Katekyo Hitman Reborn

My Fate is Certainly Uncertain

Chapter 22: The man named Spam

Overall warnings have been going on for this long, you should all know what you've gotten yourselves into by now. (Which reminds me. I haven't disclaimed anything yet…..)

[Written to: Eat Your Kimchi - Xia Junsu - Uncommitted, My Chemical Romance - Kill all your friends ]

~o0o~

"L-Let me go!" I stammered, as the man - who was a good two inches taller than me and had one hell of a cow lick - pulled me into the room I'd just tried to enter. I swear, Luck was fucking with me today. I'd gotten lucky with all the rest of this crap. And yet as I tried to pull my arm free, the dude didn't do anything irrational. He was calm and cool.

Just who the hell was he?

When he didn't reply, but continued to suck loudly on the lollipop that was bolted into his mouth and pull me further into the room, I grunted under my breath. I tried again to pull my arm away, but surprisingly, his grip was strong. But I didn't feel any malice in his mind. In fact, he felt very...peaceful.

"So you're the one messing with the grid. Luckily, I've got back up generators that only circulates to my work area."

'Sorry to disturb you, but I needed them gone. The others , if you haven't noticed, aren't exactly top class spies." I sighed, assuming that I wouldn't get an answer back. So I changed my outlook and focussed on something else."So…..where's Starfish?"

Finally, he paused, acknowledging that apparent words had come out of my mouth. His face was a shape of confusion and the man, Spanner, took out the red lollipop. I caught his name very quickly, after examining the contents of his memory. It felt strange to meet someone who was named after a tool, as if he was one, no puns intended. It was like meeting someone named Mercedes. It felt, honestly stupid.

"Starfish…?" He repeated, thinking on the word for a brief period of time, his mind zoning out, much like Basil's would. He blinked silently, and then let out a tiny wheeze, placing the candy back where it belonged. "Oh….you mean Vongola?"

"Who else would I mean?" I asked, staring right back at felt strange to hear him refer to Tsuna as 'Vongola', but I went with it.

"Well, you never specifically said of any details relating to one's appearance…..only that he resembled a starfish. To which I agree."

I nodded. "Well, at least you catch on quickly."

"I'm not the only one around here that does. How'd you know Vongola was here?"

I sniffed. "I could hear him a mile away. His soul is a peaceful one and yet his mind is a landmine. It makes him easier to track down than most peoples'."

How odd…. He thought, staring right into my eyes, which I enjoyed watching. At least this guy had guts to face me upfront when I creeped him out.

I batted my eyelashes and gritted my teeth, looking down as I thought deeply. North was the way Al went, and I didn't want him to get into a whole lot of t-r-o-u-b-l-e than he already was with me around. Not to mention, when he gets back, the whole 'human-cat-human' thing will have to be explained in full detail.

And why was I so eager to not go kick ass on this guy? Why was he so laid back? Boy's got his life sorted out, let me tell you. Machines, no girls, a life on his own to twiddle his thumbs endlessly all day while he sips on hot mochas and licks lemon laced lollipops.

Jealous.

Spanner nodded to a door in front of us. "This is just the preliminary, the outer room. My workshop's through that door. We can talk in there. In there, you'll be safer. They won't track, or even go through my things without getting a hint of suspicion. I told Shoichi that you were heading to the north wing, three levels up."

North huh? I knew it. Shit Al, you better get out. Like, preferably alive for starters. I don't want to go back to the past alone.

"You have that much faith in the dude?"

"We have the same interests. That's all."

Yeah.

I totally believe you.

Your honesty in believing that sentence is as honest as me believing that peanut butter goes with jelly in a sandwich.

My eyebrows perked up at his answer and I shrugged, not really knowing what I was shrugging at. At all times though, our eye contact was solid.

"Back to my original questionare of questioning questions. Where's Tsuna? Is he okay?"

"He's in there." He replied, walking ahead of me. The automatic doors opened and quickly, I followed before they closed on me. And it surprised me how clean the workshop's state was in. I expected it to look a little like Giannini's. Giannini's where, the place felt more like the inside of a bachelor's flat rather than a workshop at all. They both had the same vibe that I felt with most guys rooms. But his was rather…...barren. You'd at least see some sense of personal belonging, a possessiveness in the room. But I guess it was translated only through machinery, as that was my next observation.

