A/N... I do not own Death Note

"Everest," L knocked at my door not long after I left the sitting room, "there's been a development." I had been lying on my bed, with my arm thrown across my eyes, blocking out the light. It was the least productive moment I had had in days, and just like that, it was over. Time to go back to work.

"What is it?" I questioned, opening the door.

"I've asked Watari to send video and audio to your laptop. Quickly," he settled into my chair, waiting for me to turn on the computer. Once I connected to the server and received the image of Light's cell, I turned to L, waiting for some sort of instruction. "He insisted on speaking to you. I'm hoping you could make sense of this."

I connected a microphone to the laptop, and spoke to Light, "Light, this is Endo, is everything alright?"

"Reika?" he sounded relieved, he looked straight at the camera and smiled, "You have to listen to me, I'm not Kira. I shouldn't be in here." I immediately disabled the microphone and turned to L.

"What the hell is this?" I demanded. This wasn't Light Yagami, at least, it wasn't the one who I was familiar with.

"It appears Light Yagami has concluded that he is not Kira."

"So, he's lying," I stated. Light was Kira. He had told me so himself. I had seen Kira, and he was Light. But the way Light was carrying himself and speaking to me now made it seem as if he had never been Kira in the first place.

"Do you think so?"

"I… No," I decided. "This is the most honest I've ever seen him." Reconnecting the speaking piece, I said to Light, "What are you talking about, Light?"

"Listen, to me, Reika, there's no way that I'm Kira. You've been with me this whole time. Do you honestly believe that I can kill people like that? There's no way! I was under surveillance, I don't have any possible means of killing those people, and an overlap of belief doesn't prove identity."

"There's still evidence against you," I reminded him. He fell silent, and I wasn't entirely sure what to make of this at all.

"You're right, but I need you to know. I'm not Kira."

"I have to believe the evidence," I informed him.

"I understand," Light said, "but, if you're able to believe me, please, talk to L. We're wasting time." With that, I removed the hardware and shut down my laptop.

"Well?" L prompted after allowing me sufficient time to gather my thoughts.

"When did this happen?"

"Not long before I came here. What do you make of it?"

"His change in behavior is similar to Misa Amane's," I concluded. "Both of them have exhibited behavior incongruent with their previous conduct."

"I agree. The question now is why."

"A last ditch attempt to prove their innocence?" I suggested.

"I'm inclined to agree, but if that's the case, why bother incarcerating himself?"

It was a valid, perplexing point. I shook my head and considered the possibilities. By the time I had run through the most logical explanations, I found that I had been chewing on the ends of my hair absent-mindedly. Uncurling my fingertips from the hair tie, I shook my head again and admitted to L, "I'm at a loss."

"Everest," L said sternly as if prompting a different response from me.

"I don't know," I repeated. "It's strange. I've never dealt with amnesia like this."

"Amnesia?" L repeated thoughtfully, "Awfully convenient."

Too convenient, I thought. Frustration began to settle in as I racked my brain for more possibilities. It was as if Light had created some sort of barrier in my reasoning. I would start at the beginning and trace every event that had transpired and every characteristic of Light's that I knew of up to this very moment, but every single time I tried to make a conclusion about the current issue, I was halted dead in my tracks.

The more I contemplated it, the more questions arose.

Why is Light pleading innocent?

How is it possible for he and Misa to behave so similarly?

Why did he turn himself in?

Was it because he wanted to make a spectacle so convincing that we would never suspect him again?

Could Light have some sort of dissociative personality disorder? I discarded this thought. Light was many things, but he and Kira were one and the same. There was no second personality within Light, only his true self concealed by a near perfect mask of normality.

What happened to the Death Note?

{E.B.}

The two detectives sat in E's room consumed by their thoughts. Everest's mind was solely on the case, and L knew it. He knew very much. He knew that he, L, was a formidable opponent, and, thus, his suspect would be pushed to great lengths in order to evade the master detective. He knew that Light was a very convincing actor, on par with the likes of BB. He knew that Everest had a knack for differentiating a person's appearance from their personality. In fact, he knew more about her than the average Wammy's housemate ought to know.

