William leaped over a log and sprinted as hard as his legs could carry him through the trees to beat the car pulling down the long winding path of Hollowood, or Hollowpoint Estate, as he liked to call it.  The path twisted and turned and was long for a reason: security.  No car could make it to the house without at least half-a-dozen guns getting a shot on it, but Will could run a straight direct route through the forest to arrive before his father had even put the vehicle into park.  

The sixteen-year-old young man, no longer a boy, was beginning to look as he would for the rest of his adult life.  His hair had been getting darker with age, but his eyes were as blue as the day he was born.  Muscle definition was FINALLY beginning to appear and the lanky boy who was all knees and elbows was slowly becoming a somewhat more lithe imitation of the man his mother met almost a lifetime ago.  

Where William had failed to get his father's aptitude for the more physical artistry, at which his sister Aurora excelled, William had gained his constitution.  There wasn't a ridge or tree in this forest he hadn't fallen from as a boy and pushed himself to get right up after from if only to keep up with his big sister and try to prove himself worthy of the pride his father so often looked at his sister with.  

Will broke out of the leaves and sticks and stopped on the drive, he looked towards the house where Linval was coming out.  "Your mother was worried."

"He's back."  Will said catching his breath, wondering how much his father knew.  Did he know about the war?  Did he know about Aurelio?  Did he know about Aurora?  He'd been with Aunt Tara and it was clear she still had lots of connections, perhaps his father found her already?  Maybe she was with him now?

Linval nodded.  "You should go inside, be a good son, finish cleaning your room like your mother asked."

"I should be here for this."  Will insisted, hearing Gavin's car coming around the bend, he looked back towards the drive.

"You think you have something to add that your mother will not tell him?" Linval arched an eyebrow.

"Maybe."  he drew a breath, he didn't like bending the truth, but Linval wasn't going to let up.  "Maybe I just missed him."

Linval's mouth turned up at the corner as Gavin's car came around the last straight away.  "Well... I suppose I can't say anything about that, now can I."  He knew Will enough to suspect this was meddling & a desire to be involved with FAMILY business not just family business, but the aging bodyguard allowed that the boy MIGHT also have missed his father.

As GavinByrne's car came to a stop, Will walked forward to the driver's side door.  Meanwhile, Linval waited to give Gavin a solemn nod that suggested the seriousness of the situation and his continued readiness to serve.  There had been a war.  People had died, but once again, Linval had kept Bella alive and for his purposes today that was all that really mattered.

Will smiled at his Dad, but the smile wavered when he noted that Aurora wasn't with him.

"Hey, Dad."  He stuck his hands deep into his pockets and let his shoulders rise up a bit.  "How's Aunt Tara?"

Gavin tried not to think about his back as he stepped out of the car. He was far from old. Far from it, he repeated to himself. It was just those long damn plane rides. His back had always hurt after those, right? 

Better to think about his back than his daughter. Some pain was easier to deal with than others.

The trip to Europe had taken longer than Gavin had anticipated. In fact, it was one of the longest times he'd ever been away from his family. When he'd heard about the war, he'd gotten on a plane immediately.  Still, he mustered a smile for his son, standing there with his hands casually in his pockets. Gavin raised his hand for Will to shake, but pulled him in for a hug as he slapped his back, whether the kid wanted it or not.

"Tara's great, but she's old. Can't keep up with me anymore. Next time I gamble my way across Europe, you're coming with me."

He needed to get inside, but Gavin planted his feet firmly as he faced his son. Yes, he felt the need to talk to Bella and especially Aurora, but he wasn't going to brush off his son after not seeing him for weeks. He dropped his voice.

"But we'll talk more about that later. I promise. For now... who's in there? How are they?"

Gavin trusted his son's instincts on emotions and relationships more than anyone else's. It was one of the reasons Will was a talented gambler. He tended to get people. Right now, that could come in handy.

"Godfather Mezzo was here early this morning.  He was with mom for several hours.  It was tense.  I heard mom's tone through the door a few times, so I know she wasn't happy, but when he left he seemed in a good mood so I'm guessing whatever he was hoping to have mom say or do, she did."  William shrugged.

"Mom sent away Miss Di with a huge list of things to do.  The priest came and went two hours ago.  He was here to talk about Aurelio's funeral, but I'm pretty sure whatever he said to her in private made mom cry."  Will wasn't a fan of anything to do with Church, like his sister, but he went along from time to time because it made his mom happy.  

