A/N: Sorry for the late update, my computer died on me so I'm sharing a computer now. Thanks to Emoen (hahaha, Lina is pretty stubborn and an idiot. Other than that, you read my mind. I finally get to work on the case), RebelAshRunner (Hope so. Just gotta read and find out. Yeah, yeah, pretty cliché, that I am), The Nobody Prince (I know. I'm not the kind to be torturous, but Lina makes it so hard. Hahaha), and MotherGothelFan1 (Oh, I was afraid you won't like it since Pavi and Lina are falling for each other, but Lina screwed it up and stuff. Usually, people don't like the kind of drama I put forth) for the reviews. Next chapter is going to be the last chapter before I make the sequel. I'm not even sure if the last chapter is going to be exciting or not. For some reason, after reading my past chapters, I find Lina annoying and both Mia and Lina are too unrealistic. But what can I say, I like to overdramatize things. I'm just glad Shilo is a bit more normal in a not normal way. Oh yeah, the sequel will have extra bonuses with my version of Pavi's past and Luigi's past (in separate chapters). I'm not sure in which chapters, but I presume it will be in the early chapters of the sequel. Well, hopefully. Other than that announcement, happy reading!

Chapter Thirty-Four

Hardly anyone had seen Lina these days. Shilo only seen her once or twice in the days she's been in and out, and it was actually at around four o'clock in the morning before she left again an hour later. Mia had made contact with her most of the time, but Lina rarely picks up because of the case. Even as Lina worked hard in the case, there wasn't enough new information to obtain to find the culprit. She only had corpses to deal with and nothing new had come up. It was as if the rebellion had stopped suddenly, yet the killings of the Repo men continued at a faster rate. It was the very reason Mia and Shilo were in the kitchen to hear about the case.

"Just two days ago, the bodies of Repo men went up by two, making three killings within each week. I'm not sure how many Repo men Geneco has, but if this continues, GeneCo might not have any Repo men to deploy. I've also found out the assassins that killed the Repo men have become increasingly better than last month. This is serious, Mia. I don't think there's any choice but beat the time before anything else happens," Lina explained through her communicator/watch, "And oddly enough, I've also found one other thing that I have noticed continuously throughout the case. I'm not too sure if it is involved with this or not, but it involves children going missing."

Mia's brows creased and her eyes were rather darkened by the new information. Shilo knew the look meant the matter was rather serious. She wondered if things are starting to become more difficult.

"How did you find out children were missing? Did you find any evidence?" Mia asked her, her voice void of any emotion. Shilo shivered at the hallow tone.

"I've been looking through the case files of the victims the Repo men repossessed, and I've found out all the children that are involved are missing. And as a matter of fact, the day the Repo men were killed was the same day the victims were repossessed and the children suddenly disappeared," Lina explained even further.

Mia scowled, and she rarely ever scowls. Shilo knew the news was bad now. She just couldn't understand what was going on.

"Why haven't you told me sooner? This could affect us greatly, Lina. As a matter of fact, I have to go back to square one," Mia angrily told her, almost wanting to yell in her communicator. Lina knew she was pissed off and found the news to aggravate her as well.

"Did you think I did not know that? I made a stupid mistake," Lina said angrily back.

Mia let out a sigh while shaking her head in extreme unease. She tried to get her composure back, but it failed terribly. It made it more difficult for her to calm down now.

"What does it mean though? I don't get it," Shilo said. Mia looked up at her and saw Shilo showing her perplexed look.

"It means, Shilo, the mastermind behind this are making their own batch of assassins. It's only a theory, but it might as well be true. My mind has made the connections," Mia told her. Shilo started the wheels in her head before her eyes widened and her mouth opened in shock.

"But how?" Shilo asked, "They are only children."

"They are just like me, Shilo," Lina answered, "Do you know why the culprits allowed the Repo men to repossess the organs of their victims before the assassins killed the Repo men?"

"I have no clue," Shilo confessed. She never dealt with something like this before.

"To make the children watch. To give them a reason for vengeance. To train them to be the ultimate killing machine," Lina answered gravely, "Kidnapping the children while they are still young can make it easier to manipulate them. I am just like them except it was under different circumstances. Unlike them, I had to learn to kill to survive. They are learning to kill for vengeance."

"But… could these children allow other children to be in the same circumstances as them?" Shilo asked.

There was a long pause in the air. The question flowed through the air ominously. It caused Shilo to shiver at the thought.

"Maybe and maybe not. But we know for sure, the killings must have started out with real professional assassins. And if they are making children become assassins, there needs to be professional assassins teaching them," Lina answered before sighing. "Now I have to rally up my own force, which is going to be a hassle."

