Choices

AN: This is actually my favorite chapter of the fic so far. So yeah...

Y'know..... I originally thought this chapter was going to be short, like 2,000 words or something... what the hell had I been thinking?! It turned into a monster! Well, only fitting for the end of the first half. Heheheh.

And remember, there are 11 more chapters to post, so this is not the end!!!

Suggested Listening: Panic Switch by Silversun Pickups; Uprising by Muse

Chapter Sixteen: End

Matt wasn't quite sure what to make of the scene that greeted him as he opened the bedroom door.

Mello sat at the end of his bed silently, boots firmly planted on the wood flooring, hunched over so that his elbows rested on his knees as his hair fell into his face, which covered his eyes from view.

From what Matt could see, his expression was completely blank, and the blonde had yet to say a word. There was an odd feeling in the air, it unsettled Matt, and he didn't like it one bit.

“Mello? Are you alright?” the words almost stuck to his lips, and he closed the door behind him. Mello laughed. But it wasn't a laugh Matt had ever heard directed towards himself, at least not since his first week there.

It was cold, harsh and emotionless. Bitter.

Mello looked up suddenly, blue eyes hardened like steel. Matt unconsciously felt himself go on the defensive.

“Am I alright?” Mello questioned softly, his tone flat and yet all too dangerous. Like the calm before a storm or a cornered animal.

“No. No I’m not alright.” Mello stood suddenly; his voice had gained a slight edge to it and he began to pace. “You fucking lied to me!” he shouted and his voice lashed out like a whip. Sharp and unexpected.

“About what?” and Matt still couldn't make the connection.

“You are a fucking spy. A spy, Matt!” the blonde roared, hands clenched into fists so tight the leather gloves crackled at the tension.

Matt felt his blood freeze and an unbelievable amount of fear washed over him. “How did you-”

“I was sick of you disappearing all the damn time, you were worrying me. I thought you might be doing something stupid. Instead I find you speaking with L and spilling all of your dirty secrets. Silly of me to have been worried about a spy, isn't it?” Mello's body quaked with the effort not to attack him, hit him, do something nasty to him. And that was the only reason Matt had any hope that Mello might cool off after this, and possibly be able to forgive him.

“Then you know why I couldn't tell you earlier. Fuck Mel, you know damn well what would have happened had I told you.” despite himself, Matt's voice rose, an impossibly bad idea.

“What?! That I would have ratted you out? Earlier on maybe, but not now I wouldn't have! If everything you told L was true, I fucking wouldn't have...” Mello voice broke and to Matt's horror a tear slid from one of Mello's eyes before it was roughly brushed away by a gloved hand.

Matt took a step foreword and noted how Mello watched all his movements with a sharp eye. “I couldn't risk telling you on the off chance that our friendship didn't mean enough to you to keep it a secret.”

“I can't fucking believe you.” Mello whispered and shook his head. The second Matt was close enough he lashed out. His right fist came down hard on Matt's jaw and he heard, more than felt, the impact.

He probably could have blocked it, but he knew he deserved it.

Mello seemed to struggle for control for a moment, but he hadn't advanced on him or even made a move to hit him again, though he knew the blonde more than certainly wanted to. Mello closed his eyes for a moment and sucked in a breath before he strode to the door.

“Mello-”

“I can't deal with you right now. I need more time to think.” the door slammed behind him and Matt pulled himself into a seated position on the floor. He yanked off his goggles and threw them across the room.

Well wasn't that just fucking perfect?

Everything had gone over so well regarding L that he really should have known that it had been too good to be true. That it was impossible for everything to have stayed on the positive end of the spectrum.

Things could go one of two ways. Mello would partially forgive him, though Matt knew there would be a rift between the two of them now. Or... or Mello wouldn't forgive him.

Despite that... Matt couldn't bring himself to regret not having told the blonde. There had been no way of knowing if he wouldn't have told someone. But damn if he didn't hate the situation.

Matt laughed, halfheartedly, that he couldn't even use his computer to entertain himself with for the moment, as it was with L.

