Alucard stood back and admired the man for making the smart move of confirming who he was, something that in the current times was critical. At the same time, he couldn't help but laugh at hearing Gavin half questioning the demon comment.

"Yes sir, I'm a demon.  At least that's what rumors tell I am, 'The Red-Eyed Demon' they call me.  I guess my eyes scare them."  Alucard said with a bemused tone to his voice. 

Alucard ran his fingers back through his disheveled hair, as he locked eyes with GavinByrne.  "Aurora is a friend of mine and if I can aid in bringing her home safely, then I will. I know you said you're used to working alone, so feel free to just use me as a weapon.  If people need to visit the Ferryman I will be sure to expedite their wait time. If I need to be a shield then I will protect you and Aurora with my life.  I am yours to use on this trip."

Alucard gave a confirming nod to the Gavin. "Shall we start this then?"

The raven-haired man couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Billy and Aurora going missing, he might have chalked up to it being the life they were lead, especially if there was a blood feud currently going on. He couldn't shake what the wolf had said about if he had stuff stateside to handle.

"Gav..." He began to ask what Aurora's father meant, but stopped himself.  Now was not the time for his mind to wander, he had a focus and that was his Twin Iris. He needed to make sure she was safe and sound. 

Dozens of people milled about the small lot that the tiny farmhouse sat on.  Most were dressed in simple if nicely kept clothing, the Sunday Best Outfits of poor farm folk from all around Presa.  Aurora’s attire cost much more but still, after all it had been through, looked shoddier now than those worn by the guests. 

Aurora had kept her distance from Nonna, Addie, and Gio for some time, watching the people coming and going, listening to them talk.  It felt odd hearing people talk about Billy as a young boy, but harder still was listening to people not talk about him at all or worse… how he died.

The evil American Gangsters.  She fell into that category squarely.  She wanted to tell them that their stereotypes were the things of dime-store novels, but it wasn’t the time or place to take up the cause of defending her & her parent’s life choices.  What she wanted was to get near him… to touch him to know it was really him and at this distance, with Addie and Gio hovering around him, it was impossible to wander up casually and not be noticed.

Aurora slipped back outside and wandered down to the small plot of land into which men were already digging a hole.  It would take them all day and maybe into the night at this pace.  The earth was unyielding and rocky – difficult like the people who lived here. 

A young man took off his hat as he looked up at her staring down upon him inside the grave.  “Ma’am.”  He said with a slight blush in his cheeks.

Aurora realized it was the first time anyone had ever called her a ma’am.  She sighed and looked out across the sea of tiny stone grave markers, none really stood out from the others save for trinkets placed in the rock piles.  No fancy headstones here. 

“How do you know who is who?”

The young man laughed as if Aurora was a fool to ask.  “Sicily knows and so does the family.”

“Would it be okay if I tried to make a maker?”

The young man smiled.  “How are you with a knife?  I can get one of my cousins to come out and help you with some of the scrap wood from over on that pile.  You can put a name down if you like.  We’ll stand it in the pile of rocks for you.”

Aurora’s shoulders sunk as she looked to the pile of scrap wood and reached in her pocket to pull out the blood crusted knife.  It wasn’t meant to cutting into wood, her hands would likely suffer for taking on such a task… but what else did she have to do until nightfall when she could be alone with Billy?

She wandered over, found a bit of wood and brought it back with her.  When it was done, she told herself, she would slip inside and hide until everyone was eating the massive dinner outside.  Then she’d have a moment to slip in unseen and visit him alone.  Afterwards, she would disappear before anyone was the wiser & that would be the end of it.  This hurt in her chest could finally stop and life would, as it always did before, go on. 

Sitting on the grassy hillside, beneath the limbs of a willow tree, the wind sending dark clouds rolling fast overhead and her long hair flying out behind her - Aurora Byrne, alone, began to carve & wait.

Billy Mastrosimone

𝐿𝓊𝒸𝑒 𝒹𝑒𝒾 𝓂𝒾𝑒𝒾 𝑜𝒸𝒸𝒽𝒾

Gavin nodded at LordAlucard and offered his hand, which the younger man shook.

"Alright. So both you and my wife said we should swing by the Mastrosimone farm. Let's head there first, grab any weapons and information, then move on."

Gavin nodded and they both climbed into the car. Gavin took the driver's seat, and he glanced over at Alucard as they made their way down the road.

"Alright Wild Card. Two questions. First, what do you do? What's your specialty? Guns? Knives? Unarmed? Stealth? You said to use you as a weapon, so give me some more info on your combat skills- especially things you can't really do."

"Second question."

Gavin paused, frowning. Tara, I wish you were here... or Bella... or any Byrne other than me, at least for this part.

"You speak Italian, right?"

"Wild Card?"  Alucard couldn't help but laugh, even though he knew now was not the time for laughter.  But perhaps that's why he was laughing, his was of dealing with the uncertainty.

He quickly regained his composure and apologized, "I apologise for that outburst... so, you wanted to know my skills.  I learned a lot from my time as a servant with the Hellsing Organization.  Sir Arthur made sure I was skilled with firearms to protect Lady Integra.  From the kitchens I became good with a knife, and I got good with an axe from chopping wood. My time as a slave when I was a boy has made me deceptively strong.  When I ran away from the slaver and lived on the streets I taught myself some slight of hand and lock picking.  I wouldn't say I am either good nor bad at stealth, I had my successes, but even when I was caught I managed to charm my way out of trouble. I also have a past that has taught me very well how to deal with pain, let's say pain and I are old friends.  I can deal with a lot of pain."

