"Lovino, get in the car. We're going to leave you if you don't get in here!" Alfred, the overly-active leader of their little group, called. "Really, I'm not joking. They key is in the ignition—"

"Okay, okay! I get it!" Lovino interrupted; red-faced as he fussed about with his backpack (it held all the needed supplies for today's mission). "You oversleep once and you never hear the end of it. . ."

It was 6 AM in the morning in Rome, Italy, and the sky was a soft hue of blue. Clouds hung lazily in colonies, birds flew and tweeted about, and people wondered the busy streets (it was amazing how early everyone gets up!). The air was slowly turning warm, too, much to Lovino's relief. He hated the cold. Cold always brought death.

Lovino squeezed inside the car and shut the door. It was tight inside, like always. The car itself was actually a van made to seat 12 people, but the equipment and group members inside made it severely cramped.

"When are we going to get a bigger van?" Lovino asked, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "I mean, we're literally freakin' sardines in this stupid thing!"

"This is as big as it gets, Lovi," Matthew gently replied. "Sorry you have to go through this. But the trip is only a few hours."

Lovino sighed. Of course it would take a few hours. The gates were always so far away from the city. But that's how the fairies and dragons seem to like it so he really can't complain. After all, they're much more powerful so he had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.

Argh, what is he thinking? It's 2014! There are not supposed to be any fairies, unicorns, or dragons! They're not real – science has proven so! But why the hell is he going to the gate of the Spirit Realm that's basically full of them? Crap, what in the name of tomatoes has he gotten himself into?

It seemed as if it was only yesterday that he had gotten himself into this mess. Ah, yes, that one day that changed his life forever was the last hours of his peaceful life. Ever since he found out his country's secret with the mafia and the Spirit Realm, he had been dragged into it.

They thought about erasing his memories at first, but when they found out that he was the slightest bit of useful, they hired him and made him a secret agent. He'll have to blame his ability in strategizing and his high IQ for this. If he didn't have it, he could have lived a perfectly normal life like his brother.

But of course, being caught in this chaos had its perks. He met a few of his close friends in this group that he was assigned in. 'United Nations,' they called it, due to the fact that everyone came from all over the world.

Matthew Williams was his favorite out of all of them. He was quiet, polite, and reserved. He never was annoying and was always so supportive to the other group members. The only problem was his disappearing from time to time. He would fade every now and then, making it hard to notice him. And it's all because of the power he possessed: invisibility.

His mother was born a fairy while his father was a secret agent for the government. They met, fell in love, and had him (along with his older brother, Alfred, who didn't quite inherit anything). But of course, his father died on the job and the two brothers were separated.

Kiku was his second favorite. He was very much like Matthew, but has a big obsession over Japanese cartoons (anime) and erotic things. Which pretty much made a fine border between the gentlemanly-like Matthew. Still, he was a pretty cool guy. His role in the team is being a medic.

His third favorite was Alfred F. Jones, Matthew Williams brother. He was loud, energetic, and a huge chatterbox. As much as he hated those qualities, he had a much different side to him: a serious, straightforward, calm persona that takes over during missions. He sorta admired him for that. His leadership skills were the best in town. Lovino guesses that's why he's the leader of the group.

Of course, there were also people that he didn't quite get along with such as that Vash Zwingli guy. He always thought that he was a normal teenage boy in his school (they were classmates), but he turned out to be a secret agent for the government. Apparently, his shooting skills were superb and shadowed everyone's in the organization.

How they ended up on not-so-easy terms? Well, let's say breaking into his lawn and hitting on his sister wasn't the best thing to do.

Lovino sighed deeply and sunk deep into his seat, closing his eyes. That's it, he's taking a nap. He's far too tired to think of the past, the ups and downs of his decision, and what could have been.

. . .

"Wake up!" Lovino felt someone gently slapping his cheek over and over, a soft rhythm in the silence. "Wake up, we're here! We just crossed the gate, it's time to move."

The tanned Italian groaned, brushing the hand away before trying to drift back to sleep. It wasn't until he felt a gun against his head that he jolted awake.

"Get up, we can't waste any more time," Vash said, his piercing emerald eyes glaring at Lovino.

"Okay, okay," Lovino murmured, getting up from his seat and out the car slowly. "I get it."

Vash nodded and brought the gun down. "Good. Now, come on, Alfred required a group meeting before the ambush."

The two group mates walked over to the small circle of the United Nations, who were bent down near a patch of mud. Alfred smiled as he watched Lovino and Vash join the circle.

Once everyone was assembled, he began to speak, "Alright, guys, you all know the plan. We've been over it multiple times before we got here, but I'll go over it one more time. To, y'know, refresh your memories."

"We all know that the mafia is illegally exporting a plant native to the Spirit Realm. Of course, it's a big no-no, since well. . . Exporting things from another dimension is illegal. In this ambush, we're going to get the plants and use it as evidence against them in court."

Alfred then began to draw on the mud with the stick in his hand, explaining the plan that Lovino himself had conjured. Eduard Von Bock (a group mate with a talent with computers) and Matthew would sneak into the building using the latter's power of invisibility (he can turn others invisible to, much to their luck), where they will sneak into the security system and knock the guards there. Then, with control of their security and monitors, they'll send a false report about an ambush in a room far away from where they keep their booty. There would be less people to encounter when Vash and Alfred enter the building. They'd take a few pictures and some plants and they're out. Simple as that.

Once Alfred was done explaining, he took a good look at everyone – it was his mission face: a blank, calculating expression that bore into the soul. "Everyone ready?"

Everyone nodded in response.

"Alright, then let's do this."

A/N:

For someone special~ A fantasy-modern-mafia AU. Heehee, this was surely a challenge! Hope you enjoyed~