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Amidst the Chaos, Chapter 4

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A/N: Do I really need to say that this is a Death Note fanfiction?

Chapter Four: Truth

Fingers tapped busily away on a keyboard at the speed only a true techie could achieve. The girl working at her laptop paused, rubbed her eyes, then went back to work. It was very early in the morning now, and she hadn't slept for over a day. The only thing keeping her going were those three shots of  espresso she had downed a few hours ago. Sure, she'd have bad caffeine induced headaches later, but it was probably worth it. She wanted to get this done.

Hitting the return key for the last time, she leaned back in her chair with a grin. She'd done it. She was in. After grueling hours of researching and typing, she had gotten into the NPA database. Oh the never-ending pleasures of hacking! Yes, she knew that what she was doing was illegal, and she was ready to pay the price if it was necessary. But that didn't mean she was above feeling pride in her skills.

Now the fun part could begin.

She stretched her aching arms and back a bit, then resumed her toil. She began snooping around in the heap of confidential files, scanning each one for the words 'Kira', 'SPK', 'Takada Kiyomi', and the date January 26, 2010.

"If only I could have hacked directly into the SPK's files. That would have saved me a lot of work," she thought. Of course, that was impossible. Everything about the SPK was confidential, and she'd had to fight for every scrap of information she could get, which wasn't much. A simple Internet search would find only news articles about the SPK's creation, and then disbandment in 2009, and even digging around in other top-secret databases had been almost worthless. Well it was Near she was dealing with. She couldn't expect much less.

Thousands of files later, she shut down her computer. Once again, nothing. No new leads, no breakthroughs. Just the same information repeated over and over again. The girl groaned in frustration and buried her head in her arms to think.

She knew the SPK was a group of people made up of the CIA, FBI, and Near, who were responsible for stopping Kira. Seeing that Kira's judgments had stopped around a year ago and what little information the was on the SPK had vanished, it was likely that they had succeeded in stopping him, despite their "disbandment". But that wasn't what she cared about.

"Why didn't I start earlier?!" she asked herself, digging her fingers into her short, red hair. "Dammit, is it already too late?"

A few minutes passed in silence as her mind and body rested. She was always so tired. Tired of pulling all-nighters hacking and researching this crap. Tired of falling asleep at the computer, and waking up stiff all over. And most of all, she was tired of this stupid unknowing.

Everything she didn't know, everything she wanted to know. It was eating away at her, driving her insane! And this was all she could do about it? Investigate confidential information hoping so sniff out an answer? No, that wasn't enough anymore. She'd need to try something more drastic. Something…

A crazy idea popped into her head. It was stupid and impossible, and it was the best idea she had.

What if she tried to ask Near?

She didn't like the thought of asking him, and she knew it would be absurd to try to meet him, but on the other hand, if she somehow managed to do that, he'd be able to answer her question. Or at least half of it.

"God, have all those espressos disintegrated your brain? There's no way in hell you'll be able to pull that off," part of her said.

"I'll find a way to do it somehow, and that's not the coffee speaking," the other half of her replied.

"You'll regret this."

"I'll regret not trying more."

"How can you even consider being able to contact him?"

"I'm an optimistic person, I suppose."

"Why would he help you?"

"Why shouldn't he?"

"You're impossible."

"You're one to talk."


That settled it. She'd set her sights on finding Near. Her goal was ambitious, and seemed thousands of leagues away, but she could see it burning brightly in a sea of darkness and catastrophe. Getting there would be a difficult tightrope walk. Still, she'd come this far, it would be a shame to turn back now.




<i?"As for who I am, you can call me L."</i>


"L? As in the detective L?" Ollie asked. The man nodded.

"What's with this guy? Passing himself off as L? THE L?! It might as well be President Lincoln's ghost paying me a late night visit. It's absurd!

…So absurd it might actually be true.

Now that I think about it, what merit is there for a dead person to pass himself off as the world's greatest detective? Nothing that I can think of.

No. There has to be something. The odds are just too extreme for this to be real. There's no way…"


"You don't believe me, do you," L (assuming he was L) said, a statement, not a question. There was no question about it.

