I want to be Near you Always

I am aware that the time frame is off, but it is that way intentionally... I've changed the coarse of events (slightly) to make the plot of my fanfiction run more smoothly. This is not a tragedy unless you're a huge Misa fan. And I've tried very hard to keep everyone in character, please note that a person's nature is subject to change with the situation and small details give away so very much about a person. I did my best to profile the characters of Death Note as though they were real people, And I tried hard not to "Overwrite" any particular characteristic, (ex. Mello being angry; Yes, he lets his emotions get away with him, but it isn't just anger. All of his emotions are openly displayed, although you see anger the most because, honestly, who wouldn't be angry in his situation. I'd almost diagnose him as being manic-depressive.) Feel free to review, I'll answer any questions or complaints you may have... Also, please forgive me for Matt's characterization, he wasn't in the manga nearly long enough. (I lurve you Matt!!!) And I'm really sorry for the long intro. I wanted to get that out of the way, cause it was bothering me.

I don't own Death Note, but I really want Mello's pants!

Warning: Yaoi, a Threesome, and cake.

some mild OOCness, or not.

Near x Mello x Matt

L x Light

Yay!

Near hated Matt... with a passion... Oh no... Cool, calm Near would never show it, but every time he saw Matt talking calmly with his fiery, brash Mello, he wanted to wrap his pale hands around the tech junkie's throat and choke the life out of him. Mello was civil to Matt; they talked, they joked, they treated each other like human beings, whereas Mello treated Near like an alien, and because Mello did, so did Matt.

It wasn't even that he didn't like Matt, he would be content to share if the techie would only let him warm himself by the fire that was Mello. He never understood why Mello saw him as competition, it wasn't like he was trying to take away Mello's glory, he was just doing what he was good at.

What Mello didn't understand was how envious Near was of him. Mello had friends, and followers. He was a glowing being who attracted people with his natural fire while Near remained cold and invisible to everyone. In that way they were equals, Near saw it, but Mello refused to see it that way.

As for Matt, Near liked him well enough. He was always just inside of Mello's glow, like a good shadow. Near was a shadow too, but he was a shadow in his own light; he eclipsed himself. Always alone... people looked up to him, but they couldn't seem to see the person behind the genius. Maybe that was how L felt. Near cast a glance toward the allegedly deceased detective as he sat curled up in the usual fashion on the couch, eating cake.

Near had noticed the changes in L almost immediately. He didn't eat as much, and he always seemed to have a faraway look that was never there before. And he slept... a lot...

"This is about Light Yagami, isn't it?" Near asked once again, but for the first time since L wandered in, looking battered and half-starved, the World's Greatest Detective gave him an answer.

"He is Kira, and I love him. Even knowing he is Kira and that he tried to kill me, I want to save him... I'm sure you understand, Near-kun."

Near glanced at the image of Mello on the monitor screen and nodded slightly. Even this broken, half-hearted L was better than no L at all and Light Yagami could fix L, bring back the L he'd idolized as a child, Near was sure of it. The only difficulty, it seemed, would be getting Light to give up the Death Note. According to L, after he gave it up, Light wouldn't remember being Kira at all and he'd go back to being the self-righteous boy L loved so much.

It was easier said than done... To accomplish the all but unattainable goal, Near knew they'd need Mello's help. He just had to phrase it right...

The phone rang exactly five times before Mello answered. "What do you want?"

"We need your help..." Near said coolly.

"We?"

"L and myself..."

"You're working with him?" Mello practically spat.

"The real L. " Near disguised his elation perfectly.

"He's alive?" Near could hear the thread of hope working its way into Mello's tone. In the background he could just pick up Matt's voice, "Who's alive? Mello? Wait up; let me save the game!"

Judging by his arrival time, Near estimated that Mello must have broken the speed limit by at least 50 mph. The brash blonde stormed into the building past the swat team without even looking at them. The only thing that kept them from shooting him was Near's order to let him in.

