A/N: a little later than expected, but the end of term is always frantic. The Christmas break will probably mean more frequent updates though so that's something! This is a little weirder than normal, but I hope you guys still enjoy it and I'll see you all next time!

After the events of the rushed heist, things seemed to even out a bit, though Skull was pretty sure that life in this madhouse could never be classed as 'normal'. Especially when murder was becoming a normal breakfast topic.

"All I'm saying is that Carbon Monoxide Poisoning is a scarily common cause of death. No one would ever know!"

And here Skull had been under the impression that Miss Lal was the sanest member of the group. A little trigger happy to be sure, but still relatively normal. Across from him, the stuntman was treated to the sight of the other gunslinger of the group blithely spoon feeding scrambled eggs to a happy, squirming toddler and he was forced to squash the urge to slam his head into the table. Was he the only one who could see the problem with that statement?

"Don't be so rash Lal."

Fon swept into the room like an angel of mercy, restoring Skull's fading faith in reality just as he restored the depleted stack of omelettes in the centre of the table.

"Carbon Monoxide poisoning is practically painless. They deserve far worse."

Of course. Skull had to remember who he was dealing with here. A gentle smile did not a kind man make.

"What about a pack of wolves? That would be painful and messy!"

"They live in England Blondie, the most dangerous wildlife over there is the badger."

Oh great, even creepy Mister 'my life is dictated by logic and science' was getting in on this. Chibi-chan had now moved on to chewing his way through a small mountain of mixed berries. There would be no help from that quarter, not that he had really been expecting it, but still…

"What about you Skull?"

The sound of his name finally pulled the Stuntman's gaze away from where it had been mesmerized by the disturbing red smears around the toddler's mouth and over to the Hitman who was currently eying him over the rim of a coffee cup.

"What about me?"

"Well, you are a Cloud aren't you? Surely you have some ideas?"

Some idea- Why the hell would he have any idea on the best way to kill someone? Sure, he would love to spend 10 minutes in a room with the monsters who had dared to hurt his Chibi-chan so badly, and maybe they would have to spend some time in intensive care afterwards, but he'd never go so far as to murder them!

"Why do we even have to kill them in the first place?"

The effect of that question was immediate as all sound around the table simply stopped. One by one, the others turned to stare at him, the atmosphere was so tense that Skull felt like bolting, but then the Italian smirked and he froze.

"Good point. Death is too easy an out. We should bring them down to the level of insects, then force them to live on in hell as a warning to all who would harm our Sky. Such a sadistic idea, as expected of a Cloud. I'm impressed!"

That wasn't what Skull meant and he knew it. Damn that man, but it was too late to take the words back now, the others had seized on the idea and were running with it.

"Mou, remove them from the national registry and they would be trapped, unable to even apply for another job. How long would it take you to hack the British Government Verde?"

Skull… was never going to do anything to piss Viper off, that was for sure. Anyone who could talk so casually about completely erasing someone's life from official records was not someone he ever wanted working against him. Still…

"Hey, hey, does that mean you're actually going to give us names now Viper?"

He probably shouldn't have asked that, especially not when he considered the current mood in the room, but it had just sort of… slipped out. It was something that had been bugging him for a while now. After the second time the hooded… person? had disappeared, they had come back just before the heist, obviously having discovered something, but had refused to tell them anything. Trying to get anything out of them other than the name 'Harry' had been like getting blood out of a stone.

"How much would you pay me?"

The groans in the kitchen could probably have been heard outside, but in that moment, Chibi-chan pushed his plate into the middle of the table catching everyone's attention.

"I'm done!"

Oh god, where those actual sparkles in the air around the kid or was Skull imagining things? Either way, that was probably the cutest, self-satisfied grin that he had ever seen. Not only that, it was also the perfect excuse to make his escape.

"Good job Chibi-chan, now how about we go and get you all cleaned up?"

