[Reunions and Separation – Part 2]

"Do you want good news or bad news?" Keyron asked his master as he looked up from the text that he had just received.

The two of them had found out, shortly after Keyron tucked his wife to bed, that the family's appointed driver had truly taken the twins down to town on an errand, and the driver had found after driving back to the mansion that the trunk had been left unlocked and slightly ajar. It was good enough evidence that a nine year old girl had somehow sneaked herself into the trunk for whatever reason, and since Kaylen could not be found in any corner of the mansion, the two of them had jumped into the car and ordered immediately to be sent to town.

"Just tell me the news!" Anxiety of a doting father who had found his daughter missing made Brandon Greaves speak louder than he intended, but Keyron understood the worry. He had, after all, been there and watched as Kaylen grow up to be the cute, lively and loveable young mistress that she was. Alone in town, the nine year old was practically in another world altogether and in danger of being preyed on (either because of her cuteness that would inspire dirty thoughts, or because of her identity as Kaylen Greaves-Crawford that would inspire equally dirty schemes).

"The good news is that I know where Miss Kaylen is. She is with Kylar and Kyvan, and apparently Kyren as well." Keyron pocketed his phone as he tapped the driver's shoulder and signaling for the man to come to a stop. They had been driving through the streets of town trying to get a glimpse of a well-dressed young girl searching for a way back home, but had not been able to find anything thus far. "The bad news is that you have to go back to the mansion first for me to collect them."

"What do you mean? Their kidnapper is threatening you to go alone?"

"I wouldn't call the man a kidnapper." Keyon answered cryptically as he put his hand over the handle of the car door, pausing in the conversation to pass instructions to the driver to send the master back home. "It's a man who would rather die than hurt the children, but you cannot meet him."

"Is it the same person who you said you asked to take care of Kyren?" Brandon questioned suspiciously, and Keyron found no issues answering the question with an honest yes before throwing the door open and stepping out.

"Go home and I'll bring Kaylen and Kyren back safely. Don't worry about them; I'll make sure they get home safely." Keyron answered cryptically, and before his master could offer more, the loyal butler closed the door behind him, turning and starting his run down the street to show his haste.

Just to be very sure once more, Keyron pulled his phone out and pulled up the latest message from an unknown number, reconfirming the address that was written there. And below that address was a simple sentence of instruction: Come collect Kyren, Miss Kaylen and your sons. Rano.

While there had never been an agreed-upon nickname, codename or signal, there was only one person in the world which he would instantly connect to the name 'Rano'. And the person with name Rano attached was an individual that required absolute secrecy in meeting, which explained why he had sent his master home first. Brandon could not know about Rano, because it was a tall order for Brandon to keep Rano a secret from his wife. Keyron did not want to burden his master with the secret of Rano's existence –Rano could easily destroy the entire Greaves-Crawford household without even meaning to do so.

Complex thoughts of Rano's identity and relationship with him and the family that he served clouded Keyron's mind as his body worked on automatic, guiding him through the streets in his run towards his destination. He must have been thinking too hard, for he suddenly stopped to find his path ahead blocked by a group of muscled guys with weapons cradled lightly in their hands. The look on their faces were not friendly, and when Keyron spun around to check behind him, he found it blocked too.

Most importantly, Keyron recognized the man who stood in front of the crowd blocking his path behind him.

"Bastion. This is not a very good time." Keyron greeted, affecting a posture of relaxed casualness despite the fact that he was surrounded. He was not completely weapon-less; a butler like him serving the master and mistress of the Greaves-Crawford Household knew to keep at least a switchblade on him for multi-purpose uses, and the current situation was one such use as he calmly retrieved it from pocket.

"This is the only time I have ever been able to catch you alone in this part of town, Butler in White." Bastion, the man who used to be a high level servant in the toppled Hague household, scowled at him.

"I would prefer if you call me by name. Butlers generally are not allowed to wear white unless during formal and very important occasions." Keyron answered, still mildly irritated at the nickname that had stuck on to him ever since he wore a white three-piece suit to his master and mistress's wedding. While he was proud that he carried off the suit so well that tabloids and the public in general began to give him that nickname, it was still mildly off-putting to hear.