Matt was smarter, or maybe he just had better survival instinct, because he hesitated in the door and entered with his hands up. "I'm with the blonde hurricane... You didn't shoot him, don't shoot me, okay?"

Mello was making progress, Near observed, but he was still having trouble navigating the labyrinth of rooms within rooms L had built. Near suspected the sheer genius of it was inspired by his desire to survive long enough to save Light. Even the pale boy had to memorize the blueprint before L burned it or he would have gotten lost going to the bathroom. L's design put the mythological Labyrinth to shame... But Mello, by skill or sheer determination, managed to navigate it and find the room they were waiting in.

Mello caught sight of L and Near could feel the tension in the air for a full five seconds before Mello threw himself at L. Near couldn't blame him, he'd been tempted to do the same thing. Mello's shining gold hair contrasted greatly against L's coal colored tresses; they made a beautiful picture for the split second they embraced, then L held Mello back by his shoulders.

"You're grown... Both of you have... Perhaps you should go retrieve your unfortunate friend before we have this reunion?"

"Matt? Shit!" Mello exclaimed, and it pleased Near in some small way that Mello hadn't even thought of Matt when he rushed off. Matt appeared to have given up, and was sitting against a wall playing his PSP, probably waiting for Mello.

Half an hour later everyone congregated in the same room for a conference. Mello sat as close to L as he could without arousing suspicion so Near imitated him on the other side and the three stared intently at the object L had just revealed.

"A Death Note? You had one all this time?" Mello asked, but his tone was subdued. Near knew Mello wouldn't question L, even though it shocked him too.

"Yes, Ran-san has been very helpful." L's praise seemed to please the Shinigami hovering at the other side of the table and a grin broke on its... lips? Near wasn't sure lips was the correct word... Mello had lips... Soft and full and pink; the Shinigami, on the other hand, had a nice size hole in its face where a mouth should be... And fangs. Near had nightmares like this when he was a child... He never imagined anything so frightening could be real...

Much to Near's comfort; Mello took his chocolate out of his mouth and observed the creature as if he expected it to ooze on him. At least he wasn't the only one disturbed... Mello didn't put his chocolate aside for many things... Near almost... almost laughed when Mello intoned, "Was your mommy the mummy?"

"Don't make me write your name..." Ran muttered darkly, lifting a long clawed talon to caress along Mello's jaw. Near noticed that both he and Matt tensed, ready to act if the shinigami tried to hurt Mello. It made him respect Matt a bit more. L on the other hand looked perfectly calm, like he'd seen it all already.

Mello gave a shudder, which Near assumed was in disgust, and said "It feels like a dead fish! Tell it not to touch me!"

"Ran-san is a terrible exhibitionist... She can't seem to resist..." L's voice was neutral, but the shinigami looked ashamed of herself and let go of Mello's chin, slinking back to her place.

Near hesitantly reached over and wiped Mello's face with his sleeve... "I wouldn't want Ran to touch me either..." He whispered hoping to appease Mello.

Mello contemplated Near like he'd never seen him before, then lowered his gaze and said something that must have been very hard for him. "Thank you...Near."

Something between them changed in that instant, but Near wasn't sure yet what it was... the silence seemed to drag on onto eternity and when Ran finally spoke, Matt jumped...

"So, what's the plan? I can't do anything 'till you humans make up your minds..."

"Why don't all the creepy-as-hell fuckers leave the room until the normal people come up with a plan?" Mello growled.

"After you..." Ran shot back, motioning to the door...

A glaring match ensued...

Near decided it was very likely that someone would die if things kept going like this, so he broke the tension quietly, "Mello, I was hoping to get your opinion on the situation... For L's sake, we must stop 'Kira' without hurting him... You already managed to take the Death Note from him once, how do we do it again?"

It might have been Near's imagination, but Mello seemed to glow for a second before a nasty smirk took it's place... "You admit you can't do it without my help?"

