It had taken only a few days for Lussuria to finally get through to Bel and convince him that he had to leave here, no matter what; it hadn't been easy, but at least the blond had finally listened. He was relieved to know that, so far, Xanxus and Squalo were far too preoccupied to have any time for anything but smacking the poor thing around; it meant that whatever progress Bel had made in the past ten years potentially hadn't been completely ruined.

"Hey, Bel?" Lussuria stepped into Bel's room. He sighed as the found the younger curled up in the corner once more, trying to fight away the aggressive chill of that night. "We're leaving, Bel-chan."

Bel lifted his head. He wasn't sure that he wanted to leave Xanxus and Squalo, but he did know he wanted to see his brother again. He said nothing as he reached out and gripped the man's sleeve tight. He was anxious again as he thought about how much trouble he was going to be in if they were caught escaping, but Lussuria had promised him that his abductors didn't feel the same way about Bel and that he would be best off far away from there – that he had promised Squalo and Xanxus were only using him, and once they had gotten bored of him again, they would kill him, exactly what they were so close to having done ten years ago, and would have done had the cops not shown up.

"Let's get going, Bel-chan. They're distracted, so this is our best chance." The man took the blond's shaking hand so he could tug the younger up from the floor. "If we hurry, they won't notice us."

Bel allowed himself to be tugged along. He stumbled at the quick pace Lussuria had; he wasn't used to moving so fast. He whimpered as he heard a door slam somewhere behind them, and as he looked over his shoulder, he found Levi glaring after them with an infuriated look that twisted his features into an ugly sneer.

Lussuria frowned as he stopped running. He tried to hide Bel behind him, but he knew it was no use; they had been caught, and Levi wasn't going to let this go. "Levi… Let us leave…"

"Boss!" Levi shouted at the top of his lungs as he rushed at the two to stop them from leaving. He knew how happy Xanxus was going to be with them if he could prevent it; to get his boss' approval, he would do anything. "Boss, the whore's running away!"

Lussuria knew he couldn't let anyone hurt Bel, so he pushed the blond away from him as he turned to look at the younger male. "Bel-chan, go hide where we spoke about, okay? If I don't come back to you in an hour, run as far away as you can. Go!"

Bel didn't need to be told twice; he ran as fast as he could as he fled the mansion and made his way to the park he had been instructed to go to if they were separated. He was unaware of the tears that ran down his face; his mind was so chaotic, he didn't even know what he was thinking about. All he knew was that he hoped Lussuria was going to be okay and would come back for him – unlike last time.

Bel rocked himself slowly on the swing as he scuffed his boot against the dirt sadly. His head hung low as he held both ropes. He was starting to lose hope of Lussuria coming back, and it wasn't that the other couldn't make it back; it was that he didn't want to make it back.

He sighed. He was about to get up and make his way back to Rasiel's alone, but he froze when he heard footsteps stumble closer; were they Xanxus' or Squalo's…? Had they found him, and was he going to be punished for running away…? He felt himself tear up at the possibility, and he braced himself for the worst.

"Bel…"

His head snapped up at Lussuria's weak voice. He watched as the other limped towards him as he held his stomach. He sounded as if he were in pain, and it had the blond scrambling to his feet to make sure that his friend was okay.

Lussuria smiled as a small hand rested on top of his. His body shook from the extent of his wounds; it had been one hell of a fight, but he had somehow managed to keep them distracted and then slip away amongst the fray. "I'm okay, Bel-chan… You're so sweet."

Bel didn't say a word as he turned around so he could pull Lussuria's arm over his shoulders and help walk the other to Rasiel's. He was too scared to say anything, but he knew they had to get there fast before Xanxus or Squalo found them again.

He was careful not to push Lussuria too much; he was frightened by the whole situation, but he still knew he had to be gentle with the other in this moment as Lussuria had always been with him. He didn't know how badly the man was hurt, and he couldn't risk causing any more damage.

Bel hoped Rasiel was going to be proud of him tonight, and that thought alone encouraged him to continue their pace; anything to see his brother again.

"Have any leads been found?"

In the living room of Rasiel's home, everyone sat around as stressed consumed them. Gokudera and Yamamoto were both leaning against the wall with their arms folded against their chests as Rasiel and Mammon sat on the couch closest to them. Tsuna was pacing back and forth as he dragged his fingers repeatedly through his messy brunet locks; it had been over a week since Bel had gone missing, and it didn't look as if they were any closer to finding him.

"No, Tsuna; the police weren't even going to look for him until I told them about his mental health…" Rasiel wiped at his damp eyes; he couldn't cry now… He clutched at his face desperately as he fought against his emotions. "Even now they still say he's wandered off somewhere and gotten lost… Someone took him; Bel doesn't go anywhere unless I'm with him… But the police refuse to consider that because he's twenty-six!"

