Chapter 7 Strong

Lovino groaned in pain, his vision blurred every time he managed to find consciousness, but this time he refused to fall asleep again. It was a day or so after the knife had carved flowers into him, and after the Russian had left Lovino he had fainted, but the second he had woken up again he'd sobbed until his throat was raw. And now all he could think about was Antonio, who wasn't coming to save him. Ivan had said so, he said he'd sent those photos and an address, yet the Spaniard hadn't even bothered. That was what stung his heart the most, the fact that he'd flat out not even responded. The Italian curled up the best he could with all the pain, keeping his eyes closed tightly, praying that somehow it'd all end soon, one way or the other.

Often he would hear footsteps from the other side of the thick metal door, and he'd lay as still as possible and pretend to be asleep, Ivan never seemed to wake him when he was sleeping. Lovino had figured that it was Ivan's own sick way of making people feel at home, more trapped. Almost like he was saying, "I'll give you all the time in the world to sleep, because you're mine."

Lovino could hear almost everything from his little cell, pipes surrounded his dungeon near the ceiling, and he could hear every little drip of a leaky pipe, or every step of the people above him. He had first found it annoying, but after a while, the rhythmic 'splat splat' sound from the water became like a metronome, lulling him off into his own little world. He heard footsteps approach the door and creak it open, immediately Lovino shut his eyes and forced his breathing to slow a bit more than normal. Through cracked eyes, he saw Ivan's amethyst eyes peek through the door, then they disappeared and he was gone, closing the door behind him. Lovino knew that Ivan knew he wasn't actually asleep, but he was playing a game, giving him space ad time to think about the fact that no one was coming to save him.

Lovino slid his eyes back open, sighing tiredly, he was so tired of all of this; all of the pain. He had almost given up, he was about to break. He opened his mouth ever so slightly, his voice coming out in less than a whisper, "Please god, let me die."

*Antonio*

After another day of not hearing from the Russian, and Antonio was trying not to break down and kill someone. He felt so utterly helpless, and he hated it. He hated how he was the leader of a mafia, yet he couldn't do a thing, not one to bring his precious Lovino home. And he had something to tell Lovino too, he did and the second he saw him, he had to tell him. Because life was too short to wait, this entire scenario had proved that.

Now the Spaniard sat down on the fountain outside, his eyes were trained lazily on one of the larger Koi, and he followed its path through the water. He had remembered Lovino doing that, and recently Antonio had found himself doing everything the neko had done, every step and every breath. He heard someone approaching yet did not turn around, everyone had been trying to keep him company and keep him happy recently, but in all honesty all it was doing was annoying him. Every time Gilbert or Francis sat and tried to talk about things before he'd met Lovino, he just wanted to scream at them. He had been like that a lot recently, he'd wanted to kick a lot actually.

"Bonjour." He heard Francis behind him and he nodded, barely acknowledging him. The Frenchmen didn't say anything more, rather sat down next to him, looking down at the water as well. "Lovino is similar to a Koi in my opinion." Francis finally said in a soft voice. Antonio looked up at him tiredly, the black bags under his eyes evident.

"How so?" He asked, peering at him questioningly.

"Koi are beautiful fish, but they're brightly colored so lots of things are after them. They have to be strong and smart to survive, just like Lovino. He's lived through all of this, he'll be fine Tonio, he'll be just fine because he's so strong." Francis half whispered, he was talking now. He knew that he hadn't even met the neko, but he just had a feeling that he was strong, one couldn't live in this world like he did without being strong.

Antonio looked at his friend wearily, then nodded slowly, the smallest of smiles playing on his lips, "Si, I'm sure you're right." He agreed, looking back to the fountain. The silence they shared was a comfortable one, and when it finally ended Francis had to leave to attend to mafia matters. He left Antonio alone again, thankfully, and let the hopeful words sink into him. He couldn't help but hold his phone in his hand, he didn't want to miss a message from Ivan, he was eager to get Lovino back safe and sound.

And then his phone buzzed.

Antonio felt his heart skip a beat, and he flipped it open. No more pictures, just words which he was thankful for, maybe that meant he hadn't done anything else to Lovi.

'Had enough?' It read. Antonio took a breath.

'Yes, please, please give him back.' He replied, willing to do anything.

'Alright, let's play a game.' Came the reply.

