AUTHOR'S NOTE

I don't own Death Note, or the cover art...

Near gasped in pain as he was thrown into the small room. Another cell? Wade walked in with a big ugly grin on his face.

"I told you that I'd make you regret this." His voice boomed as he revealed the bite mark on his arm. Near refused to respond, he just glared back at the man with his most ferocious look. He'd never truly hated someone as much as he hated this man.

"That look again huh? Looks like you didn't learn the first time." The man roughly grabbed the boy's shoulders and kneed him in the side. The pain was so intense that Near felt his vision go completely white. What made everything worse was the loud splitting Crack sound that echoed through the cell. He definitely just cracked my ribs. Near was dropped to the ground again, but he didn't notice. He couldn't hear past his own gasping and coughing. He had been thoroughly winded from the blow. His own heart was pounding in his chest. "Have you learned your lesson yet boy?" The man bellowed to the crumpled kid in front of him. Near couldn't respond, he was desperately gasping for air. Tremors were coursing through his body. He suddenly felt another blow, directly where the first one had hit. The pain was immediate and he heard himself cry out. "Don't ignore me kid. You should learn some manners." Without giving Near any time to recover, the man continued his beating. Each blow being directed somewhere vital. Near hadn't felt the tears start tomprick in the corner of his eyes from the agony of each hit. Everything hurt so badly, he really felt like he was about to die. The man finally gave him a break, but his mind was too muffled at the moment to question why. He caught a glimpse of Wade holding something from the corner of his eye. A… pocket knife? "It's not fair that I'm the only one who has to bleed now is it?" The man asked psychotically. Near didn't have the energy to respond or resist, but his heart rate, which had already been pounding, was now speeding up even more. He was panicking. The man inched the knife closer to him, upping his anxiety second by second. Then suddenly, everything went black.

Mello had been watching Near for only about half an hour, or at least that's what he had assumed based on how long it felt. he had nothing on or around him to tell him the exact time so his own judgement would have to do for now. He'd been trying to keep track of any strange behavior and had just now noticed that Near was shivering slightly in his sleep. Is he cold? It wouldn't have been too surprising if he was. The metal cell in which they were all being held captive wasn't exactly what you would call warm or cozy. Still, Mello had taken the responsibility to watch the younger boy in front of him, so he had to try to figure out if he was cold or if it was perhaps something else. He slowly edged closer to the white haired boy, who now seemed to be trying to slightly curl into himself again. That can't be good for his stomach wound. If he had a possibility for broken ribs, then these types of careless actions would only make everything worse in the long run. Mello realized this pretty quickly and tried to carefully ease Near back into a flat lying position only to notice something impossible. He almost gasped at the sight of what could only be tears. he's…crying? Mello was utterly dumbfounded. He really couldn't believe what he was seeing, Near wasn't supposed to cry. He was supposed to be an emotionless freak; someone who was easy to hate. Mello continued to stare at the pale boy in front of him. Is he… having a nightmare? If the blonde thought he had no idea what to do before, that feeling had a whole new meaning now. Unfortunately he'd spent too much time mulling over his shock to know what to make of the situation. He realized this fact once Near's eyes suddenly snapped open. The young boy was breathing heavily and seemed to wear a look that resembled… panic? His grey eyes glanced up only to meet Mello who was frozen like a deer in the headlights. The blonde finally snapped out of it, managing to form a few words.

