Here's the first epilogue, as promised, I'll do the second when I get home from school tomorrow.

Quick-quote: 'He stopped at Alpha's room first and looked in. It didn't seem she had left much, but she really hadn't had much to begin with. A few band tees, some tattered blue jeans, maybe a leather vest or two, and those fingerless leather gloves she always wore. The computer had belonged to The Wammy's House in the first place, so it would have been theft if she had taken it (and he was still honestly a bit surprised it was still there).'

L was halfway happy to arrive back at the orphanage. He generally was put in a good mood after solving a case, and he did consider the place as something of a home. He wasn't sure why he did, but he did well enough. He had lived there his entire life, but he really hadn't enjoyed it until he was around fourteen, maybe fifteen. Having had no real "friends" until around then, it was impossible to like or dislike the place. And as he entered the front door and had enough time to give it a quick look around before being practically attacked by midgets, he did feel quite happy to be there.

Strange enough, though, was the fact that there were definitely at least two missing midgets. There was no blond eating chocolate, swearing like a sailor. There was no redhead in orange goggles with a GameBoy glued to his hands. They were almost always the first to tackle him and Watari when they entered the doors. Something strange was going on, something just strange enough to flip his mind instantaneously back into detective mode. After giving a quick and vague hello to the crowd of children, he moved quickly towards Roger's office and opened the door abruptly. The old man sitting behind the desk gave a jump and looked up from his computer.

"Ah, good to see you're here L," he said, sounding a bit offhand. "And Watari, sir, nice to see you're back for a visit. How did the case go?"

"Fine," said L.

"Is Mello feeling a bit under the weather?" asked Watari, saving L the trouble. "We missed his regular rather enthusiastic greeting."

"I suppose you could say he's feeling 'under the weather,' yes. He certainly has come down with a cold, but that normally doesn't keep him down for more than an hour. Of course, he's generally faking it so he can miss classes, but I suppose that's besides the point. That's… very much besides the point. Y– you see, this morning, there was a bit of an issue."

"Oh?" said Watari, taking a seat in a chair in front of the desk. L sat down in his usual manner, pulling his legs up to his chest, in the other chair, and peered at Roger suspiciously from over his knees. "Do tell. I'll be happy to sort it out if you've failed to, Roger."

"No, no, it's nothing involving the children," he said. "Not – not exactly, anyway. It seems…" He paused and gave a heavy sigh, wringing his hands on top of his desk. "It seems we're missing someone."

"Who?" asked L.

"Er – apparently, according to Mello's version of things, B has been causing problems lately, made Alpha think she was in danger. Nevertheless, she didn't come downstairs to work this morning, and I found her room empty with a rope going out the window, tied to the leg of her bed. She left a few of her things, which Mello claims he will hold onto until he can see her again. He won't tell us where she's gone to, and I question whether or not I can believe whether or not she was actually afraid enough of B for him to have been the reason for her to have gone."

L stopped chewing his thumbnail when Roger finished. However, Watari beat him to asking the first question.

"Had she showed no signs of being discontented at all before she apparently ran off?"

"Er… none that I really noticed."

Not that you'd notice if there was a kick me sign taped to your back, L thought to himself, resuming chewing on his thumb to keep him from saying something so inappropriate. So B was bothering her that badly? I didn't think… then again, he drove A to suicide, what if she only left to – no, that wasn't her style at all. A was unstable to begin with; Alpha was a bit too… something to do anything that stupid. I figured she would leave eventually, but not without telling anyone…. I wonder if she talked to Mello first.

"Is Mello in his room?" asked L.

"Wh – yes, I believe so. I think Matt is as well, no doubt playing videogames," Roger said. "I honestly don't know how that boy ever – where are you going?"

