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Desperate Times	By : Resting-Madness Category: Death Note > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 2414 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I make no profit from this story its simply for fun. I do not own Death Note. Nor do I own any of the places mentioned in this pennyless work of fiction. I'm just having a good time and hoping you all like it too.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
We met with that guy, L, at the cafe we previously saw Light Yagami. We had the tissue with the blood sample, but little else.
Honestly... I was beginning to think that we'd started looking for him too late, and Near was already dead somewhere... left with wonder if anyone had ever really cared about him since he ended up where he was and had never been found before or after death.
Matt and Mello watch in muted horror of the detective, who's eating from a stack of little pecan cakes with great enthusiasm. It was as if the two young men weren't even there. And he isn't just stuffing them down his throat one by one, he's changing up the method in which he eats them by sometimes eating it whole, other times picking the pecans free to eat them first before devouring the cake, then there was the uncoiling the ring from itself, sticking a piece in his mouth after which he began chewing it in, inch by inch. He broke one up and ate it bit by bit, and another he cut into squares.
He probably would have continued with this insanity had Matt not jabbed Mello with his elbow, and poked his puffed up cheeks with his index fingers, coaxing the odd man to talk.
"If you're implying that I'll pop, you're very mistaken." Monotoned the detective.
L doesn't even look up from the plate of cakes that he's now wriggling fingers as spindly as spider's legs over, while his eyes wondered which cake would be doomed to eaten extinction next.
"Now, onto the matter." Grabbing a cake, L eats this one from its nutty face down to its bare bottom. "Mmm.. mm. What have you gathered from your hunts?"
Matt, though embarrassed because he'd even thought that poking the man's gut would cause him to laugh like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, sobered up his comedic brain when reaching into his vest pocket, "We searched a house, and found this." then he drops the tissue onto the table top.
Enlarged eyes slid over to the thing. "Hardly sanitary, but it will be analyzed." Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a ziplock sandwich bag. It acted as a plastic glove protecting his hand from germs while he grabs up the tissue for analysis.
"Thanks. We're not sure if its Near's blood or the homeowner's, but the house we found it in the guy was really weird, and the place smelled like disinfectants... that was the one thing that seemed really out of place."
"Very good, stripes." He hands him a cake from his plate of sweets.
"It's Matt, actually, but thanks." He looks to Mello with a sort of pleased smugness, before he eats his reward with the same enthusiasm as the detective.
He and Mello have been so focused on finding Near they've been skipping meals; he actually picked the cafe in hope that L would treat them to a meal somewhere else, once he sees that they haven't ordered anything, or maybe he'd at least give them some money so they can get something to eat afterwards.
"The guy had a real chip on his shoulder, too," Mello adds, turning his nose up to Matt's smug expression. "His name is... Teru Mikami. I saw it written on his mail when he snuck upstairs to check on Matt."
"Do you think he was hiding something of importance that he was afraid would be discovered? Or was he simply itchy because two strangers were searching his home as a ruse to possibly cause him harm?"
"I'm not sure, but something got under his skin before we came over." He taps his finger on the cup rim of his triple shot of mochaccino. "The guy had the shit beatin' out of him, though, so I could see his thinking we were thugs." He takes a large gulp of his drink.
Mello really needed this chocolate fix too, it's been ages since he's treated himself to a beloved Hershey's bar, a so-so Nestle's bar, or even a mushy cop-out of a 3 Musketeers candy bar. He was sure that if he had a gun, he'd be trigger happy from the unintentional cold-turkey quitting of chocolate. The little white cup came to a pause before reaching Mello's lips again, because L caused the moment of pause when reaching across the table to dunk his sweet cinnamon and nutty flavored pastry into it. Momentarily stunned by this, he then took it upon himself to reach for a cake, since that seemed to be how things were going to go down, but his advances were promptly shut down when he's struck on the back of the hand by the man's spoon.
"Ow!" Mello jerked his hand back, rubbing it tenderly with the other. "What the hell?! I only wanted one."
"Sweets are earned." He casually says, right before handing one over to the blond street-walker.
"Oh what, 'cause I can take a crack to the hand I've earned a treat. I'm not a dog."
"Suit yourself," L reaches for the cake retracting it to his plate. "But that cake was given to you because you found out the man's name by looking at his mail. That'll help the police if the blood on the tissue didn't come from bruises on him."
"The blood seems too fresh, those injuries are days old... not too long ago, but, not from today in any sense."
"See... you're also very observant." Handing the cake back to it's rewarded, L returns to his own pile to finish the last two of the sweets by eight collective bites between them. "I'm going to get in touch with someone who can help us on our field trip tomorrow. I've had an agent positioned in the online rings for a while, and he says there's going to be a gathering tomorrow. We're going to be there."
"All of us?" Matt looked green at the thought.
"Yes. I need enough men on the inside with me while we view the merchandise, and the two of you will fit in perfectly, along with an agent of my choosing from the bureau. He's sort of freelanced with the department, and brilliant."
Mello thought of Light at that moment, wondering if he could get in on it?
"I'll need you more accessible to me than meeting up in this cafe." Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a card. "Here. It's got plenty of money on it. I need you to check into a hotel, anyone of your choosing, then get yourselves something to wear. I don't care what you look like myself, but you can't look like the items in the display case."
Matt and Mello wide-eyed the gold card in Matt's gloved hand. How could the man be so blase with this?!
Scoffing, Mello balked. "What makes you think we won't cut our losses with Near, and skip town with this thing?"
