The feathers have blown away
Now they are dyed a crimson red.
My, my, why isn't the bird dead?
Must it take so long a stay?
One.
Matt walked in after exactly twenty minutes had passed. Mello stormed over, eyes wide, and surprisingly full of fear.
"Matt—It was him, he had to have escaped somehow—"
"Hey, calm down, we'll—"
"This is L's fucking—"
"Shut up!" Matt shouted, making Mello wince in pain at the loud cacophony of sound reverberating in the room. "Now, let's make sure you're not going to keel over in a second or two. You look like you got hit with a brick or something, and I swear, if your skull was any thicker…" Matt muttered as he forcefully directed Mello to the kitchen. "Start ranting your name and age and shit like that." Matt received a rather fierce glare from the other as he took a warm washcloth to his forehead.
"Matt-" and it was the redhead's turn to glare.
"Mihael Kheel, twenty two, and I hate you."
"Good. Never hurts to check."
They were silent for a moment—Mello was still shaking.
"So," Matt said, "How do you know it was BB?"
"There's jam smeared on my door, a jar of it was in the center of the room and—and he left a Wara Ningyo of me nailed to the wall." Matt's eyes widened a little behind his goggles.
"No doubt anymore… but how did he escape…?"
"He was going to be L before he went psychotic. Of course he escaped."
Mello snatched the washcloth from Matt to fix himself up, stubborn as ever. Matt went out into the main room to take a look around. It was so strange. He had always wanted Near to vanish but… not BB. Not that demented bastard. They wouldn't check for fingerprints or any of that- it was time to cut straight to the chase. Literally. There wasn't any doubt of who the kidnapper was.
Matt noted that the jam jar was no longer in the perfect center of the room. It looked like Mello had kicked it, and it was broken, the jam splattered on the wall. Matt turned away to the broken window, with its glittering glass. The mid-afternoon sun seemed so far away, dimmer than usual. The sun held no mirth today. It was solemn, like a search light with a wide beam.
"Mello… what will you do…?" Matt whispered to himself as he glanced back to the kitchen door.
After Kira and he and Mello had gone back to L.A., disappearing into a more normal lifestyle, Near had followed and found them.
Matt and Mello had shared a lot when Kira was around. But then the strangest, most perplexing thing had occurred. Mello had dropped Matt like a broken toy, and went on to Near. Matt had bitten his tongue to keep his bitter words and thoughts to himself ever since.
Was… this a chance?
He didn't normally like to be one of the scheming ones but… it wasn't as though he held malice.
Just desperation.
Someone was humming.
Near opened his eyes—but he was blindfolded. He was being carried somewhere. It was an eerie tune, the one his kidnapper was humming. It sounded like an nursery tune taken into a minor key. He tried moving, but something sharp, cold and thin touched his neck in warning.
"Oh so the little dove is awake!" an eerie voice to match the eerie tune. The voice echoed.
"Who are you?" Near demanded. His blindfold was removed.
It was L. And yet it wasn't.
Dark ruffled hair, wide black eyes with deep shadows beneath them, and he was wearing what looked like a torn straight jacket.
"Beyond Birthday," Near breathed, shuddering.
BB moved forward and kissed him almost tenderly. Near struggled, but BB held him still.
"There, there, dove. You weren't this objective the last time we met."
"That was entirely different," Near said.
"No, not really," BB said and circled him, "This is just like then. Because I am L, but I am not."
"No, you-"
"Shut up, little dove, or else you might get hurt." BB peered at him through empty eyes that held none of L's good will, eagerness, concentration. These dark eyes were a chaotic void. "You're mine now, you belong to me. You will do everything I say, and you will realize that L was simply nothing. I'll get my point across this time."
BB grinned at Near, looking crazed.
Matt returned to Mello, who was now hunched over, head in hands.
"Matt, we have to get set up. We have to pretend to be him."
"What?"
"What do you think people would do if they found out that 'L' is missing? We have to take over for him. We'll switch working on his cases and searching for him."
"Mello, you're panicking."
Icy eyes looked into ones filtered by orange.
"This is BB we're talking about, Matt, there is no such thing as 'panicking' when it comes to him! You remember the story L told me, right? We've got to get him back as soon as we can! So shut up and get a move on!" Mello spat and heaved himself up. He went through another door, into what seemed to be the work room. There were screens lined up all along one wall, orderly stacks of paper and pictures, files, and file cabinets, a few piles of chocolate bar wrappers, and a small tower of dice.
They could do everything from this room. They could make a start.
After all, the clock was ticking.
Tick, tick, tick.
Near watched BB's every movement.
How could he get out of here?
His gray eyes glided around the area.
This was… terrifying.
He didn't know where he was, but he knew BB had taken him here through the sewers. BB let out a low giggle, dark eyes just wide voids.
"Dove, have you ever used a Death Note?" he asked, running a hand through a tuft of white hair.
Near steeled himself, and said nothing.
He would do nothing, say nothing.
He had not spoken for a day now. Not let out a single sound.
"Hm… would you like to? Go on, surely you want to write something down. Surely there's someone you hate. What about… dear Mello? You know his name. Or matt, the jealous one…" BB's eyes were slits as he flitted around the room, his movements seeming wrong somehow. Awkward.
Had… BB been watching them somehow for- for how long?
"Yes, I know all about you and Matt trying to win your finicky chocolate lover's heart. The truth is he's leading you on."
Near knew this was simply BB twisting the situation to try and break him. He knew of Mello's inner struggle. He and Mello had spoken of it often, while working on cases.
He said nothing. He knew Matt would never do anything. Matt was… he never wanted to try. Matt was the masochist. He simply wouldn't. He was one of those sad people who were always half in love with tragedy.
"You're good, little dove. Didn't even blink an eye." BB ran a hand almost lovingly. Sickeningly so. Near narrowed his eyes.
"I'll tell you something, Dove. The more you cooperate, the better off you'll be. I'm sure you've heard my story from dear Mihael…"
BB knew Mello's name.
And BB also had a Death Note.
Some weeks earlier.
It was time to rid the world of the notes. He held the Death Notes over the candle. There was a flurry of movement and the room was suddenly bathed in darkness, the candle blown out- smoke curled in the starlight.
A figure sat before him.
Crouching in the chair.
"L?" Near said questioningly on a childish whim.
"Yes and no," the figure said, and leaned closer, "Wait to destroy it." L-but-not-L got up, and as quickly as they came, they left.
Near was left, for once in his life, oddly heartbroken and bemused.
A/N: Wohoo! First chapter up! ^_^ Goodness, I have to admit, this is fun to write. I'm not usually one for long plotlines that end up getting complicated, since I prefer to write things with simplicity as a main factor, but this... is part experiment part demented idea that PeppermintMocha and I came up with. She wanted a BBxNear fic, so... this bugger came to me. Hope you enjoy it, darlings!