"Of course not. That's very near impossible," Ollie replied. Somewhat calmer now, he picked up his blanket, put it back on his bed, then turned his computer chair to face 'L' and took a seat. "Care to prove your claim?" he asked.

"You are Oliver Staek, correct?"

"…Yes."

Ollie normally didn't feel comfortable giving his name to complete strangers. Well, he still didn't. But that was that and this was this. The man had already known his name, and probably hadn't even needed Ollie's conformation.

"You're father, the FBI agent Knick Staek, died eight years ago while investigating the Japanese police and their families under my jurisdiction."

Whoa.

That caught Ollie by surprise.

As far as he knew, even though the twelve FBI agents being killed in Japan had been announced to the public, the media had not said anything as for what they were investigating. How did this guy know something about his father that Ollie himself didn't?

He'd struck a soft spot, and Ollie was struggling to keep his composure.

"That's not too bad, but it's not enough. Can you tell me anything else? Personally, I want to know about the current L is. I don't mean a name or anything, but who chose him? And when did he become L?"

"The current L is my successor," L said. "At least, he is now. I knew I wanted him, or another person to take my place, should anything happen to me, but I was killed before I could decide between the two. I don't know exactly what happened, but I'm guessing the other person turned down the offer." He paused and seemed to think about something, but there was no way to tell for sure. With his blank expression, it made it impossible for his emotions to be read. Ollie was betting on pensive, anger, nostalgia, or grief.

"As for the second part of your question, I can't answer that unless you agree to help me with something. Understand that it is for the sake of the current L. Without your cooperation, I don't think I should share such confidential information with you."

"Cooperation? For what?"

"I'm looking for someone. I figured that I will probably require the assistance of someone with a physical body at some point. That's where you come in. That is, if you feel that you can trust me enough to agree."

"Well, I'm more or less convinced that you were someone with access to very confidential information, but I can't say I totally believe the fact that you're L. Actually, if anything  I'm starting to think that you were the other candidate to be his successor."

L nodded again, and put his thumb to his lips.

"Yes, I can see how that is much more believable… And at this point, even if I told you things that only I know, there's no way you could tell whether or not I'm telling the truth. I suppose that in the end, it's all up to your judgment," he murmured.

Ollie sighed and scratched his head. This was quite a dilemma. If there was no way this guy could prove he was L, then they would have to rely on pure trust alone. Not something Ollie really wanted to do, considering they'd only just met a few minutes ago in a very…bizarre way.

"Okay, what's the worst that could happen? After all, he's dead. And it's only helping him to look for someone. That doesn't sound too bad. Difficult, but not bad," he thought. "Then again, I don't have nearly enough information to make this decision safely. If it is a trap, and I agree to help him, the worse case scenario would be... Urgh! It's no good! It all comes down to the fact that I don't know enough! About ghosts, about L, about anything!

There's no way I can commit to this just yet. It's just too dangerous. Still, it's not as if I can say no either. If he went this far to seek my help, it's not like he'll take no for an answer. I...I have to talk carefully."


"How about this. I'll try helping you out for a while, and I'll come to my own conclusion about you along the way," Ollie proposed.

"I don't need to commit to anything. I'll have an escape route. That should keep risk to a minimum," he added mentally.

"That's what I was hoping you'd say. I appreciate your help," L said.

"…But in exchange, there are some things I'd like to know right now."

"Like what? I'll try to answer your questions as well as I can."

"You mean you'll only answer what you want to answer," Ollie thought grimly, but he held his tongue. It was inevitable after all, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Fair enough," he forced himself to say. "My first question is: Why did you choose 2:30 in the morning to recruit me?"

"Yes, 2:30 is a rather inconvenient time. But it wasn't my intention for us meet face to face tonight. I had originally planned to hack into your computer while you slept and leave a message that would pop up the next time you logged on. I figured if I asked for your aid that way, you wouldn't freak out as much. Unfortunately, my plan did not work out," L answered. "I only made up my mind about you late this afternoon. And you went to bed late. I wanted to be sure that you were in REM sleep before making my move. I just got unlucky. If you hadn't woken up, the whole thing would have been much more painless for you."

