Yo- I wanted to have this up by Halloween but since Oct. 31st is my wedding anniversary, I couldn't get it up and posted in time. The chap may be a bit on the short side, but at least it's an update that will hopefully move things along.

Also feel free to check out my new story, A New Game. Rated M.

And in the meantime please let me wish everyone a late holiday and enjoy. ^^

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Gray and Boris stayed firmly between Julian and Ali until they were absolutely certain that the Hatter wasn't going to try anything more. Which was sometime after the man and his second in command had vanished into the throng of people that had gathered.

And while Julian and the others doubted that the man was truly gone from the area- they could honestly say that he had pulled back for the moment at least.

Putting away their weapons, Boris and Julian both turned to Ali and asked her if she was alright only to freeze up when they noticed that she was crying and shaking.

Unsure of what to do much less handle the rattled young lady, the two cast a quick glance at each other before grabbing Gray and pulling him over to Ali and then stepping back so that he could try and calm her while they spoke to one another in hushed tones.

"Man that scared me. Are you okay Julian? You didn't get shot or anything right?" Boris asked the unusually somber man next to him.

"No. I'm fine. I'm more worried about Ali and what Blood plans to do to her."

"He plans to kill her Julian."

"But why? She has done nothing to him." Julian hissed in a pissed tone that had Boris looking at him oddly. For as long as he had known the mortician he had never seen him actively participate in any gun fights, nor heard him speak in such dark tones.

He felt partially like congratulating the man on finally joining the land of the living, and partially like running away. Because in this instant when no one else was looking, Boris could swear that Julian had this mad gleam in his eye that was possibly on par with either Blood or Ace.

Which meant that the mortician was going to become a fucking grim reaper if Blood insisted on attacking Ali again. Especially since he knew the man had skills when it came to killing that put both Ace and Blood to shame.

Sighing, Boris mulled over Julian's question for a moment before saying. "Maybe he thinks that she's Alice-Alice instead of someone else. After all the two of them were an item before she left."

"She left for a good reason." Julian snapped. "The man treated her like shit and hurt her like a jealous child throwing a tantrum! He would have eventually killed her if she had stayed!"

"We know that. But Blood... When Alice left, he felt betrayed in the worst way." Boris said as he tried to reason with the pissed off man next to him.

"Right- unlike Alice who loved him despite his cruel nature and put up with his tantrums and the injuries she suffered at his hands. Last I checked being an insecure brat doesn't entitle a man to put his hands on the person he supposedly loves. He was just using the emotion of love as an excuse to take what he wanted so that he could kill her later."

"You don't know that Julian." Boris said.

The man glared at him, his eyes positively frigid as he snarled, "Yes I do." The words, Because that's the type of man he is, hung unsaid between them.

"So what will you do when he comes after Ali again?"

Julian didn't bother answering Boris's question. He felt that his silence was answer enough. If Blood came anywhere near Ali again, he'd drop the son of a bitch like a bad habit. Turning he moved back over to where Ali stood, wrapped in Gray's arms. Her slender fingers clutching at his jacket sleeves, as she tried to calm herself down.

But hysteria was a natural reaction to what had just occurred. After all she was just an ordinary girl. What had she done to warrant being shot at by some lunatic?

"Shh, calm down. Breathe." Gray said as he rubbed the Outlander girl's back almost absently as Julian came over and gave him a dark look that promised him some trouble if he didn't remove his hands from the young lady's person. Like right then.

Startled and just a bit wary, Gray released the girl and put his hands up and watched as Julian very carefully maneuvered her from Gray to himself and then wrapped his arms around her slender body and began speaking to her in a low tone while he gently ran his fingers though her hair for several minutes as her crying finally began to stop and he finally said, "Come on Ali. Let's return home." Before going to collect the bags that he had been carrying before, which both Gray and Boris had been nice enough to pick up for him before saying their goodbyes.

Boris promised to visit his Clock Tower again later that night while Gray said something about going to report the incident to Lord Nightmare.