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"He has only ever hurt Zero once," Ender informed and Near looked at him in surprise. "Never the children. Zero will be smart enough to get the children away and he knows how to calm Far down. But if Zero doesn't go, then there would be a problem."

"...Because Far doesn't have a leash without Zero." Mail murmured.

"They would have to sedate him," Ender informed.

He pulled the car up beside a coffee shop that was just opening - the sun was rising to the east and the ground was still wet from night dew.

"...Need some java?" Mail asked.

"We're meeting Nate here," Ender informed, pointing to the name - The Labyrinth.

"...I'm nervous," Near admitted, as if surprised.

"Here, hold my hand." Mail slipped his hand over Near's. "I'm not going anywhere."

"...My thanks to Mail," Near said with a weak smile as they climbed out of Ender's car and headed toward the front door, passing by a motorcycle and taking no note of it.

Approaching the front door, Near slowly pushed it open and was overwhelmed with the smell of coffee beans and tea - a wonderful smell in the mornings, he had to admit. They spotted a form sitting in a corner with a black sweatshirt on, the hood pulled up, and Near slowly slipped toward that person.

"None of you are armed." The figure in the hood suddenly spoke up- making Mail and Near stop.

Near went stiff, even more so as Ender placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Should we be?" He asked, rather casually.

"It would be smart...weren't you always the smartest one?" Mail could see the figure smirk beneath his hood.

"...I also am unable to fire a firearm... My hands lack the strength required," Near informed, slowly. "...Mello knows this."

"Sometimes people forget...and I don't know how long you've been back here." The head turned up and Near's breath was stolen again as he beheld a familiar and yet entirely different face...one that had a vicious burn scar on the left side.

Slowly, Near inched forward. He squinted a bit and moved even closer, his vision not the best. It wasn't until he was about four inches away from Mello's face that he suddenly reached and pulled Mello into a hug.

Mail blinked at this and then felt even more surprised as the blonde put an arm around Near and hugged him tightly- his other arm remaining under the table- probably hiding a gun or something.

"Near...you picked a hell of a bad time to come back." Mello sighed.

"What is going on?" Near inquired, refusing to pull away. "Where is Nate?"

"...You're shaking." Mello seemed surprised. "...I don't ever remember you doing that."