Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, just my original characters

"Good work, everyone." He said politely, as always while L looked a bit somber as Watari greeted the others. I looked over at L a bit as someone asked if he was really Watari, I saw amusement and annoyance flash through L's eyes as he noticed me watching him, only to raise one of his eyebrows in question. I shrugged my shoulders a bit as I curled a piece of hair around my fingers again while Matsuda asked Watari where his usual attire was. I just about snorted at the question, only to hold it back, biting my bottom lip slightly as my mouth twitched upwards into a bit of a smirk. Due to years of experience, Watari didn't show any signs that he was fazed by the question and replied accordingly.

"When I wear that, it's obvious that I'm Watari." He stated, "Everyone would figure out that Ryuzaki is at this hotel." This answer was simple and logical and the others easily saw that reason, "That I am showing my face to you like this is proof that Ryuzaki trusts you." He added and I couldn't help but bring a thumb up to my lip, biting it slightly as Matsuda rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, my shoulders shook a little in amusement as a hand placed itself onto my shoulder and I looked up to see Watari looking down at me with a fond look in his eyes, "Not only that, but since Jyno is out in the open with you, it means that she trusts you as well." He told them fondly and soon everyone's eyes were on me as I let out a small hum, not letting anyone know what I truly was feeling.

"It is splendid to see you as well Watari, it really has been too long." I told him honestly, a small smile gracing my lips as Watari gently squeezed my shoulder, giving me a silent comment, "We shall talk later." I confirmed, watching as he nodded his head, stepping back and going over to L.

"Ryuzaki, I've brought what you requested." Watari stated as he lifted up a silver brief case as L turned to him a bit and I could see his appreciation for the task.

"Please give them to everyone." L said, keeping with his usual protocol before turning back to the rest. Looking over at the case, Watari opened them and as I suspected, there were five badges resting in the case. I chuckled a little to myself, for Watari, whom already knew who I was, didn't bother getting me a new ID since I was able to make one in only a few hours if I needed to. Though, since I was now out in the open, I planned on staying with L and Watari, working from here while the others came and went as they pleased. Not only that, but they were also more well known than I was, especially since I could disappear right from under someone's nose.

"These are your new police IDs." Watari said as he presented them to the others. Ukita questioned about them being new as Watari handed them out. I watched as the others took them and looked them over.

"Both our names and titles are fake." The chief mused as he looked at the ID in his hand. Matsuda repeated that as L poured himself another cup of coffee, adding his usual amount of sugar in to it.

"Kira needs a name and a face to murder." L stated as he took a sip, "We're pursuing Kira on that assumption. Isn't this an obvious course of action?" he asked as I sent him a look, silently telling him that they obviously didn't think that far ahead as he did.

"B-but, police officers carrying fake Ids..." Ukita started to say, only to trail off a bit.

"No, if Kira needs someone's name to kill them, having fake names could easily save our lives." The chief stated, interrupting the man, seeing the logic behind this action, "I think we should use these." Matsuda was quick to agree with the chief as did the others soon afterwards.

"Well, then, if you absolutely have to give your name, please use those fake police Ids." L mused as the others agreed and he picked up his cup of liquid sugar once more, taking another sip, "Please be careful not to use them by accident at police headquarters. It could be troublesome." The others nodded their heads, understanding the situation.

"Well, then..." Watari started as he opened another case, "I'd like you all to wear these belts." He said as I perked up a little and I shared a knowing look with L, "There's a transmitter hidden in the buckle. With this, Ryuzaki will know your whereabouts. And, if you press the buckle twice," Watari demonstrated and his cell phone started to ring, "my cell phone will ring." He pulled his phone out, opening it with a small click, "I will call you back immediately. In the morning, go to police headquarters first. Then, using this, you should confirm the hotel and room number. Please also use them in emergencies." Watari added as he handed the belts out.

Rolling my head a little to get the kinks out of it, I ran a hand through my hair, grimacing as my fingers encountered the knots that my hair was known for encountering when I left it to dry naturally. Next to me, L was sipping his liquid sugar while watching everyone from the corner of his eye. Matsuda seemed all for this, stating that they were kinda like special agents pursuing Kira. I shared a sigh with L at that and pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head a little. The chief was quick to scold Matsuda's childishness as the others scowled a bit at their companion. Another understanding look was passed between L and me when we looked at each other. With Matsuda around, it would no doubt end up being a long day with many, many headaches. Giving L a shrug, silently telling him that at least Matsuda would keep the atmosphere light with idiotic amusement, I was rewarded with one of his annoyed and disapproving looks.

L and I have always been able to communicate without using words to one another. Since we were young we were able to portray words without verbally speaking them with looks, small gestures or body language. It was one of the few reasons why he and I could work well together, when we weren't tense with inner conflicting emotions. He didn't like that I was part of the Underworld and had countless connections within it, nor did he appreciate the fact that I also worked with them on occasion for my jobs. Of course, I didn't enjoy him putting my clients or contacts away for life, which became extremely annoying after awhile.

