Chapter fourteen:

Mello blinks awake first and sees Near still sleeping so he sits up only to spot food has been given to them along with a set of clean clothes. "Interesting. They just left the clothes folded this time." He mummers to himself then gets up to go check what they've been given looking for any signs of any drugs hidden in the food yet sees nothing alarming.

The clothes look fine and the clothes for Near appear to be closer to what he is used to.

For Mello it's pretty much the same as the ones he has on.

For Near it is a white t-shirt, dusty grey pants that are just a little more loose than the ones he has on and white socks.

Near groans softly as he begins to awaken getting Mello to turn to him as Near wakes up.

"How are you feeling?" Mello asks.

"Just a little sore." Near admits.

"Stay there." Mello heads to the bathroom and gets a nice warm bath then when it's ready he goes back into the room. "This should help." He picks Near up bridal style and takes Near to the bathroom. "You should be ready in case anything fucking happens to give us a chance to escape." He adds. "So we should try to get rid of that soreness to hopefully help." He sets Near on the edge of the tub. "I'll bring the clean clothes meant for you."

"Thank you Mello." Near says.

"Whatever. Don't worry about that." Mello shrugs and gets Near the clean clothes then lets the other enjoy the warm bath as he returns to the room. He decides to change once Near is done his bath since he doesn't want to be watched changing by anyone watching the cameras. He just doesn't feel like changing in front of any cameras. He tries the food and so far so good with no signs of any drug affecting him this time.

Two days later…..

Nothing interesting has happened with Mello and Near since there isn't much to do.

Near has a warm bath once a day to help with his soreness.

Their food hasn't been drugged since that one day so they mostly been debating and talking to each other as well as resting and doing anything else they can to take care of themselves here.

However….. Today is seemingly going to be different…

Mello is staring out the window while Near is sitting on the floor by the bed leaning back against it twirling his hair.

Suddenly Near brings his hand from his hair to his mouth and he gets up heading to the bathroom.

Mello turns but Near is gone so he goes to the bathroom only to find Near flushing the toilet. "You ok?"

"Must be a flu or something." Near responds. "I'm ok now."

Mello moves closer with a frown of worry and places a hand on Near's forehead. "Well no fever." He concludes. "Try resting for a bit."

Near nods and follows Mello back into the room only to settle on the side of the bed he usually sleeps on to try to rest a little.

Mello hopes that it really isn't anything life treating or anything since if it does turn out to be serious in the end then it could cause a lot of trouble due to the isolation they are currently in. He watches Near for a few moments suddenly wondering if their kidnappers would care enough to help him if it turn out to possibly be more than maybe a small illness. He turns away to look to the window gazing off into the distance as he mulls over the subject matter before finally deciding that they will just need to wait and see. He turns back to Near wondering if the other is perhaps asleep by now or not.

It appears so as far as Mello can tell as Near's breathing has drifted to become slightly soft.

Mello heads over to the bed and sits down next to Near where there is some space as he keeps his feet on the ground. His back is mostly to Near but he can turn to look to the other without a strain. "A lot has changed." He begins mostly to himself. "I mean we're a lot closer than before. I even got to see a side of you that I don't think anyone at Whammys has seen." He turns to look to Near instead of his own lap. "And you know what? I actually liked it. I had always wondered what you would look like with emotion and I got a little but it still means a lot." He reaches over, his hands are on the bed on either side of him, and brushes a strand of hair behind Nears ear having to hunch forward slightly. He pauses after that staring at Nears face as he can swear he can imagine those beautiful stormy grey eyes staring back yet he blinks a little slowly as Nears eyes remain asleep. He pulls back and turns away only slightly. "But I'm still going to fucking beat you at something. I'm still going to do my best no matter what. I know I should being saying this all to your face when you're awake... But I just need to just say it... I hope you don't mind." He almost laughs at himself at that comment since Nears asleep he won't mind because it's not like he might get uncomfortable about anything being said by Mello while he's asleep. "So maybe if we just continue to use our heads and keep our wits about us as best as we can we might have a chance. All we need is the right moment." He adds and pauses to slightly turn to look to Near enough to mostly look at his face. He continues after the small pause in speaking. "Together…. I do believe that we have a chance. Thanks for sticking with me." He finishes. "And thank you. For letting your walls start to crumble around me." He gets up. "Rest and get better. I'll do what I can in the meantime without bringing attention." He finishes and heads to the window now that he's done talking. He looks around trying to see if he can see anyone that maybe he can try to get their attention to see if they might be able to help or perhaps any other hope of getting a message out there that he can think of. He turns and looks to the trays but they have cups not bottles so they can't use that to try to mix stuff to send a message as far as possible like they could have with bottles. He turns back to outside thoughtful and he bites his bottom lip as he goes deep into thought of any other way that they can get a message out there. He blinks as something comes to him and rushes to the bathroom to look around for something that might work.

Meanwhile….

"Should we…?" A woman turns to a man.

The man watches the cameras. "No. Not yet."

"Alright." The woman turns back to the cameras.

…

"Go figure. Not even a single chemical bottle." Mello gets up and heads out of the bathroom. "Damn them. Have they thought of everything? All we need is someway to send the message. We can use toilet paper and blood to write with." He mummers under his breath and pauses as he sees Near begin to awaken.

Near sits up awake.

"Near?" Mello moves closer and Near looks to him. "How do you feel?"

"Better than before." Near responds.

"I think we should give it a few moments before you eat. Just in case." Mello tells him.

"I understand." Near turns away in thought.

"Hey what's up?" Mello asks slightly crossing his arms and tilting his head.

"I'm just thinking." Near responds.

"About?" Mello questions.

"About my dream." Near responds and Mello raises an eyebrow. "It was a little different than before. I could see images along with text that was saying things like that things have changed in which showed a picture of you and me on a hill by a tree." He explains. "I've never had a dream like that." He raises one hand to begin twirling a strand of hair.

Mello blinks with surprise upon hearing this as he remembers what he had told to Near. "I think that it's the words I spoke while you were asleep." He admits and Near turns back to him. "I guess your subconscious was processing my words. I know I should have told you face to face but I just had to say it."

"It's ok Mello. I understand." Near assures him. "It's good to get things off of your chest."

Mello smiles a little at this. "Thank you. Near."

Near gives a soft smile in return.

Elsewhere…

L is going through everything that they have on Rodger and he gets to the most recent files of Rodgers activities. He smiles softly as his eyes come to rest upon something.