Author's Note: I am so sorry for not posting! School and work sucks! Anyway, hope you enjoy! I really hope you like it! I didn't know how to end this chapter…so… :3 Anyway, please enjoy!

For some reason, I woke up in the middle of the night. I didn't wake up out of fear or anything, I just couldn't sleep anymore. I raised up and looked around my room. It was silent, and almost completely dark. Moonlight shined in on the pillow where I was laying. How peaceful. I couldn't go back to sleep, I decided to go looking for L.

I'm not sure why, but I really wanted to speak with him again. The hallway outside my room was a little brighter than my room, every other light on the wall was turned on to light up the corridor. I walked past all the rooms, listening to light snoring, some voices whispering, and some with lights still on in the rooms. I thought about life growing up here at Wammy's, like the children that were here now. These children were orphans, and that was the whole reason why they were here. I was here because I was being protected. That made my heart sink a little. Poor kids…I guess every hero had a sad back story after all.

I thought about the kids that had met here thus far: Mello, Matt, Near, Nataliee, Ryan, and even Ryan's silent best friend, Harper. These kids were so near to my age, and they were orphans. I wondered if they remembered life outside of Wammy's, or even when they came here. What if they came here recently because of tragedy? My mind flashed to L. Was that why he was so unemotional? I stopped in my tracks. Poor L. He was a product of Wammy's, right? So, was he an orphan too? I sighed and began to walk again. I really wanted to know L's backstory, just to see what made him the way he was. I stopped walking when I got to the dark oak door. I felt nervous, like I shouldn't possibly be disturbing him. But I really needed to talk to him.

Before I knocked on the door, I gave myself a pat on the back; I hadn't gotten lost on my journey to L's lair. I waitied outside the door, just to see if I could hear anything. Of course there was no sound. I knocked on the door lightly, making little to no sound. After no response came I decided that he hadn't heard me; I opened the door anyway and peered my head inside. L sat with his back facing me, hunched over his laptop. The only light in the room was the aforementioned computer, so my eyes had to adjust from the hallway to his room. "L?" I called to him stepping in so my whole body was inside. My arms were bare thanks to my tank top, and I felt extremely awkward, I crossed my arms in an attempt to cover them better, waiting for L to notice me. When he did turn, he seemed emotionless, however, I could have sworn there was something in his voice when he spoke: "Miss Phelps?" I took a step forward as he spoke again. "Can I help you?" and just like that all emotion (if there was even any in his voice to begin with) was gone. I just shook my head, causing my massive ponytail to wag back and forth across my back. "I couldn't sleep and I wanted to speak with you again." He then put his back to me, the back of his head messy with hair. "Very well, what is it?" I stepped closer to him, examining his perched figure. How does he sit like that? I sat in the chair next to him, and he looked over to me. I examined his face, the side especially highlighted by the computer. He gave me a small smile that vanished as soon as it came. "Are you okay?" I sat there a moment longer before answering. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just wondering. Do you really think that I am safe here?" I looked over to his computer screen and saw a lot of windows popped up. One looked like a news channel, a few photo files popped up in one corner, and at the very bottom I saw what a looked like a video feed. I saw a bed with white sheets. The bed looked familiar. It was my room.

My jaw dropped. "What is that?" I asked him pointing to the computer screen, giving him no time to even answer my first question. He lightly chuckled and stood up, stretching in his own weird way. "To your first question, yes, I do believe you are very safe. Which goes to answer you second question. That video is in your room to help assure your safety." He seemed very nonchalant; like it didn't even bother him to be invading my privacy. "But why? Why are you watching me?" I thought back to my shower earlier. "Do you have one in my bathroom?" He just looked at me. "No." Very simple. "However, if you are concerned about the possibility of my seeing you undress, there is a feature that enables me to see the heat you give off, no physical attributes whatsoever." He paused to pop a small red candy in his mouth. "I have placed the camera to make sure no one, other than those permitted, are in your room." I thought back to the window in my room and I shuddered. Yeah, I was on the second floor, but it could be possible for someone to get in that way. Chills traveled down my spine when I thought about someone breaking in. My mind tried to wander somewhere darker, but I snapped out of it before I was too invested. I decided to drop the camera subject; I caught the feeling that even though I would disagree, L wasn't going to change his mind.

