Hey guys I really appreciate all the favorite author adds and story alerts that have been coming my way. It really makes me happy to know that a lot of people have been interested in my story so far. Please review and tell me your thoughts on this chapter. This is where the plot of the story starts to build up. Some it starts getting pretty juicy from here on out.

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I found it utterly impossible to look away. This couldn't be real. L was dead. Yet, there before us he stood in his usual slouched posture, same white cotton shirt, same paper pale complexion, yet the dark panda-like circles that were once present under his eyes seemed less noticeable.

Every fiber in my being was screaming that this wasn't possible. That I had to be back in the apartment asleep, and this was all just a well put-together dream.

The corners of L's lips twisted into a smile. I'm guessing mine and Matt's expressions amused him.

"Is something wrong, you guys?" he asked suppressing a chuckle. Oh God, he was loving this.

"Honey, I think you should explain to them before they pass out." Agent cut in, lightly tugging on the sleeve of L's shirt.

"Yes dad, please do so." Jase advised hopping off the couch and shuffling over between his parents. The similarities between L and Jase were awfully baffling. How did I not piece that together sooner?

"Matt, Teal, I know this doesn't seem plausible in the slightest form, but this is very real. I'm very much alive." L said taking a seat on the couch opposite from us; bringing his knees to his chest in his awkward stance.

"But…but…why fake your death, L?" Matt managed to choke out.

It was then that I snapped out of my trance and realized something. I was angry.

Because of his supposed 'death' it caused Mello to blow up all those years ago back at Wammy's and leave. Because of L, Mello was off who knows where, or even possibly dead.

My hands gripped my knees, trying to keep my cool. I wasn't going to let my emotions get the best of me, not in a situation like this.

"Please allow me to explain. As you two are well aware of, I was working alongside the Japanese Task Force on the Kira case. Agent here, or should I say Nicole, had been targeted down by Kira and was in great peril. She was brought to my custody after being threatened by him, so I made it my priority to keep her safe. At first, it just seemed like nothing out of my job description, a simple task; make sure to protect an innocent.

In due time though, I was wrapped around her finger. I had fallen in love with her." L paused to look up at Agent as they both exchanged smiles.

So she was going by an alias then. Nicole seemed like a more believable name compared to Agent, I should have deduced that much. To think of L falling in love almost made me giggle; he never seemed the type to let women get in the way of his priorities of justice. But there stood the beautiful young woman and dark haired child as living proof that even L was capable of falling in love.

"Well, I had my suspicions that Kira was none other than Nicole's classmate and ex-boyfriend, Light Yagami." L continued.

"Who I only dated for two days, sweetie. Hardly enough time to classify him as a boyfriend." Nicole piped in as-a-matter-of-factly then added "Besides, he was seeing Misa Amane and using me as a pawn so I dumped him."

"After keeping close watch of Light by attending his university, my suspicions of him kept increasing with every moment spent with him. We took Misa Amane into custody soon under suspicion of being Kira's accomplice. Then Light volunteered to be retained as well. After keeping them there for so long, we were able to prove nothing yet I was still highly suspicious of Light. Soon we were able to piece together that Kira's source of power came from a killer notebook called the 'Death Note'."

"A Death…Note?" I processed the words in my mouth. How the hell was it possible? To take lives with a notebook? Was L actually being serious?

"Sounds crazy doesn't it?" Nicole asked through a lopsided smile.

"Well I wasn't in a position to dismiss it as abnormal as it did sound. Anyone who touched the Death Note would be able to see a Shinigami."

"A Shinigami?" Matt looked just as bewildered as I probably did.

"A God of Death." L explained. He rose to his feet and walked over to a mahogany bookshelf and reached for the top shelf.

He made his way over towards Matt and I, in his hand was a folded piece of paper.

I looked up to meet his eyes, only to see the stern look they held.

"Go on." He urged.

I looked over at Matt as he gave me a solemn nod. Our hands reached out hesitantly, before skimming over the surface of the paper and grasping it with our thumbs and forefingers.

"Don't be alarmed. He means you no harm, I promise." L said through a grin.

"Who are you-" but before I could finish my question I saw a giant figure slouched over next to Nicole with Jase in his arms.

I bit my lip, holding back a shriek. L looked at me, his expression praying that I would keep calm. Matt stared at the creature curiously, like it was a new level in a video game of his.