"Regardless of what I call you, you are going to be cultured in red today, or my name isn't Bastion." The man answered in threat, clearly not appreciative of Keyron's casualness. A hand was raised in some sort of signal, and the group that had stayed back just long enough to allow the short conversation began to converge on him.

Keyron would like to say that he made quick work of the men around him while completely unscathed, but it was physically impossible to make such a claim. While he did make quick work of the men, Keyron recognized that his butler appearance had increasingly been torn up by a few stray swipes, and he had gotten a few cuts here and there. He had managed to stop some guns from being fired, redirected guns pointed at him, and had basically been rather safe from bullet wounds.

Training and experience dealing with such situations as the butler of the Greaves-Crawford Household, in charge of the safety and protection of his master and mistress, Keyron found himself the only man standing in the crowd of groaning and unconscious men with broken noses, arms and legs. Weapons had all been kicked or thrown far away so that none of them would be raised in attempted attack against him again, and Keyron surveyed his surroundings, not very surprised to find Bastion gone.

Ever since the fall of the Hague Household, Bastion had tried countless times to launch surprise attack attempts on him, his master and mistress. Keyron had always been able to secure his master and mistress's safety every single time without fail, but Bastion was a slippery man who had always been quick to run before fights ended. It was the standard cowardly move that Keyron had become used to, though he had to admit that Bastion was rather skilled at hiding from him.

Shrugging off his coat torn in some places, Keyron sighed at the small patches of red that came from his small wounds that had soaked into his white dress shirt. Kiera would panic again tonight about him being attacked, and there was no way he could avoid letting her know since she would definitely see his bloodstains and tears in his shirt and coat.

Still, Keyron had a duty to do in town, and thus he started once again on his jog to his destination. It was a moment of carelessness –an assumption that had been formed over the many thwarted attack attempts that Bastion would have high-tailed far away from the scene –that took Keyron by surprise.

The gunshot rang loudly in the emptiness of the street, and Keyron stumbled forward, cradling his shoulder by pure instincts when fiery pain burnt through it. Spinning around, Keyron scanned quickly for his attacker, but the gunner was well hidden amongst the shadows casted by the buildings lined up one after another.

Crouching quickly, Keyron knew that he was a big target since he was the only one standing amongst the downed people, sticking out in the open like a sore thumb. He moved quickly to the side, ignoring the waves of pain that came throbbing from his arm as the blood seeped through his fingers quickly. Making his decision quickly, he moved towards where a pistol had been thrown nearest from the crowd, and picked it up with his uninjured arm, putting his back quickly against the nearest building, eyes still scanning for any tell-tale signs of his gunner.

"Nobody shoots my butler except for me or Louise!" Keyron was startled when he heard a loud yell piercing through the heavy silence that had come after the gunshot, and was further surprised when he found Bastion rolling out from his hiding spot not very far from where he stood.

Keyron supposed that surprise came in equal parts as resignation when he saw his master also dashing out from the same corner that Bastion had rolled out from, stepping on the man's hand holding on to his rifle and then kicking the weapon so that it slid across the floor away from Bastion.

"Brandon, stand back!" Keyron instructed in a yell, and with quick aim, fired off two shots into Bastion's thighs –one bullet for each leg. Their attacker –who had been scrambling to his feet to do some damage onto Keyron's master screamed in pain, falling back down to the floor and clutching his legs.

"I heard you and Keyron just now. You're that bastard Bastion, aren't you? You've terrorized my daughter before and I'll never forgive you for that!" Brandon continued yelling, stomping angrily on the man who was clearly too preoccupied with the pain in his thighs to get up and resume his attacks.

"Brandon, stop." Keyron begged, transferring his gun to his barely-responsive hand and using the uninjured arm to pull his master back from exerting further physical abuse to the downed man. "He's not worth you ruining your image over."

"I don't think my image will be ruined if they see me as an angry father of a daughter terrorized by him." Brandon was still angrily struggling to reach the downed Bastion, but Keyron was thankfully strong enough to hold his master back even with only one arm. "Besides, I have every reason to lose my top. He shot you!"