Alucard took a deep breath and stared out the window for a moment. "Now what I can't do. I'm no explosives man, I don't know the first thing about making things explode. If we break down, you don't want me to attempt to fix the car. Or anything mechanical for that matter. I was so bad they kicked me out of the garage, and just refused to teach me. While I can swim, I wouldn't say I am good at that either. I'm not particularly skilled in hand to hand, but brute force has usually gotten me through."

Alucard looked back to Gavin, "This however, you need to know. There is a reason people call me a monster and a demon, and it's not just their ignorance over the colour of my eyes. If I am given allowance to reign down on any possible resistance we may encounter..." Alucard paused, wondering the best way to put this, finally deciding on blunt honesty.  "It is like my humanity is taken away, like being in a trance almost. But I enjoy the killing, the thrill of a good fight, the power that comes from feeling another man's life slip away between my fingers.  It is absolutely, titillating. So, if you... Let me off leash, so to speak, it may be difficult to stop me until everyone is dead.  The only person who has successfully stopped me, is my Tegs.  I don't know if this is good or bad in your books, but it is still something you should know."

Alucard sighed at the second question GavinByrne shot him, he cursed himself even more for skipping the majority of his language classes at the estate.

"All I remember from my schooling is 'How much does it cost' and 'show me your chest.'" It only took Alucard a brief moment to realize how absurd those two phrases sounded together, and he started laughing once more. "I don't think those two phrases will be of much help where we're going."

He took a deep breath, "In all seriousness, the cab drive spoke English. He could of translated, please tell me he's alive in the trunk?" Alucard put particular emphasis on the word alive.

Gavin chuckled, but the warmth didn't reach his eyes. He was focused on his goal. 

"Oh. Right. Forgot about him. He could have been useful... but it just didn't seem fair to drag him into this. I gave him some money for the cab, though."

Gavin shrugged.

"In my experience, the two universal languages are money and bullets. We should only need one of them from here on out. Not surprised to hear you're so skilled; my wife doesn't tend to hire mediocre talent for jobs like this..."

They drove for a while as Gavin thoughtfully looked out at the road before turning to LordAlucard.

"Well, we'll keep you away from bombs and water. But I'm more worried about this, uh, demon mode unleashing thing. If I tell you to go fight, can you still distinguish friend from foe, right? You said 'it may be difficult to stop me until everyone is dead'. Everyone means targets only, right? You know... asking for a friend."

"For clarity, and I don't want you to think I am hiding anything from you.  I have never actually met your wife sir.  Today was the first time she and I spoke.  She only hunted me down based on the word of Aurora, and my reputation." Alucard rubbed his hand against his unshaven cheek, he hoped he didn't make things worse with GavinByrne.  "I don't tell you this, to cause you any possible concern, I just believe in full disclosure."

Alucard loosened his tie.  He thought about what Gavin was asking him.   When Alucard spoke again, it was in a simple explanatory tone. 

"I was, the personal bodyguard to the royal Hellsing family's only child and heir.  Arthur would have never let me guard his daughter if I couldn't distinguish friend from foe.   Before you ask, yes, he was aware of my tendencies.  You see I killed his brother, Richard, and his brother's men when they came to try and kill Integra.  Richard was jealous over Integra becoming the new head of the family."

Alucard couldn't help but scowl just thinking of Richard and what he attempted to do to Integra.

"Now, if you happen to need someone alive to ask questions to, that could be a problem. "

Gavin nodded.

"Noted. I'm sure you'll understand that that was an important point for me to clarify."

As they drove through the countryside, Gavin talked much more than usual. Alucard had nothing to compare it to, but someone who'd known Gavin well would have been shocked by the amount of questions he asked and the number of stories he told. Anything to keep his mind off Aurora.

As they approached, however, he quieted again. By the time the car was stopped and he checked his M1911 for the last time, Gavin had achieved a singularity of focus. He'd stopped the car off the road leading up to their destination, preferring to approach on foot. Keeping his gun in his pocket rather than his holster, Gavin turned to LordAlucard.

"We'll approach quietly, and we'll stick together in case the shit hits the fan. We should be able to get her things here- maybe even some information if we're lucky. But don't set things off until I do."

Moving like predators in the darkening sky, Gavin and Alucard began their stealth approach to the Mastrosimone Farm, using any available hills and trees for cover.

Aurora brushed her fingers, scratched up and filled with splinters, across the rough cut wood.  She caressed the hard unfeeling wood as she used to the scruff on his cheek in the mornings, hoping that through this - one of her final acts for him - he would know the absolute immeasurable gratitude for having had him in her life. 

Her work was as good as she could hope for with shoddy tools and no training.  Billy deserved better, better than a hole in the ground, better than her awful craftsmanship ... but this was all she could do.  Back up the hill she could hear them serving dinner, the smell made her stomach complain loudly and she wondered it that was a bad sign.  She hadn't been able to keep dinners down for days and now she wanted food? 

Aurora touched her belly, looking down at it with a real intention for the first time since leaving the Conti compound.

"You still with me, kiddo?"  she asked aloud and sighed. 

She wouldn't know until she knew.  If it happened that she'd lost it, well, once she knew there would be nothing for it - that was what Eva had said.  She was supposed to keep her heart rate down, stay unstressed and calm... Aurora had promised she would.  What could possibly be stressful on a vacation to a beautiful country with the man she loved?

Aurora looked off towards the last of the disappearing sun.  She was in uncharted territory here.  She could go find a doctor, call her parents to send a plane for her, and forget Sicily and the blood-war of the Conti & Luciano families ever existed ... she could, but she wouldn't. 

She drew a deep breath.  In the back of her mind, she heard her father's voice, that loving firm tenor telling her to move.  The memory of a little girl on the side of the road, mid-run, tired and sure she couldn't go a step more... her father urging her onward. 

