Summary – Michael doesn't want to be involved with family business. What will his family think? and what will Michael do when he gets embroiled in a mystery at his school? can he solve it before something terrible happens to him and his new friends?

DIsclaimer -- I don't own a thing except the plot of this fic and the OC's.


March on Young Soldier


"What?" Sonny Corleone was livid, his black hair in a mess and his face almost red, he started yelling at his brother in Italian. Michael sat back in his chair and just let his brother go on, it was always better to let Sonny yell till he was out of breathe. Michael Corleone was the youngest of the Sicilian family. He knew that he would never succeed his brother to become head of the mafia family.

Though, technically, he wasn't even supposed to know that. His family had holdings in illegal gambling and drug trafficking. Michael was a "Citizen" which meant that he was an innocent bystander and "didn't" know half the things his family did. But, he did know, he was very much trusted.

Sonny was winding down – Paulie handed him a scotch of which Sonny drank quickly. Michael wished he could just get out of there. Usually after the yelling came the lecturing, he would also get it from his father who had hoped that his son would join the family "business" one day.

"Are you telling me that you want to go to college?" Sonny asked, marginally calmer than before.

"Yes, I want to see more than just the streets of Jersey and New York," Michael shrugged.

"You want to see more of the world? What kind of thinking is that?" Sonny was flabbergasted. He loved his little brother, he took care of his little brother. Hell, it had taken the family a very long time to come to terms that Michael was technically an adult. Michael had fought furiously against them for the freedom he had now.

"What would you rather have me do, Sonny? Run off and not tell you? That would be real mature," Michael said sarcastically.

"Of course not, but can't you go somewhere locally? Not stay in a dorm or something?"

"Sonny, I'm twenty-one,"

"Yeah, damn don't I know it," Sonny sighed as sat down. The den was quiet for a few minutes.

"Ma ain't gonna take this well," Sonny suddenly said.

"She was all right when I decided to get a drivers license, it was you who flew off the handle….again," Michael gave his brother a smile so that his last barb sounded more of a joke. Since he was the youngest, Michael had most of the restrictions put on him. Sure, Connie had a lot as well, but she was married and out of the house. Michael had to fight to move out and even then his father had some men scout out good places for his son. Then he went and rented a place and had only let Michael know the day after. He had moved out that same day to find the apartment in the best part of town and fully furnished and his fridge stalked.

"Pops wants you close, Mikie, he worries about you,"

"He can't worry forever, I've done less dumb things than you," Michael pointed out. Sonny gave a short bout of laughter at that.

"True," he had to agree.

Connie entered the room then, "Dinner's ready," she said. The boys followed her to the dining room. Every evening the Corleone family would gather at the house for dinner. Dinner was always at six in the evening and no matter how old the children got, that had always been the rule for them.

Carmella had made meat balls and pasta with bread and wine on the side. She served all her children heaping portions. She gave Michael an extra meatball because she could and because she thought he needed fattening up. Michael took this graciously.

"Pop, Michael has something to tell you," Sonny said. He had always done that whenever the youngest got into trouble or if Sonny had told Michael to do something and he was stubborn and wouldn't do it.

Vito looked up from his plate, he saw the look of consternation that passed by on Michael's face and the small victory smile that Sonny sported. He loved his children very much but sometimes the sibling rivalry got a bit much for him.

"What is it, Michael?" Vito asked.

"Pop – I want to got Dartmouth College," Michael said, knowing that he had to tell his father sooner or later and now was probably a good time because his father wouldn't be tied up with family business. Sonny probably knew that too and since it had to do with his little brother, had decided to bring it up now instead of later.

"Ah, but haven't you all ready had enough schooling?" Vito asked.

"Well, I've been talking to the guy's from high school and they say that you can't get a good job without a college education," Michael explained. Thought it really wasn't the truth, some of the guy's he used to hang out with thought it was for rich kids. Michael had always been on the outside during his school years, because he had better clothing than the other kids. Even though it was a school for the children of the rich.

Vito hummed as if he were considering all of his son's explanation. However, he knew why Michael wanted to leave. Michael hadn't understood what his father did, and when he found out had reacted a way that Tom and Sonny hadn't expected. Michael was the black sheep of the family. He liked boring American women, and he drove the speed limit. He had no criminal record whatsoever. Mainly from lack of trying.

"I see, and you need some money from your father?" Vito asked.

"No, no, pops, I have the money…I'd just like your blessing, you know…to do this," Michael explained. Michael knew that his father would pay for his college tuition but Michael didn't want that hanging over his head. Connie all ready asked for too much money from their father and Michael didn't want to be a burden.

He always felt like a burden because he didn't bring any money in to the family business. He worked a boring office job, nothing much to say about it, but he did manage five hundred a month. He had saved for a year to get the first year of tuition. Including dorm and his boss had transferred him to the Dartmouth office.

