"That's the last board." Logan said, before standing on his knees and gathering his tools. "You should be able to move your stuff back in here, now."

"For real?" Daniel asked, peeking his head into the room. He looked at the floor, which previously had a hole in it big enough for him to jump downstairs into the incubus' flat. "Whoa! That was fast!"

"Not really. It could've been faster if I had help. These tools that Kris' parents got me helped, though." Mister Kendrick loaded what he could into his arms and would come back for the rest, but Daniel took it upon himself to help.

"Jesus, do they think you're gonna build a house from scratch or something?"

"I could, if I wanted to." Logan squeezed the trigger on his new power drill for emphasis. "I'm gonna have a hard time writing a thank you card big enough for them."

"You write thank you cards?" Questioned the Westley while arching an eyebrow.

"Of course! You should always thank people properly when they do things for you."

"Speaking of which, thanks a lot for fixing up my floor, Logan." Daniel said as he followed the other man out, still carrying some of his tools for him. "I really mean it."

"Don't worry about it. In this case, it helps me, too. The hole was above my bedroom, afterall!"

"Still, you even fixed the hardwood floor!"

In the destruction of the Westley's home while in search of the HELLSING scoundrel, the Philosophers had damaged the flat rather extensively. With the fixing of the floor, however, it was all repaired. All that was left to do was to replace furniture and valuables and to move back in. At the moment, the Westleys were staying with the Midfords until then.

Now on the ground floor, Logan opened the door to his own apartment and set his tools just offset of the door inside. Daniel then handed him what was left and he did the same with it. All the while, Daniel could see Kristopherson inside the flat rearranging furniture. Having lycanthrope strength must come in handy in times like these, as evident by how the wolfman didn't seem to be breaking a sweat and even stopped to wave at Daniel and peck Logan on the lips as he walked by.

After parting ways, the Westley was sort of left at a loss for what to do for the time being. Perhaps he could tidy up a little bit here and there before locking up and heading back to the Midfords for the day. He walked a few paces toward his own door and was just about to turn the handle when he heard the sound of fast approaching feet. Turning around, he spotted the source and crouched down, scooping the small child up underneath her arms with a grunt and holding her up in the air.

"Graaaaah!" he playfully roared, grinning as he heard the Ravenscroft girl giggle. "Hey, Ruby. How are you today?"

"Good!" the little girl answered while her father approached Daniel with a somewhat apologetic look on his face.

Theodore Ravenscroft was a relatively young, single, father who manned the front desk at the Town Welfare Center in Gehenna. When childcare was difficult to find, he would sometimes bring his daughter to work with him and she took a bit of a shine to Daniel, who was always willing to kill time by playing with her when he didn't have clients. It was on one such day that Gehenna was invaded, so while although the trio knew and were quite fond of each other pretty well when they first hid in the saferoom beneath the Centre, they were a lot better acquainted now.

"Hey, Ted." Daniel greeted. "How's it going?"

"It's good! How about you?" Mister Ravenscroft replied. "Still chipping away at the damage?"

"It's all fixed up, actually! Now I just need to replace some of the stuff that's missing and move back in."

"That's good! That's good… Tell me if you need help. I'd be happy to pop over and give you a hand. Though we might get a little bit of 'help' from Ruby, if you do."

With a laugh, Daniel turned to the girl in his arms and asked: "What do you think? You want to help move furniture and clean my house?"

"No!" Ruby answered in a bright, cheerful voice.

"Alright, then. I guess it'll just be you any me, Teddy." The Westley said as he set the girl back down on the ground, but she continued to hold his hand, regardless. Luckily, Daniel found himself not minding all that much. In fact, it didn't feel strange at all and nobody seemed to bat an eye.

"She's been asking about you, you know." Theodore chuckled. "She keeps wanting to know when she can see Danny again."

"Well, you know where to find me. I'm fine whenever it's okay with you."

