We Sleep Forever

AN: And so we reach the climax of the story... who will come out of this alive? Read and find out. (but don’t forget that I do have an epilogue after this)

Oh, btw, I changed the time line of a few things to make the killer fit... and don't mind his slight ooc'ness. I'll explain later.

(And in case anyone is confused as to how Mello couldn’t tell it was Matt, and didn’t string together my rather vague references to his appearance, I’ll tell you. ^_^ Matt dyed his hair to start with, his hair is also long enough to cover his eyes, thus his mention of it getting too long. Then he has contact lenses, his clothes are way different, and Mello hasn’t seen him in over seven years. Mello was still thinking of Matt as wearing stripped shirts, goggles and playing games so he overlooked any similarities in ‘Emerson’ despite the nagging feeling that he knew him. K?)

Suggested Listening: 'Your Going Down' by Sick Puppies (I think its kinda fits, (; )

Chapter 10: Selfless

~Matt~

I stared at the swinging kitchen door and I could just make out Mello's form retreating into the hallway followed by a loud bang as the door swung shut behind him. I allowed myself to slide down to the floor.

Mello had been looking for me? Since I left Whammys? Not since he left, but since I left? I swallowed. If he didn't care then he would have just ignored me, but to look for me...?

My fingers pulled at my hair in frustration. All of this might have been avoided if I had just stayed a few more days... and now he was just as angry as he had been that day. Just as hurt... I had fucked up twice. And both times there was something so very important at stake.

I needed to explain everything to him, he needed to know... I flipped open my phone and dialed his number before remembering that he had thrown it at the wall before he left.

He didn't have his phone, I couldn't contact him. And I had no idea where he would go or for how long. I would have to wait for him to come back, if anything he wouldn't let a case go unfinished.

The door stopped swinging and I looked up to see Miranda standing there with mascara running down her face.

“I'm sorry!” she whispered. “I didn't know he was here. I never should have said your name so carelessly...” her fingernails gripped the door so hard they were leaving marks.

“It's fine...” I said quietly. Her teary eyes bore into my own; they showed confusion.

“What's done is done. All I can do is wait for Mello...” she bit her lip and we continued on in silence for a long while before she moved from the door and sat beside me.

“I'm so sorry...” she mumbled again while leaning her head on my shoulder. I sighed.

“Stop crying, you’re only going to irritate your eyes. Or at least take those ridiculous contact lenses out.” that got her to laugh.

“Then you take yours out!” though there was no humor in her eyes her face held a smile.

I supposed there really was no point in hiding anymore. Mello had found me. And I no longer held any desire to stay away from him. No matter what he wanted I would fight to be kept by his side like I should have done all those years ago...

Carefully I slid the hazel contacts from my green eyes and flicked them across the room. I didn’t really care where they landed; I wouldn't be using them again. Miranda followed suit and her deep blue eyes were revealed.

I had never understood why she had decided to change herself so much after she met me. She was my oldest friend besides Mello. I met her a few months after I left Whammys, when I was just starting to disguise myself. She had said that if I was going to change who I was then she would choose who I had left behind.

I hadn’t understood what she had meant until she was sporting red hair and green eyes. She even sometimes wore stripes. She had never once left my side since then. She was a better friend then I had been to Mello.

A soft ringing broke the silence and we both glanced at the phone lying on the floor across from us.

“It's not broken? Where can I get one like that?” Miranda mumbled as I reached across and grabbed it. It read 'Jasper'. I wondered who it was and while I wouldn't normally do this, I decided to answer it and hope they knew where Mello might go. Flipping it open I didn't say anything hoping for them to start talking first, and I wasn’t disappointed.

“Mello why the fuck didn’t you tell me this wasn’t the first time the killer left something for you?! Don't you know how much danger you're in-”

“Wait he was contacted by the killer?” I shouted into the phone. Miranda was wide eyed as she scooted closer to me.

“Who the fuck is this?” the man growled.

“I go by Emerson. I… work with J.” the man paused.

