The Silent Place

AN: Erm……. Sorry for the late updates? (I just KNOW my next fic is going to be like every other week)

So no more flashbacks. They are all done... just to let everyone know. And let me tell you wow, Mello like stole my brain for a while and the chapter like went all over the place. I ended up with 1000 words I hadn't even planned. Bad Mello.

Suggested Listening: Lie To Me by 12 Stones; After Dark by Asian Kung-Fu Generation; Roots by Uverworld (I LOVE them so much. I am addicted to the leads voice!)

Chapter Nine: Bounty

They had ended up at a local bar despite how early on in the day it was. It was a good place to hide as the lighting was dim, as generally people who drank didn't want blaring lights in their eyes, and you were left alone for the most part so long as you weren't making a drunken fool of yourself.

Matt had ordered them lunch, despite Mello's assurances that he really wasn't hungry. Matt had stated that Mello was still to skinny and needed to eat more.

That had been around ten minutes ago and despite the smug grin on Matt's face Mello deigned not to say a word. He pushed his mostly empty plate to the center of the table and glared. Matt leaned foreword slightly and his smirk slipped.

"Is there anyone left over from the old days that might be persuaded to help?"

Mello inwardly cringed and shook his head. "Anyone other than Jasper would be more likely to use me as a bargaining chip for something after those damn broadcasts during my captivity." he still hated having to talk about those times. It was stupid, as it had happened years ago now...

"Alright then, since we have well and good established that we are on our own, do you agree that this man would more than likely simply clip you should he see you on the street?" Matt's voice was calm, face expressionless, and though he couldn't see the redhead's eyes he knew he was worried.

He paused to think. Of what he knew of Anderson, that would definitely be a yes. But too many years had passed to know for sure so he simply settled for a nod of his head.

"So no information gathering for you." Matt told him in a mock stern voice. His lips twitched at Matt poor attempt at humor.

"I wasn't planning on going anyway." he leaned back so that his face was mostly in the shadows, though from the angle he sat it was mostly the scarred portion that was shown.

"What if you only contacted those people through e-mail? You wouldn't have to meet with them.." Matt trailed off. Mello shrugged and though he knew nothing would come of it, if the few he could still remember still had the same contact information, he pulled his laptop from the small bag he'd brought in with him.

He hadn't thought that he'd packed his travel bag, the one he used mostly for small loads of groceries, but he apparently had. It was now his laptop carrying case, as never had really used the original one so it hadn't been brought with them.

He noticed Matt pull his own laptop to sit on the tabletop, though he had angled it so that the people behind him wouldn't be able to see what was on the screen. It was doubtful that anyone would be spying on them at the moment, but the paranoia was far too ingrained after the Detective Purge to really do otherwise.

He pulled up his e-mail and looked through the saved contacts, though all of the information was coded and jumbled. He wrote out his request and then sent it to the fifteen separate accounts.

He only had to wait a minute before seven e-mails popped up in his inbox. All seven of them confirmed the same thing. Those accounts were no longer in service. He took a sip of his water and sat back to wait, though it was anyone's guess if there would be any replies.

And even if someone did reply and wanted to give him information, he wasn't sure how much, if any, of it he would trust. Could trust. Anderson had found out about Takahashi, though it had hardly been a secret, as well as Jasper so it was possible to have found out about his other contacts despite him not having spoken with any of them in years.

"Any luck yet?" he moved his gaze up to Matt, rather than the table he'd been staring at, and shook his head. "So far I only confirmed that half the accounts are inactive."

Matt nodded. "I haven't gotten any further than the footage around Takahashi's. There is feed missing that I hadn't noticed before since I had simply hacked into the actual database."

"What do you mean by missing?" Mello asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Someone has removed the entire camera and wiped it clean from the databases records. It had looked odd for them not to have a camera in that area, as they did for the rest of the streets traffic areas, but with budget cuts and procrastination I hadn't thought anything more on it until I found a small inconsistency in the system. They did a good job at covering their tracts, I'll give them that, but they aren't that good."

Mello fought the urge to roll his eyes at the self satisfied look Matt had adopted. "So basically all we found out is that they literally took out the camera and got rid of the evidence of them murdering Takahashi?" he questioned. He was only slightly sorry when Matt's expression fell.

