AN:

Thank you so much for the reviews, Guest (there was two and I'm not sure whether it's the same person or not but) ^_^

I knew I said this chapter would be ahead of schedule but basically I'm just being extremely lazy to write in my spare time, there's so much going on in our school all of next week I've got like 5 tests one of them being maths :O and since next year will be my last year in school, well you know. But enough of excuses!

First off, thank you to FireWolfAbianvi for following :)

How to read:

In this chapter the FBI agent John Mackenroe has been sent to Japan a couple of days earlier. This is mainly from Nears point of view (general) but I actually found it really hard to write this chapter because I needed to lay out so many characters thoughts, and as I've said before thoughts are always in italics. Again a lot of scenes in the anime are in this but PLEASE don't skip them. Also I realized I was spelling Gevanni's name wrong (I think), so i fixed it in this chappie ^_^

Now L will you please do the-

L: No way you lied to me about the cake last time. Why don't you get ol' Matsu here to do it?

Matsuda: Me? Alright fine, DarkWhispers112 doesn't own Death Note or anything else referenced in this story apart from her OC Beth.

Jealousy

General Pov:

Research. That's what she needed to do now. Just research on Kira, infact she has been doing that past couple of days non-stop. Sometimes working with the SPK's so boring Halle thought. It's been about a month since Beth went on her mission, and the weird thing is? It's almost as if she hasn't even been visiting the base at all, she gathered no useful information… this is exactly why I wanted to send over a more experienced agent. Plus there's the whole issue with age. The girls only what 18? But then again, she remembered around a week ago when she said seems the mafia are planning something big. Something big… like what? Suspicion occupied her mind. Despite Beth being completely unexperienced and untalented when it came to detective work in her opinion, she wasn't stupid and that meant by now, she would have gathered something, anything. Something wasn't right.

Did Near think the same thing? He mentioned something about her sudden three day disappearance being suspicious but she hasn't heard him talk about it since. 'Near?' she distracted him from his puzzle. He looked kind of lost… well more than he already was ever since Beth left. Halle sometimes asked herself weather there was anything going on between her and Near, but dismissed those thoughts, this was Near we're talking about after all!

'What is it Halle?' he asked, his voice distant.

How do I phrase this? She wandered. 'I think it's time to call Beth back to New York. The mafia haven't made any big movements ever since that phone call a week ago, and she hasn't given us any valuable information since and, well… I'm starting to worry for her sake actually.'

'Me too,' he said simply. 'However I don't think we should call her back just yet. I haven't said this out loud before, but I have my suspicions she was captured and taken hostage by the mafia.'

Everyone in the room gasped. So he agrees… Halle thought.

Gevanni's eyes widened in shock from what Near just said. That couldn't have been right. He had to say something, Near had no proof after all! 'What makes you say that? I mean, there hasn't been any evidence to suggest that the mafia took her hostage. She's been reporting back to us every day, hasn't she? And the bugs are working just fine too.*'

Near took a lock of his hair in his fingers and began twirling it, something he did often when he was thinking. 'You're missing the point. Don't you think it's a bit suspicious that she could just loose connection for a whole of 3 days with absolutely no connection what so ever? If that wasn't enough, if she was onto something big with the mafia, don't you think she would have discovered what it was at this stage?'

The members exchanged glances.

Rester shifted uncomfortably in his seat. It made sense of course, everything Near said was true, but if the girl had been taken hostage he felt a bit of responsibility to it. I left LA a week after she began the mission… how could this be? Everything was going so smoothly, but the real question here is -could she have really been captured? And if so what was Near prepared to do about it?

'Don't worry; I am only 9% certain this has happened. That's why we can't make any sudden movements, especially if the suspicion turns out to be false as we will only be letting Mello know we are on to him. Nevertheless I want you to carefully monitor Beth's behaviour when she calls, it would be helpful to start recording the calls.' He finished and looked down onto the building made of dice he began to build. He took another die and put it on the top, then another and another.

Halle's attention was suddenly focused once again on her monitor. There was an alert on the screen. Somebody was calling. 'Near, I think John is at Task Force headquarters, I'll put him true.' she informed him and everyone else. She then grabbed a headset as did Rester and Gevanni who handed one to Near.

Over the headset they heard the conversation between Makenroe and the director. Or who they at first thought was the director. 'My name is John Makenroe' John introduced himself to the other man, 'I'm an agent with the FBI. Of course this is just an alias as my assignment involves Kira. It's a necessary precaution.'

There was a shifting noise on the other end and the other man spoke 'Under perceived circumstances the director is unavailable. If it's acceptable you could speak with me instead.'

Near once again took a lock of his hair, and began twirling it.

