#39

-Dead or Alive-

The deafening siren wailed, blaring incessantly across the buildings as four figures dived heedlessly into the horde of guards who had appeared to stop them like they were supposed to. But by all means, nothing was going to stop the four until they accomplish the purpose of this daring invasion.

Before the guards could make even the slightest movement, the largest of the four was quick to scatter the orderly troupe with a swing of his strong leg .

The dark-haired boy behind him was rigid with readiness and his visible blue eye was steeled with a sort of determination. Slewing glances over to the other two beside him like he was sharing some sort of a secret message with them, he drew his guns.

Then it turned chaotic.

Gunshots, the loud brrrrrr sort of sound from a red chainsaw, and painful grunts and yells were everywhere. The four drove through the little army that was falling apart so quickly.

Dashing through the clearing path, Ciel, from his peripheral vision, saw Agni deftly sending guards crumbling onto the floor around him. Nearby, the Indian prince was holding out decently on his own. Ciel shifted his attention to the front when the cackling Shinigami suddenly entered the narrow route he was taking, slashing mercilessly at the enemies.

"Spare one!" Ciel whisked around the redhead, yelling over the ruckus around him. Ciel skidded to a stop the moment he reached a clearing and spun around. His eye was darting wildly from side to side as he blinkingly watched more joined the bodies on the floor around his companions.

They did not hear him, he realized.

"SPARE ONE!" He shouted in desperation when he noticed the rate they were going but it was too late. He watched helplessly as the taller Indian smashed his bandaged fist into faces of the last standing ones.

"Ciel!" Prince Soma who did a fair share of the fight, dusted himself and jogged over to Ciel with a questioning look. "Did you say something just now?"

"Forget it." Ciel's face fell when he glanced over the prince's shoulder to find bodies strewed across the ground. Every single one of them were already out like lights.

Agni and an annoyed Grell joined them a while later.

Agni immediately appeared beside the prince with a concerned look. "Are you hurt, my prince?" He grabbed the younger Indian by the shoulders. "You shouldn't take part in that anymore. Leave it to me and Mr. Grell!"

"I still don't understand why I had to be separated from my Sebas-chan!" Behind them, Grell stamped his feet like a kid throwing tantrum and swung his chainsaw onto a shoulder while glancing about. "Ahhh Sebas-chan, where are you my sexy darling?"

The first thing Ciel did the moment they managed to break into the building they were in was dispatching Sebastian on a separate mission. While the rescue operation was the mission of the night, there was a small but crucial business he needed Sebastian to get down to. From that point of time onward, it was just the four of them.

"I'll be okay!" The prince frowned and pushed his hands off his shoulders. "It's been long time since I did something like this so let me be, Agni!"

Agni bowed submissively to Prince Soma before turning to Ciel. "Master Ciel, we may proceed now." Agni swept a glance around the area. "The coast is clear."

"The next time more comes, remember to spare one. We'll need information for this to succeed." Ciel sighed irritably and looked over to the grumbling shinigami. "Did you hear that? Spare one!"

"Spare one? Hmm!" Grell whipped around haughtily and tossed his red long hair over his shoulder. "How ignorant! Didn't you know red is the colour of passion and passion cannot be stopped! Death is mine and with this baby," Like a trophy, the shinigami raised the chainsaw that gleamed blood red, "No one will be deprived the taste of my passion! Sebas-chan should be here to watch this crimson red dance and he will be madly in love with such a beautiful, talented maiden like me! Death–"

"Alright, enough yakking and look in front of you!" Ciel hissed in annoyance, pointing the babbling shinigami to where another horde of guards was coming in from.

"So rude! Grell do not yak! Grell makes beautiful speeches!" A toothy grin of razor sharp teeth stretched across Grell's face as he glanced over to the approaching threat Ciel was pointing at. "I shall perform my dance of death once again and decorate this gloomy place with red!" His chainsaw vibrated into life in his hands as the shinigami did a dramatic twirl.

Ciel eyed the shinigami with a grimace. This is idiocy on a whole new level.

Prince Soma who was watching the shinigami with a slackened jaw, leaned into Ciel. "Is he okay? Why is he dancing? Don't you think he is a little too…?" The prince looked amazed.

With a long-suffering sigh, Ciel merely nodded and turned his attention to the sea of black figures ahead.

