Athena was the first one to see K as she staggered out from C's room. She was supported by Damnation, who appeared more than a little panicky about the state of his friend, particularly now she had removed her bandage. Athena stared, partially shocked by the glower that Damnation gave her. He helped lift K down the stairs and shook his head.

"What are you doing just gawking?" he snapped. "Help me get her back to the infirmary!"

"No," K whispered. "No, to my room… let me go back to my room…"

"If we let you go, you'll just get worse," Damnation said. "You have to trust me. I'm the annoying little brother, remember?"

"Annoying, hell yes," she murmured.

"I have an idea," he exclaimed. He rested her on the stairs. "Right. Stay here."

"Are you kidding…?" she breathed. "I was just going to wander off all over the place."

"I think you sound better," he grinned. He scampered off and returned with a glass of water and three caplets. He held the glass as she put the pills on her tongue and then handed it to her so she could swallow it down more easily. "Give it a few minutes; you'll have a fair amount more energy than you have now."

She pressed a hand to the side of her forehead, where the mirror shards had cut her. "Shit," she hissed. "Damnation, what were those?"

"One was a hydration capsule, one was a caffeine tablet and the other was vitamin C," he shrugged. "Hydration levels need to be high, and I figured you needed quick energy, so I got you a caffeine tablet to go with it. I've always to try one, how does it taste-?"

"Why a vitamin C tablet…?" she asked disbelievingly.

"I dunno," he admitted. "I just thought you were always supposed to take a vitamin C tablet at some point if you were sick, and-" He paused. "Are you crying? Oh shit, I didn't mean to make you cry, sorry-"

"I'm not crying," she said, shaking a little. "I'm… I'm laughing. Damnation, you're so funny… thank you."

A few minutes later, and once she looked like she was feeling better, he let her walk without support to her own room, which had been cleaned up. She hugged him before she closed the door, and then she froze, processing what she'd decided to do. Finally plucking up the courage, she slipped an arm under her bed and managed to grab hold of a small black book. She pressed it to her heart once, then picked up a pen from her desk, leaving the room.

She walked like a zombie through the corridors, down the stairs and into the main hall, where Athena had been reading a book called, 'Timewaster Letters'. She looked up to see K stepping calmly out into the spring scenery. Clouds were scattered across the sky, and although it had been forecasted that it would rain later that day, the sun was still out. The breeze tugged gently at K's blood-spattered clothes. It was just the sort of conditions one would want on the day of their death.

She couldn't move when she saw the Death Note. It just made all manner of protest absolutely impossible. She looked up at the top of the staircase, hoping to spy someone that would have more strength in order to stop the teenage girl from doing something stupid.

Athena turned around to see Romeo standing behind her. He was frowning, yet that was wiped away when he saw her expression.

"What's happened?"

XXX

The investigators' musings were interrupted by the sudden entrance of Beyond. Callie found herself standing upright, pushing her chair back and startling the others with the sound. His eyes widened slightly. She cleared her throat and headed in the direction of the door, not wanting to embarrass herself any further than she evidently already had. B touched her shoulder and she stopped, evading his eyes.

"L's my brother," he whispered. "Did you know that?"

She put a hand over his. "I do now," she responded, brushing past him.

L followed B into the conference room. He had the sort of look on his face that said he was trying to remain extraordinarily professional. It was the most normal he had acted for a while. C joined them about ten minutes later, after L had been filled in on the latest developments. They seemed pleased with the progress of the case, despite the constant chaos that had surrounded it. It seemed that everyone fell into the pattern of the puzzle-solving rather quickly and by the time fifteen further minutes had passed, they felt they were comfortable with who the killer was – a man who had worked both at Deanne Hounsfield's school in Los Angeles and the company of Ella Dockery's father. Similar names had shown up.

"Derek Cleinberg," L said, "and then Daniel Klein. They are much too similar, in such dangerous circumstances, and so…" His lips twitched upwards at the corners. "They must be one and the same person, using an alias across the state in order to achieve the thrill of killing after a destructive childhood."

"Give me a minute," replied Irina, typing rapidly into her laptop.

"We're nearly there," Bess squeaked. "We're so close I can almost taste it."

"Got it!" Irina called. "Daniel Klein, with a history of child abuse. He was brought up by his adoptive parents, Rico and Maria Cortez, and-"

"Maria Cortez?" Jenna interjected. "The first victim in Sausalito?"

"If Daniel Klein was her adopted son, that would explain the reaction of the locals. They would have seen him grow up, maybe want to protect their own, or even worse, be scared of him knowing how he was. None of them admitted to seeing anything, and none were exactly enthusiastic to share information, even if it was with their own town's police force," C put in.

"Can we try and get some photographs of Daniel Klein?" Ludo asked. "Driver's license, passport photo, CCTV footage from him just walking around the streets, class photos, photos taken for work, Facebook, dating websites – anything!"

"Okay, Ludo," Irina said coldly, "you try hacking into the FBI's database and see how that fucking goes, okay?"

"You're going to the FBI database?" L sighed. "Pass me your laptop. I can just sign in for full authorized access… should save a lot of time."

"Backup, are you just going to stand there?" Irina smirked.

"You have a very pretty face, Irina," he said. "Maybe I should cut it off and wear it, Hannibal Lecter style."

"Ugh, you always were such a freak," she spat.

