Chapter 4: Trade

Mello woke up with the feeling that something heavy was on top of him. He slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was laying chest up on the couch and that Julia was sleeping comfortably on him. Her head was nestled underneath his chin as her arm wrapped around his waist protectively.

They must have just fallen asleep like this after their late night talk. Mello wasn't exactly sure how that happened but he couldn't complain. He liked the feel of having Julia so close to him. She looked innocent as she slept and Mello had to stop himself from brushing her hair away from her face. Instead, he grabbed onto Julia's wrist and moved it so he could get out. He gently placed her back on the couch where she continued sleeping. He contemplated waking her up but figured it'd be fine if she slept in a little longer. She wouldn't like what they were doing today anyway.

Julia rolled over on her bed only to fall off it. She squeaked in surprise as her back collided with the floor painfully, and she realized she wasn't even in her bed. She had been sleeping on the couch the entire night. With Mello.

Julia sat up quickly, but was downhearted to see that Mello was no longer there. He must have left earlier. Julia groaned as she pushed herself up off the floor and made her way downstairs to where the men were sure to be after she made herself presentable.

They were discussing something and Julia was suddenly curious. "What's going on?"

Mello looked up at her. "Today is the day we kidnap Sayu Yagami."

"We got her," Rashual said, walking into the main room where Mello was sitting comfortably on the couch, along with Julia, Ross, Miller, and a few other Mafia members. Mello's legs were spread apart casually and his arms were slung over the back of the couch. A bar of chocolate hung loosely from the fingers closest to Julia, who looked out the door to see Sayu being dragged forcefully by the few members of the Mafia who were carrying her to where she would be held. A pained expression crossed Julia's face as she saw the fear on Sayu's face before a man pulled her roughly by the arm and out of sight.

"Yeah, you know where she goes," Mello said, snapping a piece of chocolate off the bar.

"What's the matter with you?" Rashual asked Julia, watching at her with an amused expression. "You scared? We didn't hurt her…much."

"You're disgusting," Julia muttered under her breath as Miller reached a hand toward her leg.

"Oh hey, I'll protect you," he laughed. Julia shoved it away and stood up.

"I'm outta here," she announced, mostly to Mello, before marching up the stairs.

"You need to stop acting like such a girl," Mello informed Julia as he stepped into their room, slinging himself onto the couch.

"Yeah well, I am a girl," Julia told him. "And this isn't about acting scared or whatever you think 'acting like a girl' means. This is about the fact that those nasty men are probably down there scaring that poor girl for fun, and the fact that you're standing by like this whole event is no big deal."

"I said I would do whatever's necessary," Mello shrugged, glancing toward her. "You should have been paying more attention." Julia glared at him before turning around facing the window, done with this conversation.

Later that night, Julia was lying in the bed pretending to be sleeping but was actually wide awake. Mello was obviously awake too, as Julia could hear him wandering the room and snapping the chocolate with his teeth. The phone rang, and Julia heard his footsteps walk over to pick it up.

"Yeah?" he said. "Just leave her in there for the exchange. Tomorrow will be the day we get the notebook." Mello made a few more grunting sounds to the person on the other end, whom Julia assumed to be a Mafia member, before clicking the phone on the hook and returning to the couch.

Julia felt sick. They were just going to keep her in that tiny glass revolving door contraption that would be used for the exchange. She doubted anyone had even bothered to feed her or even see if she was alright. And after about another hour of thinking, Julia decided she couldn't stand it any longer. She rolled over slowly to see that Mello was asleep on the couch, his arms slung off the side loosely, still clutching the chocolate bar. Then, before she could talk herself out of it, Julia sat up.

She crept across the room quickly, making sure not to make a sound. She knew that if Mello were to find out what she was doing, he would undoubtedly get mad or, at the very least, hold it against her later. For that reason she almost didn't go, but she couldn't stand it any longer. She closed the door silently behind herself and disappeared down the hall.

"Jules…" Mello groaned to himself once she was out of the room. He knew exactly where she was going. She was too weak to handle the situation, or at least that's how it appeared to him. Sometimes he figured it would be better if she wasn't there with him, but he never dwelled too much on those thoughts. He wanted her there, weak or not. He wasn't so sure why though.