Antonio had nothing to say to this, he just remained silent, staring at the small screen of his phone intensely. He waited for a moment, then another text came in, slightly longer this time.

'I was planning on taking the German mafia, but yours will serve. Give the Spanish mafia over to me, and your precious little kitty may come back in one piece.'

Antonio stared down at the text, his heart raced and his breathing was flittery. He didn't know what to do, could he actually give up his mafia? He had loyal people, followers, and members of the mafia who'd do anything under his word. He loved his mafia, and before Lovi had come into his life, he actually used to have weekly meetings with a few of the members, meet up, drink beer and gamble. "Could I?" He wondered aloud, they were almost more than his family.

'I'm waiting.' Another text said. Antonio felt his entire form shaking slightly, what to do?!

"It's Lovino…." Antonio whispered, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them. Instead of replying, he hit the call button. He didn't know what he was expecting, for him not to pick up? After the second ring, the he picked up and a husky Russian voice answered.

"I assume you're calling to tell me yes, da?" He asked cheerily.

"Si…." Antonio grumbled, "But I want Lovino first, give him back now." He said, standing up from his perched position on the fountain.

"I think not, we will set up a time and a place to meet, and you will sign the mafia over to me. And then you'll get your little Italian back, da?" He said merrily.

"N-no, how can I be assured that you just won't kill him?" Antonio asked, his voice starting to waver ever so slightly.

"Oh you can't, you just get to hope he lives long enough for you to save him." He replied.

"B-but…." Antonio mumbled, beginning to walk back to his room.

"No 'buts'," He said, then spoke the address. "Don't be late, tomorrow at 7." He said merrily, then hung up. Antonio was now in his room, and suddenly, he flung his phone at the wall with all his force.

"Maldito!" he shouted in anger, "This is all so fucked up!" He proclaimed, stomping over to his bed and sitting down, putting his head in his hands. He closed his eyes, sighing tiredly.

The world was moving slower than it ever had, he only had roughly 24 hours to go before he got to go save Lovino, but every second was slowed, he was so close to Lovi. Finally, the smallest of ideas popped into his head and he walked over to his phone, picking it up. Praise the lord that thing was similar to a Nokia, it only had a crack on the screen. He dialed the familiar number of his cohorts, waiting until one picked up.

"Chico's, we need to plan."

*One day later*

After much preparation and planning, Antonio had decided what to do to get Lovino back, he was going to give up the mafia. Because Lovino meant that much to him, he couldn't live with himself if he let Lovi get hurt more. So now he was dressed in simple black pants, and a white v neck, showing off the cross necklace he always wore. He had debated on what to wear actually, worrying that Ivan would think he brought a weapon with anything too bulky on, and kill Lovino.

He was sitting in the back of a car now, one of his mafia members driving. He was going to drive himself, but his hands had been shaking so badly he'd finally asked him for assistance. He had his hands in his lap, folded nicely. What was he supposed to be doing; loading a gun? He knew Ivan would kill Lovi if he even dared. The drive way maybe an hour long, and when they pulled up he wasn't really surprised to see an abandoned warehouse; how stereotypical. He told the man in the front seat to wait, and he slid out of the car wordlessly. He walked in the large open garage door, and saw the place was full of steel, and abandoned steel factory.

"Hola?" He called out slowly, walking in the large place. It was exceedingly crowded in the place with steel, steel beams, polls, you name it. It was hard to see anything, until he came to a clearing, where all of the steel had been pushed away to clear a space. There Ivan stood, or who he presumed was Ivan, since they'd never met. Antonio's green eyes searched him for a moment, before looking down behind him. His eyes widened in panic and he took a quick step forward, seeing someone laying on the ground behind him.

"Lovino!" He cried out, trying to get closer, until he heard the deadly sound of a cocking gun. He looked back up to Ivan, to see a gun pointed directly at him.

"Not another step, da?" He asked in a childish and cheery voice, yet his index finger was holding onto the trigger, threatening to pull.

Antonio sucked in a breath, and his eyes went back to Lovino. For a terrible instant, he thought he was dead, but then he saw the slightest twitch of his caramel colored ears, and the smallest rise and fall of his chest. He was snapped out of his daze as a pen and paper, both rolled up together with a rubber band was tossed at him. It hit his chest, then dropped to the floor with a small thud. He looked up at Ivan, who had thrown it with his spare hand.

