Disclaimer: I don't own DN, yeah yeah...
AN: Here we are! After this, the chapters return to normal and cover everyone's perspective. Review, yeah? -So... I realized that I neglect to properly thank and give credit to my awesome Beta. She is Cassandra106 and she rules!
Mello slashed and dodged with his hunting knife. Blood stained his leather, his hair, his skin... The world was painted red.
Damn Beyond, fucking everything up. He just had to get trigger happy and turn the whole place into a war-zone. Although, it did make everything easier. Mello took down two thugs at the door and burst through a passageway into a hallway. He saw Nikolas dashing down the hallway and through a door into a dark room. He turned and backed towards the room, engaging in firefights galore.
He heard gunshots and saw everything around him like he was in slow motion. He took out everyone in front of him and turned to see Nikolas cutting the chains and yelling something at Matt. But the redhead wasn't watching. His intense green eyes were locked on Mello's.
Mello continued fighting and managed to take in the damage done to Matt's naked body. There were whip marks, cuts, burns, scratches, bite marks and dried blood. He was covered in bruises, especially around his wrists. His hands were a startling shade of light blue that alerted Mello to the fact that blood circulation had been cut off.
What startled Mello the most was that Matt took the gun Nikolas handed him and strode past Mello with steely eyes. He felt Matt's back press against his and more blood seeped through the leathers. Mello shook the shock off and turned with Matt, fighting his way out of the base. Matt was behind him, shooting and killing and running like he wasn't gravely injured. Out of the corner of his eye, Mello saw someone lodge a knife in Matt's thigh. Matt looked down with a wicked smile and dislodged the knife, shooting the man on the ground.
When they broke through the doors, Mello and Matt ran side by side to the black SUV waiting for them. Halfway there, Matt gave a cry and collapsed. Mello turned and caught him, pulling him up to his chest and cradling him while continuing to the car.
As he climbed into the backseat and laid Matt out across the seats, Mello heard the back hatch open and close. Sparing a glance back, he found it to be Beyond, who leaned over the seat and looked at Matt's body. Calls and arrangements were made while Matt curled around Mello's stomach. The blonde stroked the bloody locks in his lap and murmured comforting words in Matt's ear until the boy fell asleep.
Beyond clambered over the seats and took Matt's legs into his lap. Together, they wrapped the more serious wounds.
"Okay, before I let myself get pissed that you fucked everything up, where the hell were you?"
B bit his lip and looked down. "I went into the fight and sort of... lost control."
Mello sighed and bowed his head, kneading his forehead. "How many people did you kill?"
Beyond shrugged. "I was going to help you get Matt, but I saw Thomas. So I ran after him and fought him. I was going to knock him out and bring him back with us, but he managed to get away."
'Well, at least his intentions were in the right place...'
The blonde sighed and asked if B was hurt. When the raven negated the notion, Mello backhanded him hard across the face. The raven struggled to sit up and Mello felt a pang of guilt. He quickly pushed it down when he saw B raise a hand to his cheek.
"Okay, yeah, I deserved that." Mello went on to rant about the dangers of what B had done, yelling and raging. The raven stared at him evenly until he was done, then argued his case. Mello half listened, but a nagging in the back of his mind told him that his mentor was correct and that Matt was more deserving of his immediate attention. So he resigned and leaned back, threading his fingers through the red hair resting on his thighs instead.
When they arrived at the base, Mello slid from the vehicle. BB lifted Matt's torso off of the seat and gently handed him to Mello, who carried him inside bridal style.
Paths were cleared as Mello marched into the base. He went down the hallways to his private room, where the doctor was waiting.
Once inside and on the bed, Matt was given excessive doses of morphine to keep him unconscious and from moving. His entire body, barring his head, was doused in rubbing alcohol and scrubbed thoroughly to avoid any kind of infection.
The larger cuts and wounds were stitched and wrapped. The smaller cuts were glued together with medical glue. His torso was bound tightly to mend the fractured ribs. The stab wound on his thigh was stitched and the verdict passed that Matt shouldn't be walking for several weeks. Burn cream was applied and the burns were bandaged.
"You should take him to a cleaner environment. I'll give you enough medical supplies to sufficiently heal him over the course of the next six weeks or so. I'll also give you saline solutions to keep him hydrated and enough morphine to keep him unconscious for a week."
Mello thanked the doctor, took the supplies and sat on Matt's bed. He watched his beloved's chest rise and fall evenly.
He made his decision shortly after and left the room, strutting into the main room with a chocolate bar in his hand. Chaos unfurled.
"What the hell?"
"You knew that lots of us would die!"
"You wanted us to die!"
