Hell and Healing
folder
Death Note › Yaoi-Male/Male
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
12
Views:
3,371
Reviews:
16
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Death Note › Yaoi-Male/Male
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
12
Views:
3,371
Reviews:
16
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Death Note, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Release
SPOILERS: All manga, all anime, L's true name, Another Note, Law and Right, Truth and Justice, Motive and Mayhem.
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Hell and Healing
Chapter 7: Release
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After suffering through Light's company for the better part of a week, Mello was released from the hospital and allowed to pick up his belongings at the prison. After that, it was another two weeks in recovery at the Japanese headquarters.
He was really, really getting sick of Light, so he went out to take a lazy stroll one crisp Tuesday morning, his hands stuck in his pockets to keep him warm. His thoughts were wandering, his gaze on his feet as he went nowhere in particular.
When he stopped an hour later and looked up, he found himself standing outside the prison. He sighed, checking his watch. Tuesday was visitor's day, from eight to eight. He made his way to the office and asked to see Matt.
Ten minutes later he was settled into a private visiting room, a cup of coffee in hand as he waited. He sipped slowly when the door opened and Matt came in, settling into the chair opposite Mello. There was a CO in the room but otherwise they were alone.
Mello waited, sipping his coffee, until Matt finally spoke.
"I'm glad you came. I was starting to worry that you wouldn't."
"You trained me too well for that, didn't you?" Mello curled his lip slightly. He was still more than a little bitter about it.
Matt sighed softly, taking the cup of coffee they’d given to him and sipping from it. "I didn't train you, I brainwashed you."
"And it's about damn time you admitted it, too," Mello growled. "I'm leaving the country in two weeks. I'll come back to say goodbye before then."
"Will you come back to Japan if I'm released?" Matt's gaze lowered to his coffee.
"Don't know," Mello admitted with a shrug. "I don't base all my decisions around you, you know. I've got my own damn life now."
"I know. I just want to be able to see you," he shrugged right back, taking a long drink of his coffee. "Is that a crime now, all the sudden?"
"It ought to be. The fuck are you gonna do if I get a restraining order?" Mello sneered.
Matt winced at the very idea. "Obey it, I suppose, and wish that I didn't have to," he sighed, leaning on the table. "Look, I know I was an asshole to you, but how could I not keep things going after what happened? I couldn't just fess up to being Kira."
"Yes, you could have!" Mello snapped, slammed his coffee cup down on the table, the coffee scalded his scarred hand, though he hardly felt it. "You could have told me before it all went down and I would have been right fucking there with you. I've always had your god damn back, so instead of trusting me, you lie, you twist my head up so I can't see what you're fucking up to? It isn't right, Matt, and I can't just forgive you that god damned easily for it!"
When Mello fell silent, Matt let out a sigh. "I guess not," he agreed reluctantly, "but I'm not trying to make myself out to look like an angel or anything. I just didn't see any way to tell you, especially once I'd fallen in love with you," he dragged a hand through his hair restlessly.
"Just when the fuck did that happen, anyway?" he asked wearily.
"Not sure, but I realized it when you were recovering from those scars," Matt reached out, brushing his fingers against the scarring on Mello's face. "I felt horrible about it. About everything. I almost told you, then and there."
"If it hadn't been for L and Light?" Mello asked, shaking his head a little.
"No. I was afraid you'd... hate me, reject me, turn me in? All of those things," he sighed.
"You should have known better," Mello scolded softly, but he didn't pull away from the hand that was still lingering on his face, on his scars. His gaze shifted to his coffee, to the splotchy redness on his hand where the coffee had spilled. He pulled out a few napkins and blotted at it.
"Should have," Matt agreed with a soft smile. "Maybe someday we can work together again. I'd like that."
Mello let his gaze meet Matt's again, let out a quiet sigh. "Maybe, but it's a long way off if it ever happens. I should go."
"I'll wait for you," Matt replied simply, pulling his hand away and rising, letting the CO cuff him and escort him off.
When Mello reached the sidewalk again, he hailed a cab and went straight to the airport. Light would understand, but it was Near he was worried about.
He didn't even want to think about how L might react.
Mello did, true to his word, come back two weeks later to see Matt, but the visit was short and terse. It barely lasted five minutes before Mello was gone, but he kept close tabs on what was happening.
