No matter how much I try to cut down on how much I write, or at least try not to add more when I go through it one last time, I always end up writing more *facepalm*

Which is why I present to you; another long chapter! No particular warning this time, apart for Gil's colourful language maybe?

On a random note, I quite enjoyed writing this chapter. Hopefully you'll see why :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Pandora Hearts or it's One-Shot.

It was strange.

When Oz had dropped to his knees earlier in front of Gilbert, who had just been slashed across the chest, the first thing that came across the latter's mind was, "I have to warn him," and not, "I have to get out of here."

So although the fire had, by then, made its presence well-known, he had warned Oz who apparently hadn't noticed, without a second thought. But that idiot refused to move, opting to instead waste precious time by staring at him with a look of pure bewilderment as though Gilbert was speaking gibberish. That was when a frustrated Gilbert thought, "I need to save him," and not, "I want to kill him!"

In that instant, the idea to jump came to him almost automatically, as though saving the boy was simply a reflex.

And he found that strange. Nevertheless, he told himself that there'd be time to ponder over it later.

Gilbert knew exactly what the dangers of his decision to jump were considering his condition at the time. To sum it up in a nice little nutshell, the only outcome would have been death, or if one was very lucky, then at least a state near it. But Gilbert was fairly confident that he would not die so when memories of the fight with Oz and the leap out the window had returned to him right after he regained consciousness, he expected to see a black, starry sky overhead when he opened his eyes. Instead, he found himself staring at a dark ceiling. Also, he was confused to find himself feeling somewhat better than he probably should, as well as a bed beneath him.

"...A hospital..." he realised after some time. "I can even smell the disinfectant."

Tentatively, he tried to sit up but instantly regretted it when he felt sharp pain from across and within his chest that made his breath catch in his throat when he tried to inhale, suffocating him for a few seconds before he forced himself to slowly release a shuddering breath. Once the pain subsided and his breathing regulated somewhat, Gilbert looked down to find that his shirt and coat were gone. Instead, his bare torso was heavily bandaged and there was a long but faint stain of blood running across it from his shoulder to his waist. He also noticed his right forearm was wrapped up as well so he carefully tried to move it, realising from the pain that it must've been sprained.

After a while he shoved the blanket away and shifted to move his legs over the edge of the bed which was when he felt something digging into his hip. When he reached down, he realised it was his gun that miraculously must've gone unnoticed by the hospital staff in their haste to patch him up.

"What happened after that...? And what happened to the kid?"

The single ward room was dark; the only light source was the strong moonlight pouring through the window to his right. Next to the window in between the wall and the bed was a single armchair, and Gilbert was absolutely surprised to find a small, hunched up figure on it. Squinting slightly, he leaned forward until, with a start, he realised that it was Oz.

Oz had his knees drawn up and his arms wrapped around his legs while his head was bent, resting atop his knees. He seemed to be wearing the same clothes from the ceremony, only his jacket and gloves were missing. Despite the lack of sufficient lighting, Gilbert did not fail to notice bloodstains on his dark-grey dress shirt and briefly wondered if it was his own or Oz's. His left sleeve was rolled up and Gilbert spotted a thin layer of gauze wrapped around the upper arm, most likely where he had slashed him during their duel.

For a fleeting moment Gilbert felt something akin to relief at seeing the teen there, alive. It was not every day when he jumped out of a window to escape a burning building while suffering from the effects of severe blood loss, just to save someone else on reflex. No, Gilbert certainly did not often do things out of the ordinary like that, so it would have made him more than just a little irritated if he went through all that trouble saving Oz, only for him to have died anyway.

But then, his relief quickly dissolved only to be replaced by anger as he realised something.

There would never have been a more perfect opportunity for the young noble to have Gilbert locked up for attempting to murder him, the heir to one of the Four Great Dukedoms. Yet here he was, receiving first-class treatment that he certainly did not deserve instead. In fact, he didn't expect to be 'saved' at all. The boy could've left him there to die. He had no reason not to, nor did he have any reason for being with Gilbert at that very moment in that room. But the fact that he was here meant he had something to do with all this.

