Heaven Help Us

Heaven Help Us

Mello

Chapter 2: Disturbance

o7.o7.o9

Alarms go off and heads pop out of bed. Just another day in Los Angeles, already another day in New York. They were three hours ahead, after all.

Millennia sat silently in the airport, holding her ticket, and all her bags packed again. Yet another quick move to a different state. She was making patterns so they didn't catch her. Los Angeles, Seattle, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, now New York.

And finally, she was on her way to the big city.

o7.o8.o9

Millie kept knocking. It's a little annoying when people don't answer their doors, even when you know they can hear it. Knock, knock, knock. No answer. KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK! Knock, knock, KNOCK, KNOCK BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM-!

"WHAT?!"

The door flung open. There was a pregnant silence.

Finally, someone spoke. "What the fuck? Millie, why are you here?"

"Oh, gee, thanks Matt. I feel so appreciated." Matt lifted his goggles off his eyes. "Sorry. Come in."

Millennia walked in and looked around. The apartment was covered with laptops and cords and computer parts and discs, and it smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. "What the hell is this Matt? The technology zoo?" "Yup. Go that way." The two worked their way into a semi-normal room, you could see the floor, but there were a large amount of beer bottles on the coffee table. The one spot that wasn't occupied by a Heinekens bottle was taken by a pack of cigarettes.

"So, what brings you to New York?" Matt asked, seating himself in a chair across from the couch behind the coffee table that Millennia sat at.

"I wanted to know if you had any idea where Mello is. I've been studying the Kira case since I left Whammy's." Matt sighed. "Am I the only one who doesn't give a damn about Kira these days?" Millie shook her head. "I'm not after Kira. He's just an obstacle in my way of finding Mello. So, do you know where he his?"

Matt shook his head, picking up and unfolding a laptop under the coffee table. "I can't find him anywhere. He was always really good at hide and seek," He put his goggles back over his eyes. "While you're here, you might as well tell me what's going on. What info do you have on Kira?"

"It's a long story- Do you have the time?" "Do I look like I have anything better to do?" Mille laughed at that. "Good point."

"So some guy found a notebook and is running around killing people with it... awesome."

Millennia laughed, a beer now in her hand; between the time she had taken to tell Matt all about Kira, they had gotten comfy. Matt sat on the floor, a beer next to him as well, and a cigarette hanging limply from his mouth. He was playing some video game, and it didn't really surprise Millie.

"No, not awesome. What are you, pro Kira now?" Matt shrugged, "I don't even really care. I guess in the grand scheme of things I'm anti-Kira, but again, it has nothing to do with me."

Millennia sighed. "Yes it does. Mello is out there somewhere looking for Kira, and so is Near. I think it's pretty dangerous for little boys like them to be running around looking for Mass Murderer 1 and Mass Murderer 2."

"Don't you mean Thing 1 and Thing 2?" "It varies. And besides," Millennia started, taking a gulp of her drink. "That's not even the main point. Have you kept in contact with anyone from Whammy's after you left?"

Matt shook his head. "Nope." "Well I have. About a week after we left, a few of the kids ran away. I think one committed suicide. I've kept in touch with Linda, too. She says that half the kids freaked out when you, Near and I left... And that they panicked after Mello left... For some reason, they didn't know Mello left until we did... Roger tried to tell them we'd be back soon, but they're too smart for that, of course."

Matt exhaled, releasing a large white puff into the room. "Shit... I didn't know that..." Millie sighed. "Yeah. I bet Mello doesn't either. I told him. I told him they wouldn't know what to do if he left. Mello's like our control center. He's what keeps us in check. I don't know how he does it..."

Matt looked at Millie and laughed. "What..?" She asked, not understanding the situation. "You still think of him like that? As 'someone to keep us in check'?" Millennia nodded. "Yeah. I mean, don't you?"

Matt laughed and shook his head. "You gotta know when to get independent, Millie. You couldn't have been on your own for almost five years now and sat and thought about how Mello is your personal God, could you?"

Millie looked down. Matt shook his head again. "That's really not healthy Millie. You're overly dependant on others..." "I'm not dependant! I was by myself for five years, dammit! You're the first person I've had a real conversation with in ages!"

Matt watched her as she continued. "And besides, I love Mello. And I may not have known it then, but I do now. He's one of the most important things in the world to me." Matt sighed. "Have you even gone out with anyone else?"

"What?" Millennia gave him a confused look. "How do you know you're so in love with him? How do you know he's 'the one' if you haven't gone out with anyone else?"

Millennia blinked. "So who am I supposed to go out with? And besides, I'm pretty sure the government doesn't know I exist, and that leads to about a million relationship issues. And why would I go out with some normal person and drag them into my problems? So who am I supposed to go out with Matt? You?"