'Director's unavailable?' Gevanni question only to be hushed but the rest of the team.

'Pardon me, I'll get straight to the point, Japanese police have proven themselves to be unreliable. So in order to solve the Kira case, we want you to hand over the notebook to us.'

There was a moment silence on the other end, then a loud gasp was heard and as if someone grabbed someone. An angry voice yelled 'So the FBI was behind it! Where did you take the director?'

The SPK listened as the two men argued. 'What the hell is going on?' Rester asked what they were all thinking.

'Well, by the sound of things it seems like the director of the Japanese police has been kidnapped by someone.' He paused to think then continued 'specifically someone who wants the notebook.' Then it struck him. Is this and the whole thing with the mafia planning something big connected? He wasn't going to do anything rash just now, with so much going on at the one time; he just needed to think for a while. Or actually… 'Alright Commander Rester. Pass on this message to our agent: suggest to the Japanese police that we would like to assist them in rescuing the director and apprehending the collards. We'll take the notebook once we have an opportunity.'

'Roger that.' Rester replied.

Is this Mello's doing? For now Near couldn't be sure, but he knew it would all be revealed to him soon.

Near placed a cube on top of his construction, but suddenly his hand slipped gliding against it and the whole thing went crumbling onto the ground. What the hell was he thinking? Feelings? He didn't HAVE any feeling for that girl. He was simply irritated about the fact that she managed to get caught when he put so much faith in her. Yes… that had to be why he was thinking about her so much. Fact is, weather he had feelings for her or not, he was never going to show it or do anything about it. Somehow it just didn't seem right.

The phone he used to converse with Beth lit up. It's her. He looked down at it reluctant to pick up for a couple of seconds but then sighed and answered.

'Yes, hello.' He spoke clearly yet quietly.

'Hey Near! How have you been?' She started a light hearted conversation he was not about to continue. He couldn't allow himself to fall for this it was a trap, a trap to make him like her! What in the world is wrong with me? He was losing his touch: emotion wasn't really his thing.

'Let's just get down to business, did you find out anything new?'

There was a pause, then she replied with 'So far, the mafia are only planning their big event, I tried to get into the main area over the past couple of days but the security is just too high!'

That confirms it, he thought. 'I see. Beth tell me, are you aware director of the Japanese NPA Takimura has been kidnapped recently?'

There was another pause , then Beth squealed in evident fake shock 'Kidnapped? When did this happen?'

'Quite recently. In fact, I have reason to believe Mello was the one behind it. I want to hear your thoughts on that.' He smirked. He got her and he knew it.

On the other end of the line, Beth struggled to come up with a reply. Other mafia members completely ignored her and went about their business. Mello sat on the back of the sofa eating his chocolate and staring away from her, he had no desire to speak to her at the moment. She was a burden. He couldn't have her around for much longer, but what could they do with her? These thoughts were occupied with that when she covered the transceiver and lowered the phone slightly turning to him 'Near knows about the kidnapping.' She said simply. That got Mello's attention, he turned to her wide eyed and watched as she began talking to Near again. That asshole! Always getting into everybody's business! Mello sighed angrily. Still he probably only suspects, I doubt he is considering to take action but either way we got to be careful.

'Near I think that that's a possibility, but I honestly don't believe I would have missed something that big happening at the base. I will check it out further and report back straight away.' Beth told Near.

Mello rolled his eyes, what a pathetic excuse. Did she honestly think the smartest kid at Wammy's was going to buy that? He snorted and turned his attention back to his chocolate.

Near was silent for a moment, not sure of what to say back. He settled for : 'Okay. Oh by the way? The team and I are thinking of getting you back from LA soon.' He wasn't sure what was going on any more, weather to believe she didn't actually notice the mafia doing anything suspicious or was just covering up for them. He had his money on the latter but for now couldn't afford to take any drastic actions.

'Umm really?' she replied, nervousness evident in her voice.

He spoke quietly but said something he knew he'd regret 'Yeah, I mean… I'm really starting to miss you.' Shut up shut up shut up! Don't make this all about yourself! 'And the rest of the team do too. I mean it would be handy to have you assist us at this time, since the case is getting harder.'

Why did I say that? Now she's going to think I like her. Well I mean I do like her just not like that. This was so unlike him, acting so impulsively and he didn't like it one bit. He needed to hang up before he said anything else stupid.

Her voice was sickeningly sweet 'Near, I miss you to.' Was all she said.

Upon hearing that Mello turned towards her. Had these two really something between them? He observed her as she smiled into the phone obviously happy with herself. The little sheep gets everything doesn't he? Why do I even care? Maybe it's because of what happened last night. Beth had clearly been checking him out, he noticed it straight away, he didn't understand why at the time but he thought about it and maybe the girl began developing feelings for him. If that was the case why the hell was she being so flirty with Near? If he was annoyed at Beth before he sure as hell was now.