A simultaneous click sound could be heard as he turned off the safety switches of his guns. He took a step forward with his gaze hard on the advancing troupe. "Remember what I said!"

….

Steel cold metal was pressed against his throat. Thomas could feel the sharp dagger held to him on the verge of breaking the skin of his neck when he tried to gulp as carefully as he could manage.

It had to be him. His eyes roamed the floor around him, sweeping across the bodies of his comrades all around him. Out of all of them, it just had to.

Raising his eyes to the face before him, they lingered on the black eyepatch before resting on the robin blue eye. He recognized this young man to be Ciel Phantomhive. He was the infamous Queen's Watchdog to SIGMA, to his boss who had eyes on after their first encounter with Ciel Phantomhive.

The robin blue eye was hard and flat as glass. "If you don't want to have your throat slashed open, cooperate with me." Ciel eyed the man cautiously, noticing how he was being studied. "Understood?" Ciel increased the pressure on the man's neck.

"U-Understood."

"Good." Ciel looked at the man with a steady, measured look. "What's your name?"

The man looked surprised for a moment. "T-Thomas."

"Okay Thomas," Ciel made an impatient noise. "Where did they keep Estella Blancbaston? Is she underground?"

"Y-Yes, she is underground."

Ciel looked thoughtfully at the man for a moment, pondering over a decision before a tiny smirk slid its way across his lips. "Alright, you will be our tour guide."

"H-Huh?"

Still holding the weapon against the man, Ciel called out. "Agni, I would need to trouble you to bind him and carry him with you. He will lead us."

"It is no trouble, Master Ciel!" Agni strode over.

Ciel slewed his gaze over to Thomas. "I reckon that you do not lie to me. No tricks, understand?" His voice was crisp and cool but with an edge to it, like autumn leaves frosted with a sheen of hard ice. "I hate liars. One lie, and you'll be dead."

Seeing a meek nod from the man, Ciel withdrew his dagger and stepped back to let Agni do what he was asked.

….

Sebastian drew out his bloodied hand from the hefty man's torso before him and effortlessly kicked the huge corpse aside. A hum of satisfaction went through him as he sniffed the metallic smell of blood that hung in the air of the room.

"Kill if you need to." He remembered his master's words fondly.

It had been a long time ever since he had done something like that. As long as he was under the contract with his master, he would be a tamed predator, like a dog on its leash. He shall continue to be one until his master's wish was fulfilled. A high quality soul such as his master's was going to be worth the hunger.

Stepping over another body on his way to the door, Sebastian stopped his musing and gazed down on the item his master wanted him to look for - a data file on Estella Blancbaston. He studied the A5 sized book curiously before sliding it securely into his coat, ready to make his move.

"Hand that over before you regret it, you filthy demon."

A little surprise to hear a voice in the room he had clearly wiped out, Sebastian raised his eyes to the front to find his exit blocked.

"Oh?"

.…

As the four of them ran, their pounding footsteps could be heard throughout the room, bouncing off coppery walls and huge pipes that made up most of the high ceiling above.

"Which way?!" Ciel yelled between pants, throwing a glance over to Thomas who was carried on Agni's shoulder like a potato sack. "Are we near?!"

"Hey brat, where the hell are we going?!" Grell's voice joined in from behind, but it went unheard. In contrast to the other three, the shinigami was jogging lazily with a bored look on his face, as though this was just a silly game he was forced to play.

"Answer Master Ciel."

Thomas glanced nervously to the tall Indian who had spoken, only to find himself facing an intimidating glare. "Y-Yes, we are near!" Thomas timidly inched his head away from Agni's scary face. "T-Turn left after that pillar, one right and two more lefts!" Thomas fidgeted in discomfort. His arms that were bound to his back by a thick, tight rope were getting rather sore and numb.

Ciel glanced over at the pillar Thomas had jutted his chin toward.

"CIEL!" The young earl glanced over his shoulder at that. "More guards are coming from the back and the right!" Golden eyes of the Indian prince danced with panic as he hastily glanced at the said directions.

Ciel darted his attention back and forth between the two directions to see it was true.

This never-ending pursue was getting on his nerve. He had already lost count the number of troops they had to defeat in order to continue. This operation was meant to retrieve Estella Blancbaston as fast as possible, but too much time had been wasted because of them. They had been running ever since they got their hands on an unwilling tour guide who was currently riding on Agni's shoulder.

