Slowly, the sun was beginning to set, marking how close the battle was for England with every new additional colour that stained the sky. It could be seen, even through the grey clouds overhead as they did their best to blot out the heavens, threatening the ground below with more snow as time went on. The tracks outside of the warehouse were now completely covered. Inside, Finnian made his way through the dark warehouse and placed his palms against a set of heavy doors.
They were locked, but it didn't matter to him. With a grunt, he forced them open, squinting as he was suddenly bathed in blue light. Allowing his eyes to adjust, he found that the light was far dimmer than he initially thought. The soft glow of the tanks illuminated the room, revealing old, beaten-up cables wrapped in electrical tape lining the floor. Upon closer inspection, the most of the tanks were empty. They didn't even have any sort of liquid in them. The glass was cracked and the machines connected to them were gutted. At the far end of the small room, however, Finnian could see a figure crouching down beside one of the seemingly whole ones.
"Oh, it's you." he said, recognising the man. He relaxed a bit, knowing that he wasn't in any sort of danger with Caesar Merritt. He might have been afraid before, but now? Finnian knew that he could crush Merritt's skull with little effort. Still, he was cautious and did his best to walk into the room in a casual manner. "What are you doing here?"
Caesar furrowed his brow. "Hiding out." he said, standing up with a light cough. "Your little rebellion at the Gardening Center cost me big, you realise, yeah? I wouldn't be allowed to live after failing that big, so I made a little arrangement with Mister Beattie. I keep the tanks working and the clones healthy, and he lets me hide out here."
"Sorry about that. I had to get Phantomhive to trust me."
"Yeah..." Caesar didn't seem interested in that reasoning. "Doesn't matter anymore. Everything's shit, anyway." The man threw down the tool in his hand so it clattered with the others on the floor next to him. "I need a fuckin' fag..."
"I don't smoke, so I can't help you, there." Finnian shrugged. "Sorry."
"'Sorry, sorry, sorry...' Whatever." Merritt hobbled over to a table with a chair next to it and sat down. His coughing was a bit more aggressive, now, so he pulled out a rag from his pocket and placed it to his mouth.
"Are you alright?"
"No." Caesar shook, sniffing before lowering his hand from his face. "My joints hurt, my lungs are shit, and my hair's falling out. I was made before the process was perfected, so I'm starting to break down faster. I have no idea how much longer I've got. I could get a couple years out of it, maybe, or it could be a few weeks. Either one would be pretty good, I think."
"What are you gonna do until then?"
"I don't know… Tonight, I'm going to watch the fireworks at Buckingham Palace, but afterwards? Probably get pissed and get laid until Abhartach's people find me. You wouldn't happen to be interested, would you?"
"No, sorry. I'm straight." Finnian said, putting up his hands and shaking his head.
"Figures." Caesar said. "What about you? What are you going to do after you've gotten revenge on Phantomhive?"
"I'm not sure… I'll think of something, I suppose."
"Well, the offer still stands, if you're up for it." With that, the noble reached under the table and pulled out an almost empty bottle. "Live a little while you're still on this earth. You've gotten an extension, though, so maybe you can afford to stop and look around for a while."
"Yeah..." Mister Gardener replied, stepping closer to the other. "That's what I hope to do."
Hopeful, Caesar lifted his head in order to look at the other man, only to see a flash of Finnian's fist. In an instant, Caesar fell out of his chair and landed harshly on the ground, prompting a worried look from the Gardener. Cautiously, Finnian looked over the other man's body and crouched down. Placing a hand to Caesar's face, the blond uttered a sigh of relief as he felt the man still breathing. He would have felt awful if he killed him, especially after having listened to the man's circumstances. Perhaps that's why Ciel always opted to be distant about things.
Standing up again, he looked over his shoulder at the tank that Caesar had been working on. It was the one that glowed the brightest and actually had stuff inside. Walking up to the container, Finnian scrunched up his face in disgust. It was full of the liquid that housed the bodies that grew inside, along with a partially-formed human head. It's muscles were fully formed down to the neck and was connected to tubes that kept blood and oxygen flowing through it, as it didn't yet have a heart. The arteries and tendons hung loosely as their cells continued to multiply at the base of the neck. The head had very little skin, but it did have enough on the top of its cranium to have hair growing out of it. Thin strands of bluish-black hair floated through the fluid, some of it dangerously close to snapping off, but it was enough for Finnian to positively identify the donor sample.
