A/N: Lots of dialogues in French in this chapter. Special thanks to PxdxlF for helping translating the dialogues, and as always, to my awesome beta Alkirian!

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or any of the characters except for the OCs.

CHAPTER 15

Valerie

I couldn't describe how relieved I was that Matt allowed me to contact my family, but as far as I knew, Mello's still the one in charge here. The blond man had his eyes on Matt for a while, staring at him silently while sitting perfectly still, before shifting those blue orbs to me, who was waiting in anticipation from the front seat.

There was a tiny jolt inside me the second our eyes met.

I never really paid attention to Mello's eyes before, other than the malicious looks they usually gave. And there they were, just a few inches away from my own eyes, sending me the same grim look for seconds that almost felt like an eternity. A part of them were hidden beneath the messy, golden locks of his bangs, but I could see his irises as clear as day.

Mello had these clear, bright, aquamarine blue eyes with dark-blue rims around the irises. Something about them gave the sharp-eyed impression as ever… they looked like they had always been on guard whenever he was awake. I couldn't have known that for sure of course; I wasn't an expert in profiling or reading facial expressions. It was only a feeling that I got from actually taking my time to observe those eyes of his from a close range.

Which, as his eyes continued to linger on me for a few seconds longer, started to give me a lump in the back of my throat. I gulped nervously. My eyes were getting dry from struggling hard not to blink.

I heaved a relieved sigh secretly when Mello decided to look away, now gazing far out the window, seemingly deep in thought. Neither Matt nor I dared to say a word. There was only a thick, suffocating silence.

I nearly flinched when Mello shifted on his seat and look back at me, as I realized I had been holding my breath throughout the waiting.

"Fine," he said curtly, "Five minutes. No more."

Mello

It was obvious that Valerie had to struggle to sit still and not jump in excitement the moment I gave her my permission. She's that desperate, isn't she…

I had taken my time to reconsider Matt's words, and I had decided that he was right. Or to be exact, I hoped he was right; especially the no harm part.

"That's enough time, really," Valerie said eagerly. But then she paused, seemingly thinking of something. "But... how should I make the call? Payphone?"

I shook my head. "No. Someone in the Mafia might still wander around."

"Here, use this," Matt tossed her his cell phone, "Rod couldn't have tracked down my cell phone. And who knows what kind of precautions he took when he traced Jack's call to Mello's cell phone location."

"That'll work," I pronounced, "Make the call here, inside the car. And put it on speakerphone."

She stared at Matt's cell phone hesitatingly. "But... it'll be an international call."

"Nah, don't worry about th—"

"Well, you can pay him the bill later," I cut in before Matt could finish and ignored his inquisitive look. Noticing the flash of contempt over Valerie's features, I continued defensively, "Hey, I already paid a shitload for the hospital bills."

The corners of her lips twitched scornfully. "Ok, I'll pay…" she said rather reluctantly.

"Good."

"But you said to put it on speakerphone... You know I wouldn't be talking in English, right?"

I lifted an eyebrow. "I told you earlier; I know a word or two in French. That shouldn't be a problem."

"Oh, you're French?" Matt looked over at Valerie and she nodded. He cocked his head, his eyes scanning. "Wow. And I thought French chicks are notable for their classy fashion and elegance."

It was amusing to watch the girl's shoulders slump at Matt's comment, which was an absolute match with my own thoughts. "Yeah, your friend here has pretty much expressed the same thing," she cast me a disdainful look, "Only not so subtly."

I snorted quietly. "Sorry not sorry."

"Well, in that case, Mello's being modest when he said he only knows a word or two…" Matt said thoughtfully, "He basically speaks 8 languages; including French, not counting English."

Valerie

I gawked at the leather-clad blond who gave no visible reaction.

Wow. Including English, that would make 9 languages. So he's not lying about being well-educated?

"Is that for real?" I asked, genuinely amazed.

Matt snickered. "Hell, yeah. English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Slovak, Chinese, Korean, Japanese... Oh wait, I forgot—he knows ASL as well—"

"Sign language?"

"—and he mastered all of them at, uh... seven? Eight? Mels?"

"Seven," Mello said, looking bored and uninterested, "I see no reason why we're talking about this right now."

He mastered all of them at SEVEN? That would be TEN languages! I didn't know if my eyes could expand any wider than they were right now.

