Unity

by Hydraa

An ongoing series of the life and love of Rosette and Chrno in a universe that takes a different turn from the one in the manga

2. To Find the Watch

To Find the Watch

By Hydraa

The rumbling sound came first, low and distant, easily ignored until the ground began to shake. People on the sidewalk looked up in surprise, not expecting earthquakes, and began to talk nervously amongst each other, moving uncertainly away as the rumbling grew louder. By the time it was heavy enough to crack pavement, they were running in terror, tripping over each other in their haste to escape.

Those screams were drowned out as the centre of the street abruptly surged and exploded upwards, raining concrete everywhere as a demon crashed out from underneath, resembling nothing so much as a multi-segmented, multi-tentacled worm larger than the buildings it now towered over. Seeing it, the humans still in the area ran in terror, but the demon ignored them, rippling out of the hole on a wave of blood and ichor. Already injured, it still bellowed its defiance, turning and lashing out at the two figures climbing out of the hole behind it.

"No, you don't!" the first of the two screamed, brandishing a handgun and firing it straight at the head of the thing. It roared, but it kept coming down towards her and her companion grabbed her around the waist, throwing them both to the side before it hit with such impact that they were both bounced another half dozen feet away.

"I hate this thing!" Rosette screamed, sprawled across a pile of rubble with her robes hiked up to her thighs. Half buried beside her, Chrno forced himself up onto his knees, the heavy box he carried on his back more than a little dented while the receiver of the phone attached to the side swung free to bash him in the head. The little demon, currently looking like a twelve year old boy in red shorts and an overcoat, grabbed the end absently and looked at his contractor.

"I don't think he likes us either, Rosette," he told her. She made a face at him and leaped to her feet, actually charging the thing while firing more rounds at it.

Chrno sighed and hurried to follow her before she ran out of ammunition. She was actually doing a lot of damage to it with the holy water filled bullets, but it was just so big that it could take more damage than they might be able to inflict. After chasing it for hours through the sewers under New York, he was smelly, dirty, tired, and he had no idea how his Contractor could keep going so viciously. She was in her element though, laughing defiantly as she all but ran down the thing's gullet in order to get a better shot.

Chrno wasn't quite as eager as her, but he followed nevertheless, the big wooden box he carried bouncing on his back. There wasn't much choice. He was carrying all the spare ammunition after all and he just knew she was going to run out sooner or later.

Apparently sooner. Chrno saw Rosette's gleeful expression change as the hammer on her gun clicked against nothing and spun, the heavy box pressing against his spine painfully as he turned his back to her. Close to where he gripped the straps to keep them from falling off his narrow shoulders, there were two catches built into the frame. He hit them and the entire back of the box opened, exposing the array of weaponry and ammunition stacked inside, along with the holy water. Encased in glass vials as they were, they usually didn't cause him any trouble, but sometimes one would break and start seeping through the seams of the box, or pool on the bottom when he went in to restock the ammunition. That was painful.

"Thanks, Chrno!" Rosette cheered as she jammed a hand into the box, banging it back into his spine, and pulled a fresh weapon free. Her used one she jammed in its place, slamming into his back again. Chrno bit down on any complaint. The box weighed upwards of two hundred pounds. His back was going to ache by the end of the day no matter how rough she was.

A moment later, there was gunfire again. The worm bellowed in pain, hurt even more but so big it could take the pain. It reared back and Chrno's brow furrowed. There was something not 'reflex of pain' about it.

"Rosette…" he started.

"She looked at him. "What?"

His eyes widened and he grabbed her arm. "Move!" he screamed and threw her out of the way, diving in the other direction the next second. An instant later, the dozen three metre long barbs the worm had suddenly spat at them sank into the ground where they'd been standing.

Chrno didn't see where his Contractor went, but he heard her cursing in a very un-nun like fashion as he rolled, bounced over the cursed box, and crashed flat on his face rather closer to the worm than he liked. After a day of chasing it through the sewers, they'd done a lot of damage to its hind end, but hadn't really faced it from the front. He hadn't realized when he first saw it that it could spit barbs like that.

"Be careful!!" he shouted to Rosette.

"I am!" she shouted back and punctuated her anger with gunfire.

Chrno pushed himself up onto his elbows, eying the demon critically. It had turned away, recognizing Rosette as the greater target. In a part of his soul that he didn't want to acknowledge, he resented that, but he could hardly assume his true form and destroy it as easily as he knew he could. Not when he knew that to do so would drain the life out of Rosette. Nor could he grab one of the guns he carried and shoot at it. For one, he didn't know how to shoot one of them, even though he was the one who cleaned and serviced them all. For another, Sister Kate and the Order had made it very clear to him when he first arrived at the nunnery, while Rosette was otherwise occupied, that if he were to use a weapon, any weapon, they would reclassify him as a threat. Given what they were currently doing to the threat above them, he didn't want that, and as Sister Kate so eloquently put it, they not only knew where he slept, they provided all his food and water as well.

He'd never told Rosette about that little conversation.

Ahead of them, the demon and Rosette swirled around each other, she pumping bullets into it, it too engaged to get away as Chrno knew he'd want to by now. It was only a matter of time and ammunition before she brought it down.

He started moving forward through the rubble, to ensure she had the ammo she needed, when he saw something glint amongst the broken concrete. Normally he wouldn't have noticed the flash of glass, but it was so imbedded in his subconscious and his nightmares that there was no way he couldn't have noticed it.

An ornate pocket watch, made of gold and silver and hung on a now broken chain, lay half buried in the rubble. Chrno's breath caught. It was Rosette's, the pocket watch she used to keep herself alive.

Shorn of his horns and powerless, Chrno had been dying when she offered the contract, to give her soul willingly to feed him so that he could use the powers he once needed the horns for. Without her, he would have been sleeping still or dead from attrition and his body accepted her gift eagerly. The purpose of the pocket watch was to slow his drain. His heart was greedy. He would have had all of her years before without it. Instead, the watch slowed his drain to a mere trickle. Enough to keep him alive, but his form shrunk to that of a child. Rosette had to release the seals for him to be anything more, and to do that would eventually be fatal for her.

Chrno's jaw hardened as he went to collect the watch and stow it in his box. If it were destroyed, there would be nothing to stop the drain from killing Rosette within minutes, short of him shooting himself in the heart with one of her guns. At one time, he would have balked at that. Now there wasn't anything that would stop him if it came to that.

"Chrno!" Rosette shrieked.

Distracted by the watch, the demon looked up to see the monster they were facing wasn't quite as stupid as its inhuman form had intimated. It saw him and knew he was the one who resupplied Rosette with her killing weapons. Turning its head without warning, it targeted on the smaller demon and spat. A dozen spears the length of a man sheared through the air as fast as sound.

Rosette was screaming, Chrno thought idly and tried to think why. It wouldn't come to him through his sudden weariness. All he could really think of was that the pocket watch was okay. The barbs that had shot through his body and the box both, leaving him standing without any of his weight held up by his legs, missed it. It was safe. Rosette was safe.

Chrno closed his eyes, no longer really hearing her. The pocket watch was safe. Rosette was safe. That's all that had to matter.

A moment later, he couldn't hear her at all.

Part 2

"Chrno!" Rosette screamed as she saw her partner fall back and stop, held at a forty-five degree angle above the ground, his arms hanging limp by his sides. The box on his back pulled at him and, as she stared in horror, he slid farther back a few degrees, knees buckling.

Rosette went mad. Screaming, she ran at the demon, ignoring the sound of its roars, of people shrieking, of car engines, and squealing tires. She could hear Chrno's blood dripping on the ground though and she fired round after round into the neck of the thing. When she clicked on empty, she didn't even notice and kept on firing. After all, a dozen bullets were slamming into it for each time she pulled the trigger.

"Sister Christopher!" she heard. "Get back!"

Boots sounded, running on the concrete, and Rosette screamed as an arm came around her body, pulling her off the ground. She fought madly against her attacker, but he was bigger and stronger than her, yelling reassurances until she came out of her rage enough to look at his face. Father Remington's expression was grim as he sprinted back across the battleground with her in his arms. Rosette stared up at him in shock for a moment, an unwitting blush on her cheeks, until he ran past Chrno without slowing, headed for a line of cars and Magdela militia waiting in a line on the side of the road.

"Wait!" she screamed, trying to lunge out of his arms towards the little demon. "We can't leave Chrno!"

Remington grunted and tightened his grip. "We can't move him. If he's not dead already, we'd kill him if we did."

If he's not dead already… Rosette started to scream, fighting even more madly until Remington threw her into the back of a car and locked the door. Then she pounded on the window, trying to break out again.

Fifty militia, almost the entirety of the local order's fighting strength, were lined up on the side of the road, weapons aimed. Rosette could barely see Chrno, twenty feet beyond them with no protection. That much gunfire, that many bullets… a single ricochet… She screamed until her voice broke.

"Prepare to fire!" Sister Kate shouted, her arm held up above her head.

"Not yet!" Remington yelled back. Grabbing a riot shield, he ran out past the ranks.

"What are you doing??" Kate cried.

Remington ran to Chrno, cursing as he dodged a spit of barbs by the barest inch. Reaching the demon, he knelt before him and slammed the bottom of the shield into the ground, covering them both.

"Now!"

"Fire!" Kate ordered.

