ok, first, don't get used to this. i'm only posting so soon so you guys have a bit more to judge this story by. i'm going to try and pace my updates to every other week so i can retain a decent chapter buffer, and because i'm still focusing on my BNHA fics right now. i don't want to burn myself out, so hopefully this'll work

also, if you're squeamish about things like hygiene, gore, or sex, this fic probably isn't for you. i'm not very shy in my writing, and that explicit tag is there for a reason.

other than that, enjoy! comment if you wanna. i'm already pleasantly surprised with the response this fic has gotten so far, and i hope you continue to enjoy the story. (still not beta read, i just quickly proofread before posting)

I curse when an alarm starts blaring throughout the compound. Not because people will know I'm here, but because it's fucking obnoxious. I've already cleared out all but a handful of people, and I'm currently in the last part of the building. The part which, if the blueprints I saw are accurate, has only one way in or out. And, since I'm currently standing in the way of the only exit, I can just off whoever is left as I check out the last of the rooms. The cutoff for the alarm should also be down here, since there's no one left in the rest of the building to set it off.

Keeping my gun up and at the ready, I make my way down the filthy, dimly lit corridor and up to the first door on the left. Once in front of it, I gently place my hand on the knob, and press my ear against cool metal. I hear someone shuffling around, and the muffled sound of his cursing. The sounds only indicate one person in the room, who doesn't even seem to be waiting to ambush me, but I should still be careful. I glance down the corridor one more time, ensuring that I'm still alone down here, and slowly turn the knob.

Without further ado, I shove the door open, and quickly scope out the room. After almost immediately locating the sole occupant of the room, I effortlessly aim and squeeze a round into his chest. The man stumbles back, and falls to the ground, blood pouring from his body. Without wasting any time, I make my way forward and empty another round into his forehead, ensuring that he won't get up again.

I look back up, and go to check the hall again. Still no other people. The only reason people would hole up in this dead end section of the building, would be to either get rid of evidence and information they don't want getting out, or because they're idiots. From what I've seen so far, it could be either one.

I glance back into the room I just cleared, and decide to take a closer look at the electrical panels that line the walls. That alarm is getting on my last nerves, and one of these boxes should have a wire or fuse that connects to it. Hmmm, let's see here. Lights, lights, medical rooms, offices, ah! Here we are, security systems. Luckily, the switch to the alarm doesn't require anything else other than flipping it to 'OFF', and I can go back to clearing the remaining rooms with little fuss.

I only get to the next door down, when I hear someone running my way. It only sounds like one pair of shoes, and I ready my gun in front of me. Instead of rounding the corner and meeting me, I hear a door further ahead loudly open and slam shut.

My eyebrow twitches, and I suppress the urge to shake my head. Other than the people on the upper floors, the ones down here are just sloppy. They probably never expected anyone to make it this far, and only posted the dregs of the organization down here. Well, it just means that I'll be done and out of here sooner than expected. I can't believe the employer is willing to pay so much for a ludicrously easy job such as this.

After making sure there isn't anybody in the room I'm next to, I cautiously make my way around the corner. It looks like there's only two rooms left. One is situated on the right, and says 'Specimen Room 2' in faded bold lettering on the metal door. The other is straight ahead of me, and says 'Specimen Room 1'. Hmmm, I don't suppose I'll find and living 'samples' here either. All the others had been disposed of before I could get to them, and I don't think it'll be any different down here. Not after how much time has passed anyway.

So I approach the door on the right, and press my ear to it. I can barely hear the sounds of people talking. It sounds like two people, but I'm not absolutely sure. I carefully turn the doorknob, and swing the door open. I duck back behind the wall before the door smashes into the wall, and I hear the occupants curse. The sound of a gun rings out, and a few bullets fly into the wall opposite me.

That's strange, there's definitely more than one person, so why is only one of them firing? I wait until I hear the person's gun click, and peek around far enough to catch sight of one of the men. Not one to waste a chance, I immediately put a bullet through his skull. I then withdraw back behind the wall again, and listen to the other let out a rather long string of curses. I hear a magazine clatter to the floor, and take my chance to enter the room fully, and take the last one out before he can reload.

Staying on high alert, I sweep the room with my eyes. Not finding anyone else, that's moving anyway, I make my way over to the two bodies and make sure they're both dead. A cursory check of the first one I killed, reveals an empty gun and no spare rounds. Well, that explains why only one of them was firing. I suppose the other one didn't want to share the rest of his bullets.

