End Transmission

Suggested Listening: You Stupid Girl by Framing Hanley

Chapter Seventeen: Circles

To say that Matt was shocked would have been an understatement. He had honestly never expected Jack to get killed, he had figured Jack would simply slink back off to wherever it was that he lived and would be fine until everything blew over. Matt hated being wrong.

He forced himself to finish the, now tasteless, noodles and simply left the styrafoame cup on the desk beside him. His mind had already crept back to the e-mail he had deleted days ago, the one that had been from Jack.

He immediately went to the e-mail trash bin and pulled up the message. Matt was glad he hadn't decided to completely delete it, which would have caused him some effort to get back.

As he read he only felt guilt.

In the e-mail, Jack had mentioned that he felt as though he were being watched and that perhaps he hadn't quite covered his tracks as well as he had thought. Though Matt winced at the mention of Jack not blaming him for not wanting a relationship with him.

He had requested a meeting to talk, and only to talk, if Matt didn't mind, and had stated where he would be. It was the place he had been killed at. Matt grit his teeth and stared at the words on the screen. If he had responded he would have made sure Jack hadn't gone. Because if he were being watched, which he obviously had been, it wasn't a good idea to make himself an easy target by being out in the open, not that Jack hadn't already known those things...

Hell, Matt thought, he might have even gotten the Mafiya involved to keep him alive. But he hadn't... and for that he was sorry.

He may have planned on never seeing Jack again, but that hadn't meant he wanted him dead. Matt sighed. It seemed that everything, as of late, was turning into a giant mess and he had no way of stopping it. He couldn't stop himself from thinking 'what next?' despite the trouble such a statement usually brought forth.

He didn't even need to think about why Jack had been murdered, it was too much of a coincidence for it to be any other reason then the information he had gotten on L. And to Matt, it only solidified the worth of the information, even had he not found traces of it in a government agency mainframe.

He just wished it hadn't come at such a high price.

The laptops wireless mouse cracked under his hand at the pressure the fragile plastic received from his hand and he relented as Near looked over. It seemed that everything bad was connected to something he had done, or in this case, not done.

Matt worried his lip and stood from the desk, noodle cup in hand and quickly dumped it in the trash. He leaned against the counter for a moment as he ran a gloved hand across his face. Guilt, he decided, was a shitty emotion.

Matt fumbled with his lighter for a moment as he lit a cigarette, leaving it to hang from his lips and instinctively procured two cans of energy drink and brought them back with him after a few more minutes of solitude.

He glanced at the TV and found that Near still watched the news, and that the same story was still on. He frowned but tried not to draw Near's attention back to him, though knowing the albino it probably had never left.

Near had probably made the connection to his informant already, so he supposed it was a lost cause. And though the situation concerning Jack was crappy, more than crappy, it had caused Matt to decide on something.

He generally liked to ignore things for as long as possible, if he could, but with L on the prowl soon it was best to have as much information as he could. Which was why, despite not generally doing so, he was going to hack into Mello's personal files. The past few days, despite the odd phone calls, had been quiet, as though something big were about to happen.

It made Matt wonder if Mello knew something about L, his odd behavior point in case.

Something wasn't right, and either Mello knew something, or he was planning something and wanted to make sure he and Near weren't caught in the crossfire. He had wanted to simply chalk it up to Mello's ever growing paranoia, and probably would have stuck with it unless the situation got stranger, but with Jack's death he needed to make sure it wasn't something more. It saddened Matt that Jack had died, but it would destroy him if Mello did.

Matt decided that Near didn't need to be informed unless he found something in Mello's files. He set up a playlist and plugged in his earphones before he started; after all, all hacks needed good background music.

He hoped Mello wasn't updating any of his files at the moment or there was a possibility that he would notice the slight glitch in them as Matt hacked through them. There was only a small percentage of chance that he would notice, though that small amount was enough to make him slightly worried.

The glitch wouldn't stay once he had exited the document, but for someone as keen eyed as Mello, it was problematic should he be watching, for whatever reason.

