*sneaks away* Hope ya'll enjoy!

Kelsea Gunter was only too happy to show Rinascinta around Sydney. The day after the team landed, a week before the second round of World Championships were scheduled to start, she met them at the airport, and spent the day with the group at their hotel.

"Shouldn't you be training with Coastal Riders, or getting ready for the interview on Friday?" Amy asked, sprawled out over her bed. Jasmine was seated on the other bed in the room, painting Nero's nails and Lucas was sitting by the open window. King was laying on his stomach beside Amy, flipping through the stations on television.

Kelsea, from her perch in the chair by the window Lucas was seated in front of, gave her a small smile, "I should, but there's plenty of time for that. Besides, I enjoy your company! You're family, practically!"

The next day, after Rinascinta had woken up and had breakfast, they decided to go for a day out and see the sights. Kelsea volunteered to show them around, and they made a plan of going to visit the Sydney Opera House, the bridge climb at the Sydney Harbor Bridge, lunch, and then a shopping trip.

"Nope. Nope, I don't do heights well," Jasmine shook her head when she saw how high up the bridge climb went. "I'll stay down here."

"Your loss!" Nero chirped, looking excited at the potential sights.

Lucas raised his hand to shield his eyes against the sun, squinting, "… I think I'm with Jasmine on this."

Nero blinked at him, "What?"

"Sorry, Nero, but I'm not feeling it. Not today," Lucas shook his head.

"But Luuuuukeeee," Nero whined.

"Maybe later. Promise," Lucas said.

"… I'm holding you to that," Nero pouted.

Their next destination was the Westfield Sydney Mall, where the group split up into boys and girls. Kelsea, Jasmine, and Amy went off in one direction, while Lucas, Nero, and King went off in another.

"You two are the lesser of two evils," Lucas muttered, rubbing his temples. "You two are the lesser of two evils, you two are the lesser of two—"

"Are we being too much for you?" Nero asked, quietly, hearing his friend's mantra, "If you want, we can slow down a bit. I know you don't exactly do well with loud groups."

"It's not that you two are a loud group," Lucas answered with a sigh through his nose. "It's just… Crowded. And… yeah. You two are just… naturally energetic and it's just… I'm not trying to dull your fun, but—"

"Hey, I get it. Sometimes you just need a break," Nero answered with a gentle smile. "Wanna go to the food court and grab a snack? Maybe a quieter setting will help you settle down?"

"Maybe," Lucas sighed. "Yeah. I just need to swing by the bathroom first."

"Sure thing, King and I will wait," Nero waved a hand, and sped up a little. "Hey, King, wanna go grab a snack at the food court?"

Lucas didn't hear King's answer, ducking into the nearby men's restroom. It was surprisingly empty, which Lucas thanked quietly as he walked over to the sinks and turned the tap on. He splashed some water on his face and neck, head bowed and trying desperately to ignore the shaking in his hands.

His father had been reaching out, the last few weeks. Since the Festival of Warriors. Vague e-mails and text messages, but that's all they were. They weren't any direct threats, and while Julian had said to keep him updated on any sort of contact Caspian had with Lucas, Lucas… didn't think that unless there was an actual threat involved, that he needed to tell anyone.

He could handle it. He had handled it for fourteen years.

Lucas sighed, and did another wipe of his face with water, before turning the faucet off and then straightening. He looked up in the mirror—

And felt his heart stop in his chest.

CRASH.

Lucas cried out as Caspian McKandless threaded his hand through his hair and slammed his head into the mirror. His vision went blurry, his head pounding in time with his heartbeat. He yelped as Caspian jerked him back by the hair and whipped him around, shoving him up against the sink counter. Lucas bit back a groan, the edge of the counter digging sharply into the small of his back as Caspian leaned in closer, grip curled tight into the collar of Luke's shirt.

"Your wish has been granted, son," Caspian sneered. "I've decided to pay you a visit."

