The Annals of Fear

Hal led the way into her office, but Mello wasn\'t far behind her. Matt trailed in at his own pace. Mello beamed brightly. "Fenian! Thank you for agreeing to meet me and thank you for coming all over here to do it." He reached out to clasp Fenian\'s hand, but the Irishman did not extend one for him to shake. "I said I\'d come to Dublin to meet you."



Fenian played with his lighter. "I didn\'t come for you." He stated bluntly. "And, for preference, I\'d rather you didn\'t even know that Ireland existed, let alone step foot on it."



Mello sat on the settee with Matt beside him, on equal terms with Fenian, on the other side of the coffee table. Hal detoured to her desk to make a couple of internal calls, but her gaze never left the potentially explosive grouping across the room. Mello didn\'t rise to the provocation. "I\'m going to say my peace in front of witnesses, but before that happens, I want to say one thing. That is that I apologise for being such a dick to you over the years. If I hadn\'t been so cruel, then maybe we would have been friends and maybe help would have arrived so much faster that night." He didn\'t have to say which night. It hung around them all as a miasmic shroud. "I intend for nothing like that to ever happen again. If we get cut off, during a call, during an emergency, you will not assume that I\'ve hung up on you. You did assume that, yes?"



"Yes."



"Well, that is my fault and I apologise."



Fenian was saved from reacting by a sharp knock on the door. Hal called out, "Come in!" And it opened.



Mello was already on his feet, dancing across to hug first Deontic and then Century, as they entered the room. "The gang is back together!" Mello declared gleefully, his eyes sparkling. This was not a Mello which many of them recognised and so there were puzzled glances in his direction. Only Matt smiled, having seen a lighter, excited Mello before. "And Century! Plenblwydd hapus! Am I pronouncing it correctly?" Mello already knew that he was. He\'d spent the best part of the interim between then and now learning the Welsh language with all the vigor that he put into all of his studies.



"Os. Da iawn." Century smirked. "Rydych i siarad Cymraeg nawr?"



"Ydych!" Mello laughed. "Typyn bach." He patted Century\'s back and grabbed a bag that had been deposited by his seat. "Penblwydd hapus o Matt a mi."



Fenian nodded to Deontic, as she sat beside him, but frowned at Mello. "He\'s speaking Welsh now? Fuck." He blinked. "Well, I don\'t want Gaelic soiled by passing his lips. You alright, Dee?"



"I am now." Deontic smiled, politely. "Now that it\'s all over." A vegetable flew through the hair towards her lap. Deontic automatically caught it. "A leek."



Matt grinned. He already had one jammed over the fork of his partially unzipped jacket. There was a rogue leaf dangling over one ear. Standing at the end of the coffee table, Mello had just caught his leek and was pushing it into the top pocket of his leather jacket. Century laughed, flushing slightly as he saw Fenian\'s expression. "How very Henry V. So you\'re still Celtic?"



Mello winked. "Learning the language and buying a leek. How much more Welsh can I get?" He gestured. "Open your present. It\'s a special day. You get to officially leave Wammy\'s House today."



"Yeah. I thought I\'d better come back for the occasion." Century had been in the institution for a week, ever since leaving the hospital, where he and Mello had initially shared a room. "Just so I can experience leaving. No disrespect, Hal."



"None taken." Hal replied automatically, though she evidently wished things had been otherwise.



Century reached into the bag and pulled out the gift. He ripped open the wrapping and shook free the Owain Glyndŵr t-shirt. It was a little tacky, mass produced print of the bearded knight, with the legend, \'Cymru Am Byd\', around it. But shaking it had dislodged an envelope. "Diolch yn fawr. I think." He smiled, stooping to snatch up it up. "What\'s this?"



"Opening it generally informs in these situations." Mello commented, barely able to contain his grin. Century opened it to find a key. It was attached to an Owain Glyndŵr keyring and so he looked up in askance. "You already told us that you left the institution before anyone had taught you how to drive. You\'ve got your own wheels now and Matt is willing to teach you how to use them. I\'d teach you, but I haven\'t got the patience and we\'d end up falling out again. But either way, it will help if you ever need to get away quickly from anywhere again."



