A/N: So yeah, this was actually finished sometime last night, but I was too tired to put it up. I'm still very tired so I'll wrap this up. Winter break is coming up soon so there may be more updates if we both aren't too busy.
Disclaimer: We only own the OC's.
Chapter Five-- The Lion's Den
Who knew that a bunch of laptops could be so heavy?
When carried up eight flights of stairs....
by three very fatigued teenagers... and Matt.
"I hate goddamn elevators!" Iggy was bellowing as he and his companions trekked up the merciless stairs.
"N-no you don't," Pip disagreed breathlessly. "You hate b-broken elevators..."
"Fuckin-A."
"Come on guys, hurry up!" Matt called out from the top of the stairs. He was only carrying one bag. Lucky bastard...
Mello wasn't carrying anything. Naturally.
"You guys are so slow," the blonde was grumbling.
Mika blew a stray piece of hair from his face and tried to get a better grip on the equipment. "W-well maybe if-if you helped-"
"For that, Mika, you can sleep on the couch," Mello said flippantly as he headed back inside the suite. Unfortunately, the room that he booked was only equipped with enough beds to sleep six. The remaining two people got to choose from either pair of couches in the living room. Mika, apparently, was taking one of them once the others arrived the next day.
Matt threw his bag onto the floor and flopped onto one of the beds. Damn, it was gonna feel good to sleep on a real mattress tonight.
Mello sat himself down on the bed one over from Matt's. The room was a suite, so there were two beds to a mini-room and three mini-rooms in all. The main portion of the accommodations was a well-equipped kitchen and a reasonably-sized den.
With a contented sigh, Mello began peeling off his vest and his boots. "What time is it?" he asked Matt, not bothering with the alarm clock on the nightstand. He wanted to know the time in England, which would hopefully explain why he felt so drained.
Matt glanced at his wristwatch. "About 5:30am. Why?"
Mello pinched the bridge of his nose as if trying to get the stress of sleep to lift from his brain. "No reason. I'm just dead tired and I have a shitload of stuff to do."
"Oh, well, if that's all."
Mello cocked an unseen eyebrow and looked up at Matt. "What else could there be?"
Matt shook his head, smiling. "Never mind. You want some coffee?" he asked, walking into the kitchen.
Mello nodded, although the fact that Matt was smiling at him for some unknown reason irked him. "C'mon," he said, "you have to tell me what the goofy grin is for."
"I find your inability to hear sarcasm when you're tired amusing."
He filled the coffee maker and turned it on. While it heated up, he grabbed two mugs from the little cabinet under the TV.
The blonde had to chuckle. "You know I don't have ears for sarcasm. Unless it's my own sarcasm, of course." He laid back in the bed and undid the buckle on his tight pants as well. The time had come for his old fallback: sweatpants. Too bad that Mello was too lazy to get up at the moment.
Matt cocked an eyebrow at his friend and pulled his goggles down around his neck. Mello looked horrible; sleep deprived and stressed beyond all belief. He was surprised the blonde hadn't dropped dead yet, then again he had always been a stubborn son of a bitch.
He poured out a cup of coffee and brought it over to him.
Mello stuck out his hand to accept the coffee. He was forced to sit up in order to drink. A long draught was taken, but Mello still came away grimacing. "You didn't put sugar in it."
'Some things never change,' he thought with amusement. A few packets of sugar were tossed in Mello's direction.
Suddenly, from the doorway, came several loud groans and several even louder thumps. The team had apparently finished unpacking.
Iggy, Pip, and Mika wandered into Matt and Mello's room not long after their noisy entrance. Each teen looked more tired that the last.
"Can we take a break now?" Mika asked, nearly bent in half. His back was killing him.
"Fine, fine," Mello said in between sips of coffee. "Go get some sleep."
"Who's going to set up, then?" Pip asked.