A shot of irritation went through him. Such pests!

"Grell!" Ciel shouted in a booming voice. "The four of us will continue while you deal with them! Give them no chance to follow us at all costs!"

"What?" Grell snared back. "Quit ordering me around, brat!"

Ciel felt his heart skip a beat when he stole a glance at the enemies and realized that they were getting closer.

"Do this and I promise I will invite you to my manor for a dinner! Sebastian will serve you for that evening, okay?!" Ciel slewed a glare over his shoulder. "SO JUST DO IT!"

Ciel knew the bait was working when Grell's eyes twinkled immediately at the mention of his butler. Something that had anything to do with Sebastian always worked.

"Ohhhhhh, serve me in all kinds of ways?"

"That will have to depend on Sebastian!" Ciel sweatdropped. "But the dinner is a promise!"

"Tomorrow evening?"

"Whenever you want!" Ciel's face fell. "STOP ASKING AND DO IT NOW!"

"And the wonderful, amazing star performer of death shall dance again!" Grell announced to no one like an emcee and whipped around to face the incoming figures, skipping and twirling on his imaginary stage to them.

What an idiot.

Turning back to the front, Ciel puffed out an order, quickening his pace. "Let's hurry!"

….

Sebastian stared unblinkingly at the glaring face in the doorway. It was a hateful glare so intense it could possibly burn through steel but he didn't seem the least bothered by it. The demon butler was only curious and mildly surprise to find the least expected person blocking his way.

It was that friend Estella had invited to the Winter Ball his master once held – that boy who had unique amethyst eyes and looked around his master's age but taller than the other boy. He was certain this boy was that boy from back then. But contradicting his memory of that boy, there was something different about the one in front of him. His face looked a little different but familiarity still retained. Instead of brown like he remembered, his hair was dirty blond – he was definitely the same boy he remembered.

The freshest memory of him was his master's dislike for him.

Seeing him here in SIGMA's headquarters with his own eyes, his master's dislike for him was now relevant. Everything was fitting together like a puzzle. However, why was he having this nagging feeling that he had met this person even before Estella introduced him?

Sebastian stopped his train of thoughts, knowing that trying to unravel the mystery of this feeling now was not going to help him in any way presently. Though he could not help but felt truly entertained by the revelation shed before him.

"Oh my," His eyes were bright with amusement and bit of amazement. "I hope you had an enjoyable time when you invited yourself to my master's humble home. How unfortunate, I would have stayed back to prepare a warm welcome if I knew you were coming, Mr. Christensen." A smirk appeared.

Brandon's face relaxed ever so slightly. "Yes, it was certainly enjoyable. Indeed, it would have been more entertaining you were there." The stoic, fierce expression was back on his face. "Enough of this useless talk. Hand that file back. That doesn't belong to you or that pesky Phantomhive!"

"Hmmm..."Sebastian's smirk widened. "Make me."

….

His gaze followed the long spiral staircase and stopped at where it ended. Ciel stared at its end thoughtfully. She was deeper under the ground than he had imagined – the depth between them and the ground below looked like it could fit a five-storey building in height term. The staircase down looked endless.

He drew his eye away and raised his attention to the cavern-like wall around them. He was instantly aware of the significant drop in temperature when they entered the narrow stairwell. He shivered. He could feel his hair stand at the light brush of the chilly, damp air.

"Hello…?" The word which Prince Soma had thoughtlessly let out rang out into echoes.

Ciel gave a brief glance over to the prince who looked surprise to hear his voice resonating back to him before turning to their guide who had been switched to Agni's left shoulder while they were on the way here.

"This will lead us to her?"

"Yes, down this stairs." Thomas felt his heart did a little somersault of panic when Ciel narrowed his eye suspiciously at him. "I-I promise! This is definitely where they kept her!"

Prince Soma darted his eyes back and forth between the two curiously before breaking into a grin. "C'mon Ciel, let's get moving! Let's see who the slowpoke is!" The prince bounded down the stairs. "You too, Agni!"

Completely ignoring the challenge, Ciel continued to eye the man with what felt like a long while before finally breaking the contact when he turned his back to him. "Remember, one lie and that dagger will rip your throat open."

Not another word, the young man started down the steps.

….

The two were evenly matched – speed by speed, power by power. Neither of them were going to give in. This was a clash that no ordinary humans could possibly perform or intercept. Maybe only half-blooded humans like one of the two was.