"Thank you." Century stared, completely taken aback. The old suspicions rose unbidden into his mind that the car could be bugged with anything. He would never trust a car that had been alone with Mello and Matt. But a glance at Mello\'s expression made him dubious about his own deductions. There was an openness to the Slav that he had never seen before. "That\'s really great, thank you."



"Unless you\'d rather Watari or Chrissie and Salvo took care of it. In which case, no offence taken here." Mello slapped Century\'s arm heartily. "And, I really mean this, we owe you one. You ever need anything, you get a message to us. We\'ll come."



"Thanks." Century moved to sit on the other side of Fenian. "Hi."



"Hi." The Irishman replied curtly. "There\'s a little something off, erm, me in my car. I\'ll give it to you later."



"Great, thanks." Century kept staring at his key, until he looked happily up. Mello had resumed his place next to Matt and smiled right back. "I\'ll go and look at it in a moment."



Hal walked across and sat on the other side of Mello. "Refreshments are on their way." She informed them. "Is anyone, other than Century and Deontic, staying here tonight? I can arrange to have fresh linen put on your beds."



Fenian turned sharply to look at Century. "You\'re staying here? You\'re fucking 18. Why are you staying here?"



"Because I\'m a contrary bastard." Century smirked. "And you\'re here, so I intend to go out with you later and get legally shit-faced."



"Fair enough. Though I was planning on flying home after this. Come with me?" Fenian sniffed. "I could show you a better party there than here anyway."



Hal intervened. "Can I point out that Century isn\'t supposed to be drinking alcohol on his heart medication?"



"Duly noted." Fenian smirked and Century laughed. They had the aspect of two men who were going to totally disregard that responsible advice. "So, shall we go now?"



Century nodded towards the paperwork piled on Hal\'s lap. "Let\'s get this sorted out first." It was their report, collected and collated from them all for Watari. Hal handed out copies to each of them. Mello pushed his across the table into Fenian\'s direction, then read Matt\'s. Matt didn\'t mind. He was already engaged in the latest Tomb Raider for Nintendo DSi and anyway trusted Mello to analyse things.



There was a silent few minutes as they started to skim through the report. Deontic looked up. "So it was Gwrach-y-Rhibyn who mauled Jan to death?"



"Probably." Mello replied.



"But he was Swedish."



Mello looked up. "And I\'m from Yugoslavia. It didn\'t stop her trying to ruin my good looks." The scratches on his face were healing well. He\'d had two stitches in the previously unblemished cheek and another one on the left side of his nose. His forehead had had a tear, which required eight stitches and it was from there that a lot of blood had fallen. Most of the damage had torn down the left side of his face, cutting through already scarred tissue. It too was healing. There promised to be thin, silvery scars but nothing worse than he had already done to himself in the explosion during the Kira case. He noted that her eyes dipped to his chest. Mello smiled. "If you ask nicely later, I\'ll show you my scars." Deontic bristled, her head bowing hurriedly to continue her skim-reading of the report. "But healing well, if you must know." He winked, though she did not look up, then returnd to his own reading.



Century had observed the exchange with a wry smile. Now it was over, he clarified the issue. "Gwrach-y-Rhibyn will attack anyone in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, she only comes as a herald for the death of the Welsh."



"Why though?" Mello prompted, puzzled. "Why should nationality have anything to do with it? We all came from Africa, if you go back far enough. I mean, what is the actual difference between a Welshman, a Croat, a Geek, an Asian and whatever Hal is?" He glanced at her. "Usual mongrel American?"



"Part German, part Dutch. I have some Norwegian in there too and maybe a little French."



"I rest my case."



Fenian was impatient with this turn of the conversation. He interupted it. "Because the fucking Welsh took a perfectly decent Bean Sidhe off the Irish, then, because they\'re Welsh, had to make her darker and nastier." He was thumped in the leg by Century and caught his fist before he could do it again. "We make God in our own image and our fairy folk too."