"That's about the gist of it..." Matt stated sourly and lit a cigarette.

"At least you're on the right track...?" he muttered, though it came out as more of a question. Matt smiled slightly at him before going back to typing away, though Mello presumed he was going to make an attempt at retrieving the lost footage.

The only real help that would be was in confirming who had done it, though that was based on the assumption that Anderson, who Mello strongly suspected as they had never found his body, had gone along and his face had been captured by the camera.

A box popped up and alerted him to a new message to which he clicked on. It wasn't telling him about another deactivated account. Though he would have preferred any one else to have contacted him.

Jasper would probably have a conniption fit over him even having thought of dealing with her again, never mind actually getting into contact. He frowned at the ache in his chest. He really hoped his friend was alright...

He snorted softly as he read over the first few lines. He had briefly entertained the idea of her account having been hacked or interrupted, but it was definitely Amber.

His gaze narrowed as she mentioned wondering how he was doing after his capture, as he had now confirmed he'd lived. And though it looked nice as words Mello knew the first half had been stated sarcastically.

She went on to state that she'd help, but only if he would play a game with her.

He knew the kind of games that she liked to play. He wrote a not so polite reply before blocking her from contacting him again. "Not going well?"

"It's a complete waste of time. And though the rest haven't replied, I can only assume that they would want something out of it like the last one." he met Matt's gaze steadily and the redhead finally sighed before looking away. Mello wondered if Matt had thought that he'd take the offer, though Matt didn't know what it entailed.

Mello wasn't angry, because he probably would have done so in the past. He allowed a small smile to creep onto his face. Even if he was in the same shape he'd been in the past, he still wouldn't have taken Amber's offer this time.

He stole a glance at Matt, who was studiously typing away again, and shook his head. He definitely wouldn't have done it.

Mello hated waiting, and yet there was really nothing more for him to do until Matt either found something or allowed them to investigate the old fashion way. Though he knew that as long as they were relatively safe Matt wouldn't let the last part happen too easily.

He understood Matt's need to keep them safe, though in the back of his mind he recognized that it probably was just a need to keep him safe, but he wasn't about to do something reckless.

He closed the laptop and put it into hibernation as it had gotten overheated, the table being almost burning hot where it sat, and placed it back into his bag. He doubted that there would be any more e-mails, and if there were they could damn well wait until they got settled later on.

"Alright, I think we should get going. It's going to get dark soon and I'd rather not be out and searching for a place to stay then." Matt said a short while later as he packed up his own laptop and left money on the table.

In the long while they'd been there, the bar had livened up quite a bit as people had gotten off of work and come there to distress or simply come to get drunk. Mello scrunched his nose up at the thought of getting drunk.

That was one thing he didn't particularly miss from the old days.

They got into the car but it wasn't started until they'd found a hotel to stay in. it was in a different area than the night before, and significantly better but not quite upscale, though they would have to take care to stay away from the camera's, though Mello was sure that Matt would hack into them and delete the footage the second they got into their rooms.

Mello tossed the redhead a curious look as he pulled into a Chinese takeout parking lot as they had eaten not too long ago. Though Mello supposed it was long enough by normal standards.

"I don't want to have to go out later. It's better if we don't make ourselves a possible target more times than we have to at night. Besides, Chinese food at least tastes good cold." Mello really couldn't disagree with him on either account. Matt walked to the outside of the restaurant and grabbed a menu for them to look at.

It took twenty minutes of changing their minds constantly before a decision was reached. "Stay here." Matt told him as he left the vehicle. Mello scowled at him. Stay here? What was he, a dog?

Despite his slightly alleviated irritation levels he did indeed stay in the car. If anything it would be amusing to see Matt carrying their order, which by the time it was done, was huge. They hadn't truly been able to decide on what they wanted and had just ordered a little of everything.

And although it had only been around five hours since their last meal, he found that the thought of food made him slightly hungry. He had no doubt that the ride to the hotel with the food in the car would make his appetite soar.

Mello watched, a few minutes later, with some amusement as Matt struggled with the door and nearly dropped the food more than once. He half thought about pressing the lock button on the passenger controls so that when Matt tried to open the back door he wouldn't be able to.