Quickly as he could, Skull darted forward to scoop up the giggling child and raced towards the door. He could feel Reborn's glare burning into his back, but he wasn't going to acknowledge it. Leave the murder plots to the crazy people, he was going to have bath time with his cute little Sky and there was nothing the others could do about it.

They had made it half way down the corridor and Skull was beginning to mentally congratulate himself when the previously lax toddler went rigid in his hold.

"Harry, what's wrong?"

Although their boy had never been the most talkative of people, the child's upbringing meant that whenever they asked him a question or said something that could even vaguely be construed as a request, the child would respond. It was disturbing to see the ingrained need to please those around him, but it also meant that it was extremely concerning whenever he didn't respond. Feeling his Flames begin to bubble underneath his skin, Skull followed the boy's gaze to where it was locked on the door to the stairs leading down to the cellar.

"You can go play with Creepy later. He's still in the kitchen remember?"

Again, there was no response and a cold chill began to slither down his spine. Cuddling the boy closer, he manoeuvred one hand free and checked the child's forehead. It was still a little cooler than the others insisted it should be, but otherwise, he couldn't find anything wrong.

"Harry?"

"Skull-nii, we need to go down stairs!"

What? But there was nothing down there other than the lab and as Verde was currently attempting to empty the house of coffee, there wouldn't be any point in going there so why…? Actually, that wasn't true, there was something else… The stuntman was shivering now, his grip tightening around the boy without any conscious thought.

"There's nothing down there Chibi-chan. You need a bath and that's upstairs."

The next second, he was made incredibly thankful for the iron grip he had on the toddler as the baby Sky began to squirm incessantly. Suddenly it was like trying to hold on to a greased cat.

"Hey, no, settle down. You can't go down there alone!"

"We need to go down there!"

Well, this was getting them nowhere fast. To make matters worse, he could feel the gentle fuzz he was beginning to associate with Sky Flames on the edge of his senses and when he managed to turn the child back to him, the usual green of his eyes was a shimmering orange. There would be no winning this.

"Okay, okay, we'll go. You have to stay in my arms however, and if I say you have to run, then you run Chibi-chan. Do you understand me?"

Maybe he was overreacting, but there was something tearing at his instincts and he would have loved nothing more in that instant than to bundle the kid back into the kitchen where the others would form an impenetrable defence. There was something down there that was bad news he just couldn't remember what exactly it was.

It looked like he was going to find out now.

Each step down the staircase made it feel like another rock was settling in his gut but thankfully the gentle weight of the child in his arms was enough to keep him settled. What he did do however, was spread his Flames into the air around them in the way that Reborn had taught him. If anything so much as twitched in their area, he would bolt.

Moving past the lab had been much harder last time, he could vaguely remember the pressure that had almost suffocated him the last time he had come this far, but this time it was nowhere to be found. That didn't make it any easier to move, but he managed. Somehow.

"Chibi-chan, are you sure we have to do this? Something seems wrong here."

"Uh-huh."

The child had settled down but was now staring intently ahead of them. It was strange, but it did make it an awful lot easier to carry him.

Despite his best efforts to stretch the trip out, Skull found himself back in front of those ornate doors that he had found before. It had been impossible to tell last time, not when he had been dead on his feet, but now that he was looking with a somewhat clear mind, he could tell that there was a very thick layer of dust over the fixture. It wasn't all that surprising, it hadn't looked like anyone else had been down there for a very long time but, in the faint light drifting down from behind them, he could just about trick himself into thinking that the metal details to the door looked a little more polished than the rest.

It was probably just a trick of the half light, and with the Sky leaning eagerly forwards, he shrugged it off. He was reaching out, free hand all but touching the cool stone, close enough that he could feel the chill bleeding from it. Just a little more and his instincts were screaming now…

"Lackey!"

The sudden bark behind him had the Stuntman jerking backwards, free arm pin wheeling as he attempted to keep his balance. After a few seconds however, recognition filtered through the pounding of his heart and he was able to breathe a little easier.

