A/N: I have been speared into writing this quickly. Not because I want to, mind you, but because I feel threatened, more than anything. You see… I am a very competitive person by nature… it's gotten to the point where I don't read a lot of other people's work anymore because I always get that threatened feeling. .Le sigh… oh well… anyway, hopefully you enjoy this! Sorry for my ranting.

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of the characters in this story.

Chapter 25: Desperate Search

It was easy for Roger to pull me away from the entrance way after Near left through the door. Upon hearing it click closed, I knew I had lost, and my whole world seemed to crash down around me.

Roger took me back to one of the empty classrooms and began trying to force mountains of work upon me. Maybe to keep me busy, or maybe to distract me. All I knew was that it wasn't working.

My eyes kept flicking to the classroom door, and then back to the clock that hung over the blackboard at the front of the room. All I could think about was how much time had passed since I let Near slip out of my grasp and go to that thing.

It felt like only a second had ticked by every time I looked at the clock. When in reality, I had absolutely no idea how long it had been. My mind was in such a rush that every time looked the same.

Maybe it'd been a minute? Maybe it'd been ten minutes? Hell, with how trapped I felt right now maybe it had been three fucking days since Roger brought me in here! I just didn't know anymore!

I began tapping my pencil against the desk top while my eyes stayed on the clock and watched the second hand go around and around in a circle.

Roger suddenly cleared his throat, and instinctively my eyes shot down to him –where he was sitting behind the teacher desk in front of the black board. His eyes met mine, "Get to work, Mello. You are not to leave this room until all of that work is complete."

I growled in frustration, wondering how exactly he could have the audacity to tell me to do this useless work when he'd been the one to send Near to his destruction. Who was more at fault there?

"Does any of this even matter? Would it even go to my score in the race?" I asked. Maybe if I had that incentive, I'd be able to distract myself with this work or something.

Roger looked up from some paper's his eyes had been on, "No. This is strictly punishment."

My eyes narrowed. What a bastard…

All of a sudden, though there came the ring of Roger's cell phone in his pocket. My eyes stayed on him as my heart picked up in speed. For some reason, my mind screamed that, just maybe, something had happened that had prevented Watari and Near from getting there and were now heading back.

Could such a relief exist? I didn't think so...

"Yes?" Roger asked as he flipped open the phone and placed it at his ear.

I couldn't hear who was on the other side, but when Roger's eyes darted over to me before he answered, my tension suddenly broke and I could barely contain myself. "Uh, yes he i-."

That was enough for me to hear. I bounded out of my chair with enough force to topple it over, and raced up to the teacher desk –my eyes burning into Roger's. "Is that L?" I asked as I tried to keep my burning anger down.

Roger, obviously taken by surprise, paused a moment before he answered, "Yes, it i-."

My hands were shaking now, "Give me the phone!" I didn't know what I would say to L if I got a hold of that phone, but I knew it wouldn't be anything good.

Roger had enough time to nearly shout my name, before L said something on the other line. Now in this closeness, I could just barely pick out his voice and his words, "It's fine, Roger, please give him the phone."

My hands clenched into fists. L knew he had the upper hand between us, and he was throwing it right in my face. I hated him more than ever in that moment, and wanted nothing more than to let him know that I would kill him.

Roger paused for a moment before handing over the phone to me. I grabbed it, and without waiting any longer I began out of the room –ignoring Roger's call to me. I needed to get away from Roger. Not for my own good, but so he didn't hear the things I needed to say to L.

"L, where the hell are you?" I shouted into the phone as I entered out to the hallway. Roger would surely be quick to follow me. I had to listen to whatever it was L would say back to me, and decide what I was going to do, all at once.

"I'll tell you where I am in a bit, Mello, don't worry about that." Came his incredibly smooth sounding voice from the other side. I could just hear the control in his every word; it made me sick.

"Where is Near?" I asked, finally coming to a conclusion about what exactly I needed to do. The only way for me to escape Roger and have any chance of helping Near was to leave here.

So, with that, I bounded down the hall towards the entrance way –where all of this had taken place. All the while, I listened to L's response. "He's right here. All is fine, Mello."

But I knew the truth. I didn't even care about being inconspicuous about me knowing about what was happening now. Near could get mad at me for it later. Right now, it was all about winning against L.

I never thought I would be fighting against my idol; especially not about something like this.

"Like Hell it is! Don't you dare touch him, L! I swear to God if you lay a hand on him-."

He cut me off, "You'll do what? You don't know where I am."

