Motive and Mayhem

SPOILERS: All manga, all anime, L's true name, Another Note, Law and Right, Truth and Justice.

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Motive and Mayhem

Chapter 4: Recuperation

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The bath in that strange, metal tub was far too short for Mello's liking, because the second they pulled him out, the pain was back, as if the water was the only thing keeping his skin from melting right off his body. Then again, he was pretty sure that, at least in a few places, his skin had been burnt completely away.

When they told him he had third degree burns on a good twelve percent of his body, he knew he'd been right. His arm from wrist up onto part of his chest, and a good chunk of the left side of his head had the third degree burns. His left leg and torso were covered in first and second degree burns. All in all, they told him, for a grenade, he'd made out pretty damn good.

Matt, it turned out, had only gotten first and second degree burns in a few places, plenty of scrapes and a broken nose. Luckier yet, and all because Mello had blocked the blast with his own body, taken the worst of it. That was just fine by him, even though the pain was absolutely stupendous.

Especially when they used their thrice-damned wire brushes to scrape his wounds clean.

When they'd said burns were the worst to recover from, they hadn't fucking been kidding. The skin grafts were no picnic, either. It left the patches of skin on his thighs where the grafts came from even more sore than the places that got patched up with it. He was on all sorts of drugs, but the narcotics were weak enough when L came in to have Mello cursing.

"The fuck are you here for?" he demanded accusingly.

Light was a step behind L, not that Mello had expected anything different, and the former Kira raised an eyebrow at the greeting.

"Checking up on the health of my heir," L replied dryly, leaning over to get a look at the bandages. "Not too bad, considering the proximity to the explosion."

Light closed the door to the hospital room, flicked the deadbolt into place. "You covered your tracks well. There's no solid evidence pointing to you or Matt, but really. Did you expect the name Rue Ryuzaki to get past us?"

L shook his head a little. "Sloppy."

"Wasn't fucking sloppy. No one else would have fuckin’ noticed," Mello snarled. It was obvious, now, that L had been looking in on the case -- probably from a local venue, too.

"No one else would have what it takes to catch you," Light retorted. "That's what makes it sloppy. It's like you're asking us to haul you in for this."

"If the police didn't know you were my heir, and could connect you to that boat," L frowned softly, "you would be in a prison hospital right now. As it stands, I've convinced them that you were investigating the same case. If I find any concrete evidence whatsoever..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Mello grumbled. "Cage time."

"From now on," Light said softly, coming up behind L, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We're going to be keeping closer tabs on the two of you. I suggest that if you continue with illegal activities, you do your best to make sure we know nothing of it."

"Also, we have decided to hold a small ceremony," L announced, pressing a thumb to his lips, glancing over at Light. "We're going to have a commitment ceremony, at the Japanese headquarters. You're invited, of course, Matt as well. We'll send you the date and time when it's been decided. It will be a small matter."

"Christ, make me feel any more like family and I'll ask you for a skin graft," Mello muttered.

Light chuckled softly. "We'll see you there, then?"

"Yeah, yeah," Mello grumbled. "Shit, just don't go expecting me to do something that fuckin' stupid."

"It is not stupid to marry. It is proven to reduce health risks significantly," L replied, frowning a little. "We will let you rest. Get well soon, Mello."

"Hey, you talked to Matt yet?" Mello asked.

"Yes. We spoke with him first, as he has shown remarkable control over the situations you two get into," L replied without hesitation. He didn't seem to notice the dark glare Mello aimed at him.

"He said he would do as you decided," Light put in. "We hope you'll decide to remain in the green. It's not like we're looking for a reason to lock you up, after all."

"Get the hell out," Mello grumbled, turning his gaze away, trying to pretend that he wasn't blushing.

"If you require assistance with outpatient treatment, let me now and I'll arrange a hotel," L said as Light unlocked the room, held the door open.

"Yeah. I'll give you a call," Mello agreed. "You can use our funds for it, though."

"Very well. You know how to reach us," L smiled slightly, then turned and left.

Light held up a hand, waving goodbye as he followed L out.

They were so fucking weird, Mello thought, and yet they managed to do pretty damn well by each other. He supposed he'd have to come up with some sort of wedding present.

And if Matt thought Mello was going to be the present, he had another fucking thing coming.

Burns sucked. Mello was in the hospital for nearly three weeks with skin grafting, bandages, antibiotics, more food than an army could pack away and fluids by the gallon. He was ordered to keep up the eating, the ceaseless hydrating until the burns had fully scarred over.

The places on his face and arm would never fully recover. It would always look sickening, scarred. He wouldn't be able to sweat, would have to be more careful of sunstroke. Just his fucking luck, he thought.

At least they had survived, he supposed. Matt had been out of the hospital almost as long as Mello had been in. Second degree burns didn't have shit on third. Mello's leg and torso were already faded to the angry, stinging red of a bad sunburn, and really not too bad, all things considered.

What little of Matt that had been burned was about the same. Every time Mello saw him, it seemed to get better and better. When he looked in the mirror, his scars didn't look too bad -- though the part of his scalp that had burnt looked damn kooky. That, they had said, wouldn't be a large issue. The burns to his scalp had only been second degree.

It puzzled him, but he was thankful. He rather liked his head with hair on it.

The physical therapy was almost worse than being in the hospital, but he buckled down, got it done. It was a long, slow thing to recover from the pain, the stiffness that came with the burns. It was harder still because of the skin grafts, and he didn't think his elbow and shoulder would ever be quite the same again.

Even so, six months out his scars were still a bright, vibrant pink, but he was healed as much as he could be.

He knew Matt agreed when he came in one evening, took a stance right in front of that TV, cocked his hip to the side with that dark smile on his face. "Kneel."

