George woke up with a start. Groggy and disoriented, he looked at the clock beside him to realize that it was six in the morning. After taking his shower, he had lain on the bed and what was supposed to be short nap had dragged into a five-hour sleep. The good news was that there had probably not been anything serious so his crew and Master Gin had allowed him to sleep. Stretching, he got out of bed and washed his face before dressing and leaving his room. Stifling a yawn, he went to the first floor and found Master Gin and Fionn in deep discussion.
“Good morning. Sorry my nap took longer than expected.” George said when he joined them.
“Morning.” Master Gin and Fionn looked like they had been up all night; Fionn was trying hard to conceal his yawn and Master Gin was looking more dishevelled than George had ever seen.
“It’s fine. Bei and Dominic told us what happened yesterday after all. It’s a good thing you’re an immortal or you’d be in the sick bay with Gawain.” Fionn said, stretching and yawning.
“Now that I’m here, how about you two take a nap? Once the twins get here, it will be easier on everyone.”
“That’s a good idea. They should be here by noon so we can start immediately after. I’ll need two or three people to a team to protect the twins and myself when we begin to reinforce the barriers.” Master Gin started massaging his tired eyes. Fionn just nodded and left.
“Got it. I’ll arrange the teams. Go get some rest. We’ll be ready by the time the twins and the energy crystals arrive.” George was used to preparing team rosters and all the other miscellaneous administrative details. And after fifty years at the club, he was also familiar with the security staff and who could cooperate smoothly with whom. A good example was Bei and Dominic. While Dominic had the ability to irk Bei to no end, when it came to a fight, their cooperation was seamless. Bei, with his short to mid-range attacks was always able to stall for enough time to enable for Dominic to complete his devastating long-range attacks. Normally Bei would not partner with Dominic though. The unrestrained mage loved nothing more than to crack Bei’s cool and elegant demeanour and would tease and spew nonsense every time they partnered up; so unless it was an emergency, Dominic tended to partner with George, who didn’t care and was therefore no fun in Dominic’s eyes.
Master Gin nodded and was about to head to his office when he stopped. “I forgot about the women I locked in my office…” now he had no place to nap.
“Your home is just a step through a portal away.” George reminded.
“No, if I go home, I’ll probably oversleep. Maybe I can use the sick bay or staff lounge.” Master Gin would regret those words a few hours later but for now he was only thinking of convenience.
“Ok. I’ll arrange for some staff to relieve the guards on duty too. Then I’ll check on Gawain.” His stomach took that moment to growl. There was silence and Master Gin smiled. Before he could say anything, however, his stomach decided to join the choir. They looked at each other and burst out laughing.
“Let’s go get something to eat first.” Master Gin said, ushering George towards the staff canteen. George acquiesced and followed his boss. They had a quick meal, not saying anything to each other. The thing about dim sum and steamed buns were that they were easy to eat on the go so Master Gin and George had the same idea and just grabbed a few steamed buns and left; Master Gin to the staff lounge and George to see to a shift change for the pair that had been guarding Jurogumo’s companions. Finishing a meat bun and about to start on another, George decided to stop at the sick bay on the way and check on Gawain first.
He found the angel sitting at the desk near the door, supposedly in charge of watching over Gawain. At that moment however, George found him reading a book, so engrossed he did not even look up when George entered. George approached and saw the title to be Justine by the Marquis de Sade. George kept silent but added another reason to the list of reasons why this angel was still here.
“How’s Gawain?” he finally asked, seeing as the angel was ignoring him. The angel looked up and stared at the uneaten bun in his hand. George silently handed him the bun; and found another reason why this eccentric little angel wasn’t welcomed in heaven.
“He’s still unconscious but he’s getting better. He’ll probably wake up soon.” The angel said before taking a bite of the bun.
“Ok, thanks.” George couldn’t resist. “Out of curiosity, you wouldn’t perchance have read Juliette, would you?”
“No, the book spontaneously combusts every time I touch it.” Came the nonchalant reply.
“I see…” This angel really was one of a kind. George turned to leave when he was struck by a question from the angel.
“By the way, how do you know about Justine and Juliette?”
He really shouldn’t have asked.
