End Transmission

Suggested Listening: Scream With Me by Mudvayne

Chapter Twenty-Five: Hotel

Mello sat in the uncomfortable café chair, in the outside portion and under one of the large umbrella like fixtures, as he waited for Yagami. Mello was early and he was antsy. He tipped the large glasses he wore down his face ever so slightly to gain a better view of those who passed by on the streets; though he did it in such a way that it looked natural instead of suspicious.

He was wearing his customary leather, which was hidden under the bulky red jacket with its hood pulled up, as he uneasily sipped at some iced beverage. The only other additive to the outfit was the black sunglasses, well that and Matt had made him pull his hair back into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck; his bangs fell half into his face so he didn't see the point despite Matt telling him it camouflaged him.

He had thought about wearing a disguise but in the end couldn't bring himself to do so. He had needed it to get out of Russia and L's watchful eye, but until he had proof that L had tabs on Japan as well he would be a little less extreme in his hiding. That wasn't to say he was going to waltz around with his face showing to everyone either...

"Mello, quit frowning." he jerked slightly at Matt's voice in his ear before smoothing out his features. He had forgotten about the ear piece he was wearing; something that Matt had been able to acquire from the Internet and tweak a little bit to get better range and clarity. Mello hadn't allowed Matt to be in the vicinity with him. He was watching, via the cameras around that area, from his laptop at least two blocks away inside of his car. Or at least that's where he was supposed to be. Hell if Mello actually knew where the redhead was, Matt was the type not to follow instructions if he didn't like them too much.

And while generally it didn't bother him too much, it almost had him grinding his teeth in anger that Matt might be closer to danger because of his personality. "Seriously Mello, you're going to make people stare at you even more. You went to a public place for a reason, to blend in. Right now, you're standing out." Matt sounded slightly amused as well as slightly chastising. Mello found that funny coming from him.

"Matt, be quiet." he hissed as quietly as he could. Matt simply laughed loudly in his ear making him wince. If things kept going that way, it was going to be a long day. His eyes scanned the crowd and he nearly smirked at the person who passed by him, though managed to keep his expression the same. So it was time...

Hardly five minutes later a tall man with chestnut colored hair and a brown suit and slacks calmly and distinctively walked up to his table and peered under the umbrella fixture with a disarming smile that didn't work on Mello who had seen many of them in his short life.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" the man, Yagami, asked. Mello shook his head and motioned for him to sit down. All was silent for a few moments, background sounds being blocked out as Mello met Yagami's stare.

"So M, you arranged this, what do you want?" Yagami's tone was kind and his expression was friendly, but there was a sharp gleam in his eyes. Mello would have to watch himself around him.

"Mello."

Yagami looked at him oddly for a split second before the meaning of the word sunk in.

"I did state I would tell you my name in person." he shrugged a shoulder slightly and took a sip of his drink, the ice had melted a lot and it tasted watery.

"I want to know why you started looking into L and what you have found out, just how far into the truth you have gotten." Mello told him.

Yagami was silent for a moment, as though weighing his options, before he finally spoke. "I stumbled upon everything by accident. It started with a case that I had come across while looking through some of our cold cases in storage; it holds the stations only paper backups, everything else is computerized on the system."

"There had been a decrease in new cases so we had time to look into some past ones, but I found inconsistencies between what was on paper and what was in the system. At first I believed it was simple human error... but before long it became apparent that there was more to it." Yagami paused as the waitress came along and asked him if he would like anything. He ordered a coffee with no sugar. Mello frowned in distaste.

They waited in silence until the waitress brought his coffee before continuing. "I wasn't able to find any trace of the victims family, friends or even a mention of her in past news articles even using the NPA's recourses. It was as though they had never existed despite my father remembering the case." Yagami took a mouthful of coffee but had never once taken his eyes off of Mello.

"That was when I was certain there was something more going on. I didn't mention it to anyone else as I didn't have any proof." it was then that Yagami smirked. "I used some less than legal hacking methods and found something connected to it. A post made from an anonymous user requesting information on an article concerning the murder of a Mafiya boss and his sons subsequent disappearance."

Mello froze, remembering the day when Matt had shown him everything... and it was only when Matt shouted in his ear did he realize Yagami had an odd expression on him. "We should continue someplace where everyone who is listening in on the meeting can be seen."

Mello sneered at him, ignoring the smug expression Yagami had adopted. "The same should go for the agent you have with you." Yagami's face became expressionless for a moment before he sighed.

