Final Chap! Sobbu~

Enjoy!

The Belle Of The Ball

Spanner straightened his tie in the mirror for the millionth time. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Tonight was the night.

So far no one had seen his project in full colors besides Tom, and he helped him work on it so that technically doesn't count.

So he was nervous. Very nervous.

He knew he shouldn't be. The Varia and most of the guests weren't expecting anything at all, so really even the smallest centerpiece would be a big deal.

But his centerpiece wasn't small.

He groaned and shook his hands out. No matter, they were going to see it whether he worried or not. Another deep breath.

Tonight was the night.

He couldn't believe that he would be leaving in the morning. Time had flown by so fast. Was it really only a week? It seemed like he had arrived just yesterday. But the bonds he created felt so genuine. So long lasting. It was as if he had known the Varia for years.

He'd never imagined he would become so comfortable with such dangerous people. Well, not exactly dangerous now that he knew.

No one at Headquarters understood these people. They weren't a bunch of murderous savages with nothing but a thirst for human blood. Not at all.

They were a family. It didn't matter what anyone else said.

The door creaked behind him, and he turned to see Mr. Hickey enter the room. "You ready?"

Spanner exhaled with an air of finality. "I…I think so." He saw his teacher smile through the mirror. The teacher walked up and swung an arm across his student's shoulders. He grinned in the mirror. "Don't worry. They'll love it."

"You sure about that?" Spanner rubbed his brow.

He laughed. "When am I not? Math is all about surety. If you don't have confidence in your own work, why would anyone else?" Spanner nervously fixed his tie again.

He smiled. "You're overthinking it, Charles."

"I know, I know. It's just…this is the best I've got." Spanner looked at his teacher. "If they don't like it…what was I even here for?"

His teacher guided him out of the bathroom and onto his bed. A half-packed suitcase sat atop it. "I never thought I'd have to give you of all people a pep talk." He chuckled in an attempt to ease his former student's nerves. He shrugged and a thoughtful expression overtook his face. He sat beside him. "Look. I'm not saying that they'll like it –"

"Okay, you literally just said they'd love it." Spanner deadpanned.

He raised his hands in defense. "Hey, math is also about duping your way through the rough spots." Spanner rolled his eyes. "What I'm trying to say is, you can put your all out there, and it's not always going to get appreciated the way you feel it should – "

Spanner put his head in his hands. "Really not helping the situation."

"But it only matters that you did your best." He finished.

The mechanic chuckled. "You really sound like a teacher right now."

"But didn't you? It was you who went and stood up to who's probably the most dangerous man on the planet and taught him to forgive and forget a twenty year grudge. I've seen the guy, and I'm guessing it wasn't the easiest thing in the world. You fix problems. That ballroom down there? It was the problem of the century. And I doubt anyone else in this building would have thought to go out and find their own team.

"You broke some pretty horrible news to a trained assassin all on your own. And you had the courage to accompany absolute maniacs to a public theme park. You've been so brave recently. Do you honestly think it was all for nothing? Because right now, I admire you more than any other so called genius on the planet."

Spanner smiled at his tutor. "Thanks. I really appreciate it." He stood up and walked to the door. "You know, you sure know a lot about the Mafia World."

He followed him over and opened the door. "Do you really think me being showing up at that audition was a complete coincidence?" He winked.

Spanner's jaw dropped. "Wait a minute, so does that mean everyone on the team was associated with the mafia!?"

His teacher smiled and strode out the hallway past him. "Let's go, Charles. Wouldn't want to be late now, would we?"

Spanner dumbly followed him, expression every bit as shocked as he felt. "Even Martha!?"

The villainous laughter of his instructor echoed down the corridor.

~O~

Spanner looked around at the packed hallway. He gulped. There had to be several hundred people there at least. A whole lot more than he or anyone else had anticipated. The party was for loyal elites only, but clearly many of the invited guests had each brought along several tag-alongs. He hummed and wondered if there would be enough hors d'oeuvres to go around.

Looking down at his watch, he realized it was only a few minutes until show time. He slowly exhaled for the millionth time that night. He completely forgot about his speech. Well, maybe 'forgot' isn't the best wording. It was more like he had only been notified that he would be required to give said speech earlier the previous night.

So of course he didn't get an ounce of sleep. The entire night was spent vigorously regulating a mental checklist that included everything down to how he would blink at the audience. Even then in the hallway, the bullet points insistently whizzed around in his skull.