"He almost makes it sound like it's my fault," Ollie noted bitterly. He shook off the remark. Now wasn't the time to be thinking negative thoughts. He needed his mind clear. "His story does make sense. If he really only did select me to help him at around the time I saw him on the train, it all checks out. There's no way he'd try something like that when it was likely that I'd walk into the room. Even if he were to turn invisible, I'd notice that something was wrong with my computer. So the logical time to get into my room would be either while I was eating dinner, or early in the morning. I suppose he thought the former would have a higher risk."    

"Wait, but I ran right through you, didn't I? So how would you be able to hack my computer?" Ollie was thoroughly perplexed by this. He was pretty sure L had decided to get into his computer directly versus using another computer because it would be more complicated, but if he couldn't even touch the keyboard…

L held up his right hand, almost as if he were greeting someone. Ollie raised an eyebrow.

"Touch my hand," L said. Ollie opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off. "You'll see.

"What is with this weird guy?" Ollie wondered as he tentatively reached out with his left hand. He was shocked to find his fingers meeting a solid surface. A palm. A solid palm.

A chill ran up Ollie's spine. He was sure he was touching a real hand, but it didn't feel right. It was like feeling the hand of a corpse. Cold, dry, and completely lifeless.

"So, you can materialize at will?" he clarified, hastily drawing his hand back. L nodded, and put his hand down. It instantly turned transparent again.

"Yes, but it's not as simple as it may seem. I have a lot of trouble materializing completely, and I can't stay that way for very long. You see, I'm not really supposed to be here."

By 'here' Ollie didn't think he meant his house.

"Why's that?" he asked.

"As you might have guessed, not all spirits become ghosts. When a person dies, usually they pass on right away, save for the occasional vengeful or lost soul. When I was killed, I was supposed to cross over. However, I had other plans. So I did what most sensible people wouldn't do.

I resisted The Pull of the afterlife."

"Um, I don't mean to sound ignorant, but what's The Pull?"

"It's hard to describe. It's a very complex and mystical process that I don't know too much about, but I suppose you need to know at least the basics. The term The Pull is really quite literal. I assume the 'other world' has a somewhat magnetic quality to it, and apparently something inside of dead souls draws them in towards it. Because I'm resisting The Pull it's like I'm being ripped apart in two different directions," L explained.

"Doesn't resisting hurt? I mean…that sounds pretty bad…" Ollie trailed off. He knew he probably sounded stupid. L tilted his head to the side and stared at Ollie with that unchanging deer-in-the-headlights expression.

"No, it doesn't hurt. After all, I'm already dead. I can't feel pain, even when I do materialize. But in a sense, you're right. Resisting is mentally and spiritually draining. That's why I can't maintain a solid form for very long."

"Oh, that explains why you might need human help, but why me?"


Surely L must have had thousands of people at his disposal, and with those odds, Ollie couldn't see how he could be at the top of that list. If anything, he'd guess himself to be somewhere near the bottom.

"It's actually quite a simple explanation," L said.

"Enlighten me," Ollie thought sarcastically.


"I'll start with the minor qualifications. First of all, you're not extremely old."

Ollie couldn't help but laugh at this. Sure, he hadn't known what to expect, but this was rich.

"Perhaps my wording was a bit wrong, but it's actually very important. I don't know how long it will take to track down this person. There's a good chance it will take years and years to accomplish. So obviously, I can't choose someone who has a good chance of dying before then."

"You're right," Ollie agreed, nodding his head in. "And your wording wasn't wrong, just kinda…surprising," he added, slightly ashamed for laughing. "What were the other qualifications?"

"You live in Japan. Your intelligence is unquestionably above average. And maybe most importantly…

Your father was murdered by Kira."

"See, that's what I don't get about all of this," Ollie exclaimed. L seemed to be confused about this outburst.

"What do you not understand? The fact that your father was murdered?" he asked.

"No, I came to accept that a long time ago. What I don't understand is how this is connected to the Kira case! Earlier, you said you were killed. It was at Kira's hand, wasn't it? L never seemed to me the type of guy who got really close to people, so I doubt you're looking for a friend or family member. And although you trying to find and take revenge on Kira would make sense, why would you wait until now? After all, criminals stopped dying a year ago. For all anybody knows, he's probably already dead. I just can't make the connection."

