Disclaimer- I don't own any rights to Death Note. At all. This story doesn't make any money either.

Italics-Thoughts

Bold-Yelling

Mello P.O.V

I can't believe that really just happened; God I'm totally fucked.

A burnt and bleeding Mello stumbled through dark streets, wandering as far away from the explosion as he could with what minimal strength he had left. He was hoping that somehow he'd make it through this, but his chances were looking pretty slim.

He groaned as he jarred himself stumbling forward into the side of what appeared to be an apartment complex. He cursed silently and tuned around leaning against the red brick. His strength was quickly failing him while blood loss was making him severely dizzy. He gave in to his body's pleas and slid down the wall sitting down finally. He let out a breathe he didn't know he'd been holding and got ready to inspect the severity of his wounds.

He was wearing a leather jacket that he'd grabbed off a chair on his way through the flames before the base had been completely overcome with fire. His pants were still pretty intact but his leather vest has all but melted off his left side. He painfully pealed the leather off of his scorched skin and quickly saw his mistake. The burns had begun healing already and he had managed to pull off the developing scabs. Blood trickled down his chest and stomach as he felt a new wave of dizziness and nausea assault his senses.

"Fuck!"

Matt P.O.V

Matt's fingers danced gracefully across the keys with the speed of a hacker ten years older than himself. His eyes were glued to the screen as he worked on his latest assignment. He was hacking for some upscale company and they paid big money for little jobs like this. Finally breaking through the first wall, Matt smiled to himself and got up stretching out his fingers. Feeling quite accomplished, he grabbed a pack of cigarettes and made his way put of his apartment. He usually smoked inside, and was well known by his friends for doing so in their houses as well as his, but he decided it was time for some fresh air.

Matt headed to the elevator but chose the stairs last second. He wanted a longer break than usual because he had some things to think about today. This wasn't the first big scale job he'd been hired for, but it was one of the more serious ones. He was surprised how far he'd come in his life. He was only 20 years old and he was already living in a nice apartment complex, expensive at that, he had a steady job, though it wasn't legal, he had many friends and a decent life.

However, it's not the life he expected he'd have. He remembered when him and Mello decided they'd be partners when they grew up. Matt frowned. But then Mello left after L's death. He still heard rumors about him joining the mafia to get better connections to the case. From what he'd heard from old friends who went to whammy's, the case was still at large with some Light kid leading the search. Along with near. Matt made it to the bottom of the stairs and sighed pulling out a cigarette, now he felt like he needed it. He missed Mello. He knew that when they were younger he had a crush on the blond, but they were also best friends. He had a best friend now, but it wasn't the same. His new best friend even wanted to be more than friends, but for some reason he felt reluctant.

Matt made his way down the hallway and was startled out of his thoughts when he heard someone scream from outside.

"Fuck!"

He stroked the gun that he always kept in his back pocket and made his way towards the back door. Maybe someone was being mugged?

He stepped out onto the concrete and looked around seeing nothing. He looked around in confusion before he heard a thump come from the side of the railing. He walked over and looked down seeing something he didn't expect. Their was a male laying on the ground bleeding heavily. He ran down the steps and came around kneeling by the other male.

"Hey, are you conscious?"

He poked the unconscious male softly and got no response. He couldn't see the extent of his wounds but decided he'd inspect them inside. He appeared to be bleeding more heavily than he had first suspected.

As gently as he could, Matt picked up him up bridal style: he did his best to avoid his left side as that was where the blood was coming from. The redhead was shocked at how light the other male was, he thought he'd be heavier because he could see his slightly muscular build. Matt still couldn't see his face or much of his body though. He could tell that the entirety of his left side was injured. Under his long blond hair was probably injured as well. For some reason that hair looked startlingly familiar. He shook off the odd feeling in his chest and headed up the stairs slowly. Walking into the complex he made his way to the stairs but realized that this was an appropriate time to take the elevator.