In case it wasn't obvious enough, Spanner wasn't a grand, ornate person by any means. He severely lacked in any sort of tactfulness and a bit of maturity. So in addition to that and his obvious social awkwardness, he didn't exactly know why they expected him to give a speech at all. For not the first time during his stay he called into doubt, 'Wasn't this Xanxus' mansion?!'

The obvious answer is yes…so why wasn't he GIVING THE WELCOME SPEECH?

Sure, the man had some serious flaws in his communication skills and general respect for his fellow human, but he probably had some experience in the field of public speaking.

Spanner on the other hand? Nada.

Oh, he also cared a smidgen about his outward reflection to others unlike a certain Varia boss with – again – zero regard for his fellow human. Things would be so much easier if they put the responsibility on someone with a lesser amount of stress bearing down on their being. Like Lussuria, Squalo, Tsuna, Lambo, anybody! But, hey, what's one more straw to break the camel's back, right?

Thankfully, Lussuria told him to not worry about longevity seeing as no one in the mafia-ridden crowd would care in the slightest. (Besides maybe Nono. He was sentimental like that.) That was a relief, but he still felt he should say something special. It would reflect positively on his work. That way no one go to the center of the room and say, "Hey, not bad for some silly little mechanic, hurr hurr." He hated that. He held a respectable position in society no matter what anyone else said.

Unfortunately when the clock struck seven, Spanner's self-assurance drained in record time. He forced his body to cooperate as he dragged himself along the edge of the crowd to the front. He walked and walked along, occasionally glancing towards the lively group. He saw a grand variety of people, the young, the old, the large, the small, the natives, the foreigners, the friendly, the stern, the happy, the bored, the excited, and every other combination possible. He roughly swallowed as the sheer enormity of the gathering.

All those eyes would be on him.

A fearful laugh escaped him. What had he gotten himself into?

Eventually, he finished the lengthy walk of terror to the small platform placed in the entryway. He briefly glanced behind him at the impending doors of the ballroom. Somehow, the dark oak soothed him along with the promise of what was beyond. No matter what he said here his surprise could shock any doubt from the minds of the onlookers. He smiled at the guarantee.

Still, his legs wobbled as he stepped upon the platform. They didn't provide a podium so no sneaking peaks at a written copy. Well, at least not without looking cheap.

He roughly cleared his throat once situating himself. He gazed out over the crowd who gradually took notice of him and quieted themselves. Spanner puffed out his chest and powerfully breathed in. But before he could utter his first word, a lackey rushed onto the stage carrying a cordless microphone. He stuck it in Spanner's hand.

"O-Oh, thank you." He stammered. The servant smiled brightly at the mechanic in his hurried rush. "Best wishes." Then he flew from the stage leaving a thoughtful Spanner in his wake.

Hm, He pondered. The power behind the kind words of a stranger is amazing.

With somewhat renewed confidence, Spanner turned his attention to the crowd. He closed his eyes and exhaled for the final time. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen," He halted as his voice jumped up six octaves on the word 'gentlemen'. His face flushed hotly. "Ha..ha." He coughed before forcing a smile back onto his burning face. "S-Sorry about that…um." He blinked at the onlookers. They stared back at him expectantly. Oh dear…

He couldn't think of a worse time to be without a lollipop.

By chance he caught sight of the Varia standing near the center. While Squalo had an coercing death stare on him, Lussuria silently encouraged him to go on with a double thumbs up. That did very little to build up his nerve. However that was before he looked a little further behind the group where Xanxus stood. His scarlet eyes danced with a challenge, daring him to fail. Spanner tilted his head to the side thoughtfully.

He could work with that.

For the first time in a while, Spanner felt a competitive vigor stirring in his veins. Why not? If he could prove Xanxus wrong once, he saw no reason to do it once more before leaving. Yeah. Take his ego down a few notches in return for dumping the speech on him. So he did what anyone in his position would.

He completely threw his mental checklist out the window.

Mind cleared, Spanner put the mic to his mouth with an entirely fresh demeanor. "Let's forget the formalities and get down to why we're here. Unless you didn't notice on the invitation, today is the day we celebrate that man's, " He pointed to a surprised Vongola Nono in the crowd, "Fiftieth anniversary. Needless to say that's a long time to be in business. And not just any business, but the most meticulous, challenging, downright back busting business in the whole world. The Mafia." Several eyes in the crowd widened in shock at the blatant declaration. "Come on now, everyone here knows it. In fact, thanks to my math teacher I know that everyone here is involved even."