Drinking idly from his coffee, L then sets it down to lift one of his long fingers up for the pair to see. "One, I only used twelve percent of my actual strength on you when I thought you were trying to rob me." He extends a second finger. "Two, that card only has ten thousand dollars on it, so it's not as if you could live off of it for the rest of your lives, and anywhere you spend it you'd be tracked instantly. And three," He raises his third finger. "the very fact that you've done all of this so far tells me that, though I made you perceive you could be trusted with a limitless gold card, you care very much about Near and will not stop your search for him until he's found... and no amount of money will deter you, right?"
Mello didn't need to answer that. The detective is right. He wants Near back. Near is ten thousand dollars. He needs him and Matt at his side. There is no going back to just the two of them, not when Near's leaving wasn't by his choice. Someone took him. If he had found better, he would have found some way to cut ties with them, to let them know that- even if he couldn't do a face to face out of guilt- he wanted them to know that he's doing all right. That was the only way he could let all of this go.
Blinking from his thoughts, he looks across the table to see L staring at him. He physically recoiled when seeing the man smile at him. It was out of place, and odd.
"I like to watch wheels turning... you've got many layers, don't you Mello." Expression returned to its more natural- neutral- state, the man gets up from his seat. "I'll see you both tomorrow then. Remember this number," He gives it to them. "call it once you've found a hotel, so I'll know where to reach you for tomorrow. And please, dress like someone who's at least got enough money to buy sex by the body, rather than specific activities... but not so well as to polar opposite your natural appearance."
"We've seen enough guys and know the dress code," Mello assured. Getting up from the table as well, he holds out a hand.
L eyed it, then pinching the younger male by the index finger he tugs his hand up and down. Then humming the song: 'Tomorrow', he exits the cafe.
"What're we gonna do now?" Matt looks over his shoulder, waiting until the very strange detective has left before speaking. "We're seriously going to the trafficking ring with this guy?"
"Hell yeah, we are. It's better than going alone like we'd planned." Mello looks down into his cup of cappuccino, having to pluck out a pecan before downing the rest. Setting the cup down, he pinches the excess from his lips. "Right now, we should try out a couple more houses. It's not that late yet, we can at least hit one more place."
"Should we split up?" He follows Mello to the door.
"Not a chance. If these sickos could get Near, we've gotta stick together."
I really hate this part. ...He was there. He was right there! But... the walk was so far that we all missed each other. How did it happen? I'll tell you how it happened, that little idiot left to go shopping and since no one was home, Matt and I broke in.
By the time they reached the last house on their manhunt, it's late evening.
"Do you see a car?" Matt asked looking around the area. "I didn't see one down by the street."
"Maybe this is the kind of place where you park in the back, or on the side."
Mello steps off the front entrance and starts around to the side of the house. He kept his eyes forward, because if he looked left he was sure he'd get vertigo looking down the long row of stairs that lead up to the house and down to the street. He would be taking the hill back down to the street if he didn't think he'd slip on the grass, and wind up breaking his neck in the tumble.
The pair traipsed around to the back of the house, becoming cautious when approaching the fence. The homeowner could be in the backyard, but damn the house looks suspicious with its high fence, and its long stairway up. How could someone suspicious not wanna live in this house, it's too obnoxious to deal with for anyone to wanna give it too much attention? Hell, they make movies based on creepy looking places like this. At least there are neighbors a distance away, you can just barely see the top of a house in the distance.
"Gimme a leg up." Mello places his hand on Matt's head, then looks down for the offered cupped hands to step in for his boost up.
Hoisting his friend up didn't take much effort like mentioned earlier, the two haven't been eating much since the search began leaving them both four pounds underweight. Not that they've ever been at what's considered the normal weight with the life they live, but now it's starting to really show in their thin cheeks and sunken eyes.
"See anybody?" Matt asks while looking around the perimeter for stragglers.
Wouldn't want the neighbors to spot them and call the police. Mello's unbalancing leg doesn't waste time in throwing itself up and over the, thankfully unspiked, wooden fence.
Looking down to where he'd left Matt he says. "I'll open the gate." And then to himself. "I hope this fucker doesn't have a dog." He then drops down into the yard.
A clack sounded as the latch is moved over, and a quiet scrape of a sound from the long fence door sliding through the grass; the axels on the fence are perfectly oiled to keep the gate silent. Pretty odd considering something so trivial as the sound of a gate opening is pretty common, so why the tender care for silence?
Matt enters the backyard and whistles lowly. "Inground. Hn... guys got some serious money."
"Or not... could have come with the house." Mello looks up towards the upstairs window. It felt like they were being watched for a second, but there's no one there that he can see. "Let's make it quick, but not too quick... we don't wanna miss anything."
"You don't gotta tell me."
Kneeling down at the door, Mello picks the lock with ease. But upon giving the door a jerk, he found that it was stuck.
"Oh, come on."
"Losing your touch?" Matt laughed.
"More like I'd just locked it when it wasn't." Picking the lock again, he pulls the door open, being sure to stick his tongue out at Matt for doubting his skill.
The two walk into the home and are met with cool air like a punch in the face, but it isn't the cold air that gives them a chill as they walk farther into the house. Mello was the first to break free of the spell the place has over them, and he moves to a door tucked away in the corner of the kitchen.
"Geez, guys gotta lot of useless shit if he needs this many boxes in his basement." He closes the door after Matt looked in over his shoulder. "You search down here, I'll look upstairs."
Giving Mello a nod, Matt begins his search through the homeowner's office. It's full of the usual things of furniture: couches, side tables, coffee table. He's got a silver bar cart full of wine bottles and glasses to drink it from. There are no pictures of loved ones or even the homeowner. So whoever it is that owns the house must not give too much of a shit about their self or anyone else.
