A/N: Alright, I have to get ready for school so I'll make this quick. Here's the next chapter. It was supposed to be longer, but it ended up getting too long at one point so we cut it in half. The next part will proly be up some time today or tomorrow.
Disclaimer: We only own the OC's.
Chapter 10--Crashes and Consequences
Matt flicked another dead butt out the window as he made a sharp turn down the street. He was still fuming from his fight with Mello. It wasn't even that he was mad at him, he was angrier with himself. He'd have gone back if he hadn't thought about what could possibly be awaiting him. Surely, Mello would be beyond his usual level of "pissed" and closer to "livid." Going back to base now would be nothing but bruises and screaming. It wasn't a happy thought.
He looked up at the rear view mirror as he changed lanes.
There was a black van following him. The same van, in fact, that had been on his ass for the past three blocks. That could only mean so many things; none of them good . He sped up and watched as the van behind him did the same. Two more flanked the first van and started to come up closer to him. 'Oh, fuck that,' he thought. If what he was thinking was right, Kira's cronies were about to do some serious damage.
He wasn't about to let that happen. He hit the gas and high tailed it down the street. Visions of Anthony Rester falling dead on a stage were flooding his brain. He had to think fast now; the vans were beginning to catch up. A glance out his window told him he was by a park. A crazy idea hit him and he ran with it. He veered to the right and drove straight into the park. Right into the trees. One moment, Matt was watching a solid wall of tree limbs hurdling closer and closer, and the next, he was melded with them. A loud crash was heard, like thunder and a tornado sounding at once.
It was then that Kira's henchmen finally caught up.
They found the car totaled and wrapped around a tree. It was smoking, threatening to blow at any time. They pulled open the carcass of the Eclipse to find it empty, spots of blood staining the seat.
The guards exchanged sullen glances; no one was looking forward to the phone call that would have to be made.
Eventually, seniority won out, and the lead guard made the dreaded call.
"I'm sorry, Sir," the guard said, tone solemn. "But we lost him. The bastard ran his own car into a tree."
Kira's fists were balled tight enough to puncture skin. As the god pinched the bridge of his nose, his cheeks were left stained scarlet, evidence of his extreme frustration. "What do you mean he ran into a tree? Where is he?" he snapped.
The man flinched at the tone the god's voice had taken. "I-I'm sorry Sir, he purposely drove his car into a tree to try and escape and is now nowhere to be found. We are searching the area as we speak. If he's here, we will find him, Kami." The man swallowed, trying hard not to vomit with fear.
"The lives of your family depend on it, Commander." The god slammed his bloody hand down on the phone, cutting the connection and the speaker. 'That brainless commander will surely work harder now,' Light thought.
Mikami watched as his Kami became more and more frustrated. This was not good. This was horrible. If only Mikami could get his hands around that bastard Mello's throat, he'd make him sorry. The dark-haired man came up behind the god and laid what was meant to be a comforting hand upon his shoulder. "Kami...?" he questioned, needing to hear some kind of response.
Light thrashed out, beating Mikami back. "Don't touch me, Mikami," he spat. Light didn't want to be pawed. He wanted to kill. Slaughter. Light wanted Mello tied to a bed so that he could put a blade through his gut himself.
Mikami backtracked away from his lover quickly, not wanting to be the focus of his anger. "M-my apologies Kami. I only wish to help." He lowered his gaze, the very picture of submission to a higher power.
Light looked at his devoted servant a moment. Mikami was indeed perfect; just as Light knew he would be from the beginning. Through the years, the former attorney had proved himself worthy where even the faithful Takada had fallen short. Perhaps Mikami did not deserve the brunt of god's rage after all.
"Mikami," Light said, his tone soft now. He touched the man's face tenderly, running a thumb along Mikami's familiar lips. "Go to my quarters and make yourself comfortable. I will join you in a few hours." Light's smoldering, seductive eyes were promise enough.
Mikami felt himself melt under the gods gaze. It gave him a high no drugs on earth ever could. He took the hand touching his face and pressed a delicate kiss to the soft skin.
"As you wish, my Kami."
Light pulled Mikami a fraction closer, enough to place a butterfly's kiss to the man's lips, and to run his hand expertly over the zipper of Mikami's pants. "Be sure to kick Misa out when you enter the room; the last I saw her, she was still recovering."
The darker haired man only just bit back a moan. Kami's touch drove him mad; he couldn't wait to have his moment with him. "I'll be sure to do so, Kami." 'Damn Misa,' he thought to himself. She didn't deserve to be with this magnificent creature, nor was she worthy of the things that Kami could do in the dark seclusion of the bedroom. "I will wait as long as I must," he added, a soft sigh in the god's ear. Feeling satisfied for the moment, Mikami pulled away and headed for the door; he would get much closer soon enough.