Matt shrugged. "I dunno." "What do you mean you don't know?" "I don't know. I'd go out with you. You're smart, you're terribly cute, and you're pretty much single. So there's nothing stopping me but your opinion on that. Unfortunately for me, I don't necessarily like you that way, so we see a bit of a problem here. But you get my point, right?"

Millennia just looked at him, an incredulous expression on her face.

"You can't be serious..." She huffed, looking away, an expression of indifference now on her face. Matt laughed, continuing to play his game.

"So he broke up with you when he left?" Matt questioned, giving her a sideways glance. "... Yeah. He said he'd find me... He's doing a pretty good job at that though..." Matt shrugged. "Relax. I'm sure he'll come get you."

Millennia huffed. "He was never the type to care for promises. I'm so sure he forgot about us." Matt shook his head. "No, Mello may not always keep a promise, but he never forgets a face and name. He would do a pretty good job with that Death Notebook, huh?"

Millie sighed. "Shut up, Matt."

o7.o9.o9

"Well I guess I'm gonna head back to L.A. ... I'm sure they lost my trail..." She mumbled the last part to herself, but Matt heard her clearly in the silent stairway of the apartment.

"Who?" He questioned, but Millie shook her head. "No one, no one. I guess were splitting up again." She gave a small laugh. Matt looked at her through his orange tinted goggles. "You want my cell number. I have about 10 of them anyway... I'll just give you the untraceable line."

Millie nodded. "Oh, yeah. I got one of those too. Hold on." The two still looked like teens as they took out their phones, Matt with his Blackberry and Millie equipped with her Sidekick LX.

They exchanged phone numbers. "Well I guess that's it, huh? Sorry to trouble you by staying the night." Millennia said, shoving her hands into her pockets.

"Not a problem." He replied.

It was quiet between the two. Not an awkward silence, more like the two were remembering the past. A friendly silence. One thing hadn't changed. Millennia was still as short as ever. Matt was about 5''6 now, so she was still three inches shorter than him.

He decided to use his height to an advantage, and surprised Millie when he leaned down, grabbing her face in his hands, kissing her passionately.

Millennia didn't object. Snorting at Matt's bluntness, she kissed him back, shoving her tongue into his mouth. The two fooled around like that for a minute, until Matt pulled back.

Millennia gave him a blank stare. "So what was that about?" She asked. Matt smirked. "Just trying to see why Mello likes you so much..." Millie laughed. "You jackass. Whatever." She hugged him. "I'm gonna go. See you later, Matty-cakes."

"Bye, Millie-buns."

She picked up her suitcases and headed over to the elevator. When she got in and the doors closed, he imitated her, heading back into his apartment.

1o.13.o9

Millennia stepped out of the shower, covering herself with a towel. She walked into her bedroom, closing the door.

Well, it wasn't really her bedroom, more like the hotels bedroom. But right now, the line was pretty slim...

She turned on the TV, grabbing some underwear from the drawer.

As she got dressed she looked at the TV screen in interest. Hijacked planes, huh? And nuclear missiles?

Sounded quite familiar. Pretty intelligent...

A bit unpredicted for current events.

1o.14.o9

"Well, that's Mello and Near. I'm surprised you didn't ask about Millie..."

"Mille?" The girl nodded. "Yes. Millennia. She was really close to the two of them. She used to hang out with Mello and another boy named Matt. But Matt only hangs out with Mello. Millennia and Mello were going out back then...

The man nodded. "Okay. Can you get me a picture of Millennia then?"

"Of course. I could never forget what Millie looks like. She's really pretty..."

1o.18.o9

A little bit closer...

A little bit faster...

A little bit harder...

A little bit closer...

A little bit stupid. But at least this mistake was worth it. She could afford to go there. Her mission was quite simple.

Find Mello and convince him to work with Near.

Easier said than done. If Mello was willing to start playing with nuclear warfare, then he must really be trying to win this on his own. He doubted he'd accept much help from anyone without going down a couple of times first.

A motorcycle helmet covering her face, Millennia stepped into where she assumed the surveillance cameras monitoring the area were.

She stood around for a while. It would only be a matter of time before Mello got tired of looking at the random threat outside and sent some one to come and open the-

Click. "Who are you?" Well, having a gun rammed into her back wasn't an original part of the plan, but sacrifices were necessary. Now she had to make sure this wannabe gangster didn't shoot her.

"I'm looking for someone-" The gun was poked further onto her back. "Who are you?"

Okay, maybe not a wannabe gangster. A former low-ranked yakuza possibly..?

"Let's try this again." Millennia said, trying to pull off a deeper sounding female voice, so she didn't sound like a little kid. What Mafia member would take a child seriously? "I'm looking for someone. I'm sure you can help me find him. His name is Mello. Now, can you be a help and take me to him? I have some business to discuss with him."

The man with the gun was quiet for a moment, before he turned her around, and shoved her into the door, closing it as soon as he was in. She still had the damn motorcycle helmet on her head. It was getting a little uncomfortable.

