Yesterday we had Bucci Gang rescue Prosciutto and today we have a reversal where La Squadra take care of Narancia after a mission gone wrong ^_^


Interoffice Communications

Day 18: Let's Break the Ice

("just get it over with", treading water, "take my coat")

An easy mission leaves Narancia stranded in the canal with no way out. Prosciutto and Pesci just happen to be passing by, but there's some misunderstandings on Narancia's part when they bring him back to their base.

Narancia knew he had a bad habit of getting in trouble on missions. Bucciarati had often sighed tiredly about the collateral damage while Fugo would smack him in the back of the head with a "You couldn't have been a little more subtle, idiot?!"

Still, Narancia had yet to go on a routine drop-off at the docks, get shot at by a rival gang, and after finally getting back into the car to make his escape, getting rammed by the other thugs, thus leaving him and his car to fall into the canal.

It took Narancia a second to realize what had happened since he'd hit his head pretty badly, then as he realized he was surrounded by dark water and slowly sinking, he started to panic.

"Stop," he told himself, trying to take a deep breath. "Don't freak out, you're gonna get out of here."

He quickly summoned Aerosmith and shot the windshield. It cracked and then shattered under the pressure of the water, exploding inward. Narancia barely managed to hold his breath and cover his face before the glass sliced into his skin and the rush of water crashed over him.

The shock of the cold water punched most of the breath out of his lungs, but as soon as the car filled, Narancia got out from behind the wheel and pushed himself through the shattered windshield.

He swam up to the surface, gasping for breath, choking on the dirty canal water.

"Shit," Narancia gasped as he looked around. The walls of the canal were too high and sheer to climb up. Could he find a utility latter somewhere? But how far away? He didn't even have anything to hold on to and eventually he was going to get tired. He wasn't exactly a strong swimmer.

So what was he going to do? Wait until someone passed by? Try to get someone's attention? His phone was waterlogged and wouldn't be any use if he tried to make a call. He supposed that his best bet was simply trying to tread water until the others realized he hadn't come home and came to find him. Hopefully he wouldn't have drowned by then.

The water was really cold though…

You've really done it now, he snapped at himself as he tried to keep his mouth and nose above the water. At least the water was so cold he couldn't really feel all the injuries he had sustained.

But what if something smells the blood? He shook his head. No, there wouldn't be anything really big in the canal…would there? He should be more worried about infections than sharks.

So Narancia waited, treading water and trying to conserve as much energy as possible while still looking around the area to see if there was any way he could get back up onto the docks.

It was then he heard voices from above. His first instinct was to call out to them, but he hurriedly stopped himself, not sure whether they were the thugs from before.

"They seem to have cleaned up their operation. That was fast."

"Maybe they didn't want to get in Bucciarati's way," another voice replied.

The first man tsked.

Narancia held his breath but something suddenly brushed against his leg and he gasped, flailing and causing a splashing sound.

"Hey, what was that?"

Great, now he was done for. Narancia tried to ease himself into the shadows as quietly as possible, but one of the men above suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, look! There's a person in the water!"

Narancia panicked, then cried out in surprise as something snagged the back of his shirt and he was hauled up out of the canal and dropped in a wet heap on the docks, looking up to see who his unintentional rescuers were.

Oh shit, he swore inwardly. It was Pesci and Prosciutto, two of the hitmen they'd had to face on their mission to take Trish to the Boss. He was so dead.

"Prosciutto, isn't that one of Bucciarati's teammates?"

Narancia was silent as the severe blond looked down at him. "Ghirga, right?"

Narancia glowered, but it probably didn't look very intimidating while he was shivering.

"What the hell were you doing in the canal?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Narancia spat.

Prosciutto rolled his eyes and reached down, grabbing Narancia's arm and hauling him upright. "Come on then."

Narancia tugged briefly against the grip. He would try to make a run for it, but he was shaking so hard from the cold and his legs were frozen and exhausted from all the swimming. He wouldn't make it far. He swallowed hard. He really didn't want to have to experience Prosciutto's Stand again. Though maybe he was too cold to have it take effect.

While he was still processing, they had made it to a car, and Prosciutto opened the backseat. "Get in. We'll take you back to the base."

Narancia swallowed hard as he slumped into the seat. What did that mean? Were they going to keep him as a prisoner to ransom to Bucciarati? Or were they just going to torture him for information? La Squadra was still an outlier in Passione. They didn't really know where their loyalties lay under Giorno's leadership.

He shivered uncontrollably, gritting his teeth as he thought of all the possibilities of what might happen once he got to the hitmen's headquarters.

He jumped when something was tossed over him.

"Here, take this."

Narancia looked up in surprise to see Prosciutto had handed him his coat before heading toward the driver's seat. What was that about then? Did he really care that he was cold, or was it just a tactic to make Narancia more trusting?

He still wrapped up in it though because he was freaking cold.

The drive wasn't long but it was long enough for Narancia's body to thaw a little, which caused him to become fully aware of all his injuries. The crash itself had left him bruised, but the glass had also cut him up a lot. Some of it was still stuck in him. He swallowed hard.

Prosciutto opened the back door of the car and motioned for him to get out. "Come on. If you can walk anyway."

Narancia hauled himself out of the car and staggered to the door with Prosciutto looming behind him.

"Pesci, get him settled somewhere. I'm going to go tell Risotto."

Narancia gulped, looking around the hitmen's base. It looked…normal actually. It certainly didn't look like he had expected it to. It was just a normal set of apartments.

But it was still the enemy base and he would not let his guard down.

