Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.

"Calm down, Matsuda."Light chuckled as they drove towards the Yotsuba building.

"What if something goes wrong?"The rookie agent worried.

"Then security will arrest me and we'll have to bring Yotsuba in on just the recent rise in stock value."The college student adjusted the work uniform. He had checked himself many times in the mirror. He looked average,"Besides, Dad talked to the director today. They'll publicly withdraw support, but we have a week to stop Kira before you guys have to actually resign."

"We still have the backing of the NPA."Matsuda nodded.

If he did get caught by security, the NPA was willing to file his arrest under the false name he was carrying. He was confident that even if he did get caught, they wouldn't know what room he had been in. They wouldn't find the surveillance equipment. He and Matt had figured out a way to get into their cameras, he'd have more than enough time to get caught somewhere else or figure out an avenue to escape.

There was minimal risk of him dying in this.

"And if anything we didn't prepare for happens, you're here."He fitted the cap on his head, the bill properly hiding most of his face. Matsuda parked nearby, and he stepped out, ignoring the offer of good luck. He didn't need luck. They knew their enemy, their enemy's weapon. He didn't allow the knowledge to make him arrogant, but he didn't worry too much.

He had faith in that knowledge, and in his own skills.

No one questioned him entering the building. He took the stairs because his badge likely wouldn't work on the elevator. It didn't take him long to get to the right floor, and he paused at the door to it,"Anyone waiting for me?"

"Floor's empty."Matt informed him,"Guard might stop by, but I'll keep you posted."

"Got it."He entered, and quickly picked the lock to the meeting room.

"Where'd you learn that?"His father demanded.

He wisely didn't answer. The tumblers turned and he walked in, closing the door behind him. He locked the door and moved to the nearest wall, setting up the small ladder. He calmly set the equipment down.

"Security guard's coming your way."Matt warned.

"I can do this."He replied, testing the drill.

"If Matsuda could hear their conversation through the door, the guard will hear the drill."L's voice flowed into his ear,"Get out of there."

Light rolled his eyes, already halfway done with the task.

"You're endangering the whole operation."L continued, and he wished he could mute the earpiece.

He finished just as he heard the door jangle. He forced himself not to freeze. He put the tools back and jumped down. The ladder made a somewhat loud noise as he collapsed it, but he slid it towards the table at the same time as he rolled closer to it. He held his breath as he heard the door open and tensed when the guard took a few steps into the room.

"What's happening?"His father worried.

"Light…"His boyfriend trailed off.

It wasn't like he was in a position to really answer.

The guard, thankfully, didn't look too far into the room. Not that surprising. The room was supposed to be empty, so he'd see it as empty, and random noises were easy to explain away as happening on another floor or just something wrong with the AC. It helped that it was also dark. He waited a few seconds after the door closed again to ask,"Is it clear?"

"What the fuck, Light?"Matt demanded.

"Couldn't answer when he was in the room."Light rose, hoisting the ladder onto his shoulder again,"Everything's set up. Is the camera online?"

"Give me a second."He could hear the clicking of his keyboard,"Yeah. I can see you."

He waved his hat, then covered the mic,"Sound work?"

"Yep."The third rank answered,"Now get yourself out of there before one of these old guys dies of stress."

Light chuckled, taking that to mean the floor was clear once again,"I'll be right out."

Getting out was not as smooth as getting in. He made it down a few floors before he heard a voice from above him,"Hey you! Are you supposed to be here?"

He ducked into the nearest floor, walking quickly and confidently. No one in the cubicle even looked up at him as he passed.

"Next door on your left."Matt offered.

He slammed into it before he realized it was locked. He muffled a groan of pain as his shoulder collided with the unrelenting wood.

The younger teenager snorted,"Surprising how effective a lock is, huh?"He shook it off, smiling at the now watching people. He deserved that one, and Sayu had done worse in the name of petty revenge,"But seriously, fire exit's at the end of the hall. I'll stop the alarm going off."

He rolled his eyes and went through the fire exit. This time he didn't encounter any problems.

He threw the ladder into the back and sat in his seat,"Let's go."

"You had us worried for a second there, Light."Matsuda grinned.

"It was fine."Light rolled his eyes,"Nothing to worry about."

