Colonello loathed the curse. It wore down his body, broke it, changing it randomly and destroying any mobility he once had. His strength in his adult form was halved because of the stress, and his baby form a mere tenth of the power he was used to.
An upside, he supposed, was that he did spend most of his time in adult form. The other Arcobaleno were in the same boat too, and the one time they had met after the curse began they had all agreed that it was a positive. (Shortly after Reborn had changed to a baby, and Skull made the mistake of laughing.)
His phone buzzed at him. Colonello frowned at his phone, then picked up. "Hello?" He kept one hand on the wheel of the car, fingers drumming in a steady rhythm.
"Where are you?" Lal sounded angry.
"...Did I do something?" Colonello asked innocently.
"Not yet. Should I be angry?" Lal's voice dropped in warning.
"No."
"Good." Lal's tone lightened again. "But why are you on a mission? Didn't the doctor say not to?"
Colonello snorted, peering out the car window. "I was going crazy in that place."
"...Understandable. Are you sure the curse won't come into effect?"
"Uh. We never know when, but I don't think so."
A deep sigh. "I'm coming with you. Wait."
"You don't have-"
"You're not the only one bored," and the line clicked off. Colonello stared at his phone for a beat, then wondered how Lal was going to find him.
~o0o~
Lal tapped on the car window. Colonello unlocked that door for her, Lal sliding easily into the seat. Locking it behind her, she squinted at his pacifier.
Pure habit, really. The light of his pacifier never wavered, no matter how much the Arcobaleno wished for it to offer a sign. Everyone who knew about the curse looked, Lal being one of them.
"So. How many people?"
"About five or so right now," he said. "The other two might return."
Lal narrowed her eyes. "Do you think they will?"
"No."
"I'll go through the front then. You'll take the back."
"Huh?" Colonello turned to her, confused. "Why? I want to-"
"The light of your pacifier will give you away," Lal informed him, before gesturing to herself. "I, on the other hand, have no such thing."
"All right," he relented. "Fine."
~o0o~
And naturally, it was all going to plan. Despite Colonello's heavily weakened body, and despite Lal's lack of equipment, the pair subdued the targets easily.
Lal stood over whom she thought was the ringleader, eyeing him up. "So Vongola wants only him to be taken out?"
"Yeah." Colonello was unpicking the lock on a briefcase.
"And they hired us. Mercenaries." Lal sounded flat. "Why not get Reborn to do it? He's more suited."
Colonello shrugged. "He's in Japan, or something. Anyway, apparently I was the next best thing." He managed to open it, whistling at the contents. "Phew. No wonder Vongola was after you."
The ringleader tried to speak through his gag. Lal glared at him, forcing all their captives to be silent.
"What is it?" Lal asked, not taking her eyes off any of them.
"Papers. Really important shit to Vongola."
Lal nodded. "Is that everything, then?"
"Yup." Colonello clicked shut the briefcase.
"Good." Lal aimed her pistol at the ringleader's head. "Time to get rid of all of them."
~o0o~
They walked to their car, Colonello carrying the briefcase. A good bonding experience, he thought half-giddily, with his girlfriend. Not a typical one, sure, but their lives were based around this sort of activity.
Lal shushed him suddenly, on high alert. Colonello obeyed, both of them becoming still. For a moment they stayed like that, until the world exploded into action.
Someone grabbed at the briefcase, two more grabbing at his arms. He kicked out at them, twisting away. A bang in the air, and when Colonello looked, he saw that Lal had shot one of them.
Just as it looked like they were winning (which they were – the attackers didn't stand a chance), the world exploded again, this time from under them.
Colonello yelled, deafened by the explosion. He curled around the briefcase, wondering when he was going to hit the ground-
The ground met him violently, and Colonello heard something crack inside of him. He lay there, dazed, still clutching the briefcase.
"Lal," he said, unable to hear anything over the ringing. He sat up, a wave of dizziness colliding with him. No one else was standing, no one else was moving. Shit, where was Lal?
When he saw dirt shift, he jumped towards it. Seeing the edge of the cliff, the sheer drop, he flinched away again. Wait-
He cautiously peered back, horrified to see Lal hanging there. Lal glared up at him, saying something he couldn't hear. Placing the briefcase next to him, he reached down to grab at her, fingers tightening around her arm.
"S'fine," he grunted, starting to haul her up.
"About time," she grumbled as she tried to help, one arm coated with blood.
Colonello heard her vaguely, giving her a sheepish grin. "Sorry about that," he said as she was nearly there-
A familiar creaking in his bones. Colonello froze, then started desperately hoisting her up. She wasn't close enough, they weren't going to make it. They weren't, oh shit, please not now-
Lal felt his bones shift too, and felt his hand become smaller. They made eye contact, both straining themselves to get Lal back on stable land. And for a moment, Colonello swore they would make it.
And then his body shifted completely, his hands unable to hold on. Lal slipped, scrabbling at the dirt and rock to try and lift herself. They weren't in contact any more.
Lal lost balance, the dirt shifting out from under her. She looked up at him as Colonello reached down in vain to grab her.
As Lal Mirch fell, she was smiling. And as Colonello watched, his tears followed her down.
this AU given to me by evan. Ao3: Squishy_Suga
naturally, I made it angsty
this will have a spinoff, but not on this. this is a short.