Chapter 10: Interactions

Sebastian glanced up towards a darkened corner by the local pub as he and the other Phantomhive servants were helping Alena get settled into the new location for her clinic the next morning. Something did not feel right to him. It was almost as if there was an unnamed menace that seemed to be lurking nearby that wished to do hard to either his lord…or worse, his beloved.

"Is there something wrong?" Alena asked as she approached him. She placed her hand on his upper arm and as she did she could feel the tension that was coursing through him. Something had him on edge. Yet she was not sure what it was.

"Nothing is wrong," he said turning to look at her with a smile as he traced a finger down the side of her face before pulling free of her grasp to finishing unloading the last few boxes from the carriage along with Finny and Bard. She sighed as she took a step back and watched them work, still with the feeling that something was not right.

What was Sebastian hiding from her?

Then again there were things she was hiding from him, she thought to herself as she tugged at the sleeve of her blouse, making sure that it was pulled down tight around her wrist.

"If there is one thing I do give Sebastian credit for," Ciel said moving to stand next to Alena. He and another of the Phantomhive household servants, Snake, had just returned from purchasing a few things from local merchants. "It is the fact that once he is given an order he does not falter on that order."

"That is because it is part of the contact that binds him to you."

"Which is true. Yet I have noticed something else over the last few days. Lately he has been hesitant in regards to you. In the three years that he has been by my side, he has not been hesitant about anything. Yet now he is. I don't believe that he means to be. I'm just not sure of what to make of it…"

Alena could not help but smile. That was exactly what she needed to hear. Perhaps this was not going to all be in folly. Possibly she would be successful.

"Oh and I hear congratulations are in order." Ciel added. "Sebastian mentioned that he went and put in notice this morning so that you two could obtain a marriage license and do things the proper way this time around. I actually laughed when he told me. Who would have thought – an angel and a demon getting married in only two weeks time?"

Alena could not help but blush.

Exactly, who would have thought?


He watched from the shadows of the town pub as the Phantomhive servants helped the watcher set up her new clinic across in the town square. He was a bit surprised at just how fast the young Earl had managed to get her new clinic up and running. Yet then again, the young Earl did have a demon working for him. That was when Midir also noticed something else about the way that this crow demon – or Sebastian Michaelis as he was known on earth - was handling himself around Alena Martel…he was treating her as if she was something fragile.

No fragile was not the right word.

Protective was.

The crow was protecting what was his. Or at least what had been his at one time.

Midir had seen this behavior in other demons before, but usually towards contract holders. Yet Alena Martel held no contract with Sebastian Michaelis. It was the Earl Phantomhive who held the contract with the crow.

So why was the crow acting like this? Was the watcher actually being successful in winning the crow back over? Was that even possible?

He would have to watch them even closer since it seemed that things were moving a bit faster than either him or Taran would have thought. Besides, Alena Martel did not have much time left to try to win over the crow since he could tell that the burning had already begun on her wrist. Did the crow know? It was obvious that Alena knew since she hid her wrist beneath the cuff of her blouse.

Too bad for the crow.

Yet oh so good for him.


Images flashed through her mind's eye as she ran her fingertip along one of the loaded rifles that stood atop the rooftops of the manor.

Battles over the life of Ciel Phantomhive that he knew nothing about until after they had occurred.

The servants doing what they do best – defending the Phantomhive Estate until the day they give their last dying breath. Each with a specific skill set that was vital to the survival of the Phantomhive line and had actually saved the life of the young Earl on numerous occasions. Yet the more that she watched and observed the way that the servants acted around each other and interacted with both Ciel and Sebastian, it made her wonder.

Did they actually know more then they were letting on?

Yes, it did often seem at times that Mey-Rin, Bard and Finny all seemed to have their head in the clouds, while Tanaka and Snake seemed a bit more down to earth. Yet seeing memories and witnessing events firsthand were two different things – so perhaps in time, Alena would be able to ascertain just how much the young Earl and even Sebastian meant to the Phantomhive household members.

But from what Alena had been able to gather, from simple observations over the last few days – especially her observations of Finny –this was not just a collection of people brought together.

No.

This was family - a very dysfunctional family, but a family nonetheless. She could not help but smile at that thought. A demon with a family. What exactly was the world coming to? And that made her think for a moment. Would she eventually be considered a part of this family as well?

That thought had never crossed her mind a first. Did she want a family? Did she want to be apart of something? Of course she did. Who did not want all of that? Even after all the centuries of trying to figure out a way to retrieve Sebastian's soul from the darkest pits of hell, she still wanted to know that she mattered. But did she truly matter? Or was this all because Sebastian was simply following orders from his master?

