before he was stopped. "Wait a moment." the Watchdog said, grabbing onto the other Phantomhive's forearm. Standing up straight, the bluenette gently turned his spouse around to face Finny before putting an arm firmly around him.

"Finny," the bluenette began, "you were right about the particulars of Jim's relation to the Phantomhive family being a bit 'interesting.' Jim is my husband. We've been together for almost a decade and we celebrated our first anniversary in July."

He said this so confidently and proudly, smiling as he puffed out his chest a bit. The attention and the gravity of the situation caused the menace to actually blush as he was meeting someone who was rather important to Ciel from a long time ago. Any old friend of Ciel's is a new friend of Alois' by association. Nervously, he held out his hand to shake with Finny.

"It's nice to meet you." the menace greeted, emboldened by his husband's own confidence, but the old man simply stared wide-eyed for a moment as the gears obviously strained to turn.

"Oh!" Finny finally said, snapping back to reality. He quickly and enthusiastically began to shake Alois' hand. "It's good to meet you! I'm so sorry I didn't realise sooner!"

"You can't realise what I myself did not." the bluenette stated. "I know it must be a bit confusing, but we can catch up later when we get the chance to sit down and talk about it."

"That's perfectly fine." happily smiled the old man. "And congratulations!"

"Thank you." Ciel answered before turning his attention back to the mission at hand. "This wouldn't happen to be why you became involved with this crowd, would it?"

"Not at first, no. But then Mister Beattie kept going on and on about the Phantomhives." Finnian answered. "After I heard about how you survived, I wanted to meet you, so I started building a food relationship with the staff here and told them about how you helped people who were stuck in all kinds of situations… Once I had the chance to surrender the facility, I jumped at it, knowing I might get to see you and knowing that you would be willing to listen if we surrendered peacefully. Somehow, I was able to convince most of the staff to follow Philip and Farroel's leadership and side with HELLSING. Unfortunately, however, that won't undo everything..."

Raising his brows, the bluenette looked at his friend in surprise. Finnian had been plotting this whole time in Ciel's favour. He chuckled at the revelation, shaking his head. "Even after all this time, you're still looking out for my best interests."

"I never stopped being loyal to the Phantomhive family." the other man said. "And I knew that if anyone could undo the damage here, it would be you, The Queen's Guard Dog."

"Let's end this, then." the bluenette stated. "No more experiments or cloning will take place at this facility from here on out."

The trio turned and walked further into the cloning room. When they came across the first active tank, the Watchdog grabbed hold of the cable sticking out of it and gave them a quick pull. Whatever liquid that was being pumped into the clone's body started pouring out onto the floor until the machine began to power down. As the clone began to twitch, the other demon copied Ciel's actions with the next tank. Eventually, the clone stopped moving again and the demons could sense no life from it. The sight made the bluenette visibly cringe. It was hard to see Finnian die despite the fact that he was still very much alive.

"There's a lot of ones that are already dead." Alois observed. "Are they fragile?"

"In certain stages, yes. Sometimes they reach completion and simply don't wake up. It's like they're in a coma." the former gardener answered. "Johnathan said it is because they had no soul. I'm not sure why or how that works, though..."

"I suspect that is the case..." the menace said. "I can tell that they're alive, but there's more people that are just 'alive' than I sense souls." Turning to Ciel, he said: "That could be a good use for Dame Pendergraft's camera."

"Unfortunately for them, they no longer have it." Ciel replied back. He paused for a moment from ripping out chords, tubes, and wires in order to look at the computers attached to some of the clones he didn't recognise. "The computers here aren't secure. I can access the data on them without a password. Amateurs."

"What kind of idiot doesn't have a password on their computer?"

"The same kind of idiot that leaves their password on a stickynote on the monitor. Some of those computers in the other room might be easier to get into than we thought."