A thousand bullets poured at the demon. It screamed in agony, flesh blowing off of it as so many bullets pounded into it that some hit each other and went in different directions. Remington winced as a half dozen imbedded into the shield he held and the militia ducked behind their cars for protection.

It was enough. The demon gave a sound almost like a whimper and collapsed, slamming to the ground so hard it made rubble jump into the air. A moment later, it desiccated to dust.

Remington shoved the shield to the ground and turned to Chrno, leaning over him and pressing a hand against his neck. "Come on," he breathed, "come on." He could hear Rosette screaming in the background, obviously free of the car, and shot a look at her that froze her before she could reach them.

"Don't touch him! Come on, Chrno, show me how tough you are." He moved his hand slightly on the soft skin, slick with blood that had come out of the boy's mouth, and felt it. A light fluttering under his fingertips.

"He's still alive!" Remington shouted. "Get the medical team over here!"

At those words, Rosette felt all the strength go out of her legs and tumbled to her knees, hands clenched in prayer and tears pouring down her cheeks. He was alive? Her lip started to tremble and she lurched to her feet, stumbling woodenly over to her partner's side, some part of her conscious enough not to get in the way of the three sisters who ran up carrying medical kits and stretchers, behind the Order's doctor.

Chrno looked so pale, the long lashes she'd always envied dark below his closed eyes. A drop of blood was spattered on his cheek and she pulled off her glove before reaching tenderly to wipe it away, never looking at the rest of him.

At her touch, Chrno's brow tensed and his eyes opened. Rosette's heart caught in her throat. For a moment he stared upwards uncomprehendingly and then looked slowly out of the corner of his eye at her. "R-Rosette…?" he whispered. The doctor saw him and started cursing, digging through his bag. Remington stepped up beside Rosette, his expression amazed.

Rosette forced a smile on her face that didn't look nearly as reassuring as she wanted it to. "Don't move, Chrno," she told him, trying to keep her voice even. "Okay?"

"Move?" he repeated in confusion and his eyes focused in sudden realisation. A moment later, agony filled them and his body bucked.

"Chrno!" Rosette cried, grabbing his shoulders. "Don't! You'll kill yourself!"

"Out of the way," the doctor barked and she jumped back. He took her place and pressed a cloth against Chrno's nose and mouth that reeked of fumes even to where she stood. Chrno shuddered, inhaling, and his eyes glazed over before closing again. His entire body relaxed.

"Ether," the doctor explained. "Good thing it works on demons." He motioned to Rosette. "Here, take it. Press it against his nose and mouth for ten seconds every thirty. If he looks like he's waking up, put it on immediately, but don't leave it on too long or he'll suffocate." Rosette nodded, trembling as she took the cloth and bottle he proffered. Standing by Chrno's head, she held the cloth against him, lifting it every ten seconds so he could breathe real air. "Help us cut him down," Remington was ordered and he stood there, arms under Chrno as the doctor and nurses started to saw through the barbs that impaled him.

Remington looked up at Rosette and smiled. "Don't worry, he'll be okay."

Rosette wiped her eyes on her shoulder since her hands were busy. "He better or he's in big trouble. You hear that?" she whispered into her partner's pointed ear. "You don't have any choice but to get better and I'm the one who gives the orders here. Stupid demon, not watching for danger like that. Who do you think you are?" Tears poured down her cheeks and she pulled the cloth off his face. His mouth hung slightly open, a pointed canine barely visible. There were spots of colour high on his cheeks now, but his lips looked grey.

"Sister!" a voice shouted and Rosette looked over her shoulder to see Azmaria hurrying towards her, Satella behind her. Satella probably just showed up like she always did, but Azmaria must have begged to go with Sister Kate. Rosette looked at Chrno and suddenly didn't want either of them to see him like this.

"Stay back!" she shouted. "Chrno's hurt!"

The two girls stopped, Azmaria's eyes flooding with tears and her hands pressed against her mouth. Satella stepped up to put an arm around her and the little girl pressed her face against the bounty hunter's breast, weeping.

Rosette looked away. She could only focus on one thing at a time now. Tenderly, she pressed the cloth against Chrno's face, whispering to him again.

In all, it took half an hour to cut Chrno down, Rosette sleepy from the ether herself by the end of it. Remington took on more of Chrno's weight as the barbs were cut loose, never complaining, and finally held his weight up completely as the straps were cut to the ammunition box and he was able to straighten up, the little demon limp in his arms. Rosette pushed close with her ether rag.

"Here," the doctor ordered, pulling up a stretcher.

They laid Chrno onto his side on the stretcher, the barbs still jutting out of his body a foot through the front and the back. Trying to move him as little as possible, they strapped him down and one of the nurses took the rag from Rosette.

"There's no room for you in the ambulance," she apologized. "Thank you for helping so much."

Quickly, they lifted the stretcher and carried it off the road to where the ambulance waited, Rosette hurrying with them. Somewhere on the trip, Azmaria and Satella joined her, Rosette not even really noticing that the twelve-year-old was pressed to her side, hugging her. The nurses lifted Chrno into the back of the ambulance and the entire team climbed into the back. A moment later, it pulled slowly away, siren warbling. Once it was clear of the rubble, it took off as fast as it could.

"He looks terrible," Satella said suddenly. "I don't know that he'll make it."

Rosette rounded on her. "Shut up!"

Satella shrugged. "I'm just saying-"

"You don't know what you're talking about!"

Azmaria hugged her. "Chrno will live. He has to!"

Rosette growled, never taking her eyes off Satella. "Exactly. He has no choice because I'm going to break the seal and heal him." She reached for her chest and started, not finding what she was looking for. "Where's the watch? WHERE'S THE WATCH??"

Part 3

With Father Remington left at the battle site to finish the cleanup, Sister Kate arrived back at the Order at the same time Chrno was brought in. Impassively, she watched as the demon's stretcher was carried out of the ambulance and into the infirmary. They'd taken time during the trip to cut his clothes off and even the hardened nun winced at the sight of the three thick barbs that stabbed through his stomach and chest. There was less blood than she would have expected, thanks to the barbs being left in. Ironically enough, they were now the only things keeping him alive. If they had been removed, he would have bled to death already.

The medical team moved the naked demon into the operating wing of the infirmary, more concerned about his health than his dignity. As Kate watched from the doorway, they moved him to the preparation table, calling commands to each other. Young nuns peeked through the window, horrified and curious.

The Elder stepped up beside her, not leering at any of the girls for once. "They called ahead and told me. It looks bad."

"Yes." Kate's mouth was a hard line. "Very bad." And what would happen, she wondered, if the demon died on that table? Would Rosette's contract with him be broken then? "Perhaps this is God's will."

"God doesn't have anything to do with him getting hurt, or us making him better." He turned away, hands clasped behind his back as he shuffled away. "Come on."

Kate looked after him. "What?"

"Chrno won't make it through that operation without help. He needs demon blood for a transfusion. I need your help to get it."

Kate froze and he looked back over his shoulder at her, as if reading her thoughts. If Chrno died, Rosette would have a normal life, short only the lifespan he'd already taken. If he lived, eventually she would die.

Either way though, to stand by and do nothing was a sin. She accepted Chrno into the Order, albeit reluctantly. If she didn't offer the same protection to him now that she would to anyone else, the oaths of the Order were made meaningless. She bowed her head.

The Elder nodded. "Good. Now hurry up."

Kate followed him into the church, her fingers twitching at her side. She knew where the old man was leading her and wondered if he was right about this. Yes, Chrno was going to lose a lot of blood when those barbs were removed, maybe too much, but that didn't mean that they could just replace it with the blood of another demon. Still, what other choice did they have? Not trying would just guarantee his death and she only planned to have that ethical argument with herself again in the privacy of her own room.

They went deep under the church to the holding chambers next to the training maze. The corridor was freezing cold, the air musty with the smell of demons. Most of the monsters trapped there were incorporeal, but there were a few made of solid flesh and bone. The Elder waited while she checked out a weapon from the locker outside the prison and then led the way in to the cells.

There were crosses everywhere, linking together to form a wall of power that none of the demons could cross. They hissed at the sight of her though, growling.

None of them were intelligent enough to appear human the way Chrno did, but hopefully they were compatible. Kate watched the Elder pull the equipment to take blood out of the wide pockets of his white coat and checked her weapon. It was in good condition and fully loaded, with more clips in her pocket. She didn't go into combat much anymore, and did so now only in a leadership role, but she wouldn't have risen to her position if she weren't a crack shot and an excellent fighter. If Rosette hadn't been so immature and distracted, she would have made a good replacement for her someday. That loss of potential was one of the things that most irritated Kate about her.

The Elder led the way to the fourth of the six cells in this section, obviously having already made his mind up about which of the three trapped demons they had that he wanted to use. It was the most human of all of them, probably his reason for choosing it, and huge. Once, it used huge mantis-like claws to shred its prey, but they had been amputated after its capture. Standing seven feet tall on two legs, it growled at them.

"Please put your arm through the bars," the Elder told it pleasantly. "We want to take a donation of your blood."

For a moment it stared at them, before roaring deafeningly.

"All right then. Kate?"

Kate stepped forward, the gun held in a two-handed shooter's grip, and shot it through the left shoulder. It screamed and she shot it through the right.

"The next one goes through where you like to take a piss," the Elder told it. "Your arm?"