"Thanks. But uh… That's only part of the reason why I came over when I saw you." Mister Ravenscroft said, looking down for a second as he rubbed his chilled hands together. "I really wanted to thank you for helping take care of Ruby while we were down in the saferoom. I don't think she would be adjusting as well as she has or even stayed calm during it without you."

"Oh, don't worry about it… I was more than happy to help out. Besides, it's not like there was much else to do!" Daniel jested. "She's a good kid. Really, it was no trouble at all."

Theodore still smiled, but hesitated as he opened his mouth to speak. "I was thinking… Maybe you could come over for dinner sometime." he suggested. "As 'Thank you.'" he clarified. "You can bring Samantha, if she wants to come."

"I'd like that." Daniel nodded. "Let me get you my mobile number so we can talk dates."

"Alright. Cool…. Cool…." Mister Ravenscroft replied, shifting on his feet a bit while nervously. It was about then that he saw a face watching them from the window. Kristopherson waved at him, prompting him to bashfully wave back. The Westley noticed and looked over his shoulder at the wolfman and rolled his eyes.

"Ignore him. He's a jerk." the Westley said. "You can come in, if you want. Get out of the cold a bit."

"Sure, okay." Theodore agreed, motioning for his daughter to follow Daniel inside. Once they were out of sight, Kristopherson straightened his back and chuckled.

"Leave them alone." Logan half-heartedly scolded. "It's not polite to watch people like that."

"Oh, come on… I have to take measure!" Kristopherson replied as he walked over to the couch that his boyfriend was sitting on.

"Jealous?" the incubus teased, prompting the other man to bend down at the waist and kiss him on top of his head.

"Nah. Just nosy." answered the wolfman as he walked around the sofa and sat down next to the other man, allowing Logan to put his arm around him. "A bit worried."

"Yeah, I would be, too. Teddy's a good guy, though, so I wouldn't worry too much."

"How was Dan when you were fixing his floor?"

"He didn't talk to me much. It's fine, though. I don't think he wanted to get in the way of me working. Other than that, he was tolerable."

"Thanks for enduring, baby. Now we actually sleep in the bedroom again!"

"Yeah… We should send a card or something to your parents for letting us stay with them." Logan said.

"Oh, they don't mind. They were happy to help us out!"

"True, but still. They did a lot." the incubus continued. "They even gave us time to uh… help me recover."

"Yeah, my mum teased me a lot about that." Kristopherson replied with a nod. "They know it's something that you actually need to live, though, so even if they don't really understand it, they're fine with trying to accommodate you."

"That's good. I was worried that it might be a bit much to try that in their house… I know humans often feel really awkward and uncomfortable about that sort of thing, so I didn't want to be rude."

"Logan, you were in the process of starving. They understand. Besides, there's no way they could say 'no' after seeing how run-down you were."

"Yeah, I kinda noticed they were being extra nice."

"They love you. You're their favourite. I think they even like you better than Lawrence, and he worked with my dad! They wanted to spoil you a bit." the wolfman explained. "By the way, my mum will be calling to ask you about how the tools are working for you after while. She didn't tell me she was going to do that, but I know her."

"That's fine! I can thank her directly, then. Though, it would still be polite to send a proper card. I'm still getting used to powertools, but they work great! It cuts down how much time and work I have to do by a lot!"

"Good. I'm glad you like them! You said your saws were due for a change, and I would hate for you to be stuck with an electric one that's uncomfortable to use..."

"It's a bit scary, but after a while, it's just useful. I'll need a place to put them, though… I guess I can make something for the basement..." Logan trailed off as he rubbed his goatee with his free hand and furrowed his brow. He was making the expression he makes when he's thinking about how to design furniture and other things, along with dimensions and what materials he would need. It was similar to the look that Kristopherson got when he was conceptualising clothing designs. Both of them had their outlets, as different as they were. "I still need to finish your Christmas gift..."

"It's okay. Take all the time you need." grinned the wolfman as he turned in his seat to wrap his arms around the other man's shoulders and kissed him on the cheek. "My little handyman… I don't know anything about woodworking or anything, but I still really like hearing you talk about it?"

