Morning.
If Matt and Mello have slept in some, Near supposes he can forgive him. His mind is a whirl, and he's become accustomed to their schedule, so he wakes up at the respectable hour of eight am, and pads out to the main hallway, and the central room where L met with them all last night.
The detective is alone. He has the handcuff off his wrist. Near assumes that he must have realized that Yagami didn't have access to a death note, and subsequently no longer needed to be watched quite so urgently.
The camera feeds were on in one of the monitors on the desk. Near could see an empty bed, and Matt and Mello sprawled next to each other, and his own room, and Yagami Light sleeping peacefully.
"Good morning Near," L murmurs, as Near comes up behind him. He slides a bowl of cherries in Near's direction, and doesn't look away from the monitor. Watching Light sleep.
"You know," Near picks up a cherry, and inspects it, "the murders were not the real problem with Kira."
L says nothing, but looks at him. Near doesn't tear his eyes off the cherry.
"The issue, as I understand it, is not the morality of capital punishment. That is a debate which each country must hold privately. The problem was the destabilization of the criminal justice system. Legal process and procedure has evolved over millennia, and espoused values of fairness and neutrality, of impartiality and openness. It has come under criticism, but in that way, I see it like democracy. It may be a terrible system, but it's better than all those other forms of government."
L quirks just a bit of a smile. Near continues.
"The rulings of justice cannot be put into the hands of just one person. A criminal has the right to be tried by a jury of their peers, and adjudicated by a learned professional, who is appointed by a democratically elected government. Social pressures, accepted morality, situational deterrence of police and security, and general deterrence of the threat of prison keep the crime rates as low as possible."
Near bites off one of the cherries, chews for a moment, then delicately spits the pit into the palm of his hand.
"And traditionally, the death penalty has not been an effective threat. In the United States, Louisiana imposes the death penalty for the broadest spectrum of offences, and uses it the most frequently. It has one of the highest murder rates in the country. Given the recession of crime rates in Japan in the last few months, it is safe to say that people are not simply living aware of the consequences of their actions; they are living in fear."
L takes his thumb out of his mouth, and slides a plate over to Near, who deposits the cherry pit on it. There are five or six of the things adorning it already. Near takes another cherry.
"Because Kira is not a man committing a crime. Kira is a force, a supernatural one, stepping outside of the system we, as mankind, have created. He is doing what we tolerate ourselves to do, only without permission."
He bites the new cherry. Thinks as he eats, and spits the seed out again.
"Kira. Without the power, he is but a pawn. He is an innocent. When people see that, their fear will turn to anger, and he will be as good as crucified. If I were his legal council, I would suggest raising a defense of... of a sort of automatism, now that he has awoken from that particular dream."
Seed on the plate. Red pieces of the flesh of the fruit clinging to the pit. L picks up a cherry stem in puts it in his mouth.
"But there is no legal precedent for possession in the world court. The judges and jurors alike will cave under massive political and social pressure. A fair trial will be next to impossible, and even if he is acquitted, he will be killed in the streets."
He sees L's mouth working.
"I do not think that justice can really be served."
L pulls the cherry stem out of his mouth. It's tied neatly in a knot. Near asks, and perhaps you could overlook the hint of a smirk, if you didn't know him,
"Can Yagami do that?"
L glances up at him sharply. Near just smiles, and takes another cherry.
AN: As this fic draws to a close, I invite those of you who have followed along, and who enjoy my work, to mosey on over to my latest effort. a V for Vendetta-Death Note crossover. It is not quite a sequel to this: although I suppose there's nothing to say it couldn't be. Except this ends on a sort of happily ever after note, and Alphabet is a very, very dark fic. Japan is flooded with the refugees from America and England. Wammy's house was destroyed, Watari died, but L is still the three best detectives in the world. Only, operating on more modest means, and having to take care of himself. He accepts the challenge of getting into England, and, taking Mello, Matt and Near with him (hampered by the new, uni-racial, pseudo-Orwellian society has no room for him.) Of course, mere days after the investigation begins, someone demolishes Madam Justice- or rather, the Old Bailey. L now has a very, very complicated situation on his hands, and an ethical dilemma.
And really? Things only go from bad to worse.