Disclaimer: S'not mine.

Author's Note: Well… my precious beta has still not given me feedback, so I figure I'll just post this next chapter and see what she says. By the way, in her absence, I deeply enjoy reading what everyone else thinks about this story as well. It's amazingly inspirational to hear that one's work is appreciated by others. ~ Bligy

..

Warmth surrounded him. It blanketed his every sense to the point that he was numb to any other motions around him. The slight sway of his body indicated movement, the ashy smell invading his nose hinted at burning, but he could care less, so long as these arms stayed around him.

He hadn't felt this safe, this protected in almost a year… since…

His eyes snapped open to see an empty, burnt out shell of a room. He felt gravity push on him and realized that they were moving up, over the grand staircase – or what had once been the grand staircase – in the main hall of his house.

"Wha...t?" the boy asked as he trembled against the memories that the blackened walls enticed in him. Fear ate at his throat, but he pushed it down. It was just a house. There was no need to fear an empty husk.

"I didn't expect you to wake so early, young Master," the man carrying him said pleasantly, and he tilted his head up to see the chin of his rescuer.

"That was real," Ciel registered in shock, and felt his breath catch when his carrier smirked down at him in amusement.

"Very real," the man assured him, one of the hands carrying him stroking gently over his skin.

"Who are you?" Ciel demanded and struggled a bit, even though he knew he'd miss that warmth once he was put down.

"I am… whoever you wish for me to be," the man assured him, holding him tighter and refusing to let him go.

"Where are you taking me?" Ciel objected and squirmed some more.

"I am taking you to your room. You need to rest, young Master," the man responded instantly, without any fear of Ciel's turning and twisting moods.

"Do you even know where my room is?" Ciel howled, attempting even harder to remove himself from the man's grasps.

"Of course… it is only natural for one who serves the Phantomhive family to know such things," the man continued effortlessly and Ciel stopped struggling with a scowl. It was obvious that this… monster wasn't allowing him his freedom any time soon.

"Why are we here?" Ciel demanded as they veered into the centre of his large home, which was still smoking in some places and creaking in an unwelcome manner.

"It is your home… did you not wish to return here?" his newest servant said without the slightest hint of actually caring about his answer.

"Would it matter?" Ciel grumped in return and the man simply smiled that blank, meaningless smile again.

"Of course, young Master, I will only do what you tell me to," his contracted benefactor stated benevolently.

"Then put me down, I can walk fine on my own," Ciel snapped and was mildly surprised when he was instantly obeyed.

Unsettled, but remarkably happy to be on his own two feet, he quickly righted himself in the house and took the last few steps to what had once been his room. The door was burnt off its hinges, the inferno having decimated the wood to barely a quarter of its original size. Within the room itself, it was unrecognizable as the place in which he'd spent so much of his young life.

He observed how his bed was no longer in existence and how the fire had eaten a hole in the floor somewhere off in the far right corner.

He didn't linger enough to see any more of the chaos, merely stepping back and walking off in another direction… to a room that would haunt his memories until he died.

Like his own room, the door to this one was practically non-existent and he walked right in to see the blackened features of what had once been his father's study. The room was empty, now, his father's body obviously having been found and removed. Rather than studying it more, he turned away and walked back towards his own room and then a little farther past.

With all the chaos of that night, Ciel… couldn't remember if he'd seen his mother after the flames had attacked their abode. He couldn't remember if he'd heard her screaming as she died, couldn't remember if he'd seen her burning up the same way that he'd seen his father… but in the end, it didn't matter. Whether or not he'd been unfortunate enough to see her corpse, she was dead.

He pushed open the door to the master bedroom, and found that, while singed, the vast majority of it was unharmed.

"Oh…" he muttered, surprised that the lush furnishings had escaped the worst of the fire.

"Is something wrong, young Master?" his shadow asked, and Ciel jumped in surprise. Despite hearing the man's steps behind him the entire time, he was still surprised at his new servant's presence.

