AN- This story is just screaming at me, lately. I mean really...two chapters in as many days and the next is half done as well? I haven't updated like this since...Violins, almost. (Shudders) And that was so very long ago. Yikes.

Hope you like this...I kinda lit another firecracker and threw it in the bucket. It's very much a wham-bam-thank you L ending. O.o If those exist.

-Kani

XXXX

When Matsuda woke up early a couple of days later, the swelling was mostly gone. It was a blessed relief, because it meant that he could have his coffee again. Glancing over at his clock, he tongued the cut idly. There had been no other altercations between him and the blonde boy. They regarded each other carefully, but for the most part things were smooth again. He was a little confused by it in reality. He'd expected some form of wariness or distrust from him, but Mello went about his tasks as though nothing had happened. When he questioned Matt about it, the hacker explained that strange as it may sound, Mello actually respected the detective for not hitting him back. Obviously, self-control was the one thing that Mello wasn't very good at, so Matsuda's refusal to take the fight further set him apart from most of the other people that Mello had dealt with. Even Matt had been drawn into fist-fights with his friend, reluctant as they were. So they skirted each other like dogs working under the same master. Sighing, Matsuda pulled himself out of bed at five thirty and headed for the shower.

Half an hour later, clad in one of his white undershirts and a pair of his work khakis, he went in search of coffee. The suite was a T shaped room, the center composed mainly of two long worktables and chairs. Furniture had been removed to accommodate the workspace. At the crux of the room was L's station, a broad wall of computers, monitors, and papers that was daunting to any man but the one that worked there. To the right of that was the kitchen area, and to the left was the small living room, where they kept wary eyes on the news and rested during breaks. The four small bedrooms opened out to the work table, and while it wasn't the greatest thing in the world to be presented with his office upon opening the door, Matsuda supposed it was efficient. Still, he spied his goal across the long table, shiny and black on the kitchen counter. L at least provided decent coffee for the team…gourmet blends and various roasts and flavors. If they'd tried to work this case with an industrial machine like the one at the bureau, they'd have gone insane.

He finger-combed his still damp hair as he made his way to the kitchen. Arabica roast sounded good today…a simple coffee with a bold flavor, not so strong that it became bitter and undrinkable when cold. It would his first cup since Mello split his lip, damn it, and he was going to finish it, fresh or not. He pulled the bag from the cabinet and glanced at L's station, boredly fishing for the coffee measure.

Mello's frank stare greeted him from the armchair adjacent to the couch. It was L's chair normally, when he deemed it necessary to rest his eyes from the monitor's glare. Instead, to his utter shock, he found L stretched out on the couch, for all appearances asleep. The detective had one arm thrown over his eyes, the other resting across his stomach, and his knees were slightly bent to accommodate the curve of his spine. Matsuda blindly went about making coffee as he took in the scene before him. The detective lay sleeping on the couch, and next to his head sat the blond boy, one foot propped on the coffee table before him. There was pad of paper on his thigh and a pencil behind his ear, but he didn't appear to be working yet. Sitting next to him with his back against the chair, was the hacker Matt. He had ear buds in, and appeared to mashing away at a game console, the bright colors lighting up his face in the otherwise dark living room. Mello's hand hung just above his shoulder, his fingertips brushing the fabric of the other boy's shirt. He looked like a wild cat maintaining watch over the den. L had warned them that the boy was extremely paranoid, and very protective of the other two, but he hadn't mentioned it was the fond type of protection. He had seemed like more of an instinctive bodyguard than a friend for the most part, until Matt said or did something that showcased the actual friendship. This was the first time he'd seen anything resembling care from Mello, though. Matt was fine with punching the blond in the arm, or putting a hand on his shoulder when he read whatever he was working on, but Matsuda had yet to see Mello initiate contact of any sort.

