"That wasn't very nice." Maria muttered to Tamaki in a child-like manner. He had restrained her until her father was out of sight, so that she would not do anything rash. She hung like a rag doll; all the fight was no longer present.

"I'm protecting you. Look, I know what it's like. He's been gone all these years and despite all that's happened the first thing you want to do is run into arms, hug him; make sure he's real." He was at his most hypnotic when he spoke the truth.

"You don't know what I'd do…" She cursed him silently for being right; always right.

"I've been there." Tamaki reminded her. Yet, somehow that did not matter. What did any of them know, anyway? It was her Dad. Only she could know.

"I happen to know why he tried to kill you." Tamaki said. That snapped her back into focus. "It's a lot more than detaching himself from his family. There was a reason, you know."

"I already know. He had to kill his family because to be an agent one must eliminate all attachments." she repeated it like a computer spouting back information.

He started laughing in frustration, "You can't be let them play you for a fool. If that were true why weren't you ordered to kill your mom? And why wasn't I ordered to kill my folks? We'd all be walking around as orphans if that were even remotely true. No, Maria Standford, you've been lied to."

As if seeing the world for the first time, her eyes grew wide.

"He was in training to be Director. Don't give me that look, as if you actually pity him. No one is ever forced to be Director, or the guy would blow the whole place up. He wanted it. He was willing to do anything to achieve it."

She kept backing away from him, about to run after her father; alone. Just the fact that Tamaki had information like that, and didn't tell her for so long was reason enough for her to not trust him. Who's to say the whole thing wasn't a lie?

"Listen to me!" he said. His words echoed through the empty hall, rebounding, so she had to listen to it over, and over, and over again. Quietly, she nodded, for what choice did she have but to listen?

"He most likely killed Connor. What makes you think he'd hesitate, even for a second, to finish the job?"

Somehow, those words got to her. She kept nodding, and nodding, and saying, "Yes, of course. You're absolutely right." She kept telling herself that Tamaki would not lie. But she also missed late nights spent wrapped in the sweet melodies of a violin. In that world there could be no wrong. In that world she had promise and people said what they meant and she had a father who loved her. And just the minute possibility that those days can be salvaged…but if her father could delete all attachments so could she. After all, they were of the same cold blood.

"Next move?" she questioned, swallowing down all rebellion; attempting to give way to compliance. She must do what is expected of her. Any slight deviation could result in disaster.

"We follow him. Do you have the tranquil gun?" Tamaki asked.

"Yes. But what about you?" she asked.

"Oh, Maria, you don't have to worry about me." he said with a ominous grin.

The Director was met by the sight of feverish eyes; red around the rims, as well as wrists nearly rubbed raw, and a wolfish grin that could make grown men faint. He was met by the sight of Connor Standford, the son of a madman and the product of circumstance. Although, if one were to ask Connor he'd say he was the son of the Big Bang, and a product of the stars.

He began to laugh sweetly, as if he were genuinely happy to see his father again. He couldn't help but admit it; a small part of him was.

(And the Director couldn't help but think that his laughter was of another world. Too sweet, crisp, and honest to be real. When was the last time someone had been that honest?)

"Remember when I told you I was going to travel in the sky one day? And you gave me this look of sadness; absolute despair. Oh God, I remember it like it was yesterday…" Connor mused aloud, seeming to lose himself for a moment in the memory. Each word fell from his lips with such sureness, that certainly the words alone could bring it all back.

The Director asked abruptly, "What are you babbling on about?"

Connor blinked and looked startled, as if he noticed he was not alone for the first time, "You told me something trivial, something I shouldn't remember but I still do. You requested that I should bring you back some stardust, isn't that right, old man?" Connor said, the laughing lines around his mouth becoming more defined on his face.

The Director stopped in his tracks. He was shocked the boy could remember. What else could he remember?

"It makes sense now. You thought you were going to get rid of me, send poor old Connor to the stars like he wished? Poor; troubled Connor. He wouldn't amount to much anyway, is what you told yourself. That's how you rationalized it." he took a deep, sad breath, then exhaled in another brief chuckle. He shook his head vigorously, as if to shake the disturbing thought from his memories.

"Stop talking. Who gave you the privilege to speak?" the Director yelled, seeming to forget that it was him.

