A/N: Hello! Still in hiatus, tho I write chapters little by little (half and half, really) and publish whenever I finish one. I'll try to get back on answering your comments when stuff irl cools down lol
"Hi, Feli! Looking for Lovi again?"
"Please don't let my brother hear that from you," Feliciano smiles, looking around lest the receptionist get in trouble and get fired again. When he deems that the coast is clear, he turns his attention back to the receptionist and his smile drops, slightly. He can't afford to look impolite.
"To be honest, I don't know who you are, sorry." He smiles at her apologetically. His brother had a running record of firing receptionists for offenses such as "flirting with his brother" and "being unprofessional." Calling him "Lovi" in the workplace is considered an act of the latter.
"I'm Sarah, just got in yesterday." She says as she leans into the table and offers a hand to shake. "Everyone already got me 'briefed' that you're the brother I shouldn't 'make eyes' with." She exaggeratedly eyes him up and down and makes a show to lick her lips comically that it makes Feliciano laugh. "Looking at you, I think I can speak for all of my predecessors that it was worth it."
"I take it my brother is out of the building then?" He asks her, couldn't help him but let his head look around. He always feel like his brother's eyes were the walls itself, when it comes to this building. It's usually barely a minute since he gets in before he sees his brother already down and ready to greet him.
It's not the kind of greet a regular person would expect, but a greet nonetheless, if Lovino is asked for what it is.
Sarah smiles, returning to her seat behind the counter to tap on her pc and realign some documents. "Yep. Something about," A couple of clicks and taps, "a Bonnefoy." She turns to her apologetically. "Sorry about that. I thought he would've at least told you?" Since you are brothers, and all.
Feliciano simply turns his head left and right. He feels his hand that was holding the lunch bag shift. Sarah was quick to notice and point out. "You want me to give that to him for you?" She sounds like she would about just do anything to make Feliciano smile again and he can appreciate that. People are so nice.
"Oh, no. This was for Antonio, really."
She seems to perk at this. "Oh, then he's just in his office." She taps on her keyboard once and nods. "Yep. If you go up now, you can still meet him before he leaves for lunch."
Feliciano smiles, "If I get to him on time, he wouldn't need to eat out anymore today." He lifts the bag.
"Oh! Is that home-made? I heard you own a restaurant downtown. The...Coliseum, right?"
"Yeah," Feliciano chokes out. Something large felt like got stuck in his throat and its making his eyes water. "I did."
There's confusion blurring Sarah's eyes for a moment and she squints up at Feliciano, mouth already open to ask but she manages to stop herself on time, a finely manicured hand darts up to cover her mouth as she gasps instead, her face the true image of shock and sympathy.
"Your restaurant is temporarily closed...I heard about the shooting last night." She pauses, then her eyes soften, her hand still on her mouth to cover her expression. "I'm really sorry."
Feliciano's feet back away on instinct, his free hand raised and waving her condolence away. "No, it's..." He couldn't find the words to say, his mind darting back to that day yesterday, when he saw Arman on the ground, eyes lifeless and body pale instead of it's usual healthy glow.
"...Fine." A shiver runs down his spine and he visibly shivers. It makes Sarah frown at him worriedly from her seat and she couldn't help but ask, "Are you okay?"
Feliciano was quick to jump away and laugh it all off, "Ah, yes, yes, of course!" Like how he usually does.
"Just, the AC, you know?" He shivers visibly to make his point, lets his free hand rub at his arm.
"It's real nice talking to you and all, but I think..." He raises his lunch bag, "I need to give this to Antonio before it cools."
"Ah, right! Go right ahead!" Sarah nods, eager to help as she points at the way to the elevator, by the hall to her right. Before she's completely out of Feliciano's hearing range, she manages to ask, "Do you need me to tell him ahead for you?"
Feliciano really debated if she should. For one, the element of surprise will no longer be a boost of sorts, to soften Antonio up. Then again, thinking it through, there's also a chance that he and Antonio may cross paths without seeing each other, making Feliciano's efforts at a surprise lunch all for naught.
He really needs to talk to Antonio today, too.
So, with the decision finally settled in his head, he calls after Sarah to tell his affirmative, then he's off again. He nods and greets the guard by the elevators a cheerful hello and presses for the topmost floor before breathing deeply, preparing himself.
Be the bubbly, adorable little brother, Feliciano.
"Feli! What's up?"
Feliciano smiles as soon as he sees Antonio's face upon entering his office. He's glad to note that the man isn't entertaining some guest-yet. Bonnefoy or not, he don't think he can actually get to start the topic when some (most) of it is still some kind of a bad word to say to anyone that hates Kirkland.
