"Rebel I'm sorry!" he says, embracing me in a hug. "I had no idea! That it was you I mean. That you and Electra were one in the same," he shakes his head, "Never mind, I have some important things to discuss."
I stare wide eyed as well as everyone else in the room as he walks in.
"Rodger, what are you doing here?" I ask in disbelief.
His glasses sit on his long pointed nose that juts out from his face.
"Now I thought I taught you better than to look over something so crucial!"
"What are you talking about?" I ask, "How did you even find this place?"
Roger gives me a pointed glare, "Files, dear girl! Everyone needs to state where they'll be after they leave Whammy's. This address was written on the file."
"Ok, so why are you here? In the house, lecturing me?"
He lets out an exasperated breath, "Is this your team?"
"Yes," I say confused.
"Is everyone here?"
I look around the room. Matt and Mello stand by the door, L crouches next to a sleeping Rowan. Stanley Kaige and Dreagon hang off to the side.
"Yeah, this is everyone…" I say.
"Everyone?"
"Except for Beyond, but I guess he's on the team too…"
"EVERYONE?!"
"YES!"
Roger shakes his head, "this is very disappointing Rebel."
"How did you even find out? How are you not freaking out at the sight of L? He was dead…"
"Well, I was informed of a few details, by a team member of yours."
I look around. Everyone wears confused looks. "Someone told Roger?" I ask the group.
Everyone shrugs their shoulders.
Roger rolls his eyes, "Ugh, you stupid…. Just one moment."
He walks out of the house and I frown.
Moments later, he comes back in with…. "Near!" I shout.
Now I feel stupid. I forgot about Near! He wasn't there for Rowan's surgery. Quite frankly I can't remember the last time I saw him.
"Sheep!" Mello screeches, "When did you leave?"
Near twirls a piece of his hair, "On the day Beyond left, I received a call from Roger. He was panicked."
I look to Roger, "What were you panicked about?" I ask.
"She was there and I didn't know if it was her for sure, but it was because I called Near."
I frown and look to Near, "Elaborate, por favor."
Near sighs, "Roger called me saying he found the body of a young girl, lying outside on the street about ten miles from Whammy's house. He took her in and fixed her up."
"Who was it? Is she ok?" I ask worried.
"It was Andie," Near says, constantly twirling his hair.
"I didn't believe my eyes. So I contacted Near who gratefully came and informed me about the entire situation," Roger says.
"Andie," I grit out. Could I really be mad at her for what she did? She was under Light's control. She was sick before. But I'm still angry about everything she said and did.
"She's in the car now, Rebel. She wants to see you."
I take in a sharp breath. "Fine," I say through my teeth, "Let her in."
She walks in, with pink streaks in her hair. "Hi," she says quietly.
"Andie," I note.
"Can I come in?" she asks, just above a whisper.
"Please do," I say.
"Ok, enough with the formalities and tenseness," Kaige says, "Andie get your ass in here and Rebel, hear her out."
We both huff and she follows me to the kitchen.
Sitting down, an awkward silence falls between us.
"We're waiting for the show to start," Kaige calls and I can see everyone peeking in at us.
"Rebel, I'm really sorry. I didn't know I couldn't do anything while under Light's control. I tried, honestly I did. But nothing helped."
"How can I trust you? How do I know that Light isn't controlling you now?"
She sighs, "Light doesn't know everything. He knows about our falling out because that's when I started hearing voices. Later on I found out it was his…"
"Ok, so then tell me something only Andie would know, waaaayyy before any of this happened."
She thinks carefully then shrugs. "How about you ask me a question and I'll answer."
I nod, "Ok, what color swimsuit did I wear?"
"Purple," she says simply.
"Mine or yours?"
"Mine," she says.
"What activity did Roger make us do?"
"Babysit?" she says, making it sound more like a question.
"Are you sure?" I say blinking.
"I know we all had to babysit while he went to a meeting."
"Who's we all?"
"You, me, Eddie, Sea bass and Rollins."
Who was doing what right before Roger asked us to babysit?"
She thinks hard, "Eddie and Rollins were arguing, I think."
"You think or you know?"
"What's with the third degree? It's hard to remember this stuff."
"I remember," I say before repeating the question.
She sighs, "Rollins and Eddie were arguing about ninjas and pirates or something. Sebastian made them come to an agreement, but I can't remember the name of it."
I nod, "it was a pinja. Were the children we babysat well behaved?"
She shakes her head, "Heck no, they were like little devils."
"Did they stay that way the entire time?"
"No, you pulled out your guitar and sang that really pretty song. "Hush", I think it was."
"Ok," I say. "I'll believe you for now."
She nods, "that's all I can ask for after everything I said and did and how I acted."
"Well I should get going," I hear Roger say from the living room. "It was nice to see you all again. I hope everything works out."
He waves goodbye and I can't help but think he was acting nicer than normal. Hey, I'm not complaining.
He slams the door shut and Rowan jots awake. "Stay here," I say to Andie and everyone joins me to check on Rowan.
"Rowan, how do you feel?" Dreagon asks.
"Like I got hit by a bus," she says.
"You'll feel better if you meet your baby," Kaige says. Rowan's eyes go wide. "My baby! Is he ok? How big is he?"
We laugh and wheel the tank next to Rowan, opening the hand holes. Her eyes well with tears. "My baby," she whispers.
She was genuinely happy. And so was I. I'm glad that she's able to see her baby. But I need to get alone and talk with her. Just not now.
"What's his name?" Stanley asks.
She thinks for a little bit, smoothing her finger over his soft belly. "Dark," she says. "I want to name him Dark."
Nobody says anything.
"That's a nice name," someone says from behind.
Beyond walks towards his daughter with tears in his eyes. "That's a really nice name," he repeats.
Everyone stands around, silently watching Beyond bond with his daughter and his new grandson. I wondered how he would take it. Being that it was Light's child too. But I think he saw more of his daughter in Dark than he did Light. And that was fine. As long as everyone was happy.
"Let's give them some privacy, guys," I say shooing everyone away.
Before I leave I turn, "Congratulations, Beyond."
I see a hint of a smile and his eyes flicker up to me, "Call me Uncle B."
Bet your wen't expecting Roger, were you? Ok comment, review, the usual :) Thanks for all the favorites and followers. Special thanks to AnoifEaterofOrcs for the baby name. I hope everyone enjoyed!
