Black Blood

The drive back to the complex was a grim one. Claude kept glancing back at Jean's corpse in the rear view mirror, hoping to find that his friend- his brother- was just joking with him after all. But Jean's body remained still.

"How could you just die like that!?" Claude yelled, slamming his fist down on the steering wheel. The car horn blared, and another driver stopped with him at the light blared their horn back at him. Claude flipped the other driver off.

When the light turned green Claude slammed his foot down on the gas pedal and sped off. The other driver thankfully did not bother with him after that.

What would Claude tell Ami and the others when they got back? He glanced at Jean again. Jean was dead, Chloe had been abducted again, and Adrian had run off on his own. Claude sighed and ran a hand through his hair, the other hand still tightly gripping the steering wheel.

What could he tell them? That was the correct question. Perhaps Jean's corpse would speak for itself. Things did not go according to plan; it happened. Not very often, but there were times when things wouldn't go exactly as planned for any of them. Like with Clair's diminished abilities, the issues Jean and Arthur were having. Issues Jean had been having.

Claude sighed again as he pulled into the lot. He set the car in park, and shut the engine off. He glanced back at Jean once more.

Should he just leave Jean there for now? Or would bringing him in be the better choice? Claude shook himself and got out of the car. He would bring Jean in; it would just take him a while and it wouldn't be right to just leave him there anyway.

He had the door open, and was staring down at Jean again. A slight frown settled on Claude's face. Once more he thought of what he would say- which words would be the right ones to pair together, to make the events less painful for Ami. She was like a mother for all of them, as close to having a mother as they would get anyway.

Claude ran his hand through his hair once again, and then down his face. He sighed and shook himself once more. He lifted Jean's body carefully up from the back seat, kicking the door shut behind him.

Luckily the doors to the building had an automatic sensor, and they opened for Claude as he approached. The secretary at the desk looked up as Claude stepped through and she gasped. She pushed her chair back and stepped around her desk, stopping a few feet in front of Claude.

"What- what happened?" she asked, her cockney accent strangling her words. Claude shook his head, looking down from her to Jean.

"Where-" Claude choked on the word, and swallowed hard. He took a moment to gather the thought. "Where is Ami?" He tried again, in a much quieter voice. The secretary pointed down the hall, and Claude nodded his thanks.

As Claude made his way to the meeting room, an even darker realization raced through his thoughts. One that he had forgotten about. Not only was his best friend, his brother, dead, but the king was as well. Claude paused just outside the door.

The door was opened as if whoever was on the other side had read his mind. Clair stared up at him with her large eyes narrowed. Her gaze softened as soon as she took in the sight of Claude, and Jean in his arms. She let out a breath she must have been holding. Claude's gaze fell from her back to Jean.

"Is that- is he-" Clair tried, but she couldn't get the words to form properly. Claude couldn't find the right words to say either, so he nodded and confirmed Clair's fear. She sank slowly to her knees in front of him and wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes open wide now.

Claude looked beyond her and into the room. Arthur and Ami were seated within. Ami's eyes were wide as well. There was fear on her face, something Claude had never seen on her before. His eyebrows knitted together and his mouth formed a flat line.

Ami pushed her chair back and slowly stood. Claude and Arthur kept their gazes on her as she made her way over to Claude and Clair. And Jean... Claude returned his gaze to Jean.

"No," Ami breathed, stumbling and then falling to the floor. She caught herself on her hands and knees, and Arthur was at her side in an instant.

"I'm taking him to the- to the resting area," Claude said, finally finding his voice. Arthur looked up at him and nodded.

"Go with him," Ami said quietly to Arthur. "I'll help Clair."

They all nodded, and Arthur departed with Claude. Arthur kept his gaze straight ahead, and Claude did the same. He turned the words in his head over and over again, wondering how to tell the other male that the king was dead as well. They could already gather that Adrian and Chloe were gone.

Arthur opened the door for Claude. Claude stepped through and into the room, and then laid Jean's corpse on his bed. Claude stepped back. If they didn't know better, it would have looked like Jean was just peacefully sleeping. All the torment that came with living was completely gone from Jean's features.

Claude found himself wondering if Jean had suffered, or if it had been instant. He was still trying to figure out exactly how Jean had died. Maybe Edward Blackblood had thrown something else into the blast that had blown the doors off their hinges, and sent Jean flying back.

"How?" Arthur whispered. Claude looked up at him.

"I'm- I'm not entirely sure," Claude answered honestly. Arthur nodded and swallowed. "He- well, it honestly doesn't make much sense to me at the moment. In my mind, the way it happened, he should still be alive. Just a little burnt."

Arthur nodded again and stared again at Jean's lifeless body. He knelt before the bed and lightly touched Jean's cheek. Claude kept his gaze on Arthur. There was no right way to say it.

"The king is dead," he blurted. Arthur looked back up at him immediately, eyes wide. Claude drew in a breath, and shakily released it.

"The king is dead," Claude repeated. "Edward Blackblood took Chloe. Adrian went off to find his own solution to the problem. I'm so worried, so scared, but we have to believe that Chloe can handle herself for now."

Claude watched Arthur chew on his lip. Arthur glanced slowly back and forth between Claude and Jean, his gaze lingering on each of them for several minutes at a time.

"Is there a reason we're not able to go after her ourselves?" Arthur asked. Claude swallowed hard.

"Now that I think about it, we'll need some sort of air craft," Claude said. "He took her to the old palace." Arthur's eyes widened further.