"Same with you and fashion! I still think denim jackets are great, though."

"It's not the jacket, it when you wear the jacket with blue jeans!"

"Yeah, cool, but… have you considered… it's comfy..?" Logan playfully suggested, prompting his beau to roll his eyes.

"But… Have you considered… You have other jackets now?"

"Yeah, that's why I've been wearing them. They're really cool. I also really like these boots?"

"You're the chicest woodworker in the land, Logan."

"And you're gonna have so many coatracks, shoe and tie holders, that you're not gonna know what to do with them all."

Logan wasn't the only one who was fixing things, however. Most of the damage had been repaired to the city and the power was back on for most families, allowing them to return to their homes. The rest of the damage was superficial. Scuffs and dents in things, here and there, but more jarringly was how the Philosophers treated art in Gehenna. The likenesses of lions had been destroyed in some areas, so Mister Lion had paid for benches and fountains replaced, as they were important to Gehennans. People were still installing them and disposing of the debris. Murals had been covered in rushed, and often incomplete coats of paint, and some artists were out in the cold, trying to restore some of them, if not replace them, but it was difficult, due to the weather. They may just have to live with it until it warmed up again, but that would take months. Everyone just wanted to move on and restore the town to it's true glory.

Some witches actually used magic to help keep the artists warm so they could work, although some were busy brewing potions and checking in on the injured. Some of them merely fought the good fight and provided aid wherever they could, including alongside Girasol. Some even went as far as to take orders from Kyung-Soon.

Wink, for example, was busily helping out along with other residents of Phantom House who volunteered, even though some citizens of Gehenna were uneasy about her presence. After all, one of the groups that betrayed them called themselves "The Neo-Scarlet Order," and she was a bigwig within the original group. She didn't care, however. She would do what she thought was right, whether anybody liked it or not.

Her specialty, when it came to magic, involved ice, which wasn't very useful, given the circumstance. If necessary, however, she could make an igloo for someone to stay in, but it never came to that. Thus, she was busily working as a volunteer in the kitchen of The Wolf's Glen, taking whatever ingredients she could and turning them into something that was edible and tasted alright, since most stores that typically served food were still closed. The Wolf's Glen was being compensated by HELLSING, so there was no need to worry about receiving payment from customers. Whoever came in hungry left with some food.

Falchion A. Grey, the sexual therapist, mostly assisted in picking up trash and such alongside another group that was focused on that task. The Knaggs family did the same, save for Lewis Knaggs, who was making sure that the mail continued to arrive on time. He debated on actually hiring a few new people to help, given the amount of packages that were arriving from Pyestock, as news of the attack traveled to Gehenna's sister city. He, along with a few members of Girasol were doing their best to sort through them all and figure out where the resources could best be utilised. Really, not all of them were helpful, or even necessary, but the thought was kind and very much appreciated. It was good to know that there were others out there like them who would support them during a crisis. In fact, a few residents of Pyestock actually helped with cleanup!

Jeffery Steele, who owned the general store, was busily trying to get the place back up in running again, after it had been raided and thoroughly trashed by Philosophers. His wife, Helen, assisted him, along with a few of his employees, although he found it hard to pay them for their time, without income coming in. Some of the faoladh themselves offered to help, including their leader, Claire Whelan, who got on her hands and knees and picked up small shards of glass from the shattered front window of the storefront. Honestly, she was ashamed that it was her people who did this- so much so, that cleaning it up was far less embarrassing.

Thank goodness, they didn't manage to destroy the literature that Baldassare had left to Samantha. The history of not just Gehenna, but of supernaturals, as told by supernatural beings, still existed and was safe. Baldassare's manuscripts and his works in progress in a addition to some of his oldest, most valuable supernatural texts, were all safe in a safety deposit box in London under Samantha's name. As for the young woman herself, she was still struggling with writing down current events. She stared at the computer in front of her, watching as the small, black, vertical, line flashed while it patiently waited for the next word. This was a big, historical event that she had just lived through, yet she had a hard time describing it. This wasn't due to any lack of ability on her part, however. No, it was because she knew what she had to live up to.

