Author's Notes: This is the chapter where Mr. Williams meets L (Near) for the first time. If you are a Near fangirl, say "Squee" in a review.
However, the following chapter has Major Spoilers concerning the end of the series. Make sure to read Volume 12 before countinuing.
Now, I got a beta-reader. His/her name is scrambled_eggs_at_midnight. I took Eggy's advice and made a few grammar changes here and there. I thank you.
Near turned around to see Rester facing him.
"You could have knocked," Near said.
"You told me that I could go inside your base at any time," Rester said. "It's been years since we met face-to-face,"
"I was reluctant to give you the R letter, but it was the only way for me to contact you securely. Oh, and is Mr. Williams of the FBI here yet?"
"He called and said that he would be here at any moment."
"Good." Near glanced at the multiple screens showing the view of each security camera in the building and the area around it. Near had some of the prototypes that were soon to be built in American cities put around his base just in case anyone found it. On one of the screens, Mr. Williams' limousine zoomed by.
"Go meet Mr. Williams and escort him to this room," Near commanded.
"Right away, Near, er, L," Rester said as he walked away.
Mr. Williams approached the small office building in the middle of Manhattan. Watari has asked him through the phone to go to a certain address and enter his conformation code. He was slightly nervous about meeting the world's greatest detective.
Mr. Williams was a tall, composed man in his mid-forties. His skin was charcoal black and his head was shaved. He wore a tan three-piece suit and had a brown briefcase.
He walked up to the keypad and entered a 10-digit conformation code. As he was entering it, he noticed that there were four cameras pointing at the entrance, leaving little blind spot. Surprisingly, the door unlocked itself, and Mr. Williams walked in. He was surprised to find Rester in the lobby.
"Hello, Mr. Williams," Rester said. "Please follow me. I will take you to L immediately."
"Are you Watari?" Mr. Williams asked.
"No, that's a different person. I simply worked with him on the Kira case and am now assisting him,"
The FBI director followed him into the elevator. Rester pressed the button for the lower sub-basement, and the elevator zoomed down.
"So why had L invited me here?" Mr. Williams asked.
"You will see," Rester said.
The elevator door opened to a vast room. It was filled with TV screens and computer monitors. On the floor was an assortment of items, mostly toys. Among them were a domino chain, a Rube Goldberg-style contraption, and a man-sized tower of Tarot cards.
"Watch your step," Rester said. "He is sensitive about anyone disturbing his creations." Mr. Williams watched his step as he walked through the toys that were concealing what was beyond.
"Where is—?" Mr. Williams asked before seeing the other side of the room. There were even more toys, mostly figures, but there were a whole series of Tarot-card towers placed all over the room. A person was at a fold-out map with LEGOs on it.
The person looked up and said, "I am L,"
Mr. Williams was surprised at L's appearance. For a detective, he was very young, possibly eighteen or nineteen at most. He had a tuft of messy white hair, which he was twirling around with his fingers. He had gray shiny eyes, with gray bags developing around them. He had a dull, almost bored expression. Strangely, he was wearing a white pajama top, with jeans and socks.
"You're younger than I thought," Mr. Williams said.
"Your processor thought that too," L said in a sort of monotonic tone that belied his age. He stood up, revealing that he had almost the same height than the FBI director. "When you are a genius, many can underestimate you."
"How do I know that you are L, or even that you are Kira?"
"Why all of this trouble if I am fake?" L explained. "If I'm not L, Rester would be the imposter. Besides," L said as he sat on a rotating chair with one knee to his chest, "if I were Kira, you would be dead by now,"
"Good point," Mr. Williams said as he sat down by a chair that Rester set out.
"I'll be going now," Rester walked towards the elevator.
"So, why did you bring me here?" the director asked.
"To work with you on the Kira case, of course," L said, "since he won't make the same mistakes than last time. And also to track down O, since I don't want him tracking me down. And to ensure you that you have my word, I'll give you this."
L pulled out a hanging file folder in a bag with the words, "Top Secret" stamped on it. He unsealed the bag and pulled it out.