"Upstairs," said L, before leaving the room. And he did head upstairs. He stopped at Alpha's room first and looked in. It didn't seem she had left much, but she really hadn't had much to begin with. A few band tees, some tattered blue jeans, maybe a leather vest or two, and those fingerless leather gloves she always wore. The computer had belonged to The Wammy's House in the first place, so it would have been theft if she had taken it (and he was still honestly a bit surprised it was still there). He knew she had a tendency to hide things between her box spring for her bed and her mattress. Though he felt a bit nosy for doing so, she might have left some clue as to why she left if he checked under it. However, when he lifted the mattress, he found nothing. She hadn't left anything. That wasn't much of a help.

He left her room and continued down the hall to Matt and Mello's shared room. Matt apparently hadn't been woken up by Mello that morning, as he was asleep on the floor in front of his television, on which the words "Game Over" could be seen in large letters. Mello sat up on his bed when he spotted L, sneezed and said "L!" loud enough to wake Matt up.

The first thing that seemed out of place that L noticed was the rosary around his neck – that had been Alpha's, and she had never taken it off. That meant he had definitely spoken with her. Mello looked down at it himself when he saw that L had noticed, and he looked back up.

"She left," he said, maneuvering himself so his legs were hanging off the side of his bed. "She was afraid of B. He stood outside her door for an hour before she left, and I only just managed to sneak past him. He had a knife and everything, he wasn't joking at all."

"Do you know why?" asked L. Mello shook his head no.

"She never told me why. I don't think she wanted anyone to know anything. I think she might have known something about him or something. She gave me this, though," he said, holding up her old rosary. "I followed her outside and tried to talk her into staying, but she said she couldn't. I told Roger everything, but I don't think the old bastard believed me," said Mello in annoyance. Then he sneezed again, and sniffed. "It was raining last night. I think I have pneumonia," he said miserably.

Mello always had been one for melodrama…. "He didn't seemed to have believed you," said L.

"Do you?"

"Yes."

"Good!" said Mello indignantly. "Then tell that crazy old shite 'ead that, he's been getting on my nerves about it already like he thinks it's my fault! What's his problem anyway?"

L managed to assure Mello he would talk Roger into believing it, and he was allowed to head back into Roger's office. Roger was alone now, as Watari had apparently either gone off to greet others or head to his office and make sure all of the work that needed to be done in his absence had been managed efficiently. Roger looked up when L entered. "I take it you talked to Mello, then?"

"Yes," said L, taking a seat in the office, "and I believe his side of things. Everything he said sounded exactly like something B would do to get rid of someone he thought of to be in his way. He drove A to suicide, you were there for that and all the controversy it brought up when the news was alerted. You know just as well as I do what B is capable of."

"Yes," said Roger, "and I suppose Mello could be telling the truth, he just has a tendency to exaggerate things a bit. Do you honestly believe that B stood outside her door with a knife for an hour last night? I find that a little farfetched."

"Roger, listen to me," he said. "I profile serial killers as a job. I profile them and hunt them. If someone had told me about B when he was six without mentioning any names or ages, just told me about what he acts like around others and what his quirks are, I'd have said he was insane and needed to be kept away from all other humans. B isn't sane, and he's definitely mad enough to kill. I've never understood why no one keeps a better eye on him than is already kept on him."

"Do you really think…?" Roger said worriedly, trailing off. "Then I suppose we will have to keep a better eye on him. We can't have this happening again with any of the others. Alpha's a huge loss as it is, she was definitely intelligent enough."

"Then make sure you keep a watch on him," said L, standing. "The next ones he would target would be Mello and Near. I'd say that, given enough time and torment from B, Near would turn out like A and Mello would turn out like Alpha. It's as you said, we can't have this happening again."

"You're completely right, L."

L left the office to go sit on the sofa and take all the usual questions about his last case. It seemed stranger than usual without Alpha's constant sarcastic remarks and Mello's incessant swearing (which was generally followed by Alpha yelling the word 'language' at him). He supposed he would just have to get used to that. After all, there was really no point in looking for her, even if she had only left the previous night.

All there was to do was to wonder where, and exactly why. It was B, of course, but what exactly had he done? It wasn't like he would answer, so that was bound to remain a mystery until he discovered Alpha's whereabouts. That could take years, though. If Alpha Epsilon didn't want to be found, then she wouldn't be found.