"H-hey… you're safe Near…" his voice shook with uncertainty. He didn't know if this was the right thing for him to say but realized after a few seconds that these words hadn't had any negative effect on Near, so that was at least a good thing. Near managed to pull himself together on his own, slowly stabilizing his uneven breaths. the young boy lifted his trembling pale hand and after quickly wiping away his tears, let out a shaky sigh. The white haired boy felt slightly embarrassed that he'd let himself break down like that in front of Mello. Had he really been that shaken up about what happened to him? He had to admit he'd been really scared at the moment, but it was over now, so why couldn't he get his body to stop shaking. When he'd opened his eyes, words could not explain how relieved he felt when he saw Mello. He felt… somehow safe, even though this was Mello he was talking about. He knew, in his heart, that Mello wouldn't hesitate to go ahead and hurt Near himself if needed, but for some reason, when he was so shaken up with no one to turn to, Mello seemed like a viable option. It's because I was expecting… that man to be there, he told himself tiredly. He felt mentally and physically exhausted, but for some reason he really didn't want to close his eyes. He supposed it was because he really didn't want to relive the same event ever again, even in dream form. Once was already more than enough… Mello was starting to get a bit confused. Near seemed to be forcing himself to stay awake. Everytime the white haired boy's eyes would start to drift closed, he immediately forced them open again. Is he afraid of falling asleep? Why? Mello mulled over this for a bit before a thought suddenly hit him. If he'd been having a nightmare before, he might be refusing to sleep so that the same thing didn't happen again. If that was the case, then Mello had a strange feeling that it had to be something to do with whatever that man… Wade, did to him. He silently cursed the man in his head. Even Near didn't deserve this and with his small body looking all battered and bruised, his imagination was going crazy as to how many possible ways he could have obtained those injuries. None of them were good, but some of them were a lot worse than he'd like to think was the real cause. Mello hesitantly slid closer to the white haired boy and firmly gripped his pale hand. He felt Near stiffen a bit and then slowly blink and turn to look at him. He was suddenly feeling a bit awkward in trying to help his rival… god… this is so weird. He'd never been one to provide comfort, especially not towards Near. If anything, he would normally be the one to cause him discomfort.

"He… can't hurt you Near… I'm here so don't worry." The words seemed to slip out of his mouth, much more easily than Mello had expected them to, but then again he never thought they would slip out at all. Mello saw the result of his words when he felt the pale hand that was gripped in his own relax a bit. The white haired boy's eyes closed and he didn't open them again. Mello sighed, he himself was suddenly starting to feel tired, and his body felt a bit heavy too. I can't sleep… I promised Matt that I'd watch him… The blonde yawned, this was really gonna be a long night…

"Mels… Mello, wake up!" Mello immediately woke to his name being repeated. He opened his eyes only to see Matt staring at him. Crap… I was supposed to watch him. Mello jolted up from his laying position and realized that he was still gripping Near's hand. He gently pried it off and glanced at the face of whom it belonged. The white haired boy looked pale. That was the first thing he noticed, The second thing was the realization that it was now morning. He was sure of this due to the bright light that was shining through the small barred window in their cell. He could see everything more clearly, though he couldn't tell if he should consider this a blessing or a curse. He could clearly see all the bruises on Near's body as well. He didn't even want to imagine how much worse the large one on his side would look. These thoughts were interrupted by Matt's voice, which seemed to have a slight hint of concern to it. "Mels you…" He stopped for a moment before finishing the sentence in a slightly quieter tone "you fell asleep." Mello stared at him awkwardly for a bit before realizing that Matt was probably mad at him for breaking his 'promise'.

"Yeah…. Sorry." Mello apologized. He wasn't usually one for apologies but when it came to Matt, he didn't mind as much. He knew that this was a mistake on his part anyway. Matt shook his head before speaking,

"It's fine, I just hope he was alright during the night" Mello contemplated on whether or not he should tell Matt the truth, but, in the end, decided what he didn't know couldn't hurt him. He didn't need to know about the nightmare anyway, it would probably just cause him to worry extra.

"Yeah… I was awake for most of the night and nothing out of the ordinary happened." Mello lied smoothly. He noticed Matt glance at the youngest boy for a second and then speak once again.

"I think he's waking up." The brunette exclaimed in a hushed tone. The blonde's vision cut from Matt to the white haired boy only to realize that it was true. Near made a small noise and slowly opened his eyes. Matt didn't waste any time in starting to immediately fuss over him, and Near looked almost as confused as Mello.

"Near, you feeling ok?" Asked Matt earnestly as he carefully placed a hand on his forehead to check for fever, sighing in relief when he discovered that the white haired boy was only slightly warm. Near opened his mouth and whispered hoarsely,

"I-I'm alright." It was as if his voice was contradicting what he was saying because he didn't sound alright at all. Matt looked at him in concern, but didn't pry any more. Suddenly the bars rattled harshly and the boys' eyes snapped up only to be reminded of how unsafe they really were.

"Hey kids, you miss us?" Mello resisted to shoot the man a venomous glare. The only reason he didn't was because he'd seen what had happened to Near and did not want to be delivered the same fate. The other two men entered into view as well and suddenly the man known as Wade smirked "You kids should get comfy," He said loudly, "We tried contacting your orphanage but they refused to give us the money." Mello's eyes widened. Why in the hell would they do that? He suddenly realized that Matt had started shaking next to him; he looked to be beyond scared. This wasn't good, could these men possibly be bluffing? No that wasn't likely, what would they get out of lying? Mello was staring at Wade, who, he realized wasn't looking at him. He followed the man's gaze and internally cringed when he was led to Near. What more does he want with him, hasn't he done enough already? He felt Matt protectively try and shift in front of Near, and the men noticed this immediately.

