Chapter Text
It took them barely three hours to realize something was off. When Skull flaked on that week's picnic date, they were confused. When he then didn't pick up any of their calls, they immediately headed out to check on him.
They couldn't find him. Anywhere.
It was-It was like the earth itself swallowed their teammate whole! No matter where they looked, even when they checked their Cloud's apartment, there wasn't even a hint that Skull was recently there, when they knew he was!
It was panic inducing.
Instantly, they realized something was very wrong. So they threw themselves into finding Skull full force. And when they couldn't find him within the first 48 hours, they called out for any and all allies they'd gathered over the years.
Of course, half the mafia responded with instant Outrage, that anyone would dare put their hands on Skull!
Everyone came to their aid. Vongola, most obviously, but also Cavallone, and the rest of Vongola's allies. Giglio Nero, Varia, CEDEF, even the Vindice.
It still took them five torturous MONTHS to find the faintest flicker of Skull's flame...
The world is bathed in ravenous golden hellfire as Reborn stalks his way down the hallway. Viper is by his side, but he's keeping hold of their current hostage, a young man he barely got away from Fon in time.
With how the building is rocked by repeated impacts and explosions, Viper probably wouldn't be able to keep a firm hold for too long. Besides, they are his navigator, Reborn's just here to make sure things go... smoothly.
Viper suddenly goes unnaturally still next to him and hisses lowly, their voice bordering on inhuman. But Reborn isn't feeling human right now either, so what would he care? "There."
Viper raises an arm, pointing to a door down the hall. Reborn barley takes aim before the handle of the door is torn to shreds with a single shot. Then he kicks the door out of his way, perhaps a little frantic to make sure Skull is okay.
Reborn drops the hostage by the door as soon as he spots Skull. Thankfully, before the hostage can flee, Viper grabs him by the back of his collar and yanks him into the air with surprising force. But that's not important.
Reborn is already across the room, already reaching for his Cloud, when Skull recoils from him, eyes wide with genuine horror. Skull doesn't even speak, just stumbles out of the chair he was sitting in, collapses to the ground, curls up there and screams in terror.
Skull never looked at him like that before, so for a quick second Reborn is frozen in confusion. Then he goes down on one knee and speaks as gently as the rage and adrenaline still in his system allows. "Skull-? You're okay."
Reborn lightly touches Skull's shoulder, just to use his flame to check if his body is okay. But Skull flinches away from him as if struck, curling up tighter, that shriek morphing into barely comprehensible babbling. "No! No! No! I'm sorry! N! No! St! Stop, stop, stop stop stop stop-"
It's the most horrified Reborn has ever seen him. He has no idea what's going on, or if he is even the reason Skull is so scared! But for now Reborn pulls his hand back, just... unsure of what to do.
Thank God Viper is here.
Viper lands in a crouch besides him, tossing the hostage to the ground between them with a growled. "Hold that."
The man tries to crawl away, sobbing, but Reborn grabs him by the hair and slams his head into the ground once to shut him up. He watches with wide eyes when Viper reaches for Skull, their voice calmer and more soothing. "Skull, it's just us. Hey-"
When they touch the terrified Cloud, Skull yelps in alarm and reaches up to shield his head, sobbing in fear. The way he's cradling his head... It's less like he's shielding himself from a hit and more like...
More like he is trying to protect himself from an internal attack.
Viper takes a slow, heavy breath to restrict their growl, then they swiftly float to Skull's other side, to trap him between Reborn and Viper. Obviously, Skull, scared out of his mind, scrambles up from the ground and tries to lunge away from them both.
But Viper catches him from behind. They swiftly put their hands over Skull's eyes, holding him still as carefully as possible as they flood their palms with their Mist flame. For a moment longer, Skull is terrified, reaching out blindly, helplessly trying to get away.
But the longer Viper's mist is on him, the more he seems to calm down. It's a very gradual thing, but eventually Skull collapses to the ground again. He's no longer frantic, but he's still panting rapidly with stress, shaking all over.
Viper lightly nuzzles the side of his head, speaking gently. They must've muted the noise from outside, because even Reborn can't hear anything but them. "You're okay, Skull. It's just us. Me. And Reborn."
Skull reaches up, almost touches their hands, but hesitates. He doesn't move, just trembles harshly in their hold for a long moment. That primal fear is still woven into his voice, his childhood stutter rearing it's head again. "V... V.. Vi-per..?"
Viper sighs with no small amount of relief, then nuzzles Skull again, their cheek delicately nudging against his hair. "Yes. It's me."
Skull's breathing gets more rapid, with new tears, but slowly, more and more tension bleeds out of him. Viper's voice wobbles a bit from their emotions, deeply distraught for their friend. "You're safe now, Skull. We got you."
The last of the tension leaves Skull all at once and he fully collapses into Viper's hold, his whole body heaving with the force of his sobs. Viper cradles Skull close to their chest, keeping one hand over his eyes and wrapping their other arm around his chest tightly, while they snuggle into his hair.
Skull's hands still hover awkwardly before him, grasping at the air while he sobs wordlessly. Reborn reaches for his hands then, his own hand covered in sun flames before he even touches Skull's.