Silently regarding the woman, L observed how completely immersed in her thoughts she had become in a matter of seconds. As if without thought, she rolled a loose lock of hair between her fingertips. Her eyes narrowed in contemplation, unfocused on her surroundings, and acted only in response to the thoughts in her head.

Admittedly, he was pushing her. It was an unforeseen development, one he had to conquer if he hoped to complete this case. L was confident in his own ability to thwart Light's play as this strange behavior only stoked his suspicions. With Everest, however, it would require more.

She was good, he knew that. In fact, he had recommended her services to previous clients whom he hadn't the time for. On one hand, she was exceptionally skilled, naturally gifted in certain areas. On the other hand, she struggled with coming to a singular, correct conclusion. It wasn't that E was a poor detective. On the contrary, L found himself impressed by her abilities quite often. The source of the gap between L and E was simply that what came naturally to L had to be acquired through a great effort on her part.

This, among other reasons, was why L wanted his junior to be as far away from the Kira case as possible. True, he had been the one to enlist her aid, and for good reason. She was an invaluable addition to the Task Force. Her limitations certainly didn't take away from what assets she could offer. The gap between L and Everest had been the reason why she was never considered for the position of his successor. Very few outside of Wammy's would notice how much more advanced L was than Everest, and although he knew why she could never be the next L, the detective considered it to be a great shame that the one peer of his who would have been able to withstand the pressure of becoming the world's best detective was unable to achieve such a title.

"Did you figure it out?" L questioned, noticing how a shift and sudden attentiveness in her gaze.

His female counterpart blinked as if waking from a daze and turned to face him directly, "No, but I'd like to look into something."

"Hm?" the vague statement intrigued him.

"The instruments used by Kira to kill his or her victims have to be somewhere," she elaborated.

Slightly disappointed with the obvious statement L remarked, "Yes, fascinating observation."

She launched a rubber band at him, seemingly out of thin air. Irritation plain on her face, Everest continued, "What I'm saying is that Light would never take such a risk without some sort of way out."

"To kill with only a name and a face," L mused out loud, considering the point that Everest had brought up.

"Exactly," she replied with a smug and satisfied smirk.

In that moment, L had reached two realizations. The first was that he knew how to determine how invested Light Yagami was in continuing this move. The second was, despite the differences between them, this was the reason why he had extended an invitation to her. Everest was the only person who knew exactly what he was thinking when he was thinking it.

{E.B.}

On the fifteenth day of the Yagami's incarceration, something finally happened. The news had taken to the story instantly, and the remaining Task Force assembled in response.

"What happened? I just heard," Matsuda panted as he entered the room. "Two weeks worth of criminals were just murdered all at once! It happened yesterday!"

"Yeah," Aizawa responded gruffly, "Kira is back."

"So did you guys already tell the chief?" Matsuda demanded.

"No, not yet," Aizawa informed his colleague.

Rushing past L, Matsuda took the microphone hooked up to the chief's cell, "Guess what, Chief! Kira started killing again!"

"You could stand to sound less excited," I commented from my chair.

"What?" Mr. Yagami gasped. Fifteen days took its toll on the man. His appearance had gone downhill, and understandably so. The chief, in contrast to his usual professional appearance, had grown rather unkept.

"It looks like Kira was only resting," Matsuda continued enthusiastically, "but now he's started punishing criminals again." I scoffed in response to his phrasing.

"Is that true, Matsuda?" Mr. Yagami asked, sounding like a man whose hope had been restored. "Then that means my son… I shouldn't be glad that people have been killed, but at least Light's name will finally be cleared. Wait… knowing Ryuzaki, this won't be enough to clear him."

The multitude of emotional stages Mr. Yagami had gone through in that one outburst both disturbed and impressed me. The two officers in the room expectantly stared at L.

"Well," the detective drawled, "he's in the gray."

"Did you hear what he just said, Chief?" Matsuda started up again.

"Yeah, it's a hell of a lot better than being completely guilty," Chief Yagami said with relief. "Thank God."

"I'm sure, as grays go, he's a shade closer to being cleared," Matsuda said encouragingly. "Let's tell Light!"

As soon as Matsuda reached for the next microphone, L smacked his hand away, exclaiming sharply, "Matsuda!" The shocked officer stumbled back with a yell, looking very much like a scolded child.