Just as she was about to resign herself to staring at the page all day, Geraldine came into the room and threw a water bottle at her before flopping onto the bed. Samantha struggled to catch the drink, but was ultimately glad to have an excuse to stop working.

"How's it going?" questioned the Midford. "Any breakthroughs?"

"Not really, no." the Westley replied. "I'm still not sure how to put this together."

"Are you out of Baldassare-notes?"

"No, I just wanted to write about this while it's still fresh. This is an incredibly important moment in supernatural history and I'm just sitting on it!"

"I think you should go back to writing with Baldassare's notes." bluntly stated Geraldine without a moment of pause. "Here's my case: You're struggling, and forcing it isn't going to help. So maybe you should focus on something else for a little bit and then come back to it. Besides, you don't have all of the information yet. Maybe you should at least wait until you can interview somebody involved toward the top. Kyung-Soon, maybe?"

"She's busy with clean up… And the Phantomhives are still working on catching the people responsible. All I have is what I saw and what it says in the newspapers."

"Right. So maybe wait a little bit? Especially since- let's be real- you've seen some shit. Just take it easy and process everything before jumping in."

"I might forget something important by then, though."

"No, I mean process trauma." the Midford stated, causing the other to pause.

"I'm not traumatised..."

"Sam, you were locked in a bunker for over a week and you haven't left the house since you got here. Don't you find that a bit odd?" Sitting up, Geraldine patted the space next to her on the bed. "Listen- Come here for a sec..."

Skepticism was apparent on the Westley's face, but she slowly did as she was told. Shutting the laptop, she got up and made her way over to the bed before plopping down on it. Once she did, Geraldine crossed her legs and turned to face her head-on.

"Look, I'm gonna say some real shit for a second." The Midford began. "What you just went through is no fucking joke. I don't mean to tell you how you feel, but let me put things into a little perspective- There was a time where I genuinely thought that you were going to die, Sam. That's how dangerous that shit is. It's not a situation that is simple enough for you to just jump into and record like it's nothing. There's a lot of different perspectives on it and all of them are pretty sensitive. You should make sure that you're not just portraying it from your own point of view, but you should also take some time to take inventory and make you're that you're up to speed, too, alright? Take a break. Relax. Drink your water."

Samantha opened her mouth to speak, but soon closed it again and thought harder before speaking. "There's just a lot going on..." she said. "I don't want it to get buried under all of this other stuff. I still have to write about Baldassare in all of this, too..."

"And you're still upset about him! You've got to let yourself feel for a bit..."

"That sounds weird, coming from you." Samantha said, leaning back so that she was laying on her back.

"Why's that?"

"Because you've always got on a poker face. I can sort of tell what you're thinking sometimes, but sometimes, I'm at a loss..."

"I'm feeling things all the time. I just not expressive like that."

"I know. It's easy to tell when you're really into something. Your face doesn't move, but it's like your eyes light up a bit? I think that's how you express yourself visibly, but people find you intimidating, so they find it hard to meet them..."

"Huh… I hadn't thought about that… What am I thinking now?" asked Geraldine, resting her elbow on her knee and her chin in her palm.

"You're worried about me." the Westley replied. "You seem scared."

"Of course I'm scared. I thought my best friend was going to die!" said the Midford before sighing. "It's not hard to imagine, these days…"

"Are you still having nightmares about… her?"

"Constance Belmont, yes..."

"It's been months… Doesn't it get better with time?"

"It does, but it takes a while… That's why you shouldn't push yourself into stuff. It's not healthy."

"I don't want to take months." Samantha answered in an unusual bout of immaturity. "I don't even really wanna take minutes..."

"You don't really get a choice. It took Ciel decades before he got over most of his stuff… He didn't talk to anybody about it, though."