I turned to Mello and blurted out, "Pourquoi est-ce que tu ne me l'as pas dit plus tôt?"(1)

"Because," Mello spoke, in English, "You're in the US now. My turf. So speak in English."

"Then, English is your first language? You're American?"

"I'm not replying to that."

I wiped my palm across my face tiredly. "Ok, ok... Sorry for asking too many questions. Can I make the call now?"

"Whoa. You are being modest," came Matt's cheeky remark followed by an exaggerated gasp, as he glanced over at Mello. "Who are you and what did you do to my friend with the inferiority complex?"

"Inf—the fuck?" Mello shot the redhead a glare. But then, his annoyed features gradually dissolved into that of a cryptic look, as he said mockingly, "Tch. At least I wasn't the one who was being overly modest after illegally gaining access to NASA's computers."

"Oh, come onnn..." the goggled redhead whined, throwing his hands in the air, "You still mad over my little mischief when we were, like, 8-year-old brats?"

Now I—still jaw-dropped—landed my eyes at the goggled redhead. He hacked into NASA when he was EIGHT?

Mello clicked his tongue sharply. "In case you don't remember, you told Roger that I helped you decrypt the codes," he growled, "and it was no little mischief."

"Jeez man, that was ages ago! But, well, you did explain about basic cryptography to me —"

HOW THE HELL did 8-year-old kids possess knowledge about cryptography?

"Because you told me you were working on a computer science project, not hacking into a federal network!"

"—plus you were not a first-timer when it came to a call to Roger's office," Matt finished cheerfully, ignoring his blond pal's vexed glare, "and Roger managed to settle things down. So, scolding and detentions aside, everything worked out at the end! And we're still friends! How great is that?"

Dear Lord, either at this very moment I'm in the company of two crazy freaks or two mad geniuses.

Mello grimaced at the hacker. "What are you, an 8-year-old?"

"I was an 8-year-old. I'm much smarter now."

"Yeah, right."

"Hmm. Looking at how you're still pissed over that, maybe I shouldn't have asked you about the cryptography... Oh! Maybe I should've asked—"

"Don't," Mello cut Matt off, his voice low, his tone dangerously cold; cold enough to actually stop Matt from talking, "ever mention that big-headed twit's name in front of me," he hissed menacingly, "Ever."

An awkward, pregnant silence followed after Mello's words. Matt never gave a reply. I couldn't understand what the hell just happened, or whose name Mello meant, but I admit I started getting chills here.

"Guys," I hesitatingly spoke before I lose my mind, my eyes darted back and forth cautiously between the two men, "I'm still here."

Both of them shot me incredulous looks before each backed away; Mello leaned back on the backseat with a loud scoff while Matt fixed his goggles awkwardly. "Sorry, Val," the redhead muttered, "You were saying?"

I sighed tiredly. "I'm gonna make the call now. Is that alright?"

Mello gave a nonchalant shrug. "Suit yourself."

I looked down to the cell phone and started dialing the necessary numbers. As soon as the dial tone rang, I put it on speakerphone. Mello and Matt's eyes were monitoring every gesture I made without even batting an eye.

The wait was painfully unbearable. Each dial tone rang hollow in my ear. For a moment there I thought nobody's home and that only made me a nervous wreck.

At this very second, I couldn't care less about my original intention to merely inform my parents that I was alright. All I wanted, after having one hell of a day, was only to hear Mom's or Dad's voice, as I knew only by hearing their voices would sooth me better than anything. Unconsciously I began tapping my feet impatiently.

And nearly jumped when the line finally connected.

"Allo?" said a woman's voice from the end of the line. I felt my heart fall down to my stomach the moment I heard her voice. A wave of emotion rushed fast all along my body. God, she sounds terribly distressed. Has the news reached France?

I took a deep, deep breath, and opened my mouth to speak,

"Maman?"

Mello

Fuck, that was close. Really close.

I stole a sideway glance at Valerie's profile. In less than 24 hours, she had already discovered some crucial points of my background more than any strangers I ever met. I didn't need her to know more than that.

I didn't need her to know about him.

The big-headed twit. My sole archenemy. My sole rival since me and Matt's younger days...

Up until now.