But Matt pushed those thoughts aside as he eased into the system he and Near had perfected behind Mello's back; he floated across the security and sifted through the files until he found Mello's restricted files and efficiently pried them open document by document.

Most if was the Mafiya's financial stuff, or business related ventures; things Matt hadn't known Mello had gotten his hands into, though it made sense with how well he and Near lived and the amount of cash Mello paid for things.

Though one document caught his eye; it was a list of current dealings, with Mello's own thoughts scrolled across it in italics. Though sometimes there would be a change in his thoughts marked, and updated, by red; as though he were correcting himself or perhaps changing his mind due to some unknown circumstance.

On the very bottom of the list, dated not too many days ago, was the last entry. Matt's eyes widened. Mello was going to use the Mafiya to go on an offensive against L. Matt popped open one of his drinks and took a swig while managing not to drop his cigarette which had been steadily burning.

Well, that was certainly news.

Though from what Matt had read, Mello didn't know that L was planning the exact same, only on organized crime in general. Though it was only speculation...The scenario had bad ending written all over it. And though he couldn't say what L knew, he doubted L knew that Mello was a Mafiya boss, or at least hadn't. It was hard to say what he had uncovered from his information gathering. Because Matt knew that was the only reason L hadn't gone after any of the families yet. Not even L could simply go in guns blazing and hope to win.

Though Mello seemed to quite like that idea. But then, Mello had the luck of the devil sometimes.

His Mafiya included. If there was one thing to be said, it was that the Mafiya had been changed as much as it had changed Mello; things were much less bloody and far calmer than they had been pre-Mello, and they were far more organized and disciplined.

They were loyal to Mello, as his father had been a Mafioso before him; though it could also have been Mello's mere presence and insanely brilliant mind and his willingness to go to any length to get something done. Or that he would probably get rid of anyone that didn't meet his standards, loyalty included; it was hard to say what it was exactly.

It seemed like Mello would only need another week, if that, before everything was in place, Matt just hoped that his plans didn't fall apart because of L. Or maybe it would be best if his plans did go down the drain...

Matt knew that Mello wouldn't have that type of information in more than one place, easier for things to get stolen or hacked, so he simply copied that document to his laptop before he closed it out. He made sure he hadn't been detected before exiting Mello's system completely and opening up his e-mail.

Even if Near still wanted them to withhold the information from Mello, the albino still needed to know what Mello was planning. He sent the document to Near, who's laptop was on the floor beside him and almost smirked as Near glanced over at his laptop and tilted his head in Matt's direction, as though attempting to decide if the e-mail was worth reading at the time.

It wasn't as though Matt had sent e-mails stating 'Hi Near!' when they had been in the same room before... not at all.

But he supposed it didn't really matter when Near looked at the document, so long as he did. He had a feeling, a rather large feeling, that Near would still be hesitant to clue Mello in at this point, and he was fine with that. Because if he felt that Mello was simply in too much danger, as he would definitely be tracking what movements he could of the blond from now on, he would make the decision for them and inform Mello.

He wouldn't lose the blond.

He clicked out of his e-mail, knowing that should Near feel the need to reply he would do so in person, and frowned at the article about Jacks death that stared him in the face of the e-mails logout page. How were those people allowed to post that picture? Wasn't it too gory? They obviously didn't care.

Matt sighed and moved away from the page.

Out of site, out of mind. And soon enough the dark haired man's death would be nothing more than a passing thought, a flicker of guilt among all the other things he already felt guilt over. He supposed that maybe he ought to feel more, but really he and Jack had never made a good connection.

Matt was certainly glad for that now. He had Mello to focus on, and that was much more important. At least in his eyes.

As Matt loaded WoW he wondered, if perhaps, he should leave tracking L to Near. Or if he should simply do both. Though he doubted Near would simply sit back and let Matt do all of the work, it just simply wasn't how Near behaved.

