A/N: Ah, well, here is the second chapter to this story! First, let me thank all of you who reviewed and/or favorited/alerted this story! It means a lot to me that you did, as my confidence in writing has been really low lately, and I was really worried this wasn't going to do well. So thank you all. Also, a huge thanks to my wonderful beta-muse, Lumorai, for reading over this and making sure everything was correct! (oh, and making sure Near wasn't a cannibal!) Anyway, please enjoy chapter two and let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of the characters used in this story.
Chapter 2
Everything was quiet between the two successors for a long minute, both wondering what exactly they were expected to do now? Neither of them knew how to take care of a child, let alone work together with one another in order to do it. Both wished, in that moment, that L had at least given them a bit of warning about something like this.
'At least if I'd had some warning about this stupid plan I could have found a way to get out of this!' Mello huffed and crossed his arms, 'That's probably why he didn't…' But that wasn't what happened, and now the two were alone with this huge responsibility. Neither dared to think about how long they would have to go along with L's little plan before they were released from this burden.
Near was finally the one to break the tense silence, sighing and taking a cautious step closer to his own bed. Ignoring the problem ahead of them was not going to benefit anybody here. There was a part of him that just wished he understood this situation a bit more so he didn't feel so much like he was entering into something so blind.
"Well… what should we do now?" Mello questioned him.
Near simply shrugged, watching as the baby flailed happily on his bed, waving his arms around and smiling brightly. "How should I know?" He asked without looking at the blonde. The younger couldn't help but carefully take a seat beside the child and reaching out to gently trace the jaw line of the small boy. "He's soft…" He commented without realizing.
"Of course he is. He's a baby, Near," Mello sneered. Pouting a bit but stepping closer as well, he moved over to sit on the opposite side of the baby boy.
"Have you never touched a baby before?" He wondered, looking at him quizzically.
Near shook his head, "When would I have ever had the chance to? I've been here so long, and the greater majority of orphans brought into Wammy's are at least four years old." He explained. "I have never handled a baby before." He admitted, watching as the boy took one of Near's fingers and popped it in his mouth.
Near had the instantly reaction to snatch his hand back, wanting to escape the warm, moist cavern his finger had been forced into. But when those big bright hazel eyes moved up to look at him, there was just something that tugged at his heart and told him to let the child have his way.
Mello huffed once more, "Great, so now I have to deal with teaching you too? Of all the things to not know about, Near… You're a fucking genius yet you can't even handle a child."
"Mello, pointing out my own faults is not going to help us with this child, right now." He pointed out, hoping to distract Mello from the topic. He hated the idea of giving Mello leverage over himself. It was something so miniscule, and quite obvious, really, but even the smallest thing, he knew, gave Mello reason to use it against him.
Suddenly, something clicked in his mind, "Did L happen to tell us what this boy's name was?"
Mello's azure eyes looked from the child between them back to Near. "I didn't hear it." His look changed to confusion, "Do you think he has one?"
"If L did not inform us, then I believe it is only safe to assume that he doesn't." Near replied, their eyes locking with a mutual wonder shared between them. "I suppose, then, that the first thing we should do is name him." He explained, breaking their locked eyes to look down once more. The boy between them looked back and forth between Mello and Near, still sucking on Near's finger, unaware of the tension between his new fathers.
"So, what should his name be?" Mello wondered, which led him to another thought, "Should we give him an alias? I mean… if he is destined to succeed L someday then that's important."
Near shook his head, "Unless you are going to take the time, when he is older, to explain why he has two names and why he is not allowed to tell one of them, and expect him to completely understand, then I do not believe we should complicate him with it. When he is older, and capable of fully grasping the magnitude of what he is supposed to do, then we will give him an alias and explain it all. Until then… I believe it only be fitting for him to be raised with one real name." His dark eyes flicked back to Mello, momentarily, "Even we lived with our real names for a number of years before having to give them up."
Mello nodded, "Yeah, I guess…" He looked down at the boy, letting his fingers gently pet the tuft of black hair atop the boy's head. "Well then, what should his name be?" He grinned, "We could name him after me!"
Near's grey orbs again flicked back to Mello, giving him a ominous look, "And what name shall that be, Mello?" He asked, emphasizing the alias.