To be honest, Feliciano doesn't think there's anyone who likes that man at all.
"I brought lunch!" He raises the bag high for Antonio to see and Feliciano's smile widens as he watches Antonio's eyes go wide with delight.
"Ooh, is that home made?"
Feliciano laughs, dropping it gently on top of Antonio's table with little to no regard to the documents spread on it. Antonio being in a good mood right now, he knows that he is already forgiven way long before he starts doing something that other will deem bad. Antonio likes to dote on his little brother, after all.
Feliciano is planning to use it to its fullest.
"Nothing but the best for my hard-working big brother!"
"Oh, you're spoiling me too much!" Is Antonio's reply. He's already working on getting rid of the documents on his table, their worth nothing more than scraps of paper that will get in the way of him eating a delicious meal. Feliciano doesn't even bother stealing a glance at the papers, to see what they're about-whether they're illegal or not, that is-as his eyes were focused on Antonio's expression. Will they flicker or not? He could never really tell anymore these days on how Antonio reacts to certain things, whether it'll get him angry or not and could Feliciano keep the angry bouts to a minimum, at least until he gets to ask for a little favour. That anger is also useful, if directed to the right kind of target too, now that Feliciano gets to think about it.
Feliciano's track of thoughts were cut into a halt when Antonio opens a container and grins into the opening, giving Feliciano a delighted smile. "This is...?"
Feliciano inhales happily, plopping down on a seat in front of Antonio's desk. Bubbly, adorable little brother, he reminds himself and so he puts both of his hands together on his knees and smiles sheepishly, making sure that he mumbles but let it be audible enough for Antonio to hear every word. "Tomato soup, just the way you liked it!" He gives him a thumbs up for added effect, and it works.
Antonio's face flushes as he laughs some more, his eyes squinted so hard that Feliciano could barely see the other's eyes.
It doesn't take a while for Antonio to reach halfway into finishing the decently large meal Feliciano prepared just for him, the older man now fully relaxed in his seat as he happily chew through his pasta-liberally dripping in tomato sauce made from pure, freshly-picked ones too-made just the way Antonio specifically liked it and it somehow makes Feliciano feel bad. Antonio did look somewhat tired and having gotten the time to look around his office, he got to understand that putting all these responsibilities on one man is difficult.
He couldn't help but frown.
"What's wrong?" Feliciano's head perks up and he's met with the sight of Antonio, face stuffed with as much as he could eat, some sauce smeared on the corner of his lips. This reminds Feliciano of the times when Antonio truly was the older brother he never had, the one who Lovino never really got to be in Feliciano's life and it just adds to the guilt that he feels for ever thinking about using Antonio for his own gain.
Antonio has already so much going on with himself, especially with his Salvatore too...
His silence caused Antonio to sigh, finishing the last of what he's chewing and swallows them down with a hefty gulp of water. "Is this about the Colliseum?"
"H-huh?"
Antonio leans over the desk to put his hand on Feliciano's shoulder, "You can't exactly hide that thing to me; not when Lovi had been so mad about you cooperating with the cops with the investigation and all." The hand on his shoulder tightens, "He's right, you know." Then the hand is gone and Antonio is back on his seat again, in the process of returning to his food.
This should tell a regular person that the conversation is over, definitely. But with the way Antonio's face has returned to its usual expression-guarded, on alert, and ready to strike-it just meant that he's yet to drop the conversation at all.
Feliciano swallows, realising that Antonio somehow turned the tables on him. His plan isn't as subtle as he would've thought it was, in the end.
"But, my boys..." He begins, trying to make his side of the story be heard, properly, this time. He's shut down, however, his voice getting stuck in his throat when he sees Antonio's hand raised, prompting for Feliciano's silence and he follows. He feels his hands bunch up on his lap. He starts feeling small and insignificant, unimportant.
Take Feliciano and hide!
Don't ever let Feliciano see these again!
Don't let Feliciano...!
"Are important to you and I understand, Feli."
"What?" He perks up again, his heart beating too fast in his chest and his head is pounding. He wonders how he can manage to hear the rest of what Antonio is going to say. "You do?"
Antonio actually smiles, and it reassures Feliciano, like how they always did whenever he worries over something that he thinks can never end well anymore.
"Of course."