"Sayu…?" Julia wondered, creeping through the darkness into the area where the exchange would be made. She had managed to make it there without getting caught, and she was thankful to see that whoever was supposed to be watching the place wasn't doing a very good job. In the room was the bulletproof box that would make the exchange, and inside was Sayu Yagami. She was sitting on the floor inside her small space, her head hung so that only her brown hair was visible. She didn't look up at Julia's words, and she figured that she couldn't hear her. Julia crept closer and leaned her head toward the small rectangular opening.

"Sayu Yagami?" she asked. Sayu's head snapped up, and she instantly started shaking. Julia held her hands out in front of her to show she meant no harm. "I'm not gonna hurt you," Julia explained.

"Can you let me out?" Sayu asked quickly, looking hopeful. "Please?" Julia hesitated. She knew that she could probably find a way to get her out of here, but her mind snapped to Mello. He would never forgive her for that. It would ruin his entire plan, and Julia knew that would anger him more than anything right now, especially since he was sure he was inches away from beating Near.

But then she thought of the girl before her. If something happened to her tomorrow, and she were to get hurt, or even die, would it be Julia's fault for not letting her out? She tossed back and forth the repercussions of possibly letting her go, but finally decided against it. If it was anyone else's will, she wouldn't have hesitated, but since it was Mello's, she couldn't.

"I'm sorry…" Julia finally said. Sayu's face grew fearful again as her hope was shattered.

"Are you…are you with those men?" she asked, now shaking again.

"Do you need water?" Julia asked ignoring the question she didn't really want to answer. "Or something to eat?"

"No," Sayu answered. "I just want to go home…"

"I know," Julia said in as comforting a tone as she could manage. "But tomorrow…your dad will come and…"

"My dad?" Sayu asked quickly. "He can't come here! They'll kill him. How do you know that he's coming? Who are you?" Julia struggled with what to say in response. Sayu was obviously frightened, and the fact that she had no idea what was going on didn't help.

"I-" Julia began before a noise caught her attention. She snapped her head in that direction before turning back to Sayu. "I have to go…I'm sorry…" She didn't know who that might be, but she wasn't going to wait and find out.

"Wait!" Sayu whispered frantically after her, but Julia was already up and out the door. And as she made her way back upstairs and tiptoed past Mello, who was truly asleep this time, she couldn't help but think that was the worst idea she'd ever had. She felt even worse for Sayu now and guilty on top of that. Tomorrow was definitely not going to be easy.

"Here," Julia said, passing Mello the microphone halfheartedly. This marked the beginning of the part of the plan that would actually get them the notebook, and Julia had to resist the urge to vomit. Sayu was downstairs at that very moment, probably even more terrified from when Julia had seen her, and Mello was about to give Mr. Yagami his instructions.

"Yagami," Mello said into it once he took it from her. Mr. Yagami was apparently given a wireless earpiece in which Mello would feed him directions. "Right now, you're the only one who can hear my voice. Listen very carefully. I'm the one who kidnapped your daughter," He opened his chocolate as he said this, and Julia couldn't help but think it only added to his casualness over the situation. "But don't get the wrong idea," he continued. "I have no interest in your daughter's life one way or the other, or yours for that matter. There's only one thing I want, and you know what that is. The notebook. Now all you have to do is follow my instructions. If you do that, no one has to die. As for the trade, I've prepared things so that both of us can walk away satisfied. Play along and there will be no problems." He took away the microphone for a moment and looked to Julia. She was the only one with him at the moment, but she knew the other men she hated would be in soon to watch what happened.

"How are you feeling?" Julia asked with a raised eyebrow, more as an accusation of his casual appearance.

"All's going as planned," Mello half smirked, taking a bite of his chocolate.

"You see the entrance, don't you Yagami?" Mello was saying into the microphone to Mr. Yagami. "Go inside." Mr. Yagami was dropped off by the airplane and was now on his way inside to see his daughter. Julia was scared when Ross and a few other Mafia men came in carrying a laptop, but was relieved to see that she wouldn't have to watch what was happening. The computer was apparently for surveillance of the helicopter that would come later. Someone was monitoring the scene, and Julia tried to block everything from her mind. Mello's voice cut through her concentration a few minutes later.

"Alright Y462, proceed," Mello instructed. Julia waited as the exchange began, thankful that she could only hear what was going on and not actually see it. She gasped, however, when she heard the plan to test it.

"You're going to kill someone?" she whispered to Mello, who looked over to her, biting his chocolate.