"Do you talk about it?"

"Well, he does have a degree in psychology, so I talk to him sometimes." Geraldine informed, watching as a bit of jealousy washed over Samantha's expression. "He's good with this stuff."

"That's good." Samantha wasn't really sure what else to say. She was glad for her friend, yes, but didn't really know how to respond. There was a lot on her mind and she wasn't really sure if she felt like talking right then.

Rolling onto her side, she said: "I think I might take a nap really quick..."

"Alright." the other woman said, her face indecipherable. "I'll just be here, then."

It was awkward, but neither of them felt particularly comfortable right then. It would take some reflection before they could come back and discuss the topic again. Otherwise, the awkwardness would persist and lead to more awkwardness. This was just a way of ending the conversation so they could start fresh again, later. They didn't need to have a fight to know this. They just did it this way.

Meanwhile, the bluenette himself had his own mess to attend to- or rather, to share with his spouse along with the others involved at the heart of the Philosopher's matter. Once again, the Phantomhives and Elizabeth found themselves in the Intelligence Department with news from the department head.

"In our department, we not only find investigate reports of supernatural incidents as they occur, we also keep track of data on said attacks." Lieutenant Chu said, pointing to a series of graphs with a stick as they were projected onto a screen. "After the Gehenna incident, there has been a spike in incidents in the London area. The thing is, however, when troops arrived at the scene, there was no trace of any vampires or ghouls, but there was evidence of an attack happening." With a push of a button, the screen changed.

"Blood spatter was consistent, and the Media Management department found video evidence posted online. The evidence was copied and sent to us before it was removed from the site." She continued to explain. With another push, the image changed again. "This is a still image from the video that we believe captures a credible vampire sighting. This took place at a small party near Soho. There were drugs on the scene, but notice how the eyes reflect light? Whatever it is, it has blood around it's mouth and it certainly isn't human."

"My first instinct is to crop out everything else and run the face in the Gehenna newspaper." Alois suggested. "Or we could just ask around. See if it's one of ours."

"While you're at it, is it possible that you could propose the concept of adding photographs to people's records?" suggested his beau. "Just in case this sort of thing happens again..."

"I'll have to figure out how to make it work first, but it's not impossible. More importantly, I assume this spike is being pointed out to us for a reason?" the menace added, looking to Lieutenant Chu expectantly.

"That is correct." the woman said. "The timing is somewhat of a concern. My assumption is that Abhartach is trying to bolster his forces before he launches his next attack."

"True. While he usually uses werewolves, vampires are infectious at all times." Ciel stated. "Do we have any idea when the next attack will be?"

"No. There are no leads."

"Personally, I have an idea of when I would do it." Alois began, capturing the attention of the room. "Not… Not that I would, because I definitely wouldn't- But! Even though he's increasing his numbers with vampires, his forces would be strongest during the full moon. Vampires don't like daytime and his werewolves would be at their most destructive. I'd give us until the next one at the least. Then again, he's gotten ahead of us, before, so maybe not..."

"We'll keep it in mind." Elizabeth chimed in before looking to Chu. "Are there any consistencies in the attacks? Maybe we can establish a pattern."

"It will be difficult to do so." Suyin explained. "Most of the attacks occur randomly at night in various areas throughout the city, while others seem to occur at houseparties, like in the video. Both are difficult to predict, if not impossible. Even with the parties, most of them are small, or private events that we would have to comb Twitter and Facebook in order to find. Given that the population of the city is roughly eight million, even though we would only be combing pages that fit a portion in a certain age range, there is no way that we have the manpower to arrive at every single location if with could. In other words: we're at a loss as to what to do."

"Hmm..." pondered the blonde. "If we can just catch one alive, we might be able to figure something out… We better work fast, though… January is less than a week away..."

"What happens in January?" questioned Elizabeth.

