Watari Pt 1: L\'s Heirs

Some of the team were still clearing their desks, when the call came to say that the car had arrived. Rester hurried them along; Deontic turned finally from her computer and surveyed the white-haired teenager on the floor. Then her gaze rose to meet that of Hal Lidner, the only one of the collection of top-ranking agents and officers who had returned to this room at the announcement. The former FBI woman appeared pensive, but ready for anything. Deontic shook her head. "Hal, you might not want to be here." She commented softly. "You are about to see the most bizarre motley crew of freaks ever to grace this earth. It could get ugly."



Hal nodded, "Which is why I\'m here."



"Yes, but you\'ve not met Mello yet. Just a word to the wise, keep out of his way."



Hal didn\'t get the chance to reply before the lift doors opened and both women turned to watch the entrance of the newcomers. Only Near kept his gaze firmly away, his hands turning over Tarot cards in the centre of the room. They appeared as unlike one from the other as it was possible to be, as if a cross-section of the public had been pressganged into this building from the street. Lamond, skeletonal in too-small clothes, her straps falling from bony shoulders, as she dashed across to hug Deontic; Linda, slightly plump, blond wisps of hair sticking out from the scarf that covered her head, frumpy in dungarees; Luigi, his posture as slumped as Lawliet\'s, looking like a civil servant or banker; Salvo, a giant amongst the mostly diminutive company, his head shaved and gold jewellery bright against his dark skin; then, behind them all, Mello in his biker\'s leathers, remaining in the lift, with his face hidden beneath the fall of blond hair over his bowed head. Hal ran forward before the doors could close again and touched his hand. Sluggishly, Mello pushed away from the rail and followed his peers into L\'s headquarters. Hal remained in his wake, ready to intervene, her hand already secretly on her gun.



"Near." Mello stopped three foot behind him.



"Mello." Near\'s voice was steady.



"Ok!" Deontic span around in her chair. "Mello, this station beside me is yours. You have control of any resources that you need, plus administrative staff. Near will only use the station on the opposite side of me. This places me in the middle as per your conditions. Salvo, you are on the other side of Mello. I\'m sorry, but you shouldn\'t have grown so big. Everyone else, just find a station and sit in it. There will be no back-stabbing, no bickering, no gun-pointing and, above all, no with-holding information. Everyone as scared as I am? Good."



"I don\'t know who died and made you Goddess, Deontic." Lamond moaned as she sat at the station beside Near\'s empty chair.



"Yeah, fuck off, Lamond." Deontic winked at her friend, then turned. "Mello, the longer you stand there staring at the back of Near\'s head, the longer it is going to take us to locate Matt." She watched the Slav slope towards her and sit down four feet away, his arms on his thighs, his head bent over. "Thank you. Everyone else, please sit down. Supplies have been sent for, so you\'ll all be able to indulge your freakshow tendencies just as soon as the delivery turns up." She took a deep breath, her reserved nature not at all suited for the task she was being asked to perform. "You all need to make no mistake, we are here as Near\'s prisoners until this case is completed. You are not free to leave the building. But, on the bright side, Near, by default, is our prisoner. Any questions?"



"Yes." Lamond smiled. "Are you Near\'s mouthpiece or are you actually in charge?"



"We are going to attempt democracy, Lamond." Deontic pulled out a pad. "We have two main items on the agenda..."



Mello turned suddenly and began exploring his resources. One main monitor was surrounded by several smaller ones, all facing into the room. At a glance, they could all see each of the eight screens operated by one of the Wammy\'s House alumni. He didn\'t require a password. "Near, how do I find the satellite on this thing?"



Near unfolded from the floor and crossed to his own computer. Everyone became silent, watching them. Two clicks and Mello\'s main screen showed the streets of Winchester. People walking along were displayed in a focus sharp enough to make out their facial expressions. One of Mello\'s smaller monitors exhibited the controls. Mello nodded and began searching. Near turned away and smiled.



Deontic swallowed and continued, flustered, "We need to find Chrissie, Matt, Century and Fenian. None are responding to calls on the network. We also need to examine the evidence, collectively, of the murders of Jonny," She flashed a sympathetic smile at Linda, "Nathalie, Mairoo and Hollow. Does anyone know anything that the rest of us probably don\'t know?"



There was a loaded silence, no-one willing to share their secrets nor to give each other an advantage of the first to connect pieces of the jigsaw. Mello exhaled loudly, his vision filled with the streets of Winchester. "The cigarette butts were taken from Nathalie\'s house. Matt had been smoking them there the night before. We know because they are Croatian duty-free. The killer is right-handed, which reduces the chance of it being Chrissie."



Salvo interupted. "Chrissie is hiding somewhere. She is my back-up, in case I went missing going to Wammy\'s. I can call her."



"Fenian has gone back to Ireland." Lamond whispered. "He won\'t be found."



