A/N: Sorry for the long break; life has been hectic lately. I should be able to update somewhat regularly again though!

"We got a case" Alex announced triumphantly, not even bothering to knock on Gilbert's cubicle.

Gilbert looked up from his desk, surprised at the sudden intrusion, before a huge grin broke across his face, "You did?" he cried, "Oh congratulations my friend!" He quickly stood and swept Alex into a huge bear hug, smushing her face close to his bony chest, "Both you and Joan?"

"Yep!" Alex said, cheerfully, pulling back and grinning up at him, "It isn't a huge case but it's a start! We're protecting a few kids, nothing major, but we'll be back out there!"

"Oh but we should celebrate!" Gilbert said, "Once you complete your assignment, I'm taking the both of you out! Your choice, my treat."

"Careful, Gil." Alex teased, "You'll attract a few jealous stares if you have two such gorgeous ladies with you. Besides, we don't want Adrienne getting jealous now do we?"

Gilbert laughed, "My dearest Adrienne knows that my heart beats only for her."

"You French people and your weird romantics," Alex made a face, shoving Gilbert playfully, "That poor girl, bound to an idiot like you."

"You wound me, mademoiselle" Gilbert said, placing his hands mockingly over his heart, "Adrienne and I are very happily married."

"I'm sure you are." Alex rolled her eyes. Though she had never met Gilbert's wife, Adrienne, in person, he often spoke dotingly of her. He had shown Alex a number of pictures of her and she knew he kept one in his wallet at all times. Adrienne had stayed in France, apparently too busy with her own work to leave her native country. They had somehow managed to make long-distance work, though, which Alex took as a sign of a healthy relationship between the two.

"But enough of my personal life and perfect marriage!" Gilbert threw an arm around Alex, "When do you start work on this new job?"

"Now actually" Alex responded, "I came back to pick up a few things; they're getting the kids we're watching checked out now."

"Can you give me details?"

"You know I can't, Gil"

"That's fine" Gilbert shook his head, "Where's Joan? I need to congratulate her as well!"

"She's taking care of the paperwork." Alex said, "Making sure it's all in order."

"I suppose I'll just have to visit you while you're on the job" Gilbert smiled, "Let's arrange a meet up? We could "accidentally" bump into each other someday while you're babysitting! I would love to meet these kids you're working with!"

"Gil you know better than that" Alex scolded lightly, "And it's not babysitting!"

"Ah you take your work so seriously!" Gilbert laughed, "I understand Alex, no it's fine but we've got to stay in touch? I'm going to be so lonely without you or Joan to keep me company!"

"Naturally" Alex laughed, "It's not like we're going away though, Gilbert you drama queen. It'll only be for a few weeks! Either way, I'll be counting on you to watch my stuff and make sure nothing happens to the boss."

"Of course, of course" Gilbert nodded, grinning, "I'll hold down the fort here. You make sure your mission's fulfilled perfectly."

"You know I will, Gil"

"Best of luck, my dear" Gilbert said, his voice earnest, "I can't keep you waiting though, can I? Go, Alex, I am sure your mission will be flawless."

"Of course it will." Alex smirked, "After all, I am on it. No matter what happens, I'm sure I'll be able to handle it."

"I think that's it then?" Joan asked, looking over the documents spread out in front of her one last time. It was all rather routine paperwork, since the case itself was not particularly extraordinary.

The secretary at the desk took the papers from Joan, quickly scanning them with sharp precision, "Yep this looks good. Just hang tight and wait for your supervisor to get here?"

"Supervisor?" Joan asked, "Mr. Ball isn't our supervisor?"

"This isn't exactly a high-profile case and Mr. Ball is the head of the department." the secretary explained, "So no, of course not."

"Huh" Joan frowned, "Okay then. Who is it?"

"I said he would be here shortly, didn't I?" the secretary asked, "Just grab a seat and wait a few minutes."

"Fine." Joan shrugged and walked over to one of the plastic chairs in the small waiting room. Plopping herself down, she examined the drab and grey walls, before turning her attention to a rather small crack in the ceiling.