"It's a minor injury." Keyron excused even though he could not really be sure given how startling numb his shoulder was beginning to feel. "Besides, it was my mistake letting my guard down."

"Yeah, right. Minor injury." Brandon's sarcastic tone of voice was a good turn from him shouting in his rage, but it did not do Keyron any better when his master pressed unceremoniously on his shoulder motivating him to jolt in pain. "You are already coloring your shirt red."

Having forgotten that he had already removed his coat, Keyron did his best to check his own wound and found that his master had not been wrong; the blood had colored a waterfall of red down his shirt and was quickly spreading across the white expanse of his shirt.

"Kiera is going to kill me." He groaned, but was only answered with his master's amused chuckle as Brandon whipped out his phone, already calling for the appropriate authorities to come clean up the situation. "Besides, you haven't told me what you're doing here. I thought I told you to go home?"

"And leave you here alone? I didn't want to go back home and tell Louise that I've lost our butler somewhere in town." His master's answer came after the appropriate arrangement was done with the authorities, phone pocketed once again. "And while I trust you, I thought you might need backup. And sure you did. I haven't heard any thanks from you yet, by the way."

"I wasn't intending on giving any. I generally don't give thanks to idiots who put themselves at risk of almost getting shot at or attacked or kidnapped just to follow me. You know your position as Head of the household, Brandon. Are you really out to give me a heart attack on top of this bullet wound?" Keyron's lecture had been so rare nowadays that his master actually looked slightly surprised to hear it coming.

"If it wasn't for me, you would have gotten a bullet to the heart instead, you ungrateful man." Brandon answered crossly with a scowl to show his lack of appreciation at Keyron's nag. "Now, sit down and try not to make your shirt a further art-piece while we wait for the ambulance."

"I don't need an ambulance." Keyron answered, turning his back on his master. "Where is the driver? I need to go pick the children up, but I can't leave you here alone."

"I sent him back home first. Louise is done with her business meeting; she needed the car for the ride back home." Brandon's easy answer posed a difficult problem for Keyron as he weighed his options immediately. He could try to give his master the slip by losing Brandon amongst the street in town, but Bastion's recent attack had given the both of them a very clear reminder that while most people of the town celebrated and revered the individuals of the Greaves-Crawford Household, there were also many people who were waiting for a chance to see the master of the household alone. Anything could happen to Brandon once Keyron left. Even injured, Keyron was rather sure that he would still act as a useful deterrence against attempted attacks on his master.

"I don't suppose you are willing to call the driver back?" Keyron sighed when his answer was clear. He wanted to protect Rano's secret, but his master's safety and security was still more important. It was against his teaching as a butler and his soul as Brandon's childhood friend to leave his master here alone and in potential of facing any sort of danger.

"No. If you're going for the children, then I'm going too. Are you sure you don't want to wait for the ambulance, though?"

"No, I'm fine and I don't want the children to wait too long." Keyron started once more on his way to his destination, resigned to the fact that his master was now dogging his footsteps now that an unspoken understanding had been established between them that Brandon was allowed to come with him. "But if you are coming with me, you must swear yourself to absolute secrecy. I don't know how much the children know by now, but I will have them keep absolute silence about the man who has saved and is currently housing them."

"Is that person running some child slavery business? Human trafficking?" Brandon paused. "Are you sure we can't tell Louise who found and took care of Kyren?"

"No!" Keyron's exclamation came a little too fast and forceful than intended, surprising the both of them to a temporary pause before Keyron forced himself to carry on walking. "No, of everyone, the person you cannot tell of this secret the most is Miss Louise. If Miss Louise knows about this person, the whole family will crumble."

"What? How can there be someone powerful enough to make Louise lose her edge? That's practically impossible."

"You will understand things better when you meet see him." Keyron answered cryptically, leading them quietly up the stairs to his destination that turned out to not be very far away from the fight at all. Trusting his memory to tell him the correct apartment number, Keyron knocked on the door with his uninjured arm, then stepped back in the usual move to allow his master to stand in front of him to greet the owner of the apartment.