Clicking around, Ciel looked at the information on that particular tank, finding it to be the clone of someone who he didn't know at all. From there, he kept looking at information as it seemed as though all of the computers were connected to the same database. He could pull up the information of any tank in the facility in addition to some of the information on experiments. Most of the latter involved infecting people that the Pomeroys had trafficked with lycanthropy of vampirism, but some didn't. Some appeared to be experiments that related to immortality for example, he found that Jared Pomeroy had died as a result of being injected with a large amount of telemorase along with several other substances. At this point, Ciel simply began typing names into the database in order to see what he could find, leaving his spouse to continue dismantling the other machines to the best of his ability. All the while, Finnian simply sat and waited.

"So, Jim..." the old man said, trying to initiate conversation with the menace. "You're married to the master?"

"Sure am." answered the menace while yanking a cable out from behind one of the tanks. "You're shocked?"

"Sort of, yes." Finnian stated. "I always thought he was rather fond of Lady Elizabeth. Did they have a falling out?" He paused for a moment before appearing genuinely distressed. "Oh! Sorry! I didn't mean to frame that like she's a better option or anything!"

"Don't worry about it. I know what you meant." Alois politely replied. "No, he left her around the same time and she just… grew up and married someone else. They're great friends, now, and both of them seem pretty happy with that."

"Well, as long as he's happy with it, then I'm happy with it. The more I think about it, the more I feel like it makes sense, thinking in retrospect."

"Really? Are you saying there were signs?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. The master was always a bit unusual, but then again, so were all of us. He was quiet and a bit on the small side, but I'm not sure if that really amounts to anything. He took good care of us. I remember going to parties and get confused at how the other servants were treated. The master was always lenient and didn't seem to be bothered by social convention. He was just… rather queer."

"Pfft-! I don't doubt that for one second."

"I must say, I wouldn't have guessed from looking at him now. He was always so skinny, but he's fairly macho, now, isn't he?"

"Well, not all men who like men have limp wrists and wear drag, so it's hard to tell, in most cases." Alois informed. "I think I'm fairly obvious sometimes, but Ciel says that if I am, it's wishful thinking on the other person's part, since I'm so good looking."

"Oh! So he's a bit of a charmer now, is he?" Finnian inquired with a wide grin.

"He really is… I'm glad you're so quick to accept things. It's honestly troubled him a lot..."

"I've noticed! I've never seen him like that before..." the old man said. He paused for a moment, turning to face his former master's back. "Not knowing must have weighed down on him so much… As for your relationship, I'm still honestly rather shocked, I'm afraid and I'm not sure if I completely understand it, but I'm not about to reject him after seeing him cry..."

It was a bizarre mix of emotions. In somewhat, Finnian was even a little bit disappointed that Ciel didn't go through with marrying Elizabeth, although he knew it was not only their choice, but now, it was illegal for them to do so. As for the fact that Ciel had a husband of all things, the old man couldn't help but look back and try to find the signs. Somehow, it both made sense and none at all. Ciel was enthusiastic about introducing Finnian to his husband, however, so Finnian could tell that it was obviously important to him enough that that was one of the first things he did!

There was so much that he didn't know about the master. There was so much that they needed to catch up on and even reflect upon. Finnian desperately wanted to know what Ciel had been up to for the past century, despite knowing bits and pieces that Johnathan mentioned. He could only imagine what the bluenette must have been thinking, then. In truth, Ciel wasn't sure what to think. He was overwhelmed, but was pushing through it so that he could better assess the situation later. Naturally, he wanted to finish this very quickly as a result.

"They have at least one clone of every Philosopher's Society member who has turned up dead." Ciel noted. "If they have some sort of title, there appears to be more than one. Some of them have been mixed together."

"Abhartach is very interested in noble blood." Finnian stated. "The more of it he controls, the more confident he is in victory."

"What a fool. A smart 'commoner' can defeat a dumb noble any day of the week." the Phantomhive stated. "It isn't difficult."

Clicking around some more, Ciel eventually came across and alphabetical list of all of the donors. Abhartach was at the very top of the list, but that didn't surprise Ciel. If Abhartach was going to be a proper noble and a proper monarch, he is going to need heirs. The more spares he possesses, the better. Continuing onward, he found an entry on Lord Merritt and decided to browse it. The curious thing about it, however, was that the name was wrong. Instead of "Caesar Merritt," the name listed was "Sigmund Merritt." When Ciel read further, he found out why.