"Have you noticed that the case file on the Kira case is missing most of the information?" L said. "This is the copy of the full file. Only the former members of the SPK, a few of the Japanese NPA, and the President know about this file. You may keep this one, but don't let anyone see it."
"I understand." Mr. Williams received the file, which was stuffed, and opened it. Almost a hundred laminated pages were in it. Mr. Williams began to skim through the papers.
"The first section is filled with all of the evidence that I collected while with the NPA," L said. "However, I had to reconstruct it, after my database was destroyed in a hacking attempt. The next section concerns the time I was in the SPK."
Mr. Williams flipped to the first few pages in the second section. "Who's Near?"
"That was the name that I used while in the SPK," L said. "They didn't know that I was L, at first, or they wouldn't have taken me seriously."
"And Mr. Mason died while working with the SPK, correct?"
"Correct. There was a spy in the SPK who leaked some of the members' names to Kira. Fortunately, most of the members survived,"
"I see." Mr. Williams turned to the third section. "A notebook?" There were a few photographs of the cover of a black notebook with the title "Death Note" etched in it, and a photocopy of one of the blank pages.
"Those," L said, "are the photographs of the Death Note, the very weapon Kira used to commit the largest mass murder in human history."
"A notebook?"
"Is there any other logical explanation about Kira's power? If Kira could kill tens of thousands from afar with no trace, why wouldn't a notebook be the weapon he uses?"
There was a brief silence.
"How were you able to retrieve it?"
"Turn to the end."
Mr. Williams flipped to the end to find a forensic report, complete with photographs, on a person named Light Yagami.
"Who is this Light Yagami person?" he asked.
"He was Kira," L flatly said. "He committed suicide after we confronted him."
"If Kira is dead, then who's carrying out the murders this time?"
"As I said during the G8 Summit, this is a different Kira," L explained. "He has a murdering notebook, too."
"Where did these murder notebooks come from?"
"Even I don't know. But the priority right now is to catch Kira, and bring him to justice. Gather a few of the best FBI agents you have, and travel to Chicago. That's where we'll investigate to find Kira."
"So why exactly do you need our help?"
"I need your cooperation. The surviving SPK members are on abroad cases, and the NPA Taskforce's numbers are low."
Mr. Williams stood up and then said, "I see. I'll contact the Special Agents and see if they are willing to work with you." He took the folder and walked towards the elevator.
Near watched the FBI director through the security cameras to make sure he left. Then he sat back down on the floor.
"Fortunately, he hadn't noticed that I withdrew and changed some of the information in the file I gave him," he thought. "I can't let him find out that I'm not the original L or of the existence of Wammy's House. I also omitted the information on the Shinigami.
"Only I have the original file, and the copy I gave him was the only other one in existent. I only gave it to him so he'll cooperate. Hopefully, he won't find out of the MI6 probing the FBI, or I'll lose his trust.
"With an FBI taskforce directly connected to me, O won't be able to take control of the FBI.…"
Mr. Williams traveled several miles away from L's base. He was sweating slightly, glancing at his cell phone. When he was sure he was far enough from L's cameras, he dialed a few number.
After a few tones, he heard a scrambled voice. "Identify yourself,"
"This is Mr. Williams," he said to O. "I was able to find L's location."
"Good. Do you have a copy of the information on the Kira case?" O asked.
"Yes, I have it right here. I'll send you an electronic copy." Mr. Williams hung up and breathed out in relief.
In truth, O didn't call Mr. Williams to bribe him; it was a threat. It was to leak information about L, plant a bug into the FBI agent's laptop, and generally cooperate with him. If he didn't do those things, he, his family, and the President would die.
More Author's Notes: It looks like L (Near) is in trouble. Oopsies for him. Or should I say from the mouth of Light, "Hahahahaha! Sucks to be you, Near!"
Actually, that plot twist was added at the very last minute. This will make the next series of events even more interesting. However, I hadn't planned out everything, but I already know what will be the event that starts the next arc, (Hint: Near will have to come out of his shell-not that kind of way!)
By the way, REVIEW, please! You get a cookie if you do.
Oh, and tommorow, school starts, Yay! I am taking Introduction to Film, Drama, and Advance Writing! See you next time.