Matt pulls open drawers and skims through the mail, recalling that Mello copped a name of the man by looking at his mail. "Mail, mail, mail..." He looks around. No mail. "Whoever owns this place lives here like they're renting, there's nothing in here to give ownership." He says to himself.
The land-line seemed interesting, but then he didn't wanna *69 someone and alert suspicions that the home has been broken into, besides, who knows who it would call anyway. Much like the identity-free home, the number could call nobody.
'If I had secrets... where would I hide them?' He wonders.
Entering the hall, he sees an open door that he'd passed on the way through to the living room. "Here we go, home office."
The books lined the shelves like polished trophies, though just by looking at them he can tell that they're owned but not used. The binding is too perfect, yet they have no dust on them. Whoever owns this place, they must do a little regular cleaning just as that Mikami guy. But, would he or she be as weird? On the large wooden desk is a three dipped letter holder filled with letters. Matt smiled to himself and scooped the stack up.
'Stephen Gevanni.' He keeps to memory then puts the letters back where he'd found them.
This room at least has some sort of a personality. A globe that has little stickers on it for places the man has either been or would like to go, he's got a photo of a lovely woman in a wedding dress, probably his wife. Pictures of animals are on the walls, the couch seems more comfortable than the one in the living room, and then the abandoned bedroom slippers at the door. The man must be his most comfortable here.
'Nothing here screams Near.' He thinks with a disgruntled huff.
Matt's mind suddenly wandered to a game he'd been playing, before it was stolen- though what it was stolen for is beyond him, anything for a buck when you live on the streets- anyway, in the game their mansion had a bunch of secret rooms in it whenever the character pulled on just the right object. Maybe something in here could be pulled to open a secret room?
And while Matt is pawing away at the office, Mello is upstairs rifling through dresser drawers. He's trying to be careful, but dammit, it's hard to be cautious when the homeowner can come back at any minute! And so far he's found nothing even remotely close to a clue that Near would be here. Some pervy paraphernalia like a whip, or a friggin' Jack-in-the-box or something! Near's no kid, but he likes a good toy to keep him company and occupied, or whatever he likes them for.
He'd already searched one room, the guy seems to have a kid anyway. He's got clothes all neatly folded and hung up in the closet and dresser drawers. It just seems like a squeaky clean inside cursed with a creepy outside.
"Mattie! I hope you're getting somewhere because there's nothing up here!" He calls down the stairs, through the hall.
"I'm not getting anywhere!" Matt called back up, his voice is faint like he's deeper in the home than the living room. "He's got a computer, though. I'm gonna check..."
His words are cut off from his moving away from the door.
Empty. Empty. Empty! Damn it! Why is there nothing here?! Not the house before, not the house after. Where is he!? Stomping his foot down in annoyance, he shoves the dresser drawer closed. Heading back down the stairs, he looks around for Matt.
"Anything?"
"Uh-uh." He shakes his head. "I've been trying passwords. Nothing's working, though..."
"It's a computer, what do you think you're gonna find?" Grabbing the back of the seat, he rests his other hand on the desk and leans over to look at the screen.
"I've been thinking about what detective L said, about online bidding. Maybe he's got some private videos... if nothing else. Look around, this place is as clean as that other guys, and he seemed to be hiding something. So maybe... Ahhh" He winks at Mello. "we have access."
"That's amazing! What did you type?"
"A bunch of numbers. This guy doesn't have one picture in his house of loved ones, save aside this snapshot of his wife. I figured he'd use numbers." He shrugs. "Let's seeee. Gross.."
"What?"
"If this were a phone the numbers would spell out U-N-D-E-R14."
"That is gross."
Both of them perked up... keys!
"Shit. Close it, close it!" Mello snatches Matt by the collar of his shirt, not allowing him proper time to shut the thing back down.
But who cares about that! They just need to get out of there; let the homeowner chalk the computer being left on up to a ghost. Nothing wrong with that. The pair tore through the home like lightning were at their heels; the back door was pulled shut so quickly it would be a miracle that they weren't found out by the bang.
Whoever walked into the house seemed to recognize what was going on, because they dropped what they were carrying in a panic and ran up the stairs. But Matt and Mello didn't see who it was, they just broke free from the backyard and hurried through away via the back area which is, luckily, level with the rest of the world and the two don't stop running until they hit their familiar streets.
Dropping down on their stack of old rags and newspapers, the two break into a fit of laughter over how close that was.
"Alright... that's enough living the survival horror of being a secret agent." Matt declares. "I'm hungry, and I'm tired... can we call it a day?"
"Yeah. It's getting dark anyway. No one's gonna let us in their house now."
0 0 0
Matt didn't even have to say it, Mello could see it in the saucer shape of his friend's eyes that the place is damned gorgeous. He's never seen anywhere so clean, so beautiful or expensive in appearance! L had said to stay anywhere they liked and they chose the Conrad Hilton and have obviously done well by the decision. It was like the place was literally dipped in gold!
From the polished floors to the painted columns, and the mirrors are so clean you can actually see yourself in them! They felt hideously out of place and received more than a few cockeyed glances to confirm their discomfort.
"We probably should have gone shopping first." Matt mutters from behind Mello, already shrinking away from all the attention.
"You kidding?" He says over his shoulder. "I don't have the strength to do that without having eaten first." He rubbed his eyes. "I'm really tired too."
"We don't have off suite bathrooms for anyone but hotel staff." The desk clerk says when seeing the two standing before her.
"We'd like a room... one bed, two nights."
The woman didn't hide her doubt that the two couldn't pay for the room, and to ensure they'd leave she gladly tells them the price. "That'll be 388.00 dollars for two nights, and we don't accept bags of change or coupons."