Spanner began to casually pace around the stage, completely relaxed. "Besides, isn't this supposed to be a celebration of family, friends, and togetherness. We're all on the same side here. So why not…loosen up?" Spanner paused to laugh. "I am. Actually, a bit too much probably. Can you believe I haven't even had a drink yet? Really." The crowd chuckled appreciatively. Spanner grinned back. "No, but in all seriousness, I've never been more proud to work on a project. This man…he's done so much, even for me personally. And I'm sure if you've met him, he's done something to make you feel good too. What's amazing though, is that such a kind, compassionate man could be the fiercest enemy or the greatest ally. Don't let the warm eyes fool you."

The Ninth charmingly beamed at him from within the crowd. Spanner sighed, his mind and body finally at peace. "So I think if anyone deserves to see a glimpse into the past, it's you Nono. Let's make some memories, shall we?"

To his astonishment, generous applause greeted him at the conclusion of his speech. He jerked his head up towards the cheering crowd. He smiled disbelievingly.

He really did it.

Still shocked he looked over to where Xanxus stood, lightly smirking with eyes closed in what Spanner assumed to be credence to his skills. Then with one exhale he released the entirety of the surreal confidence that filled him as he spoke.

Now that was awesome.

He quickly got off the small platform so a few servants could push it against the wall with the help of Otto. The first person who met him was Mr. Hickey. "Now didn't I say they would love you? You did great! How did you do that?"

"No clue." Spanner shook his head. "But could you hold on a minute? I got to open some doors." Mr. Hickey smiled and waved him away. Spanner hurried over to where Otto positioned himself in front of one of the heavy double doors. His deep voice was laced with a thick German accent as he asked, "Ready to open the doors, sir?"

Spanner reached into his suit jacket and quickly pressed the button on a remote hidden deep in a pocket. He heard a satisfying click from the other side of the doors. "Now's a better time than ever." He firmly gripped the handle of the door. And with that, they pulled hard on the dark wooden doors, revealing the dazzling ballroom to the guests.

.

Lussuria and the rest of the Varia waited at the front of the crowd, all eager to see what Spanner had in store. Currently said man was making his way off the stage. Levi tched from the back of the group, "You're getting your hopes up. It won't be the same without the fountain."

Lussuria rolled his eyes. "Oh stop being a pessimist for a minute, won't you? I'm sure the rest of the ballroom will make up for it."

"Voooii, it better be." Squalo grumbled from beside him. "All the trouble I went through to organize this mess…"

Bel popped up beside them. "Don't forget the large contributions of the prince." Fran slowly popped up beside him. "Yeah, we did a lot of hard work."

"You went to the amusement park! How hard could that be?!" Squalo fumed.

"You wouldn't understand, Long Haired Commander. Our bodies had to endure a lot of turmoil to help with his mechanic's block. Lussuria shook his head amusedly as Squalo continued arguing with the delinquents. He turned around. "What do you think, Boss?"

The head of the Varia slowly blinked at the opening doors. He spoke lowly. "I think the trash better not disappoint me." Lussuria smiled at his response.

"Look guys, they're opening up the doors." He told the rest of his team excitedly. Immediately they ceased bickering and strained to better see past the lumbering entrance. The crowd began to slowly move forward. Bright streams of light widened into the dim hallway and illuminated the impatient faces of onlookers.

Shapes slowly began to take form as his shaded eyes quickly adjusted to the light. He recognized many small banquet tables littered across the room. Contrary to the artificial brightness of the entryway, most of the room was lit of natural light pouring in from the windows. Lussuria began to walk further inside to get a better look. Yes, and outside of the gorgeously sparkling windows a beautiful sunset played over the Varia garden. He gasped.

It was beautiful.

The sounds of a soft jazz orchestra reached his ears as his eyes rushed to take in the sights. From the elaborately decorated stage in the backroom to the dark polished wooden flooring to the Da Vinci styled ceiling it was all breathtaking.

That was until his eyes turned to the center of the room.

Water filled Lussuria's eyes at the sight of the enormous golden fountain sitting dead center. His mind raced with emotions as his feet led him towards the edge. He couldn't believe it. He reached forward to touch the shining water and laughed when the cool liquid soaked into his gloves.

