Kitsune here with the next chapter-one-shot. THis one has a picture I drew, too. But I refuse to use that image upload-er. Also, it's only line art, so...it's on my DeviantArt account if you really wanna see it, I think. Ash and Reborn/Bravo. Kinda angsty and Reborn is OOC, but he's drunk, so there. The lions are not actually in the Dark-hunter series, so I made them up.

Question of the chapter: What do you think of the new Image manager?

New Orleans

Ash couldn't help but laugh as Simi finished off another bowl of hot-sauce covered ice cream with a side of ribs. It had been a slow week, and he'd told Kyrian he'd meet him at Sanctuary later. Nothing wring with spending the day there and letting Simi eat her fill first, though. He still had nightmares about that VW wagon she'd tried to eat last year because 'it smelled like tacos'.

Yeah.

Better not risk a Simi attack in the middle of a crowded city full of people who smelled interesting to say the least, thanks to their permanent case of the munchies, or general belief that soap was optional. Come to think of it, Archeron was getting really sick of saving some human and getting "Dude...was that, like, a vampire...or something? Far out m~an..." Maybe after tonight he'd pop over to Europe or something for a few years. From what the Dark Hunter's had told him, the Americas were by far the worst for the druggy remnants of the Hippy movement. Unfortunately, that made them the easiest target for the Daemons, too.

He went back to hammering together a chair that had fallen apart. Just because he was there to feed Simi didn't mean Mama Lo wasn't going to take advantage of another set of hands, though. He smiled at the thought of an all powerful god being bossed around by the powerhouse of the Peltier clan. His image with his men would forever be ruined by the hot pink scrunchy Aimee had laughingly given him when he'd hammered his thumb for the fourth time. It did keep his long black and green locks out of the way at least. "Ash? Yo, Earth to Ash!"" Cody Peltier waved from the kitchen hall, obviously agitated. Rolling his eyes at Cody's exaggerated gestures the Atlantean made sure to check that Simi would be all right on her own for a while before seeing what had the bear's fur in a twist. Smirking, he snagged a beer from behind the bar on his way over, getting a chuckle out of Devi.

"Yes, Cody?" He opened the bottle with practiced ease and took a long swig.

The young Arcadian huffed, "Aimee says you've got a phone call. Long distance. Said you should probably take it, since it was from the Lion's den in Italy."

Ash handed Cody his beer, frowning as he pushed past the man into the back and headed towards the office. He knew Aimee would be there waiting, hopefully with more information. It had been a year or so since he'd spoken with the any of the Litarian in Italy. The Leone family ran a sanctuary much like the Peltier's did. It was just highly unusual for them to call, even if they were looking for him. After all, they were Arcadian, and as far as the rest of the world knew, the Peltier's were all Katagaria. It was understandable that it would make Aimee and Cody nervous. Hell, Ash knew the Litarian's and he was nervous. In moments he was knocking on the office door.

"Come in," Nicolette called, "I sent Aimee away, she worked herself right up." The matriarch explained to his raised eyebrow, "Now, I got that man Patrice on hold. He's going about it being an emergency and you needing to clean up your own mess." She humphed, "Not that I don't understand where he's coming from, but make it quick, will you, cher? I don't want word getting out that we've talked you know." She huffed again, the picture of an annoyed mamma bear as she headed towards the door, "I'll be back in five. Aimee will watch Simi while you're gone. Don't you worry about Kyrian either. He's a big boy, I'm sure he'll understand if you're not back in time. Just be a dear and bring back some fresh olives." She said, shutting the door.

Ash just stood there for a second, slightly bemused at how Nicolette seemed to know everything without being omnipotent. He figured it had something to do with the brood of children she had. Shaking his head ruefully at her manipulations (he was sure Kyrian was going to be waiting tables tonight if he wasn't back) he picked up the phone. "Ash here."

"Ciao! Ash! I was afraid for a moment you were Nicolette again to tell me off for scaring Aimee." Ash could hear a gunshot followed by laughter, then the phone was jostled, "That's not funny! Stop that! Oh! You! Stop him. I Don't care how, just stop him before he wrecks the place." Patrice started to mutter darkly in Italian under his breath.

"Everything alright?"

"No. It's your fault, too."

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Archeron grinned into the phone, "Well, tell me what I did, and I'll see what I can do to fix it."

"You introduced a bunch of crazy Mafioso hitman to the Lion's Den. That's what!" the were-hunter snapped, not finding the other man amusing in the slightest, "And now I've got one taking pot-shots at anyone who so much as looks at the door!"

"Inside or out?"

"Huh?"

Ash sighed, "Is he inside or outside the place?"

