The Start of Something New?

Soon after discovering his missing cookies, another thought came to L. Where the hell was Watari?! It wasn't like him to be gone this long. He hadn't even come back for his sub sandwich (which Beyond had taken it upon himself to gobble down. If L didn't watch him, that kid would eat him out of house and home). Generally the elderly man would've been restocked his sweets supply, but he hadn't seen him since the children had been dropped off. Was he…avoiding them? Wow…that bad, huh? L couldn't fault him.

And speaking of the children, it was now after eight p.m. What little he did know about parenting told him that it was probably a good time now to send them to bed. Looking over to Mello (the only one he could visibly see) he said, "Alright, I think it's time you three hit the sack."

"Aw, c'mon, L! I'm not even tired!" Mello whined.

L considered this. He himself could stay up for days at a time with no rest. Could they as well? Then again, did he really want to be up with them that long? A very un-L-like part of him in the back of his brain yelled 'Hell no!'

"Actually, you might think you don't need to rest, but once you close your eyes, you'll be amazed at how long you sleep," L said to him. When he had at first started solving cases, he'd realized this himself. Over time though, his body had come to learn that he shouldn't rest more than three or four hours every three or four days. Hence how he'd grown the circles under his eyes.

"You don't sleep for days at a time!" Mello pointed out.

L frowned. Was he a mind reader? "Yes, that's true, but I'm grown." That same strange part of his mind went 'Ooohhh! Bad move, L! Very lame excuse.'

And Mello called it. "Pfft, that's weak! You were my age when you'd started solving cases! And nobody put a curfew on you!"

Oh, how this boy was sharp. Mentally, he argued back, 'Yeah, but there was only one of me! And I was a good child!' Verbally he said, "Yes, true. But honestly, I was mainly raised by Watari. If he felt that I didn't need a curfew, then that was his choice on my upbringing. Not to mention, I was also solving cases, as you pointed out. I could've shirked solving cases for sleep, but then…there wouldn't be an L."

Mello thought about this for a moment, pondering. Then an obvious idea hit him and L could've sworn he saw a light bulb come on above his head. "Then you just proved my point! One of us, me, Matt, or Near are very likely to succeed you! If that's going to happen, then we're going to need to be like you! That means long nights with no sleep!" Smiling goofily to himself, he stood up and started doing the cha-cha-cha while chanting "I'm not going to bed, yeah! I'm not going to bed, yeah!"

L frowned again. He was tired of arguing with this boy. "Oh, you're going to bed, damnit," he muttered quietly. He got up from his seat and walked over to him. Standing very close to him, his hunched shoulders created a dark shadow over Mello. The blonde slowly stopped his dancing, turning to meet him with wide eyes.

"Uh…hi, L" he said sheepishly.

"Mello. Bed. Now." L said, pointing to the door. Then he paused. "No, you three have been traveling and playing around. Bathe first, then bed. Gather the other two and spread the word."

Mello looked like he was about to grumble, but L intensified his stare and Mello's protests died in his throat. He gave a disdainful sniff, showing that he wasn't going to let this get to him. Then he started to travel the room.

He looked like he was searching for something, before he paused in front of the couch that Aizawa and Matsuda happened to be sitting on. Getting down on his knees, he fumbled underneath it. His body jerked forward before evidently grabbing something. Pulling back, they saw the disheveled form of Matt, still intensely playing a video game.

"Come on, Matty. Bath time," Mello said in a surprisingly gentle tone. Pulling the boy to his feet, he took one of his hands while Matt used the other to continuously press a firing button for the game.

Mello pulled him along until he came to a potted plant in the corner. There, he crouched down again. When he rightened up, Near was holding his other free hand, twirling a strand of his hair.

As they passed L, Mello flashed him a triumphant smile. He didn't always need parental supervision! He led the group out of the room and L couldn't help but smile at the scene. Mello, being brotherly? Well, well, who would've guessed.

