(Happy Labor Day btw 🇹🇹❤)

The officer raised his gun in fear as Sebastian pulled out a handkerchief from inside his coat. "I believe this is yours," Sebastian sneered dropping the handkerchief he found in your coat pocket before offering his own hands up to be manacled. Your eyes widened, when the hell did he find that? The Phantomhive Crest was faded on the material and the embroidered letters C.P stared up with it. Was it the elder twin's handkerchief? The man who gave it to you had to be Undertaker.

No protest was made by anyone except Finny, Bard thankfully silenced him with a look making this less awkward. You met the officer halfway giving him your hands to cuff. He looked at you weirdly and proceeded to cuff you anyway. As soon as the first cuff locked on, Corbin started screaming at the top of his lungs, fat tears fell from his eyes as he saw them putting handcuffs on you. You had turned your back so he couldn't see them take you, but he wasn't completely blind to what was going on.

"Mey-rin no," you said to her as she attempted to go calm him. "Grell take him," you nodded in the other redhead's direction. She left him next to Grell who stood there staring at him with Othello.

Grell's face went completely blank, he did not expect that, nor did he appreciate it. You had your reasons, your mind was racing, skipping over steps everyone was beginning to think about. Everyone except Undertaker perhaps, you had an eerie feeling he knew everything that was going to happen. Forget knowing, he planned this.

"She was with me the entire time inspector," Undertaker interjected making the officers look at their superior. "Did you see her with either of them at any crime scene?" It was only half true. You were everywhere this entire damn case, but you don't recall running into Abberline at all except at the townhouse earlier.

"She's still in her nightgown, they've just arrived," he shrugged gesturing to a still wet Sebastian and young lord.

Your jaw tightened, 'Well fucking played,' you thought.

Abberline bit his lip racking his brain. After a few seconds he sighed, "Uncuff her."

Corbin ran immediately to your side as Grell attempted to grab him. "Mama will see you soon," you wiped his drowning crimson eyes. How many times did you have to say this to him? How many times have you left him?

"Here," you whispered taking the ring Sebastian gave you off and enclosed it into his tiny shaky fist. "You give this to me when you see me again," you kissed his matted hair, and he slowed his crying. "I love you. Papa loves you too," you whispered softly. You wiped the last of his tears and left him in the care of Grell who was looking at you as if your brain physically leaked out of your head. Sebastian watched the both of you, visible pain, anger, and annoyance at his inability to help either of you in his eyes as you climbed the stairs and joined Undertaker. You could see the tightness in his jaw and muscles under his coat. The young lord was cornered meaning he was also cornered, unable to do anything but watch.

You stared down the Undertaker. This was your last straw for the night. There was no way you were going to let his plans run smoothly. If any of you were going down, you were bringing hell with you. Why was he helping you in the first place?

"So when are we getting our wages?" Bard asked scratching his head.

"Is this really the time to be thinking about money?! Says Emily," Snake exclaimed.

"Well," Sebastian held up his hands showing off his new silver bracelets, "As you can see your pay will have to wait. You can collect it later."

Perfect.

~

You paced up and down your room. Devising a plan was a little harder than you thought. They wouldn't be able to make it to anywhere except London by morning, but you didn't put a damn thing past Undertaker and his walking, talking puppet of a corpse. They clearly have more influence than the young lord did concerning Scotland Yard. The city would be crawling with them. You need a sneaky person, one who isn't loyal simply to the title Earl Phantomhive but to the boy who held it until a few minutes ago.

Taking off the bathrobe, you looked for your old cloak and boots and a dress Ms. Nina had kindly fashioned for you in case you needed to move quickly. Black, weightless, with built-in garters like Mey-rin's in case you need to hike up your skirt. Pockets and loops to hold your weapons in place.

"You're not going with the servants to rescue them?"

"No, I have my own agenda," you answered quickly to hide your gasp at Undertaker's sudden presence.

"Hehe, that's why you left your kid with that reaper."

"Get out Undertaker," you growled tying your cloak on yourself not bothering to face him the entire time.

"As you wish dearie."

You grimaced at the name. You wish he hated you as well, you hated that he was so kind even after all he's done. You finally turned around, you needed some answers. "Why are you being nice?"

"Can't I do you any favours?"

"I don't believe people are nice for the sake of being nice. Especially not you, not now," you spat, shooting him a look of disdain.

"Sometimes the world is simply black and white, you haven't wronged me in any way, you aren't standing in the way of anything, for now. Why shouldn't I help you?"

"Look, I don't want to be in the middle of whatever is going on. But if it comes down to hurting you in some way. I have no choice," you said curtly looking into his eyes, you couldn't tell what he was feeling behind those green orbs. They were so dead even with the sly grin on his face.

"So they're still holding you down?"

"Get out," you said turning back around. You didn't need the "this isn't like you" lecture. Not from him when his whole personality flipped in a single night. The door closed behind you and you sighed blinking frustrated tears out of your eyes. He was right, if you knew this was what was in store for you, you wouldn't have come here in the first place. You would've heeded his warning when he told you not to get mixed up with the Earl of Phantomhive.

~

"...Well, at least we have his head maid."

"Hehe, I'm afraid she's left too."

"Oh well, I thought I could taunt him a bit with at least one of his servants here. It's not important."

Tiptoeing away from the door to the study and back to your room, you might as well leave before they try to stop you. You were trying to eavesdrop and see if they said anything useful but their lips were tightly sealed. If they knew you were outside the door they didn't let on.

The main floor was crawling with officers gathering the remainder of the blood for evidence. Wrapping your injured neck tight enough and tossing up your hood, you headed out the singular window from your room. Gripping the grate you pulled trying to make it give way. You were literally dangling, out of breath and almost out of strength. Setting your feet against the wall you pulled one more time before it got loose, making you fall back on the bed and you hit your head on the edge making stinging tears fall out your eyes immediately.

