Fon was the first one to figure out what was going on when he realized Colonello was acting off, for lack of a better term. It wasn't that his behavior was entirely different from normal or that he gave off a major sign something was wrong, but the look in his eyes was all the warning he needed.

Skull, who was just finishing up some repairs in the garage, jumped about a foot in the air when Colonello was sent flying towards the door.

"Fon, what..."

"Get Lal, now. And tell the others that they aren't to use Flames unless absolutely necessary... we really don't need him going into a Black Rage when he's not fully awake."

Skull to his credit didn't argue. He bolted and went straight to the room the Rains had been sharing.

Fon kept his eyes firmly on Colonello, and kept him at arm's distance, but not so far that it would take too long to reach the other man if he started charging up his magic.

Sensing Lal behind him (among others, but he was only waiting for her) Fon closed in, giving Lal all the opportunity she would need to charge behind and do whatever she needed to snap him out of the flashback.

He watched as Lal calmly ducked under Colonello's arms, grab the outstretched left and with the ease of long practice laid him flat on his ass on the ground.

The jolt and familiar feel of his girlfriend made him pause long enough for her to kiss him.

"Snap out of it, idiot student. You're safe," she said firmly, in her best trainer voice.

Colonello had to blink several times, before he slowly rubbed his eyes.

"Lal? Shit, did it happen again?"

"What exactly was that about?" demanded Renato.

"He was in a flashback. Fortunately he's managed to train himself not to use magic or Flames unless someone uses them first," said Lal, helping him up now that he was fully awake again.

Skull looked at Fon oddly.

"How did you know not to use Flames around him?"

"I didn't. However magic often takes the form of different lights before they make contact, and his brain would have immediately jumped to foreign magic being used against him if he saw Flames, since I know for a fact that two of ours would have set him off. The killing curse isn't too dissimilar to the color of Lightning Flames, for instance," said Fon.

"Is this going to be a regular thing?" demanded Renato.

"He's gotten better. Your best bet is to simply pin him down or use straight hand to hand," said Lal. "What I want to know is what the hell set it off again. He normally has a warning before it's about to hit."

Colonello sat up, and rubbed the back of his head before mumbling something.

"What was that?" said Lal.

"I said I thought I felt Dumbledore nearby. Considering he did more damage to me that that fucker Riddle ever did, I wasn't about to let any of his Elements try to cage me again," said Colonello embarrassed. "Which is weird because I was there when that asshole took a swan dive off the tower."

His head suddenly whipped towards the door, seconds before Luce walked in.

"What's going on? No one would tell me what all the fuss was about."

"Oh. So that's what set it off."

As one, the others turned to look at Luce, then at Colonello.

"Ah. Perhaps it was close proximity to another Sky that you are unfamiliar with that set off your flashback," said Fon diplomatically.

"Uh no, she feels like a stronger, female version of Dumbledore except her Flames aren't filled with self-delusion about her actual power or ability," said Colonello without a hint of hesitation or remorse.

Luce felt almost exactly like Albus Dumbledore, except she didn't have a narcissistic god complex, nor did she harbor any delusions of being the only one who had all the answers. There were plenty of other Skies out there with equal or more power (though not Flame purity, but more than enough to hold their own against her famiglia) to keep that in check.

Which meant she was a firm believer of the bullshit "greater good" theory and considering the sort of group Lal was in, was likely leading them into a trap that would have long-reaching consequences.

It would explain a lot.

"You're telling me Luce reminds you of that delusional Sky Latent?" said Viper alarmed.

"Really? None of you find this whole 'strongest seven' bullshit suspicious in the least? Never mind the missions, which any competent team of Flames users could pull off, but the fact they're lumping seven of the strongest Flames together when they've had limited to no interaction or teamwork between them previously...how does that not scream 'trap with long term and annoying consequences' to you?" said Colonello shaking his head. "And then there's the Sky who's expression says far too much about how she clearly knows something she's not going to tell us until after the trap itself is going to be sprung and how she clearly believes in that greater good bullshit to the point she's given up trying to get out of it!"

Observing Luce said volumes of the truth to his words. It was impossible to deny the fact Luce knew something she wasn't telling and that she had made her peace with the fact she was going to screw them all over, likely before she had even met them!

"Luce...what aren't you telling us?" asked Renato slowly, dangerously. He did not like being screwed over by the people he worked for. It made him murderous.

Luce kept silent, not willing to admit anything.

"Probably something to do with the fact that there's actual truth to the old legends of the seven strongest aspects being given powerful artifacts that turn back the clock and curse them with almost immortal bodies of children," commented Colonello yawning.

Luce stared at him in shock.

"What?" said Colonello defensively. "Binns is boring as fuck and it was easier to get Hermione to shut up about studying for that damn exam if I had an actual history book in my hands. There were more than a few books about something called the Arcobaleno in the history section."

That sent a shiver of recognition through the mafia raised Flames.

"Did you just say Arcobaleno? As in the seven strongest infants that are cursed every generation to represent the Flames of the Sky?" hissed Renato. "That's what this group is about?!"

Luce wilted.

Fon looked at a bored Colonello.

"Why aren't you mad?" he asked.

"Easy. I plan to point Hermione at the pacifier I found in one of my vaults and tell her to find an alternative to it so we don't end up cursed. Like hell am I going to let the woman I intend to marry end up a freaking toddler for the rest of her life because some god was too lazy to do things right and went the pure blood route with a solution."

Verde pushed his glasses up at that.

"What's the pure blood route?" he asked.

"Throw whatever works the first time without any major side effects and call it a solution without bothering to find any alternatives afterwards," deadpanned Colonello. "I bet you anything your 'employer' only bothered to find something that worked without collapsing and never bothered to find anything better after because he was too lazy."

Verde looked visibly appalled at such an idea. Then again he was a scientist.

"Hell I would be shocked if you ended up paired to Hermione after, because she's just as crazy as you are about research. Good luck getting rid of those stupid rose colored glasses of hers though," said Colonello cheerfully.

He was not above pairing a girl he had always considered his sister next to Luna with someone who might actually be able to keep up with her.

Fon was giving Lal an amused look when she raced to the bathroom to puke her guts out when he brought in an herb he knew was quite pungent to sensitive noses. It was usually brought out to confirm a werewolf near the full moon for security measures, but it also had another use.

"I had a feeling, but this only confirms my suspicions."

"What suspicions?" demanded Lal.

"You're pregnant."

Lal paled.

"What?!"

"Well you two haven't exactly be abstaining from sleeping with each other since Colonello can keep everyone from hearing it and you generally take a shower in the morning anyway..." said Fon amused.

Lal thought back, and was already hyperventilating. She was two weeks off her usual schedule for that sort of thing. Just to be sure she discreetly bought a test and damn near cold-cocked her student when it came back positive.

"You damn idiot... you got me knocked up!" she hissed at him.

"You're pregnant? That explains a few things," commented Renato, who quickly held up his hands in 'surrender' when he realized her eyes were starting to glow an almost purple-indigo color.

Colonello looked like the news had caught him completely flat footed. Then again he should have expected this to happen sometime soon anyway with the fact they were already sleeping together.

"What do you want to do?" he asked Lal seriously. "Considering this is your body we're talking about, I'll follow through with whatever you decide, but if you do go through with it I swear on my honor I'll help take responsibility for it."

Lal could tell he was dead serious about that, which eased some of her annoyance with him. Some men, once they were given the knowledge they were about to become fathers reacted the wrong way.

Colonello however was not only worried about the kid, but how the mother would react as well.

Lal huffed to herself.

"First off I'm keeping the kid. While I understand some women can't handle the weight of having kids or are more interested in themselves, there's no way I'm going to get rid of it. Second, I expect you to make our next date extra special if you expect to get any ever again from me," she said flatly.

Colonello grinned.

"Can do, kora!"

That gave him plenty of time to find a ring that would suit Lal perfectly to propose with...though if Molly asked, he proposed before she found out she was pregnant.

Lal waited until no one was in ear shot before she delivered the second condition.

"I expect a big wedding. Not a media circus, but an actual church wedding with all the bells and whistles."

"...Does it have to be indoor, or can we have a massive outdoor church with the twins supplying the decorations?"

Lal had seen the twins work...that meant the decorations would be beautiful and entertaining.

"We can do outdoor, but there had better be a proper priest."

"You do realize I'm a devout follower of Loki, but we can do a normal priest. I'm sure we can find someone willing to do it."

"Just so long as it's official," said Lal firmly. She didn't care what sort of priest it was so long as it was legal and binding under the law.

It was one of her more well hidden secrets...she had always wanted a big fancy wedding like any other girl, even if she was a major tomboy. Kids she was still iffy about, but if she was going to get married it would be to someone she knew damn well would take care of her and never falter when it came to loyalty.

Whenever they were out on a date, she had seen plenty of girls more attractive than she was, or had more curves. Colonello never even looked twice at them, always keeping his full attention on the woman in his arms. If anything he seemed to roll his eyes at the fools who thought wearing less or having bigger busts made them more attractive.

"Well I'm sure Ginny and Luna would love to help you prepare for it."

Lal flushed, but at least she knew she would have a...memorable... look if Luna was also going to be in charge. It was the ex-girlfriend that she was leery of.

Most women didn't take it well when their rich boyfriend moved on, even if Ginny was married now.

"I suppose we'll be making a trip to England then?" asked Viper.

"I would say do it in Italy, if only to cut back on the potential media circus and make it a bit more difficult for unexpected and unwanted party crashers showing up. Also, it's Bring Your Own Weapon," said Colonello cheerfully.

Renato wasn't the only one to smirk at that.

"I take it you plan on giving her a few guns to shoot at anyone who pisses her off?"

"Damn straight I am! I'd rather have a wife just as capable of dealing massive amounts of damage as I am, not some wilting little girl who expects me to play hero all the damn time! That's part of the reason why I broke it off with Ginny. In her mind I'll always be the white knight to save the ickle firstie in over her head against the big bad snake."

Colonello shook his head at that, clearly tired of the idea.

"Dating anyone back in England would have come with some very annoying expectations, not the least of which would have been how quickly I could have knocked my wife up, dealing with the politics of it all, having to worry about saying or doing the wrong thing, never mind the fact everyone was far too happy to shove their noses into my business. If I had even tried to get therapy for what happened in the war, it wouldn't have taken much for everyone and their grandmother to find out what was going on in my life and try to butt in."

"Sounds exhausting," commented Renato. That sounded like it's own special kind of hell, especially for a laid-back man like Colonello.

"Now add onto that fact that the English enclaves were full of sycophants and people all too happy to abuse my power, whether it was political, strength, monetary or just my fame and the fact that I had to be on guard about what the girl or her family actually wanted on top of worrying whether or not they actually gave a damn. If I had stuck around the odds were that I'd be married off for a political match, not love, which would have pissed me off immensely," said Colonello in disgust. Then his face turned sappy. "Which is why I fell for Lal. She never gave a crap about fame, fortune or power...she kicked my ass so often I grew to like it and never treated me differently even when she started to find out the truth."

Renato smiled at him, not smirked.

For a war hero who clearly never grew up around power or money, he clearly valued love and loyalty over politics. Marrying some girl he didn't even love was anathema to him, especially when he was expected to shoulder most of the burdens.

Lal Mirch was a fiercely independent woman who could fight her own battles, but had the sense to accept help when she needed it. She was a pragmatic person who didn't give a damn about fame, nobility, money or power, much less politics.

In short she was just about the perfect match for the love-struck blond idiot.