Century frowned. "She\'s not the Bean Sidhe! That\'s like saying that I\'m you, because we were raised amongst the same people." He took a lollipop from the tray on the table. "The fact is that we don\'t know where she comes from, but she\'s not the Bean Sidhe."



"But it was her on the record." Deontic pressed. "And howling around the house on the first night."



Century and Matt both shook their heads, while Mello just smirked at Matt. He leaned in and kissed Matt\'s ear. "You are paying attention. You let yourself slip then."



Century sucked on his lollipop. "It was foxes the first night."



Matt told his DSi, "I agree. That was their warning cry. Now we know what they were warning us about."



Deontic considered it. "Fine. But it was the Gwrach-y-Rhibyn on the album." It wasn\'t couched as a question this time, she had concluded it. "Which means that she came to the band before the time when they fled."



"No." Mello interjected. "They just heard her." He sat back, smiling at her. He had already mused upon this point at home. "My theory on the band is that they removed the witch bottle. I don\'t know how they knew it was there. Perhaps Ioan had put it there. Perhaps he\'d found it there as a child playing in the grounds. Who knows? But I think they reached the place and had no excitement to enhance their record, so they removed the witch bottle and did a ritual." He paused, glancing at Hal. "You have had the symbol removed and the place reconsecrated to God?"



Hal nodded. "A priest went in two days later. It\'s now officially dedicated as a Catholic church."



"Good, because that\'s what the band were trying to tell us to do. What looked like my Mother Mary being randomly moved was actually a trail to that priest hole. We were downstairs, so they tried to lure us upstairs. We were moving away from the room, so they tried to turn us around. I believe that it was the ghosts who put the floorboards back over Matt. They were trying to focus our attention upon it." Mello shrugged. "And I, like an idiot, blessed every single room and space except for that one."



"You\'re not a priest, Mello." Fenian stated calmly enough. "And ghosts? I thought this was all Gwrach-y-Rhibyn."



"Hell no." Mello retorted with the other three agreeing. "Three things going on." He counted them off on gloved fingers. "The Gwrach-y-Rhibyn; the haunting of the band; and a third entity, which I still think was a flyer. I believe that there was a history of Gwrach-y-Rhibyn, which is why the witch bottle was under the tree in the first place. Moreover, I think that Mr Roberts knew this. Let me spell out my order of events." He took a bit of chocolate and got comfortable. "Maybe the house was built on the site of some ancient Celtic burial ground or something." He ignored Century rolling his eyes. "It had activity anyway. This is why a yew tree was planted on the crossroads behind the property. There was probably always a witch bottle placed under it and it did the job."



"Why?" Deontic demanded.



"Because it was supposed to." Mello shrugged. "It makes no more sense than the entity only going for Welsh people. Plus it\'s witchcraft. Why the fuck would I know about witchcraft? I\'m a Christian." He snapped the chocolate between his teeth and had to catch a large piece that fell. "Anyway, this was all about 400 years ago, because that\'s the estimated age of the yew tree." He shoved the chocolate into his mouth. "Along came the band and they removed the witch bottle. Who knows where that went? Probably chucked it over the fence into the woodland and down to the stream, because that\'s nearest." He considered it, a picture forming in his mind. "Maybe that\'s what Maja and Jan went to find when they were killed. I don\'t know. We will probably never know and that stands for a lot of things in this case."



Century frowned. "Surely they put it in the priest hole. It was there when Matt took it upon himself to smash it over his head."



"No, I don\'t think so." Mello smiled. "Because the jam jar that it was in had a sell by date on the bottom. That date was for a year previously. The way Mr and Mrs Roberts kept that house stocked up and clean, there would not have been out of date jam hanging around for them to use the jar. However, there might have been over the slope. Does Mrs Roberts strike you as the kind of woman who washes jars and keeps them for pickles or something?" His grin showed his teeth now. "Plus they would have known, from what happened to the band, that there was no protection there from Gwrach-y-Rhibyn. The second witch bottle was placed under the tree after the band died. It was put there by Mr Roberts, just as he was trying to place one there on the night that he was killed."