Both are dressed in old suits, with washed out stains here and there on their off white shirts. Well, they were shitty guards, but you get what you pay for I guess. I scoop up what ammo remains on the second man, and look around the room more throroughly. The small cages that line the walls are mostly occupied, but from all the blood splatter I see, they're probably all dead. I check each cage to make absolutely sure, but my assumption is only confirmed with each bullet hole I see in their heads.

I frown, and absently tug on one of my side burns with my free hand. These guys are only efficient in the most annoying of ways. I sigh and stand back up, my shoes crunching against the encrusted muck underneath them. God these rooms are filthy, if this suit wasn't so expensive, I'd burn it the moment this mission is over. I just hope a good dry cleaning can get the grime and the smell out. I think the shoes are goners though, pity.

I check how many rounds I have left, decide to reload, and walk back into the hallway. One door left, and I can finally leave. I still have to sweep the building one more time, to make sure I've properly dealt with everyone, but that always takes less time since I just have to retrace my steps.

I take a few steps towards the door, before freezing in place. Did I just hear a thump? I observe it a bit more carefully, and notice the doorknob twitching slightly. I narrow my eyes, bring my gun up, and close the rest of the distance. The knob twitches again, but goes still a moment later, and I decide that I need to get the jump on whoever is on the other side.

I grip the knob, twist it with a bit more force than necessary, and yank the door open. I don't know what possesses me in that moment, but I don't pull the trigger when a body falls limply at my feet. I stare down at the… child that is now sprawled across the concrete, gun still level with their head. The child's head lifts marginally, my hand automatically shifting to compensate, and a pair of deep brown eyes stare up at me. Our eyes lock for a moment, and I have to suppress a shudder that runs down my spine. They look impossibly old in that one moment, before they flit down to catch sight of my weapon.

A dull look of acceptance seeps onto their face, and they lay their head back down onto the filthy floor, before closing their eyes. I frown, and look back up to see if anyone else is running loose in the room. Except the cages lining the room, it's surprisingly empty. Twisting my curled side burn around my finger again, I lower the gun and look back down at the kid who hasn't moved the entire time.

"Who are you?"

The kid doesn't respond, just continues laying there. My frown turns into a scowl, and I drop my hand from my hair.

"Hey, can you hear me? What's your name?"

Again, no answer. I nudge the kid's head with the tip of my shoe, slightly raising their head and let it drop back onto the floor. Still no reaction. Fuck, did the kid finally die after making it all the way to the door? It wouldn't surprise me, considering how emaciated they are. The kid is so ratty and grungy looking, I can't even tell if they're a boy or girl.

I shake my head and sigh, re-holstering my gun. Guess I should check on the others, before I head back out and report that the mission is finished. All but one of the kids in the cages was shot through the skull like the rest. Taking a closer look at the one on the far end, it seems they died from blunt force trauma to the head. They also bit their tongue, but there isn't enough blood seeping from the mouth to say that's a cause of death. Either way, I check their pulse to be sure, and stand back up.

I pull my cell from my pocket, and check the time. Looks like it'll still be daylight out when I get out of here, if only for an hour or two. I turn the screen off and tuck the phone away, peeking down at the kid. I now notice the kid's chest rising and falling from the faintest of breaths, and blink in surprise. The kid is either just about to expire, or is really good at playing dead.

I pull my hand from my pocket, and approach the kid again. I step around them again, and squat down in front of their face. I look them over again, this time with a more critical eye. My mission parameters were to infiltrate one of the Estraneo's experimentation facilities, terminate anyone found working there, and obtain any information I can on what experiments that were being run here. After that was done, I am to inform my contact that the job was done, hand over any hard intel I have, get paid and leave.

All the clean up will be handled by a separate party. Nothing was said of taking prisoners, or what to do if any of the experiments were still alive. So, what should I do with the kid? I could consider the kid as a source of information, and deliver them to my contact along with the few files and flash drives I have. That would only be a viable option, though, if the kid still has good mental faculties, and actually knew anything to begin with. Not to mention if they would survive the trip back up to the surface.

It might be kinder to just kill them now and leave them for the cleaners, if the kid's physical condition is anything to go by. Not only are they just skin and bones, they're absolutely filthy. What's left of their too small, ragged clothes are more than likely encrusted with more than just dirt and grime, and their mousy hair is just one big rat's nest. Who knows what their mental state is like after all this time, if their body looks like this.