The room was alight with the subtle hums of ever-working machines that droned on and on and on. With flickering lights and the sight of Tsuna with a full pilots helmet in his head, lying in a chair, I felt extremely on edge.

"...um…."

"He's fine." Spanner said emotionlessly, eyeing the readings that his computer gave off; it was also hooked up to the helmet. Was it a simulator? "I'm Spanner, by the way."

"Already knew that." I replied, bending over to examine the strange contraption. It had a single light that went off in a light blue blaze whenever Tsua twitched, or made an uncomfortable groan. "Don't ask how, I don't tell everyone I met. Don't take offence either. Though you won't since right now your mental state will only peak when you discover a lead of interest." I stood back up." Sorry about that. I've been doing that lately by accident, although usually I'm able to hold my tongue. So how come you've got Tsuna hooked up? Is he your new toy boy."

He opened a new red lollipop that he removed from the pocket of his camouflage overalls and smiled, It was one of amusement, and not to annoyment, thankfully. A lot of people these days would most likely view me as a bitter thing. Someone not very nice, being so blunt in her youth. SOmeone that should be left alone. With the glimmer in his light green eyes, the train of thought eventually got back to the station.

"It's a simulation device that allows someone to train endlessly. I designed it myself."

"So you can't find it anywhere else?"

He shook his head. "No, but I'm thinking of expanding."

Something in that sentence made me snort slightly. "Doubt it. Anyway, is he going to be okay in that thing?" I pointed to the monitor, the second in his line of computer monitors. "Because if red and blinking signs is meant to be normal, then your marketing plan is messed up. Let me tell you now."

"Oh." He pursed his cheeks and sat down, trying to tap away at the keyboard, obviously trying to find out what the problem was.

"What's up?"

He sniffed, moving the lollipop to the right side of his mouth. "Nothing, just some…..error. Nothing I can't fix." He pointed to a spot that looked like it had been used as a sleeping area. Tsuna's clothes were neatly laid in a pile, right beside the pillow. And beside those, a small robot hummed away. "There's a first aid kit in the closet over there. Go patch yourself up before you spill any more blood on the floor."

I nodded and sniffed, feeling that disgusting taste of phlegm build up in the back of my throat. Mum had always had problems with hay fever and dust, and I always assumed that I'd gotten the sniffles from her. Once I opened the metal cupboard, I took out the toolcase styled first aid kit and plonked myself down on the sheets, feeling the backache appear after standing for so long.

First thing was to clean the wound. I didn't want to use soap, in case that caused it to get infected or even more so, irritated, so I used a bottle of water and a clean cloth scrap to get rid of not only the dried blood, but the blood that was freshly excreted from the would. Next, I used antiseptic cream - fucking brilliant idea - and sewed the gash up. Probably butchered my arm in the process, but it would do for now.

I covered it with a material bandage and looked back at Tsuna and Spanner. The blond seemed to be speaking into a microphone that was connected also to the laptop, so I guessed it was the only way to contact Tsuna, in the state he was in.

On top of Tsuna's clothes was the same earpiece that had been given to him at the start. Fuck knows where mine went.

"Oi, Spanner, does this thing still work."

He looked up at what I was pointing at and nodded. Without a word, he went back to whatever he was going.

What an easy going guy.

I switched the 'on' button at the side and put the earpiece in.

"Eh, Juudaime? Why are you using the earpiece at a time like this?"

I smiled at the sound of Giannini's concerned voice.

"It's Phillipa."

I heard gasps on the other side, and Reborn shout 'What!'

"P-Phillipa!" He cried, just a surprised as the others. "Thank goodness you're okay, everyone's been so worried that something bad had happened." There was a pause in between."You are okay, aren't you?

I nodded. "Yeah. Nothing much, just a few cuts."

"Oh good. What happened to your own earpiece?"

"It got destroyed."

"How did that happen!?"

"I met a guy named Genkishi." I said, lying about how it got 'broken'. The part about Genkishi was true and boy oh boy, I wasn't too keen to meet him again. Not after Al and what not. "And he was super keen to show me his swords."

"Y-You battled against Genkishi? The Phantom Knight!"

"Yeah, and barely made it out. Can I talk to Reborn? I need to discuss something."

"He's in transit at the moment." Giannini quivered. "He's with Juudaime in the simulator!"

