A/N: So...curious about what Grell did? What hasn't he done people, I mean it is Grell we're talking about! If you're confused about what Thomas is talking about then you'll just have to wait until the next chapter~! Until then...make up your own theories~! And thank you for the reviews, I'm glad y'all are enjoying it~! ^J^
"Overtime Sutcliff and if you try it again, I will have you suspended without pay again, clear?" Grell pouted as he stormed out of William's office huffing walking around to the small group of desks Ronald and Thomas had pushed together.
"You~! You had my chainsaw taken away didn't you? You no good snitch, I'll kill you!" Grell lunged for the smaller reaper, tripping on his coat and falling instead, crying out at the sudden pain in his ankle. He looked back and went wide eyed at the sight of his ankle. When he tripped he'd landed wrong and twisted his ankle, managing to break his heel as well. "Ah~! This is all your fault, you little bastard! I swear I'm going to slap the pink out of your hair!" Thomas raised an eyebrow and grabbed his scythe when the redhead tried to pull him down, resting the blade under Grell's throat and snarling at him.
"Try it, Sutcliff...I dare you. Try it and see what happens. My best friend is on his death bed, I'm tired and hungry, my back is killing me and I am EXTREMELY stressed out simply by being forced to work in this department! So I'll say it again..." He knelt down by the redhead and narrowed his eyes, holding the scythe in place. "Come at me, bitch," Grell just lay there silently, staring at him as he walked off before pulling himself up on the desks, absolutely shocked by this twitchy little reapers sudden change in attitude. Thomas set his death scythe to the side and gave him one last look before grabbing a note and walking away. The redhead hopped onto the desk and continued to stare, grabbing Ronald's arm when he came near.
"That Barker kid is something else, isn't he?" Ronald perked up and looked over in the same direction. "I mean, he shows up here on a transfer from glasses, no one knowing where the papers even came from. He's dam near afraid of his own shadow-" A sudden squeak cut him off, apparently a bird flew into the window again. "We don't know anything about him or what he does for fun, just that he's close to Alan..."
"He dyes his hair like once every few weeks too, last week it was pink and brown, now he's got it pink and white...and he's really close to the Undertaker too,"
"That creepy old man~? I remember working under him! He was so crazy, back when he was supervisor he had these jars full of like eyes and noses, ya know? And his overtime work or punishments would making you clean each eyeball in the jar by hand...it was disgusting~! And the old man would just sit there and laugh while you cringed!" He shook his head and looked at the blonds scythe, grabbing it without a second thought and yelping. "What the-? Why the hell is your scythe covered in thorns?" Thomas simply looked up and shrugged, grabbing the scythe and walking out of the office.
"Come on, Mr. Knox, we have a job to do," Ronald sighed and pulled his mower out of hiding, shrugging at Grell.
"I'll see what I can find out, alright?"
"Oi, Tommy...how close were you and Alan?" Ronald leaned against his mower and glanced over at the older reaper, watching him pick at one of the thorns on his scythe. Grell wasn't kidding, this dude really was quite strange. He was quiet, twitchy, had a strange taste in clothing and...seemed like he spent far too much time around the Undertaker. Thomas pulled off a thorn and started giggling. "The hell is so funny?"
"You. But it was pretty obvious Alan and I are close, we've been best friends since before we died. He's like my brother..."
"So this whole Thorns thing must be pretty hard then, huh?" Thomas dropped the scythe and stared at the blond. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head.
"You say it like it's so trivial...What was your first indication that it was hard, huh? The fact that he's been going down hill faster than an idiot unable to steer a carriage or that...forget it. I have souls to collect," He shook his head and picked his scythe back up before hopping off the roof, leaving Ronald stunned and silent.
Thomas shook his hair out of his eyes and looked at the shrunken head hanging from his scythe, some manner of good luck charm from the Undertaker. He shook his head and looked at what should be Alan and Eric's lists, sighing a little as he wandered the streets of London, not bothering to acknowledge the stares he was receiving from the size and appearance of his death scythe.
