Strange and Beautiful
By The Cookie Cutter World
Nobody knew how it began but it was a warm Saturday afternoon in Denver, Colorado when she received a text message from L. He instructed her to go to a gas station a few miles from Red Rocks to wait for further instructions and then she was to destroy her mobile phone after reading that message.
Her first thought was, "Oh no, now I have to buy a new mobile phone!" And to think she just bought the latest Nokia model with her own money 2 days ago made the feeling of destroying it much worse. Still, she knew she had to obey because it was L.
She has never met him before—not ever in the many years that she has been working for him. The only person she has ever seen in person was Watari, the old man working for L. In fact, it was through the old man that L learned about her and her skills that he himself could not match. That was the reason why the world's greatest detective would hire her every now and then for spying, surveillance, and for cracking various security systems that need to be cracked.
It was also through L that she stopped working on a contractual basis for various bigwigs who would want to hire her for her skills. Most of her clients were mob bosses, dangerous syndicates, politicians, and rich business tycoons who need her for her expertise. Basically, the work would always require her to steal something from somebody or from a group of people. The pay was extremely high but her life would always be at risk… not to mention, her reputation. If her family found out, especially her father and older sister, they would disown her because it would bring disgrace to their well-respected and reputable family name.
There was one time, though, when she almost got caught but the person handling the case was L. Eventually, she was released and L was able to direct the evidence to another thief. It was also the first time that Watari asked her to work for L. The pay was a little lower than all her other clients but with the frequency of jobs that L and Watari would ask her to do, her paychecks were already more than enough for her to keep her current lifestyle.
Thoughts were going through her mind on how long she has been working for L already. She mentally noted again that she has not seen him before, although she had to admit, whenever she would receive a message from him, she would pause for a moment and look around in hopes that she could find a trace of him. She did not know why but she always felt as if somebody was watching over her ever since she started working for him.
She did the same after deciding to turn her mobile phone off and went to the backyard of her father's ranch house to destroy it.
It was already late afternoon when she arrived at the said gas station a few miles from Red Rocks. For some strange reason, the place was deserted and the only person there was a male attendant who was sleeping on his job inside the cashier booth.
She dismounted from her motorbike and took off her helmet to let the cool afternoon breeze comb through her blonde shoulder-length locks. She carefully surveyed the area and squinted a little upon staring straight at the orange setting sun through her dark tinted Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses. As she stared at the sun, she wondered how L was going to communicate with her. She had no other communication device and there was no phone booth in sight. She wondered if there was any phone inside the cashier's booth so she turned her gaze to where it was. How her heart skipped a beat when she realized that there was nobody there anymore.
She could clearly remember that there was a man sleeping inside that booth but when she turned to look again, he was not there anymore. She took a deep breath as she suspiciously focused her gaze at the cashier booth. She wondered whether she should approach it or just leave. She mindlessly trailed her hand against the seat of her motorbike as she maintained her gaze on the empty cashier booth while taking small side steps to her left… and she stopped when she felt something unusual on the seat. She jumped away from her motorbike when she realized that she touched somebody's hand.
It was the male attendant and he had unusually large dark eyes and he appeared as if he has not slept in a month. She also noticed the way he slouched and wondered how tall he would be if he did not. His clothes consisted of a pink and brown striped long-sleeved shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans. "Need fuel?" was his question. His voice was low, a little raspy, and he an American southern accent.
She was dumbfounded for a few moments before she finally had the guts to reply. "Uh… no thank you. I'm just… waiting for someone."
"…a boyfriend?"
The question surprised her but she managed to chuckle lightly as an attempt to hide her anxiety. "Oh, no. No. Ain't waiting for a boyfriend. I'm just here waiting for a… friend." She wondered if she used the right word at the end of her sentence.
He did not reply. He just stood there and continued to stare at her. To her, he appeared like a perverted person, and although he appalled her, she could not find the words to warn him off or to threaten him away with a gun. She just cleared her throat and looked away when she thought she saw somebody pass by. Apparently, it was just a tumbleweed. She breathed in. "Uhm… Listen, do you have a phone here or something?" she asked.
When she noticed that he did not answer, she turned to where he was supposed to be standing but she saw that he was not there anymore. Her heart began to race but before paranoia could take over her, she noticed something blinking on the seat of her motorbike. It was one of the latest models of Nokia mobile phones released only on that month in the United States, and there was an incoming call from a restricted number. She picked it up and she did not hesitate to say, "Hello?"
"Wedy."
The voice was familiar to her. It was L.
"…Yes?" she asked.