"Papers, sign the mafia over to me, you get little kitty back, da?~" He cooed, not moving an inch from his spot. Antonio slowly kneeled down, next taking his eyes off of Lovino as he unrolled the papers, sparing a glance at them. There was no need for Ivan to bother with lying, they were indeed telling Antonio to sign over his mafia, his control, his connections, and all the members. Looking to the bottom, he messily scrawled his name, then trying to be as calm as he could, he tied them back up, and rolled them over his way.

"T-there, now give him back." He said softly, standing back up slowly and looking Ivan into his lilac eyes fearfully. Ivan never lowered his gun as he walked forward a few steps and picked it up, his eyes scanning over it before grinning.

"I'm going to walk out of here, and you will not move an inch, an inch until you hear a car pull away. Are we clear?" He asked, already beginning to walk towards the exit backwards, his eyes narrowed and the gun still held. Antonio could barely manage a nod, now that he was so close to Lovino, there was not a thought in the world about following Ivan.

The Russian disappeared from view, and Antonio was forced to wait a few excruciating minutes until he heard a car drive off to make a mad dash over to Lovino. He dropped to his knees next to the little Italian, tears pooling in his eyes when he saw him again. He had blood all over him, all his own. His eyes were closed and is breathing was shallow and ragged.

"Lovino…." He whispered, his hands were shaking so much; he didn't have the slightest idea what to do first. He quickly settled on picking him up, which he did carefully. He cradled the unconscious Italian close to his chest as he almost ran back to the car. He crawled into the back seat again, the tears never leaving his emerald eyes as he looked down at Lovi. The man driving didn't ask a single question, to see his boss in such a state. Well, he would always be his boss, no matter what. Plus, they already had a plan.

He drove home quickly, sparing a glance back at his boss once or twice. Antonio had moved Lovino so he was sitting criss cross, and Lovino was curled up in his arms. He had tried to do something about the blood, but whenever he touched them, a pained expression would cross across his unconscious face, and he had stopped immediately. He decided they'd have to wait until they got home to help him.

What seemed like hours later the car pulled up, and Antonio hopped out of the car, taking Lovino along with him carefully. The Italian looked as breakable as glass, and it nearly killed Antonio. Thankfully, everyone had cleared out of the house for the day, knowing that the two needed to be alone. Antonio walked into his room slowly, and sat on the bed once he got in. He lay the Italian down on the soft covers, reaching under the bed for the first aid and then resurfacing. He walked around to the other side of the bed then crawled on; sitting next to Lovino as he carefully began to examine the extent of the wounds.

When he saw the design carved into his side, and the name on his hip, silent tears finally rolled down his cheeks. 'P-poor Lovino. He had gone through so much... so much t-that I was responsible for…' He thought as the tears continued to fall. He worked silently, starting by dampening a cloth and beginning to wipe away the blood. Easier said than done, most of it was dried so it clung it his skin, and whenever he tried to press a little harder to get it off, Lovi would whimper quietly in his sleep. However he finally managed to get it all off, and he looked down at the cuts. At first they had looked quite messy, but no, they were clean precision cuts, all very thin. But they must of hurt like hell, and Antonio knew it.

Next he began on the name on his hip. This one was a tad messier, like that sick, twisted bastard hadn't gotten used to the feeling of cutting into someone's skin yet, or he wanted to cause as much pain as possible. Antonio had finally managed to stop crying, and silently worked on the cuts, stopping whenever pain crossed his face. And then there were the whip marks on his back. As gently as possible, Antonio flipped him over onto his stomach, looking at his back slowly. It was hard to tell how many there were, but they looked painful.

Just as he placed a cloth on the top of one, beginning to clean it, the Italian's eyes slowly opened. Antonio felt his breath hitch and his hand froze, scared to alarm him. By the look of it Lovino still thought he had been with Ivan, and then he blinked once, looking up at Antonio with suddenly fearful and wide eyes.

"Lovino…." He said softly, smiling down at him. He raised a hand to run through his hair, but the Italian flinched away with a little cry of terror. "Lovi, it's just me." He said softly, looking down at him sadly, but keeping his hands to himself. The Italian looked up at him fearfully, forgetting who he was for a moment. Antonio paused everything he was doing, and slowly lay down on his stomach; turning his head to the side to face Lovino and so he could have eye contact with him. He wanted to reach out and take his hand, but by the way Lovino was looking at him, that wasn't going to happen.