He was sitting down again, with his thumb between his lips staring at the computer screen. He was leaning so far forward I felt the need to pull him back so he didn't hit the desk face first. "What are you looking at?" I asked, never taking my eyes away from him. He was a really intriguing character. I was really surprised when he gave me a response. "Currently, I am looking at previous murders that happened just before your attack." He nibbled on his thumb. "At first, Backup had a plan, he seemed generally cautious of his actions and never did anything out of character. But for some reason, you made him act on random." I watched him as he pulled a small sucker out of his pocket and unwrapped it. He never took his eyes away from the screen. You could tell that he was thinking very hard, almost being able to see the wheels in the detectives head turning.

I wondered if he actually knew "Backup." "Do you know him?" He looked at me, his face blank. "Yes." He chewed on his sucker and turned his head back to the computer. "Backup, or B if you prefer, was one of my first successors here at Wammy's." This frightened me. He knew where Wammy's was. "A successor? S-so, you mean, that at one point he was actually…good?" I felt stupid for asking this; like a small child asking the difference between right and wrong. L's response was a crunch on his sucker. "I suppose you could say so," he began. "Backup couldn't handle the pressures of being the next L. So he left the orphanage." The detective crunched one last time on his sucker before placing the stick on the arm chair. L's job would be a doozy, no doubt. But was it really bad enough to drive someone crazy? Maybe you just had to have a certain mental capacity? Or at least be void of all emotions (in Mello's case all emotions except hatred and anger) to be able to do it? He scratched the back of his head and moved his hand back to his knee. I thought about a young L walking around Wammy's, happy, playful and carefree. He probably never had a childhood. I was about to ask when he took up the occupation of World's Greatest Detective when he interrupted me. "Why are you staring?" I blushed. I definitely had a staring problem. "Would you like a piece of candy?" he had his arm stretched out, a small piece of pink candy laying in his palm. I wanted to face palm. He kept his arm outstretched to me, waiting for me to take the damn candy. Without thinking, I reached for it. "Thank you." I mumbled, popping it into my mouth. Despite its pink color, it tasted like apples. I savored the little candy for as long as it would last. Figuring that I was satisfied, L turned his attention back to the screen. I settled in the chair, laying my head down and throwing my ponytail over the back of the chair. I looked up to L, his face remaining blank, watching him watch the screen until I fell asleep.

L's POV

I was having a hard time concentrating with her in the room. She was too distracting. I didn't understand why she so easily caught my attention; I could easily work through most anything. Even with the occasional window busting, which happened a lot here lately, didn't even take my mind off my work. I decided the reason why she was so intriguing was due to the fact that she was our only, and rather peculiar, piece of evidence.

I was about to ask her to leave, when I turned and found her asleep. I examined her while she slept. She was curled tightly in the chair, breathing quietly. Her face had worry lines. I was really surprised to see her shuffle into the room at the hur she did. It was nearly two in the morning when she came to speak to me. She mumbled in her sleep. I decided to leave her alone, she needed to rest. I stood and walked to the room attached the one I was in; it was a bedroom that I never used. The bed untouched and never lain in. I grabbed the edge of the sheet with my finger and thumb and tugged until it came off, and I turned back to my workspace. Once back in the room, I draped the sheet over Lincoln and watched as she pulled it closer to her and rub her cheek against it. I sat back down and looked to my screen. The cat, Izzy, was sitting next to the laptop with his fur sticking out onto the screen. I looked at him and smiled a little, he mewed in response. "I must work now. For justice."