On the hallway where their bedrooms were, there was a large central bathroom. Mello dragged the two in there, then left them by the entrance while he went further in to start the water. On the side of the tub were several bottles to create bubbles. He randomly mixed several and happily watched as they filled the tub.

A few minutes passed and once it reached the appropriate height, he turned the water off. Mello stood to turn back to Matt and Near, but they were gone! He ran out into the hall. Another room light was on. Matt's. He went into his room to see him still playing the game, now on his bed. Near was on the floor, nodding off. Mello held back a grin. The kid had been napping behind the plant a moment ago.

"Hey, listen! L put me in charge for the moment, so you two have to listen to me." Mello said, hands on his hips as he addressed them like a mother.

Matt spluttered, then said "Who died and made you boss?!"

Mello growled in irritation. "I just said, L!"

"L died?"

"You know what I mean!"

"No, sorry, I don't. Unless L is no longer in commission to give orders, I don't think I should have to listen to you."

That was it. Mello stomped over to his best friend and ripped the game away from him. Then he went over to the window and opened it.

Matt gasped. "You wouldn't!"

Mello narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Try me."

Matt made an attempt to come closer, but Mello dangled the game out the window even further. Realizing that he was at a loss, Matt held his hands up in surrender.

"Alright, fine. Geez, don't be such a drama queen."

Mello rolled his eyes, but closed the window. He put the game on the floor, then kicked it under the bed. Matt wouldn't mind, he'd probably crawl under there some time or another to play it. Grabbing Matt and Near's hands again, he led them back to the bathroom.

He tested the water again to make sure it was just right, then peeled off his shirt. He stopped and glanced back at the other two. "Aren't you guys getting in?"

Matt narrowed his eyes. "With you? Ha, you'd probably be a total totalitarian and make sure we washed behind our ears twenty times or something. I'd rather take my chances bathing with Beyond than…okay, no I wouldn't." Matt said, realizing just what that might've been like. It wouldn't have been pretty.

With a shrug, he started to take his own shirt off. Mello was already down to his underwear. Near tried to follow their example, but was having trouble undoing the buttons on his shirt. Mello groaned, couldn't this kid do anything right? He walked over to him and pushed his hands out the way. Methodically, he unbuttoned it himself, then helped him pull his small arms out of the baggy sleeves.

Without further ado and with absolutely no shame, Mello stripped off the underwear and climbed in the tub. He gave a contented sigh. Ah, now this was more like it!

Matt was still giving him a skeptical look, but finished undressing himself and also got in. Near was still having difficulty untangling himself from his jeans, making both Mello and Matt facepalm. They had to remember, Near was only three.

Finally, the boy managed to discard his clothes and slowly crawled over the side of the tub…but slipped and fell in. Matt's legs, floating in the water, somewhat held his head down. The boy struggled, then eventually managed to wrench his head up, gasping for air. And then, after gathering enough oxygen in his lungs, he let out a loud shriek, followed by him bursting into tears.

The piercing wails rang off the tiles, hurting the other two's eardrums. "Near, shut up!" Mello shouted, hitting him on his back. It seemed to work. Near snapped out of his fit, subdued to only whimpering.

But the crying had went on long enough to alert L. "What is it?!" the man screamed, bursting into the bathroom. When he had at first heard the cries, he had hoped that Beyond hadn't come back to terrorize them again.

"Whoa, L, a little privacy!" Mello shouted. L only gave him a pointed look.

"Don't be ridiculous, Mello. What happened to Near?"

Mello shrugged, not feeling like answering.

"The kid almost drowned himself, but he's fine now," Matt clarified, hands behind his head as he relaxed. Mello flicked his eyes at him, then copied his position. He tried to close his eyes and imagine himself at some kind of spa resort.

L came further into the room, shutting the door behind him. Mello snapped his eyes open, but Matt remained slouching. Oh no…L wasn't one of those type of people, was he?!

