Disclaimer: I own the OCs, the rest is Akira Amano's work.

Fratellanza

"Have you helped Rokudo Mukuro to escape this prison?"

"I sure have."

"Who hacked into our security?"

"Me."

"You're lying."

"Do you have proof?" I spat blood after the punch, the cast around my leg keeping me from moving too much.

This little game had been going on for days I think. I had no idea how long it had been since I was caught and sent here. There was barely enough light for us not to go totally blind and no clock, which made impossible for us to keep track of time, which could lead to insanity pretty quickly. The odd thing was that the guy Mukuro manipulated, Lancia apparently, was in a cell next to mine.

We talked a little, him asking why I would risk so much for Mukuro. I replied honestly, and I asked him how he knew Mukuro, and he explained it to me.

No matter how much I was grateful for the freedom Mukuro gave me, his habit to take away people's free will was disgusting.

"Hey, what am I accused of exactly?"

"You caused a jailbreak," he started to list, "have been a test subject of the Estraneo Family, which means we can not leave you unwatched and you have killed several people the Vindice had a relation with, without counting the slaughter of a good portion of the Estraneo Family without any order." I scratch my wrist as I could with my elbow as my hands were trapped in metal things to keep me from using my flame.

"So I was used as a guinea pig against my will and sent in jail for it when I just defended myself!?"

"I said you could not remain unwatched. Your other actions led you here. For years you were protected because of your affiliations with the Cavallones and then the CEDEF, but they could not keep you under control."

Here it was.

I was treated like some kind of weapon of mass destruction or some shit.

The Vindice left my cell and I sighed deeply.

"You will have a trial." I turned my eyes to Lancia, even if all I could see was a huge silhouette.

"The Vindice has trials? And lawyers?"

"If you come from a Family, said Family is allowed to ask for a trial under some conditions. If it is allowed, then they will also act as the defense."

"Huh..." Would they do something though?

Some...time later, probably days, I was taken from my cell. I was quite slow with a cast, but I ended up in a room. My 'handcuffs' were removed and I was pushed in a bright room. I rubbed my eyes as they were no longer used to so much light.

"You look awful. And skinny." I looked at the person.

"Iemitsu?" I mumbled, taking a seat in front of him. "The..."

"It has been three weeks. Do you know how hard it is to get a visit here, or even to get here? It's freezing cold in the mountains!" I stared at him in astonishment.

"What are you doing here?" He lost his goofiness and sighed.

"Getting you out of here, obviously. Don't get me wrong, the moment you step foot outside of this prison you will not be left without consequences, but I am not leaving one of my subordinate in Vendicare for helping out someone who saved their life before. Even if they pretty much humiliated the Vindice. And their brother keeps harassing me to find something faster. And my son's harassing me too, like his friend." He took his cellphone from his suit pocket and put it on the table between us.

"Dad you have influence I know it so do something! Senpai helped Mukuro because she had a debt but she didn't help him attacking people in Namimori! She's not like that!"

"Just do something!" Takeshi's voice added with urgency. I blinked in confusion.

"Here's what you're going to do. You are going to tell them exactly what happened without leaving out any details." I opened my mouth but he stopped me by raising his hand. "I have to tell you Arroganza has been interrogate by the Vindice already and is accused of helping you."

"He didn't do anything!"

"And Park Min-Jae?" I widened my eyes. "He was approached by them too. Anyway, I will ask for a trial."

"What reason?"

"A lack of help from the Mafia and the Vindice when you were at the Estraneos that led you to kill them and a debt you had toward Rokudo Mukuro knowing the situation at the time. A debt in our laws is separated from the person you owe it to, no matter who it is."

"You're gonna be my lawyer aren't you Boss?" I looked at my fists on my thighs when he confirmed. "How...Dino..."

"He's furious. Furiously worried and furiously mad. I never pictured him as the guy who would scream at me how your case was going. Apparently, you said something to Reborn that really ticked him off."

"I see...are you serious about getting me out of here?"

"Yes, why?"

"Tsunayoshi was targeted."

"You didn't give his identity to Mukuro, did you?" I shook my head.

"But it's possible he might have known stuff because of me."

"Are you trying to convince me to leave you here?"

"Why not." He stood up out of sudden and I felt very small under his gaze and aura.

"Next time I come here to see you, you will thank me for the time I and your co-workers at the CEDEF are spending trying to get you free."

