In the far lounge down the secluded hall from the dining room, Luciano announced, "One group to the right of the dining hall. The second one is in front of the main entrance. We did not see the third group."

Kuro stepped in, "A group of boys were a little ways underneath the balcony."

Lutz hummed thoughtfully. "They are all within sight of at least one of the other groups."

"If one of them is confronted, the others can easily join."

Luciano hissed, "They may be smarter than we first thought."

"Not only that," Matt grunted, "but they outnumber us when they are together. If they are separate, no. All of us can easily overwhelm a group."

Allen held his hands up. "I got somethin'! If we do two groups at once, 'stead of just one, or all three, one of the groups will have to split, or at least get into confusion at which one to help!"

"Wow!" Luciano exclaimed. "Everyone is showing their bright side today!"

"Haw, haw, well, I do try."

Flavio clapped to regain track of the subject. "Does everyone know where the knock out point is, or how to disable somebody?"

"The back of the heel is an excellent spot for blades," Kuro put in, rolling his shoulders, and the sheath against his back moved, too. "The behind of the neck, right here, is another good area."

Allen pointed to the side of his forehead. "I like puttin' it right here!"

"Yes," Luciano lightly sniggled. "We are not killing them, so watch how hard you hit them. We don't want the cops in our faces."

"Right! Which groups we gettin' first?"

"The balcony," Matt said at the same time as Luciano's "The dining hall."

"Good!" Allen pumped a fist. "Leave the middle group last."

"It's decided!" Luciano claimed. "Once we gather our own weapons, we'll meet with our respective groups. Oh, Kuro, I want you with me this time, and Matt can be with Allen and Siegmund." They did not complain this time, so the Italian jerked his chin to the last teen. "Oliver, you stay."

"I know, I know."

The team glided up the steps once more, splitting to their bedrooms to gather supplies. Allen nudged Oliver, speaking lowly so only he could hear, "Um, Ollie, you wouldn't happen to have anythin' to whack people wit', right?"

"You think I would have something like that in my possession?"

"Shucks, Ollie, wit' you? Who knows! What 'bout that bat you used to almost bash my skull in?"

"That is at Bella's." Oliver furrowed his eyebrows, resting a hand on his door knob. "All the way across town."

"Shit!"

Oliver considered the sigil on his floor, and the one in the bakery's back room. "Actually, there is a way we can get there very quickly."

"Without meetin' those fellas out there?" Allen said, doubtful.

"Come inside my room."

"Wait, so you do got it-"

Oliver grabbed the other teen's hand, and towed him inside. With a suspicious glance around the hall, he quietly closed the door, and hurried to the large symbol. "Hush up, and get over here."

Allen glanced down, and took a step back from the outer edge. "Whoa, what-"

"Are you going to the bakery with me, or not?"

"I don't get it-"

"We are pressed for time, Allen. Please, this is not the appropriate moment to ask questions."

"Um...all right, I guess. What do I do?"

"Get over here, and do not ruin the sketch."

Dramatically lifting his legs, Allen stepped over the lines, until he was in the inner circle with Oliver. "What's this do-" The baker slugged an arm over his shoulder, and around his neck, to bring him down for an intense kiss. He did not allow room or breath to ask questions, but his forceful efforts were not necessary.

"Holy shit," Allen laughed breathlessly, but gasped as he stumbled backward. "Holy shit." He caught himself on a wall, staring wide eyed at the suddenly bright environment. "What...Are we at the bakery?!"

Oliver pressed his finger tips to his own lips, more curious rather than dizzy. "Transference of energy. How useful, it does really work. I will need to tell Lila about this."

Allen was groping the rear foyer's wall. "Is this fer real?"

"You wanted the bat, right?" Oliver pointed to a corner next to him. "It is right there." Anabella must have returned it to its usual spot.

The other boy stared at it, bewildered, but grabbed it anyway. He tapped the thick end against his palm a few times, grinning from the sound and feel of smooth wood. "This feels right, you know?"