"I will," the blonde replied. "I'm not tired anyway." With that smooth lie, Mello set his empty coffee mug in Matt's hands and went out to deal with their stuff.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna go pass out." Mika gave an overly tired smile and went in search of a bed to sleep in. Matt turned to Pip and Iggy, "What about you guys? Gonna go rest too?"
The two of them nodded.
"I wish I could help, but I can't keep my eyes open..." Pip said with a wide yawn.
Matt ruffled the girl's hair and told her to go lay down. As the others took to their beds, he went out to find Mello. After all, misery loved company right?
Mello was sitting on the couch, pants still unbuttoned, hair a mess, skin sallow, but his eyes were wide with that distinct coffee buzz. The blonde was working at two laptops at once; one set on his thighs, the other on the coffee table. He managed to comment as Matt entered. "I thought for sure you'd get some sleep like the rest of 'em," Mello said without looking up from his work.
"Now why would I do that and leave you out here by your lonesome?" The redhead sat down on the couch and pulled out his PSP.
"No, no, no," Mello said quickly. "Put that thing away. Get out the other laptops and start programming. You're the computer buff here, not me."
Matt groaned, but got up to do it anyway. Better to do it now then be bitched out for not doing it later.
"Good boy," Mello said, and returned to his typing.
~*~
The two worked in silence for the better part of the morning -- it was 5:30am when they had started, after all. Each laptop had to be re-programmed with all of the information that the others had previously wiped in preparation for the flight. Firewalls and passwords then had to be re-done. Mello thought that the HTML would never cease.
Finally, at a quarter to nine, Matt pushed the last of the laptops aside and stood, stretching. "C'mon, Mello," he said. "We need a catnap or SOMETHING. I'm gonna die."
Mello blinked up at him over the top of his screen. "Yeah, I'll be there in a minute."
"No, come on now." Matt went over to Mello, prepared to drag him if need be. "Come on, you look like death."
Mello shook his head and leaned in closer to the computer screen. His sight was getting a bit fuzzy from lack of blinking. "One minute," he repeated.
"Alright then, have it your way," the redhead said with a shrug. With a quick swipe, Matt yanked the computer away from the blonde mid-type.
Mello made a blind grab for the laptop, but ended up toppling over and landing on the floor in a heap. His legs were somehow above his head, which nicely displayed the fact that his clothing had diminished to nothing but boxer shorts.
"Oh la la! I see London, I see France, huh Mel?" Matt snickered and shut the lid of the laptop and set it down. "Let's go get some shut eye. You can finish when you wake up."
Mello glared sleepily, still managing to appear threatening even when he was upside-down and in need of a shower. "Fine, alright. But you're going to have to fucking carry me. I've lost the will to move." Of course, as Mello's sarcasm skills would have it, there was no way to tell if he was being serious.
Well, Matt HAD wanted Mello to quit working. This was what happened. Still, they were both gonna finally get some sleep so it was alright.
"Okay then." Matt stomped over to Mello and pulled him up so that he was right-side up at least. He slid an arm around the blonde's shoulders and another under his knees and smoothly lifted him up. Wedding style.
Mello slapped a sleepy palm to his face. "Well aren't I the perfect picture of a blushing bride," he grumbled. Being carried over the threshold and everything. Well, shit.
Matt started to hum the wedding march under his breath with a wide smile. It was too easy to tease Mello when he was half dead.
The blonde rolled his eyes and rested his head on Matt's shoulder. "Just put me down, idiot. I can walk."
"Yeah, I'm sure. You'd fall flat on your face."
Mello struggled weakly against the hold and managed to get himself back on his own two feet just as they entered the bedroom. Without possessing the will to walk across the room, however, Mello fell into the bed that Matt had previously called dibs on.
'Nice one Mel,' he thought as he pulled off his boots. He tugged off his goggles and his shirt and sat on the bed that would have been Mello's.
"And YOU wanted to keep working..."
Mello ran a hand over his face and rolled onto his side to look at his friend. "Well I was almost finished..."