Joan had to admit she was very excited, not only for the case itself but for the chance to work in the field alongside Alex again. Alex was quite a problematic individual, if Joan had to really be honest; headstrong, arrogant, and honest to the point of fault. Any lies, even small and simple ones seemed beyond her capabilities and it had time and time again gotten her into trouble.

"Alex" their boss had said, after she had not only managed to insult a higher-up but also the higher up's wife, brother, and pet dog, "You've got to learn when a little lie is okay and how much of the truth needs to be said. I swear if you had a husband and you cheated on that husband, it wouldn't be enough for you to just tell the poor man the truth. You would publish a goddamn book, explaining to the whole world every minute detail of your extramarital affair and lay out everything for everyone who never cared to see."

"That may be the case, sir" Alex had responded, hotly, "But everything I said was true, wasn't it? You know I was right here, sir, I know you do."

And that was the thing about Alex. She was flawed, horribly, horribly flawed but she was absolutely brilliant and she knew it. Joan sighed, her eyes tracing the crack back and forth. She knew Alex would cause problems, but the anticipation of seeing her friend in action again absolutely thrilled her.

Not that there should be much action going on, Joan thought. The case was standard, really, and Joan had already looked over the files of the kids they were supposed to be watching. They were normal to the point of blandness, nothing really interesting standing out about any of them at all. Plus she sincerely doubted that either gang, the East Side or the Kassels, would be coming after them at any point. This mission was clearly more cautionary than anything, just an extra measure to ensure nothing happened to these kids. It had seemed pretty obvious to her that they had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she couldn't imagine why either gang would expend serious resources to take down a group of confused children. The exciting cases would come later, she knew, once they had managed to pull off a few of these rather dull ones. She could be patient.

"Ms. Laurens?" the secretary called out, snapping Joan out of her reverie, "Your supervisor's here."

"Ah. Oh. Yes." Joan responded, sharply, quickly standing and looking expectantly toward the door to the waiting room. Sure enough, it swung open to reveal two men. One was a larger man, with dark hair and eyes, a rather protruding nose and a slight limp. The other was leaner and younger, with light grey eyes and brown hair.

"Mr. Shippen! And John!" Joan, cried, recognizing the two men instantly. The larger and older man was Ben Shippen and the younger man, his assistant, John Arnold. Shippen had quite a good reputation within the department and Joan knew her boss regarded him fondly, not only in the professional sense, but also as a close and personal friend.

"He always gets overlooked" her boss had grumbled to her, one day when discussing the man, "I tell you, Joan, he works harder than anyone else and yet others take credit for his accomplishments. Such dedication with such little reward must be admired above all and respected."

While Shippen had done quite a bit of field work in years past, Joan knew he now mostly stayed behind the desk due to a work-related injury. He had been shot in the leg during one particularly harrowing and important operation and though the wound had not proved to be life-threatening, he now walked with a limp.

His assistant, John Arnold, who now stood by his side, was quite handsome. He had a high forehead, rather striking eyes, and his face was perpetually pulled into a small, soft smile. Joan and Alex had spoken to him on a few occasions, and Joan had been impressed, not only by his looks but his charm. He was intelligent, interesting, and Joan knew Alex really had really been hoping to spend more time with him.

"Joan!" Shippen said, smiling at her, "What a pleasant surprise! You're on this case then?"

"Yep" she nodded, "Well, me and Alex, obviously but it's wonderful to know we'll have you as our supervisor."

"Indeed" he nodded, "Though I think I got the better end of the bargain. With you two on it, I've got to say my work suddenly seems much easier."

"I thought you didn't take field cases anymore?" Joan asked.

"Well I couldn't" he responded, "This damnable leg wouldn't let me. But you know I was growing tired of being squirreled away in the back for all those months. So, I had a word with the boss, he put in a few words for me and they let me take on this case. I won't actually be going into the field myself though, that's where John comes in."

"You will be making daily reports to Mr. Shippen." John explained, "But I personally will be stopping by to check your work every now and then."

"Sounds good." Joan smiled, "I'm so glad we will be working together on this case. It's our first field case in a while, you know."

"It's rather standard though, no?" Shippen asked, "I've looked over the paperwork, doesn't seem like anything you and Alex can't handle."

"Of course not, sir!"

