damned_institute | Nightshift 35: M71-80 Hallway

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Nightshift 35: M71-80 Hallway

Wally frowned in confusion at the intercom announcements. CM-US Experimental Trials? Special Counselling? He wasn't sure what either of those things were, but considering this place, they could hardly be good. And the following announcement didn't do much to reassure him. "You know, that's what I like about this place," he commented dryly to Tony. "You can always rely on the crazy to show up right on schedule." He stood up as the doors clicked open and stretched, paying particular attention to the muscles in his legs before rummaging around behind his pillow for his flashlight. "So, you wanna go and see about that maintenance room?" His lips quirked into a familiar smile. "I figure with two of us, at least someone will be able to get something useful while the other plays monster bait."

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"More or less, yeah..." He still had to kind of wonder why L had even kept him on the team. Aside from screwing a few things up and being Kira-bait, he hadn't helped out near as much as everyone else. Not to mention Watari had been around to bring him his coffee, along with the giant trays of sweets, so he hadn't really needed Matsuda to do it.

...Well shit, now he was curious.

"Oh, I'm sure he'll like that," he replied to her other comment, nodding. "And...if you could find any sugar packets, he'd probably need about six of them for the tea." Actually, did they even have sugar around this place? Where had she gotten the candy? Matsuda glanced at her curiously. "Where'd you get them?"

"Patient storage," Naomi said, not surprised that Matsuda hadn't offered any further explanation. She'd just ask L about it, and get the information on the man. She didn't bother to tell him that she'd taken them out of L's box.

"Well, I don't even know if we have any way of making tea, but...." It was the thought that counted?

Having reached L's room, Naomi paused awkwardly in the hall.

"Well, if you know him, I guess you can come in...."

Patient storage sure seemed to be the answer to everything tonight. He'd have to check it out sometime. For now, Matsuda gave her a smile. "Well, even if we can't make tea, I'm sure he'll appreciate it." It was definitely the thought that counted in a place like this.

He paused and looked up at the number, just to make sure that this was the same room. He glanced back over and gave her a hesitant nod. "Er, if you're sure...I'll still leave if he wants me to." He knew how strange L was about people knowing him, after all, or knowing that other people knew him.

"We'll see what he says," Naomi agreed. She wasn't going to be giving him any terribly sensitive information - only that she was certain she could rely on Ren if she needed someone, and what she'd found in her patient box. Though she did have a little more information on the capabilities of this place, thanks to her talk with Tanaka.

Opening the door, Naomi tried to smile.

"Ryu...? I've brought you a couple things. And I ran into a mutual acquaintance...."

It was then she realized she was talking to an empty room.

"That bastard!" she exclaimed at first, assuming he'd snuck off on his own without her. She flung open the door and stalked inside, looking for a note or something he may have left her.

Matsuda had been intending on following her inside and trying to not make a fool out of himself in front of L again, but he was more than a little confused when she flung the door open and called someone a bastard.

...L, maybe? She wasn't really all that specific, and she wouldn't be the first, but Matsuda didn't really get why she was upset. Other than...well, L's not being there in the first place. The detective had told him to stay in his room unless he had someone to travel with, but it wouldn't have surprised Matsuda if L had ignored his own advice. Then again, a lot fewer things had failed to surprise him since he'd seen the shinigami.

"Huh...he's not here," he commented as he watched her look around the room. "What's wrong?"

"He should be here!" Naomi said, eyes narrowed in anger. He wasn't supposed to leave without her. Or at the very least he needed to tell her where he was going and with who. How was she supposed to protect him when he did things like this?

"He's not supposed to go off at night," she muttered, glancing around still in search of a note. "He's....

Naomi frowned then, inspecting the room. L's radio was still in the room. So was his flashlight. That wasn't right. He never left his room without those things, and she could think of no good reason why he suddenly would.

Moving to his desk, Naomi opened the drawer, checking just in case....

"I think something might have happened," she said, quietly.

Matsuda watched curiously as she took a closer look around the room, but he felt himself go numb for a moment at her last comment.

"W-what!?" he exclaimed, hurrying over to the desk. It didn't really seem like there was anything wrong with it, but maybe that was the problem? The word 'dead' immediately flashed through Matsuda's mind, but he tried to ignore it. He wasn't gonna let L die again if he could help it. He didn't really know what else this 'something' might be, though, and it worried him.

"What sort of 'something?'" he asked in a quieter voice this time, frowning slightly. "What happened to him?"

