Bel felt sick come the next day when he stepped into Squalo's office and interrupted a meeting between him and the Vongola Decimo; was he really about to do this? It seemed that way. He had never thought that he'd be about to betray two people he loved so much, but he was desperate to have his kids back, and this was the only way he could do so; was it so wrong of him to be willing to do whatever it took to be able to love and protect his children?

"What are you doing, brat? I'm busy." Squalo wasn't yelling, which was a clear indicator that the man saw through the emotionless mask on his subordinate's face and knew that something was bothering the blond. Bel did have to give credit where it was due; the long-haired man always seemed to know when the blond wasn't feeling right.

Bel's shoulders were taut as he lifted his hands to fumble them in anxiety. It took a few moments for him to be able to speak, and when he did, it was in a tone that wasn't much louder than a whisper. "I… need you to help me with something, Squ…"

"Can't it wait? I need to sort this out with the trash."

The blond shook his head. "No, I… I-it's… It's important…"

Squalo narrowed his eyes so slightly, it was imperceptible; something was wrong with Bel, and he wanted to know what. He looked back at Tsuna. "Trash, we'll continue this later."

Tsuna nodded. "I'll come back tonight."

The brunet left the room without another word, leaving Bel and Squalo alone. The long-haired man cocked his eyebrow as he took in the anxious appearance of the blond; he knew the younger still suffered extreme levels of anxiety, but it wasn't like the other to come to him seeking help; Takeshi was the only one he trusted enough to approach because of his own will. "Alright, brat, spill the beans; what's goin' on?"

"…I…"Bel licked his lips as he looked to the side. "…"

"Bel? Come on, brat; you know you can tell me anything."

"…I need… you to help Takeshi and I with something…"

Squalo wasn't stupid; Bel was hiding something, but he knew the younger well enough to know that interrogating the blond wasn't going to accomplish anything but stressing the Storm Guardian further. He played along; his subordinate was acting weird, and he was going to find out why. "Yeah? What do you need?"

"…I… T-takeshi and I… We're looking for something we lost in town yesterday… When it was storming, we… we stayed at a hotel… But we left stuff there…"

The Rain Guardian knew full-well that Bel was lying; there was another motive behind him wanting Squalo to go with him, but he didn't question it; Bel had been very avoidant ever since the abduction and only opened up to Takeshi – it was concerning for the blond to suddenly come to him with something like this, but he would never turn down the other if Bel wanted his help; he just wanted for his subordinate to be okay.

"Sure, Bel. What hotel?" Squalo stood up. "Let me get my keys."

The blond's hands fumbled again. He looked to his feet before he muttered the hotel he wanted Squalo to take him to. He excused himself in order to get Takeshi, and though Squalo wanted to believe that his subordinate was being sincere to him, he couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was in store.

Trying to ignore his gut feeling and instead trust that Bel was telling the truth, Squalo continued on looking for his car keys. The only problem was, he knew full-well that Bel was up to something; he just didn't want to believe it.

~~XX~~

Bel didn't say a word as he led Squalo and Takeshi up the seemingly-endless flights of stairs in the hotel Verde had told him to meet him at; he was too focused on finding the right room, but it was hard to do when heavy anxiety gnawed away at him and made him want to break down on the spot and beg for the two Rain guardians to save him. He could hear the taller males trying to talk to him, asking him if he were okay, but he never replied; he was sure that if he were to open his mouth, he would vomit from all of the stress he was under.

All of a sudden, it became only too apparent that Bel had been wrong in thinking that he was going to be able to get away with this so easily, because despite the fact that he was a genius and had spent so long in coming up with a way to get the others to Verde, he had neglected to think about just one little problem, and that problem was now presenting itself.

"So what did you leave here, anyway?" Squalo was the last to walk into the room Bel had unlocked with a key the Varia Guardian knew the blond shouldn't have access to so casually; the blond should have handed that key back to reception upon checkout, so why did he still have it?

"What?" Takeshi raised his eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"The brat said you guys left something here yesterday." That feeling in his gut returned with a vengeance, and Squalo couldn't help but think he had made a mistake in trusting Bel; something wasn't right, and with each second that passed, it became more and more apparent that the Storm Guardian had brought them here for something other than searching for lost property.

"What do you mean? We haven't been here before." It was then Takeshi clicked on. He frowned as he looked at Bel. "What are you doing, Bel?"

Bel said nothing; he just watched the two men for several seconds before he lunged at Squalo upon realising the other was trying to back out of the room. He ducked beneath the long-haired man's arm when it came swinging out at him, and in one fluid motion, he positioned himself behind the strategy captain in order to bury one of his blades as deep as he could in the man's back, over and over and over again until he was certain Squalo wasn't going to try and run anymore.

"B-bel…" Takeshi looked like he were in shock, and Bel couldn't blame him; it must have come as a serious surprise to know that the blond had planned something like this, and for no apparent reason.

The blond slid his knife back into his pocket. He looked up at his boyfriend, unable to stop the steady stream of tears from rolling down his cheeks. "T-takeshi… I-I don't want… to hurt you, too…"

"Bel, what are you doing…?" Takeshi had never thought he would be afraid of the older male, but here he was, starting to wonder if he were going to leave this hotel room alive. "Why are you…?"

"I-I have to…" The smaller male rung his hands together. He stepped over the unmoving body of Squalo that had collapsed to the floor in a puddle of blood, but with each step he took towards the Vongola Guardian, Takeshi only stepped back. "H-he said that if… If I gave you to him… I could have… my babies back…"

It was then Takeshi understood, and he couldn't help but feel anger surge through him – not at Bel; never at his boyfriend, but at the one who had made his beautiful lover like this. "Bel… You know you won't get them back!"

"Shut up!" Bel grabbed his head as he gave a distressed whimper. "I-I… I just want them back!"

"You won't get them back, Bel! They're…! You were lied to!"

"He's right, Belphegor."

Bel flinched at the voice he hated so much. He looked at the door to the bathroom, and his heart sunk when he found Verde standing there, with that same smug smile he had grown to resent during his time as a captive. The reality of having been played sunk in, and he had never hated himself more than he did now; he had done this to Squalo and Takeshi, all because he had been too weak to realise he was being lied to and manipulated…

Never before had Bel wanted to die as much as he did right now.

Verde laughed that nightmarish laugh. He rolled his eyes as he said, "Did you really think you'd get your children back, Belphegor? I can give you their bodies if you wish, but it would require a lot of time to gather all their scattered ashes."

Bel's breathing hitched. "…"

"Oh, wait." Verde's smirk widened. "There is one left, if you're interested. But, to be honest, I'm not quite sure you'll want them. There is… problems with that one."

Bel had never moved as fast as he did now in order to grab Takeshi and shove him in the Arcobaleno's direction. "Take him! Just please… give me back my kids…"

Takeshi didn't know what to think; Bel was losing the plot, and he was dangerous once again. He got back to his feet, knowing there had to be something he could do to diffuse the situation, but before he could even begin to brainstorm, a blond blur ran at him a split second before searing pain made itself known in his stomach. He froze, after what felt like an eternity, he finally looked down to see the knife there, with blood quickly pooling onto the floor beneath him.

The Varia Storm gave a loud sob before more tears fell down his cheeks, coming to rest in Takeshi's dark hair. "T-takeshi… I-I love you… But… I… I love… my kids… more… I just want them back… Please… Stay out of the way…"

"…" How was Takeshi supposed to respond to something like that? He wanted to yell and scream about how Bel was still being manipulated, but he could barely manage anything other than the soft gurgle of blood in the back of his throat.

The room was full of Bel's crying for several seconds before he dropped his blade to the floor and dragged himself in Verde's direction. "Give them back… I did what you wanted…"

Verde shook his head. "No, I don't think I want to. At least… not yet. I do thank you for bringing me my newest test subjects, but I don't think you can be rewarded for your efforts just yet. After all; I might still need you if these two turn out to be more failures."

"You can't do that!"

"I can and I will." With that said, Verde pulled something out from beneath his white coat. Bel didn't have enough time to see what it was; all he knew was that Verde was running at him with it, and after there was a sharp prick to his neck, his world went black.