A/N: Some characters might be a bit OOC in this one, but the circumstances are a bit extreme.

Disclaimer: I only own Faye.

Trancy Manor

The sharp tinkle of shattered glass brought Claude out of his thoughts and he glanced down at the crushed tea cup in his hand in surprise. He couldn't focus anymore. He could hardly walk in a straight line for the want of Lady Faye. He'd enjoyed these unfamiliar, insatiable desires for long enough; it was time for Faye to come into his possession. As for the tea, his master would just have to go without. Claude didn't have the control to handle such delicate dishware at the moment.

Claude knocked before walking into Alois' room. Alois was already sitting up in bed, his face turned towards the window. "We've given Ciel Phantomhive enough chances to decide to help us," Alois said quietly. "He knows the whole story now and still hasn't made a move, which means we must make ours."

"Of course, your Highness," Claude agreed with a bow. He was more than happy to comply with this order. He would have gone to take Faye regardless of what Alois may have said.

Phantomhive Garden

Faye felt his presence a moment before Claude appeared before her. Faye backed up nervously, knives instantly in her hands. "I know about the spell now," she said, hoping that her talking would stop Claude from pouncing on her immediately. Sebastian was in the manor and would surely notice Claude's appearance soon enough. "I had nothing to do with it. I was not pretending to be surprised, I truly knew nothing of its existence. A grim reaper cast the spell merely with the intent to prevent you from interfering with his reaping. The fact that I was the focus of the spell was a complete accident."

"Is there a point to all that?" Claude asked with raised brows, taking a few steps closer to Faye.

"The spell isn't part of any scheme and has nothing to do with the issues between Trancy and the Phantomhives. It's a trick of fate. A mishap that should have never happened. Wouldn't you rather try to find a way to remove the spell and regain your life? Here you are, a powerful demon at least centuries old and you're after a little slip of a human who is barely even a woman. Don't you find that to be degrading? Doesn't it rankle to be reduced to this?"

Claude tilted his head and studied Faye. Was he considering her words? Her hopes of that were dashed with his next words. "That's the very last thing I wish to do." He sprinted forward in a movement too fast for Faye to track and had her up in his arms. The next moment, Sebastian appeared in front of them.

Claude regarded Sebastian coolly, as Faye struggled in his arms, trying to find enough leverage to stab him. "My master tires of waiting for Lord Phantomhive's answer. I'm taking Lady Phantomhive into our custody. After help is given, she will be returned. Unharmed if the help is given in a timely enough manner."

Faye was sure Claude was lying about returning her, just as she was sure that Sebastian was well aware of that fact. "You shouldn't make such paltry jokes," Sebastian said, taking out his kitchen cutlery. "It's in very poor taste."

Claude set Faye off to the side and took out his own cutlery. "Surely there's no need for you to be so unreasonable," Claude intoned. "Your master would benefit from helping Lord Trancy and be no worse off for the trouble. There's no valid reason for him not to come to our aid."

"Oh, this isn't about that at all," Sebastian said, his lips slowly curing into a dark, pitiless smile that promised death. "I'm going to kill you because you touched what is mine." Sebastian let his knives fly.

"What are you referring to?" Claude asked, jumping high into the air to avoid Sebastian's attack and launching his forks at Sebastian's head. "Is this because I intimated I would enjoy your master's soul back at Easter? What a possessive demon. That's a rather poor show of decorum, don't you think?"

Sebastian ducked, the forks flying inches over his head, and ran at Claude. "The Phantomhives are mine," Sebastian stressed, aiming a kick at Claude's head while twisting to stab him in the stomach.

"You don't have a contract with Lady Phantomhive," Claude argued, raising an arm to block Sebastian's leg and bending nearly in half to avoid the stab.

Sebastian flipped away and had to pivot in midair to avoid Claude's knives. One of them caught him in the side and a small spot of blood appeared on his uniform. "I never claimed to," Sebastian said, glaring darkly. "I merely said Faye is mine." Sebastian leapt high into the air. His declaration caught Claude off guard.

When Claude faltered, Faye yelled, "Hoctum irarae nym!" Strings flew from her fingers to bind Claude and Sebastian landed feet first on top of him. Claude collapsed under the weight and Sebastian stuck a knife in Claude's shoulder before Claude shoved him off, also breaking the strings of Faye's binding spell.

The two stood several feet apart, glaring at each other. Claude glanced to Faye out of the corner of his eye and Sebastian threw another knife. Claude blocked it with his own. "Lady Phantomhive seemed familiar with the spell cast on me," Claude said. "Might I suppose that that is because the same spell has been cast on you?"

"All you need to know is that she is mine," Sebastian said darkly. "No other details are necessary."

Claude tightened his grip on his cutlery and his glare darkened. After a moment he closed his eyes and let out a breath, relaxing his stance and putting his weapons away. "It appears we are evenly matched. Therefore…" Claude let the sentence hang for a split-second before vaulting over to land behind Faye. He wrapped one arm tightly around Faye's waist, binding her arms to her side. He wrapped his other hand in Faye's hair and tilted her head to the side, licking a thick line up her neck. "Tell me, Sebastian," he sneered, "when you say that Faye is yours, have you touched her like this?"

"Let her go," Sebastian demanded, his eyes glowing red.

"Well?" Claude insisted angrily. "Have you tainted my prize? If so, your death will be that much more slow and agonizing."

"That is my line," Sebastian snarled angrily, his teeth starting elongate.

