The door slams shut, a resounding bang that coats Verde's mouth with a sour taste. Aria won't be back for a few weeks at the least. She knows better than not listening to one of Reborn's orders, no matter how harshly it was given. He hates that it's come to this but everything has to be just right if they want to be able to get their Cloud back under control long enough to try and fix everything. It doesn't mean he has to enjoy the steps.

Turning away Verde takes an annoyed breath and fixes his perfectly straight glasses. "That was harsh, even for you." It's obvious why it had to be done, but just watching Reborn strip away the girl's confidence was painful, not to mention completely unfair to her.

Reborn scoffs from where he's still watching the door Aria fled from. "She shattered the small amount of peace we had when she tried to force further harmonization with us all. If she'd been any type of good Sky she'd have know she couldn't keep you contained under her Sky, much less the rest of us." Reborn shuts his eyes, rubbing at them distractedly. He looks tired, Verde notices for the first time since Skull ran away. Tired and sad.

That she started with Skull Reborn doesn't say, but Verde hears anyways. They both know if Aria would have started this with anyone else Reborn would never have disowned her and striped her so throughly of all her influence on them, if for no other reason then Yuni.

Verde doesn't want to make this worse for the Sun but he can't deny he also feels a small level of cruel anticipation for Reborn's pain. They all drove Skull away, Verde knows that, but it's also undisputed that Reborn has always been the main reason why Skull avoided them. So he can't help but add, "It's still Luce's daughter, Reborn." He knows the other man already knows this and while normally he hates having to repeat obvious information, this time it needs to be actively acknowledged.

Reborn doesn't disappoint with his snapped reply. "It's entirely because she's Luce's daughter that she should know better." He said simply. "She was raised knowing she couldn't have us, maybe she didn't know why but she knew it wasn't possible. She has no excuse."

But Verde wouldn't be satisfied until Reborn understands exactly what he's trying to say, "She may have been raised to act as our Sky but she was still a child when we all.. when Skull changed. She couldn't have known you'd go this far from her pushing for the impossible." Verde wants to reach out to the Sun, wants to help him in some way because even with all their differences and all their fights, they still understand each other better then any of the others ever had.

Their cut from the same cloth, Reborn and him. Both bastards who thought more than they'd ever admit to feeling and feeling more than they'd ever show. It wasn't hard to to understand each other.

Because while all the Arcobaleno were criminals, it was only the two of them who had ever really been involved in wet works. Reborn was an asshole through and through, but he was also someone Verde would trust at his back. Just as long as he wasn't emotionally compromised like he seemed to be now.

Glancing Skull's (his) old bike out of the corner of his eye, Verde could almost see all the places that'd been dented, all the places where he'd helped to push out the metal over the years. He couldn't help but think he also might be compromised due to this situation. "You're pushing she imitated."

Reborn's tilts his fedora down to try and hide his eyes, but it does nothing to cover his tensing jaw. "….I miscalculated." Reborn said shortly. And ah, that does makes sense, the Sun hated to admit to any type of mistake made on his part.

What should be his response? "It's unlike you to admit to that." He tries first, when Reborn doesn't respond in any perceivable way he goes with a different tactic. "..How badly?"

That gets a response he was not, in any way, expecting. "He wasn't planning on breaking apart from us." Reborn says then clamps his jaw shut hard at whatever look is on Verde's face.

'What? Of course he was going to leave, that was the whole issue! The idiot had jumped ship again at the worst possible time. If he'd just held on a little longer-" But no, Verde had to stop thinking those types of thoughts, they didn't help in figuring out what to do now because no matter why or what happened the result was Skull being gone.

Reborn shifts further towards him without looking away from his face, the burning line of his arm brushing up against Verde's lab coat. "He was going to leave. I could tell by the look in his eyes when he saw me." Reborn stops abruptly again.

Verde can't help but wait impatiently when Reborn quiets again. How hard can it be to talk about what happe- oh. Yes, well.. It would be quite hard for Reborn to talk about this. He should try to be more… sympathetic. Ugh.

"And then?"

Reborn's hand, out of no-wear, curls around Verde's arm tightly. If they were any other men he'd swear it was for comfort. But something about the gleam in Reborn's black, black eyes says something very different is going on. "….I wouldn't let him go. I told him what I thought he wanted to hear and the next thing I know we're screaming at each other and he's inside a giant ball of wood I couldn't break through."