By this point, I was out of Wammy's, and running as fast as I could down the path towards the main road. I didn't know where exactly I planned on going, but that wasn't the point right now.

"I'll find you and kill you myself!" I shouted back angrily.

"Would you like to hear from him yourself?" L suddenly asked.

The words hit me like a brick wall and I skidded to a stop on the empty main road that led into the city. I had to ask myself did I want to hear Near right now? What if L had already begun to rape Near? I hated to think of what kind of state he would be in.

That had to be it… that had to be the reason why L was doing this to us… he wanted us to talk so that both of us would feel the connection being painfully severed. Everything breaking down around us like the most delicate crystal against a merciless floor.

I didn't even get a chance to give my final answer, when the silence on the other end was broken. "Mello…" Came Near's painfully broken voice, which made my heart clench in my chest. I couldn't help but think to myself, 'Oh God… how did I let this happen…'

But my words shot out before I could think of them, "Near!" There was a happy tone in my voice. Maybe more like relieved, though. "Where are you? I'm sorry… tell me." My thoughts and priorities were in such disarray that it all came out in a single blob. I wasn't even sure if it'd made any sense at all.

The was a brief pause on the other end before again I heard Near, "I'm sorry…" He told me. It made my heart break, completely. Near shouldn't be the one apologizing, it should be me.

"Near…" But I couldn't find the words.

After another pause, L's voice came over the line, "Mello." He said. Just hearing his voice and all the anger that it brought to me was enough to remind me of what I was supposed to be doing, and forced me to begin running down the street again.

"I'll kill you, L. I'll make you regret everything you've done to him and feel just as much pain!" I promised.

"I'm sure, Mello." He responded, with an air about him that said he wasn't taking me seriously. "Well, we have to go now, but I'll be sure to call later with the information of where you'll be able to find Near."

"You bastard! Just fucking-." I didn't get the chance to finish my sentence before I realized L had cut the connection between us. I growled in frustration, throwing the phone into my pocket and continuing running.

I reached the city limits but didn't stop for a second. My eyes darted around me to all of the different brick buildings. They were all different in what they were used for –some houses, some shops- but they were the same in their appearance.

I finally came to stop a four-way-intersection. My eyes darted around the area as I began contemplating which way I should go. Randomly deciding, I took a right and began down that side –pushing through the people who were in my way.

But suddenly, I had to stop myself.

My eyes looked down the street I was now on. Just like the previous street, all of these buildings looked the same. Red brick, two or three stories tall, and with all different kinds of hotels, shops, and houses built into it.

I turned around and looked down the street opposite of the one I was on. Again, it was like a mirrored version of this one. My heart suddenly dropped.

Where did I go now?

Painfully, I realized that there was nowhere else I could go. Even if I tried to just check hotels in the city, that had to be a dozen, and there was no ways I'd be able to check all the rooms. It felt like I was looking for a single needle in a city-worth of hay.

My legs gave out under me, and I sat down on the curb of the road –my eyes looking down to the grungy street under my feet. As painful as it was for me to admit it, L had won… just like he always does.

He was going to do whatever he wanted to Near… and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it now.

-

It felt like hours and hours later when Roger's phone in my pocket began ringing. Quickly I took it out and opened it –not caring who exactly it was, right now. "What?" I answered.

"Hello, Mello?" Came L's voice, making me shoot up in my spot.

"L!" I nearly shouted, "What did you do! Whe-."

"There's no need for shouting, Mello. I've called to tell you where you can get Near."

I stopped in place, my confused expression looking at nothing, "Where…" But I let myself trail off as L began telling me the name of the hotel, and where exactly it was. My eyes darted around to the nearest street sign, and I realized that I wasn't at the street.

So, even if I had begun checking those hotels on this street, I wouldn't have found him.

"I trust you'll be the one to try and fix him, again." L said, and I couldn't find the words to say anything else. He knew I would, and even I knew I would. Despite my failure.

After saying his goodbyes and hanging up, I placed the phone back in my pocket and once again began trying to navigate my way through the confusion of streets.

I felt so numb. But most of all, I was trying as hard as I could to not think about what kind of shape L might have left Near in.

A/N: Yeah, that was a good chapter! I feel better now. I'm actually quite proud of this one. I think it got across exactly what happened very well. I know in BP this was a confusing part. People were wondering how Mello had answered Rogers phone, and things like that, and I think I've cleared that up well. So… let me know what you think! And, if you haven't already, please vote in the poll on my profile! Thanks!

Please review!
-Forbiddensoul562