The Submissive Assassin (BxB)

Chapter 92 - "Please, come back."

He heard groaning at his feet, and it reminded him that Nate was laying there in pain. It caught Dante's attention, and he reached for him, grabbing his bicep and pulling him to his feet. "You alright?" he asked worriedly, hearing another grunt from Nate as he held an arm over his stomach. He patted down his back in comfort, holding onto Nate for a little longer before Nate distanced himself, standing on his own.

"Yeah," he coughed in a raspy voice, "I just need a minute." He almost fell again, but Dante caught him before he could. Although he had gotten punched before, none of them had felt similar to Lucius' attacks. The brute force behind his hits were definitely a wake up call; he had to continue training and get stronger. It almost felt as if the nine months had ultimately done nothing, regardless of who else he had beaten. He had lost to Lucius within mere seconds.

Their attention was diverted to an irritated Reno who threw his arms in the air before shouting, "Can someone explain to us what is going on?" When Lucius rolled his eyes and Raphael scoffed, he exhaled sharply through his nose and stepped forward aggressively. "We love you guys but you're both acting like you're our enemies!"

"We are enemies," Raphael ascertained, lifting his chin. Dante noticed the quick flicker from Raphael's eyes onto Nate, which made Raphael's jaw tightened. That made it clear that he was definitely not fond of Nate. "We will always be enemies from now on."

Dante's voice caused Raphael's contorted features to instantly soften as he breathed, "You don't mean that, Ralphy." Their gaze met again, but this time, Raphael didn't hide the sadness in his eyes from being reunited with the person he considered his family. He felt his mouth run dry, the pause due to the debate in his mind, whether he should admit how much he missed them or proceed with the animosity. However, before he could, he heard the screeching of the chair behind him and felt a sudden heavy presence over his shoulder. Instantly, he lowered his eyes and cleared his throat, shaking his head to brush off all the thoughts of a truce.

Lucius had stood to his feet and was now close to the back of Raphael. "He does mean that," he snarled at them, wrinkling his nose in disgust towards his brothers. "The only reason we're not killing you today is because that isn't our mission."

Raphael had to look away from Dante for a little while, as every time he met those grey irises, he couldn't stop the roaming thoughts of every single petty arguments, their intimacy, or the time Dante would fall asleep for an alarming amount of time that Raphael would often check his pulse. Even the hardships they faced, the insufferable Dante who didn't skip a beat in berating him any chance he got; regardless of which memory were, it had been their story for years.

Raphael thought he would be able to maintain his composure, standing before them, but it was evident he hadn't yet moved on from that life.

Luckily, Dante's eyes had shifted to the side of Raphael, and they did appear as soft anymore. He lifted his chin challengingly towards Lucius, who raised his eyebrows. "Let me guess; you're still mad at us"

Lucius chuckled, needing to divert his gaze for a moment to calm himself down. There was no way they were all staring at him dumbfounded, as if he had no reason to be angry. "Let's just say the next time we cross path, you're the first I'm taking out."

Dante stepped towards him fearlessly, broadening his shoulders. He found no wrongs in what they had done, and as much as Lucius wanted to find any reason to hate him, Dante wouldn't let himself believe that his reasoning was valid. "You're mad at me for not following you into a death trap?"

"As you can see," Lucius motioned to himself with a smirk, "I'm alive and well."

"That's because you went alone." Reno, who had been pulled to safety by Bronsted, had a glare across his eyes. Bronsted was alarmingly studying the back of his head, since Lucius slamming him against the floorboards had caused a small gash, barely noticeable, but could worsen. He attempted to reach for Reno's chin to study his pupils, but Reno shoved his hand away before he could, his focus entirely on deciphering why Lucius and Raphael had both decided to hate them. "If you had gone with a whole squad," Reno spat, his voice tightened, "Wolf wouldn't have hesitated to kill us all."