The demon shuddered and slowly, reluctantly, pushed one stump through the bars of the cell. Quickly, the Elder put a tourniquet around it to bring a vein to the surface and inserted a needle. Once he released the tourniquet, thick blood a deeper red than a human's started to flow through the tube into a bag. Kate kept her weapon levelled at it.

The first bag filled quickly and the Elder quickly attached a second. "You're a big boy," he told it when it whimpered. "You can afford it." In the end, he filled five bags and removed the needles. "Good boy. Have a cookie." Pulling a chicken of all things out of one of his other pockets, he tossed it to the demon, who bellowed and tore it apart. Kate felt ill.

"Is that it then?" she asked.

"Yep. If this isn't enough, it won't matter." Gathering up the bags, the Elder led the way back up to the infirmary, hurrying as much as he could without dropping anything. Kate returned the weapon to the lockup, with a mental note to clean it later, and trotted after him.

When they got back, Chrno was on the operating table, his long hair wrapped up in a cloth to keep any stray hairs from getting loose and his lower body covered by a sheet. He was still canted on his side, his head at an uncomfortable angle so that they could put the glass bowl of the anaesthetist over his face. It fed him ether a lot more effectively than a rag and he was still fast asleep.

The doctors had cleaned his body while Kate and the Elder were below, and with his nudity, Kate could clearly see how bad his wounds were. She couldn't help but wince. If he'd been human, he would surely have died immediately. As it was, one of the nurses was holding up his hand so she could put her fingers against his wrist and read off his pulse.

Apparently, they'd only been waiting for the Elder's gift. With prayers that the blood would be compatible, they hooked Chrno up and started, cutting him open further so that they could remove the barbs one by one and then sew his terrible wounds closed.

Kate watched from behind the window, the Elder beside her. It would be a long night and she wondered where Rosette was. Still, better she not be here to see this. Kate was pretty sure she'd be reliving this day in her nightmares for quite a long time to come. Wherever she was now, Rosette was better off.

--0000000--

"Where is it??" Rosette screamed. "WHERE IS IT??"

Frantically, she dug through the rubble, searching. Around her, Remington had the rest of the militia searching as well, along with a few confused citizens who hadn't vacated the area. There was no sign of the watch anywhere. It couldn't be destroyed; she would be dead if it were. But she had to find it. She had to find it. She had to be with Chrno. She had to find it. She had to be with Chrno.

"GODDAMNIT! WHERE IS IT??"

The other nuns stared at her in shock and disapproval as she swore at the sky, threatening death and destruction on whoever had her watch. Running out of words, and air, she plopped down to sit on the edge of Chrno's weapons box with her head buried in her hands, remembered that it was covered in his blood, and leaped off of it, wailing.

Satella gave her a look of disgust. "Calm down," she groused. Dressed in her usual ankle length, low cleavage shirt and heels, with her long hair down to her knees, she was obviously unhappy with having to grub in the dirt and glared at the girl. "He's only a demon."

Immediately, Rosette was right in her face, finger jabbing up under the older woman's chin. "Don't make me kill you."

"Wait!" Azmaria cried, covered in dirt from where she'd been digging. "Please, don't fight!" Neither of the two women moved.

Suddenly, Father Remington was there. "Calm down, everyone. Rosette, why don't you go back to the Order? Chrno needs you and the rest of us can keep looking for your watch."

Rosette looked at him uncertainly. She wanted to go to Chrno desperately, but she couldn't just leave. "Please, Rosette," Azmaria begged. Rosette looked at the girl and a sudden idea came to her.

"Right. Gotta go. See you later. Gonna take Azmaria with me. Need some comfort don't you know. OhshootIhopethisworks." Grabbing the girl by the wrist, she ran for the nearest car. Knowing Rosette's reputation, the nun in charge of the keys didn't want to give them to her, but Rosette accidentally kneed her in the stomach, grabbed them, threw Azmaria in the back, and peeled away as fast as the car could go.

Azmaria peered nervously over the back of the seat. "What are we doing, Rosette?" she whimpered.

Rosette rubbed her eyes of tears and took a corner so fast the car briefly lifted onto one set of tires. "You're the Adept, right? You can heal anyone, right? You can heal Chrno."

"But I lost my powers…"

"You have to try!" Rosette screamed. "He'll die if you don't try!" She went around another corner and hit the highway that would take them to the Order. Wisely, Azmaria didn't say more, though she screamed as Rosette barely avoided a crash at the front steps of the order and nearly yanked her arm out of its socket as she pulled her out of the car. Together, they raced up the stairs of the Order and pelted down the hallway towards the infirmary.

Most of the nuns who hadn't gone on the mission were crowded into the hall, peering through the doorway and window into the infirmary. Rosette pushed past them and into the infirmary itself. It was a large room with recovery beds on the left wall and an operating room on the far side. Sister Kate and the Elder stood before a large window outside it, next to an examining table that was covered in blood and dirt. Rosette dragged Azmaria up beside them and skidded to a halt.

"I brought Azmaria to-" she started and looked inside the operating room.

Chrno lay twisted on the table, a nurse holding a bag of red-black blood over his head while a second held a strange, glass bowl over his nose and mouth. The table and floor under it were red with blood, and as Rosette watched, a doctor grasped one of the thick barbs and drew it smoothly out through Chrno's back, leaving a trail of ichor and blood behind before he dropped it onto the floor with two others.

Rosette fainted.

Part 4

Rosette woke to find herself lying in her own bed. For a long minute she lay there, not really awake and wondering if Sister Kate would notice if she skipped early morning prayers in order to sleep some more. She was just rolling over to give it a try when she remembered.

"Chrno!" she gasped and bolted out of bed, halfway down the hallway before she remembered she was in her nightgown. Turning in mid stride, she bolted back to her room, threw on her clothes and habit, and bolted back out the door, nearly tripping over Chrno's weapons box, left there by she didn't know who.

Like before, there were nuns whispering in the hall outside the infirmary. Rosette ran past them and straight into the building. The mess from the night before had been cleaned up, the operating room now spotless and white. Rosette looked both ways and saw one recovery bed to her right with the curtains around it closed. Swallowing, she hurried over and peeked between the panels of thick fabric. A moment later, she sagged in relief.

Chrno was lying in the bed, the sheets pulled up to his chest and his bare arms laid on top of the blue fabric so that a tube could run from a needle in his forearm to a bag of blood hanging over his head. Azmaria sat by his side, cooling his forehead with a damp cloth. His headband was off and the little eyebuds he normally hid under them glinted in the light like blood. His chest was rising and falling slowly and his eyes were closed.

With exaggerated caution, Rosette stepped through the curtains and up beside his bed. She could see the edge of bandages on his chest and swallowed.

Azmaria smiled at her. "He mumbles in his sleep," she whispered. "I heard him say your name once."

Rosette sank into a chair across from the girl's. Her relief to find Chrno still alive was equalled by her horror at how hurt he was. Part of her wanted to shake him madly for being so stupid, but the rest of her was afraid to touch him. She looked at the girl intently. "Try and heal him."

Azmaria looked taken aback. "I already…"

"Try!" Rosette hissed the word. She'd seen Az sing people back from the dead. One hurt little demon couldn't be too hard.

Azmaria flinched, but she obediently started to sing, her beautiful voice filling the room and seeming to lift it. Rosette took Chrno's hand in her own, staring at him intently, but beautiful as Azmaria's song was, the colour didn't come back to his cheeks and he didn't get up and start apologizing the way he should have.

Finally, Azmaria's song ended and her voice faded away. "I'm sorry," she wept a moment later. "I already tried. I've been trying all night. I haven't recovered from using so much that last time."

Rosette wiped her eyes, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, Az. I should have listened to you."

"…you stopped…" Chrno whispered. "…it sounded nice…"

Surprised, Rosette gripped his hand until a line of pain appeared on his forehead. Letting go, she leaned over the bed, cupping his face instead. Slowly his eyes opened, his pupils fully slitted. It was like looking into a cat's eyes. His pointed ears seemed to be drooping. He would have looked alien if he hadn't also looked so exhausted.

"You're an idiot," Rosette whispered to him.

He took a moment to fully absorb that and smiled. "…am not…"

She stroked his cheek gently, her face only inches from his own. "Nope," she whispered back. "I've got proof and everything."

"…what proof…?"

"You in here with holes in you. They had to use a staple gun to put you back together."

"…oh…" He closed his eyes again for a moment. "…i guess that's proof…"

Rosette smirked. "I win again," she murmured. "I always do." She stoked his cheek once more and he turned his head towards her slightly, inviting her to caress his ear. She obliged, something she normally didn't do and certainly would not have done had she remembered she had an audience. Chrno sighed softly, relaxing.

"Idiot," she reminded him. "Once I find the watch, I'm going to heal you and then I am so going to kick your butt."

His eyes opened again, an unidentifiable look in them. "…the watch…?"

Rosette swallowed and forced herself to keep on stroking his ear before her hands could start to shake. "I lost it, Chrno. But don't worry. I'll find it and I'll break the seal so you can heal. I'll have it by lunchtime, I promise."

Chrno turned his head back to her, his eyes a little less slitted but intense, despite the heavy circles under them. "Rosette… the watch is safe…"

She stared at him, not understanding for the first second. Then she was furious. "You have it!?" she shrieked, jumping up. "Where is it!" Startled, Azmaria grabbed her arm and she heard the nurse hurrying towards them on the other side of the curtains.

