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"He... he lied to me..." Near whispered, staring down at the grave in complete horror. "...He LIED to me!"

He turned, swinging and hitting the display of flowers that was on his own brother's grave, sending it flying to the ground. The vase shattered, glass glittering in the snow.

"...He lied to me," Near whimpered, sinking to his knees in the snow.

A hand fell on Near's head and gently ran its fingers through his hair.

You never had to settle for second rate.

He looked up to blink teary eyes at a blonde boy almost identical to Mello save for his bangs, which were died blue and blue eyes that were far too pale in color to belong to his husband.

"M... Maddness..." Near whispered into the cold, reaching forward. He could have sworn he touched the others skin and felt its warmth beneath his fingers, although he knew that wasn't possible.

Inwardly, he knew that it was the cold and whatever Beyond had given him, messing with his head... on top of it was the visions he had seen and his aching chest... inwardly, he knew that there was no way that M was actually standing before him.

But he still let the form embrace him and leaned in, crying on the man's chest.

...Why did your fragile heart have to be stepped on...why did you allow it to happen?

He felt M petting his hair- his warmth wrapped around him with his hold.

For a few moments, Near just let himself be held... then he started to realize that he could smell the faint smell of cigarettes and Axe body spray.

Slowly, the white-haired boy pulled back and wiped at his eyes, looking up at Matt in surprise. Trick shifted behind the redhead, looking nervously around the graveyard.

"...Matt?" Near whispered in clouded surprise.

"...Let me take you back inside." Matt offered softly- taking Near's hand gently in his own. "Back home Near."

Slowly, Near nodded. He didn't fight it as Matt scooped him up, burring his face into the redhead's shoulder and starting to cry quietly.

Trick stumbled after the two of them, looking over his shoulder as the sun started to rise to a new day.

--

"...I could have walked back to England by now Matsuda." Mello informed as he stood beside to Asian detective on the landing strip.

"It was the best I could do...hopefully Aizawa will get here with something for you from back home." The Japanese man offered.

Just as he said that a car pulled up and Aizawa stepped out, looking as Mello remembered him.

He stepped up and gave them both a nod, before turning completely to Mello. "It took some time, but I got a hold of Roger. He was out... there was a false alarm pulled at the hospital, taking he and Nancy out for the evening."

"Well then who the hell was watching the kids?" Mello demanded.

"It sounds as if he left a person named Indigo in charge?" Aizawa hummed, shaking his head. "He informed me that someone by the name of 'Zero' was just admitted to the hospital and that a girl named 'Linda' told him she wasn't sure where Near was... you children all have odd names."

"Oh shit, Zero WAS there!" Mello burst. "How long before the God damned plane!?"

Thankfully someone flagged them down then and they were climbing on board. Mello tried his best to reach someone before they got on, but no one was picking up, to his dismay.

"We don't have any time, we have to take off and land as close to Wammy's House as we can." Mello growled as the took his seat.

--

"...You know, there's slight possibility that maybe he's already on a plane back." C finally offered.

"It's entirely possible," Ender replied - still in the same gray dress as before - looking almost frustrated to someone who was looking hard enough. "But until we know, we can't simply leave the states. What if he isn't and we abandon him?"

"Good riddance," One muttered.

"Does he have a cell?" C asked with a frown before his eyes shot wide. "Oh crap...is Oliver holding his pills for him!?"