Author's Note: OMG what's going to happen!
I only have three more finals left. I'm halfway done. I don't want this year to end though :/ I'm going to have to go back home and start working. I don't like working. It bothers me. But hey, I'm going to be going for my Class 5 Drivers License soon :D Wish me luck! ...LOL I want to pass THAT test if for no other reason than it's going to be embarrassing if I don't.
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, or anything remotely associated with it.
August 24, 2024. 1:30 PM...
The judge made a move to continue the ceremony and I resigned myself to the life I had agreed to, when suddenly a loud succession of gasps spread throughout the rows of guests. I turned my head to see what had happened and could not believe my eyes.
Near was standing up in the middle of the mass of people and all eyes in the room were on him. he fiddled with a lock of his silver hair for a moment, uncomfortable with all the staring eyes and was about to open his mouth to say something when a loud banging grabbed all of our attention and directed it towards the back of the courtroom.
The two great, wooden doors were thrown open and a slight figure was silhouetted by the afternoon sun.
"Sit down sheep, I got this."
Mello.
An instant smile spread on my lips and the weight on my shoulders seemed to disappear. My heart was lighter than air and my body reached an all new high. I felt tiny droplets of moisture in the corners of my eyes and I realized that for the first time since my daughter was born, I was crying out of happiness rather than despair.
Startled and horrified gasps came from the guests as Mello sauntered down the aisle to the front of the room.
"Just what pray tell, are you doing here?" Gevanni asked, stepping in front of me and disallowing Mello access to my person.
"Get out, of my way," Mello growled, the threat behind his words very real.
"I don't think so," Gevanni said, unintimidated. "You've disrupted my life and hers for the last time. We don't want you here."
"I think it's up to Jewel to decide, whether or not she wants me here."
"I don't want you here. It's time for you to leave."
Mello and Gevanni faced off for a second. There was dead silence amongst all the other people in the room. Heck, I didn't even think half the people were breathing, let alone daring to talk.
Without breaking his state with Gevanni, Mello asked me, "So, what about it Jewel? Are you going to let this guy start deciding what's best for you just because you're going to marry him?"
I said nothing.
"I have nothing more to say to you Gevanni. I came here to talk with Jewel, not you. Now you're going to get out of my way, or I'm going to make you get out of my way."
There was another tense moment before Gevanni finally stepped aside. "Say what you need to say and get out Mello. Before I have you arrested for something."
Mello took another step closer to me, cutting off Gevanni's angle, if he wanted to block him again. There was an apprehensive second while I waited for Mello to find his words.
"Jewel, I... I know I haven't always been there for you. I'll be the first one to admit that. And I can't promise that I'm always going to be there for you either Jewel. But I can promise that I'm always going to love you, because even after all these years, that hasn't changed. No one makes me feel like you do, there isn't anyone else in the world I care about as much as I care about you. And I know, I know I don't always show it, but it's true. I... I know I'm not perfect Jewel," I couldn't imagine how hard it was for Mello to actually come out with those words, "I know I'm not perfect, but you make me feel like I'm perfect. It just took me a little too long to realize it."
"Yeah? Well maybe she should be with someone who knows what he had the whole time," Gevanni said smugly.
I didn't say anything. All I did was hold my gaze with Mello and try desperately not to smile and give myself away.
"Jewel, say something," Mello begged after a moment.
I'm waiting for something Mello.
There was another short pause as Mello seemed to read and comprehend my thoughts.
"Jewel, I've... I've asked you once. And I... I don't care how many more times I have to ask, because I won't stop asking."
Go on...
"Jewel, will you marry me?" Another chorus of gasps worked its way through the crowd. Mello tentatively reached into his pocket and came out with an all too familiar, black velvet box.
I beamed.
"Think it took you long enough!" I asked lightly as jumped into Mello's arms, tears pooling in my eyes.
"Too long, too long Jewel," Mello whispered into my ear as he twirled me around, my flowing skirt fanning out behind me.
"W-what-what is this!" Gevanni asked incredulous.
Oops, almost forgot about him.
Mello let me down and I prepared myself to let Gevanni down. "I'm sorry," I told him, all the sincerity I could collect in my voice. "I care about you Gevanni, a lot. I really do. But this," I leaned back into his chest and I felt Mello place his hands gently on my shoulders, "this is something I've wanted for as long as I can remember."
