Disclaimer: I only own Faye.

Phantomhive Manor

"I'm going to visit the Grim Reaper Dispatch Society," Faye announced the next morning at breakfast.

Sebastian frowned. "Why ever would you do that, my Lady?" Sebastian still disliked Faye's ties to the grim reapers.

"To report Undertaker's actions, of course. Undertaker used to be a grim reaper. I would hope the Dispatch Society feels some responsibility for his actions. On top of that, I'm sure his experiments with the undead would be as much cause for concern among the reapers as it is with us."

"What do you think the Dispatch Society will do about it?" Ciel asked suspiciously, putting his tea cup down. "When I made my report to the Queen, she made it clear she wants Undertaker apprehended and brought to her."

Faye stared at Ciel in disbelief. "Do you honestly believe that's what we should do? How could the Queen possibly hope to contain one of the best reapers to have ever existed? It's impossible. Her forces, as impressive as they are, could neither harm nor imprison him. And what would the Queen do with Undertaker anyway? The best option is obviously to hand this whole situation over to the grim reapers and let them handle it."

Ciel tried to stare Faye down as he fiddled with his silverware. "I wasn't aware you still had such loyalty to the reapers, Faye."

Unable to help it, a sarcastic laugh burst from Faye. "Do you consider it disloyalty to England to want to do what is best to keep its people safe? Only the grim reapers can handle this problem, Ciel. And what loyalty do we truly owe to the Queen? We don't even know if she is the true Queen of England and have no way of discovering whether she's an imposter. Unless you'd wish to try inviting her to tea and discussing the matter with her."

Ciel glared at Faye and she pushed away from the table angrily, almost knocking her chair over. Sebastian stared at her disapprovingly as she stalked out of the room, but she couldn't be bothered with Sebastian's ideas of proper ladylike behavior at the moment.

Yesterday, Undertaker was merely Faye's excuse for her to visit the grim reapers and discuss Claude. Ciel and Sebastian would never let Faye wander off without knowing where she was while Trancy's threat hung over their heads. But last night she had dreamed of an unstoppable mob of the dead let loose upon London, killing every man, woman, and child who crossed their path. She woke up drenched in sweat and knew that she had to warn William about Undertaker's actions.

Grim Reaper Dispatch Society Headquarters

The secretary in the front room gave Faye a polite, wary look when Faye stepped into grim reaper headquarters. Faye heaved a mental sigh. After working for the dispatch society for three years, how was that none of the secretaries recognized who Faye was whenever she came back here? Maybe it was the high quality of her clothes that was the problem.

"Can I help you?" The young woman asked.

"Is William T. Spears here this morning?" Faye asked.

The woman blinked and looked around the room, as though it might provide the answer to Faye's question. "May I ask why you would like to see him?"

If only William's office had a window. She would sneak around to it and enter headquarters that way. William would hardly appreciate such an action, but it would be better than having to deal with dim-witted and ill-informed secretaries.

"If you ask him, I'd imagine that five souls who were reaped a few months ago reappeared on the reaper list a few days ago. I have information as to why." Faye's statement was a gamble. She had no idea if Derek and the other four dead students had reappeared on the reapers' list, but she hoped they had. Surely, something weird must have happened with the undead and death's list.

The secretary paled and picked up a phone. It looked as though the woman was familiar with the situation Faye described. Good.

Faye stood waiting patiently until she heard the sharp clap of dress shoes on the marble floor. Faye looked down the hall to her left to see William striding towards her.

"It seems whenever the most unlikely and difficult of situations arise, the Phantomhives can be found in the middle of it all," William said by way of greeting.

"Such situations are what the Phantomhives are for," Faye said with an elegant shrug. "When Scotland Yard cannot find leads, when the Queen is concerned, when it looks as though the impossible is happening, the Phantomhives are sent in. It's been that way for generations."

William gave a tight nod before gesturing for Faye to follow him. "We'll talk in my office."

Faye followed William through the brightly gleaming halls, but was surprised when William walked past the hall leading to his office. She looked down the hall curiously, but said nothing. William undoubtedly knew the way to his own office. He led the way to the second floor and opened the door to a room brightly lit by a bank of windows covering most of the far wall. "You've been promoted?" Faye asked, impressed. Surely, only a promotion would lead to William changing from his cramped and dark office to this bright and open one.

"Yes," William said, adjusting his glasses. "It happened shortly after you left."