"You shouldn't waste your time on a guinea pig," I whispered weakly. Something I couldn't identify flash in his eyes and he cleared his throat.

"I see."

He turned around and left me, confused at his reaction.

I was a guinea pig. I would always be seen as that before anything else, so why...that reaction?

I saw Iemitsu probably once or twice a week. Lancia kept telling me that the Young Lion and Dino would get me free, because they both had a reputation for not abandoning their families. Every time, Iemitsu would ask me if I only saw myself as a guinea pig. Not seeing what he was looking for, I kept saying 'yes'. It kept irritating him.

"Hey Iemi...huh?" The woman smiled kindly to me, getting up to embrace me. I was frozen, her orange pacifier hard against my chest. "That's unexpected Miss."

"Your hair got longer," she noticed, taking a lock of raven hair from my bangs between her fingers.

"I don't trust their hairstylist." She giggled and took a step back, her hands still on my shoulders. She nodded to herself after looking up and down at me.

"You are on the skinny side for now, but once you're out you should get back to your regular weight. Overall, you grew up well Luciana." She sat down, like me, even if I was suspicious.

"Thanks? What is the Boss of the Giglio Nero Family is doing here, visiting me?" She giggled once again before putting her elbows on the dirty table, her chin resting on her joined hands. Her burgundy dressed-shirt seemed expensive, but I wouldn't mind getting the same one.

"I needed to see you to make my decision." I raised a brow at her. "So, why did you help him out?"

"If I ask you how you know stuff you won't answer?" She nodded and I sighed. "He deemed me worthy of being away from the Estraneos' hands, I had a debt and paid it."

"Do you regret it?" I pursed my lips, my eyes staring harshly at the table.

"I don't regret helping him. I regret breaking my ties by doing so though. They...I disappointed all of them, and I hate that feeling. They...I mean, even if it wasn't for the good reasons, they all put a lot of time and efforts in my education and growth and I know they are disappointed by what I chose to use that for." She smiled softly.

"It's all I wanted to know." I looked up at her in confusion. "You don't want to lose them."

"Of course not," I whispered quietly. "Why would I?" She smiled again and got up. As she grabbed the door knob, I got up out of sudden. "Hey, that time at the party, you said the Cloud Ring shouldn't be on my finger, another one should, and that I'd be important for the Vongolas! What did you mean by that!?" I saw her raise her head, her eyes probably looking above the door.

"Oh, that. If anything, some women will tell you the moment you'll see them your dreams are not dreams." I froze, a shiver running down my spine as she turned sly eyes to me. "It must have been easy to go through the VARIA HQ, right?" I widened my eyes, trying to say something but she left.

That woman...it was the second time I saw her...and the second time she left me with too many questions.

The...hell...was...she…?

When Iemitsu came after, he told me I had a trial and a date. I blinked in shock, knowing he was struggling to get it. He just told me I had unexpected help pleading my case.

Damn that Giglio Nero Aria.

So, from what I had been told, Reborn and Alaric had been trying to help on their side. I had no idea what happened to Mukuro, Chikusa or Ken, not that I cared about the last two, and Lancia wished me luck. I asked him why he was nice to me if he hated Mukuro. He replied he was an orphan too and would do anything for his Family.

I nodded solemnly and followed the Vindice who came to take me to the trial room, definitely not a court because trials did not happen often in our world. I was still in my dirty prisoner clothes, consisting of beige cotton pants, a large long-sleeved shirt of the same color and no shoes. My hair was a tangled mess, I needed a shower but well…

The door was opened. The cast I used to have for my leg was now just a splint, even if my hands were still trapped and that after an undefined amount of time, I doubted my dislocated shoulder had been properly healed.

Anyway, I tried to appear cool on the outside but inside I was having a mental breakdown. Iemitsu was there, with Oregano and Lal, Dino was there with Romario, Aria was there with a blond guy who seemed pissed to be here, Arro was there too, like Shamal. I blinked at the green-haired Korean boy who waved at me with a big grin. Shit they...huh?

He just gave me thumbs-up? Was…

Dino jumped from his chair when he saw me, eyes wide in worry because of my state. He was dressed in an expensive immaculate black suit whereas I...I was going back to how is used to dress before I was adopted. I looked down.

They forced me to sit at the center of the room, in front of three Vindice, the long-haired one being here too. They listed the accusations against me. I could feel the affront in my back when they said being a victim of the Estraneos was an accusation.