Chrno was fading again. "…safe…" he whispered, his eyes closing. A moment later, the nurse came in, cautioning them about upsetting the patient, but Rosette shot her a look that made her step back. She threw herself back down beside the bed again, cupping Chrno's face with both hands and rubbing it gently to keep him awake. He opened his eyes.

"Tell me where the watch is, Chrno," she ordered him evenly. "Please."

"…no… don't want… you… to heal… me…" Rosette reeled back, stunned. "…don't… waste… your… life…"

Furious, she pressed her nose to his, teeth gritted. "It's MY life."

He wasn't moved. "Right now… it's mine…"

"But you could die," she whispered.

"…no… i'll… be okay…" He fell asleep again.

Her face streaked with tears, Rosette straightened up. He was protecting her again. The little bastard was protecting her again. She wanted to take that blood bag and beat him with it.

"All right," the nurse said. "He needs his rest, dearies. It's time to go."

"Don't dearie me," Rosette growled and stormed out. Right now, she just wanted to go to the gun range and shoot something.

Part 5

Sister Kate looked up from her papers at a light knock on her door. She normally kept it closed so that she could focus on her work, but it seemed sometimes that she never got out of the room. Some days that made it feel like the office was her sanctuary; other times it felt more like her prison.

Today, it felt like somewhere to hide.

The knock came again and she sighed. "Come in," she called. The door opened and Father Remington came in, his usually smiling face grim. Kate suppressed another sigh. She knew what he was there for; after all, she'd heard what happened in the infirmary from Azmaria and Remington had always been one of Rosette and Chrno's biggest supporters.

"I don't have the watch, Father," she told him.

Remington stopped, his expression a little nonplussed. Then he hid it with a smile as he walked the rest of the way into her office and sat in the chair she kept for visitors. At least for visitors she wasn't yelling at.

"I didn't really think you had," he admitted. "But-"

"But you had to check anyway." Kate leaned back in her own chair, her pen balanced between her two index fingers. "I don't suppose I'm surprised that I'd be considered a suspect. After all, if I did have the watch…"

"You'd lock it up and throw away the key?" Remington smiled.

"Lord knows I'd be tempted," she agreed and put down the pen. Oh, it would be so tempting. A watch that couldn't be touched couldn't be opened. Or so she thought. She'd never asked Rosette about the mechanics of the thing before. The girl was almost hysterically defensive of it after all. Kate supposed she had to be going out of her mind right now with it missing and her demon being so badly wounded. She sighed again without realising it, wondering once more what would happen to Rosette's lifespan if Chrno died.

"It wouldn't save Rosette's life," Remington said evenly and Kate had a moment to wonder if he was talking about her locking up the watch or if he'd read her thoughts about Chrno dying. "Much of her life has already been drained. She can't get that back."

There was a look in his eyes she'd seen before. One that had started many arguments that raged for hours in locked offices where others couldn't see or hear.

Kate clenched the edge of her desk, her fingers turning white. "I will not risk that child's eternal soul, Remington. Not even to save her body."

"We don't know that we would be risking it either," he pointed out.

It was the same old fight. "We don't know that we wouldn't," she snapped. "I've seen cases where that happened. It never turns out well. I've killed humans it was done to."

He shifted in his seat and crossed his legs, shrugging. "The difference is in the intent. Those demons hated those women. It was a matter of control. Chrno loves Rosette."

"If he really loved her, he'd cut his throat rather than take any more of her life force."

"Isn't that what he's doing right now?"

There was an uncomfortable silence for a minute. Kate didn't want to look at the Father. He was wrong about this. "I swore an oath to protect that girl's soul. God will provide another way."

Remington unfolded his legs and stood up. "I guess it doesn't matter right now anyway. Chrno is too weak to do anything. If he dies though, so will Rosette, when her life force runs out. If he lives, she'll die, sooner. If we get off our high horse and actually tell them, she may not have to die at all."

Kate forced herself to look at him evenly. "And if you're wrong and Chrno does try, will Rosette want him to? Will he even be able to? What happens if he can and she doesn't want to? Will he force the issue? What if it doesn't work? What if she becomes something we have to put down? What happens to Chrno then? What happens to Rosette?"

Remington met her gaze for a moment and then turned away. That was the way their arguments always ended, with the pessimist trumping the optimist. Kate relaxed. He wouldn't say anything to either of them and he was right. At this moment, it didn't matter.

"They might find out on their own," he added finally.

"Those books are hidden," she reminded him. Rosette wasn't much of a reader anyway. Neither was Chrno.

"They might find out on their own," he repeated meaningfully.

"Not in this House," Kate snapped. "It can't happen."

He looked at her curiously. "Can't? What did you do? I always wondered why you didn't make Chrno swear that particular oath."

"Nothing," she said. "He didn't have to swear it. There are protections built into the walls of the Order since its construction. Rosette doesn't know."

"Does Chrno?"

"Probably. He couldn't help but realize he's weaker here. But I doubt he ever told Rosette. She would have been in here screaming if he had. Just being here extends her life."

His eyes narrowed. "And shortens his?" Her expression was even. "He won't heal in these walls, will he?"

"I don't know," she admitted. Guilt crossed her face for a moment. "I have to protect Rosette, Father."

"And I have to protect everyone." Turning, he headed for the door. "I have to warn you, Sister. Rosette's on the war path. She knows someone must have that watch. She'll be in here eventually."

Kate sagged. "I know." She was surprised the girl hadn't appeared already.

Remington left without her asking where he was going. She could guess. Every ethic she held dear said to stop him. Said to kill the demon in her House. Said to save the life of the little boy who had no choice but to be what he was. Said to protect Rosette's life. Said to protect Rosette's soul. Altogether, they left her impotent.

At least Remington saw the world less in black and white. Or more. She wasn't sure. She wasn't sure if she had to stop him or help him. Helping the Elder get the blood had been easier. But now… she turned back to her paperwork. Rosette would be coming by eventually. She may as well get as much work done as she could before then, since she doubted she'd be able to get any done afterwards.

--0000000--

Remington walked quickly to the infirmary, after a quick phone call. He couldn't blame Kate for her beliefs. It was just about a miracle that she'd even let Chrno into the Order, and Rosette really didn't know about the oaths she'd made the little demon swear on his own blood when he arrived. There were things he physically couldn't do now, such as hurt any of the nuns. Remington doubted he would have done any of the things he swore not to anyway, but Kate couldn't believe that and she wouldn't take any chances. Demons were supposed to be evil after all.

Remington couldn't blame her for essentially leaving him to die either. She would make sure Chrno got the best care possible, but only in human terms. She couldn't help the demon or it would drive her mad.

Luckily, he was less pristine. Remington smirked as he went into the infirmary and pushed Chrno's curtains back to expose the bed he lay in. The little demon lay in it, fast asleep and so pale that the Father's face hardened. Human medicine wasn't going to be enough for him.

The doctor came over. "What's wrong, Father?"

"How is he doing?" Remington asked, his eyes never leaving Chrno's face. The demon should have woken. Normally only Rosette could sneak up on him while he slept.

"Very weak," the doctor admitted. "A man would have been dead though."

And a demon should have been on his feet. As long as he stayed in the Order, Chrno could only draw on a fraction of what he normally did for day to day living. Enough to survive as long as he went off on missions frequently enough, but not enough to heal from. To remove him would drain more from Rosette, but that was her choice. Remington had always been a big believer in free will and he didn't think Rosette was capable of walking into anything without her eyes wide open.

Of course, now her eyes were going to be opened a hell of a lot wider since she was going to want to know why Chrno was moved and that meant finding out about the oaths and the spells. Remington would leave that little revelation for Kate. Trying to hide his grin though he didn't really like to see Kate suffer, he stepped up beside the bed. Chrno was off the blood now, having emptied all five bags, and Remington wrapped the blankets securely around him before lifting him bodily in his arms as gently as he could. Chrno was frighteningly light.

"What are you doing?" the doctor asked, aghast.

"Taking him somewhere he can actually heal," Remington told him. "Move," he ordered and the doctor reluctantly stepped back.

He headed out the doorway as a muffled groan sounded from somewhere in the mass of blankets he held. "Easy, Chrno," he soothed. "I'm just moving you to a more, um, effective healing place. Go back to sleep."

"…rosette…" he mumbled.

"Oh, don't worry," the Father grinned. "I'm sure she'll realize what's going on real fast."

He headed out of the infirmary and across the grounds towards the garage, making no attempt to hide his progress or the lavender braid that dangled out of the blankets, just in case someone couldn't guess what he was carrying. He didn't know where Rosette was at this particular moment and had no desire to go looking for her. The gossip mill in the Order was just as good as anywhere else though and he was barely passing the fountain when he heard an outraged scream from somewhere behind him.

"Father REMINGTON!!"

Remington kept moving. "Hello, Rosette," he said as she pounded up beside him. "I'm glad you're here. I need you to hold Chrno while I drive."

She stopped before her tirade could even get started. "Drive where?"

"To Satella's. Chrno will be staying there until he heals." He saw the tirade about to start again. "He'll die here," he added and her mouth closed so fast that her teeth clicked together.

"But why?" she whispered. She was hurrying beside him now, reaching out one hand to press against the blankets. Remington wasn't sure what part of Chrno she touched, but he gave a sleepy little mumble.

"Long story," Remington told her. "Ask Sister Kate." She shot him a look that looked uncertain at first and then very quickly enraged. Remington thought she might have taken off to do just that, but they'd reached the garage. He nodded his head at the nearest car that had a big back seat. "Open the back door and get in."