"He's not to be trusted Jewel," Gevanni pleaded. "He's proven himself to be dishonest far too many times."
I felt Mello hang his head behind me. I knew if anyone agreed with Gevanni, it was Mello himself.
"Who's to say he won't leave you again?" Gevanni charged.
"There's always that possibility," I responded quietly. "But the chance, the chance at everything I've ever wanted, is well worth that risk." There was a pause and I sensed Gevanni was about to say something, but I added, "I've lost Mello more times than I care to count. And I know how it feels when he's gone. But the truth is, there isn't anybody who makes me feel like he does either... I'm sorry Gevanni. I really am."
"He, he can't be trusted!" Gevanni tried again. "He's a criminal! He's got warrants out for his arrest all over the place, for charges ranging from larceny to murder Jewel! A life with him would destroy any chance you had of going back to school, or opening your own practice. You couldn't work with Near anymore. And do you really want to do that to Marsh too? Her future would be gone; being the daughter of two on the run fugitives."
I could feel the frustration Mello was feeling at Gevanni's words through his hands which were still on my shoulders.
"I love him," I said frankly.
"Love is blind Jewel."
"Love is when an imperfect person, is perfect for you," I lifted my hands and laid them on top of Mello's, then pulled his arms around me, extending the closeness between us. His touch was giving me goosebumps. I sighed and felt Mello do the same thing behind me, releasing his tension.
"I, in good conscious, cannot let you be with him," Gevanni persisted and I was almost at the point of rolling my eyes, but I didn't. I knew this probably wasn't easy for him. I truly did care about Gevanni, but I adored Mello. I had from day one.
"It isn't any of your concern anymore," Mello said flatly. There was, for once, no contempt in his voice for Gevanni.
"You stay out of this Mello, you've caused enough trouble here today," Gevanni's tone was cool and controlled and I wondered how hard he was having to work to keep it that way.
Mello looked like he was about to say something but stopped arguing suddenly, and a confused look dawned on his face. "Wait a minute," he turned and surveyed the guests and the rest of the room before turning back to us and kitting his eyebrows together.
"What?" I asked, getting confused myself.
"Where's Matt?" he asked me back.
"Matt? I haven't seen him for like, ten days. I haven't seen him since the two of you left that night. I thought he was with you," I shrugged.
"He texted me and said he was going to stay with you."
"Stay with me? Mello, since when has Matt ever chosen me over you?"
"Well there was that time when I left Wammy's."
"That doesn't count."
"So... Where is he then?"
"Guys!" came an overly panicked voice from the back of the hall. We all turned just in time to see Matt burst through the already open wooden doors. "Guys there's- there's another bomb!" he shouted breathlessly.
And then all hell broke loose.
Guests started shouting and crying out as about a dozen armed men in suits stood up from the crowd and raised their weapons. Before I fully knew what was happening I heard gunfire break out all around me. I watched horrified as a puff of pink spray pulsed from Matt's shoulder and he went down.
"Matt!" three voices cried out at once, one of them was mine; the other two belonged to Mello and Marsh.
Marsh! My baby!
Instinctually I dove on top of her to cover her with my body and protect her from stray bullets. Nothing was going to happen to my princess so long as I was alive.
At the same time as I landed on Marsh, I felt a heavy pressure on top of me. Mello had done the same thing and was now shielding the both of us from the wild bullets that whisked and whizzed over our heads.
"Mommy!" Marsh cried below me.
I shifted to make sure that she was fully protected. I squinted my eyes closed and wrapped my arms around her small frame, I felt her fine, silky hair against my cheek and her small body start to tremble below mine.
"Mello!" I cried in panic as small tears of worry and confusion started to form in the corner of my eyes.
"Take this!" he ordered and pressed the cold, polished steel of a Colt 45 into my side.
"You brought a gun to a wedding!" I shouted incredulously.
"No! Do you think I'm an idiot? ...I brought two guns!"
"Mello, what are you-"
"Just take it! I'm going to find Matt."
And with that the pressure on top of me was gone and so was Mello.
Beside me Gevanni knelt down to our level to see if Marsh and I were okay.
"Gevanni, what's going on?" I cried.
"I couldn't say for sure,"
"You couldn't say 'for sure'? What do you think is going on?"