"I suppose it should have been obvious as no one in their right mind would come alone. You have my trust on a very minimal level for the moment, as I don't believe even someone like you could fake that reaction."

Mello dropped Yagami's gaze, despite the thoughts on Yagami being too naive; though perhaps the older man was good at reading people, he had read him correctly after all. "Where would you have us reconvene?" Mello questioned and took a long sip of his watery caffeinated drink afterwards; he needed to get the unexpectedly bitter taste from his mouth.

Even after four years... the memories were still too fresh.

Mello knew that had he had the proper environment to grieve, he might have been able to ignore reactions like he'd just had... but L had prevented it. L had caused him to settle on anger and revenge leaving no time for anything else. Though perhaps, as time passed, he could look back without the pain the memories caused.

"You choose." Yagami requested, his smile-mask back in place.

"Get to it M, you're the one with the computer." Mello snapped, knowing very well that Yagami had heard Matt yelling to him earlier he didn't bother to hide his conversation.

"So I'm M now? And I was already on it. I have a hotel suite booked, just give me two seconds and I'll have everything sent to your phone." Matt's tone held amusement though Mello didn't find anything about the situation amusing. However, he couldn't help the slight quirk of his lips as his phone beeped not three seconds later.

"I'll see you there Mello." Matt jokingly blew him an exaggerated kiss that had him rolling his eyes. He knew it was useless to tell Matt not to come, as Matt tone alone suggested nothing Mello did or said would deter him. Matt had already stated that should anything else regarding Yagami happen, he wasn't staying out of it. And though Mello could argue that it was the same meeting, he knew Matt wouldn't cave.

Mello took a moment to pull out his phone to review the information before copying certain parts, the directions and room number, and sending it to Yagami's phone. It was so much easier than having to write it out or tell him directly. He had already taken a risk in the crowded public place.

He waited until Yagami's own phone let off a shrill ring before looking at the man. "Those would be the directions to the hotel we will be meeting at. Please wait at least ten minutes before leaving here in case we are being watched." Mello dropped a crumpled twenty dollar bill onto the nearly spotless table and stood, leaving his half-empty drink where he had sat.

He didn't need to look back to know that Yagami still sat there.

Mello made it the two blocks to his newly acquired motorbike, grimacing as he sat on the not yet broken in seat, and kicked off into the streets. He was closer to the hotel than Matt was, despite the redhead having a head start. Though if Matt drove as fast as he liked to he might end up there before him. Whatever happened though, they would both be there before Yagami and his backup.

Not too much time passed from when Mello left the cafe to when he was using the keycard to get into the hotel room. He gratefully shrugged off the red jacket, tossing it onto a nearby chair after he had extracted two chocolate bars from it, and seated himself onto the couch that faced the doorway. He gently tossed his sunglasses onto the seat next to him before adjusting himself so that he was half sprawled out on the hideous floral print couch and rested his boots atop the too clean wood coffee table in front of him.

In the process of unwrapping his chocolate with one hand and his teeth the door swung open as Matt waltzed inside. Matt stopped to admire him and Mello could only imagine the thoughts running through his head. He didn't have to wait long before Matt walked up to him and pulled him into a kiss, chocolate half melted in his mouth. Matt tasted of cigarette and Mello wondered just how many he'd smoked on the way over.

Matt grinned at him as he pulled back, needing air. "You look every inch the Mafiya boss you are with your demeanor so damn calm and decked out in that leather." Matt told him while nipping at his jaw.

"Down boy." he commented, flushing, as he pushed Matt off of him.

"I know, go stand in the corner like a creepy stalker." Mello could really only blink at the redhead after that.

"What? I know you too well by now. You want me out of sight for a little while." Matt shrugged and wandered off to some place in the room where he was concealed. Honestly, he should have expected that from Matt. He sighed, feeling the lingering taste of Matt on his tongue, and bit into his chocolate rather than snapping off a piece. He needed that distracting flavor of smoke out of his mouth.

Matt had changed, Mello decided, since he had taken the chance to kiss him all those weeks back. But it wasn't a bad change. In fact, Mello rather liked it.

There was a knock on the door a short while later and Mello immediately yelled 'come inside' and watched wearily as the door clicked open. Yagami and a dark haired man in a blue suit walked inside. The man beside the brunette took one look at him and gaped. "He's just a kid!"

Mello smirked widely, chocolate hanging almost limply from his fingers as his arm rested along the back of the couch. "Hardly, I'm almost legal." he said suggestively and though Mello couldn't actually see Matt he could picture the amused expression he was likely to have at that.