He and Mello were more alike then the blond would probably like to admit. Matt found it sort of amusing. At least their rivalry, the bitter parts of it, had left completely. That was at least something good despite everything.

He let his thoughts drift for a while, lighting and smoking more than a third of a pack in that time, until he caught sight of a white blur in his peripheral vision, though only momentarily. He finished the current quest and saved the game before he pulled his headphones free to look at Near, who stood silently beside him.

"Mello does not know about L's intentions. His actions would be much more... harsh, had that been the case." Matt smiled at the albino, silently agreeing with him. It had occurred to him, that while Mello's current plan was rather obscure, it would have been downright crazy had Mello known L would be after the Mafiya. He would have seen it as a competition, a silent one, between the two of them.

Mello was dead set in his hatred for L.

And anything that would one-up him in his mental score board was complete gold in his eyes, crazy or not.

That was just how Mello was.

"Matt will track both of their movements, correct?" Near asked him. He nodded as he held his cigarette out and away from Near. The smoke always irritated the albino if he were too close to it, and as they were hardly a foot apart, it was definitely too close.

"Yeah, and I know you'll want to as well. Looks like our sleeping patterns will be off for a while again." Matt gave a small shrug to Near and was a little more than surprised by the slightly creepy smile Near gave him. Though any smile Near gave was generally creepy by default. Near just wasn't made to smile normally.

Near said no more as he walked off to his room, probably to sleep for a while as Matt was awake, but Matt got the feeling that Near liked the entire idea, perhaps was even... excited? over it.

That or he had just wanted to smile.

Matt went with the first choice.

He supposed though, that it shouldn't have been surprising, despite the nature of their 'research'. It would certainly break up the monotony of their lives, though Matt supposed that in the last week any form of normal redundancy had been broken.

At least for him it had.

Near had probably still been bored.

Matt stretched and stood up after finishing the open sugar-rush-in-a-can. He might as well take his shower while there was nothing going on, because the moment something came up he would cease to have time, or would at least be too lazy afterwards to care.

And Matt hated the grimy feeling that settled on his skin after too long without a wash. It had happened more often in the last few years then he would have liked. He was far from unclean, but he was lazy about things when he was tired or distracted.

He supposed there were worse things...

He grabbed a change of clothes and left his laptop on standby, he would definitely hear it should something big happen. Sadly that also meant that Near would as well. But Near seemed to do alright with quick power naps rather than actual sleep. Then again, Near had always been like that.

With the bathroom door closed Matt striped naked and after adjusting the spray to something of a tolerable temperature, he stepped into the shower and sighed. The water was warm against his skin and he simply stood there, head bowed, for a few moments, thoroughly enjoying himself. He inhaled deeply before he continued on to washing himself clean.

He paused; a few minutes, perhaps ten, later as he thought he heard movement in the hallway. Perhaps Near hadn't been taking a nap after all, Matt thought to himself. He didn't really care at the moment, and continued to rinse the mix of shampoo and conditioner from his hair.

His eyes were squeezed tight and he resisted the urge to sway from the feeling of vertigo he received in his closed eyed state. When the slick soapy feeling vanished from his hair he slicked it back and out of his eyes and shut the water off; wiping the residual water from his eyes he stepped, blurry eyed, from the shower and quickly towel dried his hair and replaced his goggles.

After that it was simple to finish drying and change clothes. Matt wondered, not for the first time, if he should conceder contact lenses...

With a sigh he opened the door in time to hear the alarm system going back on. Matt looked around and spotted Near in the entrance of the hallway, looking unblinkingly at the closed front door.

Near turned back to look at him, as though finally noticing that he was out.

"Mello has just left." Near told him. His surprise must have shown for Near elaborated. "Mello has taken a change of clothes and chocolate with him, he is planning to be gone at least another day. Or at the least another twelve hours."

It figured that Mello would come home when he ran out of chocolate. Clothes had probably been an afterthought. And Near had probably only noticed Mello's presence as the sounds he made would have been extra and separate from the showers signaling that someone other than Matt was moving about and around.

