So sorry about the wait. I had an important appointment with my psychologist (Who is a saint, seriously) and was told, yes, I have gone back into depression. So it sucks to be me right now. Don't worry about me though, I'm already pulling myself out again, yay!

Marco was nervous. He was part of the group meant to grab the Cloud Arcobaleno and really, what was his Boss thinking? Did he forget about the other Arcobaleno? They were vicious when provoked and this sure as hell was going to piss them off. He shuddered. "Oi!" One of the men called. "Get your head in the game Marco."

"We're all going to die," Marco predicted pitifully.

The man, Luca, rolled his eyes. "How hard can it be. He's ranked seventh and it's one against twenty."

Marco stared blankly at his fellow mafia member. "He's an Arcobaleno. The greatest in the world are part of that group."

"And?" Luca laughed. "The Cloud's what? The greatest idiot or something."

"I'm not sticking around after this." Marco crossed his arms. "If you were smart, you'd do the same."

Their leader yelled at them from the back of the alley. "Shut up! Both of you."

Luca clapped him on the shoulder and passed him, "Unlike you Marco, I ain't a coward."

"You're fucked then," Marco stated with a strong certainty.

"Plan's starting," The leader called out.

Marco slid into his position behind an oddly placed wall. He tensed as he grabbed his tranquiliser gun, packed with enough drugs it could kill an elephant. He was so fucked when the Arcobaleno found out what happened.

The Arcobaleno started walking down the alley, chattering on his phone. Marco said a small prayer in his head. "Get ready." Someone whispered through the headset. The Cloud walked further away from the busy street and Marco could now hear him talking on the phone.

"I'm thinking about getting Oodako a new tank," The purple-haired man was saying. A pause. "He's not food senpai!" A huff. "So mean."

"Now!"

The Cloud Arcobaleno had no time to fight back as he was shot three times with tranquiliser darts. Marco watched, detached, as the man stumbled with wide eyes before he collapsed bonelessly. "Skull?" A voice came from the phone. "Skull? Answer me!"

His leader picked up the phone with a confident smirk. "Skull can't come to the phone right now. Can I take a message?"

They were all so fucked.

"Who are you?"

"The Lumaca Famiglia at your service… Well, not really." His leader jested with a goddamn smile.

"When I find you, you will wish you never existed."

That was Reborn. The World's Greatest Hitman was pissed. Marco whimpered. They were all so, so fucked.

Luca clapped him on the shoulder, "What did I tell you? We're on the top now!"

Marco just cried silently. So very, very fucked.

XXXXXX

Fon was casually lying on the couch reading a book when Reborn walked into the room. "Stop spending so much money on tanks for your octopus. Better of eating it I say."

Fon gave him a disapproving look. "Stop teasing Skull," He admonished the Sun who smirked.

"He'd make good sashimi," Reborn contemplated.

The Storm threw a pillow at the hitman. "Don't be mean to him."

"Or what?" Reborn asked and pulled his phone from his ear.

Fon raised an eyebrow, "Really? Stop flirting Renato."

Reborn hummed but started to frown as he went back to his phone. "Skull?" There was no answer. A sinking stone dropped into his stomach. "Skull? Answer me!"

Fon was beside Reborn in a flash as agitated Sun flames crackled through the bond the Arcobaleno shared. Skull, he realised with a foreboding feeling, was a very faint flicker. "What happened!"

Reborn raised a tense hand to silence the Storm. "Who are you?"

Fon had never heard such a hair-raising tone from the man beside him before. The answer was obviously unsatisfactory, as enraged Sun flames burnt the pillow he had thrown at him before to charred scraps.

"When I find you," Reborn threatened. "You will wish you never existed."

If it wasn't such a bad situation to be in, Fon would be incredibly turned on from the pure strength and promise in his Sun's voice. He jumped slightly as the phone Reborn had been holding was snapped closed and then crushed to pieces. "Where's Viper?"

