"we still have not come up with any new information since the death note was lost. Other than the fact that the note landed outside of new York and disappeared before we could pin point it, we have nothing. This whole thing was planned exceptionally well." the heavier built man with the gun holster reported somewhat calmly, But of course underneath he was pretty damn frustrated... That and extremely unnerved by the red head sitting in the swivel chair next to near's hiding behind a pair of thick orange goggles that glinted in the light from the computer screens showing the hide out of their number one suspect. He glanced back to the white haired boy before him trusting in whatever judgement had let the stranger in.
"that's fine, commander Rester."
Near sighed looking back up at the screen. No one had come in or out since Matt had arrived and the killings were ongoing without skipping a beat. The fake Ł wasn't making much headway either not that he really expected them to. There was somthing wrong with that incompitant faux that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Near looked back over at Matt bent over in his chair next to him looking up longingly at the screen for the fourth day in a row. They hadn't even talked since he came in led by gevanni with a sulking defeated walk and nothing in his hands or pocket. The only thing he had spoken was a request for a pack of cigarettes from halle and since then she had given him a new pack every day. Of course near was reimbursing her for them. He let his eyes roam over Matt's body a moment before making up his mind.
"Halle, Rester, Gevanni. Go home and sleep, I can take care of monitoring tonight by myself. This is the quiet before a great storm and you all will be useless tripping over yourselves from exhaustion chasing after Kira. We're not getting anywhere at the moment anyways" he said quietly twirling a piece of his hair around his finger.
There were a few grunts of general confusion but eventually near's orders were followed and the three cleared out to go wherever they stayed on rare occurances such as this. Matt switched his gaze down to the floor behind him turning the chair with him as they left and traced the dark stain on the floor for the umpteenth time since he'd gotten here. Sometimes he would catch one of the remaining spk looking at it with a mix of apprehension, doom, and betrayal. He had played too many war games not to recognize it for what it was. Near rolled his chair in front of his line of sight and lifted his chin with a finger to look at him through his goggles. Matt closed his eyes not wanting to look at him, not wanting to see those curious eyes trying to peer through his goggles.
"why did you come back, Matt?" near asked softly. Matt remained silent, he couldn't tell near how he might have been right about everything. Somthing in him just wouldn't let it out but near must not have understood that because he kept going "when I first gave you the invitation you seemed so sure that you would never take it up and you let me know you never would.. Then a week later you tell me to pick you up off the street. Matt, what happened? If he hurt you.." Matt shook his head pulling away from his hand and tried to block the feelings from coming back.
Mello. His wild fingers had been touching him and his mouth had been on his. The man he loved had kissed him, ravished his neck. The hot feeling that the blonde left on his skin was still there even now. Ah, he had wanted it so much. He had dreamed about mello on top of him but.. He had walked away. Why? Because mello had only been doing it because he was drunk and near's words had poisoned his mind. Maybe mello didn't really love him but he could have just laid there and taken it. He could have stayed in his dream and- ung! Near crawled into his lap and straddled him wrapping his arms around the red head's waist. Matt gasped and when he jerked it sent them flying backwards slamming his head on the tile, but near never loosened his grip instead burying his head in matt's shirt. They both remained like that for a long minute that seemed to last hours each second the silence streched on. Then finally near spoke in a husky whisper, most of his usual calm threatening to shatter apart.
"it's been too long since I've held you like this, mail." no, don't remember these things. Please don't. "I don't know why you want mello so much when I'm right here. You remember when he left you so easily." near, don't make me remember. "Roger moved you in with me because he was worried and didn't want you to be alone. I didn't even look at you when the room started to cloud up with smoke from cigarettes you had snuck in with the help of the mailman. I didn't mind when your computer games and whatever lit up the tv screen all night and day. Roger made sure your grades never dropped and that you held second place but you stopped talking. Stopped living, even. Before when you were just mello's third rank puppy and I never thought much of you, you were happy and always smiling. Then it all stopped when mello left. You seemed to die. Do you remember the day it all changed?" Nate... "Ł's second anniversary when everyone was off at his grave but three of us? Although Lynda was off in town, of course. I set up my puzzle by the tv because the light was out and I needed to see the pieces. I looked up. That's all I did and... And I-I... Fell in love. Do you remember?"