"But, no matter how hard you tried; you couldn't justify the death of another human being, could you? Especially your own kin. And that's where we're alike, Dad!" he said, all traces of giddiness gone, and replaced with a serious façade.

"SHUT UP!" his father roared, bringing out a remote control, "Or I'll make you."

Connor kept laughing, "I think it's too soon for you to be senile! You press that button and we all go up in flames. How fitting, isn't it? How fucking poetic!"

The Director realized his son had called the bluff, and put the remote down.

"I have a riddle for you. A man tries to kill a bird with a stone, but the bird flies away. Is the man still a murderer?" Connor asked.

The Director knew his son saw right through him, or, more precisely, right into him. The young boy was really so intelligent.

"I haven't slept in ages," Connor mused aloud, "I'm so tired."

The Director, Connor's father, could relate. And he was certain that whatever Connor had to say next would ensure he'd never get an ounce of sleep ever again.

"We both tried to kill each other, and we both failed. Yet we were so willing. Is there a difference between an attempted murder and a successful one? Isn't the will enough to make us both sinners?" Connor asked. The Director did not respond, but hurled things at the boy to get him to shut up.

"Catch me if you can old man. You're throwing isn't what it used to be, is it? It's sick, because somewhere deep down I wanted this more than anything. I wanted to face you once more just to tell you what I thought of you. But, God, I'm just so sick and tired!" Connor paused as his father took out a gun, "Put down the gun, you fool. Killing me won't offer you closure, it will just make you wonder for the rest of your life exactly what it was I was going to say next. If you don't want to hear what I have to say, why have you been letting me talk for so long?"

The Director was frozen. He'd never been...seen so clearly for what he truly was, until now. Connor was the one bound, and yet the Director felt as if he was the one who was trapped. To have such insight…

A few moments later, in this very room, a gun went off.

Maria's POV

Tamaki and I were following my D-I mean, the Director, when we lost him. But, then we heard a gun go off followed by a scream. We figured it must have been him, since he was the only person we saw in that section of the building. It was mysterious, really, the fact that there wasn't even a stray agent anywhere.

"How do you think the Host Club is fairing without us?" Tamaki asked suddenly.

"What? I don't think now is the time to-" he cut me off.

"Think about it. You, me, Kyoya, and Joshua. All gone. Who did we leave in charge again?" Tamaki asked, in deep thought.

"Mori, I believe. And you gave him permission to use your credit card to fund events until you got back, remember?" I reminded him, a bit annoyed. Of all the things to worry about…but then again, it was his life. A life that he was keen on getting back to.

We all have something to go back to in the end.

"I hope they aren't boring those poor girls to death. Incroyable, they are. One would have to be to find us entertaining." he was wavering in concentration.

"It is incredible. But, Tamaki, I'm sure they're fine without us. Now, on to more pressing matters-" but I was once again cut off.

"Zut! I forgot to order the…the…" his voice trailed off into a quiet whisper. He was musing to himself so I decided to let him.

A couple of moments later we seemed to find the source of all the commotion. After arguing over what we should do—"If you're so keen on barging in there, Maria, then you go first. I can't damage any of this…and, well, you're not exactly a prize, dear."—we came to the conclusion that I should go in first.

"AHA!" I shouted as a busted into the room, because scaring people pissless usually buys one enough time to think up a plan. No, I did not learn that tactic from training. I learned it from personal experience.

And this all would have gone so smoothly, if it weren't for the fact that I was caught off guard. Because in that room was not only the Director, but Connor was there as well.

No words can describe what I felt at that moment. Strangely, I wasn't as shocked as I should have been. Connor had always struck me as immortal. I didn't see him dying anytime soon, just as I didn't see Tamaki giving up his vanity to become a monk in a monastery.

Connor was not dead. And for the first time in a long time I was glad, so, so glad that Tamaki had been right.

Out of Maria's POV

"Did she give out the orders?" Kyoya asked as he was battling wires and mechanisms.

"Yes. We're trying our best to herd the agents around the platform. We can't contain them for much longer. Are things going well on your end?" Lorenzo asked, eyes shifting to make sure no one was aware of what was about to happen. But, then again, no one ever stops to be worried about the psycho in the corner, playing with broken toys. Lorenzo knew more than anyone. He also knew that that was a very crucial mistake.

