A/N: I do not own Death Note.
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Chapter 2 Lion's Den
Earlier that evening Misa had gone out with some friends on a little boat ride around the bay. Said "friends" apparently didn't notice when Misa, who had too much to drink, had a little accident—she was currently at the bottom of the ocean.
Misa... is dead? "I told you to watch her!" Light roared at the Shinigami.
"I did watch her!" Ryuk was surprised, Light was more upset about this then he'd expected... "Really Light, what did you expect me to do? As much as I find you guys fun to hang out with I'm not going to die for you."
Misa is dead. That puts even more suspicion on me and at a time like this...
Light grabbed for the trashcan.
Yes, this is one hell of a hangover.
"And she died in an accident," Light sucked in a breath, paranoia going into high-gear. Sure she halved her lifespan twice but that was a Shinigami's lifespan. Gelus surely had more years than that...
"So was it another Kira or a Shinigami that killed her? Did she get too boring for you, Ryuk?" Light spat bitterly.
"What? I'm not going to save your ass but I wouldn't kill you or Misa before your time like that! You're too much fun."
"Then she did die before her time..."
Ryuk clamped his claws over his big mouth. That was more than he was supposed to say.
This was worrying. If there was yet another notebook user out there or a vengeful Shinigami (but in that case wouldn't he already be dead?) So most likely another notebook user then—and it could be anyone.
Misa was famous, her picture was everywhere. If someone else got a hold of the notebook and the eyes they would find her immediately. That's why he had Misa quit the movie when the Death Note fell into the hands of the mafia.
I'm facing yet another opponent? Then there's no time to waste. I already had a contingency plan set up in case I lost Misa...
"This is all very disappointing, Ryuk. But there is a way you can make it up to me."
"Oh?" Ryuk always got excited when Light presumed to boss him around—this would no doubt prove interesting.
"I'm going to give you Misa's Death Note and you are going to possess a human of my choosing..."
Light watched the Shinigami fly out the window before returning his attentions back to the immediate problem—the blonde in the bedroom.
Light massaged his pounding forehead as he returned to the bedroom and was relieved to find that the other man was still out of it. As Light studied the other man he had thought was Misa critically—it was easy to see how he made such an error. His lover was a very girly-looking guy and looked quite a bit like Misa—they both had the same high cheek bones, the same hairstyle, and he had previously been wearing a similar leather outfit...
Light gently brushed the strands of long blonde hair out of the other man's face and for the first time noticed the nasty scar over half his face (just how impaired was he?) As he stared at the other he had a sudden epiphany... he knew this guy!
It couldn't be...
Light rushed over to his laptop and with a few clicks pulled up the sketch from Wammy's House...
It is... I...
Light worked on not hyperventilating.
Okay, just... relax. Calm down... This is perfect.
Light smirked to himself... Perhaps he should have detoxed first because this plan was completely insane. (Blasphemy! Gods do not make mistakes.)
Mello... or as dad discovered Mihael Keehl.
In any case it's not like I can ever let him leave...
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Mello groaned; his head was spinning.
This isn't our hideout...
That's right, he and Matt had a fight and he got rip-roaring drunk...
So where was he?
And just what did he do last night?
Perhaps the more appropriate question was WHO did he do last night?
Mello realized with rising panic he was naked and handcuffed to a stranger's bed.
He startled as he heard movement from the other room.
"Hey!" Mello shouted.
His captor came in from the kitchen with a breakfast tray loaded with scrambled eggs and chocolate pancakes in hand.
Guh... Mello forcefully shut his jaw. The other man was beautiful... and well knew it, he arrogantly, shamelessly flaunted it, as he paraded around in just his bathrobe. He looked pretty, delicate, but the way he carried himself screamed confidence and control. He was probably overcompensating. (Mello knew how that was.) The stranger kind of reminded him of Matt, he was just a bit taller and with darker hair, and...
Oh crap.
The events of the previous night were still fuzzy but it didn't even take a genius to be able to put two and two together.
The other man smiled brightly. "Ah Mells, you're awake."
Mells... Jesus! How hammered was I?
"Who. The fuck. Are you?"
The other man flashed a devious smile. "Oh we know each other very well, Mells."
"You... rapist!" Mello spat.
Oh great going, Mells! Get wasted and fucked by Japanese Matt. Couldn't my beer goggles have picked something a little less obvious and...
Wait…
I'm not nearly sore enough to have been the uke. That could only mean I must have topped...
"Actually you got drunk and took advantage of me," the other man confirmed it. "Not that I minded."
Hallelujah. If he wasn't currently chained to the headboard he'd probably be doing victory laps around the bedroom. (Now if only he could remember this historic event...)
Speaking of which—Mello shot daggers and rattled the chain in irritation.
"You passed out before giving me my turn," Light pouted cutely.
Fuck no. Mello was about to say as much when the other continued...
"But if your head is pounding half as bad as mine I'd understand..."
Then the other undid the chain and put it on the nightstand.
Wha—?
Mello was bewildered by this.
