Kidnapping

Reborn is in the middle of a hit when he hears something clatter behind him. He twists around quickly because he's pretty sure he killed everyone in the secret guild except the last assassin he's now hunting down and so the unexpected noise is definitely something to be concerned about.

He blinks at an innocent looking grenade that rolls to a stop at his foot, the pin pulled out. Reborn sighs in annoyance and picks it up, tossing it out of the window where it explodes into pink glitter.

The hitman raises an eyebrow because glitter is never a good sign. It's either a friendly who's messing with him or an incredibly unstable enemy who wants to play. Reborn would rather have the enemy because all of his friends are far more dangerous.

That's when a second explosion, much bigger and very much made of fire, comes ripping down the hallway towards Reborn. It fills the air and gushes like liquid and damn it because Reborn knows it's a trap.

He can't make it to the end of the corridor before it catches up so he has to follow the lead of whoever set this up and instead jumps out of the window. He angles himself to land on the sidewalk, quite a few people screaming when they see him falling three storeys with a fire ball chasing him.

Unfortunately, as Reborn gets closer to the ground, a strange vehicle pulls up right below him onto the pathway, the sun roof open. Reborn drops straight through into the vehicle and lands on his feet easily but then the van/limo thing lurches forward and Reborn topples backwards into a seat where Luce reaches over and buckles him in, Verde sitting across.

The others all stare, though two seem to be missing and Skull has to look through the rear-view mirror since he's currently escaping a police car who saw the illegal move. Fon twists around in the passenger seat at the front and smiles serenely.

This is why Reborn hates glitter.

"I really don't think this is necessary," Reborn begins.

The vehicle comes to a screeching stop and the sliding door is hauled open to admit Lal and Viper, clearly the ones who set the explosions to go off.

"No, honestly, I'm in the middle of something," Reborn tries, starting to unbuckle himself.

Lal shuts the door after the two get inside and Skull takes off again. Luce reaches over once more with a fond smile and clamps a hand over Reborn's leg threateningly.

"It's been nice seeing you all again," the hitman says politely, patting Luce's surprisingly strong hand. "And I've actually been meaning to tell you-"

Then they all simultaneously pull out gas masks and strap themselves into the clear-screen protective gear, most probably Verde's design. Lal plucks Leon off Reborn's hat and tucks the lizard into her mask.

Reborn purses his lips and makes a subtle gesture with his fingers for Leon to not attack. "Let's not be hasty here because I am in fact going to join the little tea party we've got going."

"We know, Checker Face explained," Verde says. "But you're taking too long and we got impatient."

A quiet hissing fills the vehicle and an odourless, colourless gas starts filling the air.

"If you know, then what is this for?" Reborn wonders, a bit confused at this point even as he signs again for a narrow-eyed Leon to not take out the threats. The lizard might want Reborn to make more friends, but he does not tolerate harm towards his human.

"Isn't it obvious?" Viper asks and then gestures to the gas permeating the air. "This is revenge for everything you've done to us."

Reborn turns to the Giglio Nero boss with a question on his tongue. His mind is already a bit muffled from the chemicals he's breathing in, so when the illusion dissolves to show Fon and the fake martial artist construct in the front seat disappears, Reborn still needs a moment to understand that Luce isn't present and they just used her image so he wouldn't struggle too much.

The hitman sighs and slumps down in his own seat, ready to pass out in a dignified manner. "If anyone takes my hat, I'm going to be very annoyed."

Skull might have said something but Reborn is already drifting.

...

The hitman wakes up slowly, feeling sluggish. He opens his eyes and soon realises he's on a three-seater couch, his head on a throw pillow with his hat on his abdomen and Leon curled up in the hollow of his throat. Another couch is opposite him, pressed to the wall to make a little sitting area in one half of the room.

The interior decorations seem like the Giglio Nero mansion instead of the hidden manor that they use as a sort of home base. Reborn sits up, Leon sliding down his torso and into a pocket, before placing his hat on his head.

The others are crowded around a table behind Reborn's couch with drinks and snacks, lazily chatting about nothing of importance. They don't trust each other nearly enough for the conversation to be anything but shallow. Except for Skull, the civilian dumbass.

Luce is the first to see Reborn. "Ah, you're awake," she hums with a sweet smile. "Come, I have Tiramisu for you."

"What?" Lal says, very close to a complaint. "You said that wasn't for us."

"It's not for you, it's for Reborn," Luce says simply.

Verde frowns because Luce's deserts are ridiculously good. "He can't eat the whole thing by himself."

Reborn gets to his feet and smooths out his suit, throwing a flat look to the people who just drugged him. "When you get kidnapped, then you get a personal desert."

Viper points a threatening finger at the hitman.

"That was like for an hour a few years ago," Reborn scoffs. "It doesn't count."

"This is why you got knocked out," Viper deadpans. "This is why, Reborn."