The air in front of them shimmered before revealing the Mist. "You called?" They asked.

"The Lumaca Family," Reborn said. "What do you know?"

Viper threw back their hood and floated to the ground. "This is about Skull," He stated with certainty.

Fon placed a calming arm on Reborn. "He was kidnapped."

"Bastard's tried to mock me." Reborn growled.

Viper gave the two of them a sharp grin, "Oh? We are going to have so much fun with them."

"Information," Fon reminded the Mist.

Viper waved a hand at him and sat down on the recently vacated sofa. "Lumaca. Snail. They're new to the business."

"Are you telling me Skull was kidnapped by a bunch of idiots!" Reborn said incredulously.

Viper pursed his lips, "They don't have any Flame users, but they have a lot of men to make up for that. The Lumaca Famiglia sells tranquilisers. All sorts of various strengths and all different concoctions."

"What happened?" Verde asked as he rushed into the room.

Fon answered with thinned lips, "Kidnapped."

Verde was taken aback. "Kidnapped?"

"That what he said idiota," Reborn spat.

Fon flared his Flames to gather their attention. "Staying calm right now is vital to getting Skull back quicker," He pointed out.

"Anyone have a plan?"

Viper curled his lips into a saccharine smile. "Here's what I was thinking…"

XXXXXX

Consciousness was slowly creeping back to Skull. The first thing he felt was the stomach-churning nausea that made him gag. "I would prefer if you didn't vomit over the recently cleaned floor," A voice said with amusement.

Skull blinked open blurry eyes to see a brown-haired man looking at him from the other side of the table. He tried to move his limbs but discovered they were chained to the chair he was sitting in. "What," Skull coughed. "Where am I?"

"Welcome to the Lumaca Famiglia's base." The man spread his arms grandly.

Skull stared at the man incomprehensively. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

The man grit his teeth, "My name is Orfeo."

Skull laughed hoarsely. "Orfeo. I wonder what you're deprived of?" Orfeo turned red with anger and gestured to someone behind him. Skull moaned as a grunt slammed a fist into his stomach.

"I suggest you remain civil Arcobaleno," Orfeo warned. "I can make your life hell if I choose to."

Skull didn't have a reply for the man as he turned his head to the side and expelled the contents of his stomach. He choked on the bile and pained tears streamed down his eyes. "My floors," Orfeo sighed. He ignored the pained choking Skull was doing.

"Screw your floor," Skull spat at him. His stomach turned unpleasantly again, and he fought not to gag. "What do you want from me?"

Orfeo smiled, "That's very simple Arcobaleno." Skull resisted the urge to spit at him. "I want you to tell me everything you know about your associates."

"Go to hell," Skull hissed. He tried to gather his Flames but couldn't feel anything. "What did you do?" An icy chill spread throughout him. The man grinned unpleasantly. "What did you do!"

"Ever heard of Flame suppressors," Orfeo laughed. "They're very easy to get right now. I'm sure you've heard of the Estraneo?"

Skull struggled in his bonds, "I'm going to slaughter you!" His flames rose with his temper and tried to rage with him.

"I sincerely doubt that," Orfeo looked down at Skull as he rose from his chair. "Have fun with him boys."

The man walked out a door Skull hadn't noticed before, leaving him to the mercy of the people behind him. Well fuck.

XXXXXX

A large mansion was situated in a rural part of Italy, close to the city but too far away for nosy neighbours. It had a sprawling grass lawn with a long gravel driveway. There were more security features around the property than what would be normal. Things such as motion detectors, multiple alarms, patrolling guards, and security cameras were all part of the features.

It would be very challenging for any Mafiosi to clear the way without a sound. However, the Arcobaleno were not any normal Mafiosi; They were the best of the best; The top dogs of the Mafia. They were also extremely pissed off.

Verde hacked into the electronic security features and systematically shut down each alarm and detector one by one. In the case of the video footage, he set it to loop and Viper created a complementary illusion where the guards would believe the footage was normal.