That sentence stops Verde in his mental tracks. All that's starts running through his head is What? "A.. giant wooden ball? You said the same thing earlier but- Reborn that doesn't make any sense. "

Reborn wasn't listening to him anymore though. Caught in the memory he continued gleefully. "He Propagated the wood into something so hard I couldn't break through. It couldn't even be classified as 'wood' anymore. Nothing would break it. Not Leon, not my Flames, nothing."

"But Skull barely has any idea how to use his Flames." Verde spluttered unwillingly in denial. "I would know with how thoroughly I- we- he was tested. All he has is his 'immortality!' "

Reborn snaps his eyes back to Verde and his smile is maliciously possessive. "Your not listening, Verde. I couldn't break through." Reborn waits for that to sink in, the hand on Verde's arm where Reborn's grasping it digs in. "Me."

Verde swallows nervously. Reborn's released the iron control of his Flames slightly, leaving them to burn around the lightning in pleased pulses. Dangerous and beautiful. "I've killed hundreds of thousands of people. To meet me during the Flame Wars was to court Death. What Skull did shouldn't have just been impossible, even more then breaking our bonds, It should have been so out of the realm of possibility it could be considered a miracle."

Reborn's other hand comes up to grasp the nape of Verde's neck, forcing him to really listen to Reborn's words. To take them, and all their implications in. "You should have seen him. He was breathtaking. If Skull had used those Flames during the Arcobaleno Trials he would have been able to match me head on. It was… dangerous. Chaotic." Reborn finishes rapturously.

This was… this was insane. Skull knowing how to use his Flames? Knowing this entire time and none of them having any idea? It was ludicrous. There was just no way. "And the… dreamscape you made Viper drag you both into?" Verde's hand rose to clench onto Reborn's for some type of anchor in this whirlwind conversation.

For once Reborn had no problem sharing information. He seemed almost proud of the knowledge. "Confirmation that it wasn't a fluke. That I was right."

Purple eyes spitting vitriol and acid towards him, a long body he'd spent to many one night stands imagining, and a strength that he'd never truly expected from Skull, even with all his pushing.

"No one equals me. No one ever has and we all thought no one ever would." He continued with an arrogance that would have normally had Verde's back up in offense, but just made him uncomfortable with how close they were with each other. He really wished Reborn would release him. Physical touch was uncomfortable normally, this was just excessive. "Reborn, I don't think…"

"I knew he was stronger then he acted, we all did, but I never thought he'd actually go that far to hide it. After seeing what he can do with his Flames… He collapsed Vipers dream sequence before they wanted it. Viper is the Strongest Mist in the world right now, that's not something people just do." He murmured distracted, seemingly to himself despite Verde literally being within his hands. "I don't understand him. Why he's hidden it, why he's let everything that's happened happen. I don't know." Reborn, the freak, actually looked delighted at that realization.

And Verde couldn't take it anymore. He wrestled himself out of Reborn's grasp and turned to point accusingly at the Sun. "You know how he is, you simpleton! Of course he would do something that shouldn't be possible if your the one confronting him! You two, I swear you're both like Azidoazide Azide when put together."

The mood shifted to a lighter note after that and Reborn thankfully let it happen. Verde had some things he had to come to terms with after learning how very strong Skull actually was and being attached to Reborn while he obsessed was not the place or time. If Skull had always been this strong.. it put many things between him and Skull into a very different light. All those dark nights between them. What did they mean with this new information?

Reborn's scoff thankfully pulled him out of his darkening thoughts before he could really get into them.

"We are not that bad."

Verde smirked at his disbelieving face, "You definitely are. Do you not remember the mission in China? Fon wouldn't talk to either of you for weeks."

Reborn sniffed imperiously but Verde could see the small uptick of the corners of his mouth. " I seem to recall that mission going extremely well."

Verde relaxed even further, "Oh yes, of course. Especially after you threatened the Emperors son."

Reborn twitched at the thought of the pretty heir apparent that had chased after Skull the entire time they'd been there. Just like every time the story was told. "Luce would have been very upset if we had left Skull there to ruin the relations between the Mafia and Triads."