"Do you have a name?" Ciel deflected in annoyance as he closed the door and stepped back out of the room.

"I will once you give me one," the man said cheerfully and Ciel scowled at him some more.

Turning, Ciel proceeded to examine every room in the entire building, attempting to find anything as intact as his parent's bedroom.

There was no such thing. Every single piece of his former home had been burnt to a cinder, except that one, single room.

"I want you to restore this house," Ciel declared as he stepped briskly out of the front door.

"Is that all?" the man inquired and Ciel felt a little down that the man had registered his other thoughts so easily.

"I want you to find my previous butler, Mr. Tanaka, should he have survived the fire," Ciel continued, staring at the blackened outline of his house. "I also want other servants, a small amount of them, just enough to maintain the house, and to defend it.

"My home will never burn down again, and you will see to it," Ciel declared, turning to look at his servant who was looking at him with both amusement and admiration. The young boy's chin jerked up at the look, as though challenging the bastard to think any less of him for being a child. "Well, don't you have things to do?"

"Yes, my lord," the man bowed lowly and slowly rose back to his full height, eyes still observing him with uncanny amusement.

"What?" Ciel snapped when the creature still didn't move.

"Aren't you going to give me a name, young Master?" the question was asked with such a frivolous air that Ciel was half tempted to just wave it off as insignificant, but instead he narrowed his eyes and thought about it for a few seconds.

"You are to be Sebastian," Ciel declared. "Do you have a family name, or must I supply you with that as well?"

"Sebastian Michaelis, young Master," the man stated with another bow and backed up, as though to leave.

"Wait," Ciel commanded.

"Yes?" the man asked, turning back to look at him.

"What are you?" Ciel asked, his eyes narrowed and his body trembling at the weight of the question. It was obvious that this creature wasn't human, and that alone meant he was dangerous. He wasn't about to be traipsing around with something when he didn't even know what it was.

"I am merely a devilishly good servant, young Master," the man stated, bowing again and leaving off take care of Ciel's requests.

A devil, then… Ciel had promised his soul to a devil. A harsh smirk fell on the child's face as he turned to face his smoldering mansion once more. He could at least rest assured that fire would no longer be something to be intimidated by, as he had no doubts he'd be seeing an eternity of it when his goals were completed.

..

"Master, we should find a hotel for you to stay at in London," Ciel heard and he turned to see his servant bowing at him. The man was covered from head to toe in a mixture of soot and refuse.

Ciel couldn't help but smirk at the man's lacking appearance. "My parents… I mean… I have a townhouse in London. I don't need a hotel," Ciel declared, rising to his feet from where he'd been perched in the waist-high grass all morning, simply reflecting.

"Very well, but if we're going into London, we'll need to get you new clothing," his servant declared, stepping closer to him.

"What are you doing?" Ciel snapped as the man reached for him.

"I will be carrying you there… London is a great many hours away and we have no means with which to send for a hansom and no stables for horses of our own. How else did you think we were going to travel?" Sebastian asked with that infuriating smirk.

"I can walk!" Ciel seethed, rising to his feet and teetering for a moment before he regained his balance. He hadn't eaten since they'd escaped – he didn't even know how long ago that was – and he wasn't wearing proper shoes for walking, but he'd be damned (like he already wasn't), if he'd let another man carry him about like he was some sort of baby.

The man said nothing to his stubbornness, merely followed him as Ciel led the way he'd taken so many times into London. While the trip was about an hour by horse, it was at least three or four by foot. Not even half an hour into their little trek, Ciel felt his knees going rubbery and his head started spinning.

"Are you ill, young Master?" his constant shadow asked with mild concern in his voice.

"I'm fine," Ciel bit out, and indeed managed another half an hour before his vision went blank and he fell to the ground.

..

When he regained consciousness again, it was pitch black outside and Ciel found himself nestled into that blessed warmth that had surrounded him earlier.

