A squeal of delight echoed through the dining hall once the couple told Ang about the news. Considering she already knew of their relationship, the only shock she had was when they told her Cuza was pregnant. The southern mother immediately pulled the smaller of the two into a tight hug, Sisco being pulled into it as well despite him trying to step away.
"That's truly amazin' to hear! Congratulations you two!" She said excitedly, pulling away from the hug and cradling the acrobat's cheeks in her hands. Cuza giggled softly, a small smile on his lips.
"Thanks Ang, but try to keep it on the down low..." He said softly, glancing towards his tall boyfriend.
"Yeah, we're keeping this a secret until he starts showing..." Sisco added after, his eyes glancing around the large room.
"Yer secret is definitely safe here with me. To be perfectly honest, before you came to me yesterday Cuza, I had a feelin' there was somethin' more going on with you two." Ang told the small male, a playful smile on her lips. "Sisco wasn' one of the nicest bladers I've seen on this team. He sure was stubborn.

Sisco felt his cheeks flush red as he looked away, a hand on the back of his neck with a huff. Cuza laughed aloud, rubbing his arm gently.
"Believe me, I would know of all people. We've been together for almost two years now..." The smaller told her, patting his arm. "He wasn't the nicest when we first met..." The two talking laughed as Sisco let out a groan, his cheeks getting darker as he crossed his arms and turned away.
"Lighten up Sisco, yer gonna be a daddy." Ang said with a smile, ruffling his dark green hair. The taller blader rolled his eyes and smiled slightly, giving a soft chuckle.
"I guess I can't be upset when we're having a child, right?" He asked, a hand to his hip.
"Of course not! It's really somethin' else though, but it's certainly a blessin'"
"It sure is." Cuza smiled, taking a look at the time. "We should probably get going, training is going to start soon."
"Yes, of course! Please, take it easy out there and don' overexert yerself." Ang told him, her hands clasped together as she shooed them off.

The two waved to her as they walked to the door, the woman waving back before they left to get ready for training.

~~~

A few weeks in, morning sickness was basically gone, which meant no more waking up during the night and no more, running off from training to empty the contents of his stomach. Cuza had gotten in trouble with Trad a couple of times about it, but Sisco always made sure he was there to exchange some words with the bey trainer.

Sisco and Cuza relaxed on their bed after another long day of training, the taller blader resting his head carefully on Cuza's stomach just so he could be close to his baby. He had his eyes closed as he rested, the two sitting in a comfortable silence with the smaller blader ran his fingers gently through the messy green locks.
"I'm so excited..." Sisco told him softly, a hand gently gliding over his lover's belly. Cuza giggled softly, looking down at him with a smile.
"I know you are... You've been pretty buggy about being able to rest on my stomach."
"Brings me close to the baby..."

Cuza ruled his eyes with a smile, leaning back into the pillows with a soft sigh.
"It'll get better the bigger my belly gets honey..."
"I know, but I want to do it now..." Sisco said, a soft yawn slipping past his lips. The taller of the two happily nuzzled his face further into his belly and relaxed, falling asleep shortly after. Cuza giggled softly and grabbed Sisco's glasses carefully, setting them on the bedside table before getting comfortable, falling asleep himself.

In the morning, their alarm went off, Sisco reaching his arm out to shut the damn thing off. He sat up with a grunt and stretched, letting out a yawn and rubbing his head before he turned to greet his lover. Blue eyes blinked as he reached and grabbed his glasses, sliding them on and looking about the room, finding Cognight on the dresser but no other sign of Cuza.
"Cuza?" He called out as he stood, walking around before noticing the note by his lover's bey. "'Went on an early morning walk, be back before breakfast. Cuza'." The man hummed and decided to shrug the bad feeling he got off.

He let out a breath and got dressed for the day, popping his back with a grunt. He yawned again and grabbed Satan from beside Cognight, walking out of his room to go to breakfast.

~~~

"Sisco, have you seen Cuza at all today?" Kris asked when she came up to him. It was after breakfast and everyone was getting ready for training, the dark green-haired man shaking his head.
"Nope, I haven't seen him since last night." He replied to her, stretching his arms and popping his knuckles. "He left me a note saying he went on an early morning walk. Said he'd be back by breakfast."
"I already spoke with Ang and even she says he hasn't shown up yet."
"I'm sure he's just getting an early start on the day. Maybe he ate while he was out so he went to the training area."
"Sisco, I'm concerned. If no one has seen him yet today, doesn't it give you a bad feeling?"

Sisco ran a hand through his hair and rubbed his head, looking at her.
"God Kris, don't say that to me. You're going to give me anxiety." He told her with a soft chuckle.
"Sisco Carlisle, I'm dead serious." Kris replied bluntly, crossing her arms. "I'll talk to the rest of the team and if they haven't seen him, then we have a problem."
"You're the boss." Sisco said as he walked away, dismissing it with a wave of his hand.

Sisco would be lying if he said it didn't make him nervous when they went to the training area and his beloved boyfriend wasn't there. After their drills and everything, Kris did in fact ask if anyone had seen Cuza at all yet today. Much to her and Sisco's dismay, the entire team shook their heads and said they hadn't seen him since the day before.
"Alright, since no one has seen him and he said he was going to be back before breakfast, I want everyone to go out around the town and search. If we can't find him, I'll inform the authorities." Kris explained to everyone, arms crossed and a sad look in her eyes.

Fear built its way up in Sisco's chest as a nervous look crossed his eyes, watching everyone break away to search around the town for their teammate.
"I'm sure we'll find him Sisco. Let's just stay positive." Kris told the tall blader gently, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder. Sisco just shrugged her hand off, looking at her with emotional blue eyes.
"Staying positive isn't going to be an option until I know he's safe." He growed, a glimpse of tears in his eyes. "Until I know he's okay and safe, staying positive is the least of my worries!"
"Sisco, I know you care for him, but you should really stay calm."
"I can't stay calm!" A tear made its way down his pale cheek, making his glare falter as he turned on his heel to go help find Cuza.

~~~

Hours later, now being the late parts of the evening, no one found anything about Cuza and his sudden disappearance. Considering so, Kris was forced to report him missing to the police.

Sisco was devastated, trudging his way back to the BC Sol campus both crushed and exhausted. He kept his hands in the pocket of his tan jeans and his eyes to the ground, his hair a ruffled mess as a yawn forced past his lips. He questioned everything at this point, mostly questioning himself for not paying attention and not going with him.

Why would Cuza just up and disappear like this...?

He sighed and kept his walking pace, stopping when something glittered at him in the setting sun. He leaned down and retrieved it from the ground, tired blue eyes looking down at- a bracelet?

His eyebrows furrowed once he recognized all the little charms on it, realizing it was the bracelet he gifted to Cuza for their one year anniversary. The memories suddenly hit hard as tears filled his eyes, looking up and looking all around him.

Something wasn't right.

Cuza didn't just disappear.

Something bad happened to him...

NightBear15 signing off...