Rosette did as he asked, climbing in, and Remington gently passed Chrno in to her, really hoping that he hadn't pulled any of the boy's stitches. An ambulance would have been better, but he didn't want anyone to know where they were going. Satella was the only one outside the Order he wanted to know where a critically injured Chrno the Sinner was.

Rosette settled in the back seat and took Chrno into her lap, gently unwrapping the blankets until his face was exposed. His face was flushed and his eyes unfocused. He gasped in a clear breath of air and leaned his head against her breast, eyes closing again. Rosette leaned over him, pressing her cheek against the top of his head with a smile.

Remington turned away quickly before they could feel spied on and went to get into the front seat. Little moments like that, spied only when they didn't really think anyone was looking, were why he was prepared to go out of his way for the two. And why he would keep arguing his point with Kate. God said to her that they were doomed and she had to save Rosette's human soul. God said to him that they could both be saved by stepping beyond what they were to what they could be. Neither could agree on which was right and neither could act without the other's agreement.

Remington put the car into gear and drove slowly away, careful to avoid any potholes or bumps. Hopefully he and Kate could resolve their differences before one or probably both of them were gone.

Part Six

Satella Harvenheit's New York home was an opulent penthouse condo on top of a forty story building in the heart of downtown, overlooking Central Park.

"Typical," Rosette grumbled, glaring up at it. Chrno missed what she said, asleep on the back seat with his head cradled in her lap, but Remington chuckled as he drove the car around to the back entrance.

Steiner, Satella's butler, stood at the back entrance, his smile half hidden by his grey, handlebar moustache. "Good afternoon," he said with a bow. "Welcome to my lady's home. I have taken the liberty of preparing a room for the young master and obtaining a more comfortable conveyance for him." With that, he trundled out a genuine gurney.

"Where did Satella find this guy?" Rosette whispered, impressed.

"Behave," Remington smiled and opened the back door to get Chrno. The little demon woke with a gasp of pain when the Father moved him, but he had him on the gurney only seconds later and Chrno blinked upwards in confusion as he was carefully rolled into the building, into a wide service corridor leading to a freight elevator.

Rosette took one of his hands in both of her own as they moved towards the elevator. "We're at Satella's," she told him. "Do you understand?"

He blinked at her and smiled. "my rosette."

She smiled back. "That's right. Your Rosette. Where's the watch, you little freak?"

Chrno flinched.

"Easy, Rosette," Remington soothed. "Don't kill the poor boy."

The freight elevator was already open and waiting for them. Steiner helped guide the gurney into it and inserted a key into the control box to send it up to the penthouse. Rosette rubbed Chrno's ear with her thumb as it rose, frowning. Father Remington had said he would die if he stayed at the Order. What did he mean by that? Chrno's eyelashes fluttered as she rubbed his ear, but there was more colour in his cheeks than she'd seen since he was injured.

"He looks a little better," she admitted. Remington looked at her, but didn't say anything. Ask Sister Kate, he'd told her before. Rosette planned to, once Chrno was settled and she was sure Satella was going to keep her hands off him. She did have that bizarre affection for little boys and Chrno was in no position to run like he usually did.

The elevator opened into a storage area filled with crates and bulk foodstuffs, as well as what looked suspiciously like a wine section for a city in the middle of Prohibition. Steiner moved the gurney out of the elevator and down the aisle between the supplies to a larger door.

"Satella getting ready for a war or something?" she asked.

"The mistress merely likes to be prepared, miss," Steiner replied.

Rosette glanced at a crate of canned escargot. "Yeah, right."

The door opened onto a beautifully appointed condo that looked to be worth millions. Rosette stared around for the first few seconds, but Chrno tugged on her arm and she bent over him.

"…don't want… you to heal me…" he told her again, his gaze vague but stern. "…okay?"

"Not okay," she hissed. "I won't let you die on me."

"…won't… promise…"

"Tough. I'm not taking any chances. Where's the watch?"

"….no…"

"Where's the watch, Chrno?"

"…no…"

"WHERE'S THE BLEEPING WATCH, CHRNO??"

Rosette didn't realize her voice was rising until a sultry laugh interrupted her. "Goodness. I didn't know you had such a terrible bedside manner, though I can't say as I'm all that surprised."

Rosette's head shot up. Satella stood in the centre of the room they'd entered, dressed in a satin gown that cost more than all the dresses at the Order combined. She smirked at the nun and sauntered forward to coo over Chrno.

"Oh, baby, are you hurt? Let mommy see." She started tugging at the blankets he was wrapped in. Chrno suddenly had a lot of colour in his cheeks.

"BACK OFF, BITCH!" Rosette screamed.

Satella reared back. "Bitch?? How dare you call me that when I'm letting you into my home?!"

"You're just hoping for a cheap feel, you perv!"

"Jealous?"

"JEALOUS??! OF YOU??"

Chrno looked at Remington like he planned to make a run for it, injuries be damned.

Finally, Remington managed to cough back his laughter and stepped between the two women. "Ladies, please," he said. "Let it go. Ms Harvenheit has been very kind in allowing Chrno to stay here while he heals." He smiled at her. "Thank you, Ms Harvenheit. We appreciate it very much."

"You're welcome," she groused.

"I still don't get why we have to come here," Rosette frowned.

Remington sighed. He'd hoped to leave all the explanations to Kate. "There are ancient protections against demons built into the construction of the buildings at the Order," he told her, hoping she wouldn't blow. "They're there specifically to weaken demons." And to do a few things to humans, he didn't add, though he did think to himself in amusement that they did explain a few things he'd been somewhat alarmed about in the past. "Chrno needs an environment where there won't be anything to impede his recovery."

Rosette gaped, her mouth moving as she thought that through. Her face started to turn pink, but she didn't immediately turn her rage onto the Order. "But why stay here," she argued, glaring at Satella.

"Because Satella knows what Chrno is, and if something does figure out he's here and tries to take a piece out of him, she's tough enough to fight them off."

Satella smirked.

"I'm more afraid she'll try and take a piece out of him."

Satella glared.

"Ladies," Steiner interjected smoothly. "Mr Chrno's room is ready for him if you will allow."

Grudgingly, Satella stepped back and Steiner guided the gurney across the room and into the next wing where the bedrooms were. Rosette walked beside it again, her hand holding Chrno's possessively.

Chrno's room looked to be bigger than the main church floor, the massive bed large enough to hold a dozen people. The sheets were dark blue silk, beautifully smooth and far finer than the suddenly grubby blankets Chrno was wrapped in. Gesturing for Rosette to stand back, the two men unwrapped the demon and transferred him smoothly to the bed. He was only wearing underwear and Rosette's lips tightened at the sight of the bandages crisscrossed over his chest and stomach. His braid was a mess as well but he looked so tired lying there that she didn't know if it would be worth it to redo the braid or just let him sleep. She knelt by the bed.

"Are you going to be all right?" she whispered to him.

His red eyes looked at her. They were heavily slitted again, the pupils a barely visible vertical line against the white. "…i think so… i feel better here…"

She bit her lip. She wasn't sure she believed him about that. He looked terrible. "Why didn't you tell me the Order made you weaker?"

He sighed, looking unsure as to whether it was safe to tell her or not. Rosette stroked her ear and he leaned into it. "…didn't matter…" he admitted finally. "…i had enough… most of the time… and you needed them… to find joshua…"

Meaning he did it for her. Rosette bit her lip guiltily and moved her hand around his ear to where it joined his head, where his horns would have been in demon form before they were ripped out. Rubbing the nerves there usually had the effect of sending him straight to sleep and they worked no less effectively now. Chrno started making a soft little kitten snore, his mouth lax.

Careful not to wake him, Rosette stood and crept back outside the room to where the others waited. She looked up at them evenly, trying as hard as she could not to let any of what she was feeling show on her face. She could still feel a certain dampness at the edge of her eyes though.

"Please watch over him," she told the two men and the woman. "I'm going to the Order." Without waiting for their reply, she ran back towards the freight elevator, Steiner hurrying behind her to let her down. Rosette ignored him, letting the anger inside her grow so that by the time she got back to Sister Kate's office, it would be fully stoked for the fight she knew she was going to have.

Part Seven

(author's note: I found it interesting in one character summary about Chrno that his favourite word is the word "yes". I also wondered how come Aion could be hornless without Chrno's problems. I don't know what the canon explanation is, so this is mine.

BTW, this story is now writing itself. I have no freaking idea what's going to happen next. I love it when that happens.)

As full darkness fell, Chrno lay at the edge of that huge bed, thinking to himself foggily how nice it would be to be back in Eden with Shader's healing machines. All he'd have to do was go to sleep in that soft, warm goop of hers and wake up feeling better. None of this weakness and pain to deal with. Not reaching out for Rosette's presence and not being able to feel her. Even if he knew how to contact Shader though, she'd never help him. Not without Aion's approval, and Aion would only agree if Chrno came back to him.

The little demon swallowed at the thought. Aion did want him back, he always wanted him back, even when he drove a taloned fist through his gut and tore off his horns. All to punish him for the impossibility of not killing Madeleine. Probably, Aion would have come to where he fell, once he calmed down, and offered the horns back, but Madeleine made the Contract with him first. Her life force to replace the energy he could no longer draw. There hadn't been any choice. Aion ripped out his own horns, but he got his energy from other demons. Chrno himself had shared his own energy with his brother, making him stronger than he would have been even with the horns. But Chrno himself had no demons to draw from. That left Madeleine's gift.

