"Good evening, young Cavallone. I am Gregor Despoti the new boss of the Morte. We would like to make negotiations with you."
The words were deep, it held a touch of static that told them the man was using a voice changer to hide his identity just in case they may recognize him from somewhere.
It sent him into a panic. His eyes widened as he sat frozen, waiting what the hooded man wanted with the Cavallone boss.
"We are in an alliance with Vongola, you think I'll negotiate with you." The tone was incredulous as it was disrespectful as Dino's caramel eyes narrowed coldly at the stranger.
The temperature around them seemed to have grown colder as the seconds passed.
The silence was broken by a sigh of exasperation.
"I thought you'd say that. But you see young one, the Morte Famiglia has eyes everywhere." The stranger spoke to the Cavallone boss as if he were a toddler. Like poison laced with sugar, they did not miss the sinister tone within the voice.
"What are you implying?" it was almost akin to a growl.
He had never seen him like this.
Cold and almost deadly with the aura he projected.
It was like flipping a switch.
Where was the happy-go-lucky Dino from a minute ago?
"What I'm saying is, if you want to spare these beautiful ladies from a lot of pain, you'd drop the alliance and come to our side of the fence." The words were spoken in a tone of nonchalance with a bit of suggestion, the man finished it off with a chuckle, clearly pleased with what he had revealed.
When the words sunk in, he felt something in his stomach drop as his heart rate quickened in clear panic.
No! his thoughts were screaming in denial.
"Hm? Don't believe me? Here take a nice long look." He could hear a sneer on the man's voice as they were met with a video feed showing a pair of unconscious girls on the bare floor.
Kyoko! Haru! At that moment as thousand thoughts ran through his head, but one thing screamed at him shriller than any alarm.
"Bastardo." He vaguely heard someone swear in Italian, he didn't have to turn to know it was his Storm.
Save them. The words pounded and repeated along with his increasing heartbeat.
The only consolation he had was that they were alive.
But that's not enough.
He never wanted them involved in the dangers of the mafia for many reasons.
One would be the fact that they don't deserve it, they deserve a better safer life where they don't have to worry on being kidnapped just because they decided to go shopping in the wrong place and the wrong time.
Another would be the fact that they're sitting ducks. It was not the first time their weaknesses were used, his experience with Mukuro was the first, the Varia was the second, and being trapped in the future was the worst because he was the one who planned in involving them in the first place.
Now, this.
Only this time, it wasn't him but Dino who's being blackmailed.
But most importantly, he doesn't want to lose anyone of his friends because of their relations with the Mafia which usually equates to him to begin with.
"Hmph! Judging from that look in your eyes young Cavallone you do know them. Good. By the way, just to make things more interesting, I added another one in the mix. The fool thought to play hero and… well, you know the rest." The Morte boss chuckled smugly at the prospects.
The man moved to push something and there it showed another video feed of a tied up woman. However, unlike the girls, she was conscious and alone.
A single light bulb showed the bareness of the room where she was bound and gagged from the waist up, its yellowish orange glow stained her skin into a sickly color. He could make out her long disheveled brown hair that hid most of her face. Most of her clothes were dirty and torn from the experience of trying to fight off a group of kidnappers. A torn off sleeve and noticeable rips on her pants told them she had to be dragged off.
They could only watch as she struggled helplessly against the ropes. Her muffled voice rising into shrieks as a couple of masked burly men entered the room and roughly dragged her up into a standing position.
She fought them but it was clearly no use when one of the men came up behind to stop her struggles. She managed to land a few kicks on the other but from the way the man laughed it off, they didn't hurt one bit. He felt something in him lurch when one of the men grabbed the front of her shirt. With one quick forceful tug, he tore through the material like paper as it sent the buttons flying off dropping on the floor like pebbles.
Each sound seem to amplify in his ears for he know what the men were planning to do.
"Behave yourselves. That's a lady you're manhandling." They heard the Morte boss chastise the men who seemed to pause at their ministrations.
The girl was already shivering, and something told him it was far from being cold.
"You can have your fun later. Make sure she enjoys it." It was like a death sentence. At the words, the girls struggled harder, wilder as the men laughed at her efforts. She managed to loosen her gag and wasted no time screaming out for help.