"Whatever you say, Mr. Boss-man Sir." Matt mockingly saluted the other man before lying down. He could barely repress a pleased sigh at the feeling of the soft blankets and mattress.
"Matt," Mello said.
"Hmmm?"
"You didn't turn off the light."
"I really don't care."
But the blonde had already fallen asleep.
"You know," Matt said to the blonde's unconscious form, "I really did miss this. It's good to be back."
He closed his eyes and drifted off into the best sleep he'd had in days.
~*~
Mello did not use alarm clocks. Hell, he rarely slept, so he saw no need. He hated being awoken by the irritating drone of some machine's programmed buzzer. It always got him off to a bad start. But, again, Mello did not use alarm clocks, so he didn't have to worry.
However, it was no treat to be awoken by the chatter of your mates and the smell of burgers...
The blonde awoke with a start, realizing that he had slept till noon.
"Balls... Shit..." Mello cursed under his breath as he threw on clothes. "Why the fuck didn't anyone wake me up?" he said as he came out into the kitchen. Everyone was sitting around eating McDonalds. God damn.
"Sorry, didn't wanna wake you." Mika took a big bite out of his Big Mac. "Ya looked so peaceful."
Mello rolled his eyes; he was anything but peaceful now. He hated being the last one up.
Matt took a drink of his pop and cocked a brow at the moody blond, "You can't tell me that sleeping in for a little bit didn't feel good."
Mello ignored Matt's comment and crossed his arms. "So tell me, what have you guys gotten done?"
"Well," Mika started, swallowing the last bit of his food, "we finished reprogramming the computers and uploaded all the necessary data."
"That's all?" Mello said, tapping a foot. "That's maybe an hour and a half of work."
Pip handed the leader a stack of papers. "Me and Matt were working on hacking into the Kira's Kingdom mainframe. Here's the information we have so far."
Matt watched the blond flipping through the papers. "What do you think?"
Mello gave a little smirk just to Matt and sat himself down in one of the armchairs. "Good work. Are you being sure to keep your tracks clean?"
"Of course, what do you think I am? Some kind of amateur?" Matt placed a feigned hand of hurt to his chest.
"Just making sure. Pip," he said, "make sure you're learning a little something from him." With that said Mello grabbed one of the laptops and headed back into the bedroom.
Kira's Kingdom... Mello was still turning the show over in his head as he settled into bed with the laptop. The information that Pip and Matt collected said that Kira's Kingdom was having a tour-the-studio date soon. This could give his team the chance to get their hands on something really useful...more useful than mismatched data collected from hijacked links to the institution's database.
But then again, Mello thought, why wait? He had had enough of waiting. Something needed to happen. And soon. Mello got the feeling that Kira wouldn't want to keep his prisoners alive much longer…
~*~
"Heh heh, they sure do like you around here, Raito. Look at 'em all...screaming."
Light Yagami looked out of the corner of his eye to smirk silently at the shinigami. Yes, of course they loved him. He was their God. Their Kami. Their Kira. He was liberating them; one by one, name by name. And as Kira raised his hand to wave at his populous from up high in the safety of his guarded balcony, the resounding wave of noise and declarations of love hit the young man like a blast of welcome hot air.
"Come, Ryuk," Light said as he turned away from the people below him. He had taken to speaking to the shinigami as if it were his pet. Well, Light supposed, Ryuk was more of a dog than he was a God of Death lately.
"Where're we goin', Raito?" Ryuk asked.
Kira's dastardly smirk was immediate. "Oh you'll see."
It was lucky that Light was never followed by his bodyguards while in his own home; no one needed to know about his habit of talking to himself. Of course, he wasn't REALLY talking to thin air, but the idiots that had been hired to protect him would not have known what else to think.
Light led Ryuk down the familiar path to the 13th floor to room 688. A thumb was pressed to the correct pad outside of the door, and Light's right eye was held wide open before the scanner. Even after that, a pass-code was entered and, finally, two solid metal doors slid open.