"Near!" Mello yelled and tension rose readily in the already charged atmosphere. He leapt up from his seat and Deontic cowered. "I need someone to go to Wharf Hill. I\'ve found Matt\'s car." He spat out the model and registration. "I\'ll go myself."



Near didn\'t respond. He twirled his hair between finger and thumb, then moved the Ten of Wands a few inches to the right. Mello stood over him, glaring. Hal gave the order, into her walkie-talkie for officers to investigate and recover the vehicle. She gazed around the room. She had been warned that she was in the presense of some of the finest minds in the world, but all she saw were a bunch of immature, perhaps mentally unstable young adults, each twitching in their own idiocyncratic ways. There were times, with Near, that Hal felt like she had become his mother. Now she suspected that she had taken over a kindergarten. She opened her mouth to speak, but Linda stood instead.



"Mihael!" The artistic genius barked. "Do not yell! Do not jump up like that! Do not tantrum! Do not stand over Near with that look on your face! Sit down on that seat and... oh! And above all, don\'t you dare look at me like that."



Mello looked at her as if she was scum. He stared around the room at each of them in turn, with that same incredulous, superior look on his face, as if he had finally awaken to what he was doing. Then his gaze fell on Hal and softened. She wore a scathing expression and had her gun in her hand . Mello nodded. "You\'ve earned the right." He returned to his seat, where he glowered at the screens. His fist crashed down on the desk beside him and everyone jumped. Except Near. He faintly smiled and moved the Devil card to the outskirts of the pack. "This isn\'t going to work."



Linda snapped. "It won\'t if you don\'t let it." She returned to her seat and opened Photoshop. "You\'re the one with the vicious temper on the verge of exploding."



"Linda, do you not know when to just shut the fuck up?" Mello bellowed.



"Evidently not!" Linda shouted back without turning around. Every head between them went down. "May I remind you that I\'m the one whose boyfriend has been shot dead?"



Mello bounced up again, striding across to Linda\'s chair and reaching so quickly that only Hal had reacted. Her gun cocked in sight of his back, her mind reeling with the circumstances. But Mello pulled the woman up and hugged her, fiercely, tears pouring down his face onto her cheeks. Linda had screamed, but now she froze, then slowly hugged him back. "Then help me find mine." Shock uncoiled bodies and faces around the room. Hal lowered her gun and noticed that Near had frowned. "Please?"



"Ok, tell us what to do." Linda breathed, hardly able to believe the apparition in her arms. Mello was actually shaking. "Can someone get him a glass of water please?"



Mello stepped back, still blinking tears in hot droplets from his eyelashes. "Lamond, Salvo, bring Chrissie and Fenian in. If anyone knows where Century is, get him in too. If not, you pair start trying to track him. Luigi, hack Hollow\'s computer. I want to know who she was talking to and who she was meeting, other than Matt. Deontic, help me search Winchester, look especially for rooftops and alleyways. Linda, find out if there is any more news on Hollow\'s post-mortem and then speak with Lauren and Jamboree over the link-up with Watari. I want every detail of what they learned from the Cathedral. Near, send experienced investigators to the Cathedral, get more information on what happened there." He paused behind his chair. "And chose another card, I\'m not the fucking Devil."



Deontic sighed. "Shit. Mello, I\'m sorry. I should have picked up on it." She stood and crouched down beside Near. "Darling, do you think...?"



But Linda called over her head, "Nate, you little shit, put the Tarot cards away and find something more Catholic-friendly to work this out with. You\'ve made Mihael cry already, so it\'s game, set and match...."



"What?" Mello erupted.



Hal crossed the room to push him back into his chair. "Stop!" She held her gun at his chest and they both knew that she wouldn\'t pull the trigger. "For crying out loud, where were the parents? Is this...?" It was eerie the way that they all looked at her, finally in accord. She blushed. "I apologise. I have just recalled what Wammy\'s House is. I should have remembered that it\'s an orphanage. I apologise." The way that Near stared at her, she knew she would be dismissed any moment now. "I apologise. I meant parent figures. Someone to stop you all being at each other\'s throats."



Near finally blinked, then turned his attention back to his cards. "Hal is very perceptive. Hal is in charge of keeping the peace in this room now. Hal can be our Ann. Hal has to realise that this is unprecedented."



Hal frowned, not quite understanding, but watched as they all got to work, following Mello\'s orders. She turned, looking back down the line of her gun to where Mello peered up at her, his eyes dangerously calm beneath his blond fringe, though tears still edged his lashes and cheeks. He smiled suddenly and it was the most terrifying thing she had ever witnessed. She withdrew her firearm. "Find Matt." She stated, more calmly than she felt inside. Mello nodded and turned his seat to face the screens. Blessed silence, intent more than intense, filled the room as Hal finally saw their genius minds in action on dozens of screens all around her.