If he'd known that accepting it would result in her death, he never would have accepted.

Chrno's hand moved under the covers, gently touching his bandaged chest. The wounds hurt very badly and the pain killers he'd been given did no more than take the edge off. They were healing now that he was away from the Order, slowly, his legions struggling to repair the damage with the trickle of energy the watch fed him from Rosette. It would take a long while and he'd be miserable the entire time, but for Rosette to open the watch when he had this many wounds would kill her. He'd seen it with Madeleine. He couldn't bear the thought of seeing it with Rosette.

Not that he wouldn't see it some day anyway. He never should have accepted the Contract with her and just let his last bits of energy drain away, but she'd insisted, and she was so forceful…

…and he'd been bred to obey orders.

Chrno sighed, letting the hand fall back by his side. Demons were like worker bees, always doing what they were told. He was happiest when he was doing what he was told. Aion had been the freak of nature, wanting to be a leader in his own and powerful enough in his personality that he could actually break demons away from obeying Pandemonium. He'd completely dominated Chrno and he'd been happy to submit. Until Madeleine, who'd utterly turned his head around and left him not knowing what to do. Aion hadn't known what to do in the face of that and so he'd tried to kill him.

Then Rosette came and she wholly owned him. To tell her no when she demanded the watch was close to killing him, but he kept seeing Madeleine, and he kept that image in his mind every time he said no. No, I won't let you heal me. No, I won't let you kill yourself. I won't let you die. I won't let you leave me alone or else Aion or someone else might find me and there won't be anything else left but the part that says yes to everything. I want to say yes, Rosette. I want to say yes.

"it's in the weapons box, rosette," he whispered dully. "it's in the weapons box. it is, rosette. yes it is. yes. yes. yes. let me say yes…"

He dozed off to the mantra, no one hearing him in the big empty room except Satella's butler, who hummed under his breath and debated whether or not to tell his Mistress.

Finally, he went to complete the task he'd come for, which was to check the boy's wounds and open the window. He opened the window first, letting the night air in, and then carried the medical box he'd brought to the bedside. Pulling the blankets back, he removed the bandages and began to clean the wounds.

The stitches were black against his pale skin, the edges of the skin between them bubbling an orange froth. Steiner stared at it uncertainly, but he knew infection and that didn't look like it. Finally, he decided that it had something to do with how demons healed and started to rewrap the injuries, more loosely this time so they could breathe.

Chrno's eyes snapped open, not seeing him. "…aion…?" he whispered.

"No, young master. It's Steiner. I've come to clean your wounds."

The demon didn't seem to understand. "...are you there…? …tell me what to do… i don't know… what to do…"

"Steiner?" The butler looked towards the door. Satella stood there, Remington at her side. Quietly, both of them came in, Satella's usual flirtatiousness gone now that Rosette wasn't there to tease. "How is he?"

"Delirious, madam. He's calling for someone named Aion."

Remington frowned. "Bringing him here weakened him more than I thought." He looked out at the night sky and back at the small demon.

"…aion…" Chrno mumbled. "…aion… tell me…?"

"Chrno!" the Father snapped. "Silence!"

"Bossing around sick boys now, Father?" Satella asked dryly.

Remington shot her a wry look. "Do you really want him summoning Aion into your house?" She grimaced. "Chrno, listen to me. Do not call Aion."

"…tell me what to do…"

"Sleep and heal," Remington told him, hoping he sounded forceful enough to hold the demon. He'd seen summoning circles. He knew the rules. It was night, when the energy of the world was dark, which was making Chrno feel confused and wanting someone to be in charge. He couldn't sense Rosette, so he was reaching for the only other person his mind was used to obeying, which unfortunately was Aion. Without Rosette there, Remington would have to force him to focus on him instead. If he could.

Rosette did have rather a talent for domination though, he thought sardonically.

"Sleep and heal," he repeated. "Do not summon Aion. Don't call anyone's name except Rosette's. Do you understand?"

"…yes…" Chrno dozed off completely.

Remington straightened up. "I should have thought of this." Without the Order's protection, his legions could work to heal him more effectively, but without that same protection, Chrno was also vulnerable to all the chaos in the world, which was stronger at night. Rosette would have to stay with him after dusk to keep him under control, just in case he lost it again. None of them wanted Aion here.

"Keep an eye on him," he asked the butler. "I'm going to call Rosette back." Kate would appreciate that, he was sure. The butler bowed.

Satella followed him out of the room. "How much of a problem is this going to be?" she asked.

"With him calling for his old demon friends? A big one." He sighed. There was one way around that, though Kate would have an aneurysm if she heard about it. He grinned at her. "Rosette will be able to control him when she gets here and I do know one way to keep anything he says from echoing accidentally to the wrong ears. Do you have any chalk?"

Satella blinked.

Back in the room, Chrno slept, mumbling Rosette's name under his breath while the old butler watched, listening carefully for the little demon to say any other names. Behind him at the open window, a great eagle landed silently, peering in at them.

"…aion…" Chrno mumbled suddenly and the bird took off again while Steiner went to inform his mistress.

Part Eight

Sister Kate realized that Sister Rosette was back a half second before the door to her office slammed open so hard that the doorknob embedded itself into the wall on the inside. She managed not to flinch at that or the expression on the young nun's face as she stormed in. It was after dark and the warm light of the lamps gave everything a homey glow that neither of them felt.

"I want to know what's going on. I want to know what this place is doing to Chrno and where my pocket watch is!"

Kate folded her hands on the desk, watching the girl evenly. She wasn't looking forward to this confrontation, but she wasn't going to back down from it either.

"I don't have your watch," she told the girl. "I don't know who does."

Rosette glared at her as if she thought she might be lying, but Kate met her gaze unflinchingly with her own. Rosette didn't drop her eyes, but her sudden snarl showed she believed her, even if she didn't want to.

"So what is this dump doing to Chrno?"

"This isn't a 'dump', it's the Holy Order of Magdelena. It was never designed to be a haven for demons, no matter who wants to keep one as a pet."

"Chrno isn't a pet!" Rosette shrieked. "He's my friend! What is this place doing to him??"

Kate's lips thinned. Calling Chrno a pet had been a bad move, but Rosette always got her going so easily. She just had so much potential and that demon was killing her. "The walls of the Order are spelled to weaken demons, to make it so any who try to enter can only use a small part of their power, as well as to identify their location at all times."

Rosette stared at her. "You mean you always know where Chrno is when he's here?"

"Yes."

No wonder he kept refusing to carry her laundry to her room, Rosette thought sickly.

"That's not fair!" she shrieked. "He has rights!"

"No he doesn't. He's a demon. The only reason he's alive is because you have rights."

A little vein started to bulge on top of Rosette's forehead and her hand twitched towards the gun she wore on her hip. Vaguely, Kate wondered if she'd try to use it.

"I don't have to put up with this," she grated, her face a brilliant red.

"Yes, you do," Kate told her flatly. She'd had enough of these illusions. "You came to the Order to find your brother. To do that, you had to accept our rules, which you did. You are a nun of the Holy Order of Magdelena whether it's convenient to you or not. Chrno seems to have a better understanding of that than you do. So grow up, girl!"

Rosette reeled as though she'd been slapped. Kate wondered what she'd come back with, whether she'd question how Kate knew that about Chrno, which would lead to her finding out about the bindings put on him by the Order, or if she'd just choose to attack, or even agree that Kate was right.

Instead, the phone rang. Kate answered it smoothly, never taking her eyes off her opponent. "Yes?" She listened for a moment and then held the receiver out. "It's for you."

Rosette blinked and took the phone, leaning over the desk so that the cord would be long enough. "Yes?"

"Rosette," Kate heard Father Remington say, "Get back here. Chrno's getting worse."

Her brilliantly red face went white so fast Kate thought she might faint. "Is he okay?"

"No. He's hallucinating. You're the only one who can control him. Hurry."

Rosette bit her lip. "Okay. I'm coming." She hung up the phone and looked straight at Kate. "I hate you," she said and ran out.

"I know you do," Kate sighed. She could deal with that though, if it saved the girl's soul.

--0000000--

Rosette sprinted back to her room first, to grab some extra clothes. She didn't plan to set foot in the Order again until Chrno was fully recovered, if then. After what they did to Chrno…

Except she needed them if she was ever going to get Joshua back.

"Oh, applesauce," she swore as she threw the door to her room open and ran in.

Chrno's weapon's box was there, dumped unceremoniously in the centre of the room. Rosette glared at it and then threw the doors open. Most of the weapons and ammo had fallen into the bottom of the box in a haphazard mess and there was a lot of dried blood, but she didn't care. She tossed some clothes on top and some extra ammo kept in a weapons locker in the corner of her room. Shutting it, she went to throw the box on her back and nearly threw her back out at the weight. Finally, she was forced to drag the heavy thing down the corridor, cursing the entire way and guaranteeing that anyone who was still awake didn't come to help her. It was Chrno's though and she wasn't leaving it. Besides, not having her own personal armoury close at hand made her feel naked.

She dragged the box all the way outside the barracks and dropped it while she ran to get the car. Driving it back, she took it over the grass and halfway up the stairs so that she didn't have to drag the box again more than a few feet. Groaning, she hefted the box into the trunk and slammed the lid. Then spent five minutes trying to get the car to start again before she bounced down the steps and roared off across the grass, making sure to do a few donuts in Sister Kate's petunias on the way.