Blue eyes hardened as they met grey. "I was kidding." He covered, then looking away, down at the boy once more.
A heavy silence once again fell over the room, with the exception of the child between them, who mumbled to himself in his own language, who finally released Near's hand from his mouth and replacing it with his own little hand.
Near looked over to watch Mello's expression contort into one of wonder and question –the wheels in his mind obviously beginning to turn to try and put out any name to give to their newly acquired child. He watched as the blonde's finger's absentmindedly reached to his rosary, spinning the cross at the end of it as he often did when in thought.
"Isaiah." Mello finally offered quietly, with a small smile.
"Isaiah?" Near asked, partially to test out the way the name sounded.
Mello nodded, smiling. "Yeah, Isaiah." He then looked to Near, shooting him a glare, "What's wrong with that name, huh?"
Without waiting for an answer, he turned to the boy and picked him up, holding him at eye level, yet very careful with him as well, "What do you say, hm? Are you an Isaiah?" The black-haired boy gave a small giggle, kicking his legs.
Near couldn't help the small smile. There was something very natural about seeing Mello with a child. Perhaps it was because he was already so good with people, as opposed to himself, that it was just… a quality that came with that feature. In any case, in the back of his mind, he couldn't help the thought that suddenly this 'favor' of L's didn't seem quite so impossible anymore.
Sure, Near still had no clue what he was doing, or what to do with a child as small as he was. But Mello seemed to be fine, and even had a sort of air of confidence about his actions. As long as the two of them could keep from killing each other, there was no reason why L's plan didn't make sense.
He finally nodded, "Isaiah." He agreed, in his own silent way agreeing to both the name, as well as to taking up the challenge put before them.
"We should probably take him to the infirmary." Mello stated, breaking Near out of his thoughts. "You know, where they usually take care of kids his age. Hell, maybe they haven't heard about this arrangement yet and will be willing to take him off our hands!"
To this, Near glared at him. "And what do you believe L would do if he learned that we had given up on this favor that he asked of us? Though, considering this is L we're dealing with, I believe it would be more correct to call this a challenge from him, if anything." He said, picking his every word carefully, knowing all the right one to push each button in Mello.
Just as anticipated, Mello froze; his look shifting to Near. "A challenge?" Their eyes met, and for a long moment somehow the idea of L challenging them to this was transferred through the silence. Finally, the blonde growled, "Fine, we won't dump the kid… It's not like Roger would ever let tus get away with it for too long anyway."
He exhaled, then stepping closer to Near and holding Isaiah out to Near, "Here, you carry him downstairs. There's no way I'm being seen with him." Before Near could protest, the small child was forced into his hands.
Near tensed instantly, "Mello, I do not know how to hold a child!" He re-affirmed, glaring at the blonde.
To this, Mello rolled his eyes, taking Near's arms and positioning him correctly. "To hold him, you need to support him underneath," He explained calmly, placing one of Near's hands under Isaiah on his rear. "Then you need to hold him against you, to make sure he doesn't wiggle and accidentally fall." Taking Near's other hand, he placed it high on the boy's back –supporting both the boy's back and the back of his head. "It's pretty much the same if you want to just hold him in your arms instead of against you, like now." He explained, stepping back.
Near looked down at Isaiah, who was looking up at him from against Near's chest with big hazel eyes so full of wonder. He tightened his hold on the boy instinctively, a part of him afraid of dropping something so precious. He looked back up at Mello, "How do you know all of these things?" He wondered.
Mello backtracked a moment, his eyes showing shock at being called out. "I…" Instantly, though, he caught himself and walled it all up again. "That's none of your business, Near. Just be thankful I do. Otherwise you'd be fucked." He huffed starting to the door, "Let's go."
Near nodded, following him out into the hall. There was something in him, once they were out in the open and no longer in the confines of his room that made him clam up and feel as though everyone was watching him. Well, he had to admit, of course they were… Who, in their wildest dreams, would've ever imagined them in this sort of position?
It was odd. It was off. Perhaps even wrong. But Near had to remain objective in order to not let anything anyone could be saying or thinking get to him. He looked down to the child in his arms once more, making sure again that he was secure. 'You are my primary objective, now.' He thought. 'They don't understand how important it is that you are raised correctly and are able to succeed either Mello or myself.'