Mikami stood from his seat immediately when he heard the doors open; he knew that the only person to be visiting the keep at this time of day would have to be his god.
Light cocked an eyebrow at Mikami; a tad caught off-guard by the man's unexpected presence. "Mikami? I didn't expect to find you here. I thought you would still be in bed." The amber-haired man smirked.
"I had come down to check on your 'guests', Kami." The raven haired man tured to face the one way mirror that filled up almost one entire wall. Behind that mirror sat N himself. Mikami glared at the smaller man through the glass. He had wondered to himself more then a few times why his god would keep his enemy alive. If he killed him then there would be no true threat left standing in his way, but he would not question his god.
Kira followed Mikami's gaze to the crouched figure slumped in the corner of his cell. The boy's hair was visibly longer than it had been when he arrived, and his once-clean, white clothes were now a bit soiled and tarnished. Near was truly falling. Bit by bit, and piece by piece.
It was with a smirk that Light Yagami pressed the button on the intercom. "Good afternoon, Near. How are you feeling today?"
Near didn't even move.
Light merely spoke again, "I said, how are you feeling, Near? Well, no matter. I just thought that I would inform you that Rester's body has been properly disposed of. We paid him what respect was owed and fed his body to dogs."
Near continued to ignore him, despite the definite twinge of his brow. He refused to give the killer the pleasure by showing a reaction to the statement. As much as he wanted to jump to his feet and tear his way through that glass, Near held his ground.
Kira chuckled darkly. "I can see you gritting your teeth and balling your fists, Near. Your dear mentor L had the same habit when trying to hold in his frustrations."
"What is it that you want from me Light Yagami?" the small man asked, his voice barely a whisper.
"You know what I want."
Near brought his head up and stared straight at his own pathetic reflection in the mirror, his face unreadable. "If you are as all powerful as you want the world to believe you are then you should already know."
"Nah, ah, ah, both you and I know that I need a name and a face. I know his face, but not his name. For that, I need what's in your head."
Near turned away and tucked his knee up underneath his chin. "If you so badly want what's in my head, then you may as well cut it off and look for yourself." His face remained blank.
"Don't tempt me, Near." Kira lifted his finger from the intercom button and the connection went dead.
A small sigh escaped the white-haired young man's lips before he laid his head back down. Kira wouldn't kill him, not yet. Not when he still had the information Kira so badly desired. Until that moment he would be kept in this box. For a fraction of a second the thought of death soothed him. He pushed that feeling aside. He refused to let himself break.
Light's expression was stony as he crossed his arms, still staring at Near. Why was the little fucker still protecting Mello? Mello had obviously abandoned Near, so why the self-sacrifice? Well of course, the albino annoyance was just trying to keep himself alive. It wasn't about self-sacrifice, it was about insurance. "I might have to kill the others..." Light muttered under his breath. His gaze found the windows opening into the cages of Halle and Gevanni; they each looked just about as lively as their leader.
"Whatever you think is best, Kami," Mikami stated, bowing his head slightly.
Light sighed and turned to look at his servant. "Come here, Mikami." He waved the man closer.
"Y-yes Kami…" Mikami drew as close as he dared.
A golden hand brushed against Mikami's pale cheek, a thumb tracing the delicate curve of the man's mouth. "I need you to do whatever you have to get Mello's name from him, Mikami," Light whispered in his ear. "It is of vital importance that Mello dies. Near as well. But Near can't die until Mello does. Can you do this for me, Mikami?" Kira expertly placed his other hand at the man's waist to tease the spot that he knew to be most sensitive.
Mikami bit his lip, his eyes going wide as his god touched him; he could feel himself heat up at the sensation caused by those hands. His mind became one track; he only wanted to make this man happy. He would do anything for him. His god-Kira. "Of course Kami, anything you say."