"You took your time."

The door swung open, and Keyron breathed a quiet sigh of relief to catch a glimpse of his sons sitting obediently further in the apartment. Neither Kylar nor Kyvan looked like they were caught in the middle of a fight or argument, which meant that his sons had deemed the owner of the apartment trustworthy enough to lower their guard slightly.

Unfortunately, the one whose guard raised instead of lowering was his master, as Keyron saw the punch coming. His move to stop the punch was hindered by the pain that was quickly making his arm almost completely unresponsive, and thus there was nothing he could do as he watched the fist fly and land.

"You fucking bastard."

________________________________________________________________________________

"Kylar, Kyvan!" Keyron yelled in his commanding tone of voice as he struggled to hold his master back, practically using all of his energy to drag the man out of the apartment while his master struggled madly. "Stop Brandon from doing something stupid."

True to their 15 years of training and true to being his son, Kylar and Kyvan did not hesitate a single moment before they jumped up and dashed across the apartment, squeezing past their uncle who stood wiping the blood off his lip standing in the doorway, trapping their master's threatening flying fists that could not make contact with its intended target.

"Brandon..." Keyron struggled with only one arm latched around his master's shoulder, doing his best not to stain clean clothes from his still-bleeding arm. "Just calm down and talk things out like a decent businessman!"

"I can't be a decent businessman in front of Kyrano! He's seen me in my worst and stupidest moments back in the Rose Academy!" Brandon yelled back, surprisingly still strong enough to struggle even with Keyron, Kylar and Kyvan holding him back and restricting his movements.

"I think the one who has seen you in your worst and stupidest is your very own butler, Mr. Brandon. But this is a close second." The evened voice that replied truly should not sound as if it belonged to a man who had just been punched in the face. "Please be aware of the fact that you are hurting Keyron. His arm is bleeding rather badly."

The reminder was well taken as Brandon froze in the middle of his rampage, looking over his shoulder at his butler. Keyron, for his part, did his best to affect a hurt and sour expression on his face, exaggerating it more than he actually felt in order to force his master to stop any further attempts at physical abuse. While Keyron understood partially the need and the want to throw more than a few punches to his twin brother, he also did not want to attract any unwanted attention from neighbors or poor passer-by who held the possibility of recognizing Brandon Greaves in the middle of beating the living hell out of someone in the apartment.

"I'm going to faint from the loss of blood if you continue." Keyron warned lightly, and his master's concern for him (though always veiled and hiding behind sarcastic words) shone through when Brandon finally put his arms down, shoulders sagging.

"You can let go of me; I'll behave." The Head of the Greaves-Crawford Household announced, but Keyron knew better than to trust that declaration immediately. Passing a silent instructional gaze to his sons to stay close to their master just in case Brandon decided to try to get a jump on Kyrano once again, he slowly let Brandon regain his freedom. He urged his master further into the apartment, then closed the door hurriedly behind him, locking it up for good measure.

"I'll behave, so you-" Brandon said with a long index finger pointing straight at the man who had been watching the situation passively the whole time, "-You sit your brother down, dig out that bullet from his shoulder and make sure he cries like a baby when you stitch him up. I assume Kaylen and Kyren are somewhere here in this apartment; I'll check on them. They had better not be any form of danger, or Butler in Black or not, I'm going to haunt your ass."

"Feel free." Kyrano gestured further into the room with the standard butler-bow, and Keyron had not seen Kyrano's butler persona for so long that it felt weird to see it again all of a sudden. No further conversation was made as Kylar and Kyvan rushed to guide their master into the adjourning room from the living area, leaving the older Reyes pair of twins standing near the door, looking at each other.

"Before you kill me for bringing Brandon here, I have reasons." Keyron rushed to defend himself at the accusative stare in his brother's gaze.

"They have to be very good reasons." Kyrano's levelled answer was exactly as Keyron had remembered from his brother. "Sit on the floor there and take off your shirt."