I looked over to Spanner, who was tinkling away with something.

"But he should turn up anytime soon!"

"Thanks G."

I took the earpiece out and wandered over to the pair. Spanner was tapping away at the keyboard at a light speed pace, and Tsuna remained very still while sitting with the helmet. But then, the monitor blew up. Like, had a hole through the screen, blown up.

"Shit!" He yelled, throwing his arms up to protect his face from the flying shards of glass.

I blinked in a sudden surprise as Spanner got up, and noticed me standing there.

"Arm better?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it'll be fine."

He nodded back at me. "Good." He looked at Tsuna with concern, as the screen hissed and smoke rose from it. "He should've made it. The simulator terminates once the installation is complete."

He better be…

Spanner walked over to Tsuna to examine the equipment. "Don't tell me he isn't back yet!?"

"Shit sticks Spam."

"It's Spanner."

"Yeah I know."

Suddenly, Tsuna's breathing hitched and the robot, Mosca, retracted the helmet off his head and behind the seat. Tsuna's eyes blinked open and I sniffed again.

Spanner breathed out a massive sigh. He had been truly worried about the Starfish. A smile appeared on his face. "Vongola."

"Well done fishcake. You didn't die, so I'm sure everyone will be happy."

Then, out of nowhere, Reborn appeared on the table. Out of flipping thin air.

Hologram. A voice said, and I blinked it away. It was getting to be a lot more vocal than usual.

"That was a close call." He looked over at me. "Good to see you made it Phillipa."

"Thanks." I whispered, as he returned to Tsuna.

"Are you okay?" Spanner asked. I walked beside them so that Tsuna could see that I was there, since I got the feeling of a sharp dizziness from his mind.

So when he nodded, saying yes, I called bullshit. Luckily, Spanner was there to catch him when he tried to get up, but instead collapsed in his arms.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I-I'm fine, really! By the way, how was it? I can't remember the last parts….'

"Well, as you can see, I don't know either. My computer, as you can see, is…."

"Toast?"

Reborn looked at me and sighed.

"Sorry." I mouthed.

Tsuna frowned. "I see….."

"But I believe you defeated it."

Of course! Juudaime definitely won!"

"That would be nice if I did…."

"It's not winning!" Reborn snapped, making sure that Tsuna realised that he was still here. "It's just close to not losing! To pull it off, once in a live battle is useless. You haven't completed the X-Burner yet!"

It was then that I realised what he was trying to accomplish in the simulator. Before, I hadn't actually been told any details. "Oh…"

"I understand." Tsuna said, with firm eyes.

"However, I've managed to retrieve the maximum output data for the X-Burner. So we've achieved our objective, at least. I'll include the data onto the contact displays."

Contact…..displays? Are they to help his control like normal contacts help people to see?

He smiled real sweetly, and for the first time, I saw a kindness in the man. " You can leave that to me. I'll help you form the perfect X-Burner."

Tsuna grinned widely, right back at the british man. "Thank you, Spanner."

Reborn sniffed, and I could feel something bothering him.

"But...Shouichi Irie is truly a fearsome person."

I nodded. "He's probably going to look heaven and hell for you Starfish. Right now, here is the best place to lay low." I glanced over at Spanner. "Even if it's for a short period of time."

"I know."

"Right then." I said, turning to my father. "Reborn, I really need to talk to you."

"Girl issues isn't for me."

"They're not girl issues, you asshat." I gulped, instantly regretting calling him that. Whoops. Oh well. I'll probably pay for that later. "I need to talk to you about the fight with Genkishi."

"You fought Genkishi?" He asked, frowning. "That man is under one of my friends families."

"That's no good." I replied. "But it's not that I wanted to talk about. It's Al."

Tsuna blinked rapidly, realising what I said. "Al, Phillipa, where is he? You two are never apart?"

"Al?" Spanner asked.

"My cat." I replied and then, after, I scrunched my nose. I did that and gritted my teeth as well, moving between what he actually was.

A dick, maybe?

"He's kinda turned into a human."

"Excuse me?"

"Hiieee!"

"A human." Reborn repeated, not really believing the outrageous claim. "Your cat turned into a human."

I shrugged. "I'm just as confused as you are."

"Fucking knew it."

I blinked. "What?"