"Oh. I don't know. Every time I turn around, he's somewhere else! It's like trying to herd kittens. Do you have any idea how hard that is?" There was a pause, "Inside right now. Cici brought him down from the roof. How did he get onto the roof, pray-tell?"

He started to laugh, "I'll be there in a few. Just tell Colonnello to hang tight or you'll sic Lal Mirch and Bravo Hitman on him."

"What are you talking about, Atlantean? It's not that blonde idiot. I wish it was! I could deal with him. It's that dark one, Bravo, or whatever he calls himself. Hurry up, will ya? If this keeps up, someone's going to end up dead, and I honestly don't know who at this point." with that the obviously frustrated Italian lion hung up the phone.

Ash wasted no time teleporting himself few blocks away from The Lion's Den. Bravo causing trouble was highly unusual. He wasn't the type to use his impressive skills to terrorize people just for the hell of it. Something must have happened in the last few years since he had seen the young hitman that either drastically changed that, or he was laying a trap. As Archeron got onto his motorcycle, pulling on a helmet, he desperately hoped it was the latter and not the former. He wished he could have 'ported right into the club, but with the place full of twitchy were-hunters and an apparently trigger-happy hitman it was better to come in the front door, unfortunately with all the alert Mafia families, that meant NOT appearing right AT the door. Luckily, Ash's driving was daring enough to get him there in a matter of moments. By the time Nicolette was walking back into her office, Ash was dropping the kickstand on his bike and heading for the door.

Taking a deep breath and preparing his best 'people wrangling' skills, he opened the door while unclasping his helmet. He froze in actual shock as a bullet when whizzing by his head, grazing the helmet before he even took it off. Ash stared hard at the black fedora, refusing to look at the gun pointed over the shoulder. "You bastard. You're supposed to look where you're shooting. Isn't that what you told me?"

The black clad figure nodded and there was a clink of ice as he put his glass down. Patrice was standing right in front of Bravo, glaring at Archeron. Really, is THAT what you say? He mentally snarled at the ancient god, visibly bristling.

Taking off his helmet, Ash grinned, Well, yeah. It's not like he's going to hit me, you know. Even he wasn't sure if he meant that his friend wouldn't actually try and hit him, or he would be to fast to hit. It was obvious by the look on the other's face that he'd noticed, and wisely chose not to call Ash on it.

The Were-lion snarled silently at him, Suit yourself. "Your friend is here, I am going into the back. You have frightened the staff, so do not wander. If you need something, shout." I am not kidding, my mate is threatening to eat this one. The man warned before walking into the back.

As soon as the man left Bravo spun around on his chair, legs crossed, drink in one hand and gun lightly held in the other. His black eyes were focused with a strange intensity on his glass. Worried, Ash wished he could read Bravo just once. While his inability to know what the other was thinking was one of the things that had made them friends, it made things difficult when the other was close-lipped. After what seemed like an eternity, but what was really only a few seconds the hitman looked up. His eyes danced with merriment, but his usual smirk was gone. In fact, it was the complete opposite of the expression he usually wore, and the change was creepy as hell.

His lip twitched. Ash raised an eyebrow, and he snorted. It was then the Atlantean noticed the flush across the pale cheeks. Glancing around the room he saw a mostly empty bottle of scotch within arms reach of the man, as well as the many bullet holes in the walls. He also spotted the little panther chameleon pet that was the hitman's constant companion as it vanished behind the register. Ash was glad someone hadn't eaten it, stupid thing probably would have caused an incident with the whole of the Vongola if they had. Finally his eyes found Bravo's again. "Chaos..." The hitman smirked as he said his usual greeting. Silver locked with black for a split second before the much younger man spun away laughing. "Ha...hahaha...You...Look like a girl!"

"Oh?" Archeron grinned at the shaking shoulders, taking down his long black and green hair from the scrunchy he'd borrowed from Aimee and shooting it at the back of his friends head in retaliation. Normally, getting laughed at wasn't the reaction he got from people. "You're drunk, aren't you?" Not even other men, no matter how drunk they were. It would hurt his ego if it wasn't for the fact that it was funny to see his always sober friend drunk as a skunk. Bravo, of course, dodged the pink scrunchy. He snagged a stool next to Bravo, amused to see that the other still wouldn't look at him. "How much did you drink?" he half gripped, dropping his bag. Something told him he was going to be there a while.

The other just waved him off, still laughing, "Eh. enough. Not enough. Who knows?" He snorted into his drink, obviously trying to act sober and failing. He eyed his friend to see if the other noticed and they shared a look before both laughed.

'Who knew he'd be such a happy drunk?' mused Ash, "So, mind if I ask why you were shooting at the lions? I thought big game hunting wasn't your thing."