For a full-fledged demon like Sebastian, a fight even with a half-blooded should have ended earlier. Already five minutes into the fight, Brandon Christensen was who he acknowledged to be highly skilled and almost as powerful as his full-fledged counterpart – he had also managed to identify the curious essence he had detected from the boy in the midst of their fight.

Looks like there is going to be an interesting report awaiting the young master...

Sebastian mused silently as he leapt away from Brandon who was flying toward him with a closed fist in a danger high speed before appearing behind the boy to deliver a kick, only to be smoothly blocked by the boy.

Brandon knocked away the demon's long leg and dived forward, reaching out in attempt to grab Sebastian by his collar. However, his own was grabbed, beaten by a second by Sebastian, and was sent crashing into a row of file cabinet in the way he had intended for the demon.

"So did you perhaps went through the same blood fusion experiment Estella Blancbaston?" Sebastian watched the kneeling boy pushed away the steel cabinets which would have been too heavy and big for a person his age and size with ease. Like they weighed nothing.

"None of your business, demon." Brandon snapped, climbing to his feet before turning his head to the side to spit out blood. "But I can tell you this…"

Wiping a hand across his mouth, the boy turned his head and struck him with a sinister smirk that even Sebastian thought looked more demonic than what he, a demon himself was.

Silently amused by the irony, Sebastian raked his eyes up and down the boy ever so slowly and thoughtfully. "That stupid little Blancbaston is an utter failure of the experiment. SIGMA viewing her as a success makes me want to laugh. To me, she is the biggest joke of the century!" Indeed, how ironic.

Letting out a scoff, Brandon heaved one of the cabinets he pushed aside earlier over his head and sent it rocketing toward Sebastian who swiftly dodged. The cabinet crashed into the wall behind with a loud bang and bounced off uselessly.

Sebastian's eyebrows rose at the little cracks forming in the concrete behind him.

But Brandon did not seem to think throwing one at him was enough.

Quickly, Sebastian deftly dodged the incoming cabinets, expertly somersaulting away at every flying block of cabinet that came his way. Landing back on his feet when the boy had no more cabinets to throw at him, the butler raised his eyes to the front with a hum of amusement, only to have the emotion changing into surprise when he find Brandon before him, with a fist just inches away from his torso.

The unexpected power behind the swing caught Sebastian in surprise when the fist met him and made him stagger back forcefully. Pain exploded at his torso, though not enough to flatter the demon. But his near stumble gave the boy time to switch and deliver a kick strong enough to knock him a few feet away.

Skidding back from the force of the kick, Sebastian watched Brandon smirked smugly. "Being pushed around by a half-blood like me?" He threw his head back in laughter. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself! No, both you and that foolish Blancbaston! You two are proofs that demons are weak!"

A flash of irritation shot through Sebastian.

In this long, long life of his, Sebastian had found things that were interesting, things that he didn't like such as dogs, and things that got on his nerve such as a certain red-haired shinigami.

Today, he found something – no, someone – who was all these three. While Brandon belonged to all three categories, the boy had left the strongest impression for the last one – the things that got on his nerve. In fact the moment those words left his mouth, he had been made the first in that category.

Now that his pride as a demon had been dented in such an ugly and degrading way, Sebastian who had been holding back the whole time grew serious and severely annoyed. The blood red eyes of his which once wore playfulness were now glowing maliciously.

A predatory dark gleam was held in them. "You shall see whether they are weak or not again."

….

He had found her. Finally.

Relief hit him as his gaze fell onto the girl prisoned behind the metal bars. Looking into the cell, Ciel could feel something lifting off his chest and replaced by a feeling that was pulling him toward her like a sort of yearning. Maybe he was just excited that they were coming to the end of the rescue operation.

He frowned curiously, wondering why there wasn't any response from the other side of the bar. He squinted to see but the darkness of the cell made it hard to tell.

"Ciel, let's open this door and get her out of there already!"

Tearing his gaze away, he strode forward to join Prince Soma who was pointing excitedly at the door. He was careful not to trip over the unconscious guards that laid all over the ground.

Gazing at the door, they stood in a safe distance away from it. Nobody had tried to go near the bars ever since Thomas's warning.

Earlier, the Indian prince became excited over finding the right cell and being blinded by excitement, made a move toward the bars, but had luckily stopped when Thomas blurted out that they were electrified, even though he was supposed to be an enemy.

