The delegates were nervous. This was the second time in less than six months that they convened on the issue of Kira and now that many of their member nations were siding against L and with Kira, things were starting to go downhill. Several people looked at Japan's empty booth, the Chief of the NPA was killed in the hospital blast just a week ago and the organization had yet to send word as to who would be taking his place. The back door opened and everyone turned around, there was murmuring as the individual slowly walked down the steps towards Japan's booth. It was Detective Aizawa, the late Chief's second in command.

Aizawa sat down and stared straight ahead, a calm expression hiding the turmoil beneath the surface. He had taken this position reluctantly, more at the insistence of the Deputy Director than out of any desire to further his career. The NPA needed a chief and he needed to bring Kira and L down to make them pay for what they did to his friend and mentor. It was a natural decision.

The meeting started moments later as the chairmen arrived and took their seats in front of the same stage that Watari had appeared on to announce L would be assuming control of the investigation. Aizawa glared at the stage. It symbolized the beginning of the end. He thought the ICPO was more than capable of dealing with Kira without outside help, which is why it came as a complete surprise when a figure in a long black trench coat slowly walked on the stage carrying a briefcase. The whispering from before renewed and seemed to have gained new fervor at the possibility of another L and what it meant for the original. Aizawa had had enough.

"What the hell is this?" he asked, standing up to face the chairmen. He was not about to work with another L, no way in hell.

The one in the middle, an agent of the CIA, calmly met his gaze. "We've been approached by another top detective, Chief Aizawa. Considering L has been compromised, we thought it was a good idea to go with the second best detective in the world."

Aizawa ground his teeth as he stared at the man onstage. "And how do we know he can be trusted? We thought L was our best option and look at what happened when we gave him control. We lost the Chief and hundreds more were killed!"

"L was a fool," said the man onstage, his voice deep and monotone. "He assumed he would be a superior challenger to Kira and was grossly underprepared for the ferocity of his opponent. Deneuve is far more prepared to deal with Kira than he ever was."

"I still don't think it's necessary," snapped Aizawa. "We're more than capable to tracking Kira on our own, we don't need their help."

"If you were so capable, why is Kira still free?" asked the man calmly.

"Gentlemen, this is getting us nowhere," said the American delegate. "Please sit down, Chief Aizawa, Deneuve would like to speak with us."

Aizawa glared at them harshly before sitting down, not even close to content with the idea of dealing with L's successor or equal or whatever the hell this was going to be. The man onstage bowed to the American and reached into his pocket, he pulled out a small remote that he aimed at the projector overhead. It turned on and almost instantly there was an image on the screen behind him of a darkened silhouette sitting in a desk chair. The shadow was sitting against a wall but there was nothing discernable that would give away a location.

"Good morning," said the shadow, its voice distorted as L's had been. "I'm glad you have accepted my offer. By now, I'm sure you know my purpose for reaching out to you. L has fallen. He is no longer capable of leading this investigation, so I have accepted the task of bringing Kira to justice.

"My name is Deneuve, and I am now the official leader of the Anti-Kira Task Force here in Japan and all over the world. Several member nations of the ICPO have already agreed to provide me with a task force and resources and I am already working closely with them to smoke out our common enemy. I am sorry that so many fine countries have given in to this madman but I do not begrudge them that decision; Kira's latest performance was very persuasive.

"I do not take such an attack lightly. Those were innocent people who were killed, people who should not have even been considered a target in the first place. I will personally ensure that Kira is brought to justice for his crimes against those individuals and the criminals he needlessly killed."

The air changed and the previous tension seemed lifted. People were murmuring their agreement with Deneuve's agenda and goals, so far much more impressed with him than they were with L; this person already had a plan in place and was clearly outraged by the recent attack. L had said nothing in acknowledgement of what happened.

Only one person was far from impressed.

"Japan rejects your offer for help, Deneuve," said Aizawa as he stood up. His declaration earned him gasps and glares but he was hardly bothered. "We were burned already by L and we're not about to make the same mistake again."

All eyes went from Aizawa to the screen. To their surprise, Deneuve chuckled.

"How admirable, Detective Aizawa," said Deneuve with a hint of amusement. "You place a great deal of faith in your fellow police officers and that is commendable but pointless. We have reason to believe that the NPA has a leak and therefore, we won't be working with you. Instead, I have gathered a force of former detectives and those who recently left the service in Japan to assist me. Your help will not be needed."

Aizawa gaped. Why would Deneuve not need their help and how was he able to operate without permission?

"I already obtained permission from the necessary channels, Detective," continued Deneuve as if reading his mind. The shadowy figure gestured at the floor. "My assistant Roger can provide you with the papers, if you need physical proof."

Aizawa said nothing and instead took his seat in response.

"Thank you," said Deneuve flatly. "Now, onto the business at hand, gentlemen."

When the camera went off, Light, Matsuda, and Naomi all burst out laughing. They all found Aizawa's blatant refusal and subsequent astonishment quite hilarious, especially at the end. He ran up to the stage and snatched the briefcase out of "Roger's" hand, proceeding to go through it until he found the paperwork. It was very satisfying to see his face fall when he realized that the documents were legitimate. They could hardly blame him, in his shoes, they would have been just as surprised that one person could command such power over so many nations.