Doing a little cocky scoffing of his own, Mello slaps the gold card down on the counter top. "Book it."
The woman couldn't believe her eyes! A gold card! Hn. This thing is either stolen, or the two are wealthy and like to express themselves by dressing eccentrically in slums clothing, just for the shock factor... and it worked.
Her nose still went up, though; she grabs the card from the desk, very sure it will be declined. The two probably found it discarded in the trash, thought they'd take it for a little spin around town for a laugh. Ha! She should call the police in case the thing is stolen. Running the card through the reader, she's glad she wasn't being taken, yes, but now she's sure she has to call the police. But just to be sure they aren't just an eccentric rich couple...
"There you are, two nights. One bedroom suite and- What's your name again?"
Very sly, she is very sly. Her tightly pulled, blonde, bun shoved back an inch when the corners of her mouth shot back into a smile.
"Name?" Mello repeats.
Why does that matter? No to mention, what the hell was that detective's last name again? Come to think of it, what is his real given name? It seemed as though Courtney Emmerson, the desk clerk, planned on saying something smart but got interrupted by another clerk tapping her on the shoulder.
"Is there someone here named Matt and Mello?" He asks her.
"I'll check the sign in..."
"We're Matt and Mello!" Mello pipes up.
Although Matt has shrunken back so much, you'd swear he's wearing Mello as a coat.
"Do you have any identification to prove that?" The clerk asks, not believing for a second the two aren't just trying to get a room off of someone else's dime.
"The man on the phone says one is a blond with a burn scar on his face, the other a redhead with goggles and stripes."
Ms. Emmerson had been avoiding that little facial feature on the blond, the last thing she wanted was to openly stare and get into some sort of trouble with the street-tough looking young man. The man hands her the phone, and she listens to the man on the other end.
"Yes sir... and, thank you very much. We'll see that your nephews get the best care." Hanging up the phone, she's now smiling in earnest at them. "Here is your card key, it's for room 509. Your meals will be in the indoor restaurant or on the terrace... it's on us."
"Thank you." Smug as a billionaire, Mello swipes both the key card and the gold card before heading off to the elevator with Matt in tow.
He doesn't know what L told that pretentious clerk, but he's glad he called when he had. But how did he know where they were? When the door dinged closed, it was as good as turning on a light. L had said that wherever they used the card, he would know. He must have tracked the room purchase and called to get them access, knowing that with the way they look they'd be under suspicion waving around a nice piece of plastic- even if it's got a fixed amount of money.
More relaxed now that he's away from visual scrutiny, Matt asks. "Do you think they have room service?"
"You kidding? With the way this place makes such a big stink about having two restaurants, I doubt they want their lily-white sheets ruined."
The hall is long, and golden just as the front lobby. Sconces line the walls beside the doors, a red, blue, and gold swirled runner lines the center of the hallway. The doors are white with gold numbering and knobs.
"...0-9." Looking the door over, he shoves the card into the slot.
"Wow." The two say in unison.
The white covers accent well with the rich brown wood and the clean cream marble floor. The bed is low and in a box-style framing, four large pillows rest on the huge bed and a throw lay folded at the bottom. Everything furnishing the room is no different than a normal hotel room, but the quality is exactly the price you pay for it.
While Matt began stripping down, Mello made himself busy with devouring the Dove chocolates in a dish next to the stationary.
Snickering when he spins around in his indulgent sway of a dance, and spots Matt undressing before the red head pounced on the bed. Commenting on it, he says. "I'm starting to see why they don't like the homeless hanging around." Walking over to the bed, he looks down at the nude delight. "What's with the striptease, hot stuff?"
"I didn't want my filthy clothes sullying the bedding. It feels even better this way anyhow... we should sleep naked."
"We should shower first," He lays down on his side beside the daydreaming gamer. "then we can really put these bedspreads to shame."
Grinning, Matt chuckles when the tip of the chocolate square traces his lips giving him a brown lipstick appearance, that Mello licks and tenderly kissed away.
"Mmm. A fancy room, gonna have a shower, and a big meal. Are you treating me like a high price whore tonight, Mr. Keehl?"
Kissing Matt's exposed neck, he shakes his head then gets up from the bed. "Don't call yourself a whore, it's not as if you wanna have sex with these guys." Pulling him up from the bed, he shoves him towards the bathroom. "Let's shower, then see if we can get room service instead of migrating to eat."
Shuddering, he requests. "Say it again," Matt is pushing the bathroom door open for them.
"Shower and food," He kissed Matt's neck as he speaks. "shower and food."
0 0 0
It has been so long since the two have sincerely felt each others' touches. They went from playfully scrubbing one another's back to pecking kisses, and smoothing sopping wet hair from their faces. Their smiles are just small and weary from exhaustion build up. Near being snatched rattled them deep down, and knowing that their kind isn't normally cared about when they go missing, it makes it all the more frightening of the possibility that if it can happen to one it can happen to another. They're just lucky that their Near is chatty when it comes to the right people, or the police wouldn't give a damn, just like officer friendly back at the precinct.
And every kiss and every touch became fire. Suddenly a tender hold was a desperate grip, and their sweet kisses were toothy bites and stabbing, alchemic-style, sword fights with their tongues. The feverish steam in the room made their body parts a peep show from how the fog made them appear and disappear with their movement.
Matt pressed Mello into the wall, turning him around before parting his legs; his left-hand caresses up his lover's torso and his right is down between Mello's legs fondling his sacks while stroking himself harder in alternate. Mello rocked his hips back into Matt's crotch, coaxing him for penetration; self-lubricated, Matt positions himself and promptly shoves in.