"Are you somewhere near Red Rocks?"
She turned around and scanned the place again. "Yeah, I am. I'm at the gas station where you told me to go." she asked.
"Good. Please go to the nearest diner 5 kilometers from there."
She carefully took off her sunglasses and let her eyes adjust to the dimming horizon before her. "What's in it for me?" she asked.
"I need you."
The way he said his last statement made her raise an eyebrow. "What?" she asked while trying to stifle a silly grin.
"I need you to do something for me." He said.
Her smile faded and she pushed back her shoulders to regain her composure as she breathed in. "…O-kay… what is it?" she asked.
"I hired somebody to spy on a suspected killer hiding in Boulder. He has no place to stay so I was wondering if you could let him stay with you for a while."
She could not shake off the feeling of being dumbfounded but she still asked, "Can't I just give him money for a hotel room?"
"It would be safer for him if he stayed with you. I grew up with him under Watari's care so he's important to me."
She quietly contemplated on what she was going to do. If she brought a strange man home, her father would definitely question her even if she introduced him as a good friend. However, before she could say her reason, he spoke up again with an assurance:
"I'm not saying that you take him home with you, though. I'm sure Mr. Kenwood wouldn't like his daughter bringing strange men home. I recommend that you stay with him at a hotel instead. Charge everything to your credit card and I'll reimburse everything by tomorrow evening."
She took a deep breath and sighed. "Sure, sure. Whatever. So I'll go to the diner and wait for him there or he's already there waiting for me? How will I know if it's him?" she asked.
"Just go there now." And he hung up.
Wedy took one last look at her surroundings before putting her sunglasses on again. She sat on her motorbike and put on her helmet before starting the engine. Keeping her gaze straight ahead of her, she sped off to the direction where she knew the diner would be 5 kilometers from the gas station.
When she arrived at the said diner, the atmosphere was pretty much the same as the gas stations': almost deserted and creepy. After parking her motorbike at a designated area, she made her way to the diner and entered.
There were no customers and there were only 2 waitresses chatting behind the counter, man behind the cashier reading a magazine, and the cook was sitting by the bar and chatting up a sheriff who was off-duty. Nobody seemed to notice her entering until the sheriff looked at her and smiled. "Why, hello there, Miss Kenwood!" he greeted
She took off her sunglasses and smiled demurely at the sheriff. "Hey." She greeted casually. He was one of her father's old childhood friends and he knew her entire family. Although he was nice, friendly, and would always look after the safety of the Kenwoods, she was still wary of him because he was one of the authorities that she needed to avoid. In all the years that she had been working as a professional burglar, she had always made it a point to stay away from any kind of cop. So when she saw he was there at the diner, she hoped he would just leave.
"Out for a ride?" he asked.
She wished he would not ask her any more questions but she just played along. "Just lookin' around. I haven't been in my hometown for quite some time." She replied.
"Does yer daddy know of your whereabouts? I don't like him worryin' too much 'bout his daughter." He teased while eyeing her suspiciously.
She faked a giggle. "Aw, of course daddy knows." She said reassuringly. Although the truth was, she told her father she would be going out for a ride to cool off. She never mentioned anything about meeting somebody or going to Red Rocks.
The Sheriff turned to the cook and grabbed his hat from the counter. "Anyway, I gotta go. Have to get back to the station." He said before turning to her. "As for you, young lady, better be home before midnight." He said as he waved a finger at her.
She kept a bright smile plastered on her face. "I will." She answered. She waited until he left with his car before turning her gaze towards a dim corner that has a booth with a hanging lamp that would blink every 15 seconds. There, she saw the same man who was in the gas station moments ago. She frowned and approached him upon realizing that he could be the person L was talking about.
He just looked at her with his large dark eyes without even smiling or saying anything.
"Need fuel, huh?" she asked with a half-smile as she took a seat facing him.
He had his feet raised on the table with his toes against the side as he fidgeted the spoon of the already-finished chocolate sundae.
Wedy wondered how she should introduce herself—should she use the alias that Watari gave her or should she say her real name? However, before she could say anything, he already took the initiative to introduce himself, "You must be Wedy. Nice to meet you. I'm Matt."
She thought it was an odd name for an American man—at least she thought he was American because of his accent. She figured he could be from one of the southern States because of his accent. However, when she studied his features—the dark unkempt hair, the large bulging dark eyes, his tall and thin frame, and the shape of his nose and face—she began to think that maybe he was not from the US at all. "Most probably a foreigner pretending to be an American." She thought silently while nodding. "Yeah, I'm Wedy. You must be L's friend." She said as she offered a handshake.