"New Year's… People will be partying. It'll be tough to tell if people are missing right away from the drinking. Worse, with the crowds, it'll be easy for them to spread quickly and hard for use to take them down without hurting civilians or drawing attention to ourselves."

That was a horrifying prospect. With the new year rapidly approaching, there wasn't much time left. It would be hard for people to escape vampires in a crowd and even if they could, it would be tough for people to realise what was happening right away. It wasn't just vampires they needed to worry about, but ghouls. Ghouls changed faster when bitten and they could be controlled. If anything, it would be preferable to Abhartach if he could obtain a bunch of ghouls instead.

Pulling out, his phone, Ciel began to look up a few things. "Even if all of this is correct, the next full moon is on the twelfth. That isn't nearly enough time to train any new soldiers..."

"He doesn't have to. All he has to do is overwhelm us, and it's over." the menace said before looking to Elizabeth. "I don't know if you or Integra has a direct line to Buckingham palace, but I would be telling them to beef up security pronto."

"Will do." the woman replied. "But what are we going to do about the vampires in the meantime? Is there anything that can be done?"

"I'm not sure, yet." the bluenette answered, still looking at his phone with a furrowed brow. "I have no idea how to figure out where they're going to hit next. For now, we should tell dispatch to have soldiers attempt to bring back the next specimen or two alive for interrogation. Other than that, I'm not sure..."

"Depends how big they wanna go, I guess… Aren't there like, huge parties that get pretty massive? Would it be beneficial to hit those, or to hit a bunch of small-sized ones at once? Our answers might be different than Abhartach's, anyway, so there's not much way to tell..."

"I'll notify dispatch." Elizabeth said, standing up. "I will also talk to Integra to get her thoughts on this… Jim, you follow through with gathering information around Gehenna. Ciel, I would like it if you would work with Lieutenant Chu to see if you can find any rhyme or reason behind these attacks. Be sure to keep in touch."

"Yes, ma'am." Jim replied, offering a salute.

"Understood." Answered Ciel.

Everyone seemed on the same page about what was going to happen next, although there was a lot of unease over what was to happen if they failed. The demons got the materials they needed and continued talking even as they walked away. Jim walked faster than his husband did, forcing the other man to keep up with his pace as the blonde muttered.

"Fuckin' hell..." grumbled the menace. "It's always something… He's relentless… Absolutely relentless…"

"I suppose he has to be, given his ambition." the bluenette commented, but Alois was still caught up on things.

"That's a lot of people… I hope they're alright… I don't want them to die, but if they fight for Abhartach, there might not be any saving them… That's not right… That's not right at all… To be taken away from everything and then forced to fight against your will… Sick fuck..."

"Jim, darling… You're in your head, again..." Ciel noted, but his beau did not notice until they were quickly making their way down the front steps of the building, only for Alois to slip on a patch of ice. It quickly pulled him out of his thoughts for a moment as he suddenly realised where he was and fortunately, Ciel was fast enough to catch him, holding him from under the arms. "Are you alright?"

"Oh… Yeah, sorry..." the menace said while the other Phantomhive helped him to his feet again.

"It's alright. Do your best to relax."

"People are dying and I can't do anything about it. That's not very relaxing..."

"That is just the way it is, sometimes. The best you can do is save everybody you can." answered the bluenette before pausing. "Jim… Are you having a moment?"

"Maybe..." the menace rather sheepishly confessed as he safely made it to the bottom of the stairs. "I… I know it's not my fault, but it feels like my fault. I'm trying my best not to, but it's hard to be objective about it."

"Well, your appointment with Doctor Tarabotti is tomorrow. Maybe she can help you figure it out."

"Don't you have some fancy-schmancy diagnosis you can give me? After all, you know me better than anybody..."

"I could try, but I can't be objective when it comes to you. I'm always biased, and there's just some things that you're not comfortable with me knowing, that might be important."

"So do you have any ideas or do you not?"

"I do." Ciel bluntly stated. "But I would have to ask you some pretty deep stuff that may be uncomfortable in order to confirm my suspicions."

