Undertaker Consults Vincent Phantomhive: Pursuit11

Summary: Ciel is trying to learn everything he can from his father and Undertaker, but they have other plans. In the meanwhile, Sebastian takes Ciel to an unexpected doctor...

Chapter 1 | Previuos: A tiny child.

(Ciel)

 

Ciel leaped back from the intercom video, giving a small squeak. "...It's Undertaker... I'm going to get changed..."

 

Tanaka murmured his customary, "Of course, sir." And meandered in his grandfatherly way back to whatever he was supposed to be doing. Ushering the guest to the sitting room, perhaps.

 

Ciel found the journey up to his room slightly more taxing than usual. Of course, this was to be expected, since he was much smaller than before.... Ciel chewed his lip, but forbade himself from considering the implications of the unexpected elixir of youth.

 

True to his word, Tanaka had found a suit that would fit him. Unlike the everyday wear he would have worn when he was actually this size, it was expensive fabric in an antiquated cut. It was probably still in some drawer somewhere because normal things, he suspected, would have been thrown out. Whatever sentimental value Vincent attached to this was likely in relation to his late wife. Ciel swallowed uncomfortably, unable to remember if this was designed or tailored by his mother.

 

Ciel fingered the collar cuffs, and resigned himself to a few minutes buttoning many buttons before confronting the Undertaker. A prospect he didn't much relish... Ciel wondered how and what to tell his father...

 

First, he decided, I'll listen to whatever it is they're talking about. Then I can respond to that. It was a much easier course of action than considering what else was good to say.

 

He didn't dare stand directly by the door (too obvious), but instead tried listen from the side-- sort of down the hallway and on the opposite side the door would swing open.

 

Unfortunately, the adults seemed to collectively notice when Ciel was attempting to eavesdrop.

 

Tanaka opened the door, and after only briefly searching for him, addressed Ciel. "I've prepared tea, young master."

 

Vincent looked up from the discussion; he looked sharply at Ciel, considering. He was the only adult who paced the room, so the others couldn't see his reaction.

 

Undertaker laughed softly. "It has been a while since I saw you this small..." he covered his mouth with the black nails. "But don't you look charming in those ruffles and buttons. Is that one of Rachel's designs?"

 

Sebastian was just barely able to cover his flash of interest.

 

"It is," Ciel said neutrally. "What brings you here, Principal? Is it really ok for you to leave the school like this?"

 

Undertaker favored Ciel with a particularly toothy smile. "I had business in the area, Ciel. And I work uncommonly fast; it's no trouble at all if I visit an old family friend."

 

Ciel vividly recalled the other times Undertaker came to their house; it inevitably involved copious amounts of sweet oddities and weird humor. Rather than let Undertaker stare in silence, Ciel gave Sebastian just the opening to talk freely-

 

"Strange gathering we have here today... Undertaker, my school's principal, Mr. Michaelis, my former teacher and current school librarian, and my father... who rarely leaves a case to come home." Ciel sat down on the most comfortable chair, and politely accepted the offered cup of tea.

 

Sebastian gave his best polite smile. "I'm sure it's not all that unusual for the principal to visit your father, Ciel."

 

Ciel hummed, noncommittal.

 

"As for myself,” Sebastian said demurely, “I was busy with my new employer," he nodded in Undertaker’s direction, "looking up some rather interesting circumstances. I hope it will all become clear very soon, but am thus far eager to insure your own safety..." he stood. "Shall I--"

 

"Wait," Vincent murmured, turning away from the window. "That was a lot of words to say not-much-at-all." He frowned.

 

Sebastian gave another smile Ciel knew to mean he was planning some devilish move. "I merely mean to say, it is expected of my employer to work quickly. That he should hold you in such high esteems is surely a mark of character..." Sebastian looked serious now, and looked at Undertaker and Vincent in turn. "I am of course, only under a temporary contract... very unusual circumstances you see. Perhaps when my contract has expired..."

 

"You make yourself sound easy when you put it like that," Ciel grumbled.

 

"I wouldn't mind contracting with you, Mr. Vincent Phantomhive. The young master here doesn't seem to appreciate how difficult it is to find new recruits just yet." Sebastian smiled his crooked smile.

 

Ciel bristled. "Sebastian is hardly recruit material," he argued, and his words sounded strange in the high, childish register. "When Sebastian sticks his nose in, things get complicated fast, and all too many people notice what ought to be private business. He's certainly top-class, but he takes every opportunity to show it. He's a show-off and takes entirely too much notice to himself!" Ciel belated and realized his throat was starting to hurt-- whatever effects the medicine had, it seemed to make him weak in all accounts.

 

Undertaker chuckled. He flourished a long sleeve, and pulled out a jar of something. He mixed it into his tea with fastidious attention before he dribbled it into his mouth with a show-man's air. "Would you like something for your throat, Ciel?"

 

Ciel stiffened. "That doesn't look good," he muttered.