"What was Matt talking about?"He asked.

He removed his mic, then snatched Matsuda's off him. Once he was sure there weren't any other ways for those back at headquarters could hear him, he answered,"The three of them may or may not have walked in on Ryuzaki and I…"

"No way."The agent looked at him, which wasn't good because he should be focused on the road,"Did you tell them there isn't a lock on your door?"

"Somehow, I don't think that would help."He was mortified that events had gone that far last night. Sure, he'd managed to put it aside at the time because it was important that Near not think he would stoop so low as to order the use of the notebook in any way, but this morning...

He was just tired of having his privacy invaded.

"It's like you have kids."Matsuda cackled.

"I guess it is."He didn't dislike kids, and he was apparently better at helping them than his boyfriend.

"Do you think Ryuzaki's talked to the Chief yet?"The rookie asked.

"He hasn't."Another conversation that was waiting for the case to be over.

"He won't say no."Matsuda said confidently.

"When I first told him I was attracted to him he almost had another heart attack."Light looked out the window.

The young NPA detective made a slightly surprised noise,"A lot's happened since then."

"True…"He knew, in the end, his father would support him in whatever he decided made him happy, but that he didn't have to agree with it. He wanted his family to like his choice,"I'm not worried about it."

"You shouldn't be."Matsuda pulled into the garage underneath headquarters.

There were more pressing concerns.

"I want you three to lay low until this is over."Ryuzaki said when it became obvious that Light had succeeded in his task. It had gone well all things considered, especially as they hadn't expected the security guard to check the locked room. Still, the Chief's son had done it well, without panicking or getting caught. His face never even showed on any cameras.

Matt took off his head set,"What did you say?"

"If Rem cannot see you, she cannot kill you."The great detective continued.

"You want us to hide."Mello grumbled.

"I want you to survive if events do not go as planned."Ryuzaki looked at his heirs.

Worst case scenario; Rem killed them all to save Kira and Misa, who stood to regain their memories and no longer care about them. It was unlikely that would occur, but there was a chance. Rem couldn't touch the heirs if she didn't know they existed and couldn't see them.

"If it goes that badly Near and I'll be dead anyways."Mello argued.

"We might as well stay and see if we can assist."Near agreed.

Ryuzaki narrowed his eyes, before sighing,"Matt then. I will make arrangements for you to be somewhere safe tomorrow."

"What?"The third rank rose from his seat near the computers.

"You are the only one, besides myself, whose name isn't known to this group."The great detective said.

"I don't want to be safe."The kid glared,"I want to stay with my friends."

"Someone should be guaranteed to survive."Ryuzaki stood so he towered over the teen.

"Then choose another designated survivor."Matt's hands balled into fists,"Not me."

Aizawa moved closer to the boy as his mentor sighed,"Matt, you are the only one-"

"Fine. My name is-"

He guessed his next move correctly, and placed a hand over his mouth,"Keep your name to yourself for now, kid."He ordered,"You agreed you would try harder to live, didn't you?"

That meant keeping his protection.

Matt twisted out of his grip, turning to glare up at him. There was an angry look of betrayal in his eyes, but he didn't say his name. He didn't tie his fate to the rest of them. Instead, he turned and left the room. He wasn't sure if that was a silent agreement to their plan or just teenage defiance. He ran a hand through his hair, and resolved to give him enough time to cool off, clear his head.

That had been half an hour ago.

In that time, the boy had managed to set up a video game consul, and his goggles reflected the light from the screen in the dark room. He turned on the room's lights to announce his presence and then sat down next to him,"What game is this?"

"Undertale."Matt answered shortly, but he answered, which was more than he was expecting.

He'd never heard of that game, but he also didn't play video games. He watched him encounter an opponent, barely hesitating before choosing to fight them. He had noticed that another option was to show the monsters mercy. He frowned as the opponent seemed to almost beg for that mercy. The young teen ignored it all, defeating the enemy in a handful of moves.

"What's your LOVE level?"He inquired.

"Level of violence."The teen replied.

That didn't sound pleasant. Especially as he watched it increase.

The kid's expression was blank, and he continued to watch the game. He must have played it before since he seemed to know exactly where to find the enemies. Either that or he was just that good. He couldn't tell what the plot of the game was, but it appeared he was a human child in a realm of monsters, an underworld if the name suggested anything.