The thought was absolutely childish, and it struck Mello so intensely that he actually paused. He in all honesty, hadn't allowed himself those types of thoughts for some time now. Whether he had simply been unable or unwilling wasn't something he could figure out.

Small things like that had been happening with more frequently over the past few months but never before had he entertained the thought that he may just be healing despite all the evidence contrary.

As Matt slid back into the car he allowed himself a small laugh which only caused the redhead beside him to cast an odd look at him. He shook his head to Matt's silent question and was only sure that Matt had stored the incident away for further scrutiny when the engine roared to life and they pulled out into the street.

He hoped that Matt wouldn't actually question him on it as he would be hard pressed for an explanation that didn't sound stupid. In fact, he wasn't sure it was possible to explain his thoughts as they didn't mix well with their current situation.

And despite the danger, Mello supposed he felt... more alive than usual. If he allowed himself more thought on it, he recognized that he had become a sort of hermit whilst using the excuse that people would recognize him. When in reality... he had been... afraid.

His lips pressed into a hard line as he took a bite of that reality. He didn't like to admit to his shortcomings, not even silently in the safety of his own mind. He hated weakness, which he supposed had only fed into his self imposed isolation.

He idly wondered if Matt had figured out any of that and if it were the reason for his seemingly high tolerance for his constant bad moods.

This case... despite everything... was perhaps the best thing that could have happened. It forced him out of his comfort zone and back into life. Though it mainly only made him realize just how much he hadn't missed the 'real' world.

What he had missed... he already had, should he take it.

He glanced over at Matt and held back a sigh. Just because he had finally realized a few things didn't mean he was ready to confront them. Just a little longer, he told himself, just a little longer.

A hand touched his arm and it was only then he noticed they had parked in the back of the hotel and Matt had the key for the room. "What's going on in that head of yours?" Matt questioned softly.

"Nothing much really." he gave a small smile and slipped from the vehicle before Matt could question him further. He ignored the food in the back as he knew he would have dropped it, and instead took hold of their duffle bags and left the suitcases.

They had transferred a few essential items to the duffel bags so all they hauled from the car were the bags every time they stopped for longer than a meal. He noted that Matt had left the hotel room unlocked and he gently touched the gun that Matt had finally given him and checked the room over.

There was, as he had expected, no one else there. But it would have nagged at him until he'd checked.

The door shut with a click and the light flickered on, the room was much nicer than the previous nights despite the fading light bulb.

He deposited their bags onto the single bed and listened to the sounds of Matt digging around inside the Chinese takeout bag and placing things on the table that was in the room. Mello idly wondered if the food would all fit there.

The smell permeated the air and his stomach growled. He sighed, knowing full well that he would be overly full should he eat now, but knew he would do it anyway. "I think we got way too much."

He snorted softly at Matt's exclamation. "You're just now figuring that out?" he questioned with what he hoped was a teasing tone of voice. Honestly he hadn't done anything like that in a long time, and from the small look of surprise on Matt face, it really had been too long.

He refused to dwell on just how dull he'd let his life become, because it would only lead to dark thoughts.

"We will have plenty for later I guess." Matt commented halfheartedly as he pulled open a container and dug into it with one of the provided plastic forks.

Mello followed suit and found himself sampling a little of everything.

There ended up being much leftover food but Matt had merely smirked and begun to store it in the small mini refrigerator they had. He shook his head at the other and helped until the mess of cartons that had been on the table was either in the fridge or the rubbish bin.

He sat himself in the middle of the bed and pulled out his laptop, as Matt did the same only utilizing the cleared table, and opened his e-mail. He had three new messages. One stated that the e-mail couldn't be found, while another simply stated 'don't contact me anymore'.

The third had been a request to meet in person which Mello quickly ignored and deleted. Meeting in person was dangerous when he could properly defend himself, and would be downright stupid now.

Yes he had a gun now. But his hand shook violently and made anything but a close target impossible to hit. He had never figured out why only his right hand had the shakes, but it figured that was the one he'd been left with.

He had four new messages in his spam and idly clicked on the folder only to frown as he noted the sender of two of them. One had been dated the day after he'd pulled himself from succession, and the other was from eight hours ago.

He glanced at Matt, who for all appearances was wholly absorbed in whatever he was doing, and opened the message. His frown deepened the more of the message he read before he violently clicked on the delete button.

