Walls Came Tumbling Down

Matt hurried to the other side of the large Wammy's House reception hall and crouched with his back to the wall. To his right was the front door, bolted from the inside, with freedom on the other side. To his left, further along, was the turning into the corridor, which could take him past all of those classrooms to the refectory, Ann's office and eventually the infirmary. There were possibilities down there. Too many of them.

But Matt stayed put, rubbing his hands over his face, before leaving them to hang down between his knees. Behind him, the hum of the television revealed that someone was probably in the small common room. Children being calmed down with cartoons. It was tempting to just go and join them. He could pretend he was five again.

Across the hallway, two doors lay on the far side of the great, oak staircase. Matt couldn't technically see one of them, because it sat back in a recess. Mello would be working himself into a state behind that one. It was the other which commanded Matt's attention. Though he didn't look up once, he was counting.

From the left-hand corridor came the sound of hurrying feet. Rubber soles on carpet, practically silent, but rushing towards the reception. The warden's door opened. Hal took a short peek through the gap, then pulled it further ajar. On cue, Gevanni appeared at the corner. He gave Matt a sweeping look, before nodding to Hal. She was already moving out of her office, striding towards him. "What's up, Matt?" She asked, keeping her tone neutral.

Matt risked a glance through his overhanging fringe. He saw the two Americans moving into position. Hal was approaching him. She knew him best. Gevanni was slowly slipping out of sight behind the staircase. They were both between him and Mello now. Hal stopped at the foot of the stairs, knowing enough now not to come too close. She made a cursory gesture out of raising her hands, demonstrating that she did not have a gun in them. That's what Gevanni would be doing. Using the staircase to cover the fact that he had his own firearm ready.

"Blind spot." Matt spoke just as levelly. Hal inclined her head, though it was probably not a conscious affirmation. "The cameras in here are rigged to watch the doors. The one on this side is blocked by that coat stand. The one over there can see through the bannister, but not when I squat down here."

"Is Mello alright?" Hal replied.

Matt raised himself up onto his feet and stood facing her, but his gaze was on Gevanni. "Hey, why do you want to go in there? Reckon Mello will love you disturbing him with a gun in your hand." He saw Hal frown slightly. Gevanni didn't move. He was standing by the back wall. "What is Near waiting for? Does he want me to start asking for a jar of jam?"

Hal looked confused. "Jam?"

"You know how Mello is. You wouldn't have come running out here, the second that I went out of camera surveillance, if you weren't secretly watching us in there."

"That's paranoia, Matt." Hal tried a smile.

Matt raised his hands in surrender. "Is it?" He began walking in a wide berth around her, heading towards her office.

Hal turned with him. "Where are you going?"

Gevanni was clearly in view now. He didn't appear to have any firearm, but Matt knew that he had seen it. He smiled at the agent. "What did you do with your Glock 22? Behind your back?"

Hal sighed. "Matt, we're not looking for trouble here. Nothing has happened. I saw you come out and you looked upset. I would be failing in my duty as warden, if I didn't check up on that." She smiled properly now. "And as a friend."

Matt shook his head. "You brought back up." He indicated, with an expressive hand, that Gevanni should enter Hal's office before him. "I'm so dangerous."

Hal tutted. "It's ok, Stephen. I've got this." She cast a sharp look at Matt, which left him with no illusions that she was defenseless. He knew that. He had seen Hal in action before. "Do you want to chat or...?" She let it hang. "What do you want, Matt?" Across the hallway, Gevanni disappeared behind the staircase, heading towards the corridor. Matt paced along the wall, watching to see where the agent went. Hal looked from one to the other. "It's all getting a bit Macho Man in here. Shall we calm this down a notch?"

"You're getting very tired, Hal." Matt quietly told her. Then he dashed forward, through the open office door and kicked it shut behind him. There was a cry of alarm and annoyance outside; and a click, as he deadlocked the latch from the inside. His gaze swept across the multitude of surveillance screens. None of them showed Mello nor their room. Matt moved instead to the computer on the desk.

Hal rapped on the door with her knuckles. She was making some attempt at keeping her tone neutral, but the irritation edged her vowels. "Matt, open the door please." She paused. "Mail."

He had to work quickly. It wasn't so much that Hal would eventually just get through the door. He knew that she was perfectly capable of that. It was only a matter of time before she took drastic action. But she would attempt to reason with him first. That gave him at least a minute, until she remembered that he was a stubborn bastard, who didn't take orders from Watari. But Matt had assumed that he could watch Mello on those monitors. He didn't want to be locked away from his husband, even if Mello was being an arsehole.

"Mail, you don't have to shut me out. I've left you alone in there before. This isn't like..." Whatever the analogy, Hal stopped talking. She just looked exasperated. The silence felt loaded. She was quietly communicating with Gevanni.

Matt opened up the software controlling the cameras, entered tools and options, then simply ticked a box. On the wall beside him, every screen flickered then recorded an error. He closed the pop-up and manoeuvred to the feed links. He didn't need to memorise the relay, but that happened automatically anyway. He closed the application, then right-clicked the properties on its icon. The whole program was hidden from view. Beside him, the laptop sprang into life. It was a white screen, displaying an Old English N. "Fuck off, Near." Matt whispered, then skim-read the titles on Hal's e-mails. It was all very boring. Just stuff about ordering supplies for the orphanage. He clicked onto the Watari system proper and immediately found one message of interest. 'Century Information Please.' It had been sent from Near's account. Matt read it and smiled. "Wow!"

