A/N: So… I'm kind of debating on how I want to do this chapter… I mean… part of me knows how I want it, but part of me doesn't. I used to have this whole idea planned out, but I only recalled it when I was writing the last chapter, and that wasn't very much either. So I'm only working with a half developed idea. So I'm kind of hoping it turns out as good as I would have wanted at the time of creation.

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of the characters within this story. Except the two new members that work with Near, I do own them.

Chapter 9: Cheating and Guilt

By the time we reached the airport in New York again it was about noon and, though I remained quiet, I couldn't help wondering what Mello would do now.

I was trying to hold control over the situation, but as we moved through the airport towards the exit and he was the one who led, I knew I had somehow taken a step back, and he the step forward.

When had that happened?

I pushed the thought away from me as we exited out into the familiar area of New York –all the many crowds, the rushing cars, and everything else that went into defining the New York city by what it was.

Suddenly, Mello's voice brought me back. "Hey, we need a car." He said with enough force to tell me that that had to be the only option.

My eyes narrowed just a bit as I began to read into this. It would be just as easy for me to call Rester and have him, or at least someone, come and get us. But the way Mello worded it; he made it sound like hedidn't want that to happen.

Now why was that?

The only thing I could think to do was go along with this and see what would happen now.

After all, what was the worse that really could happen? What reason would Mello really have for doing anything negative to me now? Sure, he may still hate me, but only being alive again for such a short amount of time didn't really allow such anger to really be coaxed.

So I simply nodded and followed him over to where a line of counters sat, all with car rental names on it. I stood by Mello silently as he requested a car and took care of all the technicalities of it.

I knew that my only job would be to provide the money needed for it –after all, there was really no way that Mello could do it. And if I didn't do it… he would probably resort to stealing it, and I did not feel like going to jail today.

Once Mello had received the keys to the new rental car, we started off again into a giant parking lot where numerous cars were all parked –awaiting their owners, or temporary owners, to come pick them up.

"C41…" Mello said, more to himself as we walked down the aisles and he read the papers that the woman had given to him to keep.

I just remained silent and followed to where we were supposed to be going –and trusting that Mello knew where we were going.

It wasn't long before we finally found the car that Mello had rented –a black car with windows so dark it was nearly impossible to see inside, and a build that would be considered 'sporty'.

The moment we both got in (him in the driver's seat, of course) he turned the car on and instantly cranked up the air conditioning, for reasons I didn't understand –it was perfectly cool outside. What was the need for it?

But I didn't say anything as he pulled out of the parking lot and exited from the airport and out onto the busy highway.

I watched the scenery, as well as the other cars pass us by as our own car picked up speed and weaved in and out of traffic. For a brief moment I considered the thought that Mello might attract the police to us now. But it was odd… that was as far as my worry seemed to go. It didn't even seem like a logical thought that he might crash, or even lose control for any amount of moments.

My eyes drifted over to him and observed the way he seemed so in thought, and so incredibly relaxed at the same time. His crystal eyes were glued to the road, but hardly ever shifted from it, and his actions seemed so stone-like and firm.

What was going on in his mind now?

He'd been so quiet ever since the previous night, when we'd left. What could be going through his mind for such a long period of time? I had to know… it was like not having a piece to a puzzle…but I wanted it, and I was determined to get it.

"What are you thinking now, Mello?" I finally asked… breaking the silence of the car that, before, had only been drowned out from the sound of the engine.

It took a long time for Mello to finally answer me, and when he did he continued to act, and look the way he had before. "None of your business."

'He's acting like a child…' I couldn't help but think to myself. But I didn't dare tell him that, for I knew that would set him off quicker than… well… quicker than I could even imagine.

I simply let that go… if he planned on ever telling me, than he would do it when he wanted. He knew me way too well to fall into any tricks I could ever play to get him to spill his thoughts. If I attempted that, it would only cause him to become more defensive.

"Where are we going?" I then asked, deciding the change the subject and then see if I could get anywhere from there.

He didn't look at me as he responded with a simple: "To my base, like I told you."

My eyes stayed firmly on him and I tried to read all of the emotion that he, for once, wasn't showing me. What did that mean? Where was he taking me now? His base? What would be there now, after so long?

-

It was about a half hour later when we finally reached, what I figured, was where Mello's base was. Or… at where it used to be.