The uncharacteristic outburst surprised me as well, and I stared at L. His expressionless eyes seemed maniacally wide. It was almost frightening. Regaining control of his tone of voice, L continued, "I mean, please don't, Mr. Matsuda."

"Matsuda?" the man repeated uncertainly.

"We shouldn't tell him about this," L stated cryptically, the light from the screens casting ominous shadows on his sallow face.

"But why not?"

"Hello, Light?" L spoke to Light's cell, ignoring Matsuda's question.

"What is it, Ryuzaki?" Light spoke softly.

"You've been in here just over two weeks, and not a single new criminal has been punished," L lied smoothly. "Now, why make this harder than it has to be? Are you ready to confess?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Light responded, raising his face to the camera, "I'm telling you, you're wrong. I understand why you feel that way, but even if the evidence does point to me, I swear to you, this is a set up! I am not Kira!" The intensity in his voice and gaze increased as he continued to speak, "Zoom in on me if you want! Endo, go ahead! Look at my eyes! You tell me, do these look like the eyes of someone who is lying?"

I had to admit that they weren't, and as someone who knew without a doubt that Light Yagami was Kira, I was beginning to wonder what the hell was going on.

L hummed to himself in response and clicked the last microphone, "Amane, are you ready to tell me who Kira is or not?"

"Huh? That again? I wish I knew, but I don't," Misa responded, sounding genuinely disappointed that she couldn't answer what was asked of her. "Because, if I did, I'd thank him for punishing the burglar who killed my parents. To me, Kira's a hero."

The wideness in L's eyes seemed to convey something different compared to when he slapped Matsuda's hand. I noticed that his breathing had changed as well.

"What's it like?" I asked knowingly. What's it like to have an intellect of your caliber and be stumped?

"I haven't decided," he replied, absently bringing the pad of his thumb to his lips.

"What's going on?" Matsuda questioned, confused and somewhat offended.

"Mr. Matsuda," I spoke up, "do you think Light's smarter than me?"

"Huh?" Matsuda chirped, "H-how am I supposed to answer something like that?"

"It's okay to be honest," I assured him. "How about you, Mr. Aizawa?" I was met with silence and a sharp, inquisitive look on the officer's face. "Light Yagami cannot be underestimated. You've known him much longer than L or I have, so I'm certain you already know. The truth of the matter is that Light Yagami has too much evidence against him to ignore, and he is far too clever to be taken lightly."

L snickered at the unintentional pun before masking it with a cough, "Excuse me."

"My point, gentlemen, is that if you would expect it from L or myself, then you can expect it from Light."

After that, neither Aizawa nor Matsuda had anything else to ask.

{E.B.}

I bounced a rubber ball against the wall, enjoying the dull thudding sound it made as it bounced back into my hand from the exact same point of contact each time. It was the fiftieth day of their confinement, and Kira had claimed more victims.

Thump. Catch.

After my conversation with L all those days ago, I began my investigation into the murder weapon independent of the Task Force's operation. L knew exactly what I wanted him to know about my inquiry, nothing more and nothing less, and he didn't look into it. The question was planted in his mind, and that was all that mattered to me.

Thump. Catch.

I had returned to the Yagami home during that time, discreetly searching for Light's Death Note. As I had already assumed, it was gone.

"Mr. Yagami," L inquired over the microphone, "are you alright? There's no reason for you to

keep doing this to yourself."

I didn't even look away from that point on the wall. I knew what he looked like – somber, tired. Mr. Yagami was exhausted. Fifty days in confinement, refusing any food better than what his son was given, rejecting any opportunity to go outside. I had to wonder if Soichiro Yagami was subconsciously punishing himself for bringing a serial killer into the world.

Thump. Catch.

No. That wasn't it. Yagami had complete faith in his son, and even if we had managed to shake him, Soichiro Yagami would never look at Light as Kira. Always, always, his son came first.

"It's been over a month since Kira started killing criminals again, and as far as I'm concerned, that's all the proof I need to be sure that my son isn't Kira. So, then, all that's left is for you to be sure. One way or another, when I get out of here, it will be with my son."

There it was again. That paternal dedication. I admit, it never ceased to intrigue me. I had worked cases where parents were deeply affected by their children somehow, be it positively or negatively, and the little orphan girl in me wondered what it was like to feel that kind of connection.