"Have you found anything else?" Mia asked. There was a pause, and Shilo and Mia could feel Lina frowning.

"No," Lina answered flatly.

"Other than that, are you going to celebrate my birthday?" Shilo asked, being hopeful and wanting to rid the unwelcoming pressure among her friends.

"Sure. I need to go on a low-profile anyways. If I continue going in the streets at night looking at corpses, someone might think I've caused the killings," Lina said with a sigh.

"So I will see you in two days?" Shilo asked.

"Yep, put an extra plate for me. I refuse to miss a free meal," Lina said with a chuckle, "Well, I've got to go. Pierre is starting to piss me off when he's staring at me."

Shilo and Mia smiled and shook their heads at Lina's silliness.

"Okay then, see you in two days," Shilo said.

"Mind your health," Mia added.

"Yeah. Yeah. Bye you guys," Lina told them.

"Bye," Mia and Shilo said in unison before Lina disconnected.

After she disconnected, Mia and Shilo started leaving the kitchen.

"Well, I guess Pavi has some competition. Pierre has always been love struck with her," Shilo said jokingly.

"Is the bella spending time with that plain and unfitting uomo?" Pavi asked darkly.

Shilo was incredibly surprised at how similar Pavi is to Luigi when it comes to their anger. Recently, Pavi had been moping around for a while. Shilo even allowed the Largo brothers to go out if they wanted to since Lina wouldn't be there to watch them. Pavi had gone out a few times, but he came back in the morning with a frown each time. He tried to go back to his playboy ways, but he didn't find it exciting as he used to. That was when the moping started. He just couldn't feel satisfied.

"Uomo?" Shilo whispered to Mia.

"It means "man" in Italian," Mia answered, "He's referring to Pierre." Shilo answered "oh" silently with her mouth.

"When has Pierre ever been plain?" Shilo whispered. Mia smiled at Shilo's lack of understanding.

"Pavi Largo calls him that because he is just jealous, Shilo," Mia answered once again. Shilo nodded in understanding.

"Is she?" Pavi asked, getting the girls' attention again to his original question.

"She has no choice but to meet up with him. Pierre is, after all, Lina's co-worker. I am sure meeting up with Pierre is the last place Lina wants to be," Mia pointed out. Pavi let out a heavy sigh before he seemed preoccupied to the wall on the right.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Lina is spending some time on my birthday. You will get to see her until then," Shilo said with a warm smile. Pavi immediately whipped his head at Shilo at the news. A smile had written across Pavi's real face. Both girls had to admit Pavi looked quite handsome with a smile.

"When is your birthday, bella?" Pavi asked, returning to his usual upbeat self.

"In two days," Shilo answered. Pavi's smile widened even further.

"Then I must find a gift for you, bella," Pavi told her. Shilo immediately shook her head. It felt awkward knowing a Largo was giving her a birthday present.

"There's no need to-" Shilo started but was cut off by Pavi's excitement.

"But of course, I must, bella. The Pavi never disappoints," Pavi said happily before he called in his communicator for his limo. After he finished, he looked over at Shilo happily. It startled Shilo for some reason.

"I already know what to get for the bella. If the bella doesn't mind, the Pavi wants to bring Nate along. May the Pavi have permission to do so?" Pavi requested.

"If Nate wants to, I don't see any problem with it," Shilo answered. Pavi suddenly hugged Shilo, making her tense up at the sudden physical contact. When Pavi let her go, Shilo let out the breath she was holding in. There was no denying it; Pavi had truly missed her.

Nate was rather surprised when Pavi entered in an almost flamboyant way. He walked in gentle strides and smiled at Nate. He asked if Nate would want to come along to buy Shilo her birthday present. Nate found it awkward at the sudden question but nodded anyways. After all, Pavi asked nicely.

Around forty minutes, the limousine had parked in front of Shilo's house. By then, Nate and Pavi were ready to leave. They bid their farewells before leaving to the limo. When Nate and Pavi settled inside, it left an awkward atmosphere between them. Nate, for some reason, missed Lina's van. He was used to the smell of overpowering artificial smells, not like the aromatic smell of roses in the limo. Ever since Lina spent little time in Shilo's house, Pavi always tried to spend time or chat with Nate. And for some reason, Nate couldn't deny him. He also missed Lina greatly just as Pavi did. Even when Shilo was nice to him, Nate could feel the distance Shilo tried to make with him. Before, Nate didn't seem to mind much because he always had Lina; but now, he suddenly felt like the black sheep. Pretty much, he felt like there was an empty hole inside of him. Pavi was nice enough to try to be close with him, and Nate felt grateful for him because of it.

Pavi suddenly smiled and said, "We will see the bella again in two days."

Nate's eyes widened and Pavi nodded to ensure him it was the truth. Nate couldn't help but have a goofy smile and felt better to find out he was going to see Lina again.

"So she will celebrate Shilo's birthday?" Nate asked. Pavi nodded, and Nate could feel tears forming in his eyes.

"I can see Lina again." Nate's mind kept repeating.

The living room looked fantastic from being adorned by decorations. On the fireplace, hung a large banner that contained the words, "Happy Birthday" and underneath it read, "Shilo Wallace!" Mia and Graverobber were responsible to decorate the living room, in which Lina forced upon them since she wouldn't be able to be there until noon. Mia made breakfast in bed for Shilo, which Shilo gratefully thanked her for. There was also a man-made rose in a vase next to her breakfast. Shilo knew it was made by Amy because she knew the little girl made such beautiful delicate things. Not long after, the children (excluding Nate) entered Shilo's room with large grins on their faces. They soon surrounded Shilo and yelled a happy birthday to her in unison. Shilo, by then, had tears of joy streaming down her face. Her children always bring her to tears for being so lovely.

Noon came by quickly when the door suddenly opened violently. There, Lina came in tugging a large bag. A smirk had placed upon her lips.

"Whew, I hate being the one to carry the games. But then again, I am the one who comes up with it," Lina said. The children were ecstatic when they heard the word "game". Shilo chuckled and gestured her to come in before she closed the door behind her.

And before anyone knew it, Pavi and Nate were already by Lina's side. Lina was even surprised at their sudden appearance.

"Woah there, guys. What's up with the stealth?" Lina asked jokingly. Nate immediately hugged her tightly. She looked down at him awkwardly and patted lightly on his back. She looked up at Pavi and noticed his real face. She nodded in approval.

"Mia did a pretty good job. It looks like real skin," she said and then started chuckling. "You almost look like a delicate figurine."

Pavi smiled happily at the compliment.

"I know you guys haven't seen me for a while, but I'll be here for the rest of the day," Lina said with a smile.

The children jumped and down in excitement, missing their "Auntie" Lina as they were used to her presence when she did stay. Nate finally let go of her and smiled up at her. Lina chuckled and ruffled his hair. Shilo smiled warmly with Graverobber holding her waist behind her. Luigi scowled but a smirk formed right after. Mia smirked as well. If anything, Lina saw them as the smirking pair. And of course, she had to roll her eyes at that.

"Happy Birthday, Shilo," Lina announced finally when everyone settled down, "Now. Would you prefer games first or presents first?"

Shilo smiled and preferred to play games for the children's sake. Most of the games were played by the children. One game that included the adults was when the children stole colored flags while the adults gave them a piggy-back ride. Shilo carried the Emma; Graverobber carried Nate; Mia carried Amy; Luigi carried Tom; Pavi carried Jake; and Lina carried Ryan. And of course, the youngest girl, Amy won because she had Mia (who used tactics). Second was Shilo because Emma was grabbing anything her hands could get on, which resulted in poking Luigi's eyes. There was a three-way tie among Ryan, Jake, and Tom because they seemed to, for some reason, continuously stealing back and forth among them. Nate was last since he didn't want to harm anyone, but he didn't seem to mind losing at all.

The last game that was played was hitting the piñata. Lina had used a lot of effort to search for someone who made them in their lifetime. A piñata had become rare in Sanitarium Island and very few were sold. Luckily, Lina managed to get her hands on one with the help of people she "knew".

The furniture was moved from the living room and the piñata was securely hung on a piñata stand, which was sold separately that Lina had to use her own money to buy it. Mia had blindfolded her. And when everyone was ready, Mia twirled her around three full circles before letting her go and handed her the bat. The children started yelling directions all around confusing Shilo. Lina had laughed when Shilo seemed to be completely lost. And well, Lina had gotten hit by Shilo because of it. Lina rubbed her leg in pain and stopped. This, of course, made Luigi and the children laugh while the other adults and Nate tried to hold in their own laughter. After ten minutes of yelling and screaming, Shilo finally had hit the piñata and all the contents inside started spilling out. Shilo couldn't believe how much pressure one game could cause her so much stress.

Not before long, Lina smirked and laid a hand on the side of her waist.

"That was a good blow there, Shilo. Was there some sort of pent up frustration going on?" Lina asked. Shilo was shocked at the question and blushed. Oh yes, Lina believed in teasing a grown person on their birthday.

"Shall we get onto the presents now?" Mia suggested, and the children had gotten even more excited.

Shilo smiled warmly and nodded, not knowing a surprise awaits her and everyone inside the Wallace household.