Biting back a strangled groan, I disgruntledly put the unpleasant memory aside and paid attention to every word from Valerie's phone conversation with her mother. From what I heard, apparently the news had reached France. Their conversation went in a fast pace as Mrs. Rousseau threw bombarding questions at her daughter.

"Valerie? Où étais tu?!" Mrs. Rousseau's voice screeched out of the speakerphone.

"Je suis désolée maman," Valerie quickly replied, trying to keep her tone even and calm, "J'étais sortie toute la journée—"

"J'ai essayé de t'appeler! Ton père aussi a essayé! Tu ne répondais jamais!"

"J'avais oublié de prendre mon portable, je suis désolée—"

"Mon dieu... J'étais tellement inquiète pour toi! Est-ce que tu vas bien? Tu as vu les infos?"

"Oui, je suis au courant pour l'attaque de la mafia dans l'immeuble... Je vais bien maman, ne t'inquiète pas..."

Mrs. Rousseau was undoubtedly in great panic knowing about the Mafia ambush, and Valerie had a hard time explaining that she couldn't return any of her parents' calls because she had been out all day and left her cell phone in her apartment.

It took Valerie a while to ensure her mother that she was alright, that she was nowhere near the apartment when the ambush took time, while occasionally throwing me an apprehensive look every time she let a lie slipped out.

Of course, I did nothing, except put on my poker face and monitor their conversation silently. If only Mrs. Rousseau found out about what exactly happened to her daughter today...

Everything looked fine for the rest of it, until Mrs. Rousseau asked a question,

"Donc, puisque tu ne peux pas retourner dans ton appartement, où est-ce que tu vas dormir ce soir?"

Valerie

Since you can't just go back to your apartment, where are you going to sleep tonight?

I didn't answer right away. Truth to be told, I hadn't thought of the matter. My mind had been too busy dwelling among other things throughout the chaotic day that the idea hadn't crossed at all. Yeah, where am I gonna sleep tonight?

A thought emerged inside my head and I shuddered. I certainly hoped I wasn't gonna spend the night in the car along with two strangers here—or to be exact—two grown men with their handguns!

I cast a glance at the blond ex-Mafioso, waiting expectantly for any hints, but Mello didn't give me any.

That really ticked me off.

Words couldn't describe how I resented the shit I was currently in. What, did he actually authorize me to slip another lie here? He should've known by now I was terrible at making up stories! Did he really expect me to throw more lies at my own panicking mother? Did he enjoy putting me in a bind here?!

Ok, stay calm, I told myself, attempting to suppress the resurfacing rage, let's think of a logical answer…

Mello

I noted how Valerie looked confounded, but I chose not to say anything. She had managed to cover her real situation to this far and I was curious of how she'd reply to the question. Well, if her mother wanted to know where she would be staying for tonight, since she couldn't just go back to the apartment, I thought she should be smart enough to make up a reasonable response.

When she realized I wasn't going to be any help, she shot me a short-lived, yet blatantly evident fierce glare, before averting her eyes away and looking incredibly pissed.

Whoa. She must really despise me at this very second.

It was seconds later did Valerie reply to her mother. She took a deep breath. "Je pense que je vais dormir chez une amie..." she said vaguely.

Ok. A friend's place did sound like a reasonable answer.

But unfortunately, Mrs. Rousseau wanted more details.

"Bien sûr, mais chez qui? Où? Qu'en est-il des mesures de sécurité? Je veux être sûre que tu seras en sécurité là-bas ma chérie..."

The brunette turned to me with bewildered eyes.

Valerie

I knew it. I knew Mom would ask for details.

Mom had always been rather a protective parent since I could remember. Probably due to the fact that I, an only child, an only daughter, was currently residing in another continent, miles and miles away from home.

For a moment there I considered giving away a randomly selected name and address from my friend list, but I was better than that to understand that it was a bad idea. Small lies would only escalate into bigger lies in the future.

And if somehow, Mom found out that I had been lying to her, when I—though involuntarily—had made her worried sick in the very same day, she would not like it one bit. Trust me.

So once again I looked over to Mello, this time deliberately showed him that I had run out of ideas…

Mello

Jeez, why can't you just blurt out some random, made-up name and address? I initially thought in chagrin.

But then again, I supposed she actually couldn't, probably for at least one from three good reasons:

One, she was a bad liar. Heh. That was painfully obvious.