Near on the other hand was unusually overjoyed.

His stomach flipped. What was this feeling? He felt… flushed when she said she missed him too? He needed to stop this now, it wasn't healthy. 'I see, well keep investigating I will inform you when you are to go back to New York.'

'Alright'

He then pressed the hang up button. He looked calm on the outside, but on the inside… that was a whole different story. What the hell is going on with me lately?!

That's a question both Near and Mello were struggling to answer.

Beth's Pov:

Everything was quiet. After Near hung up Mello refused to talk to me all together. What I had actually done was still a mystery. Either way I had more important things to worry about. I was still blushing from the conversation with Near, It's weird he said he missed me… Did that mean he liked me? Adding that little sly 'and the rest of the team', my god he made it so obvious. Or maybe that's just what I want to think, I sighed.

I looked at Mello. He seemed upset or something but I knew if I asked him he would snap at me. I didn't want to see him sad. Wait no, I didn't care if he was sad or not. Whatever's bothering him, he can suck it up. But then I felt kind of bad, after all I got him thinking about the whole head of the mafia boss thing, and I can imagine that not being the most pleasant memory.

I shifted closer to him 'Mello I'm sorry I bothered you earlier,' I began but he turned even further away from me. 'You don't want to talk to me, and that's fine, I just… I'm not really sure why you're so mad at me.' I finished.

He turned his face slightly towards me. 'Look just leave me alone okay. We're not friends and I am certainly not planning to share any more of my personal life with you so just stop talking to me.'

That kind of hurt. I looked down upset as he got up and moved to another end of the sofa. I still didn't understand what his deal was and I desperately wanted to know but for the sake of keeping my own mental health I decided to leave it. He will come around.

Then Rod walked into the room, shirt off with a girl around my age under his arm. She was wearing a skimpy red dress and was giggling like crazy. They took a seat and Rod put his arm around her. The other mafia members looked up to check the girl out, there was no doubt she was pretty. Mello looked too. That's when I felt it.

Jealousy.

I got more and more uncomfortable watching him as he watched her. Who did he think he was sharing chocolate with me and then checking out some bimbo? I told myself it didn't matter though; I had feelings for someone else. He was allowed to eye hump whoever he wanted. Wait does that mean I'm contemplating weather I have feelings for Mello? Well considering I didn't know the guy for very long it was unlikely that I had feelings for him. Just hormones, I told myself.

As this scene unfolded, a mafia man who was supposed to be guarding Takimura ran into the room panting heavily, 'Boss!'

Rod was having none of it 'shut up, can't you see that I'm busy?' he said. Well if you call that busy…

'I'm sorry!' The man apologised, 'But Eddy and I were talking for a minute and, it looks like Takimura hung himself with his tie somehow.'

My eyes widened. Why would he do that? Had the mafia pushed him too far? My eyes shifted to Mello who just sat there grimacing chocolate in his hand. Why was he so happy, was he onto something?

'What's wrong with you?!' Rod snapped, 'Just great. What are we supposed to do with a dead hostage?'

The other man looked scared of Rod and I'm not surprised, he was extremely intimidating. Suddenly Mello pitched into the argument 'No, this will be just fine.'

Say what now? 'But Mello how are you planning to get the notebook now?' I wandered, Mello just ignored me, of course and took a bite of his chocolate bar. It seems this whole situation actually cheered him up.

'What are we gonna do Mello?' Rod exchanged glances with me, asking pretty much the exact same thing since obviously Mello decided to be a stubborn ass and not answer me.

'I'll tell you what we're gonna do. We're gonna kidnap Soichiro Yagami's daughter, Sayu Yagami.'

I stood up with the speed of lightning. Was he being serious? Was he actually… 'Mello, what the hell is wrong with you?' I said quietly, not loud enough for him to hear. The other mafia members began rapidly talking amongst one another.

'Listen up,' Mello interrupted them, 'here's the plan:'

AN: Alright so a little short but next chapter will be standard length I promise. Now please hit the review/fave/follow button. You know you want to! L will give you a kiss if you do (even if you're a guy!)

L: ehm… eh… No.

Also I've been thinking of writing 2 other FanFictions, one with L (which will be completely AU, you'll see what I mean it can be yaoi or an OC or maybe no romance at all) and one with BB (this will definitely be romance I was thinking with one of the canon characters). There's another reason to review, tell me if I should do that but since I've already got so much going on, I'll be taking a while to update.

Ta ta!