Mello had been intentionally sneaking around then, or Near wouldn't have come out of his room, the bastard.

With an irritated sigh Matt shoved his dirty clothes into the laundry hamper and went to inspect the damage done to the chocolate supply. The cabinet door was open and Matt immediately noticed the absence of much of the chocolate.

He needed to buy more again. Mello must have run out a while ago if he had grabbed that much and only one change of clothing. And though Matt was only able to go on what Near had seen, he trusted Near. He was insanely observant even with only his one eye.

He looked at the time, almost three pm, and sighed again. If Matt hadn't been sure he was low on cigarettes, despite having bought some not too long ago, he might have been more irritated than he already was. Despite the fact that Mello hadn't even stayed to say hello. Not that he had expected it of the blond. He wondered how long that chocolate would last with all of the preparations Mello was making to go against L.

Matt decided that it wouldn't be long at all.

"Near, you need anything while I restock the damn chocolate and grab some frozen dinner?" Matt didn't feel like cooking anything that he had bought, and most of the things in the freezer were not prepared meals, and the ones that were, were for Mello. Picky bastard.

"I do not require anything." Near told him softly. Matt decided he would pick something up for him anyway. Honestly why did he even bother to ask when he ignored him anyway?

He lazily wandered around the apartment, getting his boots and socks in order, and lit another cigarette after his vest had been put on. He patted at his pocket but realized, as he looked at them on the table, that his keys weren't in there.

With a slight roll of his eyes he scooped them up and left the apartment after fiddling with the alarm system. He had only forgotten to turn it back on once, and Matt never wanted a repeat of the week from hell Mello had given him afterwards. Though Matt was sure it hadn't been pleasant for Mello either as he had left early for work as an escape. He was addicted to cigarettes, so taking them away had not been a good thing.

He sped away from the apartment with a sigh and stopped at the first place he knew sold food. He didn't feel like having to drive all the way to the normal grocers to wait in those lines with all those people. It was bad enough he had needed to go out again as it was.

While the normal grocers he went to was small, the corner place he had stopped at was tiny. No larger than a gas station and it had a limited selection of things, but Matt knew that it had more frozen food than anything, or at least more edible frozen food than anything on the shelves.

He scanned the top shelves of the freezer section, the lower ones being more of ice cream or healthier frozen foods. Sorry, but no, he didn't want a bag of mixed vegetables and some sort of meat for only 250 calories that wasn't even fit to feed a small child.

Matt's eyes finally settled on some sort of frozen Asian dish; the expensive kind that took more than four minutes to make in the microwave or stovetop. Food was food and he really was tired of having to be near the freezer section where it was cold. That and Near wouldn't care what was brought home, he would either eat what Matt made or would find something himself.

The cashier was some middle aged woman who wore her hair up in a tight bun and had very deep wrinkles around the corners of her mouth. Either she used to smile a lot or it was from frowning. Somehow he settled on the latter.

She spoke in quick and patchy Russian, as though she didn't quite get enough air into her lungs to say things properly. That or his understanding of Russian had taken a nosedive in the last day or so.

He handed her the credit card and her eyes narrowed at him though she swiped it anyway. He didn't bother to smile, or smirk, at her on his way out.

Matt tossed the bags into the back of the car and drove off to a specialty store, one for only dark chocolate creations, that was nearby, as he knew Mello would want the good kind but he wasn't willing to drive halfway across town to the grocers to get it. Nor would he be driving anywhere close enough to dignify the extra mileage.

He had only once been in the store, which was rather nice compared to the other buildings that surrounded it, when he had gone on an emergency chocolate run back when Mello had received his eighth scar. Funny how Mello seemed to have accumulated more scars while they lived at the apartment then when they had lived with the Mafiya.

The cashier there paid him no second glances as he rang out another customer, who had bought some weird artsy chocolate. Matt almost snorted at the look he would receive should he even think of getting Mello something like that. The blond would probably toss the chocolate at him.

Might be good for April first though.

