Walls Came Tumbling Down

Lauren glanced sideways at the sound of footsteps. She whispered, "Chrissie's coming."

Matt's aspect did not change. He had appeared studiously blank before and he remained so. He sat on the end of the bed, with his elbows on his knees and a cigarette in his hand. He didn't even look up, as Chrissie came into view. She held up a canvas bag. "I have some of your own clothes here. You get to look as stylish as you usually do." Chrissie smiled sweetly at him. Until now, Matt had been wearing the jeans that he had come in wearing, but for a couple of hours on Wednesday, when they had been taken for a wash. But his underwear and long-sleeved t-shirts had been bought by one of the security guards. They tended towards the neutral colours of white, black and grey. He was wearing a charcoal grey t-shirt now. "Deontic has had them packed up, laundered and sent here from the chalet in Aberystwyth."

He didn't reply. Lauren felt the awkwardness of his impoliteness. She found herself speaking on his behalf. "Thank you." It was Lauren who took the bag.

Chrissie gestured surrender. "You might want to make yourself look pretty. I'm setting up a webcam conversation with Mello in half an hour."

Lauren tutted, "Yesterday, you drugged him and invaded his personal space. Today, you're acting like we're all best friends again."

"And yesterday, he threatened me with a certain Family. Sometimes, you just have to forgive, forget and move on." Chrissie looked towards Matt. "Matty, that wasn't done to be malicious. There was information gleaned that is going to help you, both in the case and in the long-term."

"Not the point." Lauren growled. "Do you really think that Mello is going to stand for this?"

Chrissie gave an enigmatic smile. "Incidentally, Gevanni's complained that you're conversing in a foreign language."

Lauren rolled her eyes. "I'm teaching him Croatian! If Gevanni was listening in properly, he'd be learning Croatian too. Is that a crime?"

"I'm just..."

The explosion rocked the entire building. Lauren and Chrissie both hit the floor, while Matt slipped off the small bed and onto his left knee. He clutched the bedframe. They waited. There was shouting from within the rest of the building, but nothing appeared about to fall on them here. All three exchanged long glances, trying to ascertain if any of them knew what had just happened. Matt smirked and spoke for the first time, "Oh hi, Mello." He stood up and, with an experimental hop to check that his knee hadn't been damaged, he reached out of the bars to the full length of his arm. He just snagged the strap of the canvas bag in the hook of his index finger.

Chrissie scrambled to her feet. "I'm going to see what's going on."

Lauren rose too, slowly and cautiously, "Matt, I really thought that Mello was too ill."

Matt ran to clean his teeth in the tiny sink beside the toilet. He spat in it, then rinsed out his mouth. "Lauren, can you tell them to hurry up with my medication please? I doubt he remembered to bring some."

They clearly heard Gevanni's voice then, calm but authoritative. "Place your firearm on the floor, release the lady or I will be forced to shoot, sir."

Chrissie raced back. She had only got halfway up the corridor, but it was obvious that the disturbance was heading into this direction. "Matty." She hissed. "Listen to me. Come here." He was at the side of the bed, investigating the contents of the canvas bag. He looked sidewards at her, appearing very smug. "Matty, please. This is not the way. This is going to kick up big time. You and Mello will be hunted men. You will lose every protection of Watari, because you won't be able to access it. Do you...?"

"Oh shit." Lauren breathed.

They heard him, as he rounded the corner into the corridor. "'Remember, remember the fifth of November; gunpowder, treason and plot.'" He was moving in a crablike motion, which enabled him to see both ahead and behind with just a flick each way of his eyes. He was dragging a cleaning lady before him with something held at her throat. He had a gun in his left hand. "'I see no reason, why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.'"

"'V For Vendetta'." Matt smiled, happily. "Tell me that he's come in a Guy Fawkes mask." Lauren was hurriedly looking in her handbag for anything that could be used as a weapon. But it had been cleaned out, when she was allowed into Near's headquarters. Chrissie was standing with her arms stretched out, like a goalkeeper, trying to block the access beyond her to the cells. Matt pulled out a striped shirt, but he didn't put it on. He moved right up to the bars and squinted down the corridor, as far as he could see. There were the shapes of the hostage situation and a suggestion of men with guns creeping along behind. "What took you?"

Lauren looked up sharply. "Matt, arm yourself. That's not Mello." Both she and Chrissie had glanced curiously at him. He should have been able to see the whole scene now, even from the strained angle of his viewpoint. "Neuron, you know that this is going to end badly. Why don't you put the lady down and grow up?"

