Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one

I have fallen in love with the concept that Skull has hidden depths

Unfortunately, the series does not seem inclined to explore this so I have jumped on the bandwagon

Origin

The Arcobaleno had been positively giddy since the breaking of the curse. Especially once Verde had discovered a way to return them to their original ages at an accelerated rate. There had been annoyances along the way of course, banged fingers and toes from misjudging distances, lack of balance, constant soreness from muscles and bones growing too fast. Yet, for all their differences, the group all agreed it was more than worth it.

There had of course been flare-ups due to enforced isolation and close proximity to each other. There was a reason the group rarely gathered, but when all was said and done, they were elements of the same sky, bound together by more than thirty years of darkness. Others could try to comprehend the weight of the curse of the Arcobaleno, but only those who had endured it could ever truly understand.

In order to pass the time, the group had discussed all sorts of miscellaneous things. Being who they were, it was inevitable that the day each of them activated their flames would come up. It turned out that Lal had activated her flames protecting a group of younger street kids from a gang. Colonnello unsurprisingly had activated his on the battlefield. A fellow student had nearly killed Verde before his career could begin when the fool had caused an explosion. Fon had been born into the Triads, and as for Viper. Well, none of them were curious enough to pay her truly exorbitant rates for the information.

"What about you Skull?"

The youngest of the Arcobaleno, and he was so young, jumped to his feet. "The great Skull-sama remembers it well. It was to be my greatest stunt ever."

Colonnello scoffed interrupting the cloud. "It couldn't have been that great if you crashed Lackey."

A cloud of gloom appeared over Skull's head, the stuntman turning to exit the room only to freeze. Reborn was standing in the doorway. "S-Senpei," he stuttered. How long had the other been standing there?

Any hope that Reborn hadn't seen everything was crushed as the hitman began to applaud. "Very nice explanation Lackey," he congratulated. "Very pat," his voice dropped an octave matching the darkness in his eyes. "If you weren't lying that is."

The other Arcobaleno stared, looking back and forth between the two. Skull had lied? Why had he lied? What reason could he possibly have? They didn't doubt Reborn's expertise in this matter for a moment. The Sun was so skilled in interpreting tone and body language it was rumored he could read minds.

Meanwhile Skull's lips had formed a thin tight line. Great, he cursed to himself, just great. For more than thirty years he had fooled the whole of the mafia into thinking he was nothing more than he appeared; a cowardly fool who had gotten a place among the strongest seven through nothing but luck. And now all that had been ruined with one little sentence. The others were never going to let this go. Not ever.

"Care to explain lackey." Though outwardly relaxed, inwardly Reborn was anything but. Decades he had known the Cloud, yet now. He scanned Skull from head to toe. It was like he was looking at a stranger.

Finally Skull groaned, walking over to a nearby cupboard and pulling out a bottle of bourbon. He wasn't a big drinker, none of the Arcobaleno were. But today, he thought, he could make an exception. Eyeing the level of the alcohol through the glass, he pulled off the lid and took a big gulp. "I am not nearly drunk enough for this," Skull moaned collapsing into a chair. He ignored the way Reborn's hand twitched for his gun. If the hitman was going to shoot him, he would have done it years ago. Merlin knows he had gone out of his way to be an obnoxious little shit.

The stuntman took another swig of the bourbon. "I'll tell you," he said at last. "On the condition that none of you ever bring this up again, to anyone." He waited for everyone's agreement before continuing. "It is common knowledge within the mafia that there are those who possess certain gifts," his bright purple eyes flicked to Viper. "Abilities that have nothing to do with flames," Skull smiled, it was not a nice expression. "It has always amused me they think such powers are only found among those who follow omerta."

Verde blinked suddenly feeling very, very dumb. It was an unusual feeling for the scientist. Had he really limited himself so much?