"Sawada Iemitsu and Cavallone Dino, head of the CEDEF and Tenth Boss of the Cavallones, both requested your freedom, request supported by Aria of the Giglio Nero, as the Boss of the Giglio Nero and Sky Arcobaleno." I peeked at her from above my shoulder. What the… "They emitted several reasons for which you should be released from Vendicare. Sawada Iemitsu, please come as the defense. Enzo Salvatorre, please come as the opposition." I had no idea who was the guy playing the attack lawyer, just that he seemed to be happy to see me as I was right now.

"The first charge is the human experimentation she went through. Although not blameworthy per say, the survivors of the Estraneos' experimentation have to be monitored so that they do not break our laws. The Vongolas failed in doing so."

"Luciana has been tasked by the Ninth and myself to watch over the remaining heir of the Vongola and find potential Guardians. Mists...are tricky to find. However, Rokudo Mukuro is a powerful one, and the heir's tutor, Reborn, told me himself he would make a good Mist Guardian. When it comes to the inheritance of a Family such as the Vongolas, the laws are more flexible, as it happened before our time. Luciana did her job in the one way she found."

"Judges, it seems we have another show of the Vongola superiority." I frowned at the man. Hum...the venom in his voice...sounded a little bit familiar. "So what if it was for this purpose? She caused a jailbreak! Other criminals escaped and it could have been a lot worse if you had not been this efficient." Urgh, ass-licker.

"The jailbreak. Sawada Iemitsu, your turn."

"She's sixteen." Wait, my birthday happened? Damn. "Ever since she was adopted she showed a lot of potential. The Ninth recommended her personally and thought she would make a great External Advisor one day."

"What now?" I mumbled to myself in shock.

"I can't pretend she did not cause the jailbreak. However, I would like to highlight the cleverness she showed by managing to do it."

"This is preposterous!" the Enzo guy barked. "Your subordinate caused a jailbreak and you're making her sound like...like some kind of genius that should be praised!"

"No, I think she has to pay for the danger she caused, but we cannot ignore what the situation revealed. I would like to call Min-Jae Park to testify." The Korean teenager stood up and went to the witness seat, stopping for a second in front of Arro.

"You...are handsome," he flirted with a wink before going to sit. Arro grabbed Dino's arm and tried to use my brother as a shield.

Iemitsu was about to go up to him to interrogate him, but Enzo was faster and stomped past him.

"You helped Luciana Cavallone by hacking the security system of this prison, correct?"

"Yes."

"And by doing so, you gave the opportunity for all of the prisoners to escape, correct?" Min-Jae shrunk in his seat.

"It is correct sir."

"So you put the Mafia and civilians at the mercy of criminals locked up in the most secured prison of the Underworld, correct?"

"Yes."

"That's all for me," he said with a satisfied smirk. As he went back to his spot, Iemitsu went to Min-Jae.

"You are a prodigy in your field and have been for years, correct?"

"Yes, actually it's how I met Luciana."

"Please explain more about this."

"Well I was kidnapped a few years ago and my parents hired the Arcobaleno Fon to save me. He did, with his student, Luciana. She took a bullet for me but promised me to bring me back to my parents, and she did. So I told her that if she needed help one day, I would help her."

"So...it was similar to a debt."

"Pretty much yes."

"And was it difficult for you to hack into the Vindice system?"

"Not that much actually. It's..." He shot a look at the Vindice closer to him, who nodded slowly. Wha… "The security system was outdated, extremely, other talented people with worst motives could have done the same."

"I see. And please tell us what the Vindice asked you to do once they found out what you did?"

"They...hired me to make a better security system." What? "At first they wanted to send me in jail, but instead they told me that if I could hack into their system so easily, I should make them a new one and I wouldn't be sent in jail."

"Would you say that, in a way, there was a good outcome to this?"

"Well, yes. It will be even more secured than it was before." Enzo was fuming and Iemitsu smiled politely at him.

Damn the Young Lion was showing claws and fangs.

Min-Jae went back to his seat.

"Before she was adopted, she was a hitman." God, what was that trash going to do now? "She killed many people, sometimes important people who should not have been killed. Now, she claims she was in a guild of assassins. I would like proof of that. Assassination is legal, it's a business, but simple murder is not. Rokudo Mukuro slaughtered many Families because he hates the Mafia, I am sure she did the same."

"She was trying to survive!" Dino yelled, standing up. His face was twisted by anger. Romario and Arro both got up and sat him down.

