Wammy Reunion

A quiet beep went off on the first floor of the headquarters building, announcing that someone was attempting to enter the compound. Watari. And with the children. Everyone waited with abated breath.

L watched on a camera as first the old man got out. He was about to walk over to the back of the car to open another door when it burst open on its own. A tiny blonde boy sprang out, landed nimbly on his feet, then bowed to an invisible audience. Next to follow him was a redheaded boy, a pair of goggles pushed up on his forehead as he concentrated on a handheld game. He seemed almost oblivious to his surroundings.

Everyone then turned back to the vehicle, waiting for someone else to get out. The passenger front door opened and a tall, lanky boy with disheveled black hair got out. There was something about his appearance that radiated…that something wasn't quite right about him. Was it his goofy smile that fell more into a smirk? Or his pale skin? It seemed as though he wanted to do something wrong or mischievous but was holding the urge back only barely. He quietly stood off to the side as the others gathered to Watari.

After a few more seconds of waiting, the elderly man sighed and walked up to the car. Leaning down into it, he appeared to be rummaging around for something. Behind his back, the blonde boy mimicked kicking him in his behind. The redhead took a moment to glance up and snicker, then went back to his game.

Watari straightened up, pulling something, or rather someone with him. The final person to leave the car was a small boy with white hair. He clung dearly to some robot toy in one hand, the other hand's thumb in his mouth. He was evidently the youngest one and was taking full advantage of that, seeing as how he was wrapped around the English man, forcing himself to be held. He was a bit beyond the age that he could appropriately pass for doing this, but nobody said anything.

Awkwardly, they made their way further inside, out of the car garage. L noticed the visible stiffening of everyone in the room. Half of them were out of their element when it came to children and the other half didn't want to relive what they'd been through with them. He glanced over to Light. The boy was sitting next to him at the long desk that held the computers. He appeared mildly uninterested on the outside, but L had known him long enough to detect that the tightly curled fist under his cheek meant that even he was a bit uncomfortable.

Finally, the front doors opened with a whoosh. And the room was filled with noise.

"L!" The blonde screamed and ran over to him. Since he was among one of L's special students, he'd been one of the few to have ever seen him. In fact, the four boys that had just entered were the only ones from Winchester (minus Roger) to have ever seen his real face.

Once the blonde reached level with him, he boldly said, "So, we finally meet again. I was wondering if you were going to stay in hiding forever or properly teach us. That dump called Wammy's is completely useless."

L only blinked and said, "I see," before letting his gaze travel behind the boy, back to the others.

The other two flanked Watari (except the oldest boy) as he drew closer. Once there, the redhead jumped up into a chair, keeping his eyes on his game. The white-haired boy however, shimmied down a pants leg, settling himself on the floor. Like the redhead, he seemed to be ignoring everyone else in the room as he began to play with his toy.

Watari reached in his pocket, producing the car keys. Very weirdly, he leaned down to L, handing them to him. As he slipped them in his hand, his real motive became clear. Quietly, he whispered in L's ear, "Good luck with them," gave a hard squeeze to his hand to convey a deep sympathy, then straightened up and began to leave the room.

The teenager was still by the door and as Watari passed him on his way out, the boy locked onto him with a wide, unceasing gaze. The dark eyes bore into him, making the others' skin crawl. The man was all too happy when he finally reached the other side of the door.

Matsuda, who was standing closest to him, took a large step away from him. Okay, this kid evidently had some issues.

"Well then, I guess I better make the introductions," L said, raking his eyes over everyone in the room. They landed on the blonde, who was still glaring at him, as though his miserable time at the institution was his fault.

"This here is Mello, age five. As you've witnessed, he's quite…upfront about things. Though known to some as a hellion, I hope we won't see any of that here, right Mello?" He bore into the blonde with his own dark eyes.

The boy shrugged. "Yeah, whatever."

L gave him a skeptical look, but went on. "This here," he said, addressing the redhead next to him, "Is Matt, age four. He's pretty much a recluse." Matt paused his game to look up at him quizzically. L met his stare, giving one of his rare, silly smiles. Matt narrowed his eyes for a moment, before slowly turning back to the electronic device.

"That's Near," L went on, nodding to the white-haired boy sitting at his feet. "He's three. Like Matt with his games, he has an evident attachment to his playthings." Near didn't even bother to look up at him, but continued to make laser sounds as he "fired" the arm cannon on the robot.

"And finally, that," L said in a voice a few octaves lower than before. All eyes shifted quickly with slight agitated fear to the last person. "Is Beyond Birthday, age sixteen. Sometimes known as B or BB. Choose one; he generally goes by all three."

The boy had finally stopped his weird grin and now stood in subdued silence, hands in his pockets. He never raised his head as his name was mentioned, but rather seemed more interested in something in the corner, not looking up at any of the others, even L.

"Anyways," the detective went on, calling attention back to him. "All four are personal students of mine, so please do not look at their ages as a way to gauge their intelligence. In fact, I'd like you to think of them as being on equal grounds as yourselves." He paused to take a sip of tea, clearly ignoring the incredulous gasps. "So, with all of this out of the way, please just continue on with what you were doing previously."

It took a while, but slowly, by degrees, the task force went back to work. L did so as well, and Light clicked through various documents on his computer, not really reading them since his mind was on other things…mainly, their arrivals. Mello had seated himself on the other side of L and was moodily playing a game on the computer (after finding that nearly all of his favorite websites had been blocked by L). Near continued to spin a whimsical world with his toy and Matt gave a silent cheer as he reached level fifty on…whatever it was he was playing.

And nobody noticed that Beyond Birthday, who was still standing off by himself, had begun to grin again…