The only thing that Matt knew, was that he needed a cigarette. And he didn't really care if Rodger walked in as he smoked it. His fingers had already pulled one from the package and stuffed it into his mouth before he'd even had time to process what he had done.

His hands shook, enough that it took him a few tries to light it.

He carefully crawled into a stand, even as black spots moved across his vision and he felt dizzy. Mello had certainly held nothing back from that punch. His jaw already ached, and he held no doubt that he would have a large purple bruise sometime in the very near future.

He was probably lucky his jaw hadn't broken.

The clock on the nightstand said something like 12:13, but Matt had no interest in eating with everyone else, if he could even stomach something at all. He leaned against the desk and smoked the cigarette slowly.

Mello wasn't the only one who needed to calm down.

Matt rolled his shoulders in an attempt to rid himself of the tension that had settled there though it ultimately did him no good. He needed something to distract himself, as his games just wouldn't be able to cut it at the moment.

As he reached the end of the cigarette he decided on making coffee. At least he could think over things with a strong brew in his hands. Lunch would be over soon, and the kitchen would probably be bustling soon, but he really didn't care.

He stubbed the remainder of the cigarette out on the desk, not at all caring about the black smudge that it left. Matt didn't bother to go view himself in the bathroom mirror, as he already knew what his face would look like. It wasn't something a little water could fix, so why bother?

He sighed as he left the room.

Why did things always become so complicated in his life? Couldn't, for once, something go right?

He supposed that after his lunch he would start to pack, as he actually had things to bring now. He would have packed Mello's things as a peace offering if he didn't think it would make matters worse.

“Matt!” a familiar, and unwelcome voice, called out to him. Of all the people to run into when he didn’t have his goggles. He stopped and waited for Roger to walk up to him.

“What happened to your face?” Roger demanded. There was disbelief, worry and something else in the mans eyes. To Matt, it spelled trouble.

“It wasn't L if that's what you were thinking.” he stated blandly. As much as he liked Roger to do his head in with worry, he didn't need to make trouble for L. Not when L had let go of so much concerning his transgressions.

But a new glint in Roger's eyes had Matt just as annoyed, if not more. “I knew that boy would do something to you sooner or later, he always does with his roommates-”

Matt knew Roger had immediately locked onto Mello. And it rather pissed him off that Roger could think so little of the blonde, especially as he didn’t know of the circumstances.

“Leave Mello alone. It's not really his fault. L will inform you of the situation sometime today, or maybe Wammy will. Either way, Mello was provoked.” Matt stated. Having Roger barge off to find Mello, and probably give him a hard time, would have done nothing good for the situation. Matt also didn't care, at this point, who knew what anymore.

While Roger stood there, mouth open in surprise, Matt quickly made his way to the kitchens. Though he took care to go the long way; he didn't want Roger to follow him.

Matt didn't bother to listen in, as he would have made coffee regardless of a fully staffed kitchen, so he was rather surprised to see only the one person who stood by the fridge.

L stood, or rather hunched, in between the island counter and the refrigerator with a plate that contained a large piece of cake on it, fork poised by his lips.

“Things did not go well I expect?” L asked mildly around the cake.

Matt smiled crookedly. “Mello was listening in on us. And no, not good at all.” he shrugged, though he wished he'd thought to retrieve his goggles as they made him feel more protected from L's bottomless gaze.

But Matt wasn't there to chat about his problems. He was there for coffee. L watched him as he walked into the pantry and selected his coffee. He went for the Sumatra blend rather than his preferred hazelnut.

The Sumatra blend was rather strong, and slightly bitter if made wrong, so Matt felt it fit his mood better than the soothing flavor of hazelnut. “Do you drink any?” he called over his shoulder as an afterthought.

“Not usually... but I suppose a cup couldn't hurt.” L replied, voice once again muffled by his sweet.

Matt added extra water to the pot, which he filled at the sink, and turned the coffee maker on. He turned and hopped onto the counter, and stuck another unlit cigarette in his mouth. Maybe he should think of getting into lollipops or something?