Mello stood silently with a stone cold glare. He watched and listened without interrupting. All the while, he munched on his chocolate bar while allowing himself to be slightly bemused. They were upset with him, but still too scared to draw their guns.
"Enough!" The room went quiet at the demand. Rod sat on a couch with a girl on either side of him.
"Listen you slobs. Yeah; we all knew that you might die. You knew it too! Now, show some fucking respect. In the weeks he's been here, he's carried us further than any of you ever did. He's just like his father and you will respect him the way you respect me.
"Now, we killed two birds with one stone tonight and he helped us with it. Everyone here knew the risks of going on this mission and if you're afraid of the danger, you shouldn't have joined. Now, everyone here that's afraid of dying, raise your hands."
A few hands went up, only to drop when gunshots rang out. Rod sat behind the smoking gun and looked around.
"Anyone else?" he challenged. No one answered and Rod smirked. "Good," he said, placing his gun beside him.
"Boss," one man piped up. "You knew you would lose a lot of men letting him do this. Why let him?"
Rod gave a wolf-ish grin. "Because it's entertaining."
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Mello drove his bike back to a penthouse apartment that Whammy had arranged. Behind him was B in Matt's Chevelle, with the still unconscious Matt in the backseat. It had been four days since Mello had rescued Matt and until that day, he hadn't been stable enough to be moved.
Mello had spent the first day on Matt's bed with him. The redhead had continuous nightmares. He would start whimpering and shaking and thrashing about and Mello would pull him up into his lap and rock him gently, cooing in his ear until the shaking subsided.
The bandages were changed three or four times a day. Matt had yet to get any infections, but Mello still cleaned the wounds methodically. The morphine supply had three days left, and Mello intended to use the drug to keep his lover from being in pain. Though, he decided to spread it over more time than was recommended by the doctor. He needed Matt to wake up so he could hear that beautiful voice.
BB hauled Matt out of the car and they entered the lobby. When they went to the desk to retrieve their key, a strange look was given by the girl at the desk. Mello simply took the key and smiled, stating that Matt had had too much to drink. The girl nodded and handed the key over, wishing them a nice night.
When they arrived at the penthouse suite, Watari was waiting at the door. The medical supplies needed for Matt were already set up. Mello attached the IV tube to the bag of saline solution and injected a small dose of morphine into the tube. He then sat by the bed and watched.
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Awareness came slowly. First it was feeling. A dull throbbing, like there should have been pain there, but it was being smothered. Thirst registered, and the shuddering breaths in the back of his throat made the flesh there burn.
Sound. Raspy breaths were being taken. It was another second before he realized that those breaths were his. He could hear blood rushing in his ears and the sound of a faint heartbeat. More steady, even breaths were being taken somewhere else in the room. Whoever was with him was listening to music.
Smell. He could smell rubbing alcohol and bleach, along with the distinct aroma of chocolate.
Matt finally forced his eyes open. They fluttered uselessly for several seconds, before cracking open. Matt hissed at the harsh, intrusive light and shut his eyes tightly again. The sound of someone scrabbling over to the edge of the bed reached Matt's ears and a warm hand was placed on his chest.
"Mattie, are you awake?" an achingly familiar voice asked. Matt blinked his eyes open to find an angelically pale face leaning over him, blocking out the light. Matt's eyes adjusted to the light and he opened them fully, staring into the blue and grey eyes watching him.
"The light..." he croaked, hoping Mello would understand. The blonde jumped to his feet and ran to the light switch, dimming the harsh lighting in the room until the only light was from the curtains and television. He rushed back to Matt's side and sat on the edge of the bed, clutching Matt's hand in his. The redhead squeezed Mello's fingers feebly.
"How do you feel?" Mello murmured in Matt's ear, lying down so he was curled protectively around the redhead without agitating his injuries.
"Like crap," Matt gasped. "Water..."
Mello took a cup of ice chips and placed some on Matt's tongue. "Your system can't handle too much water yet, because of the painkillers, but this should help."
Matt took the cup and went through most of the ice, savoring the feel of the water. He smiled weakly up at Mello and tried to give him the Styrofoam cup, only to have it drop to the ground from his shaking hands. Mello caught it before ice could go sprawling across the floor. Matt mumbled an apology that Mello brushed off.
"Where am I...? What happened...?" Matt asked slowly. Mello worried his lip and sat on the bed, petting Matt's hair gently.
"You still need rest and you have lots of injuries. I have you on morphine right now. I'll tell you everything you want to know, and I promise that you're safe here, but... right now you should go back to sleep."
Matt was lulled to slumber by the fingers in his hair and the soft humming of the blonde above him. After all, who was he to deny such an angelic voice?