I stepped out of the car and observed my surroundings. We were in what would be considered the rougher side of the city, and I knew this area was known for gang-related activities based on old case files I had read for no particular reason. The building before us that we'd parked by appeared to be like an abandoned apartment building, with dark, rough bricks and nothing around it that looked safe at all.

"Come on." Mello called to me, from the door that led into the building. I looked over to where he was before following.

He closed the door once more, which left us in almost complete darkness considering the fact that there were no windows to provide light to the area.

But somehow Mello knew his way around this place –I knew by the way he instantly walked off, and I followed after the sound of his walking across the cold, cement floor.

We ascended about five or six floors, which were lit by natural lighting a bit more than the first floor had been.

Mello continued walking till finally stopping in front of a doorway about halfway down the hall. I stopped a bit away from the door and watched the way he stalled with his hand on the doorknob. His eyes looked down to it and held so much emotion… so somber of an expression that I had to wonder if it was still even him.

Oh God how I wondered what was going through his mind now. If only he would speak whatever thoughts went through his mind.

Finally, with a heavy exhale he twisted the doorknob and the door loudly creaked open, and into the place he called 'his base'.

"You left the door unlocked?" I wondered aloud as he faltered for a moment before stepping inside.

"Yeah…" His voice was so much more serious, and gave off a sense as though he was willing to tell me anything if I just asked about it. It was strange. "There was never anyone else living on this floor, so it was pretty safe. There used to be high security around it… but I made Matt take it all down before we left." He explained.

I followed him in the apartment and instantly stopped just inside the doorway to let my eyes take in everything that was around here.

It was just like any other apartment that one might see… with the exception that it was a bit more empty and lacked any life at all. The space was clearly meant for business, and it showed in the technology that still sat, frozen in its spot, around the entire place.

Mello moved over to a hall where, I figured, it led back to rooms and such. "Don't touch anything." He said seriously before leaving down the hall.

I hardly heard him though. I was way too captivated by everything that I was seeing here.

I walked around the room, noting on all of the dust and cobwebs that chocked the room of any life and instantly hammered home the thought that the once occupants of this place really had been gone for that long… and even one would never get to come back.

I walked over to an arm chair that had a thin coating of dust over it and which sat in front of a table that held a single computer and an abandoned headset beside it.

'This is where Mello and Matt did all that work… in the attempt of getting further on the Kira case.' I thought to myself as my fingers gently traced the back of the chair.

I tried to imagine what it must have been like for Mello to sit in this closed off place day in and day out, not only have to realize that he was only getting so far with the information he had, but to know that his rival was getting further ahead of him by leaps and bounds.

And as I looked over to the headset, and the computer, I felt my heart grip in my chest at the thought that it all, really, was my fault that Mello must have thought that.

I was the one who alerted him to the fact that Misa Amane was connected to Kira. It was almost the same thing I'd done to my team members with this Kira case. Giving a fake lead and letting them follow it to the end while I take the true route.

Did that mean that I cheated?

Did I cheat my way into victory?

Here Mello was… working as passionately as ever… not only because he wanted to solve the only case that L could not, but because he wanted to beat me. And all I had done was send him off in a different direction.

A direction that, while it could have lead back to Light Yagami being Kira, it mainly dealt with Misa and all she had around her.

I suddenly felt incredibly guilty… and felt as though, somehow in the end, it had been my fault. All my fault that all of this happened the way it happened.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Mello's voice, and question surprised me, and I jumped a bit in surprise; then turned to him.

It was like an image out of my memory, which had begun to fade away from me and become vaguer. Except now it felt like that memory was being refreshed for all that it had been. Or… in the better fantasy, it was as though everything before now had been the dream, and this was the reality.

That was the shocking effect that it had upon me.

Mello stood there at the entrance of the hall, now re-dressed in his normal leather attire that he'd always worn before his death a year ago. He fit it exactly the same way he had done before, the pants tight on him, the vest the same way, his black jacket hanging on his frame, and a gun hidden somewhere on his person.

It was in that moment that I knew…

The old Mello was back.

A/N: Ah, well that was good. This might seem like a bit of a filler chapter but I kind of just wanted to show the transition back to the Mello we all know, as well as the transition in Near's character where he begins to look at Mello a completely different way –now with more guilt, as I said. Personally, I kind of liked how it turned out.

Please review!
-Forbiddensoul562