"Listen, you and Marsh just need to get out of here alright? I'll take care of this, you two just need to get out."
"That doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon," I whined.
"Why not?"
I pointed under a bench to the grand wooden doors which were being closed and chained shut by three guys with Uzis.
"Damn," Gevanni cussed and pulled a Glock 17 out of the inside pocket of his tuxedo jacket.
"You did not bring a gun to our wedding!" I charged.
"Uhm, no...?" Gevanni shot me a sheepish look, then sat up and aimed over a bench at the guys chaining and padlocking the door. He caught one in the shoulder and another in the side before the three of them dispersed into the crowd. The damage had been done though. There was going to be no easy way to get those doors open.
"What's going on?" I demanded.
"I'll tell you all what's going on!" came a booming voice from the judge's bench. "Attention all! Can I have your attention please." All around us the gunfire quieted and the shouting ceased. "Thank you, thank you," the man cleared his throat. "Now then, I have something to tell you people..."
I hadn't really been paying attention to our officiate during the beginning of the ceremony. It was only now that I was really taking him in. He was quite tall at, at least six feet. He was dressed neatly in a tux of his own and was clean shaven; his sienna brown hair was flecked with grays, but neatly styled and swept to the side. He appeared to be in his early forties and overall wasn't bad looking... until you met his eyes. His eyes too were a dark brown, but had no discernible soul in them; instead a glazed over, crazed stare was being shot back at me.
"I," he continued, "am here to speak on behalf of my beloved god Kira."
Oh hell no.
Have you ever had one of those moments? One of those moments when someone says something so obtuse, not even a face-palm can accurately represent your reaction to it?
I sat up and crossed my arms over my knees and knit my brows. I was NOT going to start dealing with this again.
"My beloved god Kira came to me in a dream..." Oh, so he was one of THOSE people. "Kira told me that I must destroy all of those who oppose him so that he may once again assume his reign. The world is rotten, and our god Kira will once again purify all the wicked and the unjustness. He has chosen me to remove the obstacles in the way of creating his perfect world."
"Uhm, yeah, hi," I spoke up, raising and waving my hand like a kid in school. "Sorry to interrupt your motivational, 'I have a dream' speech up there Mr. King, but Kira's dead."
"NO! Kira is not dead!" the man shouted, becoming instantly enraged. "Kira was forced into hiding by the likes of you and your deceitful organization. I have been charged with the extermination of your blasphemous association."
Of course he was. I rolled my eyes and sighed in annoyance.
"Now then..." our resident psychopath continued.
I wasn't paying attention to him anymore though; I was assessing the situation. From my space on the floor I surveyed the room. I counted thirty-seven men with Uzis that I judged to be with the psycho. They were stationed strategically around the room; three at each of the exits and the rest crouching up against the walls. The scariest thing wasn't that they were there; it was that I had seen them before. About five of the men, were ones that worked in our building. All of the others who were there were also from our organization, but they appeared to all be on our side. There were about twenty men and women in fancy attire standing in the middle of the room, guns pointed out towards the offenders against the walls.
Had EVERYONE besides me brought a gun today? I scrunched up my face at a new thought and glanced over my shoulder at the little angel in blue, who was staring up at me wide-eyed. I looked down at her critically, "You don't have gun do you?"
"No?" she asked back, confused.
I nodded, "'Kay, good."
The guy was still ranting so I took one last quick look around the room. Linda was cowering nervously behind Gevanni's best man and the ring bearer, who I wasn't sure if I knew or not. They were both crouched on the ground and had Desert Eagles primed, ready to fire. Near was huddled on the ground across the aisle with a circle of special agents standing around him. I scanned under the benches and found Mello tending to Matt's shoulder wound three quarters of the way back from the front.
'Alright Jewel,' I said to myself. 'Time for a plan.' I stole another quick glance back to Marsh. She was watching the situation nervously, but appeared to be calming down from the initial shock of the sudden gunfire. I had to get her out first, and Linda. Linda hadn't signed up for this kind of work. I would leave Matt and this 'another bomb' to Mello. I was sure they would find me if they needed me... Actually, I was pretty sure, they wouldn't come anywhere near me if they needed help, but I waved that thought away. Near was a priority too. This organization was centered around him, and besides, someone had to look after that little cretin.