“Why are you here?” Matt asked, though he really hadn't intended to make conversation. Thought Matt knew that with L, he needn’t elaborate is question further, as the detective would understand his meaning.

“Cake helps me think.” L said while he procured himself another slice. Matt supposed that they all had their addictions... and there probably wasn't anything left for L to do at the moment until all the preparations had been made for the move. And Wammy, or rather Watari, was probably already on that.

“Is there any real food in there?” he asked and L's head poked out from inside the fridge to blink owlishly at him. “I suppose you are not a fan of sweets then?” L said, with an almost pout that tugged at his lips.

Matt had to wonder, at that moment, if Mello got his chocolate fixation from L's apparent love of sweets, or if Mello had discovered the confection all on his own.

At the thought of the blonde, Matt felt very tired. No one was as good at exhausting his emotions as Mello was...

“I believe there are all the ingredients for a salad in here... however I’m afraid that for my arrival many sweets were placed in here, so everything else seems to have been pushed to the far back.” L held a bag of lettuce by the corner, and only by his thumb and index fingers, as though it were something alien and dangerous.

“I doubt I could eat anything heavier at the moment.” Matt slid off the counter and took a cursorily glance at the coffee before he walked over to L. He took the bag with a small upturn of his lips, and pulled a dressing from the fridge at random.

Matt loved premade salad mixes. Though he knew that everything was made fresh daily, so it was probably the last little bit that didn't go out for lunch. He was at least lucky in that aspect.

Matt went to the same cupboard the cups had been in and found a small bowl, probably made for soup, and brought it back to the island counter. He quickly assembled his small lunch, and once everything was put away, checked on the coffee.

With so little being made it was ready in just the right amount of time. He pulled free two cups and filled them, and rinsed the empty pot before he replaced it. He didn't care to do more than that to it.

Matt eyed the sugar, and after a few seconds thought, added two tablespoons to his. He saw L perk up at the sight of the sugar bowl and sighed. Considering the man had just eaten two rather overly sweet looking pieces of cake, after who knows how many marshmallows and candy during their talk, it shouldn't surprise him to find the detective probably would want to drown his beverages in sugar.

“Tell me when to stop.” Matt said while he poured sugar from the bowl, rather than use the spoon. L gave a wide grin and when the coffee had practically turned to syrup, and motioned for Matt to stop.

Matt got another spoon and stuck it in the concoction. He watched in fascination as the spoon took more than a few seconds to hit the side of the cup, having nearly stayed right where he'd placed it.

Well, as long as he didn't have to drink it...

“You do not seem surprised by my habits, I wonder why that is?” L spoke, as he stirred the coffee turned liquid sugar.

“When one lives with Mello, it gets rather hard to be surprised by these things.” though Matt did have to admit that Mello's habits were a bit less strange. At least in his opinion.

Matt took a sip of the coffee and found it to be too hot, though with no cream or milk in it to cool it down it wasn't a surprise. Instead, he finally began to eat his small salad, while L sipped noisily at his 'coffee'.

Though the detective had proved to be more than a little strange, Matt found that he rather liked him. He was interesting. Not what one would expect of the great letter L, and yet once you got more used to him, everything seemed to fit.

Matt wondered what other oddities the man had. They both looked up at the sound of chairs being pushed aside and it was the cue that lunch had finished.

“I believe that I shall be heading back to my room. I do not wish to be caught up in the hordes of children.” L said as he slowly moved towards the door. Matt nodded to him and watched him disappear behind the doors.

Matt finished the salad quickly and set the bowl into the sink. He debated whether or not to take the coffee with him, but decided to just finish it while he was there. Who knew what the conditions outside were, it was probably snowing, and he wanted a cigarette without having to worry if the coffee would be spilt or turned into ice coffee.

The dark brown liquid was only marginally cooler than the last time he'd tested it, but it wasn't scalding anymore. He leaned back against the counter, cup cradled in his gloved hands, and drank slowly.