That done, she headed for Satella's penthouse as fast as she could go, weaving through the light traffic with one foot on the gas and one hand firmly on the horn. "Don't do anything stupid until I get there, Chrno," she muttered.

Overhead, the sky was lightly clouded, the moon illuminating them so that she could clearly see the road and the bat-winged figure that flew overhead, well clear of the traffic she had to deal with.

"Oh, applesauce!" Rosette shrieked, flooring the car and trying not to kill herself or anyone else while she wished she'd put Chrno's box with its phone on the seat beside her instead of in the trunk. Granted, it wasn't like she knew Satella's number anyway.

"Damnit!" she screamed. "Chrno!"

--0000000--

Aion landed neatly on the windowsill of the entrance that had been left so conveniently open for him.

"You're going up in the world, Chrno," he said, looking around and impressed at what he saw. Wings folding neatly against his back, he pushed his glasses up his nose and stepped down into the room, his white armour gleaming in the moonlight as he looked at the little figure in the bed.

He could smell Chrno's wounds from across the room, just as he'd been able to hear him call his name from across the country. The night was in his head, leaving his defences open and his soul vulnerable. Aion smiled. He'd been waiting years for this. "Where's your little bitch, Chrno?" he whispered as he crossed the room and stepped up beside the bed. Chrno mumbled in his sleep, twitching. His legions were struggling to heal him, but they had so little energy to do it with. His body was crying out for astral.

"So how can I deny you?" Aion whispered. Bending down, he slipped an arm under the smaller demon, lifting his body up so that he could press their lips together.

Part Nine

It wasn't a kiss in the normal, human sense of the word. As their mouths met, Aion exhaled astral into Chrno's body, just the way he'd taken it from him so many times, just how he'd taken it from all his followers before he left for this visit. Chrno sucked it down eagerly and took more, his legions feeding off it madly and using it to heal his injuries.

"Come back to me," Aion whispered, letting his mind sink into Chrno's weakened, wide open one, back into all the places he used to be, before Madeleine forced him out. "Obey me, Chrno. Obey me."

"…aion…"

"Shit!" Aion jerked his head around at the sound and saw Father Remington coming towards the bed, astral sword swinging straight at him. Dropping Chrno, he jumped out of the way, head spinning from how much energy the smaller demon had taken. He barely had enough to keep his demon form.

Chrno bounced against the bed as the sword swept by over him and sat right up again, his eyes completely red as he went deeper under Aion's control. The white-haired demon smirked, but Father Remington held two fingers up before the boy's face. "By the command of the Holy Order of Magdalena," he intoned in Latin, "By the obedience you swore, sleep." Chrno crumpled back against the pillows, his connection to Aion breaking.

"What did you do to him?!" Aion screamed. "He was mine!"

"Not anymore," Remington growled and charged.

He should have taken Chrno and run the minute he arrived, Aion thought, instead of being all dramatic and fuzzy. Then that damn priest wouldn't be trying to cut his head off while he was too weak to do more than dodge him. Remington swung that great, bloody blade and Aion ducked, intending to gut that man with his talons before he could bring the cutting edge back around. Remington changed the direction of his swing though, bringing the hilt back instead and slamming it into Aion's nose. The tall demon swore and reeled back, wiping the blood away as the priest reversed the sword back into a regular attack stance.

The two men stared at each other, both hating the other so intently that Aion could feel it. Slowly, Aion inched towards the bed, but the priest stepped to block him. "Chrno is mine," Aion told him. "Since the day he hatched he's been mine."

"Then you shouldn't have thrown him away," Remington retorted. "He's Rosette's now."

As if he had any intentions of letting that blonde bitch keep him. He might kill Chrno; he might leave him to die. But he wouldn't let him be stolen by some human weakling who would rape his mind. Only the mind of another demon deserved to hold Chrno. Only a Sinner should.

Aion did a quick draw of the sword at his side and lunged. Remington blocked and Aion used his momentum to roll past him and leap up onto the bed. Grabbing Chrno by the wrist, he yanked him up. He'd take him somewhere quiet and finish what he started without interruption.

At the sudden pain, Chrno woke, his eyes wide. Seeing Aion, they widened even further and he punched him with his free arm. It felt like the fluttering of butterfly wings and Aion grinned, slamming his dominance down on the smaller demon. Chrno shuddered, unable to resist him, but Aion didn't have the time to go as deep or as permanently as he'd like. He just grabbed enough to keep Chrno from fighting back or struggling.

Remington roared. Aion leaped back out of the reach of his sword, swinging Chrno around so that the priest had to pull his strike or chop the little demon in half. For a moment, the priest stared in horror into Chrno's glazed eyes, and then they both heard a new voice.

"Laden! Erscheinen ritter juwel!"

A knight in glowing armour that seemed to be three times his size appeared out of nowhere, swinging at him. Aion swore and pulled Chrno around, but this thing didn't pull its punches. The blow hit them both. Aion hit the carpet painfully on his back and looked up to see Chrno fly across the room, slamming into the window and its frame so hard that he shattered both the glass and wood outwards and was gone.

"Chrno!" Remington screamed.

"Shit!" Not when he was this close. Aion rolled to his feet and dove out the window. Chrno fell limply below him, lavender hair trailing along with the broken glass. Aion went into a full power dive, well aware of how close to the ground was getting as he reached for the smaller demon, his hands barely reaching him and pulling him close.

He spread his wings. They were more for steering and control when he flew and now he flooded them with most of the astral he had left to give them the power to slow their descent. They did, letting him drop his legs down below him before he alit on the sidewalk below the building, fully human in form.

Chrno was still locked in the fugue state he'd left him in, blood running down his sides from the glass. Aion ignored that, holding the boy up by the throat, face only inches from his own.

"You are mine," he chanted, trying to get that lock down on Chrno's mind while he was still vulnerable. His chances of surviving his wounds long enough to get to Shader's healing machines were greater if his will became Aion's. He would be his determination for him until he was through this, and so fully Aion's again that he'd never think of another human. Aion would make sure he never saw one either, not for the next several centuries if that was what it took.

"Chrno… chrno…" He flooded into his mind, overwhelming images of laughter and play and friends. He dove deeper, subsuming everything he found, crooning Chrno's name until he rounded a corner and found a blonde girl in a nun's headdress standing there.

"Chrno is mine," she growled.

Then she threw Aion out. He reeled, shaking his head, and looked up to see that it wasn't an image only that he'd seen. Rosette Christopher stood only a dozen feet away, a gun pointed at him. "Let him go," she snapped.

Aion hissed and lifted Chrno high enough to cover his face. "I don't think you're a good enough shot to hit me without hitting him as well," he started.

Rosette shrugged and shot him in the leg.

Aion howled at the unexpected pain and threw Chrno at her. She dropped her gun to try and catch him and Aion ran, hobbling away as fast as he could and so angry that he could have killed them all. All he could do was escape though, before either that nun decided to come after him or Remington arrived. He vanished into the darkness, still swearing.

Rosette watched him leave, kneeling on the ground with Chrno's head in her lap. She didn't know what happened, but his body was lying on the ground funny and his eyes were… blank.

"Chrno?" she whispered. "Hey, Chrno?" He didn't answer. "Chrno?" Nothing. "CHRNO! WAKE THE HELL UP!"

Chrno shuddered and obeyed, his eyes blinking back to pained awareness. "Rosette?" he whispered. "You're here! Oh thank goodness!"

Rosette smiled, stroking his cheek gently as Remington appeared at the door to the building, Satella close behind him. "Of course I am, dummy. This is where I belong."

Part Ten

"So tell me," Satella asked. "Is the Order going to compensate me for the damage to my condo?"

"I don't know," Remington answered evenly. "Is it our mistake your jewel knight punched an invalid through the front wall?"

Satella grimaced. "That wasn't my fault. I was trying to help."

Tell that to Chrno's broken ribs, Remington didn't respond with. Aion had managed to heal most of Chrno's original injuries, but getting thrown around the way he did created a whole bunch of new ones. The boy had the worst luck. He probably could have stood to have more surgery, but they couldn't take him back to the Order. They couldn't leave him at Satella's either, not now they knew Aion was after him.

He looked around at the hotel suite they were staying in now. Satella was paying for it, fortunately, as neither he nor Rosette could afford anything big enough.

They'd pushed all of the furniture out of the main room and brought a bed in. It sat in the centre of the room, surrounded by an ornate chalk circle designed very specifically to contain a demon. It was the sort of summoning circle Remington normally worked to destroy, but this one he'd drawn himself. Within it, a demon's power was contained. Remington looked at the small demon lying in the bed. Hopefully, Aion wouldn't be able to track him now.

Hopefully, that break would give Chrno the time he needed to recover. After the battle with Aion though, Remington had his doubts. The little demon was in serious trouble.

"Come on," he suggested to Satella. "We should let him rest."

"Will it do any good?" Satella asked softly as she followed him out of the room, but the priest didn't answer.

In the bed, Chrno lay on his side under the covers, gaze locked on Rosette's, who lay on top of them. It was a little weird, but it seemed to keep him from feeling any pain, which had to be a good thing. Reaching out with a handkerchief, she wiped a bit of blood from the corner of his mouth and tried not to worry. He'd been coughing it up for a few hours now, but other than letting him stare into her eyes and go into that weird hypnotic state he was in, she didn't know what to do.