'You can do this.  Come on.  Just one foot in front of the other.  We're almost home now, I can smell dinner.  Get up... get up Rora.  One step.  You can give me one, yes?  Good.  See how easy that was.  You're closer now.  Give me one more, push past it.  That's my girl!  Ready to run again?'

Aurora's jaw set hard, she grits her teeth and pushed down the emotions that threatened to break her. 

"One foot ..."  she whispered to herself.  She took a step towards the house. 

There was work to be done.  It was past time to be about it.  Not seeing him wouldn't make Billy any less dead and she was never very good at lying, even to herself, in any case.  Beyond that, she needed those guns and nothing was going to keep her from them.  It was time to end this once and for all.

She put the wooden headstone against the pile of rocks she'd chosen to mark his grave and turned from the olive grove where GavinByrne & LordAlucard were making their way towards her.  As she began making her way up the little hill which had hidden her from Nonna, Gio, and Addie all day she was solemn and silent.  This was most certainly going to be the hardest thing she'd ever done before.

Coming out of the olives, the two men stood at the base of a small hill leading up to the back of a tiny farmhouse.  The home was maybe 900 square feet in size, no way big enough to hold all the dozens of people they could hear around the front enjoying dinner on the lawn.  The house looked to be as old as the earth and olive trees planted here, it likely didn't have indoor plumbing as they could see a pump and outhouse at the back of the building from this vantage point. 

Between them and the house lay a small family plot of graves.  One hole freshly dug, marked already with a simple wooden headstone & a pile of rocks.  They did not see Aurora who, just before they emerged, had slipped silently in through the backdoor. 

There was little light in the kitchen from which she'd fled two days ago.  The remnants of food prep lay all about and Aurora grabbed a few bites of cheese as soon as she saw it laying on a plate that had been forgotten.  The smell of minestrone on the stove drew her in.  The soup was simmering, likely for later ... to feed whoever stayed up to watch over Billy until dawn when they would bury him.  She glanced out to the other room where she knew he was, where her things still lay untouched, she knew she should go now while she could ... but she was so hungry.

Aurora quickly took a spoon and began eating from the pot.  The taste was unlike anything she'd ever known before.  Her mother's was good... this was far better.  The warmth spread from her mouth and belly outward into her limbs and for the first time she really gave thought to how little rest she'd had.  

"You came back."  Heavily accented English sent Aurora's back rigid.  She turned her head to note the old woman with a wooden spoon in her grip.  "How did you..."

"I killed Don Conti."  she said feeling no need to pull punches anymore.

The old woman crossed herself and muttered a prayer.  "They will come for you now.  You are in terrible danger.  I will pack your food, get you things, you must go back to your family."

"You don't have to worry..."

The old woman stopped her too fast attempts to protect Aurora.

"... I'm just here for my things and to say goodbye."  Aurora's voice cracked.  "I've done enough here."  

The old woman clicked her tongue and crossed the space back to Aurora.  "You made mistakes... I did too.  It is in the past.  What matters now,"  she touched Aurora's belly and Aurora winced at the still painful bruise.  "Is our future.  Are you well?"

"I don't know." Aurora said, her voice hoarse sounding.

"Eat."  the old woman said.  "Eat then we will send you away to safety."

The old woman filled a bowl and gave it to Aurora who sat at the table glancing out towards Billy for not the first time since the woman came into the room.

"You were right to be afraid."  Aurora said quietly.  

The old woman made a dismissive noise.

"I knew you were.  This isn't the first person I've buried... it won't be the last."  She admitted sadly.  "I just... hoped."

"And you should."  The old woman said going to pick up Aurora's bag and bringing it out to where she sat.  Pausing she brushed a bit of hair off Aurora's face.  "Fools do not hope and the love of our Billy, the mother of his child, is no fool."

That was it.  Those words, Aurora could not say why but a sob came out of her.  Instantly her hands clasped her mouth and she tried to push it back in but the tears welling up in her eyes stung and would not be held back.

"Shhh!"  Nonna put her arms around Aurora and held her to her breasts, rocking her gently.  "You cry here... alone.  You say goodbye and then you are strong for the bambino.  You go home... find a good husband and give this child a name and a future."

"I can't..."  Aurora whispered.  

"You can.  You are young.  You are strong... look at all you have done.  Marrying is easy,"  She pulled back and wiped Aurora's tears and smiled at her.  "Men are stupid and you are very pretty and have money and family... I know four men outside who would marry you without a thought.  And if I thought it had any benefit for you, I'd make the match myself."

Aurora laughed.  "That's... that's not what I mean."

Nonna looked at her with sympathy and nodded.  "I know what you mean.  You do not want to love again."  The old woman kissed her brow.  "But you have no more say in that than the first time, yes?  Did you want to love my Billy?  Did you plan to when you met him?"

Aurora shook her head no.

"Find a husband who is good.  Maybe even find one who can help provide?  Who will be kind to a child even though he might puzzle out it is not his if you don't act quickly.  Feed him well, make him fat and happy.  Love will come."

Aurora knew the woman would not understand why none of that was going to happen and so, instead of fighting her on the matter she nodded seeming to accept her wisdom.  

"Good girl."  The old woman said reaching into her pocket and pulling out a tiny ring.  Instantly Aurora knew what it must be and shook her head but the woman insisted, "It is all the inheritance I have to give.  You will go back to the United States.  You will not come back here.  Take this, give it to the child one day.  Or keep it... your Billy meant for you to have it."

The old woman put the ring into Aurora's hand and folded her fingers around it.  Aurora stared at it.

"Eat now."  Nonna instructed.  "Eat and say your goodbye.  I keep everyone away for you."

"Nonna?"  Aurora interrupted.  "I will come back, if it's okay?"