"Compensating for something, Barker?" He stopped and looked around for the source of the voice, going wide eyed when he saw Eric, beaten, bruised, and very bloodied. He looked like he'd been through every ring of hell and back, and not even his glasses survived. Thomas narrowed his eyes a little and shoved him back into an alley with his scythe.
"What the hell are you doing here? I told you once you run off, to stay out of London until I give you the all clear! Last I checked, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Eric pushed up his non-existent glasses and looked out into the street for a moment. "Eric, I understand that you're worried but you need to stay out of sight, the reapers have it out for you! The second they see you you're to be killed on sight! So I'll ask again, why are you in London?"
"Look, I don't want to be here. I don't even remember how I got into town, I fell asleep and then next thing I know, I'm waking up above some tavern!" Thomas rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall, picking at the thorns of his scythe again. "Thomas, there's another thing...that demon I mentioned, there's an issue with him,"
"Let me guess, he backed out on his promise?" Eric narrowed his eyes and smacked the back of his head. "Ow! What was that for?" Eric continued to glare at him.
"Not quite, he took matters into his own hands," He flinched a little as the demon stirred, causing a massive shock to go down his spine. "He's inside my head..." the younger reaper blinked and cocked his head to the side, what on earth was this man talking about? "Forget it, just...can I see him? You have no idea how much I've missed him," Thomas looked away and shrugged.
"One thing first...were you telling me that...Prof-Undertaker should know how to fix it, now come on..." he motioned for Eric to follow him out of the alley, stopping after a moment and pulling something from the inside of his waistcoat. "Here, take my spares...I'm sure you're tired of being blind, hmm?" Eric snatched the glasses from him.
"God these are dorky..."
"Shut up, Slingby. You have no room to talk,"
"Professor...?" Undertaker didn't look up from the body he was examining, talking to himself and occasionally giggling. "Professor, aren't you l-"
"Aaah~! Yes!" Both reapers jumped and looked towards the room Alan had been curled up in, not five seconds after Thomas had left the room were they fooling around. It may have been almost four months since they'd last seen each other but that was hardly an excuse to get intimate so quickly. The noise though made the small reaper cover his neck a little, running his hand over some of the fading lovebites from a few days ago.
"Tommy? Tommy! Thomas! Pay attention!" he snapped out of his thoughts and saw the old man drop the body into a coffin. "Now what did you say?" The old reaper hopped onto the occupied coffin and motioned for him to come over. Thomas sniffed and made his way over, settling into his lap and shrugging.
"You remember when I told you Eric had a demon helping him out?"
"I do...why do you bring it up, kitten~?"
"Well uh...how he put it was 'The demons in my head'...I think he might be possessed-" He stopped when he saw the look on Undertakers face. For a moment he thought it was because of the noise the other two reapers were making. Finally it hit that the old reaper was horrified by the sound of Eric being possessed. "P-professor...?" Undertaker didn't say anything, only shooed the blond off of his lap and grabbing a few things. "Professor what's wrong?"
"I guess it really will be two funerals I need to plan then..." He nodded and stared at the younger reaper, doing his best to suppress a giggle. Thomas shook his head and and looked down at his gloves. As was to be expected, the thorns on his scythe had practically torn them to ribbons. He sniffed and pulled the gloves off, looking back to Undertaker.
"What do you mean by that, professor?" The mortician didn't even look up from gathering up things, talking under his breath and occasionally swearing. "Professor, wouldn't be easier to get him to a priest, or an exorcist?" That caught the old mans attention. He set down the various books and vials and turned to face his former student.
"I wish it was that simple, kitten...unfortunately a possessed reaper is different than a possessed human. You remember your lessons on demons from the academy?" Thomas blinked and stared at the ground trying to recall something that might be of value.
"Demons are toxic...they will say or do anything to get what they desire...never get too close to one of them...demons are capable of possession of both humans and reapers..."
"You're getting warmer, keep talking. It'll come to you, I promise," Thomas swallowed and nodded, running a hand through his hair in thought.
