Part Six – Rage, it's a hell of a drug

I had slipped into the Med easily enough without notice, even managed to reach Taranto without much trouble. The spring air was nice, the warmth of the sun a reminder of why Illustrious likes this place so much, but that isn't why I was here. I rolled my shoulders and tried to carry myself without looking like I was here for a fight. I was so focused on where I was going that I didn't notice that I had bumped into someone, until I heard her make a sound like 'oof'. I look down and see a woman in a light blue dress, long silver hair and she was on her stern, blink at me a couple of times. I don't have time for this, I need to find Littorio. Yet in the back of my mine I hear my mother telling me to act like the gentleman she knows I am, with an inward sigh I extend a hand to her, which she takes and stands as she says to me, "Grazie."

When I blink back at her, she looks puzzled for a moment then tries English, "Thank you?"

"You're welcome." I respond and start to move on.

As I move passed her she asks me a question, "What brings you to Taranto?"

Taking a breath to try and keep myself centered I say over my shoulder, "I'm looking for someone."

"Perhaps I can be of assistance, I am Vittorio Veneto." She says extending her hand.

Swallowing a bit of pride I know what she expects and I kiss her hand, causing her to blush before I say to her, "That would be helpful."

Vittorio flattens out her dress and asks, "And who are you looking for?"

I rub the back of my head and look off to the side as I say, "Littorio Veneto."

"Ah." She says in a tone that sounds a little defeated as she adds, "Her apartment is just down the block, look for the balcony with the rose bushes. Just be aware, she is very particular with male callers."

"Thank you, you've been most helpful." I say to her as I start to walk way, towards my target.

"Wait!" she calls after me.

Stopping to turn around I see her write something on a piece of paper and hand it to me as she says, "If you are not busy later, perhaps we could get some coffee? I gave you my number if you would be interested, I'm sorry I didn't catch your name?"

I weigh my options carefully, I've got sunglasses on, so my red eyes are hidden, do I tell her who I am or who I was? I chose the latter option as I say with a bit of a forced smile, "Mitchel, Mitchel Thatcher, and I'm free now."

She blinks her sliver eyes at me a couple of times before flushing a little and brushing her hair a little and telling me, "Oh, alright, there is a nice little café just down the way, Mitchel."

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I sat across from Vittorio, sipping this cup of cappuccino it was rather good actually, Vittorio leaned forward towards me a little and asked, "So, aside from wanting to see my sister, what really brings you to Taranto? Most tourists prefer Roma, Venezia or Napoli over here."

I shrug and take off my sunglasses, her eyes are drawn right up to my red ones as I say to her, "Someone I hold very dear to me, told me that they really liked the time they spent here before I met them actually."

"Your eyes, they are… very unusual." She says, seeming drawn into them.

I nod as I hear laughter, musical laughter and I risk a glance over Vittorio's shoulder and I feel my chest get tight as I see Illustrious laughing and walking with Littorio, bags in their hands and they bump hips with each other. I turn my attention back to Vittorio as I try to have all of my attention on her and say, "They were a gift from my mother, actually."

She leans back in her chair for a moment, taking on a thoughtful expression before talking to herself, "Red eyes, English, blond, powerful build…" she pauses and her eyes go wide before she leans back in my direction and whispers to me, "Are you… him?"

Before I can answer I feel like someone is looking at me and I look up over Vittorio's shoulder again to see Illustrious looking right at me, the color draining from her face as Littorio turns slowly to see me, her eyes narrowing before she ushers Illustrious down the road with her and I focus back on Vittorio as I confirm to her, "I am."

She leans back again and adjusts her dress, hair and takes out a compact to check her makeup before asking me, "Then what really brings you here?"

I notice the change in her attitude and tone of voice becoming much more professional and I sigh inwardly before I say to her, "Trying to understand why my life has taken this turn that perhaps I was forced into something that wasn't right after all."

She gives me a sideways look before sipping her drink as she says, "I cannot tell you if you had or not, I never saw how you interacted with Lady Illustrious and as much as I love my sister, she is not objective when it comes to past conquests."

I feel my heart stop for a moment; perhaps rumors were not just rumors then. Lowering my right hand under the table I ball my fist till my knuckles turn white while I use my left to sip my drink as I try to be calm and collected as I say to her, "It is often hard to be objective in things where the heart was involved."

She nods and says to me, "Si Verissimo."

An awkward silence passes over the table for a moment before she brushes her hair and says to me, "If everything is truly finished with her, you should look for what makes you happy and not dwell on the past." She pauses before taking my napkin and writing down an address on it and sliding it back to me as she says, "Come by later, if you want to explore other options."

With that she stood up and I asked, "Is everything alright?"

She nods and offers me a smile as she says, "Si, I just have an appointment to keep is all, good luck to you, Thunderer and perhaps I will see you later."

Sipping more of my drink I say to her, "Perhaps."