"Finny?" he called out, prompting the old man's attention.

"Yes?"

"Where you aware that Lord Merritt's father dabbled in cloning?"

"Yes. That's how Caesar learned how to do it. Why?" Finnian questioned, arching an eyebrow.

"I once interrogated him before and he talked about how his father was always trying to keep him healthy. He also talked about how he resented his father for trying to force him into being one way." Ciel informed before looking over his shoulder at his friend. "Were you aware that Caesar Merritt is himself a clone?"

"No!" the old man gawked, leaning forward in his chair a bit. "No, there's no way… Caesar always said he refuses to clone himself!"

"He didn't. The man he was cloned from did, however. I believe that the reason why Lord Merritt has the… lifestyle that he has is because he is forever rebelling against the source of his genetic material. For many nobles, having an heir feels like a sort of 'immortality.' It is a legacy and insurance that everything that one has worked for will not die out. My guess is that his 'father' before him took that in a more literal sense. He actually wanted another version of himself to live on after he died, only, I doubt he anticipated his clone to have thoughts and feelings of his own that were beyond the source's control. Caesar isn't pro-immortality. He is the antithesis of it. He wants to burn out in a blaze of glory and likes watching other people make the same mistakes his father did for fun. Now, I think I finally understand."

"Mystery solved, then?" questioned the menace. "The case of the leatherclad lord is now closed."

"We still have to catch him and make him pay for his crimes." the bluenette stated. "But yes. That part of it is solved."

"I… I had no idea..." Finnian said. "Is there anything else?"

"Hang on a second…" Ciel replied, scrolling down the list. "So far, it's either people I don't know or pawns of the Philosophers. All of the Pomeroys have their genes on file."

Then, he came to something that caused his brows to furrow and his eyes to widen. His stomach dropped as he saw the name. It was close to the bottom of the list, but it was perhaps the name of most importance. "Jim." he called, struggling to keep his voice steady. The unease in his tone immediately put the blonde on alert and prompted him to stop what he was doing to attend to his spouse.

"What is it?" the blonde asked before reading the screen. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end and he clenched his fists, mirroring the horror of what he was seeing. "That's-"

"Cornelius Wainright..." Ciel breathlessly said. "How?"

Pausing, the menace thought for a moment before suggesting: "You went to Merritt's house, didn't you? Did you touch anything?"

"I…" Suddenly, it hit the Watchdog. "I sat down in one of the chairs… He could've gotten a stray strand of hair, I-"

"Click on it." Alois instructed dutifully before nudging his husband out of the way when the other man hesitated. Pulling up the information, he relayed the information written there.

"'Project failure.'" he read aloud. "'Incorrect pigmentation displayed. Genes do not match desired source. Project terminated and destroyed.'" With that, he breathed a sigh of relief. That was a close shave. Thank goodness Caesar was trying to clone "Cornelius" or who knew what would have happened. Alois was glad it was avoided, but could sense no such joy from his beau.

"Ciel?" he asked, turning to face the other demon, but Ciel still looked stunned.

"I…" the Watchdog began, "I think I need to sit down for a minute..."

While Alois had his relief, Ciel was still overwhelmed. His emotions were obviously running high that day. Between seeing Finnian again and this? It was too much. It was just way too much. His genes- his own flesh and blood- and subsequently, the blood of Phantomhives, was duplicated and exploited without his permission. Despite not adhering to the majority of archaic noble views, Ciel still valued his blood. Some old habits die hard and he knew what blood meant. It was a legacy. It was the one way that many mortals in a sense, gain immortality. Although Ciel did his very best not to be old-fashioned and although he had lost his mortality, he still understood that. This legacy was the legacy of Phantomhive. It was his legacy. It was him. It was him in physical, tangible sense and it had been copied without his consent. It was a profound violation like no other.

All Ciel could do was slowly sit down on the hard floor and marinate on that thought. He stared down at his gloved hands. Those hands belonged to him. The skin, bone, tendons, muscle, fingernails, and blood all belonged to him. They were him. This is the body that he was inhabiting. He acknowledged this. He tried his best to wrap his head around how it could have potentially belonged to another, but couldn't. There is only one Ciel Phantomhive.