"This is so gross..." the blond lamented, stopping to take a deep breath. He stepped back from the container and shook his hands at his sides briefly before clenching his fists. Bringing one up, he cocked it back and took aim at his target.
Johnathan couldn't hear the shattering of glass, fortunately. Less fortunately, it was because he was too busy making Ciel Phantomhive scream. The bluenette tried to hold it in, at first, but much to his captor's delight, there came a point where he couldn't any longer. As Johnathan removed his finger from the button and the crackling sound of electricity died down, the bluenette laid there, exhausted. He didn't say anything at all. He just laid there and stared into space in silence.
"Giving up already?" the other demon tutted while shaking his head. "The sun's only just set! There's no way you can be out of it this quickly…" For the first time during the entire encounter, Johnathan actually frowned sincerely.
"This isn't how it was supposed to be… You're not supposed to give up this fast! What is the point in all of this if you're just this weak?!" Johnathan scowled and folded his arms. He thought for a while, before a smile graced his face again.
"Don't you care about your husband?" he asked. "Don't you want to know how he fares on his own? You really ought to stay awake for it. Be supportive, and all that. He's going to need it."
Just as he expected, the Phantomhive perked up a bit at that. "Jim will mop the floor with the Philosophers." Ciel let out, his speech slurred a bit as he lifted his head. "He's the toughest person I've ever met. He's certainly tougher than you."
"Is he tougher than Abhartach?" Johnathan questioned. "You know, ancient scourge of his homeland? That bloke who was literally killed for being too nasty for his own people to handle? Came back from the dead in order to keep being nasty to them?"
"Not to be crude, but Abhartach would be soiling himself if he knew what kind of man he was up against." Much to Mister Beattie's dismay, the Phantomhive spoke with utmost confidence. It was as though he hadn't just been electrocuted moments before! "He's ruthless."
"I've fought Abhartach. You can't win… No one can… You hurt him and he just keeps going. I couldn't even bother him."
"Perhaps that's just because you're an extraordinarily weak person." Ciel suggested. There was a moment of pause between the two demons before the Phantomhive was shocked again. The sound of his voice echoed throughout the building, drawing the attention of the man who betrayed him.
Finnian stood in the doorway, watching the scene unfold with a startled expression on his face. This whole endeavor was unpleasant. From the bloody mass wrapped in his coat and tucked underneath his arm, to this, it was all more than Finnian wanted to see. When it stopped, he took a few steps back, retreating into the shadows again.
"Is that right?" Johnathan asked. "I'm weak? And what are you? I've beaten you. I've won. I have you right where I want you. I've broken your spirit to the point where you won't even try to run away. Soon, I'll break it to the point where you don't even feel as though you care to go on living. That's the goal, Phantomhive. To break you.
"HELLSING will be destroyed in the battle. England will fall. When everything is over, I'll go after your friends, your family, and I'll bring you their heads." he continued, pacing back and forth while raising his voice only slightly. "I'll bring their glassy-eyed remains to you and let you see with the one you've got exactly what you wrought."
"No." Ciel shook his head. "You'd do that because you want to, not because I made you. I didn't make you do anything. I'm not even going to argue that you could have listened to reason or walked away, because I know you couldn't have. You couldn't, because of what you are. You're a sadistic monster who has fixated on me because your life is so sad and empty that you can't fill the void inside of you with any light, or kindness, or joy. You're a worse man than me, Johnathan.. You're not even a man at all. You're pathetic and no matter what you do, you'll never be able to break me because you're pathetic. Threaten and shock me all you like. This is nothing to me."
Ciel somehow managed to look down at the other demon from his place of confinement, but held back a smirk, having believed himself to have provoked the other demon enough. That said, he did feel a spark of satisfaction within his chest when he noticed an eyelid of Mister Beattie's twitch ever-so-slightly. He could tell that Johnathan was doing his best to keep his expression neutral, but he didn't have the practise that Ciel had.
"I'm the monster?" inquired Mister Beattie. "So all of those people don't matter to you? At all? You would let me kill them, and you wouldn't shed a tear? That is 'monstrous.'"
"So says the creature gaining satisfaction from the suffering of others." The Phantomhive chose his words carefully.
"Preachy, as always… What? No lecture about how revenge will cause me to 'burn up everything until nothing is left but ash?' I'll burn, alright… I'll burn everything you love. There will be no Phantomhive estate to come home to, even if you do escape. There will be no family or friends to boast to about your exploits. There will be nothing but ash…"
"In my experience, people who make the most threats are the people who are the least likely to actually follow through with them. How can I trust you, Johnathan? What proof do you have?"