Needless to say, when Mello showed up to the parole hearing a few months later, Matt was more than a little surprised. He said nothing, simply taking his seat and keeping his gaze on the parole board. L and Light were there, as he expected, and Near as well. They had all given testimony before he had come into the room and now he had to defend himself against things he'd neither seen nor heard.
The hearing only lasted half an hour after Matt had answered the questions the board had for him and much to his surprise, they actually granted his parole. As he was led to the room, he glanced over his shoulder at Mello and smiled softly. Maybe it had been L who had swayed the board members, but just the fact that Mello had come, for whatever reason, made him happy.
It meant that Mello still cared, and if he still cared, there was a chance. When the idea of bending Mello to his will once more crossed his mind, he pushed it away and focused on the task at hand -- getting ready for release.
The snow in Norway was falling in heavy, wet flakes on Mello’s fur-lined parka. He was working another case there, tracking a group that enjoyed dining on the rarest of animals.
Near, he knew, was on the same case. Mello had gained a bit of their trust and was slowly building up an image of the organization. Smuggling endangered animals wasn't the worst thing they were doing -- people, too, were on the menu, and much more often than those animals.
The criminals were exceptionally careful about disposing of the materials and it was nearly impossible to identify the remains as being human.
Nearly, because Mello had managed to get a decent knuckle bone out of their sludge after he began working as a dishwasher. He wasn't allowed in the kitchen when they were cooking, and most everything was cleaned up by the time he was allowed in, but he had the chance to look at their trash without being watched too closely and had managed to pocket the bone before it was ground up.
He'd sent it off, later that evening, to the local authorities with a simple note, telling them where it had come from. Now he was waiting, watching, washing the damn dishes that had been used to serve the flesh of a human.
He stopped, standing on the street and gazing straight ahead. Surely he was seeing things, but the figure kept moving towards him.
Even beneath the heavy parka, the thick, baggy pants and the boots that nearly swallowed him whole, it was easy to identify him. Near. His hood was thrown back as if he'd forgotten most heat leaves the human body through the head. His nose was bright red and so were his cheeks, his chin. His forehead was hidden by a cap of snow that covered his white hair.
He came to a halt in front of Mello, held out his hand.
The offer had Mello starring almost as much as seeing Near had. The silence, made heavy by the snowfall, lasted for nearly a minute before Mello finally reached out, taking Near's hand.
There were no words as they walked, as Near led the way down the street, walking slowly and carefully over the ice and sand. Mello reached out with his other hand, brushing snow off of Near's head and pulling the hood up for him.
He shrugged defensively and frowned when Near glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. It was only a few minutes longer before they reached a small building and Near pulled out his keys, unlocking the front door.
They passed inside, then into what appeared to be little more than a closet. Pushing a few large coats aside revealed a control panel. Near scanned his palm print and retina in, then gave a DNA sample. The back of the room slid open and Near stepped into the small elevator.
When the doors slid shut, Mello stepped forward and did the same, standing next to near as the small elevator descended and wondering just why he'd come. He looked at Near as the doors slid open again and sighed as the boy stepped out into the base and began removing his outdoor clothes.
With a shake of his head, Mello followed Near, pulling off his boots and jacket, heading over to the nearest terminal and sitting down to work.
This was going to be awkward.
~!~!~!~!~!~
A/N: Jeeze, this update was a long time in coming. I must have wrote it three or four times! Sorry for taking so long, though. College started back up again and I had some issues with financial aid and a really crappy roommate. Things have (mostly) settled now, though, so with any luck I'll be churning out at least a chapter a week. I hope. Hooooooope!
kayla: Awww, how cute. =3 You think you're being offensive. The relationship I was writing is an unhealthy one. That's the entire point of the relationship, and the rest of your comments are just gibberish, so I'll simply ignore them. I will, however, point out that you need to take a psychology class before you make statements like that.
Grin: Thank you! Yay! I updated! Finally! XD;
Flame1313: Thank you! =3 Healthy wasn't really what I was going for, with their relationship, really, but I do agree that, eventually, they could pull it off. I honestly still haven't decided where I'm going with their relationship. It's all up in the air. Still. XD
Second, thank you again and I'm so glad you enjoyed them. =3 It really was one of those things where I decided to do a writing exercise and, well, if you've ever stuck live yeast in the back of a fridge for a week... think about that happening, only with a story. ^^; I do plan to finish this story, though I haven't been able to update lately because of issues with my roommate and starting college again. (Fracking Unix is only offered as an evening class and required for my major. Y.Y)
~!~!~!~!~!~
Hell and Healing
Chapter 7: Release
~!~!~!~!~!~
After suffering through Light's company for the better part of a week, Mello was released from the hospital and allowed to pick up his belongings at the prison. After that, it was another two weeks in recovery at the Japanese headquarters.