The creation of another was unthinkable. Yet, the destruction of one was equally unnerving. If that thing did exist and it was in fact destroyed, that meant that another person with Phantomhive blood had died. It was also undesirable and Ciel felt a bit ridiculous for thinking so. He hated the existence of a clone of his. He hated the very concept. Yet, it was a reminder of the fact that he was the last keeper of the Phantomhive legacy. Ah, how his old wounds were cutting him deeply today.

"Ciel?" Alois said, crouching down to meet his beau. "You okay?"

"Jim, how did it feel when Revy first turned up?" the bluenette asked, surprising the other a bit, but the blonde soon understood.

"Fuckin' weird..." he stated. "There were two of me! Of course it was weird! That was my body and this is my body, so it was pretty fucked up. Feeling something similar?"

"Sort of, I think..." Ciel replied. "I think I'd like to go home, soon… This is really a lot for one day..."

"Yeah, I can see that… Why don't you chill with Finn… 'Finny?'" Alois paused, turning to the old man. "Is it okay if I call you 'Finny,' or do you have a name you'd rather me use?"

"'Finny' is fine! Everybody called me that before this nonsense! So call me-"

BANG!

The world moved in slow motion as the demons watched Finnian look down at his chest. He raised a hand to touch the curious, deep red stain that seemed to be growing on his chest as he leaned forward instinctively to protect the rest of his vitals. While Alois began to turn with his gun drawn in the direction the shot came from, Ciel immediately began crawling toward Finnian as the old man began to fall.

"Glory to King Abhartach!" a voice roared, but it sounded muffled to Ciel as all of his attention and energy was focused in one direction. He could hear a second shot go off and then a third, but he could not see them. He was too focused on Finnian. Somehow, he made it just in time to keep the man from hitting the floor.

"Fuck!" Alois shouted. Suddenly, time was moving normally again. "I couldn't sense him! He blended in with the clones! I'm gonna go do a check to see if there's-"

When he turned his head to address his husband, he saw the Watchdog on his knees. His back was to the blonde, but Alois could imagine the expression on his husband's face. Ciel was cradling his friend in his arms as the old man's already laboured breathing grew even more strained.

"That's disappointing..." Finnian coughed. "I've been on the verge of death for so long, that I must say, finally getting here is a bit disappointing. I always thought I'd die of old age..."

"You're not going to die, Finny!" Panic was prevalent in Ciel's voice. "Do you hear me? That's an order!"

"It's not in my hands, I'm afraid… It's not all that bad..."

"Of course it is! It's the worst!" the bluenette practically shouted. "We haven't even gotten to talk yet!"

"But I got to see you again." the former gardener said. "Isn't that great? I'm so glad..."

"Why?! You don't even know what's changed! I wanted to tell you everything!"

"I already know. You've changed, master. You've changed so much. You seem happier now."

"I'm not happy!"

"You're able to allow yourself to feel sad. That counts for something. So I'm glad… I'm… Really… Really… Glad..."

"Oh, no, you fucking don't, you old fart!" Alois declared. "Fuck's sake, I have to do everything!"

Marching over to one of the computers, he pulled up the database and began searching around. His eyes and his hands were moving at a rapid pace as he worked against the clock. "Ugh, that's a lot of ground to cover." he muttered before running off. "Don't you dare die before I back or I swear I'll fucking kill you!"

"He's excitable, isn't he?" Finnian tried to laugh, but he only sputtered into a coughing fit. Specks of blood lined the inside of the clear mask that was feeding him oxygen as the bluenette frantically tried to figure out something he could do. He quickly grabbed his radio and pushed the button.

"Lizzie! I need a medic!" he desperately pleaded. "Lizzie! Are you there?! We need help!"

"Master… Stop…" Finnian was having trouble keeping his eyes open. He was freezing, but he could hardly feel it. He couldn't feel much of anything, really.

"No!" the Phantomhive bellowed as the sound of broken glass sounded off from somewhere else in the facility. He hated it. He hated crying, but tears fell from his eyes freely as he clung to his former servant.