If that could really be considered contact…they were hardly touching. The gesture was possessive. He remembered likening the two of them to L and Light at one point, and it had been a stretch. Here though, at five in the morning when Mello kept guard over the two of them, he looked more like Light than Matsuda cared to admit. Perhaps it was his level stare, calculating and distant…maybe it was the way he lorded over his small space, in complete control of every fraction of movement that occurred there. Matsuda wasn't sure…but it was certainly creepy. The coffee pot began to brew, and as life elixir pattered into its pot, the detective finally managed to break that stare. There was no challenge there, just a calm regard. L's chest rose and fell steadily, Matt grinned randomly at his tiny screen, and Mello watched. It seemed a natural order of things that Matsuda loathed to disturb. Normality was not something he'd had the last few years.

Mello rolled his shoulders and put his foot down. The movement drew Matt's attention from the game, but Mello place a palm on his head and the gamer settled back into his realm of go-karts and turtle shells. Matsuda watched as he stood, stretched, and then made his way quietly across the room. The boy paused by L's desk for a moment, scanning the lower half for something…he came away with a stolen peppermint in one fist, glancing back at the sleeping detective. This was an age-old act, Matsuda could tell, and the familiarity of the motion was the most calming thing he'd seen in a while. The simple action of checking to see if he'd been caught was so juvenile, so child-like in the presence of a sleeping parent, that Matsuda remembered for the first time that the two of them could be no more than seventeen or eighteen at the most. The blond turned back to him and Matsuda's grin didn't fade. Mello merely shrugged and wandered over to the still brewing coffee pot. They stood in silence for a moment as Mello reached out and picked the bag up, reading the brand and thumbing the label idly. He set the candy down on the counter and opened the cabinet above it. A menagerie of mugs and cups met his eyes, because the entire team had brought their coffee stashes to contribute to the bachelor kitchen. The boy smiled at the sight, and pulled two out, setting them on the counter. He seemed to regard the open cabinet for another moment, brow furrowed as he stared at the empty top shelf.

He took another glance at L, then without warning, gripped the piece of wood and pulled. Matsuda, startled into action by the sudden movement, went to brace the boy, but retracted his hand at the last second, afraid to touch him. Mello pulled himself up onto the counter and hovered there on his knees, assuring himself of his balance before shoving his arm elbow-deep into the recesses of the empty shelf.

He came back with a bar of chocolate.

Grinning smugly, he hopped back down and shut the cabinet door, again shrugging innocently at the incredulous expression on Matsuda's face. Without a word, he pulled the now full coffee pot from the machine and filled both their mugs. Matsuda regained himself long enough to grab two spoons from the drawer and offer him one. He turned around to pull the creamer from the small refrigerator and heard a strange clinking sound.

He shut the door to find an empty peppermint wrapper on the counter and the candy itself being stirred into the boy's hot coffee. He blinked just to be sure, but yes, Mello was pulling the peppermint out to see how much had dissolved. Half of the candy was gone when he spooned it out and set it back on the wrapper. The candy bar was then torn open and two small squares of that met the same fate.

It looked disgusting, but it was starting to smell kind of good…he supposed. Maybe.

Staring, head cocked slightly to the side, he watched the chocolate dissolve into the still steaming cup of coffee with an almost morbid fascination. He spilled the sugar he was attempting to put into his own cup and didn't bother cleaning it. Mello held his hand out for the cream, and after reading the label to be sure it was plain, he filled the remainder of his cup with it.

The boy took his concoction lovingly in one hand, and as an afterthought snatched the rest of the candy bar too. He strolled back to his seat and resumed his post just as Mogi's alarm went off in the bedroom next to L's. Matsuda had time to see him wave the coffee under the gamer's nose, who turned it up in disdain, before the sleeping detective twitched. Matsuda, and apparently Mello, knew he was awake before he gathered the energy to actually move from his place on the couch. He brought his arm down, staring at the ceiling before turning to acknowledge the boys. Mello nodded a greeting, sipping on his peppermint…mocha…thing, and pulled one of Matt's headphones out to mutter in his ear. The other boy pulled away irritably, and waved over his shoulder before snatching the bud up and replacing it, again gone to his world. L just chuckled and sat up.