Mello voiced his pleasure of the roughness from the meager preparation and lavished in the slow in and out until his body eased up on its auto-precautioned tension. A rhythm was quickly established when Matt's hand, slick with soap, began stroking Mello's member up and down; the pressure of his grip tightening and loosening from base to head.
You'd think the wet wall were mimicking Mello's sex with the way it's dripping beneath his fingertips that are pressed against it. A chill ran up his spine from the tip of his member tapping the wall whenever Matt shoved into him; despite the heat in the air, the shower wall is still pretty cool to the touch, and the hot/cold contrast is euphoric.
"Faster." Commands the blond.
Matt shook his head; "Hold on." pulling out, he turns Mello around, kissing him as he steers him towards the entrance of the tub's sliding door.
It's pulled open by the gamer, who then slides his hands up his lover's sides to raise his arms up over his head where he instructs him to grab a hold of the metal bar. When Mello's got a steady hold, Matt lifts the chocoholic up by his hips.
Securing his legs around Matt's waist, he tilts his head back and groans when his weight drops him down over the red head's stiffened meat again; Matt lifts his right leg up to rest on the rim of the tub, and once the position is stable, he rams him home with deep hard thrust that has both of them alerting the neighbors above them, below them, and besides.
The angles got Matt at an advantage when Mello's hip lifts up, allowing him to extend his tongue out to lick the taunting rod thumping up and down with their movement.
Mello practically sobbed at how good the gentle laps were, and hooking a leg up around Matt's shoulder, he physically begged for more.
Scooping Mello up from beneath his legs, he pulls him free from their attachment below to reconnect them together from above.
Matt sucked and lapped at two of Mello's several inches, while his hand jerked rapidly and slowly at the base; knowing that Mello's legs draped over his shoulders and the hold the blond has on the bar have him secured in place, Matt uses his other hand's fingers to play with his lover's entrance by brushing his fingers past it, and teasingly dipping them into it pulling out after a few spine-tingling thrusts.
Mello's hips are moving at a rapid pace, he can feel himself getting closer, weaker... and at the first drop of his right leg, Matt lowers him back over his body, and pumps in and out of him again.
Kissing Mello's chest; he can feel the blond's hand between them when it brushes against him- Mello's jerking himself off at the same pace he's being hammered. Matt's teeth grazed Mello's perked nipple when his lover's inner walls clamped down on him, over and over, the gamer's thrust became stiffer and harder to do, and the two released in a cry that you couldn't tell who was harder drowning out the other.
Mouths together in a kiss; Matt helps Mello lower himself to stand on the tub's edge.
Damp, and in the fluffiest robes they've ever felt in in their lives, the two are surrounded by food on the large bed, devouring everything down to the platter, or bone. They asked about room service and desk clerk Emmerson practically gave them the V.I.P treatment, whatever L said to her seemed to matter because this was Heaven. They even got dessert.
"Who makes an ice cream sandwich out of brownies?! This is amazing!" Mello declared once he's swallowed his Chocolate Lover's chocolate chip ice cream brownie sandwich cookie. Can you believe it's even been dipped in chocolate?! Who dreams up this kind of wonderful? They either need to be thanked or killed because Mello will never be able to have it again, so he's being sure to pack it in.
Matt can't move past the deepest dish of Chicago pizza he's ever had in his life, it's lined with thin slices of sausage and pepperoni, coated with olives, mushrooms, ham, bacon, and more cheese than should ever be allowed on anything.
The menu bragged about its Lowcountry foods and they indulged in collared greens and chicken fried steak with chicken flavored, cracked-pepper, gravy white sauce. And the macaroni could put a kid in a coma. It was all cleaned up and put out in the hallway on its cart. After they'd climbed into bed, they found themselves joined at the hips again between the bedding and their parted robes, Mello connected into Matt this time, and they didn't stop their lovemaking until their eyes refused to stay open, and their bodies refused to move.
It was the first untroubled sleep they've had since Near's disappearance, and the two enjoyed it as their last. Tomorrow is going to be mental Hell...
If rain during a funeral is supposed to mean something good, then what does it mean when you're about to throw yourself into the lion's den? I'm still washing that day off, but I'll never stop seeing all those images... for that kind of torture put on me, after what happened to my Mother and my Sister... I feel like I should love Near more, and be better at keeping him safe. But I lost a piece of my shell that day... it still hurts.
The sky is a dingy gray, perfect for rain but not a storm. It seemed as if the rain had already fallen, though since not a drop has left its massive sheet of gray cloud all morning or early afternoon, but without evidence, it's just a sky left in waiting. Kind of like Mello and Matt are waiting for the call that will give them the location to where the auctions are going to go on.
They did their shopping early in the day, buying clothes that suited their taste while still dressing like the men who pick them up, a lesser version. Not someone who could afford a living sex toy without first saving up for it to be one great purchase.
Mello was the only one of the two able to eat anything for breakfast and lunch. Matt couldn't clear his head for it. He just continued seeing his Mother and little sister displayed out for all the world to see and ask no questions of, and do nothing about... His Mother who would sing in the car to help her scared kids get to sleep when assholes would come banging on the window to mock them for their situation, or ask for pussy- for fuck's sake... he had sex with her! His own Mother! Drugged up, and just as bat-shit out of his mind in an orgy and they... didn't even recognize each other.
His little sister, who used to call him Postman because of his name. She always liked to have oranges, not candy or cake, but oranges. It was so strange. He would use his John money to buy a bag and she would go through them whenever he went out. It calmed her, because even at that age, she got it. She'd sometimes write him greetings on the back window of the car when it snowed in the winter, just to cheer him up after some old man used him as a plaything. And she died someone's play thing... he pimped himself out to keep his family all right... He could take it, he told himself while being driven into, but not them. Don't let it touch them. ...And fuck it, they disappeared just as Near has, but in their case, there was no goodbye. He came "home" to an empty car.