 

Vincent smiled in Ciel's direction. "That's the most childlike you've seemed all day." He quickly covered the distance between them, and inexplicably, touched his cheek before peering into his son's eyes. "Hmmm... your pupils are rather dilated... We need to get you to a doctor... how about your aunt?"

 

Ciel shook his head. "I'm fine. We should arrange a-- " he stopped himself, looking at the Undertaker.

 

Undertaker chuckled. "My specialty is more in the dead than the living, I'm afraid. But in a pinch, I probably have the most medical knowledge of those gathered in this room." His smile never seemed more like a leer.

 

"We must be going, then. With this sudden transformation," Sebastian paused for the three adults to survey Ciel's scowl, "there's no telling how quickly other side-effects might set in. We need to leave sooner rather than later. I trust you will see to the documents?" He looked to Vincent for confirmation. 

 

"Yes, yes..." Undertaker agreed, looking at Vincent from beneath the veil of his fringe.  "We should discuss the case, Vincent. Sebastian, see to it that Ciel does not attempt to eavesdrop on private conversations. You shouldn't eavesdrop either," Undertaker wagged a long-nailed finger at Sebastian.

 

"Yes, Undertaker," Sebastian replied automatically.

 

Vincent watched the exchange with a distracted air. He led his guest from the room after a long glance at his son, and frowned softly. "Be careful," he advised. "And rest well." Then he firmly shut the door behind him, undoubtedly giving more instructions to Tanaka and the other servants as they moved through the house.

 

Ciel scowled after him. "Well. I suppose we'd better take our chance to sneak out now; you would follow that order to the letter, wouldn't you?"

 

Sebastian did not reply verbally, but he did smile.

 

"Take me then." Ciel said with a smirk of his own. His eyes were sharp and demanding. "Before I change my mind.”

 

Sebastian scooped Ciel up. "It seems you may be a touch heavier, little master... could it be you are growing?" Sebastian teased. "Perhaps I should bring your regular clothing along as well... we would hate for you to outgrow these."

 

And once again, Ciel found himself moving at impossible speeds, traveling across vast distances. The familiar landscape of his childhood home, gave way not to the urban sprawl around Tokyo, but a steadily more mountainous landscape. Ciel tried to stay awake, to watch their progress slow again as Sebastian wrapped him in his coat, but his eyelids were so heavy...

 

...and he only awoke again when Sebastian wrapped sharply on a heavy wooden door.

 

"Wha..."  Ciel startled, uncomfortably aware of his proximity to the demon. "Where?" he squinted and turned the stronger of his eyes (the left one) to the plaque. Chinese Style Herbs and Acupuncture it read.

 

He jolted upright; it wasn't his aunt's office, cozily lit in downtown Tokyo-- and he breathed in deeply-- the cold mountain air carried a crisp chill that burned his lungs.

 

A stern-faced woman opened the door, tall and slender but with narrow eyes and a pinched expression that booked no nonsense. "Yes?" she said slowly, as though Sebastian were thick. "Aren't you coming in?"

 

Sebastian smiled his devilishly handsome smile and deliberated, "I wish to speak immediately to the young Lady Doctor." He lowered his eyes, but his mouth was still quirked upward. This did not please the woman, who Ciel was guessing to be the <i>...desk attendant...or whatever they're called. he thought fuzzily.

 

Sebastian put Ciel on his feet-- who stumbled and had to pull at Sebastian's arm to keep from falling— and pulled out a document from his breast pocket. "This should suffice." He handed it to her with both hands, and lightly bowed his head.

 

"Get in and out of the cold," she said eventually. "Dr. Midorima will look over your files, and I shall have her on the phone as soon as possible," She finished at length, though her expression was no more hospitable than it had been at the first.

 

She shuffled them in through the main waiting room and into a private parlor-- all of it built into a grand old Japanese style house, Ciel saw. It must have been renovated from a manor house; the lacquer and sliding doors that matched the western-style chairs in an odd Edo Period sort of way. He was barely tall enough to see most of the more interesting documents (some of them ancient, hand-written things) of the earlier Doctors of the family.

 

"Weren't we going to my aunt?" Ciel asked at length.

 

"Your father's contacts have her listed as quite exceptional. I thought her expertise with rumored illnesses and curses would be more beneficial than hunting out your surgeon aunt,"  Sebastian explained, his voice irritatingly confident.

 

Ciel felt his vision blur as his eyes unexpectedly watered. He thought he saw the unexpected sight of a doll-like girl careening towards him in a low-tech wheelchair.

 

"Boys!" The girl's small face lit when she saw Sebastian and Ciel. “Oh, it’s a little boy. And he needs to be seen to the examining room, Hilde.” And so the tiny girl became a whirl of action, ordering both Sebastian and Hilde about the room.

 

Ciel barely had time to consider the unorthodox treatment (was she chanting?) before he slipped into a deep sleep.

 

---

 

 

(Vincent)

"It is rather unusual for you to come to me, rather than wait for me to seek you out at your shop," Vincent Phantomhive said casually. He examined the enigmatic eccentric who went by the name 'Undertaker.'  