Light Yagami did not linger to watch Mikami leave, although he listened for the subtle click of the door as it locked and double-locked. Above all -- even above his egotism and narcissism -- Light was paranoid, more so than Mello, if you can believe it. There were certain things, certain rooms, that Light demanded be for his personal use alone. The room he was in currently -- the third floor technologies base -- was not one of them, of course. But there were hidden atrium's and passageways everywhere. It was into one of these secluded spaces that the god crept into now, pulling his cell phone out as he did so.
"Have you found him yet?" he demanded of the search team's commander.
There was hesitation on the commander's end. Eventually there came a sullen answer. "I'm afraid....h-he is nowhere to be found Kami. We've searched every square foot of the area and...it's as though he completely vanished. I'm sorry, Sir..."
"Useless fools..." Light murmured to himself. "I don't suppose he was caught on any of the city traffic cameras, either?"
"We've gone over them several times. There isn't a single trace of him anywhere. Please Kami, I'm sorry."
Light sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose again. "Sweep the area once more, commander, and when you return to the mansion, I would like you to write the name of the family member that will be paying for this blunder of yours on a piece of paper." A smirk spread on Light's face. "If you fail once again, that person will pay the price."
The commander's breath hitched, jaw clenched to keep from screaming. "Y-yes Sir. Of course, right away Sir." The commander hung up the phone to continue the search, knowing in his gut that there was truly nothing out there to find.
~*~
The atmosphere in the Anti-Kira base was, to say the least, strained. No one wanted to address the fact that Matt was gone, but it was a hard thing to pretend not to notice.
"Mello, I'm sorry, but I can't get past the firewalls Matt installed on his laptop," said Icarus from the couch. He had been given the task of accessing Matt's files on the case -- most importantly, the security camera hook-ups with the Kira mansion.
Mello snarled under his breath. Damn Matt... ruining things again. "Move over," the blonde barked. Icarus was quick to hand over the laptop.
JJ watched all of this with a blank expression. It was the quietest anyone had ever seen her. Usually she was bouncing with energy in even the bleakest moments, but it seemed as though the recent kidnappings were really getting to her. Mello cursed as Matt's laptop denied him access once again. It seemed as though they were never going to get in.
"Let me try, Mello," JJ said quietly.
Mello looked over at the girl, eyebrow cocked. "Fine, s'not like I'm going to get into the damn thing, anyway." He handed the laptop over without looking at JJ, instead focusing his attention out the window.
JJ sat hunched over the computer, a concentrated look on her face. Moments of inspection later, JJ was pecking at the keys carefully and with purpose. After a few tries, the laptop pinged, signaling access to the files. "I got it."
Everyone looked up at once.
"You're shitting me," Mello said, eyes wide.
JJ looked confused for a moment. "No. Why, did I do something wrong?"
Mello blinked. "No. You did something very, very good. Hook the laptop up to the monitors," he said quickly to the others.
The twins were on their feet in an instant, searching for wires.
"Eureka!" Iggy said, a smile on his face as the monitors displayed the inner workings of Kira's mansion.
"Good work, JJ." Mello gave the girl a brief smile and a nod of his head. It was the most respect he had ever shown her.
JJ giggled sweetly and nodded back. "It wasn't that hard," she said as she watched the others work. She was glad that she was finally being useful to the leader she held so much respect for.
Mello was soon watching all fifteen screens at once, looking for any sign of Mika, Kai, or -- God forbid -- Matt.
Where WAS that stupid bastard, anyway?
"Would someone try calling Matt's cell phone?" Mello said quietly, not taking his eyes from the television monitors
"I-I will," Pip said after a moment of exchanged glances with the others.
Mello showed no note of surprise.
Pip, whom was seated at the kitchen table, dialed Matt's number with anxious fingers and waited.
"Speaker phone," Mello said.
Pip nodded and switched her phone to speaker mode. Everyone stayed completely silent.
The phone rang a few times before the voice mail picked up. If Matt wasn't answering his phone, then that meant…well, that meant something bad.
Pip hung up the phone without having to be told.
Slowly, everyone looked over at Mello, wondering what they were going to do now.
"We did fine before Matt came along, and we'll solve this case without him now," the blonde said, eyes flashing. "Keep monitoring the surveillance, and see how much further you can get into Kira's computer system. Split up into teams and sleep in shifts. We have to find Kai and Mika, but the SPK is still our priority."