That was what he needed to keep him going –he needed to remind himself that, while it might seem out of place for them to be doing this, it was all in the name of keeping justice alive well after they were gone. That was the most important thing, in the end.
"Hey," Mello cut through Near's thoughts. His dark eyes looked over at him. "Don't pay any attention. If anyone says anything, I'll kill them. Got it?"
Near nodded without a word. 'We're thinking the same thing, again.' Near told himself with a small smirk, but turned to keep his look dead ahead of him, and ignore everyone that they passed that gave them confused or weird looks. He could feel it, and he could also feel how tense Mello was beside him. 'He's letting it get to him, despite his warning to me…' He sighed, 'He's going to have to learn how to ignore what people think and say about him.'
Before he could even think to say anything to Mello about the way he was acting, they reached the infirmary. The inside was an open room with beds separated by cloth screens. A couple were occupied with sick orphans trying to get some rest, but other than that things were pretty empty.
At the sound of the door opening and closing, one of the nurses that worked there entered from a side room, "Oh, hello!" She said with a bright smile, "I was wondering if you two might come and see us." She said matter-of-factly. "We were informed by Roger of your job and were told to assist in any way we can."
Mello grinned, "You willing to take him off our hands, then?"
"Mello." Near chided.
"I was kidding! God, Near, why do you always have to be such a hard-ass!" He huffed and turned a glare to the nurse, "We figured it'd be best to bring him here to get checked out. And maybe get whatever we're going to need for this." He explained, crossing his arms over his chest.
The nurse gave them a confused look, "Didn't they already set up a room for him upstairs? It's supposed to be between both of yours. Perhaps Roger didn't get a chance to tell you yet… but everything you'll need will be in there. And if there's something you need you just need to ask one of us, or Roger, and you'll get it." She stated.
"Now," She continued, "You wanna check up for this little guy, huh?" She carefully plucked Isaiah from Near's arms before he could register that she was doing it. There was a part of him that instantly felt like she'd just stolen something very valuable to him. He watched her take him for a moment before looking away and reaching up to twirl a lock of hair.
"First we'll need to take his height and weight. That'll give us a better estimate of how old he is. Even if he is a bit malnourished right now because of the situation he came out of." Her green eyes looked down at Isaiah with so much sympathy, "Come in here and we'll get started." She told the two, heading over to the side room she'd just come out of.
Inside, she placed Isaiah down on a small weighing table. "Hm, he's about 6.4 kilograms." She sighed, "Yeah, a little underweight for his age. But with some good food to eat, he'll be fine." She smiled, leaving him on the table for a moment to go to a side drawer and pull out a measuring tape, holding it from the top of his head down to his feet. "About 64.77 centimeters. So he's relatively normal height." Then she wrapped the measure carefully around his head, "43.2 centimeters around, good." (1)
"Judging by these measurements, I would say you have a four month old on your hands, now." She smiled as she put the measuring tape away, but it started to drop as she reached into another drawer and took out a few papers, "Now, here is the issue with this baby-,"
"His name is Isaiah." Mello informed her firmly.
She looked over a moment, then nodded, "Here's the issue with Isaiah," She stressed, "There are no records for this child at all. Nothing. So we have no way of knowing whether or not he has received any of his vaccinations. Usually they give them a lot at birth, but we don't even know if he was born in a hospital or if it was a home birth."
"So what do you have to do?" Mello asked, warily.
"I believe it would be safe to give them to him again, at least the ones needed for the standard four month old child. Just to make sure that he's completely covered and won't develop anything. It's better to be safer with these things than sorry, later."
Both successors nodded simultaneously, agreeing that it would be better for Isaiah in the long run.
"If one of you could hold him, that might make him more comfortable with this." She said, with hesitance in her voice, knowing too well what was to come of this. "You seem to have a very relaxed, quiet baby on your hands, but even so… no child likes getting shots, no matter the age." She explained, shuffling through cabinets in order to ready syringes with the right content and dosage.
Mello and Near looked at each other for a brief moment before it was Mello who stepped forward and picked the child up from the table, holding him against him in the way he had instructed Near to do earlier. Both of them anticipated what was going to happen, and neither really wanted to deal with it, but there was little else they could do. To leave now and deny Isaiah his vaccinations because of how he reacted to the shots would just be selfish, and they both knew it.
