Okay- for this to work I had to go back in time (Huey Lewis's 'Back In Time' plays LOL), before Marie made friends with L. Marie-Alexandra has just arrived at the headquarters. She was brought in by Matsuda after she got him out of a tight spot in a local pub (I'll write that scene later). L is busy elsewhere with Mr. Yagami and the rest of the team; He told her to wait in the lobby area and Light would see to her. L didn't tell Light this. (He is using this as an opportunity to judge Light's judgment skills among other things.) Matsuda just left the room and Marie is now staring at the wall waiting for something to happen.

Marie sat on the sofa, waiting for this 'Light' character to show up. She watched the clock on the wall, tick the seconds away.

She heard the door opened and listened as someone walked in.

"What the…who are you?!" The brown haired boy, about her age, cried out in surprise. Marie looked over at him.

"Who wants to know?" Her eyes widened a little bit, but other then that she showed no surprise. He had a strange feeling about him, this boy. It irked her senses…there was something else there, but she couldn't quite see it, couldn't quite smell it…but she could feel it, and it gave her spine a shiver or two.

"Uh…" Light thought fast. Who was this person? Before he could answer, Marie spoke.

"Are you Light?"

"Um…yeah," Light said. No use lying; Like as not, L was watching him this very moment. He didn't want to have anything to try to explain later.

"Hm. So you're the guy Matsuda told me about."

"I guess so…" Light was a little confused. What was a stranger doing in the secret headquarters of the worlds' most prized detective?

"Well…I guess you already know I'm Light…Who are you?" He asked calmly.

"Marie-Alexandra." Marie replied. She watched him keenly. Light felt slightly uncomfortable. Her scanning, big eyes' gaze reminded him of L's. At least I know her name now. He thought.

"Well…what are you doing here?" He asked.

"Matsuda got in a pretty tight fix at the bar a few miles from here, so I helped him out. What a guy like him was doing in a place like that is totally beyond me." She laughed and shook her head. "If you're gonna have an undercover mission, have someone who knows what Tequila is go into a bar, for cripes sake." She shook her head. Light looked at her closely. A few seconds of silence passed as the two individuals sized each other up.

She's smart. Light thought. That's obvious. What's she doing here though? Why would Matsuda take her in here? I don't have enough information to figure that out…hmph. Judging by his fascination with Meesa I wouldn't be surprised if he invited her in just because she's a girl. But how much does she know?

Hhm. He's definitely checking me out, trying to figure out what I'm doing here. He's cunning, that's certain. But WHAT IS this FEELING? I KNOW there's something else here. It's as if someone followed him in. What's his connection with Ryuzaki and the other cops? He looks a lot like that guy with the mustache…Yagami. Bet he's his kid.

After a few seconds of staring at each other, Light asked, nonchalantly,

"So how did you know Matsuda was undercover?" He sat down on a sofa adjacent to Marie's. Marie laughed.

"Are you kidding me? He was so obvious. The poor guy was trying way too hard. It was obvious he didn't have a clue what he was doing, and obvious what he was trying to do."

Figured. Light worried about Matsuda sometimes. He'd get a brave notion in his head and either miraculously pull it off or fail miserably, and always put someone's plan into jeopardy. He rather hoped he didn't end up having to kill him; He was a nice guy, if excruciatingly annoying.

"I guess that means you know that he's a police officer then." Light commented.

"You guess correctly." Marie said, leaning back and crossing her arms behind her head. "It was easy to tell that everyone in this building is a cop." She counted on her fingers as she elaborated.

"They're all wearing gun harnesses under their jackets for one thing, and I know a cop when I see one. Besides, with everyone calling Yagami 'Chief' a blind guy could have figured it out." She looked at Light. "I just hope that for your sake that nobody hostile ever ends up in here."

Light fervently shared that hope. He studied Marie-Alexandra under hooded eyelids. She could potentially figure out who he was; she was obviously clever and observant. No genius like L, but he had a feeling that she would go to further extremes than his detective opponent.

"Hmmmm….quite the little nuisance you've got on your hands, huh Light?" Ryuk commented chucklingly. Light, of course, didn't answer. But he agreed. He'd make no moves yet…but eventually, Marie-Alexandra's name might very well end up in his little notebook. Until then, he decided to find her an intriguing human being. No sense in being annoyed to death. He thought. He may as well try to enjoy the intelligent female company, until Meesa showed up again.

"So, why did you help him?" Light asked. Marie shrugged.

"Just a vice of mine…I just help people who are in trouble whether I know them or not. Can't help myself." She chuckled sourly. "I've got scars to prove it, too."

"Well…Do you know why these policemen are here?" Light asked, trying to keep the conversation on Marie.

"Good idea," Ryuk commented. "Don't want her getting too nosey, do we?"

"No…although it would make sense that they're connected with tracking down Kira…why else would a group of under-cover policemen and a misunderstood genius be working together in a secret hideout?"

Okay, so she needs to stay here. Light decided. She's already figured out that much, a lot of our enemies would just need to nab her to confirm who and where we are. I can't let that information leak. Light knew that if that happened he would instantly lose control of the situation, and that was something he could not afford. He'd have to 'trust' her.

Well, I can tell by the look on his face- or lack thereof- that I pretty much hit the nail on the head. Marie thought to herself. Which means he's not gonna let me go- not with that kind of information. So what now?

"What are your thoughts on Kira?" Light asked, making polite conversation. "Do you think he's evil?"

"Huh. I don't know." Marie said. "Killing bad guys is fine, but he seems pretty…I dunno. Very, very calculated. I get the feeling there's now more to this than simply justice. He obviously has some kind of power to be able to do what he's doing, and it's very easy to become eaten up by lust for it, and forget what you started out to do."

"I feel the same way," Light agreed. Ryuk burst into laughter.

"Well, I may as well tell you that you're right- in fact, the team is trying to track down Kira. I can't really let you go…"

"Perfectly understandable."

"…But I don't think you're an enemy. I can offer you a place in the team, at least have you on…probation for a while until we decide."

Marie shrugged.

"Sure, why not. Beats getting killed right off, anyway."

There we go- Marie Meets Light. I'm not sure if I got his character right; It's been a while since I watched the anime, and I didn't really like him lol.

Oh, I'll be doing one where Marie-Alexandra meets Ryuk, if anyone cares to read it.