The sounds grew louder as the children passed by the doors, and flooded into the hallways to do whatever it was they wanted on the chilly Saturday. Matt closed his eyes with a sigh. Saturday's were rankings.

He wondered what Mello had gotten, if the scores were still up.

He'd had much more to worry about than the scores up until that point. He hoped Mello's score hadn't been affected too much by their original disagreement.

The side doors opened, to the left of him, and Matt watched as the kitchen staff members began to pile into the room with trays of dirty dishes. All being loaded into the washers or into the sinks.

Matt quickly swallowed the remains of the coffee, it burned his throat, and placed the now empty cup in the sink. He hoped it wasn't blizzard like conditions outside... thought it was probably was if his current luck held out.

He quickly left the kitchen and had to smile a little at the exasperated expression of one of the workers, and crossed the hallways and main entry until he was outside on the steps. Everything was covered in white, though it was only flurries for the moment, and Matt couldn't help but think that it felt a little bit warmer despite everything.

He lit the cigarette he'd had out earlier and hunched over one of the waist high railings, elbows on the snow covered metal, while snow seeped through his sleeves and froze his arms.

Matt let his eyes wander, going from one snowy white patch of land to another while he smoked. He liked the quiet of times like that, with nothing but the slight noise of the snow as it fell, because it was never quite complete silence.

It was peaceful.

It was then that something caught his eye and he was immediately on alert as that had been no animal. He tossed the cigarette to the ground and leapt from the steps and into the snow, the only thing that kept him from getting bogged down in the snow and soaked were his boots.

He took the corner sharply and was just in time to see the shape disappear around the next edge. He kept his breathing controlled while he ran, as quietly as he could, through the snow. The new snow covered up much of the crunching sound, and for that he was grateful.

His heart raced, and it had to do with more than the impromptu exercise; he really wished he had a knife or his gun on him. There was just something bad about what he felt...

He urged himself on and rushed the corner and noted how the shape hovered by the window, and tackled them to the ground. His eyes widened almost comically as he saw who it was.

“Vermillion!” he gasped. The man underneath him laughed, a deep scratchy sound. Though they still struggled with one another, Matt had been able to pin the mans arms and sit on his legs.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Matt hissed. The snow fell faster around them now, and Vermillion's black jacket was covered by the tiny white flakes in an instant.

“I'm here to complete your job, since Light knows you won’t.” Vermillion smiled; yellowed teeth bore in obvious amusement.

“What do you mean?” Matt tried to sound confused, and in reality he was, but he was also terrified.

“Oh don’t try and play innocent with me. Takada tipped Light off about your odd behavior weeks ago, and low and behold when he checked your computer, there were things sitting on there you hadn't mentioned. Like your meeting with L that you tried to delete.”

Matt felt cold at those words, colder than he should have, like his insides had frozen solid. Light had known. Had known for a while, a long while, that he was a traitor. Hell even before Matt had finally stopped deluding himself.

Light had all of his pass codes, and it wasn’t until recently that Matt had really hidden things. He hadn't thought it was necessary... and now he was paying the price. He knew that if Vermillion was there that there were others, as Vermillion was always sent in with a team.

Which meant that Wammys, as of right then, was a warzone.

Vermillion took Matt's slight distraction as an opportunity and jerked a hand free and punched Matt, which knocked him into the snow. Matt rolled to the side as Vermillion slashed at him with a hunting knife. Vermillion's specialty was knives.

But only if he was able to catch you.

Matt wasn’t all that good with fighting, he knew enough to get himself out of a jam, as his wiry build made it impossible for him to win against stockier built people. But he knew he could beat Vermillion.

The older man had more experience, his salt and peppered hair attested to it, but Matt was smarter. And quicker.

Vermillion lashed out at him and Matt used the slippery snow to dodge and kick the mans legs out. Vermillion began to recover when Matt tackled him again, and made sure the knife wasn’t pointed at himself.

He applied pressure to Vermillion's wrist until the knife dropped into the snow, visible only by the black grip.