I noticed L looking over at me, his eyes portraying knowledge of what I was thinking. From the look in his eyes, I knew he was thinking the same thing I was, for his eyes flashed with a little irritation before it vanished and the normal emotionless mask was back in place. I closed my eyes for a bit and looking away from him as the others commented about the belts Watari had given them.

Once everyone had their belts on and had been briefed, they were ready to head out, no doubt to get some shut eye and check in at headquarters. Seeing that I was still sitting in the chair that I had claimed when we first came here, they stared at me, no doubt waiting for an explanation and trying not to question me. Feeling their curious stares, I looked up at them, blinking a little as I let out a small hum.

"I'll be staying here; there is much that I need to speak about with Ryuzaki and Watari before I head home myself." I told them evenly, seeing their eyes widen a bit in surprise, "You can trust to see me with them next time, if anyone at HQ asks, just say that I've taken some personal time." I told them, lightly tapping my finger against my cheek in thought, "Also, please keep in mind that at HQ, I am still Shika, for that is how they know me; so please remember that." I added with a small nod.

Seeing as I wasn't moving, the others nodded and left, probably to think over what they had learned this past day. Once they were gone, I let out a bit of a sigh, running a hand through my hair, only to grimace at the knots again, pouting freely at the knots. L and I were silent as Watari went around the loft doing his business, no doubt keeping an ear on us in case an argument rises up between us. The silence between and I alone was suffocating, especially since we now didn't have anyone to speak up and question something.

"So..." L drawled out as he took another sip of his coffee and I paused in my attempts to unknot my hair, looking over at him as he stared into his cup, "I have heard you've been climbing the ranks down under." He mused and I felt my shoulders sag a little at his statement.

"Yes... there seems to be more cases from them coming to me, thus I have been busy..." I said slowly as my fingers finished with one knot and started with anther, "There have been some illegal trafficking going on which needed my expertise..." I trailed off a little as my eyes trailed to the windows, "I heard you had an encounter with..." I was cut off by L placing his cup firmly on the plate with a loud clink.

"You knew what he was doing." L accused me, his voice rigid as I tensed, scowling at him and at his allegation.

"I had no knowledge of that, even if I did; do you truly believe I would have sat back and not talk him out of that?" I asked heatedly, my eyes narrowed at him as he glowered back at me, his dark eyes piercing my purple ones, "The only reason why I knew about that was thanks to an informant within the prison where he is and went to visit him. He told me everything that had happened during that frame of time." I stated heatedly while standing up, fully fractious at L and his damned accusations as I walked into the bedroom, closing the door firmly, getting some distance between L and I as I gathered my items.

The incident we were talking about happened two years ago in Los Angeles. The case was known as the 'Los Angeles BB Murder Case', it had dealt with one of the children whom grew up where L and I did. He had been one of L's successors; well that was before an unfortunate event leaving that child mentally unstable. He had left soon after the incident and hadn't been seen or heard of until two years ago during the case. After he had been treated and placed in prison, I had visited him after hearing about it. It was there that I was told how he wanted to surpass L as the World's Greatest Villain and that his last victim would have been himself so L could never figure out who murdered the others. It had pained me to hear about his plan and to see the once brilliant child turn down such a dark path.

As I leaned against the bedroom door lost in thought, the bag that Watari had brought with him sitting next to the door, I let out a small sigh. My shoulders slumped in defeat, my head hanging down a bit as my memories ran through my mind's eye. My head shot up when a knock on the door resonated against my back and I steeled myself once more as I backed away, turned and opened it. I was greeted by Watari, who gave me a knowing look as he took in my ragged form. There was only one person that I was never able to hide my inner thoughts and feelings from and that was him.

"Leaving so soon?" he asked kindly as he walked into the room, closing the door behind him as I gave him a weak smile.

"Yes, I'm afraid so." I replied softly as I looked down at the floor, "It seems nothing changed since that incident." I sighed a bit as Watari motioned for me to take a seat on the beds as he followed suit, sitting across from me while I made myself comfortable, resting my head in one of my hands once more.

"Despite what you may think my dear, he has been worried about you." Watari said gently as he looked at me knowingly, "This is the first time I've truly seen him relaxed around anyone," he chuckled a bit before continuing, "after all, he had seen the way everyone acted around each other and knew he could place his trust them, even before you came here today." This got another chuckle out of Watari as he thought back on the conversations he had with L, "He had asked quite a bit about you, for you were the only piece he couldn't figure out, despite the profile and history you made for your cover. When he asked me to visit your apartment, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it had indeed been you, who was giving him such a hard time."