"But these lions can shoot back. Much more fun! BANG!" The man swung his glass, spilling some of the drink. "Oops. No. no...I'm ok. S'right...Really. Um." He grinned, obviously trying to order his thoughts, "Seemed like a good idea. Couldn't reach you. Tried all month, and today's the last day, ya know? Vongola couldn't find you, so I came here. Left a message every day."

Acheron frowned, Is that true? He sent Patrice who he knew was eavesdropping.

The man sent back in surprise, I knew he was stopping in all week. It's the first I've heard of a message. Eck. That son of mine! I left him in charge this month as a trial run. Ash, I'm sorry, if I had known your friend had been in need of you, I would have sent word right away.

Ash realized that Bravo was still talking, which was unusual. The man usually had a sixth sense about when people were speaking telepathically. He waved his gun, "I thought I'd sit and wait them out today." He pointed at the mostly empty bottle, "And Cici, she offered me a drink. I figured today needed a drink." Bravo grinned, holding up his glass, "Why not, right?" and drank it down before pouring some more.

The god could see why the hitman never drank. It didn't seem to interfere with his aim (yet), but he was nowhere near as focused when drunk. In fact, he was beginning to seriously wonder if this was the first time the man had ever truly been drunk. "Alright. Well. You found me. Now be a good boy and tell me why you were looking for me?" Ask thought about it for a second, "But first, give me your gun, ok?"

Hitman looked at his gun. He seemed mildly surprised that he was still holding it. Then he looked at Ash with some of the best puppy-dog eyes the man had ever seen on a killer, and that was saying something. Finally, with a sigh, the spiky-haired man expertly unloaded the gun, pulling the clip, and handing both to the taller man with a pout.

"There now, that wasn't so hard, now was it? I'd ask for your other guns but that would be just cruel." He mused, "So I'll pretend I don't know you have three other guns, and you'll not touch them..." He was outright shocked when the man rapidly pulled out four guns, removing the clips and handing them all to him. When he opened his mouth Bravo held up a finger and with a grin, pulled a switchblade out of his Fedora and handed that over as well. The level of trust involved flabbergasted Ash. This was a man who from boyhood had been taught that the world was a dangerous place, and to trust no one. His training would make even some of the Dark-Hunter's cringe, and yet he was turning over most of, if not all, of his weapons. Not that Bravo wasn't deadly at hand to hand, but still. Something was seriously off with the hitman. "Wow. You are a happy drunk, aren't you?" Bravo continued to snicker into his glass, apparently finding his friend's reaction exceedingly funny for some reason. "Alright, chuckles, what gives?"

The other tugged lightly on his curly sideburn, "Colonnello proposed to Lal Mirch, you know. Asked me to be the best man, the bastard."

Ash grinned, now he could easily see his friend getting drunk over that. "Oh? When is the wedding?" He pulled a glass and bottle over to himself, pouring himself a celebratory drink. He'd have to make sure he was free. For the first time since Archeron had arrived, Bravo frowned, all humor fleeing his face. Ash felt his heart drop, "What, what is it? What's wrong?"

"There isn't going to be a wedding." Bravo shrugged, taking a drink. He sighed and seemed to change the topic, "Hey, Ash. Being the best really stinks, you know? Being the best of the best? The only good part is looking out for others." He ground his teeth, "It really pisses me off."

The Atlantean God forced the other to look at him. He stared deep into eyes that were filled with a dark humor and so much pain. "What happened?"

"Arcobaleno."

"Oh Gods." Arcobaleno, one of those random weird curses that doomed a select few special souls for the preservation of the masses. The side-effects were a mixed bag, eternal youth for six out of seven, but it was an extreme youth. Ash couldn't imagine being forced to live as a toddler for decades upon decades while having the mind of an adult. Bets were being made by the gods on how long it would take a person to go mad under those conditions. The sevenths lifespan would be only a fraction of what it could have been. Ash didn't know if that was better or worse. He'd heard it was going to be implemented again, but he had had no idea how soon. "Which one, Colonnello or Lal?"

"Lal."

"Damn. I think I need a stronger drink." he muttered, reaching into his bag and conjuring himself a bottle. It tended to make the man nervous when Ash did something like that right in front of him.

"You?" The other snorted, "You can't get drunk, remember?"

"I'm going to try."Ash growled in aggravation as he poured a large glass of ouzo for himself and a slightly smaller one for his impromptu drinking buddy. If nothing else, he could help get his friend good and wasted. "Anyone else I know? I assume you know."

"Hey, aren't you a God or something? Shouldn't you, I don't know, know this already or something?"

"I told you before, it doesn't work like that."

"That's just stupid." Bravo's humor seemed to return as he smirked at Archeron, taking the proffered drink. "But I'll tell you anyway, cause then you can act like you knew the whole time." he smirked, seemingly proud of this.

Ash smiled thinly, "Thanks."

