"Can you walk?" I ask him as I work to free him from the cage that holds him. He looks at me blankly as I inspect him fully. His legs look battered and like he actually hasn't gone far beyond being cooped up in this cage. He feebly shakes his head no at my question and I sigh heavily as I kneel down in front of him.

"What are you doing?" He asks me incredulously in a very clipped tone. His accent is refined, the very best received pronunciation – what did I expect from someone of such a well to do family?

I glance over my shoulder to see him fold his arms across his small chest. He is filthy, nothing but skin and bones but he still manages to pull off a haughty demeanor, worthy of a noble.

"Well, come on then." I motion him with a quick nod to come over.

"You must be joking?" He snorts. It seems that the little noble has a bad attitude.

"I'm not joking." I am firm but as soft as I can be, I can appreciate that he may be a little hesitant of me, especially given that he watched as I killed his captor and some of the spectators in this room. Although the allotted time I had planed for my escape is quickly running out, I still stay crouched down, as he doesn't move an inch. "You want to go don't you? And you can't walk far so it's this or nothing. Now just climb onto my back so I can carry you." He still hesitates. "Look, sooner rather than later – we're running out of time before the Old Bill comes."

"Old what?" He snips. Of course he wouldn't have heard of that type of a colloquialism, what was I thinking?

"The cops, the cops, now just get on!" I demand. I am keeping it together as much as I can but my temper is definitely starting to fray.

Tentatively, he comes towards me and then climbs onto my back. Placing my hands under his thighs, I hoist him up slightly; I can feel his whole body flinch and constrict, which is understandable, given the circumstances. I wait for a moment, allowing him to settle in and feel comfortable with me. Shortly after, I can feel his small body start to relax into my back. His boney rib cage nestles into my shoulder blades as he drapes his arms over my shoulders, clasping his hands together securely. He is as light as a feather, obviously malnourished, skeletal and pasty. I really want to know what they've done to him for however long he's been captured, really out of morbid curiosity, but I decide now is not the time to ask. He already has the bite of a snake when riled over the smallest request so maybe I'll wait until he becomes more comfortable with me. The one thing I do conclude is that it must have been horrible.

I grab my bag of gear, and we swiftly make our way out of the building and on to the main street. I march along to the corner and turn down an empty side street. This move is not a part of my original plan but I know this child will draw far too much attention and I really don't need that right now, especially as I haven't factored him into my exit strategy.

Getting halfway down the street I stop for a moment, realizing – I don't know where we're going.

"So, where to?" I ask. He's quiet for a moment.

"I – I don't know where we are." He replies meekly.

"We are somewhere in Stepney Green."

"Where is that? Is it still in London?"

You have got to be kidding me.

"Do you at least know where you live? We can go there first if you like?" I ask as I start to walk further down the side street, he's suspiciously silent. Just what have I gotten myself into?

"I didn't go out much." He finally replies.

"Why? Home schooled?"

"Not really, I was just always sick. My mother was always worried about me so she kept me indoors." His voice is seemingly empty of any emotion.

So, here we are, walking down a dark side street, a sickly, sullen child with a bad attitude on my back and absolutely no clue on where to go. Oh well, at least the pay is good – wait…

"Exactly how much will I be getting paid for this job? You are asking an awful lot of me."

Silence. There seems to be a theme here.

I guess he hasn't thought it through completely either.

"Once we get back, I will have an official contract of employment drawn up. In it, we can confirm your fee." He states calmly, perhaps he has given it some thought after all.

"Well, that all sounds very official." I smirk. He makes a slightly exasperated sound, almost as though he knows I'm mocking him. We continue down towards the High Street in absolute quiet.

"My aunt." He breaks our silence.

"Your aunt?" I repeat.

"She works in a hospital, we can go there." He suggests.

"You will have to narrow it down, there are a lot of hospitals in London."

"I know that!" He snaps. "Guy's Hospital, I think it's near London Bridge."

"Okay, we can go there." I agree, finally, we're getting somewhere.

I pick up the pace as I head towards the corner but just as I am about to turn, he clears his throat to halt me.

"Um." He pauses for a moment, "You never told me your name."

"I don't give out my name to clients." I reply. It's not for anonymity purposes it's just that it isn't really necessary for them to know. A name makes it personal and I prefer not to have anything on a personal level.

"Then what do I call you?"

"You can call me whatever you wish." I recommend.

"Okay." He thinks for a moment, "I think I'll call you Sebastian."

"Sebastian, that's an interesting name. Is it a relative?"

"No, it was the name of my dog." He responds curtly.

The name of his dog? Fantastic. What a cantankerous little brat.

…

I manage to flag down a black cab – which is hard to come by in these parts and it swiftly takes us to Guy's Hospital at London Bridge.

The journey is unsurprisingly silent, which seems to be something I will have to get used to as the child doesn't seem to speak a lot – not to mention when ever he does open his mouth, such an awful attitude spews from his lips that maybe it would be best to savor the silence while I can.