"Only if it is safe."  Nonna said firmly.

"Only if it's safe."  She allowed.

Putting a hand over her belly for a moment the old woman said a prayer and then kissed Aurora's forehead hard, with tears in her eyes, and left Aurora to finish her meal.  

Billy was laid out in the living room, on a table.  He was in a suit, one he'd packed for a fancy dinner.  She'd looked forward to seeing him in it and now it was the last suit she'd ever see him in.  She walked towards the body, sure that it didn't look quite like him, as if something had been taken from him or changed.  A part of her hoped for a mistake ... but no, this was her Billy.

She took his cool cheeks with her palms and leaned down to kiss his lips repeating softly between each kiss, "I love you... I love you."  She said the words more than she's said them in all of her life in the span of minutes and still, it was not enough.  And yet, in time, she stopped.  She simply lay across him holding his body trying to remember all the times before, hoping the memory of his touch would never fade.  That she would forget the sound of his voice and laughter as she had Uncle Will and Grandpa Jack.

But she knew better.

She felt him in the room.  Death.  Watching her.  She was a fool, no matter what Nonna thought.  A weak, foolish little girl to think that she might have what almost no one ever got.  Wasn't it enough she had been sheltered from the hells of this world by two people who did?  That she had seen and known such love in this life as so few children ever did?  How could she have been so greedy, so caught up in her own fairy story, that she thought it would happen for her too?

She came up from the body and looked down at the great love of her life with a smile, "Light of my eyes... I will keep you in the depths of my soul."  She kissed his lips again, this one, the last and so she lingered there before pulling away.

"Goodbye, Billy."

Aurora forced herself to turn away.  She wanted to look back, to go back to Billy - but she knew better.  Billy was gone.  She almost wished she believed in God and his heaven... if she did, she might think to see Billy again some day.  

She knelt down and opened her bag and pulled out the pearl-handled Luciano guns... the ones which were made to protect her family.  For a moment she nearly put them on, as she had so many times before.  Instead, she reached in and dug out Billy's guns.  The black guns bearing the Luciano crest, the guns which had killed her mother and Billy's father Lordian.  

She might have been willing to go home and raise her child in peace, to obey God's laws and work to be worthy of an eternal reward with all the people she loved - but Aurora was as stupid as most of the people outside.  No man in the sky was going to grant her wishes.  If this world was going to be a better place, if good people were going to be safe, then it was she who had to make them that way.  

Aurora put on her shoulder holster.  She put the black guns in their place.  She pushed up her pant leg an put on her knife.  Each action methodical and a sort of ceremony which she'd watched in reverence since she was a little girl.  The way some children learned the prayers in church, Aurora had learned how to prepare to kill.  Braiding her hair quickly her sadness slowly began to morph into something else.

After she was done there would be no war.  No feud or vendettas.  There would be no one.  She'd stalk them all like the lioness they named her for.  Wait for weak and young to stray too far from their homes and then, she'd pounce.  One at a time.  Man after man, leave them wondering when their day would come, shivering in their pitiful homes with fear of the thing that stalked them so relentlessly.  She would stay here until it was done. 

If she had been here, she might have been able to save Billy.  And while losing him hurt her to no end, the thought of what they had stolen from the child in her belly could never be forgiven.  Aurora closed her bag and stood up.  Closing her fingers around the handle, she drew a steadying breath and closing her eyes she imagined exhaling all the pain - all the sadness.  She had to let it go.  She had to be strong now.  

"One foot..." She whispered, eyes still closed. 

"One foot..."  She urged herself, some part of her still not wanting to leave Billy behind. 

"One... foot."

Aurora went forward.

Gavin and @Lord Alucard took their time scouting the house. A not insignificant part of him wanted to charge in and bust down the door, but things seemed peaceful enough to take a methodical approach. There were a few men with guns walking around the premises, but Gavin wasn't sure whether the men or guns were older. They all seemed tired. Distracted. Gavin furrowed his brow as he considered the circumstances. The odds of this bunch of geezers holding Aurora prisoner was close to zero.

"Wild Card, I don't think she's here. No way this bunch could hold her. But the guns might still be down there. I'm going in, and I'm going to try to keep it silent. Normally I take down guys as I make my way in somewhere, but knocking these guys out might kill them- and I don't think they're going to be that hard to avoid. Still, if I'm not back in 20-30 minutes or so, try to sneak in and find me."

Winking, Gavin made his way off. It didn't take much effort to brief the perimeter, and he had his lockpick out for the door before the slightest push opened it. He entered the house like a shadow; a glance into the first room revealed an old woman with her head down. Gavin continued moving down the small hallway before a glance into the kitchen doorway hit him like a bucket of ice water.

Billy Mastrosimone. Or what was left of him.

He was a good man. A good man for Aurora. Gavin looked at him for a few seconds and closed his eyes. Billy would forgive him for focusing on his daughter; Gavin would have wanted him to do the same.

But it was the next doorway that pushed his heart into his mouth.

Aurora. Alive. Gavin watched his daughter, his daughter with a dead fiance in the next room and that fiance's child inside her.

For the first time in his life, as he watched Aurora Byrne adorn herself with guns and knives, with grief and motherhood, Gavin Byrne regretted teaching his daughter the art of war.

Forgive me, Aurora. Forgive me. At the time, it was the only thing I thought I could give you. If you were placed into my arms today, there was so much more I could have given you...

... but only because you made me grow beyond what I was.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Gavin forced himself to watch as his penance. She put the guns in the shoulder holsters and he remembered teaching her how to shoot- far too young. As she put the knife on her leg, the same place he had his, he remembered showing her where someone's heart was on their body. Not a lesson in love, but a lesson in death. 