"Congratulations," Faye said sincerely. "You're the hardest working reaper I know."

"Thank you," William said with a nod before gesturing to the seat in front of his desk. "Please, sit and explain to me what you know about the souls who are reappearing on the death list."

"I'm afraid the culprit is one of your own," Faye said, sitting down and smoothing her skirts. "I don't know what led to Undertaker being let go from the Dispatch Society rather than being moved on to the afterlife like every other retired reaper, but I imagine that's one decision the society will come to regret very much."

William sighed and dropped his head into his hands, a rare sign of emotion from the reaper. "I knew nothing but trouble could come of making an exception, but the decision wasn't up to me. Undertaker always has been far too liberal in what he's willing to do with his abilities. Do you know how he created the undead?"

"Sebastian said he was attaching film to the end of people's cinematic record after they die. More than that, Undertaker said this was a new experiment with his undead, meaning that he's created even more than the five we saw and was doing something else before. Undertaker told Ciel he wants to know what happens after death, but after speaking with him personally, I think he's trying to prevent death entirely. He gave some speech about how terrible it is to lose those we care about."

They sat in silence as William mulled over Faye's words. Finally, Faye couldn't take the silence anymore. "How many undead cases has the Dispatch Society come across?"

A regretful look flashed through William's eyes before being replaced by his standard stoicism. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that, Faye. It's classified reaper information."

Faye lifted her eyebrows. "Really? Information that impacts living humans? Information that would help me learn what a madman working in the human criminal underground is working towards? That's what you call classified reaper information? Though the perpetrator causing these undead may be one of your own, I think the world of the living, the world your ex-reaper is working in, is in far more danger."

A look of exhaustion passed over William's face and he gave a slow, defeated shake of his head. "Hundreds. There have been hundreds of undead cases."

Faye gasped and clutched and the arms of chair. Hundreds of undead monsters immune to pain and desiring nothing but human flesh? "What's happened to them all? Why didn't I hear about them until a few nights ago?"

"We've been taking care of them," William said stiffly. "The overtime hours are out of control."

Faye bit back a sarcastic retort. Now was not the time to alienate William. "Well, I hope knowing who the culprit is might help you in preventing future cases."

William didn't look too hopeful, but said, "I appreciate you letting me know. We are putting forth every effort to put a stop to this monstrosity."

Faye paused a moment, not wanting to put anything else on William's plate, but she had to ask. "One more thing. How many spells are there like the one you did to Sebastian? To make a demon fall in love with a human?"

"Only one that I'm aware of," William said with a stern look. "Why?"

Rather than answering, Faye asked, "And how many beings would be capable of casting such a complicated spell?"

"Why do you wish to know? You can't possibly want to cast such a spell. Casting it on Sebastian a second time won't cancel out the first one, it won't do anything."

"That's not why I'm asking," Faye sighed. "I know how magic works better than that, William. If you knew how to reverse the spell, I'm sure you would have done it. There's a new demon in London, the butler of Earl Trancy. Or, the imposter Earl Trancy, I should say. He's…exhibiting similar characteristics as Sebastian towards me. Claude, the new demon, claims I've bewitched him, and I have done no such thing. I wouldn't know how."

William stared wide-eyed at Faye, blinking slowly. "William?" Faye asked tentatively.

"I don't see how that's possible."

"I'm quite sure I'm not mistaken," Faye said. "One doesn't exactly confuse romantic attention from a demon as something else, and demons don't exactly make a habit of paying romantic attention to random humans."

"This doesn't make sense," William said with a shake of his head, standing up to pace. "I don't see how such a thing could have come about."

"Nor do I, but the Grim Reaper Dispatch Society is the only lead I have."

William stopped pacing. "It's a long shot, but I'll broadcast a message through headquarters to see if anyone has cast the infatuation spell recently."

Faye sat and waited while William left the room. She sighed, tapping her fingers and looking around the room. There weren't any decorations, but this was William. He was too practical to do anything like decorate his office. She was beginning to consider taking out her knives to sharpen them when the door to William's office flew open, banging against the wall. Faye whirled around to find William marching into the room, a confused and abashed Ronald behind him.

"I don't understand what my castin' the infatuation spell could possibly have to do with some demon takin' a fancy to Faye. She wasn't nowhere in sight that night. It's gotta just be coincidence. Hullo Faye, long time no see."

"Good morning, Ronald," Faye said, amused to see him, but dreading what revelations this might bring. "When did you cast an infatuation spell? And why?"