She turns and starts to walk away and down the street, looking over her shoulder at me in the process, catching me watching before she turns her attention forward and puts more sway into her hips. I let out a slow breath and finish my drink, then stuffing the napkin in my pocket before turn to head for my target.

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By the time I had made it to Littorio's apartment, it had gotten dark ad I was surprised by how easy it was to get in, no buzzer to ring, just doors to open. I take off my sunglasses and drop them to the floor; I wouldn't need them after this. When I got to her door, based on what I had seen outside, I resist the urge to pound on the door, with a simple knock I wait for a response. "Come in, Thunderer." I hear Littorio's voice from the other side of the door. Opening the door, I see her standing there, her back to the massive glass patio door. Littorio put her right hand on her hip as she appraised me with her red eyes she asked, "Did you enjoy my sister?"

I press my lips together and take a step forward while she adjusts her legs, making her long black nearly see through dress show off her body lines and I retort, "Why would it matter?"

Her lips press together and she uses her left hand to flick her green hair as she says, "My Morning Lilly was rather injured to see you on a date."

"Your Morning Lilly?" I ask with a dismissive tone.

She slides her hands across her body and adjusts her legs to rub her thighs together as she taunts me, "Yes, my Morning Lilly. She has been very happy here," she pauses to stop what she's doing to take a step closer to me as she adds, "Until you had to wound her."

"Wound her? WOUND HER?!" I bellow out, my fists balling as I continue, "What about what she did to me?"

Littorio pushes me back with her bust a little as she snaps at me, "She got scared and ran for the first place she could thing of that she felt safe to regroup at." My nostrils flare outward as she leans in to whisper, "That it happened to include my bed, didn't hurt matters."

My body moved on its own, my right fist balled and delivered a short, powerful blow out and up into her gut, enough to make her stagger back for a moment. When she recovered from the hit, her eyes narrowed at me and slashed at my face with her nails, catching my cheek and drawing blood, before her right fist came around and caught me on the other side of the face. I staggered back and she bent over to grab a book off of her coffee table and threw it at me, forcing me to twist and dodge the book while she came forward quickly, kicking high and catching me in the side of the head. I moved with the kick and slammed my head against the side of the wall. Once I recovered she moved forward again, her left foot kicking out this time and I moved back as she drove her heel into the wall.

Without a word, I grabbed hold of her left leg at the thigh, pulling her foot out of the wall and swung her hard into the other wall, causing the plaster to come free. From the kitchen I heard glasses clatter to the floor while she grabbed hold of my arms and rolled to kick me again with her right foot. Before her foot connects again, I let go of her leg and push forward forcing her kick to miss. But in doing so, I had positioned my neck between her thighs and Littorio locked her legs around my neck, starting to squeeze as she taunted me, "I knew it then, that she would come back to me."

All that did was fill me with more rage, I gripped her by the hips while she pulled herself up to grip my hair with her hands, squeezing tighter with her thighs. I will myself forward deeper into the apartment before I pull with all my might, pulling her free from around my neck and I smash her down into her coffee table as I yell at her, "Where is she!?"

The coffee table collapses under the crushing blow, wood and glass going everywhere. Littorio gets herself up, grabbing a broken leg of wood and swinging it at me as she hollers at me, "Like I would tell you!"

One of her swings catches me in the side of the chest and I grab hold of her by the throat in the process as I snarl out, "Then you are no use to me." And I toss her away with all of my might, sending her though the glass patio door and over the balcony. I follow through and leap over the balcony down to the street and move to stand over her, gripping her by her dress, I lift her up a little, balling my fist, ready to deliver a finishing blow as I feel someone slam into me from the side, followed by Illustrious voice cry out, "Stop it!"

I take my attention off of Littorio and look to see Illustrious standing there, tears in her eyes, groceries on the ground, and she balls her fists and hits my shoulder as she says, "I said stop it, Mitchel!"

Letting go of Littorio, I hear Littorio start to laugh as she says, "See? I told you, like all men; he is but a beast."

Illustrious starts to breathe in and out quickly as she yells at me, "Why did you follow me here? Look what you did!"

"I," I start to say before I look around and continue, "wanted answers."

"You need help, Mitchel." Illustrious says, folding her arms under her bust as she says, "Your anger is going to kill you, and I cannot stand by and watch it happen." I go to reach for Illustrious and she backs away from my hand closer to Littorio as she continues at me, "You should go."

Pulling my hand back I slowly start to back away before turning and walking away from what I had done as I say, "Perhaps you're right."

XXXX

Once I had left the two of them and gotten to a bathroom to see to my cheek, I stick my hand in a pocket and take out a napkin I see in there, the address written on it and I wonder if I can press my luck tonight.

It didn't take me long to reach the address, and I take a deep breath before knocking on the door and hold my breath while I wait. The door opened quickly and a wonderful smell of garlic bread greeted me nose as a silver haired beauty greeted me as she smiled and said to me, "Buonasera, I was hoping you would join me tonight."

