Working Together?

Once the two were gone, Ryuuk looked over at L, "So, Lawliet, you gonna play?"

He smiled wryly and spoke causally, "I suppose I accept your challenge. But," he pressed a finger to his lips, "I'm the Shinigami in the game, meaning I'm favoring for either side. I'm neutral, and I'll help either player to keep the game moving." he lied, I favor Antigone will win, instead of this other master.

Ryuuk placed a black bracelet on his wrist, a small smirk appearing, "Then let the games begin."

"Ryuuk!" Snafu shouted as he walked back in, a cup of coffee in one hand and an apple in the other, "I thought you might want- HOLY SHIT!" he dropped the china cup, causing it to shatter into fragments and the drink to splatter on the wood floor. The other hand was pointing in L's direction, causing the apple to fly out of it and heading straight toward L's face.

L rolled his obsidian-shaded eyes and caught the apple with ease, taking a bite out of it casually, "Nice to see you too, Light-kun."

"Y-you're dead!" he screamed, his finger beginning to shake, "I watched you die in my arms, we buried you, I-!"

"Do not flatter yourself, it makes you uglier than you already are." he said coldly, "Ryuuk has allowed my participate in your little game." he smirked, "And I can assure you, Light-kun, it'll be more interesting as a specter than a pawn. Although I take pity on Antigone," How I take pity on my A, the poor girl will need more than her memories erased to go on.

"How are you here?!" he persisted. "You never answered my question!"

Hadn't L died?! his mind was flailing and begging for any logical explanation for the bitter reunion. "This has gotta be a dream, I'll wake up to Antigone asking me if I've gone completely insane, I'll say something to insult her, and she'll physically attack me while shouting insults in various languages. Like she has for the past two weeks!"

"Idiots, all of you!" said attacker shouted from her bathroom, a sizzling sound barely audible. "You are insane Snafu, Ryuuk you're an ignorant asshole!"

"First impressions impact you that much, ne?" Ryuuk muttered.

"Heard that!" she replied hotly as she cursed under her breath as the sizzling sound increasingly became louder.

"What, nothing to say about me, A?" L smirked a little.

She poked her head out the door frame, looking at the two Shinigamis in slight shock and then over at L. She pointed a finger at him, "You can see him?"

"I've been able to see him since I arrived, it's obvious Light over here hasn't." Ryuuk nudged Snafu in the ribs.

"Well I knew Snafu couldn't see him. But how can he see him now?" she raised an eyebrow as she walked out of the connecting bathroom, her dull, bed head hair now pin-straight and shiny.

"This," Ryuuk grabbed L's wrist, revealing a black leather bracelet dangling on his lanky person, "makes him human. I was able to see him beforehand because L had touched Rem's Death Note before he died, which is the notebook I own."

"That would explain it, I guess." she shrugged, a yawn escaping her lips, "Look, there's a lot of shit going on in my life. I don't need you all causing a mess, it's bad enough you're actually here." she looked at Ryuuk one more time, wincing a little as she stared at him dead on, "Did you say… L is human?"

"Yes, why?" he raised an eyebrow, "Didn't you hear me."

"I did but I tried not to listen." she murmured, walking up to the now human L Lawliet, a shy smile on her face, "Hi…"

"Hello." he smiled, "Why the sudden-?" he never finished his sentence, Antigone's arms wrapping around his figure in a hug had silenced him in surprise.

She waited and waited for the switch to be made, but all she saw was his white shirt every time she opened her eyes, "You're really here." she breathed, his musky scent of cinnamon and sugar making her nostrils flare in hopes of getting more of the delectable scent, "I'm so glad you've been here, if anything."

He smiled warmly and returned the loving gesture, "I know, A, I know…" his chin rested on her crown. He was completely content, holding her in his arms. If only it could last longer.

"OK, cut the crap!" Snafu shrieked, his heart burning with anger as he watched his resurrected enemy turn into a huge softie, all over a girl, "L you're tougher than that! You hardly said anything to me, let alone answer any of my questions! How long have you known this girl, a day and a half?"

"Actually, as long as - if not more - you have been here." he said thoughtfully, "Not to mention spending days with her at school while you went off doing your own personal errands."

"This is true." Antigone pulled her head away from L's chest, a triumphant smirk upon her face, "L has been here the entire time. And you say I'm a terrible liar."

"If I knew he was here I'd have probably killed you by now." he growled, "So be grateful."

Her lips were set in a straight line, all expression disappearing from her face. She was completely still in her Angel's arms, "Y-you wouldn't d-dare…"

"Oh I would." he sneered, his inflated ego getting the better of him, "Did your "trying to not hear" plan fail you by the time Ryuuk and L said Light-kun?"

"I tried not to." she clutched to his arms tightly, her voice trembling, "But I did hear."

"You wanna know why they call me Light-kun?" his sneer growing, it was like the Grinch's, but more menacing.

"Pray tell." she whispered, half afraid and half curious of what he would say.

"Look up "Light Yagami" in your father's files." he smirked, "I'm too cunning to explain it."

"Lazy is the more accurate term," L replied coldly as he held onto A.

"Why would Light Yagami be in my father's files?" she raised an eyebrow, "That's a Japanese name, we only associate with Greece, the UK, the US, and Italy."

"Just look it up," he spat. "I'm in no mood for your smartass comments."

"Gee aren't we all." she mumbled as she walked across the room to open the door, "L? As much as I enjoy having you around, you might want to take off the bracelet."

"Good idea." he nodded in agreement and unclasped the bracelet off his wrist. He had vanished from Snafu and from everyone else besides Antigone and Ryuuk.

"I'm not happy with this." Snafu mumbled as they walked through the hallowed hallways.

"Does it look like I care?" she snapped as she walked down the spiral staircase.

"Ah, Antigone!" her father smiled cheerily from his armchair in the parlor, his hands folding up The New York Times, "Good morning!"

The pained feeling in her heart sharpened at her father's cheery façade towards her, "Morning." she said somberly.

"Something wrong?" concern creased his forehead and crinkled his eyes.

"Can I go into your office for a second?" she asked.

"What for?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I want to research something, about a guy name Light Yagami." she said sincerely.

"Light Yagami?" he cocked his head to the side in thought, "Who told you about Light Yagami?" his voice became more aggressive.

"It's been going around school about some kid named Light Yagami, he apparently had ties with us for a short period of time when you were a kid." she shrugged, "I wanna get the facts straight, the New Yoricans asked me to."

He shrugged in return, "You know the password?"

"Pitsco, right?" she said.

"Yes." he nodded, "Just don't look too long, your friend Scorchio called and needed you over at the club house."

"He called the house?" her eyebrows raised in surprise, "Isn't my phone on?"

"Guess not, he said he couldn't reach you on your cell and asked to give you the message."

"M'kay." she nodded as she walked to the dead center of the Jones manor, to her father's office.

The door was unlocked and ajar, a little odd being her father always had it locked when it wasn't in use. Dad isn't slacking off, is he? concern clouded her thoughts as she pushed the door open.

No one was inside, luckily, and the computer was off. L had decided to put on his bracelet once again, no matter how badly he wished to attack Snafu.

After logging in and entering the password, the fluorescent screen popped up a search engine, almost like Google.

"Light… Ya-ga-mi…" she mumbled as her fingers flew across the keyboard and pressed the enter button.

Three different links came up, each referring to the mysterious person's name, but also to the name "Kira," "Kira? Who the hell is that?!"

"Same person, unfortunately." L shot an icy glare in Snafu's and Ryuuk's direction, "Click it."

She nodded and clicked, thousands of other files within the file opening and sprawled out across the screen.

"Shit…" she whispered, her hands flying, again, across the keyboard, "This has to be at least a gigabyte of memory just to hold it all in." she noticed there wasn't a profile to match the files with, "No one got a good look of this guy huh?"

"Do you even know what Kira means?" Snafu rolled his eyes.