Alena took a deep breath as she stood at the edge of the rooftop and gazed down upon the Phantomhive Estate grounds as she felt the mark of the contract with Satan burn on her wrist just a bit more. She closed her eyes and exhaled. And as she did a pair of arms encircled her and pulled her close just as a pair of lips found her ear. "Why not stop this foolishness now, Alena and come home. There is no reason for your heart to be broken any longer. Let me heal the wounds that have plagued you for all these centuries," a deep voice whispered in her ear. "There is no need to seek solace in the arms of that demon. He will only bring you more suffering then you already are."

Alena stiffened as her bottom lip trembled. How did he find her? How did Taran find out where she had gone? A tear slowly trickled down her cheek. Where was Sebastian when she actually did need his help?


Something did not feel right. But what, Sebastian could not be sure of.

Setting down the knife that he had been using to dice onions with for the evening's meal, he quickly scanned the kitchen. Bard was lounging in the corner along with Tanaka and he knew that Mey-Rin was currently changing the linens in several of the guestrooms. Swiftly making his way through the manor, Sebastian assessed that his young master was working on documents for the Funtom company, while Finny and Snake were taking care of the carriages in the stable.

That only left Alena.

He quickly checked the library and found that she was not there. And she was not in the guest quarters that had been assigned to her. Nor was she out in the courtyard. So where could she be, he wondered as he stood in the courtyard thinking. She had made no mention of going back into town or of going anywhere off of the estate property. That was when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye - a glint a gold from the western rooftop of the manor.

Gold from a ring.

That was where Alena was.

And that was where this discomfort that he was unexpectedly feeling had come from. There was someone else with her.


"So how about it? Are you going to come home or not?" Taran asked as he ran his hand along Alena's side as she trembled in his arms. She flinched away from his touch and tried to take a step away from him but was pulled back by Taran. Yet his grasp did not hold her for long. She heard him recoil in pain as something struck him. She spun around and looked at what had happened. Taran was cradling his hand where a silver knife was impaled in it.

"The answer is not." Sebastian said from behind her as he appeared on the ledge of the roof. He stepped off the ledge and made his way towards Alena's side. "As a guest at Phantomhive Estate, it is proper decorum to present yourself upon arrival at the main entrance so that the Lord of the manor can know who all guests are on the property."

"Since when does a demon care about decorum?" Taran sneered as he pulled the knife out of his hand and let it fall to the stone rooftop.

Sebastian smiled slightly as he pulled Alena's trembling form close to him, before kissing her lips softly as he placed himself between Alena and the unknown figure. "Now I will ask you once again," he said with his eyes growing darker in anger. "You can either leave or present yourself to the Earl Phantomhive before approaching Alena Martel again."

He began to walk towards Taran, making him walk backwards towards the other ledge of the roof. Without hesitation, Taran revealed his wings and allowed them to spread before he took off from the rooftop. He hovered a few feet above the roof, glaring down at Alena and Sebastian. "This is far from over, Alena. I will make you see the error of your ways," he warned before rising higher into the sky and disappearing.

Sebastian's gaze narrowed as he watched the retreating angel grow smaller and small. What had he meant by the error of Alena's ways? What had she exactly done?

He turned just in enough time to see Alena's still trembling body collapse towards the ground and in an instant he was at her side. He caught her just before she hit the ground. Sobs were racking against Alena's chest as she lay in Sebastian's arms.

"I'm sorry, Sebastian," she whispered over and over.

"Sorry for what?" he asked as he tilt her face up towards him.

"For not telling you everything," she said averting her eyes from his. She could not bear to look at him. "For not telling you that there are those who are still actively trying to stop me from succeeding in winning back your love. And for this…"

She slowly pushed up her blouse sleeve to reveal her contract seal with Satan. It was then that Sebastian noticed a change –the top of one of the numbers had begun to become a bit darker, almost like a slow countdown. "It only began yesterday," Alena said, as tears began to steadily roll down her cheeks.

She hiccupped as Sebastian tilted her head back up to look at him. He gently flicked several of the tears away, all while keeping a smile on his face. "Prior to this week there was only one thing that mattered to me and that was obtaining revenge for my master so that I could consume his soul. Now there is something else that I am slowly beginning to desire more and more and that is you, Alena. There are times that I do not even understand the feelings myself, yet I do understand that these feelings towards you are not the result of an order from my master. That is one reason why I asked you to marry me once again. I know that I do love you Alena, even though I do not know nor do I understand why I do or even know yet to what extent my feelings are. But I can promise you this – nothing bad will ever befall you."

"Oh I have no doubt about that," she said glancing around at all the loaded guns that still surrounded them along the rooftop before turning back and looking at Sebastian. She smiled at him once again. "And I love you too."


AN: Whew! Real life struck again…..hopefully things get a bit calmer after Tuesday with the end of softball season. But we shall see. Enjoy and please let me know what ya'll think and if there is anything that you want to see in the story!.