L didn't want to, yet did, notice the way the word, 'freak' made Beyond flinch. He was all too familiar with the derogatory term for one who was not accustomed to the conventions of everyday normality. He was about eighty percent certain that was most people's reaction to the first time seeing him, judging by facial expressions and indiscreet whispers that were meant to be behind his back.

Yes, they were undoubtedly brothers.

XXX

K leant up against the tree by Hamlet's grave, letting the breeze catch her hair and lift it away from her face. She was so ready now, so ready to let go. She rested a hand on Hamlet's tombstone and whispered a soft, heartfelt apology. She glanced up at the sky, seeing blue sky break through clouds, and she knew what she was doing was right, for her, and for everyone else.

As she picked up the pen she had brought with her, something caught her eye. Someone was walking up to the gates of Wammy's House. It was not an uncommon occurrence. People passed the orphanage all of the time, to reach other destinations – but not this person. This person did not pass. He stopped and looked up at the gates, and he went to touch the keypad on the pillar by the gate.

She did not get up until she saw the man walk right on through the gates, knowing the code required to pass. She scowled, rolled her eyes and scooped up the Death Note in her left hand.

"Sorry, Will," she muttered, "you'll have to wait."

XXX

"I'm sorry, L," Irina said, though she didn't sound sorry in the least. "Even with full access, I can't find any photographs of Daniel Klein. It's as if he's just disappeared into thin air after killing all of those people."

"Two more to go," Flint added.

"There has to be something on him," Bess mumbled. "No one just stops existing. No one uses an alias their entire life unless they have some kind of cause, and-"

"That's funny," Irina mumbled, frowning at the laptop screen.

"What is it?" C asked, going to stand behind her.

"There's no trace of Daniel Klein, or even Derek Cleinberg, until about 1999, or just around the beginning of the millennium," Irina answered. "Daniel Klein's birthdate on his CV is written officially as being in the year 1988. Why would there be no record of him until 2000? He must have gone to school, visited a doctor's clinic, had inoculations, all of it. He should be down with social services because of his adoption! So where is he?"

It surprised everyone when finally, Beyond spoke up with constructive input that did not involve making incredibly offensive cracks at Irina's expense. "Maybe Daniel Klein is another alias."

"An alias within an alias?" Flint suggested, awed. "That would take a lot of planning."

"It sounds like this guy is big on the planning," Beyond responded. "If he was born in 1988 but wasn't officially existing until 2000, then he had an awfully long time to plan."

"Shit," C muttered, "a double bluff. That only makes this guy harder to catch."

"I know, but we have the best team in the entire world," L said. "There is a ninety-five percent chance we will have seized the killer before the week is out."

"What is the name of the book that you found the fairytales in?" B enquired. "The book he is killing according to?"

"Classic Tales for Children," L replied. "It was found in room one, the dormitory of Slo and Romeo."

"Room one?" Beyond blinked.

"Yes, room one," L confirmed.

"You mean… you mean A's old room?" Beyond said.

XXX

Callie hit her head against the wall, feeling like an absolute idiot. When she turned around, she saw Romeo and Athena there, running up the stairs together, towards some common goal. She tried calling out to them, trying to capture their attention. She failed. A little embarrassed, and definitely puzzled, she decided to go back to the conference room to try to make herself less of a liability. Besides, she had a lot of questions for Beyond.

She stopped when she heard a familiar noise – the sound of the front door being opened. Her head whipped round to face whoever was standing behind her. A tall, dark-haired man with rather handsome features watched her, a cool smile on his face. He was wearing a suit, and under his arm were tucked a few files. He held out one hand in acknowledgement.

"I need to speak to Ryuzaki and Ana MacDermid as a matter of urgency," he told her in an American accent. "I have found the man they're looking for in the case concerning the California and Nevada deaths.

"Your name?" she said cautiously.

"I'm a mole for them in the States," he continued.

"Your name?" she pressed.

"Donny Kanaan," he answered calmly. At this, she visibly relaxed, having evidently heard the name before and been assured of its authority. She nodded to him, her smile becoming much more genuine. "Can you point me to Ryuzaki?"

"He's through there, in the conference room," she said, gesturing. "I'll go tell him that you're coming."

"There's really no need," Kanaan said smoothly. Her expression was confused for a second when he put a hand on her shoulder gently. Automatically, she found herself moving towards him. The next thing she knew, she felt a piercing in her stomach and she crumpled to the ground in pain, blood spilling between her fingers.

"What-?" she gasped. "No…"

"Thanks for the directions, by the way," he smirked. "I wouldn't be able to do this without you."

He set off towards Roger's office. Callie watched in pure horror as he walked away, a knife glittering with her blood in his hand. She heard more footsteps and saw a woman with brown hair standing before her. Her heart leapt in hope.

"Linda!" she breathed. "Linda, help me… please… help… Linda…"

The woman's eyes narrowed before she grinned the most heart-wrenching grin Callie had ever had the misfortune to see. Linda was beginning to become a blur to the blonde woman writhing on the floor.

"No," Linda said with an air of finality.

Okay, how many of you actually saw that coming?

No preview will be given this chapter.

However, I'd still love to hear what you think will happen in the forthcoming chapters. It'll only get more unpredictable from here.

What, you think I'd finish the series with an ending you can figure out?

C.