"Eh…Ciel, this door is so weird!" Prince Soma elbowed the boy beside, turning to him with a confused scowl. "It has no keyhole! Nothing at all!"

Ciel didn't need to be told about it because the first thing he noticed about the strange door was the lacking feature the prince pointed out. Staring at the plain metal panel at the door pensively, he remained silent, mulling over something briefly before glancing over his shoulder. "Thomas, how do you unlock this?"

Thomas seemed to have completely given in to them. "You will need a SIGMA ring to unlock it. Once you have one, place the signet part of it against the panel there and this door will open."

Ciel's heart sank.

Stupid! I should have brought that ring with me…! Turning away with a sigh, Ciel begin his search for one, scanning the bodies around. Every one of them here should be wearing one– A realization struck him.

He whipped around to Agni and Thomas, stepping around them to get behind them.

All eyes were following his movement curiously.

"Where are you going, Ciel?" Prince Soma voiced their unspoken question.

There! Ciel lit up when his gaze fell upon the ring worn on Thomas's middle finger. "Agni," The young earl raised his head to meet Agni, "I need you to get that ring on Thomas's finger." Thomas looked startled for a moment when he was mentioned.

"Right away."

….

Gasps could be heard as they slowed down before Estella.

Ciel stiffened, mouth tightening as he stared at the unconscious girl who was chained to the plank before him. Just a glance at her, he could tell how she was treated while in captivity. A grimace appeared on his face as his gaze travelled up from her foot.

Up her legs, there were very painful-looking crimson red gashes that peeked out from her torn tightsuit. He sucked in a breath when he reached her upper half. The part of her tightsuit which supposedly covered her left arm had been completely torn off.

Ciel felt a wave of rage when he saw her exposed arm painted with bluish-black bruises and red gashes that were similar to the ones on her legs. Her hand was also bruised and swollen. Impulsively walking over, he reached out and lightly grasped her fingers. So cold…

With gaze darkening with anger, he gave them a small squeeze and pulled his hand away, sweeping his eye further up to her face which looked deathly pale to him. An icy hand closed around his heart at a bad thought. Was she dead?

Gingerly and gently, he cupped her right cheek which was cold to touch and carefully tilted her face before leaning closer. The grip around his heart relaxed when he heard soft, uneven breathing.

She was weak, but very much alive.

….

She could feel someone shaking her. Her whole body was aching and so painful. She was exhausted – no, beyond that. The urge to shout at the person to stop this shaking was strong but she could not find the energy to do so.

Why can't this person just leave her alone? Who? Who was it?

She tried to see but all she saw darkness. The strange gravity weighing down on her was just…oh so heavy, dark, cold and too lonely.

Then she picked up something.

"Blancbaston, wake up…"

It was a tiny boyish voice that sounded so far away. Whose voice was that?

"Open your eyes, Blancbaston…"

Why does it sound so familiar?

"Blancbaston…"

It grew louder and clearer.

"Blancbaston..!"

Where did she hear this voice? Who was it again? It was getting a little too loud.

"Blancbaston, wake up!"

Her eyes snapped open and she saw a familiar face staring down at her. Was she dreaming?

….

They climbed back to the top where the rest of the world was, this time without Thomas who had been knocked out and laid on the floor with the other unconscious guards below. Instead of him, on Agni's back clung the tired, weak Estella.

A coat belonging to Ciel's was currently draped on her despite her protest.

She looked and felt cold, the young earl insisted once she was freed from the chains. Estella was too tired to pay attention but she swore she heard Prince Soma quote a line that he had learnt from a book he proudly and very loudly claimed as 'Love and Friendship 101' while Ciel was trying get his coat on her earlier.

Presently, the four of them was already out of the narrow stairwell. Now that they had retrieved Estella, they had two more things to worry about – the way out of this building and the horde of guards coming from the left.

The guards were currently the problem.

Ciel gritted his teeth in annoyance, as he glared at the incoming men. He racked his brain, with adrenaline driving him to think fast.A solution was quickly generated. "Agni and Prince Soma, I would need you to hold them back while I take Blancbaston with me to meet up with Sebastian."

Estella lifted her chin off Agni's shoulder with a frown upon hearing his idea. "Hey wait Phantomhive. We're just going to leave them here with those?"

A line appeared between Ciel's eyebrows. "We don't have no choice."