"Mail." Hal spoke very reasonably. "I would like you to open this door now please." She paused. Her voice rose slightly, though she had been perfectly audible before. "Stephen, go and check on Mello please."

Matt frowned, but they had him and everyone knew it. There was so much more he could do here, but in truth his legs were like jelly and his mind was a mess. He just wanted to sit down. He didn't acknowledge Hal, as he opened the door and shuffled across the reception to the staircase. She let him go, though Gevanni took a couple of steps towards him. Hal merely glanced into her office and breathed an exhausted, "For fuck's sake." Then she hurried inside to answer the call from Near.

She was soon back, marching across the floor like a general out for blood. "I want you to put my cameras back on-line please."

Smoke curled from the cigarette between his fingers. Matt stared straight ahead. "There are always hidden agendas in a place like this, Hal. Everyone has them. We were raised for the competition. We were made prepared to give our lives for it." He watched the front door and a short smile flickered upon his lips. But his eyes, hidden behind his goggles, were misting again. He kept his voice emotionless, but at the cost of volume. Both Hal and Gevanni were having to listen very intently to hear him. "Near is trying to sacrifice us. Providing an environment where it feels like dog eat dog. Waiting for us to fight back, defend ourselves like bosses."

Hal laid one hand on the bannister's end. She grit her teeth in an effort not to lose her temper. "Near is doing that?"

"You gave up on the sanctuary."

"What?" Hal gasped. "You are kidding me, right?"

Matt inhaled smoke. It felt like the walls were closing in around him. He was not free to go. He knew that now, as he had always known it. He practically mouthed the words. "Did you not notice Near declaring war? The Resolution took too much away from him."

Hal and Gevanni exchanged startled looks. Gevanni snorted and turned his back, walking a few steps away. Hal took a deep breath, then didn't say anything. Her whole expression screamed of someone making a big decision. She finally spoke, "And what if Near is doing the opposite? What if he is trying to thwart a civil war that is reaching boiling point? A lot of people died last time and our infirmary is already full from the fallout this time."

"If he wanted to protect the Institution from me, why would he let me come here?"

Hal stared, "Because this is where Mello is." She shook her head. "Didn't you always calm down when Mello was around?"

Matt bowed his head. He felt drained and nauseous. His head was throbbing. He wanted to tell her that she knew nothing about himself and Mello. The future spread out before him, dark and unimaginable. The threat was everywhere. He could bring down Watari right now. The whole system was in the process of toppling. Victory against Roger and all he stood for was so close. Yet his mind rebelled against strategy, filling itself instead with anxiety over his husband and the inevitable end of his marriage.

He should have answered her. He couldn't. He wasn't even thinking anymore about the things that she was questioning him about. Everything was closing in.

"Mail." Hal continued. "You're the one who's banging on about destroying Wammy's House. Didn't you think that would concern us?" She waited. "I've sworn to defend this place. I have children here, who are my responsibility. Alumni." She glanced at Gevanni, who was over by the corridor now. He was still watching them. "You're not supposed to be smoking in here."

Matt exhaled an ironic sound. His hands and feet were tingling. The emotion was welling up too large to contain, but he did. He blocked her out and contemplated whether he was going mad; or overdosing; or coming down with a bout of the flu. Only one fact loomed too loudly, eclipsing all other considerations. Mello was going to leave him. Mello was biding his time, until he was well enough to do so. Game over. Game well and truly over.

Hal tried again. "Mail, will you just talk to me? I don't appreciate feeling like I'm the only person here."

Matt raised his head. He almost looked at her. But a door was being opened down in the recess and it caught both of their attention. Mello staggered into view, his face ashen and his lips white with pain. He clung onto the corner of the wall and fixed his fierce gaze upon them. "Mail," he hissed, "I'll go home with you. You can take me..." He didn't finish. With a soft sigh, which might as well have been a roar for the effect that it instilled, Mello's grip slid from the paintwork and he collapsed onto the floor.

They all ran to him. Hal and Gevanni were both standing and should have had the head start, but Matt could move very quickly in an emergency. "Get me Madeleine!" He yelled, as he knelt at Mello's side. "Mello!" Matt's hands moved all over him, partially in First Aid and partially in cradling. "Fuck, Mello, come on!"

The Slav groaned beneath him. His eyes flickered open and closed again. Mello whispered, "I'm sorry." Then licked his lips around the barely audible, "Home with you, guapo."

"Where's Madeleine?" Matt demanded. But he knew that too. She was trying to save the life of Luigi, who had tried to kill himself indirectly because of Matt's own actions. "I'm going to get you to the infirmary." Matt rose, stumbling backwards against the weakness in his limbs. "I'm going to..." His words faltered, because what was he going to do? He could barely hold himself up, let alone Mello, even with all of the adrenaline coursing in his veins right now. Matt turned, casting his gaze worriedly around for inspiration. Gevanni had already gone. Hal was surveying them with visible concern, but she was watching him more closely than she was Mello. Matt felt his composure crumble. "Help him, Hal."

"I intend to." She replied, her tone revealing that she was close to tears herself. "I always intended to help you all. No more war, Mail, please." She made to reach out, retracting her hand again only at the last minute. "Let it go."

"Help him."

"I will." In the distance they could hear the trolley bed rolling in from the infirmary. "He's going to be just fine. He just shouldn't be out of bed."

Matt nodded and knelt beside his husband again. He took Mello's hand and held it. Faintly, but perceptibly, Mello squeezed back, though his eyes remained closed and his face was grey. Matt kissed his lips, tears falling from his own cheeks onto Mello's, even beneath the seal of his goggles. "Ok now." Matt whispered, then, "Sorry."