"We have to test it," Mello said. "I'm not gonna lose to Near by making such a simple mistake." Julia was about to open her mouth to speak when Miller collapsed onto the ground, clutching his heart. Mello and Ross didn't even flinch as a few men ran over to him.

"What's wrong? You okay Miller?" one of them asked. Julia's eyes widened as she realized he had been the test. As much as she hated Miller, this scared her tremendously. She knew the Notebook had this power, but to see it personally was horrifying. Apparently, she was the only one concerned as Ross spoke.

"Look, that's what you get when you steal from me and sell goods behind my back. He was a worthless idiot. This is the first time he's been useful." Julia looked at him with her mouth hanging open. The thought that he could just kill someone on his own team so easily was unnerving. She couldn't help but think that she wasn't that useful herself, and she suddenly wondered if Ross had ever thought of getting rid of her.

"Y462, the target is dead," Someone informed the man making the exchange with Mr. Yagami as Mello took another bite of his candy. Julia listened a moment as the exchange was made, and despite everything she was relieved that at least Sayu made it out alive. She wasn't sure what to make of the fact that Mello would soon possess the notebook. She just wasn't sure what he was planning to do.

Julia sat in her and Mello's room later that night, feeling quite uneasy. The notebook had been delivered by missile to a deserted location, and the helicopter that was used to throw the competition off their trail had exploded, even after Ross assured the pilot that his help with the helicopter would clear up his past mistakes. Apparently not, as Ross had ordered the members to blow up the helicopter without hesitation. Julia realized just how easy it was for Ross to get rid of people, even if they were members of their own team.

"Ross is gonna kill me," Julia told Mello as he entered the room, carrying the notebook that had been hand delivered to him. "Not now, but one day. Just because he can."

"No he won't," Mello said, sitting down at the small table in the room, placing the notebook in front of him. "He wouldn't kill you without my permission, and I'm not gonna kill you so there, you're safe." Julia paused for a moment, watching him look over the notebook casually.

"And why exactly do you want to keep me alive?" Julia inquired. "I just get in your way, don't I?"

"Most of the time," Mello responded, not bothering to answer her other question. Really, he didn't have an answer to that one.

"What's with the notebook?" Julia asked hesitantly. "You're not going to write in it are you?"

"No," Mello said. "I'm not risking the thirteen day rule. I'm just keeping it safe. The last thing I need is for it to fall into the wrong hands when I'm so close. I'm going to keep it with me unless we need to use it."

"Oh, so you really are planning on using that thing then?" Julia questioned him. She hadn't been sure what his plans were, and part of her didn't even want to know.

"Yes, we're going to use it," Mello answered. "I already had Snyder write in it for me."

"Already?" Julia gasped. "Mello…that's…did you even stop and think-? That's murdering people!"

"Whatever means necessary," he said roughly. "How many times do I gotta explain it to you?"

"Well, who did he write down?" she asked after another moment.

"We're just eliminating some of the competition," Mello told her vaguely. Julia rolled her eyes and stood up, heading over the desk where he sat. She leaned over his shoulder and glanced at the open page and the names that were scribbled on it. It was just as she expected. Members of the SPK.

"Nice Mello," she said in a repulsed voice. She waited a moment before asking her next question. "No Halle Lidner?"

"She's helping me out," Mello said. "Of course I'm not going to have her killed."

"Oh, then she and I have something in common," Julia said smartly, turning back for her bed and shutting the light off as she went. "You seem to have no problem murdering people now, innocent or not. We're so lucky that you're sparing our lives."

"Who says they were innocent?" Mello said through the dark. She could hear him crossing the room, headed for his couch. She figured he was probably cradling the notebook in his arms now; a new precious possession that would undoubtedly push her one spot further back in the race for his affections.

"I can tell you Near's team probably deserved to die a lot less than the disgusting people you work with," she continued bitterly. "But congratulations, it looks like you've got the better team now, seeing as you actually have one that's still standing."

"You just don't understand," Mello told her as she rolled to face the area his voice was coming from. "This is the only way to defeat Near."

"Right," Julia sighed, rubbing her head. The fact that Mello was going to such extremes was really bothering her. Ever since he teamed up with the Mafia, the 'any means necessary' rule was becoming very much a norm. He was willing to do anything to beat Near, and that much was obvious.

What wasn't obvious was why Julia was so willing to stand by him in all this. Stealing, kidnapping, murder…she stood by it all just hoping for his approval. And as she drifted off to sleep, she knew that tomorrow would be no different.