Vincenzo had a bad feeling inside him. Something was not right. He was standing in the middle of a clearing next to Niall as he was trying to contact Letizia... She was not responding.

Vincenzo sighed " Where can she be?" He then turned to the privates around him and ordered them to get back to their base and check on Letizia. He also ordered the privates on the base to search for her. Vincenzo and Niall were about to finalising an attack plan on Tristan. But strangely Letizia didn't respond to them.

Niall suggested " She is probably not taking this fight seriously."

Vincenzo asked " And you take this seriously. Are you taking it as serious Aussie?"

Niall shrugged " I never claimed to care. I shouldn't... You Americans are crazy.... In Australia we don't do this course like you do here. If someone can't handle it we don't let them do the course... You forced that kid in that box for what? Where I am from we don't let kids like Private Blake on the course in the first place. Poor kid surrendered and failed the course like that... Why let him do this course... "

Vincenzo rolled his eyes " He had scholarships already for college actually. Private Blake failed this course but he doesn't need any extra curricular credits. He already is going to college. This doesn't matter to him. Focus on those who are on the course and should be here.... But they are not..."

Niall took a deep sigh and sounded annoyed " Of course I can't believe they have captured Corporal Constantini and you didn't consider offering a truce for her... Let's truce with my cousin. It is not worth it ..."

Vincenzo insisted " I told you she is safe. She followed all protocols. People who follow protocols don't get hurt... We will get her back... Commandos are surrounding the building waiting to attack... We just need conformation that all is well at the base and Corporal Marciano has passed on the messages.... Then we attack and get her back... It happens sometimes. People get captured... She is a lone assassin. It was part of her role to get captured and spy for us but sadly she couldn't escape fast enough.... She has done this course before... Your cousin personally got her..."

Niall asked " How come you are not worried about her? What if they torture her?"

Vincenzo explained " How many times do I have to explain? We maybe more feral than your people on the camp but we follow the same protocols as your people. We don't torture unless provoked... If a captive doesn't resist arrest it's fine. Unless the captive breaks some protocols or attacks a forbidden one, they won't get tortured except in case they try to escape...."

Niall asked " Who are the forbidden ones? Remind me again?"

Vincenzo stated "My sister... And Your cousin's sister... They are off limits and forbidden..."

Niall asked " What about your girl?" How come she doesn't get immunity? Isnt the sergeants girlfriend immune..."

Vincenzo shrugged " What do you think? My protection for her is a substitute if she follows my lead. I have claimed her so I make sure she is safe even if her immunity doesn't come by blood... or union... But the problem is she doesn't want to be protected... She is stubborn. She doesn't know the rules... She can't get used to them..."

Niall asked " Do you think it was a good idea to make her a corporal considering she is not immune and she doesn't follow the rules?"

Vincenzo stated " I will protect her... I can't give her immunity... She is not a Rosario and she is not an O'Neil... Only your bloodline gives you immunity. She is a Marciano... She is outnumbered here... But I will try to keep her out of harm's way... I want her to be a corporal.. She can handle the responsibility. She is physically capable. She had high scores..."

Niall asked " Let's hope she doesn't cross the wrong people and doesn't break the rules.... Unless you make her into a Rosario then you can't give her full immunity from every one in this country... How likely is that?"

Vincenzo retorted " When I marry her in college, she would be immune..."

Niall corrected " In college? ... You are optimistic... Do you really think your father will give you his blessing ... Are you mad?"

Vincenzo stated " She hasn't done anything to offend my father so far..."

Niall stated " I hope she doesn't mess with your father. Your father is not the forgiving type... Everyone knows that. His reputation is well known back home too...."

Vincenzo narrowed his eyes " Where are you getting at with all this? Since when is my personal life your concern?"

Niall shrugged " Well for one I want you to admit what your intentions are towards Cristina... come on... it would take a miracle to convince your father to agree to you mixing your blood with your girl... it's only a matter of time before she messes with the wrong people and loses your father's respect. You must know it yourself. I think you are looking elsewhere for alternatives like Corporal Constantini but you don't admit it..." Niall expected a drastic reaction after he mentioned Cristina and got one.