"HELP! SOMEBODY, HELP! HEL–" her voice was rich with panic and fear only to turned into muffled struggles and whimpers when the gag was roughly returned when the man behind her craned her neck up sharply by gathering the brown locks in his meaty fist. She let out a gasp of pain, but before they could see further, both feeds were cut off.
He gritted his teeth as felt a wave of anger fill him as well as a wave of nausea when his attention shifted back to Kyoko and Haru who could also be subjected to such a treatment.
"Let them go." He voiced, his voice almost akin to a growl as his eyes glinted off with anger.
"Hello? What do we have we here?" the voice carried a hint of curiosity as well as amusement.
"Let them go." He said once more as felt something in him burn and flare like acid.
"My, how demanding of you. You know, you look vaguely familiar. If I didn't know any better, I would –" he paused on his words as he let out a laugh that sounded so maniacal that static on the voice changer grated on his ears.
"Forgive me for my insolence. I didn't know I was in the presence of the great Tsunayoshi Sawada." The voice rang in sarcasm and insult as the man mimicked a traditional bow towards him.
He said nothing, he would've wanted to but Reborn's grip on his arm told him no and that he'll only make things worse for the women.
When did he get here? He wondered briefly as he met gazes with the arcobaleno that told him one thing.
He did something stupid again.
The man chuckled merely at his silence.
"Tell you what bambino. Give us your life in exchange for theirs and you get a nicely done deal." It sounded like a joke but something in the way the words were spoken told him that Despoti was dead serious.
"We'll call you, by then we expect a very nice outcome. Ciao." The man continued on as he cut the connection leaving them in loaded silence.
"Do you have any idea what you did?" Reborn's voice was somber and low but still held the reproachful tone he was used to.
"We have to save them." He said ignoring the question all together as he stood from his seat.
The rest mimicked his actions. He expected his guardians to follow his out, only he found himself face to face with a silver bomber blocking the way.
"Nobody's going anywhere." His gruff voice held a commanding tone that made him freeze. His eyes were hard and cold. He noted the strange glint within the light jade eyes as he saw the bomber's lips turned thin and grim.
"Gokudera." He heard Dino mutter while he could only stare at the sudden change in his right hand.
"Calm down." It was a command, it did not soften nor did it turn encouraging.
"How? They have the girls and another civilian. I won't innocent blood be spilt because of Vongola. They were going to – " He finally found his voice, panic was taking over as his mind fed him images of bloody screams, only this time the victim was no stranger.
"So you're going to give yourself to them?" the tone was challenging, he dared meet a pair of steely green as his own gaze flared and hardened with determination.
The words stopped him.
Was I?
In a way he was, they were going to find an enemy they don't even know where and how many. They don't even have a solid plan except one thing.
Find them.
Protect them! The words were shouting at him.
"If that's the only way." Gray green eyes darkened at the spoken words.
"No. I won't allow it." They sharpened and swirled like violent tempests full of resolve.
The man wasn't going to budge that easily, but neither was he. It was his fault they were in this situation. He was not going to stand aside and wait for a damn call that might only make a turn for the worse.
No, whether he goes or not, he's not going to sacrifice anyone for his sake.
Why?
Because three lives outweighs mine.
No matter how much they tell him of the things he can do or the changes he can make, the price being asked is something he isn't willing to pay.
"Move. That's an order, Gokudera." He was hesitant, the statement was so foreign as they rolled off his tongue. Yet his voice turned out flat but resolute making the right hand stiffen. He saw a flicker of hesitation within the stormy depths as well as pain that quickly shifted into something else entirely.
Before he knew it, he felt something hit him hard enough to send him sprawling on the carpeted marble tiled floor.
"Don't throw your life away do damn easily!" Gokudera snapped at him as his eyes flared with a passion that rooted him on the spot.
It was either that or the fact that Gokudera Hayato, Storm Guardian and his official right hand man, actually punched him in the face.
…to be continued…
A/N: *runs and hides* I'm almost scared to ask. How was it? *cringes* I sincerely hope you GokuTsu fans don't chase me off with a flame thrower because of the last part. Um… thank you for reading and reviews are truly much appreciated. ^^,