"Not smart," you said in pain trying to get up to push yourself out the window. A familiar albino snake nestled itself next to the window you climbed out of. "I don't speak snake but, lead the way," you extended your hand for him to wrap around, and he did so swiftly as you ventured into the surrounding forest now crawling with officers and who knows what else. Nowhere in the immediate vicinity was safe. A gunshot was heard to your far left. A group of officers yelled in fear before a loud crash was heard. 'Mey-rin'

You had to reach London before they did.

~

"Mr. Lau, I would not be asking this if he didn't need your help."

"But what's in it for me? He's clearly not the highest bidder for anything anymore."

"A chance for the Earl of Phantomhive to be in your debt and you won't take it? If it were you, he'd gladly accept you since you would've been in his debt instead."

"You make a good point. What do you need?"

"You and Ran-Mao follow me at dawn, the farthest they can reach in the morning is London. Which would be crawling with the Yard. I can't take them on all at once which is where you come in."

"You intrigue me Miss maid. I'll do it, for an answer to my question."

You blinked up at him, confused to hell.

Reading your facial expression, he continued, "Come now. A bigshot assassin like yourself becoming a maid to the Queen's guard dog? Marrying his butler? When I first saw you working there, I decided to watch you. You didn't seem harmful but now that he's in danger, you, pardon my wording, look so domesticated trying to keep him safe. I simply want to know why?"

"How did-"

"I too control things in the underworld Y/n. Your name- ahem- title, is one that often comes up in conversation when a job of that nature needs doing. I just put two and two together."

"I see...did you think I set all this up on purpose?"

His eyes narrowed, and he gave a sinister smile, one that made a chill rake its cold boney hands over your spine, "One can never be too trusting with assassins. They just do what their paycheck demands of them."

"Is that why Ran-Mao is friendly with me?" you gritted your teeth growing annoyed someone was always watching you somehow. For most people in the underworld you've had business with thought you were dead. If it ever got back that you were alive...

Ran-Mao pouted a little in his lap like you offended her. He shrugged his shoulders, "No, she just likes you."

"Do feel free to stay the night, no charge."

"Heh, so you can add that to his debt as well as my own? I'll be fine for tonight," you grabbed your hood and yanked it over your tousled hair getting ready to leave.

He shrugged his shoulders, "Business is business. But you never answered my question."

"The only paycheck I receive is from Earl Phantomhive. Put that together," you replied haughtily finally bolting out the door to scout for their arrival in London.

~

Mama...

Papa...

Why?

Corbin sat on the tree stump in front of the two people you left him with, too engrossed in his own thoughts of his parents to pay attention to the two bickering in front of him.

"We could let corporate decide what to do with it?"

"ARE YOU CRAZY?! Forget about what Bassy would do to me think about what his mother would do!!! We women don't play when it comes to our children! Corporate can't know about this."

Grell bit his thumbnail in anxiety. Why would you leave him with your kid instead of anyone else? Something zipped past them making Corbin jump off the stump.

"Mama!"

"Eh?"

"She's that way!" He pointed into the darkness that was the forest surrounding the manor. Pulling on Grell's coat he tried to drag Grell to follow him.

"C'mon the sooner we get rid of it the better," Grell said.

"How do we know he knows that's his mother. He's only..." Flipping through the ledger he stopped at Corbin's name. "He's only two. Hold on, he doesn't have a death date."

"Demons don't generally have one geek," Grell scoffed fixing his luscious red hair.

"Demons aren't generally in the book," he laughed, now eyeing the child still attempting to drag Grell like he belonged in his lab.

"Don't even think about it, she left him to me- AH!"

"Woah!"

Corbin was no longer dragging Grell, he had transformed into a glossy black bird flapping its tiny wings in the direction he was trying to go earlier.

"Well go get him, glorified babysitter," Othello laughed gesturing to the fading bird.

"COME BACK HERE!" Grell shrieked.

'Which way? Which way?'

Corbin tried his best to flap and think. He's never done this before, it just happened. Wishing he could get to his mother and suddenly poof, he could fly. He's always known that he was different, he could always tell who was like him and who wasn't. The servants weren't, even if they did take care of him and dote on him, they felt different compared to his parents. Whoever his mother left him with felt different too, not like anyone he's ever met so far. The red one was yelling at him to get back, but he didn't care, you were his priority.

'Oh no, mama's ring'

His heart raced as he remembered the ring you gave him. He didn't feel it anywhere on him. With a pop he turned back into a human- well, what passed as a human and sat on a branch. His clothes were on him and the ring was still sitting firmly in his pocket when he pat himself down. He sighed relieved that he still had it. That momentary relief turned into panic as he lost his balance and fell from the top of the tree, hitting several branches on the way down. He looked up at the stars feeling annoyed, it didn't hurt very much even though it was a long way down.

"Lookie lookie, I turn around for one second and you manage to fall out the sky," the man in red said hovering over Corbin. Grell was it?

"Scratches all over you darling your mother would probably have a fit. I don't know why she left you with me, but I have to take care of you. For however long that takes. Hopefully, a short time..." Grell grumbled, he truly did not appreciate this in the slightest.

"She sounds like she'd give you matching bruises," Othello finally came over after jotting down his observations of Corbin.

"Mama?"

"Oh heavens no I'm not your mother. You change into a bird again, and I'll fry you like a pigeon," Grell said pointing his finger at the boy in front of him still laying on the ground.

Corbin furrowed his eyebrows and bit down on Grell's finger. He growled and yanked it away, shaking it as if shaking off the pain.

"You looked for that," Othello laughed.