End Transmission

AN: yeah… I haven't updated in a while. But in my defense I was kinda depressed and irritated as I accidently deleted an entire folder of music I've amassed over 2010. So I've been downloading like a crazy mf trying to get it all back w/o going too badly broke XD

Suggested Listening: Waking Up by Richy Nix; Mr. Romeo (without snoop dog) by Emii

Chapter Thirty: Heat

Mello frowned as he put the phone down on the table and resisted the urge to toss it across the room. The update on the Mafiya had not gone as well as he had hoped. Yes, the men had finally been informed about L, and yes, they had taken things rather better than expected, but there was still the matter of the Fedorov brothers. Nothing had been done on that front other than a partial plan and rather obscure behavioral observations.

Mello knew Yuriy was simply taking his time as it was a very delicate matter but it almost felt as though there was something more to it, as though Yuriy really wouldn't go through with killing them because of the risks to the Mafiya. Mello would have to get rid of Yuriy if that were the case, no matter how much that thought bothered him.

Mello shook off any more thoughts of murder. He'd give Yuriy more time to plan, but only a little more. He couldn't afford to loose territory to those idiot brothers.

"More bad news?" Matt muttered and Mello was surprised to find that he had forgotten the redhead was on the couch in front of him, laptop settled on his legs and a cigarette dangling from his lips.

Mello sighed. "If Yuriy waits too much longer to finish the hit on the Fedorov brothers then I'm going to have to... replace him."

Matt actually looked up at him at the hesitance and Mello had no doubt Matt understood that any replacement would be permanent. As if he didn't have enough problems with L already…

In the eight days since Matt had been in the NPA headquarters L had taken on the Triad and won and had moved onto Italy. It did seem that he was attempting to eradicate every group of organized crime for one country at a time. Even L had to know that economies, despite how much they denied, would take a dip if all the crime syndicates were pulled out from under them at once.

Though Mello had looked into it to see if a pattern might be forming, but from only two targets it was hard to tell and there was no indication as to who L might go after once he was done with his current 'project'.

There had been no more contact with the NPA as of yet but Mello knew it was only a matter of time. He figured that when L made his move on Japan that there would be contact, perhaps even sooner. But so far the only problem Mello could actually deal with seemed to be his Mafiya.

"Matt, I know you're playing chess with Near again, ask him if he could get Yuriy to speed things up." Mello muttered into his chocolate. Things always had to be so damn complicated...

"What makes you think Near will have any sway in all this?" Matt asked, though by his typing he had already begun to ask Near.

"Yuriy, for whatever reason, seems to have developed a soft spot for Near. He might actually listen to the fluff ball."

Matt snorted at one of Near's nicknames. Mello hardly called Near by them anymore, but every once and a while one would slip through; though Mello only held fondness for the younger boy.

Mello had wondered, as of late, if Near didn't know about the older mans affection for him, but the knowledge that Near might know was just as strange. The entire situation was... strange.

But that didn't mean Mello wouldn't use it for his own benefit. If Near was able to give Yuriy the final push than he would make sure Near was always informed of his dealings and that he would be used if trouble arose.

It was not a respectable thing to do but Mello didn't have time for niceties like that, even if Near was involved. He had already placed Matt in danger so Near was not exempt.

"Near says he'll bring it up when he calls him tonight." Matt commented, with what Mello thought was amusement.

He leaned back and stared at the ceiling for a moment; it was rather interesting that Near kept in such close contact with Yuriy. He had never figured the albino would be interested enough, then again, Near might simply view the elder as a source of information. It was hard to read Near at times.

In the end, Mello mused, it didn't really matter all that much so long as Near stayed safe inside the apartment. Mello withheld a sigh and wondered absently if his life would have been any less difficult had Matt not found out the ugly truth behind Wammys. Mello wondered if he would have even cared after all the brainwashing, had he discovered the truth later on rather than Matt.

He didn't like the answer.

"Mello?" Matt asked, between mouse clicks, sometime later. Mello made a noise of acknowledgment, one that he knew Matt would take as a sign to continue.

"Are we doing the right thing?"

Mello froze at those softly spoken words before answering hesitantly. "Of course." he was certain of his response and yet he had the distinct and nagging feeling that he had answered wrong; that Matt hadn't been asking the obvious question. Matt sighed softly and returned to his game with Near.

It bothered Mello and he tossed possibilities around his mind for a few moments before he grit his teeth and shoved the thoughts away.

He would not let himself dwell on it as there was no room for doubt in what they were doing and they were already too far, up to the necks, into it to ever get out without dying or winning; at least Mello believed it to be so.