Now that I knew who I had to get out first, the question was how. Call for back up? I didn't have my cell on me, but someone else might. I'd trust on that someone else to make the call themselves. What else? The doors, presumably all of them, were chained shut, but these guys had to be getting out somehow right?
"You're not going to get away with this!" Gevanni shouted suddenly, drawing my attention back into the conversation.
"Oh, but I think I am Gevanni. Everyone here is going to die today! And it's all because-"
Before he could finish his sentence Gevanni jumped up behind me and fired three quick shots at our officiate. Two of the shots grazed his flesh and the third ended up splintering the wood beside his head.
Before anyone else could react I wrapped my arms around Gevanni's legs and pulled him to the ground. "Are you crazy standing up like that! You're going to get shot!" I shouted.
Suddenly the power went out, and darkness flooded the room. With the darkness came another uproar and muzzle flashes and gunshot pierced the blackness.
I instantly reached out to where Linda had just been sitting and pulled her close when I grabbed her arm. "Linda, take Marsh and find a way out of here."
"But-"
"No 'buts.' You and her have to get out of here! Okay?"
"Sure Jewel, but, what are you going to do?"
"Leave that to me." I switched places on the floor with Linda so that she was now beside Marsh and started crawling. I crawled along the ground in Mello's general direction praying that my luck held out and that I could find him without getting shot.
"Mello," I called when I finally bumped into him, "what's going on?"
"Matt says there's another bomb. He says it's probably here!"
"What's another bomb doing here? How does he know?"
"We'll explain later. We still have to find the damn thing. It's our original, so it should still be in a briefcase."
"Your original?" I asked incredulous.
"We'll explain later!" Mello emphasized again.
"Hey, unzip me, this thing is too cumbersome!" I said, indicating my dress.
"Uhm, but..."
"I'm wearing a slip underneath idiot! And I can barely breathe in this thing let alone move."
"'Kay fine." Mello's hands found the back of my dress and gently guided the zipper down. 'I will not be turned on in the middle of a gunfight!' I ordered myself, squinting my eyes shut.
I kicked off my shoes and slid out of my dress, tossing it to the side. "Much better," I said, gulping in a deep lungful of air. I adjusted the silky fabric around my body, and fixed the spaghetti straps on my shoulders. I was ready for business.
I jumped up from my place beside Mello, gun firing, wishing I had a full on automatic machine gun instead of just a handgun. I hopped over, and slid under a number of benches, and then I saw him in a flash of gunpowder; the crazed leader of this rogue band. He was making his way out the back door of the courtroom.
Without hesitation I was up and after him, firing my weapon. Not easy to shoot a moving target, not easy to shoot while moving, not easy to shoot in the dark. I was just about to leap over my last bench when a rock hard wall hit me in my side and tackled me to the ground. I was winded for just a moment and when I regained my breath I shouted, "What are you doing Gevanni?"
"Saving your life Jewel. You don't want to go after that guy. You don't seem to understand, he wants us all dead."
"That's exactly why I have to go after him. He needs to be stopped before this gets any more out of control!"
"Stay here Jewel!" he ordered me. "I'll take care of this guy," he said and took off after the psychotic 'judge.'
Yeah, I was just totally going to stay here.
I waited ten seconds, put my game face on and charged after him.
The back of the courthouse was a warren of side passages, and rooms; and with the power out and only the emergency lights to guide me I was making very poor time. I listened carefully for footfalls or calls but all I was able to make out was the shouts and screams from the main gallery.
'C'mon Jewel,' I willed myself. I closed my eyes and slowed my breathing. I focused my mind and sifted through the sounds.
I listened hard. I focused through the shouts from the gallery, focused past the sound of my own heartbeats... There! To my left! I started running again; through hallways and corridors until finally I came to an especially dark hallway with one closed door right at the end. I slowed my pace and crept towards it, keeping my breathing silent and my footfalls soft.
I slowed even more as I neared the large, wooden frame and laid my ear against it more silently than a butterfly might have.
"...Ahh, but that wasn't the deal Gevanni. You didn't do your job."
Author's Note: So I'm pretty sure that the "Remember me for 3 days" option on the login page, is actually more like, 'Remember me for 2 days' because there's no way I wait 3 days spans between checking in on my page.
But OMG wasn't this chapter intense ;D