A/N-For fans of this conceptually nightmarish literary train-wreck, here you go. This is what happens when I get bored. I write. I couldn't sleep last night and this thing happened.

Thanks for all the reviews!

XII-Watchtower

Nothing. Absolutely nothing after 24 hours of searching every hotel, nightclub and alleyway in Winchester.

Mello fell onto the small couch in the nearly claustrophobic room dimly lit by the 12 computer screens mounted to the far wall. The eerie, bluish glow they cast across the room made the small boy seated in front of them appear even paler than usual.

The younger boy lounging on the couch watched him from under a fall of slightly windswept brass-blonde hair. He was so exhausted that he could hardly think of just how much he hated that emotionless doll.

A doll. It was a surprisingly fitting description for the boy in the chair. An emotionless doll.

The hydraulic hiss of the door pulled Mello from his thoughts. Matt staggered over and collapsed in a heap on the couch next to Mello, the impact bouncing the blonde into the air. Matt murmured and flipped around so that he was sitting, albeit slouched down like a sack of potatoes, next to Mello, who had sat up to avoid being squished.

"Long day?" the German boy asked, smiling at the exhausted redhead. Matt replied with a noise that was vaguely interrogatory without being, in any way, a word. "You look rough."

"Thanks, I love hearing that." Matt sat up straight, mainly to keep himself awake, and asked, "You didn't find anything either, huh?"

Mello shook his head. Although, tearing through the streets on his bike had been fun.

"We have no more leads." Said Near, deadpan as always. "I suggest you sleep while you have the opportunity."

No one had to tell Matt twice. He quickly disappeared through the door that divided the bedroom from the lab and most likely locked it behind him so that Near couldn't drag him back to work too easily.

Mello decided to stay up, partially to avoid sharing a bed with Matt, but mostly to show Near that he wasn't weak. Near, of course, could've cared less if the blonde had gone to sleep like his friend. If he had, it would've meant that he could've worked in peace for a few hours.

Though, to his credit, Mello wasn't nearly as obnoxious as he could've been. He simply put his headphones on, listening to some obnoxiously heavy German music that most Americans would recoil from. He was asleep within the hour. A smile tugged at the corners of Near's mouth as he gently covered the taller boy with a spare blanket. Asleep like this and completely unguarded, Near could have called him cute.

Returning to his chair, a wave of nausea hit him and he staggered. He dropped to his knees beside his chair and placed a hand over his mouth to stifle a coughing fit. Once he'd caught his breath, he felt safe to drop his hand to his lap and try to stand. Near felt his heart skip a beat as he brought his hand away from his mouth. His pale skin was stained scarlet and the heavy taste of iron coated his tongue. Behind him, Mello stirred gently in his sleep, but didn't wake.

Glancing over his shoulder, Near was relieved to see that his coughing fit hadn't woken the blonde on the couch. The longer he could keep them from worrying about him, the better. He just had to hold on until they found L. Just a little longer.

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Matt stood with his back against the door. He wasn't used to being worried about someone. He'd never heard Near cough like that before. It wasn't the light, normal cough he often heard from the boy. It was heavy, low in his chest. He sounded seriously ill.

Mello was making him nervous as well. He hadn't slept at all since they learned L was missing and, from what he'd been hearing about the other man, Beyond, they'd need all the rest they could get. If he was even half as dangerous and intelligent as Quillsh, and even L, seemed to think he was, this wouldn't be easy. And if Near was as sick as he sounded, they could be in trouble.

Mello didn't seem to get on well with the boy, either. It was like his very existence annoyed him. Matt was more exhausted from keeping those two from killing each other than he was from searching all over the city all day.

Mello was very strong mentally, but he tended to make rash decisions based on spur-of-the-moment impulses. And that tended to get people into trouble.

A/N- Poor Near. Pseudo-Kira-task-force thing goin' here. Not sure how that happened. Anyway, the next chapter is just…disturbing. I went back to L and B and I managed to creep myself out. You've been warned. (Reviews make me feel better. Thanks to everyone who reviews my work. Ever.)

Next: Chapter 13-Salvage