Any guards the Arcobaleno came across were attacked by Fon and Reborn. The other two would have felt pity for them, but they had taken their Cloud, and all bets were now off. The last thing one guard saw was horrifying; The other two people part of his patrol were burned alive by Storm Flames as Reborn shot them in, er, painful places to say the least. It was a quick but extremely painful death. Nobody could say that the Arcobaleno weren't sadistic shits when they came face to face with their wrath.

During a short respite, Verde would continue hacking into the mansion's cameras and security. He disabled every single piece of security with glee as he looked through camera footage for Skull. Sadly, Colonello was at Mafia Land and wasn't available to calm Reborn down with his Flames so Viper and Fon were busy attempting to try to at least manage his rage.

Suffice to say, they were all happy when Verde found Skull… Until they saw the footage. They turned from joy back down to rage pretty damn fast.

Inside the mansion, Luca felt like he owed Marco a massive apology.

XXXXXX

Skull fought to keep the tears in his eyes falling from his eyes. There was no reason to give his captors more to laugh at. His wrists ached from where they were expertly bound above him. They were throbbing ceaselessly, and he could feel dried blood being painted slowly with trails of fresh crimson every time he shifted.

Skull shifted again despite the pain, trying to get his numb feet to hold him up more securely. He grit his teeth as blood rushing back to his poor feet stabbed into him painfully. His attempts to get more comfortable were interrupted by the door behind him opening with a click and a beam of beaming light illuminated the room.

"Back again." Skull commented wearily. "Decided I'm not going to tell you anything yet?"

The door was shut and the dim lights in his prison were switched on. "Not quite," A new voice said amusedly. Skull tensed noticeably, and the man laughed. "I was told that we had an Arcobaleno in our care."

"Go to hell," Skull spat with vitriol. "I'm not telling you anything."

The man tittered, "Did I say anything about information?"

Icy-cold tendrils slid down Skull's spine. "What do you want?"

"Me, or my Boss?" The man jested. "I simply want a new plaything; my other one's broke a while ago. Boss wants information though, so it's a win-win situation for everyone!"

"Fuck you!" Skull tried to kick the man but ended up swinging in his chains and scrambling to get his legs back under him.

The man snarled, "That wasn't nice Arcobaleno. No more pleasantries."

"We were being pleasant before?" Skull jested, "Better work harder in that area."

The interrogator (?) slapped him, "Don't test me Cloud."

"Or what?" Skull asked with boredom. "You'll slap me again? I'm so scared."

"Have you ever heard of water boarding before?" Skull paled. "You have. I haven't had a chance to use this particular technique for a while. It would be fun to do that." The man took a minute to think.

Skull steeled himself, "You're insane. I won't tell you anything."

"Of course I'm insane," The man grinned. "But I don't believe you won't tell me anything. Too bad Boss wants you to answer some question, I could have much more fun if he didn't."

"Hurry up and decide already," Skull demanded.

The man clicked his tongue. "So impatient. I made my decision five minutes ago though, so I'll be seeing you in an hour."

"What do you mean?" Skull asked.

"Bye bye!" The man laughed. The door shut, and the lights immediately cut off, leaving Skull in the darkness.

He wasn't kept waiting too long, and he heard a whirling noise above him. Cold air started blasting into the room, chilling the air drastically. "Bastard."

It didn't take long for Skull to start shivering and goose bumps to cover his minimally clothed body. He closed his eyes and tried to retreat into his mind. "Hurry up already," He whispered into the empty room.

XXXXXX

Reborn was not a happy man. He reworded that statement; Reborn was on the cusp of Raging. Which was bad since Fon already was, and Verde was looking a lot less level-headed than before. That was not to say that Viper wasn't furious, because they were, but they had the forethought to hold their own thoughts of Raging at the back of their mind.

