A/N: I don't own anything.

Chapter 3

Years ago, right after he had joined the mafia, Reborn had been quite happy to remain unattached, free, able to do whatever he pleased, to make a name for himself, and in no hurry to find himself a Sky or a Famiglia at all.

It had taken years before his Flames had truly started to feel the longing for a Sky. Long after he had attained a name that had his enemies and targets tremble in fear and Famiglias lining up to recruit him, to somehow catch him, he had started to look for that connection, a place to belong, to stay, to call home. In the beginning it hadn't even been a conscious decision. But his Flames had started to long for the bond and - though he would not admit it on the pain of death - he himself had also looked for companionship.

But even though he had been looking for years, even though his Flames - desperately - longed for the connection, he was also a proud man. He would not - could not - settle for just any Sky and neither would his Flames. He was the strongest Sun in the mafia world, the World's Greatest Hitman, and as it turned out, too strong for any Sky in existence.

He had quickly come to if not generally despise then definitely distrust Sky Flame users. Reborn was famous and skilled. Based on the constant offers, any position of his choice in any Famiglia of his choice would probably be open to him, if he were to show interest. He had a reputation and his own network of spies and alliances. Whenever he met a Sky he felt their Flames trying to establish the connection - by force or subterfuge. They failed. Every single one a disappointment, not able to form that bond, wearing on him and his hope of ever being able to find a Sky.

When even the Vongola failed - and they had tried, every single one of them, some trying for 'subtle' and possibly convinced he hadn't noticed their reaching for him - he had consciously given up on the hope of finding a Sky strong enough to reel him in.

Well, until now that was.

Even though he had felt the Sky Flames when he had entered the interrogation room and had been surprised by their strength and purity, he had not been prepared for this. The Flames he had felt saturating the room were nothing compared to what was still hiding within his - his - Sky.

The bond, as brutal as the forming of the connection had been, was pure welcoming warmth. It took less than a moment to take stock, to revel in the feeling of the bond - the strength was surprising - and to let his satisfaction steal across his face. Well, the welcoming certainly did not transfer to his Sky's expression, that much was for sure. The green eyes were challenging him.

He just couldn't help himself. "Well, this certainly is a surprise. Wouldn't you agree, beautiful?"

The eyes blazed to life - and something inside Reborn purred at the fire, the strength, the defiance - even though the owner wouldn't even be able to stand on his own. Speaking of which, this just wouldn't do, the restraints had to go. Reborn was very willing to have his barely clothed, beautiful Sky lean on him - rely on him - in order to remain upright, very willing indeed.

He easily removed the bindings one-handed and as expected his Sky sagged towards him immediately - why these people had thought it necessary to restrain his Sky at all would remain a mystery. Reborn easily lifted his Sky and with a few quick steps carried him into the adjacent observation room. He set him down onto the table so Reborn could have his Sky lean on him while also remaining upright and ready to defend if necessary. His Sky certainly felt lovely tucked into Reborn's side as he was.

Reborn let his Sun Flames warm the room and his Sky shivered lightly against him.

"W- Where?" His Sky's speech was slurred, barely understandable.

Well, at least he knew to ask the important questions first. His Sky was also astoundingly calm, especially if Reborn was right about him being civilian. Definitely a story there. Or maybe just good instincts as there would be no harm done to Reborn's Sky, ever again.

"Base of the Corocos Famiglia." Reborn could see the confusion in his Sky's expression. So, his assessment of a civilian Sky might truly be correct. "Do you know what they drugged you with?"

A look between confusion and irritation. "No dr'gs."

"You can barely speak much less move on your own, beautiful. This certainly looks like drugs to me." Reborn did not even try to keep the humor out of his voice.

His Sky paused. "Med'cine."

The humor immediately evaporated and a chill worked itself down Reborn's spine. Medicine? His Sky was sick? His chest tightened and ice-like fear dragged through his veins. "Medicine for what?"

Apparently, his expression had not been as blank as he had intended. For a brief moment Reborn could see hesitation flit through his Sky's barely open green eyes.

" 's cure."

What kind of cure had a patient still barely coherent for an extended period afterwards? 'Poison.' Reborn's mind whispered. "To a hospital it is."

"No." There was strength in this one word.

Reborn raised his eyebrows. His Sky was sick and he did not want to go to a hospital? Had he been abducted from a hospital? "I know a very good and trustworthy doctor."

"No."

Trust Reborn to end up with a stubborn Sky. However, he could see something in his Sky's eyes. It wasn't fear of the hospital, it was something else. There seemed to be a definite reason he did not want to go. And most importantly of all, Reborn's instincts were urging him to believe his Sky.