"Matsuda, enough." Yagami told the man, Matsuda, next to him sharply. Matsuda immediately straightened up and fixed Yagami with an apologetic expression. Mello almost felt bad. Almost being the key.

"Matsuda is a fellow police officer, the reason he's here is because he is the only in the NPA besides my father that I trust. And I'm sure you know why I haven't dragged him into this mess."

Mello rose an eyebrow. The only other one that he trusted?

"A few of the other officers I'm around a lot have been acting... off, as of late. I'm not sure what to make of it yet, but some of the things they have been doing are suspicious enough for me to keep them out of this. I will say though, that it only began after I started to dig into the cold case connected with L, it could be a coincidence..." Yagami trailed off and Mello knew that the brunette didn't really believe that it was mere coincidence. And really, too many things had happened recently for it to have been anything other than L's interference.

"Hey... where's your partner?" Matsuda asked as he looked around; Mello watched as Yagami's face twitched ever so slightly in annoyance. Mello heard a soft rustling, Yagami tensing, and watched as Matt stepped into view.

He watched as Light surveyed his lover carefully, noting the game in his hands and the unlit cigarette in his mouth almost wearily. "I have a gun stuffed in the inside of my vest if that's what you're looking for. If it makes you feel better we can all put our pieces on the table?" Matt commented without looking up and not for once Mello was struck by just how observant Matt could be when he truly wanted to.

"Alright." Light commented, face a perfectly composed mask of indifference, as he placed his own gun on the table, though his hand remained firmly across it until Matt had paused his game and reached behind his head to pull the glock free. Matsuda glanced nervously at him from a few feet away, hands almost shaking on his own weapon before Mello sighed and yanked the gun from his leather and tossed it on the table with a clatter; a noise so loud Yagami had flinched.

Then, and only then, did Matsuda place his gun on the table with the others. Matt however, had his hand stuffed into the back of his jeans to pull out another gun causing all eyes to drift to him.

"What?" he mumbled around his cigarette "I never said I only had one."

The flippancy in his voice had Mello pressing his palm to his eyes in annoyance. Matt's attitude would get him shot one day. "Pull up a seat if you will." he muttered with a barely withheld sigh.

And the two policemen did so, after a moment of hesitation, until they were seated at the other side of the coffee table looking more like Mello's underlings than equals, something Mello was sure amused Matt more than he let on.

Matt had taken a seat on the arm of the couch to Mello's direct left, his game back in hand and vest comfortably back in place. "Shall we continue on from where we left off at the café?" Mello questioned.

"That's fine by me. I will start off with the fact I believe you to be that murdered Russian Mafiya bosses son, as well as he fact that your attitude leads me to believe you, yourself are in the Mafiya as well."

Mello forced his expression to stay the same, a feral grin threatening to take over. Yagami was not an idiot like he was used to dealing with and he shouldn't have been surprised that the moment he had seen his face Yagami had been putting the pieces together.

"That's neither here nor there; for the record though, I'm not in the Mafiya." Mello enjoyed the flicker of doubt that went through Yagami's features before they settled again with more conviction than before. This is good, Mello thought, Yagami wasn't the type to be easily swayed.

That meant that even should L get his claws into the man before him the raven haired man wouldn't be able to sway him to his cause. Though it would probably lead to Yagami's death in that case. Yagami gave him a look that clearly stated 'I am not wrong' and the brunette reclined in the chair as much as he could as he surveyed Mello.

It was obvious further conversation would not be under way until Yagami was satisfied. "I'm not in the Mafiya... I run it."

The reaction was instantaneous; Matsuda stood from his chair and yelled in shock while Yagami went rigid. Had he not expected someone so high up? Mello withheld his comment whilst Matt snorted softly at all the commotion. "Light we can't work with a Mafiya boss!"

Mello narrowed his eyes at Matsuda until Yagami laid a hand on the distraught policeman's arm. "We can and we will. There is something going on and we need to get to the bottom of it. This goes far beyond petty criminals and the Mafiya, especially if it all leads to L." Yagami spoke firmly and forced Matsuda to sit down, though it was done so gently. Matsuda looked conflicted for a moment, but seeing Yagami's unwavering attitude, slumped his shoulders in resignation.

"I believe you know far more about the situation than I first thought..." Yagami trailed off for a moment "...and that your choice to run the Mafiya has something to do with it. Where did you go for the years you weren't in it, the years you disappeared?"