That brat had saved him somehow. He had saved the man who tried to kill him. And now that naive fool was still...

"Hey... Are you awake?" called Gilbert quietly.

At first there was no response, but in a matter of seconds Oz slowly raised his head and rubbed his eyes, before blinking the sleep out of them. But when he noticed that Gilbert was up and awake, the sleep seemed to instantly vanish and he smiled, albeit a bit wearily, while lowering his legs to hang off the edge of the chair.

"Oh, you're alive! Thank goodness," said Oz a little breathlessly, since he released a sigh of relief at the same time. "The doctor was starting to get worried since it was the third night. First they found it strange how you even managed to survive after losing so much blood and slightly fracturing two ribs, and then he was sceptical that you'd wake up at all. But I knew you would," he finished with another smile. "How are you feeling?"

Gilbert didn't answer. He simply glared at Oz, whose smile faltered when he was met with the elder's silence.

"Gilbert...? Are you alright? Should I go call the doctor?"

Suddenly a hand darted out to fist his shirt front and Oz was yanked forward right out of the chair. He flailed his arms helplessly for moment in a vain attempt to remain balanced, but the force that Gilbert used made him land heavily between his legs with his palms slamming against the mattress edge and one knee on the hard ground to prevent him from colliding with Gilbert's injured chest which was just inches away from his face.

"Why?!" shouted Gilbert, startling Oz greatly. "Why are you here?!"

Oz blinked, unsure of what to say or why Gilbert was so angry. "Th-that's because... I... You nearly died, s-so I-"

Gilbert cut him off by roughly shaking him once. "I wouldn't have died, dammit! And I tried to kill you, so why?! Why did you try to save me? Are you an idiot?!"

He continued to glare furiously at Oz, who had looked away as soon as Gilbert began his outburst.

"I... I just didn't want to see anyone else die..." muttered Oz, before forcing himself to meet the raven-haired man's gaze at last.

It was only then when Gilbert noticed the utter lack of the usual lustre that had always been present in Oz's emerald eyes. They were now darker in shade and disturbingly vacant, and combined with the dark bags below his eyes it made him look almost like some mindless zombie.

"But... He was smiling just now. And he seemed perfectly fine. So now why is he-"

And then it hit him.

"A... Mask?"

Upon realising this and after taking in Oz' condition, Gilbert faltered. So after a moment, he slowly let go of his shirt. Oz sunk down onto both knees with his head hung, and his hands resting limply by his sides.

"What... Happened?" asked Gilbert, calming down a bit.

Oz remained silent for a while, trying to find the right words to answer Gilbert's question. "...Nearly the entire Estate has been destroyed by those people that interrupted the ceremony. But that's not all. An investigation was done to see who the casualties and survivors were but... Apart from us, everyone else died. The guests, the musicians, the guards, the servants... Everyone, including my..."

"What did you do with my father?!"

"...Father..."

Gilbert didn't even notice his eyes widen in shock or the silent gasp that escaped his lips, for he was absolutely stunned. Everyone? Not a single person from that estate managed to escape alive? But... How was that possible? There were just three figures up against an entire hall that had capable people among the rest of the crowd, not to mention the Vessalius guards. Surely the majority had the advantage of numbers?

But then, the real shock hit him.

Those had all been innocent people that had died. Wasn't it always his aim not to let outsiders get harmed during his missions? And yet...

Gilbert had seen them. He could guess what they were going to do. But he had ignored them.

He had let the most important thing out of his sight.

"There's more..." said Oz quietly while fisting the covers. "My little sister... They couldn't find any..." he paused to swallow thickly. "B-body... Implying that she probably hadn't been there when the mansion burned down. She would've gone straight to town if she escaped but no one's seen her. That means that those people must have taken her."

Oz looked up at Gilbert with wide, panicked eyes. "What would they want with her? Why couldn't they have taken me instead? As the heir I would've made a better hostage... Oh God, what if they didn't want a hostage?! What if-"

"Oh, calm down for a second, will you?!" snapped Gilbert. Oz flinched, but otherwise remained obediently quiet.