There could be nothing else for them until L was gone and out of the picture. Sure, they could pack up and leave Japan, take Near with them, and go somewhere remote to live out their lives. But Mello knew he wouldn't be satisfied with that; and even if he could have been, there was no guarantee that L wouldn't find them and finish the job he'd started. Even if he was wrong... there was no way to stop.

.

.

"Mello, wake up."

Mello instinctively curled into the warmth of the blankets and ignored the voice in his ear. There was a soft sigh, almost amused sounding, before something cool slid its way across Mello's stomach that made him twitch in his semi-asleep state.

He mumbled incoherently and squirmed away from the coldness only to have said coldness creep down into the front of his boxers. His eyes snapped open and he registered the soft breathless laughter from beside his ear. Mello sighed heavily as he attempted to push Matt's hand away from his penis.

"What do you want Matt?" he groaned and simply gave up protesting as Matt only tightened his strokes on the hardening organ.

"I've been trying to wake you up for the last fifteen minutes. I thought that you might want to know when L's laptop reappeared at the NPA." Matt told Mello while his hand continued in its task.

Mello heard the words from Matt's mouth, and yet his sleep fogged mind couldn't comprehend anything above the sinful feeling of flesh sliding across his erection. He turned onto his side, surprising Matt who he came face to face with, and rocked his hips against Matt.

"Fuck, I think I should wake you up like this more often." Matt laughed and Mello felt as Matt's free arm went under his neck to pull him closer and almost cradle him against the redheads body; he didn't particularly care what Matt did at that moment.

Mello arched his back, shuddering, as his semen splashed across Matt's fingers. Mello rested his head on Matt's shoulder and closed his eyes as he fought to control his breathing and the pounding in his chest. He concentrated on the warm fingers that ran circles across his scarred flesh and hesitantly relaxed for a few long minutes before his mind caught up with the knowledge that had been given to him.

He propped himself up on one arm and stared anxiously at his redhead who smiled faintly at him. "You said L was at the NPA?"

"His laptop at any rate." Matt muttered.

"How long ago was this?" Mello pried himself completely away from Matt and crawled from the bed, but not before he tugged his boxers back in place, Matt's hands having pushed them down in pleasuring him.

"Almost thirty minutes ago now."

"Fucking hell. Goddamn it Matt!" he swore and marched from the room, completely uncaring as to the coolness of the apartment. Mello ignored the squeak of the bed as Matt presumably hurried after him.

Finally, after a month of waiting, L had shown up at the NPA and he had been asleep.

"I recorded everything obviously. And there was nothing groundbreaking really, mainly he wanted any information on the Yakuza that he might not have as well as what they had done to increase security. He apparently had requested all of the agencies he worked with to fix their systems, how they operate etc; though you already knew he supplied them with things to do that..." Matt trailed off and Mello felt him stand next to him as he placed the headphones on, though he didn't comment on it.

He reviewed the audio, nearly forty minutes old, and narrowed his eyes at the end as L's electronic drone asked 'Yagami Light' to please follow Watari so they may speak privately. The entire room was simply buzzing afterwards, they hadn't even waited until the two men, and laptop, had vacated the room.

L had to know, or at least suspect that the room was bugged. That, or whatever was being said really wasn't meant for the ears of the others; could L really be thinking of-

Mello's thoughts were disrupted by the soft touch of cool fingers on his arm. He turned his gaze to the redhead who stood awkwardly beside him and Mello sighed. "I'm not angry at you." Matt's gaze turned dubious and Mello had to admit that his voice sounded frustrated.

"Really I'm not. I'm simply going over the possibilities."

"You can think all you want, but until Yagami calls you won't know anything. They all left the room afterwards." Matt pointed to the screen which had turned to current audio of a completely silent room.

Mello almost felt anger at Matt for staying and listening to the entire conversation without waking him, but he knew it had been for the best. Matt was smart enough to know what was important; and there really hadn't been anything of value besides from Yagami being pulled aside.

He took a deep breath and forced away the childish urge to shrug off Matt's touch. It really wasn't Matt's fault. Matt had tried to wake him, though he hadn't succeeded until too late.

"Mello go put some clothes on, you're shivering."

Mello frowned at the tone of voice and it took him a minute to actually feel what Matt had already noticed. He felt a chill rise up his spin to the base of his neck and his body spasmed against his wishes. Cold ran across his body like a wave and created mounds of goose flesh in its wake. It was as thought thinking about being cold had made it true.

He huffed at the expectant look Matt wore and stood without another word. He may not have been angry, well not completely, with Matt but the redhead was on thin ice and nagging him was not in Matt's best interest.