She stepped over to Mello, placing two needles down on the weight table and holding one in her hand. "Are you ready?" She asked, chancing one look to Mello, one to Near, and then one down to little Isaiah. Without waiting for a response, she took the child's leg carefully in her hand, wiped it clean with an anti-bacterial wipe, and before he could move, stuck him.
Mello's grip on Isaiah tightened as he instantly began crying loudly and flailing to try and to get away from the nurse, who held his arm still as she pushed in the first round of vaccines. There was just the slightest look of pain on the blonde's expression, Near observed, and he couldn't exactly blame him. There was, however, a part of him that wondered what it was directed at –whether it was just physically from Isaiah's screams, or whether he could just not stand to listen to such a thing and not be able to do anything.
Knowing Mello, Near assumed the first one.
Mello finally acted after she took the needle. The cries from Isaiah never ceased, but even so, he stepped closer to the younger genius and held Isaiah out. "I can't do this," he stated firmly, without allowing any room for questions. The moment Near took the child, Mello escaped from the room, Near's glaring dark eyes following after him. 'Coward,' he breathed to himself.
He held the screaming child carefully, closing his eyes in a desperate attempt to block everything out. He couldn't hold his composure like this. There were too many things racing around in his head that he didn't know how to deal with. Wonder of what was wrong with Mello to drive him to running. Wonder of what to do to soothe Isaiah. Wonder of whether or not he himself could even do any of this.
No, that wasn't an option, he determined. He didn't have a choice. He had to stay and do something!
"Talk to him, try to keep him calm." The nurse advised as she quickly grabbed the second needle, trying to hasten the process to end the pain of the small child as quickly as she could. "You're his parent, now. A parent's voice becomes very soothing to children; especially one as young as him."
Near's eyes opened on her momentarily, taking in what she said. But even if he was supposed to just talk to Isaiah, he couldn't help but wonder about what exactly that was supposed to do. There was a part of him that ran that though his logistics side, which said that made no sense at all, and which told him not to do it. But at the same time, he had to admit, what other option did he have?
"Shh…" He heard himself begin trying to hush him before he had even consciously decided that that was the route he was going to take. "You're alright. You're okay." He felt embarrassed, but closed his eyes again so he didn't have to face anyone on the outside. He didn't want to have to think about how the nurse must think he was hopeless for even attempting to connect with a simple child.
But she said nothing, just continued at her job and stuck the boy's leg once more with the needle, resulting in Isaiah's crying growing more intense, if such a thing were possible.
Near cringed, feeling his composure slipping, breaking before him. He was so lost, and the other half of his so-called team was not here to help him figure out what he was supposed to do! His partner had ran and left him alone! There was a flare of hate that began burning in his middle, directed only at the blonde for his cowardly actions.
He continued trying to calm Isaiah as best he could through the third and last shot, before it was finally all over. He continued to cry as she stuck a little blue band-aid over the prick marks on his leg, but at least it was over. At least now Near could tell the boy, and himself, that it was over.
Near sat in one of the chairs in the small room, attaining his ability his usual sitting position to the best of his ability with Isaiah in his arms, continuing to try and sooth him till his screams had dulled to simple light crying and whimpers. He'd be lying if he said there wasn't a part of him that was proud of himself.
The nurse watched him carefully, taking a seat on a nearby rolling chair. "I'm sorry L's putting you through this." She finally said.
Near's eyes slipped open, finally, watching her carefully. He didn't say anything, though, waiting for her to continue and let on exactly what she was trying to say.
"Taking care of a child is a huge responsibility. Not one that should be put onto other children." She explained, the tone in her voice showing her disapproval for L's decision. Near instantly went on the defensive. "The two of you can't even work as a team long enough for a simple task, let alone to raise a child. How can he think that this is a good idea?"
"Nobody questions L." Near informed her, ignoring the tug at the back of his mind that reminded him of all the times he had wondered about L's motives. "He knows what he's doing. He hasn't asked things before and ever been wrong about their outcome."