"You-" Johnathan stopped. He realised what the other man was doing. "You're trying to provoke me into making a mistake, aren't you?"
"What? Me? Never." replied the Phantomhive, only to be shocked for his sarcastic tone. Johnathan only tapped the button, but it still hurt him.
"You're all mine, now. No one will come to save you. No one can. All of your allies are out on the battlefield… But then again, so are mine..." Walking partway across the room, away from the box, Johnathan picked up a phone on the desk and showed it to the other demon. "I could always call them to bring me back your husband's head to show you. Or even better: I could ask them to bring him back alive. Would you like that, Ciel? To see your husband alive? You know what happens to prisoners of war, don't you, Ciel? Of course you do. You were a soldier, weren't you? I know what happens. I recall very little of my father, but I remember flashes- bits and pieces, if you will- of some of the stories I've heard from the folks he's worked with… Oh, the stories soldiers will tell about the things they do… With pride, even! You do know what happens to people, and especially people with your husband's… experience, yes?"
"Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting?"
Johnathan simply shrugged playfully. "Perhaps… What if I am?"
"Well, I'd think you're a bloody idiot, first of all." the Phantomhive calmly stated. "Jim would remove your eyeballs and promptly relocate whatever sad, shriveled, and clearly impotent raisins that you have hidden somewhere within your mom jeans into their vacant, bleeding, sockets."
The other demon's expression faltered to show disgust, having not expected the prim, proper, and famously posh Sir Ciel Phantomhive to say something so vulgar. His silence, however, only allowed the Watchdog to continue. "It is for that reason that I not concerned with, nor frightened by your sad attempt of a threat. That said, however, as a gentleman of principles, I do take offense at the suggestion. Therefore..."
The Phantomhive trailed off with his words, but continued with his actions, pulling against the restraints that bind him. Gritting and bearing his teeth, he grunted, pulling until they gave way. Once one arm was free, he used it to free the other, working quickly before Johnathan could regain his wits. Standing there, wide-eyed at the display, the other demon paused, trying to make sense of all of this. Then, with an angry scowl, he captured the Phantomhive's attention with a push of a button. Ciel was alerted by the humming of machinery, forcing him to look up. Connected to the roof of the box was a vent and already, Ciel could smell rosemary.
"Finny!" he called out.
Whipping his head around, the demon looked to the doorway and spotted the blond. The sight coaxed the gears in his head to start turning, but before he could take any time to worry about that too drastically, he had to stop the gardener from doing whatever it was that he was about to do. Puffing out his chest and clenching his fists, he lurked toward Finnian as the blond fumbled with his gun. Quickly, he raised it and pulled the trigger, firing thrice.
He did not hit Johnathan, however. He didn't even aim for the demon. What point was there? There were still regular bullets in his magazine. Instead, he aimed for the soft ventilation shaft above the box, puncturing it. Just as the realisation of what had just happened hit Johnathan, he began to cough.
The demon covered his mouth and hunched over, allowing Finnian to quickly dart past as fast as his legs would carry him. He ran toward the exit and didn't look back. Relief washed over him as he heard the sound of shattering glass behind him, knowing that the bluenette would soon follow. With his shoulder, he rammed into the large doors that Ciel had pried open hours earlier, forcing it off of it's hinges. With that, cold air hit him as he successfully made his way outside.
The transition from concrete to snow was not an easy one, however, causing Finnian to lose his balance. He still wasn't as spry as he was back in the 1800s, given the current state of his freshly-cloned body. He wasn't muscular and he wasn't used to this sort of activity. His shoulder was throbbing from hitting the door, but luckily, he was sturdy enough to not be incapacitated when his legs temporarily failed him. Unfortunately, however, he did drop the bloody bundle in his arms, causing it to bounce on the frozen ground. After he forced himself on his hands and knees, he scrambled toward it, picking it up and holding it close against his chest as if it were precious cargo, despite the almost unbearable disgust he felt toward the object.
Hearing the slight crunch of snow behind him followed by a cough, he looked over his shoulder to find Ciel walking toward him. Having regained his breath a bit, the Phantomhive finally asked: "Are you alright?"
"Yes!" Finny dutifully answered, forcing himself to his feet. "What about you?! You were being tortured! I… I shot you! Oh, God, I'm so sorry I shot you!"
"It's fine. You did exactly what I told you to do." Looking down at the other man's chest, Ciel questioned further: "Did you get it?"
"Yes! I successfully retrieved the head!" Finnian stopped to hold out the cloned head of the previous head of the Phantomhive family so that Ciel could see. He didn't unwrap it from his coat, however, as he didn't want to upset his employer. If Ciel panicked right then, it would be bad for both of them, as it was the Phantomhive who had all of the plans. "Are you sure you're alright? A bullet went through your head! I was afraid I'd killed you!"
"I know. I'm sorry that had to happen. You performed spectacularly, Finny. Everything is going to be fine, but we aren't out of the woods just yet. My fathers remains must be returned home, but if we don't take care of Johnathan, then he'll just follow us."
"What do we do?" Just then, Ciel grabbed his friend's shoulders and turned him around before shooing him off toward the car they arrived in.
"You are going to take him home. I will deal with Johnathan. Now don't dawdle. We need to get you moving before Johnathan gets here."
"By yourself?! No, no, no, no!" Finnian protested, turning around to face the other. "I can't just leave you, here, by yourself!"
"Finny..."
"You've been shocked, and shocked, you aren't properly dressed for the snow, and he's awful!" the blond continued. "Do you know what all he said while you were… dead or passed out, or… Whatever happens to demons when they're shot in the head… Anyway, do you? It was terrible!"
"Finny..." Ciel repeated a bit more forcefully.
"Who knows what sort of nonsense he has hidden in there?! What if he pulls out an AK-47 with magic bullets?! Then what?! What are you supposed to do with that?! Didn't you breathe that rosemary stuff, too?!"
"Finny." the Phantomhive began, grabbing hold of the sides of his friend's head and holding him still. His voice was was completely calm without a trace of worry. "Listen to me: Everything is going to be fine. I know this because I don't have to worry about anything else but beating Johnathan. That's my only job right now. Jim is fighting Abhartach right now and I need to get to him. I'm not worried about him because I know he's strong and I know he's going to be alright until I get there. I'm not worried about my father, either, right now. Do you know why?"
Cautiously, Finnian shook his head as much as he could, inadvertently squishing his cheeks against the Watchdog's palms.
"I'm not worried about him because I know that you will bring him home safe." Ciel stated. "Just like I completely trust Jim in his task, I trust you to do this. I don't just 'believe' that you will, I know it." Pausing, he sighed. "Listen: I know that I didn't really say anything and I know that I am terrible at telling you what is on my mind, but it is really important to me that he's complete and is able to rest. I don't usually believe in stuff like that, but it matters to me. It really does. I need you to do this for me. Please, Finny? Will you take him home?"
Finnian was silent for a moment, but slowly nodded. "I will." he replied. He said so confidently, with a sureness that felt as though it had already been done. "Thank you for trusting me."
"No… Thank you for being a friend. And for putting up with my selfishness for so long. I owe you, massively for this." the Watchdog said, releasing the other man. "Go. Be sure that you get home safely as well."
Finnian grinned. "Yes, my lord!"
The car sped off into the small sliver of sunset that remained, leaving Ciel alone. He couldn't go back inside, with the gas in the building, so he waited. He waited, knowing that sooner or later, Johnathan would emerge to find him. Luckily, he didn't wait long. Soon, Johnathan came stumbling out of the building with guns in hand. The monster staggered and he scowled, growling at the man with fury in his eyes. Johnathan straightened himself, recovering the best he could. It was just him and the Watchdog, at last. He had been preparing for this, just as Ciel had been dreading it. With a roar, Johnathan advanced, lunging at Ciel just as the very last drop of colour was drained from the sky.
A/N: This was rude. Very rude... I'm sorry for shaking your faith in Finny...
Though, quite a few of them caught on to my bullshit! Well spotted! Either that, or I'm really just a shit writer... Oof...
I honestly didn't really expect it to be a big deal in the first place... The initial cliffhanger wasn't actually planned, so I'm sorry about that! The reason why I cut things on cliffhangers is almost ALWAYS because if I don't, the chapter will take me five years to publish alksdogiaoghaiowegoaweglaj That's bad of me...
I hope this was at least somewhat enjoyable or interesting! Next I have to do aaaaaaaaaaaalllllllll kinds of nonsense. Should be rad...
Though, I might update slower starting Monday. I go back to school then, and my schedule this semester is... well... It's a dumpster fire. I might be slower, but I'll still try for a new chapter every week like usual. I wanted to keep you all in the loop, though, just in case things don't turn out that way.
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!