He was really, really getting sick of Light, so he went out to take a lazy stroll one crisp Tuesday morning, his hands stuck in his pockets to keep him warm. His thoughts were wandering, his gaze on his feet as he went nowhere in particular.
When he stopped an hour later and looked up, he found himself standing outside the prison. He sighed, checking his watch. Tuesday was visitor's day, from eight to eight. He made his way to the office and asked to see Matt.
Ten minutes later he was settled into a private visiting room, a cup of coffee in hand as he waited. He sipped slowly when the door opened and Matt came in, settling into the chair opposite Mello. There was a CO in the room but otherwise they were alone.
Mello waited, sipping his coffee, until Matt finally spoke.
"I'm glad you came. I was starting to worry that you wouldn't."
"You trained me too well for that, didn't you?" Mello curled his lip slightly. He was still more than a little bitter about it.
Matt sighed softly, taking the cup of coffee they’d given to him and sipping from it. "I didn't train you, I brainwashed you."
"And it's about damn time you admitted it, too," Mello growled. "I'm leaving the country in two weeks. I'll come back to say goodbye before then."
"Will you come back to Japan if I'm released?" Matt's gaze lowered to his coffee.
"Don't know," Mello admitted with a shrug. "I don't base all my decisions around you, you know. I've got my own damn life now."
"I know. I just want to be able to see you," he shrugged right back, taking a long drink of his coffee. "Is that a crime now, all the sudden?"
"It ought to be. The fuck are you gonna do if I get a restraining order?" Mello sneered.
Matt winced at the very idea. "Obey it, I suppose, and wish that I didn't have to," he sighed, leaning on the table. "Look, I know I was an asshole to you, but how could I not keep things going after what happened? I couldn't just fess up to being Kira."
"Yes, you could have!" Mello snapped, slammed his coffee cup down on the table, the coffee scalded his scarred hand, though he hardly felt it. "You could have told me before it all went down and I would have been right fucking there with you. I've always had your god damn back, so instead of trusting me, you lie, you twist my head up so I can't see what you're fucking up to? It isn't right, Matt, and I can't just forgive you that god damned easily for it!"
When Mello fell silent, Matt let out a sigh. "I guess not," he agreed reluctantly, "but I'm not trying to make myself out to look like an angel or anything. I just didn't see any way to tell you, especially once I'd fallen in love with you," he dragged a hand through his hair restlessly.
"Just when the fuck did that happen, anyway?" he asked wearily.
"Not sure, but I realized it when you were recovering from those scars," Matt reached out, brushing his fingers against the scarring on Mello's face. "I felt horrible about it. About everything. I almost told you, then and there."
"If it hadn't been for L and Light?" Mello asked, shaking his head a little.
"No. I was afraid you'd... hate me, reject me, turn me in? All of those things," he sighed.
"You should have known better," Mello scolded softly, but he didn't pull away from the hand that was still lingering on his face, on his scars. His gaze shifted to his coffee, to the splotchy redness on his hand where the coffee had spilled. He pulled out a few napkins and blotted at it.
"Should have," Matt agreed with a soft smile. "Maybe someday we can work together again. I'd like that."
Mello let his gaze meet Matt's again, let out a quiet sigh. "Maybe, but it's a long way off if it ever happens. I should go."
"I'll wait for you," Matt replied simply, pulling his hand away and rising, letting the CO cuff him and escort him off.
When Mello reached the sidewalk again, he hailed a cab and went straight to the airport. Light would understand, but it was Near he was worried about.
He didn't even want to think about how L might react.
Mello did, true to his word, come back two weeks later to see Matt, but the visit was short and terse. It barely lasted five minutes before Mello was gone, but he kept close tabs on what was happening.
Needless to say, when Mello showed up to the parole hearing a few months later, Matt was more than a little surprised. He said nothing, simply taking his seat and keeping his gaze on the parole board. L and Light were there, as he expected, and Near as well. They had all given testimony before he had come into the room and now he had to defend himself against things he'd neither seen nor heard.