Light smiled with his pearl-white teeth and manipulative eyes. "Good. Go in there and see what you can do." His lips brushed along Mikami's jaw-line ever-so-slightly.
He felt the heat rush thru him; he nodded. Then-as much as he didn't want to-he stepped away from Kira and walked through a set of double doors into Near's cell.
Light slid a desk chair over and took a front-row seat to Mikami's "creative" form of interrogation (which involved few articles of clothing and many muffled screams). Just as he was getting into the thrill of watching Near flinch at the mere sight of his interrogator, Ryuk broke his concentration.
"Y'know, Light, all these years and I've never seen you touch males the way you touch Mikami," the shinigami said. "Like last night. I didn't know that humans could bend that way."
Light cringed. "It's sickening to know how closely you pay attention. You never watch me have sex with Misa or Takada."
"Yeah, cause that's the normal, boring stuff." Ryuk waved a dismissive hand.
"And watching me have sex with men isn't boring?"
"No."
"Why not?" Light cocked an eyebrow at the monstrosity.
"Cause humans are supposed to have sex with the other gender. It was only until you started battling L that this whole...gay thing came up."
Kira laughed under his breath. "Oh, L. He was surprisingly easy to manipulate. One touch was all I needed."
"So this is about manipulation?" Ryuk asked.
"Oh course. I wouldn't be bothering with even Takada or Misa if it weren't for the fact that I need them." Light shrugged and returned his attention to the display taking place in Near's cell.
"Hyuk, hyuck," Ryuk cackled. "Humans are so interesting."
~*~
Cold night air was blowing in through the open windows of the anti-Kira task force's hotel suite. The air was there to both dispell the smell of coffee that hung heavy in the room, as well as to cool the tempers of some of the occupants.
Everyone was tired and feeling gradually more in-over-their-heads. The only break they had managed to come by was the worm-hole that Pip and Matt had dug into the Kira's Kingdom secret database. At the moment, Pip was scouring their progress for anything useful.
Matt scrolled through another page and groaned. Nothing. THere was next to nothing useful to be found. They were being smart, Matt had to admit; they were locking up every last piece confidential information extra tight.
He looked over at Pip as he lit up a cigarette, "Find anything yet, Pip?"
Pip ran a hand through her cropped hair and sighed. "No --" The girl froze, eyes wide.
Matt sat up straight as he saw the girl's reaction. "What is it?! What did you find?"
Pip hasitily thrust her screen under Matt's nose. "I'm such a moron! I didn't even think to look in the unrestricted section!"
From the other end of the room, Mello was watching the two intently. "What are you squealing about, Pip? What did you find?"
Matt read down the page, spotting what was making Pip so excited. His brows shot up in surprise; how could they have missed looking there. "Mello, come check this out."
Mello, brow furrowed, went over to the redhead. "What is it?" He quickly scanned the page, his mouth falling open. "A tour of Kira's very own kingdom," he read. "...$3,000, Matt? This tour costs $3,000." But, shit, it would be so perfect... Such an easy way in, and right at Kira's invitation.
The red head took a deep drag and nodded. Three thousand dollars was quite a bit of money, especially for their little task force. Not to mention the pretty penny they had already spent on airfare to Japan. "What can we do? How can we get that kind of money, I mean it's three grand PER PERSON."
Mello was nibbling on his usual piece of chocolate, but this time it came with more anxiety than usual. "My inheritance," he said finally. When L died, a large sum of money was placed in both Mello and Near's personal accounts. Mello had sworn not to touch the money unless need called for it. And, boy, was it calling for it now. "Order two spots on the tour," he said to Matt.
"Who gets to go, Mello?" Iggy asked.
"Pip and Mika will play the parts of invited guests. Iggy, you'll run surveillance. Get your shit together, guys, we've got a lot of planning to do." Mello went over to the window and began to pace.
This was the opening he had been waiting for. Unfortunately, it opened right in on the lion's den. Mello would just have to do what he could to insure that they all made it out
alive...