I let out a long and jagged breath.

The creature had to be at least 8 feet tall and had a bull's skull covering the majority of his face. His body was shielded in black leather with many straps and studs going in every different direction.

"His name is Saito. He's actually quite friendly." L said ushering us towards him.

Saito set Jase down, staring at Matt and I. He extended a long and bony arm towards us.

"Nice to meet you guys." He said through a husky voice.

"Likewise. Wow." Matt said shaking Saito's hand.

I did the same thing, feeling the cold-as-death grasp the Shinigami had.

"You see, Saito is Nicole's Shinigami." L said joining in on us.

"Nicole, you had a killer notebook?!" I turned towards her.

She smiled bashfully giving me a nod.

"You think that would be enough to arrest her as being one of Kira's accomplices. But she came clean to me one night back in the hotel room we had been staying in. Kira was after her because he found out she had a notebook and wanted her to join forces with him."

"But how did Kira find out you had a Death Note?" Matt asked.

"Because Kira is none other than Light Yagami." Nicole said.

"Why didn't you arrest him then L?" I questioned.

"We didn't have enough evidence to use against him. I only realized that he was Kira after I remembered that one day before school, I ran into Light and the contents of my book bag fell out, my Death Note being one of the things in it. He helped me gather up my stuff so he probably touched my Death Note and saw Saito. Of course, I only remembered this a bit too late." Nicole admitted desolately.

"How so?" Matt asked.

"Matt there was a lot of things at stake. Nicole told me that it was possible for a human to make a deal with a Shinigami to acquire their eyes. When a human has the 'Shinigami Eyes' they are able to see a human's name and remaining life span. So if Light had the 'eyes' it would've been bad news for all of us. But Nicole had yet to come face-to-face with Misa Amane at the time, so if it was possible that if Amane had the 'eyes', Nicole was safe for the time being."

"I see. Wow, you two were seriously in harms way." I said in awe.

"And that's just because he's cutting corners with the story." Nicole smirked.

Jase motioned for Saito to pick him up again. The Shinigami scooped him up into his arms and cradled him like a mother would to a new born baby.

"The night before my supposed 'death' Nicole sat me down and confessed she was with child. I honestly didn't know how to take to this news. There I was, trying to crack one of the biggest cases I had ever worked on, putting my self in extreme jeopardy, and to find out I was going to be a father. I had to admit, it was a bit overwhelming."

"I would say so." Matt snickered.

"So when Nicole was asleep that night, I was looking over the Death Note she handed over to me. That's when Saito explained to me one of the rules in the book; the time and conditions of a person's death can be changed, but once the victim's name has been written, the individual's death can never be avoided."

I could see where this was going.

"So the following day, one of the Death Notes that we had obtained, belonged to a Shinigami named Rem. It was such a blur to me. She first wrote Watari's name down causing him to delete all our data, as I instructed him to do so if such a situation were to occur. Then she wrote my name down. I took this as my cue to 'play dead'. It was rather convincing if I do say so myself. Before I shut my eyes, I saw that snake Light, give me such a sinister grin I felt that it might've possibly killed me then and there."

"Wait, but how did you not die then if Rem wrote your name down in her notebook?" I asked.

"Because I wrote my own death down in Nicole's Death Note. I wrote that I would peacefully die of a heart attack at the age of 65, giving me more than enough time to live out my life with my family." L said wrapping his arm lovingly around Nicole's waist.

"Wow. So when Rem wrote your name down in her Death Note, it couldn't alter what you had originally written in Nicole's?" Matt asked glancing over at Saito who was busy entertaining Jase by throwing him up into the air and catching him repeatedly.

"Exactly. After I did so I told Watari to take the notebook and bury it somewhere only I would know about. Nicole told me she had no intention to use the Death Note, but she only wished to remain the owner of it so she would be able to see Saito. When a human relinquishes ownership of the Death Note, they will no longer be able to see their Shinigami."

"I love Saito as if he were my own family. After my Mom died when I was 13, I soon came across the Death Note Saito owned by my mother's grave. I think Saito was actually a guardian angel my Mom sent to keep watch over me." Nicole said smiling up at the God of Death holding her son.