Guess my luck is holding tonight.

I enter the apartment and see a place setting for two, with wine and pasta set. Turning my attention to Vittorio, I see that she is dressed now in a nearly see through white version of the dress that Littorio had on, from behind I saw just how far down the back went, and I shrugged as I whispered to myself, "When in Rome."

She laughs and calls over her shoulder to me, "But this is Taranto, not Roma."

"True, so when in Taranto, do what they do?" I ask, trying to sound somewhat happy, even if I didn't feel it right now.

"To good health." She said to me after taking a seat and lifting her wine glass.

"To a change of fortunes." I respond and take a sip as she takes a sip.

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I'm pulled from my sleep sometime in the night as I feel something warm press against me, my eyes adjust to the dark quickly as my mind catches up with my eyes and I recall the post dinner activities with Vittorio. I run my hands down my face as I recall the look on Illustrious' face, how hurt she looked at seeing me, how she had told me to go and get help. I sit up in the bed, pulling the blankets with me and I see Vittorio sleeping peacefully and I sigh inwardly before getting out of the bed. Quickly and quietly I get dressed and slip out of the bedroom, heading for the kitchen I leave a note for her and my number before I leave her apartment just as I hear her mobile starting to ring, likely with knowledge of what went down between me and Littorio.

I hurry out to the beach and summon my rigging to dash off to deeper water to summon my hull and use my excellent concealment to slip away in the night.

I had just passed twenty miles off shore when I heard my phone ring, taking a deep breath I pick it up and flip it over to see Illustrious as the caller ID, my heart stops and I hit talk as I lift the phone to my ear. I feel like a dagger is driven in to me as I hear her voice extremely shaky as she says, "Are you there?"

"I am." I respond, trying to keep myself as level as possible.

I hear her walk over broken glass as well as a couple of women arguing in Italian in the background before Illustrious speaks again in a hushed tone, but I can hear it in her voice she's on the verge of tears as she asks, "Why? Why her? Have there been others?"

The dagger twists in my chest as I say, "No."

"Then why now?" she asks and I hear it she is fighting so hard not to break down.

"You ran to Littorio and started sharing her bed, again." I answer, again fighting to keep myself under control.

She is silent for a little while and I hear her sniffle before stating, "I haven't been in Littorio's bed!"

"Then other places?" I ask, feeling my anger building again.

"Not this time! I've been sleeping on her couch!" she snaps at me.

"So the rumors were true then." A cold tone escaped my lips with that one.

"I…" she starts before pausing, her tone becoming defensive as she counters, "Fine, yes. I did sleep with Littorio the first time I was in the Med, but we agreed to it being a onetime only thing."

"You lied to me." Again that cold tone came out as I stood up and moved to the windows on my bridge as I continue, "How much of everything else was a lie then?"

"You broke your word to me!" she snaps, "You slept with someone else!"

"I was under the impression things were over." I say as my left fist balls and I all but pound it against the window frame.

"They weren't! But right now, consider things over!" she yells this time before I hear her grunt moments before the line goes dead.

I pound the window, hard, causing it to spider web a little as I yell out, "Bloody hell!"

I was about to strike again, when my mobile run again and I flipped it over to see V. Veneto as the caller ID, lifting the phone to my ear I hear her ask, "Are you there?"

"I am." I respond, trying to keep myself as level as possible.

She sighs and moves over broken glass before saying to me, "You've caused me a bit of a problem."

Looking off to the side of my bridge I say to her, "I understand."

Her voice goes a little quiet as she whispers, "Not that I don't find some amusement that my sister's actions have come around to bite her in the stern. But how do I sweep this under the rug?"

Letting out a sigh as I pick at some of the cracks in the window, "I don't know, but you can't blame the RN, they didn't know I did this."

Vittorio moves around a little more and whispers on the phone, "I can't do that anyway, otherwise I would have to admit we are giving shelter to a runaway carrier."

"How…" I start before I move to my plotting room on my bridge as I continue, "How is Illustrious?"

"She is hurt and rather angry, with both you and myself, in fact I just watched her throw her mobile out into the night." Vittorio says as I hear a car go by on the street before she continues, "Littorio asked me what took me so long to get here, before she guessed what I had been up to."

My left fist balls and I all but pound it against the holographic display, making it flicker again as I say, "She lied to me, I thought things were over."

"Based on how she is stomping around, I think it would be a safe bet that it is." She says before pausing for a moment to add, "As much as I enjoyed it, and would like more, it would be best if you did not come back here for a while."

"I understand." I repeat almost robotically as the line goes dead. Lowering my mobile, I squeeze it in my hand, sending cracks spreading across the screen as I holler out, "Damn it!"

As I look down at my mobile it dawns on me that I did this damage, looking to the bridge window it makes it more clear and I slump to the floor as I whisper out, "I need help."

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A/N: In the throes of rage, we can often do more harm than good.