Gavin had been crouching as he moved through the house, but he stood at the same time Aurora did, and he saw the warrior in front of him. No, he didn't regret teaching her. She would always have a sort of power; she would never be alone. Gavin would always be with her, as her training always would be. With a nod more to himself than to her, Gavin spoke as she turned.

"Aurora."

Dawn- of a new life for her.

Every muscle went rigid.  Unmoving she questioned herself, had she heard what she thought she heard?  Was her mind playing tricks?  Could he be here, now, when she had most wanted and needed him?  Slowly, as if she expected it was a trick or a trap, she turned with her hand near her gun.  Unsure.  Afraid.  Hyperfocused on doing whatever she had to do to survive and to see her mission through.

The dim light created by gas lanterns on tables around the room made the shadows long but even at midnight on a cloudless night, she'd know him.  She'd know his tall strong form, steadfast and ready for whatever burden rest upon his broad shoulders.  A roguish knight errant, her father seemed to never know true failure. 

She'd heard every story since she was first walking, again and again from her mother, her Aunt, Grandpa Jack, and Uncle Will.  The man who charged a wall of FBN agents who had the high ground, who came back from the grip of death himself, who jumped out of airplanes, and laid siege to prisons.  He was the Wolf who hunted and killed for his family and always came back.  Always.  He was as dependable as the sun rising, a perfect opposite to the enigma that was her fickle mother whose decisions sometimes defied Aurora's straight forward logic.

How could she have ever doubted that he would find his way to her, especially now?  When had he ever failed her?  When had Gavin Byrne not been a dashing man on a white horse, charging headlong into hell itself for her mother and her too?  From the moment he picked her up out of the cradle in Marie's home, saving her from such a terrible fate as could not be described - he was always her hero.  The answer was as obvious as the amber eyes set into her face which seemed to swallow up the red-gold hues of the lamp-light.  

He hadn't.  Not once.  Not ever.  There were few things in this world of which she was sure, and for a moment in all her fear, sadness, and guilt during this bloody affair, she'd let herself forget this one most basic truth: nothing could stop her father, not when it really mattered.  He was here.  He was here to bring her home.

She realized she was holding her breath and as she drew in the cooling air of twilight, her bottom lip quivered just a little and for half-a-heartbeat, the pain she was feeling was audible.  She didn't know what to say to him.  A thousand things and yet, none of it mattered.  She was empty, hollowed out inside and best she stayed that way lest the sorrow devour her.  She supposed he might want to know all she had been through, but what did it matter to them now?  Billy was dead.  There was nothing that could change it and crying to him about it ... well, wasted time.  

Aurora pulled the simple, understated ring which Billy's Nonna had given to her out of her pocket and slid it onto the ring finger of her left hand.  She wet her lips and spoke with a tone that suggested she'd been crying recently,  "You came." 

Her words echoed the words of another heart-broken and deeply troubled young woman who spoke them to Gavin a lifetime ago, though she did not know it.  Yet, they were said with the same gratitude and immeasurable love.  

She took another deep breath.  This one more steady, less emotional.  The presence of her father helping her feet to find the solid earth under her once more.  Shaking her head slightly she whispered, "But... I can't come with you.  Not yet.  Not until I'm done."

The thought of the Luciano's and her task yet ahead caused her to quickly add, "Mom didn't... she's not with you, is she?"

"You came."

Gavin blinked, then he sighed as a sense of deja vu swept over him. He almost moved to her then, but something held him back; it was important for her to feel in control of the situation. 

"Of course I came."

He took a deep breath, looking her over- his eyes lingering for just a minute near her stomach. 

"You'll understand in a few months."

Gavin moved forward and wrapped his arms around his daughter.

"Don't be mad at Will; it would have been dangerous for me to come after you without knowing everything. Your mother wanted to come, but Philadelphia is on fire right now; she just became the Godmother of South Philly. And Aurora... I'm sorry about Billy. He was a good man. 

Gavin felt his daughter rest her head on his shoulder the way she did when she was a child and he'd carry her up to her room when she was asleep. Gavin was never one to mince words, and he'd given her a lot to think about there, so he was perfectly content to give her time to think. When she seemed to have processed it and was about to speak again, he released her stepping back to give her room to think and react.

"As for coming with me and not being done... well, that's a choice you're going to have to make. If there are people here in this country who have wronged you, I'll help you get your revenge there. There will be some conditions to how you go about doing that, but yes- that's something we can do."

Gavin crossed his arms. He was a great liar, but strongly preferred the truth when dealing with his family- even a brutal truth was better than a beautiful lie. Brutal truths never came back to blow up in your face. Tara was the dissembler. 

"But if you're looking for revenge for Billy, you need to know that some giant war kicked off back home. Whole cities went down. It was a squad of men from Philadelphia that killed Billy. I don't know who, exactly- but I know for a fact that your mother wasn't involved."

Gavin waited awhile until she was ready to actually hear what he was saying and stepped forward, trying to use the intensity in his eyes to get her to understand how important this was.

"Aurora, what happened to Billy is in the past. But Billy's child... your child... that's your future."

He shook his head.

"It's fresh now. Once we're done here in Sicily I have a place I'd like to take you for a couple days. Give you some space to think and process before throwing you back into Philly."

Gavin hesitated.

"Just... if I let my life be determined by those who wronged me, I would have died miserable and alone long before I met you. I learned how to live for the living. That's a responsibility that you have now, as well. And it's what Billy would want. Dying is easy; living is harder. And it takes more strength."

"Of course I came. You'll understand in a few months."

Aurora's throat clenched, her head began to turn away from her father, her eyes unfocusing as she drew inward.  Her hand went to her belly and, as it occurred to her how he must have learned when only three people in all the world knew her secret, Gavin was on her.  He pulled her into his embrace.