Ciel thrived on power. He always had ever since he was born again as the Earl of Phantomhive and used power and control as a means of protecting himself from harm. A lot of the time, it was physical, as he was dealing with physically intimidating foes that would kill him if given that chance. That is why it was always best to have the upper hand and essentially, maintain a constant control over the situation. In another way, it protected his psyche, although not thoroughly. Using force to crush down his own emotions and to convince himself that he didn't care about others could only protect him for so long until his armour began to crack under the weight. In reality, he was a man, just like any other. He had a heart and he had emotions. That is exactly why he fabricated that wall, but now, that wall was dust. Although he had opened himself up to the outside and enjoyed the many benefits of being close to and caring about people, he was now vulnerable and could also get hurt by people. Sometimes, it was the same people for both sensations.

It hurt. It hurt so badly. He had just reunited with someone important to him after years and years of wondering and worrying about what Finnian had thought about him since he abandoned him. It was like he was finally going to be able to put a piece of what used to be back into the house, although the man had changed dramatically. Ciel was determined to make it work, but instead, what he got was loss. There was only more sadness and hurt. Finnian was lost. How could Ciel have been so naive? How could he have been so stupid? Had he already forgotten? Once something is truly lost, one could never hope to get it back again.

"What do you think you're doing?!" called a voice from behind the bluenette, drawing him out of his sorrowful stupor. "I'm glad you're accessing your emotions and all, but there's no time for that! You need to quit cryin' and do the thing!"

"'The thing?'" the Watchdog thoughtlessly mumbled before looking over his shoulder. "What?"

His husband walked toward him with dutiful, fast-paced steps and an expression of absolute seriousness on his face. Over his shoulders, he was carrying a naked person fireman style, but upon closer inspection, it was a clone. Despite his quickness, Alois moved purposefully and set the clone down gently next to Ciel before beginning to gesture wildly.

"You know, the thing!" the menace repeated. "This clone is alive, but it doesn't have a soul. Finny's body is dying, but the soul is still there! Hurry up! I can't do all of this by myself! We're not losing another one!"

"Ah!" It was like the light returned to Ciel's eye. No! That's not right! One could hope!

Gently, the bluenette set his friend down before dabbing a finger in the blood on the man's chest. "This might be difficult without a proper set up, but we'll make it work!" he said, turning his attention to the clone and drawing a seal on it. "Okay! That's all I can do!"

Turning his attention back to Finnian, he didn't have time to think about right or wrong. There wasn't a moment to spare to think about whether this was what the man would have wanted. Ciel was being selfish and knew it. That is why he took another person's soul into his hands, cradling it gently because it is the most important thing in the universe. A fractured soul is not a pleasant or easy thing to repair.

"I need your help." the Watchdog said to his beau. "Put your hands over mine and help me press the soul into the body. I need you to focus some of your power into your hands and direct it into binding the soul to the body."

"How do I do that?" the blonde asked, placing his hands on top of Ciel's as they held them together over the body.

"Just focus. You have to really want it."

"I do."

"Then on three. One… Two..." The pair pushed down on the clone's chest firmly and felt as Finnian left their hands and exited into the body. "Spiritus vitae."

Both of them focused as hard as they could, but things were a little anticlimactic for a few seconds. Both of them could feel Finny's soul inside of the body, but they wouldn't know how things went until he did something. It was agonising. Ciel could hear his heart beating in his ears as he anxiously awaited the first signs of consciousness.

Slowly, the man's eyelids began to twitch and he took a deep breath. Opening his eyes, he stared up at the two demons staring down at him. He furrowed his brows and squinted as his emerald eyes adjusted to the light.

"Yo, Finn, you in there?" the menace spoke up, ruining the quietness of the moment as he pointed to the Watchdog. "You recognise this guy?"

Blinking, the blond man laying on the floor looked over at Ciel and opened his mouth to speak. "Master?" he said, his voice raspy and new. Both demons sighed with relief as the bluenette seemed to deflate as the tension left him.

"Thank God..." Ciel breathed, placing a hand over his chest. "He's there..."