“Where is Mello?” he sounded skeptical.

I hesitated. “He found out that I’m actually J and left a while ago. He wasn't too happy.” I decided to answer truthfully; the man snorted.

“I'll bet. But that leaves us with a very large problem.” I had to agree with the man. Jasper then quickly filled me in on the video, which I had a feeling was the thing he broke his promises to get, and the recent box of horrors that the killer had left him. I had a feeling Mello had been keeping things from me about the case, but I wish I had been wrong.

“Do you know where he would go in a fit of anger?” I asked.

“He can't go very far, I drove him there.” I almost dropped the phone. “The killer has his eyes set on him and he's out there by himself?!”

I went silent as another phone rang. The slight vibrations were coming from my other hand which still clutched my phone. It was an unknown private call. My phone was protected against them unless they specifically knew the number.

“Hello?” I asked quietly. There was silence on the other end until I heard a slap. “God keep your fucking hands to yourself if you’re just going to hit me!”

Oh god.

“Mello!” I shouted into the speaker.

“Fuck! I hadn't meant to say anything...” he sounded defeated, tired and...sad? “Well then J, or should I call you Matt? I believe I have something you want?” there was a loud thump and a muffled yelp came from Mello.

The man sighed. “I am on the phone right now, behave.” Mello hissed painfully at whatever was being done to him and I grit my teeth in anger.

“What do you want?” I bit out.

“For you to go to 19 Yellow Bird road and follow the adjacent dirt road down to the abandoned warehouse. No cops and no other people. We will be waiting for you.” he ended the call and I was left with the dial tone in one ear and Jasper shouting in the other.

“Hey! What's going on?” I tried to form words but my mind went blank on me. Miranda grabbed the phone from me.

“Mello has been taken captive by the killer and is requesting that J come alone to a warehouse to get him...” there was a string of curses sent from the phone and Miranda had to move her ear away.

“Where is this warehouse?” he finally asked. I looked at Miranda and shook my head grimly.

“I can't tell you that... too many people are already involved. I'm sorry.” Miranda said into the phone before ending the call. She turned it on vibrate so we wouldn't have to hear it ring every five minutes.

“I need to leave now.” Getting to my feet I managed to walk about four feet before she stopped me.

“You mean we have to go.” I shook my head.

“Matt, you can’t do this alone. We both know that if you go alone that neither you nor Mello will leave there alive.” I sucked in a breath before exhaling sharply. She was right, and the entire point was for Mello to get out alive.

I grabbed my keys off the coffee table and waited for Miranda to get her purse.

“Why do you need this exactly, Mello's life is on the line!” I snapped. Rolling her blue eyes she pulled out a gun.

“That's why. And my cinnamon body spray is in it.” I refrained from commenting and hurried out of the apartment.

~Mello~

The man in front of me smirked but otherwise contained his glee. He was tall with dark hair; business-like, had glasses and very sharp calculating eyes. His name was Mikami Teru. It wasn't that I knew him in any way, he had told me his name.

He was very confident in his abilities and seemed sure that he would succeed. He was a very dangerous man.

I spat blood onto the floor, though I had been aiming at his shoes. He wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“You are the successor of the heathen who killed kami-sama, I was expecting more.” his voice was quiet and his eyes blazed with hatred. Kami-sama? What the hell is he going on about?

“Kami-sama was making a new world and yet the world’s greatest detective sided with the criminals!” I suddenly understood everything now. He was talking about L's defeat of Kira, the Japanese student who had been killing criminals using a notebook of death. Of course the last bit of information wasn’t released to the public but L's successors were permitted to know about it.

Although his plans seemed well thought out, I doubted he was acting alone; the manic look in his eyes attested to that. This was too big for him alone. He struck me as more of a follower rather than a leader.

He not only knew about L and his successors but that Matt was J. I had a gut feeling that this was only the tip of the ice berg.

“L will taste defeat when all of his successors are dead, and then I will kill him too.” Mikami chuckled darkly with a red glint in his eyes. He was definitely mentally unstable, the kind of person who only needed a small push to go off the wrong side.