"What, that you potentially will be smashing other boy's skulls in with the bat?"

After a moment of consideration, Allen cracked a grin and shrugged. "Yeah! It's a nice weapon!"

"Better than playing sports with it, I suppose!" Oliver crept closer. "We should get back to the others."

"What 'bout Bella? Do y'think she's still sleepin'?"

"We cannot linger until she wakes up," the baker urged the other teen to the middle of the circle. "I have to return her vehicle after this whole ordeal is finished, so I will check on her then."

"Me, too!" Allen offered, and snuck an arm behind Oliver's back to crush their chests together. "You gon' do more of that magic voodoo stuff?"

Oliver smiled and nodded. This time, he took his own strain, since Allen need his energy for the up and coming confrontation. When they snapped back to his own room, the baker slipped from the other boy's grip, and flopped onto his bed.

"Shucks, Ollie, you all right?"

"It is not easy...as it looks."

"Okay, I guess," Allen stepped away from the chalk sigil with a disturbed expression. "I ain't goin' worry 'bout it now, but when we're done..."

"I will try answering your questions as best as I can. Now," Oliver swished the hand that was not pressed to his forehead. "You need to go, and do not do anything stupid!"

"You always say that!"

"I will get mad if you are hurt!"

"At me?!"

Oliver nodded.

"Oh, boy."

"Hey!" Several, strong knocks resonated on the door. Matt's gruff voice barked, "We have things to do, in case you forgot."

"Yeah, I know!" Allen threw back just as darkly, and threw open the door.

"Then let's go, beef brains," Matt was cut off with the wood slamming against its frame. As soon as their heavy feet faded away, Oliver sprung from his bed, and stumbled to the bathroom. Snatching a bath towel, and wetting it in the sink, he returned to the sigil to begin scrubbing it from his floorboards.

He brushed the dry half of the towel to suck up most of the moisture from the wood before replacing the old circle with a new one. Instead of sharp lines of intertwining branches, Oliver drew much more gentler slopes and loops of a healing insignia. It was always better to be safe than sorry. Something was screaming at him to draw it, so he listened. In case his friends returned all right, he slid his top blanket from his bed, and laid it over the design, to cover it and any questions the boys might ask about the strange symbol. A duvet on the floor was less odd than a magic circle.

Of course, Allen had questions. It was too haste of a situation for Oliver to pretend to be normal when he could help his friends with his gift. He hoped it was a gift, and did not frighten the other teen away. With all the things he had gone through, surely magic would not be his breaking point! Oliver lifted a corner of the blanket to peek if it disturbed the settlement of chalk. He jumped and dropped the cover back into place as a muffled bang resonated along the House's walls. "What in the world-?"

Another thump shook the wood, and he swore he heard Miss Warden snapping at whoever was causing the disturbance. Oliver sprung to his feet, watching his door as his hands clenched and unclenched. Those were sounds he had never heard of before, and wondered what could possibly made them. He was not left to think, however, as many feet and clamoring voices climbed the stairs, and raided the hall.

Someone slammed against the door, dismayed it was locked. "Oliver!" A gruff voice called at his paranoia with the lock. "It's us, let us in."

Oliver hurried to the door, and as soon as the lock clicked, it flew open. He was knocked back from the force put upon it, stumbling a few steps, but regained his posture with an agitated huff. Lutz came forth, walking backwards, as his hands were cusped beneath his brother's shoulders. "Siegmund?!" The baker gasped. Matt carried his legs, and they hauled him on Oliver's bed.

Flavio peeked in from the hall with the usual hint of disgust on his face. Luciano burst in the room with various firearms and metal containers. "They ganked him!"

Kuro followed more quietly, with more weapons, but was almost trampled by Allen, whose bat sported a frightening splatter of scarlet. "Stupid, sons of bitches! We tried makin' it easy on 'em, but they love makin' things harder fer all of us-"

"Help him!" Lutz cried, his tone more of a plea than a demand. Siegmund hissed, and wreathed on Oliver's bare mattress. The baker scurried to the bed, and lifted the pale hands that were clutching on his jacket, already knowing what happened from the smears of fresh red between his fingers, and his white garment seeping with the color. He lifted the mute's shirt, and a mess of blood leaked from a heavy gash near the side of his abdomen. Oliver pressed Siegmund's shirt to the mess so it would not spill on his cot. The sigil was going to be put to use.