Except he appeared to be the one that was the monster going around and killing the others.

"Do you have to kill them?"Aizawa broke the silence.

"No."He was starting to get frustrated with the short answers.

"Kid…"He trailed off, at a loss for what to do.

He got it. If he was the one being asked to hide, he would be angry. But he was a full grown adult and he was a kid. He was the type of person they were putting their lives on the line to protect.

Another enemy was killed.

"Are you going to kill all of them?"He sighed.

"It's called a genocide run."Matt glanced at him.

He would ask Watari to buy him some nonviolent video games for later.

"Matt-"

"Mail."He interrupted, pausing the game,"If it all goes to shit tomorrow, I want you at least to know my name's Mail."

"Mail."He tested it out, somehow finding the strange name fitting. He smiled, and reached over to mess with his hair,"It's not going to go bad tomorrow."

"Then I don't see why I can't be there."Matt muttered.

"It's a precaution."He rolled his eyes,"Until we can make a deal with Rem, we should have someone who knows everything and can act if necessary."He made sure that the kid was looking at him,"It's not an insult to you. You are the only one that can do it."

"I can't."The third rank sighed,"Even with everything I know…there's a reason I'm third."

"I thought that was lack of desire."He felt his smile fade,"You are just as capable as Mello and Near."

Matt half-smiled,"Enough to beat Kira if I needed to?"

"More than enough."He promised, and didn't even have to lie,"Besides…you don't actually have to go to another location."The kid's eyes lit up,"As long as Light and Misa don't know where it is…"

"It could be a room without cameras."Matt finished with a grin.

"I'll let you know as soon as it's safe and you can rejoin us."He ruffled his hair again,"Sound fair?"

"Sounds fair."He nodded, then turned back to his game.

Matt ended up restarting, telling him that instead of completing the genocide run he was going to show him the pacifist run. He liked it a lot better, and as he explained the differences in outcomes between the runs, and maybe he'd been working the Kira case for too long but he thought that it was a damn good example of the different paths they all could take.

The genocide one led to the destruction of the universe.

The pacifist one has the monsters showing remorse and integrating into human society.

Mercy was a powerful thing.

He'd still ask Watari to get something different so Matt wouldn't do another genocide run when he was waiting for the arrest, but it wasn't as bad a game as he thought it would be.

Misa fiddled with the edge of her skirt. The arrest had gone smoothly, why wouldn't it? The NPA had announced their withdrawal of support on the Kira case. L hadn't made a public move since his announcement. There was no reason for Yotsuba to think that they were under any sort of scrutiny. Their meeting last night confirmed that they were confident in their security.

They were all arrested as soon as Mr. Yagami showed his boss the video they'd gotten. Publicly, they were arrested on charges of tax evasion, embezelment, and other white collar crimes, with the reason for being taken into custody being that they were considered a flight risk. It was barely a blip on social media, and the news only mentioned it a few times. The company had already puts steps to distance themselves from the group.

Privately, they were told the NPA was aware of their killings.

They had been quick to turn on each other, Namikawa correctly deducing once again that it was Higuchi even though they didn't have the notebook just yet.

They'd probably all be let off except for Higuchi.

"You ready, Misa?"Light asked.

"Yes."She nodded, determined to do this right,"I mean, Rem loves me, doesn't she? It should be easy to convince her to do what I want."He flinched, and she mentally kicked herself,"I didn't mean it like that!"

"No. It's fine."He held up a hand,"You're doing this for yourself, right? Not because I need you to?"

"Yes."Another emphatic nod. If she wasn't doing this for herself, and it was pretty obvious that Ryuzaki and Light were together now, Rem could kill Light for putting her through this. It was pretty obvious she didn't like the handsome man and would gladly kill him once she no longer was as obsessed with him.

She was doing this for herself, for all of them.

As much as she agreed with Kira's ideals…they wouldn't do her any good.

Maybe it was selfish to end their mission, but she was tired of being alone.

"The better question is if you are ready, Light."Ryuzaki spoke up from where he was eating ice cream.

"No amount of time would make me ready so why not now?"Light shrugged.

"That's the wrong attitude."The detective frowned.

