"L, we have a problem," Matt announced as they walked into the room, eyes wide and game still hanging loosely in his hand. L looked up, eyebrows raised; only to blink in surprise as Light Yagami was literally pushed into the hotel room by an enraged Mello.

Near, who had been stacking dice, froze, looking from Mello to Light. His eyes flickered over to L, only to see his mentor still blinking as he took in the situation. "Sit down," Mello growled, pushing against Light once again.

Light merely shot the younger boy an annoyed glanced before turning his eyes to L. He stared and began to slowly shake his head. "I didn't think…I wasn't going to… I'm sorry."

Mello slammed the door shut and turned furious eyes to Yagami. "No, you do not get to talk to him. Not after-"

"Yagami Light. I suppose you are here for a reason," L commented, turning his attention to Light fully, his thumb coming up to rest against his mouth.

Light hesitated a moment before slowly moving further into the room. He sank onto the sofa slowly and let his eyes wander around the room. The passed blankly over Matt, narrowing at Mello, and coming to hard stop on Near. Near shifted uncomfortably, not sure why the other boy was looking at him the way he was.

Mello stomped forward in anger and stood in front of the youngest in the room. He gave Light a heated glare as he crossed his arms over his chest. Light shook his head in response and shifted his eyes back toward L. "Do all of you remember or is it just Mello?"

"Mello came to me with a very strange tale a few days ago. Despite the uniqueness, I believed he was telling the truth and moved him, along with Matt and Near, to Japan to see if we could prevent the outcome Mello had lived."

"I was in…there was darkness. Constant darkness," Light said, his eyes staring off at something the rest couldn't see. Mello jolted slightly at the words. Wasn't that how he had described it? "Then I woke up. Before I had found the Death Note. Before I…"

"Considering the circumstances, I no longer have any doubt of Mello's tale. However, I believe you would have more information that Mello as he died before the end. You were speaking of darkness. I believe that means you were also killed?"

Light nodded once, sharply, turning his eyes back to Near. Mello moved to the younger boy's side, wanting to be close in case Yagami tried anything. But the older boy just spoke. Told them about the meeting, about Near proving he was Kira, about Mello's plan helping Near defeat Kira once and for all.

"Hmm," L muttered, thumb pressed against his lip once again. "You did not go to school for a few days. Why not?"

"I was making plans. Figuring out what to do with the Death Note –"

"You mean how to kill us before we can get to you?" Mello hissed. He stepped forward angrily and made sure he was standing in front of Near once again. Mello felt Near grip the back of Mello's pants and tug slightly. He wanted him to move, probably so he could see. Mello was not going to do so. Near being able to see Yagami also meant that Yagami could see him. So no. near would just have to deal with it. "You already know our names."

"No, that is not it," L said, staring unblinkingly at the young man in front of him. "If Kira wanted to kill us, he would have grabbed the Death Note and written our names down before we knew what was happening. As you said, Mello, he is already aware of our names. But he was unaware that we already knew of the situation. So what were you planning, Yagami Light?"

"How to stop it," Light admitted, staring back at L and no longer acknowledging the others in the room, "once you use a Death Note, it… you grow somewhat dependent. I am no longer Kira," he winced at the title, "I was going to get the Death Note and destroy it before anyone else could get it."

"And yet, here you are. Both of you," L looked from Light to Mello.

"I got distracted," Light muttered, not looking at L as he did so. "I saw Mello and forgot - just for a moment – and it was gone."

L let out a sigh, "So now we know the Death Note exists but we no longer know who possess it and what they will do with it. So, essentially, the information you brought to us is no longer useful," he said, looking at Mello and Light.

Near took the timeline Mello had created and folded it up, moving it to the center of his dice creation. Mello cringed but allowed the boy to do so. L was right – they no longer had the upper hand.

"The new Kira does not know about us or about the fact that we know what the Death Note can do," Near said softly, one hand coming up to twirl a strand of hair as his other continued to stack. "We should continue to monitor the situation."

"I can help," Light offered, his eyes once again fixated on L. Matt turned to look at Mello, waiting for the explosion he knew his best friend would cause. But Mello just continued to stand there, his eyes flickering from Light to L and back again. Near had stopped twirling his hair to hold onto Mello's pant leg once again, this time not tugging. He just…held on.

"According to Mello's notes, and my own research, you are very intelligent and we seemed to work well tougher before – until you had me killed, of course," L commented, turning back to his computer and missing the flinch that overtook Light's face. "I would not be opposed to your help, though I will be monitoring you closely."

A small smile flashed across Light's face, "Been through that before… though I trust the handcuffs won't be necessary this time."

"Kinky," Matt muttered.

"You cannot be serious!" Mello finally snapped, moving forward to tear out of Near's grasp. Near slowly moved his hand back up to his hair as his dark eyes fixed themselves on Mello. Mello's entire body was shaking. He had spent years chasing down Yagami, trying to make him pay for L's death. He had died doing so. And L was just going to forgive it all? "This guy is a psychopath! He killed-"

"If I remember correctly, you did as well," L said emotionlessly, typing away at his keyboard. "Not only did you use a Death Note to kill, you also did so during your time with the Mafia."

Mello's hands clenched at his sides. "It wasn't the same thing!"

"The taskforce Near composed was in your way and you wrote their names in the Death Note – I do not see how that is different than what Yagami has done."

He had to get out of there. If he didn't he would do something he would regret.

It was just lucky he was no longer wearing a gun.

Mello turned on his heel and stormed into the room he, Matt, and Near were currently sharing and slammed the door closed behind him. He grabbed a lamp sitting on the small table and threw it against the wall, watching in satisfaction as it shattered into pieces and rained down onto the floor.

The door slowly opened and Mello turned to yell at Matt, to tell him to get out… only it wasn't Matt. "Near?" He asked, shocked out of his anger when he saw the head of white hair.

Near looked at the broken lamp but slowly continued to move forward into the room. Mello noticed immediately that the younger boy, as usual, wasn't wearing shoes. He let out a curse and took a few steps forward to lift the smaller boy and toss him onto the bed. Near let out a small gasp, not used to being touched, before Mello let go of him and he curled up on the bed.

"What are you doing in here?" Mello muttered, crouching down to pick up the bigger pieces of the lamp. It would be just his luck that Near would step on something and hurt himself. And he would be blamed for it. He made a mental note to as Wammy to get a vacuum of some sort.

"Mello needs to think. It is better if Light is here where L can watch him."

"Didn't help L last time," Mello snapped, turning furious eyes onto the other boy as his earlier anger began to burn.

Near nodded as he twirled his hair once again. "This time we will also be watching him. From Light's reaction to L, I believe they had been…friends. Or as close as Kira could be to L. Light is not Kira. Not at this point in time. If he is here, we can make sure it stays that way. Mello should be able to pick up on any changes in Lights character. Should be able to notice if Light begins to act like he did before."

Mello let out a sigh, knowing the other boy was right. Of course he was. It was Near, he was always right. Tossing the broken pieces into the trash bin, Mello moved to sit beside him on the bed. "I don't trust him. I can't trust him."

"Then do not," Near said simply, letting his fingers slip out of his hair. He hesitated for a brief moment before slowly reaching up to grasp a piece of Mello's. Mello didn't move, unable to comprehend what was happening. He couldn't remember a time when Near had voluntarily touched him. Near slowly began twirling Mello's hair between his fingers, like he often did with his own. "Watch him. And, if Mello believes something is wrong, I will trust Mello."