The mansion's doors stood no chance against Raging Storm Flames. Viper prepared their Mist Flames and wasn't disappointed. Men started swarming to the entrance because of the noise that was going on but were wiped out within seconds. Trapped in illusions, they would attack one another as Reborn or Fon would gouge into them with their Flames.

Viper almost felt sorry for what the cleaning crew's from Vongola would have to go through, because body pieces were everywhere, and not in whole pieces either. They were enjoying watching their Cloud's abductors more than feeling pity for the clean-up crew though. If one were to look into the Mist's eyes, they would see them glowing with pent-back, Raging Mist Flames.

One grunt in particular and Viper floated down to them. He were pale-faced as he watched his Famiglia being demolished with glee, but there was a knowing glint in his eyes that made Viper pause. "You," They spoke with a muffled voice.

The man jumped and almost burst into tears when he saw the illusionist. "I didn't want to!" He wailed. "I swear!"

"What do you know?" Viper questioned.

The man steeled himself, "He's being kept in a room a few hallways from here." Viper allowed their flames to rise to the surface. "I can lead you him."

"Verde!" Viper called out and gestured to the man. "He'll take us to Skull."

The man shrunk in the presence of two Arcobaleno. "He needs medical attention."

"Lead us to him," Verde demanded. He ignored the chaos happening in the background. "Your name?"

"Marco," The man said with a tremble. He began to lead them through the maze of corridors.

Verde took a second to look through the Famiglia's files. "Marco Segreti, age seventeen. Brought into the Lumaca Famiglia five months ago. Interesting, you show signs of Flame usage."

"What does that mean?" Viper interjected.

Verde's mouth curled upwards. "It means that he is an active Flame user."

"Does anything get past you people?" Marco said with surprise. "Nobody here knew that!"

Viper caught onto his hidden meaning, "You've never used your Flames around other people before."

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" Marco scoffed. "I may be part of the Lumaca Family but I sure as hell don't want to be."

"How were you recruited?" Verde interrogated.

A self-deprecating smile was given to the scientist. "When you live on the streets for most of your life, what you want is something simple. I wanted shelter, food and water that didn't come sparsely, and I wanted to feel like I belonged somewhere."

"But you don't want to be here," Viper stated.

"Not anymore," Marco agreed. "I didn't join just to find out that we were making deals with the goddamn Estraneo. I sure as hell didn't want to challenge you guys."

Viper noticed that he was leaving a major piece out of the conversation. "Your Flame type."

"Storm," Marco answered breezily. "We're almost there; Just go left and the third door to the right. Are you going to kill me now?"

Verde looked ready to kill the Storm, but Viper held him back. "You're going to stay here and wait for the Vongola to arrive. Tell them I recruited you."

"You're recruiting him!" Verde yelled at the same time Marco barked a laugh.

"You go from wanting to kill me to recruiting me!" The Storm smirked bitterly.

Viper shrugged, "It will be profitable."

"Whatever, I'll wait here." Marco sat down by the wall and gestured to them, "Your Cloud is awaiting you."

"Don't mock me brat," Viper hissed but began floating away.

Marco raised his hands in surrender and didn't drop them until both Arcobaleno had rounded the corner. He slumped against the wall with a sigh, "The Mafia is so fucking weird."

Viper threw open the doors and was pushed out of the way by Verde when they paused in shock. Skull had been gone for six hours. In six hours, they had managed to do this to Skull. Their Cloud.

In the middle of a shadowed room was Skull. He hung taught by his wrists, tight metal cuffs chafing against his skin and dried blood coated the dirty metal. A handprint shaped bruise was on his cheek, turning a mottled purple and blue. His casual jeans and shirt were threadbare and didn't protect him in the slightest against the deathly chill in the room, giving his purple lips. The Cloud barely looked alive.

"Viper!" Verde shouted. "I need help!"

The Mist forced themselves out of their reverie. "What can I do?"

"The cuffs need to be taken off and he needs to get out of this damn room." Verde took a shaky breath. "I need Reborn. I don't know what's wrong with his Flames."