The others considered this. Hal coughed politely, "So how did it end up in the priest hole?"



"I knew you\'d ask that!" Mello looked smug. "It got there the same way as my Madonna kept moving around. Because the band didn\'t credit the removal of the witch bottle with any major significance. They thought it had all been their ritual. Actually removal isn\'t quite true. They thought that the threat came from the priest hole, so it was posthumously moved from the tree to there, thus allowing Gwrach-y-Rhibyn back in again."



Hal frowned. "I\'m so lost."



Century tried to explain it this time. "The witch bottle protects against Gwrach-y-Rhibyn, see?" He waited until she nodded. "Band removes it and so Gwrach-y-Rhibyn can enter the property again. All good so far, is it?"



"Yes."



"She rises and they hear her. Her cry is captured on the recording and sent off to Sweden. That cry is what\'s fucking up the heads of everyone who hears it, see?"



"Not necessarily." Mello interjected. "It\'s a contributory factor, but I\'ll get onto that in a minute. Carry on for Hal\'s sake with this."



Century looked puzzled. He said slowly, "Ok." His mind racing to discipher where Mello\'s reasoning had taken him. Mello just gestured, so Century went on. "They possibly thought it was foxes or something, because it wasn\'t in their face, see? But they heard it. It might be coincidental that they got it nearly right, because it..."



"Ah!" Mello leapt forward. "I\'ve got it! It wasn\'t Gwrach-y-Rhibyn at all! It was always the foxes for them. But how freaking eerie did those foxes sound? If you were creative, wouldn\'t you have made the leap from that noise to a banshee? Someone did. They heard it and then sat down and wrote the song. They recorded it around the time that they heard the foxes some nights. Perhaps with a microphone hanging out of the window. I think that the song has the warning cry of foxes on it."



"Then why is it killing people?"



"I\'ll get to that in a minute. You carry on about Gwrach-y-Rhibyn."



Century turned over the key-ring in his hand. On the back, there was a line drawing of the Adeiladaeth Cynulliad, the Parliament Building in Machynlleth. He stared at it. "On the final night, she came back and it was probably Gwrach-y-Rhibyn who scared them enough to flee. I\'ll add my voice to those who think she mauled Jan Pettersson. She may have done for Michael Adda too. I doubt very much that she went to Sweden to kill Rasmus Lindgren." He looked at Mello for confirmation and Mello nodded, smiling. "After they\'re all dead and gone, Mr Roberts returned and placed another Witch Bottle under the tree. The ghosts of the band moved it into the priest hole. It doesn\'t give the right protection in the priest hole. It\'s traditionally supposed to be under the yew tree or in the walls of the house, depending upon what they are trying to protect." He thought about it. "Maybe it did protect the house, after a fashion, until Matt smashed it."



Deontic agreed emphatically. "Because roughly the same time as Matt destroyed the Witch Bottle, I thought I saw her rising out of the river."



There were nods all round. Century looked back at the Slav. "And Mello\'s dying to tell us about his flyer theory."



Mello grinned. "The band, even posthumously, thought that they had raised Gwrach-y-Rhibyn through their ritual." He met each of their eyes in turn. "They did. They just invited her in with the whole Witch Bottle removal thing."



"Because they\'re noobs." Matt gave as his sole contribution, still focused on his DSi.



Mello chuckled, looking around at them as if to say \'isn\'t he lovely?\', as he rubbed his hand up and down Matt\'s back. Mello was met with a sea of blank faces, though Century and Hal smiled. Mello bit into his chocolate and became serious again. "I think that the band wrote and recorded a lot of mediocre songs that we never going to measure up to the ambience that they wished to achieve. Ioan probably knew about the priest hole and somewhere along the way, they decided to open it up and do some kind of ritual. Perhaps summoning demons or other such witchcraft. I\'m purely speculating when I say that it was the same day as they removed the Witch Bottle. It had to have been in the vicinity of that day, as they weren\'t there that long. Gwrach-y-Rhibyn was already prowling, but there was no reason for her to come. No-one, at that point, was dying. But her presense," Mello paused, his gaze going inwards as he worked it out, "her presense sent up a preternatural beacon. It opened up the breach and things came to investigate. It found a silly, little band engaged in stupid ritualistic behaviour."