Mello's gaze shot up to Matt's face, his eyes widening a fraction as that smile shot straight to his groin. He slid from the chair to the floor, knelt. "Master," the word was a breath and even though he wasn't smiling, he knew Matt would know.

Matt could read him like no one else, could see everything going on beneath the surface. Sure, Mello had relieved a bit of Matt's tension now and again during the healing process, but it was never... complete. It was always softer, gentler, more mindful of the physical aspect. Making sure not to jeopardize the recovery process.

Being told to kneel, though, now that was a sign. It was playtime. Mello's tongue darted out, flashed over his lips as Matt's hand slid down, along the side of his face. He couldn't stop that shiver that slid through him, that pulled his eyes closed.

"You've missed this," Mello could hear the smile, feel the pleasure it gave Matt to know. To see and read the desire in his pet, his partner. His Mello.

"Yes, master," the words were soft, almost a mumble as he leaned into that hand, let his eyes slide open just a fraction.

"Good, because today, we're making up for lost time," Matt grinned widely, turning around to shut the TV off. He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and restrained Mello's hands behind his back. "Your burns are my pride. You took them for me, spared me that pain and today, I'm going to begin paying you back. You have been a very good boy," the low purr of Matt's voice was a happy one.

Mello licked his lips again, letting out a soft sigh as Matt's lips slid against his ear, down his neck slowly, to the edge of the burn on his shoulder. Then, Matt bit down into the uninjured flesh and drew a low moan from his pet.

"Very good," Matt knelt with Mello then, took the time to slowly, carefully lavish affection onto those scars. He could see that, despite the nerve damage, the attention was shooting straight to Mello's groin. He grinned when he took Mello's chin, leaned in slowly, and gave his lover a long, deep kiss.

There was another quiet moan as Mello found some part of himself relaxing for the first time since the attack. He felt that fear, the uneasiness that his scars had laid on him fading away. It was only then that he realized he was afraid that Matt wouldn't want him anymore, that he'd be cast aside like the damaged goods he'd once been.

When the kiss broke, Matt reached up, slowly wiped away the two tears that had pressed free of Mello's eyes. "I would never throw you away. You belong to me."

The soft catch in Mello's breath, the way his eyes fluttered open in surprise before his cheeks darkened in blush made Matt smile. It wasn't easy to catch Mello off guard -- but it wasn't easy to make him cry, either. "Our secret," Matt promised, kissing the places where Mello's tears had fallen.

When Mello tipped his head back slightly in a silent request, Matt granted it, kissing him again. His own hands slid slowly over Mello's bare chest, down until he found the beginning of leather. His hand went over the leather, down until he was cupping Mello's groin, swallowing the moan he was given and tightening his hand.

Mello couldn't help but lean into the touch, even though it was against the rules. It had been so long, after all. He nearly whimpered when Matt pulled away, swallowed heavily and lowered his gaze as he was tisked at.

"You know better than that," Matt scolded gently, pulling his hand away and sliding those same fingers into Mello's hair, gripping roughly and yanking his head back. "I'm going to have to punish you for that, you know. Hmm, but what would be appropriate? I could just leave you be, handcuffed to the furniture for a little while. Maybe a spanking or leaving you unsatisfied. What do you think?"

The blush on Mello's cheeks rivaled the pink of his scar as his gaze settled on Matt. He looked into his face, searching and finding nothing. He closed his eyes, took a slow, deep breath before he replied. "Spanking." It was the one he hated the most, that left him the most humiliated, ashamed, the one that Matt normally saved for the big infractions.

Like fighting back.

Mello could almost feel Matt raising an eyebrow. "You think it was that bad?"

"Not the... act itself," Mello replied with a soft frown, opening his eyes. "It's a beginner's mistake. I'm not a beginner anymore."

"Mmm, that's true, isn't it?" Matt smiled, leaned in to take a softer kiss, let it linger. "All right, then. Spanking it is. Get to the bed."

Slowly, Mello rose, walking over to the bed and dropping to his knees again so he could lean over it. He let out a weak sigh as he pressed his face into the bedspread. He cringed when he felt Matt opening his pants, pulling them down slowly to expose him. He wasn't wearing underwear, and the soft laugh Matt gave only made him blush more.

Those hands, calloused but soft, were on him then, rubbing his ass, kneading it gently to make damn sure he could feel every last ounce of sting. When his arms were pushed upwards on his back, he couldn't swallow the moan of dismay.

It meant that Matt was ready. Mello was cursing himself for being so honest, but Matt would have known, he'd always know. He could read Mello like a book, after all. It was one of the essential parts of dominance.

Mello steeled himself for the first blow.

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A/N: So, I'm gonna put a tiny disclaimer here. I know exactly jack shit about BDSM in the real world. Anything I'm putting out here is either speculation or stuff I've read of elsewhere. I'm trying to blend sensuality and the lifestyle, even though I know very little about it. In other words, if I screw up somewhere along the line, give me a heads up and I'll correct it if possible. Thanks!

Matilda: Oh, dear! XD Well, I hope you have a bit of free time. The two stories that come before this one are 25 and 19 chapters long, respectively. They're Light/L centric and span about 12 years of time. This chapter here takes place about seven or eight years into the timeline of the L/Light fics. (First one is called Law and Right, second is Truth and Justice. They're all on the same page as this one in my profile, though.) As far as the POV thing, I tend to focus heavily on the main character, with very few snippets in the POV of other characters. That said, this is going to be almost entirely done in Mello's point of view, with little, if any, done in Matt's. I do hope, however, that I can show a bit more of who Matt is with Mello's eyes. Especially later on in the story, when the big twist in Truth and Justice is gone over in this story.

Makes me wonder if it isn't a good idea to make a Cliff Notes version of the first two or something. XD; They're so long! And I've only been working on this stuff for about a month.