"You are so not helpful..."

"I'm not a therapist. I think you should talk to a professional, since they can do better than I can."

"Fine… I already said I'd go, right? I'll go..."

"I know you will. But just to make sure, I'm sending Revy to make sure you actually go in."

"What?! Oh, come on!" gawked the menace, looking back at his spouse as he reached for the car door. "That was one time!"

"That was the only time you've every been to a counselor of any sort!" the Watchdog pointed out. "Please take this seriously. Don't give the doctor any sass, don't evade any questions, just… answer honestly, alright? Not just because I want you to, but for yourself. Please?"

"I know, I know… It's just… scary, I guess…" Alois replied.

"Do you want me to go with you instead?"

Alois opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it again. His hands slid down on the steering wheel before he lightly tapped on it to indicate that he was thinking. His shoulders stiffened as he seemed to sink in his seat. "You won't listen through the door or anything, will you?" he sheepishly asked, knowing that Ciel's hearing was superb due to his supernatural status.

"For you, I can control myself." Leaning over, Ciel kissed his husband's cheek before putting a hand over his. "It's going to be alright, Jimmy. I promise."

"Okay..." the menace said, letting out a breath. "I'd rather have you go, instead. You can work while you wait, and I'd even like it if you went to talk to Lizzie or Lieutenant Chu about the mission, in case anything new comes up. I'd just like it if you were there when I get out, is all."

"Would sensing me in the waiting room help you, though?"

"Maybe. I don't know… I kind of want you to, but I also don't want to be idle when it comes to the case. That idea makes me even more uncomfortable."

"I'll check in, then." Taking one of the blonde's hands from the steering wheel, Ciel gently kissed each knuckle. "Don't you worry about a thing, darling. I will take care of it."

"You spoil me..." Alois lamented somewhat, although he enjoyed and appreciated the attention.

"No, I am supporting my spouse, just as I vowed to." Finally, Ciel stopped and looked at the other man with a soft smile. "Even if that means that you need a little more support than usual."

Sighing, the menace smiled, but it was a somewhat sad one. "I feel like I should be used to it, by now. You're such a good man, Ciel. Sometimes, it's kind of surprising that you're still legit..."

Gently, Ciel rubbed the back of his beau's hand with his thumb and leaned over to kiss him again. This time, it was on the side of the other man's mouth. "I hope that someday, it's no longer surprising." he said. "I love you. That's a fact. You're a great man, Jim. Even if you weren't, you are inherently deserving of love and affection, and I intend to provide it." The next time he kissed the other man, it was on the lips and when he pulled away, he finally saw a genuine smile on the other man's face. "Alright?"

"Alright."Alois replied. "I love you, too. I really want a hug, but that's sort of hard to do in the car."

"Take us home, and I will embrace you as much or as little as you like."

"You're spoiling me..."

"I'm in love with you."

After arriving home, they would attend to their emotional needs first before venturing back into discussions of business. It was a lot to take in, so they needed to brace themselves. There were obvious worst-case scenarios that were not impossible. After all, with the scale of Abhartach's ultimate goal, it wasn't out of the question that he is willing to cause a scene. They needed to find a way to quickly discover which route the Philosophers were going to take and to intercept them before too many people were hurt or found out that supernatural are indeed real.

The operation would continue the next day. Ciel would gain updates from anyone he could and talk with the relating departments, although he would also stop to visit the Media Management department to see if they had anything that Intel didn't know yet. Alois would go to his appointment, and everyone would see how things went from there. These were trying times, but hopefully, the demons were strong enough not to break from the pressure.


A/N:Hello, hello... How is everyone? I could have made this chapter longer, really, but I was sort of behind on it, so I wanted to put something out.

I took a few days off after writing the last one and now I'm rearing to go!

Uh... I don't really have much else to say...

Thank you for all of your feedback, by the way. It's really helpful. I'd like to know where you think this should go next!

Until the next chapter, my duckies~!