"The guard should be bringing in the kids soon to the second waiting room, where you and Alex will meet them." John suddenly interjected, glancing quickly at his watch, "I assume you would prefer to get them to their hotels as soon as possible?"

"I am assuming they'd want the same" Joan shrugged, "They've had a long night, you've gotta feel sorry for them. I've already filled out the paper work for their release, so they should be good to go."

"Trust you to have everything ready, Joan." Shippen chuckled.

"Sir?" it was the secretary again, addressing Shippen this time, "Sir, the guards are bringing them into the second waiting room. Ms. Laurens should probably go to meet with them; Ms. Schuyler is already on her way."

"Well then, Joan this is where we go our separate ways." Shippen said, extending his hand, "Best of luck to both you and Alex."

"Thank you, sir" Joan smiled, grabbing his hand, "I promise we won't let you or Mr. Ball down."

"I would expect no less" he responded warmly, reciprocating the smile.

Joan nodded sharply to John, who returned the gesture, murmuring wishes of luck as well before turning on heel and hurrying from the room.

For such a famous institution, the FBI certainly had ugly waiting rooms, Tsuna noted, examining the room he sat in. The walls were a rather drab gray, the plastic chairs dull and yellow, and the linoleum floor looked at least a few decades old. He had been there for maybe five minutes, after an officer had come to retrieve him from the interrogation room and told him his paperwork had been filed and he was free to go.

"What about the lady who said she'd be staying with us?" he had asked as he followed the officer out of the interrogation room, "I think her name was Alex?"

"You'll meet her, her partner, and your friends in the waiting room" the officer had responded, "Then they will accompany you back to your current lodging and stay with you until it is deemed necessary."

I sure hope everyone's alright he thought, chewing on his lower lip. He had been plagued with worry since they had been taken away. Getting arrested by the FBI had most certainly not been on their "To-do" list and while they had not been treated particularly badly (especially in comparison to past experiences), Tsuna was still concerned over the well-being of his friends.

"Tenth!"

Gokudera's voice was unmistakable and Tsuna quickly looked up to see his friend standing in the doorway, staring at him with tears in his eyes.

Trust Gokudera to have an extreme reaction…Tsuna thought. Still, he was horribly relieved to see his friend, looking completely unscathed.

"Gokudera are you okay?" he asked, hurrying across the room.

"Tenth please don't worry about me, I'm fine!" Gokudera responded, waving his hand, "More importantly nothing happened to you right? You're totally fine, right? They weren't rude to you? They didn't mistreat you? They were respectful? Any slight, any insult, please let me know, Tenth, I'll be sure to avenge you!"

"Gokudera, don't worry they were totally fine and please don't try to avenge me over anything," Tsuna laughed, "The others should be here soon right?"

"Yep" Gokudera nodded, "But more importantly, Tenth that woman did tell you they'd be staying with us?"

Tsuna nodded, his face worried, "Gokudera, we have to keep the Vongola a secret from them" he spoke lowly, his voice barely above a whisper, "So please, please don't talk about it at all. I trust you to keep this a complete secret from them. It'll only be for a few weeks, I'm sure we can manage."

"If that's what the Tenth wants, I won't say a word." Gokudera responded solemnly.

"Hey Tsuna!"

The door swung open again and Yamamoto hurried out, followed closely by Kyoko and Haru.

"Everyone's out!" Tsuna cried, happily.

"Tsuna that was so scary!" Haru cried, throwing herself at him and catching him around the neck, "I've never been held by the police before, it was so frightening! I thought we were going to be locked up forever and then what would have become of our love? We would have been held in different prisons, separated by steel bars, iron chains, and concrete!"

"Yes, but it was quite an experience wasn't it?" Yamamoto asked, smiling pleasantly, as Tsuna flailed, trying to keep his balance, "I bet most people who vacation in New York can't say this happens to them!"

"That's not a good thing, you idiot" Gokudera growled, "And get off the Tenth, you stupid woman!" he cried, turning his attention to Haru, "You're going to make him fall!"

"It was quite interesting though!" Kykoko interjected, also smiling, "I've never seen the inner workings of a foreign justice system in such detail! This really was a great study for me and a pretty rare opportunity too!"

