A Cry For Help Chapter 6- The Briefing (pt. 1)

And at that, he picked up the phone, and dialled the number he knew off by heart. After a few rings someone picked up.

"Hello?" The voice sounded suspicious of the caller.

"Roger" The man replied and the person on the other end instantly relaxed.

"L"

Present Day-Near

Finally, Near had left the infirmary after spending hours in that bed. His, legs, his back, and, of course, his head ached, but at least he was in his room again.

It was strange though, thinking that this would be one of the last times he would spend time in this room for a while. He sighed, walked through the door, and sat down on his bed. The sheets had been changed since he had been knocked unconscious, the floor had been cleared of the cards that had been previously scattered across the floor and were now placed in a neat pile on the bedside cabinet.

After looking at his room a little longer, Near lied down on his bed, closed his eyes, and tried to process the events of the last hour.

Near had woken up, talked to Matt, and had a slightly strange conversation with Mello. He had obviously gone there on his own accord seeing as both Roger and Matt were with Near so they couldn't have persuaded Mello during the time that he was awake. It was slightly confusing.

Just as Mello was about to leave, Roger stepped into the doorway, requested to speak to them both and revealed the reason. Mello was the first to ask

"What is it? I need to get back to do some work." He said, gritting his teeth. He had spent more than enough time in the same room as Near and wanted to leave. Even though he could see Mello becoming frustrated at the situation, Roger stood his ground when talking to the boys. He knew that they both respected him too much to disobey him.

"I am sure you are both aware that this event will not be forgotten." His serious speech caused the standing boy to look at his shifting feet, and caused the other to nod passively. "However, if you are both willing, we can put this behind us to move on. Yes?" He looked at the boys reactions; Near nodded in agreement once again, and Mello paused for a second before also nodding.

"Now that's over, I have something else to talk to you both about." The two looked up in confusion as the older man continued, "I recently got a phone call from someone you two might like to meet."

After a few seconds of consideration, Near knew what Roger was talking about. It only took Mello a little longer to catch on and speak up at the same time as the boy propped up next to him.

"L" they said at the same time. Although Mello would normally be agitated in a situation like this, he was too focussed to even give Near a glance of annoyance. After taking a moment to let the boys gather their thoughts, Roger spoke again.

"Yes, you are both right. Now, as I was saying, I got a phone call from L, and he has a proposal for the both of you." The boys continued in their silence, not wanting to interrupt the man in front of them in fear of the word they were so close to hearing being delayed. "He has decided that you two have both spent too long at top spots in this house for him not to meet you both. Don't you think?"

It was only Mello who spoke up, with confusion, shock, and a hint of hope in his voice, and vocalised his conclusion. "L is coming here?"

That idea was, of course, slightly absurd. Near knew that the detective wouldn't risk coming to Wammy's; it would put himself in danger and, if anyone saw him, any stranger could know where all of the mentally stable successors of L were

"Close Mello, but not quite." The boys could sense that the old man was betting amusement out of their confusion "I'm sure you both understand that the idea of L visiting here would be extremely dangerous. It's just impossible for him."

Mello raised an eyebrow at Roger, still remaining standing, and impatiently asked again. "What then? Another video conference?" it was obvious that the boy was getting slightly irritated with the man's repeated refusal to tell him what was going on. As the man shook his head, Near spoke up to try to prevent Mello getting even more agitated.

"What's going on Roger, I think it would be useful to all of us if you just told us what is going on." Near did have a slight suspicion as to what was going on, however he dared to speak it in front of Mello in fear of being subject to his anger once again.

"Alright then." it was obvious that the man was at least slightly enjoying this. "L has decided that he would like to see the both of you in person. He has also come to the conclusion that the safest way to do so is for you to go and visit him where he is currently living with Watari."

The older boy's face lit up at these words, "You mean in Japan?" Near also smiled at the thought of travelling to Japan to meet the Detective. Roger nodded and Mello beamed with excitement. Near found this quite amusing how the almost 15 year old was practically jumping up and down with happiness at this turn of events. Mello hadn't been like this for a long time.

As the three of them were trapped in this scene of anticipation and happiness, the nurse came out from the door leading to an office. She told Near that he was good to go after she took the bandage off. Near complied and sat quietly as the nurse cut away the white fabric around his head. After he felt it off of his head, he heard a quiet smirk from the boy next to him. He looked up at Roger to see the man holding back a smile, and both the boys were instructed to go back to their rooms.

Near decided that he would go and have a shower, change his clothes, then build another card tower. As he reached the closest bathroom and went into one of the small, private sections of the room, he looked in the mirror.

It was different to say the least; he had a cut on his lip from where he must have bit it when he fell over, a small swelling on the left of his forehead, and a red mark on his ear where the bandage had been. But that wasn't the strangest part: his hair was all over the place! It stuck up at the top like it usually did, but so did the sides from where they were stuck underneath his bandage. He also had a small patch of red where he had hit his head. One might say that a shower was more than a good idea.

A loud knocking sound came from the door and woke Near from his trance. He knew it was Matt because Mello would have just walked through the door and anyone else would have said something by now. That and the quiet pinging of a video game also gave a slight clue.

Near called out to let them in the room. As expected, the redheaded gamer with a videogame at hand walked in and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. His tinted goggles were covering his eyes as opposed to hanging round his neck and he looked at his feet before muttering without looking back up.

"Hi Near, so… Mello told me about the L thing."

AN: Hey there, new chapter. It's about time! so yeah. I don't know what else to say here. But yeah. I hope you enjoyed reading it. It was a longer one as well. See, I do make an effort!

Well anyway, until next time my few readers,

Lollylion out!