The hearing only lasted half an hour after Matt had answered the questions the board had for him and much to his surprise, they actually granted his parole. As he was led to the room, he glanced over his shoulder at Mello and smiled softly. Maybe it had been L who had swayed the board members, but just the fact that Mello had come, for whatever reason, made him happy.
It meant that Mello still cared, and if he still cared, there was a chance. When the idea of bending Mello to his will once more crossed his mind, he pushed it away and focused on the task at hand -- getting ready for release.
The snow in Norway was falling in heavy, wet flakes on Mello’s fur-lined parka. He was working another case there, tracking a group that enjoyed dining on the rarest of animals.
Near, he knew, was on the same case. Mello had gained a bit of their trust and was slowly building up an image of the organization. Smuggling endangered animals wasn't the worst thing they were doing -- people, too, were on the menu, and much more often than those animals.
The criminals were exceptionally careful about disposing of the materials and it was nearly impossible to identify the remains as being human.
Nearly, because Mello had managed to get a decent knuckle bone out of their sludge after he began working as a dishwasher. He wasn't allowed in the kitchen when they were cooking, and most everything was cleaned up by the time he was allowed in, but he had the chance to look at their trash without being watched too closely and had managed to pocket the bone before it was ground up.
He'd sent it off, later that evening, to the local authorities with a simple note, telling them where it had come from. Now he was waiting, watching, washing the damn dishes that had been used to serve the flesh of a human.
He stopped, standing on the street and gazing straight ahead. Surely he was seeing things, but the figure kept moving towards him.
Even beneath the heavy parka, the thick, baggy pants and the boots that nearly swallowed him whole, it was easy to identify him. Near. His hood was thrown back as if he'd forgotten most heat leaves the human body through the head. His nose was bright red and so were his cheeks, his chin. His forehead was hidden by a cap of snow that covered his white hair.
He came to a halt in front of Mello, held out his hand.
The offer had Mello starring almost as much as seeing Near had. The silence, made heavy by the snowfall, lasted for nearly a minute before Mello finally reached out, taking Near's hand.
There were no words as they walked, as Near led the way down the street, walking slowly and carefully over the ice and sand. Mello reached out with his other hand, brushing snow off of Near's head and pulling the hood up for him.
He shrugged defensively and frowned when Near glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. It was only a few minutes longer before they reached a small building and Near pulled out his keys, unlocking the front door.
They passed inside, then into what appeared to be little more than a closet. Pushing a few large coats aside revealed a control panel. Near scanned his palm print and retina in, then gave a DNA sample. The back of the room slid open and Near stepped into the small elevator.
When the doors slid shut, Mello stepped forward and did the same, standing next to near as the small elevator descended and wondering just why he'd come. He looked at Near as the doors slid open again and sighed as the boy stepped out into the base and began removing his outdoor clothes.
With a shake of his head, Mello followed Near, pulling off his boots and jacket, heading over to the nearest terminal and sitting down to work.
This was going to be awkward.
~!~!~!~!~!~
A/N: Jeeze, this update was a long time in coming. I must have wrote it three or four times! Sorry for taking so long, though. College started back up again and I had some issues with financial aid and a really crappy roommate. Things have (mostly) settled now, though, so with any luck I'll be churning out at least a chapter a week. I hope. Hooooooope!
kayla: Awww, how cute. =3 You think you're being offensive. The relationship I was writing is an unhealthy one. That's the entire point of the relationship, and the rest of your comments are just gibberish, so I'll simply ignore them. I will, however, point out that you need to take a psychology class before you make statements like that.
Grin: Thank you! Yay! I updated! Finally! XD;
Flame1313: Thank you! =3 Healthy wasn't really what I was going for, with their relationship, really, but I do agree that, eventually, they could pull it off. I honestly still haven't decided where I'm going with their relationship. It's all up in the air. Still. XD
Second, thank you again and I'm so glad you enjoyed them. =3 It really was one of those things where I decided to do a writing exercise and, well, if you've ever stuck live yeast in the back of a fridge for a week... think about that happening, only with a story. ^^; I do plan to finish this story, though I haven't been able to update lately because of issues with my roommate and starting college again. (Fracking Unix is only offered as an evening class and required for my major. Y.Y)