"Hold on." Fenian scowled. "Why are we so convinced that they were crap at the ritual? The way you\'re talking with breachs and fucking whatnot, things coming through, it sounds like you need to call Torchwood. It\'s Wales, under their jurisdiction." He smirked. "Wouldn\'t it be a simpler explanation to say that they did a ritual and they were successful?"



Mello shook his head. "Flyers can\'t be summoned like that."



"Then it wasn\'t a flyer."



Mello frowned. "It fits the profile of a flyer! Read your Castañeda, Fenian, because you dismiss this."



Deontic nodded. "You have been convinced of this ever since it occurred to you, Mello. I\'m sorry, but I\'m with Fenian here. However," she raised her hand before anyone could argue, "there is no way of proving either of you right, therefore that particular aspect will have to be added to the record as unknown. Something came through, that much is certain..."



"Why is it?" Fenian demanded.



Century responded, "Because there was definitely Gwrach-y-Rhibyn, but 90% of what happened in that house can\'t be explained away by her alone. Also, why would she attack a Swede in Sweden? Attacking a Welsh ex-pat there, I could accept, but not a Swede. On top of that, the list of those dead through listening to the song isn\'t filled with Welshmen and women. It\'s global."



Fenian nodded. "Ok."



Mello hurried into the resolution to press on with his theory. "Whether it was a flyer or something summoned by the band, which," he glared at Fenian, "acted like a flyer, then that was the entity which caused the international damage. It eats at your psychology and pushes your fears to the fore. You do it to yourself, which is why it was so subjective. Deontic, you tell it."



"I know about the psychology of fear." Fenian snapped. "Though why you\'re looking to demons, I don\'t know. It sounds more like the Tuatha De Danann to me." He pointed to the area in the report describing Deontic\'s urge to drown herself in the river. "Like here, top of page 5, that reminds me of this lake near where..." He paused, marshalled his thoughts and plunged on, "Gort in Galway, Eire. People have reportedly had an overwhelming urge to throw themselves into it and drown. That\'s the bewitchment of the Tuatha De Danann. The house was probably built on a fairy pathway or something."



Even Matt was looking up now. Mello licked his chocolate thoughtfully, then glanced at Century. The teenager was just staring at his keyring impassively. Mello asked eventually, "Do you belive in fairies, Fenian?"



"I keep an open mind, Mello." He too looked to Century. "Remind me what your bloody fairies are called again."



Century\'s mouth opened, but it was Matt who murmured, "Mello and Matt."



Century snorted, "Y Tylwyth Teg." He looked up at Matt and laughed. "What is it with you pair? We had Mello in the house going on about being a raving queen." Matt just grinned over his DSi. "Sorry, Fenian, it\'s Y Tylwyth Teg. I\'m not an expert. I tend to be more Welsh history than Welsh mythology."



"Well, if they\'re anything like the Tuatha De Danann, then it\'s severely bad look to build over their path."



"The Manor has been there for centuries."



"Deserted now though, isn\'t it?"



Century shrugged. "The bright lights of Cardiff beckoned."



"The stable." Deontic commented suddenly. "The stable wasn\'t as old as the house and it was that which bisected the path of the crossroads." She held up her hands. "I\'m just picking up things from what you\'re all saying. Maybe the building of the stable messed up this path and that\'s why..."



Mello shook his head. "But the Witch Bottle has been under the yew tree for probably 400 years or so."



"How do we know that? You speculated that, Mello."



He blinked and gave a sheepish grin. "Ok. Point taken."



Hal\'s pen hovered over the pad. "So was it a flyer or these fairies or what?"