Light's smirk was hidden as he busied himself with serving the pancakes. That was just a 'see, I-am-perfectly-trustworthy,' gesture, a trick that he had learned from L. He'd pull that particular brand of mind-fuckery late at night when his defenses were at their weakest and then try to get him to admit that he was Kira. Light recalled in his experience it was very effective and if he hadn't wiped his memories at the time it just might have worked.
Mello was left second-guessing. Perhaps he had misjudged the stranger.
Or not...
The other man had a "you-can-trust-me-implicitly" demeanor that Mello didn't trust at all.
But still to Mello this was beginning to look like a strike of good fortune. For the time being he didn't have to worry about things like his finding a roof over his head, or his next meal. Now he could just mooch off this loser. And look, his new wife had even brought him breakfast...
Matt never made me breakfast. Mello moped bitterly.
Yet Mello couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
He glared suspiciously at the chocolate pancakes.
"I wasn't sure what to make so I just threw some stuff together," the other chuckled nervously.
CHOCOLATE pancakes. Was it really just a coincidence or was it because this stranger knew him?
Mello's hard-won instincts were screaming at him to get out... which was ridiculous. It was not like he was locked in the basement with a serial killer. It was just some fop. Some ridiculously gorgeous fop...
I don't remember doing that... but I want to...
Mello sucked in a breath as their hands brushed together as the other man served him breakfast. Mello found himself drawn up into those beautiful eyes like molten gold, eyes that were far too intense, too focused...
No... he wasn't the fop he was pretending to be. He was just a bit too rough around the edges... His mask was cracking and behind it lurked something murderously cunning.
No, this man was no Matt.
He was dangerous, he was... interesting.
And, Mello decided as he continued to stare into those challenging eyes, he was (or was going to be) Mello's bitch.
"You're welcome to stay, of course."
As the other began to retreat Mello captured his wrist. The tray clattered to the floor, forgotten.
Mello leaned into the other man, he smelled of soap, and ink, and sweat.
"Shall we have a repeat of last night?" Mello's voice deepened with lust.
I have to win his trust somehow... "You're insatiable," Light forced a giggle as he pulled Mello on top of him. "Just don't think you're going to top every time. I'm very Seme."
"Oh?" Mello quirked an eyebrow, his actions seemed to indicate the opposite.
The other man shuddered as Mello marked him with teeth.
"It's just... you. You, you're so... rugged. And you caught me in the mood to experiment..."
Mello smirked as the other's defensive rapid-fire excuses and effectively silenced him by claiming his mouth. Their tongues locked in fierce battle only interrupted when they both finally broke apart out of a need to breathe. Mello chuckled as he continued to pleasantly wrestle with the other man.
"You know, I don't even know your name."
"It's Light."
Light... why does that sound familiar?
Things were just getting heavy when an electronic buzz could be heard from the other room.
Shit! Now of all times?
"L, are you there?" Came the irritating, though filtered, voice that was still unmistakably Near.
Mello's eye twitched in irritation. That was definitely a mood-killer for more reasons than one. While Near's voice alone was a definite turn-off, so were all the implications of that statement.
That's where he heard that name before. Light Yagami—the Deputy Director's son. Mello remembered that the dossiers said he was just a graduate student, but then all the police had fake names and occupations listed.
He's the one acting as the current L?
Mello remembered that the new L was strangely obedient... but Mr. Yagami had told him it was Touta Matsuda... well of course even a boy scout like Yagami would lie to protect his son.
Does he know who I am, he MUST... I... I got his father killed and now he lets me screw him—this is so fucked up!
"Well, aren't you going to answer that?" Mello glowered.
There's no choice...
Light got up to answer the call, by the time he had sat down at his desk he had rethought his strategy taking into account that Mello would overhear everything.
"Near, this is not a good time..." Light glanced at his eavesdropper out of the corner of his eye.
Near's filtered voice could be heard over the speakers as he repeated the story Light had told him again "The only reason you found Mello's hideout was because you had Kira's help but you don't know how Kira found the hideout. Mello escaped but you got the notebook back, is that correct?"
Mello gnashed his teeth. LIGHT was the one behind the raid on his hideout! And, as he thought, they had accepted help from KIRA!
Mello came up behind Light and laid a hand on his shoulder, possessive with a hint of underlying threat but restrained himself from acting... yet. He wanted to hear what Light had to say for himself. To Mello's further fury Light ignored him and answered Near.
"That's right, stop being so obstinate! No matter how many times you ask me it's going to be the same answer. I've told you everything I can." Before Near could cut out again Light deflected the conversation back to him. "How about you, any new leads on Mello?"
"No, not yet. Have you?"
"Nothing yet I'm afraid. I have my men searching for him."
There was no mistake then Light MUST know who he was and he was lying to Near and the other investigators. He was sheltering him, the man who killed his father? Why?
There was an odd pause on the other end before Near answered. "I wouldn't worry about it. I do believe that in time he will come to me and he will fill in the missing pieces in leading me... us to Kira."
Mello was outraged upon hearing this.
Like hell! I'm not some TOOL for you to use!
There was another pause.
"Mello is an important witness. If anything happens to him I will hold you personally responsible."
The line cut out.
Mello stared at the stranger he had slept with. As much as he hated to admit it, Near was right. That story, all of it, just didn't add up.
Unless...
Light was Kira.