“It… it was pretty controversial when it was published. I happened to be there during the scandal." he answered weakly. The angel looked at him, shrugged and continued reading while eating his bun. George beat a hasty retreat, vowing not to talk to that angel unless necessary. Returning to the lounge, George assigned the staff that came on duty to various tasks, briefed them on the planned repairs of the barrier and reminded them to move in pairs and to always have their walkie-talkies on them at all times. By the time he was done, it was a little after eight.
“George?”
George turned and saw Yue walking in. There was a spring in his step that George hadn’t seen before.
“Morning Yue. Never thought I’d ever see you leave the club.”
“You know how it is, I need to look my best when I go courting.” He gave a grin. “Anyway, what’s wrong? The atmosphere here seems a little tense.”
“Now that I think about it, the first day you decide to go home, we get a commotion. What are you, our guardian deity?” George responded.
“What do you mean?” Yue’s gaze was sharp.
George weighed the pros and cons and felt that Yue could be trusted. Whatever he might be, his feelings for Dawn had been true and he would not harm a place that held importance to her.
“We had an attack on one of our array points last night and a patron died.”
“What!?”
“It’s a long story.” He led Yue to his usual alcove and briefed him on the events of the night before. Yue listened without interrupting but his face was growing increasingly dark.
“Do you need any additional help?” he asked after a moment of silence.
“I’d welcome it but this still depends on Master Gin.” George reminded Yue of the animosity between the two of them.
“Don’t worry, Master Gin never mixes business and personal matters. This is regarding the safety of Sanctuary, he’ll be willing to compromise. I’m pretty powerful after all.” Yue gave a smirk.
“Ego much?” George rolled his eyes.
George wanted to continue when he was struck by a wave of pain so intense, he reeled and was nearly knocked unconscious.
“George? What happened?” Yue came forward and looked at him in concern.
“Hostile attack…” George gripped Yue’s arm so hard the other man frowned in pain. He staggered out of the alcove and headed to the staff lounge. Yue quickly followed. “Got… to… alert… Master…” he spat out each word as if they cost him a lot to speak, his body swaying and his steps unsteady. Yue grasped his arm and put it across his shoulders and steadied him by grabbing his waist.
“Staff lounge?” he asked, looking at the pale man.
George could only nod weakly, sweat rolling down his forehead. Yue didn’t say another word and hurriedly helped him to the staff lounge. Some of the staff looked on curiously but no one interfered; Yue was well known and considered a close friend of the family. At the staff lounge, Yue only gave a perfunctory knock before rushing George inside. Master Gin who had been leaning back against the sofa with his feet on the coffee table and his eyes closed immediately opened them and looked at George’s pale, sweating face. He instantly got up.
“What happened?” he looked at Yue, seeing that George was too weakened to answer.
“He said there was an attack”
At those words, Master Gin immediately went pale. He went forward and grabbed George by the chin to look at his face. There on his scar was a pale flame, the symbol glowing weakly.
“The house has been attacked…” Master Gin breathed out.
“What!?”
“That’s the seal Ciel placed on George. Ordinarily it will just keep his bloodlust in check and alert him of hostiles. But when the flame shows, then the caster is in danger.”
“We need to get to the house now.” Yue looked firm but even while he was weakened, George could feel the tremor when Yue had heard about what Master Gin had said.
Master Gin shook his head. “It’s too dangerous, I’ll go alone.”
“Then you’ll need help” Yue answered stubbornly, his eyes never leaving Master Gin’s face. They both looked at each other, neither wanting to back down.
George could only look on weakly and said “You’re both wasting time…”
His words snapped the both of them out of their stubborn staring contest. Master Gin silently relented and said “Follow me” at the same time, he gave a wave and George instantly felt better. The pain in his scar was back to a dull throb but at the very least he could now stand without needing Yue’s support. Gasping, he pushed himself up and gave Yue a grateful look. “I’m coming too” he declared.
They both looked at him “No” there wasn’t a single discordant note between the two of them.
“You’ve been weakened, it’s better you stay here and rest.” Yue said, his voice steady.
“Besides, I need someone to keep an eye on things here.” Master Gin added.
George rolled his eyes and walked out. “Stop wasting time and let’s go. Ciel’s in trouble.”
This left the older and younger man looking at each other. “Why do I always get stuck with stubborn, reckless people?” Gin grumbled.
“Isn’t this a case of like begets like?” Yue asked as the moved towards the door to follow the former knight.
Master Gin sighed and followed the other two “I still haven’t accepted you as a son-in-law!”
