Want it. Take it. Love it. Keep it.

A/N: Chapter's kinda short... : ( I sorry...

BUT, HEY, LOOK! ACTUAL DETECTIVE WORK! YAY!
Oh, and Matt and Near are back...

As always, thank you to Evermist and chelzi. Your reviews give me the strength to go on...
***********************************************************************************************

CHAPTER 22
PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER CHILD!

L woke, exhausted. He could not place exactly why he was so tired at first, since he'd fallen asleep in his favorite way, in the arms of his dear Mello. Despite his own mental breakdown, the remainder of the previous evening had been satisfying. It looked as if the teen had finally been shaken out of his depression. They'd disposed of the box of sharp objects together, after L's injuries had been lovingly tended to, then cuddled, each whispering that they loved the other before they fell asleep.

It wasn't until the detective rolled over, saw the digital alarm clock on the nightstand, that he knew what was wrong. First of all, he'd had no where near a full night's rest. Secondly, Mello was gone. There was an envelope pinned to the pillow where the blond should have been.

L read the letter carefully, six times, before he phoned Watari. It was obvious from the tone in the old man's voice that he was very surprised to be hearing from his surrogate child at this time of morning, and that he had definately been sleeping.

"He's run away. Watari, he's left me." Sometime during the explanation, the phone went dead, L thinking that perhaps Watari thought it was L's fault as well, and that he was angry with him.
Two minutes later, however, the old man held his charge as the raven haired boy wept. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Following closely behind were his other teenaged successors, still dressed in nightclothes, not that the younger ever wore anything else, but they both had obviously been woken.

Near held the letter as Matt read over his shoulder. Each read it twice to themselves, once more aloud for Watari, who wasn't quite able to make out L's recitation of memorized note, between his sobs.


"What's he talking about, ruining our lives? What does he think he did?" They all waited for the detective to explain, who simply pulled up his sleeves to reveal his injuries.

"I just wanted to understand. But I upset him."

Matt looked confused, Watari began to make a careful examination of the cuts, checking for signs of infection, feeling somewhat proud at the skill with which the blond had showed with his vast medical knowledge.

"Obviously Mello has been injuring himself. Our mentor let his curiousity get the better of himself by experimenting on his own flesh." Near always seemed to know everything. Matt felt some pride in watching his boyfriend (was he really already thinking calling it that?) come up with the answer so quickly.

"It's obvious what he plans to do Watari. He's going to kill himself. This is all my fault. I should have done something more. I should have been there. I was so selfish."

"How can you just sit there feeling sorry for yourself! Fucking do something! If he kills himself, it /is/ all your fault." Matt screamed. Near took his hand, lacing their fingers together. This seemed to calm the redhead some, who rested his head on the shoulder of the smaller boy. Watari raised a questioning eyebrow. 'One problem at a time', he thought.

"Matt, you only worsen the situation with your accusations. Now is not the time for blame. We must act quickly, if we are to save the boy from himself."

"No, he's right. I'm to blame. He's already dead. All that's left is for me to follow him."

In all the years that Quillish Wammy had spent with the boy, he had never once raised a hand against him. The child had never been spanked, certainly, which might have been the cause of his brattiness. However, Watari did not believe in this kind of punishment, no matter how terribly the child behaved. It was not anger that he felt know, when he slapped L hard across the face, leaving his cheek bright red.

"Pull yourself together, child! You are /L/. The world renowned detective. You will find him and you will bring him back."

"Yes, that's right, of course. I am L. I am justice." This returned the detective's hope. He was justice, and justice always prevailed. "Now Watari, stop distracting me. We must get to work immediately.

***********************************************************************************************

Wammy's best hacker had broken into the records of every airline that left from England in the last twenty four hours. He paused every now and then, rubbing his eyes. Roger was right, he suffered terrible headaches from his frequent staring at computer and television screens. However, he was determined to find the clue they searched for. He looked for the names of characters in Mello's favorite books, searched for reservations made in the name of "Mihael Keehl" spelled backwards and forwards. He groaned in frustration, banging his forhead against the desk. Near stood behind him, rubbing his shoulders. When the younger boy thought no one was looking, he kissed Matt's cheek, ruffled his hair, offered words of encouragemnet, along with a cup of water and some aspirin.
The older two men had been calling the airlines, describing Mello in detail. Even when they claimed to be Eraldo Coil, Deneuve, and L himself, they were denied any information. One woman even claimed to have never heard of L. Ridiculous!

Watari had been watching their teenage assistants as he worked, noting how they almost never stopped touching in one way or another. Currently, Matt typed with one hand (genius!) while his other held Near's own. The younger boy was rubbing the redhead's spine, where the bones were curved outward from years of slouching over a keyboard. The older boy was making very disturbing pleased noises.


"L, in any of your research, if you happen to come across a place where I might procure a few good chastity belts, please do alert me." L gave him a /very/ strange look.

"I don't think I quite understand what you're getting at." The old man cleared his throat, gesturing to the couple at the computer. "Oh, well. Isn't that interesting. Mail, Mello is not going to like that at all when he finds out."

"Mail, that's your name?" Near asked. Matt nodded. After a moment, the younger boy added, "Nate." The subject had not yet come up. Neither had thought to ask.

"Nate. Awesome. Now I know what to say when we're-" Near blushed, his cheeks looking much redder compared to the paleness of his hair and skin.

"Matt! I don't think that's something we ought to be talking about in front of /either/ of them," he whispered harshly. The older teen just shrugged, turning his attention back to the task at hand.
"I am happy for you both. Just remember, Mail, that sex is a very special connection that one should share with only-"

"L Lawliet!" Watari scolded. "You ought not be encouraging their behavior!"

"If you had let me finish, I was going to explain that they should wait until the time is right, not rush into that kind of commitment." The detective smirked, hearing a quiet 'too late' from the redhead who was still typing furiously. Near hit the other teen on the shoulder, then immediately kissed the spot in apology, though the slap had hardly been felt.

"Oh come on, it's not like they haven't already heard it, Near. In fact, I'm sure they've /heard/ it." Matt had turned his head just in time to see both Wammy and Near blushing. "Like you've never done it old man. And if you haven't, you really should. It's totally worth it."

"Please, let's just get back to work. No more distractions. My old heart can't take it."

"I'm still coming up with jack shit." Matt neither hesitated to curse in front of his caretakers, nor apologized when he received a stern look from the older of the two. Lately, he'd felt very confident.

"Matt, I've just had a thought. You have tried Mihael Keehl, but Mello is certainly too intelligent to use his own name for a reservation. Please check for 'A-L-E-K-S-A-N-D-E-R Keehl." Of course, what other name would the distressed teen choose to hide behind? It was almost too obvious.

"Final score - L: one, Mello: nothing. Here it is, Aleksander Keehl booked a flight to Croatia this morning. It's left already." No one had to ask, the boy was already making reservations under assumed names for the four who'd been left behind. They'd be leaving on the next flight out, thanks to four poor souls who were now making 'emergency cancellations'.

"Mail really is the best hacker here at Wammys." Near was very proud, forgetting himself momentarily to give his boyfriend a kiss as reward for his brilliance.

Watari was most definitely going to have to ask L about those chastity belts one more when all of this chaos had sorted itself out...

***********************************************************************************************


A/N: I could totally see Matt doing it with Near. Don't ask me why but I can. So live with it.
But, wouldn't they be the most anti social couple EVER? They'd never leave the house...