"You can sit down in here, it's warmer in the living room anyway," Pesci told Narancia and motioned him into the next room. Narancia followed cautiously, and nearly balked and ran the other direction when he saw Formaggio and Ghiaccio sitting in there, watching television. They looked up the instant he appeared and Formaggio glowered.

"What the hell is he doing here?"

Pesci held up his hands. "We found him in the canal."

"What did you do, drive off the docks?" Formaggio asked.

Narancia glowered at him, refusing to admit that was at least partly the truth.

"Why'd you have to bring him back here then?" Ghiaccio asked. "You couldn't have dropped him back with his own team? He's not our problem!"

"Is that any way to treat our guest?"

Narancia looked over his shoulder to see the looming figure of Risotto Nero standing in the doorway. He started to shiver again under the scrutiny of the intense dark eyes. He'd…kind of shot Risotto too, so he probably wasn't too happy about that.

"Take a seat," Risotto told Narancia.

The teen swallowed hard and shakily sank into a chair. Risotto glanced over at Pesci. "See if you can find him some dry clothes. Melone or Illuso might have something that would fit him."

Pesci nodded and hurried off further into the apartment.

Melone himself appeared a second later, carrying a large bag. "I have the kit, Boss."

"Thank you."

Narancia flinched as Risotto sat down on the coffee table in front of him, turning to help Melone pull things from the bag. Narancia's mouth went dry as tweezers, scissors, and other terrifying things appeared out of the 'kit'. This was it, they were going to torture him.

He swallowed hard and tried to put on a brave, defiant face. "Just get it over with then."

Risotto picked up the tweezers first and leaned forward.

Narancia leaned back instantly. "I'm not gonna talk! So do what you want, but you're not getting anything out of me!"

Risotto's brow furrowed slightly, but he didn't reply as he simply took hold of Narancia's wrist and pulled until his arm was resting on a towel Risotto had put across his knees. Narancia held his breath as the hitman lowered the tweezers toward his arm and…

Pulled out a piece of glass.

There was a small click as he set it into a tray, then turned to Melone. "More light, if you can."

Melone nodded and went to drag one of the lamps closer.

Risotto continued to pluck glass from Narancia's arms and a couple from his forehead that stung a lot. He stayed stoic, lips pressed tightly together, refusing to give them the satisfaction.

Pesci came back with a t-shirt and sweat pants, setting them on the arm of the couch. "I found these."

"Thank you, we're almost done here," Risotto said, as he reached for a bottle of anti-septic.

Illuso peeked his head into the room from what looked to be a kitchen. "Hey, does the kid want something to eat?"

Narancia felt even more bewildered as Risotto turned to him. "You want something to eat?"

Narancia glowered and folded his arms over his chest. "It's probably poisoned, right? Or drugged, so I'll talk? I'm not that stupid."

Melone laughed as he pulled out some bandages. "I like him, he's funny."

Narancia glowered at him as Risotto took his arm again and started to disinfect the injuries. Narancia hissed in pain before he bit his lip.

Risotto finished up the disinfecting and then stood up to leave way for Melone to apply bandages. When he was done, most of Narancia's arms were covered.

"You can go change in the bathroom if you want," he told Narancia, nodding to the clothes before pointing down the hall.

Narancia stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out if there was some trap, but he was cold and uncomfortable in the wet clothes, so he wasn't going to say no…

And maybe there would be an escape route somewhere in there…

Narancia grabbed the clothes and hurried to the bathroom. He was elated to see that there was a window, and he should be able to reach it by standing on the toilet. He might just be skinny enough to get through it too…

He swiftly changed, and climbed onto the closed toilet seat, trying to get the rusty window hinge to open.

"Come on," he growled.

The sound of someone knocking on a door startled him before he realized it was somewhere else in the apartment. Was someone here? Were they handing him over to someone?

Voices spoke in conversation, one of which was very familiar to Narancia.

"I really can't thank you enough for this. If they hadn't found him…"

Oh no, Bucciarati! Narancia's heart pounded. He had to make sure he didn't fall into some trap. It was too late to escape now.

He burst out of the bathroom. "Bucciarati! whatever they want for ransom don't give it to them! I'll be okay!"

Both Bucciarati and Risotto turned to stare at him.

"Narancia, what on earth are you talking about, are you all right?" Bucciarati asked, a furrow in his brow.

Risotto huffed in amusement. "He seems to have gotten the wrong idea."

Narancia looked between them as Bucciarati stepped forward, gently inspecting him for injuries before he pulled him into a hug. "Narancia, it would be nice if you would thank them for rescuing you and tending your injuries," he said with a raised eyebrow as he pulled away. "Instead of accusing them of selling you for ransom."

"But…"

Narancia glanced over at Risotto and the rest of his team, seeing them all watching him with amusement.

"Well what exactly am I supposed to think?" he demanded then as Bucciarati cleared his throat pointedly, he hung his head, flushing. "Thank you," he murmured.

"I'd best get him home now," Bucciarati said, gently guiding Narancia toward the door. "We'll talk soon, yes?"

Risotto nodded and saw them to the door.

Narancia was embarrassed, but honestly too tired to care right now. He sighed as he slumped into the car while Bucciarati started the engine.

"Does this mean we have to have play dates with them?" Narancia asked with a slight whine.

Bucciarati laughed and reached out the ruffle his hair gently. "It might not be so bad to team up with them. We need all the allies we can get right now."

Narancia hummed in acceptance and closed his eyes. Maybe he could learn not to mind it so much.