"S-suppressants," A shaky voice said. "Estraneo."

Verde touched Skull with a gentle hand, "What hurts? You're okay; We have you."

Viper began dismantling the metal around their Cloud's wrists, taking care to avoid hurting him any more than he was. "S cold," Skull moaned. His moment of lucidity was slipping away. A tear trailed down his cheek and Verde brushed it away.

"I know," Verde murmured to the distraught Cloud. "Where's Fon and Reborn?"

Viper hissed and backed away from the handcuffs. Mist Flames flared furiously throughout the crumbling mansion to alert the two calming members to the situation. Fon was in the room almost immediately after the summons, having already been making his way to Skull. He took once glance at the offending metal and it disintegrated hurriedly.

"Where's Reborn?" Verde asked as Viper floated Skull into the hallway.

Fon jerked his head the way he came, "Picking off the last of them. Should be here any second."

"What's the problem?" Said person barked as he ran around the corner.

Verde relinquished command to the Sun, "Suppressants, low temperature, and his wrists."

"Viper get the car," Reborn ordered. "I need you to grab the emergency blanket we brought as well."

The Mist looked at Skull one last time before teleporting away to do as their Sun ordered. Verde was already guiding Fon through disintegrating the drugs in Skull's system. "This is safe isn't it?" Fon asked as he prepared his Flames.

"It's the best option," Reborn replied. "It's like feeding him Storm-infused tea, but directly."

"Just pulse your flames through his body twice, it will get rid of the drugs." Verde explained once more to Fon.

The two Arcobaleno experienced in medical matters held their breath as Fon cautiously prodded Skull with his Flames before surging them through his fingertips and into Skull. He backed off afterwards and looked worried when Reborn turned the Cloud onto his side. Before he could ask Reborn if he needed to do something else, Skull proceeded to vomit questionable-looking liquid.

Skull whined lowly in his throat as he chocked on bile for the third time today. His throat burned unpleasantly and as soon as he stopped, he tried to roll onto his back. Lucidity was slowly returning, and sound and touch began filtering back through his exhausted brain. "Want Fon," He cried and damn anyone who said he didn't need to.

Fon looked to Reborn as the Cloud called out for him and was given a nod. He wrapped his arms around the tearful element and let him cry into his chest. Weak Cloud Flames started flickering through their bond. "Carry him to the car," Reborn directed.

"Here's the blanket," Viper alerted the Sun. "Verde's in the car, he turned the heater on."

Reborn gave an approving nod, "Wrap the blanket around him Fon."

Fon awkwardly picked up Skull who curled into him and ended up wrapping both Skull and himself in the warm blanket. "Let's go home Skull," He cooed to the delicate Cloud.

"Is there a reason there's a lackey left alive?" Reborn asked as he watched Fon carry of their Cloud.

Verde shrugged, "Viper wants him in Vongola. He's an active Storm and didn't want to be a part of the Famiglia anymore."

"Did he hurt Skull?" Reborn had a glint in his eye.

"No," The Lightning shook his head. "Even helped lead us to him."

Reborn grumbled. "Better be a damn good Storm."

XXXXXX

It took a week for Skull to stop being insanely coddled, and although he enjoyed spending time with his lovers so much, there was only so much behaviour he could take before snapping. Reborn was cuddling him in their bed when the Cloud finally got fed up, and later on he would saunter into the living room with a winning smirk.

The Vongola clean-up crew was given the daunting task of going through the Lumaca Famiglia's mansion. Three people quit and joined CEDEF just, so they wouldn't do the task anymore. Vongola was at its wits end as cleaner after cleaner had mental breakdowns. The only positive situation that came about because of the damn Famiglia was that they got a new Storm recruit that was quickly rising through the ranks.

I really don't know why I created Marco so thoroughly. He might be featured in other works in the future...

Yes, I do see the Arcobaleno as polyamorous. If you don't, that's fine but it's how they will be portrayed in my works.

Please leave a comment down below~