Authors Note: HEYO! XD Please tell me what you think; I would love to know XD I own nothing and no one apart from the following: Andrew Harrison

JUST SO YOU KNOW: I have taken creative liberties with middle names, so please take that into consideration. Also, I've only seen the Anime and have only JUST started the Manga.

This is my FIRST Death Note fic, so I suppose you could say I'm new to the Fandom! Also, I live in England, I don't know Japanese, so any Japanese I use in this story I get from Google Translate XD

Please review XD

P.S. This is an AU - Light was never Kira, but still helped during the investigation; obviously, Light and L did not die; the Kira case took 1 year to clear up, not (about) 7; set in 2016. I apologise for OOCness, but it IS an AU ;)

Chapter 4

L

"To this day, Matt still plays that game. He says he doesn't care, but if he didn't then he would have gotten rid of the game years ago." I told Light. "It's the only thing he has left of his parents... Even if he doesn't remember them."

It was hard for Light. I could tell from the tension in his entire body. He was always angered when hearing about any neglected child, any abused person... But they were always people he didn't know. The boys - the boys he knew. He Light may not have met or spoken to them, not yet, but he knew the boys.

"For the first couple of months, Matt wouldn't go anywhere near anyone that wasn't Watari, Mello or myself..." I smiled. "He was very unsure, not used to being around a lot of people. As soon as it hit month three, he was running around and talking to everyone he saw."

That helped.

I watched as Light relaxed slightly, laughing along lightly. He placed his cup down on the coffee table, brining his arm up so he could rest his elbow on his knee, his chin in his hand.

"Matt still tries to downplay it, though. He's constantly tell us to stop worrying about him, that what he went through was nothing." I sighed. "He forgets that, just because it wasn't the same exact thing someone else went through, it was still a horrible thing for him. Especially at that age. We still have to remind him of that..."

I felt Light squeeze the hand that I still had placed on his. He, of all people other than Watari, knew just how much I cared for my boys. Those boys had been the only ones that kept me going for a long time.

The three of them reconnected me with the world.

Light knew what they meant to me.

"So Near was the last?" Light asked.

"Yes. And the youngest." I said, staring down at the sofa cushions. "He had it the hardest.

Sighing I began my recount:

"Watari brought Near to the house a few months after Matt..."

Monday, July 9th 2007

It was a miserable summer day. Rain was pelting the road outside, the sky was a dark grey... It was a typical, English summer.

Mail had settled in the house, able to just go up to anyone and speak to them... He was still learning how to interact with others, especially those his own age, same as Mihael, but he was doing better than fine. Mail was the reason Mihael had managed to speak to some of the others in the house, making acquaintances.

It was strange, but I felt proud.

Why did I feel proud? I didn't understand why I felt like that. I had known Mihael for seven months, Mail for four - was that enough time to create such a bond with two small children? Watari kept telling me that, one day, it would click; one day I would understand what this connection was. He just smiled, a knowing glint in his eyes.

Was it that obvious? Was the reason so obvious?

Sighing, I raised my right hand, biting the edge of my thumb. I didn't like not knowing. Not knowing meant I was put at a disadvantage. It meant I was a step behind, instead of a step ahead.

"What's wrong, L?" Mail giggled, jumping onto the sofa next to me, his arms wrapping around my neck.

"Yeah, you look all sad." Mihael chimed, copying Mail's actions on my other side.

"What do you mean?" I frowned. "I am fine."

I watched as the boys leaned around to peer at each other, giving the other a questioning look.

"Well, that's a lie." Mihael sighed. "We know your sad."

"Is it because Wammy isn't back yet?" Mail asked.

Watari was, yet again, out to bring back another child. He had left early in the morning, running through the house as if he was on fire...

It was a bad one.

I had never seen Watari in such a state before. I had never seen him so fearful before... He had left without a word, slamming open every door he went through. The entire house was awake before he had even left, all the children hiding along the stairs as they watched Watari.

We all watched as he charged his way around, barking into his mobile phone, yelling for people to 'get there already!'

No one had seen Watari like that before.

I couldn't even imagine what was going on. I didn't want to imagine what was going on. I just hoped that Watari had gotten there in time...

(Small time skip)

The two boys ended up, somehow, getting me to play a game with them. What game did they want to play?

Detective.

They loved it, they loved the idea behind it. They loved being able to put the bad guys away. It pleased me that that was the path they had chosen, instead of spiralling out of control and following in the footsteps of those that did them wrong.

It was a game that they always seemed to get me to play. I would let them use empty case files, the two boys placing paper with different coloured squiggles inside them. I would set up 'crime scenes' in one of their rooms or, if possible, the living room. I would create characters for their victims and suspects. I would set up little clues for them, leading them to who they had been looking for.

They got it right every time.

Yes, it would take them a while, sometimes a couple of hours. But they would get it right in the end.

It made me think that, maybe, one or both of the boys could take over from me, if that time ever came. I had never thought that before. I had never thought someone could take my place in the future. I never thought I'd find anyone close to me.

These two boys proved me wrong.

"It was the baker! It was the baker!"

Yes, with some training, they could do great things.

(Small time skip)

The sun was starting to set by the time Watari made an appearance. I only heard one set of footsteps walking in, only his footsteps. I felt everything inside me crumble apart. I knew how hard it was for Watari. He had told me about children before I was even created. I knew how much it destroyed him when-

Crying.