"So glad you two were able to see the bright side of this." Tsuna grumbled, trying to detach Haru from around his neck, "Ever the optimists aren't you?"

"It's better that way." Kyoko responded, still smiling, "But what do we do now? Aren't we supposed to wait for those ladies that are staying with us? How long did they say we would have to wait?"

"Relax kid, we're already here."

Alex was standing in the doorway, smiling lightly. Behind her stood a rather slender woman, dressed also in a dark suit. She was a good deal taller than Alex, with dirty-blonde hair and light blue eyes.

"This is my partner, Joan Laurens" Alex said, jerking her thumb to the woman as they entered the room, "She's going to be working with me to make sure nothing happens with you kids."

"It's a pleasure" Joan said, smiling, "I've already got your files so I think I know who's who here. Let's just cut the small talk and get you lot back to your hotels? You have an address this time right? Hopefully you lot have learned your lesson about wandering around an unfamiliar city with no guidance?"

Tsuna nodded, smiling weakly.

"Wonderful" Joan said, as she began to usher the group out of the room, "Well let's not waste any more time. Say goodbye to the FBI kids, it's been a pleasure having you and I hope you never see these walls again."

After a rather hassling subway ride the group arrived at their hotel, a rather standard place save the location. Through some ties that Tsuna hadn't really bothered to ask about, Reborn had managed to get a hotel located squarely in the heart of the city.

"Goodness, you lot must be rather well off if you're staying at a place like this." Joan whistled, "How'd a bunch of college kids afford this location?"

"Um." Tsuna shrugged, trying to stay nonchalant, "We've been saving. Plus our parents pitched in, I guess."

"Your parents must love you a whole lot." She responded, shaking her head as they entered the hotel lobby and quickly took the elevator up to their hotel room. Before they could open the door, however, Joan shook her head sharply and extended her hand.

"Give me the card key" she said, "I have to sweep the room first to make sure it's safe before we let you in."

"Is this really necessary?" Gokudera growled, "It's our hotel room!"

"It's protocol" Joan shrugged, as Tsuna handed his card key over, "And we're sticking with protocol to make sure nothing happens."

"Gokudera, it's not a big deal, just let her do this." Tsuna said, smiling apologetically.

Joan quickly swiped the key card, then pushed the door open, letting herself in with her gun drawn and at eye level, "You lot wait out here with Alex, I'm going to run the sweep" she said, quickly flicked the light switch on.

Seconds later, a horribly familiar yell greeted them, and everyone in the group jumped.

"What the fuck." Alex cried, also pulling her gun out and hurrying into the room.

"No, NO!" Tsuna yelled, quickly following her, "Don't shoot, god please don't shoot, he's a friend, it's okay!"

Alex and Joan hadn't pulled their triggers yet, but both women had their weapons at the ready and shoved into a rather angry-looking Ryohei's face.

"Who the hell are you." Joan growled, "And how and why are you in this hotel room? Speak quickly, kid."

"I could ask you the same!" he retorted, bringing his fists up, "Why'd you break into my friends' hotel room?"

"Ah no Ryohei!" Tsuna quickly interrupted as the rest of the group hurried into the room after him, "She didn't break in! She's with us!"

"You know this fool?" Joan asked, not taking her eyes off Ryohei.

"Yes he's my older brother!" Kyoko cried, "His name's Ryohei. Remember we told you we were going to the boxing match? It was his."

"You're the boxer kid?" Joan sighed and pulled her gun down and Alex quickly followed suit, "Fine, just why the hell were you hiding in their hotel room?"

"He let me in" Ryohei said, jerking his head over to Reborn who had been sitting on an armchair in the corner of the room, a small smirk on his face. He was dressed, per usual, in a black suit and wearing his trademark fedora. Tsuna paled substantially. How to make sure Reborn didn't spill anything?

"Another friend of yours?" Joan asked Tsuna, apparently not noticing his sudden change in expression, "Isn't he a bit young to be on a trip with a bunch of college-aged kids?"

"Ah, this is my cousin" Tsuna quickly explained before Reborn had a chance to talk, "He's from Italy. His name is um…Re-um. Ricardo"

"Ricardo?" Joan frowned, looking at Reborn, "You two certainly don't look related."