"We haven't met face to face for years, and you want to see me naked?" Keyron teased, but obeyed as Kyrano swerved towards the kitchen area, opening cupboards and removing tools and materials. It took only a quick moment of efficiency before Kyrano rounded from the island separating the kitchen to the living room, a basin full of water and medical tools in his other hand.

"Judging by the spread of blood on your shirt, you were shot at least 5 minutes ago, and you spent absolutely no effort to staunch the bleeding." Keyron's brother commented bluntly, and though he was receiving a lecture this time, Keyron could not help but instantly be reminded by a long past, back when they had both been working as butlers for their master and mistress, and Kyrano had dispensed judgement, disappointment and concerned advice in the exact same fashion.

"You were close by, and I'd really rather not have Brandon digging around my shoulder to retrieve the bullet. I've seen Kiera's stitches. I figure I can trust you better than I trust him with a needle and thread." Keyron answered easily, not realizing how weak the blood loss had made him silently until he was off his feet.

He would probably have a slightly harder time serving his master and mistress in the coming weeks, but it was something he would have to deal with.

"Kylar and Kyvan will be able to take over the heavy work. They are very well trained for their job." Keyron was taken by surprise when his twin echoed his thought aloud, even as Kyrano settled down behind him, beginning to wash the wound.

"I'm surprised they accepted you. They have been trained to be suspicious of anyone; even me."

"They might have found it hard to be suspicious of a man painted out to be a legend to them when they were younger." There was something lightly accusative in Kyrano's words. "Someone has been feeding his sons lies."

"In my defense, I stuck by facts. Brandon was the one who exaggerated stories of your achievements, and impressionable children like them soak things like that up in seconds." Keyron protested, glad that their conversation was not inspiring his brother to exact any revenge through applying more force than necessary to his open wound.

"Stories of me aside." Kyrano ended the light-hearted conversation quickly. "Please explain what happened to you and if it has anything to do with you bringing Mr. Brandon here."

"I don't know how closely you have been keeping tabs on all of us, but do you know about Bastion from the Hague family?"

"The man was responsible for multiple attack attempts on your lives, but he managed to escape most times." Kyrano's immediate answer gave Keyron a small hint of exactly how updated his twin brother was on his life and also further reminded Keyron of how crazy his brother could be with the things Keyron never thought anyone to be capable of. "He had plans that posed real danger to Miss Louise and Mr. Brandon a few times, so I stopped him before he could proceed further. You seemed to be able to stop his usual plans very well yourself."

Keyron suppressed his curiosity as to what sort of plans Bastion had come up with deemed dangerous enough for Kyrano to decide to step in personally.

"Well, then he didn't plan this one. He probably caught sight of the family car and followed us around with whatever men he could get, because they didn't seem completely ready for the fight. I tried to send Brandon back to the mansion by car, so I was making my way here by foot and they caught me by surprise. I dealt with them, but Bastion's a coward who shoots someone when he thinks the fight is over."

"You should not have relaxed." Kyrano's disapproving frown could be heard in his voice, and despite the small twinges of pain that his brother's fingers caused around his wound, Keyron smiled uncontrollably.

"I know, it was my mistake. I got lucky. Brandon saved me, and he gave a lousy-ass excuse about worrying about me getting lost, but we both know he was just really desperate to see Miss Kaylen safe." Keyron jolted slightly when his brother seemed to have finally gotten a good grasp on his bullet. "We haven't met for ages, can't you be a bit gentler?"

"Take it as punishment for being negligent despite already being Miss Louise's butler." Kyrano's guiltless answer came back evenly.

"You are the only person who can be completely perfect 100% of the time as her butler. I have no doubts that even after all my years, you're still the one who knows her best. And before we go further, please tell me that you're the person responsible behind Miss Louise's suddenly sending my sons out here to town."

"You've learnt well." There was approval now in the voice of a man who claimed the title of ex-butler to a woman like Miss Louise. "Miss Louise had been keeping close tabs on Kyren throughout his exile and had been suspicious about me the whole time I took him in. Today, I cut off all eyes that she had installed around here, and drove her into a panic thinking that something was happening to Kyren. This was to have her send Kylar and Kyvan down to collect their young master and bring Kyren back home, because I have already taught him everything I can afford to at the moment."