"Where would you like to go then?" Though Reborn sounded sardonically amused at best, there was clear relief in his Sky's expression. Well, Reborn could always order Shamal to come to him.

"Home."

"And where would that be?" Not that he would be taking his Sky anywhere but Reborn's own place. That didn't mean Reborn wouldn't be fishing for any and all kind of information he could get his hands on.

Now it was his Sky's turn to look slightly amused, clearly aware of what he was doing. There was no answer forthcoming. Well, well, well, this was getting better and better.

A smirk stole across Reborn's face. "Off we go then."

And suddenly something like panic sparked in his Sky's expression. "Th'ngs."

Ok, this was even beyond Reborn's mind reading capabilities. The question must have shown on his face.

"My possess'ns."

Ah. He could see the urgency on his Sky's face. It didn't make much sense though just for some missing clothes. His civilian Sky should be far more concerned with getting out of here, so there had to be something else that his Sky was worried about. Still, he tried "Don't worry, you look lovely as you are. We can get you something to wear later."

Reborn could see denial on his Sky's face without him having to say something. So there was something important missing then. Reborn felt like sighing. Definitely stubborn.

He took off his jacket and wrapped it around his Sky's shoulders, before he had him lean against the wall the table was pushed against. Barely open green eyes blinked at him sluggishly.

Okay then.

Reborn turned to the still unconscious goon he had dragged with them to the observation room.

Harry watched as the man focused on the unconscious guy on the floor.

This was certainly turning out to be... interesting. Not only had he been captured, then apparently freed, but he now also had some kind of - magical? - bond with this man. A man that definitely knew how to fight just judging by what little Harry had seen.

And by Merlin, the man was gorgeous.

Ok. Stop. This really wasn't the time to start contemplating his sexuality... Even if that was definitely the right face to start contemplating for. Harry actually felt a slight flush crawling up his neck and was suddenly even more thankful for the jacket around his shoulders. The man had already been leaning towards infuriating during their brief conversation, no need to give him any more ammunition.

The man was wearing a black suit - well, now Harry was wearing part of it - with a yellow shirt that seemed oddly bright on his person, though the color surprisingly suited the man. Harry would do his bloody best to ignore the fact that he himself had been mostly naked for most of their conversation.

The man's hand had covered most of his right ribcage, front to back, while he had held him up on the table. Harry was blaming the shiver that had gone through him at that feeling on the sudden warmth that had spread through the room and he was going to stick with that story.

Just based on their brief - very one-sided - conversation, the man was also used to an interesting lifestyle. The comment on knowing a trustworthy doctor - as in contrast to non-trustworthy doctors - made that very clear, even beyond his presence here. Wherever that may be.

The picture Harry was able to put together of where exactly he had ended up was turning out rather grim indeed. The clues were all there. Considering the combination of human trafficking - they had bought him from his family -, money - airtravel did not come cheap and pretty much ruled out any wizarding involvement - and human experimentation - something in Harry had been changed, freed -, the only explanation Harry could come up with was organized crime. Well, the answer to Harry's first question had made that even clearer, because even after years in the Wizarding World, Harry was well aware of what the term Famiglia signified.

The conversation itself had been rather strange as well. The man seemed to actually be seriously invested in Harry's wellbeing. While Harry could not actually be certain that he hadn't been drugged at some point during his captivity - it was even rather likely he had been - he also knew that his natural defenses would have already taken care of that. The basilisk venom in his blood alone would burn out any non-magical medicine, drug or poison within minutes, while the phoenix tears would work to counteract any potential damage. His healers had been torn between enthusiastic curiosity and resigned exasperation when they figured out that depending on the ingredients a lot of potions would be useless for Harry's treatment.

Although Harry would usually just dismiss the man's seeming concern as some kind of ploy, there was the bond's urging to trust this man to be considered. If his magic hadn't been so very calm and clearly unconcerned by the man or the bond, Harry's reaction to the bond would have been on the exactly opposite end of the spectrum for that reason alone.

Though Harry had to admit he was more than of out of his depths here. Not necessarily because he had been captured and held by people who wanted something from him, while completely disregarding Harry himself at the same time. That was his entire life story, just more of the same. No the problem here was, that Harry had no idea where he was, who the people that had brought him - bought him - were, who this man was. Too many unanswered questions. The bond hummed and even though that might turn out to be a problem - he did not even know what the warmth forming the bond was - his magic remained calm.

Harry felt incredibly vulnerable right now. Not only because his magic was not available to him, but even more so because he could barely focus on anything happening around him. Well, with the exception of this man in front of him. Although his magic was calm right now, he might not be able to focus on defending himself even if it became necessary.