I sigh, and run a hand down my face. I then look behind me at the only empty cage in the room. The rusty barred door has been pushed open as far as the destroyed hinges can go, and there is a ring of keys still sticking out of the padlock that rest just in front of it on the floor. There's a good ten paces from the cage to the door, and the kid probably crawled or dragged themselves across that distance. And then the image of the kid's eyes flashes to the front of my mind again.

Whatever mental state this kid is in, it takes a whole lot of determination to get as far as they did. I'm not sure how long they've been down here, or what they've endured, but this kid still has the desire to escape. To survive. With that thought in mind, I scoop the filthy creature up, and sling them over my right shoulder. When the kid's bony pelvis rests against me, I feel a distinct lump pressing down on my shoulder. A boy then. I then start walking back down the corridor, to make my final sweep of the facility before I leave. If the kid can survive long enough to get to the surface, then I will call my contact and leave the boy's fate up to them.

It's while I'm catching up on paperwork, that the first report on the Estraneo mission comes in. It was a rather open secret that the Estraneo Famiglia experiment on humans, but many ignored it because their work has produced quite a lot of good medicine, medical techniques, and poisons that work rather well on Flame users. Even I had ignored their actions for a long time. That is, until I caught wind of them doing experiments focused on forcing Flames to activate, and, in turn, figuring out how to deactivate them.

Not only could they make themselves a veritable army of Flame actives, they could cripple any Flame active they came across as well, without even having to use a Seal. Seals that can only be used by highly skilled Skies, might I add. If they found an easy, simple, permanent way to rid users of their Flames, then the entire underworld would be under their thumb.

My intuition trembled at the news, and I knew it had to be put to an end. Of course, I couldn't let it be linked back to the Famiglia, so I had several freelancers hired to exterminate the different facilities under their control. Clean up will be handled by other freelancers, and no one will be in direct contact with each other. No one will know that Vongola is responsible for eradicating the Estraneo.

It's only been a week since the orders had been issued, and I already have a report on a presumably successful mission. Coyote wouldn't be this relaxed if it were bad news. I glance up at my Storm Guardian, who remains as poised and professional looking as ever, and I set aside the document I was looking over. I tug the unassuming manila folder over, and casually flip it open.

"Only a week and I'm already getting results. Who was the one sent to this location?"

"Renato."

"No one escaped?"

"None that worked there, no."

"Oh?"

I keep my eyes on the file, skimming over certain sections as I ask my questions.

"The only survivor was one of the specimens they kept on site."

"Was?"

"Despite being alive, the boy was in very poor physical condition when found a day or so ago. Renato reported that it was unknown if the boy would last another day without emergency medical attention. He provided a picture of the boy along with some pictures of documents and data he recovered. I'm currently setting up a drop point for him to turn in the physical items."

I hum and flip another page over, before freezing in shock. My intuition twinges in the back of my head, and I sharply look back up at my Guardian. Coyote notices my sudden attention, and straightens his spine even more than it already is.

"Coyote. I want you to immediately find out if that boy is still alive. If he is, arrange for a doctor to see to him as soon as possible. Inform me of the results as soon as you get them."

"Yes Nono."

"It's unlikely that the boy can be moved anytime soon, so have this… Renato watch him until he can be safely retrieved. Make it absolutely clear to to this hit man, that his top priority right now is to keep the boy alive, or he will not be paid at all."

Coyote nods again, and I look back down at the file. Particularly at a photo of a brown haired, skeletal boy.

"Also, and this is just as important, make sure no one finds out about this until I say so. I don't want anyone to know that Vongola has an heir. We can't afford to lose this one, not again."

Understanding flickers through the aging man's eye, and he bows deeply before excusing himself to carry out my orders. My eyes roam over the picture some more, heaving out a weary sigh. It has been a long time since I saw the boy, twelve years I believe. Nine since he was presumed dead after his mother was killed in an 'accident', and his body never found.

I flip through the rest of the report, before calling Croquant in. I need all the information I can get on this Renato fellow, and start getting things set up for the new heir's arrival. I don't care what condition the boy is in, I won't allow Vongola to fall once I'm gone.

i hope the pov changes aren't too jarring. i don't plan on having multiple pov's in a chapter, but i try to make it clear that it has changed when it happens. let me know if you get confused, and i'll try to correct it.

Jay Dawn was correct when they assumed the guy at the end of the last chapter was reborn, though i'm calling him renato in this fic for... reasons. yeah. they also asked why/ how reborn is low key a diva, and the answer is simple. that's just how his character comes off to me, and it's kind of reflected when i write in his pov.