"Well maybe he doesn't want to come back to your crappy prison where god knows what goes on!" Nate continued, raising his voice even higher. "And maybe I don't want to go back to a life of sleeping around and playing a character no one likes in a dying TV show!"

"You think here is any better than there!?" Mello asked. "Let me guess, Matt told you what this place is all about, didn't he!"

Mello glared at the redhead and Matt flinched.

"No!" Nate shrieked. "That's my point! He wont say and neither will you and I want to know what the hell I'd be condemning that kid back to if I help you bring him home!"

He sucked in a deep breath and calmed himself.

"Because god knows if it is anything like my childhood, I'd rather he stay there..."

"You don't think we care too?" Mello asked. "We know Near can take care of himself here."

"That's not true." Matt mumbled- making Mello look at him in shock. "...We know Near can take care of us here."

"I want to know what is going on," Nate informed, shooting them both a cold look. "I think I deserve the right to choose if I want to go back home and when you tell me the truth, its going to be a deciding factor. Now does someone want to give me a little honesty?"

Mello crossed his arms and looked away stubbornly. Matt took a breath.

"...I only left out specifics...I don't think it's hard to figure out." Matt said before crawling over to Mello reaching for him.

"Don't touch me!" Mello hissed- moving back.

"...He pretty much wants us to spell it out." Matt said firmly.

"Leave me out of it." Mello muttered.

"Psh, it's not obvious," Nate groaned. "Right now it looks like you get beaten and that can't be it, I mean... Mello's first right now, right? Why would they do that? And L wouldn't let that happen, I mean, he's a decent guy... so I want to know what's really going... on..." He frowned.

"I've been assigned the task of getting Near back." Mello said- not looking at Nate. "They didn't say I was first."

"L's in Japan." Matt told Nate. "He is decent enough...from what I've seen of him...he does this justice thing as a hobby, but we're more than just some successor investment, but they don't really let us see him and not when we're not being...monitored."

"It's because of that BB thing." Mello sighed. "So they got it all set up so that L has little to no contact with us to avoid it...but that L wasn't around when we might've needed him."

"...Neither of you are denying it," Nate whimpered, slowly. "...Why aren't you denying that's what it is? Why aren't you telling me I'm wrong...?"

Matt looked up at Nate- his face pained and concerned. Mello snorted and shook his head.

"...Now maybe you have a little bit of an understanding about how Near feels on a regular basis." Mello said. "It sucks when your right all the time."

Nate's pained expression went blank and he looked away. "If I... hadn't saved L, then Near would be in charge and this... would have stopped..."

"No it wouldn't have!" Matt said quickly. "And...and with L alive, there's more hope now...now we don't have to worry about it getting any worse...Mels doesn't escape to the mafia...I'm not dying and Near...Near doesn't have to be L...L's a victim too! Since he was a little boy!"

Nate looked surprised now, looking between the two of them. "Then why hasn't he stopped this? I thought he was in charge of this place!"

"Think about it Nate, just think..." Mello leaned forward a little. "Your whole life, since you were little, everyone's put you in this position, you've been treated like this to whole time with everyone telling you what to do and how to do it...every moment of every day."

"Nate...what would you be like if it were you?" Matt asked.

"...Probably an antisocial kid with asphies," Nate sighed, his shoulders slumping. "I... I can't bring Near back to this... I can't do that to him. I... I can't..."

The other boys fell silent before Mello spoke up.

"...Near believed...that one was worth saving many." Mello said slowly. "So he made a sacrifice...and since he didn't disappoint, he didn't have to worry and everyone else was safe."

"...Near's our friend." Matt told Nate. "Even if it's bad...we still want him back."

"I feel like I'm condemning an innocent kid to my own past," Nate whispered. "If he was forced to sell his body for food and had a coke addiction, we'd be carbon copies. Well, I'm not a genius, but I sympathize with the situation..." He sighed. "I want to help you get him back, but... He's been first in line since BB left, right? He was what... eight? How many years has that weight been on his shoulders?"

"Forever...since he got here." Mello said. "At first they were going after me and then Near came along and swept the rug out from beneath me."

"They tried to press me too, but...Mello and Near were just a new level." Matt replied. "L didn't mean to...but he named me a potential third because they wanted one. He thought they'd just leave me alone entirely."

"You're not condemning anyone." Mello added.

"How do you expect me to go home and just forget all this!?" Nate cried, looking up at them both with actual tears in his eyes.

"...Because...because it's not you." Mello blinked. "...Nate...you think we won't anything like this for you?"

"Fine... FINE!" Nate snapped, turning his face away. "I'll help you find out how to send me home..."

Matt blinked and looked at Mello before scooting closer to Near.

"Nate...it has nothing to do with you." Matt offered. "We're not trying to get rid of you."

"What?" Mello blinked. "What are talking about, he knows that!"

"I get it," Nate mumbled. "You want Near back... I can't say I blame you. He protects you both and has all of Wammy's sitting on his shoulders..."

Mello blinked now before he stood up on the bed- fists clenched.

"Screw you!" He snapped. "I don't need any protecting! Not from Near and not from YOU!"

"Mello!" Matt shot up at the blonde.

"I'm just repeating what y'all keep saying," Nate informed, lifting an eyebrow. "That Near is good in spot one because he doesn't mess up, so no one gets in trouble. So you want him back. I get that. Things work with him here. With him gone, they don't... if that bruise I can see at the edge of your collar is any indication."

Mello recoiled a bit and pulled up the collar of his sweater.

"...This sucks." Matt blurted- making Mello look at him in confusion. "I don't feel like picking and choosing."

"...Wh-what?" Mello looked surprised beyond measure. "Matt..."

Matt looked at Nate.

"We would keep you Nate...honest." Matt said. "Mello and I."

Nate smiled a little. "Hey... if you live, you can see me someday, right? If I get home... you can find me. I'll be on TV and stuff... or maybe I wont, but you guys are smart. You'll find me..." He sighed a little. "And... well... I don't like putting Near back in this situation but I have to trust you when you say its better for everyone... I'm sorry Mello, I didn't meant to sound so harsh."

Mello opened his mouth to say something, but found that...he really didn't have anything he could say.

"...Nate, we'll look for you." Matt promised. "If we can't have you now, we'll find you."

"Thanks," Nate said with a weak smile - one that said he clearly didn't think that in eight years Matt or Mello would bother to find him.

"...Maybe we'll even be around to look this time." Mello replied.

There was a moment of silence before Nate hummed, "My bet is figuring out how I got here is gonna help us figure out how I got home..."

--Scene Change--

"We've been in here for four hours, fifteen minutes, thirty six seconds," Near said suddenly after a good half an hour of silence while Mail fiddled with his cell phone.

"Hey, this Matt character's like an mechanical guy...right?" Mail asked.

"Mechanics, no... software and a bit of hardware, yes," Near hummed, looking over at him.

"Does he have a work bench?" Mail asked.

"He has a desk full of computers," Near informed. "But I doubt it's still here. I am going to assume that Matt left years ago... its the most likely option."

"Yeah, but if he left anything I could use it." Mail offered.

With a sigh, Near got up and moved over to the doorway. However when he attempted to open it, he found it was locked.

"...What is it?" Mail asked as he got up from the floor.

"The door is locked," Near informed, trying it again in case it was just the handle.

"Whatcha mean it's locked?" Mail frowned- walking over to help Near.