Vito "hummm'ed" again. He would have paid his son's way through college.

"You have my blessing," he nodded. Michael gave a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, pops," he whispered.

Dinner was unusually quiet after that.


Carmella couldn't get to sleep that night.

She knew why.

Yes, Michael was going away. For a long time and he wouldn't make it to dinner with them every evening like he was. He was going far away and she would miss him, terribly. Vito knew what he was doing, and Carmella trusted him.

She sighed when Vito came in to bed. He did the same thing he had done every night before going to bed. He would kiss his kids good night, he would take a shower, and then he and his wife would chat before going to bed.

No it was to have a glass of scotch, take a shower and then chat with his wife. For the longest time after the children had moved out of the house, he had peeked into their rooms for about ten minutes before going on with his nightly ritual.

"Vito…?" she called.

"Yes?"

"Why does Michael want to leave?"

Vito knew that would be the first question out of his wife's mouth.

"He just wants to see the world," he replied quietly in Italian.


Three Weeks Later…

Michael drove his old car up the paved road to the college. Dartmouth college was huge, with three dorms for both sexes and three buildings where classes would be held, it would be easy to get lost. Thankfully, Michael had been sent a map with instructions as to signing up for a dorm and to get the room numbers for his classes.

There were large green area's with pick-nick tables and huge oak trees. It would be a nice place to study when the weather would permit it. The buildings were made out of brick, and the main building had huge white pillars that held the roof up. Almost like and old plantation, Michael was very pleased with his choice of schooling.

He parked his car and with brochure in hand made his way through the crowds to the main building. Inside, the floor was marble and there was a huge picture of Sir, Arnold Dartmouth who had started the school for his eldest son, Wilmer Wallace Dartmouth. Who was actually illiterate, but not a lot of people knew that.

There was a long line to the front desks, and Michael took a place at the end of it. Casually he leaned up against the wall since the line wasn't moving an inch. Around him students gossiped and talked to one another, the girls giggled if there was a particularly handsome guy around. Behind him, someone tapped his shoulder, Michael turned around to see a young man about his age, dressed in a Hawaiian shirt.

"Hey, Dude! I'm Mark, what's you name?"

"Michael,"

"This is so cool! What do you think about the weather?" Mark asked.

"It's always cold in the autumn, no surfing I'm afraid," Michael remarked.

"Dude! You're funny!" Mark gave a bark of laughter.

"I suppose," Michael shrugged.

Mark turned to talk to someone else he knew. Michael was glad; he never was good talking to other people. Even at parties he liked to keep to himself. Which annoyed his father and brother but Michael couldn't help it. It was just the way he was.

It took the secretaries of the school three hours to get past the hundred and fifty students before Michael, their computer system had gone down five minutes before they could take care of Michael and they all had to wait for another hour for the systems to be restored. After that, Michael was able to move into his dorm.

He knew someone within the family had to have pulled some strings to get him a dorm which housed just one student. Usually these were reserved for the big wigs, the student's whose families had given money to the school or had received some sort of reward. He had a wonderful view of the campus and could clearly see the administration building of which he had just left. The room had a queen sized bed, a student desk, a dresser and a closet. On the desk was a small coffee pot.

Michael unpacked the two suit cases he had and made up the bed before making a trip to the book store. The student book store was across the campus from his dorm building, it was a ten minute walk that Michael found to be enjoyable. Students milled about at the book store and the cafeteria.

With his list of classes in hand he searched for the books for each class. In the end it was a five hundred dollar bill. Books were expensive, but Michael had saved up for only one year of college. He hoped he could come up with the money over the summer months. His last and final resort would be to ask his father.

Which he really did not want to do.


Dinner that night had been just as it used to be. But only two of her three children had shown up on time, Michael's place was set for him, but he never arrived. It would have been hard for him to do so since he was now living four hundred miles away, in another town and another life.

Michael had wanted his life to be normal ever since he found out what his Father did. He never judged his father for it, and his love never decreased, he still respected Vito and his mother, and he still loved his brother and sister as much as he ever did. He would, however, avoid the study unless called there by Vito or Sonny and when talking to the them who would stomp through the house, subjects would revolve around mundane things.

Everyone knew that Michael was a "Citizen" by his own choice. No one ever blamed him for it. Though some of the other mafia families thought it was disrespectful and that he should take his place within the Corleone family, or their own.

Sonny and Vito talked about mundane things as they always did, but no one brought up the fact that Michael was missing, it was easier to imagine that he had gotten stuck in traffic, rather than deciding to not come home for dinner.


A/N – This is my first Godfather fic. I don't know if I had gotten things together or not, but don't worry, I do have a plan for this fic. It shan't be too long though. And I have a plan for a sequel if this get good reviews.

So, please, review fir me!