He stared at her hand, studying her well manicured pink polished fingernails and the smoothness and fairness of her skin before reaching out a long bony hand to grab it delicately. Wedy was instantly reminded of a Halloween prank from childhood upon feeling his hand: her father made the cold bony hand of a skeleton grab her hand while she was out Trick-or-Treating with her sister.
Gently and eagerly, he shook her hand while maintaining eye contact with her. The way his gaze was locked with hers made her feel a little weird yet embarrassed at the same time. However, there was something in that moment that made her realize that she could not turn and look away. When she realized that they had been shaking hands for quite some time already, she pulled away and smiled sheepishly at him. "Shall we go?" she asked.
He got up from his seat and pulled out a 50 bill. Wedy watched him in awe as he placed it on top of the table before leading the way out of the diner. That sundae could not have been that expensive but he did not even bother for a change.
"So, you're from around here?" she asked casually as they walked to her motorbike. She noticed that he knew already where she parked it and that he was actually the one leading the way to it. However, she just kept quiet and observed the way he walked. He slouched pretty badly and he dragged his feet a little as he walked. It also seemed as if he was not used to wearing shoes even though his sneakers were a pair of comfortable yet run-down blue Converse Chuck Taylors.
"…Texas." He replied casually.
She nodded, although she was unconvinced for some reason. "I see. So, have you seen L before?" she asked casually just as they arrived by her motorbike's side.
He turned around sharply to face her. His action surprised her but she just put on her sunglasses to hide the way her eyes had widened due to shock. "No. Have you?" he asked.
She frowned slightly as she handed him an extra helmet that he could wear. "I thought L said you two grew up together?" she asked suspiciously.
And he just smiled. "We grew up in the same house but I have never seen him before." He replied.
She thought for a while before shrugging. "How come?" she asked as she mounted her bike and gestured for him to sit on the space behind her. He put on his helmet and sat down before grabbing her waist. She jerked and breathed in sharply when she felt his hands holding her waist. Suddenly she was uncomfortable with the fact that he just held her like that without any warning and that his legs were straddling her. She had to admit, he was sitting too closely to her.
"L is a special man. Nobody's allowed to see him." he replied.
She cleared her throat. "Can you like, uh… move a little? You're sitting to close to me." She said bluntly.
He was quiet for a while before saying, "I'm sorry. It's just that I haven't ridden a motorcycle before."
"Aw, you scared?" she asked playfully. She could not help it. He sounded like an innocent boy back there and she could not let the opportunity pass.
"More like… excited and scared at the same time. But I can trust you, right?" he asked.
She wondered what he really meant by that but she just chuckled lightly. "What makes you think you can trust me? Didn't L ever tell you anything about what I do for a living?" she asked in a sarcastic manner. However, he did not seem to be affected by anything that she had mentioned. He just replied nonchalantly, "L trusts you so I believe I should, too."
Her heart began to race. "…L trusts me?" she repeated.
"Yes."
"He does? Really?" she asked.
He could tell by the tone of her voice that she was smiling even though her head was covered by a helmet. And he smiled. "Very much." He answered.
He heard her giggle softly and he thought she sounded like a schoolgirl who just learned something new about the boy she fancied a lot. However, he did not say anything anymore even as she started the engine.
They rode along the highway in silence until they finally reached a 5-star hotel in Denver. She recalled that L would reimburse everything by tomorrow evening and he had never broken any promise to her so she took advantage of the situation and booked the most expensive 2-bedroom suite located at the topmost floor of that hotel.
As soon as they arrived at their suite, she went over to the phone to call her father and told him that she could not come home that night because her former best friend from England just arrived and wanted to spend time with her at a hotel to catch up with what the missed in each other's lives. Mr. Kenwood did not seem to mind and she did not wonder anymore on why her father immediately obliged. She was just thankful that he agreed and did not bother to question her whereabouts anymore.
After she bid goodbye and hung up, she turned to the door of her room and saw that Matt was standing there while sucking his right index finger and staring at her without even blinking. Since he was L's "friend", she knew she had to be nice no matter how creepy he acted towards her. With that, she smiled and took off her sunglasses. "Hey, what's up? You hungry?" she asked casually. She figured that he could be hungry because he was sucking his finger. What kind of grown man would suck his finger for no reason? …unless he's orally fixated, she thought quietly.
He approached the bed where she was seated and jumped onto it. He landed on his two feet and was already on a crouching position. He rested the palms of his hands on his knees as he smiled. "Let's order some room service." He suggested.