"Do you remember me Lovi?" He asked after a moment, keeping his voice soft. After a moment, Lovino nodded in response, not willing to reply vocally. "Then you know I'll never hurt you right?" He asked. This time Lovino had to think, then he slowly nodded. Antonio dared to reach out again, and lightly place a hand on his head, petting his hair and ears gently. Lovino tensed for a moment, and then relaxed a bit.

Antonio sat back up, keeping his hand on his head for another moment, and then slowly sliding down his neck, and to his shoulder. There he stopped, then removed his hand.

"Can I help with your wounds, por favor?" He asked quietly. At the memory of the wounds, Lovino's eyes widened slightly and he shook his head in fear. But then Antonio looked at him with those eyes, those eyes that a week ago, Lovino would have melted at. And he still did, because he nodded slowly, scooting an inch closer to him to give him more access to his back. Antonio smiled softly and thanked him, beginning to clean off the blood. He was as gentle as possible, and Lovino only felt a small amount of pain once or twice.

Once he was done, he began to bandage all of the cuts carefully, making sure not to wrap any one too tight. His fingers lightly grazed over his soft skin, and he felt terrible for Lovino, all of these would leave scars, surely.

"Alright Lovi, I'm done." He said softly, wishing that he could just come out and say it; 'I love you'. But now was most certainly not the time. Lovi looked up at him, then placed his hands on either side of his self, trying desperately to push himself into a sitting position. He whimpered in pain, it hurt terribly, yet he wanted to get closer to Antonio; so badly. Antonio was quick to stop him by wrapping his arms around him slowly, helping him up but only to be engulfed by a hug.

Lovino blushed ever so slightly as he allowed his body to be relaxed, and he leaned up against the Spaniard. Antonio was careful to avoid each and every cut as he hugged him to his chest. Lovino closed his eyes, trying to get it through his head that he was back; safe. But he couldn't grasp the concept, he was sure Ivan was hiding somewhere, waiting until Antonio released him from his muscular and protective arms.

Antonio could feel him tense up against him, and he slowly moved so he was laying back up against the pillows a bit more and so Lovino could lay back. He leaned his head forward a bit, whispering, "You're safe Lovi, I promise." Lovino looked up at him tiredly, and shivered a bit at the cold of the room. Antonio reached down, drawing the covers up to his chin. He looked back into his eyes as he tucked the covers around him, and then slowly, leaned forward and gently brushed his lips up against the Italians forehead.

"A-Ant…tonio?" He asked, his voice dry and scratchy. Antonio noted this and reached over, grabbing a glass of water (Ludwig had known that he would be needing that and the first aid kit and placed them there earlier). He held it to Lovino's lips, getting him to take small sips of the water until it was almost all gone. He then looked down into his eyes slowly, having set the glass down on the table.

"Si?" He asked slowly, laying back down so he was eye level with him again.

"W-why am I here? H-he said you d-didn't care…" His words barely came out as a whisper as he looked into his eyes, the fear of being harmed emotionally loomed in his gaze. Antonio looked down at him, shock on his face.

"He lied, I do care Lovi, I care so much." He said, hating Ivan for even daring to say that.

"Y-you do?" He asked, Antonio could see tears welling in his eyes, and the moon from the large window behind him magnified the shimmer in his eyes.

"I more than care Lovi, I…" He looked down at him, wondering if he should say it. On one hand, Lovino was exhausted both physically and mentally, but on the other hand, Antonio didn't think he could hold it in much longer. Finally deciding, he leaned down and whispered, "I love you."

Author's Note: WOO HOO, confession time finally! Well anyhow, sorry for getting this all out so late, I got a new computer for Christmas, (compared to my old one, where the keys had lost their letters and the keys were falling off) and I was learning how to use it. Anyways, no this is not the end. I promised smut to the requester, and smut there shall be! That and Antonio handed his mafia over, so they'll have to get that back. But anyhow sorry if posts get a bit slower, lots of personal crap and school crap. But anyways, please comment, and I hope you enjoyed!~

(EARLY) HAPPY NEW YEARS!