The Annals of Fear

It was past midnight when Hal rapped sharply on Deontic\'s bedroom door and entered. If she was surprised to find Mello and Matt still in there, she didn\'t show it. The whole room was festooned in papers and computer equipment, as the three worked together, shifting through footage and other evidence. Mello was sitting quietly in one corner, headphones covering his ears. He flashed her a smile, but Hal cast an exasperated look back. Mello paused the music player on his laptop and took off the headphones. "What?"



"You know what." Hal countered.



Mello looked mystified. Before he could ask for clarification, Deontic spoke up. "How is Century?"



"Still on oxygen, but they\'re flushing his system." Hal sat down on a chair, looking exhausted. "It all depends upon his age, fitness and previous heart complaints, but there\'s a good chance that he\'ll make it."



Mello nodded. "Diuretics to get rid of the calcium ions." He frowned. "Only a good chance?"



"Yes."



They all looked pensive at that. Deontic asked, "When will we know?"



"When the consultant sees him tomorrow." Hal fixed her gaze onto Mello again. "Mello, we do not command the Royal Air Force."



"What have I done now?"



"You were never any good at injured innocence." Hal yawned. "I\'ve just had Flight Lieutenant Lees call me into his office for a word. I had to assure him that you really did know what you were doing and that Watari would be very grateful for their country\'s co-operation. I think it\'s only their top command who\'s stopped him coming down on you like a ton of bricks."



Mello frowned. "Huh?"



"You! Walking around like you own the place and giving the Flight Lieutenant orders in front of his own unit." Hal swallowed. "They only agreed to fly me here and provide transport up the mountain. The rest of it has come from the Squadron Leader who was stationed here. He\'s left now by the way. I\'m guessing that you don\'t get to become a Squadron Leader without being astute at politics and you look like politics."



"No." Matt shook his head. "It\'s money."



Mello smirked. "So I\'ve offended soldier boy?"



Hal rolled her eyes. "I\'ve been extremely diplomatic and we can stay here tonight. He would rather our operation moved on tomorrow."



Mello stretched and placed his headphones down over his monitor. "I\'ll go and speak with him." He stood up and headed across the room.



"Mello, just leave it." Hal waved him down again. "It\'s dealt with."



He shook his head. "We might still need them. I\'m not sure yet." Mello paused at Deontic\'s side. "Any joy on the symbol?"



"No." Deontic rubbed her eyes. "I might have to call it a night. I\'m seriously wilting here." She glanced at his laptop. "How\'s it going with the music?"



Mello wrinkled his nose. "I think that two and three are the same album. Nothing\'s making me want to top myself yet, other than the poor quality of the music."



"Oh!" Hal exclaimed suddenly. "You\'ve fixed your rosary!"



"No." Mello stiffened. "There\'s still a bead missing. Matt\'s just fixed together what\'s left. It\'s a temporary measure." He walked to the door and opened it. Matt rose from his seat and slouched after him. They left the door open behind them.



Deontic watched Hal to see what she would do. Hal filled the expectant silence with a shrug. "I\'m not running after them. I\'m always the one who ends up looking foolish." She eyed the Malaysian woman cautiously. "Or should I go after them? The problem with you lot is that you were raised with everything being a test. I often feel like I\'m the one being tested."



"I apologise if we make you feel that way." Deontic bent back over her research.



Hal rose and walked over to the door. She peered out, but Mello and Matt had gone. "Dee, while we\'re alone." She closed the door to and jogged over to Deontic\'s chair. "I don\'t know if this is the right time, with all that\'s happened to you, but that other matter? The one you came here for?"



Deontic sat straight, her back like a ramrod. "Item one, Century. Everything\'s changed there now, hasn\'t it? I can\'t judge him based on his behaviour in that place. It warped things. But I can say that he seemed physically well and as sharp as always. Were you planning on taking him back to Wammy\'s House if he leaves the hospital?"



Hal hesitated. "Unless you seriously do counsel against it, yes. I\'m surprised that neither Chrissie or Salvo have come down for him. They\'re supposed to be his surrogate parents."



"Parents?" Deontic repeated, blankly. "Are they?"



"Well, yes." Hal replied, uncertainty creasing her brow. "At least, if he\'s not in Wammy\'s House, then he has to be with foster parents and..." She faltered.



Deontic gave a grim smile. "The law has always been a little vague on the subject of us. Hence the reformation of Watari in the first place. I doubt that either of those three view Chrissie and Salvo as Century\'s parents. He\'s there for whatever individual agendas the three of them have. He\'s only four years younger than Chrissie. She\'s my age, so I know." She continued scrolling through a catalogue of symbology. "Who\'s checking the paperwork anyway?"



"I am."



"You can\'t be our mother."



Hal blinked. "Deontic, I\'m not trying to replace your mother."



"I know." She had skimmed through three pages in the time it took that conversation to occur. "My advice is the same now as it was at the institution. Leave it. In a few weeks, he will be eighteen and then you can give up on him. He did say that they will probably be more co-operative once he is eighteen."



"What of Matt?"



Deontic grimaced, staring hard at her laptop. She eventually commented, "Matt is Matt."



"Does he need intervention?"



"Against Mello?" Deontic looked into space. "In truth, if either of them need help, it\'s probably Mello. Matt controls him. In fact, Matt plays Mello like a harp and Mello just comes running."