 

Undertaker leaned casually against the wall. “I suppose it is...”

 

"Does it have anything to do with the allegations Ciel made about a research hospital that hasn't even been mentioned before today? Or are you here with some more information about the missing children? (*1)"

 

Undertaker laughed. "You never did pull your punches." He turned around slowly, his expression frozen in that mocking grin. "Don't you remember all the times I've helped you? What could I possibly have to do with another hospital?" His hands closed over his mouth with another heaving laugh. "Besides, Ciel should have reminded you-- I have many duties, and even as exceptionally dedicated as I am, I couldn't spare the time for any more ventures."

 

"Not unless it was particularly amusing." Vincent countered, his expression thoughtful. But he couldn't think of exactly how Undertaker could be involved. Nevertheless, it was always best to let Undertaker know precisely where one stood on an issue; he blatantly overlooked all but the most straightforward of demands or questions.

 

Vincent spread out the papers and broken vial Ciel had brought back with him onto his desk. There were a few confidential patient reports, and some kind of memorandum about some treatment equipment. Vincent didn't recognize the drug names. "What do you make of it?" Vincent said after a moment.

 

Undertaker scuttled over, his long hair swishing as he leaned in. "Hm." He still had the teacup and jar of sickly-sweet (additive? food?) in his hand, and it looked precarious in his grasp.

 

Vincent caught the jar deftly as it started to fall, saving it all from an unseemly and sticky demise. "Those long nails aren't good for precision work, are they?" He quipped. “Fortunately, the documents were spared."

 

Undertaker opened the jar, and stuck a finger in, seemingly carelessly.

 

Vincent looked on, amused. "If you're being intentionally obnoxious, you'll be vexed to learn that I already have digital copies of all of this. Ciel-- or perhaps Mei-Rin or Tanaka-- sent me a digital copy to my secure server. The report was quite shocking, but somehow I don't think even your network would have received wind of it yet..."

 

 

While he stuck one of his oldest contacts with verbal barbs, Vincent thought about his son's odd behavior that day. For a boy who vehemently denied being interested in his father's work, Ciel had had a turn of heart. After his mother's death, and Ciel's own abduction a few years earlier, he had understandably withdrawn. He had become sullen, prone to spend time alone, and seemed to distrust any and all adults before he came to dismiss them out of hand as uninformed idiots.

 

And then Ciel came home in the middle of October just before getting involved in a terrorist situation in a Tokyo shopping mall. He vaguely remembered Ciel turning up unexpectedly again at the end of October, and having the servants on high alert for the remainder of the month. Why was that? His head hurt; it was like a sharp light was flashing in and out of his eyes, or a thin needle pressed against the nape of his neck. "There's something there," he muttered, thinking about the past year's events. The documents before him were blurred in comparison.

 

“Ciel has been through so much," Undertaker said softly, a smile twisting the words. "It's good you sent him to his Aunt; he should be feeling better soon." The words ought to have been soothing.

 

Vincent read over the memorandum. Experimental Machine for Treatment. Maintenance scheduled for early March. Beneath that, October: unforeseen shortage of raw materials. Consider other sources.

 

"There are reports from late last year through this week; the operation appears to have been in effect for at least six months." Vincent closed his eyes. His hands found the catch to the desk drawer. He opened it without saying anything else. Still without looking, he reached through the pile of paperwork, letting his fingers choose the right paper. He opened his eyes to see a forgotten report-- Gunshot Report

 

His vision blurred as he read the details—shots fired in the Phantomhive household. An official account of how many bullets, and which gun was used... a note demanding reevaluation for his right to hold a gun license.  His eyes focused on one line. "Intruder compromising the safety of a minor..." stated as the reason for firing the weapon.

 

Vincent frowned at the paperwork, and considered his guests. Sebastian was, ultimately, still unknown. Grey seemed to have alluded to him working for the Queen-- but Vincent still felt that Sebastian was too young and too good looking to be a proper spy. Something nagged at him. "We've been hearing about missing children-- especially missing foreign children for nearly a year... I believe I was consulting on a case in October when I filed this report..." Vincent waved it in front of Undertaker. "Do you think those children Ciel mentioned seeing... could they be related?"

 

Undertaker smiled right back at him, twirling his silvery hair around his fingers. "The zombie children," he chuckled. "It seems highly fanciful to hear Ciel say it, but recently there have been badly maimed bodies showing significant tissue rot before postmortem decay. None of them children-- you've had me looking for child-sized bodies since fall." He paused. "Ask me plainly, Phantomhive...what are you looking for?"

 

"A connection. If you'll excuse me... I did postpone a meeting to have this little chat..."  He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "I'll ring Ann and see if she is free to see Ciel..."

 

But when Vincent went downstairs to ask Ciel for details about his encounter on the way to the doctor, he found the sitting room to be empty. Ciel was gone.

(Next: The Green Witch)