"Reborn, what are you doing here?"

"That is my line Lackey. I thought you were taking our Sky for a bath!"

Now that he wasn't so transfixed on the doors, he could feel the searing heat of the other's Flames flooding the air around them and despite the anger he could feel burning his skin, he relaxed. The Hitman was the primary care taker of the little boy after all, maybe he would be able to talk the kid out of… whatever this was.

"Don't look at me, I didn't really have a choice in this."

The Italian was distinctly unimpressed with that, but his gaze quickly shifted from the Cloud's face and onto the child who was still transfixed by the door.

"Tesoro?"

Was that a note of concern he could detect in the other's voice? Surely not. Still, Skull couldn't deny the fact that he was concerned when the boy didn't even respond to his favourite adult. This had never happened before.

"Harry, mio cielo, look at me."

There was still no response so the Italian moved around them so that he was actually in the boy's line of sight. The reaction to that was immediate as the child blinked several times before reaching for the Hitman. Skull tried to ignore the twinge of hurt at that, he knew Reborn was Chibi-chan's favourite, that didn't mean it didn't sting to be replaced so quickly.

"Mister 'born!"

Snuggled into the Italian's immaculate suit, the kid was the perfect picture of adorableness, which only grew worse when he began to pout, his eyes glittering.

"Need to go in!"

And they were back to the sentence fragments. Obviously, whatever was upsetting the toddler was strong enough to make his language skills again and it was enough to make the Stuntman growl. He hated seeing the kid upset. Reborn must have been made of sterner stuff than him however, because the man barely blinked.

"No bambino, what you need is a bath. You won't find one in there."

How on earth did the man manage to put a reprimand in such a soft tone? Yet another thing about the weirdo that made no sense. Still, if it was going to get them away from the door, then Skull was all for it. Whatever was happening here was giving him a headache and he would have much preferred to go and sleep it off with the perfectly sized cuddle bug in his arms. Unfortunately, he had forgotten who he was dealing with again.

"But I guess we could have a little look inside. It's been bothering me too."

Damn it Reborn, wasn't he supposed to be the most protective out of all of them? Still, he wasn't exactly in a position to stop the man as he reached out and pushed…

The cold gust that greeted them was completely cliché given the horror story that his life was set on becoming lately and, now that he thought about it, so was he barrier that suddenly sprang up stopping him from entering after the other two.

"Hey guys? Guys?"

There was no response and he was stuck watching the two of them walk deeper into the pitch black room until the doors swung shut in his face.

Great.

After the Cloud had taken their Sky from the kitchen, an itch had started up under Reborn's skin. It was similar to the way that his Flames would begin to chew on him if he was still for too long, but this time it came with the added discomfort of a lead weight that settled in his stomach and refused to leave. In the end, it only took five minutes before he was following the two out into the hall.

Curiously, when he had move through the hallway, he hadn't been able to hear Skull moving around on the floor above him. The civilian was not the quietest person in the world and it was normally easy to track his movements through the house just by the floor boards alone. This time, it was impossible. The second he passed the stairway door, warning bells began to sound in his head and he snapped his attention to it faster than he had ever reacted before.

The door wasn't fully closed.

He wasn't sure why, but his heart was hammering in his chest as he yanked the door open and all but ran down the stone steps. Each step down weighing heavier and heavier on his shoulders but he dismissed it as his Guardian instincts playing up. He'd thought they had settled by now, but clearly he was wrong.

Three more steps and he couldn't help thinking that maybe Skull had taken their Sky upstairs after all. There was no reason for them to have come down here in the first place so why was he jumping at shadows? Surely if he checked the boy's room he would find the two of them playing around in the bath. No need to be paranoid.