"Matt says it won't kill him," Lutz hovered too close to Oliver when the baker did not make movement to stitch his brother up. "You will need to stitch him up like you did to my arm-"

"It will kill him if he doesn't get medical attention!" Matt spat, and the mute wheezed, his lips moving in speech, but no words came out.

"Out!" Oliver snapped. Everyone jumped. "All of you out, now!"

"But-" Lutz's voice quivered. Luciano and Kuro shot to their feet from sorting and emptying the firearms to clamp on his shoulders.

"Now, Lutz," the Italian hissed.

"Don't worry," Allen assured. "Ollie knows what he's doin'." He glanced to Oliver, as if for reassurance, but the baker only fretted over Siegmund.

As soon as the door closed, he sighed, "Oh, good, they are gone." Oliver turned from the bed, abandoning the other teen. Siegmund flopped his head to the side, his breaths coming out as hisses between his clenched teeth. His silver eyebrows furrowed as the other teen flipped the blanket from the floor, exposing a strange chalk drawing. "Honestly, do they think I could use a needle and thread to a puncture wound like yours?" He drew up to the bed, and Siegmund flinched.

Oliver grabbed Siegmund's shoulders, and pulled him from his cot. The mute's legs jerked as the mattress vanished beneath him, and with a heavy heave, his legs hit the floor. His eyes widened, and his mouth popped open with a silent wail. A weak, drawn out gasp blew from his lungs as his body was pulled into the middle of the circle.

"Hush," Oliver patted his forehead, but Siegmund only twitched, his mouth gaping like a fish out of the water. "I did not mean to be so rough, but this is urgent. I have to ask you to keep quiet of what is going to happen between us." He settled above Siegmund's head, inside a circle surrounded by a larger one that swooped around the other boy. He closed his eyes, and began chanting.

Another thrash, and Siegmund sharply inhaled, his head turning side to side as the lines around his body began to shift and glow. His struggles subsided with his pain. The low words gave way to curiosity from the white particles swirling and dancing around the wooden floor. Oliver gasped from a sharp sensation in his stomach, but caught himself with his own arm before he would fall onto the other teen. His chanting grew more panicked with hurt as the wounds in Siegmund's stomach reflected against his own. Yet he preserveered, allowing his patient to reach a lull of peace.

Oliver slurred, and wrapped his arms around his torso. Siegmund twitched again as he flopped to the ground, and picked up his head from the noise. The mute slowly pushed himself from the floor, placing a hand experimentally on his stomach. Another groan sounded behind him, so he twisted around, and pushed Oliver to flip him upright.

"Thanks," Oliver wheezed, prodding his side, but the pain was only in his mind. Despite the fatigue, he had felt a certain pride swell in his chest that he never felt before, and mustered a content, "Everything is all right."

Siegmund nodded eagerly, even if it was not a question. He rose to his knees, and cupped the baker's back to help him stand, too.

"Woo, okay. Show off," Oliver grumbled. The other teen held his hands out as he wavered from a hiss of dizziness. "I will be fine. Just a sudden case of nausea." With a nod, Siegmund stepped away to give him space. "That is still a lot of blood. We need to get it cleaned up."

He followed Oliver into the bathroom, where they soaked hand towels, and scrubbed their bloody fingers. Siegmund shrugged off his jacket, and eyed the red trails drying on his pale stomach. Once he scrubbed at them, he prodded the light divot from the puncture wound.

"It is not completely healed," Oliver said, averting his gaze. "I know you are much better than before, but I do not want you to cartwheel down the hall, and perform a double flip out the window."

Siegmund stamped a foot on the ground, as if all his plans were ruined. He cracked a bright smile, and nodded in understanding.