Matt was, by no means, a stranger to his next act. He took hold of the knife, fingers snaked around the handle, and used it to slit Vermillion's throat. If the man had a chance to call for backup Matt would have been in real trouble.

It was odd though, Matt thought as he wiped the blood off on Vermillion's vest, that he should have to fight against those he used to work with. But Matt didn’t spare another thought on it, he needed to find L, and Mello.

L first as he knew where the detective was, in a generalized manor; he could only hope that Mello would be safe until he found him, as he wasn’t a target. At least Matt hoped not.

As an afterthought he took the ear piece from the dead mans ear and placed it in his own, and attached the connecting radio to his belt. If anyone broke the probably imposed radio silence, Matt would know.

It might just give him the edge needed to keep everyone alive.

The only problem was, Matt didn't know what Light's orders to those men were. Was it a simple assassination, as well as an order to kill him? As Light hated traitors.

Or was it an extermination? If it was the latter, then no one would be spared.

Matt shivered at the thought as he pulled open the main doors. It was dreadfully silent, and Matt knew he needed too hurry.

He raced down the hallways, and was slightly relieved to still see kids in the common room as they played and joked about, though he hadn't run into any of the staff. He didn't bother to stay quiet, as the assassins wouldn't connect the extra noise as a potential problem; they were infiltrating an orphanage after all, and the only real agent was Matt himself.

He wiped the snow damp hair from his face and ran passed the familiar dusty table and to the door he'd exited only a short while ago. He didn't knock and instead threw the door open to reveal a startled Wammy and L, the latter who had a fork halfway into his mouth.

“We have a huge problem.” he gasped and stumbled into the room. L's eyes immediately rested on the knife he held in his hands and the detective's eyes narrowed.

“Light hacked my computer without my knowledge, he knew I was a traitor before I had even come to a decision. He sent out a team to kill you and possibly me. But knowing Light, his orders could also include everyone here.”

Wammy looked alarmed and shared a look with L.

“Watari, please start the evacuation process as discreetly as possible.” Wammy nodded to L's request and hurried from the room.

“Can you protect yourself?” Matt asked as the detective unseated himself. L seemed to ask him the same question, though he stayed silent.

“Spy, and assassin, remember?” Matt replied dryly while he toyed absently with the knife in his hands. L nodded.

“I can handle myself.” L replied.

“Do you happen to know where Mello is?” the longer things went on, the more worried he became about the blonde. If L said he'd be fine, then Matt would have to trust him, Mello however...

“I do not.” L said softly. Matt nodded, and swore in his head, as he turned heal and ran. He would check the library first, as he knew Mello liked it quiet while he brooded, and then their room. If he was in neither of those places, then he would search everywhere else until he found the blonde.

“Why did it have to snow today..” he whispered. The snow was brilliant cover, as no one would be outside. The only kink in that plan had been Matt himself, who smoked. Maybe it was a good thing he and Mello had fought.

He might not have been outside at that time otherwise, not until it was too late, which he hoped it wasn't already.

He skidded to a halt in front of the large, heavy, library doors and sucked in a breath while he carefully opened the doors. If there were others in there, that hadn't been told to evacuate yet, he didn't want to cause a panic, or get detained by one of the staff.

He did a quick search of the first floor, which had no one on it, and the second floor once he was at the top of the stairs. There was no one aside from Near.

“Near, go to Roger's office now. L wants to see you.” he told the other boy as calmly as he could. He didn't have time to explain, and he figured Near would be more likely to hurry to Roger's office with the promise of L waiting for him.

He may not have liked the small albino all that much, but he didn't want him to get killed either. And that would happen all too easily in a deserted library.

He took the steps two at a time and forced himself not to run until he was out of the library. He headed off in the other direction, which led him to their room. The door was ajar and he sighed as he pushed it open.

He stood, frozen at the figure that stood in front of the window, as it definitely was not Mello, despite the blonde hair.

“Matt how nice to see you again, Amity is so happy!” the blonde haired assassin squealed in joy and clapped her hands together with a large smile. Amity, also known as Misa Amane, was dressed in all black, which only accentuated her blonde hair that was for once pulled up, and though she had no visible weapons Matt was wary of her.