"Wade, I told you not to kill him…" deadpanned the man - Vito, Mello remembered his name to be -. Wade turned to the buffer man and scoffed,

"I didn't kill him, the brat's just overreacting." Mello could tell that these words caused Matt to fume. Matt never got mad, but when he did, it was only obvious to Mello, who knew him very well. Near wasn't overreacting, even Mello could tell that much. If anything, he was under-reacting. He hadn't once complained about the pain since he was thrown into the cell. Mello glanced at the pale boy, only to notice that he was still, as if frozen in fear. Anyone would be afraid if they were in his place. Wade grinned, an eerie aura surrounding him. He began to unlock the cell, and even Mello, at this point, was horrified. What's he gonna do? Is he… gonna hurt Near again. He didn't know why he seemed to care, but that was the least of his problems right now. He found himself subconsciously shifting in front of the white haired boy, just like Matt had done, in a pathetic attempt of protection. He heard Wade laugh and suddenly felt really mad. They were only in this position because the orphanage had failed to protect them, and now Whammys had the audacity to just ditch all three of them? Why aren't trying to save us? "If someone doesn't pay up for you kids soon, then we'll just have to kill the lot of you." Wade explained, laughing maniacally after his sentence was complete. Matt stiffened, he knew that this couldn't be bluff, seeing as though this man had already shown that he had no problem in beating Near to a pulp; killing them all probably wasn't out of the question for these psychopaths.

"Calm down" They heard the last man - who hadn't talked in a while- say. "We're just giving you some food," Mello snapped out of his trance and noticed that Randy - was that his name? - had been carrying something, granola bars… He tossed three of them into the cell, and then hesitantly tossed an extra, to which he got an annoyed look from Wade.

"Why're you giving them four, there's only three of 'em." He received a sort of glare of Vito and immediately backed down.

"That kid looks half dead and it's your fault, so you can give up one of yours." Wade huffed but didn't complain again. The men then slowly left, grumbling about money and some other stuff that Mello couldn't quite pick up on. He noticed Matt glance at him and returned the gaze, "Mels, do you think we should eat anything they give us?" it was an honest question, but his voice held a sort of edge to it and Mello knew immediately what he was trying to ask. They could have possibly poisoned the food. Mello stared at the bars in front of him, the packaging looked fine, it didn't seem to be tampered with.

"I… don't think they poisoned them. They were talking before about how one of the men had to 'give up one of his'. That means that they're eating the same thing as us. His reaction didn't look fake to me when he was angry about getting less food, and I don't think they would have any reason to poison us…" Matt nodded wide-eyed. Everything Mello was saying made sense, he was probably being paranoid, though no one could truly blame him. They had gone through quite a bit of crap in just barely - a night?-. Whatever it was, Matt seemed to be more shaken up about it than Mello, but that was to be expected since the blonde would probably rather die than show any sign of fear. Matt turned around to look at Near who hadn't talked at all. He was still laying there, pale and shaky, calmy drawing breaths.

The brunette was suddenly at Near's side, trying to push him into a sitting position by leaning him onto the cell wall. Near winced in pain every time his injury was jostled slightly due to being moved. He knew that Matt was trying his best to be as gentle as possible, but it was basically impossible for Near to move even in the slightest without being in agony. Mello wordlessy began to help Matt and they both managed to get Near into a sitting position. The white haired boy was breathing heavily by the end of it, but tried his best to disguise how bad he was actually feeling. It was so easy to mask his emotion, but physical pain was much harder to mask. Mello could tell that Near was uncomfortable sitting up, but laying on the metal ground couldn't be good for him and especially not while eating. Near choking was not another problem they needed right now. Matt grabbed one of the granola bars and carefully ripped open the packaging. Once the bar was open, he peeled the aluminum wrapping down so that only half of the bar was exposed, while the part he was holding was still covered. Once he was satisfied with the act he moved his hand close to Near's mouth as if gesturing to him to eat. Near gave him a blank stare, hiding his true nervousness. He really didn't feel like eating right now, but he knew that Matt probably wouldn't rest until he ate at least a little bit. He opened his mouth and took a small nibble of the bar before chewing for a while and swallowing. It wasn't too bad, but he didn't think he would be able to eat all of it. Mello watched the white haired boy take a few more bites before he whispered…

"I-I'm full" hoarsely. Matt stared at him sympathetically but shook his head.

