A/N: Hey guys! It's been another while since I uploaded, sorry! But life is so busy right now and now my phone broke so I have to sometime go and spend money on that crap *cries*. Thank you so much all for the new favorites and followers, I love you guys! I get all warm an fuzzy when I see the notifications :3 I hope you all enjoyed my previous chapters and that you will like this one. A few things get explained in this chapter I think? If not, I think you missed something haha. It's a very technical and boring chapter I think, but it's critical! So please enjoy~

Chapter 18

As they entered the study, Arica was nearly trampled by some men who weren't looking where they were going in their hurry to do whatever they were doing. She glanced around and spotted the largest monitor on the wall. She froze. It couldn't be…

"We should be going there right now to eliminate the threat! If we ignore this, we might not–" a voice was calling out among the largest gathering of people in front of the screen they were observing. The man was cut off though when Garrett spoke up upon seeing her.

"Boss! Good timing," he called with a relieved grin, completely ignoring the previously yelling man and stepping in front of him. Once Arica got a good look at the slightly overweight man, she realized that it was one of Ricardo's lackeys. Go figure. None of her own men would make such a racket. They had manners.

She gave him a small smile and nod as she made her way towards the crowd, Andrew at her side. The room was still noisy, most of the people blatantly ignoring her presence. Arica cleared her throat and spoke, "Everyone, please calm down and listen for a moment."

No reaction. It was as if the noise grew louder just to spite her and get on her nerves – which wasn't hard. The buzzing and panicked conversations and yelled commands from Ricardo's lackey was getting to her and her mood at that moment wasn't helping any either. The lackey – Eric – was scowling at her between his shouts and then rambling on to another one at his side. Andrew tried to help, but didn't fare any better.

Arica gritted her teeth as she thought about the dot she was still seeing from the corner of her eye, it's incessant flickering reminding her of the seconds ticking by and being wasted. It was driving her mad and she didn't have a choice but to finally snap. She didn't like to be ignored when something critical was supposed to be discussed immediately.

Taking a deep breath, the girl yelled, dragging the words from the pit of her stomach, "Shut the fuck up and listen!" It felt as though the entire building was shaking all the way down to its foundations and the room fell silent so suddenly it made her ears pop. Wide eyes were trained on her, men frozen in shock and slight fear at the sudden outburst. Something so earth shaking coming from such a small person… Andrew and Garrett were trying to hide their smirks while Neil was merely observing, quiet as ever. Arica breathed hard as she leveled a glare at every single one of them. Was it just her or were there more of Ricardo's men than her own today? That didn't matter at the moment however and she added, "Now sit your asses down! I don't care if it's a chair, a desk or the floor, just find a seat and keep your bloody mouths shut!"

Scrambling ensued once more but this time it was for order and not chaos. Eric also sat down, albeit reluctantly, eyeing her cautiously. The only ones who stayed standing were Arica and Andrew at her side, not rattled by the fury as much as everyone else. His ears did ring a little though…

Once everything calmed down, so did Arica – only slightly – and she closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath before directing a cold stare at them. "Would someone explain to me what's going on?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, watching for any reaction from the men before her.

Eric was still giving her a nasty look like she was something stuck to the bottom of his shoe as he cleared his throat to answer. He was one of Ricardo's most trusted next to Joshua, being one of the others sitting at the main dining table, and he had probably been left in charge, though she knew she had still more say in things than any of them combined. "We were watching the monitors like we have done for the past few days and suddenly that dot appeared." He pointed at the flickering red circle on the screen. "It only lasted about two seconds, though, because the FV shot past the limits we had set for the tracker within a few seconds. The picture we have on screen is a loop from when the tracker could actually catch it. We don't know if the Vongola is still there or not."

Arica was a little shocked and also slightly frightened. Who could possibly be that strong? Which one of the Vongola could it be? Was it Decimo himself? She had another idea of who it might be since she thought the boss wouldn't be so careless, but she wasn't completely sure. The address the dot appeared at and Reborn's remark about that person looking for her fit together perfectly, but there was one little piece missing from the completed puzzle.

What was so significant about the address, you wonder? Neither she nor Ricardo ever used the real address of their house for anything and thus could not be tracked down by either enemy Famiglia or the authorities. Whenever it came to legal documents that needed an address, a fake one would be given for each situation. The school was no different. The address she had given on her registration form wasn't the real one, but an abandoned piece of land a little ways outside of town. That is exactly where the dot had appeared, meaning that it was someone who had access to the student's files at Namimori Middle. It had to be someone from the school since no false address was anywhere the same.

Eric spoke up again when she was quiet for a few minutes too long. "We have to get out there and go take the bastard on! We can't allow him to get away from us now!" he shouted at her face, rising from his seat a little as he slammed his fist on the table in front of him, making some of the utensils on top quiver. Arica's eye twitched as a drop of spittle flew onto her cheek. Why did they all have to be such barbarians?