"Care to enlighten me?" she snapped as she opened up a file marked "General Information." "Light, "Raito", Yagami was born on February 28th, 1989 in Kanto, Japan. Straight A student all throughout his school career, top of his graduating class at Daikoku Private Academy." she grimaced, "Smartass kid if you ask me."

L tried his best not to chuckle at her choice of words as Snafu glared at him from the other side of the room.

"The alias "Kira" appeared only a few weeks after obtaining, what we are now positive was, a Death Note. Death Notes are able to kill someone as long as a full and official name is written down along with the person's face in the writer's mind. That person will die in forty seconds of a heart attack by default - see Death Note files for more details.

"Light Yagami, as from what we have acquired from Task Force members and family of him, looked down on the Japanese Task Force because of their way of punishing criminals. When he obtained the Death Note, he reserved it for only killing criminals and "making the world perfect." The name "Kira" was given to him as more people heard about his work, most in praise, Kira being the term "killer" in Japanese."

"Which is exactly what he was. A killer." L shot in Snafu's direction, causing a rolling of auburn eyes to begin.

"He had an accomplice, AKA the Second Kira, who was model/actress Misa Amane. She was indebted to Kira after he murdered the man who murdered her parents. She committed suicide on February 14th, 2014. She was twenty-five."

"Light Yagami eventually became apart of the Kira Task Force to prove his innocence after L, the world's three greatest detective's, suspected him of the murders. Eventually he and Misa were put in confinement after L's suspicions increased. During their imprisonment, both apparently gave up their memories of the notebook: Misa by choice, Light by plan. Soichiro Yagami, his father, also confined himself for the same amount of time his son and Misa were. After putting a blank to Light's head and shooting, L is sure that Light isn't Kira at the moment, and neither is Misa. He still requires Light to be around at all times and to have a new bodyguard for Misa so he can keep an eye on her."

For the next fifteen minutes Antigone read aloud the information, until something caught her eye, "L was always a threat to Kira from the start, because he said his actions were still counted as murder and his accumulation of murders would give him the death penalty. L, "Ryuuzaki", Lawliet died on November 5th, 2007, at the age of twenty-five, from a heart attack, along with his caretaker Quillish "Watari" Wammy. -See Wammy's House for more information on L, Watari, and the Wammy Kids." she looked up at Snafu and L, wide eyed in realization, "Light Yagami is YOU!" she pointed at Snafu, complete anguish taking over her emotions, "You killed L?!" she looked over at the pained former detective, "You… died, because of that notebook upstairs in my bedroom?!" she shrieked. "You lied about your death to me?!"

"My job always held a huge chance of me dying, I was prepared." he smiled sadly, "In the last second of my life, when Kira-kun held me in his arms with that sick twisted smirk… I knew I was right. And in the end, I did win. Keep reading." his smile twisting into one of comfort.

She scowled and scrolled down the page. "Light Yagami died on January 28th, 2013, at the age of twenty-three, after being shot by Matsuda, a former Kira Task Force member, and revealed to be Kira by Near- L's successor. He died of cardiac arrest and fatal gunshot wounds." she looked up at the two, "There are missing pieces of the file. Don't lie, because I know you might."

"You're right. But that's because there are more files you must look through." L placed a hand on her shoulder, "But I think it's time we left to see your friend Scorchio, we've left him waiting long enough."

The drive there was in complete silence, L and Antigone in the seats while Ryuuk and Snafu flew over the top of the car.

"L?" she looked over at him as they switched gears for the fifth time that ride.

"Yes, A?" he raised an eyebrow, "Something you wish to talk about?"

"I just wanna know…" she sighed, "Why did you lie?"

"Because I knew that if I told you," he ran a hand through his messy hair, a soft sigh escaping his lips, "you'd give up the Death Note in a heartbeat. I want you to hold onto it. I want you to never have to be in fear of him killing you afterwards."

"If I didn't know you as well as I do, I'd say you're selfish." she replied.

"I just want what's best for you-"

"If I told you to leave because it was for my best interests would you do it?" her stare became more challenging.

"I…" he was at a loss, how could he possibly leave her? "I don't think I could."