Naomi was trying to remain calm. She saw a pack of cigarettes and a flask inside the drawer, and was puzzled for a moment. Than she realized that the cigarettes, at least, must be for her. Just as she'd thought to swipe him a small bag of candy, he'd swiped her a pack of cigarettes. She felt her knees start to give a little at the realization, silly as it was.

With a shaking hand, she took one. She still had the matches Arlene gave her, and she lit one as steadily as she could. A smoke would calm her down while she worked through this.

"He always takes his flashlight and radio when he leaves," Naomi said, her shoulders tight. "If they're still here, that means he didn't leave. Or at least, he didn't leave under his own free will."

She thought back, to the intercom.

experiments.

They were doing experiments tonight.

"Oh god no...."

He watched as Naomi took the cigarette out and lit it, wishing that there was something he could do to help and calm her down. There really wasn't much to say, and he was trying to stay calm, too. It wasn't really working.

When she mentioned that he probably hadn't left of his own free will, Matsuda felt his knees start to shake. No, no, no. Not again, dammit. They needed him back home, needed him back on the case, and Matsuda didn't want to feel like he'd failed the detective somehow. Even if he wasn't able to do anything about it, he had to make sure that L was okay...

Naomi's last sentence snapped him out of his thoughts.

"What's wrong? Where is he?" he all but demanded. Of all the times to be in the dark about something, why now? He hated it. But if she had any idea of where L might be, he would be out the door in an instant.

He just hoped that they wouldn't find a corpse.

Naomi closed her eyes, her cigarette twitching in her hand.

"Just stay calm!" Naomi snapped, because she needed to snap it at herself, too. "The announcement on the intercom," she said, fighting to hold on to her wits because nothing was going to get done if she lost her grip. For god's sake, she was an FBI agent. She knew how to keep a cool head in a crisis.

"The normal one, before night. 'Tonight we'll be having five patients escorted to partake in CM-US Experimental Trials'. Those are the human experiments they do every other night, on the second floor. They take people out of their rooms and bring them there. And there's nothing anyone can do, because the doors can't be opened until whatever's going on inside is done."

And she was now nearly certain that L had been taken, and while a part of her knew damn well there was nothing they could do now, she wasn't going to just stand here worrying.

"Listen to me, Matsuda. We're going to go upstairs. I know where the hallway is, where those rooms are." She'd never been there, but she'd seen maps and been told. "And as soon as we can get in, we're going to get him someplace safe. And we aren't going to panic, and we aren't going to rush off blindly, because if one of us" - most likely Matsuda himself, but Naomi wouldn't say it out loud - "gets hurt or killed, then I'm going to be very upset and you don't want me getting upset. Do you understand?"

"O-okay..." Matsuda replied meekly, shrinking back some, but he stayed put to listen to what she was saying.

The intercom...he hadn't even paid it too much attention, but he apparently should have. He got that they were doing experiments upstairs, but he couldn't work past nothing anyone could do. There was never nothing they could do...there had to be something! Experiments or not, he wasn't going to let this happen.

Matsuda hesitated a moment as he let the rest of what she was saying soak in, then took a deep breath and clenched his fists. He was going to stay calm, he had to stay calm. He was not going to panic. He was a policeman. He'd had to deal with this kind of stuff before, and everything had turned out okay, for the most part. He could do it again without panicking...couldn't he?

Matsuda let out the breath and nodded, a determined look on his face. He could do this...he had to do this. "I...I understand. Don't worry, I'll be right behind you...we'll get him back." They had to get him back.

"Okay." Naomi nodded, glad that Matsuda seemed capable of keeping a calm head. That was good.

"That's good, Matsuda. As long as I can count on you, everything will be fine." She knew that no one ever died in these experiments. And L was tough. Whatever they were doing to him....

"Alright. We'll head upstairs. Do you need a couple of minutes?"

Matsuda blinked. As long as she could...well that was something he didn't get to hear very often.

He thought he'd probably be fine for now, but he would rather have a gun in a situation like this. Hopefully her counting on him wouldn't be a bad idea since he wasn't really armed. He also hadn't gotten much of anywhere last night, and hadn't run into anything that this place was able to throw at the patients. It was a scary thought, not knowing exactly what he was going up against, but he'd have to make do.

"No..." Matsuda shook his head, tightening his grip around his flashlight. If nothing else, he could whack things. "I-I think I'm ready. Let's go get Ryuga!"

"Right." Naomi nodded, pocketed the pack of cigarettes, and headed back out into the hall.

"It isn't too far to the stairs leading to the second floor," she assured Matsuda, a grim determination in her body language. She was pissed. Pissed at this place for everything it had done to them, and kept on doing.

(Back to here! (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/461936.html#comments))

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Nightshift 35: M71-80 Hallway

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