She was running. To who, she wasn't sure. All she could feel was the way her lungs burned, the way they cried for air, the way her bare feet pounded the concrete. The dark night did nothing for her sight. She was sprinting into the dark oblivion ahead of her, blind as to her direction. Beads of sweat accumulated at the back of her neck, and she could hear the pounding of her heart in her ears. Cyan didn't know where she was going, but she knew she was being chased; a horrible, monstrous something was chasing her so closely that she could feel its moist, hot breath assaulting the back of her curly, streaming hair. What… What had she done? Why was this beast pursuing her?! With these thoughts, Cyan felt her ankle twist under her. Traitor. Then, she went tumbling to the ground, her knees scraping painfully on the cruel, cold pavement. Then, with a streak of horror seizing her heart, she felt the beast's teeth tearing into her, her blood splashing onto the dark concrete.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Cyan groggily opened her eyes, and groaned as she slapped 'snooze'. The first thing that she felt was soaked; had she been sweating? Yes… She was as drenched as though she had actually been running during her stressful sleep. It was odd… Nightmares were rare for her. Despite her status as an agent, she never really had bad dreams. Mostly, her mind usually just turned off as she slept. So, why now? Maybe it was the Kira case… Cyan did want to participate, but without a clear target, without the threat being completely physical, she felt more threatened than ever. Not to mention her worry for L… He was getting too close to this whole case. It was too big of a risk to get so close to your prime suspect, especially if you don't know how he kills! Of course, she was referring to Light. He wouldn't be at the meeting today… Oh.

Cyan stood up off of her bed, rubbing her eyes. She had to get ready for the meeting… Finally! She'd be able to show them all that she wasn't a joke. It was no secret that she was a rather ditzy girl. Quickly, she hopped in the shower, and changed into some fresh clothes. A royal blue skirt that was loose enough to be informal, and a light, lacy yellow blouse. These clothes made her look young, but that was the entire scheme! Look childish, then strike!

Before long, Cyan found herself standing in front of the metallic door at the parking garage of headquarters. The camera that was hooked onto the upper right-hand corner of the door glinted at her, looking almost like a strange, alien eye, and she could tell that they were making sure she was actually one of the task force. With apparent approval, the door whizzed open, and Cyan quickly stepped inside, jumping when the door slammed closed behind her. They really didn't wait! Based off of that, she decided that L was probably on door duty, not Watari. Only L would be so impatient.

She reached the end of the hallway, and found a small machine that was seated next to another metallic door. In the center of the machine, there was a small, oval-like glass opening, and Cyan could barely make out a small camera under it. The finger scanner. Cyan sighed, and glared up at the camera that was identical to the one outside.

"I'm only doing this to make you feel better, Ryuzaki!" She said, giving the camera a playful glower.

Cyan knew how much L reveled in his safety, but this was ridiculous! She hastily pressed her thumb against the oval, and the door opened in a rush. Finally, she was in. After a quick elevator ride to the sanctioned meeting floor, Cyan found herself in the hotel-like labyrinth of rooms. She located the right room, and stepped in silently without knocking. Already, she could hear voices speaking, all of them male. From where she stood, all she could see was the coffee table and the backs of a few chairs that were arranged around it. The small hallway that led to the fluorescently lit room seemed to keep her from being noticed.

"Ryuzaki, this plan is just too risky. We're going to get the girl killed." The angry voice of Aizawa growled.

Cyan's ears pricked, hearing the mention of her persona. What? Did they seriously doubt her ability so much? She didn't move, but shut the door noiselessly behind her.

"Mr. Aizawa, I believe I've already addressed this. Cyan is an MI6 agent, and she is fully capable of handling herself, I wouldn't-" She heard L say, his voice rather perturbed.

"You can't expect a twenty-two year old girl to take down a single person in a room of the most influential business executives in the world! I get that she's an agent, but that hotel will be guarded so carefully, and the way that you're going to ask her to do it is suicide!" Aizawa said incredulously.

"Hm. I thought I'd have trouble convincing you. That's why I asked you to come here, before she arrived. I knew that you would all have doubts about this plan, and I'm hoping that you would all be able to come to terms with it so we can move on to the nuances of the real operation…" L said, already dismissing the subject.

Faintly, Cyan could hear Matusda speak. "Are you already saying that you'll get us to agree? I mean, is getting Cyan killed a part of the plan?" He asked, sounding shocked through and through.

There was a sharp clattering noise, and Cyan realized that it was the slap of china against china. She realized that someone must have set their tea down on their saucer hard enough to crack one of them. Or both. The tinkling of broken china could reach Cyan's ears, and the room grew extremely silent. The silence was deafening.