She wasn't in the top five for her brains, but she was there for her skills despite being easily distracted.

It always amazed Matt how unprofessional the woman could act, or maybe he should call her a child, as that was how she acted.

“Can't say it’s nice to see you Misa.” he slipped the knife into his back pocket and pulled out a cigarette, she would be trained on his weaponless hands, and hopefully wouldn't expect him to be armed.

“Awww! Why do you always call Amity that when she's on a job?” the blonde pouted, though Matt noted how her eyes took in every bit of his form as she assessed him. She was an idiot, or maybe just naive, but she was good at her job for the most part.

“Amity wondered whose room this was. Amity should have known it was Matt's because of the cigarettes.” she swayed from side to side, foot to foot, but Matt kept his attention on her hands, as it always told when she would attack.

“But Amity has orders to kill you. You got on Light's bad side.” she touched her hip, ever so slightly, as she spoke and Matt immediately grabbed for the knife in his pocket and sprang foreword.

Misa jumped to meet him halfway and he was only just able to block her gun with the flat side of the knife to the barrel, though her other hand went for his in order to get rid of said knife.

His teeth were grit and he let his legs collapse under him, which surprised her, and kicked out at her. He caught her in the chest and she stumbled backwards but wasn't fazed in the least.

She cocked the gun and fired at him, he moved at the last second and it missed his head by a hair. She fired again and he dove for the bed closest to her. He used it as a spring board and flung himself at her as she aimed her gun.

She fired as he landed on her. They rolled, a pile of tangled limbs, and collided with Mello's desk. Matt winced, she'd caught him in the arm though he was sure it was only a graze. Her elbow connected with his head and knocked him aside, though he didn't let up on his grip of her arm.

Instead he used the momentum to pull her towards him and twist her arm behind her and forced her to the wood floor. “Ow!” she whined.

He planted a knee on her back and the knife came in view again. He hated to kill, but it was kill or be killed. Or have someone else here, who couldn't defend themselves, get killed. “Sorry Misa.”

She struggled harshly, and it made it hard to keep a good grip on her, he needed to end it quickly. He raised the knife, and aimed for the base of her neck, when a gasp broke his concentration.

Mello stood in the doorway his face contorted into shock; the blinding lights of the hallway contrasted with the darkened room and made the blonde's silhouette stand out more firmly. Misa took the chance to bring her leg back and kick him in the head, and once his hold on her failed she knocked him into the wall with a harsh crack.

“Oh, you must be Mello. You're on Amity's list too!”

Matt, though still dazed, stumbled upwards and used the knife and hit Misa in the back of the head. She dropped like a sack of potatoes, and it was only then that the smell of fire reached Matt's nose.

“What the hell? Fire?” he said.

“T-that’s what I came to tell you. The building is on fire, they were getting everyone out, but Roger was told that you were looking for me.” Mello mumbled, though he had stumbled over the first word.

Matt stuck his head out the door, and frowned at the smoke that clogged the way to the main doors, and the faint glow from the other direction. They would have to take the chance going down the stairs in the smoke.

They couldn't jump from the second story, well they could...

Matt didn't need to flick the light on to know where he'd left his goggles, and he slipped them over his eyes the moment he picked them up.

“We need to leave.” He grabbed Mello's arm and dragged him from the room; Mello didn't even protest. Matt knew there was going to have to be a discussion on what the blonde saw, but it was definitely not the time for it.

“Cover your mouth if you can.” he told Mello. Matt was thankful for his goggles, which protected his eyes from the sting of smoke, though it did nothing to help the coughing as the heat and smoke invaded his lungs.

He led Mello down the stairs carefully, if either of them fell the other would follow shortly after. He counted the steps until he was sure he'd reached the ground floor, and made sure Mello didn't trip.

The smoke was thickest there, and nearly impossible to see, but Matt could feel the heat. The closer they got to the entrance, or in that case their exit, the hotter it got until it was almost unbearable and he could see the bright orange glow through the smoke.

They couldn't get out that way.

Matt scanned his memory of rooms closest to them. The classrooms were in the other direction, and if the second floor on that side had already started to burn, the first probably was as well. It would have to be Roger's office, which they had to have already passed.

“Why are w-we going back?” Mello coughed mid sentence though he didn't try to stop. It occurred to Matt that the only reason he could see at all was because of his goggles, Mello probably had his eyes closed.

Mello trusted him to get them to safety.

“It's blocked by fire. We'll have to exit through a window.” he shouted, he could hear the roar of the flames now, hear the crackle as the wood burned as much as he could smell it.

He found the wall and slid his hand along it as he searched for the doorway, unable to actually see it properly. His hand hit empty space but as he pressed inward it hit something, wood. It had to be the office.

He tried the knob and silently thanked Roger for not having locked it.

He pushed the door open and smoke flooded the room though Matt got a glimpse of the empty room beforehand. He led Mello into the room and shut the door, though smoke continued to seep lazily from underneath the crack in the door.

He bumped into the desk and Mello crashed into him at the sudden stop. “Sorry.” He told the blonde. Matt tugged him sideways and away from the desk until he was met with the smaller desk that sat in front of the window.

“I need to let go for a minute.” he told Mello, and though Mello grabbed at him his hands drifted along the warmed glass of the window until he found the latch. It was the kind that swung open rather than the ones you had to push.

He swung his arms across the surface of the desk and threw the items to the floor and startled Mello in the process.

“Climb on top of the desk and I'll help you out the window.”

Mello followed his instructions quickly, if not a little bit clumsily. He made sure Mello knew where the opening was and held onto his arm as the blonde lowered himself into the snow, though it wasn't high enough where he couldn't have jumped.

-

“Matt hurry!” Mello called from outside. He was instantly cold despite having been inside the inferno that was now Wammys.

“Give me a sec.” the gamer called. Mello hated that he could see nothing but the smoke that spilled from the open window. It made him nervous; he wanted Matt outside with him, safe with him.

He heard a muffled curse and a gunshot before two thuds, and silence.

“Matt?!” he yelled. Mello waited a few moments but Matt didn't reply. Fear lodged itself into his belly and he swallowed the sickening feeling that attempted to take hold of him. He took a deep breath and jumped slightly to catch the ledge. It took some work but he was able to get himself back through the window.

“Matt? Where are you?” he couldn't see a damn thing; the smoke choked him, made his movements slower, and made his eyes sting. His boot hit something and he reached down to touch it and recoiled after a moment.

It was a body, but it wasn't Matt. That person had long hair. They weren't moving so Mello ignored them. He wondered if it was that woman from earlier...

He crawled on his hands and knees, but kept a hand out in front of him to feel around. He hit something warm and sticky but couldn't identify it. He felt more around that area and touched something larger, a body.

It had to be Matt.

“Matt?” he shook him, but there was no answer. The gunshot. Could Matt have been hit? Mello shook off the thought. They needed to get out, Matt was just unconscious...

Mello got to his feet and dragged the unresponsive redhead with him. He coughed violently and was instantly dizzy. He staggered but didn't fall. He'd gone in a straight line, so he knew exactly where to go.

He could see yellowish tints in the smoke and knew the fire was ready to engulf the room. He heaved Matt onto the desk and climbed onto it himself. He stopped, nearly halfway out the window, at a sound.

There was a loud, almost anguished, groan and the support beams creaked ominously, before the roof gave way sending the second floor to crash down on them.

And then there was silence.

-End End-

AN: Whooho, talk about a cliffhanger. I'm sure I about killed a few of you with this one... buwahahaha.

We've hit about the halfway mark of this fic... erm.... next update will be short, as its an interlude of sorts, and then I’m back to my usual 4-5 day update schedule, but I just really wanted to get this one out, for obvious reasons. ;)

And yes, there is a reason the last little bit was more in Mello's perspective... hehehee.