Mello frowned as he eyed his wardrobe and numbly picked out his customary leather. He highly doubted he would be all that much warmer in it but it was better than nothing; curling back up under the blankets had never seemed so inviting,

"You're going to need your jacket if you wear that." Matt's soft voice startled him, though he didn't show it; he hadn't even heard the gamer walk into the room. In any other situation errors like that could get him killed.

"I don't have any other choice Matt." he muttered and moved to drop his boxers as they didn't fit under the leather but stopped as Matt dropped his hands to his hips and kept the fabric in place.

"You don't have to wear your own clothes. I do wear things like sweatpants occasionally you know." Matt's breath tickled Mello's ear as soft lips brushed against his neck.

"Yeah, and pink shirts."

Matt outright laughed and smacked Mello on the butt as he moved away and into the closet where he had stored his things. Mello stood there, grudgingly crossing his arms as he shivered again, and watched Matt ruffle through his things.

The jeans Matt wore were loose on him and without the belt probably would have fallen down further than they were; his shirt rode up as his arms moved and exposed a patch of creamy skin. It wasn't the air that had him hardening and Mello felt as thought he had just as much control over his anatomy as if it had been the temperature.

"Here." Matt stood and presented him with a pair of black sweatpants, Mello decided not to comment on the green and white mushroom on the left pant leg, and a-

"No." he narrowed his eyes at the innocent look on Matt's face. Mello snorted, innocent, right.

"It's the only thing that might fit you. No one will see." Matt smiled at him, a smile so wide it must have hurt, and despite the knowledge that he was being manipulated by his lover Mello grabbed the previously mentioned pink and black striped shirt. He should have known that Matt would have searched through his things for it.

Mello slid the black sweatpants over his legs and felt the chill leave him slightly as the thick fabric clung to him like a blanket might. He had the long-sleeved shirt halfway on before a thought occurred to him. "I thought you had thrown this out?"

Matt stared at him for a few seconds as he seemed to think it over. "I got involved with something at the time and forgot about it. I honestly thought I had left it at the apartment." the way Matt had said 'involved' shot off warning bells in Mello's mind, though from the tone of Matt's voice it wasn't a subject he wanted to talk about.

Mello could probably get the redhead to talk about it, if he badgered him into it and brought up the audio he had just missed, but decided that it wasn't worth the possible fight that might ensue. "Tell me about it sometime?" he compromised.

Matt looked visibly relieved and though it made him curious; Mello wouldn't pursue it until Matt was ready. Whatever it was, Mello had a feeling he wasn't going to like it. Mello's stomach chose that moment to let loose a furious growl.

"Let's go see what there is to make lunch..." he muttered. His body seemed to be the one constant thing to betray him. Mello supposed he could ignore it, but short of sitting around and potentially driving himself crazy over L there was nothing else to do. That, and he was due for something to eat.

Mello had stayed up late the night before reviewing everything they had collected data wise; But there had been nothing new. He also hadn't eaten anything since their early dinner.

"I'll help." Matt told him in a tone that suggested his version of help would merely be gathering the ingredients and then molesting him as Mello attempted not to burn their food.

"Fine. Get the stir fry things out then." Mello didn't need to elaborate that he would be getting the pans ready. Mello really wasn't in the mood for stir fry, but he wasn't about to have the vegetables go bad because he had been too busy to cook the last two days.

That, and he wanted Matt to eat something somewhat healthy.

He readied the oil to temperature as he watched Matt diligently cut the peppers and onions to specification despite not being asked to. Mello resisted the urge to kiss him as he knew the cooking would never get done and instead pulled the beef strips from the refrigerator and emptied them into the skillet.

They cooked in silence for the most part, excluding the moment when Matt had slipped his hand down the front of Mello's sweatpants, and despite almost burning the food everything had come out well.

Mello glared at Matt, who sat smirking at him as he took a bite of his food, and shifted his position in the chair until he was more comfortable. Matt caused him so many problems...

He calmly ate his food and ignored Matt and his smirking, he wouldn't rise to the bait. It wasn't all bad though and he knew it but sometimes he really did want to hit him... love or not, Matt was a pain in the ass.

"Thanks for lunch. I'll do the dishes." Matt told him, his smirk having faded into a smile. Mello sighed around his last few bites of food. Matt knew how to get out of trouble with him, that much was certain.

"I'm going to take a shower then." he told the redhead and simply left the dish where it was. The quicker he was done with the shower the less likely it would be that Matt joined him. He didn't bother with locking the door as Matt could pick it if he really wanted in.

He grabbed a towel as well as a clean pair of boxers and closed the bathroom door, turning the water on and letting it heat up. He stripped his clothing, leaving the t-shirt and pants for reuse, and left them to sit on the sink.