He walked over to his briefcase and without even looking pulled out a small silver object; I couldn’t see what it was from my position in the chair. And I had no desire to attempt standing again anytime soon.

I was sure I had broken a finger when the chair landed on my hand in my poor attempt at escaping a few minutes ago. Mikami hadn’t been all that thrilled with me interrupting his phone call…

He stared at the object for a while before turning to me with an oddly calm look in his eyes; it worried me. Taking sight of what was in his hand my body tensed. Standing next to my injured side he lifted his hand and the knife descended on me.

Clenching my teeth I didn’t make a sound as the knife dug into my arm. He purposely pressed harder and deeper than necessary but before long the lone bullet was freed from my arm. He seemed pleased with the blood running down my arm and didn’t bother to bandage it. I hadn’t expected him to

He left the bloodied knife sitting on the counter and exited the room. I immediately began to struggle against my bindings. A pair of handcuffs and duck tape were all that kept me from getting out of the chair and stealing the knife. But the handcuffs were tight and I didn’t see my hands getting free of them anytime soon.

And the only reason my legs were taped to the chair legs was my earlier escape attempt.

My only hope was breaking the chair which would free up the cuffs and at least allow me movement even if my hands were still bound. The chair was made of wood and wasn’t bolted to the floor. Just as I was about to throw myself to the side a loud beeping echoed in the room and I stopped. Mikami quickly returned and shut off the alarm; it reminded me of a motion sensor. He turned to me with a smile.

“It seems that your friend has arrived.” A second later another alarm went off making him sigh.

“But it appears that he has brought someone with him.” Shaking his head he pulled out a roll of duck tape from his bag and walked back over to me. Tearing off a long strip he proceeded to cover my mouth despite my attempts to resist him.

“Now be a good hostage and stay put.” He grabbed the knife off the counter and exited the room once more leaving me in silence. I could only hope that Matt would survive whatever this psycho had planned for him.

~Matt~

We entered the warehouse as quietly as possible but I had a feeling we were being watched. We were at a disadvantage in numerous ways. Only one of them being that this was a multi roomed warehouse, and the fact that it wasn’t abandoned. Meaning there were plenty of places to hide. And if this person was any bit as meticulous as I believed then he would have memorized them all.

“From the size of the building I’d say there are around seven rooms, and I would bet that Mello is somewhere in one of the outer ones.” Miranda nodded.

“I want you to go look for him, keep to the shadows if possible. And if you get him then call my cell phone and get the hell out of here.”

“Where are you going to be?” I smiled softly and she started shaking her head.

“You don’t even have a weapon!” she hissed.

“It doesn’t matter, all I need to do is keep him busy long enough for you to get Mello out of here.” She pulled her gun free of her purse and held it out to me.

“I’m not going to look for Mello unless you take this.” I hesitated; she would be left defenseless as would Mello, but in the end I took hold of it.

“See you on the other side.” She whispered with a smile before heading off to my left.

Taking a deep breath I crouched low and went straight ahead. Everything was deathly silent, and most of the lights were off leaving many places in the dark. Carefully I made my way through the first room. I needed to be a good distraction, which meant not getting killed easily.

The next room was easily twice the size of the last one and piled high with crates and boxes. It had two levels. As I was creeping across an open area I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and took off running.

Shots rang out beside me and I jumped behind a crate narrowly avoiding death. Bullets pelted the crate and I prayed the wood was thick enough to hold out. Breathing harshly, I banged my head softly against the box. This distracting thing was working a little too well. I wouldn’t be able to get out.

But then again, I had already known this.

With a deep breath I raised the gun and shot off two rounds around the crates edge. The other gunfire stopped and I took my chance to dart across a small gap and retreat behind a large crate.

All was silent but I knew the second I stepped away from my shelter a bullet would find its way into my head. That was when I heard a small gasp and the sound if something being dragged.