"Please…" Lucas whispered, wide eyed, "Father, I—"

"Shut your mouth," Caspian growled. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused me? All those warrants and orders those lawyers of that friend of yours have served me? He's nothing more than a weak-minded fool anyways, and I know I raised you better than that."

"Raised me?" Lucas rasped, a flare of anger filling his chest, "You call what you did to me, raising me?!"

With a cry of anger, Lucas jerked forward, slamming his head into Caspian's nose and knocking him back. Caspian snarled in anger, and Lucas took the distraction for what it was, rushing for the door.

"Get back you little bastard—" Caspian snarled and grabbed Luke's arm, roughly, and shoved him into a wall, "You're not getting away from me that easy!"

"Let me go!" Lucas shouted, turning on Caspian with a growl, "I'm not your toy anymore!"

"And that's where you're wrong," Caspian hissed, shoving himself up against the shorter teen. Lucas froze, breath stuttering in his throat, "Now, listen to me, and listen well you rat. You're going to do exactly what I say, understand?"

"And… And if I don't?" Lucas raised his chin, jaw clenching.

Caspian scowled in response and slammed his elbow into the side of Luke's face. The teen yelped, and slumped down to the tile floor, covering his head with his arms and pulling his knees close.

"Because if you don't, I'll gladly put a bullet through that your bastard brother's and whore mother's skulls, get it?" Caspian growled.

Lucas whined, "No… No, please. Don't."

"Then you will listen to me," Caspian said, darkly. "Do I make myself clear, son?"

Lucas whimpered, "Y-Yes…"

"What was that?" Caspian crouched down, elbows on his knees.

"Yes, sir…"

"Good. Now, here's what I want you to do—"

Whatever Caspian was going to say, he never got to say it. The door to the bathroom banged open, startling both Lucas and Caspian. Lucas peeked between his arms, relief flooding his system at seeing Nero standing in the doorway, expression a mask of fury.

"Leave him the fuck alone," Nero rasped.

"Or what?" Caspian sneered, standing, "What will you do?"

"You underestimate me, McKandless," Nero drawled. "I've got a friend notifying mall security that a dangerous individual is on the premises and that he's attacked someone already. I've also called the cops, too. They're on the way. You're not getting away."

Caspian's expression twisted into rage, "I'm sure they'll be more than lenient if I have a couple of important names as my hostages."

"Wanna try your luck? One look at the charges you're facing, and I'm willing to bet it's a shoot first, questions later situation," Nero snapped right back. No sooner had he finished his statement than alarms began to blare out through the shopping mall, "You wanna roll the dice and take that chance?"

Caspian growled, and made to lunge at Nero. Nero stumbled backwards, knocking into the wall just beside the door, eyes going wide as the man got his hands around his neck. Moving quickly, Lucas lunged forward and knocked Caspian down with a roundhouse kick. With a shout, the older man fell to the floor, and Lucas scrambled to his feet. Nero struck, grabbing Luke's arm, and then the two of them were out of the bathroom and into the main court, ducking in with the crowd that was being escorted out of the building.

"No arguments, Lucas, you're going to a hospital to get checked out, got it?" Nero murmured, and only received a mute nod in response. Panic and anxiety threatened to choke Nero, but he forced it down and into the back of his mind.

Once they had reached the hospital and Lucas taken in to be checked out, Nero left his teammates and Kelsea to discuss things in the waiting room, and found a quiet stairwell. He leaned against the wall, and slid to the floor, before breaking down into quiet sobs, his emotions flooding out now that they had the chance to.

When Nero finally came back to himself, his emotional breakdown having left him raw and exhausted, Nero managed to pull his phone out and dial a number that was second nature to him, and only hoping someone would answer.

"Konzern residence," Ricardo's voice was a soothing balm on Nero's frazzled nerves.

"Ricardo," Nero croaked.

"Master Nero," Ricardo said, sounding just a bit surprised. "Is everything alright, young man? You sound... upset."

Nero chuckled bitterly, "You could say that, yeah. Is... is Julian up, yet?"

"You know as well as I do, he doesn't get up early on his days off. It's currently just before six here," Ricardo answered, amusement vaguely coloring his voice.