"I wouldn't call myself 'God,' but you're welcome, babe." Alois jested before turning his attention back to Finnian. "You need help getting up, mate?"

"What the..? Hold on..." the former gardener said, reaching up to rub his face as he tried to sit up. The others assisted him, but he noticed something was missing. "My oxygen mask? It's gone? But I'm… I'm breathing fine?" Then, he made the mistake at looking around the room and noticing his old body laying on the floor. "AUGH!" he screamed before recoiling in shock. "That's- That's me!"

"Yeah. We kinda put your soul in one of the clone bodies." the menace explained. "Sorry for doing it without asking, but we were in kind of a hurry."

"Wait, what?!" Finnian gawked before looking down at his hands. "My hands! They're not wrinkly!" He touched his face again. "Neither is my face, or… any of me?!" Then, the man made his second mistake and looked down further. Immediately, he went to cover himself. "I'm naked!"

"Sorry. We were desperate." Ciel replied, taking off his coat. "Well… I was desperate. Jim was proactive… Here, take this."

He handed the man his coat and Finny used it to cover himself for a moment while he tried to get up. Unfortunately, he only got a ways up before immediately falling down on his backside in an undignified manner. On the flipside, the others were understanding.

"Yeah, taking your first steps in a new body can be pretty tough. You'll get the hang of it." said the menace.

"Well, that and I haven't walked without assistance in over a decade, so there's that..." Finnian replied. "I could use some help."

"You might as well stay put for a bit, actually. I still need to break the rest of these machines." the blonde informed. "You and Ciel hang out here for a bit. I'll handle the rest."

"Wait, I'll help." the bluenette began as he stood up. His husband wasn't having it, however, and simply shooed him off.

"I think you could use a break." Alois informed. "This day has been ridiculously stressful for you and I think you need it. You might as well sit down right now, because I'm not gonna take 'no' for an answer on this. Just take a minute to calm down and process things, okay? Have some 'you' time. Besides, it's a good opportunity to talk to your friends. He probably needs an explanation for what just happened, anyway."

As much as Ciel wanted to protest, he knew his beau was right. Defeated, he knew that doing what the other Phantomhive said was for the best. Alois was right. He needed it.

"Alright..." Ciel conceded. Before he actually followed those instructions, he needed to express some of his gratitude. While he would definitely have to voice his actual feelings later, for now, he just settled for pulling his husband in for a kiss. "Thank you, Jim. I mean it. You have no idea how big of a thing you just did was."

"Oh, please. I know you better than you know yourself." the menace quipped with a playful smirk. "Besides, your Birthday is coming up. Think of it as an early gift."

"You are exempt from getting me gifts for the next hundred years."

"Nah. It's just so hard to shop for billionaires, so I gotta go above and beyond!" Alois laughed as he walked away. "I'm gonna go secure the area and smash some shit. Be right back."

"Alright." Ciel's husband waved at him playfully and Ciel caught himself waving back just as he remembered that Finnian was still in the room and was most likely watching. Moreover, the Phantomhive had just realised that he had kissed his spouse in front of his former servant! That was a bit embarrassing. Clearing his throat, he turned around to face Finnian and sat down, trying to put on a serious face. The other, however, just sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"What's that face for?" the bluenette questioned.

"It's just… A lot…" Finnian began. "I was reunited with you, I died, now my soul is in the body of a clone of myself, and now I'm young again which is already A LOT by itself. Then I see you actually… kissing someone openly? It's a lot. I'm a bit overwhelmed."

"I'm right there with you, I'm afraid." Ciel answered. "I was reunited with you, saw you as an old man, found out I had been cloned, found out clone has been destroyed, watched you die, panicked while my husband dragged a clone out of it's tank and yelled at me to put your soul in it, and then I put your soul in it. To be fair, though, I'd say you're having a worse day."

"It's so weird not to have arthritis anymore! It's so relaxing, I might fall asleep!"

"What's stopping you, then?"

"STRESS."

"That will do it." the Phantomhive relented, offering a small smile, regardless. "Unfortunately, we'll probably have to take you to the doctor's after this to have you looked over… I know you hate it, but it's probably a wise thing to do. I'd really like to go home for a while, though..."