As he thought this through, his steps began to slow and, just as he was about to turn back, the faintest flicker of Sky Flames brushed against his Sun and he froze. That pure burst of Harmony was enough to clear his mind and a flush of cold realization made his lips twist. Harry was down here, but something was trying to keep him away. That could not be allowed and, once he had reassured himself that the baby Sky was fine once again, he would be having words with the Mists of their set.

He came upon the two just as Skull was reaching out to the stone doors that they had found him collapsed in front of just a few days before. He was acting before he even had time to process that.

"Lackey!"

The word left his mouth without conscious thought, but he relaxed a little when the purple haired man stopped. Okay, now he just had to get them away from that damn door that was making his Flames scream inside his head. Only, that wasn't what happened.

Reborn wasn't too clear on what exactly had happened, but somewhere between attempting to catch his Sky's attention and the planned escape to the bathroom, something had gone horribly wrong and now the Hitman found himself walking cautiously into the unknown room. He blamed it on the puppy eyes, they were lethal.

The room itself was almost empty or, that was what his Flames were telling him. Normally he made an effort to keep them out of the visual spectrum, flaring canary yellow was probably the worst way to go incognito, but now he couldn't help but letting them bleed out. To his surprise, the bright yellow was soon joined by a softer orange as the boy in his arms flared as well. Watching the two shades interact, mixing together and breaking apart in some unknown dance, was mesmerising and, without even thinking about hit, he fed more of his Sun into it.

Strangely, even though the two of them were reaching the point of being human bonfires, he still wasn't able to make out much about the room other than an ancient stone floor and some blurred runes etched around their feet. Normally they would have intrigued him, but now, with the flood of Harmony that was currently coursing through him, it was hard to muster interest in anything else.

Still, this had been going on for too long now, Harry, though growing stronger every day, was still weak and expending this much energy through his Flames was not good for him. Slowly he began to withdraw his own, though when he started to pull away, the Sky gripped him tighter.

"Tesoro, you need to let go. You're going to make yourself sick if you continue."

Not to mention the fact that Reborn's arms were beginning to feel a little shaky where they were wrapped around the boy. If even he was beginning to feel the drain, then he had to stop the boy, now!

"Harry, stop. You have to stop."

Something in his tone must have reached the child and the orange inferno began to fade. Not fast enough unfortunately as the next second saw him falling unconscious in his Guardian's arms. If the Hitman hadn't been able to feel the little puffs of air against his neck, he might have been far more panicked. As it was, all he could think about was getting out of there as soon as possible. And where was the Lackey? Why hadn't the Cloud followed them inside when he had seemed so reluctant to let them enter in the first place?

That question was answered when he finally managed to yank the door open and was immediately pounced on by the frantic civilian.

"Reborn, what happened? I felt your Flames flaring but I couldn't get in! I felt Chibi-chan's too is he-"

It took more energy that he would ever admit to, but he finally managed to place his free hand over the Cloud's mouth, silencing the panicked flood. To be perfectly honest, it probably wouldn't have even worked had the boy not noticed the unconscious toddler in his arm and gone straight to hysterics.

"I'm fine. He's fine. We're just tired. Let's get out of here."

Not the most eloquent of statements, but he was honestly beyond caring at this point. All he could think of now was his bed upstairs and the thrumming warmth resting against his chest that promised a dreamless sleep. He would just have to clean his Sky up later, it was nap time now.

After a few moments of wide eyed staring, the Cloud finally seemed to come to the conclusion that he wasn't going to win this. Spinning on his heel, the Stuntman turned to make his way back up the daunting staircase. Reborn would have followed him had he not been distracted by the slight speck of light that glittered on the back of Skull's riding suit. Lazily tracking the source of the light, Reborn found himself blinking sleepily back at the door. Had the metal decorations always been such a burnished copper? He couldn't remember.

The slight shifting of the weight in his numbing arm was enough to draw his attention back to the sleeping child he was carrying and he turned away. They would sleep now, anything else could be dealt with later.