"I knew something was up with him. A cat doesn't talk like that. Not that intelligently."

"Isn't that a little offensive to Leon."

He shook his head.

Truth was, I didn't want to believe that I had been duped by my best friend.

~o0o~

Out of the mist that weaved around everything it touched, his hair fluttered lightly. Just as thin as it had always been, he kept it a little longer than his first teacher had recommended it should be to him. It didn't matter though. He kept it just short as his own chin, long enough so that it didn't annoy him.

He appeared in that mist, the same one that he had disappeared in. When Genkishi arrived back on land, his sense of time had been disrupted. The last he remembered, he was fighting the girl, or woman, he should say. She was probably younger than him by ten years, since he was in his mid thirties.

He was in the sub unit sewers. There was water everywhere, and a boy, gasping for air, glaring at him. The boy was just as surprised as he was.

"I've been waiting….."

"You're….." The boy gripped his sword tighter. A woman was slumped against the wall, just outside of the room. "The swordsman who uses illusions, Genkishi, of the mist?"

When Genkishi felt surprised, the boy smiled. "I thought so."

He wondered when this would all stop.

Not anytime soon, he predicted.

~o0o~

"We've already tried that Captain."

Shocked, none more so than Irie, when the white spell's 12th Squad captain, Iris Hepburn appeared on the monitor, along with Gingerbread in what looked to be Spanner's empty room. Of course, nothing in the room was kept out of place, but guess what, no Spanner was to be seen. They couldn't make contact with him and the information that Irie was absorbing, very seriously, contradicted Spanners.

Iris gestured to the room. "This room is already emptied."

Irie, still in denial, gritted his teeth and very quickly snapped out of his confusion-like state of mind. "W-What?! What is the meaning of this!?"

"But, what shocked me was that, this base's structure became just like a jigsaw puzzle." She smiled, her voice laced with a sarcasm that was obviously directed at her annoyance for the british blond. What was more curious about the brunette was how, despite her attempt to cover her face with with concealer and BB cream, there was a clear bruise circling her right eye that borderlines between dark blue and purple.

"Save the sarcasm for later! Where's Spanner?!"

"There's a high possibility that he's hiding somewhere in the building, along with the Vongola." Gingerbread said, his back to the camera.

"That bitch might have reached them as well."

Irie blinked at the sentence. "W-Who?'

"That woman that attacked me and another in the bathroom stalls. We've come to believe that it's the younger version of the Chiavarone late wife."

That just made his gut drop. "...If that's the case, then she's going to be a problem. And if she's here, who knows who else is present in the building. We've already identified the defective arcobaleno, Lal Mirch, as one of the intruders."

The situation was getting severely worse by the minute, and Irie didn't like where it was heading.

~o0o~

"Come on Tsuna, don't be a pussy."

"I'm not!"

"Then why won't you do it?"

"B-Because putting s-something in my eye just doesn't fit right with me!"

"Tsuna." I signed, giving him a very tired look. "Spanner worked hard on those for you, so just shut up and put 'em in, please. We don't have a lot of time and I'd prefer it if you do that now rather than later when it's more likely that we'll be chased by god knows who."

Very reluctantly, Tsuna complied with my request and slipped the contacts onto his eyeball. He blinked and moaned quietly. Then, at Reborn's request, Tsuna slipped on his gloves and gulped down a dying flame pill to get this show really glowing. His flames seemed to be more controlled with the contacts in. Tsuna felt like that, anyway.

Spanner kept his eye on the Starfish. He too felt very compelled to help Tsuna in fixing his X-Burner, if it meant his job and his life. He kept saying that it was only out of curiousity, but you could tell that was a lie. Not many could pick that up, and I almost didn't.

"How is it Tsuna?" Reborn asked, as he sat cross-legged on the floor, looking up at the young Vongola.

"The vision's blurry."

Spanner nodded. "As expected, you need time to adjust."

"And how long will that take?"

"Twenty minutes or so." Spanner said, after deliberating the mathematical side of the eye contacts in his head.

"That's too long."

"Even so, that time is still needed, or you won't be able to use them."

"Get over it Tsu-chan." I slapped him on the back. "Just take the time to get ready and when you're done, we'll go look for the others. Speaking of which, has anyone else tried to make contact with the base yet Reborn? I'm getting worried about them, Lal especially."