Lincoln's POV

I woke up to several voices. I didn't move so I wouldn't disrupt whatever they were talking about, it seemed pretty important. "So, more murders have happened?" I recognized Matt's voice. "Yes, but one of these murders could only be the work of Backup." L spoke with confidence. "This one is far too messy for Backup." I imagined L pointing his long, bony fingers to the screen as he spoke. "So, he is hiring other people to kill for him." Matt spoke again, I concluded he was playing a game. "He is hiring these people to murder for him to lead us away from his trail." Near spoke, his voice bored. Of course, this came with an outburst from Mello. "WE CAN'T LET HIM KEEP KILLING PEOPLE AS TESTS OR COVERUPS." I jerked up and almost came out of the chair I had slept in when he banged his hands on the desk. When my eyes finally adjusted to the sunlight pouring in from the window, I saw everyone in the room looking at me. Mello still standing leaning on the desk, Near building a house of cards, L, perched on his hair, and Matt staring at me with a smoke dangling between his lips. Taking a mental note of the cigarette to ask about later, I sat there awkwardly until Matt broke the silence. "We didn't mean to wake you." Matt was looked at me, his bright blue eyes uncovered from his goggles.

Near was the next to speak; however he only spoke to break my cover. "She wasn't asleep, Matt." He stated this simply and dryly. I blushed deeply. I finally looked to the other person standing in the room, the only one not speaking. Watari smiled to me kindly, and spoke even sweeter. "Good morning, miss." He began. "Care for some breakfast? Can I get you something to drink?" Watari was such a gentleman. I eyed the small cart he was gesturing to. It was full of small pastries and cupcakes, each looking delicious. I didn't want anything too sweet, and I was about to decline when my eyes fell on a muffin that looked delicious. "Well…I am kind of hungry." I mumbled as I stretched my legs and stood and walked to the cart. After retrieving my muffin and walking back to sit down, I grabbed my blanket with my free hand and draped it back over my legs. Wait. My blanket? I ran my hand down the soft fabric. When did I get this? Did L get it for me? I felt myself blushing when I looked up to meet his eyes staring into mine. I jerked my eyes away and blushed, I was nervous. Without thinking I slammed a piece of muffin into my mouth, trying to distract L. This was clearly the wrong way to do it, because everyone was looking at me like I was an idiot. At that moment, I didn't really care. The muffin was amazing. It was very sweet and tasted like oranges. I gave Watari a thumbs up and said something to the effect of: "My compliments to the chef!" Unfortunately, I had my mouth full. So instead, my sentence came out as, "Mm comflimenfs toa chefff." Watari understood, responding with a kind, "Thank you, Miss." I took another bite and glanced to the others. Mello gave me a look that let me know that now wasn't the time. "So, he struck again?" I asked quietly. Mello nodded and spoke with malice tainted on his words. "Yes, he's hiring goons to randomly murder people; twice as many people could be hurt if we don't do something." Matt was next to speak, pulling out an old Gameboy instead of a DS. "Mello, there's nothing we can do right now, other than disregard the phony murders he's trying to distract us with." I half expected another outburst from Mello, or a disagreement from someone, instead Near spoke next. "That is correct." He called from the floor, again playing with his cards.

I glanced to L's screen. Two pictures were pulled up; both very gruesome. The one on the right showed a woman with one arm above her head straight, and the other arm laid across her body. It was clearly broken. She was beaten badly, her throat slit and stomach gashed open. She was beautiful, and young. Probably twenty-four. Her dark brown hair was flowered around her head. I would have expected there to be so much blood. But instead, her skin was clean and smooth, except for the nasty looking bruises. It was horrifying, and the picture on the left looked exactly the same, except for a different young woman. How could they tell the difference when there was no bloodshed? I was about to ask when L interrupted me. "We will investigate further tonight. "Everyone may go about as they please." He glanced to each of the boys, his eyes landing last on me. "I must ask you to follow, Lincoln." This was the first time he had called me by my first name. It sounded different than how anyone else would have said it. Each letter, each sound in my name was pronounced perfectly. Before I could protest, L was already out of the door. Damn him. "I'll go this time!" I called after him.

Everyone had went in separate directions, leaving me alone in the hall. As I walked down the hall, I heard yells coming from outside. I stopped at a window and glanced down into the green yard, spotting three figures standing next to a small fire. I shook my head, and went towards my destination.