Screaming.

Pure terror.

It wasn't the same as when Mihael first came to the house. It wasn't the same kind of sound. This was younger. Far younger. The kind of sound you expected to come from a distressed baby.

I couldn't remember a time I had moved so fast to get to that doorway.

I heard the boys following behind me; I heard the two whispering, worried. I saw some of the adults, some of the other kids, appearing on the stairs or in the hall. I saw them all just standing there staring.

Whipping my head to the side, I found an exhausted Watari, trying to calm down a small boy. His white hair was filthy, his grey eyes bloodshot. His clothes - dirty pyjamas - were a little too big for him, drowning him completely in fabric.

The boy couldn't be older than three, no younger than two.

The boy struggled against my guardian, everything just seeming to distress him more. I couldn't blame him.

What made it worse? Andrew Harrison, the person everyone hated, decided to get involved. He practically grabbed the young boy from Watari, holding the kid in front of his face, glaring. He yelled over the boy's crying, only managing to scare the poor kid even more.

That was when I had to step in.

I stormed right up to Harrison, carefully taking to boy from his alarmingly tight grip. The moment he tried to protest, my foot collided with his chest, sending the obnoxious man into the wall behind him.

I huddled the young child close; one arm keeping him up, whilst my other moved so my hand could rest on the back of his head. He was still crying, of course he was, it just didn't sound as distressed as before. His small hands fisted in the fabric of my shirt, as he buried his face in the juncture of my neck.

"No one touches the boy." I growled out, keeping my eyes trained on Harrison, who was now surrounded by other staff members. "Or you will have to deal with me."

(Small time skip)

Mihael, Mail and I sat quietly in the living room with the child, who's name, I had learned, was Nathan.

Nathan was still sniffling, his thumb in his mouth as he shuffled as close to me as he could. I had wrapped him in one of the blankets we had in the room, a small and empty plastic cup of hot chocolate sitting on the coffee table.

Mihael and Mail kept glancing at the boy, worriedly. I thought, maybe, on some level, they had some idea of what had happened to Nathan. Or, at least, knew it was something bad.

Everyone was avoiding the room. They seemed to be taking my threat seriously, just as they should. Why should they be allowed to terrify a little kid, even if they didn't mean it? No. No one was going to do that to Nathan. No one was going to do anything to any of the three boys. I didn't care if I had become their keeper, I would make sure no one hurt them. That was my decision.

I wrapped the arm that wasn't around Nathan around Mihael and Mail. The two of them pulled themselves closer to my side, careful not to move to fast and scare Nathan.

I held the three boys tight to me, careful not to hurt them with the hold.

When it was time for the boys to go to bed, Mihael and Mail took care of themselves, after hugging me and saying goodnight to Nathan. I carried the boy into the room on the other side of Mihael's.

I placed the boy on the bed, pulling the duvet over him. He already looked so exhausted.

"If you need me, I'm in the room opposite this one." I told him, gently. "Or I'll be downstairs. Mihael is in the room next to you, Mail in the room on the other side of his. Alright?"

Nathan nodded, twirling a lock of hair around his right index finger. That was all he could do before his eyes slid closed.

(Small time skip)

Meeting Watari in his office, I noticed how the man had already changed into his night clothes. Not that I blamed him.

His knuckles were bruised.

There was still a trace of dried blood in his hair.

Broken glasses lay in the bin next to his desk.

He had a black eye.

It wasn't often Watari fought against someone. Only when the situation called for it, when there was no other option, did he fight. I could feel my heart pounding before either of us had done anything.

Instead of sitting down, I walked straight over to my father figure, coming up to him and hugged him. At that moment, before he said anything, that was what bother of us needed. We both needed that hug, just Watari more than me, at that moment.

Instead of sitting at his desk, Watari and I moved over to the small sofa he had. He was still hugging me, almost unwilling to let go. I didn't mind.

"Nathan suffered a lot. Much like Mihael, he was beaten. Verbally abused, mentally and emotionally as well." Watari told me. "I wanted to get him out before anything more happened."

I nodded.

"His parents would buy him things - toys and games - to buy his silence. Nathan would believe, for a short time, that he was loved. Then they would hurt him again." Watari sighed. "I had someone watching the house. I thought we would be able to get Nathan out without any hassle today... Then I had the call saying Nathan's father had some...friends at his house."

I didn't like where the story was going.

"Getting to the house, I didn't stay downstairs long enough to see what was going on. I left those I took with me to deal with everyone down there. I went straight to Nathan's room to get him." Watari coughed. "A friend of Nathan's father was in the room when I went in. I found the man trying to undress the boy. So, obviously, I took matters into my own hands. I may have hit him more than deemed necessary."

Hugging Watari closer, I felt my jaw lock.

"Please tell me they've all been dealt with." I muttered, feeling the burn in my throat.

"They have. Of course they have." Watari whispered. "None of them will be free anytime soon."

P.S. This is an AU - Light was never Kira, but still helped during the investigation; obviously, Light and L did not die; the Kira case took 1 year to clear up, not (about) 7; set in 2016. I apologise for OOCness, but it IS an AU ;)

Please review XD

Thanks XD