They met eyes across the room, and sadness took them both. Matsuda had been with the Taskforce for nearly three years now, despite the nine months or so of its disbandment. As a bachelor approaching his mid-twenties, it was easy enough to dedicate his life to the case. He had little else to go home to, and few passions aside from his work. Actually, aside from baseball and ramen, he really had none at all. Detective work consumed his life, because it was a way for a helpless romantic like himself to give back to his community…and the Kira case had been the epitome of that. He had three days left with the team now…three days until he left this building forever. He'd leave with a new name, and attempt to start a new life. In reality, however, he wasn't even sure what world he'd be returning to. He'd been so long behind these doors, watching from afar as the world changed in light of Kira's reign, and it had seemed distant. It was almost as though it wasn't happening.

The lines on the detective's face told him otherwise. The worry and frowns evidenced in all of their faces told him otherwise. It was still hard to believe.

Hopeless romantic, after all.

The detective sighed and swung his legs off. "I would like to speak to you, Matsuda-san. I'm afraid this is a private as it going to become around here."

Matsuda sighed...the man hadn't been awake five minutes yet, and he was already working. Such was L.

Mello watched him stand and pulled the pencil from his ear. The sound of lead scratching paper was almost as familiar to him now as the sound of L's typing, Matsuda realized. Changes came quickly to his small world. Matsuda took a sip of his coffee and nodded because it was just too early to start resenting the detective again. In the half hour they had until the task force awakened and became ready to work, let them just be men again, like they were in L's hospital room.

The detective glanced at the two boys again and then headed for the kitchen. He paused as he passed his workstation, the scars on his back tingling as he remembered what it had felt like to fall to this floor, bleeding.

Matsuda remembered too, the sheer amount of blood the detective lost that day was staggering. "I shot it…four times, at least. I hit two of your monitors, tore the corner off of your desk and hit your old chair. I know I didn't miss it, L."

"They are Gods, Matsuda. Our weapons mean nothing in the face of something immortal. It's our souls that they fear." The detective stared for a moment longer before coming to fix his own coffee. Matsuda wordlessly shoved him the sugar pot. "Still…you saved my life that day. I have not forgotten it."

"What is he working on now?"

"Mello? Likely recording our conversation."

"He doesn't speak Japanese."

"He's using phonetics…transcribing actual sounds instead of words. It's a method often used in stage theatre to help actors properly enunciate lines in foreign languages. Matt will translate it for him later."

Matsuda closed his eyes, amazed by the sheer amount of paranoia that required. "You wished to speak with me?"

"Yes, I know. I have an unfair request to make of you, I'm afraid."

Matsuda said nothing to that, his eyes again wandering to Mello. The boy continued writing, sipping his coffee.

"I know that I have been rather reclusive this past week. Watari's death was not an easy thing on my conscience, I'm sure you understand that. However, I have come to a decision, and it's not one that I've made lightly. Your participation is crucial."

"It's not fair to ask that of me, L." Matsuda finally sighed, his tone bitter. "You waited until now to-"

"Please understand just how much of my life has changed in the last two weeks. My oldest companion is dead, killed by my first ever friend. I have killed a god of death and sustained the first life-threatening wounds of my career. I have gained and lost friends in you and the team and now…now I have brought my successors into the battle, before their time. They are not ready to take cases, and certainly not ones such as this, but you must understand…in the last two weeks, I have discovered that I am incapable of doing this alone." L's dark eyes turned to his face, quietly watching. "It is the first time I have ever been so thoroughly out of my league, and I am blind. It took a bit for me to come back to my senses after the blow that was dealt me in both Watari and your notice. I'm asking you now, as a friend, to hear me out before you're gone, because I desperately need your help."

"How am I to know that you're not lying to me? How am I more than a tool to you when for so long, I was useless? You lie as well as Light did."

"I know. Luckily for all involved, I spend most of that talent lying to myself however. Are you going to help me with this final project or not?"

"You sound like a man about to commit suicide."