The man crouched next to the tub. Grabbing a washcloth from a rack, he dipped it in the water, then rung it out over Near's head. The boy giggled. "Feels like what it might be like to have an egg cracked on your head," he said. His first and longest words in over an hour.

Mello frowned as he watched L almost impassively wash Near's back. Why the hell did big-headed Near get all the attention?! With a huff, he situated himself against the side of the tub, his back facing L. The man quirked an eyebrow that Mello didn't see. Then, dipping the cloth in the water again, he began to scrub his back as well.

Matt seemed content to stay where he was, but was jerked from his musings by a large hand. L grabbed him and pulled him closer, making him participate in the group bath. Like a cub hating to be licked by its mother, he mentally grumbled as L wetted his hair and washed it.

After all three were cleaned, L stood back up to grab towels. He handed Mello and Matt theirs and gratefully they climbed out and dried themselves off. But for Near, L wrapped his towel around him and lifted him out the tub. Like with Watari, the boy latched on, forcing L to dry him in his arms.

Now both Mello and Matt glared at him. Where the hell was the justice in this?! But they tried to act like it didn't matter. They weren't babies and they weren't about to kiss L's ass for attention.

But their dark thoughts started to melt away when they noticed the detective helping them redress. When had he brought pajamas with him? Oh well, who cared. They were warm and soft and Matt was grateful to L for grabbing his favorite ones, a simple red ensemble. Mello's was nearly the same, but was black. And Near…well, they didn't call him a baby for nothing. Near's had the characters from Toy Story on them. How fitting.

Still carrying the youngest, L guided each to their room. "Peace out!" Mello said when he reached his. Giving a two-fingered salute, he entered and shut the door. Matt only mumbled "'Night," when he got to his, silently sliding the door closed.

Near's room was next to Matt's. Sliding down from L, he put a thumb in his mouth and walked in on his slightly unsteady little kid legs. He said nothing, but nodded once to L before taking his leave.

Well, wasn't all of that interesting. He made his steady way back to the room where the others were at. Sitting back down at his precious Mac notebook, he rubbed the touchpad to clear the screensaver of the silver L, softly bouncing around the screen to a background of moving star-like orbs.

With a few clicks, he had up on his screen four different rooms shown with night vision. One was Beyond's room. The boy was there, curled on his side awake and staring at a wall. It was too early for him to actually go to sleep. L wondered what all went on inside his head…

The other three monitors showed Near, Mello, and Matt's rooms. The three were seemingly asleep, but suddenly, Matt sat up in his bed. He rummaged around under his pillow until he found yet another hand-held game. Flicking it on, L watched as he climbed out of bed, the glow illuminating his face. He left his room and walked down the hall…to Mello's room. Without knocking, Matt simply entered.

Mello sat up, clearly annoyed at the intrusion. Matt either didn't notice it or didn't care, because he promptly hopped up on the bed, grabbed some covers from the foot of the bed, flicked off the game, and proceeded to fall asleep.

L was trying to process this when he saw movement from Near's room. The boy also had gotten up. Near grabbed a small blanket, put his thumb in his mouth, and shuffled out of his bedroom. Like Matt, he headed for Mello's. He quietly opened the door, slipping inside. He padded over to the bed where Mello and Matt stared at him wide-eyed. But Near easily climbed up onto the mattress as well, over onto Mello's other side. Though he had his own blanket, he somewhat forced the other boys to surrender some of the covers. Holding his blanket tightly and still sucking on his thumb, he settled down.

Mello and Matt stared at him for a moment longer and then met each other's gazes. They shrugged, then rolled over to go back to sleep themselves.

Well, wasn't this a surprise, L thought. Despite all of their quarrels, perhaps deep down, they honestly cared for one another. And maybe even him? Then he sighed. Now if only he could get Beyond to behave! He changed the screen back to his work, but couldn't shake this new warm feeling he felt all over. What was it called? Oh yeah, happiness.