The second chapter of Belonging as One! Our mystery contractor meets the Pandora gang! Will they fight? Yeah! In this chapter, there will be some answers, and many more questions… sorry I took so long (T-T)

I don't own Pandora Hearts or its characters, but Cas- ahem; Mystery Contractor, her Chain and Calvaire are mine. If you want to use them, tell me first or something. Sorry if anyone close to you is called Cassi- I mean, the name of my Mystery Contractor, this name was kinda picked at random.

We Meet at Last

The voice of a young girl rang out; amid the rhythm of her footsteps on the pavement. 'Are you certain that Eques does not know that we know?'

At first, the girl seemed to be talking to herself. Then, an unnatural darkness surrounded her, and a voice that was almost a hiss rang out. 'Yes.'

'And you think that Eques is bound by a legal contract, right?'

'Yes.'

'So the people on our tail are almost definitely from Pandora, right?'

'Yes.'

'Right. Then if we want to pick where we fight, we'd better hurry, eh?'

'Yes.'

'Uh, that was a rhetorical question.'

'…'

'Break, you seem really restless. Why do you want to find that Chain so badly?' questioned Oz.

'Yeah, clown. It's like you've got memories to find!' Alice shouted from behind.

'Ah, wouldn't you like to know?' the man sang back. But he had to admit, if only in his mind, that Alice was right.

That fox Chain felt special. Like it was something of great importance to him. Like it was something that he had…lost. And forgotten.

Weaving through the cobbled streets of Calvaire – careful not draw too much attention – they followed Sharon, who in turn was tracking her Chain, the Black Unicorn Eques.

'I'm surprised that they haven't noticed yet.' Sharon said. 'I wonder if-'

Alice snorted. 'If it's a trap? Like they can trap the great B-Rabbit!' Alice laughed, the look in her eye suggesting that any traps would be met with her large scythe.

They skid to a stop in the middle of a long, narrow alleyway that smelt like crushed garlic gathered from someone's armpit. The buildings seemed to lean in from the sides, and there were many broken windows and jarred doors.

They looked at Sharon, who nodded. Immediately, Alice challenged her would be opponents: 'Oi! Come out, you cowards!'

Break groaned. He could see the blurred shapes of the houses, the dark holes that indicated where the windows and doors where located. He could feel the still air, and he heard the echoes of Alice's cry. Now he understood why they had caught up with their quarry here, and also another thing – that their opponent knew more about them than he would've thought.

At least we have a surprise…

Sharon cried out in pain, clutching her leg. Just as the group turned to check on her, Eques galloped out of one of the windows, neighing.

So much for our surprise…

A streak of crimson light followed Eques out the building, and landed in the middle of alleyway. Of course, this wasn't very hard, because the entire width of the narrow alley could be counted as the "middle".

Raven had already released B-Rabbit seal by the time they all had their weapons ready. But something was definitely wrong.

'Alice, are you alright?' asked Oz. Alice's reply was swift and harsh:

'No! I can't use my scythe in this tiny place and I'm squashed! I can hardly move!'

And she was right. In her larger chain form, her shoulders were pressed against the buildings on either side of the alley and she held her scythe almost vertical to stop it from going into the gray bricks. Her size also prevented Oz and Raven from shooting the Chain; she was wedged in between them.

Eques was equally useless, unable to charge without skewering its comrades. The battle was practically over before it even started. But there was still one.

Steel and blood red claws clashed, metallic clangs bouncing off the dark walls. Blocking, parrying, thrusting, locked in a dance of blades, neither was willing to give up. Even Alice watched in silence, although she still resembled the filling of a packed sandwich.

I can't keep this up forever… if only I could get it out of this tiny place… that, or else…

Every time Break attempted to force Hollow-Eye out of the alleyway, it would aim at Sharon. Finally, after a particularly fierce exchange of blows, Break gave up trying to do it the "nice" way.

'Enough fooling around, I suppose it's time we got serious…' Break murmured. He unleashed the Mad Hatter.

'Not good.' She muttered. She had heard enough about the Mad Hatter to know that her Chain wasn't a match for it. Calling back her fox-like Chain, the girl fastened her hooded cloak and prepared to make her appearance.

I guess we need to take some chances sometimes … man, I hope I can get out of this one.

Landing lightly a few paces in front of the Mad Hatter's contractor, she gave a curtsey. 'No hard feelings, right? Uh, hi, my names Cassidy. I don't want to fight, so, you know… the Mad Hatter and B-Rabbit…'

Her voice trailed off into the darkness. Not exactly a confident introduction, she had to admit, but pretty good given the circumstances. To her surprise, the white haired man replied:

'Certainly. Now, Miss Cassidy, there are a few questions that we would like to ask you…but first and foremost, why did you become a Contractor?' The answer to this question should help us predict her intents, actions and allegiances…

The hood fell back, revealing Cassidy's face for the first time. Looking Break straight in the eye, she said: 'I want answers.'

Ta-dah! How was it? There's gonna be less action in the next chapter and less mystery as well. Yep, I'm gonna get started on the Romance… wish me luck! Also, thankyou for all the reviews, I love reading them! Until next time~