"Haha yea we get that a lot" Tsuna said, forcing a laugh.

"Well it's very nice to meet you, Ricardo." Joan said, smiling kindly at Reborn, "My name is Joan and I am friends with Tuna. Um." She looked at the gun in her hand before quickly stowing it away in the holster she wore under her suit jacket, "Never mind that, how old are you?"

"He's 13." Tsuna res[ponded, "And he's in middle school. We're on vacation now and decided to meet up in New York."

"That's really exciting!" Joan exclaimed, "So how do you like New York, Ricardo?"

"He loves it!" Tsuna said, "Yea he's just having a blast here!"

"Let the kid talk, Tuna." Alex said, raising an eyebrow, "Goodness what's your problem?"

"'He...he's shy!" Tsuna exclaimed, "Yea, shy! He's not good with speaking in front of strangers."

"Well if you never let him speak, of course you'd think that." Alex snorted.

"You're a very sharp dresser, Ricardo" Joan observed, "Did you pick out these clothes yourself?"

"Naturally" Reborn smiled, "You have to be when you're in the mafia."

"The mafia?" Joan asked, looking rather taken aback.

"He's joking!" Tsuna quickly interrupted, laughing loudly, "It's a game where he pretends he's in the mafia, well he pretends we're all in the mafia."

"It's a pretty fun game!" Yamamoto added, "But kinda difficult at times!"

"Sounds interesting" Joan smiled, "Are all of you a mafia family?"

"Yep, and Tsuna's the boss." Reborn responded, his eyes glinting, "Would you like to join?"

Joan laughed, "I'd love to kid, though I don't know how I feel about Tuna as a boss."

"Are you implying that the Tenth isn't a worthy boss?!" Gokudera cried, visibly bristling.

"Well he's a bit short for a mafia boss, isn't he?" Joan said, still smiling, "I don't know, I feel like that would stunt his intimidation abilities."

"His intimidation abilities are exactly where they need to be, thank you." Gokudera growled.

"Well if you're convinced that he's perfect as is, I don't suppose I can turn down such an invitation, right?" Joan laughed, "I'd be thrilled if you let me join. But how about my friend, Alex?" she put a hand on her friend's shoulder, "Is she welcome too?"

"Hm…" Reborn was openly smirking now, "Why should I let her in?"

"Well if you let me in, you let her in too" Joan explained, "See how this works? We're partners. We go everywhere together!"

"If you insist" Reborn shrugged, "You both are welcome into Tsuna's family."

"Sweet I'm a Mafioso now!" Joan laughed, "Or wait is there an induction process? Some test we have to do to get in?"

"Well-" Reborn started.

"No, there's nothing" Tsuna quickly interjected. The absolutely last thing he needed was for Reborn to give the FBI agents one of his so-called tests,"Oh Roberto!" he said, forcing out a strained laugh, "You've got such an imagination!"

"Roberto?" Alex asked, quirking an eyebrow, "Wasn't his name Ricardo?"

"Oh. Um yea, it was wasn't it."

"What you can't even remember your cousin's name?" Alex said, "Some mob boss you're turning out to be."

"That's because I'm not a mob boss, see?" Tsuna responded quickly trying to think of a way to change the subject, "But anyways, wow am I tired, so if you don't mind I'm going to be getting a little sleep?"

"Oh, of course" Alex nodded, "We've booked the room next to you and will be keeping a card key for this room. We'll come to check in on you every hour and once you feel rested up, please let us know before you go out?"

"You're checking on us every hour?" Ryohei looked rather nonplussed, "Why?"

"Oh, well I just get really nervous about my friends." Alex said, "I just want to make sure everything's okay."

"You don't have to worry about that with me here!" Ryohei said, cheerfully, "I can extremely protect my sister and Sawada and everyone here!"

"I'd be more comfortable if I did it." Alex respond, "You seem a bit…well…"

"Extreme?" Ryohei provided, grinning widely.

"Sure, why not," Alex shrugged, "Extreme. Let's go with that."

"That's because I am!" Ryohei cried. Tsuna could practically see the fire blazing in his eyes, "Extreme boxing! Extreme eating! Extreme protecting my friends!"