Nero paused, "... Right. Time differences."

"I can leave a message for him, if you'd like, but I believe you'd be able to do that as easy as I can," Ricardo said. "But I'd wait until-"

"I can't wait," Nero sighed. "Lucas was just attacked by his dad."

Ricardo paused.

Nero waited.

"I see," Ricardo mused, voice now tight with thinly veiled anger. "Please hold, Nero, and I'll return with your brother shortly."

"Master Julian… Sir, wake up, it's urgent,"

The thing about Julian Konzern was… he was not a morning person. It generally took him a cup of coffee, a hot shower, and a big breakfast with another two cups of coffee before he felt ready to face any day. So, when he had days off, he welcomed them like a kid did Christmas Day.

Unfortunately, Ricardo was currently throwing the plan of sleeping in on the first day of his week long vacation, out the window. Julian took a deep breath and buried himself deeper under his warm blankets.

"Ricardo, what time is it?" Julian asked, voice low and rough.

"Just after six, sir, however—"

"So, whatever it is you say is urgent, had better be urgent. It's my day off, and you know I don't like to be disturbed before ten—"

"I have Master Nero on hold, sir. He's currently sitting in a hospital waiting room in Sydney, because Caspian McKandless not only violated his restraining order on young Lucas, but also because he attacked him,"

That woke Julian up faster than being late to a meeting could. He sat upright, threw the covers back on his bed, and walked straight into his closet.

"Ricardo," Julian called, as he began to change clothes.

"Sir?"

"Tell Nero that myself and Excalibur are on our way to Sydney," Julian ordered.

"Yes, sir. What else would you have me do?"

"Call the airport, have them ready the jet. I want to be in the air in no less than two hours,"

"Yes, sir,"

"Wake the others, if they aren't already, and tell them what's happening, and to get ready. Also, call Antonio, and let him know of the situation. If he can, have him get an arrest warrant for Caspian McKandless," Julian said.

"Of course, sir," Ricardo answered. "Is that all?"

"Cancel or get all my meetings rescheduled for next week. I plan to stay with Rinascinta through the interviews and next round of battle. Longer, if I have to," Julian replied.

"Of course. Consider it all done, sir," Ricardo said. There were footsteps, and then Julian's bedroom door closing.

Julian sighed, now that he was alone, hands curling into fists. He took a few deep breaths, getting his thoughts together, before he relaxed his body, and began to gather clothes to pack.

Caspian wouldn't get away with this.

Somewhere in the mansion, even through walls and down long hallways, Julian heard Wales' voice.

"WHAT?!"

Julian pulled his suitcases out and started packing.

Nero jolted awake when he felt something sharp jab into his forehead, just over his eye, "Ow! Christ, Amy, don't you ever clip your nails?"

"It's called having a manicure, sweetie, I thought you knew me by now," A familiar, amused voice replied, and Nero squinted against the florescent lights above him to see Sophie standing over him. "Have you been here since you called Ricardo?"

"Ng," Nero answered, barely coherent. "What time is it?"

"It's the next morning, dear," Sophie crouched down, balancing on her feet despite the four-inch heels and skirt she was wearing. "You've been here all night, according to the doctors. Wales is signing off on paperwork so Lucas can be released, Julian's on the phone with his lawyers, and Klaus is searching for coffee."

"Hm," Nero hummed, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Where are the others?"

"My guess, they're all still at the hotel. Julian didn't notice you when we came in, so I have to ask… did you really spend the night here in the hospital waiting room?"

"I'm not related to Lucas so I couldn't stay in the room with him. They wanted to keep him overnight to monitor him for a concussion," Nero muttered. "The others went on back to the hotel but told me to keep them updated."

"How much sleep did you get, Nero?" Sophie asked, lips twitching.

"Eh. What's sleep?"

Sophie sighed and shook her head, looking up as a shadow fell over her. Klaus handed a coffee to Nero, and took a sip of his own, "You look like hell."

"Thanks," Nero deadpanned, and then promptly drained half of his to-go cup in just a few gulps.