Wiping the saliva away in disgust, she narrowed her dark, ominous-looking green eyes at him. "Are you brain-dead? Do you not see how strong that person is? You said it yourself that the reading shot past the limit within seconds. We have no idea what Dying Will Flames are capable of and how well their wielders can control them. You're asking to be killed by going out there unprepared like this," she said as calmly as possible, seeing a few men nod their approval while others scowled.

"And why the hell should we listen to the likes of you? I was placed in charge while the boss is gone. I'm not gonna listen to some brat who doesn't have a clue what she's talking about," Eric spat, crossing his arms in defiance.

The girl took a threatening step forward, the adrenaline adding to her annoyance with the man and she looked him straight in the eye as she spoke lowly, "You can try and stop me and defy me all you want, but just remember who your boss favors above anyone else in this house." She hated using this tactic, but it sure as hell was effective. "Lay a finger on me or say a word against me and you will face Ricardo's wrath, not just mine. He might have placed you in charge of monitoring the situation, but he entrusted the decision making of these kinds of things to me. So either go your own way and die by the hands of the Vongola and possibly your boss, or shut up and listen to me and you may live to an older age."

Ricardo's men went pale as she spoke, the dark tone of her voice sending shivers all across the room and they agreed to what she said no matter how much they hated doing so. They knew Arica was 'the lady of the house' and, should anything happen to her, Ricardo would murder every single one of them. They didn't really have a choice in the matter and even Eric shut his mouth and merely continued to glower.

"So what do we do, Boss?" Andrew inquired, less affected by Arica's quiet wrath than the rest of them; he had seen it a few times before so it was nothing new.

She thought about it for a few moments before finally answering, "We do nothing." However, before she could go on, the imbecile – in her eyes – objected once more.

"We can't do nothing! We can't let him get away!" Eric exclaimed, rising from his seat again.

"Would you shut your trap? Didn't you listen to what she said earlier? You will die if you go out there. We have no information about their way of fighting and use of the Dying Will Flames. The boss knows what she's doing. A few IQ tests have proven that she's probably four times smarter than you'll ever be." All were surprised by the snarky reaction from the man that didn't speak much. Arica gave Neil a small smile and nod in thanks and he returned it. He didn't say much, but when he did everyone tended to listen. The room went silent once again and Ricardo's lackey crossed his arms and pulled his face into an ugly pout-scowl combination.

"Now that that's settled," she continued, ignoring Garrett's snickering, "as I was saying, we do nothing; it would be suicide. We will continue to watch the tracker for any signs of the Vongola and in the meanwhile try and gather some more information about them and the Dying Will Flames now that we know they are definitely here. If this happened once, it will happen again, so keep your eyes open. If anything is found, please inform me about it first. That's all. Dismissed."

Scrambling commenced as everyone went back to business – some a little grumpier and reluctant than others, however most of them liked the idea of not dying. Arica glanced at the dot on the screen one more time before heading for the door and stalking down the hall towards her room. "Boss! What are you planning to do?" Andrew insisted. He saw in the way she walked that she was on a mission, that she was about to do something about the new finding.

"I'm going to go see what's happening over there at that location," she said firmly begging no argument. She entered the still open door of her room and saw Gokudera perk up slightly. She looked at him and gave a small smile. "Do you think you can endure the silence a little while longer? I'm going out. Maybe Andrew here won't mind to keep you some company."

"Wha- Where exactly are you going?" the latter asked, worry lacing his every word.

"You saw the location, Andrew. I just told you, I'm checking it out," she answered while checking and pocketing her cell phone and glancing over at the frowning bomber. He sure was quiet. She leaned in, lowering her voice and whispering in her right-hand man's ear, "Whoever it was, was looking for me. It couldn't have been a coincidence." Arica had already thought all the pieces through thoroughly, but her suspicion could only be confirmed by going there. She stepped back and, in a louder voice, added, "Take care of Gokudera for me; make sure he doesn't try and jump from the balcony this time."

"Tch, I can take care of myself," the bomber muttered, glaring at both of them.

"Yes, and that worked out so well the last time," Arica deadpanned before hesitating, staring down at her bandaged arms, wondering if she would need them or not. If she was dealing with the person she had in mind that was a definite yes. Slowly, she started to unwrap the bandages from her arms as she continued to speak. "Just stay in bed and let Andrew take care of everything. You can trust him as much as you'd trust me – oh wait."

Her arms were free of the white cloth and she was only slightly surprised that it had almost no blood stains at all. It seems that she was adjusting more and more each time, just like Ricardo had said. The wounds had stopped bleeding even though they were still open. They didn't hurt as much anymore either. When she flexed her fingers and arms, there was a small uncomfortable tugging sensation at the wound's edges, but otherwise it didn't hurt or start bleeding. She still didn't understand how it worked completely, but it was very convenient. As far as she could figure out, there was some kind of serum in the metal that replaced her bones and this helped to seal the arteries and such in her arms to stop the open wounds from bleeding permanently.

"I'll be back in about an hour or so," she informed them, shaking her arms out a little to get some feeling into them and warm them up.