"No problem. What are friends for." The hitman took a drink and grimaced, " I'd show you pictures, too, but it wouldn't do you any good after tomorrow anyway." He chuckled again, apparently finding that funny, "There's Lal, of course. She's to be rain. You remember Fon, that Chinese guy with the 'really killer bad breath'? He's got picked for storm. That idiot Skull, the stunts-man with a death-wish? You told me you had to rescue him one time from a group of Appolites, well, he's going to be Cloud." He paused, drinking some more, "I don't know if you know the others. Verde's a scientist, he's been called the Da Vinci's Reincarnation, he's that good. Verde's going to be lightning. Viper's a psychic, but not one of those fakes. He's telepathic, and the Vongola have hired him to locate people as well. He'll be Mist. The Sun Arcobaleno is going to be Luce. She's the current boss of the Giglio Nero Famiglia...she's pregnant."

"There was no one else to take the spot?"

"More like she wouldn't let anyone else take it." Ash looked at the man, eyebrow raised, "No, really, you don't argue with Luce. She just smiles at you until she gets her way. It's evil."

Ah. He likes her. Ash thought. That was going to make things hard when she was turned. Being the bearer of the sun, Luce wouldn't live long in comparison to the other's. He almost wished she was one of the other six, even if it would extend the obviously budding relationship just a little bit. "Wait. That's only six. Who's the seventh? There's always seven."

"If you're collecting the strongest and the best, who do you think is going to be at the top of that list, barring all you petra-natural types?" Ash stared at the man, feeling numb. He knew he should have expected this. The fedora covering his eyes, the hitman chucked into his glass. It was a heartbreaking sound for the leader of the Dark-Hunters. It would have almost been better, he thought, if the other would cry, or rage, or even curse. "I'm glad I got in touch with you, though. I was worried I you wouldn't find out until after..." he paused, "I think. I think I'm going to go away for a while. Take a break." A grin, "Kinda hard to hold a Cz75 when you've got tiny hands, right? Maybe I'll get a hobby or something." He sighed, "Damn, I love these guns,too."

"Who's idea was it?"

"For the Arcobaleno? It came from this guy we've all gotten jobs from before. Don't really know much more then that."

"How long." He ground his teeth, "How long have you known?"

"I've suspected for the last year that something was up. The eighth, well, I'm not her favorite hitman. It was odd that she was fine with me taking jobs from this guy. I've known for sure for a couple of months."

He'd known that the current Vongola boss was wary of the very talented young hitman. Bravo was quite possibly the best at what he did, and yet didn't seem very ambitious. He was generally well liked by others, too, most notable was her son, Timoteo. She just couldn't seem to understand that for the strongest hitman protecting the family was more important than any rank. "That Bitch."

"Don't worry about it. Better me than, well, anyone I'd use as an example is going to be there. Except for Colonello. Of course, you know he's probably gonna do something to screw it all up tomorrow. We might just all die, or the world could end...got any more of that drain cleaner you call alcohol?"

"Yeah." The ancient warrior pored another shoot, starting the farewell party for two, "Did I ever tell you about the time Talon literally fell into a demon summoning in Wales?" To the raised eyebrow he continued, spinning a tale that was mostly truth and only slightly exaggerated. He went from one tale to another, well into the night until Bravo finally fell asleep. After talking with the lions, they all agreed to let him sleep it off there. Ash popped back to New Orleans with the olives and some good wine while his friend slept. When he returned an hour later, Bravo Hitman was gone.

Where he had sat a note was held down by a bottle currently being scaled by his chameleon, leaving Ash to wonder how drunk the man had actually been.

Chaos,

Sorry I let myself out. I don't like goodbyes. It's likely I won't be able to get away from you for long even if I tried anyway. Work on your aim, you still cut to the left when you pull the trigger. Don't try and find me, the location is top secret. I'll see you in a few years I'm sure. That is, if Colonnello doesn't fuck it up and kill us all.

~Bravo Hitman

P.s. Oh, could you find a home good for Pete? I can't take him where I am going.

*&*&*BREAK*&*&*

When the newly formed Arcobaleno returned to the cabin on the mountain side to gather their things, all but Reborn were shocked to see a group of animals waiting for them. On the table there was a note.

Wasn't that hard to find you guys, you know. Just had to look for a spot the screamed POWERFUL STUFF HAPPENING HERE. Found Pete a nice home with a Squire family. He'll be happy. But life on the road gets lonely without a partner, so I did some research. Before you ask, yes, it does work like that. I'm betting Colonnello will stop Lal if he doesn't get you all killed, so I got him a bird. These guys will live as long as you do, and each have special abilities. Figure them out for yourselves. Think of it as a hobby. See you in a few years, I'm sure.

~Archeron