"Easy there, dear," Sophie stood up, and then sat in the empty chair beside Nero. "Don't want to give yourself the jitters."

"Nero?" Nero looked up at his brother's voice, "When did you get here?"

Nero cocked an eyebrow, "I've been here."

"… Did you sleep in a chair all night?" Julian sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I plead the fifth,"

"You're Italian,"

"Your point?"

Julian's eyes scrunched closed tighter, and he took a deep breath through his nose, and then let it go, "What happened yesterday?"

Nero sighed, "Kelsea was just showing us around Sydney, and we went to the mall for some shopping. We split up into two groups and decided to meet up later to head back out for dinner. Lucas was getting overwhelmed, so I distracted King while he stepped into the bathroom to get himself together." Nero swallowed, throat clicking and dry. He took another sip of coffee, "I looked away for a minute, Jules. Just a minute and—"

Sophie reached out and ran her hand through Nero's hair, soothing the blonde before he could work himself up. Nero took a deep breath and then continued.

"When Lucas didn't return after a few minutes, I thought, maybe it was a bad anxiety or panic attack of some sort, and decided to check on him, but then… Then I heard Caspian's voice through the door and—I called the others. Told King to get security and tell them that there was a dangerous criminal in the building and to evacuate, call the cops… I went in after that, and… Caspian wasn't doing anything, he was just standing over him, but Lucas… he was just curled up, so terrified and he wasn't even reacting, Jules. Least, until Caspian tried to attack me."

Julian went very still, eyes narrowing to slits, "What."

Nero's head snapped up, "Wait—I—"

"Did he get his hands on you?" Julian crouched down so he was at eye level with his brother, "Nero, did he touch you?"

"N… No," Nero shook his head, but from the way he didn't meet anyone's eyes told a different story.

"Nero," Julian said. "Please, you can tell me. Did he hurt you?"

"… He choked me," Nero admitted, quietly, and when Julian cursed, he rushed to reassure his brother. "But—But it was only for a minute, Julian, I'm fine!"

"Did you even tell a doctor?"

"No, Julian, I'm fine, really!"

Julian narrowed his eyes at Nero, staring him down. Nero met his gaze and lifted his chin until Julian sighed, and rubbed his forehead, "You swear you're fine?"

"Yes, Julian, I'm fine. It didn't even bruise!"

Julian opened one eye to glare at Nero.

"… Not making my case any better, am I?"

"No. You're not,"

"Right. Well, I'll shut up then,"

"A small blessing, considering your energy levels," A familiar voice drawled, and three heads snapped up towards the doorway. "Nero, you pushed Lucas to get checked out by medical, the least you could have done was follow your own advice."

"Lucas!" And any exhaustion Nero felt was gone in a split second, as he rocketed to his feet and rushed over to his friend. He stopped just short of the taller teen, rocking on his feet, "Are you okay? I'm sorry I didn't realize sooner—"

Lucas swallowed, "Yeah. I- I'm fine. I've had worse."

Behind Lucas, Wales scowled, and his eyes narrowed to slits.

Nero deflated, "I should have just… stayed with you…"

"I- I brought it upon myself any- anyways," Lucas whispered.

"Bull fucking shit," Wales growled. "How can you say that you brought this upon yourself?"

"Yeah, man, no one asks to be beaten!" King piped up, as he, Amy, and Jasmine seemed to materialize out of nowhere, "Uh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you. But, why would you think you deserved what you got?"

"King's right," Amy nodded. "Why would you think that?"

Lucas' eyes flickered to the floor, curling his arms around himself, "It's true though, i-isn't it? I… I provoked him. Sent… Sent Andrew and Andrea away with… with that message…"

Go back to my father and tell him that if has a message for me, he can deliver it to me himself—in person.

"No," Wales growled again. He grabbed Lucas by the shoulders, spinning him around to face him, "Lucas, I don't care what you say, nothing justifies him beating you! Nothing you say, nothing you do!"