"Back up for a while. You took Kyren in for the past month?"

"Was it not you who informed me to watch over the young master?" Kyrano questioned back, and Keyron found that it was not a good idea to question his brother while Kyrano sewed up his wound.

"Yes, but I had no idea what you were doing. Miss Louise banned me from trying to help Kyren, so I trusted that you could do it independently. I didn't know you went to the extent of taking him in. So does he know that you are his mother's ex-butler?"

"No. I kept my disguise around him and told him to call me Kay."

"Kay and Rano..." Keyron could not help his chuckle. "The choice of names to call yourself..."

"It was to keep you reassured if you ever found out who has been taking care of Kyren this whole time."

"Are there any more names I should know about? What have you been doing with Kyren since you took him in? You said you were done teaching him things; do I want to know what things you have been teaching him?"

"Nothing of the sort unsuitable for a young master for the Greaves-Crawford Household. I suppose you have been hearing news of Lyca Trading's recent meteoric rise?"

"Please tell me you don't have anything to do with it. Lyca has caught Miss Louise's eyes, and you know she doesn't let any business she has eyes on run free." Keyron begged despite the fact that he knew better. His brother would not bring up the name of a business without having anything in relation to it.

"Those files near the balcony," Kyrano paused to allow Keyron to divert his attention temporarily. "They are documents from Lyca. Lyca was Kyren's lesson, and he has done well. And apparently well enough to attract his mother's attention. I suppose that is worthy enough for him to return to Miss Louise's graces."

"You're kidding. You created Lyca just to teach Kyren a lesson? You're the reason behind why it has such strong foundations?"

"I saw the future where Kyren needed a lesson outside of the Greaves-Crawford Household, but I cannot allow the young master to waste time actually trying to craft his own business with his own hands. I helped set the basics and placed some common traps for him –which he weeded out himself rather quickly. Kyren has indeed inherited his mother's wits and instincts for business."

"You know you are a mad man, right?"

"You trusted this mad man to watch over Kyren." Kyrano cut the thread off the needle, surprising Keyron at how relatively painless the entire stitching process had been. "Lyca is a gift to Kyren and the Greaves-Crawford House. I named it after Kyra, so take care of it well."

The name of their little sister who had passed decades ago due to cancer was a small dampening of their spirits, but Keyron did not allow the atmosphere to get him down, preferring to focus more on the fact that his only sibling still alive in the world was basically still as out-of-the-world as he remembered. The memories had certainly not dulled Keyron's memory of how uncommon his brother's thinking was, but he was getting a strong refresher to sharpen the details.

"Please at least tell me that Lyca was the only thing you taught Kyren." Keyron begged his brother, reaching for the shirt that he had shucked off only recently. He made no comments when his brother –who had stood up after having finished the entire medical procedure without missing a single beat –stole the cloth from between his hands before he could try to shrug it on. Wordlessly, he watched as Kyrano set the bloodied tools on the island that separated the kitchen from the living area, then dumped his shirt into the bin.

"I doubt you will be finding him on the headlines news over illegal methods of business." Kyrano's answer was calm, though there was a pause of seeming hesitation that Keyron did not appreciate from his brother. "It would be disappointing to know that his lessons were not enough if that ever happened."

"Don't give me more troubles than Miss Louise has been giving me with her business methods sometimes bordering legality. One of them is enough; I don't need you to teach her son to do the same." Keyron complained, eyes pegged on the man who looked completely at home and domesticated as he set ingredients on the table, Keyron recognizing them as simple ingredients for a bland porridge. There was clearly no asking whom the food was for.

Keyron turned his face away to hide the sudden smile that had cracked before he could stop it. Their current situation was hardly suitable for domesticity like what Kyrano was showing now, but common sense was clearly lost on his brother. Keyron had known it straight from the start and still had troubles understanding some times. There was only one confirmation, as he reconciled with himself the fact of their situation despite how impossible it had seemed from the start.

It was a massive understatement for Keyron to make, but his brother was seriously one-of-a-kind.