"Phil and Marcus..."  Will paused.  "They aren't here anymore."  The way he said it, how he shifted, the implication was clear they were dead and William gave no speculations on how or why.

"As for who is in there now... no one.  She got the call your plane landed and the last of the guys she had a meeting with rolled out.  I've stayed out of the house.  Figured it was better that way... that and I could come out here to meet you first."  He wanted to ask about Aurora, if Tara heard from her if Dad knew where she was and if she was safe.  But he knew better, if Gavin knew, he would say.

"Mom's been on the phone with Sicily ... she hasn't heard from Rora and Billy yet and they should have been back today."  He said in a much lower voice as if he was worried Bella had ears everywhere just as people said she did.  "I keep telling he that Rora is okay.  I'd know if something happened to her.  I'm sure of it.  She's ... probably laying low.  Maybe they heard about the war."

"Godfather Mezzo was here early this morning."

It took at least 3-4 more sentences of assuming it was Jack before Gavin remembered Jack had been dead for ten years. Maybe he was getting old. 

Aurelio's funeral. That... was a problem for another day. Family first. And if Bella was on the phone with Sicily... then Aurora wasn't back yet. Gavin 

"Okay. I need to talk to your mother to figure out what the hell's going on. Don't go far. And yes, I'm sure your sister's fine."

And if she's not, there's nothing we can do now anyways. I'll be on a plane within the hour either way.

"But uh, find one your mother's bodyguards. Linval, if he's still around. Tell him to call the airport, refuel the plane, and keep the engine running. Just in case. If we're moving, I don't want to be sitting around waiting for some grease monkey to polish the wings or whatever."

Clapping his son on the shoulder, Gavin made his way quickly to his wife's office, quietly slipping into the room and knocking on the doorframe. He didn't need to say anything, trusting his eyes to communicate that while he was glad to see her, he and Bella would only be thinking about one thing right now. His eyes questioned her, and he waited to get filled in.

Bella met Gavin's eyes and her shoulders sank with the weight of everything happening.  The illusion of strength she'd been keeping up for all the people around her was finally laid down in the presence of the one constant in her life, her rock, her wolf. 

"I didn't want to be right ... "  she said, knowing already he didn't want this, he wanted information so he could hunt their daughter down but she needed just a moment, a moment to be herself, not a Don or a mother but a woman who was feeling horribly guilty and scared to death.  She wanted to go to Gavin, but she knew he was in that place in his mind that he sometimes went when work needed to be done.  He wasn't as grim or angry as he'd been on their last terrible trip to Chicago, but he was no less convicted.  She knew then, Gavin wasn't unpacking his bags.  He was leaving as soon as he had a direction to move and, she couldn't go with him.

She wanted to leave everything behind, to go find their daughter and bring her home safe where she could mourn her losses and heal - but there was nothing that could change the situation.  Bella had people here whose lives depended upon her as sure as Aurora's did, maybe more because Aurora was so damn capable.  Not the least of which was their son, William.  But Bella, she'd already lost two young people this week already and there were still others missing in action.  Her heart was weary of the losses. 

"Billy was taking Aurora to Catania, Sicily to meet his grandmother.  She told me she thought he might propose marriage on the trip.  She was so happy..." She shook her head sadly, knowing Billy didn't intend to propose marriage on this trip.  Gavin had the rings with him that the boy meant to use which meant, this was just what Billy had said it was - a nice vacation to meet each other's extended kin.  Perhaps, as sad as it was to say, that was a small blessing.  At least they weren't yet engaged, right?  

"I called Don Santino DiCaprio,"  The boy Bella had raised in her Tower was a man now, an ally of the Byrne family, and a Don. 

"I called two days after they set sail.  I asked him to touch base with them while they were there.  He told me that the conflicts between the Conti and Luciano families had escalated.  He suspected there would be open warfare before long.  He told me he was going to urge Aurora and Billy to NOT stay in Sicily but to continue on with the steamer to its next port."

She shook her head, "I told him I trusted that neither side wanted to hurt her but he was more concerned an outside family might seek to gain an advantage... possibly Don Enzo of Messina.  I told him to tell them both everything and if they wanted to stay, there wouldn't be any talking them out of it.  I didn't ... I didn't think they had much to worry about.  I know the Conti family loves Aurora and the Luciano family has much more to lose by pissing me off than they do to gain - so I can't see this being why she's gone missing but..."