"In a sense."

Matsuda stared.

XXXX

Follow Teru Mikami. The only lead in months, and possibly the one that would give up Takada…all they needed was solid evidence. He was authorized to arrest either of them upon sighting anything that looked like Deathnote paper. Takada traveled with a full entourage of body guards, but Mikami…he was just a lawyer. If an arrest was going to be made, it would be him.

Matsuda glanced at his watched and shivered. He had three hours until everything fell apart. This was not the place to be when it did. He passed a magazine vendor, a quick glance revealing Kira's name on the front pages of dozens of brands. There was an entire section of the man's wares designated to Kira-related headlines. He passed the street's intersection an almost lost the man in the crowd. Damn Mikami for walking…he was fairly nondescript in the bustle of downtown lunch traffic.

Matsuda followed him carefully, eyes trained on the back of his head. A teenager bumped into the detective, and he paused long enough to read the word "Kira" printed boldly upon his black shirt, and shoved past him, disgusted. They had no idea how much of his life was gone to that name. Not a clue.

Mikami rounded a corner, and with a brief glance over his shoulder, Matsuda broke into a sprint. Better to catch him close than give him time to turn another corner before he caught up. He wove through the crowds, scanning faces and keeping an eye on the passing traffic. He needed to look like a man late for a meeting, not an undercover cop following a suspect. For perhaps the hundredth time, he wondered to himself how Light had managed to kill those FBI agents. L hadn't offered details and Matsuda had never asked, but it still bothered him. He wondered if that Penber guy felt like he did now, tailing a man that may or may not be the key to saving the world from a terror unlike any that had come before.

Matsuda stepped from behind the building just in time to see Mikami ducking into a car. Cursing himself, he fumbled his phone from his pocket and dialed headquarters. As an afterthought, he pressed the button on his belt twice, for the first time activating the homing device that Watari had installed. They rarely left the building anymore, but L had insisted that he dig it out to wear on this mission. The line picked up.

"I'm losing him. He's in a black vehicle, no tags, and I'm not close enough to bug it." He could hear a faint beeping underneath the automated L-voice.

"She's having him escorted to the real meeting place then."

"Should I follow?"

"Yes, I have your signal. Follow for as long as possible. Be careful."

"I won't be able to keep-" The words slurred and died on his lips as the back of his head exploded in pain. He stumbled, the phone falling from his hands. A grip caught the back of his long coat to steady him, and the second blow put him under.

"Matsuda?!"

XXXX

"His phone remains off, I'm afraid." L announced grimly. Mogi stopped pacing and raked a hand over his face. Ide watched the small blinking light moving across the one of the monitors. L brought the image up on the large screen, pointing at the dot inching its way through a map of Tokyo. "We can follow him here, but contact is impossible unless they want it, or he gets lucky."

"Should we start working on him?" Matt leaned back against the table, arms crossed as he regarded the dot's progress. "We can always split the difference between Yagami and Touta."

"No…I'm about to make the broadcast and I need you two to be ready for the call. We can handle Matsuda…I need you to focus on Light."

"Alright then." Matt flicked ash to the floor and shifted his eyes to the back of the detective's head. "Are you sure about this? This isn't something you can take back, you know."

"Yes. It has practically been done for me, at this point. What's another nail in the coffin?"

"Near's going to kill you."

"Near will be beside himself, yes, but I don't think he'd do something that drastic."

"Mello's pissed too"

"It happens."

"…Alright." Matt sighed, pulling his goggles on. "Just making sure. The equipment's prepped and ready to go…we're ready when you are."

The detective reclaimed his seat and moved the tracking program to one of the lesser monitors again. After a moment's prep, he tapped the five global networks in his repertoire and took a deep breath.

Matt glanced at the other two detectives and smirked.

"Put your fingers in your ears, boys…Daddy's about to say something nasty."

XXXX

"I suppose it is high time that I make a statement. There are quite a few rumors circling that need to be either verified or put to rest.

I am L…and I am Kira."