Thump. Catch.

I barely recalled my mother, but Beyond had been there, of course. Then, there was Mr. Wammy, Roger, and the other children, but we weren't what average people would consider normal. Even Misa Amane had been so deeply grieved by the loss of her parents that she celebrated the execution of their killer by Kira. Of course, I didn't envy these people. Just observing what these ties did to them, how it twisted their minds and shaped their actions, elicited some contempt from the hyper rational part of my mind, because, why, just why, would anyone want to be so blinded from the truth?

Matsuda exhaled heavily, "Wow, the chief can be pretty stubborn."

L switched microphones with a click, "Light, how are you feeling right now?"

I worked the rubber ball in my hand, rolling it from my palm onto the back of my hand and around again. I heard Light groan from where I sat facing the wall, "I'm okay. Ryuzaki, I know that in the time I've been in prison, no new criminals have died. However, that suggests to me that Kira must be someone who's intimately familiar with my situation, and if that's the case…"

"No, Light," L spoke over the captive's weak voice, "the reason criminals have stopped dying is because you are Kira." I had grown bored of L's strategy over the past month. The senior detective planned on accusing Light of being Kira, to his face, every chance he had, waiting for the façade to fall away and reveal the Light we had grown familiar with. Something about this entire month was just fundamentally wrong.

First, there was the entire business with Light giving himself up. At first, it seemed like a simple ploy to remove suspicion from himself, but overtime, the complexity of the situation increased drastically. Every consequential outburst and denial from Light and Misa was too convenient to be a true defense of innocence. Secondly, Kira's resurface seemed too ideal for our suspects. Not only that, but once again, something about the Kira killings seemed different. The pattern, as a whole, didn't appear different when compared to the original's MO. However, upon deeper inspection, there were variables that stood out. Finally, I noticed that Ryuk and the other shinigami vanished at some point during the Kiras' imprisonment.

Suffice to say that, at this point in the investigation, I doubted every piece of evidence that seemed to scream that Light was innocent.

"No," Light protested fervently, "I'm not Kira! How many times do I have to say it?"

"As many times as it takes to convince us that you aren't," I replied lightly, rising to my feet and approaching the perching detective. For the first time that day, I took in the sight of Light Yagami, lying on his side upon the cell floor. Weak, pathetic… just like any civilian genius would be in his condition.

"Reika," Light breathed my alias sadly, disappointed in my lack of support. "Please, I promise you, I'm not Kira."

My eyes narrowed in response to his feeble attempts to protest. I had seen Light in his truest guise, and this wasn't it. This was a man reaching desperately for his innocence and good name, and it was wrong. There was no arrogance and little composure in this Light Yagami.

"This is just cruel," Aizawa remarked with full disapproval. "I don't care if he is a suspect, Light still has a right to know that criminals are being killed again."

I turned my glare to the large haired investigator, displeased with how easily he gave in to his ideals. Perhaps that was another difference between our people and the rest of the world. The only ideal we truly believed in was justice.

"Amane," L spoke into the third microphone. "Are you okay? You seem tired."

"Is that supposed to be funny?" the blonde responded weakly. "How are you expecting me to look after being tied up and questioned for this many days?"

"Heh, that's true," L's amusement came through in his casual response to the downtrodden girl's bold attitude in her weakened state.

"Please, let me go. I want to see Light," her feeble, whimpering voice made my disdain rise. "Please. Light. Let me…"

To say it simply, I was disgusted. Not with our methods, no, those I had no qualms with. It wasn't even Misa Amane's desperation to see Light. No. What revolted me was watching these two shrewd, manipulative creatures groveling like the utterly mundane. Broken? No, that wasn't the word. We hadn't broken them because they weren't quite the suspects we had apprehended.

Matsuda reacted at the pitiful broadcast uneasily, "I'm not sure how much more of this the three of them can take."

"Ryuzaki," Aizawa lashed out sternly, "you have no reason to keep Light locked up anymore. Do the right thing and let him go. Then, we can get the chief out, too."