It's not that Gilbert was mad at Oz. The boy had the right to be worried. After all, the girl seemed to be the only remaining family he had and in a way it was more painful knowing that the only person left was out there, but out of your grasp. No, he simply didn't know how to handle such situations. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to say.

"Within a matter of minutes, he lost everyone around him. Despite that, he tried to save me. He's still here. He's still sane... How can he be a Contractor? It just doesn't add up..."

"...Hey, I want to ask you something. Answer me truthfully."

Oz simply nodded, not really caring about what he was going to be asked.

"Do you happen to know what a 'Contractor' is?"

And despite his earlier nonchalance, Oz couldn't stop himself from stiffening. "C-Contractor?"

Gilbert's sharp senses noticed the way he suddenly tensed as well as the slight stutter, and his eyes narrowed by a fraction.

Classic nervous behaviour. He pressed on.

"Yes, Contractor. It's someone who makes a Contract with a creature called an 'Abyss', that are said to be able to grant wishes."

Oz averted his gaze and remained silent, unsure of what to say or where this was going.

"...You're hiding something," stated Gilbert, while staring at Oz with scrutinising eyes.

So Oz really was a Contractor like the Nightrays had said. Gilbert's doubts had been meaningless from the start.

But then... Why weren't they going away?

Oz shook his head in denial, but he was brought to an abrupt halt when he felt the icy cold metal of a gun barrel pressed beneath his chin, forcing him to tilt his head up and stare Gilbert in the eyes.

"I wasn't able to finish my job earlier," said Gilbert coolly, "but I won't fail twice. You're the rogue Contractor that's been murdering innocent people lately, and now you shall pay for those sins with your life."

"What?!" cried Oz in disbelief. "No! Listen, I-"

Oz stopped speaking abruptly when all of a sudden, his wide eyes turned from green to crimson as a tattoo appeared under his left eye. When it completed materialising, he grabbed the barrel and shoved the gun away before glaring heatedly at Gilbert.

"Don't you dare point your weapon at me, human!" thundered B-Rabbit. "You've got the wrong person. This boy is not the Contractor who you're looking for."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Oh? And I suppose I'm talking to his split personality, then?"

B-Rabbit grit her teeth. This was her first time talking to him directly yet she was already starting to hate this floppy-haired man with a fiery passion. "Listen, seaweed head, I made a Contract with this boy just recently and he did it only to save your pathetic existence. Before that this boy was nothing more than that; a mere boy."

Gilbert considered its words, but his facial expression wasn't exactly one of understanding. It had to be lying, because the Nightrays had seen the boy himself...

"...I don't believe you," he said at last, though it didn't come out as firm as he wanted it to.

B-Rabbit raised an eyebrow. "If he really had made a Contract with me from the start then I would have ripped you to shreds during that sad excuse of a duel. And before you point it out, of course I know about it. I gained access to all his memories once we formed the Contract."

Gilbert, upon hearing her first statement, looked unimpressed. "Oh really?"

However, he realised deep down that the Abyss did have a point once he actually thought about it... But he would never admit that, especially to this infuriatingly arrogant creature.

B-Rabbit smirked and snapped her fingers, after which Gilbert felt everything around him freeze, including himself. It was a strange sensation if one could call it that, not being able – or needing – to breathe, or move a single muscle. He couldn't even move his eyes. But the strangest part was how his mind was still functioning, picking up and processing the sounds and movements of the boy in front of him. That too was a mystery. How was he able to move with perfect ease, clearly unaffected by this strange phenomenon? Unless...

The possessed Oz slowly got back up onto his feet before bending over with his hands resting on his knees, leaning forward to whisper menacingly into Gilbert's ear.

"Time flows according to my will, fool, for I am B-Rabbit, the Abyss of Time. I could've easily killed you within the blink of an eye if this boy really had made a Contract with me back then, because what kind of an idiot would let their salvation die? However, I saved you with my powers instead because that was Oz's wish."