"… Do you honestly believe that I'd send anyone in this room to their death? Much less Cyan? If this is the general consensus of me in this room, then I think it might be appropriate to acquire a new task force…" L said, his voice calm, yet containing a venomous undertone. Woah! Cyan had never heard L sound like that, never in her life…

By now, the tension in the room was seeping into Cyan's chest, causing her heart to pound, and adrenaline to pump into her veins.

The room was deathly quiet for some time. Finally, it was Matsuda who spoke. "I'm sorry, L…. I-I mean, Ryuzaki. I shouldn't have said that. But what you're proposing is sort of insane, and doing it to the girl that you love makes you seem-" Matsuda was cut off suddenly, and an older voice entered the scene.

"Enough, Matsuda. Even though Ryuzaki's plan may seem harsh, the fact that it is Cyan who is being sent should be enough of an insurance for us. I'm positive he wouldn't send her if he wasn't confident she'd be alright. We should accept this plan, and give him as much assistance as we can." Soichiro said, his voice as gruff and over-used as ever.

At this point, Cyan was practically glued to the wall, her eyes as big as plates. She could hear her heart beating, and blood was rushing through her brain at an incredible pace. She felt as though she was in that same nightmare as the one she had last morning, her anxiety seemed to match it entirely… Cyan wasn't afraid though, she was just… Shocked. She stayed still, and waited for L to deny it. Okay, L. Tell them they're wrong. Tell them that you're not in love with me, and that you had a different reason for calling them here early.

It was quiet again.

L spoke up. "Yes, that was what I was trying to achieve by this. As inhuman as I may seem to you, I wanted to convey I'm conducting this operation with the utmost confidence. I'm certain that she will succeed." He said, his voice calm once again.

"Oh, I get it!" Matsuda exclaimed. "He got us to come here early to see if we'd get it; the way that he feels about her means that he's positive nothing bad will happen." He said, as slow to the catch as ever.

Cyan could practically see L rolling his eyes, even though all she could see was the wall in front of her.

"Yes, well… I'm glad that we're on the same page here. Are there any more questions?" L said, his voice now rather stern. It seemed as though he didn't want to address this subject any longer.

The room unanimously responded with silence, and L spoke again. "Well, we will begin as soon as Cyan arrives. Hm. I let her in about ten minutes ago." He said.

There was only a few times in her life that Cyan fell off of a building. When she did, it always felt as though her heart had been left up at the starting point, leaving her empty skin sinking down into the oblivion below.

This was one of those times.

She could feel her heart contract, and her head began to spin. How… How the hell could she have forgotten?! L had let her in such a long time ago, and he probably already knew that she was there! God, she never made such careless mistakes! She… She had just gotten so carried away at the mention of her… She swallowed, and wished that she could just disappear.

Inevitably, L spoke up.

"Cyan, please, feel free to come out." L said quietly.

Cyan felt as though she had turned to ice, yet her face was hotter than ever. She felt stuck to the floor. The room was so quiet! Cyan felt her joints obeying L's invite, and walked into the open part of the room. Matsuda gasped out loud, and the shocked faces of the task force regarded her carefully. The only person who did not look shocked was L, though he wasn't looking at her; his gaze was down at a new set of china, and he seemed to be adding more sugar. Watari was standing behind him, a dust pan full of broken ceramics in his hand. Cyan realized that there was a tablet sitting on the coffee table in front of L. He must've used that to let her in. And the fact that they were still talking by the time she got here told her that they had probably been arguing for a good long while. L was probably expecting her to knock. She felt like complete and total shit.

Cyan fiddled with her fingers, her face completely red. "I-I'm sorry. I got here early, and I c-came in, but I didn't want to interrupt. Then you w-were talking about me, so I couldn't help it…" She said, cursing herself for her stuttering. Great. Just great. If they didn't doubt her abilities before, they would now.

Much to her surprise, Soichiro was the one who spoke. "Don't apologize, Cyan. Speaking about you before a meeting was rather childish. You are not at fault." He said, his fatherly tone rather soothing.

It did nothing to calm her nerves. Her face was still red, and L seemed to be looking everywhere but at her face.

"Cyan, I also do apologize. Now, let's discuss the operation…" L said, his voice devoid of emotion. Now, he looked at her, only to gesture to an open seat as though they were strangers who had never met. Cyan, as embarrassed as possible, sat down in it, thankful that L was seated away from her.