Woozy against the onslaught of memories, he shifted his head up to see Sebastian staring down at him and could have purred when the man's hand sifted through his hair gently.

"Where are we?" Ciel demanded sleepily.

"We are at a hotel just outside of London," Sebastian stated, and Ciel felt himself drift off into the abyss again. "Rest, young Master."

"Don't… tell me… what to do…" Ciel moaned grumpily before he begrudgingly fell asleep to the musical sound of his servant's amusement.

..

Morning was just touching the horizon when Ciel opened his eyes again and he was shocked and horrified to realize that he was completely naked, alone in an empty, unrecognizable room. Fear rose in him as a swift second and he scrambled desperately, attempting to reach for the fireplace poker to use as a defensive tool.

When the door opened, he swung wildly, hoping to bash his kidnapper's brains open before they would get another chance to hurt him.

He didn't even get the chance to swing completely before the heavy metal was ripped from his fingertips and he was gathered into warm, comforting heat. His body trembled in shock and fear, even as his memories returned to him and his terror ebbed.

"Hush, young Master… you're safe here," Sebastian whispered to him soothingly, passionlessly, like he cared about him as much as one could care for any piece of furniture.

"Let go of me!" Ciel hissed out, and struck out at his servant when the man didn't move instantly. "Get away from me!"

"Yes, my lord," Sebastian said, stepping gracefully to the other side of the room and bowing lowly.

"Why am I without clothes?" Ciel barked in annoyance, shivering now that he no longer had the man's comforting warmth around him.

"I was in the midst of procuring clothing when you awoke, young Master… they are temporary until we are able to get your new wardrobe completed," the man stated, still in his bow.

"Where are these other clothes?" Ciel asked shakily, attempting to stand regally despite his nudity. He refused to be ashamed of his nudity in the company of this man, but even so, in their times, clothing was as important as the skin hidden by it.

"They are on the bed, my lord," Sebastian stated, gesturing to the clothing that Ciel had completely missed in his panic.

"V-very good," Ciel stammered, a bit embarrassed at his own lack of stability, he attempted to fumble into the clothes and failed miserably.

"Do you need help, young Master?" his shadow asked, and Ciel refused to admit that he jumped at the suddenness of the man's voice.

"I do not need your help!" Ciel yelled in frustration and nearly ripped a sleeve in an attempt to get into the clothes.

"Please," the devil insisted, gently taking hold of one of the flailing boy's wrists to still the movements. "Allow me to aid you."

Ciel glared at his captor harshly, but looked away in unhidden misery at his own helplessness in this situation. He hadn't worn anything resembling real clothes in almost a year, and he'd barely dressed himself before that. It wasn't his fault that he scarcely knew what he was doing.

Within seconds, he was in the clothes his servant had brought for him and was ready to face the new day.

"What is it that you wish to accomplish today, young Master?" his servant asked him as he finished attaching the boy's tie in perfect place.

"I wish…" Ciel trailed off, thinking about all the dozens of things that he wished he could do. "I wish to reclaim my name and find Mr. Tanaka."

"Yes, my lord," Sebastian bowed before making his way to the hotel's door and holding it open for his master.

"Have you already created a schedule?" Ciel asked, a little conflicted as he moved slightly towards the door.

"Of course," Sebastian answered instantly, and removed a rather long piece of paper from within his jacket.

Ciel could only stare open-mouthed at his servant as the demon uttered off a full day's list of activities that included both the mundane – obtaining new clothing – to the complicated – reclaiming his name – with specifically allotted times, destinations and contact names. As Sebastian finished, Ciel seemed to realize his staring and snapped his jaw shut, glaring a bit at his own unpreparedness.

"It would appear we'll be busy today, then," Ciel stated with a nod. "Very well, lead the way, Sebastian."

His servant bowed once more and they removed themselves from the hotel and poured into the streets. Ciel wasn't quite sure whether or not he was happy to have the man at his side, but he could assuredly say that he had his uses.