I sighed and threw the ball in my hand at the hot headed man. Matsuda gasped at my insolent response to the man's reasoning. Aizawa turned his angry gaze to me, and I shrugged casually, "You police officers. My god, you're all the same. So fixated on protecting your own and playing by the rules. Don't tell me you're giving in so easily."

I was getting so sick of this routine. Perhaps I had become impatient during my leave from Wammy's, or perhaps my frustrations simply manifested more easily than L's.

"Criminals are still being killed even though Misa and Light haven't had access to any of that information," Aizawa continued, his voice even, clipped, and angry. "We know that much already, so what are you waiting for?"

"Not true," L objected neutrally, "all we really know at this point is that Amane harbors an unnaturally strong devotion for Light Yagami."

"Don't you mean unhealthily?" I pondered, turning my attention to the porcupine-like man in the chair.

"Well, I suppose that's just as fitting," L mused without looking up.

"Ryuzaki," Aizawa's firm, scolding voice sounded again, "I'm sorry, but with all due respect, from where I'm standing, it's starting to look like you're only doing this because you don't want to admit that you were wrong about Light."

I began to laugh. Not so much out of amusement, but out of a sense of awareness that the officer lacked. I knew myself, and I knew L. To be accused of being wrong by someone so ordinary, well, I found it outrageous.

"Yes," L responded evenly, "I figured you'd say that."

Muffling my giggles, I glanced over my shoulder at Aizawa, making note of the stunned expression he wore in reaction to our combined, odd responses. His brows drew together as surprise morphed into anger and offense, "Okay, fine! But we do know that Kira killed Lind L. Taylor and those FBI agents, right? As Light said if Kira could kill while under surveillance and without access to information, there would have been no need. If they didn't pose a threat to him, then why would he bother killing them? Kira doesn't kill without good reason. I've heard you say so yourself on more than one occasion."

"Oh, I see," Matsuda said as he comprehended Aizawa's rant, "if he was able to kill under these circumstances, then he wouldn't have been concerned about those FBI agents in the first place."

I giggled agains and glanced at Matsuda, not out of any curiosity or particular interest, but simply because I knew what he saw. The languid, almost predatory slyness that struck illicited uncertainty in anyone who was so unfortunate to be the object of focus. "You mean to tell me that you've never hunted a criminal capable of learning and growing confident?"

"It's already been fifty days," Aizawa continued. "There's no point to this anymore. Ryuzaki, it's time to start looking for the real Kira."

Silence blanketed the four of us in the room. I wondered if Aizawa's reaction was what Light wanted, if it was planned. Knowing the mastermind behind the Kira killings, it was almost guaranteed. It was an airtight alibi, and I might have been impressed if I wasn't watching the footage of the inert suspects. Shifting my attention to L, I saw his finger reach for the remnants of the pudding Watari had prepared for him.

"On each square centieter of your skin there are about fifteen hundred bacterium," I informed the detective. His hand hovered over the dish before moving to rest on his knee.

"Yes," L said, responding more to Aizawa than myself, "I understand." He pressed the button on the chief's microphone and spoke, "Mr. Yagami."

"Yes? What is it?"

"Would you be willing to come to headquarters just once? I'd like to discuss my thoughts with you, but it must be done in person. However, above all else, I need to talk to you as Light's father."

Mr. Yagami raised his head slightly, shifting to look straight into the camera, "Alright, I'll come." With the man's consent, L instructed Watari to retrieve the chief.

I watched the other two camera feeds, noticing that Light still hadn't moved from his position on the floor. Then, there was Misa Amane, the girl who wouldn't give anything away no matter how aggressively I attacked her emotions, with her head hung low so that her hair cascaded and concealed her face. It came to me, in that moment, why I was so frustrated in the situation. The reason I was so overwhelmingly disgusted with Light Yagami and Misa Amane was simply because they had become weak.

Laughter. Again. As if B was watching from heaven or hell or whatever great beyond there was after death and mocking me for being so much like him.

{E.B.}

"You've been awfully testy," L commented when we were alone. I lifted my arm from my face and sat up on the couch from where I had been laying silently. "Don't tell me this case is getting to you."