"It was a few months ago, I guess," Ronald said with a careless shrug. "I cast it because some demon showed up when I was about to do a reapin'. I didn't want him gettin' in the way. I looked around and someone had already drawn the symbols for the infatuation spell on the ground. Don't know why, but it seemed like a good way to lock the demon up while I reaped the soul on the death list."

Ronald was right. Faye didn't see how that related to her problem, but it wasn't as though people went around casting such spells every day. "Can you recall what the demon looked like?"

Ronald tapped a finger on his chin as he looked up at the ceiling. "Tall. Dark hair. Glasses. That's about all I can give you." The description fit Claude, but could also fit Sebastian whenever he happened to have his scholar glasses on. Maybe demons preferred to take demon forms that were tall and dark-haired. "What!" Ronald exclaimed, smacking one palm with a fist, "I remember somethin' else, the demon was all decked out like a butler. Kind of like yours, Faye."

Faye went wide-eyed and William poked Ronald's side with his death scythe. "Why would you ever cast such a spell under such foolish circumstances? You broke protocol. Honestly, messing with magic in such a way, especially magic put there by someone else. You should know better than that."

"Hey!" Ronald cried, putting his hands up in surrender. "The spell would have had to have something personal of Faye's that she cared for and a physical piece of her to work, right? Last time you used her shawl and her hair, how could this be my fault when Faye wasn't there?"

They all stopped to ponder this problem. "Where did you cast the infatuation spell?" William asked.

"Let's see," Ronald said, pulling out his death list and flipping through it. "The man died near the wharfs. There were some storage warehouses nearby. It was night, I don't know if that helps."

"Anything else?" Faye asked desperately. Maybe this wasn't Ronald's fault, but it sure sounded like it was Claude who he'd trapped. The only mystery now was how Faye fit into this equation.

"There was a sword right outside the spell symbols. I guess that's something you don't see every day."

Faye paled, involuntarily backing up a few steps. Storage warehouses by the wharf and a dropped sword at night. Could it possibly have been the serial killer Faye, Ciel, and Sebastian apprehended? That night she had lost a hair ribbon given to her by Ciel. She'd also dripped blood onto the ground near where the killer lost his sword.

"I may have been there that night," Faye whispered. "My blood was spilled and I lost a ribbon. I don't know if I lost it there but—" Faye cut herself off. Where else could she have possibly lost it? The evidence was all right there. Someone had been preparing to cast the infatuation spell, but for some reason walked away and the site had been interrupted first by Faye, then by Ronald and Claude. Alois had already been harassing Ciel at that time for his help. Claude must have been stalking Ciel.

"You need to stick very close to Sebastian, Faye."

Faye turned to William, who looked incredibly pale. "Why?"

"Because, the spell cast on Claude is not the same one cast on Sebastian, not exactly. Blood is far more potent than hair, which will make Claude's infatuation with you stronger, but worse than that was how the spell was cast. It's meant to be done by two people, not one. That Ronald was the only caster will make the spell unstable. You've never complained about Sebastian being a problem. I imagine if he had been, you would have come to us and asked for our aid in killing him, but Claude won't be like Sebastian. Claude will be willing to harm you to get what he wants and he won't be concerned with your thoughts and feelings, as I suspect Sebastian is. He will desire your affection, but he'll accept your contempt as well, just so long as you feel some strong emotion for him. Though I imagine if you hate him, he'll work to make you hate him more than you hate or care for anyone else."

"I'm sorry, Faye," Ronald said, looking horrified. "I had no idea—Can't we help her?"

William shook his head sadly. "I wish we had the time, but we're far too overwhelmed dealing with Undertaker's undead creations. We can't possibly spare the manpower."

Ronald opened his mouth to argue and Faye interrupted. "I understand; the undead threat must take priority. I appreciate your help in finding out what happened, and I don't blame you, Ronald. Not exactly, anyway. You couldn't have possibly known that the spell would use me as a focus. I'll be returning to Phantomhive Manor now." Faye gave the two reapers a polite nod, feeling sick inside. How was she supposed to handle this?

"I'm really sorry, Faye," Ronald said again, looking glum. "I hope it all works out all right."

"Sebastian's rather protective," Faye said with a strained smile, attempting to relieve some of Ronald's worry. He had bigger things to be concerned about.