Vincenzo pulled his knife out and waved it at Niall "I really want to cut out your tongue right now. Don't talk about anything you don't understand or I will cut off your tongue and barbecue it for you like how you Aussies make barbecues. Then I will shove it down your throat. Do you want to try me?"

Niall chuckled and put his hand up "You know we don't eat barbecues dry. We need some toppings. No cheddar for me...." His tone then turned serious " I am just saying what I say as a friend. Not an enemy."

Vincenzo put his knife in his pocket as his stare didn't leave Niall's " I appreciate the concern. But I don't need advice... You don't know what you talk about..., Keep your advice inside the head of yours where it belongs."

Before Niall could protest, the boys heard their transmitter ring.

Vincenzo picked up the wireless communication transmitter " Speak..."

It was Viggo's voice " Corporal Marciano has attacked the base and has sent a few people to medical room because she has attacked them with pepper spray. We intercepted the conversations of the boys going to the medical room... Consider her captured... She has broken the protocols. So she will be treated harshly. What do you command? Do we attack?"

The two boys were listening with wide eyes. This was unexpected.

Niall shook his head " She is dead. You know she is dead... right?... She has broken protocols so that means it's torture time ...."

Vincenzo growled " We do a truce... ... We can't attack..."

Niall raised an eyebrow " I say let's attack... She is as good as dead behind enemy lines... If it was the real world what would you do?"

Vincenzo sighed as he was looking thoughtful running his hand in his hair looking concerned as well as furious... He must have liked Letizia. Niall found it strange that he actually saw a hint of fear and caution in what Vincenzo was doing and with the way he was reacting to the situation. He was not rash. He was thinking hard. Letizia mattered to him.

Vincenzo repeated into the transmitter " Contact them... Ask for truce... in person... We are coming over there now..."

Vincenzo then instructed the privates to follow him and Niall as they were walking fast to the base.

Niall asked " Seriously ... you are going for truce... It would be too late by then. We need to attack now... Wouldn't you do that if it was a real world problem?"

Vincenzo didn't look at Niall as he kept on walking fast alongside him. He spoke in a frustrated sigh " In the real world I would attack if we weren't facing who we are... You don't know him like I do... If we attack she is dead. If we attack he will lock her in the hidden basement that none of us know... He will torture her more. He would lock her in his torture cages that are under the place. He would lock her up and we wouldn't be able to find her... He would make sure he defeats us in someways if we attack as an alliance. He is a grudge taker... We won't be late... He ... likes to play with his pray... He would start with the mental torture taunting his victims telling them what he wants to do to them making them beg for mercy. We can get her out untouched... We need a truce..."

Niall asked " And how are we going to get a truce? He can say no."

Vincenzo stated " We would try offering him something he wants. We can't surrender because he would hurt her once our defences come down..."

Niall asked " Do you have anything that he wants that you can offer in exchange?"

Vincenzo replied "We ask him what he wants ... I could always offer you to him..."

Niall asked "Excuse me..."

Vincenzo replied "He would like to interrogate you... I bet you have gotten on his nerves enough times to want you in his cell to interrogate...."

Niall spoke " I doubt he would want me..... He won't exchange your girl for anything and anyone.. Unless you can exchange .... your sister or his sister.... Neither one are available because both are with my cousin safely locked in that building. We cant capture them unless we invite them into a trap."

They could see the building now from far.

Suddenly the transmitter rang. It was in Niall's hand so he turned it on " Speak..."

Vincenzo and Niall were shocked to hear Vienna " I am available ... I will come to your side so you can exchange me... Sorry.. I was intercepting you... I overheard you.. You left your transmission open ..."

Niall replied " It's not open.. You hacked it. What's the secret..."

Vincenzo dismissed her " No... You stay there. Thats an order..."

Niall sighed " What is this? You call this survival camp? Or friendly camp? Let your sister help..,  Your girl broke protocols... She attacked people with pepper spray. You think my cousin would let her walk out alive and well?"

Vincenzo got closer to the building with his team. He remined thoughtful. He kept instructing Vienna to stay where she is and not get involved but she didnt reply.