"I know Aurora called her Grandma Conti and Stella to tell them she was coming.  They were going to see Billy's Nonna first, then visit the Conti family and Marie's grave, and then go on to a stop by Stella's before spending the last two days at a resort hotel in Catania.  So people knew they were coming and where they'd be.  Only... they never checked into the resort.  Stella said they never came and the operator says that the Conti family line isn't taking international calls."

"Billy..."  Bella, loved that boy.  She loved him like a son.  The boy had called her mother, as Aurelio had so often implied he thought of her, and as her Godson Giovanni thought of her... and they were all three gone... her beautiful 'sons' were dead all save the one of her own making and THANK GOD for that.  Yet, it did not bring back poor gentle Aurelio, strong-big-hearted Billy, or sweet Giovanni.

"Our people killed Billy."  She choked out the words.  "One of the families in Philly sent hitmen to Sicily and... they did their job.  Louis said that he was told Aurora wasn't with him when they found Billy at his grandmother's farm.  But with no way to reach out to that family, I called DiCaprio.  He owns the land which Billy's family farms.  He's driving out there to find out what anyone at the house or in the village knows, but he hasn't called back yet."

Bella closed her eyes and rubbed her temple.  

"I have to believe the hitmen.  If Aurora was there when Billy was wacked, she'd either have killed at least some of them or be dead herself.  In any case, we would know something!"  Bella's exasperation and worry were heard in he tone. 

"He might have told her to run... if he knew the threat was coming, it's something he'd try perhaps, but she wouldn't have left him alone.  She couldn't.  Not our girl..."  She shook her head thinking back to how scared she'd been with Elias as they came under fire and how she'd been convinced to run at about the same age as her daughter... leaving her fiancee to die.  Could Aurora have done the same?  It didn't feel right to her.

"She's a fighter.  Why wouldn't she fight?  If she didn't fight the hitmen defending Billy, why wasn't she with him when he was attacked?  And why hasn't she resurfaced since?  It makes no damn sense!  She should have called by now... gone to one of our allies, SOMETHING!"  Bella smacked the desk with her fist, her temper peaking out. 

"I ... I couldn't sit on my hands."  she admitted.  "I sent someone to look for her who was just a short flight from Sicily.  He's already there by now.  I've been sitting by this phone all day waiting on him or DiCaprio to call and dealing with the aftermath of ... all this."  She motioned to the pile of problems on her desk.

Her eyes narrowed, her brow furrowed and her mouth made a deep frown.  She held in her sorrowful comments and sobs.  She knew they were coming but the hunter in front of her might need more information if he was to be successful in finding their little girl.  She struggled to be strong a while longer, for Gavin but mostly for Aurora who needed them now maybe more than ever before.  Billy wasn't a childish crush, gone too soon and tragically... Bella knew that better than anyone.  She'd been Aurora's age when she lost Elias.  Aurora's age when she'd met Gavin - Gavin who had saved her, not from warring families or hitmen, but from the most dangerous foe that a woman could ever really face: herself.    

Gavin's arms were folded as he watched his wife and listened to her describe the various political intrigues of Sicily. He listened, mostly, to the politics, but was mostly focused on locations. Bella could see him bite his lower lip when he heard about Billy's death, but she also saw him mentally put that aside for now. 

"We'll figure out what happened. And we'll get her back."

Gavin walked around the desk and rested a reassuring hand on his wife's shoulder. He wanted to do more, but they both needed to keep their focus.

"You handle things here. Work the phones and get as much information as you can."

He paced around to the other side of the desk.

"But... possibilities. Aurora wasn't anywhere near Billy when it went down, so she's underground playing it safe until she's confident she's figured out what's happening. That could particularly be true if she recognized men from Philadelphia. You said 'Why wouldn't she fight?" Maybe she had to choose between her city and Billy. Maybe she chose her city, and now she's drinking herself into a hole and hating herself for it. Or maybe she wasn't there at all and has no idea what's going on. Or maybe she got caught up in all that Sicilian bullshit."

Gavin shrugged.

"You stay here. Work the phones. When I land, I'll call and you can tell me what you know. I'll find her and I'll bring her back."

Bella drew a breath, closed her eyes and tried to remember who she was talking to... this was Gavin.  Gavin who saved her from own dark inclinations.  Gavin who got her up those stairs and came back from the dead itself for her.  Gavin who jumped out of perfectly good planes and stormed prisons all on her word.  All because he loved this family and would, time and again, lay down his life for it.

She touched his hand on her shoulder, she didn't dare do more.  They would lose themselves in each other, the worry, the stress... the time apart as long as it had been and might yet be depending on what he found in Sicily.