"Don't be mad at Will; it would have been dangerous for me to come after you without knowing everything."

Aurora didn't have the strength to be mad at Will right now.  He'd betrayed her trust, broken 'Omerta' for the first time since their agreement in Ireland.  She'd covered for him so many times before and bailed his ass out too many times to bother tracking - but this betrayal didn't need to be considered right now.  Will likely did what he did out of love, he was soft-hearted and generally good-natured and so it was on her for having told him something like this. 

Still, it was hers to tell or not tell.  Hers to decide what to do with and now, now there was nothing for it.  There was only one choice that could be made now, if she wasn't going to force herself to lie straight to Gavin's face.  And that option, she knew, was never one she could make herself take.  Her father never lied and she would never lie to him.  Never.

"Your mother wanted to come, but Philadelphia is on fire right now; she just became the Godmother of South Philly."

Her mother had long expressed opinions about leadership that Aurora knew well.  She hadn't wanted to be a Don again.  Many a night she'd heard her mother up working late and worried.  Being a Don had taken her from her family even more than ever before and had almost cost her her marriage to her father.  The concept of Bella accepting Godfather?  It seemed pure madness and couldn't have been something she wanted... could it? 

No. 

War happened.  Mom did what she had to, as the Byrnes often did.  It meant Louis Mezzo was most likely dead.  It also explained people coming to kill Billy.

Detroit and Philly stood together against a foe.  Someone had hit them and while she had lost the man she loved, she knew damn well that it was the way Billy would have wanted.  He would not have wanted to survive past his crew, and if his death kept guns off his people - off even Bella whom Billy loved as a mother, well that would have been exactly how he chose to let it play out.  Billy, she decided in that instant, had died as good a death as he could have.  The only thing that mattered now was repaying the other side of this blood feud which had pulled her away from him at the moment he had needed her most of all.  If she had been here, she knew for a fact that Billy would be alive right now.  

"And Aurora... I'm sorry about Billy. He was a good man."

The Americans might have pulled the trigger, their war certainly took him down, but it was the Conti-Luciano blood feud that had allowed him to die.  And as her resolve to make them all pay for it strengthened, she allowed herself to melt into Gavin's embrace.  To feel safe and loved in a way she'd dared not a moment ago and as a result, her pain came rushing back to the front of her mind.  She clung to him, not wanting to see the bone-deep sorrow she knew must be etched into her features.

For a moment they stood like that, and she wished that it would go on for hours more.  Just the two of them in the quiet of the empty house, the distant voices of mourners like the hum of a beehive outside as they finished their dinner.  She supposed it wouldn't be long now and many would begin their trip home while others, might insist on staying to keep the watch with Nonna.  As Gavin pulled away from her she swallowed the rock hard lump in her throat and again looked away from him trying to hide her weakness.

"As for coming with me and not being done... well, that's a choice you're going to have to make. If there are people here in this country who have wronged you, I'll help you get your revenge there. There will be some conditions to how you go about doing that, but yes- that's something we can do."

She wet her lips.  Gavin's skill would speed up finishing this bloody affair considerably.  She still couldn't charge headlong into the Luciano home but picking off key players would be much easier if she didn't have to wait for them to be in ideal situations and small enough groups.  There would be less risk now.  Her father would make easy work of killing men who weren't 'real' gangsters in her opinion... but farmers who just happened to have guns and questionable ethics.

"But if you're looking for revenge for Billy, you need to know that some giant war kicked off back home. Whole cities went down. It was a squad of men from Philadelphia that killed Billy..."

Aurora's heart began to race uncontrollably, beating off time a few times so that she felt short of breath.  Aurora's hand went to her heart.  The words that followed seemed spoken through water and mixed with the distant memory of Eva telling her the symptoms to most be concerned about. 

'Headaches, feeling tired, dizzy, short of breath, and any chest pain at all or difficulty breathing - Aurora you have to stay calm.  For your own safety as much as the baby's. This is serious, Aurora...'

"...I don't know who, exactly- but I know for a fact that your mother wasn't involved."

Aurora stepped back from Gavin and her hand went out to grab the back of a chair, missing it once completely before landing on it in her second attempt.  Her vision swam and she could hear the wooshing of her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.  Her father stepped forward, his eyes holding hers.  Those blue eyes seeming on fire as he spoke with conviction trying to pull her back to him and out of the dark place she was falling into.

"Aurora, what happened to Billy is in the past. But Billy's child... your child... that's your future."

In the past?  In the past!  Billy was barely cold feet from them.  This wasn't the past this was now and worst of all it would be her every day for the rest of her life - the rest of this child's life!  Why couldn't he see that?!? 

She knew that he was well aware that this wasn't sitting well with her.  He shook his head, he tried again but Gavin for all his gifts and blessings was no William Byrne.  The man who was a giant, an unstoppable legend, was always first and foremost her mother's Wolf.  Her father had likely fired his gun in that war.  Had likely done so on her mother's orders.  The faces of her friend went through her mind.  Integra, Alucard, Giovanni ... who else had died?

"It's fresh now. Once we're done here in Sicily I have a place I'd like to take you for a couple of days. Give you some space to think and process before throwing you back into Philly."

Go back?  Could she go back?  Could she ever look any of them in the face again and not want to kill them all?  Her mother's words came back to haunt her.  Her mother's warnings of what might happen, and how she would feel if it did.  Did she know then?  Had this been part of a long thought out scheme against Detroit which the Dragon had become involved in and left her father in the dark until the hour she needed his gun?

"Just... if I let my life be determined by those who wronged me,"

No. 

Her mother was a lot of terrible things... but she had given her blessing.  She loved Billy.  She loved Giovanni.  Aurora tried to tell herself things that she knew would calm herself.  Facts.  Undisputable facts that were all she had to get her through this ugly thing. 