Faye's mind raced the whole carriage ride home as she debated what to tell Sebastian and Ciel. How were they supposed to fight this? If the spell on Claude was a warped version of the one on Sebastian, the only way to stop him would be to kill him. Assuming they could manage that, would that bring the wrath of the female demon, Hannah, upon them? This whole situation was ludicrous, even for the Phantomhives.

Phantomhive Manor

Sebastian greeted Faye the moment she returned, handing her down from the carriage. "How was your travel, my Lady?"

"I did not go far, Sebastian," Faye said. "There's no need to act as though I've just come home from a long journey."

Sebastian's eyes narrowed. "You seem to take the danger you are in lightly. You have been threatened by two different demons and by all rights, should not be leaving my side at all."

Faye gulped at the chastisement. Sebastian was more right than he knew, and she should appreciate that he felt that way. Although Faye was afraid Sebastian's reaction to this newest revelation would be to either lock her in a room and throw away the key or set out to challenge Claude immediately. What if Claude proved stronger in a direct confrontation?

"You seem very preoccupied, my Lady," Sebastian said as they walked to Ciel's study.

"That's because I am."

"Well, what did you learn?" Ciel asked the moment Sebastian opened the door to Ciel's study.

Faye froze, her heart racing. How should she explain? She hadn't thought enough about—Finally, Faye realized Ciel was asking about the undead beings. He knew nothing about her discussion over Claude. Calming herself, Faye answered, "The reapers are well aware of the existence of the undead, though they were unaware of Undertaker's involvement with them. Those poor creatures reappear on death's list and the reapers are trying their hardest to eradicate the things."

"Not doing a very good job, are they?" Ciel asked, returning to his work.

Faye sighed. "This is a complete unknown for them, Ciel. One doesn't expect the dead to come back to life and start trying to eat other people."

"Well, if they fail to solve the problem, we'll have to step in. Not for the sake of the Queen, but for the sake of England. Those things are just too dangerous."

"Agreed," Faye said, though she sincerely hoped to never see one of the undead creatures in person. Ciel continued to stare at Faye as she stood there fidgeting.

"Well?" He asked. "Was there anything else?"

"Yes. I did find out one other thing this morning."

"And what would that be, my Lady?" Sebastian asked with raised brows, wondering what was making Faye so nervous. Faye's eyes flickered towards Sebastian and her hands fisted in her skirts.

"Well, through a complicated set of circumstances that occurred a few months ago, it appears…it appears that the infatuation spell cast upon Sebastian was also cast upon Claude. With me as the focus." Dead silence. Ciel's mouth dropped open and Faye felt a wave of rage emanate from Sebastian. She didn't dare turn to look at him.

"And how long, my Lady," Sebastian asked in a carefully controlled voice, "have you suspected this to be the case?" Faye tensed. "Perhaps that was the real reason you desperately wished to visit with the reapers? To verify this suspicion of yours?"

"I have been highly concerned over the undead," Faye shot back haughtily then in a slightly more muted tone she added, "I saw no need to worry you and Ciel without being sure." In a moment, Sebastian was in front of Faye, grasping her arms.

"No need?" He asked angrily, his eyes glowing red. "Your life was in danger and you saw no need? Need I remind you the specifics of—"

"Sebastian, release her, that's an order!" Ciel exclaimed, slamming his hands on his desk and standing up.

Sebastian slowly let go and took a step back, a dangerous look still in his eye. Faye was sure Sebastian had been about to bring up their contract. Sebastian wanted Faye alive as long as possible, and he had the right to do what he saw fit to keep her safe. Within reason, anyway. "What are the chances that an infatuation spell would have been cast upon Claude with me as the focus?" Faye demanded. "Who would do such a thing and when would they have done it? I thought Claude's strange actions were part of Alois' plan. Which scenario was more likely?"

Sebastian calmed down at the logic behind Faye's words. "You will not leave this manor again without me," was all he said before returning to his post behind Ciel's chair.

Ciel and Faye waited a moment, but Sebastian seemed completely calm now. Only the ticking of the mantle clock could be heard. Ciel eventually turned to Faye and asked, "So how did the infatuation spell get cast on Claude with you as the focus?"

Faye sighed and sat down to tell the tale. This would do nothing to improve Sebastian's opinion of the grim reapers.

A/N: I'm not enthralled with Sebastian's reaction to the Claude revelation. I originally had Faye not telling him, but then I decided that would have Sebastian too pissed off at Faye when he found out the truth, so had to change this chapter ending last minute before posting.