"It almost took off that time!" Ryan screamed. He was pointing to the small rocket laying on the ground, smoking. "I just have a few more things to tweak, then it'll be ready." He was yelling out of excitement. Nataliee had one arm on her hip and her other hand on her forehead, shaking her head. "It's not going to be worth anything if we are dead!" she spoke sternly in her heavy accent. I walked up to them, trying not to disrupt their argument. Harper was staring at me, a small smile on his face. Thankfully, they stopped the argument as soon as they noticed me, and didn't bring me into it. "Lincoln!" they echoed each other. I stuck my hand up and gave my wrist a small flick. "What's up?" I asked, wiping my brow after the long trek from the house to this part of the yard. "Oh, nothing, just trying to stay alive." Nataliee shot Ryan a sharp glare while she spoke. Ryan smiled wide. "Working." Was all he said as he picked the rocket up. "What are you trying to make?" I demanded playfully. Ryan rolled his eyes. "If you must know, I am in the process of making the best damn lightshow you've ever seen. It's for tomorrow; our last free day of summer before our classes start." He nodded to me. "It's basically a field day for us. We play outside all day, and at night we watch fireworks and hangout. It's a whole lot of fun!" she was smiling brightly. I admired her outfit of the day. A pale purple dress. It made me feel better to know that these kids actually got playtime.

I was pretty excited for my fist celebration here at Wammy's. I smiled, as my brain hatched an idea. "Ryan, can you follow some blueprints if I sketch them for you?"

After sending Ryan off with some sketches that I attempted but failed miserably with, (I had Nataliee draw them, I completely forgot about my lack of artistic ability. Silly me.) I went to locate Matt, Mello and Near. After a good ten minutes looking for him, and another chase out of the kitchen, I settled for asking some kids in the playroom where they would be. "Matt's room, more than likely." A short girl with short black hair stated. Her twin brother finished the conversation for us. "Room 14." I thanked them and let them continue doing whatever it was that they were, and headed for room 14. I never noticed that Matt's room was next to mine, making me feel safer against the window in my room. I knocked on the door, hearing Matt laugh from somewhere inside. A quiet Near opened the door, giving me a small smile. I looked into the room, cereal boxes laying in front of the TV, a happy Matt playing something, and an annoyed Mello on the bed. "Glad you could join us, Lincoln." Mello stated. I stepped inside, and was then greeted by Matt. "Link, get over here and let me kick your ass!" Matt beckoned from the bean bag chair in front of TV. He has his arm stretched out reaching me a controller. My cheeks turned pink. "I dunno, Matt…what game is it?" He responded with a cheeky grin. "Gears of War." I put on my pokerface. If there was ever a game that I was good at, it was Gears. I played enough growing up with my cousins that I was practically a natural. I sat down next to him, taking the controller and pressing some buttons. "Is it difficult?" I asked him sheepishly. He threw his head back and laughed, pressing buttons to get through the loading screens. "You'll see." I glanced to Mello who gave me a look of, "kick his ass, please."

Once the game started, I put on my big girl panties and played hard. After winning against Matt in several shotgun and chainsaw battles, lancering him down and using him as a meatshield, Matt was getting annoyed. But once I destroyed him with what was probably the nastiest no-scope headshot in history, he tossed his controller down in front of him and glared at me. "Never played my ass." I laughed along with Mello in the background and sat my controller down. "I never told you I never played. You assumed." I smirked. Suddenly my cheek was hit with a pillow. I glared at Matt, and the fight ensued.

A part of me felt crazy for laughing like I was, but it felt good. It was probably better for me to forget about what was happening to me and have a little fun. There was probably some science magazine somewhere that stated having fun was heart healthy and helped the brain function. Hell, probably help you live longer and reduce stress.

Roger finally barged in and broke up the fight after finding several feathers in the hall. He made myself, Matt, Mello and poor Near who was drug into the fight by me clean up. Roger made me go to my room, I sighed and complied not wanting to be made clean anything else. I picked some feathers out of my hair as I sat in front of the vanity that I had in my room. I looked it over again, seeing some small bags for makeup, which I hardly ever wore. I sighed and picked some new sleep clothes out of my dresser. I didn't feel like showering tonight, I began to change. Once I had my shirt halfway up, I remembered the camera and flew to the bathroom. I turned bright pink and changed. I didn't think of L as a normal man. I didn't even think L would have those feelings. And even though I had only known him for a day, I constantly found myself forgetting that L was a human too.