She made a turn onto a dirt road, driving down it slower than she was used to in fear of the gravel blowing out her tires and scratching up the paint job, "What's gonna happen when I become an orphan, L? I won't have anything to my name, the car could be sold but then I wouldn't have a car to get me around." she sighed, "Any ideas?"

"Steal the money from Paulie's bedroom, enough to get you a plane flight to England."

"Why England?"

"Wammy's House will help you, you're extremely bright-"

"But I-"

"Thought I said Wammy's House didn't exist anymore? Yes. But I looked into it one night while you were asleep, Near took over the establishment."

"So I'll move into Wammy's House and be dependent on them for the rest of my life? I'm eighteen years old for God's sake!"

"You wouldn't be dependent on them, you'd find a job through them though. And a nice sum of money. I never had a will filled out, but Near is well aware of Shinigamis and Guardian Angels." he smiled triumphantly, "I've communicated with him a few times through dreams. Tonight I shall visit him and give him fair warning of your stay."

"I heard Ryuuk say something about a game? What's that about?"

"Ryuuk gave his Death Note away to another human, it's a game between Ryuuk and his master against you and Light-kun." a frowned form over his face.

"It's that bad?"

"I will be on your side, of course." his frown had become a small smirk, "Which means Light-kun and I will be working together again… This time for someone else's life, instead of our own."

"Working together?!" Snafu shrieked, "You must be joking!"

"L is the neutral one in all of this, he will do what it takes to keep this little game of ours moving." Ryuuk chuckled darkly.

"And, what, I have no say in this at all?!" Antigone shrieked. The last thing she wanted was a sick, twisted game to fuck up, and possibly cost her, her life.

"Nope." he popped the 'p', "None whatsoever."

"You both suck." she hissed as the clubhouse came into view, "C'mon you son of a bitch." she shouted at Snafu as she turned off the engine and stuck the keys in the back pocket of her jeans.

L stepped out of the car and sighed, sticking his thumb between his lips as Ryuuk chuckled to himself, while Snafu tried to glare him to death.

Tito, Scorchio's right hand man, waited for them at the door with his head down, "Eh, you finally made it." he smirked and looked up, completely taken aback by L's appearance, "Who's this?"

"Friend of a friend." she replied easily, "This is-"

"You can call me David." he said sternly to Tito, "I believe Antigone has an appointment with Scorchio?"

"Follow me." he turned on his heel and opened the door of the abandoned golf course's clubhouse.

Irons, wedges, and putters covered the walls, along with a few pairs of cleats. Scorchio sat in one of the plush, and deteriorating, armchairs near the rundown bar. "Antigone, there you are!"

"Sorry I'm so late, Scorch." she smiled apologetically, "What's up?"

"I got a message from someone who wanted me to deliver this to you." he hand her a folded black piece of parchment, her name scrawled in silver on the front. "Came in this morning. Person didn't say anything, couldn't see their face either. They were in a black, hooded coat."

"What'd he call himself?"

"Just said to give it to you, then he left. Got into a rundown Toyota and sped off."

She unfolded it and read:

Antigone.

I am not the one for games, but I shall make an exception. You and Snafu against Ryuuk and me. Winner claims the other's Death Note, loser dies. I know you accept, because you truly have no choice. Scorchio's in on it too, hope you can get out of the house before you become the victim of an unfortunate accident. If you don't, then you lose by default. If you pass, well then I guess we'll meet again soon.

BB.

Her eyes widened at the meaning of the mysterious person's words, and then looked at L. His jaw was locked, his eyes flashing from anger to fear in a matter of seconds. "We need to get out." he whispered heatedly. Is BB truly back? Or does it stand for something else?! Sixty-two percent chance it's not Beyond, but it's someone else close to her. Who would have the initials of BB?

"Where'd Ryuuk go, Snafu?!" Antigone looked around, not caring if Scorchio heard her.

"He left after they let you in," he blinked. "You might wanna run now."

Scorchio was right behind her, shotgun in hand and pointing the barrel at the side of her head, "Never make BB angry." he hissed.