Although currently, I could take him or leave him and I think about leaving him more often than not. However, he still manages to intrigue me.

I observe him as he stares vacantly out of the window, watching the city flash by. It's strange, as I watch him; I notice that despite what he has been through, he manages to be so cool and composed. It's quite admirable how he still maintains some sort of dignity. I still want to ask what happened to him but consideration seems to be getting the better of me again.

After half an hour, we pull up to the A&E entrance at the hospital.

I hop out first and go to the other side of the cab to pay the driver as Ciel opens the door. He feebly gets out but as soon as his feet touch the ground, he collapses, dropping to his knees and then falling over completely.

"Is he all right?" The cabbie calls out to me as I quickly rush over to him. I hold out my hand to halt him from getting out of the cab.

"Yeah mate, he'll be fine – I've got him." I try to reassure him as I scoop the frail child into my arms, cradling him close against my chest as his head rocks towards me.

"Sorry." He manages weakly. I smile at him sympathetically, as I carry him into through the double doors.

"It's all right, you've been through a lot." I attempt to comfort him. This is all so foreign to me as I'm not that well versed in the world of comforting but I attempt to sound warm as possible.

As we walk through the doors, he shivers slightly as the brisk blast of hot air lands on our skin as the automatic doors part. I carry him up to the reception desk but I notice everyone in the waiting room staring at me. We must look a sight, me all dressed in black, complete with my long double breasted trench coat and Ciel looking like, well, looking like he's just been freed from some hellish prison.

"Sebastian?"

"Hm?"

"Can you put me down?" He requests sheepishly as I'm sure he can feel the weight of everyone's stares on us as we stand there. I crouch down a bit and drop him down; he staggers over to the front desk and leans against it.

"Oh my God." Gasps the woman behind the counter when her blue eyes look up from her computer screen and land on the disheveled child. "I'll get a chair for you straight away." She motions to an orderly to come quickly.

"No madam, I'm not a patient." He says in his most adult voice, "I'm looking for my Aunt Ang- uh, Dr. Durless."

"Dr. Durless in OB?" She confirms as her curious eyes look over to me. I nod a confirmation, although, this is the first I've heard her name.

The receptionist puts through a page for his Aunt and we take a seat amongst the others in the waiting area. Although the majority of the room is filled with the walking wounded, their curious and suspicious eyes are unrelenting and stay glued to us. Well, I suppose we do make an odd pair.

It was about fifteen minutes later as we wait in silence. Ciel sits next to me; his head constantly keeps hitting my arm as he keeps dozing off and then waking himself up again only to repeat the process again. Finally, his head lands again and stays. I can hear his breathing become deep as he sleeps soundly and I try to stay as still as possible so as not to wake him. He must be very tired.

"Oh my God, Ciel? It can't be!" Ciel jolts upright as a striking woman with bright cherry red hair descends on us.

"Aunt Anne." He breathes out in a slight yawn as she grabs him, holding his battered face in her hands.

"You, how?"

"It's a long story." He mumbles through squished cheeks, "but Sebastian saved me."

She looks at him curiously. "Sebastian?"

"Pleased to meet you Dr. Durless, I'm, er, Sebastian." I introduce myself.

"Sebastian?" She repeats again as she turns to me.

"Michaelis, Sebastian Michaelis." Ciel interjects. So, I have a last name now? It's fine; I kind of like it, the name sort of suits me. Dr. Durless lets go of his face and he rubs his cheeks.

"Who are you?" She seems suspicious. Of course she would be, I just appeared out of nowhere with her missing nephew.

I stand to my feet; plaster the brightest smile on my face as I face her. I'm a fast thinker, quick on my toes but I have no idea how I'm going to explain my presence to her. As my mouth drops open in the hopes that something of value will come out in the next few seconds, Ciel interjects, "Sebastian has agreed to be my bodyguard and personal butler."

Wait, I'm sorry what? A butler?

Her eyes dart from me to him.

"Your bodyguard and butler?" She parrots as she tries to process this information.

"Yes because whoever did this will probably try again, so as Sebastian will need to be close to me, I thought that it would be best if he could do that as my butler, you know, to not raise suspicions and in doing so he will also serve me as my bodyguard." He finishes; he's quite formidable, obviously quicker at thinking on his feet than I am.

Her eyes keep moving between Ciel and my self as I try to hide my absolute confusion over the whole situation. So, I am to be his bodyguard and butler? Well, that's fine, I can be whom ever he pays me to be but I just wish he didn't spring it on me in this way.

"You know what, at this moment I don't care. You're here and you're safe – that's all that matters to me." She cries as she grabs him and holds him tightly.