"Gavin..."  She whispered.  "Telling me about Billy wasn't why Louis came today."  

She sighed and opened her eyes, looking up to meet his gaze.

"Constance died in the war.  Louis is taking her seat..."  She could see it in his eyes.  He knew instantly what it was she and Louis had met about earlier.  He knew why Bella looked so tired, not just the war or the fear of her daughter but the knowledge of the burden that lay ahead of her.  She would take up the mantle that Jack, Tara, and Louis all held before her.  It was her turn.  It was a place she'd told herself she'd never be.  It was something she said she'd not wanted... had rejected once before even... but she was done running.  This place, these people, it was her home and her family.  She and Gavin weren't getting younger.  They would die on Race Street, like Jack before them, leading this place until their bitter ends.

She lifted her chin.  Gavin watched her put back on the mantle of leadership once more and hide away that bit of herself which going forward she could very likely only allow herself to share with him... Godfathers could not show weakness.

She leaned back in her seat.  "When my guy on the ground there checks in, I'll tell him you're coming.  He's close friends with Rora, so he's motivated, but I don't know how much he knows about the war.  He's been out of the country and he's lost people.  When we get him back here, we'll offer him shelter in our crew for having helped to find our daughter, at least I now have enough power to do that."

She wished she'd had such power a few days ago, enough to save her daughter's love - but no.  Billy would never have been okay with it.  Never in a million years.  This was the life.  He knew that.  Aurora, God help her, knows that... but when has the mind ever mastered the heart? 

"Bring her home."  She gave the order.  "Kill in anyone who gets in your way.  We'll settle up the butcher's bill later, come what may."

Gavin nodded once to process it, then nodded again as he accepted it.

"Good. You deserve it. And Tara will be proud to hear it. But we'll handle that later."

He flexed his right hand, listening to the bones in his fingers crack.

"I'll bring her home."

One way or another. 

His mind couldn't stop itself from thinking it, but he soothed his worries, as he always did, by reminding himself that Aurora was one of the most well trained and talented fighters in the country, if not the world. She could take care of herself. She had to.

For just a few more hours.

Nodding at his wife again, Gavin turned and left the room.

Will, of course, was waiting outside the door. Gavin didn't slow his walk as he headed toward the car.

"Ride with me to the airport, Will. We'll talk on the way."

As his son slid into the backseat, Gavin pulled one suitcase from his larger collection of luggage in the back. It was black, metal, and locked, and Will knew that it wasn't full of shirts. Gavin barked instructions to Linval and, as the car pulled away, he looked at his son steadily.

"Things went to hell. Not sure where Aurora is. I'm going to find her and bring her back. In the meantime, I need you here for your mother. You're too young to get fully involved in her decision making or her counsel. Someday, maybe, but not today. What you need to do is be there for you. She might work for fifteen straight hours, but the most essential time for her is going to the fifteen minutes after that when she comes to check in with you, before she falls asleep. She might want to talk. She might just want to sit. Put a fire on for her. Make sure she eats. Sleeps."

He paused.

"I don't know how long I'll be gone. I know I've been gone a lot lately, and it hasn't all been my choice. There's..."

Now wasn't the time for that.

"... other stuff to deal with, but for now we've got to focus. I'll take care of Aurora. You take care of your mother."

Gavin sighed and opened the suitcase. This wasn't something he could do on a plane, and he wanted to be ready for action the second the plane touched down. He checked the pair of pistols quickly before closing the suitcase and looking at his son. It was almost time to fly.

"Can you do that for me?"

"Yes, Sir.  I'll make sure she eats and be there for her."  He paused, not sure if he should tell his father, but not wanting to leave him in the dark regarding his own number one worry for his sister. 

"Rora has a secret, she swore me to keep it... I wouldn't nomally break my word but... I think maybe you need to know, just in case."  4

He whispered for only Gavin to hear, fearful of Linval's loyalty to his mom.  "She was gonna tell Billy on the trip... but...  He winced still reluctant to break her trust, "God she's gonna kill me..."

He looked to his father, met his eyes and did the only thing William knew how to do in a situation like this.  He just said it.  

"She's pregnant, Dad."

Gavin stared at his son for a long time, unblinking and unmoving. His icy blue eyes processed that news at a glacial place, and the car had been stopped for a while before Gavin nodded. He didn't say anything- didn't trust himself to say anything. 

Gavin reached up and placed his palm against his son's cheek, patting it lightly a couple times before turning away and walking with his suitcase toward the plane.

It would be a sleepless flight.