They all looked at one another, even Matt raised his head to do so. No-one offered a definitive answer. Mello swallowed the chocolate in his mouth. "Hal, arrange for the stable to be demolished. Pay Mrs Roberts a substantial dividend for her loss. Transfer the deeds of the manor into Century\'s name, just so that no future..."



"What?" Century was staring, his jaw dropped.



"It\'s historical; it\'s Welsh; and it\'s too dangerous to be left in the hands of any organisation that wasn\'t necessarily there. If it\'s left with Watari, I\'ll end up getting it demolished. I\'m not saying that you have to live there. I\'m just ensuring that anything that happens to or with the place has to go through you first." Mello shrugged. "Any dissent?" They just sat there looking stunned, except for Matt, who returned to his game. "Fine, motion raised and passed." Mello slammed his hand onto the coffee table. "Next?"



Hal tore her eyes away from Century back to the Slav. "What am I writing in this report?"



"Entity unknown haunts the place in addition to the Gwrach-y-Rhibyn. It feeds off fear and anguish and it\'s sentient." He saw Deontic and Century both nod. "It acts to raise fear and attaches itself to human beings. It feeds off our fear. If you stop being afraid of it, it goes away, but while it\'s there it\'s very hard to stop being afraid." Mello nodded towards Century. "It leads you open to suggestion. You create your own nightmares and it helps you do it. It can reproduce sounds and maybe, but this is open to debate, control the weather..."



"Y Tylwyth Teg." Fenian declared. "Got to be."



"... and can cause hallucinations. I\'m fairly sure that the appearance of Nathalie was an hallucination. More to the point, it was me talking to myself. It was suggested by Deontic having said to me that she wished that Nathalie was there, because Nathalie would have known what to do." Mello flicked his hand dismissively. "It could be supernatural or it could have simply been the affect of calcium ions swamping our systems. Calcium ions being created by adrenaline, brought on by fear. The further we went, the more afraid we became, the greater the phenomenon."



"Yet," Hal consulted her notes, "the most terrifying night of all was the last one. But all phenomena, except for Gwrach-y-Rhibyn, had stopped. Why?"



"Because..." Here Mello faltered. This aspect had been niggling away at his intellect ever since. "I thought I had the answer there and that was not to be scared." He frowned. "Maybe it got bored and went away. Maybe Gwrach-y-Rhibyn scared it off."



Fenian was staring at the report. "And maybe you called upon the Welsh Goddess of Pathways to help you out. Did you chant, \'Elen Llwyddog, helpu fi\' all over the house?"



Mello touched his rosary. "I\'d blessed it all with holy water."



Silence descended upon them. Deontic eventually spoke, very quietly, "We don\'t know yet, but investigations are continuing. In the meantime, the case asked only for the killer song itself to be identified and dealt with. Matt and I did a great job on the internet, if I do say so myself, and I believe that there have been no recent deaths reported. I motion therefore that this is case closed and that Mello gets the credit for orchestrating its resolution."



Hal nodded. "Mello has already asked for all four accounts to be credited." She put down her notebook. "I will get the report completed and submitted to the relevant parties."



"That\'s very generous of you." Deontic directed her comment at Mello.



He nodded. "It\'s only fair."



"Diolch yn fawr." Century added.



Mello nodded again, but his attention was back with Fenian. "What can I do to make amends to you? I really do want to sort this shit out between us now."



"Keep out of my face?" Fenian responded.



Mello sighed and bowed his head. "Ok. But Fenian," Mello raised his head again and stared fiercely at the Irishman. "I will never hang up a telephone or any other communication on you. If it appears that that has happened, then you know that I\'ve been cut off. Is that understood?" He watched the Irishman nod. "Hal, I want to raise a propostion. It concerns a statute that doesn\'t actually exist in the Watari constitution, but I wish to have it noted there." Even Matt scowled and looked up. The constitution of Watari had once been his baby and he had not been primed in advance about this. Despite the deep suspicion of his peers, Mello\'s gaze took in only Fenian. "I wish it to be noted that all alliances, friendships and relationships involving persons unknown to Watari, but forged by one of its members, should not be investigated unless there is proof that it is detrimental to that person or the organisation. In short, there are not enough of us to marry each other, and I\'ve already grabbed the best looking one, so any partners found outside Watari will be afforded the same rights as the relevant governmental authorities would ordinarily provide. So if, say, Fenian had a wife or girlfriend unknown to us, then it\'s none of our business. But he should have the right to give her a contact number, if he was ever in trouble, and should anything happen to him, then she would receive a widow\'s pension consistent with his earning potential and the full protection of Watari for the rest of her life." Mello smiled at Fenian\'s stunned expression. "Just purely an example, of course. And the same goes for any young ladies in Conwy. And obviously any assistance to any children of a union outside Watari. I know that Chrissie and Salvo have been making noises regarding their baby. Whatever it ultimately gets, then the same should be given to any offspring."