I exited the bathroom and sat on the end of the bed petting the sleeping cat. Heaven only knew where he went during the day or what he did, but I was happy he didn't have to be cooped up. I was interrupted by a light knock on the door. When I answered, I was shocked to see L standing only inches away from me. His eyes were partially hidden beneath his mess of bangs. "L! What brings you to my humble abode?" He walked past me, hands in his pockets. He towered over me, over a foot taller than me. "I was coming to ask you some questions. He glanced down to my stomach. He moved his eyes back up to mine so quickly, that if I hadn't have been paying attention I wouldn't have noticed. I walked to the bed and sat down, twiddling my thumbs after flattening out the bedsheet. "Okay, shoot." I smiled widely at him, trying to make nice. He stood looking at me, expressionless. Or at least bored. "He called you 'Avery,' correct?" He started off quiet, keeping his hands in his pocket. I nodded, never speaking so he would continue asking questions. Suddenly, he was right in front of me, holding the bottom of my shirt with his thumb and forefinger, slightly tugging it up. I gasped and leapt backwards, pulling my shirt back. "What are you doing!?" I yelped and stared at him wide eyed and in shock, my cheeks so pink I thought they were going to explode.

I thought I saw a light tint of blush on L's cheeks, but I couldn't exactly tell. "I need to look at your wound." He simply stated. I came to the realization that L had never been put into a situation to where he would be this close to another human, let alone a female. He had probably never had physical contact of any kind with anyone; at least not much. "You could have just asked, geeze!" I sounded breathless. I was really nervous. I stood and stepped closer to L, and began to slowly lift my shirt up. God, I hated that I was so close and he could see my damn cheeks. When L touched my stomach, I was kind of shocked to feel that his hand was warm and soft to the touch; not cold like I had expected. He closely examined the cut and the staples that were holding my skin together, being sure to be extra careful. He was so….gentle. "Hmmm…" he pulled his hand back. Instead of asking me more about the case, he gingerly asked me if it hurt. "Uh, um. Uh, no. Not as bad as it did." I pulled my shirt back down and sat on the bed. "This could be interesting to the case." He walked up to me and squatted on the floor in front of me. I avoided his eyes. "How can it be?" I asked him messing with my hair. "Backup, as you may know by now, was a child here at Wammy's. He and one other child were in line to be my successor. As I stated before, B couldn't handle the responsibilities; but neither could A." He paused, his eyes staying on me. "Unfortunately, A left the house in a more tragic manner. Backup and A were very close. What you would call 'best friends.' Backup found A, I feel like it traumatized him more than we originally thought." My mouth dropped. No wonder he was crazy. Being forced to be someone else, living up to everyone's expectations and finding your best friend would have been enough to drive me crazy. Hell, it would be enough to drive anyone insane. Except L.

I sat in thought for a moment, taking it in. "So, how is this, any of this related to me?" L's long hand went up and pointed to my stomach. "If I am correct, Backup may be drawn to you." I sat confused for a minute before asking what the hell he was talking about. "You favor A quite a bit." He stood and pulled out a small picture from his pocket, handing it to me. The picture was of a young boy, eleven years of age at most. He had short blonde hair, and large blue eyes. He looked like a sweet young boy. He was very cute, like a little brother. He did look a lot like me. The only thing he missed was the small "beauty mark," as my mother called it, on his cheek. It finally hit me that this little boy was A. The one who committed suicide. My heart ached at the thought of someone so young taking their life. I examined him again, he could have been my twin. "His name was Avery." I jerked my head to him, remembering what Backup had said to me. "So why would he hurt me?" He looked away. "That is what we must search for."

L left soon, leaving me alone with the photo and my thoughts. I couldn't help but remember the young boys eyes, shining happily. I looked at my own blue eyes. They were shining alright. Watery with damn tears shiny. I laid the photo on my vanity and put myself to bed. .

AN~ Once again, terribly sorry that it took me so long to post! Adulthood sucks. :/ Anyway, I need an idea for the fun activity that Link made! Throw me some opinions? I'll definitely use one! Don't worry, you will be given credit for the help!:33333