A/N: I seriously hate writers block~! To everyone i'm sorry it took a while but now it's here~!Oooohhhh, if y'all are curious about this darling demon Ree, firstly: it's pronounced like Ray. Secondly: about his contract symbol, it's a black shattered heart with black flames at the top, and it's located behind his ear. And for the record, I have the foggiest idea how Eric will get over it once he realises he'd entered into a contract while in a daze. Um...that's it i think! THanks for the reviews~ they've been so sweet and loving! Now...on to the chapter~!

PS: If you're curious about what happened with Will and Grell and Ronald, let's just say that a Menage a Trois doesn't really work too well when one of them's a virgin~

"M-mister, you're crazy! Y-you stay far away from me, you hear?" Eric was shoved into an alley and hit the wall, cringing as she kept pelting him with rocks, garbage and anything heavy she could manage. He backed off into a darker area and she ran off once he did.

"Jesus Christ..."

"Not quite." Eric almost jumped out of his skin and had the demon Ree against the wall with his saw at his throat. "Oooohhhh, what wild eyes you have, reaper. How are you enjoying your madness?" Eric simply growled at him and slammed him hard against the wall again. "I see you're angry too! Oh dear oh dear, did we have a fight with our precious little Allie~?" Eric narrowed his eyes and stepped back from him.

"He's been passed out for almost twelve hours..." Eric trailed off and looked down at the ground. He couldn't bring himself to tell a demon that he'd not been there to help Alan through one the worst attacks he's had in a very long time. He should have know something would happen, but was convinced without a doubt that he was fine that morning. "He could have died while I was gone..."

"Six months, actually." The demon smirked and began circling Eric, snatching the ring of keys from his pocket with a smirk. The blond furrowed his eyebrows and stared at him, gripping his saw tight and raising it with each turn. "Awww, what's that look for, Kitten~?" He ducked as Eric swung his saw and stumbled, looking around to see the demon had vanished.

"Damn..." He shook his head and kicked a dead rat into the front of the alley. Collasping against a wall and slumping down. "Alan...please...I'm so close..." He ran a hand through his hair and looked up at the sky, flinching when a raindrop crashed against his glasses. He a sniffed little and hung his head as rain began to pour down in torrents, soaking him in a heartbeat.

"You're gonna catch your death sitting in the pouring rain like that, Mr. Slingby..." Eric perked up a little and wiped his eyes, not that it would matter of course. He looked back at the ground as the rain suddenly stopped above him. He looked up at the source of the sudden dryness and saw Alan standing above him, bleary eyed and a little tired looking but still on his feet at least. He knelt down in front of his mentor and pushed his hair out of his eyes. "My god...Eric, you're soaked! You need to get inside before y—Eric?" He blinked and reached out hand to nudge him, shaking as hard as he could.

"Can't...need to...save Alan...six hundred..." Alan furrowed his eyebrows and dragged the sleeping blond up to his feet, holding onto him as best as he could.

"Six hundred what?"

"Ronnie, I'm sorry...I really thought it would be alright..." Ronald glared at Grell from across the kitchen, putting a bottle of whiskey to his lips again. "I should have known better, Will said it wouldn't work...should have known better than to get between you two..." he took a sip of red wine and glanced around, running a hand through his hair. "Ronald, please. Say something, anything..."

"Get out, Sutcliff. I know exactly what you wanted and it didn't work. Go try your tricks on some other poor soul," The blond took another swig of whiskey and opened the door for Grell, grabbing his chainsaw and handing it to him. "I can't believe you would ever think of trying something so low..." The redhead was about to say something else only to be pushed out and the door slammed in his face. "It'll be a miracle if Will still wants to talk to me..."

"Why don't you ask and find out?" He jumped and turned in an instant, staring right at William. The older reaper stood at the door to his balcony and smirked, watching the blond silently. "Well?"

"...How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to see you throw out Sutcliff. For the record, Knox...I never wanted that to happen. I wanted it to be just us...but he cut in, I couldn't get rid of him..." He walked up to the blond and took the bottle from him, setting it down. "Why don't we try this again, hmm? Without Sutcliff this time...?" Ronald open his mouth for a moment and was cut off by William pulling him into a soft, passionate kiss.

"But why would he do this...? He's one of the best, why would he do something so reckless?" Thomas sighed and poked the corpses liver with a scalpel, glancing up at the Undertaker examining another body. "I mean, what if Alan finds out? He'll be crushed! He couldn't handle to know that his lover is a murderer!" The ex-reaper looked up and motioned for the brunette to come over to him, draping an arm over his shoulders.

"Love does weird things to people, Kitten. Almost like an illness, you know? And for the longest time those two have been affected by the love bug. There isn't anything you can do but let it run it's course, Now, as to this favour of mine~!" Undertaker stood quickly and walked off, causing Thomas to fall onto the floor with a squeak.

