Authors' Note: This branches from canon separately from our Furious Angels fics. Based on things that happen when we're on long car rides together at night. Spoilers for late in the series that you probably know already if you're here. Apologies for it being a little late; meant to get it finished and posted on January 26th.

The Road Less Traveled

Part I: Jellybean Roulette

"Hey."

He could feel himself drawing breath, but he was comfortable, and there seemed to be absolutely no pressing reason to move and disrupt better rest than he could remember having for quite a long time. For once, nothing hurt.

"Dude. C'mon. Wake up."

There was a distinct smell of tobacco smoke. Mello's nostrils momentarily flared - he ought to dislike smoke, he thought, but he couldn't bring himself to care about this particular variety. It contributed to the comfort, in fact.

"Mello!"

Mello wasn't sure if it was the shove at his arm or the slight note of concern in the other's voice that finally convinced him to open his eyes. "Ow, what gives?" He scowled, rubbing at his arm, and the first thing his glare alighted upon was the young auburn-haired man next to him. "You could've let me sleep. I haven't had that good a rest in..."

But Matt wasn't smiling. He sat twisted in the driver's seat, the nearly-done cigarette between his lips twitching as he unclenched his teeth. His goggles were hanging down around his neck, but otherwise he appeared as Mello had last seen him, wearing the same striped shirt and warm vest.

Mello didn't stop to try to puzzle through why that seemed both a relief and an impossibility. He looked around at the car whose front passenger seat he occupied. It was unfamiliar - old, the sort of sedan with one long seat across the front as in the back, with the gear shift on the steering column. There were wrappers and other trash on the floors, and the old dial-type radio glowed orange-red. The chrome on the plastic fixtures was flaking and the entire vehicle smelled of the decaying foam rubber from within the seats. There were some pillows and blankets tossed about the back seat.

And outside there was absolutely nothing but pitch black, unbroken darkness.

"Where are we?" Mello asked first, trying to kick his memory into gear.

"I dunno." Matt took the cigarette from his mouth and mashed it out in the built-in ash tray in the dash. "I woke up like... ten, fifteen minutes ago. Got tired of waiting for your lazy ass to get up."

Mello frowned. He ought to be able to remember the circumstances that brought him here. "I can't remember what's going on. Where were we going?"

"You got me, man." Matt settled in his seat more properly. "Keys are in the ignition, tank full of gas, and we're pointed this way, so... wanna find out?" He looked over again and smiled for a moment.

"I guess." Mello squirmed, patting down every pocket on his person. "I can't find my phone."

"Me neither."

"Hm."

The car sputtered once, then roared awake. The headlights revealed nothing outside but a the berm of a deserted asphalt road. Matt looked once at Mello again, then shifted the car into gear, and they rolled out.

There was nothing on the radio but songs and static. Mostly static. Mello left it on, low but audible, hoping for a news bulletin. Or even just an announcer. "Crappy radio," he grumbled. "Matches the car, I guess. Do you remember how we ended up with this piece of junk?"

"Hey, this is a great car!" Matt protested, patting the dash. His hand rested on the dusty vinyl at the end of the motion, the easy smile fading from his face again.

"This was my gran's car."

Slouched half against the passenger side door with his head propped on his hand, Mello looked over at Matt, but he didn't have to say anything for the other to continue.

"I know I said before; I had to have at some point. I lived with my gran for a few years after my parents died. Last seven or eight months of that was in this car. They took it away when she ended up in the hospital." His tone of voice says took me away too. "I thought it was long gone."

Mello took a little while to respond. "You know that just makes this more weird, right?"

Matt smiled again. "Like the amnesia doesn't make it weird enough? Look at it this way: we're probably on vacation, given the car. Otherwise we'd be driving something more recent."

Mello considered that, then nodded, and straightened up in his seat again. It made sense.

"There, see? Relax." Matt shifted in his seat. "Kinda hungry though."