Lucas stared, wide eyed, up at his brother, "I—I—"

"Do you understand me?" Wales shook Lucas lightly, eyes burning with anger.

"Wales," Jasmine stepped in, voice soft as she laid a gentle hand on Wales' forearm. "Wales, let him go. You're scaring him."

Wales blinked, the anger fading, and then he recoiled as though he'd been burned. Lucas stumbled backwards, shaking, and into Nero. Said blonde grabbed him and wrapped his arms around him, giving Wales a dark look.

There was a moment of tension among the group, everyone poised to move but unsure of how to move. Eventually, Wales turned on his heel and walked away, stalking down the hospital hallway and turning a corner, disappearing from view.

"Oh, dear," Sophie mused.

"I've got him," Klaus said. "You guys get Lucas back to the hotel, and we'll catch up with you later."

There was a round of affirmatives from the group, as Klaus gave chase to his redheaded friend.

"C'mon, Luke," Nero murmured. "Let's get you somewhere you can actually rest for a while, yeah?"

Nero startled at the knock on his and Luke's hotel room door, dropping his phone on the bed. He glanced across the room, at Lucas, who was asleep in the bed closest to the windows. Frowning, and wondering who could possibly be at their door at eleven o' clock at night, Nero picked his phone back up and made his way slowly to the door. Peeking through the peephole, he made a noise of surprise as he undid the locks and opened the door, "Julian, Klaus. What are you two doing here?"

"You and I need to talk," Julian sighed, sounding as tired as he looked. Nero felt a twinge of guilt in his chest; Julian probably hadn't had time to wake up when he'd called yesterday afternoon, and to suddenly be in a country ten hours ahead of what he was used to was probably not doing wonders for his sleep regimen.

Nero bit his lower lip and glanced over his shoulder, back into the hotel room, "... Can it wait?"

"I'll stay with Lucas, don't worry," Klaus said, as he stepped forward. "I'll call if anything happens, promise."

"... Fine. Let me get some shoes on," Nero shut the door and ducked back into the room. He moved quietly, pulling on his sneakers and throwing on a jacket. He pocketed his phone and keycard, before rejoining Klaus and Julian in the hallway. Klaus moved silently by him and into the hotel room, shutting the door quietly behind him.

"Let's take a walk," Julian tilted his head and Nero followed him down the hallway and towards the elevators.

"What's going on?" Nero asked, when the silence became too much for him to bear, "Why'd you drag me out at such a late hour?"

"What are you doing up at such a late hour?" Julian replied, "I was on the phone with Antonio a lot today, trying to determine what course of actions he could take against Caspian, and it's just turning into a mess of paperwork, more than anything else."

"We've known this for years, now, I fail to see why this warrants dragging me away from a warm bed," Nero drawled in response. "Caspian has a habit of showing up and then vanishing before anyone can get their hands on him, and his lawyers keep fielding the warrants Antonio throws at him. I'm hardly surprised that the same happened after yesterday's events."

Julian hummed, and Nero sighed as they stepped into the elevators. Given the late hour, they were the only ones in it. Julian pressed the button to the ground floor, and Nero's stomach dropped a little as they began to descend.

"C'mon, Jules, what's really eating at you?" Nero asked, leaning against the back wall of the car.

Julian grumbled under his breath a little, something about 'too perceptive' and 'why do I do this', but Nero knew there was no heat behind the mutterings. He just waited until Julian gathered his thoughts.

"I wanted to check in with you," Julian finally said. When Nero didn't say anything, he continued, "How much did yesterday affect you, Nero? Ricardo said you sounded like you were on your way to a breakdown or had just had one when you called, and by your own admission, you slept in the hospital's waiting room all night last night."

Nero sighed, and pushed his hands into his jacket's pockets, "Yeah, because I did break down. Nothing I couldn't deal with though. What was I supposed to do anyways? Keep pushing it back until I had a major meltdown of some sort? I've done that before and I don't want to repeat it."

"Fair enough, but you do remember what your therapist said, right?" Julian asked, quietly, "It still helps to talk about your emotions even if you can sort through them yourself."