"The transmission with everyone is really bad, so we haven't heard from anyone." Reborn crossed his arms. And even though he didn't especially like the idea of staying in one place, we didn't really have any other choice. "All we can do for now is pray for their safety."

Tsuna, knowing the dramatic outcome of the situation, agreed with a deep closing of his eyes, but quickly snapped them open when he realised that our time together was precious.

He, I don't know how, but without the same fear as he had before, took out the contact lenses and handed them to Spanner, who fitted them into a pencil-case box.

"Please Spanner, fix them quickly!"

"Yes, I know. But the outcome will be the same." He walked back to his station and sat with his back turned to us. "I've said that you need twenty minutes, so it's going to be twenty minutes. No more, no less."

Well said, blondie.

No less than three minutes later, after Tsuna mistakenly thought that Spanner was talking to him, his pet robot started to hand out lollipops. Reborn didn't take one, of course, and Tsuna had no choice, since one was just shoved in his mouth without further notice.

Me, however, had time.

Or, I made some.

Whichever way it was, I was determined not to get a bogus flavour.

"Do you have Raspberry?" I asked, reverting to english, since that was the language that Spanner used whenever he talked with the robot.

"Eh…." Tsuna seemed a bit lost when I'd quickly reverted back to my mothertongue. I smirked and translated.

"Razuberī."

"Ah."

Mosca popped out a red lollipop and I was extra glad to taste the tang of a raspberry once more.

"T'shanks."

Along with the lollipop, I was also thankful for the refreshments that Mosca had provided us, while Spanner speedily worked away at his computer, not talking to us unless we tried talking to him.

We'll talk about this later, Reborn had said. His voice kept replaying in my head, and I grew very worried. I couldn't hear Al with my mind, and even though Spanner kept an update of the power grid, I was still uptight.

Not like Tsuna though.

Tsuna was the more impatient one out of the group. His constant worrying personality was what his downfall would attribute to.

"Erm, Spanner? Is it done yet?"

"It's only been five minutes."

"Calm down Tsuna." Reborn urged. "Doing things like that would only distract Spanner and make things slower."

Bashfully, Tsuna turned away from Reborn and twiddled his thumbs.

"Ehehe…."

"Juudaime, is this alright?" Giannini's voice played clear through the headset. I laughed, feeling the rivalry that Giannini felt. Threatened, he was. "Let me help as well! Even if it's just a back up, I can follow what's happening."

"It's up to you then." Spanner said, not looking up from the monitor, his fingers flying across the keyboard keys.

"Y-Yes!" Giannini replied. " Please leave it to me!"

Giannini then went on to babble by himself while the data was sent across. I blew into a tissue and by the time I'd stuffed the tissue into my skirt pocket, he'd received the files.

"Here it is." He said, after a few moments of waiting. "Let me analyse this."

Tsuna smiled and leaned over Spanner's shoulder, who wasn't too happy about Tsuna doing that, but he kept quiet and continued to tap away. "Great! This way, we can work faster!"

"No."

"Eh!"

"I've already calculated your technician offering his help from the start. The completion time will not change."

"Eh, is that so!" Tsuna hung his head.

"Can't change it pipsqueak. You might as well wait it off."

"Please leave it to me, Juudaime!" Giannini said, over the com. "I'll try my best to increase the process speed."

"T-Thank you."

After that, we waited for a further ten minutes before Spanner even spoke to us again, only to inform that ten minutes had passed. And all this time, despite how Reborn and I tried to tell him that at this point, his worrying wouldn't get him anywhere, Tsuna continued to check for any signals. Any at all. I did as well, but more discretely.

And me? I couldn't find anything either.

My brain had just as much functions as a rubber duck.

And Reborn?

He had other things on his mind.

"Hey, Spanner?"

"Hm?"

"Do you know something about a round, white device?" Reborn turned away from us, probably looking at Giannini who was behind a computer at the base this whole time. "Hey, Giannini. Bring up the image."

The image of what Tsuna saw in his so called dream appeared out of Tsuna's earpiece, just as Reborn had.

"It's this. It should be somewhere inside this base."

I still don't understand what that dream was about…...Tsuna thought.

Spanner looked over his shoulder at the picture and nodded sharply. "Yes."

"D-Do you recognise it!?"

