Today, I learned just how hard it was to walk through the Mojave Desert in red pumps and I hated it.

Even though the sun hadn't kissed the Earth's good morning yet, the grains of sand still radiated enough heat to make taking off my shoes a difficult choice to make. The violet sky was still except for the swishing of the breeze every once in a while. I was playing follow the leader with a few of Rod Ross's armed men to a place I was told I would find suited to my requirements.

They said to stop moving, noticing the sand in front of me was disheveled with something large and sliver laid under. It took a second to realize that it was some kind of door as it was pulled back. The room exposed was dark and it had a heavy earth smell wafering out, it reminded me of a large basement.

"Wait here miss,"

I nodded towards the body the noise was coming from, ending up standing alone in the breaking dawn. I wasn't sure why I needed to stay away, but since I was following my orders I didn't need to make waves.

Taking the time to do something mentally helpful with the case, I began working on a piece I'd been mulling over for a few days. Just before L's death, Misa Amane was released from imprisonment for being the second Kira. That particular Kira had known powers of killing by just looking at a face, but my conundrum was why was I still alive after all this time?

I never gave it much thought during the years I was working to make reconnections, but with the newly found time to think it had started to bother me. While I was glad to still be alive, I knew too much and shouldn't be from Kira's point of view. My only logical jump to a conclusion was that as of right now my presence was somehow aiding Kira.

That maybe L was right all along…

My cell phone rings and I'm forced to push unhappy thoughts aside.

The call was coming from inside the underground bunker, letting me know it was safe to go in. I thanked the caller and hung up, feeling weird to have well-known killers and thugs treat me like a princess. I was pretty sure it was because Rod told them to watch over me, but who would ever know?

As I walked down the stairs, I was engulfed by blackness. The array of aromas assaulted my sense of smell in all the wrong ways. In all my years as an agent, I've tasted death and inhaled the thick smog he leaves behind. I didn't need a second bite, this whole place I was walking into dripped with secrets.

"This is where we do most of our dealings."

The speaker was walking in front of me, so all I could observe was straight locks of dull blonde hair that touched his shoulders. I asked his name, dying to be able to put names to faces instead of just noting them as thug number one, two, etc.

"Kal Snyder,"

He turned to look at me and I made mental notes of his heart-shaped face and oval glasses.

"Violet Petrillo,"

I wasn't sure if I should point it out or not but Kal had some white powder around his nostrils. It was no wonder what it could have been so I didn't need to ask.

After what seemed like forever, we finally reached the bottom. I was impressed by how lit up the area was and how many rooms it seemed to hold. Kal showed me around, from the front it looked like a long tunnel with just an entrance but once you get past the revolting door and walk a good amount there were other rooms.

Most of the said rooms were bare, what I was calling to myself the sitting room had a glass table with couches and a large leather chair. My nerves wavered at the thought of being deep underground, goosebumps forming on my arms.

"Violet, they're back."

Kal yelled down the hallway and I walked quickly to him. I was excited to see who was there.

Men carrying boxes full of different things made their way down to the other rooms I didn't get the chance to look at. I could hear his voice before I watched Mello descend, talking to Rod Ross about something.

"...Yeah, Yeah. You do what I want and in the end, I'll make sure you're paid nicely." Mello noted, staring straight ahead.

Rod answered with a smile, content with the answer.

"What about your little girlfriend?" His eyes move across the room to me.

"Not my girlfriend and she's off limits."

"A shame, you use her to bait me just to keep her all to yourself."

Rod walked ahead to order some of his guys around while I stood at Mello's side. I noted how much of a creep he was being.

"It'll subside once they bring in their own women," Mello noted.

It felt more like we were talking about throwing a party than a Kira investigation, but I followed him as he motioned me over to a large metal barrel. Toxic waste was printed all over the outside in bold black lettering. Pulling a chisel from his inner vest pocket, Mello popped the lid off and let it fall to the floor.

The noises coming from it sounded alive and as I peeked inside I saw a man balled up in it.

"Is this the business you had to take care of?" I asked.

"Yes, this is Kanichi Takimura, head of the Japanese National Police Agency."

He wasn't moving except his chest heaved, the only hint that he was alive. A fresh tiny hole appeared on his neck, perfectly on the jugular. Strange pain of guilt rung out through me, I couldn't see how this man was going to be any help to us as for the most part L's task force worked without the use of the Japanese police.

I looked over at Mello, noting the Cheshire Cat smile sitting on his face. Once he noticed my eyes, he told me of his excitement to beat Near.

Why was I feeling so negative about this? I've aided in Misa's "arrest" at TO-OH, my hands are stained red from this case but that nagging little voice in the back of my head wouldn't shut up about how L had hard proof on Miss. Amane before acting.

The ceiling felt like it was going to collapse on top of me.