"We need to find the other notebook so we can move on."Her ex-boyfriend, if they had ever actually been in a relationship at any point placed a hand on his shoulder,"Kira is me without morals. I just have to remember what matters."

"Or I have to remind you."Ryuzaki muttered.

"We have the notebook!"Aizawa reported.

They now had a reason to bring Higuchi to their headquarters. She glanced back at the camera, to the god of death hovering over the greedy man. She'd been confused at first why they'd all startled when Higuchi had come into the camera's view, but as soon as she touched the piece they had she'd been able to see Rem.

She took a calming breath, thinking back to what they had discussed. If she convinced Rem to not kill them, she would be able to go free. Once Higuchi was executed, ownership of the notebook would transfer to Ryuzaki.

He would give Rem permission to follow her, and she'd have a Shinigami companion for the rest of her life.

They'd argued about having Higuchi give up ownership of the notebook…but in the end, someone had to be Kira so the world could move on. Not that they ever intended to publicly release who Kira was, because they weren't sure exactly what the Yotsuba men knew. The killings would stop soon enough, and once they did there would be an announcement that Kira had been found and executed by a coordinated effort.

Nothing would be said about the Death Note.

No one outside their group would know about it. No one would even know that it was a group of four NPA officials, a few teenagers, and L that were responsible for the arrest. That should make it impossible for them to be targeted later by those wishing to continue Kira's work, and life would continue as it had before the notebook had landed in the human world.

The notebook was brought to them with the third Kira, but left the weapon in the other room.

Rem, predictably, floated through the walls to check on her. Light stood almost protectively in front of Ryuzaki, as Mello shielded Near, while the rest of the task force tensed.

"Rem!"Misa beamed, because she was excited.

"Misa."The being looked confused,"How do you remember?"

"Funny story."She moved closer,"Your king, or we think it was your king, sent us this video of the whole thing, from when Light picked up the notebook to when he died a few years in the future."The god of death froze, and she held up her hands,"It's fine. It's fine!"She insisted, making sure her attention stayed on her,"We already made an agreement. If you don't kill them, I get to go free!"

"Light Yagami…"The being turned to him,"What are you planning?"

"Nothing."Light replied honestly,"Misa can live a normal life after this."

"I do not believe you."Rem towered over him.

"I know you don't trust me."The college student sighed,"But it's the truth. Misa won't be punished for her crimes as Kira. If she is, feel free to kill me."

The being stared at him,"You do not have your memories."

"Not at the moment."Light sighed,"I don't suppose you know where I hid the other notebook so I don't have to regain them."

"I do not."Rem's notebook stayed where she had it stashed. She then looked at Ryuzaki,"Very well. But if any harm befalls Misa at your doing you will die."

"Understood."The detective stared.

The task force all let out sighs of relief, and she smiled. It really was too easy.

Which meant they had to move on to the next part.

"You should restrain me."Light advised as they stood around the notebook.

"We can simply take it away from you should you lose control."Near twirled his hair.

"I doubt it will be simple."The college student muttered,"Just do it."

Misa watched as they chained Light to a chair, binding one arm with the palm up. He didn't look comfortable, but he was about to potentially become the mass murderer that had led to the deaths of half the occupants of the room so she doubted he'd be comfortable anyways. She stood closer to Rem, knowing that even if worse came to be, the Shinigami would protect her.

"This is unnecessary."Ryuzaki muttered as he clicked the last chain into place.

"If Kira hurts anyone…"Light trailed off.

"I won't let that happen."Matsuda handed him the notebook,"Are you ready?"

"You know I'm not."Light laughed, his fear obvious.

Misa wished there was another way, but he'd had a point earlier. They couldn't move on from this unless they had both notebooks safely in their possession. There was no hurry to move on, but it wouldn't do them any good to wait. It just increased the risk that someone else could find the notebook before them.

"I do love you."Ryuzaki muttered, hesitating.

Misa could honestly say she wasn't jealous.

"Could you stop saying that when you think you're going to lose me?"Light looked irritated.

"I don't think I'm going to lose you."The detective argued,"I just wanted to remind you."

"Consider me reminded."The college student sighed,"Let's just get this over with."

Ryuzaki set the notebook down on his hand.

Light screamed.