When they made it to his apartment door Matt took out his phone and his keys. He unlocked the door after several failed attempts and walked in with his load. He walked quickly to his linen closet and pulled out some old towels then laid them out on the couch placing the blond on top of them. The task took much longer than it should have given placing towels on a couch proved to be more difficult with a grown man in your arms.

He sighed and grabbed his cell hitting speed-dial and calling his best friend, best female friend anyway. He waited impatiently as the phone rang slowly. As soon as he heard her voice he went into a frenzy.

"Nina! I-need-you-to-come-over-right-now! It's-an-emergency-and-I-need-you-to-bring-your-medical-equipment-with-you! I-found-a-guy-outside-of-the-apartment-complex-and-he's-really-fucked-up! I-don't-know-who-he-is-but-"

"Whoa! Calm down Tiger, one thing at a time. What do you need?"

"I need you to come over to my place and, I need you to bring medical supplies."

"Okay. Why, exactly?'

"As I was saying, I found this guy injured out back of the complex and he's pretty fucked up. I don't know who he is or what happened, yet. It doesn't really matter though, I need you to hurry! He looks close to bleeding out and I'm about to panic!"

"Okay, I'll be there in minutes, bro!"

Nina hung up and Matt sighed in relief. He hung up his end and walked over to the visitor on his couch.

"What on earth did you do?" Matt questioned the sleeping man and reached over to investigate his wounds. He gingerly pulled off the left side of his leather jacket and gasped in shock. There were burns adorning the entirety of his side. They probably lead up to his face as well. Matt knew he shouldn't impose on someone else like he was, but he couldn't help himself. He lifted the shield of blond hair and stared in shock at the sight he beheld. The entire left side of his face was burnt. It looked extremely painful. No wonder he was covered in blood. Even with the burns and cuts adorning his face, Matt could see that this man was extremely beautiful and he suddenly needed to know who he was. He looked so strangely familiar that he felt a sense of déjà vu.

Abruptly, he remembered a dream he'd had a couple of weeks ago. In this dream he'd found Mello half-dead in a ditch near Whammy's house. The occurrence had something to do with the Mafia but he didn't understand it fully. Matt looked at the man beside him in confusion.

Why does he evoke that memory?

The pensive redhead was brought out of his thoughts by a knock on the door.

Nina!

He shot up and sprinted across the room to his front door. He flung the door open and almost screamed in relief.

"Nina! Oh thank god!" Matt exclaimed.

Nina laughed at his antics, "Calm the hell down Matt, you're going to wake someone."

Nina was talking about the neighbors but, Matt didn't realize that . "Oh shit," He turned around to make sure his visitor was still sleeping, "He's still asleep, it's fine."

Nina looked at her friend in confusion. She's never seen him so worked up before. There must be something else going on. Shrugging it off, she walked around the redhead.

"Let me see my patient." Matt walked closely behind her as she headed to the couch.

Nina stared down at the immobile male and pulled on a pair of latex gloves. She quickly got to work examining his body, "Wow, it looks like he literally set himself on fire."

She probed him around his burns and the blond growled in his sleep. Matt felt another wave of déjà vu, why did he sound so familiar. His mind was trying to wrap around it when Nina did something that would change his life forever. She simply pulled off his burnt leather vest. Nothing more, nothing less. But, that was when he saw it. It was a birthmark. Just a simple blemish, slightly above his right pectoral. At that moment he knew.

"Holy shit!" Matt yelled and jumped away from Nina and the injured male on his couch. Nina almost jumped out of her skin. She turned furiously around towards Matt.

"Dude, what the hell is your problem?" Nina screamed in shock. She froze as she saw tears in Matt's eyes. Matt never cried. "Matt? Matt, what is it?"

"Th-the birthmark. That one on his r-right side. It's Mello's." Matt stuttered.

Nina's eyes widened in shock and comprehension. She slowly turned, staring at the male with a different look in her eyes.