B-Rabbit straightened to meet Gilbert's gaze but upon seeing his frozen, wide-eyed expression of astonishment, she couldn't help but snicker in amusement. Then, she slid onto the bed by steadying herself with a hand on his shoulder, pinning her knees on either side of his hips for the sole purpose of making him feel uncomfortably trapped before stroking his hair as though he were a pet.

"Oh, you silly human..." lilted B-Rabbit in a quiet, breathless murmur while she combed her fingers through his silky, wavy hair for a bit, but after a while she grabbed several locks and abruptly jerked his head back so that he was forced to look up and into her eyes.

"I could've killed you then," she repeated in a quiet mutter, tightening her grip almost as though to emphasise her point. "It would've been too easy. But I didn't, because I'll grant the wish requested from me even if it's against my personal desires. However..." B-Rabbit leaned forward to whisper darkly into Gilbert's ear again. "If you still insist on harming the boy then I will get rid of you, one way or another. Mark my words."

She raised her head while letting go of Gilbert's hair simultaneously before snapping her fingers once more, after which time resumed at its normal pace. Gilbert immediately glared daggers at the detestable thing before him while gingerly rubbing his slightly stinging scalp. "Why the hell are you so obsessed with this brat anyway?" he snapped.

B-Rabbit grinned in delight in an almost childlike manner, so it nearly looked like an ordinary sight had it not been for the predatory look in her gleaming crimson eyes, or the way her vertically long, narrow, black devilish pupils dilated noticeably.

"He's no ordinary brat. He's the perfect vessel. His body is young but his mind is strong. And in two or three years he'll easily be able to accommodate the full extent of my powers. In all my life there hasn't been anyone that was able to host me. But now, not only have I found someone capable, I also sense great potential from him. That's why I must make sure he lives."

Gilbert sighed in frustration.

It was one job. One little job. Kill the kid and walk away. And yet here he was, facing all these complications that weren't included in his job description.

"I still have a job to do," declared Gilbert. "He may not have been a Contractor before, but he is now. They'll use that excuse against him." Then, "And get the hell off me already, you stupid rabbit! If someone walks in here they're seriously going to get the wrong idea."

B-Rabbit rolled her eyes, clearly indicating to Gilbert that she believed his worries to be utterly stupid. Nevertheless, she slid off from his lap and stood before him instead, before continuing the conversation. "That's not your problem, is it? You're only paid to kill him if he was the Contractor that murdered all those people. He's not, and I'm sure your job didn't cover him being just a regular Contractor. So you have no right or reason to kill him."

Gilbert remained silent. It was a logical argument, after all. Despite the nature of the jobs they selected him for, he and the Nightrays had signed a proper contract so 'legally', that argument would suffice... At a stretch.

"Besides, you didn't even want to kill him in the first place, did you?"

Gilbert froze.

...What...?

That was...

...Oh.

It... It all made sense now, even the reason why he felt inclined to save Oz on reflex. This whole time, that strange feeling he would always get when thinking about killing Oz was just unwillingness. And now that he knew the truth, it also occurred to him why that feeling had plagued him. It was simply because over the years, Gilbert had developed another skill after being in the presence of an uncountable number of corrupt people and that was the ability to sense whether or not someone was innocent. The only reason why he hadn't realised it before was because he had never been in the position where he had to kill a guiltless person up until now. So although his mind had been ordering him to kill, his subconscious mind had been trying to tell him otherwise.

...And how did the stupid rabbit even know that when Gilbert had only just realised it himself?

B-Rabbit smirked, knowing full-well what the man in front of her was thinking.

"It's painfully obvious, you know. Someone like you had no reason to fight fairly when the boy drew his sword that time. Then during the fight your performance was appalling. Look at what he managed to do to you!" she exclaimed, while pointing accusingly at his chest with a look of disapproval. "Even your movements were affected which is why you've ended up like this. Pathetic," she scoffed.

After a brief pause she added, "But the thing that gave it away was when you saved him despite your condition. If you had left him there and saved yourself, your 'job' would've been complete, wouldn't it?"

Gilbert shot an irritated look at B-Rabbit's direction, choosing not to respond to all those surprisingly (and annoyingly) accurate-sounding claims. Instead, he began to contemplate over everything that had happened so far.