"Yeah, I could use a drink." Mello stretched his arms as much as he could, angling so as to not hit Matt in the face. "Haven't seen any signs or anything yet." No telling where they were or how long until they'd need gas or where they'd be able to stop for food...

"There's a cooler behind your seat," Matt suggested.

Mello twisted, got his knees under himself, and leaned over the back of the seat until he could reach the small cooler and fumble the lid open. "Looks like beer."

"Root beer," corrected the other, with a grin. "Good stuff. Grab me one too. Any jellybeans?"

Handing his friend one of the cool bottles, the blond gave a skeptical glance. "Jellybeans."

"Yeah, Gran always kept a big jar around, great for road trips - check by your feet."

Mello settled back in his seat and leaned forward, nudging aside some fast food packaging with his feet. Sure enough, the gallon-sized jar was sitting on its side, nearly under the seat. "How old are these?" he asked, lifting the jar and giving it a shake. By size and variance of color, the little pellets inside did seem to be gourmet jellybeans, and they weren't melted or stuck together, at least.

"I would've gotten them for this trip myself, duh," Matt explained with a roll of his eyes. He held the wheel steady with his knees and elbows long enough to get the cap off of his bottle of root beer. The road seemed absolutely flat and straight and didn't vary even then.

Mello braced the jar between his knees and unscrewed the lid. "I can't tell what color most of these are. The lighting's wrong."

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters! How else do you keep from eating the nasty ones?"

"You don't. It's like Russian roulette. Adds to the excitement." Matt grinned.

It was the first time he had since he'd awoken, and Mello suddenly realized how much he looked for that grin. If Matt could be that much at ease, everything would work out just fine, no matter how strange at the moment. "I generally don't look to jellybeans for excitement," the blond responded, but he finally relaxed enough to smile as well.

"Your loss." Matt took a swig from his root beer and set the bottle in a cup holder hanging on the driver's side door, then reached into the jar, which Mello held for him. "Maybe you wouldn't get into such messes if you took it easy and enjoyed the little things more, y'know?" He gestured vaguely with his handful of jellybeans, possibly indicating the scar tissue still showing red over the left side of the blond's face and body.

Another skeptical stare. "Are you seriously trying to critique my life based on my lack of having played jellybean roulette?"

"I'm just sayin'! You take stuff too seriously most of the time." Matt popped one of the candies into his mouth. "Strawberry. Anyway, it's also a good game because it hones the senses. Exercise your taste buds. Tell me what flavors you get."

Mello snorted, and dug in the jar until he got a few beans that he was certain weren't dark colored. "Mm. Okay, that's... something with lemon."

"See, that's not bad." Matt popped another. "Cotton candy."

"Sweet with a bit of - is there a cream soda flavor?"

"Yes, yes there is. There you go. Orange."

"Coconut."

"Cappuccino."

"Are you serious? Who makes coffee flavored jellyb-augh!" Mello made a face, but after a moment, kept chewing. "Who the hell makes popcorn jellybeans and why is this good?"

Matt laughed. "You don't have these, like, ever, do you?"

"No, they're not really my thing."

They rode in silence for a moment, before Matt added, "Cinnamon."

"Cherry."

"Margarita."

"Seriously?"

"I don't make 'em, I just enjoy 'em." Matt reached into the jar again. "There's chocolate flavored ones." He smirked, glancing toward Mello.

Mello dug through the jar as well, this time trying to find beans that were dark, but not too dark. One of this batch did indeed prove to be chocolate. Although "It tastes like fake chocolate flavor like you find in hard candies."

"That's because that's what it is, dumbass."

Mello stuck his tongue out at the driver. "I hope you get an entire handful of pear." It had been the only flavor so far that Matt had expressed dislike for.

"Pfeh. Coconut."

"Lime."

"We should put the lime in the -"

"Shut up. You and your taste in music." Mello rolled his eyes.

"There's nothing wrong with my taste in music! It's... eclectic."