"You mean 'mafia Mello'?" The ravens' voice began to get louder with every word she spoke. "The Mello who left you alone, Mello? That bastard you spent years with to create a meaningful relationship for him to just throw it away? That Mello?" At this point Nina was breathing heavily and practically screaming.

Matt nodded and stared, mesmerized, at the gorgeous male on his couch. "Y-yeah. My Mello."

Nina glared at the unconscious male before standing up. "Then he can find his own fucking help." Nina threw her gloves on the floor angrily.

Her friend stared in shock before falling to his knees.

"Nina! Please don't say that! He needs help and you're the only one I know who can help him. I need him to be okay!" Matt pleaded hopelessly.

Nina stared between her best friend on his knees and the unconscious male who'd made his life hell for several years. Although it was idiotic, Matt would never forgive her if she didn't do this for him. She sighed resignedly. "Whatever, Matt. I'll do this. But don't expect me to ever be nice to him. In any way. I'm doing this for you," She pointed at the limp body, "Not this bastard."

Matt smiled the most stunning smile she'd ever seen on his face. "Oh god, thank you Nina. That means so much to me."

Nina shrugged nonchalantly and returned to kneeling next to the blond. She shook her head in anger and continued to work on her patient. After a couple minutes of examining the burnt man she turned to Matt.

"Matt, this is a lot worse than anything I've ever dealt with. I suggest you just drive him to an emergency room." She made to get up and Matt nodded in agreement before a look of worry flashed across his face.

"Nina, we can't do that." Matt looked down at his hands almost ashamed.

"What do you mean Mattie?" Nina walked over to his and made him look up into her eyes.

"What do you think caused this mess? Who casually sets themselves on fire? You know of the rumors about his 'line of work'." Matt looked over at the blond with a heartbroken expression on his face.

"I know my line of work isn't much better, but think about the dangers of the mafia. This is the kind of thing that would happen. Maybe he exploded a building or something. Either way, the police will know something's up. I bet there's a bounty on his head."

Nina nodded in understanding, "Oh, I hadn't really thought about that. Wait! Flip on the T.V.!"

She ran over to the television and waited patiently as Matt grabbed the remote. "Okay, turn it onto the local news."

Matt did as he was told and as if the gods were speaking to them, there was an image of a building in flames. Matt stared in shock as the large building crackled and burned. The thing was a hige warehouse that had been suspected of illegal activity for the past couple of months.

"It's November eleventh and we're reporting to you live! The supposedly abandoned factory on 21st and Himes Street has unexpectedly burst into flames. Police are telling us that their was police activity but will not inform us as to why officers had entered the building before the accident. Reports of an explosion are pouring into the station as well as many other accusations. The- Wait! This just in! We've received news that several Mafia members have been obtained as they tried to flee the scene. The police were conducting a raid involved with Kira when the building was set up into flames. It's suspected that the head of the organization, under an alias of M, was the one to set off the-" Nina grabbed the remote from a shocked Matts' hands and pressed the power button.

"O-okay, Matt. We have a decision to make here. We can get involved in this or throw him out. You and I both know that our line of work puts us in danger as it is. Is this worth the extra danger?" Nina looked over her shoulder at her companion in question.

"I-I-I don't really know N-Nina." He sat down on the arm of the couch and put his head in his hands. "Okay, let's think about it this way. We could always use this to our advantage, right? Not join the Mafia or anything, but ally with them? I just, I can't throw him out on the streets like this. You don't have to be ivolved though."

Nina gasped in outrage, "How dare you imply that I wouldn't be a part of this! You're like a brother to me and i have to look out for you! I'm in, so get over it!"

Matt smiled at her softly and looked over at the leather-clad Mello laying on his couch. "Okay, Nina. So what do we do now?"

"I need gauze, burn cream, antibiotic ointment and a cup of coffee. It is almost midnight you know!"

The redhead chuckled and stood up heading to the kitchen. "One cup of coffee coming right up!"