"Yes, ma'am. The security system should be back up in about five minutes." Kyoya answered nonchalantly. Kyoya had always had a knack with fixing things. Although, a quality like that never mattered in the eyes of his father, because it offered up the unnerving comparison of his son to a minimum wage mechanic.

There they stood, working together for the first time. Destruction and Reconstruction. Lorenzo and Kyoya. And the rest of history was basically pivoting around that moment.

Maria's POV

I watched as Connor physically transformed once he saw us. He went from looking destitute and homeless to looking…well, let's face it: he still looked pretty homeless. Yet, as messy as the vessel may have been, I could tell that he was less barren.

"You look like hell." I said with a smile.

"Well, at least I'm not going to hell." he coincided, with a wink.

"Oh, Connor," I crooned, "I think at this point we're all going to hell."

And we laughed, because that's what we usually did when we didn't want to cry.

I looked to see that he was bleeding profusely from one of his arms, as if he had been shot. I figured that I should probably release him before any of these sickos did anything else to hurt him. Yet, as soon as I went to untie him a loud bang went off, and a bullet whizzed right past my ear.

I turned to see a shaking, sickly looking man holding a gun. He looked very different from the confident man we saw a few moments before. That made me wonder what exactly had transpired in this room…

"Oh, quit it! You're not going to shoot us. It feels odd, doesn't it? Being a father that actually loves his kids?" Connor said, with those eyes of his that could will someone to do something as sinister as jumping off of a cliff. He could drive someone mad with those eyes. He's already done so. He drove himself mad by looking in the mirror.

Luckily, I've spent enough time with him to be immune.

Well, almost. I wasn't immune to one aspect: disappointment. Whenever he was disappointed in me he didn't have to say a word; I would look into his eyes and know. And it absolutely killed me.

I vaguely heard Tamaki telling me to shoot, so I pulled out the tranquil gun. Only, it wasn't. I think in all my haste I grabbed a real one. The feeling of power washed over me. I felt like God. Just by the pull of one trigger…

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away…

As I pointed it towards my father, everything was just in my reach. It would be so easy to kill. And for some reason, that fact made me incredibly sad.

Put up a fight. God damn it, run! I thought. But he just stared at me, like a deer caught in headlights.

At that moment, he looked more like Connor than ever. I briefly wondered if Connor would ever suffer the same fate; dying at the hands of the one he was supposed to love the most.

But then I figured that had already happened.

Dad did a lot more than steal Connor's chance at living a normal life. He stole Connor himself, and replaced him with a faulty, self-deprecating version that could never function in the normal world. He had a due date, as well. He survived this encounter, but I'm certain if Connor ever saw Dad again it would kill him.

Just as I was about to pull the trigger, Kyoya's words came back to me: There's a difference between hitting practice dummies and killing people, idiot.

"Indeed." I whispered aloud as I made my decision.

In the end I lowered the gun. I would always lower the gun.

And then the Director, or more accurately, my father began to take aim with his. At me. Because, no matter how hard he tries, he'll never see the value of another life the way he should.

At that point a million things happened at once. Connor panicked while I tried to move out of the way and then I heard Tamaki yell something. Then a gun went off.

But I was left unharmed. Instead, the Director fell to the ground with a thud.

I looked up to see Tamaki holding a gun with a shaky grasp, and on the verge of tears. He looked up at me with pleading eyes, as if through me he could attain forgiveness.

Tamaki's innocence was spilled, along with the blood.

A/N: Throughout this story I've gotten away with A LOT of shit. e.g. having Kyoya do drugs like it was his job, letting them have a water balloon fight with condoms, mentioning dicks, using the wire in a bra to pick a lock, poison gas almost killing people, throwing breakfast items, so on and so forth...but there is one thing that is COMPLETELY unforgiveable, and it is the following:

I've written this whole chapter without using an OUNCE of humor. I've had my story categorized under humor since the beginning, then i have the audacity to NOT use it. And I apologize for that, but it just wouldn't fit in this circumstance. I had to be serious.

But then again, idk. maybe I was being humorous subconsciously, and I just didn't pick up on it, in which point this apology would be moot.

If you haven't noticed, this story is very close to an end. Two more chapters. Or maybe one more chapter and an epilogue configuartion majigger.

We'll see.

Thank you for reading, as always. Remember to tell someone you love them today.

Sincerely,

Your New Best Friend.