Locked Away (GerIta)

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

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Feliciano didn't sleep at all that night. He was furious at his brother and scared, scared for Romano's life.

These missions weren't like walking to the store to grab some eggs. They involved stealth, guns, codes, sneaking into forbidden places. It was dangerous. Feliciano knew that for a fact. He wasn't as innocent and absentminded as he seemed.

He'd killed men. People. Humans. Things that breathed and lived, had wives and sweethearts, children and godchildren. He'd stopped their beating hearts with bullets or with his own hands.

He and Romano worked as a team; stole valuable information, murdered whoever got in their way, hurt people until they spilled the beans. Feliciano didn't want to do that again.

The door creaked open and in stepped Romano. He sat on the edge of the bed and turned to brush some hair away from his brother's forehead. He felt Feliciano tense and he just placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Fratello, I'm sorry." The elder twin whispered. "I really am sorry for breaking the promise. But everything we do for Italy is one step closer to freedom, don't you see that?"

Feliciano sat up and sighed. "I know but don't you remember what we did? To people?" He said, pleading for his brother to understand. "They were trying to fight for their country too, Romano."

Romano let out a shaky breath and looked down. "Feli, the German's are fighting for dominance, for power. Not for freedom. I want to go back home one day but not to Nazi's crawling all over the streets we used to play on."

"They aren't all bad." The younger Italian cried out desperately. "Some are very nice. I just don't want to hurt more people or shoot or anything like that."

"Then I'll take care of that, if its needed. Feli, I just need you to be my back up, keeping watch and you will have a gun. Unless you remember the pressure points I told you about." Romano gripped his shoulder lightly. "I'd still give you a pistol just in case..."

Feliciano closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, exhaling deeply. "Just back up?"

"Just back up." Romano assured. "One mission, one chance, just back up."

The lighter-haired twin closed his eyes and thought of all the things that could go wrong. They could be killed, captured, tortured. This mission could fail and the Nazi's would find out they were from the Resistance.

There were so many possibilities.

But there was one thing that could go right. It could free many people, it could return their homeland to the stability it had before.

"Don't you want to return to a free Italy?" Romano's voice was quiet but it held a determined tone.

A free Italy.

Feliciano took his brother's hand. "Yes... I do, Romano. I want to go back home. I miss it." He whispered. "A free Italy sounds very good."

The elder twin looked up and grabbed his shoulders. "Feli, you understand I'm not trying to hurt you, right?"

"I know. I know." He nodded quickly and a long silence fell over the room as they stared at each other.

Romano's eyes were dark with some sort of emotion that neither of them could pin point. But he knew that it was brewing deep within him too. Feliciano straightened his back and tensed his jaw.