"You're serious."

"Absolutely."

"Why would you help us?"

"We came here on a very particular mission, Black Cat. We were tasked to bring you all in to face justice for the murders of numerous English nobles."

Train opened his mouth to defend himself, then shut it again. No reason to antagonize the kid when he and his team were being offered a free pass. Ciel carried on without noticing the motion.

"These idiots are plotting against Alois and I. They expect that because we're young we don't have the resources or the intelligence to know when we're being double-crossed. They plan to turn on us and threaten our arrest for being undocumented if we don't leave quietly without you in our custody."

Train raised an eyebrow, looking up at Mustang. He'd always known he was a dick, but that was surprisingly underhanded, even for him.

"So you're going to let us go just to keep them from getting us? What are you going to get from that?"

"We'll get to see them fail. Of course, that's the fee they'll pay for what we're about to do. You must pay a separate one."

Train frowned.

"What fee?"

"Our queen would like to see you pay for your crimes against England, but perhaps she can be persuaded to accept an alternative form of recompense from you."

"You're not trying to whore me out to your queen, are you?"

Ciel looked mildly disgusted.

"Obviously not. No, England has many powerful enemies. I want your word that you will make yourselves available for the queen's use."

"You want us to be on standby as the queen's personal assassins."

"Assassins, body guards, spies. There are any number of ways to use your talent."

Train glanced back at his team, who looked as if they'd already accepted their fates. It seemed like a good deal to get them all out of this safely, but what if the kid was setting them up now? He glanced back at Ciel, who was watching him patiently.

"How do I know we're not going to show up and be arrested by a bunch of English versions of these assholes?"

"You have my word that will not happen."

"You're just a noble and you haven't had this plan approved yet. You can't make promises on behalf of the queen."

"I will serve as a middleman. You will never directly meet with anyone but me, and I can give you my word."

"Claude says they're talkin about us again." Alois giggled. Ciel clenched a fist.

"Deal?" he hissed, his voice a little strained with annoyance. Train stared at him for another second before he'd made up his mind.

"Deal." he agreed. Without another word, he turned and headed back to his group, explaining quickly.

"This should prove to be extremely satisfying." Ciel muttered. "Sebastian. Take out the alchemists. No casualties. I want as few charges against my name as possible."

"Yes, my lord." came his butlers smug reply, and he felt the air behind his stir as the demon took off to carry out his orders.

"You too, Claude. Have a little fun!"

"Order him not to kill anyone or he'll have more than a little fun."

Alois sighed.

"Fiiine. Don't kill anyone, Claude."

The other demon stared at Ciel for a moment.

"Yes, your highness." he murmured finally, and he, too, disappeared. A few strangled cries and stray gunshots from the army behind them let them know that it had started. The Cats had moved away from the wall to allow Raenef and his servant to stand side by side, hands glowing black before two huge bullets were formed and launched at the wall Edward had alchemized. They all stood back until the huge pieces of stone were done raining down around them, and Ciel watched quietly as the whole group fled quickly.

"I had no idea he could do that." Alois breathed beside him. Ciel looked over at the older boy and found him staring at the ashen and jagged remains of the wall.

"Nor did I." he responded, blinking and starting toward the gate himself. He didn't need to check and see whether it was safe to go. Everything had gone quiet. Alois followed him again, skipping every couple steps to entertain himself. Once on the dusty path that led god only knew where, the two were rejoined by their butlers, who were covered in blood that Ciel was sure belonged to anyone but themselves.

"That's an awful lot of blood for no casualties." he noted irritably.

"I assure you, no one has died nor will they die in the future as a result of the injuries we caused. The Homunculi wouldn't stay down, so we had to keep fighting them until they all decided they didn't care enough to continue." Sebastian responded complacently. Ciel didn't have to look at him to know his hand was over the place where his heart should be and he was smiling that impossibly aggravating smile.

"Fine. Now how about you find a way for us to get home that doesn't involve walking for miles?"

"Surely."

"Train, get up."

"No. I've earned this."

Creed stared down at his partner, who had collapsed onto the dock the moment they had found the station where the ferry would finally take them far away from Amestris.

"Shouldn't we find some place to lay low until the next ferry comes?"

Train shook his head as bet as he could while pressed against the ground.

"They're gonna need to report to the Fuhrer, get orders to sweep for us, and reassemble their forces before they can look for us. We'll be fine."

Creed rolled his eyes before sitting down next to where Train lay. He watched the calmly swaying surface of the ocean and was struck by how unaware it seemed. He felt as if the whole world had been shook, and here the ocean was, going about its daily business. That was one way to put things into perspective, he supposed.

"Gonna have to go to England and find that kid again now." Train muttered, sounding like he was half asleep. His eyes were shut and the sun was probably only making him more tired. Creed glanced down at him.

"Can it wait?"

"Probably."

"Good. I need a break."

