Ahhh! sorrry for the delay XD I had to think of a good plot for this chapter since there weren't much happening in the previous ones. Thanks for the reviews eveyone! They really got me going so keep em coming! Hope you enjoy this one. Really took me some time to plan out the events and all.

Sheo Darren : What? who else uses a Dragunov? haha, I'd very much like to know. And about Etta's knowing about Enrica...there's a story behind that. It's not in the manga OR the anime, don't worry, you're not alone.XD

Dolls in Neverland

Chapter Four – Assalto

Assault

"Do you think," Ferro asked Hillshire quietly, "that the girls will be alright with the confinement? I mean, it's bad enough Henrietta is failing and Jose has been MIA for days. If Lorenzo were to dismiss him…"

Hillshire put away his hand pistol back into the holster. The alley of Piazza di Popolo behind Hotel Valadier was now completely deserted and German-assassin-less. He had a premonition that this mission was not going to work out anyway… Triela would have noted that. Ferro was only human.

"It wouldn't be a very clever idea to bring the rabbit to the wolves, and about Jose," Hillshire started his way out of the alley, and Ferro solemnly followed. "Well, let's hope that he doesn't do anything idiotic. He can't abandon Henrietta forever, you know? With all the things he left behind, he's bound to come back."

Ferro went silent. She didn't say it, but she had to admit that the SWA was on the brink of a failure. It suddenly dawned on her that they were getting into the van. The female agent tried to protest. First of all, this man was ditching their assignment and second, she was following him. She sighed dismally and pressed her earpiece. "This is Ferro. We are returning to base, over."

"Triela, please stop attacking the furniture, please." Claes complained with exasperation from the upper bunk bed. "You don't have to bother other people for your inconvenience; don't you think so, Rico?"

Rico, huddled into the far corner of her bed below Claes, watched the older girl glare at the beaten drawer and slump on the carpeted floor with a sudden collapse of energy. "Triela, Hillshire will come back soon, Priscilla told you so,"

"You bet he will, Rico. The point is that he abandoned me for Ferro, don't you think something is off about that?" Triela asked, demanding a "yes".

"No," Triela raised her head with narrowed ember eyes. This girl had to be so unsociable. "You know he did that for a reason. Besides, imagine how Henrietta would be feeling right now, if she found out that Mr. Jose has abandoned her. You shouldn't be so egotistical like that."

Triela tried to argue back, but she knew all too well that everything Claes said was right, and there was nothing to argue about something that was so perfectly true. She dejectedly glanced at her blouse sleeve only to find that it had shrunk so much that her wrist was now completely bare. "Nothing's ever working out for me, Claes... I apologize for being such a brat."

"Apology accepted," Claes replied with a small grin. "By the way, I went into Henrietta's room earlier today to find the book she borrowed from me a while ago, and look what I found under her pillow." She took something out of her pocket and reached over to hand it to Rico beneath her.

"It's a photograph," she pointed, and Triela came over to look at it with a sarcastic oh-what-a-wonder look. She tried to recognize the two young boys' faces. "Oh, these are Mr. Jose and Jean!"

"And a little girl…" Triela scratched her chin, her face scrunched up in deep thought. "This is too weird. She looks a bunch like 'Etta to me."

"Exactly what I thought, too, but that's impossible," Claes said, adjusting her glasses like a professional detective. "Do you think she's their secret sibling or something?"

Triela looked at her as if she were crazy. "As far as I can tell, Claes, you are way too nosy for your own good. Why did you steal 'Etta's stuff, anyway?"

"Like I said before, I was looking for my book, okay? It was strange that she had a photo like that, hidden under her pillow, even." Claes said defiantly. "I don't think we're the only ones that want to know who this girl is."

It was a while after Alfonso had heard from Ferro that he realized the two hadn't reported in yet. He immediately informed the situation to Jean and Lorenzo.

"Sir, both Ferro and Hillshire hadn't returned yet from the check point. Should I go track down their location?"

Lorenzo seemed bewildered. After all the problems that have been going around the SWA, everything was like a sandbag on his shoulders. His forehead creased deeply. "I want you to go with Jean. Be sure to take extra safety measure. I will send Marco and Priscilla for backup, just in case there is an attack."

"Right," Jean stood up and promptly followed Alfonso out of the meeting room.

"This is the exact location the two were assigned to," Alfonso stood in the darkened alley. "Their van is gone, as well."

"It's insensible for Hillshire to take a different route especially with Ferro by his side…get back into the car." Jean commanded and the two returned to the black Ferrari.

Alfonso took the wheel. "Man, we really are in deep shit, aren't we?" he muttered half-heartedly.

The blond didn't respond. He didn't have to.

Nearly thirty minutes passed and there was still no sign of the two agents. Anxiety was gnawing at the nerves of Alfonso and Jean as they neared the far end of the city.

Alfonso was about to burst with curses when the radio buzzed to life. Jean fervently picked it up and answered.

"What is it?"

It was Marco on the line. "Good news and bad news."

"It doesn't matter which."

Marco grunted and Priscilla said something, but it was inaudible. "We found Ferro."

Alfonso threw his head back in relief and mumbled "damn…"

"Well, that's good then," Jean said, and suddenly realized something was missing from the picture. "Wait, what about Hillshire?"

It was Priscilla who spoke this time, and he heard Marco protesting in the background. "Jean, we need to get the ambulance now!" she yelled into the radio half-hysterically.

"Shit," Alfonso growled and slammed hard on the gas. "Shit!"

Jean's face hardened. Something had gone horribly, horribly wrong and there was nothing to question about it.