"Who would've thought a God of Death could be seen as an angel." Matt chuckled running a hand through his auburn locks.

"We moved back here to Winchester after the whole ordeal. I knew I could no longer work on the frontlines of that case any longer. I had come to terms with the fact that I would soon be a father. So I called Roger soon after, I think he might've dropped the phone in shock. He even accused me of being a prank caller." L laughed.

"Well we were all pretty much convinced you were dead, L. I wouldn't doubt it if he jumped right out of his trousers in fright." I said sternly with no ounce of amusement in my voice.

"I asked how it had gone relaying the news to Mello and Near, and it went just as I had expected. I really had hopes that Mello would have cooperated for the sake of solving the case." L sighed.

"Yeah well sorry to burst your bubble dude, but Mels hated the kid with a passion. We couldn't even say the word 'near' without setting him off into a ranting frenzy." Matt stated.

"Yes. I was quite aware of that after having talked to him of the possibility of the two of them being my successors. Please come into the dining room, dinner smells just about ready by now." L said as he and Nicole began walking out of the living room.

"I made sure Mom bought some fresh apples for you earlier today, Saito." Jase said as the Shinigami stalked past us with the child still in his arms.

"Oh boy. I thought I was about to start going through withdrawals." Saito laughed.

"Well ever since that happened last time, we try to avoid that from happening as much as possible." Jase smirked.

"You're one smart kid." Saito said.

Matt wrapped his arm around my waist as we followed the family of four into the massive dining room. Nicole stepped out as we all took our seats at the set dinner table.

"Hey L, can I ask you something?" I spoke up fiddling with the hem of my pleated skirt.

"Of course, Teal."

"Well seeing that you're still alive, is Mr. Wammy still…well…you know?"

L took in a deep breath and looked down at his plate.

"Unfortunately, I overlooked the possibility of his name being written down by Rem. It was a mistake I could have prevented. But I vow never to make one like that ever again. Quillish Wammy was the closest thing I ever had to a parent and he was actually proud to know that I was going to be a father. Even though he never had the opportunity to meet Jase, we named him after Watari to pay our respects to him."

"So Jase is also an alias?" Matt asked.

"Not quite. Jase is his middle name. His first name is Quillish."

"So you were named after a brilliant inventor, Jase. Cool name to go along with a brilliant kid." I joked looking across at the blushing child in his seat.

"Thank you Ms. Teal." He replied bashfully.

"Nicole knew automatically to invite you two over when she told me that Teal mentioned you attended Wammy's House." L said looking directly at me now as he spoke.

"I actually have important matters to discuss with you after dinner." He added.

Nicole appeared with a large pot and a plate filled with sweets such as cakes and candy. She opened the lid to the pot to reveal some kind of steaming stew and set the plate full of sweets in front of L.

"Thank you, dear." He said taking a bite out of the cake.

"It's beef stroganoff. Hope you guys like it." Nicole said filling our bowls up.

"Smells great." Matt replied.

"I second that." Jase piped in.

Saito stood in the corner munching down on an apple that could have possibly been the size of my fist.

What could L possibly need to discuss with Matt and me? I knew that Matt was a bit anxious to find out due to the fact that he kept shooting nervous glances at me all through out the remainder of dinner.

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We followed L into his study room. Nicole and Saito left to go put Jase to bed.

The room was filled with shelves and shelves of books and a desktop computer. L led us over to the computer letting it load up for a moment.

"Even though I'm currently not working on the Kira case, I am still up to date with what is going on. I have kept in touch with only one member from the Japanese Task Force, Touta Matsuda and he has sworn to keep the fact that I am alive a secret."

"Can you honestly trust him, L?" Matt asked.

"He is indebted to me, so I can honestly say I can." He grinned.

He turned to open files on the computer.

"Mr. Matsuda has told me that they have been informed by the SPK, Near's organization, that Mello has been working with the Mafia in Los Angeles."

"The Mafia?!" Matt and I exclaimed in unison.

"He has currently taken Head Chief Soichiro Yagami of the NPA's daughter, Sayu Yagami as a hostage." L said typing away furiously on the keyboard.

"Hostage?! For what?!" I practically shouted.

How could Mello have succumbed to this? Working with the Mafia, taking innocent people for ransom! Was this even the same Mello we once knew and loved?