The two stayed there in silence for a moment before anyone thought to bother them. Erutis was the first to approach them, standing over the two and staring at them as if surprised by something for a second.

"What do you want?" Train prompted, his voice heavy with sleep, and Erutis jumped a little, apparently having thought he was asleep.

"Uh, well.. Um. We've kind of had our fill of this mess." she began. Train would have rolled his eyes if he could find the energy to open them. "So the rest of us wanna go back home. We know we can't convince Rae to come with us, though, so I guess I just wanted to…?"

She seemed like she needed help forming the sentence she wanted to say. None was given. She sighed.

"We're sorry we were such a pain in your ass. We'll leave you guys alone."

Neither of them looked at her, and it was quiet for a moment. She turned to leave.

"Raenef will still want to hear from you guys. He talks about you all the time. You'll have to call him sometimes. We'll have him give you his new number after we get him a phone you guys haven't tampered with." Creed responded finally. Train nodded very slightly.

Erutis stared at them for a second, smiling as she started back toward her little posse.

"You know what I think? I think you're both saps but no one can tell because you look so mean all the time." she laughed as she went. Neither responded.

Eve watched the boat that had appeared on the horizon with absolute fascination. She'd read about them, but she'd never been on one. This would be an interesting experience for her. She glanced over at Sven, a childish smile on her face, only to see him staring tensely at the Cats as they all pooled the money they had and prepared to board. She supposed she couldn't blame him for being on edge. She knew she'd worried him when she'd gotten caught by that demon. She'd only been released once Sven had assured the Cats that there would be no point in further pursuit. Amestris would be a place they could never safely return to now anyway. All of those alchemists would believe they had willingly helped the Cats escape.

Now, he was waiting, all nerves, for one of them to say something to him, anything. He needed some kind of closure. They weren't even acknowledging him, but he was giving them time to think about it. It was only when they'd started getting onto the ferry without a word to him that he spoke up.

"Hey!" he called after them, annoyed. Train stopped halfway up the ramp, glancing back at him, then turned and came back to where he stood.

"What?"

Sven ground his teeth violently.

"Don't 'what' me. What are we supposed to do now?"

Train blinked.

"Go home?"

"How? This job was going to be our first income for a long time. We don't have money to get home."

Train looked a little guilty at that. He reached into the pocket of his coat, pulling out a few bills which had been left over from the pooled funds after he had paid the way for everyone in his party.

"This should pay for your ride home." he answered quietly, holding it out to Sven. The older man stared at it apprehensively for a second. Could he take a handout like that? A glance at Eve told him that yes, he could, and for her sake, he would. He took the money and stood there quietly, expecting the assassin to be done with it, guilt relieved.

"Hey, Rae, give me a button off your coat!" he called back to the ship. The White Cat pushed through the crowd of his peers to the edge of the boat, ripping one of the buttons off of his coat without question and throwing it over the edge to Train, who caught it easily. Train thought he could hear Eclipse seething about gold diggers from on the boat, but didn't particularly care. He held the button out to the man as well.

"Demon lord shit. These are apparently worth a lot? I couldn't tell you how much, but I hope it makes up for all this." he said. Sven stared at him incredulously.

"Really?" he muttered.

"Yeah. Take it. I gotta get on the boat."

Sven took that, too, and watched the assassin turn on his heel. From there, he and Eve watched the ferry leave the dock with all of their targets on board, and Sven couldn't think enough to care. When the ferry that would put them en route back to Japan arrived, he handed over the money without a word, taking a place along the railing of the boat where he hoped to see fewer people. Neither he nor Eve said anything until there was no land in sigh whatsoever. The sun was bleeding over the water as it set. It felt like the world was finalizing the events of the day, cementing them in his mind. It was only then that he remembered Eve was with him. He glanced over at her for a second. She was staring blankly at the colors in the sky. He turned back and stared with her, reaching into his pocket and taking out his pack of cigarettes.

"You said you've always wanted to ride on a boat, right, Eve?" He took one from the pack, leaving only two more and holding it between his lips as he replaced the carton and took out his lighter.

"Yes." she responded quietly.

"How are you liking it?" he moved his lips carefully to avoid dropping the cigarette as he lit it and put the lighter away, too.

"It's very peaceful." she responded. He looked at her again, more carefully now, and saw her mouth playing at a soft smile.

"Yeah." he agreed, taking a drag. "I guess so."

There was a pause.

"Those really aren't healthy. I wish you'd stop."

Sven ashed the cigarette on the rail of the boat before putting it back between his lips.

"I'm not hurting anyone but myself, Eve. Don't give me this spiel now. I need this."

Eve stared straight ahead, sighing quietly.

"I know."

I feel like I'm insulting you guys. This ending is so sloppy. I'm sorry about that, really, but I'm just not willing to put any more effort into it.

Anyway, I hope you guys aren't too disappointed with me.

mt.