Poking at Reborn's crush never got old. Not in all the years they'd known each other. "Luce would have understood. Skull himself would have been overjoyed if they way he was looking at the prince was any indication." It was honestly one of the only things all the Arcobaleno would bond over.

Reborn hmphed like a teenage girl, not that he'd ever admit to it. "It would have been an insult to the emperors house. The Lackey isn't anywhere near pretty enough for that kids harem."

The lengths this man would go to… "The "kid" seemed happy enough until you put a gun to his head and shot his knee out when he tried to grab Skull back from your choke hold."

"He touched my hat."

Verde sighed, lips pursing so not to smile, thinking back on that "horrible" mission. "Only because you forced it down over Skull's eyes so he couldn't fight back. I know, you know he was grabbing for Skull."

"All speculation."

"Skull wouldn't stop whining about it for weeks."

They both softened slightly thinking on their missing teammate. With how long they're all been together it might be more appropriate to call Skull their soulmate. With how much it hurt when he tore himself away from them, it felt like he'd taken a little bit of their souls with him when he left. "We have to get him back, Reborn. I might not ever be able to make it up to him but… the least I can do is protect him as much as he'll let me."

"..I know. I'll find him." Reborn said lowly.

But that's not what he'd meant. "We'll find him. He's all of ours after all." It wouldn't do to put all the pressure on Reborn when he was already stretched so thin.

Reborn's eyes lifted towards Verde's, expression as soft as it ever got away for Tsunayoshi. "We'll find him."

Verde turned away from Reborn to look out the window at Skulls bike once more time."You have to tell him, Reborn. I know it didn't matter when were all infants. When we thought we'd die like that but.." he could feel his throat tight up. "It can't go on like this any longer. Whatever this is, wherever this goes, it's got to stop."

Verde swallows roughly at the gleam of purple in the yard then turned and left the room.

Reborn, completely alone at last, stands motionless in front of the desk with all their information on Skull's wearabouts, hands clenched against the wood leaving sizzling prints, before, in a rush of rage, he swipes all of the items off it. Cell phones and electronics go flying, shattering on impact with the ground and walls. Maps and papers split down the middle or burn in spots Reborns hand touched before floating down to the floor, different glasses shatter into hundreds of small pieces.

Reborn presses his forehead against the cool glass of the window pan and squeezes his eyes shut. The place where that most treasured bond used to be aches.

"I know."

Let's cause a little trouble
Oh, you make me feel so weak
I bet you kiss your knuckles
Right before they touch my cheek

Verde stands in the hall listening to Reborn's short tantrum and stares at nothing. So much has changed in such a short amount of time, the knowledge that Skull allowed him do so those…. things to him, when he could have killed Verde at any point was hard to swallow.

Impossible to comprehend.

The Immortal Skull. A title Skull'd had even before Checker Face had dropped him on the others. A title Verde had made sure was true before he'd ever known Skull was supposed to be the Cloud in their Sky. A title Skull hated. He had so many titles he hated, not that the others had ever noticed with how often he flung them around.

Skull; The Man Hated by Death Himself. A title that was so far from the actual truth it was laughable. But one that had become so common in the Mafia none of the Children who grew up hearing it so much as questioned what it meant.

The Hitman Reborn, to know him was to know Death .

Verde laughed horsley to himself, "Ridiculous. The both of them." Fixing his glasses Verde ignored the wetness lingering in his eyes. "And all of us who forgot that stupid title was twofold."

But I've got my mind, made up this time
'Cause there's a menace in my bed
Can you see his silhouette?

Skull can still feel him.

It's been days, almost a full week since he escaped that hell hole and he could still feel him and it wasn't fucking fair. He'd done everything he could to distance himself from them, used every ounce of his Flames to burn out that fucking leash, used his Dying Will to just get free.

And because of fucking Reborn he was still tethered to all of them.

Skull screamed out in unholy rage. The forest he'd stopped in when he'd finally recognized what all these feeling still inside him where was gone. Miles around him in every way were filled with emptiness. He'd almost completely lost it, wanted something to hurt as much as he was, wanted something somewhere to feel the sheer rage that boiled in his blood. It hurt. Everything hurt. Thinking hurt, missing them hurt, his own Flames hurt from when he'd torn into them to try and do anything to get rid of that hand print.