Hal didn\'t look convinced. "What makes you say that?"



Deontic shrugged. "It\'s obvious."



It wasn\'t at all obvious to Hal, but she simply asked. "Are you sure?"



"I am very sure." She shifted in her seat and renewed her search. "Sometimes you have to look past the psychology that\'s being presented to you and look at the subtle clues beyond. They tried to put on this whole charade where Matt ordered Mello about and Mello ran to his bidding like a puppy dog."



Hal blinked. "But that\'s what you\'ve just implied is the truth."



"Yes." Deontic smiled. "And that\'s what\'s so ironic about it. I don\'t think they even realise it. That\'s funny."



Hal swallowed. "Might I have a more detailed report?"



"No."



That was not the answer that Hal was expecting. "Oh." She thought about it and could only come up with, "Why?"



Deontic stared at her. "Because one day Mello or Matt will find that report and I don\'t want any evidence that I was spying on them. Better they all think that I was here for Century, because right now he doesn\'t have a leg to stand on. Besides, Century is less likely to make my life a misery over it."



Hal glanced at the door. "Are you scared of Mello, Deontic?"



"Yes, of course. Aren\'t you?" She scrolled down to the next page. "But if the circumstances were just so, I\'d be more scared of Matt."



"Matt?" Hal bit back a laugh. "That tiny, little dot..." Then she thought about Madeleine being held hostage and the infirmary nearly going up in flames. She recalled herself being trapped in a passageway and the whole L system being overtaken. She watched Deontic search through rows and rows of symbols. "Is Mello in trouble?"



"Mello can look after himself." Deontic yawned. "Your Flight Lieutenant might be in trouble though. He\'s got both of them on his back and, to be fair, I\'d rather take on a pair of velociraptors."



Hal laughed. "Because they\'re extinct?" Deontic just stared at her and it was unnerving. Hal shifted uncomfortably. "Did you all solve the case?"



"We\'re close."



Behind them, the door burst open again, startling them both. Mello paraded across the room, "Flight Lieutenant Lees has retired and cannot be disturbed. I\'m to speak with my superior, as an audience has already been given." Behind him, Matt just smirked, as he closed the door. "I tried."



"You couldn\'t have tried very hard." Hal observed, wryly. "You didn\'t get to see him."



"Soldiers." Mello gestured dismissively. "They get on my tits."



Hal ignored him. "I\'m going to have to fly back. My place isn\'t here."



"Ok, hun." Mello smiled. "Anything I need to know before you go? About our status here?"



"I\'m not going until tomorrow. I\'m going to wait to see what the consultant has to say about Century. Someone\'s got to be with him when that happens."



"Oh yeah." Mello sat back down. "For signing shit."



Hal tutted. "No, because someone\'s has got to be with him. If he survives the night, then he might be being told, at seventeen years old, that he has a heart defect. Wouldn\'t you want someone with you then?" All three eyed her blankly. "Let me think how to phrase this so simply that even geniuses will understand it." They continued watching her. Hal shifted uncomfortably under it. "You really do need me to spell it out?"



Deontic spoke up, "She\'s even talking about taking Century back to Wammy\'s House." Her gaze never left Hal.



Mello snorted. "Good luck with that."



"Really?" Hal gasped. "Your expectations are so low that you can\'t even conceive that someone would support you in times of crisis? You gave me this job. Matt! You spoke of people there parenting. This basic parenting. Any other teenager in the world could expect a parent to be there, if he was as ill as Century is."



Mello sucked on a corner of his chocolate. "Personally, I made do with Matt, the contents of a First Aid box and whatever his intellect could throw up to rehydrate me. While I was nearly dying, Watari was busy giving information about me to Kira."



"And that\'s all changed!" Hal looked at them each in turn, frustrated. "You set up the constitution. You installed me to enact it. Then you look at me like I\'m a bit strange for carrying it out."



Mello just patted her back as he passed. "Matt and I are knackered. We\'re going to crash for a couple of hours, then get back to it." He picked up his laptop and started putting it away. "You going to be ok on your own in here, Dee?"



Deontic stared at him in deep suspicion. She eventually breathed, "Yes."



"Good." Mello smirked. He and Matt collected up their things and headed for the door. "Goodnight ladies."



Hal replied, "Goodnight." But Deontic didn\'t say a word until they had gone.



"Bastard."



Hal blinked. "What?"



Deontic\'s lips were tight. She bent over her laptop and continued scrolling through symbols, trying to match one with that on the album cover. Matt\'s programmes had already tried and failed to do the same. Hal waited, knowing enough about these geniuses not to rush things. After a few minutes, Deontic answered her. "I think I\'m the canary."



"What?"



"Mining reference. Gas built up in the mine and the miners used to leave a canary in a cage. The canary has a smaller lung capacity, so would be the first to die if gas was present. If a canary died, then the miners would evacuate instantly, as it was no longer safe." Deontic glared at her monitor. "Mello and Matt are leaving me alone. We all slept together last night. Alone, he can see if we are still going to be psychologically affected by whatever is after us."



Hal bit her lip. "With respect, that sounds a little paranoid."



"Nevertheless, I believe that it\'s the truth."



"Do you want me to tackle him about it?"



"No." Deontic looked straight at her. "Just don\'t leave me alone. I\'m really scared."