"I mean, I suppose I have nowhere else to go, now that this place is occupied and I've betrayed Abhartach..."

"Well… I'm sure we can find something to do with you… You might need some physical therapy, but I could always use a little help around the manor if you've got nothing better to do..." Ciel said, watching as his old friend perked up. "That is, if you're open to it, after I abandoned you..."

"Of course I am! I'd love nothing more!" Finnian declared excitedly, his eyes practically sparkling.

"Well, there's always a room at the estate for you." the bluenette smiled before pausing. "By the way, there's a couple other people living with us other than Jim and Sebastian. Jim has two brothers, Revy and Luka. Revy is looking into moving out, but Luka is still way too young. I hope that's fine."

"Of course!" Then, the blond stopped to ask: "So you're friendly with Jim's family, too, huh?"

"I suppose. It's another rather complicated situation that will add on to the eight hour long explanation of everything, but they didn't have anywhere else to go. We have quite the family, now. Jim has been struggling to organise the family Christmas party due to the recent missions, but he's determined, as he is about practically everything."

"He saved me, didn't he? He didn't seem very worried..."

"He was. He's just… Jim. I think he was just pretty confident in being able to save you." Ciel nodded, mostly to himself as he seemed somewhat pleased with his own explanation. "He's… He's something else."

"I hope it's not offensive to say so, but I was a bit shocked by that!" Finnian began, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. He could feel how different it was and it somewhat disturbed him, but he ignored it for the time being to stay on topic. "I've never… I've never seen..."

"Two men kissing?" the bluenette questioned.

"Yeah… It's especially jarring because it's you, I think."

"A man can kiss the person he's in love with whenever he pleases." Ciel said, putting on his typical posh defensiveness. Then, he switched to being more sincere. "I can see what you mean, though. If it's sort of foreign to you, it will probably take some getting used to, especially when it's someone who doesn't quite seem the "type." I honestly didn't plan on kissing him in front of you right then. I just wanted to express my gratitude to him."

"I'm sorry. My mind is completely open, so I'll do my best! Uh… It is a bit embarrassing being naked, though."

"First rule of dealing with people who like the same sex: They're not all attracted to you. Believing so is sort of arrogant, isn't it?"

"That makes me feel a bit better, but I'm still naked..." Finnian said rather uncomfortably while the sound of machinery being broken continued to sound off in the distance. He paused before asking: "So, you're really married to Jim, then?"

"Of course. He's a legitimate Phantomhive and a proud addition to the family." The blonde man actually found Ciel's tone as he said this somewhat amusing as he immediately sounded like he was partially bragging. "I love him and he loves me. We take good care of each other- at least, he takes good care of me."

"I can see that!" smiled the former gardener. "It's sort of amazing how he immediately knew what to do like that."

"He's a smart man and he's absolutely right, I think. He does know me better than I know myself. We just… get each other. We talk things out a lot and communicate our problems, but for a lot of stuff? There isn't a need for words at all. I've never experienced anything like it."

Finnian chuckled at that. It was so strange. He had never seen his former master so sentimental and he had never heard him talk so openly about his feelings. It was pleasant. It was very pleasant. Although he had reunited with the Phantomhive and regained his youth, sometimes, when one gets things back to "normal," it still won't be quite the same. The blond thought this was a good change, however.

"What are you laughing at?" Ciel questioned, but Finnian shook his head.

"Nothing." he said. "You just seem a lot happier than you used to be. I'm glad."

"I am." the bluenette replied without hesitation. "Things are a lot better now, as much as I miss everyone. I used to put so much energy into being angry, but now? I'm trying to be happy for a change. So far, it's working better than I ever thought it could."

That really surprised Finnian. He stared at his former master in awe as his mind searched for signs of that boy he used to know. There were traces, of course, but Ciel seemed so much more grown up, now. It really warmed the blond's heart.

"That's good to see…" he said. "We all used to worry about you so much. We really wanted you to be able to make friends and be happy, but now you are! It's a little scary. It's kind of like you don't need us anymore."