Technically B-Rabbit had been right earlier. The Nightrays originally wanted to murder Oz for revenge, using the fact that the boy was the Contractor behind the recent murders as defence. But as the even more recent events had proven, he wasn't. That made Oz innocent, meaning that Gilbert had no right or reason to kill him, just like B-Rabbit had said. The fact that he was a Contractor now was not really his concern (even though it was technically because of him, added his mind a tad bit unnecessarily...), unless the boy really did become a nuisance and Gilbert was hired to kill him later on. But that was an unlikely scenario.

Gilbert scowled deeply.

From the start he had realised that something was off about this job, but how utterly stupid of him not to notice it earlier.

No. It's not that he hadn't noticed; he simply refused to acknowledge all the signs...

The entire thing was a set-up. The Nightrays had probably been desperate for an excuse to kill the boy and must've decided to blame the recent murders on him, knowing that once Gilbert was set out to kill, he never hesitated to pull the trigger. And that meant Oz wouldn't have time to explain himself.

"Those bastards took advantage of my nature..."

But if they thought they knew him well by now, then oh, how wrong they were. Gilbert would personally see to it that they became aware of that fact.

The whole thing about their man swearing an oath was total bullshit too, because anyone would be willing to sell their soul if you paid them the right price, and anyway, all Gilbert had was their worthless words that the witness really saw what he did. He had gotten so accustomed to working for them that he didn't even bother conducting his own investigations anymore...

But those murders... Was it just a coincidence? Or were the Nightrays behind that too?

"If only there was a way to detect whether someone was a Contractor..."

Gilbert found his gaze drawn to B-Rabbit at that thought, who didn't fail to notice his thoughtful expression.

"What?"

"...Nothing, just... Shouldn't your kind be able to sense if there are others like you around?"

The answer was probably no, but then again, he couldn't trust himself to be sure... And he didn't really want to resort to asking this creature for any sort of assistance but it was worth a shot, because he really wanted to sort this mess out as soon as possible and move on with his miserable life.

B-Rabbit blinked, not having expected such a question. "Actually, some of us can. It's usually the stronger ones like me, who actually bother exploring the extent of our powers. Naturally it becomes harder to sense them the further away they are. Also, just like how we can detect others, we can also conceal our own presence so it'll be impossible to detect an Abyss in that state."

She had been about to ask why, but after some time she managed to reach the same conclusion as Gilbert and began laughing haughtily in a way that made him want to strangle the damn creature.

"Unbelievable!" she exclaimed when her amusement faded, though the smirk never left her face. "How stupid do you have to be to fall for such an obvious trick? I bet you accepted their task without even asking for proof, didn't you?"

And before Gilbert could even open his mouth to retort, she delivered the final blow.

"You sure you're not losing your edge, old man?"

"Go to hell!" barked Gilbert, whose complexion had turned flaming red from anger.

Deep inside though, he was a shocked. Though he'd never, ever admit it, B-Rabbit was... right. Since when did he become so trusting, especially towards his true enemy? Simply because they had been his regular clients, he had let his guard down and assumed that some silly form of understanding had developed between them.

But never again.

Then, as an afterthought he added, "And I'm only twenty four, you stupid rabbit! You, on the other hand, are probably old enough to be my grandmo-"

B-Rabbit cut him off. "Don't even go there. I may be an Abyss but I just happen to be a female one. And all females hate age jabs."

Now it was Gilbert's turn to smirk, albeit very faintly. "Sorry, but did you honestly think I would give a fuck?"

Hundreds of different colourful insults sprang within her mind but B-Rabbit wisely decided not to respond, since she couldn't waste her time with verbal sparring (next time, she promised herself). Every minute she spent in control of Oz put strain on his mind and body after all. Instead, B-Rabbit closed her eyes and focused for a few minutes. That was when Gilbert realised, with mild apprehension, what she was trying to do and remained silent.

After some time, she opened them again and stared at Gilbert. "I sense three. The first one is down south, quite far from here, so it was hard to detect at first. I don't think it's who you're looking for though; seems to be well outside the city."

