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They are in Halle's temporary place, the one she is staying at while she's undercover; a regular Japanese apāto.
Mello and Halle are in bed coming down from the high of their intense, wild passion. Mello knew how much she needed this, having made sure to fuck the stress out of her that he knew she felt, to make her feel good and forget about her worries for now, whatever they were.
When Mello got here at Halle's place earlier, he noticed how tense she was. There was no 'information exchange' pretense as Halle immediately grabbed him by the collar into a deep kiss.
Now they lay close together, their breaths evening out.
Mello finally asks Halle if she's okay and what's been eating her up. Mello senses that it must be more than her undercover work in Takada's circle.
Halle first says that she's normally cool and composed, and that she's done dangerous undercover assignments before, even infiltrating enemy lines, but this whole Kira thing is different.
Halle takes a deep breath then continues. She tells Mello that she's afraid this assignment is the thing that'll finally take her out. It's so easy too, just a few pen strokes on magic death paper and she's dead.
Mello listens empathetically. Then he tells Halle that he gets how she feels. During his confrontation with Soichiro Yagami, Yagami had the Shinigami eyes and saw his real name. Mello knew that Yagami didn't want to kill him and was hesitating so much (which Mello took advantage of), but Yagami did manage to write down Mello's first name, all Soichiro had to do was write down his last.
Mello still thinks about that. It never left his head, how close he was to dying in those early hours of November 11th.
Even though his name wasn't fully written down, even when he managed to escape the Task Force, they now had his name. Light Yagami—the fake L, Kira—knows Mello's real name as he heard it through the mic Soichiro Yagami was wearing that time. And so Mello knows how high his chances are of getting killed by the notebook, even now.
They have his real name, all that's needed is his face.
Mello then comforts Halle saying that there's no way Light would write her name down or have Takada write her name down as Light knows it would basically be telling Near that he is Kira. So Halle is off-limits.
Mello adds that, based on Light and Takada's personalities, they definitely didn't make the deal for the Shinigami eyes (cutting your lifespan in half to get them), so Halle's real name is safe, too.
Halle smiles at Mello comforting her, her chest warm with his concern, but her face drops back to its worried expression. Halle says that that isn't really what's been eating her up lately.
What she fears are the people around her. The people around Takada. Takada's fans. Takada's entourage, her guards, and escorts.
Halle looks up at the ceiling and tells Mello that she is thinking of what happens when it gets out that she's not really just some bodyguard. That she's really a secret agent, going against Kira, against Takada. That she's specifically from an organization made to take down Kira.
Halle is thinking about the mob hunt; Takada's massive droves of fans running headfirst towards her, teeth bared, eyes spelling out her death sentence, and tearing into her the moment they realize she isn't actually their favorite, beloved 'Takada's Best Bodyguard', and getting lynched right there on the streets.
Halle is thinking about all the guards following Takada's tail, all of them suddenly firing at her all at once the moment Halle even slips up one bit.
Mello, who is also usually calm and calculated, right now is starting to feel worried for Halle, as he knows her fears aren't unfounded. He saw the way Demegawa and other Kira worshippers stormed the SPK headquarters in New York and how they tried to hunt down the SPK members including Halle, and how Halle and the SPK narrowly escaped by raining money down upon the mob hunting them and then dressing up in the covered gear and uniform of the riot police to move through the crowd unassumingly.
Mello's face then takes on a determined look, one full of pure protection. Mello takes Halle's hand then laces their fingers together, and tells her that he is not going to let anyone harm her, his voice hard.
Halle then stares at him for a long moment then realizes something. Halle, teasingly, matter-of-factly, tells him:
"You've been watching over me".
Surprisingly, Mello doesn't deflect or put up a front like he would have done back then. He squeezes Halle's hand and tells her:
“Always.”
(usually up on another building where he can't be seen, watching through binoculars).
Mello could say that technically, he is actually watching Takada's movements, monitoring Kira's spokeswoman for his investigation, and Halle, being Takada's bodyguard, just so happens to be always next to Takada, that's why he's also watching Halle. But Mello doesn't, as he knows the truth that more than enough times his gaze (through the binoculars) would always drift over Halle, forgetting Takada. And he's been done putting up the nonchalant, tough guy act around Halle a long while ago now anyway.
Halle then pulls Mello into a hug, telling him thanks. Mello then buries his face in her hair, taking in the fragrant scent of her shampoo, then he tells Halle that if any Takada fan starts acting weird around her and makes her uncomfortable, he's going to corner them later when they're alone and break their arm.
Halle laughs saying: "You better".
(End)