"We'll find him, Siel," Tsuna promised. He wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure his twin or himself more. "I know Bel doesn't wander, but on the off-chance he did, I know he'll find his way home; he's too smart to stay lost for long."

Rasiel wished those words could do something for him, but they didn't; all he could think about was someone having taken his brother and what could possibly have been done to him. He felt as if he had failed Bel, having promised his twin he would never let anyone hurt him again, and yet…

"Someone's at the door."

Rasiel snapped out of his thoughts at Yamamoto's voice. He stood up to answer the door, but before he could even walk out of the room, the doorknob was turned and the door swung open. He froze; he knew he should be intercepting whoever dared invite themselves into his home, but he couldn't; he desperately wanted to believe it was Bel.

As if his prayers had been answered, when the intruder stepped into the light of the living room, Bel's thin form was exposed to them all, and the living room filled with simultaneous sounds of relief.

"Bel!" Yamamoto was quick to approach the older male so he could take the injured man hanging off the blond's shoulder; Bel was so very frail, and it must have taken a lot of energy and effort for the younger twin to have gotten someone here by himself like this; whoever this person was must mean something to the twin. "Bel, where have you been?!"

Bel didn't say anything; he only ducked his head as Yamamoto took Lussuria over to the couch where Tsuna went to join him to address the visible wounds.

"Brother, what happened?!" Rasiel felt as if he could cry as he came to Bel's side and lifted his twin's head so he could frown at all the cuts and bruises and swelling on his precious twin's face. "Who did this to you…?"

Bel shook his head. He pulled away from Rasiel and went to Lussuria's side as well.

"It was Xanxus."

Everyone looked over at Mammon as her icy tone echoed throughout the living room. "Mammon…?"

"That's Lussuria. I know him well. He would have gotten hurt trying to get Bel away." Mammon looked to Bel as her eyes searched for obscured ones. "Am I right, Bel?"

Hesitantly, Bel nodded. He reached down to fumble with his thumbs. "…"

"Lussuria, are you okay?" Mammon joined everyone else over with Lussuria.

Lussuria nodded weakly. Now that he was within the bright light of the living room, Bel could see that his hands and clothing were stained in a puddle of blood. "I am… I finally got away from them… I had the cops called… I left before they could arrest me, too… I had to make sure… that Bel-chan was okay…"

Rasiel didn't know what to make of the situation, but from what he was hearing, it sounded as if the man had helped Bel, and if that was the case, the blond was truly thankful; he shuddered to think of what would have happened to Bel had the other not been there. "…"

"Siel." Mammon put her hand on her friend's shoulder. She waited until Rasiel was looking at her before she spoke again. "Let Lussuria stay here for the time being. If Xanxus and the others get released, they won't stop looking for him until they can find him and kill him."

Rasiel frowned. He looked at Bel, and it broke his heart to see the way his brother was hugging Yamamoto's arm so desperately, as if it were all he could do to secure himself mentally. He looked back to Mammon. "And what if he leads them to Bel, Mammon?"

"It won't make a difference; they'll be looking for Bel, too."

"How do you know all this?" Gokudera pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He shook one out as he continued. "How can we even trust you? Funny you kept all of this hidden from us until this happens."

"I know this because I once was associated with them all." There was a bitterness in her voice Rasiel had never heard before. Her hands bunched into fists so tight, her knuckles went white. "I left the group when I heard Xanxus had plans to kidnap a child."

"You knew who had kidnapped Belphegor all along, and you never said anything…?" Suddenly, Rasiel was full of doubt; was his girlfriend who she had said she was…?

Mammon shook her head. "I knew that Squalo had kidnapped a child, but I had no idea Bel's abduction was connected – I didn't even know that Xanxus' group was in Japan until tonight; I believed they were still in Italy, which is why I moved here; like Lussuria will now have, there has been a hit out on me for a very long time."

Rasiel truly didn't know how to answer to that; there was so much in his mind he needed to know, needed to ask, but where did he begin…?

"What are we going to do about this guy?" Yamamoto cocked his head at Lussuria.

"I'll take him to the hospital and deal with everything on his end tonight. This is all my fault; I should have acted the second I knew of Xanxus' plans all those years ago, but instead I ran away. I was selfish, and look what has happened because of it. Tonight, I make things right."

Bel remained glued to Yamamoto's arm. He was frowning, unable to process the past week, and it made it hard for him to feel much emotion; he didn't know how he was supposed to feel about everything that had happened, and all he wanted to do was sit here so that his mind could work through everything slowly.

Rasiel knelt before his brother. "I think you should get some sleep, Bel. Want to lay down together?"

Bel nodded. He changed his grip from Yamamoto to Rasiel as he held his brother's arm tight while they walked. He didn't hear the younger trio talking amongst themselves about saying here in case something further was to happen; all he knew was that, suddenly, he was laying on his brother's futon with strong arms wrapped around him and holding him tight.

He closed his eyes; finally… he could sleep again…