When the Vongola arrived in Italy, Bel's anxiety had spiked worse than it had ever been; he had had very little sleep, due to both his trauma and the fact that Chiara kept waking him up whenever he had finally managed to doze off. As stressful as he was finding parenthood, he could never find it in him to get mad at his child; he would simply feed her and rock her back to sleep as he cried, too.

But now, as he sat on his bed with Chiara in his arms, Bel frowned at his lap as he listened to Squalo talking to him.

"Lussuria's picking them up from the airport now." The long-haired man was leaning against Bel's doorframe with his arms folded against his chest. He didn't miss the way the younger was trembling, and though he did want to do something to help the blond feel better, he didn't know what; he had never had reason to show his soft side until now, and Lussuria was the one who knew how to handle these situations – Squalo would probably only make things worse. "When they get here, he'll bring them up to your room."

Bel didn't know how to protest; he was just so tired and stressed, he was sure that he would only cry if he were to try and talk. His bottom lip quivered as he fought back his emotions, but it wasn't until Chiara started crying once more did the dam finally burst; feeling tears of exhaustion and hopelessness roll down his cheeks, he begun rocking his daughter; was she still hungry? He had already fed her not even an hour ago.

"Chiara… Please… D-don't cry…" Bel brought Chiara closer to his chest and dropped his head so that his forehead rested against hers. He sucked in a shaky gasp as he heard Squalo's footsteps approaching him; pushing himself as far away from the man as he could, his quivering became violent as he begged for his superior to stay away. "D-don't…! Please..! N-n-no…! Don't come n-near!"

Squalo didn't know how to react to this; he had only tried to approach Bel in order to get a better look at Chiara; the boy had been too scared to let him near them, and so far Lussuria and Mammon were the only ones who had gotten close enough to see Chiara properly; he couldn't deny that this hurt him, but what was he supposed to do?

The man cleared his throat uncomfortably and looked to the side. "She might be cold, Bel; why is your room freezing?"

Bel self-consciously tugged the tiny blanket he had wrapped Chiara in tighter around her. He swallowed thickly, hoping the man wasn't right; he would never forgive himself if he was being a bad parent. "…"

"Bel? Come on; there's fucking central heating and the rest of the mansion is warm. Why the fuck didn't you tell anyone your room isn't heating up?"

Bel wiped at his eyes. He sobbed loudly, not wanting to admit that he had been too scared of leaving his room to tell someone. "…"

Squalo sighed; had he been too hard on the younger? "…Well… I'll get someone in to look at it. For now, go stay in my room or somethin'… It's too cold for you both."

Bel choked at this suggestion; leave his room…? Never! "N-no…"

"Bel, if you don't get Chiara out of the cold, she'll –"

"Fuck off!" For the first time since his abduction, Bel raised his voice. He tightened his hold on Chiara when the baby started crying at his shout and kicked his legs out at Squalo as the man tried to come closer to him. "Go away! Don't c-come closer! I'll s-stab you!"

"Bel…" Squalo wasn't stupid; for whatever reason, Bel just didn't want him near Chiara. "Bel, do you honestly think I would hurt your kid?"

Bel was taken aback by this question. His tears came harder as he dropped his head, and his eyes were wide as he stared down at his daughter. When he spoke, it was in a horrified whisper. "…He… He took them from me…"

Squalo raised an eyebrow. "Verde?" Finally understanding when he received a nod in response, the Rain Guardian felt sick; the pain Bel had been put through… "Bel… I… I didn't know… I thought… Just Chiara…"

"…"

Squalo closed his eyes; he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer. "…How many…?"

Bel lifted a hand to rub at his eyes before he shook his head. "…Seventeen…"

Fighting back a wave of nausea, Squalo shook his head; what kind of sick mind could do that to a kid…? "Seventeen… You got pregnant… seventeen times…?"

Bel nodded. "…"

"Jesus fuck…" Squalo wasn't going to ask where those kids were; he definitely didn't want to know that. Instead, he said in a voice uncharacteristically gentle, "Belphegor… I… I know it's not the same, but… Well, I've never told anyone this, but I kind of get it…"

Bel looked warily to Squalo, wanting to scream and rant about how he didn't get it because it wasn't Squalo who had been kidnapped and experimented on and raped and… and had his fucking kids taken from him… Squalo didn't understand, and it made Bel angry to know the other was trying to relate to him.

But still, Bel listened to what his superior had to say.

Squalo rubbed the back of his head before muttering, "Fuck… Well… To get right to the point… I got my one-night stand knocked up. I had never really wanted kids before, but I figured I'd take responsibility. She didn't want it so I said I'd have it. She agreed, and the more I thought about it, the more I started to look forward to having a kid."

Bel found himself leaning closer when Squalo fell silent; what was the man thinking about…? "What happened…?"

A dark look crossed Squalo's face before he growled, "The fucking bitch aborted it…"

Bel felt his heart breaking once more at these words. He wiped at his eyes as he felt his shoulders heave from stress; he would have given anything – everything – he had, done anything he could possibly do if it meant he could have kept his children, but no... "…But… Why would anyone want to abort their baby…? I didn't… I wanted mine… I really did… And they were taken from me… Why would she…?"

"I don't know, brat…" Sighing, Squalo shook his head. "I don't know… But I won't take your kid from you, Bel. I thought you knew me better than that."

Bel couldn't stop his tears from coming harder; all he knew was that, no matter how much he wanted to trust Squalo, he couldn't help but fear his child being taken from him like the others had been. If someone were to ever take Chiara from him, Bel didn't want to know what he would do.

~~XX~~

It hadn't been long after Squalo left did Bel decide he could really use a shower; as much as he didn't want to get out of bed, it had been several days since he had last showered and he could smell himself beginning to stink. It wasn't that the boy had always been this way; before the abduction, he had showered every night and always groomed himself to the highest standard – but these days, he just couldn't seem to find the motivation to look after himself anymore.

Everything had seemed normal – at least, as normal as things had been ever since… that – so when Bel stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his hips, it was only natural for him to panic as soon as he saw the group of people surrounding Chiara's crib.

Bel didn't make much notice of the fact that he was hyperventilating; all he knew was that he had to protect his child. He dropped his towel to the ground before he ran towards his nightstand and grabbed a handful of knives. Shouting something so jumbled, even he didn't know what he was trying to say, he threw knife after knife after knife to get the intruders away from Chiara.

"Bel-chan, it's me, sweetheart."

Bel froze at Lussuria's voice, not knowing what to think; he had trusted the other to keep him and Chiara safe, and yet… here the man was, bringing peasants near his child! Gripping the handle of one of his knives tightly, Bel's jaw went taut; how was he supposed to react to this?

Lussuria gathered the younger males closer so that Bel could see them, hoping it would help calm the boy to know that none of them were a threat. "See, Bel-chan? It's just the Vongola; nothing to be afraid of. They won't hurt Chiara-chan."

Bel only grew angrier at this, not wanting people he was still so unfamiliar with around his child; how could he trust people he hardly knew? The only contact he had had with them was during the Ring Battles, just days before his abduction…

Thinking about this only made Bel more stressed; he couldn't help but wonder how friendly the Varia had become with the Vongola during his absence to have them here right now; had Bel missed out on something big…?

The boy stomped his foot angrily before he threw another knife at the wall opposite him in order to try and vent his frustrations; he knew he wasn't allowed to harm the Vongola, and it was taking everything he had to not slaughter them here and now; as much as he wanted them gone, he certainly didn't want to have any of the higher ups within the Vongola Family sniffing around because he knew they would only make his life harder than it already was if they found him guilty of treason.

"Make them leave…!" Bel shuddered and reached up to rip at his hair; he felt as if he were going to throw up; why did those brats have to be here…?! He could look after himself! "I don't want them around Chiara…!"

To Bel's honest surprise, it wasn't Lussuria who spoke next; it was the Vongola Rain Guardian who the blond remembered to be Yamamoto Takeshi, the sword brat who had managed to beat Squalo for the Rain Ring. Bel couldn't say he resented the taller male, because if he were to tell the truth, there was something about the younger male that kept him from hating the other as much as he did the rest of the Tenth Generation Vongola. Bel didn't know what it was, but he did know that it was rare to find himself rather neutral towards someone, to have someone he didn't entirely want to slaughter, but to feel unaffected if someone were to do the job for him.

Somehow, the taller male was exempt from Bel's murderously-protective side.

"Her name is Chiara, right?" Takeshi's caramel eyes held nothing of the deception and loathing Bel had been searching for; instead, they were sincere, nothing changing in the dark-haired teenager whenever he looked from his friends to Lussuria and finally to Bel; it was almost as if the younger accepted the Varia as much as he did his friends. It was something Bel didn't understand, having never found himself particularly close to anyone outside of the Varia – and even then, he wasn't sure he could exactly call them his 'friends'.

Hesitantly, Bel nodded. His attention was focused so entirely on Takeshi that he completely forgot about the fact that he was naked. He continued to stand by his bed, ready to do whatever it took for him to protect Chiara if he needed to; he wouldn't allow that younger group to hurt his child, no matter what.

Takeshi's smile brightened at this. "That's such a nice name. It's Italian, right?"

Bel nodded again. He couldn't find it in him to speak, but when he watched Takeshi lean down and put his arms into the cot to pick Chiara up, he couldn't help but snap; screaming angrily, he started running at the younger trio with the intention of killing them all, but he was stopped by Lussuria grabbing him and holding him tight against the man's body.

"Bel-chan, calm down." Lussuria was as patient as ever as he restrained his young comrade. He understood how terrifying it must be to watch someone else pick up the boy's child in front of him, but didn't the boy understand that they were allies? If anything, the Vongola should hold less threat than the Varia, and yet, Bel had once allowed for Lussuria to take Chiara out of his room.

Why was the younger reacting so badly to kids closer to his own age?

Takeshi didn't seem daunted by the sudden attack; he instead cradled Chiara in his arms and smiled down at the girl with a strange look in his eyes that had Bel stopping his thrashing on the spot; that look in the younger's eyes… It was far different from the happy expression Bel had seen Takeshi don before, so what was the other thinking?

"She's so beautiful…" While Bel was too socially inept to understand the change of tone in Takeshi's voice, Lussuria recognised it; the Vongola Rain was sad. Reaching out to gently touch the small tufts of black hair on Chiara's head, Takeshi looked up to give Bel a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You must love her very much."

Bel frowned at this. He wanted so badly to love his daughter, and as much as he was trying, he didn't know how; he had never loved someone before, and he didn't know if he could start with Chiara – not after how she had been given to him. "…"

Takeshi didn't point out the blond's silence; he knew the older male was already aware of it. Instead, he moved closer to Bel, trying to ignore the way the boy whimpered and tried to back away. He said nothing as he held Chiara out for Bel to take, watching as the blond warily took his daughter. Reaching out again as Bel held Chiara, he wasn't oblivious to the frightened whimper the boy made as Takeshi's fingers ghosted against his bare flesh.

"You should support her head a little more." Helping guide Bel's arms into the proper position, Takeshi smiled once he was satisfied with what he was seeing. "That's good; now you won't hurt her."

Bel didn't understand; how did someone younger than him know more about his own child than he did…? "How… How did you know that…?"

The smile on Takeshi's face instantly vanished, replaced instead by a deep frown and tears welling up in his eyes. He shook his head after a few seconds, saying in a weak voice, "…It doesn't matter…"

Bel had never been very good when it came to socialising; despite being a genius, he found social cues incredibly hard to pick up. He understood that a smile was a good thing and a frown was a bad thing, but it was those more subtle things that left him stumped. However, he knew enough about emotions to know that tears meant Takeshi was very upset.

But upset about what? Bel wasn't sure he wanted to know.

The boy had been so enthralled in trying to understand what was happening that he hadn't noticed the other two Vongola guardians approaching until they were too close for comfort. Pushing himself backwards, he almost instinctively reached out for knives before he forced himself to stay still; he didn't want to drop Chiara. "Stay away!"

Lussuria, who could see that Bel was getting upset again, moved away from the Varia Storm and towards the Vongola instead. In a welcoming tone, he said, "Let's leave Bel-chan alone for now; he isn't used to having so many people around him like this. We'll go find your cow baby and then I will show you all to your rooms."

Bel watched the trio turning around to leave. He didn't know what came over him when he reached out and snatched Takeshi's sleeve to tug the younger back. Looking anywhere but at the younger, he moved away to put distance between them before muttering, "…T-tell me more… About babies, I mean…"

It took Takeshi a few seconds to comprehend that he was being invited to stay, but once he understood, he nodded. "Of course. First of all, you should get dressed."

Bel's mouth dropped open as he realised he was still naked from his shower. He felt extremely uncomfortable all of a sudden and turned around so that his back was to everyone else. He moved to his bed to lay Chiara down in his mess of blankets, and then to the wardrobe so that he could dress himself; he felt embarrassed to be seen like this by the others, but he was just relieved none of them had tried to touch him like when he had been with Verde.

When he turned back around, Bel noticed that Takeshi was the only one left. He cocked his head to the side and wrapped his arms around himself uneasily; now that everyone else was gone, he was starting to regret his decision in asking for the younger's help.

But then again, he had to do this for Chiara.

Takeshi was the first to speak, in a soft tone that was almost hesitant. "All those scars on your stomach… Did Verde give them to you…?"

Bel felt sick as he remembered the giant scars that criss-crossed over his stomach. He dropped his head in shame at the thought of them; it was true his flesh was marred completely by the evidence that he had lost so many children before Chiara, and he hated the scars so much, it made him want to slice up his own stomach to try and hide them behind self-inflicted wounds – maybe they wouldn't hurt as much as Verde's marks did. "…"

Takeshi knew he was stepping into forbidden territory with that question, so changing the subject, he said, "I know you probably don't want to, but it's too cold in here for Chiara. You should bring her out into the warmth so she doesn't get sick."

Bel closed his eyes, knowing that Squalo had been trying to tell him the same thing earlier. He wanted to give his daughter warmth, but was it so bad that he was too frightened to take her out of his room? She was safe in here with him, but outside his door…

That was a different story.

Bel shook his head and sat down on his bed so that he could pull his still-sleeping child into his arms. In a defeated tone, he whispered, "…I'm keeping her warm, Takeshi… See…?"

Takeshi couldn't understand the terror Bel must be living in, so he didn't push for the older male to leave the room. He instead sat at the desk on the other side of the room and tried to stop memories of his own rampaging through his mind.

Forcing a smile onto his face, Takeshi said, "I'm glad. Lussuria said you haven't been getting much sleep, so it's really important for you to get some rest if you're going to be looking after a baby. Try and get some sleep, okay?"

Bel shook his head. "I can't sleep…"

"Why not?"

The boy didn't want to admit that he was suffering a severe case of insomnia, and that whenever he did manage to fall asleep, he didn't stay that way for long as nightmares would plague him until he'd wake up crying. Instead, he said, "Because I need to look after Chiara…"

"What if I take care of her while you sleep?" Takeshi didn't miss the panic that spread across Bel's face, so before the boy could object, he quickly continued on. "I won't take her out of the room and I will only go near her when she needs something. Okay?"

Bel wanted to object, to care for his daughter himself. …But he was just so tired… He desperately wanted sleep, and if there would be someone else there to help him get rest…

"I'll kill you if you do anything to hurt her…" Dropping himself down onto his mattress, Bel curled up beneath his blankets. He wouldn't close his eyes until he made sure Takeshi would stay on the other side of the room and away until Chiara woke, but somehow, when he finally did allow himself to begin drifting off, knowing that there was someone else to share the workload made him feel light enough to fall asleep in seconds, his exhaustion consuming.

Bel woke only a few times, cracking open his eyelid to check where Takeshi was when he heard the younger moving around. He would go straight back to sleep when he found the other simply entertaining himself with Bel's belongings, and when Chiara finally did require assistance, the blond was able to go straight back to sleep after supervising Takeshi for a few minutes and then feeling his daughter being tucked back in beside him.

The older male couldn't help but wrap an arm around the baby and pull her close, and it was that comfort she brought him that allowed him to have the most peaceful sleep he had had since the kidnapping.

Somehow, Bel had a feeling that he could genuinely count on Takeshi to help him with Chiara. That didn't mean he was any less fearful of the younger; he would just be keeping an eagle eye on the Japanese teenager whenever he was around Chiara was all.