This brought a chuckle from me at his words; after all, L did seem surprised after he finally connected all of the dots together on my identity. Smiling wistfully at that, I thought back to years I spent avoiding L and staying under his radar. Though, when he and I were in the same area and I was free of a case, I did send some help to him, usually in the form of anonymous messages to Watari about a certain person or hidden insights that I gathered from my contacts in the Underworld. The reason why I did that was due to my conscious mind and because I felt obligated to help him, as I always did.

"You know, he's always wondered about those anonymous tips that came through my line, even after trying to trace them back, he never could." Watari mused, causing my head to snap up, my eyes wide in surprise that he knew I had sent those, I went to open my mouth to speak, but nothing came out of them, causing me to gape like a fish. Realizing what I was doing, I closed my mouth and looked away sheepishly, not believing I acted like such an idiot.

"I only did what I felt was right..." I murmured quietly while curling a piece of hair around my finger while scratching the back of my neck, "It's a habit I'm afraid... I can't help but feel the need to help out when I get wind..." I shifted a little on the bed, pouting a bit as I traced a small pattern on the comforter, the words from my lips faded before the sentence was finished and yet, I couldn't seem to find them anymore.

Watari gave me a fatherly look, already knowing where my thoughts were heading. Since I could remember, Watari has always been able to see where my mind was going, even if I never fully voiced the thoughts. Leaning over a bit, Watari took my hand in his, gently patting it with his other hand, his kind blue eyes silently telling me that I shouldn't worry about anything except the case. Giving Watari a weak smile, I gave his hands a small squeeze as the two of us stood up. I leaned down to pick up my satchel and bag with my clothes in it before heading to the door.

"Thank you Watari, but I should be going..." I trailed off again, turning the doorknob to exit, just as it opened into me. Since I hadn't been expecting this, I ended up taking a few steps back so the door wouldn't hit me. Once the door stopped moving, I stared into the blank eyes of L, noticing a dissatisfied frown on his face. Looking back at him, I blinked slowly, my dark purple eyes staring into L's bottomless ones. Out of habit, I tilted my head a bit; this only happened when I couldn't read what L was thinking, which I usually was able to without a problem.

Furrowing my brows, I took in L's posture, watching his tense shoulders; I noticed something was hiding behind his back and quirked an eyebrow curiously. Looking over at Watari, I noticed that he was standing; his hands tucked behind his back, a small knowing smile on his face as I turned back at L, who now sported a frown, much like the one he wore earlier when he sipped his unsweetened coffee. I felt Watari's eyes on us as L shifted in his place and I felt myself blink a bit more at what was going on.

"J... Come with me please." L said monotonously as he turned around, keeping whatever was behind his back away from my curious gaze, walking into the main room without looking back to see if I was following. He knew I would thanks to my curiosity and I did so slowly, my shoulders sagged a bit as I gently put the bag and satchel down. I stuffed my hands into my pockets; my brows furrowed more while stepping back into the main room where my eyes immediately focused on L who was standing in front of the window again.

I'm not sure what compelled me, but I walked up to his side, standing beside him as we looked out at the world. This was where I began reflecting; reflecting on our lives and how, just like with this window; we watched the world without actually being seen. We were invisible forces that people knew were there; we were seen, but only as tools for others to meet their ends, then we were forgotten once more until another bird or problem met us. I watched with fascination as the people went around with their daily business without a care in the world. From our angle, the people down below looked like insects, all scurrying around with their daily lives.

The mask that L and I placed in front of others or the persona that we created as L and J; the World's Greatest Detective and Spy were our means of detachment. We didn't let anyone become close to us, see our faces or hear our true voices. Like L; no one within the Underworld knew what I truly looked like or what I sounded like besides a synthesised voice and a letter. It was protection, it was security and it kept us separate from others. The only ones we let close were each other and Watari, no one else; until now knew us like this. It was a risk, an extremely risky and desperate move, but it was needed with this case.

It was strange sometimes, the way our lives ruled us. To be strangers to those who worked with us, to be hated by the ones who feared us, to be desired by those believe in us and to be questioned by those who needed us. Our masks were more than just that; they were our lives; they are the foundations that kept us on a different level than the rest of the world. But for the first time, we were on the same ground as others, we weren't just letters on a screen or synthesised voices coming out of a microphone. We revealed ourselves as people, living, breathing human flesh and bone; faces that could easily be lost in the crowd, never being looked at twice.

I was snapped out of my musings when a hesitant hand found its way onto my shoulder. My eyes quickly left the bustling people down below, landing on the man next to me. From the look in his eyes, which clearly held annoyance in them, he must have been watching me for a while, while I was lost in my thoughts. Quirking an eyebrow upwards, my head tilted on its own accord as my body turned towards him, as his own body was facing me. The way he was looking at me was odd; well it was more odd than usual for his brows were knitted together in a way that told me that he was contemplating whether or not he should either speak or do something.

