Olivia's POV

Olivia was dosing. Despite being crushed into a duffel bag, for the second time in her life, she admitted to herself that the cramped conditions were actually comfortable. Of course, this particular duffel bag was much more padded than the first one. Smiling slightly in her sleep, Olivia clutched Jay's backpack closer to her chest.

Suddenly, a slight bit of turbulence hit the plane, making several containers in the cargo hold fall into a disorganized mess.

Ouch! A voice burst into Olivia's head, shaking her from her drowsiness.

Abo? She asked. Is that you?

Olivia! Abo's voice replied. Can you hear me?

Yes. It looks like-

-We have a telepathic link now! Very interesting…Is this what it is like when you talk with Jay?

Yup.

This is good news- now, you'll be able to contact me at any time.

Whoa- did the airplane just…shudder?

I expect that we're coming in for a landing. If we get separated, meet me at To-oh University, all right?

Sounds good. Breaking off, Olivia clutched the backpack tighter. I wonder why I have a link with him all of a sudden. Maybe it has something to do with being from another universe…

Suddenly, the plane bounced, sending Olivia up into the air. She came down hard, knocking the wind out of her. Uff! The last time I did this, it wasn't nearly as bumpy…oww…

Hey, Olivia! A different mind-voice broke through her pain.

Jay!Olivia cracked a smile, despite her various aches and bruises. How's it going?

My hands are dying from circulation cutoff, my neck has a crick in it, I'm suffering from root beer withdrawal, I'm being interrogated every day…you know, the usual.

Fun. I'm looking forward to that.

Oh, it's a blast. Sooo…what's the amazing plan that Abo came up with?

Are you ready for this? You're going to have to memorize our cover story.

Bring it.

Jay's POV

Floating…on a sea of…root beer…with ice cream islands…and root beer rain…and whipping cream clouds…and birds…made out of straws…and napkins…Mmmmm…The beautiful image was shattered by a loud, beeping noise.

"Wherezdarootbeer?" I sat up violently, blinking my eyes rapidly. As soon as my muddled mind started working, I glared at the camera stationed outside of my cell. "Why? Why do you always wake me up like this? Haven't you heard of beauty sleep?"

"Well, actually-"

"No, of course you haven't! You can't have, waking me up early every single day! I mean, honestly, what do you have against sleeping in? There's nothing wrong with it! I swear, when I get out of here-"

"Would Jay-chan please shut up?"

I rolled my eyes, sighing theatrically and leaning back against the wall. "Well, since you said please…"

"Thank you."L sighed softly. "I have a theory about your involvement in this case, and I would like to share it with you."

"Shoot."

"Excuse me?"

"Uhm…I meant, go ahead." I shook my head slightly, laughing under my breath.

L paused for a moment, and then broke into speech.


Olivia's POV

Abo!

Olivia?

Yes, of course it's me! Where the heck are you? I'm standing in front of To-Oh University right now, and there's no sign of you!

I'm afraid I've been held up…

Held up? With what?

With the airport security.

Are you freaking kidding me?

Don't worry; I've managed to evade them for now, but I don't know when I'll be able to meet you. Just go on without me, all right?

Fine. Are you sure you're gonna be okay?

I'll be all right. Just go.

Olivia broke off contact, worry plain in her eyes. How did they manage to find him? If they were checking the bags, then why didn't they find me, too?

She shook her head, walking forward purposefully away from To-Oh. I can't waste my energy worrying about him now; I have to stick with the plan.

Hoisting Jay's backpack over her shoulder, Olivia made her way through the city, focused on her mission. As she passed by the window of a store, a particular skirt caught her eye, and she stopped to admire it. As she did so, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the window. Her eyebrows rose. Amazing! I'm twenty again,she thought, grinning. This is so cool… Olivia began walking again, slightly more upbeat than before as she slipped into the clothing store.

After leaving the store, weighed down with several shopping bags, Olivia turned a corner. Suddenly, she stopped dead, a shocked expression on her face. Three police officers were lounging near their cars, eating doughnuts and talking amongst themselves. Olivia recognized them immediately, and began to slowly back away. One of the officers looked up, his eyes narrowing. Recognizing her, he made to get up, and Olivia turned and ran, heart pounding in her chest.

There were footsteps behind her; the officers were chasing her! Olivia sped up, cursing the bulky shopping bags, but refusing to let them go.

"Stop!" Aizawa called after her, their chase attracting the stares of other shoppers. Glancing behind her, Olivia saw that her two pursuers, Aizawa and Matsuda, were gaining. Hang on, Olivia thought. If Aizawa and Matsuda are behind me, then where's-

A hand came out of nowhere and grabbed her shoulder, making Olivia screech to a halt. She looked up shakily into the face of Mr. Yagami, who was already slapping handcuffs around her wrists.

"I'm afraid you'll have to come with us," he said gruffly.

Jay's POV

"A few weeks before you came to Japan, your friend Olivia received an envelope from an unknown person or persons. Inside the envelope was a letter, along with a second, sealed envelope. The letter requested that you come to Japan, leave the sealed envelope in a specific location, and then return to the United States. Their only request was that you not open the sealed envelope. But you did, didn't you?"

"Excuse me?" I kept my face carefully blank.

"When you opened the envelope, you found a card inside, with a person's name and face on it. There was also a note inside, reading, 'Kill him.' Right after you opened that envelope, you spotted the person from the card. Am I right?"

"…I can neither confirm nor deny your hypothesis!"

L sighed. "Jay-chan…"

I shook my head, grinning. "Sorry. But, in my defense, you had it coming!"

"I would assume, by Jay-chan's reaction, that she does not agree with my theory?"

I sighed, allowing defeat to slide into my voice. "Well, it's mostly true. You left out the part about us getting creepy phone calls in the middle of the night, but…"

"Phone calls?"

"Yeah. Creepy ones. Like I said before."

"As in…"

I sighed. "You know… 'Come to Japan or you'll wish you'd never been born.' There were a couple where it was just breathing, with soft screaming in the background…" I felt a shiver travel up my spine.

"How did you find out…?" I trailed off as I forced an expression of shock on my face. "Olivia. You caught her."

"Indeed. I must admit, her level of determination is far beneath yours. Within a few hours of her capture, she had told me all that she knew."

My eyes narrowed, anxiety racing through me. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing. She spoke of her own free will."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Did you think that I would hurt her?"

I quickly shook my head. "I'm sorry for accusing you like that. I was just…worried."

"I understand…"

L's microphone clicked off. I immediately spoke to Olivia.

How'd it go?

They drugged me! With chloroform!

Oh, yeah…they did that to me, too…

And you didn't warn me about it!

I forgot…sorry…

well, other than that, it wasn't too bad. I see what you mean about these handcuffs- how they cut off circulation? Man, you'd think that theywant your hands to fall off!

I know, right? Luckily, they take them off when you eat, so…

But I sleep on my back! How am I supposed to sleep when my hands are tied behind my back?

I dunno…sleep on your side, I guess…I didn't have that problem; I sleep on my stomach.

Well, good for you.

The good thing is, now that L knows our cover story, he'll probably release us within a few days, a week at the most.

Are you sure?

Of course I'm sure. I've been counting, haven't I? Only a few more days until I can have root beer again…I trailed off, a blissful expression on my face.

Oh, Jay…Olivia laughed. You never change.

Author's Note: Yay! I finally figured out how to do those line thingies! :D

Sorry, this one took a while, didn't it? Yikes. Well, anyways, it's up now, so….REVIEW! :D

P.S.- No, I don't own root beer.