God things were shit before he met Mello. The blond renegade was like a stepping stone, something solid and strong to hold him up while he flowed down the hot lava filled pits of Hell. And it really saved him, meeting Mello. He was ready to rile some people up, bad people... die in an all-out shooting. He'd steal drugs, be taken somewhere and put himself in a position where he wouldn't just be hurt and start physically getting better. He'd be dead. Plain and simple.
But Mello... he can't ever be away from Mello as he is from Near. That would be it for him indefinitely. It's why, even though his stomach making somersaulting knots, he took a big bite from a cheeseburger that got shoved in his face, while he looked out over the gloomy city.
His thumbs are twitching, but he isn't in the right frame of mind to play a game... so he just let his thumbs play for him. They're playing like they have to map his emotions into a well of a place, where they can get caught in the pool and circulate around, and never be seen again.
The call came... it was time to go...
...
Matt was glad that Mello laughed first, it made him feel less guilty about laughing at someone who gave them a great deal of good last night. Pampering, a bed, and each other. He hasn't slept well in a long while with Near missing, and though his thoughts are heavy this morning, Mello's blissfull weight was much more last night, and it knocked him out cold.
"What are you wearing?" Mello asks. "You look like Rocky Balboa's coach." He points at the green, white vertical stripe track pants, the gray hoodie, and the green ski cap to match the pants. "I thought you said to fit in?"
"I do fit in." There was that odd sort of out-of-place smile of his. "I'm playing the itchy guy in the corner, who tends to be missing a hand when a particularly good buy comes into view."
Matt couldn't hold his laughter to a snicker then, and he laughed in earnest as the look does seem to say that. He and Mello, on the other hand, look like ship-yard guys in blue and black jeans, a t-shirt, and a hoodie over their shirt slightly zipped to appear casual. Mello's hiding his face behind a ball cap, and Matt's got his goggles dropped on top of his unruly red hair.
"I've even got a cigarette." L adds pulling a white stick from his pocket.
"You smoke?" Matt wonders.
"No. It's actually a portable hookah pipe, but they're calling it an electronic cigarette." Handing it to Matt who always reeks of nicotine, he says. "Give it a try, it tastes just like strawberries."
Taking the stick, he gives it a puff then blows out a stream of strawberry flavored smoke. "It does!"
"Mhm." Taking it back, L adds casually to Matt "You don't mind." while he wipes the end clean.
It wasn't a question of whether he minded since he was actually being told not to mind. And to be honest, he doesn't mind. It's understandable after all. If he were split in two and one of its halves were normal, he wouldn't kiss this side of himself- especially since he can't see a doctor, he could be carrying anything- Mello too! He looked his lover over curiously, receiving the same sort of glance, when a familiar face walked up dressed in a suit and tie like he's got new money.
"Light? What are you doing here?" Mello more orders an explanation than he is actually asking the question. "How'd you find out about this place?"
"Guess that saves me the introductions," L looks between them. "Light is the freelance agent I spoke of. He'll be joining us today as the wealthy businessman, looking to free his sexual tensions of his prude for a wife." Pulling out another cigarette, he holds it out to the newcomer. "Would you like a 'character builder'?"
"Sure." He tucks it into his pocket for later. "Are you two sure you can handle this? It's gonna get pretty intense in there?"
"Of course, we are!" Mello shot. "We're more hardened to this shit than you are, pretty boy."
"Hn." Scoffs the male.
"I'm confused about something..." Matt says.
"Questions gain knowledge, never be afraid to ask." L replies.
"If you guys know these things go on, why do you let them?" Matt asks. "Shouldn't they all be in jail instead of flooding the streets and taking more people?"
"Matt... every cop available has got the place surrounded. Thanks to my online informant this will be the second biggest trafficking bust in two years, there have been smaller ones... but we can only do so much, thanks to the internet. As far as these big flashy shows, they move around quite often and its hard to get a lock on them." He stuffs his hands into his pockets. "So if your question is why aren't we jailing anyone purchasing time with prostitutes its because they aren't the ones doing this. These people are much more crafty." He looks at the oversized abandoned convenience store.
It'll never be purchased again because it's in a bad neighborhood and no one will shop here.
"...Even if this is stopped, even if we caught them all... if there's even the smallest sliver of indecency in someone who has found someone to be in charge of.. things like this will exist. And they're not sorry."
Even if L hadn't intended to do it, it stung Matt. He lowered his head when hearing a thick man clap his hands together. And everyone began to move inside of the building.
It's dark inside, one light is turned on spaced by another then another light is turned on. A once wide and spacious store is divided to look like many rooms at least four that they can see, and the center is just a big space. There's a room up some stairs that has multiple televisions on AUD.
"Matt, you play video games, correct?" L asks.
"Yeah."
"I'll need you in the online room, up those stairs."
"Huh?"
"They'll be feeding videos in that room, buyers are tweeting bids for the merchandise on the screen. Your eyes will be quicker at watching all the screens in an instant. When someone is bought indefinitely, they change to another purchasing. Don't keep your eyes in one place, please."
"What will I do?" Mello asks, ready to be useful in finding Near.
"I need you to work the room, ask questions casually since you'll be new at this." L cocks a very fine brow. "Do you know what to ask?"
Thinking a moment, he says. "If there are any returns. And if anyone is selling privately."