Mello sucked in a small breath, uncomfortable with just how much Yagami had inferred and had gotten correct in just the span of their meeting. "There is an orphanage called Wammys House; the children there want for nothing. It is also a place L uses to find and train heirs for the title of L. It is literally a house for genius children." Mello snapped off a piece of chocolate, needing the rich flavor of the dark bar to sooth his nerves. He hated remembering that place.

"Some of the kids weren't brought there legally." Matt cut in and Mello was surprised he had spoken again.

Yagami's eyes had widened slightly before a look of understanding broke through. As Mello had correctly assumed, the case Yagami had been talking about, with the missing girl and her mysteriously vanishing family, had to do with Wammys. Mello had to wonder if he had ever met that child or teen.

"When a child of genius proportions is discovered and found acceptable by L, he brings them to Wammys by any means necessary." Matt's tone had turned slightly bitter towards the end, and the flick of a lighter catch and the acrid smell of smoke filled the air, but Mello wouldn't dare tell him to put it out.

"Kidnapping and Murder...L?" Yagami muttered. "How did you come by this information?"

That was when Matt grinned mirthlessly and explained his hacking tendencies and what he had found as a child.

Mello watched his lover discreetly from the corner of his eye and loved the way he held everyone's attention despite not having taken his eyes off his game. The way his red hair flopped gracelessly over his goggles and his lips parted to hold the cigarette gave Mello pause; he wondered if he ever would have told Matt what he felt had it not been for his abduction not too long before. He'd like to think he would have... because his life would have seemed just a little bit too bleak otherwise.

"So L... is bad?" Matsuda muttered, seemingly having a difficult time comprehending the matter. He looked stricken, like a puppy that had just been kicked.

"It would appear so, and I am more than willing to believe Mello and his partner as everything fits into place. If L really has done all of this... than he needs to be stopped before more lives are ruined."

Mello sensed that it was time to end things for the day. Everyone had things to think on, and overwhelming them wouldn't do any good.

"We should end things here for today. Though I would like to ask one last thing before you leave." Yagami nodded to him somewhat wearily. "Are you willing to work with us?" Mello asked seriously. If Yagami wasn't, then Mello knew he might have to kill him. Yagami had seen his face after all.

"Yes... I suppose it will mainly be information exchange?" Yagami questioned as he stood, grabbing his gun and placing it safely at his hip.

"At least until the final confrontation takes place."

"I suppose you will be contacting me then as I don't have your number?" Mello nodded, with a wide grin, at Yagami's question. It was obvious that the man had wanted a number, but until Matt fixed up another phone for that purpose alone it would have to be that way.

"Take this. Use it only if you really need to contact us." Mello turned at the sound of Matt's voice and was only able to glance at the piece of paper before it was handed over. It had looked like some sort of e-mail address, though Mello hadn't even seen the redhead writing it.

"State in it that you need us to call, and nothing more than that for security purposes." Matt commented, going back to his perch on the couch.

"I suppose you'll be in touch. Matsuda, lets go." Yagami gave them one last look before he practically had to drag the other police officer out of the room. There would be a lot Mello needed to work out concerning Yagami, but if everything panned out then it would be worth it. The door closed with a soft click and was locked instantly.

As soon as the door was shut Mello was surprised by a pair of lips on his own but simply wrapped his arms around the gamer and kissed him until they were both breathing heavily and had fallen onto the couch in a pile, smirking.

"What do you say we make good use of our time left in this room?" Matt suggested with a wag of his eyebrows, something so uncharacteristic of the redhead that Mello had to let out a small laugh. He bit his lip for a moment before shaking his head slightly.

"Fuck it, why not." he muttered with a shrug. The response was immediate as Matt crawled off of him and yanked him from the couch.

"Matt put me the fuck down!" he yelled as he was thrown over the redheads' shoulder. Matt's response was to smack his ass, an action that caused Mello to grow hard and his face tint pink in embarrassment.

"You liked that didn't you?" Matt laughed. Mello growled but it was cut short as Matt dropped him to the bed, air going from his lungs as Matt unzipped his jeans to reveal the bulge Mello hadn't noticed from his previous position.

Matt stripped himself of his vest and shirt which left Mello feeling oddly exposed in all of his clothing. Matt crawled atop him and grinned at the expression he must have let slip onto his face; with Matt it was getting harder and harder to control himself around and he couldn't decide if it was a bad thing yet or not.

His vest was unzipped slowly and a hand tugged at the laces of his fly. "You're going to love this." Matt mumbled against his lips.

"I know." was all Mello could think to reply as his leather was removed and Matt kissed him again.

-End Hotel-

AN: ok news time! I've updated my projects list at the end of my profile, so if you're interested in whats to come check it out…