For his part, Chrno didn't feel his body. Aion had opened him wide and now he was saturated with Rosette. He could feel her all through his being and he was lost in her. If she'd been a demon, she'd have been able to realize how far into him she'd reached, but as a human, she just let him be part of her. She wasn't making any demands, she wasn't telling him what to think or feel. She was heaven, and unaware of it, he slipped ever closer to death, lost in her eyes.

"Chrno," she whispered to him. "Can you hear me?"

"…yes…" It was so easy.

"You're dying, aren't you?" she asked with a little whimper.

Was he? Distantly, he became aware of it. Something was broken inside him. It didn't matter. "…yes…"

She fought back tears. Could Aion have saved him? Did she make a mistake coming to the rescue? But would Chrno ever be hers again if she had? What did Chrno want?

"What do you want, Chrno?" she asked.

He couldn't answer her with anything less than total honesty. "…just you… with me forever…"

She smiled and reached to stroke his cheek. He hummed and moved closer to her. Immediately more blood bubbled up at his lips and she winced and wiped it away. "I want to stay with you forever too," she admitted and he smiled. "Which means you can't die!" He frowned, pulling slightly out of the trance. His Contractor wanted something from him. His liege. He had to obey. A moment later, he started coughing again, bringing up bright blood.

"Chrno!" Rosette gasped. He was dying right in front of her. "Don't leave me!"

Chrno tried to obey, but his legions were weak, the extra astral Aion gave him used up, and he was starting to convulse. "Chrno!" Rosette cried again and in desperation caught his face between both of her hands, looking into his eyes the same way Aion did when he tried to wash over his mind. "Where is the watch, Chrno? Tell me where the watch is."

"…weapons box…" he gasped. "…weapons…"

Rosette dove off the bed, scrambling for the other room. Desperately, she threw the box open and dumped it over, sending weapons and ammunition rolling across the floor. The watch was at the very bottom, battered but intact. Remington came in through the other door as she leaped up.

"Rosette?"

"I found it! The little sneak had it hidden the whole time." She grinned at him triumphantly and turned back into the main room. Chrno lay there, inside the circle she'd broken when she ran through it.

"Rosette," Remington said worriedly behind her. "You broke the circle. I warned you not to break the circle. There's a backlash when you do."

"What are you talking about, Father-" She hurried up beside the bed and stopped. Chrno was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. He wasn't breathing.

"NO!" she shrieked, clawing at the watch. He wasn't supposed to do that. He wasn't allowed to do that! The watch's seal snapped open and she winced, waiting for the intense pain that the draw always caused her.

Nothing happened.

"Chrno! Don't you dare!" Before she realised it, Rosette was kneeling on the bed, slapping the demon back and forth across the face, shrieking at him to wake up and stop lying there. Remington went to grab her, but she elbowed him in the chest, still roaring at Chrno that he couldn't die, he wasn't allowed to die, and he had to obey her or else she'd never forgive him.

Chrno sucked in a sudden breath.

Instantly, pain shot through Rosette and she couldn't breathe herself as she tumbled backwards off the bed, writhing in agony. It always felt this way, the feel of the life pouring out of her excruciating to the point where it almost made her want to die.

This time, she welcomed it, because it was life flowing into Chrno. She saw his hand, hanging limp over the side of the bed, grow, become clawed, and then a wing shot out over the side as well, black and warm. Remington grabbed her, pulling her out of the way, and she watched from his arms as the little boy form grew, becoming a demon with long, lean limbs, bone protrusions on his cheeks and shoulders, and a whip like vertebrae coming out of the back of his head.

He glowed white hot with astral, the power of it lifting him off the bed as the blankets fell away. He was nude, Rosette realised dimly, and wondered if she was blushing as Satella exclaimed in the background.

He was also still unconscious, with his legions not knowing what to do. "Wake up, Chrno," she whispered. "Please. Don't waste me." She could feel the years draining out of her. Aion had to be feeling this as well and she prayed he wasn't coming.

A moment later, Remington stepped forward and slapped the demon hard across the face.

That worked. Chrno gasped and bounced back onto the bed, still glowing but now wrapping around himself and willing the legions to heal his injuries. Rosette sighed in relief and he looked up at her, his hair falling across his face. Quickly, he crawled off the bed and over to her, wrapping arms and wings both around her.

"Close the watch," he begged. "Please!" He tried to take it from her, but she put a hand over it, looking at the ridges of ribs healing under his skin.

"Not until you're healed, Chrno." She looked at his eyes. "My choice."

He wanted to disobey her, she saw, but she was still too deep in his mind. He closed his eyes and wept instead, holding her.

Finally, the watch snapped closed and a twelve year old boy held her, long lavender hair tangled around her instead of wings. Rosette let him, smiling in victory.

"I told you I always win," she whispered.

Part Eleven

Slowly, Chrno made his way down the corridor, carrying a covered tray. He wasn't completely healed- Rosette hadn't had that much life left in her- and he winced in exhaustion. The walls of the Order pulled at him, sapping his strength, but he didn't care. Every bit that didn't go into him stayed in Rosette. He would have killed himself to give her a few more days if she hadn't clearly ordered him not to. The doors Aion had abused while he was hurt were closing now, but not so much so that he could defy Rosette. Her word was absolute law and the demon in him revelled in it, even as he wept.

Chrno went around a corner and stopped, looking up at Sister Kate. She studied him for a long moment that made his arms start to tremble wearily.

"I see you're feeling better," she said at last.

Chrno looked down. "A little. I'm still tired."

"And Rosette is paying for that health."

Chrno wondered if she could maybe just kick him in the head or shoot him, since that would hurt less. "Yes," he whispered.

She sniffed. "And what exactly are you planning to do once that girl dies?"

He clenched the tray so hard his fingers hurt, head bowing over more. "I don't know…" He could barely make the words audible.

"You think you deserve to live after what you've done to her?"

A tear splashed onto the top of the tray. "…no…" But she'd made the order. He was to live. Live on. Live forever. Except he'd die without astral to sustain him, unless he went back to Aion and he wouldn't do that.

He looked up at the nun. "Do you have somewhere… where you could lock me up… after? So I couldn't hurt anyone anymore?"

Her eyebrows rose and then a look of compassion filled her face. "Yes, Chrno. I do."

His shoulders sagged in relief. "Thank you. Don't tell Rosette. She'd order me not to go." Slowly, he made his way around her and continued down the hall.

Kate watched him go, grieving some for the little demon. He did repent his actions, but the actions were still there. She couldn't give him absolution, but she could give him peace. The deepest section of the church held cells which would put him outside of time. He wouldn't suffer there, or cause anyone else to suffer. It was a sidestep away from genuine punishment, but she suspected he was suffering enough.

Kate kept walking. She'd wait for him to come to her. Much as she regretted it, she suspected that the wait wouldn't be long.

Chrno went to Rosette's room, juggled the tray onto one arm, and knocked.

"Come in," he heard Azmaria say and opened the door.

Azmaria sat beside the bed, smiling at him, but Chrno barely saw her. Instead his gaze locked onto his Contractor, lying in the bed. She had some good days now, but most days she was too weak to get out of bed, and he was the one who had done this to her. He bit his lip to keep himself from crying. Rosette hated it when he cried.

"I brought you some lunch," he told her, setting the tray down on the nightstand.

Rosette looked at it and then up at him. "You really shouldn't be here," she told him. "It slows down your recovery." Was she going to order him away? Chrno tensed, ready to fight that with everything he had left. "But I'm glad you're here." He sagged and sat beside her on the bed, taking her hand.

"Are you feeling better today?" he asked.

"She is," Azmaria smiled. "We were just playing 'I spy'."

Rosette chuckled. "Az is pretty good at it. Do you remember playing I spy with me and Joshua, Chrno?"

"Of course," he whispered. She looked so pale, most of her life force gone. He'd done this to her, for being too stupid to pay attention.

Rosette reached out to touch his face and Chrno leaned into her touch. "I hate it when you're sad," she murmured. "It's not your fault." He shook his head. "I tell you it's not. I don't have any regrets. Seeing you leave me would have been worse."

"Except now you're going to leave me instead," he gasped, tears falling from his eyes despite his best intentions.

Her face tensed, her eyes lined with shadow. "I'm sorry," she told him. "I'm so sorry."

He grabbed her hand, kissing her cheek. "Don't be. I'd do anything to save you. Anything at all."

Beside them, Azmaria was weeping. "I feel so bad for you! Can't Sister Kate and Father Remington help?"

They both looked at her. "They can't do anything, Az,"

"But I heard them," the girl protested. "When I was bringing Sister Kate tea. I heard them arguing through the door. There's a way to save you both, but they can't agree on whether it would work. Sister Kate thinks it won't, but Father Remington says it will." Her voice dropped off. "You didn't know?"

They gaped at her in shock. A second later, Chrno had one of Rosette's guns in his hand and was racing out of her room and down the hall, his own heartbeat ringing in his ears. He sprinted out of the barracks and across the square, scattering startled nuns like geese as he bolted into the main administration building and down the hall to Sister Kate's office. She was just sitting down at her desk when he burst in and leaped at her, skidding to a halt on his knees atop the desk, gun pressed firmly against her forehead. Her eyes were shocked.

"Tell me how to save Rosette's life," he growled. "Or I'll end yours."

The End