She clenched her jaw as she fought the urge to say how surprised she was because of his action. Instead, she turned away and grabbed the phone again to call for room service. As she waited for an answer, she looked at him and asked what he wanted.
"King-sized Banana Split with 5 extra scoops of chocolate and rocky road ice cream, extra chocolate syrup, and extra rainbow sprinkles… 2 cups of cappuccino with 4 creams and 10 sugars… 5 slices of Oreo cheesecake, 2 slices of chocolate cake… and a bottle of spring water."
She stared at him in disbelief. Did she hear everything correctly? "That's your dinner?" she asked.
He nodded. "You want to share?" he asked eagerly.
She looked away when the person from the other line finally answered and she spoke up with an unsure tone, "Uh… hi, this is from Penthouse 2001. I'd like to order some food." And she made it a point to cite Matt's orders first before hers.
While waiting for their orders to arrive, Wedy went over to the living room area to watch some TV and Matt trailed quietly from behind her. She never spoke too much to him but she could tell that he kept on looking at her and it was really creeping her out.
Suddenly, he just asked, "Do you believe in magic?"
She did not know what to make of that question as she slowly turned her attention to him. She looked at him curiously. "…What kind of magic?" she asked.
"…magic. Spells. Love spells." He said.
She could not keep a straight face anymore. She eventually smiled and let out a soft chuckle as she shook her head. "What ever made you ask that? I'm sure we're not watching a magic show. It's 'Charlie's Angels'." She said, referring to the rerun being shown on TV.
Again, his gaze seemed to pierce through hers but he did not say anything. His silence made her smile fade away and she just crossed her arms. Her body language told him that she was feeling apprehensive towards him but he did not change his demeanor. He waited for her to answer and when she realized that keeping her silence would not make him stop, took a deep breath and sighed. "Why are you asking?" she asked.
He moved closer to her but for some reason, she could not scoot away. All she could do was lean away until she could not do so anymore because she had reached the end of the sofa. "If I put a spell on you and you fell asleep, and you wake up and I'm the first person you'll see, will you realize that you love me?"
She felt the color draining from her face but she could not help but smile and chuckle. Her soft chuckles evolved into giggles until they finally transformed into laughter just in time when the door buzzer sounded—a sign that there was someone at the door. She got up and playfully flicked his nose with her left index finger. "You're a creepy guy, Matt. I sure hope L's just like you." She said with a wink before heading to the door. She took a peek at the lens to check on who it was and she jumped for joy. "Our food's here!" she announced before opening the door to welcome the 3 room service people inside with 3 carts of food.
Around 1 in the morning, Wedy had fallen asleep on her bed, leaving him in the living room area watching reruns of shows that were popular in the 60's and 70's while eating. He ate rather slowly and she could not wait for him to finish anymore.
When he was certain that she had fallen asleep already, he went over to her side and crouched on the space beside her. He just stared at her and studied her features as she slept and breathed slowly.
He waited until the signs of daybreak arrived before he moved away from her side.
Around 9:00am, Wedy woke up when she heard her mobile phone ringing. She opened her eyes and saw that she had left it on the dresser so she groggily got up and walked over to it. She checked the caller ID and when she saw that it was a restricted call, she already knew who it was. She answered the call, "Yes?"
"Good morning, Wedy. How do you do?"
She walked over to the window and parted the thick drapes to let the sunlight in. "Doin' fine. Just woke up." She said before turning back to the bed where she saw a laptop resting on the bedside table. It was switched on and it had the screensaver on its screen. She approached it pressed the spacebar to disable the screensaver. The Microsoft Word application window was running and typed on it was a message that read: Thank you.
"…and I think your friend just left." She told L.
"Very likely of him. I believe he went back to Boulder to start trailing the killer again."
She took a deep breath and sat down on the bed while scratching her head. "I gotta tell you, though. He's adorable but he's creepy." She pointed out.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
And he was silent.
"Are you still there?" she asked.
"Did you fall asleep?"
She wondered what he meant by that. "I told you I just woke up so yeah, I did." She answered as she crossed her legs and mindlessly reached underneath the lamp on the wall. She pulled out a small video camera device that she secretly brought along. She carefully plugged it into the laptop and transferred the video that it managed to record while she was asleep.
"How did you feel when you woke up?" he asked.
"Uh… I woke up because you called. It felt… okay." She answered hesitantly before deciding to watch the surveillance. She looked at herself on the screen, sleeping soundly… and then she focused her attention to the man crouched beside her on the bed and watching her. He would mumble something once in a while but she could not make out what it was.