Burying his face in his hands Skull cried alone in a decimated forest as he tried to think of what to do, fully convinced that life just wasn't fucking fair.

Because he'd need a Sky. Someone who know more about this bullshit then he did. Because that's what this was, fucking Flame bullshit in the shape of a handprint.

He… didn't have anyone to go to. Like hell he'd tell the Varia he was vulnerable right now, Enma and his family were all Earth Flame users, all of his friends were either civilians who had no idea about Flames or petty criminals that wouldn't be able to help him and going to the Vongola was just stupid.

Vongola…

He… he knew Reborn didn't he? Knew how that man's mind worked better than anyone's unfortunately. He'd want to get Vongola's help. But Viper..

Viper was Varia. Viper was Varia and possessive. They wouldn't want to share, and what had the Varia been searching for?

A Cloud. A free Cloud, like Skull was now. (More or less anyways.)

There'd be no way Viper would want the Varia anywhere near him right now. Not when they think of all the Arcobaleno as theirs. So.. so Viper would probably convince the others to not relay on Vongola's help and as far as they knew Viper was his closest friend.

Tsunayoshi owed him a favor.

Was he.. Was he actually going to go to Reborn's staunchest allies and demand they get his hand-print shaped brand off Skull's ankle? Was he really that desperate?

Yes. Yes, he really fucking was.

To Vongola it was then, and if he was wrong and Viper hadn't been able to convince Reborn to not go to his most powerful student..

Skull smiled ominously. None of them had any idea just how capable and willing he was to keep this freedom.

But first…

He needed to pay his respects one last time.

And I've got my mind, made up this time
Go on and light a cigarette, set a fire in my head
Set a fire in my head, tonight

Elsewhere

Tsunayoshi Sawada, now known largely as Tsunayoshi Vongola, Tenth Don of the Vongola Famiglia dropped to his knees in the middle of a meeting with a rival Family. Giant tears fell down his cheeks as he choked somethings about Insane Skulls coming to kill him before passing over in a dead faint.

The Decimo's Cloud Guardian instantly flipped the center table through a window the moment his Boss went down ( presumably to take the attention off his said unconscious boss) and all hell broke loose.

Later, when Tsuna woke up he found out, no, it was not all just a dream, his Intuition was still insisting Skulls (what does that even mean?!) were coming to make sure he died in the crossfire between fleeing Freedom and chasing Chaos.

And that he needed to restock the liquor cabinet.

And put lube in every possible corner of the manor if he didn't want to be woken up (or walk into- or stumble upon- or be yelled at when- or be dragged into- but he was ignoring that part. He was determinedly ignoring that part.) in the middle of the night from people (Multiple!? What the fuck was going to happen to have more than one-) rummaging around in his nightstand table.

Also, that he apparently owns the Rival Families ( who he was pretty sure he'd been trying to get to join the Alliance peacefully. ) stuff. Like, all of it. All of the stuff.

Wasn't there a table here earlier?

Would you lie for me?
Cross your sorry heart and hope to die for me?

Would you pin me to a wall?
Would you beg or would you crawl?
Stick a needle in your hungry eyes for me?

—

Hmm, when you met me, when you met me
You told me you were gonna get me.

(A.U. So. Recently a guest caught something no one else had yet. What Reborn did in the dream sequence, while very hot, was sexual assault.

Maybe in the future something like that would be ok between them (they are both very kinky individuals in my story) but rn? It really wasn't. Skull did not want it.

Reborn isn't a complete monster tho. He's Mafia but he's not a rapist. What Reborn did was to hopefully, send Skull into a rage so he could see if Skull could actually control his Flames to the degree he did when he ripped their bonds out. It was a cruel, horrible test.

But that was all it was

(And it worked!)

Believe me when I say, Reborn knows consent is sexy. And while there might be some dub-ish content later when Reborn tries to Seduce™ Skull, please remember this is a fanfiction. Everything is 100% consensual unless otherwise stated. Skull is just as in love (maybe) with Reborn as Reborn is with him. But it's gonna take a long, long while before anything happens. They have a lot of issues to get through first.

Edit: MULTIPLE PEOPLE HAVE CAUGHT THIS.