Right now, there was no way Harry would be able to overpower this man - who had shown he was very much capable of taking out his opponents, like the guy he was questioning or the two bodies on the floor that Harry was doing his very best to ignore - or even have the strength to get up and walk away.

This was exactly was the healers had described as a consequence of moving him too soon after his treatment and why it was to be avoided. They had even vetoed the trip from St. Mungo's to Hogwarts for the initial phase of his recovery for that very reason.

Harry was going to bloody murder his friends.

Still, this man's presence was somehow calming his instincts, soothing his magic, making Harry feel safer, protected. At least his ability to focus had definitely increased with his appearance and his magic had settled further - almost like it had taken a step back, certain that Harry would still be protected, it was disconcerting. Well, before the man had appeared, he had barely been able to form a thought much less words and the turning point seemed to be the appearance of this man, or rather the bond that had formed between them.

Additionally, Harry had no way to judge whether he might be better off in his previous situation or not, so his instincts were his only reference right now.

Well, here's to hoping.

However, even assuming that in contrast to any other situation of Harry's life there was suddenly a person that was entirely safe - who would want to protect Harry for once - that did not mean this man was actually capable of it. Harry would remain alert so he could at least try to keep an eye on things.

Harry heard the man get back up again. There had been some back and forth between the two men - one calm, the other panicked - but Harry had not even tried to focus on it and at some point he must have closed his eyes. Which spoke for itself. Not only did he trust this man enough to close his eyes at all, but he had not even felt alarm in the presence of a clear threat.

Interesting didn't even come close to covering this.

As Reborn got back to his feet he was already remapping the route to the room with his Sky's - and it would definitely take some time to get used to that - possessions in his mind. Though some of the things the goon had babbled at him didn't make much sense to Reborn. Still, he would have time - all the time in the world - to figure out the answers to any and all questions he had about his Sky later on. He had felt his Sky's stare on him during the brief interrogation and seeing his Sky's half-lidded, slightly darkened out-of-focus green eyes on him definitely confirmed that thought. Oh yes, finding out anything and everything about his Sky would be fun indeed.

"Your possessions are kept one floor up. According to him, there should be no additional guards."

There was pure skepticism on his Sky's face, questioning the reliability of the information. Definitely not stupid.

"I've got a reputation, beautiful. He wouldn't dare lie to me." Reborn smirked lazily. "Finding your things shouldn't be a problem at all. Getting there, however..."

He could see the realization on his Sky's face, not only regarding the fact that he would require Reborn's support to get there but also how much Reborn would be enjoying this very fact.

He stepped in close, looped his Sky's arms around his neck and slipped an arm underneath his legs, easily lifting him while wearing one of his most infuriating smirks.

It was so very worth it, just to see the slight flush on his Sky's cheeks and the green eyes blazing up at him.

A/N: You guys are awesome! Thanks so much for all the reviews!

Chapter 2 review responses:

To Guest#1: Thanks for your review! I think both Reborn and Harry have been looking for companionship for too long to just jeopardize this by not sharing at all, even if the sharing won't be of the immediate 'we-have-a-bond-so-let's-just-ignore-our-fucked-up-life-experiences' kind :) There will definitely be more on Harry's magic in later chapters so I'm glad this explanation was realistic. I probably won't be able to refrain from throwing in some magical theory as well :)

To Diamond Yandere: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked the explanation about Harry's situation, there will be some more on this in later chapters. Oh, Harry will definitely be having 'words' with quite a few people and especially with Ron and Hermione later on :) Though there won't be any real character bashing in this fic.

To bookimp: Thank you for your review! That's exactly what I thought. Harry's strength of will is emphasized all the time and I think that would definitely play a role in forming bonds. Also, Harry is used to fighting incredibly focused Legilimency attacks (possession by Voldemort!), so he should be able to deflect most other attacks on his mind.

To Kshail: Thanks for your review! I'm having the same problem with HP/KHR at the moment :) There won't be anything graphic in this (still definitely and clearly slash!), though I will definitely give a heads up should that change at any point. I'm glad you liked the explanation as to how Harry got stuck in this particular mess. Though no comment on when this is taking place in KHR yet :)

To ShizuBABE: Thank you for your review! I noticed that the paragraphs were too long as well when I went back :) Thanks for pointing that out though. I already tried to fix it in the second and third chapter and I hope it works better.

To Guest#5: Thanks for your review! Reborn is speaking English same as the mafia goon, who is well aware of what language Harry speaks. In retrospect, Harry not understand what the goon is saying might have been misleading. Harry is just incredibly out of it at that point and can't make much sense of anything, much less of what is being said to him. Thanks for pointing that out to me though :)