Gods, yes. He hadn't ever forgotten that day.
Matt was playing spyro on his game cube sitting down in front of the screen that was the only light in the dark room with the curtains drawn. He had just finished his cigarette and flicked it absently off in near's direction whom was crouched over his puzzle next to the tv. The bulb had burned out not long after everyone had left to visit Ł's grave and Lynda had gone to town to set up her easel in the park. He never really thought about going to see the grave they had put out there since it wasn't real anyways. Only the fake new Ł would know where that was probably. He was startled as a face pressed against his jaw from behind and hips leaned against his back. Hands traced down his sides and then under his shirt over his chest slowly working lower to his stomach.
"you were so thin because you hadn't eaten in days. It scared me.. I still don't know why I did it. Maybe then I would say I was pulled in by your pain. Maybe now I could say you reminded me somehow of myself in some way that made me love you. Could be both, but you didn't look at me and it drove me crazy. So I-"
Near pulled his shirt up over matt's head so that it slid down his arms to cover his hands that were still working the controls instead of responding to his touch. He grazed his lips over the red head's ear and moved down to ravish his neck. Sucking on it and biting lightly before kissing all down his jaw line again and again. But Matt kept his eyes glued to the screen convinced it wasn't happening and that it would all stop soon. Because nothing mattered, especially himself. Near unbuttoned his own shirt and let it fall to the ground before crawling around to straddle Matt and claim his lips with his own. Near's own interest was grinding on his gradually hardening one as Matt dropped the controller and fell back trying to back away from the unwanted kiss. He turned his head and near trailed wet hot kisses down his neck to his chest and started playing with his nipples swirling one around with his tongue and flicking the other one harshly. Matt bit his bottom lip as one hand strayed down the knead the inside of his thigh and near flattened himself against matt's body. He was getting extremely hard and the failure music was playing on the screen with spyro flying through empty space. Near was unzipping his pants and biting his skin as he rubbed their hips together. This wasn't happening. No way no how. He was panting, their pants were off and he was in near's mouth. The feelings were flooding him and he felt like he'd been transported to some glitch in some game. A glitch that wiped all your memory and short circuted your controls as colours and beautiful pain racked your body. A tongue ran up his shaft and he gave out a low whine. A glitch that didn't let you turn off the console before everything goes to hell. Somthing inside of him let go as near's mouth left his hardon and he came all over his own chest. Everything was doubling as his legs were pulled up to his chest and something pressed against his entrance.
"then you looked up at me through those goggles of yours and for a moment I could see your eyes down into your very core. I saw how hurt you were and all you did was whisper to me as I looked into you. You asked me to stop... After that I held you and every night after I held you close. Sometimes I would kiss you and you never kiss back. But it was always silent between us. Then-" his voice cracked the tiniest bit giving away emotion on that composed face "then the one night I spoke even the simplest statement you left me for the world that mello lived in. I was so gentle with you and you still left for some one who had broken your heart and never looked back. He was so cold that time he left-"
"the only cold one is you, Nate." Matt spoke quietly.
Near looked up with a hurt face and tried to search his covered eyes for something that he must not have found because his features went blank and near got up and let Matt go back to their room where he remained in between dreaming and the state of waking for a long while until he finally found rest and a respite from the flood of conflicting emotions he felt.
when Matt woke he found himself wandering into the control room where everyone seemed to be gathered around the screen. He stepped up behing Halle and paused when he saw a small troup of visored men swarming mello's headquarters where he had been less than a week ago. They approached the front way where matt knew there was a hi def video feed going to the control room. Near seemed pleased and commander Rester was watching the happenings eagerly. Matt looked at the screen again and noticed the shinigami standing in front of the door way and he started to wonder why when it started flinging the helmets off of the squad of men as they passed into the camera's vision and each one dropped dead in fifteen seconds of confusion. There was a gasp from everyone in the room and gevanni muttered somthing about somebody's holy mother.
"the helmets are flying off seemingly of their own accord.." near said wide eyed turning to watch Matt as he left the room.
So no one else in there could see it but him.. Because they hadn't touched the murderer's notebook, he was sure. Either way it seemed like mello was thinking fine on his own using Matt's own handiwork to kill near's men. Matt threw himself on the bed and buried his face in the rough pillow. Mello really didn't need him too much after all.