"Hmm?" I hummed inquisitively at his implication, "You think I'm getting all worked up because things have gotten a bit difficult? You know that we don't get like that." Negligent. It was a word that didn't exist in the Wammy's kids' vocabulary. The moment we let those emotions slip, we're no better than the rest of them. Feel, as much as we possibly could, but never let that humanity interfere with the case. "You're the brilliant one here, I'm sure you already know why my patience is wearing thin." I glanced at him and found the exact expression I expected him to make, so knowing and unembarrassed. The corner of my mouth turned up in a smirk, a less blank reflection of the same descriptions I had just used to characterize L.

"Yes," L confirmed quickly, "well, you've been different lately." I supposed it was true. I was different, growing more and more volatile with the disappearance of those Kira characteristics in our suspects. The officers on our task force considered it a manifestation of my displeasure with this regression in our case, but L thought it was something else. Those fleeting glances he cast my way when he thought I wasn't watching gave him away. He was suspicious, and it had nothing to do with Kira.

"You can say it, you know," I informed him, rolling onto my stomach to face him evenly. If I were being honest, I'd admit that I didn't even know where all of this was coming from. The playfulness, the ambiguity. It was so unlike this person I had become. The one who the Task Force had come to know.

"You're acting like B," L stated, his regularly neutral tone carried the slightest trace of concern.

I sighed, heavily, dramatically, and I honestly didn't know why I kept up the demeanor. "I suppose you're right." I locked eyes with him, staring into that inky blackness, searching for something. Some kind of emotion or opinion. Disgust or maybe even fear, but I didn't find it in those muted depths. "Does it frighten you that I might become like him?"

I resisted the urge to smile with the nostalgic feeling this conversation illicited. It was so much like that night when L confronted me about my nightmares. How long ago was that? It felt like ages. So much had changed, but simultaneously, nothing had changed. I recall thinking so poorly about my brother the serial killer. The man who had become unhinged by the pressure of Wammy's House, but now, knowing what I hadn't known then, perhaps I was looking at my brother in a different light.

"Yes," L replied honestly, surprising me and inciting my curiosity. "I've grown quite fond of you the way you are, Everest. If you were to develop a personality more akin to BB, I'm afraid I wouldn't quite know what to do with you. In fact, I dare say you'd be a more formidable opponent than BB."

I understood his implication. What was it he had said back then? 'You're much too serious, Everest.' Perhaps he saw the potential for what I could become if I were more like Beyond. Inquisitive without remorse, just like B. Straightforward, unyielding, and, in a word, dangerous. There would be no chase or game. It would be complex in its simplicity and simple in its complexity. "But…?" I pressed, recognizing that the detective's thoughts on the subject didn't end there.

"But," he repeated, "you would also be the most beneficial asset in our arsenal. A madwoman understanding the other side more perfectly than anyone ever could. A set of eyes and a mind more receptive to nuances the rest of us could ever perceive."

"Is that why you keep me around?" I teased, lightening the increasingly heavy tone of our discussion.

{E.B.}

"No," L responded evenly. He resisted the urge to shift under the woman's intensely blue gaze. It was an odd sensation, a compulsion to both flee and endure. He recalled B's gaze, a deeper, darker blue, it possessed the same strange quality, but somehow, Everest's electrifying shade only amplified the reaction.

There were many reasons why L bore with E's presence, but none of them had to do with any chance of madness within her. By that light in her eye, he recognized that she already knew the answer to her own question. He decided to keep an eye on her in that moment, an attempt to appease the discomfort gnawing at his stomach every time he caught that nasty glint in her eye. At this point, L knew she wasn't Kira, but it never harmed anyone to proceed with caution.

Almost as soon as he had made that decision, the weighty atmosphere surrounding her cleared, and she smiled at him. He couldn't fight the widening of his eyes as she smiled so sweetly that her blue eyes closed pleasantly, delicate features framed by loose chocolate locks. It was so much like that moment, an image he had nearly forgotten from years ago of a girl with short brown hair and bright blue eyes thanking him for a cone of cherry ice cream.

"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," she laughed so genuinely that L almost believed that there was no cause for concern. Just like that, they had fallen back to their usual rhythm.

"I disagree," he objected, "I've been nice to you before." He cleared his throat, weighing the consequences of his next actions. L concluded that excusing himself was the best course of action, avoiding more of this odd woman's shifts in mood and increasing his productivity. "Time to meet Mr. Yagami. We'll go over the plan after."