…

Since we are at the hospital, his Aunt insists that a doctor sees and examines him, despite his constant childish protests. Finally, after a while, Ciel gives up and agrees to an examination and I wait outside. Leaning up against the wall of the examination room, I think about how exactly I got into this ridiculous situation. I've never been a personal bodyguard before, let alone someone's butler – I wouldn't even know where to begin; does this mean I have to live with him now? He didn't even ask me. As impressed as I am with the way he deftly answers all of her questions, I can't help but be thoroughly annoyed – the little brat must have known that's what he was going to say; he'd planned it all out but stayed quiet. Did he trick me? He must have known that if that was on offer, I might have rejected the job. How clever.

My annoyance passes quickly as I become amused over the fact that in my whole career, a child bested me. I may have fun with this job after all – even if I am to be a butler. I mean, a job is a job and I am true to my contracts, I will be whatever he needs me to be. I take my job very seriously, even if he is a mere child, I will carry out his instructions to the letter, although we will have to iron out the details at a more appropriate time – no more tricks. Right now we just need to make sure he's fine.

After a while, Dr. Durless comes out of the examination room and stands beside me. She doesn't look at me; she just faces forward, staring blankly at the wall as she crosses her arms over her chest. I espy her out of the corner of my eye; she looks solemn and saddened, I take it the examination isn't going that well.

"He's lost function of his right eye." She sighs, visibility fighting the urge to break down and cry in front of me.

"Is that the worse of it?" I inquire. She bows her head, pinches the bridge of her nose and shakes her head no. "I see."

Tears start to roll down her cheeks, creating a trail in her make-up. I suppose this is what sadness actually looks like – it's interesting. In a way, I wish I knew what to do to comfort her, especially in a situation like this. I just stand close to her and offer her no solace, just company as she breaks, finally letting the tears she's tried to store fall freely. A moment passes, it isn't quick and it isn't slow – it just takes as much time as she needs to fully feel the breadth of emotions that is over taking her. Finally, she starts to compose herself, using her fingers to wipe under her eyes, smearing her mascara in the process.

Still keeping her eyes down, she clears her throat.

"Sebastian?" She addresses me by my new name.

"Yes?"

"I don't know who you are or how you found him but I own you a debt of gratitude for saving my nephew."

"I only wish I could have gotten there sooner." I didn't know what else to say.

"I wish you had too." She agrees. "It doesn't matter anyway. Throughout his examination, Ciel kept trying to convince me that you're someone who can be trusted."

"I can be."

"He's the only family I have left. I need to know, can you be trusted? Will he be safe with you?" She finally turns to me, I twist my head around to meet her gaze, her eyes are puffy and bloodshot.

"I assure you, I'm as safe as houses." I smile, "And I promise, I will do whatever it takes to protect him."

She nods and hums in acknowledgement to my declaration as she slips her hand into her lab coat pocket. Pulling out a set of keys she passes them to me. As I accept them, she wraps both of her hands around mine.

"The old Phantomhive estate is currently being rebuilt, just in case – well, anyway, it's not ready yet so you both will be staying with me."

"That seems fine." I agree. She stares at me hard as she squeezes my hand tighter.

"Sebastian, just who are you?" She asks as the door to the examination room opens. Thank you doc.

The examining doctor pops his head out into the hallway and motions for Dr. Durless to come back into the room. She straightens herself up and adjusts her clothing in an effort to compose herself before walking in, obviously not wanted to cause Ciel any further distress. As she passes the doctor, he still stands in the doorway, staring straight at me.

"He wants you here too." He motions for me to follow and come into the room.

As I go in, I see Ciel; he's sat on the bed looking right at me. He's draped in a hospital gown two sizes too big for his tiny frame and now has a white gauze patch covering his right eye. He looks just as I left him, sullen and annoyed as his Aunt stands right beside him, placing both of her hands on his shoulders. I take my place on the other side of him, just behind as we await the results of his exam.

"Right, well, as you know he has lost functionality of his right eye and the discoloration is due to the orbital blow out." He begins, "The STI panel came back negative, however, we will need him back in six months for retesting – just to be sure. I mean, considering what he has been through, he's quite lucky."

"Yes, lucky." Ciel snorts sarcastically under his breath.

STI panel? It's with that; I am starting to piece together just what happened to him in that hellhole, maybe I really don't want to know after all.

The three of us listen in silence as the doctor finishes telling us the results, taking it all in. Even though he was fine, there were concerns about the fact that he was severely dehydrated and malnourished. There were bruises found on his ribcage and wounds on his back that will need constant attention – I suppose that will be my job now.

Once he finishes, the doctor leaves the room as Dr. Durless begins to help Ciel dress. She frowns as the clothing he came in is in tatters and very filthy but there was nothing else to put him in. As I watch her struggle to keep it together again, I unbutton my coat and shrug it off. Turning towards Ciel, I carefully put it over his shoulders, covering him. My coat dwarfs him, shrinking him even further. He doesn't seem to mind as he grasps the sides and pulls it tight around his body as his cheeks start to redden. Feeling embarrassed, he looks away.

"Thank you." He mumbles.

"Not a problem young master." I smile; his eye darts over to me as he instantly furrows his brow, sensing that I might have been mocking him.

We have a long road ahead of us.