"You can count on us, Ciel!" Prince Soma slapped a hand against his chest with a grin. "Just leave this to me and Agni!"

"Yes, please leave this to us!"

Agni quickly got down on his knee and lowered the girl who still didn't look convinced from his back.

"A-Are you sure about this?" A small voice croaked out from Estella as Prince Soma and Agni lifted the still weak girl onto Ciel's waiting back as quickly as possible. Once she had been secured onto his back, Ciel stole a quick glance at the threat a few feet behind and turned to the two. "You two have my thanks. Once you're done, get out of here. I'll meet you back at the townhouse!"

He knew they would, for he trusted in their abilities especially Agni's to get them out of here without getting caught. He was also very sure he will be seeing Grell feasting in his manor real soon. Nothing was going to stop the shinigami when it came to Sebastian after all.

"Do not flatter till you're out!"

Without another word, Ciel spun around and started sprinting with Estella on his back.

The girl watched worriedly over her shoulder as the two Indians charged toward the small army behind. Hopes pinning on seeing them again at the mentioned townhouse, she tore her lingering eyes away and faced the front, watching her and the boy below enter a thankfully empty hallway.

...

Ciel was lying when he told the two Indians that they were going to be meeting with Sebastian. In the solution he came up with earlier, he had planned to rip off his eyepatch and summon Sebastian to him once he had been separated from the Indians and the guards. There must be no one apart from the girl on his back to witness that.

There was no way he was going to reveal the Faustus contract and summon his demon butler in plain sight – it would be troublesome if the Earl of Phantomhive was caught summoning a demon. He didn't even want to think about the consequences if words got around and reached the Queen.

Sweat trickled down the side of his face as his legs pounded down the empty, silent path. Even though there was no one, he knew this was not the right time to call for Sebastian. Not yet. He thought to himself as he sprinted, throwing a glare at the blinking security camera he past under.

"Honestly, I thought you were going to abandon me…"

Ciel flickered his attention up to Estella for a moment before focusing on the path again. He was mildly surprise to hear her speak since she had not spoken a single word from the time they were alone.

"You thought wrong." He merely said as he swerved into another path, panting.

Estella glanced around the new route they entered before glancing down at Ciel. It looked empty too. "I guess so…thanks."

"You can thank me later." Ciel spared another glance up at her. "Let me focus on getting us out–"

"PHANTOMHIVE, IN FRONT OF YOU!"

Ciel snapped his attention to the front to see what she was warning him about. A gunshot rang out just as he rested his gaze on a man who had a gun pointed at him.

Eye widening, he felt something hit him in the chest.

With a shaky breath, Ciel staggered from force and dropped to his knees with a hand flying to his chest. A groan tore its way out of his throat.

He could hear Estella call out his name in a voice coloured with emotions. Her voice sounded far away now that he was drowning in the dull pain that was exploding across his chest. He was dimly aware of how her grip on his shoulders had tightened as if she was in pain herself.

"You bastard…" Her voice sounded thin with tension.

Her angry voice was the only warning before Ciel felt the weight on his back lifted off and saw the furious look on her face from the corner of his eye when she suddenly had moved to stand beside him despite her obvious exhaustion.

He knew he had to quickly inform her about the bullet-proof vest underneath before she did anything rash. "Stop! There's a bullet-proof–"

But he was too late.

She had already threw herself at his assailant.

….

The moment she caught the pained expression on his face, something inside her snapped. Estella felt a wave of rage and desire to hurt the person who had shot Ciel. As if it had a mind of its own, her body moved, piloted by her emotions and adrenaline.

The attacker who had made a move to point the gun over to her when she flew at him was a second too slow. Crying out in surprise, he fell back onto the ground and groaned in pain at the throbbing pain that rang through his skull when his bald head hit the floor behind.

Pinning him with her weight, Estella angrily threw a punch across his face. But before she could land more, the man under threw up his arms to block her and made an attempt to flip them. Realizing what he was trying to do, she pushed him back down with all her might and send another punch to his face, receiving a crack sort of sound as the blood burst out of his nose.

A loud cry of pain can be heard.

Staring at the damage she had done to the man's face, Estella's eyebrows furrowed when she sensed movement coming from his hand and glanced down to in time to see him snatch up his gun which laid a few centimeters away to the side.