“Im sorry Matt!” Miranda's familiar voice rang out through the room. It felt like I had been punched in the stomach.

“If you value your friends life then I suggest you show yourself.” closing my eyes I did as I was told. Opening them I could see Miranda being held tightly against our killer; knife held to her neck and gun no where in sight. Had the idiot had run out of bullets, or was this just another ploy?

Miranda was still struggling but stilled when the already bloody knife was pressed closer to her neck. Were we really going to lose this battle, let this man destroy Whammys? From the confident look in that monsters eyes, I would say that was a very good prediction.

I'm sorry Mello... I never got to tell you...

~Mello~

I had stayed sitting in the chair as Miranda was taken out of the room; the moment I couldn't hear their footsteps I stood up. Miranda had already broken the duck tape that held my legs, but if one didn't look too closely it was impossible to tell.

Carefully standing I was able to lift my arms over the back of the chair and yank my legs the rest of the way free.

From the sound of it they had gone to the left, so I could only assume that was where Matt was as well. I held the element of surprise as Mikami thought I was still bound to the chair.

As quietly as I could I made it into the next room, I was on the ground floor while Mikami and Miranda were on the second. I watched as Matt walked out of his hiding spot and stood silently, watching.

I bit my lip but refused to say anything to draw attention to myself. Instead I crept along the crates and other junk that was piled high. The dim lights of the room gave me plenty of shadows to hide in and for that I was grateful.

“I want you to drop your gun or I slit her throat.” my breath caught and I watched Matt slowly begin to put his gun down.

“Don't!” Miranda screamed. She jerked back and was able to hit Mikami in the face; his hand slipped and slid across her neck and a trail of blood followed in its wake. She dropped to the ground limply but lifted her head as Mikami ran down the ramp to the ground floor.

“I'm fine Matt!” she rasped.

I didn't care about stealth anymore now that there were so many other sounds to mask my own. Running was difficult with my arms bound behind my back making me sway much more than I’d have like to.

Stopping just behind a dirty yellow crate I was just in time to see Mikami duck behind a pile of fabric a few feet away and circle around behind Matt. He slowly began to aim his gun, a maniacal grin plastered across his face.

Matt had no sort of formal training in this area, his posture showed that. He would never notice Mikami in time! I stumbled foreword unsteadily but was able to use the momentum to propel myself into Matt; knocking him sideways into the pile.

Bang

Pain exploded in my chest and I fell to my knees. More shots rang out but I couldn't seem to focus on anything.

My vision was a wash of color; everything was blurred. I wobbled and without the use of my hands I ended up falling sideways. I expected to hit the dusty concrete floor only to be caught by a pair of warm arms.

“Mello!” I opened eyes that I didn’t remember closing and tried to focus on Matt. His face faded in and out of focus. My fingers weakly clenched together but the cuffs kept my hands in place.

“Matt...” my voice was nothing more than a whisper and yet it had taken so much effort just to say that.

His hands were pressing on the gunshot wound and he was frantically shouting something that I couldn't make out. It was like a bubble had been placed around my head that was blocking out all sound. I opened my mouth but I couldn't seem to get the words out.

I had to tell him. It felt like all of the strength was leaving my body. He had to know.

My eyelids fluttered and my head lolled to the side. Something like water dripped onto my face as my eyes closed and everything faded to black.

AN: Muwhahahah! I bet you all hate me right now, am I right?

OK my timeline was earlier for this to work out correctly; Mikami met Light long before he did in the anime/manga. So when Light was defeated and brought to justice by L, Mikami already knew him.

As for Mikami sounding so weird and making mistakes that shouldn’t be made... Well you all know how he acts in the anime when Light basically discards him right? He goes all crazy-ish. Well imagine that times 2 when it comes to revenge for his 'god'. Yeah, he was a bit obsessed. Hope that helps. :)

And for those who didn’t get it with my roundabout way of saying it, Matt shot Mikami. :) Isn’t everyone happy?

And there is a special announcement at the end of the Epilogue that you WONT want to miss.