"Ehhhh...it is impossible to pick out a possessed reaper from a crowd...the only way to find one is to pay attention to the eyes...Possessed reapers typically complain of severe pain, headaches, um...that's all I remember, I didn't pay much attention in classes regarding demons honestly..." He looked at the ground again only to hear soft giggling.
"But you did hear that much-"
"Nnngh~ again Alan...~" both reapers paused and stared toward the room, blinking. Thomas had assumed they would have been done by now, unless they were going at it again?
"Anyway! You did hear that the best way to picked out a possessed reaper is the eyes. Do you know why?" Thomas shook his head again, honestly now feeling foolish for sleeping through the lectures on demons. "Their eyes will flash when the demon is in control. It's very dangerous when the demon is controlling the reapers body. They are very likely to do things hat demons do, create contracts, eat souls...you name it, they can do it. Putting it simply the reaper becomes a puppet, their subconcious is locked away and usually compressed to death. That is why possessed reapers are always in pain, they're subconcious is at war with the demon's. Did Eric look that beat up when you found him?"
"Yeah, said he'd been trying for the last week to beat the demon out, broke his glasses and his arm in the process...if not a few more bones as well..."
"Well that's very Slingby...at least when he's desperate. I'm not surprised though, demons like Eric. Ever since he graduated from the academy they've been coming after him..."
"But why? I mean, did he make them angry or something?" Undertaker shook his head and pulled his ponytail loose, combing his fingers through his hair. "Quite a charming blond you are...~ But that's not the point. Eric has something they want. This old key thingie-"
"Is it gold with rubies, shaped like a skeleton with a crucifix on the bit?" Undertaker blinked and stared at him, absolutely shocked. "It's supposed to have the soul of a demon and a priest in it, right?"
"Y-yeah, how did you know about it?"
"It's Alan's lucky charm, he takes it everywhere with him..." Undertaker nodded slowly and slid his arms around Thomas's waist, perking up when Eric slipped out of the room, slipping a cigarette between his lips with a smirk. He glanced over at the two and winked, his eyes flashing red for a moment before he made his way out of the shop for a bit. Thomas went wide eyed and stared at his mentor, "Professor, did you see-"
"I did...there's no way to exorcise the demon...You know what that means, don't you?" Thomas shook his head and watched the older reaper vanish outside. "It means...Eric is gonna die. The only way to get that demon out of his head is if his body is dead."
"You mean-"
"I'm really sorry, Kitten"
"But Alan! And he's You're telling me that I have to make my best friend suffer even more! I can't kill the man he loves!" Undertaker grabbed his shoulders and looked into his eyes.
"Relax! I'll go with you, alright? This is far too unfortunate that our plans have gone to waste like this..."Thomas ran a hand through his hair and swallowed, glancing back to the door and seeing Alan come out, buttoning his shirt slowly.
"Alan? How're you feeling?" The brunette looked over and smiled a little, leaning against the wall to stay stable. It was still obvious that he was failing, he looked half asleep, almost starved, terribly pale and breathing heavily. "Al, did you hear me?"
"I heard...I wanted to go find Eric..." Both reapers stared before Thomas stood up, walking over to him slowly and pulling him into a tight hug. He smiled when the smaller reaper hugged him back before burying his face into his shoulder, breaking out into heavy sobs.
"Al, I'm so sorry...I should have told you sooner, this whole mess could have been avoided..." He kept crying and jumped a little when the brunette rubbed his back.
"What are you talking about, Tom?"
"E-eric...he's been...but he's doing it for you! And he...he's been trying to gather 1000 souls like the story says!" Alan just stared at him like he was an idiot.
"I know..."
"But he made a deal with a demon to help him!"
"I know..." Thomas bit his lip and ran a hand through his hair.
"He was possessed..."
"I know, Tom. None of that bothers me...now if you'll excuse me," He stepped away slowly and grabbed his scythe, slowly staggering out of the shop and after Eric. Thomas remained standing and shook his head, hugging himself and crying again.
"I don't want them to die..."