Her mother wasn't a monster.  Her mother was a fool, but she was horrified by what Salvatore had done to Marie & she never forgave him for it - not even after he died for real & even though it cost her the father she loved dearly.  It was a testament to the fact that she had lines and while they were not as strict as Gavin's, she did have uncrossable lines just the same.  No.  She could not have plotted the deaths of men she called son.  Giovanni Ferrari, Bella had sworn to God to see to him as a Godmother and Billy, well long before she'd loved him - her mother loved him as a son.  Her mother had to be grieving now too and in that she found some sense of peace.

"I would have died miserable and alone long before I met you. I learned how to live for the living."

And wasn't that what this was all about?  She was taken from this farm by the Conti family because they could not do that... they and the Luciano family were fighting for two dead people who didn't give two shits about them.  They were carrying on a blood feud over a betrayal they neither understood nor cared to understand.  She didn't suppose they even knew who Joe Ligambi was...

"That's a responsibility that you have now, as well. And it's what Billy would want."

Aurora glanced out to the other room.  She could see Billy's feet on the table through the doorway.  Those shoes, shined to such a gloss, would never dance with her again.  Tears welled in her eyes and she grit her teeth.  She was so angry that she trembled, torn between the futile anguish and the directionless fury she held within.

"Dying is easy; living is harder. And it takes more strength."

She put a hand on her father's chest, just over his heart, trying to make him stop.  She closed her eyes and it would only take a moment for anyone to realize, especially Gavin, that she was attempting to match his breathing.  "The doctor said..."  She finally made the words come through a strangled throat choked up with emotions too big to share.  "I need to be calm."

She shook her head.

"They took me because... I was foolish.  I ran away from the farm when I got upset.  I ... I put myself in danger.  And I didn't fight harder to escape Grandma Conti's men because ... because I was scared for the baby.  I knew Billy would come for me.  He ... he didn't know about the baby, but..."  She shook her head.  "But his Grandmother did, she figured it out when I was sick every morning."

She looked out towards the front door again.

"Maybe she told him he was going to be a father before they got to him ... maybe he died knowing his dream was coming true."  her words were fragile things flowing across her lips.  As close to a prayer as Aurora could ever sincerely remember making.  

"He wanted to be like you..."  A tear finally escaped her right eye, racing down her cheek.  "Wanted us to be like you and mom... only,"  She chuckled.  "Dozens of kids."

The image of such a thing seemed so stupid now that it hurt.  It hurt as bad as any knife biting her flesh ever could.  She pulled her hand off his chest and covered her mouth with it.  The other remained across her belly, cradling it protectively and at that moment she knew what she had to do.  What she really wanted and it wasn't blood.  Not really.  It may have begun as Billy's dream but the baby was her reality now.

"I can't finish this." She admitted.  "It would kill the baby, maybe me too."

She shook her head.  

"They were right, I'm not like them, Dad.  I won't ignore what I have because of what I lost. I just want to stop hurting.  Please tell me it will stop?"

Although Aurora and Gavin shared a special bond, the older man knew that his daughter had more in common with Bella than either one of them liked to admit; he could see the thoughts racing through her head, and he did his best to try to guide and shape the torrential stream of her thinking- to nudge the raging waters in the right direction. It wasn't perfect and it never could be, but he did his best.

Gavin listened to her carefully. 

"Trust your doctors. But I think if you take a minute to focus on your breathing, you're more calm than you think. And I don't know if you've had... complications or anything. But mothers and babies-"

The fact that that phrase referred to his daughter knocked him for a loop for a couple seconds, but he found his footing.

"- they're more resilient than a lot of people think. People had babies thousand of years ago when we actively hunted and hunting every day; you're sturdier than you think. You'll be okay."

Gavin took his daughter to the couch and sat down next to her; his eyes were focused, but he had one hand interlaced with hers.

"You didn't do anything wrong, kid. Or you did... but who the hell knows what will happen in their lives... when we start second guessing ourselves, we're dead in the water. You've got to make your decisions and live with them. So if you say you're done, you're done. We'll head out. Wild- Alucard is outside. We'll send him after anyone you want taken out."

He sighed, squeezing her hand.

"You're going to have to work through a lot of this on your own. Make your peace with it in your own way. We can go somewhere I think might help with that."

Gavin let go of her hand and showed her the back of his left hand- there was a long, jagged line under the knuckles.

"About pain... I'm not sure if you really remember this. You were... 6...7, I dunno. I was working on some job for Tara; a human trafficker who'd dodged every other attempt at finding him, so she'd sent me in because it was time-sensitive. It was especially time sensitive for me, because you had a dance rehearsal that night at 8. It was important to you... you'd told me about 17 days a day. So I was bouncing around the slums, chasing every lead possible in an attempt to not only get this done, but to get it done fast."

He arched an eyebrow.

"The joys of parenthood. Anyways, I found the guy, but I didn't have time to properly scout out the place. Still, I was pretty sure he wasn't a threat. So I took the direct approach, made my way inside, pushing to get things done earlier... and I got just a little sloppy. Had to block a knife with my hand which, as I've taught you, is not exactly ideal. If the guy was stronger, he might have cut my hand in half. Well, I finished the job, but my hand was pretty fucked up. I wrapped it in a bandage, popped a pain pill, and went to your recital. Kept my hand in my pocket the entire time. By the time it got to the doctor, it was looking rough. I got it stitched up and it worked fine, but it hurt like hell every time I moved my hand for weeks."

Gavin shrugged.