"Which is another word for bizarre."

Matt grinned again. "Well, technically -"

Mello suddenly gave a choking shout, hands flying to his mouth, almost spilling the jar of jellybeans in the process.

"What! Mello! What is-"

"Licorice!" The blond groaned. "Ugh, that just - Ugh! Now everything's going to taste like that shit!"

Matt burst out laughing, bouncing in his seat in delight. "God, you wuss, have some of your drink!"

"That - who in their right mind ever thought humans should eat something that tasted like that! Ugh!" Mello grabbed up his root beer and took several long drinks, swishing the soda about in his mouth to remove the offending taste.

"Hey, I like the licorice ones. Tastes like anise."

"You mean tastes like ass." Mello drained the bottle.

"Nope, that's totally different," Matt said cheerfully. Mello choked again, just barely avoiding spitting his drink.

"You're such a dick."

"Takes one to know one." Matt smirked and took a drink from his own bottle. "Loser."

"What."

Matt glanced over at the blond. "Oh, come on, you can't tell me that was anything but a spectacular loss. I didn't freak out like that when I got a pear flavored one."

"Okay, fine, I lose," Mello said after a moment. "This round."

"There you go, that's the spirit."

They smiled at each other; Mello felt he could stand a loss to Matt, but only to Matt. And the next time they stopped to eat at a restaurant, he'd slip hot sauce into Matt's food, and then they'd see who the loser was.

"You want any more?" Mello gestured with the jar.

Matt shook his head. "Nah, I'm good right now."

"Right, I'm gonna close this up and get myself another dri-"

Matt stomped on the breaks. "You see that?!"

Up ahead, just outside range of the headlights, there was something at the side of the road. Mello wordlessly jammed the lid back on the jar as they approached, slowed significantly. The beam of the headlights crept up -

Moving. A figure. Someone walking.

Mello and Matt looked at each other, then back at the figure slouching unsteadily along, huddled with arms folded in a white shirt. "Roll down your window," Matt said, pulling alongside.

Something was wrong here, Mello thought. Impossibly wrong. But he rolled down the window, shocked at the unexpected cold of the air that flooded into the warm car. "Hey," he called as they came close.

And then they came alongside, and for a moment, he lost his voice. He only stared at the man walking in the dark, his mouth open. The man neither turned to them nor acknowledged their presence at all, arms folded tight, staring from under his black shock of hair at the ground that would have seemed invisible to him without the car's lights.

It all made sense. Slowly Mello closed his mouth, sinking back in his seat a little.

"Hey!" Matt called, leaning over - but when the figure kept walking, he honked the horn.

The walking man stopped, turning his head slightly, regarding the occupants of the car with black and deeply shaded eyes and neutral expression. The car squeaked as it halted entirely.

"You need a lift or what?" Matt asked after a moment.

The pale man reached out, hesitantly tapping the passenger door with a few fingers, then laying his hand on it. On impulse, Mello reached up and touched the tip of the walker's finger.

The man snatched his hand away, but his expression still didn't change. He met Mello's eyes and they stared at each other for a long moment.

"C'mon, get in," Matt said gently, watching the exchange.

The man laid his hand on the car again, trailing it along to the handle of the back door, and opened it and crawled inside. As Mello rolled up his window again, the black-haired man crouched amongst the blankets and pillows with his feet on the seat, shivering. He didn't raise his eyes to look at either of them, nor did he seem to take interest in his new surroundings; he only stared at the blank back of the front seat, eyes half-closed.

Mello and Matt looked at each other, unspeaking; then Matt shifted gears and pulled the car up to speed again.

Mello turned in his seat to get onto his knees again, and offered the jar in his hands to the new passenger. "Jellybeans?"

Disclaimer: Death Note (manga, animation, novels, etc.), its story, and characters are the property, copyright and trademark of Taugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata/SHUEISHA Inc./Madhouse/DNDP/VAP, and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes.