The Silent Place

AN: Sorry this is late, I had to work on Sunday to get more experience with WIC (anyone who knows what that is KNOWS it's a pain in the ass) though the funny thing is not one came through my line, realllllllly helpful.

Thank you for so many reviews!!!!!

Order of the series

-Dangerous and Moving (3 shot prequel)

-We Sleep Forever (start of series)

-Not An Angel (sequel)

-Je Ne Regrette Rien (sequel 2)

-The Silent Place ~Final fic~ (set 2 years after JNRR)

Suggested Listening: Blind by Ke$ha

Chapter Two: Confession

Mello took another small glance back at Matt, who still typed furiously away at the laptops keyboard, and with an inaudible sigh disappeared into the bedroom.

Matt had made some meat dish for dinner, the name of which escaped his memory, but things had gone slightly sour after Matt had mentioned getting back in touch with L. He knew Matt hadn't meant anything by it, but just the thought of L had him on edge.

Too many things he could have accomplished but wasn't able to, and all of them attached to the letter L.

Matt had noticed the mood change immediately and had grown silent. That had been hours ago. And Mello had finally grown tired of the atmosphere he'd accidently created. Some things just... set him off.

Though not in his usual outburst sort of way, though they'd had their fair share of rows over his moodiness despite Matt's attempt at remaining calm; he tended to get exceedingly quiet and if the memory he'd been reminded of was bad enough, skittish.

He'd slept on the couch more times than he could remember.

Though for the most part, nowadays, he was alright. With the exception of certain things. L being one of them. Which was why when they'd cut off communications with the elder detective he'd thought it had been the end of it.

He curled up under the heavy covers of the bed, though he knew sleep would be a long time coming, if at all that night. He couldn't figure why Matt would need, or want, to call L. As far as he knew Matt wasn't stuck on any cases or in need of any help. Matt had him, and would have asked him, if there was something he'd needed.

Right?

He sighed softly and buried his face in the pillow with eyes clenched tightly. He pushed all traitorous thoughts to the back of his mind, knowing that if he allowed himself to dwell on it things would only seem much worse than they actually were.

Sometime later, he wasn't sure how long, his phone began to vibrate and make an obscene amount of noise in the too quite flat. Blue eyes blinked blurrily, filled with sleep, and his hand fumbled almost blindly around the nightstand for the phone.

It ended up being knocked to the floor but he was far too tired to care as the vibrations were muffled by the carpet. Whoever it was could wait until morning...

And by the time morning came, at around five-thirty, Mello was more than weary about glancing at the contents of his messages. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and bent down to grab the phone, without actually having gotten up.

With the cover flipped open he scanned his missed calls and was affronted with the same unknown number from the day before; no message had been left for him. He idly wondered what the odds were of two, unrelated, unknown calls happening in such close succession.

The odds were not in his favor at all.

He turned to see that Matt was already up, though that should have been his first priority so as to not wake him, and hoped the redhead had gotten enough sleep as he hadn't been in bed in the middle of the night, or if he had slept at all.

Slipping the phone into a pocket Mello decided not to dress himself just yet, instead he wandered out to the kitchen in a t-shirt and sweatpants, though it would have just been more of the same.

He walked passed Matt, who typed away at the laptop, and into the kitchen where coffee had previously been made and the reminder awaited drinking. That settled it. Matt hadn't been to bed. If he had, that much coffee would not have been gone from the pot.

But be it far from Mello to comment, he supposed that when he himself could get a full nights rest more than one night in a row, then he might be able to argue on the harmful effects of lack of sleep.

With his coffee made, and in hand, he headed into the living room and sat by the windowsill; his tired blue eyes scanned the roads below before swiveling to the clouded sky above. Another day of rain then.

He started, pocket vibrating, and placed the coffee mug on the sill to retrieve the phone out of the confines of his pants. He answered it, this time forgoing the urge to keep silent, as it was plainly obvious that whomever it was would just continue to call.

"Hello?" he was answered with the same breathy half laughs and rolled his eyes in annoyance. He nearly dropped the phone however, at the whispered parting words before he was greeted with a dial tone.

He swallowed harshly and blinked a few times before he closed the lid. He could have sworn that they had said Mello.

Matt, who up until that point had been typing, now looked up at him and Mello quickly turned his gaze back to the window and attempted to ignore the situation for a while longer. It quickly became apparent that Matt wouldn't let it go as his eyes had yet to remove themselves from his person and caused the sensation of bugs crawling across his skin to emerge.

Matt knew he hated when people stared. Which was why he always noticed it now.

With a frown he left the coffee where it was and stalked from the room and gently closed the bedroom door. It was more than obvious that any thoughts on the subject would have to be away from Matt.

After no small amount of struggling, and a few swears to top it off, he was encased in leather. He grabbed his sunglasses and jacket, forced his boots on, and wrenched open the front door when he was done.

"I'm going to the store." he told Matt and shut the door behind him before the redhead had a chance to speak. The only main problem with that statement, he realized after he was halfway down the street from their flat, was that he didn't have his carrying bag with him. He swore but wasn't about to go back just yet despite the fact that it was something Matt would have noticed.

He needed time to think, and Matt obviously hadn't about to give it to him. So if he had to lie to get out of the house, rather horribly at that, then so be it.

Despite the jacket he was chilled, unrightfully so, and decided that his best bet would be the coffee shop just a few streets down. The coffee shop was old and always packed with people, though very few actually sat down with their orders during the day.

It was warm inside, almost too warm with his heavy jacket on, but he didn't dare take it off. He pulled out his wallet while in line and managed to have the correct amount of money ready by the time he was at the register. He handed over the money and ordered himself a hot chocolate, having wanted one despite rarely drinking them, as well as a chocolate filled pastry.

He could see the looks of curiosity, poorly hidden, in the employees expression at his hidden face. He smiled wryly and wondered if they perhaps thought him someone famous attempting to stay hidden. Though Mello supposed he was a sort of celebrity. And damned if he didn't wish he weren't.

With a half smile he accepted his order and moved to the back of the shop, away from the windows, and sat down. He kept his head down and sipped the hot liquid as his mind went over the very few details he had in concerns to the phone calls.

Three of them so far... it could be just a prank. Though Mello was far from stupid and knew better than that. Both his and Matt's numbers were supposed to be known by only three people total. Themselves and Jasper.

Obviously that no longer applied.

Too much of the steaming liquid in his mouth at once nearly made him choke. The thought of keeping it all from Matt crossed his mind for a moment, but he instantly dismissed it.

He sighed and stroked the thick paper cup with his index finger. He knew he was no longer in any sort of condition to handle things on his own, at least not if they were dangerous. And if a mysterious caller knowing his alias, his name, wasn't something dangerous than he would willingly go be Near's servant.

He had to tell Matt. It wasn't as though Matt didn't know something was going on anyway. And he would be stupid to think that Matt would just let the issue die. He silently finished the remainder of the hot chocolate and pastry before he tossed the cup into the rubbish bin on the way out.

Mello heard the shower going as he quietly stepped back into their flat and hung his coat up and put away the glasses in the meantime. He decided on leaving the leather on, as he liked the feel, and sat on the couch.

He wondered if all the waiting was some sort of punishment for even thinking of leaving Matt in the dark again. He absently touched the space on his chest where his rosary should have been and smiled grimly.

He'd been wearing it when he'd been capture those two years ago, it had disappeared along with the clothes he'd been wearing at the time and it had never been found. He had yet to get a replacement for it.

He wondered if he ever would.

The water slowed and stopped and a soft squeak of the pipes was heard as the dial was twisted to the off position. He heard the muffled curse as Matt, presumably, slid on the floor before he toweled himself dry and dressed.

Mello tensed instantly as he heard the door handle jiggle slightly and the door open. He was.. nervous... he couldn't explain why, but he was.

Matt was dressed in his usual stripes and his goggles were firmly in place though he could tell Matt was a little surprised to see him back so soon. "We need to talk." he managed to say and Matt nodded to him and walked over, having foregone the disposal of his dirty clothes.

"So, what's up?" Matt sat at the other end of the couch and lit up a cigarette.

"I assume you noticed my rather odd reactions to the phone calls I've received in the last few days?" he waited until Matt nodded before he continued. "They weren't from Jasper. And I think I heard my name being said the last time." he stated dryly.

Matt sat up and a slightly worried expression passed over his features before a huge grin replaced it. Mello was surprised, to say the least. What, in that entirely small conversation, had been amusing?

He flinched slightly as Matt's thumb came to stroke the scarred side of his face. "We'll deal with whatever comes up, I'm just happy you didn't leave me out of it this time."

"I'm not in a position to do so anymore." he said bitterly and only just managed to avoid looking at his missing hand. "And you already knew something was up." he added more softly.

"You can do a lot more than you give yourself credit for. And whatever the reason, I'm happy you included me." he almost expected Matt to pull him into a hug or kiss him and found himself almost disappointed that neither happened. But the look on Matt's face suggested he'd wanted to.

"Well as I know it wasn't me who called, or gave out your number, and though I doubt this as well, I think we need to call Jasper." Matt said and reached for something in his pocket that Mello assumed was his own phone.

"Do you think mine could be tapped now?" he questioned the redhead.

"You know... that honestly hadn't even occurred to me. But I suppose to stay on the relatively safe side, you shouldn't make any calls with yours. Maybe I'll take it apart later and check for any obvious tampering." Matt said and raised the phone to his ear after he'd dialed and placed it on speaker.

"And what do I owe the pleasure?" the older male grumbled into the phone with what sounded like a yawn.

"You haven't by any chance given away Mello's phone number, have you? Some unknown number keeps calling and it's doubtfully a wrong number after that many times." Matt asked, completely ignoring Jasper's warning tone.

"God, couldn't this have waited until later?" Jasper swore into the phone and the tell tail sounds of someone getting out of bed came from the other line.

Mello took a bit of pleasure in the fact that he hadn't been the only one to have his sleep interrupted, though the reasons were vastly different.

"I figured you'd have to ask that considering the circumstances but I didn't give out the number, I don't even have it written down." Jasper said, his voice just a small amount clearer.

Matt glanced at Mello and sighed. "You are just a trouble magnet aren't you?"

He felt guilt begin to claw its way back into his chest, as it was once again him that was pulling them into a possibly disastrous situation. His body tensed again but he was slightly reassured that Matt wasn't angry, or even annoyed, when striped arms wound their way around him and pulled him gently against the redhead.

Mello figured that he was still in a peculiar mood as he buried his face in Matt's chest rather than pull away, though he most certainly still felt the urge to.

"Well let me know what's up and call me back at a more convenient hour." Jasper ended the call on his end and Matt shared an amused look with him as the dial tone sounded over the speakers.

"He certainly was in a mood wasn't he?" Matt commented sarcastically with a raised eyebrow. Mello shrugged a shoulder ever so slightly but otherwise didn't move.

"Assuming it isn't some sort of prank, though I don't know how they would be able to get a hold of your number in the first place or even get through, never mind know your name...." Mello glanced up as Matt trailed off, the fact that his fingers tapped slightly at his back showed he was lost in thought.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that this is going to lead into something dangerous for us. Usually in this sort of situation one would be asked for a list of people who may possibly want them dead, but I have a feeling that's a lost cause with you, right?" Matt began to stroke his hair when he didn't answer and despite himself, Mello found that he began to relax.

"Since the list is probably three feet long and in tiny print, can you narrow the list to people who would either gain a lot from your death, or someone with a larger than usual grudge?"

Mello bit his lip. "I could probably give you a one page list, but only of the people I know about." he hesitated slightly before continuing on. "I've had to murder a lot of people back with the mafia, not to mention put away people while as a detective."

"So we wait." Matt's hold on him tightened but for once Mello merely allowed himself to sink further in to the gentle embrace. Whatever happened, he knew Matt would be there beside him.

And maybe that was all he really needed.

There was still something that bothered him though, nagged at his tired mind, and forced him to stay awake despite the urge to just sleep within Matt's arms. He knew that there was a large probability that whatever was going on had to do with the mafia.

He knew he could rule out most of the actual members of the mafia, as they had no reason to go after him, and he'd left on mostly good terms with the new boss. He tried to remember, but some of the finer details, the faces of those he'd killed, had faded and dulled. It had simply been too many years for him to remember anything other than his own pain.

He gave a grim smile. His pain had always seemed greater than others. And perhaps that was why he was punished at every turn happiness might have shown up.

Perhaps it was what he deserved.

"Whatever you are thinking, stop." he looked up sharply at Matt who was staring at him, and probably had been staring at him the entire time.

"You're just doing our own head in, and it's not going to get us anywhere." Matt's voice was soft, just as soft as the kisses that followed, and for once, Mello simply allowed himself to enjoy the moment.

Something he'd denied himself for far too long.

-End Confession-

AN: Aww, right? Anyway.... Jasper made an appearance! W00t! Next chapter will be a flashback, just so everyone knows...... and it wont be hard to see why its there. And it will be short.....Oh well. *shrug*

Has anyone noticed that I've started saying rubbish bin? Wtf.

So what is everyone thinking of this so far?