"What are you doing, Wedy?" he asked. The way he sounded made her realize that it was possible that he could see her… or he could simply tell because of her sudden silence and the way she had spoken earlier.
She shook her head. "…just… checking things out. Your friend left a laptop here." She replied simply before looking around the room, doing her usual surveillance whenever she would feel that somebody was watching her. "You know, I just realized something: I haven't really seen you before, have I?" she asked. She looked back at the screen. "But it's rather unfair that maybe you've seen me a thousand times before already but I haven't seen you yet. I mean, you're basically my boss."
L was quiet for a few moments before answering, "Treat this like you're one of Charlie's Angels." He sounded like he was smiling when he said that. "For now, I'd like you to head over to Los Angeles and watch over Naomi Misora with Aiber. She's an FBI agent that I've assigned to help me investigate a case involving a serial killer."
She thought for a few moments before saying, "Sure." And she hung up.
L hung up and placed his mobile phone inside his pocket before entering a hotel room. Watari was preparing some tea and crumpets by some couches and he looked at L in surprise. "Where have you been?" he asked.
"I told you not to worry. I'm okay." L said reassuringly before kicking off his shoes.
Watari shook his head in disappointment but he could not help but smile as he observed the way L looked. "You're dressed up like Matt." He pointed out.
"I had to pretend to be him. It was rather difficult." L explained glumly as he headed off to one of the rooms so he could change back into his normal everyday clothes.
"Just so you know, Matt doesn't have an American southern accent." Watari pointed out while eyeing the "How to Speak with a Southern Accent" CD and manual on L's chair.
"I know that. But I cannot afford to be recognized." L explained from his room as he opened a closet, exposing a makeshift surveillance system made of 2 small color TV's, 2 laptop computers, one computer monitor, and one small CPU. A live feed of somebody's room and frequently visited places played simultaneously on the two screens. He stood there for a while and stared at the screen monitoring the bedroom.
"She won't be back in her room until she checks out. For the meantime, why don't you read a case file for a while and study our next case?" Watari suggested from the doorway.
It took a while before L responded. He turned away from the monitor to face Watari. "Alright. I will." He answered. Although Watari easily saw the hesitant look in L's eyes so he asked, "You don't appear to be very eager. What's wrong?"
L turned back to the screen. "I was thinking of visiting her family's house just to see and… so she can meet me." Although he did not tell Watari and Wedy that he went there the other day before going to the gas station to talk to Mr. Kenwood about his daughter. That was the reason why Mr. Kenwood did not question Wedy too much about her whereabouts last night.
Watari smiled. It was a smile that reflected his deep sympathy for the boy but when L turned around again to look at him, he just shook his head but smiled reassuringly at the boy and said, "You have already established a trusting relationship with her. That suffices for now. Still, today is not the right time for you to do that. However, I still think she knows that she has seen you already so when the time comes that you finally show your face to her and tell her your real name, she may not be so surprised anymore."
L just kept a straight face before turning back to the closet to shut the doors. "It's alright, Watari. I understand." And he smiled victoriously. "After all, I already put a spell on her."
Watari chuckled lightly. "Silly boy, I didn't think you were the type of person to believe in magic." He said before walking out of the room.
L just mindlessly fumbled his lower lip with his right thumb while humming a soft tune.
It was October 4, 2004 when Wedy received a call from Watari asking her to come to Japan to help L in a very complicated case. She had been warned that she would be putting her life at stake upon joining the Kira Investigation Team. However, when she was told that she was to meet L in person, she could not pass up the opportunity.
She knew she had to.
On October 7, 2004, she arrived in L's headquarters based on Watari's instructions. She managed to break into the room where L was without anybody noticing her—not even L. She wondered how she could distinguish L from all the other men in the room. However, as she scanned the rest of the people in the room, only one stood out to her: a pale thin man slouched on a chair. He had dark unkempt hair and large bulging dark eyes. He wore a loose white long-sleeved shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans. Seeing him made her realize immediately who he was but instead of feeling surprised, she felt solitude. Silently, she took her seat in the area where Aiber was and waited for the moment when L would call her and introduce her to the rest of the task force. Aiber noticed that she was trying hard to stifle a smile and that a soft blush was forming on her cheeks but he just smirked teasingly and turned away. "You look like somebody cast a spell on you." He teased in a voice that was only audible enough for her to hear.
She just clenched her jaw and looked away, refusing to reply.
The End.
Author's Note: Kind of inspired by "Strange and Beautiful" by Aqualung. Also kind of inspired by some events in the #5 manga—the part where L asked Watari to call for Wedy and Aiber. As for this fic, consider this as another LxWedy.