"He does." I said. "Spanner, tell us quickly, while we still have peace."

"It's in Shouichi's research lab."

"Eh!"

"What's Irie Shouichi up to?"

I sighed, as he ignored Reborn's question. "Please."

"I heard awhile back , that one time he messed around with subspace energy."

"Ya kidding."

"Why would he use something like that?" Reborn asked.

"It's an unbelievable story. It's related to the relationship between time and space. What you would call time travel."

You freaking kidding me. I knew something like this happened. Of course, why didn't I see it before!

"Time travel?!" Tsuna repeated. "T-That's…."

Shit, should I have said that?

"Too late now, toolbox. It's not like we weren't going to find out."

He paused and then turned to look back at me.

"Mind reading. That's how you do it."

I smiled, leaning my head to the side. "Well done Mr Holmes. Now get back to work."

"Reborn!" Tsuna said, and I looked down at my father.

Everytime I saw the shadow of his black rimmed fedora cover his eyes in that manner, I always get chills. Whenever he gets serious, I…..

Stop thinking. Stop thinking, stop hearing and focus on whatever the problem at hand is.

"The dots are finally starting to connect." He looked up. "So, if Irie has been searching time travel...then our best shot is to target him, for us to return to the past."

I heard Giannini's voice again. "I just can't believe he actually made a time machine."

"It must be true." Reborn said.

I wish it wasn't, I thought to myself. I don't like it here.

"After all, we got here viva the ten-year bazooka."

"That's right!" Tsuna yelled. "We were sent here by that thing but somehow we can't return!"

"I didn't." I said, after pausing. "I was…."

Shit, I can't say I was dealing with Verde, or Reborn will know I'm up to something.

"Out with Dino. We were eating when I got poofed. But, ignoring that for later, I think that this machine is connected to us getting here. It might even be obstructing us from getting home."

"That makes sense." Tsuna muttered, thinking. "I understand now why we have to defeat Irie Shouichi. We need to capture him so that he can tell us how to return to the p-"

There.

"Shh." I said, making everybody quiet.

Thankfully, they stayed that way, and their eyes followed mine as I stared at the door.

And three seconds later, she appeared with her chimpanzee posse. That woman, Iris.

"Who has time for that when I'm going to exterminate you?"

Aha. Hope she doesn't remember me.

'An-, oh. It's you. Nice to see you're wearing that women's clothes. The white brings out your bitchiness."

I guess she's got a good memory then.

"Unfortunately, I'll change soon." I replied. "I don't want to look like a slu-"

"Hold your mouth Phillipa." Reborn said, just as Spanner started to panic and close his laptop. When he picked it up, Tsuna threw an arm in front of him, his dying will flames appearing in an instant. I can't call mine like that. Like everyone else. Mine's not natural.

I folded my own arms.

"Fine. Go ahead Tsuna, I'll fight along-side you. Spam, stay out of the way, got it?"

He nodded, clutching his laptop to his chest, like a tiny newborn.

"Crystal."

~o0o~

Thought I'd start the new year off with a longer than usual chapter. Tried my best, despite the heat, so I hope you enjoy it. *Is sweating like a pig and can't concentrate, not a good combo.*

My usual thanks for all the faves, followers and newbies who just so happened to click on this story by reading my crappy intro. I know people don't actually read these things at the end, myself included most of the time, so you have my thanks.

Girlofthearts: You too~ I hope you had a good one, and not freaking hot like mine.

Angelicfluffle: Oooo, that sounds lovely. I'll have to see that sometime.

raiseyourdongers: Yes, another helpless soul converted to my evil scheme. Mwahahaa.

Wiki: Oh lordy, calm down there! :D And thanks!

Akayuki Sawada: That's because they're gooooood. (I don't really consider mine that good anyway.) But thanks! I hope your brain gets better!

LeoInuyuka: You're preachin' to the choir, mam. But hell, I didn't expect him to get a fanbase like this….never ever…..

GrnDRKness: Yeah, but I believe everyone has a different way of coping and his is just...sad. A lot of sadness.

chibianimefan26: THANK YOU

Shanagi95: DinoDinoDinoDinoDinoDino, ohohohohohohohohohoho~ Soon, little one. Soon you shall experience.

Well, I hope you guys don't mind this little chappie. Hope you've had a good holiday!

-Verdigurl