In the Meantime. (MattXOC Death Note Fanfic)

Gone

     "Aaaagghhh!" Guess woke up to a scream. After a moment of processing what was happening, she bolted from her room and ran to the room across the corridor. Swinging the door open she saw Matt on his knees on the floor pulling at his hair.
     "Matt, what happened?! What's wrong?" She knelt beside him and put a hand on his back.
     "He's gone! Mello's gone! I knew he was acting weird after speaking to Roger yesterday!" He handed her a small crumpled up piece of paper which read:

Matt, I'm sorry. L is dead. You deserve to know, so does Guess, tell her for me. Yesterday, after speaking to Roger, he told Near and me that L was dead and he hadn't gotten the chance to choose who'd be his successor. We were given the option to work together but you know me well enough to know that I turned that down. I left the job to Near. For us to work together would be a match made in hell. I'm going to catch Kira alone. I won't become L, I'll surpass him. I'll beat Near. What did you expect from me? By the time you're reading this, I'm long gone and I'm sorry for leaving you guys behind. The road ahead is dangerous and I don't know what I'd do if either of you got hurt on my account. Before you even think about it, don't try to find me, it's just too dangerous. Again, I'm sorry.

-Mello.

      Tears welled up in her eyes as she read the letter. Bringing a hand to her mouth to stop her from sobbing, Matt got up. He shouted in anguish again and punched a hole mindlessly in the plaster wall.
      "Matt!" Guess shouted as blood seeped out of the little cuts that formed on his fist.
      "The only person who even gave a shit about me when I first joined this hell hole is gone! He helped me deal with seeing both my parents die right before my eyes, God knows how fucked up I'd be now if it weren't for him! First Robin, now Mello, soon you'll leave me too and if you were to go I don't know what I'd do. I can't lose you-"
      "MATT!" Guess screamed. Her shout surprised him and he looked at her. Before he could think of anything else, her hand whipped around and slapped him across the cheek. He quickly brought up his uninjured right hand to cup it and turned back to Guess with pure shock. "Don't you EVER think that I'll leave you alone in this place! As long as you want me I'll be here, I promise. And we will go and find Mello one way or another, if we put our minds to it, we can do anything, hack every database in the world that could give us the slightest clue to his whereabouts and then get the hell out of here as soon as we can. Just be patient and we WILL find him, okay?" She managed to keep her voice fairly stable as she spoke though the stream of salt water running down her cheeks would make you assume otherwise.
       "Guess, I- I'm sorry, I-" he began apologetically.
       "No, I'm sorry. Your cheek okay?"
       Matt slowly nodded, his eyes still red. Guess slumped onto Mello's bed, holding fistfuls of the bed sheets beside her as more tears fell onto her lap. With that, Roger burst in.
       "What's with all this screaming?!" he asked, fuming.
       "Mello's gone," Matt replied monotonously.

       The two remaining of the original group of four sat in Roger's office as Matt had his hand bandaged by the old man. Tears still stained Guess's cheeks whilst Matt's remained red. "Matt..." Roger began carefully, aware that both of them weren't in any mental condition to be lectured or scolded. He continued cautiously, keeping his voice calm, "Why is your cheek red?"
      Guess opened her mouth to respond but Matt beat her to it. "I said something incredibly stupid, she slapped some sense into me completely within reason."
      Roger analysed Matt's expression but it was completely unreadable. He proceeded to the next question. "Are you two planning on following him?"
     "No, we have no clue where he went, even if we were to leave, it would be stupid to run around aimlessly searching for him when he could be on his way to any part of the world by now," Guess responded unemotionally, hiding their future intentions.
     Roger nodded, "Good, you are both now second and third, we cannot afford to lose any more of the top five."
     "What's the point? L's dead, Near is his successor, what's the point of the rankings anymore?" Matt snapped.
     Roger sighed, "I suppose I should have expected Mello to tell you both. Don't tell any of the other children, for some, he is their only source of hope."
     "Watari's dead too then isn't he?" Guess asked, Matt had his head bowed and his fringe shielded his expression from anyone else, but his eyes widened, he never considered the possibility that Watari would be dead too. Roger raised an eyebrow, he hadn't mentioned to either Mello or Near that Watari was dead. "Watari would never allow for L's death to happen, and even if he couldn't stop it, L's killer must have been smart enough to know that Watari could easily work out who he was with L's death," Guess summarised.
      Roger waited a moment before solemnly nodding. "Yes, he passed away within the same minute of L's passing." Matt let out a jagged breath and his body shook slightly. "I'm sorry for not telling you both, I was simply instructed to only tell first and second. I apologise." The two of them still remained silent, not reacting to his apology or anything else. It looked as if they wouldn't even flinch if someone were to burst into the room with a gun. "Is there anything else you'd like to ask?"
       "A better question would be if you have anything else you'd like to tell us," Matt said rather abruptly.
       Roger was shocked with his attitude for a moment before responding. "When you're 16, you'll have access to your share L's inheritance, and have permission to remain here if you wish until your 18. You needn't worry about employment either." Guess nodded. "Well, that is all. Watch your hand, Matt, try not to use it for a couple of days. You are dismissed."
       That was all they needed to get up and leave the room, both of them with their heads bowed. Guess took Matt's uninjured hand tightly as they headed to her room, not wanting to be reminded that Mello was gone.