Matt wandered down the aisles and finally found the pure dark chocolate bars, though some were assorted with nuts and whatnot, and gathered as much as he could carry. The cashier's eyes widened and Matt was given a dubious look, as though the man didn't believe he had enough to pay for all of that. Matt's lip twitched.

He didn't of course, but someone did.

Ah, the beauty of hacking.

The man thanked him for his business as the card went through and Matt decided that if it wasn't enough chocolate than Mello was out of damn luck as he had been out of the apartment more times in the last few days than he had in the past year and all Matt wanted to do when he got home was stay inside while the world fell apart around him.

Well, maybe he would go out for cigarettes, if only to take a drive in his car; he did love it.

Matt revved the engine and watched in amusement as the person passing by the car started a bit. They gave him the finger as they caught his smirk. He made a rude gesture back and watched as the persons face flushed in anger.

He waved at them as he pulled from the parking space. Damn he needed to stay indoors more often. His neck slightly as he titled his head and he winced. That hadn't been intentional.

Thankfully he only had one stop left to make, that being his cigarettes before he would be able to simply vegetate in front of his laptop for a while. He stopped at a small gas station over by the tram station and just as he'd gotten out of the car his phone gave a shrill ring. He froze.

He had never heard that ring before, though he knew exactly what it meant. He swore and moved over to the small fountain that he supposed had been planted there to make the place seem more inviting, though no water flowed from it.

He sat on the ledge and flipped the phone open and slid the phones keyboard into view. Someone was hacking into Mello's systems and the only reason his phone would give that alarm was if Near had taken too long in getting them out.

Matt was thankful that he had set the phone up to his laptop so that it would send it commands as the phone itself was incapable of holding and storing or utilizing the amount of programs he used for maintaining Mello's systems; though it was a bad idea to keep it connected for any length of time as the phone was an unsecure source.

He wasn't too far from the apartment but he knew he wouldn't have time to get back before the problem had grown out of control and he didn't want to divert any of his attention to driving at the moment.

He typed madly into the keyboard, inputting commands to his computer and he almost grinned as he was a second away from booting them from the system when an alert popped onto the small screen.

"Fuck!" he cursed. They had tracked the cell phones signal through the unsecured wireless network on the phone. Fucking Internet. He couldn't go back to the apartment until he had gotten rid of the phone. He couldn't simply smash it and hope they wouldn't snoop the area, things like that never actually paned out.

He got back into his car, forgoing the cigarettes which could be procured at a latter time, and drove the few blocks to the rail station. He didn't want his car to be found at the gas station while he wasn't there. He quickly popped the memory card and watched as all of his saved contacts, Mello and Near's number disappeared as though they had never been there. He crushed the tiny card under heal and made sure to toss the broken pieces into the nearest trash bin.

Matt shivered at the harsh Russian wind that hit him, the weather station had stated a storm was coming in, and hurried inside the station. He planned on leaving the phone on the train and hoped that whomever was tracking him would follow the signal, thinking that he was on it. When Matt got back to the apartment, after driving far enough away and doubling back just to be safe, he would need to tell Near and discuss what they should do.

He quickly purchased a ticket to St. Petersburg, a heavily crowded place, and made his way onto the train, as the only way to do what he wanted was to get passed the ticket check. It was packed and as he accidentally bumped into a young woman he slipped the phone into her pocket.

He could only hope that she didn't find it for a while and kept it in St. Petersburg.

Matt slipped from the train only moments before it was scheduled to set off and almost lazily wandered around the station for a while before people began to take a second glance at him. He had stayed long enough.

He made his way through the crowd of people and had just walked out of the station when a hand clamped over his mouth and dragged him off to the side and into a car. Matt recognized one of the faces inside before he was hit in the back of the head, his vision fading as he locked onto the bulky form in the front seat.

-End Circles-

AN: Did you expect this? Huh, did'ya? Buwhahaha. XD

Um, I only updated because I wanted to get this chapter out before I went back to work as im working extra this week. I won't be updating ET this much again. XD