Nero... really didn't want to do this. He'd much rather Julian had just left this alone, instead of reaching out. This... situation. It wasn't like the aftermath of Hades City or... forced arrangements. All Nero had done was tell Caspian McKandless off because someone he cared about had been in trouble. That was the truth. There were no similarities between what had happened yesterday and what had happened four years ago.

... Who was he kidding though? He was lying to himself and lying to everyone around him. It... The arrangements hadn't been forced, in the end. The threat of them being forced had been real, in the beginning. When Ziggurat had first kidnapped him and told him what he was willing to do in order to keep Julian in line, Nero had resisted, but then Ziggurat had turned around and dropped other options he had at his disposal- Letting Damian use Julian as some sort of chew toy, putting Julian through arrangements, and other creative ways to break the elder brother down until he was loyal only to Ziggurat and thought of nothing else.

Was it forced, though? If Nero had agreed to the arrangements to keep Julian from suffering any more than he had? It... it wasn't like he'd been forced into the arrangement pods. He'd climbed in himself. He'd agreed to them, so they weren't... they weren't forced! He'd... he'd consented! Even if he hadn't wanted to do it, he'd agreed...

"-ro? Nero? Nero!"

Nero jerked back into the present when a hand touched his arm, jumping in surprise and banging his head against the wall of the elevator car behind him. He cursed in Italian, reaching up to rub the back of his head.

"Are you alright?" Julian asked, blue eyes full of worry as he searched Nero's face for something, "You checked out for a few seconds there-"

"I agreed to the arrangements," Nero blurted, and then clamped his hands over his mouth with a yelp.

Julian froze, eyes wide. He was silent for a few seconds too long, prompting Nero to swallow the lump in his throat and continue, "I... I was just doing it to keep Ziggurat from getting his hands on you! He... He said he'd let Damian finish what he started, or- or put you through an arrangement, or anything to break you down further and I- I couldn't let it happen, Julian! I didn't- I know it was stupid to agree, and I didn't want to do it, honest, but I..." Nero choked on a sob, "Julian, please, just say something- tell me I was an idiot- anything, but just- don't stand there!"

"I wish I could say I was surprised," Julian finally said, quietly. "But... I'm not."

"W... What?" Nero questioned, confused.

"That's your fatal flaw, fratellino, always has been," Julian replied, releasing his hold on Nero's arm but not stepping away. "Your loyalty and self sacrificing tendencies. You'll do anything to protect those you care about."

"I..." Nero swallowed, absorbing Julian's words and realizing that he was right. He sighed, tiredly, "I'd do it again, if I had to."

"I know you would," Julian said. "Just... promise me something?"

"What?" Nero asked, warily.

"I don't mind you being loyal to those you love, but... unless it's an absolute last resort, I don't want you sacrificing yourself for them. You need to have some self preservation."

"... I can't... promise that, but I can agree that I can at least try," Nero replied, slowly.

"Good enough," Julian sighed, as the elevator doors opened on the ground floor. The two brothers stepped out, and Nero followed Julian, who seemed to have no real destination in mind.

Nero was just beginning to relax, exaltation flooding his system at having finally told Julian his secret. And... Julian didn't seem mad about it. He wasn't upset, and that relieved Nero greatly. Nero really had lucked out, with Julian as his brother. Julian might get angry or upset at some things Nero did, but he usually took the time to try and see things from Nero's perspective before he confronted his brother about whatever was wrong. Nero was grateful for Julian.

"By the way... how's that crush of yours on Lucas?" Julian asked.

... Correction, Nero hated his brother with every fiber of his being. Yep. Hated him. Absolutely. There was absolutely nothing redeemable in his brother.

"Who wants to know?" Nero frowned.

"Well, as your brother, I need to know what the progress is in the relationship department so I know when the appropriate time to give Lucas the shovel talk is,"

"..."

"..."

"I hate you."

We had enough angst, so I had to throw in some fluff :D please don't kill me!

Leave a review and let me know what you think! Until next time, ciao!