"Careful," Claude warned, pulling back slightly with Faye clasped tightly to him. "You wouldn't want to damage Faye in an attempt to harm me, would you? I don't think your master would appreciate you harming his precious sister for any reason, and we must follow our master's wishes, mustn't we?" Sebastian glared but stayed back.

"However, while we're on the topic of harming you…" Claude trailed off and removed the hand from her hair to intertwine it in her right hand instead. "Those powers of yours are an annoyance, but the spells seem to emanate from your hands. If I mangled your bones would you still be able to use your binding spell?"

Faye sucked in a breath and tried harder to get away, squirming and pulling her arm with all her might; she couldn't perform any spells without her arms and hands free. Claude squeezed her tighter against him until she could barely breathe.

"Stop," Sebastian said, a panicked look in his eye as he held out one hand helplessly. "Why would you wish to harm her?"

"To make her easier to take with me," Claude said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Having her able to fight back is an inconvenience. Her magic has been nothing but a nuisance so far, but she'll be easier to handle without it."

"And where will you take her?" Sebastian demanded. "Back to your master or off somewhere where you can do as you please?"

"I have no intention of allowing my master to harm her, if that is your concern."

"Oh no?" Sebastian questioned angrily. "You'll just harm her yourself?"

Claude got a thoughtful look on his face and tightened the hand entangled with Faye's. Faye hissed with pain and inwardly raged and her inability to do anything but stand there helplessly. This was part of the reason why she had been so eager to work with the grim reapers, so she could learn how to never be helpless again. Obviously, all her training counted for very little when it came to demons.

"Why don't we make a deal?" Claude asked. "It's not fair that you get both Phantomhives. We both desire Faye and I've never seen a soul as delectable as Earl Phantomhive's before. Why don't we each take one and swear to leave the other alone with whichever Phantomhive they end up with?"

"Why would I consider such a deal when they are both mine?" Sebastian asked through gritted teeth.

An explosion sounded, causing them all to jump. The moment Claude's grip loosened on her hand, Faye yanked her hand away and hurriedly yelled, "Hoctum irarae nym!" She stumbled away from Claude as his grip on the rest of her slackened. Sebastian immediately jumped forward to land between Claude and Faye. Before any of them could determine the source of the explosion, they heard the sound of two guns firing and Claude jerked as the bullets bit into him.

Faye leaned around Sebastian to spot Bard and Mey-Rin on the patio, firing at Claude. They both got off three rounds before a tree came flying through the air. The tree landed exactly where Claude had been, but he jumped into the air before it could hit him. He threw a loathing look at the servants and gave one last hungry stare at Faye before fleeing. Faye collapsed to the ground in relief as the servants came running forward.

"Bloody hell!" Bard exclaimed. "Was that Trancy's butler? What the hell is he?"

"My Lady!" Mey-Rin cried, kneeling on the ground and reaching for Faye. "Are you—"

Sebastian smacked Mey-Rin's hand away and lifted Faye into his arms, cradling her close. "She's fine," he said curtly. "As of this moment, Phantomhive Manor is on high alert. We don't know when a new attack might occur, but rest assured that another one will follow soon." Without another word, Sebastian turned and carried Faye inside.

Faye clutched at Sebastian's lapel, hating herself for being so frightened. She was supposed to be stronger than this. She swore when she joined the reapers that she would never let anyone or anything make her feel small and weak again.

Sebastian stopped walking and looked down into Faye's face, concern in his eyes. He leaned down to touch his forehead to hers. "You don't have to be strong all the time, my Lady." He moved back a little to kiss her head. "That's what you have me for."

Faye settled in and distracted herself from her thoughts by focusing on Sebastian's soul. Sebastian had once asked Faye if his soul felt evil to her. She had reluctantly admitted that it felt powerful, but not blatantly evil as some humans' did. That's not to say that his soul was bright and fluffy like Finney's, or even unwavering and devoted like Agni's. But if she were to pass him on the street and knew nothing of demons she wouldn't pick him out of a crowd as a monster. Claude's soul, on the other hand, was darkly twisted and she was pretty sure it had nothing to do with the bewitchment that had been cast on him. She had been slowly coming to terms with her contract with Sebastian, but today made her clearly realize that there were far worse things in life than to be bound to a being like Sebastian.

"Wait," Faye said, trying to get out of Sebastian's arms when he realized he was taking her to her room. "We need to tell Ciel what happened."

Sebastian gave Faye a disapproving look and tightened his arms around her as he switched directions. Faye flushed as she realized that his disapproving look had been over her trying to get out of his hold and not her desire to see Ciel.

"I can walk," she protested quietly.

"I'm perfectly aware of your walking capabilities."

"You're not going to carry me into Ciel's office," Faye protested, already imagining the look on Ciel's face.

"I have no intention of putting you down," Sebastian informed Faye firmly.

"Ciel will think I've been injured!"

"Then we will tell him you were frightened, but are perfectly all right."

Faye started squirming in earnest, starting to feel foolish for letting Sebastian cart her around. Sebastian stopped walking again to set Faye on the ground. One hand gripped her arm while the other cupped her face. "You were almost taken, Faye." His use of her first name without any titles made her heart beat faster. "If I had been moments later or if the servants had been, you might have been hurt or worse. I have told you before that I will not allow you to be taken from me. Not through death or any other means. Therefore, I will do whatever I feel necessary to keep you safe. If that means carrying you around in my arms, you will just have to deal with it."