"Sorry Near, but you're gonna eat both of these." Matt explained, "We have four and two of them are yours" Near shook his head stubbornly, causing Mello to sigh,

"Gimme that," Mello grumbled as he snatched the bar out of Matt's hand. Matt looked a bit surprised but otherwise didn't protest. "Eat" The blonde demanded, shoving the bar close to Near's mouth. He looked dead serious and with Near's current condition, he looked pretty intimidating to the smaller boy. Near lifted a shaky hand and tried grabbing the bar, Mello let him take it and watched as he slowly bit off a small chunk, chewed, and swallowed. Mello then opened his own bar and chewed off a bite. There were little chocolate chunks in the bar so that was a plus, at least for Mello; it already felt like he'd been too long without chocolate. He inhaled the bar very quickly and noticed that Matt was staring worriedly at Near. Following his gaze, he realized the Near looked even paler than before. He'd almost finished the bar, but Mello could tell that there was no way he would eat any more of it. Forget about eating both bars, Near couldn't even finish one.

He leaned over and gently took the almost-finished granola bar out of Near's hands. The pale boy quickly dropped his arms at his sides as soon as he no longer had a reason to hold them up. He looks terrible, thought Mello. He felt a twinge of sympathy when he looked at the boy. Not only was he frighteningly pale, but Mello could tell he was constantly hurting. His body was trembling and his breaths were shaky. He looked… ill. Without thinking, Mello reached forward and placed his hand on the pale boy's forehead. He immediately retracted the hand when he felt it burn from heat causing Matt to look at him in concern. He had a slight fever before, but this is definitely way worse. His fever went from mild to high too quickly… Without warning, Near lurched forward and started coughing, hard. Every cough left him breathless and he was in obvious pain from the pressure it put on his stomach. Matt gasped, managing to grab the pale boy as he swayed dangerously to the right. Mello sprung Into action as well, rubbing circles on Near's back as his coughs became more and more unbearable. Both boys were scared out of their minds at this happening; they'd already realized that Near was in bad shape, but right now it looked like he was… dying.

Mello suddenly became nervous, Near couldn't be dying, could he? Mello hadn't realized that he was now tightly embracing the young boy in his arms, waiting for the coughing to subside. He'd never before realized how small Near really was compared to him or even Matt, but now when he could feel his thin small body shaking in his arms, it was so painfully obvious that he couldn't help but feel terrible. He'd never thought twice before trying to hurt Near before, but with him so horribly injured like his, he almost cringed at the thought of wanting him to suffer. Mello could feel Near's heart racing in the boy's chest even as his coughs began to subside. Now there were just gasps and whimpers coming from the boy and, if he previously had any energy, it was all completely spent now. His whole body dropped and Mello felt his entire body weight collapse into him. He was light, really light, but at this moment, his light weight made Mello feel even more concerned. He's so small, how much longer can his body even fight this off?

He was soon pulled out of his thoughts when he felt that Near was no longer moving, neither was he making any sounds. Mello felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach, no… He's not d-dead, is he? Mello slowly loosened his grip on the pale boy and laid him on the ground. He looked to be sleeping peacefully, his face almost like a porcelain doll. Dead, thought Mello before quickly shaking his head at the awful idea. Before Near had ate the granola bar, he seemed to be ok, at least as ok as someone with those injuries could possibly be. Mello had been the one who forced the white haired boy to eat them so… was this... his fault. Did I do this…? Mello felt his hands begin to shake and he clenched them tightly, glancing at Matt who looked just as, if not more scared than he did.

"Is he.." gulped Matt. The blonde teen shook his head vigorously, no, he couldn't be dead. Mello reached forward and pressed his fingers against Near's neck. Relief flooded him as he felt the weak beating of his pulse, he was alive.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Wow... this chapter was kinda depressing. Anyway, I'm actually a lot more proud of this chapter, than i was of the other one, so I hope you all enjoy it as well! I'm at my high school right now, so I gotta go before my teacher notices... so bye my readers!

Also, I have a two week break due to corona virus so I might be finishing this story in that time! Stay tuned!