Mello sighed pleasantly as the warm water touched his still chilled skin and simply stood under the spray for long a moment simply letting the cold be removed from his bones. He hung his head and only opened his eyes as the thick water logged strands tickled his nose and hung loosely over his lips.

His hair was so dark that it appeared brown. It amused him, for a moment, to picture himself with any color other than blond. Sure he had seen himself in the mirror with the wig, but it hadn't been his hair.

Mello breathed in deeply and straightened himself as he grabbed the soap; his fingers had just curled around the slippers bad when he heard the faint squeak of the door opening. He left his hand hovering over the bar as he waited to see what Matt wanted.

His eye twitched in annoyance as Matt seemed hell bent on taking his time undressing to the point Mello almost yelled at him to strip and get his ass in there. He tapped a soft beat on the waxy soap and stiffened as the redhead joined him.

"I knew you wouldn't leave me alone." he said with a shake of his head and felt as Matt's lips curled into a smile as they kissed along the back of Mello's neck. Honestly, what the fuck was it with Matt's obsession with his neck?

He rose an eyebrow as Matt stole the soap from under his hand, but he didn't attempt to get it back. He flinched slightly as a soapy hand crept along his tailbone to touch his stomach, all the while rubbing the soap on him.

Mello somehow doubted Matt's intentions were all that innocent despite the redhead staying away from his genitals. He shivered as Matt bent down to lather up his legs, thighs twitching at the familiar feel of those hands.

Matt continued on with cleaning the both of them and Mello simply allowed it as he didn't know what to make of it. However once they were both cleaned... Matt spun him around and only the hand at the back of his head saved Mello from a concussion as he was slammed against the slippery tile.

"Matt.." he moaned as the redhead gripped his hair harshly and pressed their mouths together, teeth knocking together in the haste. He had known Matt wouldn't be able to keep to himself. Mello had expected it... and had made no move to dissuade him. He was certain he was becoming as bad as the redhead; he wrapped his arms around the gamer and pulled him closer, opening his mouth wider to the other.

Despite the heat, the closeness and the feel of the shower making their skin slick as they touched, nothing more came of it than a heated make out session. Not that Mello would complain.

The kissing had dwindled until there was only one, a soft one planted at Mello's tingling lips. Matt's wet hair was flattened against his goggles and the hand in Mello's hair detangled itself and slid down his cheek before going to rest beside its owner's thigh.

"If only you could behave this well normally." Mello commented with a smile; and though he couldn't see Matt's eyes very well he knew they were rolling. Matt grinned widely at him and backed out of the shower, leaving Mello to stand alone under the cooling spray. Without Matt's body heat the water didn't feel nearly as warm.

Mello glanced at his hands and wrinkled his nose at the prunish appearance of his fingers and quickly shut the water off. He had been in there long enough, longer than planned.

Matt had begun to dry himself and Mello couldn't help but admire the naked body before him with its light dusting of freckles on the thighs and shoulders, or the creamy skin that always felt finer than silk under his finger tips.

Mello shook his head and took hold of his towel and let his mind drift to simple things as he rid his body of the now freezing water. He heard the catch of a lighter and smelt the smoke long before he looked up to see Matt lent against the counter, fully dressed minus socks, with a cigarette hanging from his lips.

Matt glanced at him and raised an eyebrow at his nakedness. Mello flipped him off and snatched his boxers off the sink as Matt laughed at him. Why did he put up with Matt again? Oh yes, something about love...

"Feel better Mello?" the redhead asked; his hair stuck up at odd angles and was still that oddly dark color opposed to the vibrant red it normally was.

"Yeah." he gave Matt a small smile though he wondered just how Matt had known how uncomfortable he had been earlier. Sure, he had gotten warm, but he hadn't felt good since the chills had started.

The shower had done wonders for him though; he was so much warmer and felt refreshed in not only body but mind too. He contemplated seeing if the heat would turn up any further in the apartment, as it was slightly broken, as they left the bathroom. He supposed he could always bring the blanket out into the living room depending on what, if anything at the moment, needed to be done.

He felt like getting a drink first though. Coffee and a chocolate bar...

"Hey Mello, when you get done in the kitchen you should come in here." Matt said to him as he disappeared behind the screen of his computer.

"Why?" he called back, not that he hadn't been planning on doing so to begin with.

"Because Yagami e-mailed me."

-End Heat-

AN: So yeah, I ended it there. Kinda a cliffy right? I will probably update rather quickly now, if I stop being such a lazy ass *mainly as I'm sick of seeing this fics folder on my flashdrive* XD

There are only 6 chapters left, you have been warned.