"Matt, wake up. I need to talk to you" near plopped down onto the bed next to him and it shook him awake.
"what?" he mumbled groggily adjusting his goggles.
"there's going to be another raid on Mello's place very soon. That troup you saw before were the fake Ł's and as you saw, somthing went awry that we had no clue as to what it was. But things have been a bit more planned on his part appearently and he says things will work out better this time. I know you know what happened and even though I already know the answer I wanted to ask anyways." Matt kept quiet and near nodded his head in simple acceptance and got up turning to look over his shoulder in the doorway. "any information could save lives.. Even mello's." with that he left.
"wait, what does that-!" Matt bolted out the door after him but on the screen the Ł letterhead came on and a voice started talking to near. On one screen over was the out side of the building and next to that blown up across a few screens was the first person view of the inside from some cam on the lead man.
Matt watched as the shinigami stayed off the screen and the troups made their way through the building killing many people he had walked by and seen talking to mello on various occasions during his short stay. It was like something from call of duty with smoke bombs and gunfire with people falling down everywhere. Alot of mobsters were dying and a few of Ł's men were right after them. The camera approached his old room and went into the next door down and matt's heart skipped a beat when he saw mello holding a detenator in one hand sitting atop the computer desk. He knew what was going to happen even before mello said it and he was out the door quick as lightning a minute later with gevanni's keys in the ignition roaring down the road to mello.
He parked a block down and threw open the door just as a loud explosion racked the ground and his ears started ringing. He started running to the wreckage where fires were just beginning their timed lives and tried to keep himself moving in the right direction. White hot metal and sizzling concrete was haphazardly blown everywhere in large dangerous chunks. His step never faltered as he got to the spot where he was sure the control room was. Mello was not dead because he simply couldn't be. It wasn't mello to be dead when he was so far away from his final goal. He still had to reach the final boss. He sloppily started digging around in the debri mixed in with large concrete chunks throwing everything out of his way. He moved away a busted computer screen to find sub-director yagami with a large hunk of wall crushing him. So this was the man the feed was comming from. Matt heaved the burden from him already knowing that poor sayu would never see her father again and moved on to find the one person he knew was okay. Yagami was on his way to hell but he just knew in his heart of hearts that mello wasn't going to the BBQ just yet. He found him in a mess of wires across the room with his beautiful face marred by a large red bubbling mass across one side. Most of his leather was blown apart and Matt was almost afraid to touch him but when the sirens sounded he picked him up princess style and ran as hard as he could out the back road.
He kept running until he happened by an inn down by the ghetto and quickly slipped into the lobby. The man at the desk looked like a shady hard case and Matt went up and slammed all the money he had on the desk.
"get me a room and a first aid kit now or so help me you'll be dead in a day." Matt growled in frustration
The man nodded as if it was a normal occurance and put the money away before leading him to a back room where he left for a moment as Matt set Mello down on the bed and his goggles slipped down around his neck and his eyes stung from the weak hotel room lights. When the guyi came back carrying what would have passed as a first aid kit in a dentist's office he didn't even look up as he took it and literally kicked the man out of the room.
Matt set about removing the smolding clothes from his once perfect Mello and pouring peroxide over everything that was an angry red, being careful around his eye as not to get any of the burning liquid in it. Taking out the lengths of gauze he very carefully wrapped all of the burns trying not to touch any of them or upset Mello's delicate position. The face was the hardest to do. Half of his beautiful face was lost in the burning mass of flesh- no, this WAS his beautiful mello and nothing could ruin him. Matt silently thanked mells' god that it had obviously been fake weak explosives and not actual bombs. He would not have survived that close to them had they been real. Gods, mello, why do you do this to me? How could I have left you, drunk or sober? This beautiful man before him was alive and that's all he knew he really cared about. As long as mello was breathing it really didn't matter if his feelings were returned or not.
Mello was here, he choked. Matt started crying as he pulled the blanket up on the feverish blonde and cradled his head in his hands beside mello letting his tears flow freely. Mello's face twitched in a worried grimace and his hot hand found it's way to Matt's face where he took it and held it gently against his cheek. Yes, he was alive
And he belonged to mello no matter what.