"Yes, I see…" L mused to himself. He wandered over to Opheodrys's terrarium and stared at the bewildered snake. The room was still as L seemed to think something over carefully. "There is one thing you should probably know one thing before I explain," he said finally. "Although I don't know how you will take this."

"I'll be fine," Ollie assured him, although a feeling of dread sat in his stomach. L turned and looked at him again, almost in a suspicious manner, but whatever had bothered him in Ollie's reply was immediately dismissed.

"Kira is dead," he announced.

All the air inside Ollie rushed out at once. Although he had come to that conclusion a few months ago, he hadn't actually thought he was right. Could this perchance be the truth?

"Is that a fact?" he asked dubiously.

"It is. I saw him die."

"Saw him die?" The wheels were turning at a breakneck pace within Ollie's mind. "Kira died after he did. L knew who Kira was. So if he wanted revenge, he could have… No, vengeance isn't it. You hear stories all the time about vindictive spirits who murder people they held a grudge against, but he said he 'saw him die', not 'I killed him'. Does that mean he had been following Kira until his demise? In that case, why? Was he waiting for something? For what? Him to die? But what good would that do if his soul would instantly…" Ollie's umber eyes widened as a light bulb turned on in his head.

"Kira's soul must not have been able to cross over! That means…"

"You're looking for Kira, aren't you?"

"That is correct."

"That's why my dad being murdered matters so much. It makes me more likely to help you." Suddenly, everything seemed so clear to him. Of course L would want to use someone who Kira had impacted negatively. And where better to start than the son of a unjustly slain FBI agent?

"If your questions have been answered, I'll…" All of a sudden, L stopped, and his "body" tensed. Before Ollie could ask what was wrong, he had disappeared completely. A split second later, the door to his room opened.

"Ollie? What are you doing up? It's a bit late to be surfing the net, isn't it?" Beth's voice was weighted with sleep. Eyes squinted and short black hair tousled, she leaned against the doorframe, awaiting a reply.

"Huh? Oh, I'm in my computer chair," he remembered. His conversation with L had left him in a daze, and even now he was having a hard time believing it had happened at all. But for the time being, it was back to reality.

"I couldn't sleep, so I thought listening to music might help," Ollie half lied.

His mother brought a hand up to her temple and began to rub it in a counter clockwise motion. It was her way of relieving stress, and she claimed it to work, although Ollie had his doubts. Beth knew better than anybody about her son's insomnia and nightmares. When he'd wake up as a child, screaming and thrashing, it was she who would rush to his side to console his sobs. She'd rock him back and forth, and stroke his hair until he calmed down. Then she'd hold him as he cried the rest of it out.

Now Ollie was too old to be soothed in that manner, and too proud to show her his suffering. And yet he didn't have to. She could see it so clearly. Under those layers of maturity, the frightened child remained, greatly in need of comfort. Comfort Beth feared she was unable to give.

"Ollie-," she began, then stopped. She tried to put her feelings into a coherent phrase, but found it impossible. "Just know…that I'm always here for you," she said awkwardly, not at all satisfied with her wording. It didn't even come close to conveying the right emotions, much less get her message across.

Ollie blinked and nodded slowly, feeling even guiltier for lying. He hoped it didn't show on his face. Explaining the truth to his mother was one of the last things he was interested in doing right now. After all, what she didn't know couldn't hurt her.
This is a looong chapter compared to the rest!

Well, I just saw L: Change the World today. *sniff* The ending was sad. But that little boy was sooo cute! (No name b/c it's a spoiler)

Disclaimer: I don't know Death Note, or L, or Matt, or Mello, or Near, or (rambles on)
© 2008 - 2024 fullxmetalxgir
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PG-for-Mild-Peril's avatar
Hoorah! The next chapter!

:giggle: You know, for some reason, for one insane moment when the girl at the beginning "dug her fingers into her short red hair," I thought, It's a female Matt!

Yeah, I'm stupid. :lol: