Romano didn't really like this Tino character. Yeah, he was helping. Sure, he had a badass gun. But it getting him any closer to Feliciano and Antonio? Not as far as he was concerned.

Grunting, arms crossed as he sat at the table, watching Tino and Ludwig talk, he felt somewhat excluded. He wasn't exactly sure what they where doing. Or why he had to bring his laptop downstairs and hook it up to Tino's. Or how Ludwig had been able to set the whole snaking mess up and understand it. He was hungry too now. He bit his lip. Then again, he didn't feel like eating.

He glanced at his phone, which had yet another wire sticking out from the end. He wasn't sure if he wanted to get a text or not. If he did, he might know if they where okay. If he didn't... He couldn't be sure if they where okay or not. But on the other hand, if he did get just a picture, he would have to look at them. He would have to feel his heart sink again. He would have to feel angrier then he already was. He would have to try and barter for what little grip he had on the world once more. And to be honest, he didn't want to do that.

"Romano?"

"Oi!?" Romano glanced up from where he was staring at the table to see Tino and Ludwig looking at him.

"Ludwig asked where your old boss worked."

"Oh." Romano paused. "He worked just outside of Rome. There where a few places though. I know he had a base in Venice."

Ludwig grumbled, placing his face in his hands. "Are you sure you don't vhere zhey could be?"

Romano shook his had slowly, glancing back down at the table. He paused. "But I can give the locations of all the places I know."

Ludwig and Tino simultaneously leaned back from the map they had been looking at.

Romano snatched up a nearby pen, leaning over the map.

"There are three here." He made three points around Rome. "As well as a good dozen ops spots." He took another pen and made more dots about the large city, all spread pretty evenly.

He then leaned up towards Milan, making two dots in reed there, and a six more in blue to mark bases and hand off spots. He then moved to Venice, making three more dots in red, and seven in blue. He pulled back after that. "I'll try to think of more cities, buts that's all I remember right now."

Romano gritted his teeth.

"They better not have them in an entirely different country..."

Ludwig leaned over the map where Romano had made the dots. "Ya."

Romano pulled back, glancing at Tino. Tino looked back, cross armed, his chair leaning back slightly. He was still wearing that coat.

As Ludwig continued to analyze the image and figure out where the text had come from, Tino leaned over and spoke to Romano.

"So... Your boss... Do you think he might actually try to kill them?"

Romano bit his lip, staring at the clock on the far wall.

"...si."

Tino's jaw tightened, and he glanced away.

As if on cue, Romano's computer dinged. He leapt up, seeing what the message was. It was another call.

He quickly opened the browser and accepted, shooing Ludwig and Toni away so they wouldn't be seen. He turned back to the screen with a grim expression.

Antonio was being pinned down by a masked persona, a heavy boot on his chest. Feliciano as being held up in a sitting position, someone gripping his hair, somewhat closer to the camera than Antonio was. He was gagged, and crying, staring at the screen with wide eyes. Antonio was blindfolded, moaning in what appeared to be pain.

"What is taking you so long!?" It was his old boss.

Romano swallowed. "What do you-"

"This is a simple task! It should be done quickly in these circumstances!"

"I'm trying dammit! I still have six more days to complete the damn transaction, bastardo!"

The man on the other end sounded drunk. That was definitely not good.

"What the hell are you doing?" Romano asked. He watched as some sort of stun gun or prod was lowered near Antonio. He could hear a faint clicking emitting from it. Quickly it made contact with Antonio's limp form, and he let out a cry of pain, his back arching as he struggled to escape, to get away from the pain. Feliciano, who was being forced to watch, began to cry harder.

Romano could feel his jaw drop as Antonio continued to scream bloody murder. It sounded like someone was taking out his eye.

"Stop it!" Romano finally found himself able to speak. "Stop it!"

He heard Ludwig and Tino become panicked behind him.

"Vhere zhe hell is zhis call coming from!?"

"I don't know!"

"Narrow it down! Start tracking the source now!"

"I'm trying!"

"Toni! Toni it'll be okay!" Romano found himself shouting at the computer screen.

Feliciano was struggling violently, sobbing, trying to pull away as Antonio fell limp on the ground. The man with the prod grew closer to Feliciano, who began to writhe. He let out panicked squeaks through the cloth, trying to get away.

"Feli, no!"

"Are vhe getting any closer!?"

"A little!"

"Zhat's not good enough!"

Just as the man got close enough, the feed cut. Romano stared at the black screen for what felt like decades, trying to comprehend what he had just seen. Ludwig let out a heavy sigh, face down on the table, running his hands through his slicked back blonde hair. Tino was staring at his own screen, which had only gotten somewhat smaller. Only a little bit closer.

Romano became aware of the tears streaming down his cheeks.

"We need to hurry." He said softly. "Oh god..."

He glanced at the others, who where silent. Their run had broken down to a trip, and they had stumbled and fallen. They had hardly gotten closer. Romano felt like they where never going to save them.