"Okay then..." Alex said, holding her hands up, "You go...do that. Joan and I are going to be going over to the next room now. You stay extreme, okay?"

"I'M ALWAYS EXTREME!"

"Yea nobody's arguing with you there, buddy." Alex was still smiling but her expression also expressed a great deal of disbelief, "Tuna was right about you. Though I don't know if strange was the word I would have used to describe you..."

What do you mean?"

"Don't worry about it, extreme kid." Alex shook her head, "We're going to head out now. Try not to go deaf with this one" she said, jerking her head towards Ryohei, "Or get us kicked out of the hotel for that matter..."

With a last wave at the group, Alex had grabbed Joan's hand and had hurried out of the hotel room, letting the door swing shut behind them with a small click.

"So care to explain to me why you've got a few FBI agents with you?" Reborn asked.

"They were FBI agents?" Ryohei asked, looking nonplussed, "How could you tell Reborn?"

"I've dealt with their kind before, they aren't too hard to spot" Reborn shrugged, "They're green too, so it couldn't have been that serious of a jam you got into."

"It's not my fault!" Tsuna exclaimed throwing his hands up, "We got lost and ended up stumbling across some freaking mafia exchange then the FBI showed up and dragged us off to the station and we were questioned and next thing I know we're in some sort of protection program and this agent's been tailing us and-wait." Tsuna suddenly stopped, "Weren't you worried when we didn't come home last night!?"

"Not really" Reborn shrugged, "I met up with some old friends last night so I was busy. I'm not your babysitter you know. This one, on the other hand…" Reborn said, gesturing towards Ryohei, "He came running as soon as you lot didn't show up to his boxing match."

"I was extremely worried!" Ryohei protested, "It's not like you guys to just disappear on me and I hadn't heard anything! So I came running over as soon as I finished my match!"

"Wait, how did you find our hotel room?" Tsuna asked, "I don't think we ever told you where we even were."

"No, you didn't" he shook his head, "But you did tell me what street you were on, so I just went to every hotel room in that area till I found the right one."

"How the hell did you not get thrown out of the hotels…?" Gokudera asked, staring openly at Ryohei.

"Who said I didn't?" Ryohei asked, "But if you think security's going to stop me from finding what I want, you're extremely wrong, octopus-head."

"You-!" Gokudera started, "You're such an idiot no wonder you box, mindless punching is the only thing you can do!"

"Now, calm down" Yamamoto laughed, "We're all tired, so let's save this bickering for later?"

"Yamamoto's right" Tsuna nodded, "We should just get to sleep now…and Reborn?" he said, turning his attention to his mentor.

"Yes?" Reborn asked, smiling innocently.

"While these agents with us absolutely no funny business okay?" Tsuna said, "I really want to keep a clean record and I do NOT want to go back to the station so please. No Vongola, no mafia, no violence and for god's sake why did you invite them into the family!?"

"I'll do what I see fit" Reborn said matter-of-factly, "It's always a good idea to have people on the other side of the law after all. But more importantly, Ricardo? I get coming up with a false name for me but is Ricardo the best you could do?"

"I panicked." Tsuna grumbled, "It was the first Italian-sounding name that started with an "r" that popped up in my head."

"I suppose I shouldn't expect anything from you" Reborn shrugged, "But you know, whether these women are here or aren't here, that's not changing any of your lessons, right?"

"But-"

"My goal has been the same these past few years and a few green FBI agents aren't stopping me," Reborn smirked, "If I were you, I'd try to get some sleep. You have a busy night ahead of you, after all. While you lot nap, I'm going out for a quick snack."

"Busy…night?"

"There's a lot to learn in order to be a successful mob boss!" Reborn said, cheerfully, standing from the armchair and stretching, "And because of your little run-in with the law, we're already behind schedule! We're going to have to cram some extra things in over the next few days!"

Completely ignoring Tsuna's weak and spluttering protests, Reborn sauntered over to the hotel room's door and left the room.

A/N: So that's that.

Hm. Nobody guessed where the OCs were from either. Guess it wasn't as obvious as I thought? Oh well; if anyone does I'll be hella excited which is something I guess. :)