"No intervention Don Cavallone!" The Vindice on the left scolded him coldly. "Salvatorre, continue."

"I would like to ask the defense," Enzo said, turning to Iemitsu, "what they know about this 'guild'."

"The chief is called Simon." Enzo nodded exaggeratedly, pretending to be thinking hard. He put a finger against his lips, staring at the floor, and then looked up at my Boss, a finger raised, like a teacher in front of a child.

"Simon. Hum...there are thousands of them in Italy, millions in the world. It's not really precise. No last name? The name of the guild? The town they were based in? Nothing? How convenient. I ask for Arroaganza De Luca to testify."

"Objection!" Iemitsu roared. "Arroganza is one of Luciana's elements, he cannot testify for or against her!"

"Element? The girl was the Cloud Guardian of the previous Vongola heir, she can not possibly be a Sky."

"I want Trident Shamal to testify!"

"Granted." Shamal walked past me as I stretched out my legs in front of me, crossing my arms.

"When Luciana was adopted, you were hired to give her some tests to see the extent of the damage the Estraneos did to her, correct?"

"Yes."

"And what did you discover about her flames?"

"The serum she was given, based of Sun Flames, 'infected' her Sky Flames. The older she gets, the more Cloud Flames she gets and the less Sky Flames she has. Years from now she won't even have enough to make her Flame of Wrath." Huh, good to know.

"And at the age of six or seven, her flame was..."

"A good ninety percent I would say. When I examined her it was around eighty-five percent."

"So the good amount to synchronize with someone else?"

"Indeed."

"It still doesn't explain this 'Simon' you were talking about."

"Sawada Iemitsu," the Vindice from the middle said, "you mentioned Alaric Schlang as part of the defense but he has yet to arrive." Iemitsu's whole body became tense.

"He told me he had to get a particular document."

The guy, Enzo, kept emphasizing how I was a psychopath killer and that Simon did not exist and the only thing I could think of was how fucked up that was. I didn't care at the time, I had a roof above my head.

"You can say all you want about this 'Simon', whether he is real or not, but you can't deny she slaughtered dozens and dozens of people in that laboratory!" Pictures were projected on the wall, all of them displaying the bloody work of art I left behind me when I awakened my Flame.

I was not going to lie, I wanted to smirk at that. It was...somehow satisfying to see that.

"This!" Enzo almost screamed, pointing his finger at the pictures. "This is not the work of a child, of a murderer! It's the work of a monster that shouldn't be roaming free! She slaughtered a Family! Self-defense you're going to say? No, killing one man would have been self-defense, slaughtering this many is the work of a monster who should end their days in Vendicare!"

"So they're allowed to change my body structure, to open my skull, fry all of the stuff that made me register pain, reduce my life span by years and experimenting on dozens of children but I should have let them live their lives?" I interrupted coldly, glaring icily at the Enzo trash. "If you think I killed them only because of me, you're fucking wrong trash. There's a reason why Mukuro and I were the only survivors and it's because these trash killed all the other kids and you..."

"Silence!" I shut my mouth. Shit, that dude triggered me. Did he do it on purpose? "What does the defense have to say about this?"

"The Flame of Wrath is a rare flame. I don't think I need to explain how you awake it, the name is self-explanatory. Knowing the situation, I think we all know what happened."

"Please, don't you have better arguments?"

"We do!" I widened my eyes and grinned at Alaric, walking with confidence in his black suit, papers in hand. "I apologize for being so late, but your Boss allowed me to come."

"If he did," the middle one said flatly. My Mist walked straight to them and gave them the papers. The Vindice read them quickly before giving me a weird look. "If this is true, our decision will change drastically."

"I know."

"State your name!" I blinked in confusion.

"Luciana Cavallone."

"Knowledge of birth family?" I bit the inside of my cheek, hearing Dino behind me saying I had none.

"A Mafia Family," I replied. I did not want to look at my brother. "Alaric Schlang shared some information with me more than a year ago, saying I was related, on my biological father's side, to a Mafia Family, Family Alaric used to belong to and which is...linked to the Estraneo Family one way or another." Iemitsu gave me a knowing look.

The look that meant 'it wasn't just the Estraneos, it's you birth family that wants you back and they're connected to the Nishimuras it is bad Luciana very bad'.

"However he never told me anything more about them."