Matt sniffed. "You\'re still not having a cat."



Mello slapped him, but his attention was immediately back onto Fenian. "Are we agreed?"



Fenian nodded slowly. Century gushed out, "Yes."



Deontic exchanged glances with Hal, but it was the Malayasian women who spoke, "I agree in principle, but we need a majority decision and...." She quickly counted those present.



"Six here." Mello grinned. "Five not. If we all agree, then we have the majority. Though if it makes you feel better, Fenian and Century, you present the proposition to Chrissie and Salvo. I\'ll take Luigi..."



"You will not." Deontic stated firmly. "I will ask Luigi and Linda."



"And Near can go..." Mello began.



Hal interupted. "I\'ll ask Near."



Mello flicked his hair back. "All in favour raise your hand."



Century, Fenian, Matt and Mello did so immediately. Deontic hesitantly followed. Hal looked pained. "If there\'s no constitution already then...."



"Just raise your hand, Hal."



Hal glared at Mello. "I\'ll not be bullied into this."



"Please."



"Have you thought it through?"



"Yes." Mello replied, emphatically. "Look! You have five people here, all L\'s heirs, saying yes. Do you not think that one of us would have spotted a flaw if there was one?"



Deontic narrowed her eyes. "There are plenty of flaws, Mello, but I recognise this as a gesture between yourself and Fenian. In the spirit of unity, then I\'m agreeing to it and hoping that I will never regret that."



"Oh! Come on, Deontic." Mello looked pained. "What more danger can there be than allowing Matt and I to be in a relationship? The only safe thing about that is that we both already know about Watari." He grinned at her worried expression. "Joke." Then looked around him. "We\'re all agreed, Hal?"



She sighed and raised her hand. "Agreed."



"Hurrah." Mello leaned forward and held out his hand. It was tentatively taken by Fenian and shook. "Congratulations. Please give my regards to your lady."



Fenian blinked, shrinking back slightly. He nodded, unsure how to respond to all of this. Eventually he turned to Century and commented quietly, "If we\'re done here, shall we go to the pub?"



Century smiled. "Yes." Then looked around at the others. "Are you coming?"



Mello smiled back. "I\'m sure that you don\'t want us cramping your style. Go ahead. You and Fenian have a lot to catch up on."



Fenian rallied. "Mello." He paused, chewing over the words before they escaped his mouth. "Come for one."



A long, hard look passed between them. Mello finally glanced at Matt. "Pub?"



Matt nodded, pausing his game and stuffing it into his coat pocket. Deontic stood too, wrapping her cardigan around herself and looking like she would rather be doing anything else, but politics and diplomacy demanded this. Mello grinned at Hal. "Come on. Half an hour away from here won\'t kill you."



Hal waved him away. "I have a lot to do for..."



"Come on."



She sighed. "Deontic can referee."



"Come on."



Century added his voice. "Please, Hal, it would be nice to get to know you more, now that you\'re safe to know."



She surrendered, making calls so that the relevant people knew that she was missing. It was an uneasy alliance that strolled out of Wammy\'s House and into the city, but, for the first time in their lives, it felt as though everyone really was trying. If Fenian and Mello sat at opposite ends of the table and if the conversation was a little stilted, it didn\'t matter, they were there and alive and that, ultimately, was all that counted.