It was real. It was really real.

Before he knew it, the rest of the Varia along with many others had gathered around the circumference of the huge fountain. He briefly heard Squalo exclaim, "Hey Xanxus call up the town, I think this lunatic stole the Trevi!" His laughter mingled in with the hearty ones of those around him while Xanxus just smiled and shook his head.

Then all of a sudden Spanner was there next to him beaming at the fruits of his labor. He turned to the martial artist. "So how do you like it?"

Lussuria choked for words. "It-It's incredible! I…I don't even…h-how did you do it? I thought it was impossible! But now, it's…" He gazed lovingly back at the fountain. "It's even better than I remembered."

Spanner patted the occupied Varian on the back. "Do me a favor and don't worry about all that. Just…enjoy the moment." They remained that way for several minutes, simply relishing in the tranquil sounds of the water.

Spanner jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Tranquil mood effectively shattered, he turned around and came face to face with none other than Tsuna in a full navy blue suit and matching tie. The young man chuckled sheepishly, "Hi Stranger."

"Huh, no kidding. It's been a long week." Spanner smiled. He followed the current Vongola boss away from the fountain and its awed onlookers.

"I bet it was." Tsuna said. "I can't believe you guys managed all this. It's amazing!"

Spanner laughed and scratched the back of his neck. "So I heard."

"Yeah, I hope you took a before and after picture."

Spanner paused. After several steps Tsuna noticed the mechanic was no longer following and backtracked. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Spanner lifted up his teary eyed face. "My life is ruined." He buried his face in his hands.

Tsuna nervously looked around for some help. "Uh, don't worry. I'm sure somebody took some pictures. M-Maybe the Varia –"

"Nobody's going to believe it really happened." Spanner dramatically sobbed.

"Um, there there." Tsuna awkwardly prodded the mechanic's shoulder in an attempt to comfort. "Ah, how about we go get some drinks? That'll definitely make you feel better."

Spanner sullenly agreed. Tsuna clapped his hands together. "Great. I'm sure they have an open bar around here somewhere…Aha!"

When they finally made it to the bar, Tsuna helped a melancholy Spanner slump himself over the granite countertop. "Do you have any wines?" He asked the bartender who nodded and moved away, but Spanner's hand shot up before the man could retreat to the drinks. "Wait, I was raised English. Give me scotch."

The bartender raised an eyebrow. Tsuna laughed nervously. "We'll just take two glasses of wine." The weirded out man nodded again and retreated.

"You're cramping my style, Vongola."

He stared at the man incredulously. "Hahaha, you sure are a character Spanner."

The slumped over man shrugged.

"Say, how did you get that fountain in here? I heard Lussuria say it was impossible." Tsuna said.

"Oh, you with little faith. How could you ever doubt technology?" Spanner waggled his fingers at the mafia boss.

"Hold on a minute, so it was fake?!"

Spanner giggled and shushed him with a finger to the young man's lips. Tsuna quirked an eyebrow. Spanner whispered. "It's our little secret."

Tsuna continued staring at the crazed mechanic. "You did have something to drink already, didn't you?"

The mechanic giggled again. "How do you think I gave that speech?"

Tsuna couldn't help but laugh. "Spanner you're awesome, you know that?"

"That's right, kid. And don't you forget it." They both heartily snickered at the bar deep into the night until all the guests left and the servants began cleaning up. But right before he passed out from intoxication as Tsuna had, Spanner drunkenly reached into the pocket of his suit jacket. "Almost forgot." He pointed the remote at the fountain and clicked the button causing the entire top half of the structure to disappear. "Can't be wasting electricity, now can we?"

And then he was out like the fountain lights, deep into the slumbering effects of some good scotch.

Ayyyyyeeeee~ who would of thought, huh?

So that's all she wrote. I hope you enjoyed reading this even half as much as I enjoyed writing it! And look forward to the occasional one-shot because I admit I love writing Spanner.

Thanks so much to everyone who showed their support whether that was by reviewing, favoriting, following, or just checking out my story. So if you're reading this, thank you soooo much!

Don't forget all them cute little moral lessons sprinkled throughout this story. Especially the one about a stranger making somebody's day. You never know!

Don't forget to review and tell me your final thoughts and/or questions, lots of love~!

Ciao~