Near blinked unemotionally, weighing his options as he pulled a transformer from his pocket... Mello had a tendency to take things the wrong way, so he went with what was perhaps his best option... "Please, Mello..."

Mello looked taken aback; Near hadn't admitted defeat, he'd simply placed them on even ground, equals... "Okay, fine, since you said please... We can't do the same thing... This time he'll have to want to give it up..."

"Mind games?" Near asked.

"Exactly... What do you think is the one thing that would scare 'Kira'?"

"L..."

"Right, so here's the plan..." As Mello spoke, Near wondered how they'd gone from threatening and backstabbing, to planning together... understanding perfectly what the other was thinking... Perhaps the earlier shift, if one could call it that, had aligned them into what they should be... But what, exactly, should they be?

"We send L out to places Light is likely to be... And make damn sure Light recognizes him..."

"Only glimpses at first?" Near queried, testing his own understanding of Mello's plan.

"For a while, then L will slip him a message..." Mello continued Near's thought.

"In icing..." Matt added without looking up from his game, Near turned to him curiously and Mello turned as well, but Matt continued anyway... "You want to make sure he knows it really is L, right? How many people know about L's sweet tooth?"

"Okay then, we'll use red icing, it doesn't have to be pretty, we only need one letter to get the point across..." Mello went on, accommodating Matt's idea into the plan so flawlessly that Near just had to smile... They really were very bright.

Mello seemed to stop breathing for a split second, which worried Near, but he picked back up on his thoughts after a brief pause... "Any suggestions, Near? Matt?"

"What do we do after that?" Matt asked, looking back and forth between Mello and Near. Matt wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but then again, this box only had the very brightest crayons so he wasn't dim either Near reasoned. In truth, Near knew that Matt was as smart as Mello and himself, Matt just didn't care.

"Depending on his reactions, it seems we could go one of two ways..." Near began.

Mello finished for him, "We could use guilt or threats..."

"We could send a message in the same fashion, one letter at a time..." Near reasoned...

"Or we could have L call him..." Mello suggested... a bit of roguish humor tinted his voice for all to hear...

"It would certainly clear him of suspicion if he had a heart attack." Matt stated blandly and Mello had the audacity to laugh.

"He would definitely be shocked to get a call from the other side. It could go something like, 'We're out of cake down here, mind picking some up before you come next week?' Can you imagine his face?"

"A call from L would put pressure on him from his team, we could use it as a last resort..." Near continued; this new, more open side of Mello was surprisingly charming but it also lead him to suspect that Mello was crashing from his usual caffeine high... He hadn't touched his chocolate since Ran entered the room...

As if on cue, Mello picked up the forgotten Hershey bar and took a bite. "We could have L touch him with his Death Note, and then Ran can deliver our messages."

"We'll do it at the same time as our first message..." Near realized that he and Mello were contributing evenly, while L had yet to make a comment either for or against their plan. That was enough to make Near look toward his idol. He recognized the look of pride L now wore as the one he had worn when they were young and either Near or Mello did something particularly noteworthy. So L was proud that they were working so well together? Maybe that was what he wanted all along.

Mello seemed to notice to and he nodded to Near, "We'll use Matt to set up surveillance equipment, if he can put down that damn game that long."

It amused Near how Matt sulked when Mello reprimanded him; it was cute. Matt even put the game down and joined the meeting after that.

The three of them worked well together, Near realized as they laid down the last of their plans, and Matt was appealing in a sarcastic, joking way. Maybe it was his influence that caused Mello to lighten up. Thus, sixteen Hershey bars, two renovated dice cities, and four new high scores later they were ready to put their plan into action. The only problem was that it was midnight and Light would most likely be asleep, so they decided by mutual consensus that they could do no more and that they had earned a good night's sleep. Thus the three sleepy teenagers and the twenty-eight year old insomniac traipsed off to bed.

I have four chapters done, but I want to know what everyone thinks before I post more. good or bad, please review and tell me...,