"In theory," Skull went on. "Anyone is capable of activating the flames of the dying will." It was just that the vast majority of people didn't. "But my people," he shrugged. "It is all about blood. Either you have it, or you don't. They separated themselves from the majority of the world centuries ago; hid their conclaves behind walls of power and illusion." Taking another drink, the cloud scowled down at the bottle. Sometimes it did not pay to heal nigh instantly. He didn't even feel slightly buzzed.

"When I was born," Skull's voice trailed off as he decided which details to share. "I hate to call it a Civil War," he said at last taking another drink. "It gives Tom and his merry band psychopaths a legitimacy they don't deserve." He waved a hand. "Think World War Two on a smaller scale. We purebloods are the master race and everyone else is garbage who can die or accept their rightful place as our slaves and all that rot."

"Pureblood?" Verde questioned unable to keep his silence.

Skull took another drink. "Means you can trace your linage three generations back on each side; my Father was a pureblood, but my Mother was a first gen. That makes me a halfblood by their standards." Of course that was the polite way to put it. "When I was fairly young, both my parents were murdered by the Hitler wannabe. They saved my life but Tom was quite offended he missed me. Kept coming back to try and finish the job."

Reborn growled low in his throat. It didn't matter that it had been decades ago. Skull was his, theirs. Full stop. No one touched the Cloud but them.

"I always found it funny," Skull said softly swirling the bottle. "When someone called me a child; real children can't name a dozen realistic ways they could die horribly." Real children knew they were loved.

"Define horribly."

"I overheard a group of Tom's minions discussing it once. The majority was for skinning me alive. Grayback though, he objected." Skull paused just long enough to give his next words emphasis. "He thought it would be a shame to waste my pretty face." Don't get him wrong, he had no love for Lucius Malfoy. But at least the blond hadn't laughed.

To say Fon's teacup shattered would be an understatement. It disintegrated; tea and all, the Storm tucking slightly trembling fingers into his long silk sleeves. The martial artist's eyes gleamed the red of his flames.

Skull lifted the bottle to his lips, and then grimaced when he found it was empty. "There was one way I was still a child though," he admitted to the other Arcobaleno. "I had this fairytale idea that if I could just make it through the war, if I could kill him, I'd get my happy ending." He fell silent.

Colonnello inched a little closer. "What happened then kora?"

Skull laughed. It was not a pleasant sound. "We were still burying the bodies when the interim head of our government called me to his office for a meeting." He blinked his eyes rapidly as he was assaulted by memories he had long since tried to bury. "I didn't think anything of it," he said hoarsely, "when he offered me a drink. I knew him; we had fought on the same side. Even," his voice wavered. "Even when I started to feel dizzy . . ." He had just thought everything was catching up with him.

"He told me I should be grateful for my life," Skull forced out. "Grateful to spend the rest of my life chained in a room the size of a closet, where I couldn't even see the sun." He would have rather died. He forced his hands to unclench. "It was far from the first serious situation I had been in. But always before I had had the powers that were my birthright."

"Suppressants," Verde put in knowingly. It followed that like would know how to combat like.

Skull nodded. "The chains, the concoctions they poured down my throat, even the walls themselves; they were all meant to keep me powerless."

It didn't take a genius to know what happened then. "That's when your flames activated."

"Yes." They had in fact activated so spectacularly that his hair and eyes had been purple ever since. "I had no idea what was going on, but I wasn't going to stand around while I figured it out."

"So you ran," Lal put in.

"Damn straight. Took a slight detour to grab my late godfather's motorcycle and hightailed it. So there I was, no money, no ID, no nothing." Skull laughed again as he stood, swaying slightly. Maybe he was a little drunk. That had been a lot of liquor.

"But I have always been a survivor." Skull locked eyes with the other Arcobaleno. "And to be a stuntman, you don't need an education, just skill. If you use an obvious pseudonym, if you act flamboyantly and cover your face with makeup." He smiled; it was a look that made it clear for the first time that the Cloud was just as dangerous as his fellows. "It is all part of the show."

I do want to add more skull centered shots to this collection, though hopefully not so dark

No promises about when so cross your fingers and ask the muses to cooperate

Hope you enjoyed and please review. It helps inspire me