Light had been a little surprised and more than a little concerned at how easily L was able to procure those documents from the Japanese government, not to mention the other countries they were now sanctioned to work in. That last part had been Light's idea. It was to ensure that if things became difficult in Japan, they could escape into another country and still maintain jurisdiction over the case. If Beyond was as dangerous as they surmised, a quick escape might just be what they need at some point in the future.

"That was great!" said Matsuda, wiping a tear from his eye. "Good job, Light, you were very convincing as L's replacement."

Light smirked as she moved out of her seat in the shadows they created for her debut as Deneuve. All things considered, this went very well, although she was a little disappointed that L's suspicion that Kira was in the ICPO did not pan out. It would have been interesting to have a face off right away with Kira, but she supposed she could wait a little longer before confronting Beyond. It was going to be immensely satisfying when she was finally able to bring him to justice.

"I'm sure L enjoyed himself, too," said Light as she reached for a plain digestive biscuit Watari brought her that morning. They were bland but helped settle her stomach. "It's not everyday he gets to go outside. I'm glad we sent Watari with him, though, there's no telling what trouble he might have gotten into on his own."

Light smirked to herself as she imagined L slipping away to some remote part of the building and hacking the servers to serve his own purposes and raiding filing cabinets for information. What the ICPO did not know was that Matt had already seen to the former personally. They actually had access to every database in the countries they were now aligned with and it was available with a few clicks of a mouse.

Matsuda sighed. "I was a little worried when Aizawa ran up, I thought he realized who Roger really was. That would've been a disaster for all of us."

Naomi nodded. "I was a little concerned as well. I'm just glad it had to do with Deneuve announcing that she has jurisdiction on all regions of the city to perform any actions she deems necessary to the investigation. I bet he couldn't stand the idea of someone like L having complete freedom to bend or break as many rules as possible. Honestly, it's a cop's worst nightmare."

Light smirked as she poured herself a cup of white tea from the teacart and mixed in a splash of cream along with four sugar cubes. "That was slightly unnerving, but I knew he didn't recognize L, he would've said something and probably shot him for good measure."

The two former detectives looked at her with wide eyes. She simply shrugged.

"I'm sure Aizawa blames L for my father's death," explained Light as she took a sip of tea. "And Kira as well, but L is likely higher on his target list because he's the one who was supposed to stop Kira rather than give him the opportunity to kill."

"Maybe we should stop sending L out then," said Matsuda worriedly. "If Aizawa finds out—"

"Then Watari will put an end to him," said Light flatly as she dunked her biscuit in her tea. She met Matsuda's eyes easily and without blinking. "Don't worry, Matsui, it's only if he becomes a threat. I'm not going to kill him needlessly."

Matsuda rubbed the back of his neck, obviously not reassured by her words. "I know you wouldn't, Light, but . . . it feels weird being on opposing sides. Aizawa was so eager to find and take down Kira that it's strange not to be working with him."

Light smiled kindly. "I know this is hard, Matsui but he made his choice when he walked out. I won't hold it against him, but I'm not going to embrace him with open arms. Don't worry, I doubt any deadly force will have to be used against people we knew."

Matsuda smiled warily before ducking his head to focus on the laptop in front of him. He was working with L's heir Near to discern Beyond's possible hiding place; so far, they had narrowed it down to Tokyo but the district was still up in the air. This was why they worked so hard to gain jurisdiction in all regions of the city. Mello had been immensely helpful in negotiating with the government officials; while he was a bit more emotionally driven than Near and not as level-headed as Matt, the teen possessed an uncanny knack for reading people and situations. He was the perfect negotiator.

The boys were understandably vexed when they learned they would now be Deneuve's heirs rather than L's but once they understood the situation, they were more than eager to help. It probably helped that L settled his choice once and for all by deeming them all worthy successors and granting them his permission to start their own detective agency after this case was solved. Light could tell just by that one phone call how much of a weight it lifted off of L's and the boys' shoulders.

Light sighed softly as she sat down in a nearby chair and propped her feet up slightly. She glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed again, L's physician would be arriving in an hour but she hardly needed one to tell her what was wrong. She was no fool, she knew what her symptoms were and what they pointed to, she only agreed with the idea to appease L because she had a feeling he would hound her or worse, track her symptoms himself to try and draw a conclusion. No, she knew what her illness was. She was carrying L's child.

Discreetly she put a hand on her abdomen where the barest bump existed, by her reckoning she was approximately three months along, give or take a couple of weeks. She should be moving out of this nausea stage soon, and god did she want it to be over; it was bad when it first started happening not too long after L left but since her family's death, her stress made it worse. She glanced back at the clock and then at L's cellphone, the one he used for local calls. She needed to keep this a secret for a little while longer, at least until they caught Beyond and she could not, would not, have L worried about her even more than he already was. Besides, if she was to seduce Mikami, she needed to be allowed out of the hotel and if L knew of her condition, there was no way in hell he was letting her do field work.

With a quick prayer to some nameless, faceless god, Light picked up the phone and headed into her bedroom.