"Boss, please be careful," Andrew fretted, meeting the younger girl's eyes steadily. He was proud, but also slightly disturbed when he saw absolutely no fear – almost no emotion at all – in those leaf-green orbs. "You said it yourself…"

"Don't turn my words against me, Andrew," the brunette warned the taller man, raising a challenging brow. "I'm always careful, you know that. Have a little faith for once, gods." Without waiting for a reply, Arica threw a wink at both men before striding away from them and soon the house.

"Where is she going?" asked the silver haired teen, breaking the silence as both continued to stare at the vacant doorway. The air seemed to grow a little colder once more for Gokudera, but he didn't panic. He would believe Arica's word this one time in trusting the man in front of him. "Is she in trouble or something?" Not that he cared…

Andrew finally looked at the boy and gave him a lopsided grin. Strangely, the Storm felt himself relax a little into the soft pillows and blanket. "She's just going to go check up on something important. As for trouble: when is the boss not in trouble?"

There it is again, Hayato thought as he eyed the man up and down a few times, trying to see if he was hiding anything, be it emotionally or physically. He was almost twice the stupid woman's size and probably twice as old too, yet he called her boss… Was she rich? He hadn't seen much of the house other than this room, but he could tell from just this room that she wasn't poor either. "Why does everyone call her 'boss'? Everyone I've seen so far in this place has called her that. Why? She doesn't look like much…"

The older man shrugged and looked like he was searching for the right words. "Just because…she is the boss. She has true leadership qualities and always protects the people around her no matter if they're family, friend, or complete stranger. And she has a voice that could sound like the sweetest melody on the best of days, and like a foghorn on the worst." At this Andrew let out a small chuckle, shaking his head fondly. He remembered how utterly terrified he was of the small little angel when he had heard that tone for the first time in his life.

The bomber blinked and thought back to earlier, the tremor that just about shook the foundations of the house. He gaped a little as he asked the man in disbelief, "That shout…that was her?"

"The one and only. Hard to believe, right?" confirmed Andrew, laughing at the bomber's comical expression. "She gets like that when she's pushed past her limits. I heard she sounded twice as bad the night she hauled your lifeless body through the front doors two days ago. I wasn't here, but the others told me she looked like a cornered, hunted animal, screaming her lungs out for help. They said there were even tears in her eyes, and that alone is saying something – the boss rarely cries. She blamed herself for what happened to you, it seems."

Gokudera was speechless, only able to listen and stare blankly at the older man as he told him this. What kind of person was Arica D'Angelo really? The bomber couldn't help but wonder this as he sat in the girl's bed. She had helped him even when he had done nothing but treat her like trash. He hadn't been nice to her even once as far as he could remember, yet she saved his life. Maybe he should reconsider his opinion on her. Maybe if he got to know her a little better, she would turn out to be a whole other person than the one he had created in his mind since he had met her.

"That would be a wise choice," Andrew said suddenly, making Gokudera jump slightly and give him a confused look. The dark haired man chuckled and clarified, "It would be wise to re-evaluate her. The boss truly has a kind heart, I would hate to see it taken for granted."

"Are you a mind reader or something?" the Storm asked slowly, staring at the man like he had sprouted a second head.

"No, but you're emotions show very easily on your face. Maybe you should work on that. You wouldn't want anyone taking advantage of that, right?" he replied before taking the empty plate that had been left on the nightstand from lunch and turning towards the door. Just before Andrew left, he added without looking back, "We'll be here if you need us." In a lower voice as if speaking to himself, he also said, "And I hope it will be thus the other way around."

Gokudera furrowed his brows as he watched the man leave and close the door behind him. What had he meant about people taking advantage of his emotions? The bomber shook his head with a small sigh. He was still a little tired, but he didn't dare go to sleep especially with the feeling of being watched having just surfaced once more. What was he going to do until the stupid woman got back? His eyes widened slightly before he cursed under his breath, hitting his head lightly against the wall behind him. He could have asked Andrew for a phone or something so he could contact his precious Juudaime. Too late now, though.

He started wondering where his belongings were. He had asked Arica a few times earlier and also the doctors who had come to check on him while she had been gone, but none of them gave him a straight answer. Did that mean they discovered his bombs and gunpowder? What if someone in this house was with the authorities and was going to arrest him? He glanced down, suddenly remembering something: his ring! It was nowhere in sight; not around his neck, not on his finger and he didn't have any pockets. Hopefully they respect others' privacy and left his stuff alone, thus they wouldn't have found the ring or his weapons.

Even if they found the ring, though, would they know what it meant? If they were mafia and they had found it, he would probably have been left for dead or experimented on or something equally disturbing and disgusting and overall bad for him. If they were maybe an ally Famiglia…they would've said so by now, right? Since neither of the two has happened yet, he thought it was safe to assume that they had nothing to do with the mafia and that he would get his things back when the stupid girl returned. He wouldn't take no for an answer.

A/N: The end! So not a lot happened in the chapter, but got to see some more of Arica's spunk! Do you guys like her personality so far? I sure love writing it! What will happen in the next chapter? Will Arica have to fight or will she miss the Vongola member? Did the doctors or Andrew find Gokudera's ring and figured out he is Vongola or not? Drop by next chapter to find out~ Ciao ciao!