Grell trudged his way to Madame Red's townhouse, It was really rather late. As usual William was a total sadist making him work through a cruel amount of paperwork and reapings. Seeing as it was almost one AM Grell assumed his darling Madame Red would be asleep by now and let himself in with the key she had given him.
Walking upstairs and to the guestroom where he usually slept, Grell heard a muffled mixture of whimpers and cries coming from Madame Red's room. He gently pushed the door open and was unsure how to react to what he saw. Madame Red was sat up in her bed, knees clutched to her chest and a pillow held tightly in her arms. Tears were streaming down her usually composed face. Grell gently sat on the side of the bed, "Madame…" he whispered.
Madame Red didn't look up, she kept crying and mutting brokenly. "Lost, fire…...my...my nephew….why...why...I wouldn't….If I knew…...I would never….."
Grell slowly moved closer to her, wrapping an arm around her waist. She responded by releasing the pillow from her grip and pulling herself closer to Grell, resting her head on his chest. Feeling his warm body next to her was soothing and her broken cries grew more coherent as he stroked her hair.
"I thought my nephew died in the fire…but...he came back...if I knew he was alive...I...I would never have...I would never…He's all I have left...I wouldn't have...killed...those...those...whores...If i...If I...thought he was alive." She cried into Grell's shirt.
"Shhhhh, It's ok. You have me. Shhhhh, He'll never find out a thing." Grell soothed, still gently petting her hair.
Madame Red caught her breath and started to calm down. It was really late, the crying and alcohol had worn her out and her exhausted frame slumped against Grell. "Cursed with a bloody accident, a crimson fire and then blessed with a Crimson reaper. At least I have you." She sighed as her eyes fluttered shut.
Grell looked down, worried about the woman lying in his arms, for the first time she looked human to him. For the first time he didn't see a killer or a surgeon, he saw a human woman wracked with guilt and fear...and pain. Had he made a mistake thinking she was so different from everyone else, was she suffering this whole time? He hated to think she was suffering, this amazing woman, this funhouse mirror version of himself. They were so alike, but Reapers were built to suffer, he could watch the deaths of dozens of people everyday but she had to watch the deaths of people she loved. She had lost her husband, her son, her sister and her first love. He was sure he had made a mistake, that was the last thing he thought as he fell asleep himself.
The next morning Grell slipped out of bed, careful not to wake the woman in his arms. He made himself a cup of tea and stood on the balcony. Setting the tea down on a small coffee table he began to pace. Trying to decide what should be done about Madame Red's nephew. As long as he was around he could protect them both, he could cover up the murders, he could smooth everything over, of course he could. He was a God after all. The question was should he, would anything he did alleviate Madame Red's suffering or would he just prolong it. He could just disappear, but where would that leave her. She would be caught without him, left to rot in an asylum.
"Silently and stoically we watch over and observe those on the list of the dead, It is prohibited to kill outside of the list!" He recited to himself
"Let us not even speak of the fact that you have a death scythe that, despite your wishes, the Dispatch has not approved. I was beginning to think you had forgotten our oath." A cold voice said from behind him.
"William! You have no Idea how happy I am to see you." Grell cried dramatically, forcefully wrapping his arms around William's neck.
William pushed him off and straightened his suit. "As usual Sutcliff, this is not a social call."
"Oh, you truly know how to ruin a mood, and I was so happy to see you!" Grell whined.
"Regardless, I have come to inform you, and this is off the record. The dispatch regrets extending the life of that woman you seem to have grown so fond of. Of course the dispatch would like to forget this incident ever happened and avoid accountability, as such that womans name...as well as the names of her...Er hem...Victims, will be stricken from all shinigami records."
Grell straightened up, looking more businesslike. "And what will become of their souls."
"The dispatch doesn't want any more involvement with those souls, I was instructed to assign a member of my team to find a place for them. Seeing as you are already acquainted with this case and are somewhat competent I shall intrust you with that job."
"So I am to decide where her soul will go?" Grell questioned, gesturing to Madame Red.
"Obviously you don't have the raw power required to send a soul to heaven but you can chose where in hell she will go, who knows you might just have enough strength to send her to purgatory if you wish." Explained William.
"Did you have something to do….." Grell was cut off by William.
"Consider it a temporary promotion, but do not abuse this." William held his scythe underneath Grell's chin. "Make this difficult for me and I kill you." William jumped onto the railing and began to open a portal back to the shinigami realm.
"Does this mean…" Grell was cut off again.
"Those reports on your official reapings are still due to be on my desk at precisely 6PM tomorrow." And with that William left.
"Typical sadist." Grell muttered, gulping down his lukewarm tea and walking back into the bedroom.
Madame Red was awake by this point, she sat up, wiping the crusty remains of her tears from her eyes. "Sorry for last night, I was drunk and tired."
"Forget it darling. So what are you doing today, I have a ton of paperwork to maul through. Uhhhhh." He sighed dramatically. "I hate my boss."
"I have quite a bit to do as well so why don't you go make some coffee?" She ordered, batting her eyelashes.
Grell sighed. "Ugh, what would you do without me." He ran his hand along her jawline, his face inches from hers with a smirk plastered across it.
"Just get me my coffee, I'll meet you downstairs." She whacked him away with a pillow.
The two of them sat in the living room as usual, still in silk red nightgowns. Their coffee cups littered amongst their cluttered paperwork. They worked through the tedium and eventually they had most of the papers filled out and in somewhat organised piles.
"You know, when my nephew came back he had a rather attractive butler with him." Madame red said with a wicked flirtatious smile.
Grell raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Oh, How attractive would this mysterious butler happen to be."
"Tall, dark, handsome, oh! And he seems like the silent type." She gushed on about him.
"Oh then I simply must meet him. We should go there this evening."
Madame Red chuckled "Oh, of course. But obviously you'll need a disguise."
"Oh yes, I shall arrive as your beautiful friend visiting from out of town, I'll need to borrow a dress of yours obviously." He said dramatically.
Madame Red burst out laughing. "I was thinking more along the lines of my butler."
"I hate you." Grell muttered, finding himself unable to stay mad once he saw Madame Red still giggling happily, hiding her mouth behind her hand.