Panicking at the sight of the gun raised toward her, her hands flew to that offensive hand and snaked around its wrist, forcing the gun to face away from her.

Then there were gunshots.

….

Silence was heavy like weight.

Ciel's heart and thoughts raced as he slowly approached the two figures across the hallway. He had witnessed punches, struggles from the figures and heard… gunshots. He couldn't tell what exactly happened from where he knelled.

But now, it was fairly clear to him that something was not right. They were suddenly quiet and were lying too disturbingly still on the floor.

"…Blancbaston?"

Ciel felt his heart skipped a beat when nothing returned.

Creeping closer, he sucked in a breath and stiffened when his gaze came to rest on the glassy, blank eyes of the man that was staring lifelessly at the ceiling above. He noticed the hole in his head cringingly. Death by his own gun.

For someone who had already threw away his faith and belief in God, he prayed in desperation that she did not end up like that man as he gingerly shifted his gaze to the girl sprawled on top of the man. His heart was leaping wildly – pounding so hard that it was almost palpable.

She was…

A sigh of relief blew out of his mouth as he relaxed at sight of the heaves and falls of her back. Estella was lying on her stomach with her arms drooped by the sides. She was panting and her hair was pasted to her forehead with sweat produced from the fight. Her face looked paler than earlier and her eyes were barely opened.

But she was alive. He was utterly glad.

"Alright Blancbaston, we must get moving now."

Ciel watched her icy blue eyes weakly slid over to him. "Phantomhive…?" Her eyes widened fractionally. She didn't seemed to realize that he was standing there until he spoke. "You're fine…"

"Well, I was going to tell you that I'm wearing a bullet-proof vest but you obviously didn't listen." A ghost of a tiny smile flickered across his face. "C'mon, get up. More of his kind are going to come any second."

"…O…Okay."

He watched wordlessly as Estella slowly and painstakingly picked herself off the corpse, crawling sluggishly away from it before making a move to climb to her feet. Seeing how weak her movements were, Ciel was stepped forward to help her up with his arms extended out to her.

However, before he could even touch her, the girl suddenly went limp and collapsed face forward onto the floor.

"Blancbaston!" He stared at the unconscious girl on the floor, stunned.

What on earth…

His stomach flipped when his eye laid on something he did not notice seconds before – a blood trail that followed and stopped exactly where Estella had filled him with a mixture of horror and worry.

A jolt of realization shot through Ciel. Those gunshots... She had been shot too.

Panic filling his senses, Ciel hastily dropped to his knees and flipped her onto her back, propping her against him. He swept his gaze across her body and it quickly fell onto her abdomen where he noticed blood was escaping from.

He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, but he had to stop it!

Jaw tightening in concentration, he tried to stop the flow by pressing a hand against the wound, applying and adjusting pressure on it. Seconds gone by as he shifted the girl closer to him while he kept his hand on the wound.

It's not stopping… His gloved hand was heavily stained with her blood, however, the stubborn fluid was still flowing out. She's going to die from blood loss like this!

His visible eye darted about her pale, motionless face in desperation. "Blancbaston, Blancbaston…!" Fear and panic became overwhelming when there was no response.

"Hey, the intruders are over there!"

His ears picked up a distant shout and footsteps, but his mental and emotional state was too unstable for him to register those. His mind was scattered, his emotions were all over the place, and adrenaline was pumping fast and relentless in him.

"I don't care, Blancbaston, you better not die on me!" His throat were tight. "This is an order!" His voice broke with desperation. Why isn't it stopping?! Stupid blood!

Panic hit the roof as he took notice of the declining change in her condition. Her breathing was getting slow and a bit too soft, her temperature was hitting low and her face was paler than ever.

Sound of footsteps clattering against the floor was everywhere as guards fell into position in a circle surrounding them. But that fell past his concern.

No…don't…

His hand slipped off her abdomen in defeat when he realized the blood flow was not flattering at all. With a gleam of anguish flashing across his visible eye, Ciel stared at her face with a painful look and he curled his hand around hers as he came to rest on a decision.

He was aware of the eyes on him but he was left with this option. If he did not perform it fast, it would be too late.

I have to do it…now.

With resolve and a burst of powerful emotions, Ciel ripped off his eyepatch in one move.

"SEBASTIAN!" The boy shouted in a voice overflowing with desperation as the pentagram in his right eye glowed brightly. "Take us to the hospital this instant!"