"He wants the notebook that is currently in the NPA's possession." L stated.

"He'll do just about anything to prove that he's better than Near." Matt said grimly.

"And I have a feeling he'll ask for your assistance soon, Matt." L said, turning to face Matt.

"Why me? I haven't heard from him since he left all those years ago."

"Matt your expertise is in espionage work. There isn't a video game that you can't conquer and Mello knows this. I'm 96 percent sure he'll be trying to get a hold of you soon."

"How soon?" Matt asked furrowing a brow.

"Very soon. It's only a short matter of time. And when he does contact you, I want you to go out there and make sure he doesn't do anything to jeopardize his well-being and to allow the Task Force and the SPK to fall behind their progress. Mello is being reckless right now and is going about things in the wrong manner. His intentions are more about proving that he's superior to Near, more than bringing Kira to justice. He was your best friend back at Wammy's House; please try to get him to listen to you." L said, his gaze never wavering from Matt's.

Matt closed his eyes and nodded.

"Alright."

"Thank you, Matt." L responded looking like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"We owe it to you, Wammy, and most of all for Mel's well being. We're bringing our friend back home."

L nodded in agreement.

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Matt wanted to walk back to the apartment to think things through. I'm sure he was relieved to know that Mello was alive and well, but I'm sure he wasn't thrilled upon hearing about the whole Mafia and ransom ordeal.

He took a drag out of the stick of nicotine that was pressed firmly between his lips.

"When the time comes, I'm going with you, Matt. Don't try and stop me, I've made up my mind." I stated shoving my hands into the pockets of my jacket.

"I had a feeling you were going to say that." He sighed letting out a huge cloud of chemical filled smoke.

"Believe me, I won't be a nuisance. If anything I can be of some importance."

"I know you can, Teal, and that's what worries me. This is the Mafia we'll be dealing with, even Kira. Mello's already gotten himself into some serious shit, and I know you'll be put in danger if you get involved also."

"Yeah but so will you! We just got together Matt; I don't wanna lose you now. We're in this together, as a team. Don't forget, Mello's my friend also. So if you're putting your life on the line, so am I." I said stamping my foot down.

Matt stopped in his tracks to look at me. He flicked the cigarette butt away, the corners of his lips forming a lopsided grin. Then he erupted into fits of laughter. It seemed almost painful because he was soon clutching onto his stomach.

"Uh…Matt?"

"I'm sorry, haha, but, ha, did you seriously just stamp your foot?" he asked wiping a stray tear away from the corner of his eye.

"Uh, yeah. What of it?"

"I thought only girls in movies did that. It looked pretty cute." He sniggered.

"Matt!" I felt my face growing hot.

"Okay, okay." He pulled me into a hug, resting his chin at the top of my head.

I rested my head against the striped fabric of his shirt. I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"I'm scared shitless, babe." He chuckled.

"I know you are."

"Maybe L is wrong. Maybe Mello won't need our help."

"Mmm, I doubt it."

"Well we'll think about this when the time comes. Let's go home. I seriously just wanna lie down with you right now, it's been a long night." He said pulling away to look down at me.

"Sounds good to me."

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And eventually the day came a month later. Matt sat in his chair, playing Prince of Persia while I sat on the windowsill playing my guitar when my phone suddenly began ringing.

It could've been Nicole. I had been going out with her, Jase, and Saito to local events in Winchester such as book signings and concerts. Turns out Nicole was the daughter of David Stevens the lead vocalist of Sugar Coma. L sure knew how to pick his women.

"'Ello, 'ello, 'ello!" I answered cheerfully.

"Teal." I heard a rough voice.

"Who's this?" I stuttered

"I need to speak with Matt. It's crucial."

"Mello?!" I practically shouted.

A loud thud came from where Matt was sitting. He had dropped the wireless controller on the ground. He shot up and walked over to me, pressing his ear against the phone and my face.

"Mels." Matt said into the phone.

"Longtime no talk Matt."

"I could say the same, buddy."

"Listen, I need your help. Fly out to Tokyo ASAP. Get on flight 465 which leaves Winchester at 6:30 PM tonight. I'll meet with you when you land and explain everything."

"Alright."

"See you soon." And then there was a click signaling he hung up.

Matt turned to look at me.

"Well, Teal, looks like we're going to Tokyo."