Nodding, he looks to Matt. "I'd prefer if you didn't speak, but you can ask which cameras have an old feed. They often like to show-off the best videos as a means of enticing buyers to try an online purchase, since these videos are shot when their doll is looking its best."
Matt felt green, but he nods.
L doesn't need to prep Light, he's very good at what he does. This is only his third raid but his work is impressive all the same. He managed to locate 4 missing children from a private seller or two. Kidnappers from home invasions, and one man the child's own Father. He'd been raping him, the kid planned on telling his Mother, and he sold him away for a fifty.
Murmurs fill the air when the first to auction came out and took a seat on the floor. Time to work.
...
Matt was going to have nightmares for the rest of his life. However brief his eyes flittered across the Near-less screens, he saw one more boy or girl being sexually abused. The worst part is that they were either crying in pain or being forced to cry for more. Damn his memory, damn his luck for being the one given this task while the others sit in cozy seats watching live auctions of someone just sitting on a floor crying. He would flick his eyes across the screens, then snip his vision off to his lap. It's bad enough he has to see them, but there's also the Tweets popping up on the screen like spray from a sparkler, they're just everywhere and all over the place.
He scanned through the videos of old feeds where the 'prize winning' dolls are, but none of them were Near. When the monitors went AUD for a momentary break, Matt hauled ass having seen enough, when one of the prize winning featurettes had a young lady about 20 or so in age, but her face made her look at least 17, she had two guys in her front and one going in from behind. Matt had to swallow his vomit when she just rocked between them like a rag doll from blacking out from pain. Damn if she didn't look dead.
At least he did one job for L that didn't make him sick, he stuffed a little device into the computer he was seated beside, and that little attachment was going to follow the I.P. addresses of the locations that the tweeting viewers were watching from, so they won't escape jail either.
Matt was given twenty minutes of free time before the screens came on again; after the sellers have shifted out the videos for the next set of purchases in the range of 11-13. And he chose to use the bathroom. It wasn't hard to find when he's been spotting men coming out of it with their hands pulling up their xyz as they so obviously had not been peeing. He braced himself and pushed open a door with a scratched off 'Ladies' painted on it from back when the place was a market.
He closed his ears to the whimpering of a twelve-year-old girl being forced to suck off a stranger, who's got his hand gripping a knot of her hair so he can guide her with the speed of his choosing. He wasn't able to close his eyes fast enough, and the little red-haired girl made his stomach churn more.
It's too different... it's much too damned different being a prostitute for pay. He can have men buy time with him, these people, these "Dolls" don't get the choice. Their bodies are bought, their lives are ignored, and they're fucked mercilessly, taunted, beaten, told they're unloved and a nothing, that they should be lucky someone wants anything to do with them- LUCKY! As if being a fuck toy isn't bad enough; they have to be made to feel like they deserve it since they're worthless! And she's a redhead... Why God is she a redhead?! Piper had read hair, just like his.
'Piper... It's been so long since I've even heard her name in my head.' He thinks. 'How many times was she beaten? How many times was she humiliated until she was brainwashed enough to beg for it, and lie that she loves it? My sister... my Mother... they lead this life...' He can feel tears welling in his eyes, and worse than that he can feel his anger. His fists ball up.
They suffer until death gives them mercy, not a superhero, not man's hero like a fireman or a cop or even a fucking good samaritan! Not their heroes... their parents. No... Death cradles them. He whispers "it'll be better here", and they go. And then they get splayed out, and dumped off for the world to reject them again, even after death, making their pain that much worse.
'I'm gonna kill him..' Matt mantras, as he walks over to the man, whose eyes are closed and sees nothing.
Out in the main room.
'Look at this freak show.' Mello thinks when watching a man about his age take a seat on the floor. He looks drugged out of his mind, rocking and swaying, laughing and blowing kisses.
"Bet you didn't think you'd see me in the flesh." He joked with the viewers.
'Weirdo... but he said they'd never seen him in the flesh.' Leaning over to a man beside him, he asks. "What's he mean by that?"
"Beyond wasn't off the street, he was, but you know.. he's been home grown forever. Hn. Wonder what changed?" He crossed his arms, spreading his legs a bit when the man took his clothes off.
The room gave a cheer at the sight of skin. Mello sneered at the bruises, all shades, and colors from different healing rates. How can they find that mangled piece of human existence attractive? Maybe if he were cleaned up.
'He kind of looks like L.' He thinks sadly at the thought of this odd-ball being the King oddball's brother, finally found after all these lost years.
His mouth dropped open when the man performed fellatio on himself. Should giving yourself a blowjob even be possible?! What must his x-rays look like? He cocks his head to the left then the right taking it in.
'Man... is Matt seeing this?' He wonders through his awe while looking around for his partner in crime. But instead of seeing him in the viewing room, he spots him flying out of the building. 'Fuck..'
He went to get up, but L flashed him a dangerous glance before getting up himself; that sat Mello right back down.
'What the hell happened?' Mello wondered.
"Get the fuck off me!" Matt snaps at the undercover officer who grabbed him like he'd stolen something.
"He's with me." L says once he's safely out of earshot.
"I'm glad you're here, because-"
He didn't expect it, which kept him from dodging it, and the blow to the face knocked him down onto the cracked concrete.
"What do you think you're doing? I asked that you do one specific thing, and you leave because..." He trailed off for Matt to insert his explanation there.
Matt was momentarily dumbfounded. Was this towering 5′10" really the odd, sweets-loving, nice and chatty guy he'd met the other day? Or is it the brute who took it to him and Mello in the alleyway, and had the nerve to pretend it was self-defense?
"He was in there... this guy in the bathroom and my sister... she was so young and," He sniffles. "She didn't deserve it- none of them do!"
"Which is exactly why we're here doing this now!" He's got him by the collar, breathing down on him. "To save them, as many as we can..."
"There is no saving them... they're just gonna end up in a home somewhere, where it'll happen all over again. None of these victims are gonna be all right! Not anymore..."
"No... maybe they won't. But I can at least hope that they will no longer have this. And that the memories will die down if they cannot get better and go away." He releases his hold on the male's clothes. "I'd like to sugar coat the truth for you, but what good would it do?"
"But Piper-..."
"Would be insulted that you let her memory hinder you from saving your friend... but please, if you think it's helping, continue doing nothing because it's noble to be scared... but don't act as though it's in the name of your sister."
He has to hold back the tears because L is right. He's turned coward, the minute he got through with beating on the man that had the nerve to lay his hands- and any other part of himself!- on that young girl.
Mello would have been proud. He punched that guy so hard the leather on his gloves stretched out to ruined; he lost control of himself in there when he heard the snap of the man's head against the back wall after his punch landed; the little girl shrieked and staggered to the farthest corner away from the violence. She had silently cried through watching the man take a knee to the groin several times, his bruised cock then met with the corner of the sink when he was tossed into it, and Matt balled his fist together and pounded down on his back like he was trying to bend his gut down into the dip of the porcelain sink he's laying over.
The man hollered at him "What the fuck is your problem, buy your own!" which earned him a ding to the teeth, when he was tossed to the side and tumbled through a stall door, where he hit the toilet with his mouth at an unflattering angle.
The tip of Matt's foot still hurts from shoving so many kicks into the tail bone of the man's ass. He's street brawled to the nines when dunking his head into the toilet, giving it a flush only after the man's thrashing began to slow. He should have killed him, he wanted to kill him... but he couldn't get arrested. Not when Near and others needed his help. But look at how he ended up when the adrenaline ran out. He fled. He grew cold, and scared, and wanted to get back in that big hotel bed, and pretend for another night that everything was all right.
"What is your name?"
Matt went to say "Matt" but he's cut off by L adding.
"Your real name..."
"...It's Mail."
"Mail..." He stoops down to give him a face to face, and though he's no longer hollering at him, his tone remains stern. "You can go through every Hell the world has got to throw at you... but you have to become stronger than it. ...Memories, good or bad, should become strength... not a self-made weapon. If you can't learn from your mistakes... then what good are you?"
Matt let the wind knock out of him through a long stream out of his nostrils.
"You're enduring this for Near, you're strengthened and fueled to do so by what happened to your family... Don't be a coward because your rock has gotten a little heavy. Wield it." Straightening, he holds out a hand to him. "You can come back inside, or you can stay out here... but stand up with your choice, and be accountable."
Matt thinks it over when being pulled from the ground. What should he do?
"I'd better get back in there then," He says in a small voice. "The next auction is in four minutes."
L only blinked at him, then very carefully he removes a DumDum's cherry taffy. Matt scoffed at the insinuation; knowing L there's a lemon flavor in his pocket as well as he wondered which dumb-dumb he'd be nibbling on by the end of this thing.
"What happened to the man who earned those bruises?" He asks as they walk back into the building.
"Drowning in the filth he's made of his existence... unconscious from lack of oxygen, but not dead." He didn't need to add 'unfortunately' they both heard the implied ending.
Mello looked at his lover with wonder, but he got a nod from him that he's all right. The blond looked to where L was heading and saw the dim look of a bathroom when the door pushed open. He wished he could go up to the viewing room and ask what's going on, but he had to keep up his act of aloof newbie, learning the ropes.
This guy with the strange name was apparently a hot view on the online showcasing when it came to selling the end result of breeding them to perfection. That he can contort is probably the top selling point, Mello had just seen the young man give himself a blowjob, so he could only imagine what other things he can do. The wonder of why he was given up never came to light, though. Everyone, including Mello, just figured that the owner had grown tired of the older set and wanted someone newer, and younger; and less battered, in the spectator's opinion.
"Congratulations number 433," Came a voice from an unknown place. "you've just purchased Beyond Birthday for 209,000 dollars."
Groans went up from the losers in the room, but the one man who'd bought him looked like he'd won the power ball on a triple digit lottery drawing.
Beyond, fully clothed after his showcasing, looked around the room then locked eyes with Mello. He made a face as if he'd seen him before, then looking at the man who'd just bought him he began to speak.
"Pryy̆de chas, koly vy dyvytesya nas v yakosti svoho Boha."
Mello frowned. It sounds Russian in approach, but the words are different. 'Must be Ukrainian.' So-much-so that he has no clue what's been said. But it sure as Hell is said ominously.
"I ty pomresh, pokhovanyyÌ† v hrikhakh vashykh."
L, standing in the back of the room, repeats his words softly under his breath. "A time will come when we are your God... and you will be buried in your sins."
It wouldn't be long then; he returned to his seat.
And 1 hour later the monitor feeds end, and the floor show has closed up... and the raid began in droves. There were screams, brawls, attempted fleeing, shots rang out outside, and cuffs were slapped on. The man in the bathroom, handcuffed to the toilet by L was taken in. The whole thing took nearly an hour to calm down, and another hour to get them all separated and carted off to the station. It's going to be very busy in the precinct today.
But through it all, they were left wondering... where's Near?
................

Commentary: Beyond said what L repeated, hopefully. I'm using google translate, and I don't speak Ukrainian and I have no Ukrainian friends. So, fingers crossed the words are right.

Thank you to all silent readers always. Voters. And reviewers if you choose to. I have to add that I'm putting Dialog where there's speaking now since I have to upload a file rather than copy paste.
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