She knocked his legs out from under him, causing his jaw to make contact with the ground. She took off running before he hit the floor.

If only it was that easy. Tito was blocking the exit, dagger in each hand.

She groaned and grabbed the first thing she could find, not thinking twice about what it was. Just her luck, it was a pair of iron clubs. After giving them a twirl, she charged toward him. After a few sharp cracks and two clashes of the weapons, Tito was out like a light. She grabbed the two daggers and clutched them tightly as another pair of feet pounded toward her. "Scorch I know it's you! Don't make me think I won't attack you!"

A maniacal smile spread over his face as he took a bottle of vodka out of one of the dusty cabinets and spilled it out all of the room, splashing it against the walls and all over the room.

L realized what he was going to do. He was going to light the place on fire and kill everyone inside it! "A, you've gotta run! He's gonna light up the place!" in a haste, he grabbed her hand and literally dragged her outside.

It was as if everything went in slow motion, Tito and her fighting, Scorchio dousing the room in vodka, L dragging her out of harm's way. The building violently going up in flames was what made everything speed up by at least three times through Antigone's eyes.

"Scorchio… Tito…" tears clouded her eyes, her head resting on L's chest as she fought back tears.

"It's alright, A, it's alright…" he breathed as he held onto her protectively.

Snafu looked from the hood of her car, a pained expression over his face. Is it that hard to lose a friend to death?

Light, not having many friends in his life, had not experienced such a terrible thing. Instead he thought of the scene displayed upon him as he killing another criminal, and her and L as one of the families that were torn by his killings. He knew that it was another Kira doing this, the letter explained it all to him.

His mind was made up, "Antigone."

"What do you want?" she snapped, glaring daggers in his direction.

"Working with L again might be the hardest thing I'll ever have to do," he grimaced. "And I know seeing you in danger is something I should want, but…" he sighed, "I'll work with him to bring this murderer to justice. BB will not prevail, no matter what. Not to mention I will lose my Death Note again, but I think BB will be more of a bastard than you are a bitch." he chuckled nervously.

A smile lit up A's face as the two former rivals shook hands in a truce, "Game on then." she wiped the tears from her face as L smiled down at her.

"BB left another note." he mentioned, another black piece of parchment in his hand.

Antigone and Snafu:

Congrats, you've made it this far. But the game is just more challenging from here. May your series of unfortunate events begin, starting with Misfortune by the Millions. I'm keeping you on your tippy-toes, no? I can just imagine the cogs turning in your head and your lips tightening into a frown as you over to Snafu and wonder what will happen. Not to mention your little Life Shifter, L, trying to figure out every tiny detail.

BB

She grimaced and got into the car as swiftly as she could, "Get in."

"Where are we going?" L raised an eyebrow as he got in while Snafu began to stretch his wings in preparation to fly.

"England." she smirked, "First, we need to get our money's worth out of this Corvette. How much are they usually? Fifty thousand?"

"Sixty thousand." he corrected her.

"And… I think we might need to buy ourselves a flash drive. Something tells me Dad won't be holding onto those files much longer."

The man in the black coat grinned mischievously from under his hood. "It's all going to plan, Ryuuk. Good work." he threw the Shinigami a bright red apple from the couch he was lounging on.

"Yeah, yeah." he said as he bit nosily into the fruit, "Where do you think she'll go?"

"Italy I suspect, where Ventous and Jena can help her." he shrugged, "I wonder how she felt when I told her I knew about her precious L?"

"The idea of him being a Life Shifter makes sense. But keep in mind he must wear the bracelet in order for you to kill him." I wonder how he'll take it when I tell him Antigone is going to England. Ryuuk chuckled to himself as he tossed the apple core up in the air and let it slide down his throat.

"Oh I'll make sure the bracelet doesn't come off." he laughed as he looked out his hotel room's window. "I'll have to plan a flight to Sicily, then." he chuckled, "BB is always watching you Antigone."

BB is NOT Beyond Birthday. The birth and death dates are from the anime, being Mafia Note is based off the alternative ending for the anime.