She gave him a hard look in response. "A child is not like a case, Near," she stated. "You can have aspirations for children, but you can't try to just make them into whatever you want. And you should certainly not have them be raised by unqualified people. The children brought into Wammy's are always naturally gifted, and a baby Isaiah's age cannot show signs of this! Roger is right to wonder about whether he is throwing resources away by taking him in."
Near looked down at Isaiah, who had finally quieted to simple sniffles, as if he knew that he was being talked about, "On the other hand," Near countered, "we cannot be certain that he'd ever meet his full potential if assigned to another orphanage."
There was a pause where both went into thought, finally, she sighed, bringing Near's attention back to her. "If Mello continues acting the way he is, this child is going to be doomed in the future. He'll have no chance of meeting the expectations of L."
This made Near stop suddenly, amazed by the gall of the woman to say something like that to him. "And what makes you say that?" He asked, barely containing his animosity.
She looked at him as if he should know better than to ask something like that, "Near…" She said, the condescending tone that pissed him off. "You and I both know how bad you are when it comes to dealing with people in the first place. A child is a lot more than that. I know how hard it will be for someone like you to deal with something of this magnitude. There's a lot of pressure on Mello because of it, I'm sure."
Near tried not to let any of his anger towards her show as he suddenly stood up, "I appreciate your assistance today, when should we return?" He asked, cutting straight to the point to keep her from degrading him anymore.
She stood as well, "Next month. Just to keep tabs on how he's growing." She stated.
Near nodded, and, without waiting for her to say anything else, exited from the room with Isaiah, then out of the Infirmary and back into the halls of Wammy's. He paused a moment in the empty hallway, leaning against the wall and calming himself down once more.
'First Mello leaves me in that situation and then some woman tells me I am not fit to care for a child. Or anyone, for that matter.' He bit his lip, holding Isaiah tighter. This was the reason he kept away from people, whenever possible. He lost sight of his objective when people found ways under his skin. But he couldn't let people do that this time. He would prove her wrong.
He started out of the hallway, and up the stairs towards the bedrooms, where he knew Mello would probably be –as he always was. He was moving, but his mind was far gone, thinking over all of the things he needed to do in order to prove her wrong. She as a person was nobody, to him. She meant nothing, but it was the fact of what she said that did.
Near was not stupid, he knew there were definitely others who thought the same thing. And while usually it didn't matter what they said, for some reason this now did. This was something completely different. Somebody was telling him he couldn't do something.
But he knew he could. He could do anything. He could do everything! He had to… He was not going to lose the puzzle to someone who meant nothing just because of his social inabilities.
Once he reached Mello's door, he didn't bother to knock before walking in, finding both the blonde, and his best friend laying on their individual beds. Mello's blue eyes shot over to him. "Knock first, bastard!"
Near knew his anger was simply to cover up having to make excuses for his actions earlier, but none of that mattered to him now. The objective was the only thing in his mind. The end result was what mattered. He had to remember what it would mean for the world if they were able to complete this for L.
"You need to take Isaiah." He told him firmly, leaving no room for any excuses from Mello.
The blonde caught on instantly to Near's angered tone, despite the obvious effort it took for Near to try hold it all back. There were cracks in his composure, and everything behind it was beginning to seep through already. Something happened, he knew, but Mello wasn't willing to ask now and risk getting involved in whatever Near might do. "Alright." He said simply, getting up and taking the child from Near. "Where are you-,"
"I need to study." Was all Near said before leaving the way he had came.
A/N: Well, that took me forever. Seriously, I didn't think ideas for this story were going to be so difficult. Thank god for my god-send of a beta, though to help me out. Anyway, now that you know Isaiah's name let me explain the origin. I was originally looking for something that meant 'a gift from God', to follow the title of the story. However, everything I found was either way too foreign, or Nathan or Matthew -which were instant no-gos. So I started looking for derrivatives of that meaning, and Isaiah was one of the ones that came up that just struck me instantly. His name means, 'Salvation of God', which may play some part later. So, there you go. Also, if anyone has any ideas they'd like to see in this, feel free to let me know. I take all the inspiration I can get! Let me know what you thought
(1): These measurements, by American standards, equate out to about: 25.5in long, 14lbs with a 17in head circumfrence.
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-Forbiddensoul562