Finally, the man came to a door, and he opened it, shoving her inside. It looked a little like a control center. But she realized her target was inside.

"Who are you?"

His voice was deeper now, and it sounded more relaxed than when he was a kid. He was dressed in leather, too. On the table, she spied about a million bars of chocolate. On the back of the chair next to it, she saw the same leather jacket she had shoved in his hands years ago.

"..." He seemed to be waiting for an answer. She'd give him one. "I'm Millennia."

His eyes seemed to widen for a minute, before he put a controlled look back on his face. "Millie?" "Are there any cameras in here?" "No."

"Good," Millie took off the helmet. "Millie, what the fuck are you doing in L.A.?"

Millennia smirked. "I could ask you the same question, Mello. I've been living in L.A. since Matt and I left Whammy's. Which was pretty much the day after you left."

Mello's eyes narrowed. "You left? I thought I told you to stay there!" He looked pretty angry, but Millie wasn't about to take that.

"What else was I supposed to do? You just up and ran away, so Matt and I left the place. It's not like there was anything left for us there. Near was going, you were long gone, you act like I'd sit content in England for however many damn years until you 'beat Kira' and 'came to find me'."

"That was supposed to be the plan Millie. You're already putting yourself in a lot of danger by just being here; what could have happened to you after you left Whammy's? You were a kid, Millie, does the word 'pedophiles' register in your mind?"

"What about yours? You look fucking girly enough; I think they'd snatch you up before me." Mello ignored that. "Look, Millennia, you were supposed to stay at Whammy's and take care of everyone-"

"Bullshit! You were supposed to stay at Whammy's and take care of everyone! The only time they listened to me and did exactly as I said was on rank day! You are the one who everyone listened to. Even over Near, and practically everyone loved Near! But do they listen to him all the time? No! They listen to you,Mello!"

Mello gave her a glare as she continued to talk. "You missed it all because you didn't give a damn. Some of the kids ran away because they didn't know what to do because you weren't there! One kid killed himself because he didn't know what to do because you weren't there! Everyone freaked out because they didn't know what to do because you weren't there. Matt and I left, and I had to find all this shit out from Linda a damn year later because we didn't know what to do because you weren't there!!"

"Why do you all have to fucking depend on me so much, huh!? Who the hell am I now, some superhero?! I have a life too Millie!" Mello yelled at her. Millie looked at him. Years had done him no good, he still had that temper, and he was still easily irritable. A yelling contest was not what she had come for.

"Look, forget about that now. All I'm here to talk about is the Kira case." Mello groaned. "You haven't got yourself involved with that too, have you, Millie?"

Millennia shrugged. "Not yet. I'm here to help you with it though." Mello laughed. "Sorry, Millie, I'm a one person band. I don't want any help, I'm going to solve it on my own."

Millennia paled. "What? No, no, no! I didn't spend five days with wanted criminals trying to shoot me and/or take advantage of me just so I could find you and sit for tea! I came to help you, and you're going to accept my help. Besides, aren't you getting help from all these Mafia friends of yours?"

"They're necessary sacrificial lambs. I don't need them. I'm using them. Besides, how could you even help me?"

Millennia watched him walk to the door. "Wait!"

Mello stopped, his hand on the doorknob. "You have to team up with Near."

He just as quickly the door opened. "Wait! Mello!" Millie followed him down the hall.

"I want nothing to do with Near. This is a competition between the two of us, and it's gonna stay that way until I win. There's no way in hell you could get me to work with him." Mello made his point clear by flinging open the door to another room and stalking inside.

"But Mello," Millennia complained, "you have to reconsider! Think of how much faster you could get rid of Kira if you..."

She trailed off.

The two were now in a room filled with gangsters and criminals, and among the two or three dozen people looking at her, was an almost normal looking man. Holding a black notebook.

"Ah!" Millennia ran up to him and snatched the notebook. "A Death Note!" She cried amazed, looking at it, her back still turned to everyone but the confused man in front of her. "Where did you get it?!"

She turned. And nearly screamed.

In front of her was a grotesque creature, something frightening with a horrid face. It was easy enough to place a label on it, thanks to years of reasearch. "A Shinigami!"

Mello scowled, walking over to her and grabbing her arm, taking the note book from her.

"Millennia, you idiot. Why did you have to come here? Will you just go?" He hissed, flinging her over to the door.

"No! You have to accept my help! I won't leave until you do!" She stood surprised when Mello pulled a gun on her. "Get out!" He yelled at her.

Millennia frowned. "Shoot me then." She heard a faint click and paled. When that was all he did, she asked him again. "Shoot me."

He hesitated, thinking of something to say that would make her leave. Millennia narrowed her eyes at him and stormed out the door. But remembering the fact that he wouldn't shoot her.

Rod, who was watching Mello with a keen eye, finally spoke. "So, who was that Mello? You finally found yourself a whore?" Mello laughed. "No. She's just an old friend. A really old friend, trying to send me on a guilt trip."