Minutes later Vincenzo and Niall were astonished to see Vienna sprinting out of the building.

Vimcenzo's ordered harshly " Get back to your base now. Dont come closer..."

Vienna ignored him. She ran to Vincenzo and spoke urgently as she stood in front of her brother " Time is running out... Exchange me... Her crime is very heavy..."

Niall asked " How did you get through my cousin's defences and escaped the building? My cousin has lost people to pepper spray but still ...."

Vincenzo sighed " No. We will not exchange you. Get back to your base..."

Niall retirted "Too late... They will do the exchange. Look at the gate opening. I can see them behind the windows in panic mode. My cousin would volunteer exchange..."

Vincenzo looked at Niall "I dont want her in the middle of this..." He turned to Vienna "Get back inside. I dont want you involved in this matter...."

Niall spoke "Come on. Take your sister seriously. Its her decision. Besides my cousin would never hurt your sister. But your girl is fair game."

Viggo and the rest of the team joined Vincezo and Niall. Viggo asked "What do we do?"

Niall pointed to the gate of the building "Lets find out... The cards are not in our hands... Look who's coming out."

Tristan came outside the building with a hard expression on his face. He roared "State your demands ...." He was looking directly at Niall and Vincenzo who had a large crowd behind them.

Niall wanted to answer first before Vincenzo could speak and to make sure he was the first one to speak he managed to distract vincenzo by picking his pocket and dropping his knife on the floor making vincenzo distracted to pick the knife up.. He couldnt be asked to fight Tristan. It really wasn't worth complicating the issue "We are here to call it a truce. We offer Corporal Rosario who is our prisoner for Corporal Marciano. Lets call it quits.... We can catch up at lunch. We send everyone to theory class. I can run the class. Do you want to shake on it?"

Trsitan took it as a personal insult that Niall called Vienna his prisoner. He was not going to forget this and was going to dig deep to find out who was responsible for her capture.  "Agreed. We call it truce and all privates and corporals make their way to theory class now until lunch time.... But if Sergeant wants his girl he should come get her himself." He looked into Vinceno's hardened eyes "Follow me inside Sergeant...." His eyes the caught Vienna's "Report to me at lunch Corporal." He was going to find out how on earth he had ended up with Niall and Vincenzo.

Vienna nodded "Yes Sergeant. She then made her way to theory class with Niall and everyone else.

Only Vincenzo and Tristan were left behind. Vincenzo followed Tristan silently inside the building as everyone left silently with no protest.

Tristan walked through the corridors to the cells sections  and said nothing. He was waiting for Vincenzo to assess the situation. He unlocked one of the cells "She is in here..."

Vincenzo nodded and walked inside. He just wanted to see her alive. That was all he cared about. He walked inside and was shocked to see Letizia on the floor unconscious. He walked to her and knelt down. He took her pulse as he questioned without looking behind him at Tristan " Have you touched her?"

Tristan rolled his eyes and walked to the fridge and took a water bottle out "No... I didnt get to that stage.... But her and I had a long chat.  I think she knows her place now... I gave her a round up of what I was going to do to her. I gave a her a tour of the cells too... She fainted of course as she screamed and begged me to forgive her when we returned... I did not lift a finger on her.." Tristan walked to Vincenzo and offered the water bottle to him "Just pour water on her face. She will wake up. She just fainted from fear..."

Vincenzo's heart wrenched as he heard how crudly and coldly he spoke about his girl. He took a deep breath trying to compose his anger. He was taught to control himslef. Anger was weakness.  He had to know why Tristan had gone this far. There was no need. Letizia was his girl. he could at least show respect and honour to him by going easy on his girl. It made no sense. Why had Tristan gone too far. That was the question.

Vincenzo refused to take the bottle that was offered to him. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her. He stood up as he carried her away bridal style towards the door "I will lay her down on a bed and wait for her to wake up. I dont want to give her a shock. And I want to hear why you made her faint. Why did it take so long to be satisfied with what you did?...,"

Tristan started following Vincenzo who was carrying Letizia out the door towards up the stairs. Tristan started to juggle the water bottle from one hand to the other as he followed " Who said I was satisfied? I only stopped because you decided to take the blackmail route. But I did manage to  teach your girl a few lessons when you are too careless to do it."