The others looked to one another, but did as they were told. There was really not much else they could do at the moment, and Mello was right, finding their teammates and the SPK was their priority. JJ went over to Pip and took her hand. "Do you think Matt's alright?"
Pip bit her lip, glancing at Mello, who stood abruptly and went to his room. The slamming of the door made them all wince.
"I...I don't know, JJ," Pip finally said with a sigh.
JJ tugged at her hand and gave the other girl a hopeful smile. "He'll be okay. Just you watch. He'll be back." She sounded so sure of herself.
Pip grinned weakly. "Yes, I suppose he will." After a moment, she stood. "Well," she said, clasping her hands together, "you heard Mello -- we have work to do. Who wants to take the first shift?"
No one volunteered immediately and you couldn't really blame them, especially with everything that had happened in the last couple of hours; all anyone wanted was a good night's sleep. JJ looked around at the teens in the room that had been like a family to her and slowly, finally, raised her hand.
"I'll help you out, JJ," Icarus said.
The small girl smiled at the twin and went over to sit with him. With this settled they could get to work and hopefully be able to figure out exactly what the hell was going on.
~*~
The sky had grown dark and black clouds were starting to move in, threatening to open up and spill rain all over the city. In a small dive-bar in the bad end of town a lonely figure slumped over the bar, their hood pulled low over their face.
"Something I can get you, buddy?" the bartender asked, looking cross.
The figure looked up, revealing himself as a man. His dark green eyes locked with the bartender's.
"Yeah. Can I get a cigarette? I'm dyin' over here." He grinned and began to play with a small silver lighter.
The barman eyed the odd man with a wary eye. "Gotta buy a drink first."
The green eyed man groaned. It was always something with these guys...
"Fine then, ya got any coffee?"
"This look like a diner to you, kid?"
The man glared at the barkeep, "Fine, how about a glass of water? Or do you not have that either?" He sneered at the older man and tapped his fingers on the counter, waiting for an answer.
The bartender grunted, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, we got water." He pulled a dusty glass from the shelf and filled it with tap water. "Here," he said shortly, putting the glass and a single cigarette before the patron.
"Thank you ever so much," he said with as much sarcasm as he could muster. 'What a dick', he thought to himself as he lit up the cigarette and took a deep drag. He sighed contentedly; oh sweet nicotine. He flicked the ashes into the glass of water, much to the annoyance of the bartender. The sounds of a newswoman's voice turned the man's attention to the small TV above the bar.
A reporter stood at the scene of a car crash in an up-town park. Several witnesses report seeing the car, an Eclipse, being followed, but nothing could really be proven. They were still searching for the driver who had gone missing from the scene of the accident.
"What a waste of a great car," the green-eyed man muttered, taking another drag.
The bartender grunted -- it seemed to be the only noise he could consistently make.
The man turned to the barkeep, a snarky look on his face. "Anyone ever tell you that you're an excellent conversationalist?"
The greasy, chubby barman looked at the young man a moment. "Che," he snorted, and exited to the backroom, leaving the man unattended.
The young man grinned and snubbed out the dead butt. Quickly snatching up the pack of smokes the bartender had left on the counter he walked out the door, not wanting to stick around too long. He felt rain drops hitting his hooded and took off running, trying to find somewhere else to stay. He had to keep out of the public places for a while.
HE -- Kira -- would be looking for him by now, especially considering his whole disappearing act earlier. The man ducked into a small tea shop and went into the bathroom. He locked the door and took off his hood and the hat he had been wearing underneath it, revealing his red hair. He looked into the mirror and barely recognized himself from beneath all the blood and bruises.
The crash had done a number on his body, he had seen that much. He was lucky he hadn't broken a rib. But his face...he looked like hell. He had gotten off most of the blood, but the scratches from the windshield were quite prominent. He splashed some water on his face and took a deep breath.
Beyond all else, he hoped that the others were okay.
From his pocket the red head took out what remained of his cell phone. The whole thing was smashed to within an inch of its life. From behind the horribly cracked screen he could see the 'missed call' icon. Most likely it was Mello and the kids. He wished he could call and check in, but the phone couldn't send out calls, it could only receive them.
He'd find a payphone later.
He'd check in.
See if they were still alive.
You could never be sure anymore.
For now though, he needed to find somewhere else to stay for the night. Kira's men would be out searching for him still, and he couldn't risk leading them straight to the base (not to mention that sleeping in a public restroom did not sound enjoyable).
He ducked out of the bathroom after cleaning up some. Hat and hood safely in place he set out in the rain, hoping he could find somewhere to stay before he froze to death. Hell, if he lived through the night at all, he'd be happy.