"Something wrong?"

He shook his head at Matt's question and turned away from his gaze. He irritably flopped backwards onto the bed and curled onto his side.

How dare L suggest he would be better off without Matt. Yes, a lot of shit had happened in his pursuit to find him, but that was anything but Matt's fault. It was true he'd broken his promises to L, and himself, to save Matt but that had been his choice. He could have gone about it in a better way, but hadn't.

He felt the bed dip slightly but thought nothing of it.

The last though, had truly pissed him off. His capture had been unfortunate but Matt was hardly at fault. Had he forgone the trip to the bathroom, or simply been just a little more observant, he would have been fine.

Either L truly believed all that bullshit, or he was attempting to piss him off so much that he would call to set things straight. But Mello wouldn't make the mistake of calling him. L had once been an idol. L had once even been a friend, but he had gone too far with that.

"Oh."

He looked over at Matt's small expletive and found the redhead at his laptop looking at the e-mail he had deleted. Or thought he had deleted. He sat up and immediately felt guilty. Matt should have never seen that...

Matt didn't even look angry, or even sad, more… accepting. As though he had already thought everything L had rambled on about was fact. He hesitantly leaned into Matt's side and let his head rest on the redheads shoulder.

"That's why I got so angry, it's utter bullshit." he spoke softly and felt more than noticed Matt's gaze on him.

"L makes good points-"

"They were my choices! I could have chosen a dozen different paths, but those are the ones I chose. As for the last, I simply shouldn't have gone into the bathroom. Leave it at that. L's simply irritated that I refuse to play his games." the first part had come out far more forcefully than intended though it had seemed to get the message across.

For how long now had Matt thought that way? Felt that certain events were his fault? Mello felt incredibly selfish at that moment. He had been so wrapped up in his own lingering problems that he hardly thought about Matt's.

"Don't become like me..." he whispered so softly that he doubted Matt had heard him.

They sat like that for a while longer before Matt pressed a kiss to his head and moved away. "Thank you."

Mello didn't think it warranted a response and simply went back to his laptop to completely delete the e-mail. Though he was sure that if Matt tried hard enough he would be able to retrieve it again.

"The police still haven't found a lead on the car, I hadn't expected they would." Matt told him sometime later; though he sounded hesitant towards the end, as though there was something more he was debating on saying.

"Against my better judgment, I want to take a look at where the camera was taken from." Mello grinned suddenly at Matt's sour expression. Matt merely sighed at him.

"We'll be as careful as we can. Don't worry too much." he told the irritated redhead. Though Mello fund it funny that he of all people should give the last bit of advice. Matt's raised eyebrow told the same story.

Mello spent the rest of their time awake attempting to cut out L and get into contact with some of the people who sometimes worked for him, though that was an even bigger long shot than contacting his own contacts.

By eleven o'clock he had begun to yawn every few minutes and decided to call it a night. He doubted he would be any more productive the longer he stayed awake. He shut the laptop down and placed it back into the carrying bag before getting himself ready for bed.

He found Matt slipping on a t-shirt and standing in his boxers by the time he came out and found that he felt a bit awkward at the thought of sleeping next to him after the night befores activities.

Though to his wonderment, he found that he probably wouldn't mind should Matt bring the subject up again. He palmed his face and huffed out a small groan like laugh. He ignored Matt's look of curiosity and slid beneath the covers and left the lights to Matt.

Matt stayed on his side of the bed and didn't attempt to initiate any contact with him, and despite the soft voice in the back of his mind shouting disappointment, he smiled contently.

Things were definitely changing. Maybe after all was said and done, he should thank Anderson as he put a bullet in his skull.

Maybe.

-End Bounty-

AN: I'll have you know that it killed me to write this chapter, as I found it necessary, but I had reaaaaalllllly wanted to get to the next chapter. My bad?

On another note, the one day I had a major issue writing this, happened to be jan 26. I hadn't even known it was that date until I read some fanfics. You can see how often I actually look at the date on my calendar rather than the pretty Death Note pictures? (Sadly Mello doesn't fall on my b-day month, ryuk does I think, so I'm going to paste it over with a pic of Mello and Matt to make that month better. Yup....)

K, I'm done rambling........