Feliciano was just about to return the smile when Antonio suddenly drops his; an arm pulls out a drawer in his desk to pull out a notepad and drops it on the table. He wipes his hands with a paper towel as he sighs, and Feliciano knows that that expression has never been good. He feels his hands clench into fists, his palms wet with cold sweat.
He couldn't feel himself breathe as he watches his older brother flip through the notepad and rip a page out. Antonio reads through the lines of text he had written in there not too long ago for the nth time and finally hands it to Feliciano to see.
He takes it with shaking hands, fingers wet and it smudges the edges of the paper with his sweat.
Written in the notepad were three words, enumerated from top to bottom.
These are names.
Of his missing boys.
Feliciano feels his voice catch in his throat, his tongue heavy like lead. He manages, in the end. "Th, these are my boys."
Antonio nods. What Antonio says next confuses him, "We found them last night wandering our territory. Mostly near The Colliseum."
"Why didn't they come home? Their parents had been worried sick."
Antonio rests his head on his hand, that he had now propped on the table. He looks to the side for a moment, then seems to have managed to compose himself as he stares back at Feliciano. He remains silent, before opening his mouth and running his tongue at the back of his teeth, he breathes out, slowly, "Why don't you find out for yourself?"
Felciano was taken to a hospital.
He shouldn't have really been surprised, but he was anyway. He felt himself going weak in the knees as he stood in the reception area, asking for his boys' room. He was directed without any questions asked and he almost collapses when they make it to the elevator.
He apologizes to his chauffeur, one of Antonio's men. He gets a shake of the head for his troubles.
"Wait...!" He says, his voice shaking. It makes the chauffeur stop in his tracks, hand already around the knob, a push away from Feliciano seeing his boys alive and well. He hopes they are well.
"I," He starts to say, then he looks around the empty hallway left and right. It's an endless path of white and grey, the silence hitting him in the chest like a heavy stone, making it difficult to breathe.
It's not too late. He can still turn his back and run away, never to come back.
But then he remembers their parents' faces; their voices as they wept and begged him to find their sons. He just couldn't turn his back on those people, not when he's the reason why this happened to the boys in the first place.
He inhales, and ends up choking. He pushes forward, anyway and opens the door himself.
What he sees brings relief to his soul.
The rest of his boys: Adam, Jason, and Angelo-they were lying in bed, bodies covered in rolls of white gauze and bandages. But there were slight smiles on their faces as they talk amongst themselves in whispers. They all turn their heads to look at the door when they hear it open, and Feliciano was glad to see that their faces remained to be in high spirits upon seeing him.
They all say at the same time, "Feli!" And it feels like yesterday had never happened. Feliciano hastens his pace and hugs them all, kissing both of their cheeks as he feels tears drip out of his eyes. He lands on Adam's bed, who seemed to had the worse of them three. His left eye was covered with a gauze and the rest of his face is full of scratches, deep and light. There's a cut on the side of his lip, probably bitten when he was punched or kicked.
He pats Adam's head, "What happened to you three?"
Angelo, who was lying on the bed left of Adam replies, "Kirkland," he starts. He sounded down-ashamed-as he puts his head down and refuses to look Feliciano in the eye. At the mention of the name, the other two followed suit, their hands coming together in some sort of prayer. Feliciano notices something off about them but couldn't tell what.
"We thought, it's going to be fun. We got your guns, there's six of us and two of them. We weren't planning on hurting the kid, we swear. We just wanted to scare the bastard off, maybe make him learn his lesson not to do that shit to kids again, but-" Angelo's voice stutters to a halt. Their breaths all hitch, as if it's the three of them telling the story, not just Angelo.
"We were so stupid..." Jason shakes his head, raising his arm to wipe at his face as he starts crying.
"Now we're..." Adam croaks, "...useless." He raises his hands, shaking and wrapped in bandages, for Feliciano to see.
"Kirkland made sure of that himself."
It takes him a moment to understand, and when he finally does, he felt his heart shatter. He turns towards the other two, who has their bandaged hands raised too for Feliciano to see and he cries anew.
How can Kirkland be like them but not at the same time? How can this world be so beautiful but also be mercilessly cruel? Feliciano asks himself these every day, every night as he pray by his bed and had never come up with an answer. He had always believed in the good and the right, but now, gazing at these boys' shattered dreams and futures, he wonders.
He really, truly, wonders.
E/N:
*The Colliseum is a fictional italian resto created specifically for this fanfic. Any establishment that may share the name/event that occured is a mere coincidence.
**If you read seduction of the innocent, then you know what happened to these boys.
For those who didn't, it's alright. It's going to be in the next chapter. And the chapter after that.