"At first, I thought I'd made the wrong choice. Every time I moved my hand it was a reminder of my own stupidity. But now, looking back, I don't regret a thing. It happened the way it happened. The pain is gone, but the scar never went away. And when I look at the scar now, I don't remember the knife or the surgery or the long recovery; I remember your face when you spotted me in the audience."

He stood, helping his daughter to her feet as well.

"You're going to have scars from Billy, and those won't ever go away. But yes, it will stop hurting- at least the way it does right now. And your mother will probably have ten thousand words on this subject... but everyone in our family has our scars. We've earned them. And we carry them, but we aren't defined by them."

Alucard?

Her twin iris, as he called her, had come despite losing Integra?  She knew they were friends, she cared for him as much as she supposed was right but to ignore his own mourning and come for her?  It was a lot to take in all at once on top of everything else.

She listened to her father's story about his scar on his hand.  She hadn't thought much of that incident, in fact, it was barely a memory he'd had that injury at all.  She'd lost, somewhere in the fog of time gone, the memory of her recital being the day he'd been hurt... but it made sense to her what he was saying.  His point was not lost on her.  Billy's death would change her, as Uncle Will, Grandpa Jack and so many others had.  Though, in the moment, nothing felt like it would be good or right again.

"I can't ask Alucard to finish this for me, we're friends but... I know he's suffering right now.  Assuming Billy's Right-Hand didn't find a way to survive the war that means Alucard can't be much better off than I am.  It might be the only reason he came, I suppose, needing to hurt something for what was taken from him.  I can empathize.  But killing Don Conti, his wife or his men didn't make any of this easier on me and a few dozen key Luciano leaders won't either."

She sighed and looked across the room from where they were sitting at the unmoving body on the table.  "I know it's him... but he doesn't look the same.  I used to think that about all the people in the coffins when I was little.  All the funerals ... none of the people looked real.  I remember thinking that the person everyone said was Grandpa Jack couldn't be him.  That he didn't look anything like Grandpa Jack."  

She shook her head.

"I didn't really understand why until the first time I watched someone exhale that last breath."  her voice was a quiet whisper again as if she feared someone from the outside might hear her questionable subject matter.  "I know we never talked about it... but I know you knew what I did.  It was a reaction as much as the rage that first time.  I was every bit as angry as I am now, but... scared and I just reacted.  I was looking in his eyes when he went down.  I just stared at him while he died and then... he was gone.  He was different.  It was so subtle.  I almost wanted to believe in God then, like mom.  I thought about it later and wondered if I saw his soul leave like the Priests say happens."

She shook her head again.

"I want to go see this place you want to take me to.  I... I can't go back to Philly right now.  I just need a few days to process all this.  To be honest, I feel like I could sleep for a week."

She stood up then and touched the ring on her hand.

"This is his grandmother's wedding ring.  He didn't want to propose with it because he was worried it wasn't impressive enough."  She shook her head, sad but smiling at Billy laid out on the table.  "I'm gonna wear it for a while, but eventually I'll put it away for the baby."

She glanced down at the ring.  Rora had never been one for jewelry or girly things but of this, she simply said, "It's beautiful."  

And with that she began walking back to the kitchen, her father picking up her bag before she could, and then she made her way out the door confident she could do so without looking back.  It was time to find Alucard and put an end to this horrible vacation once and for all.

Gavin's brow furrowed quickly. 

"I don't think Alucard is suffering at all. He might be ignorant of whatever you think he knows. Why don't you call your mother?  Let her know you're safe and ask her about whoever Alucard's person is. She'll provide you with more information and ,if it's as bad as you think it might be, I can let you and Alucard talk in the car as I drive you back. But if you can't make the call, I can."

After a quick review of the house, Gavin sighed. Showed how old he was getting, assuming every house had a phone. He hadn't even seen one until he was eighteen. 

"... nevermind. But what you say is logical. I don't think I've ever seen a RHM get spared in a takedown."

Gavin frowned. 

"You should tell him what you know; I would have done so myself, except I didn't know his connection to things. He's waiting outside... maybe it'd be good to tell him in the fresh air, under the sky. Yell if you need anything. I think I'll say my goodbyes to Billy, for what it's worth."

Resting his hand on Aurora's shoulder, he gave it a squeeze as she headed out the door to Alucard, while Gavin returned to the room to look for the last time on the man he'd given his blessing to to marry his daughter.

The sky was an ocean of stars by the time Aurora stepped out the back door in search of her twin iris.  Down the hill, she could see him there, sitting beside the open grave that would be filled with Billy by this time tomorrow.  She walked, silent to him and she looked down the on the man kneeling before her simplistic looking wooden headstone.

"Light of My Eyes."  she said softly.  "I called him that... it's what the Italian say.  And it was shorter than all the titles he'd earned in life."  

She shrugged and sat down on the green grass beside LordAlucard.

"So... how much are they paying you to come bail me out of this shit show?  I hope it's a lot ... if not, I'd lodge a complaint with your union rep, cause you're getting dicked."   She smiled in spite of the emotions and fears playing out in her mind.

"It's beautiful" Alucard quietly said, as his fingers ran over Italian phrase below Billy's name. 

Alucard couldn't help but smirk when he heard Aurora mention something about him being dicked, and for once he didn't say the first thing that popped into his head. Now was not the time for him to make jokes about his ability to take a good dicking. Instead, he just went with simple honesty.

"I'm not being paid anything, nor will I ask for anything. Bringing you back to your family is enough for me." He looked Aurora in her eyes, and returning the sad smile she gave him, he tucked a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear. "You underestimate your importance to me, my twin iris."

When his eyes fell back onto the open grave, his brow furrowed, and his voice lightly cracked with the sadness and empathy he felt for her. "Roar, I... I am so sorry.  I can only imagine how you are feeling.  Is, is there anything I can do?"