For the next hour, they discussed the plan. Cyan had been told to conduct a hit on a man who worked in the Yotsuba group by MI6, which worked greatly to the advantage of the task force, as illegal as it was. Policing agencies weren't supposed to assist agents in the hits, but due to this man's crimes, an assassination was called for, and that was where Cyan came in. She had to conduct the hit in a way that made it seem as though he was killed by Kira. This would cause an uproar among the other Yotsuba group members, and if they discussed Kira, then L would be able to make some arrests. A sound, but dangerous plan. Simulating a heart attack would be no joke, and doing it in the hotel of the meeting would be even harder. But it was nothing that Cyan hadn't done before.

Needless to say, the entire meeting was awkward. However, they did get the point across, and the task force members reluctantly agreed to the plan. It was a difficult thing to persuade them to do, but they couldn't miss such an opportunity. Besides, L would still do it without their help.

"Alright, any questions? No? Great, thank you. You are all dismissed. We will continue to go over the specifics for the next week until we all know it by heart. This operation will begin at exactly seven in the evening next Tuesday." L said, his tenor voice even, but slightly hoarse from all of the talking.

"Okay, see you tomorrow, everyone! I'm supposed to go and play Misa's manager again." Matsuda said, standing up and stretching. He nodded to the members, and took his leave. The other members stood up, and looked down at L. They all informed him that they'd be going back down to the main room to continue collecting information on the Yotsuba group.

This left Cyan and L, sitting in silence. After the door closed behind Soichiro, Cyan looked down at her lap, fiddling with her hands again. The awkwardness was horrible! It was suffocating!

"Well… I'm sorry again. I… I shouldn't've eavesdropped. I guess I'll go try and help them now…" She said quietly, her heart somehow very heavy in her chest. When L didn't respond, Cyan got to her feet, guilt burning her face yet again. She took a few steps to the door, the stiffness in her legs keeping her slow.

"Wait."

Cyan stopped walking. She turned, facing L, who was looking into his empty tea cup again, a tray of eaten sweets laying on the coffee table in front of him.

"Cyan, the last thing I wanted to do was let you in on that information. I wanted to keep that from you… Losing your friendship is one of the worst things that I could imagine happening. Now that you know, I'm afraid that it might be too late for that. Things will be strange between us, and you have my deepest apologies-" L said, a strange tremor in his voice.

Cyan cut him off. "L, stop. Nothing has changed… You're still my best friend." She said, her eyes sweeping over him. His black hair was covering his eyes… God, he needed to stop avoiding her!

At her words, however, he looked up at her, his black eyes strangely shocked. I'm her best friend? Still?

"Even if I… I just… You know I can't. MI6 is strict about its agents." She said quietly, unsure as to the reason why she had to elaborate.

"I know. I know… And thank you. Next time, when we want to talk about you, we will do it when we're sure you're asleep."

Cyan laughed for the first time in what felt like forever. Good… At least L was assured enough to make a smart-ass comment.

"Alright. Make sure to add a lot of embarrassing stories from the Institute, will you?" She retorted, the smile still on her face. She could see the ghost of a smile on L's lips, and for some reason, felt little sparks shoot through her.

"I already have a few selected." He said, sounding as cool as a running stream.

Cyan grinned, then gave him a nod. "I'm headed down now." She informed, turning and walking towards the door.

Again, L watched her leave, a strange feeling in his chest. How could one person affect him so much? Why was it that whenever she left, she took all of the air out of the room with her? Even as she left, he could still see her, blushing heavily as she was discovered earlier. She had been so embarrassed… At that moment, L knew it was over. Well, that was what he thought. He remembered the terror he felt once he realized that she had to be standing there, listening in. Love… An emotion that he'd never thought he'd be capable of feeling. Ten years hadn't removed his feelings, it seemed.

But her knowing about his feelings wasn't the worst of it. When she responded, she had spoken, then stopped herself. He remembered what she said… "'Even if I…'"

It wasn't hard for him to fill in the gap.

Even if I did love you… Had to be what she was going to say.

That had to be what she was thinking. It could be nothing else. Thank god she wasn't the critical-type. Rejection, it seemed, was a rather horrid feeling. His heart felt as though it was being torn in two… Yet, he could handle it. What he couldn't handle would be Cyan distancing herself. Ten years was an eternity… How would a lifetime feel without her, then?

Cyan walked back to the elevator, her mind racing. What to think about first, the impending mission or L's feelings? Her mind was being drawn towards the latter… Could it be possible? It was so strange to think about, and L didn't deny it at all… She didn't know what to think. But she knew what she felt, and quite frankly, it scared her. It scared her, the way she was imagining L's touch, and his soft hair… No! H-He's my best friend, and I can't afford to think about it… And I need to remember what my training taught me. The more invested you are, the more you have to lose.

It was her fear that followed her from the hotel after work that night, and she could feel it, as close and real as the beast in her nightmare.

She fought the urge to run.