"Could be, but it's probably not," agreed Gilbert. "What about the second one?"

"Close to the outskirts of the city... But it's travelling north."

"North... Strange, but that can't be it. North is headed towards the forbidden territories. That just leaves..."

"And... The third...?"

"North-east from here, again, near the outskirts of the city. That makes it the closest out of all three."

"North-east..." muttered Gilbert. "So if we're currently at the hospital, then north-east should be..."

After some deep thought, Gilbert frowned. "I thought so. It's Nightray territory."

Then he turned to B-Rabbit and regarded her for a while. "...Are you sure there are no others?"

"What?"

"What do you think?" he snapped exasperatedly.

B-Rabbit huffed irritably and folded her arms. "What do you think? I would've told you if there were. There might be more, but they're either out of range or have concealed themselves if I wasn't able to notice them. So no, there aren't any more at the moment."

"...I see..."

"If it's exactly as she says then once again, I might've spotted another anomaly... But I don't have time for that right now."

Gilbert abruptly stood up, wincing at the sharp pain shooting from within and across his chest. But apart from that, his legs seemed to be somewhat functional, thankfully. He then holstered his gun and looked around for something he could wear over his bandaged chest.

"It really is them. One of their people is a Contractor. The entire thing is an elaborate set up, and they've made a fool of me this whole time. Now they're going to pay for it with their lives..."

"Where are you going?" asked B-Rabbit.

"Out," he answered simply.

"What about the boy?"

Gilbert momentarily paused.

Indeed, there was the matter of Oz. The boy did risk his life to save Gilbert's, so in return he guessed it was alright to let him off the hook. Actually it wasn't even a matter of question anymore, now that Gilbert had learned the truth. Oz had been perfectly innocent from the start...

He won't be anymore because of you, reminded his brain unnecessarily. But Gilbert simply ignored it.

Because what was he supposed to do about it? What could he do about it?

Nothing...

"Fine," declared Gilbert after some time. "I'll spare the boy. He's no longer my concern anyway."

"So what are you going to do now?"

Gilbert clicked his tongue in irritation and spun around. "You're so annoying! Does it matter? I already said I'd leave him alone, didn't I? Now leave me alone."

B-Rabbit grumbled unintelligibly before muttering something that suspiciously sounded like, "Can't even respect his elders", after which she said, in a louder voice, "Mm, fine then... Maybe I'll go to sleep..."

Gilbert was about to point out that the correct phrase she was looking for should sound something along the lines of, "Maybe I'll get lost and let my Contractor rest since I wasted a lot of his precious energy to sustain my completely unimportant existence," and definitely not, "I should get some sleep". But the words died at his lips when he witnessed the transition of Oz's eyes from red to green while the tattoo vanished the same way it appeared.

After that his eyelids slid to a close as he began to fall back, but Gilbert managed to reach out and grab Oz's arm just in time before pulling him in and resting his other arm behind his waist to prevent him from falling back.

"Unconscious...?"

When Oz's eyes didn't re-open, Gilbert's suspicions were confirmed. So, he shifted the hand clutching Oz's waist up to his opposite shoulder and steered the boy to his bed.

"Actually, this makes things easier. He'd probably pester me with questions if he was awake."

Once Oz was resting peacefully in place of Gilbert under the blankets, the latter decided that he wasn't going to find any article of clothing where he was and it wasn't as though there would be anyone up this late to see a shirtless, injured man limping down the streets on a frosty night. So, he resolved to stop by his apartment first for a change of clothes while approaching the window.

"I hope this isn't going to become a habit," he thought with a grimace.

As anticipated, the distance from his window to the ground wasn't much at all since his ward room was on the ground floor, so a hop from that height would be nothing for him. With his escape route secure, he checked through the room one last time in case any of his possessions were lying around. Upon finding nothing, he quietly lifted the window, paused briefly to take in the fresh, disinfectant-free air and slipped out into the cold, motionless night.

"Time to take care of some business."

Put Gilbert and 'B-Rabbit' in a room and it won't be long before verbal sparring to some degree ensues, otherwise it just wouldn't be Pandora Hearts. Don't you agree? :)