"And with reasons, if the papers are correct your biological father should have been sent in our cells decades ago. We have here a birth certificate belonging to Esperanza Maria Luciana Garcia Burguera. The trial is suspended until the claims are verified. Until then, she will remain in her cell. You may leave. The Sky's elements are allowed to have five minutes with her."

As people, and how I knew Dino was staring at me and dying to ask for explanations for hiding so much to him, I was embraced so tightly by Arro that it almost hurt. He was mumbling stuff in my hair and I patted his back in return, hoping he would let go. He did and wiped his eyes.

"Fuck I thought my grandma hating my guts and calling me my mom's murdered in my childhood was tough, it seems your family is even worse."

"Meh, I don't remember." He wrinkled his nose.

"But you stink though." I tried to punch with one of my metal thing on my hands but he dodged. "Heh, slow!"

"Shut up!" I looked up at Alaric when he put his hand on my hair. "Is it nice to be out of Namimori?"

"The occasion is not ideal Miss. How are you?" I shrugged.

"It's not a luxurious hotel." I caught of glimpse of the pictures still displayed on the wall. "Arro, I...he was going to..."

"I know, he wanted me to talk about my dad's murder," he finished for me with a sad smile.

"I would have killed him," I mumbled.

"No you wouldn't have."

"How can you..."

"You couldn't kill Dino because you saw a picture of him with his parents, he told me. There were a lot of family pictures in our house. It would have stopped you long enough for my dad to neutralize you."

"He brought up your hitman day?" I nodded at my Mist. "Well that's troublesome. You were not official."

"Huh?"

"It's...among civilians, some people can have problems with the law if they work off the books. It is...similar for hitmen. Usually in guilds the leader takes care of it, but as you were just following me and under my wing, Simon never declared you."

"Can't you find proof the guy exists?" Alaric nodded at Arro.

"I will give enough Intel to Iemitsu for that while I deal with the identity." I tilted my head.

"How so?" He smiled faintly.

"Do you remember me telling you I was working with someone who wanted to protect you?" I nodded. "It would be your uncle Miss." I gaped slightly at him.

"Uncle? She has a biological brother, a father who had business with the Estraneos and Nishimuras and an uncle who's trying but failing to protect her?" Arro summed up quickly. "Damn."

As I was led back to my cell, I kept thinking. A way to check my identity? My birth certificate indicated my third name was 'Luciana', the one I always knew. But the first one was 'Esperanza'. Who could possibly…

I gulped.

He probably knew.

"Hey! I want a phone call!" The Vindice patrolling in front of me stopped at my demanding tone. "They are checking stuff, I want to help them. I want a phone call."

I had it, and they didn't even show surprised when I asked for a particular number.

"Who's it?" a gruff voice said.

"Hey, how you're doing Xanxus?" I replied, trying to keep my voice from shaking. There was a silence on the phone. "Xanxus?"

"I'm here." I sighed in relief.

"Good, I need your help. I'm...in trouble."

"What kind?" He seemed wide awake out of sudden and I smiled softly.

"The Vindice kind."

"What?" he growled dangerously and I was relieved to be far from the obvious anger.

"I don't have the time to explain, I just need to know how you want to be introduced: brother or half-brother?"

"How is that relevant?"

"Just answer!" He grumbled something and finally said 'half-brother'. Good, it was good. "Right, same mother, that's good," I mumbled to myself. "Look, I...I'm going to give your name to the Vindice. They'll just ask you what my name is."

"It's a fucking joke Luciana? Can't the Cavallone give your name?"

"My name and the one on my birth certificate don't match."

"Don't tell me it's 'Esperanza'." I raised my brows so much they could have reached my hairline.

"How did you know?"

"That wrecked woman!" I pulled the phone away from my ear.

"Anyway, thanks, I have to go back to my cell, don't get involved in that and don't ask explanations to Dino or anyone! I'll tell you my..." The call was terminated.

"Time's over."

"I need to talk to the long-haired one. Jager you called him?" This Vindice...seemed more human than the others. Whatever, he brought me to Jager. "So...I have a half-brother, Xanxus, head of the VARIA." He gave me bored look.

"Do you now?"

"Yeah, he was there until I was two, two and a half. Go ask him about this 'Esperanza' shit."

I wanted my bed. Hell, I would let Kyoya bite me to death gladly if it meant stopping that shit.

Fratellanza

Thanks for reading this chapter! Thanks to animalanimal12 and LyriaHart for their reviews! I usually post once a week and yeah, not having a lot of reviews can be discouraging sometimes, I have to admit that x).