Skull still twitches away from him at first, but now that his mind seems at least a little clearer... Skull should be able to recognize them by their flames alone. Reborn is right, or course. He quietly watches the way Skull full body flinches when he realizes.
Immediately, he frantically reaches out for Reborn instead of pulling away, grabbing his arm in a vice grip, still shaking. He sounds too apologetic when he tries to speak. "R-R-eborn-?"
Reborn scoots closer into his Cloud's space, cradling both of Skull's shaking hands in his own. His voice is more faint than gentle, but it works to keep the situation as calm as possible. "Right here, Skull. I got you."
And, for a long moment, Viper and Reborn just sit there, holding their sobbing darling between them. Thankfully, Viper has created a perimeter of safety around them, because the rest of the world is absolutely swallowed by Reborn's raging flame.
Eventually, the walls around them start to melt away. Fortunately, it doesn't take much longer until Viper coaxes Skull into a deep, dreamless sleep. Reborn automatically picks Skull up in a bridal carry, but... Then he doesn't... Really know what comes next.
It's a few moments, but eventually the rest of their team rapidly approaches, worried sick for Skull of course, but some of that worry dedicates itself to Reborn too. Lal comes to his side and presses her rain into his shoulder before they even exchange a word.
Fon's arms were caked with gore, but that is consumed by his flames the instant before he reaches to take Skull gently from Reborn's arms. His voice is unsteady, but much calmer now that he has Skull in his arms. "Reborn. Tears."
Reborn blinks harshly, belated realizing he was just standing there for a minute, crying with Skull asleep in his arms. He would be embarrassed, but the others already know his rage can get emotional.
Verde swoops in close, wordlessly picks Reborn's handkerchief out of his breast pocket and hands it to him. Reborn accepts the cloth and takes a step back to give Verde space to check over Skull. Reborn needs to dry his tears and compose himself anyway.
When his breath his steady again, he pats Lal's hand, still on his shoulder, in thanks. Lal makes a face, because that was the hand with which he's holding his handkerchief and it's gross. But she'll live.
Verde steps back from checking on Skull, audibly relieved. "No active physical injuries. We will have to reset some bones and remove scar tissue later, but Skull is stable."
They breathe a collective sigh of relief, but Viper and Reborn exchange a look in the next second. Physical injuries aren't the only thing that's worrying here.
Viper steps up to Skull's side and speaks calmly, but there is lingering rage in their posture. Their hands clench and shake. "Skull couldn't... Seem to recognize Reborn or myself when we found him. Whatever he went through, there was likely a mental aspect. Maybe even Mist flames."
Reborn's reminded of how Skull was trying to shield his head in the midst of his panic. Mist flames are... Very likely. Who knows what their poor Cloud went through?
Tension returns to their group at the words. Colonnello reaches for Skull's head, ruffling gently through his hair. He pours some rain into Skull, to keep him asleep for longer and just to feel closer to him. "Then let's go. Let's get Skull to safety so Viper can do their spooky thing."
Everyone instantly agrees, but Lal has to pull them back to reality against her will. She wipes her hand absentmindedly on Reborn's arm, then reminds them, her voice irate. "Do we just leave the fight to the others?"
They were... All eager to get their hands on the bastards that dared to hurt one of their own. But... Now that they have Skull, they don't want to be away from him. And they can't easily take a sleeping boy into battle, can they? Not as safely as they'd like at least.
As they start contemplating, Aria speaks up. She is smiling, warm with relief, but pained too. She's no longer tormented by visions now that the curse is broken, but the giglio nero sky flames still give her and Yuni an unnatural sixth sense. "Skull needs you the most right now. Keep him safe, I will tell everyone he's with you."
Maybe it's her flame's sense, maybe it's because she knows how they all are. But they give her a long, quiet look. Reborn offers it, of course. He is the Arcobaleno's leader, despite time's passage. "Come see us after everything's dealt with, Aria. Bring Yuni too."
Aria twitches out of her pained smile, for a moment visibly surprised, before she melts into a realer, warmer smile. She still gets stunned by their care for her sometimes, but she's accepted it too. She is an Arcobaleno. She belongs under Reborn's care as much as any of them do. She loves Skull almost as much as they do, too.
She bows her head to them, out of habit, but also because it still brings her to tears sometimes. Her voice cracks and they won't mention it. "Of course I will. T-hank you."
And that's how they leave the battlefield, with Skull kept safe in Fon's arms and Aria heading the opposite direction to spread the good news.
A few minutes into their walk to the nearest escape vehicle, Viper kicks the back of Colonnello's knees, sounding grumpy. "I'm not spooky. I'm terrifying."
Colonnello stumbles a few steps forward, then sends them a pout and rolls his eyes. "Could've fooled me."
Viper growls faintly, like an angry chipmunk, and Reborn finds himself chuckling faintly, rolling his eyes. The banter is normal for them, and familiar. It's... soothing after the awful time they had looking all over the world for Skull.
They were frantic and panicking for almost for five months straight... That exhaustion is going to crash into them very soon. They would sleep for an entire day right now if they could.
Reborn's eyes are naturally drawn to Skull and he tussles that purple hair gently, fond and worried. Then he gives the wordless signal for the group to speed it up a bit.
Before all that, Skull needs medical attention, as soon as possible.