Vincenzo put Letizia gently on a bed and let go. He then turned to Tristan and spoke in a whisper " What did she do exactly? Why did you go this far? It can't be because of just breaking a few protocols."

Tristan sighed " Walk with me and I will tell you... I don't think you want to startle her with your reaction once you hear what she had been upto. Follow me out...."

Vincenzo followed him and left the room leaving Letizia behind not expecting to hear anything like what he was about to hear. Tristan he took him to the lobby of ground floor to give him all the details.

Meanwhile Letizia remained unconscious on a sofa bed. It took her another half an hour for her to slowly regain consciousness. When she opened her eyes it took a while to take in the surroundings and react. She saw Vincenzo which made her relieved. She wasn't sure if she was dreaming ... Maybe she had died and gone to heaven seeing an angel in form of Vincenzo who seemed not happy. She was too weak to speak at first and she didn't have much voice left. She had screamed. The memories poured in. She started shaking uncontrollably. At that point Vincenzo noticed she was conscious and stopped pacing the floor. He quickly walked to her. You are awake?"

Letizia became emotional seeing him in flesh. It was not a dream. Tristan was not around any more. She collected all her strength and sat up. She spoke with the little voice she had left " Thank you... For coming... For me..."

Vincenzo took a deep breath and sat on the edge of the bed. To his astonishment he found her opening her arms. She wrapped her arms around his chest and hugged him. She then started sobbing to Vincenzo's shock.

Vincenzo whispered " Shh. It's okay... Calm down... I am sorry I couldn't get you earlier. You ran away... I couldn't save you on time... Tristan can't touch you. I won't let him hurt you again..."

Letizia sobbed into his chest " I am so sorry ... I am so sorry for attacking your sister... I won't do it again..."

Vincenzo could see the effect of spending time with Tristan on Letizia. She sounded scared. She sounded defeated. She sounded broken. He hated how Tristan had put the fear of god in her to scare her but now he had bigger problems that Tristan. He whispered back " I am sorry too. I should have protected you. I should have not let it come to this... I am sorry I let you down. I am sorry... I am sorry Tristan had to be the one to teach you a lesson... I am sorry too that you hurt my sister... I shouldn't have let you go near her... I should have known you will do this..."

Letizia sobbed " I'm scared. He brought hell in front of my eyes... He said he would. He showed me what he'll was... I don't want him near me... I am scared of him... I don't want to see him again. He will kill me if I hurt his girl again... I won't hurt her... Never... I never meant to hurt her....."

Vincenzo could see how Letizia was avoiding saying Tristan or Vienna's name... He was sure Tristan had scared her this much. He knew the shock could take a while to wear off.

Letizia sobbed " What happens now? I am scared ... He threatened me.... He will hurt me.... He wants me to throw up blood..."

Vincenzo sighed " He won't touch you. He is the least of your problems... Tristan won't touch you.... But you have to watch out for other people. You made enemies today,,,"

Letizia swallowed hard and froze "Enemies...?"

Vincenzo nodded " Yes... Rosarios and O'Neils. You can add Giovannis to the list too. By hurting Vienna you made an enemy out of three families. Vienna is not anyone. She is my sister. You hurt her. It can't be forgiven and forgotten that easily."

Letizia was dreading the answer as she silently cried " Do you forgive me? For hurting your sister?"

Vincenzo nodded " Vienna forgave you and she has no hard feelings for you... I am mad at you. But I forgive you because my sister has. My sister is my blood Letizia. She comes first. I love her more than life. My life is worth less than hers. I would die and take a bullet for her. She is my only sister. You kicked and punched her without a second thought when I had not given any instructions to you to do so. This camp has rules and hierarchy. You broke the rules and atonement will come... But as your boyfriend I will stand by you.,., I forgive you because I know what's in your heart... I know you just wanted to best her. You wanted to win and you went too far. You didn't mean to hurt her and I think you suffered enough at Tristan's hand.