"We should meet the others now. They will be worried."

Oliver cracked his bedroom door open, peeking out into the hall. Their friends straightened from staring off distantly, all eyes on him as a smile ghosted his features. He pushed the door open all the way, revealing Siegmund raising his arms over his head. Everyone gasped, and flocked to him, bewildered, but glad, none the less, at his miraculous recovery.

"You're all right!" Lutz announced, heartedly laughing as he slung his arms around his brother's shoulders.

"I..." Kuro shook his head. "I do not believe it. I thought he was..."

"What'd I tell you?!" Allen bounced over everyone's heads to catch sight of Oliver. "I told yous he knew what he was doin'! I told yous!"

Oliver yelped as his body slammed against him, wrapping him with strong arms and squeezing. "A-All right," he breathlessly protested. "Put me down."

"More o' that magic voodoo stuff?" Allen asked, low in his ear. Without a word, Oliver nodded.

The group broke into a collective whoop of surprise as Siegmund grabbed the flannel material of Matt's over shirt and attacked his face with over excited kisses. The blond could not find the audacity to push him away, but made sure he glared at everyone, baiting them to mention anything.

"Jeez!" Allen exclaimed. "What did y'do to him?!"

"It does not matter," Oliver tittered, and leaned against his side. "He is all right now. What about the others?"

Luciano turned to him with a disturbed expression. "Who? Crookednose's posse?"

"Someone had to stab Siegmund. What happened to him?"

"I shot him!" Allen announced, obviously. "We thought the middle group would split to the others, but nah, they all came after us, followin' the leader, I guess, an' Siggy couldn't call out fer us..."

Matt spoke up for his brother when everyone else frowned at the floorboards, "It would have been much worse if Allen didn't get him in the leg."

"Oh!" Oliver exclaimed. "I thought it was a death shot." He put a hand over his heart and sighed. "If somebody died, you know the police would be piling the gates."

"They ran off," Luciano murmured. A satisfied grin found his face. "They may come back, but they will know better next time."

Flavio glanced around the group. "Is anybody wondering how Siegmund is...oh, never mind. It doesn't matter."

"It doesn't," Matt said. "Everyone is fine now, and we have the weapons."

"Not everyone is fine!" Oliver gasped, pulling away from the arm over his shoulders. "Look at you, Lutz! Why did you not tell me somebody cut your cheek?!"

Siegmund lifted his head from Matt's chest, looking to his brother in alarm. Lutz put a hand over the slice mark. "Oh, it is nothing, really-"

"You will not be saying that when it gets infected! I will get you a Band-Aid." Oliver whisked back into his bathroom, and rummaged through the cabinet behind the mirror. All the inhabitants had basic supplies, like Band-Aids, but would have to go to Miss Warden if there were more serious extremities.

Oliver trotted back to the blond, and peeled the wrapper off a large, square Band-Aid away to stick it to Lutz's face. Kuro clenched his jaw in a fierce struggle to not let any snickering escape. Luciano, however, lost to peels of light giggles, poorly disguised by his hand. Lutz groaned, "Shut up." His companions exchanged a look, and simultaneously punched his gut, further edged on by Flavio's chortles.

"Any other misperhaps I need to know about?"

"No," Kuro blurted, and shrunk beside Lutz. "We have successfully acquired their weapons."

Oliver narrowed his eyes, but did not know what else he could do with a bruised wrist, based on the way the other teen was clutching onto it, but was still able to put it to use. If it did not get better in the following days, the baker would have to confront him about it. Luciano made a small huff of satisfaction. "Ve, I say this went very well! Tomorrow morning, we are taking those guns somewhere nice, and getting something good for our efforts."

Allen's arm took its preferable perch across Oliver's shoulders again squeezing him closer. "An' if those fellas think we won't do it again, they got another thing comin'!"

"Exactly!" Luciano agreed. "I know it's been a long day, so why not end it with gelato? Since our earlier visit was interrupted..."