Two, she was afraid on lying to her mother, who didn't sound like going to put this into rest any soon, until she knew for sure whose place and where her daughter would be staying at for tonight, as well whether or not the place had good security measures.

And even if Valerie gave her mother a random name and address, judging from how distressed Mrs. Rousseau sounded like on the phone, there was a possibility that the woman would at least double-check the location address to ensure her daughter's safety. And if Mrs. Rousseau found out that her daughter had lied to her…

Hmph. If I was right, then quite a protective parent Valerie got there. Poor girl.

But she's luckier than you, a voice inside my head said. At least she has a mother, AND both parents, alive.

I quickly pushed the intruding thought aside. The fuck, Mello? Since when do you wallow in self-pity?

Fine. Moving on.

Three, she thought that I actually had an idea about our destination for tonight, hence the inquiring look.

Well, she's wrong.

But apparently Matt also landed his eyes on me with the same inquiring expression over his face. He probably noticed something off since Valerie didn't respond to her mother, and instead, fixing her eyes straight at me. Two pairs of eyes were now burning into my skull in expectation.

I seethed inwardly. Dammit. Why the heck should I be the one in charge for something I never planned for here? Why the fuck I have to run out of chocolates in times like this?!

Ok, I knew that we should start thinking about where we should spend the night as well, as hotels were obviously out of options amidst this whole Mafia chatters, and I certainly didn't want to spend the night inside the car where I couldn't even rest my lower leg in this damn air cast. But fuck, seriously! Do both of you seriously expect me to come up with a name of some random place in New York—

My trail of thoughts stopped dead on its track.

Right, we were in New York.

If my memory didn't fail me… then maybe...

I clenched my teeth against the idea. No, no, no. This was ridiculous. No way.

Must I be reminded of that loser for the second time today?

Valerie

This is bad. This is really, really bad.

At first I thought either Mello or Matt already had any ideas, but it seemed that I was wrong. Matt was giving Mello the same look I had on. I didn't know whether my redheaded neighbor understand French or not, but maybe he already noted something that made me needed to turn to Mello before responding to my Mom's question.

Meanwhile, Mello was still sitting quietly on the backseat, looking as if thinking hard about something; either about this or something completely unrelated.

I bit my lower lip in agitation. Am I on my own now?

I knew I had to be really careful here. I knew I couldn't just blurt out something that'd only prone to troublesome matters in the future.

But I also understood that I ran out of time…

"Valerie? Tu es toujours là?"

Mello

"Hm, oui, je suis toujours là," Valerie responded to Mrs. Rousseau's call, confirming that she was still on the phone, before her hazel eyes darted back at me. What should I say? She mouthed soundlessly.

Oh, for fuck's sake…

So her mother wanted a valid name and address in New York? Fine, I could give her one. Might as well become our sanctuary for the night. But whether or not this would work out at the end, I had no fucking idea. Only God knew.

I snatched my cell phone open, typed in a few words, and showed Valerie the screen. She read it in silence before her brows drew together in confusion.

She gave me a baffled look, which I simply respond silently by giving her a curt nod. Just tell your mother what's written here, explanations later.

After that, Valerie brought Matt's cell phone closer to her mouth. Her hazel eyes dwelt on my cell phone screen all the time, as she spoke tentatively,

"Je vais rester chez une amie en dernière année d'études au 808 Columbus Ave ce soir, son nom est..."

As Valerie continued speaking to her mother, I pulled my extended hand back and stared down at my cell phone. This better works, I mused in silence. At least I had my Beretta back now, strapped securely on the hem of my pants, in case the following situation might require me to get into action.

The tiny pixelated letters on the screen that I had typed in earlier were displaying:

Staying over at an upperclassman's place, 808 Columbus Ave, female, name: Hal.

1. Why didn't you tell me earlier?

A/N: Yep, the new character is Hal Lidner. Congratulations to those who guessed it right! xD

Just FYI, I'm starting my internship soon so I'll be busy the next few months, hence quick updates might rather be unlikely. I'll try to find time to update tho.

And now the question is... what is Hal's connection to Mello? Apparently, Matt is wondering about the same thing as well...

Coming up next...

"You seem to know a lot about this Hal lady," Matt drawled, his Cheshire cat-like grin grew wider, "So... care to share your secret love life with us, Mels?"