"OI! Warn someone when you-" He put his hand down on something slimy and peered down, going wide eyed "EWWW! What the hell is that thing? It's all slimy and bumpy and...ugh!" He jumped up and tossed it across the room, wiping his hands quickly on his pants "Oh my god, and what's leaking out of it?" he shuddered as Undertaker picked it up and giggled.

"Still so squeaky, it's only a large intestine, Kitten. Oooohhh, a very clogged one...eeewww..." The old reaper giggled quietly as Thomas started cringing and rubbing his hands on his pants to wipe off the remaining visceral fluid. "Now now, keep your focus, Kitten. This is very important~" Thomas was about to protest when Undertaker shoved the corpse to him. "Hold him up! Need to find his measurements,"

"P-professor, please. I really don't like doing this...what's this thing you need my help with aside from—that's no way to measure a corpse! Use a regular tape measure, not your tongue! Oh my god, that is disgusting!" He shuddered and turned his head away, cringing and whimpering the whole time. He may not mind the old man's idiosyncrasies, but there were just some methods of his that were...well even he would say they were a tad creepy.

"Hmmm~? Oh right! Well...how often is it been that you go to the library, kitten?" he looked up from sliding a nail up the corpses leg and grinned. Thomas just stared at him silently, pushing the large oval frames up and stuttering. "I'll take that as a regular basis then~! Ever gone up on the top two floors~?"

"W-what...? N-no, don't be silly! Only the very high-ups and professors are allowed to go up there!" He sighed happily when the old man took the corpse from him, dropping him unceremoniously in a coffin in a far corner.

"Didn't need him eavesdropping...now you're only partially right, my dear. Professors from academies in other branches or countries are allowed. Now do you know what is kept on those top two floors?" The brunette shook his head and tossed his coat over a chair, unbuttoning his shirt a portion. It was suddenly getting rather hot in there, when did Undertaker ignite the fireplace? Thomas bit his lip and leaned against a wall, following the old man with his eyes. The longer it took for the old loon to get out his plan, the more nervous he got. "Dearie it's rather warm in here, aren't you smothering in that~?" Thomas shook his head a little and crossed his arms, looking away only for a moment. When he looked back, Undertaker had vanished completely, leaving him alone with the corpse.

"Ooohhhh, Professor please...I don't want to be alone with a body! It's starting to smell like innards in here!" he cringed and covered his mouth, slipping out of the room before he vomited. Sad to say, he didn't look where he was going and hit his foot against a coffin, barely noticing someone sneaking up behind him and pushing him into it. "OW! What did you do that f—hello? Prof—Mmph!" He squeaked when Undertaker shut them in the coffin and pulled his hair out of its neat ponytail, holding him tight. "Wh-what did you do that for? Why's it all dark? There's not a corpse in here too, is th—Nnnn~" he bit his lip and pushed the old reaper's hair out of his eyes, whimpering when he bit down hard against his neck. "Wh-what about this thing? A-about the l-library...?" the old man looked up and grinned wide.

Eric stared up at the ceiling bleary eyed and shaking. He coughed heavily and wrapped his arms tight around himself. He'd been shuddering and coughing since last night and not seen a wink of Alan for a good few hours. Speaking of hours, what time was it? He sat up slowly and stared at the clock at the side, 11.30 AM. Alan had probably gone in then, left him to recover and relax. He ran a hand through his hair and started coughing heavily, falling back and shivering even more. He pulled the blankets up around him and whimpered, clinching his eyes shut. He opened the again slightly only to see Ree standing over him.

"Go away..." no use, it was so weak that he might as well just stayed quiet. The demon started laughing and sat down next to him.

"Now that wouldn't be very fun, would it? Look at you, gone and caught an infection trying to save your dearest Allie. This will put you even further behind!" Eric buried his face in the pillow and muttered something, muffled by the fluff. "That wasn't very nice. You ready to ask for my help yet?" He smirked when the blond threw him a rude gesture. "I'll take that as a yes, I tell you what, kitten...I'll help you save Alan...maybe." The blond perked up a little and stared at him.

"What's the catch...?"

"If you accept my help and we save Alan then I will go away forever, never deal with another reaper again..."

"What if he dies before then...?"

"That's for me to know and your idiotic little self to find out. Do we have a deal?" Eric stared at him for a moment before he started coughing again, holding himself as each one racked his body. He collapsed back against the pillows and nodded weakly, letting out a few pained groans before another wave of coughing hit him, causing him to pass out, still shaking a little. Ree shook his head and slipped off the bed, making his way over to the night stand and pulling a silver chain from his pocket.

"I never knew reapers could be such easy victims to pneumonia..." He smirked as the chain extended and a pewter skeleton key appeared at the end. It looked exactly like the one Alan carried on him, though the head was covered in little obsidian gems with a few little rubies in the center, his little contract symbol engraved on the bit. He stared at it for a moment as the chain shortened a ittle and one of the rubies became darker. "You won't save him in time, reaper. You should have just let him die instead of falling into Hell," Eric whimpered a little in his sleep as the demon watched him silently. He set the key and chain next to him and watched it snake around the blond's neck. "I can't wait to try that tainted soul of yours..."