"L...?" I trailed off while taking a small step towards him; feeling his hand slip from my shoulder, up around my neck, his thumb resting cautiously against my windpipe, causing me stop. The burning look in his eyes caught me off guard, his dark eyes smoldered with a mixture of emotions behind the wall he had built up throughout his life and his face was turned into a frown. The last time I saw this particular look was the day I told him that I hated him and that his trust and words meant nothing to me before walking out of his life and radar. When I opened my mouth to speak once more, L covered it with his thumb, instantly quieting me.

"I didn't get the chance last time we... cooperated with each other..." he trailed off as he removed his hand quickly as if I had burned and looked out the window, his face now portraying how uncomfortable he was feeling, "but..." he pushed something small into my hands, shrugging his shoulders before stuffing his hands into his pockets once again.

I looked at the small box that was now in my hands, noticing from the corner of my eye that L had turned back to the window with tense shoulders. Quirking another eyebrow, I merely shook my head as I untied the string that held the box together. I could feel L watching me from the reflection of the window while he looked out at the people passing on the street, but I paid him no mind while I opened the lid of the box. Pushing away the thin, white tissue paper, I gazed at the small pendant that rested within the folds of the paper in surprise. It was a rose pendant, the size of my thumb; from the knuckle to the tip. The rose was red and in the center of it was small dark purple gemstone most likely amethyst. The cord that the pendant was attached to was a finely cut piece of black velvet with two silver clasps at each end and if I were to assume that when worn, it would rest just below my clavicle.

"L..." I started; my voice unusually soft as I turned to him, only to stop when I noticed that he was no longer by the window. Shaking my head once more, I tenderly picked the necklace up from its resting place, letting the light of the sun hit it as I inspected it. It was truly a beautiful piece of jewellery and the contrast between the cord and pendant was crafted with great skill. As I continued to admire the piece, I heard footsteps gently pad towards me on the plush carpet and a hand slipped up, grabbing the velvet cord from me.

"You become too dazed when you're admiring things J..." L drawled out as my head followed his hand, tilting backwards until the angle became too uncomfortable that I had to turn around, with a frown on my face, "causing you to miss the most obvious actions around you." He added, much to my displeasure.

"That's not true!" I protested, my frown turning into a pout as I saw the teasing glint sparsely playing in his eyes, "I only wanted a closer look... the craftsmanship of the pendant in impeccable and wished to see if I could recognize craftsman." I stated simply, watching his lips twitch a little in amusement.

"Even you won't be able to figure out who made it J." He stated simple before motioning with his finger to turn around. Rolling my eyes, I did as he told me to and turned my back to him; I knew from experience that this was a rare treat from L; where he actually freely showed emotion instead of faking them or hiding them behind an emotionless mask.

"Is that a challenge L?" I asked curiously as he rested the necklace around my neck, the cool stone of the rose caused a small shiver to run down my spine when it made contact with my unnaturally warm skin. L was quiet though as he attached the clasps together before running a finger over the metal, no doubt making sure it wouldn't come undone. When I felt him move away from me, I turned around, quirking an eyebrow at him, "You never answered my question." I stated, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Take it as you will J. Watari will take you home." He stated as he walked away towards another room, "Pack everything of importance before you return with Watari. It would be best to keep you within reach for this case." He said dismissively while I turned around to gather my bags.

Sighing to myself, I just shook my head, this was typical behaviour. Every time his emotions seeped out of his wall, he crammed them back in and distanced himself once more. He often placed a large, solitary wall between him and the person he was showing his true emotions to, until he was confident enough to relax around them again. L was a complicated person to understand, it took many years of constant communication to find even the smallest crack in his armor. Watari and I were the only ones; it seemed; who could stand being around him without being bothered by his attitude or at times, lack thereof.

I gathered my bags from the bedroom, adjusting my satchel a bit on my shoulder before walking towards Watari, who was waiting by the door for me. I noticed L was standing near the door he had walked towards and I paused a bit in front of Watari, turning a bit as my fingers lightly clenched around the box that had held the necklace. I was silently debating if I should speak or not, but knew it would be for the best if I did.

"Thank you L, the necklace is beautiful." I murmured to him, knowing that both he and Watari heard me as I turned back to the older man, giving him a small nod of my head in confirmation that I was ready to leave. Nodding back to me, Watari opened the door, heading out so I could follow him down to his car.

"Happy birthday J... and I'm sorry..." I barely heard L whisper as the door closed behind me before I could look at him. I stared at the door a bit with a frown before following Watari once more. We were silent as Watari drove me to my temporary home, the blurred streets didn't focus to my eyes as I thought about L's last words, which were no doubt spoken so I wouldn't hear them.