She yawned and stretched, rolling onto her side so that her back was to him, "Take your time. I don't want to be woken up too soon."

With that, L shuffled away, thinking all the while about his plans concerning Light Yagami and Misa Amane.

{E.B.}

A picture frame had gotten into my hands somehow. I recognized the children immediately by their contrasting blue eyes. They were carried by two grown figures, a man and a woman. It seemed as if I couldn't quite focus on the woman's face. Every time I scrutinized her features, my eyes slid over them. The man, on the other hand, stood out. His features bore no resemblance to the children. Fair haired and dark eyed, he seemed out of place.

"Good picture, right?" Beyond asked, appearing on a sofa that hadn't been there before.

"We don't have any family pictures," I stated factually. Everything was lost when we were orphaned, and even then, we had personally hunted down any remnants of our life before Wammy's and disposed of it.

Beyond rolled his eyes, "Since when is anything here true to your life out there?" He had a point. "You spoke to the shinigami," he stated, and the scene around us transformed to the very rooftop where I questioned Ryuk.

"It didn't do any good," I bit out. Ryuk had provided me with such little to go on. The chance that we weren't entirely human or that we had picked up the eyes somehow. My grip on the picture frame tightened.

"There, there," Beyond soothed, but his tone lacked the comforting quality necessary to be taken seriously. "You've been doing such a good job, Essie. Think about what we've been doing here. Come on, little sister. Put that Birthday brain to work."

I ignored his condescending tone but took the advice to heart. What had we been doing here? These dreams. What was constant about them? Beyond, obviously. I observed the figment of supernatural intervention. He sat with his legs drawn up and jam on his fingers, suckling the sticky substance as he watched with anticipation. What else? Shinigami. Everything went back to the unearthly gods of death – Kira, my dreams, even my own family.

Family. Childhood. Everything, or at least almost everything, in my dreams seemed to be shaped by our experiences. The scenes reflected locations one of us or the other had visited at some point. I looked back down at the picture frame in my hand.

Everything went back to the shinigami.

Slowly, a dark shape appeared between the woman and the man. Winged, hunchbacked, mismatched eyes, and a wickedly wide grin. It appeared as nothing but a shadow, blurred and dark against the background.

"Impossible," I protested at the trail of thought Beyond led me down. "Shinigami don't reproduce." I repeated what Ryuk had told me.

"How could you know for sure?" Beyond challenged. How? There was no way. Everything we had known before Wammy's was gone. The house, the material things, and even the memories were so faded that I couldn't trust all of them. Even if there was some kind of evidence somewhere, who was there to confirm the theory?

Ryuk? A shinigami who had disappeared around the same time Light's eyes had regained some of that child-like innocence and served under the serial killer simply out of boredom. Mr. Wammy? He hadn't mentioned such a thing so far, and there was nothing to suggest that he would believe such an outrageous suggestion. L? The detective whose arms had flown up as soon as the concept of shinigami had entered this investigation. No, there wasn't a single person or creature who I could go to about this. Except, maybe, the strange ghost haunting my dreams.

Do you know something? I wanted to ask it, but I knew my brother, and even if I asked, he wouldn't answer. He never seemed to do that. This was a game to him, just like everything else, and he reveled in my participation in the challenge. It was what he always wanted, to be the extreme control freak L could never be. In death, he had achieved that.

"Perhaps you should be thanking Kira," I thought aloud.

If my words bothered him, Beyond gave no indication that they did. "Why is that?"

"In killing you," I elaborated, "he introduced you to a toy you had never had before."

His lips curled up in a smile, the same eerie little smile that graced L's features every so often, "And what would that be?"

As if he didn't already know. The one thing that L would never be able to touch. The strings that nobody else would ever be able to pull. Beyond had done it. He had achieved what every psychotic criminal and deluded mastermind craved.

"Fate."

A/N... Thank you so much for your support! Please continue to review and follow this story, I enjoy seeing your reactions and predictions. I'm so excited for what's coming up.

I realized that previous chapters don't emphasize double spaces that I used to indicate scene and POV shifts, but since I'm still in the process of writing, I'm planning to correct those once this story is completed.

Happy reading!