"I'm sorry I made you feel responsible for that." the bluenette answered, looking down for a moment. "I don't care if it's not necessary, though. Me wanting you in my life is enough reason for it. I don't want to think in terms of how 'useful' the people who are close to me are anymore. If you see people as nothing but pawns, then you're doomed to be isolated and you'll have no one but yourself to blame. I've learned this the hard way, but I've learned it and that's what matters. That's why I want to open up my home to you again. This time, I want things to be better."

Now, it was Finnian's turn to shed tears. They were the first tears this body of his ever shed. He felt like a proud parent, almost. If he were clothed and could pounce on his master in order to give him a big hug, he would.

"I want to see it!" he declared. "I want to see the new Phantomhive house!"

"Then, I'm afraid we'll have to wait a little bit until my husband is done smashing things."

Alois was making excellent time. He had broken most of the machines in the room and snapped the necks of anyone else he found hiding. He didn't want to raise a fuss to distract the bluenette from his conversation. The menace was happy with how things turned out, although he was a bit uneasy. He had gotten a little bit hot-headed, but hoped that he made a decent enough first impression. Finnian was important to the Watchdog, after all. That meant that his opinion was important to Alois!

Overall, the blonde Phantomhive felt a bit better about everything, although he wasn't at his best. He saved someone, even though he couldn't save Baldassare. This time, he made sure that he was quick to act and it worked in his favour. He wished that he could have saved both, however. He still failed in such a spectacularly catastrophic way for Baldassare. Saving Finnian wouldn't bring him back or help things in Gehenna. It was good for his husband, however, so it was a small victory.

Take command. Be proactive. Do what must be done. Alois punched the tank in front of him, punching a hole that caused the liquid inside to drain. He cut his fist, but it healed back up instantly. It was a small, temporary pain for a much greater cause. Baldassare died in vain, however. Nothing could counteract that. Nothing.

Nothing.

It was going to take a lot more than saving Finnian to restore Alois' faith in himself- or even for him to forgive himself. Hellsing had won a significant victory that day. He should be happy and he was. It was just that he had other things on his mind that distracted him from giving it his all. He was happy for Ciel and glad that he had reunited with his long lost friend and was now able to start on his path to forgiving himself for his past sins. He was happy for Finnian for being able to keep living! Alois was not happy with himself, however. It didn't matter that he saved Finnian. He was supposed to be the hero of Gehenna, yet he failed Gehenna. He didn't know what was going to make him feel better about it. Maybe nothing could.

Nothing.


A/N: I'm kind of mixed on this idea. I dislike getting rid of the potential of Old!Finny, but I also have been planning that for months and couldn't think of an alternative in time. It's really fuckin' bizarre how this plan is being carried out. Just crossing shit off as we go along. Next step.

Emotions are weird... I had a really hard time writing everybody's feelings in this chapter. It's just such a huge MESS of conflicting feelings bashing against each other that it's kinda hard for ME to wrap my head around it all.

Yeah, Alois is glad Ciel is happy and gets to close that chapter of his life. At the same time, though, he not only knows that he needs to finish the task, but also, he's got his own shit that he still worries about. Not only that, NOW he has to kinda get used to this new person and be on his good side.

Ciel is ALL OVER THE PLACE. He's wrought with guilt, yet he wants to show off how well he's doing and wants Finny to be impressed and supportive, but he's also DEVASTATED during that one bit and feels powerless, but then Alois takes control and it's like "Maybe things aren't as fucked up as my brain's telling me?" and then he's embarrassed about Finny seeing him kiss, and he feels violated by having his DNA hijacked, and then this and then that and it's like? This poor guy? He can't handle this many feelings. He is exhausted, guys...

Finny is a huge mess, too! Reunited with his old pal? Awesome! Old pal doing well? BEAUTIFUL A+ Old pal kissing dudes? Weird, kinda foreign, a little jarring and hard to fully accept that this is a thing that is happening, but Ciel's happy, so he's gonna work around that. New body? WOT.

What are all of these feelings? How... do I write this? I'm doing way too much right now. Past me who wrote this plot several months ago is a DICK!

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!