Matt froze. He grabbed his cigarettes and his lighter first and shoved them into his jeans pocket. Chrissie was backing away with the encroaching movements of Neuron and the cleaner. The cleaner whimpered, "Please. I have children and a grandchild." She gasped, as whatever was against her throat was pressed that little bit harder. She leaned backwards, against him, making faint mewling sounds.

Neuron called out. "Are you alright, Matt?"

Matt emptied his clothes out onto his bed. He replied, softly, "No bombs in Wammy's House this time?"

"Just in here." Neuron laughed.

Chrissie cleared her throat. "Neuron, there's no way you could get out. The alarm has been sounded. The building is in shut-down and all of the guards have you cornered." She was in her starting stance. They had all learned martial arts. She saw Matt drop his PSP into the bag and frowned. "It's a ridiculous venture. Matty, he's not Mello." Matt gave her a withering look and crossed the room. His toothbrush and tube of toothpaste went into his jeans pocket.

Lauren was right up in the corner. She had her hand on the back of her chair. At any moment, it could be picked up and used to fend him off. "What's your name?" She addressed the cleaning lady.

"Beatrice." The woman croaked and uttered a frightened fraction of a scream. There was already a small rivulet of blood dripping onto her collar.

Gevanni was working his way through the standard hostage negotiation. Neuron's left arm swung in front of Beatrice. There were two loud, ear-ringing bangs, each punctuated by the clattering of bars, as Neuron crashed against the door. A third shot rang out, but that came from Gevanni and it missed. Neuron's aim had been true though. Both Lauren and Chrissie were on the floor and there was a lot of blood pooling around them. Beatrice was hysterical. Her screams echoed through the narrow space and all was confusion.

Matt rushed forward, both arms in the air. He reached between two bars, above Neuron's head, and pulled down. The canvas bag had a rope handle. It was around Neuron's neck now, pulling him back against a bar. Neuron immediately jerked forward, away from the door, but the PSP inside the bag was too wide to pass through the bars. Matt yanked on it, forcing the teenager backwards. The rope was garrotting Neuron. Matt twisted, ignoring his shriek, until it was tight. It was too difficult to turn and hold it with broken fingers, but Matt had anticipated that. He slid his toothbrush into the midst of the handle, jamming it tight.

Gevanni's men were starting to rush. Neuron fired indiscriminately into them. Beatrice went limp and started to fall. Neuron flailed between trying to grab her and reaching for the rope choking him. Matt reached back through. There was toothpaste on his hand, which he smeared into Neuron's eyes.

"He's blinded!" Gevanni yelled. Neuron fired again at the sound, but he could no longer hold the deadweight of Beatrice. She fell forward, with a loud crash, into the table, then slumped onto the floor. "Clear shot!" Behind Neuron, Matt took the pen from his pocket and rammed it, with all of his strength, into the pressure point at the base of Neuron's throat. Gunfire erupted down the corridor, then a strange, still silence.

Matt had hurried to the other side of his cell, when the shots had begun in earnest. He crept forward now. Neuron dangled from the door by the rope around his neck. Matt checked for a pulse in his jugular. There was none. "Of course he's not Mello, Chrissie." Matt replied quietly. "Mello would never turn his back on me."

Gevanni's face appeared over Neuron's shoulder, white with stress. "You ok?" He could see with a glance that Matt was fine, so had already ducked away.

There were people out there now, filling the space, checking Beatrice, Lauren and Chrissie. Matt's ears were trilling with tinnitus. He was straining through it to hear what was being said. Neuron's body was blocking most of his view. Matt sank to his hands and knees and peered through Neuron's legs. There was a security guard's back in his way, but he could see Chrissie's hand. He could see her wedding ring, splashed with blood. The red pool was inching its way under the bars and into Matt's cell. He eyed it warily, then stood, leaping up onto his bed, to see if that gave him a better view. It was fixed into the floor. He couldn't drag it to the door. He couldn't see a thing. From the end of the bed, he had just been able to make out Lauren's expression, as she sat on a chair by the back wall, talking to him. Up here, the distance was just too far and crowded to discern anything more than coloured shapes. They weren't going to move Neuron. This was now a crime scene.

Matt lit a cigarette. He called out. "Are they ok?" He could hear CPR going on. He wondered who it was, as they had no medical staff. Madeleine had to keep being flown in from Wammy's House. "I'm a trained medic." No-one opened his door. "I know what I'm doing. I've got certificates." Nothing. Matt yelled. "Who the fuck do you think patches Mello up? Let me out, if you don't want the fury of a seven foot African on your back!" No-one even answered him. Matt's eyes filled to the brim with tears. The adrenaline was wearing off and the lack of Seroxat in his system was beginning to tell. The whooshing sensation underscored the ringing in his ears. He lost balance and sat heavily down. He breathed. "I know CPR."