The days at the new headquarters passed slowly. It took them forty-eight hours to recover every file and scrap of data that they'd left behind at their old location. Before that had even been accomplished, Near had asked if Gevanni could recover the connection with L. Gevanni had replied that it would be up and running "within a couple of days," but now four had passed and Ridner was feeling as useless as ever. She did normal rounds outside the building, and checked to make sure that none would discover Near's current hideaway. She even spent one afternoon at target training with Lester to brush up on her aim.

They kept Mogi with them at all times; he was an even tougher stone than Lester, and he wouldn't talk — that is, he didn't talk until Near managed to hook another member of the Taskforce named Aizawa. Aizawa met with them of his own accord and offered Near evidence from their last investigation, when the real L had still been alive. When Near was sure he had gained the man's trust, he released Aizawa and Mogi both. After they had gone, he made another leap in logic.

L was Light Yagami, and Light Yagami was Kira.

Near set to compiling evidence, Lester at his side night and day, while Gevanni and Ridner did whatever they could from the sidelines.

When Near dismissed her early one dull weekday, Ridner decided she would go home and reflect. Perhaps reviewing the case files once more — combing them for any missed evidence — would give them all something to look into while they waited for L to slip up in his calculations.

Ridner opened her apartment door that afternoon, and there was a new intruder waiting for her.

It was a boy in stripes and goggles, lounging in her kitchen chair and tapping away on a handheld video game. Ridner swept up her gun and pointed it at his chest from across the room.

"Oh, hi," he said, tossing his reddish hair away from his eyes and setting the game on the table. "Relax," he added, motioning nervously for her to lower her gun. "I'm Mello's guy. He sent me here to see you. My name is Matt."

Ridner shifted from the doorway to the living area, but she kept her weapon trained on his chest.

"Jesus, for such a fearless woman, I didn't think you'd be stubborn, too. I said I was with Mello." Matt checked the clock on his cell phone. "Actually, Mello should be here pretty soon himself…."

There came the sound of harried footsteps on cue, and the blond boy burst haphazardly through Ridner's door.

"Matt," Mello called, raking the hair away from his eyes before he noticed there was anything amiss. "Matt, I thought I told you to leave the…" he trailed off as he caught sight of Ridner with her gun glued to his friend. "What are you doing?"

Ridner sighed. For the love of God, wasn't this her apartment?

"I'd like to know what you're doing," she replied, nodding in Matt's direction to make it clear that she required an explanation or she'd shoot the redhead for sheer boredom-cure.

Mello moved toward the boy in stripes and fisted a hand in his red mop. Matt didn't even glance up from his video game. "Jesus, Matt, didn't you even tell her who you are?"

"I did," Matt responded. Then he cursed loudly at the device.

"Pay attention," Mello raged, "Or she's going to shoot the shit out of you. I wouldn't put it past her these days."

Matt reached up with a gloved hand to yank his hair free of his tormentor. He saved his game, put the little console down, and promptly gave Mello the finger. "You're a real fun-sucker, Mellowy Mello." He said it casually. "She knew I wasn't going to hurt her."

Ridner watched in astonishment as Mello seized the other boy's hair again. "Fuck you. And if you call me that name one more time, I'll feed you to Near in fleshy pieces."

"Save me from the albino baby in pajamas," Matt wailed with mock mortification. Mello slapped him upside the head, and Ridner saw the tinted goggles shake loose from the impact. "Ow, ow— OW, MELLO!" Now Mello was ripping the goggles off with a snarl.

When they dangled in Mello's hand, Mello delivered Matt a kick to the shins. "Get out of her kitchen chair, asshole. Hal, this is Matt."

Ridner stowed her weapon. "Pleased to meet you," she said stoically. Matt grunted and offered her a wave. Then she looked at Mello. "I see why you keep him around."

"Yeah," Matt allowed gruffly, bestowing Mello with a noogey of pure resentment as he passed them and took up new residence on Ridner's couch. "Mello keeps me around so he has someone to beat on when he can't get close enough to Near…."

Mello seethed his way after Matt and landed the striped boy a punch to the gut. "Keep your mouth shut, Jeevas."

"That isn't what I meant," Ridner interrupted, hoping that the two would not break into a brawl on her living room floor. She inclined her head in Matt's direction. "There's grease on your shirtsleeve," she exclaimed, "and burns in your jeans like you were working with something electrical. Are you good with machines?"

Matt had been fishing a cigarette from a pack in his front pocket, but he paused when she asked him the question. "I'm good at everything," he admitted finally, recovering enough to pull out his lighter next. "I can fix cars, mess around with motor bikes, hack any network I feel like hacking…. Damn, Mello. This chick is sharp."

Mello regarded him snidely from the corner of his eye. "Don't smoke in here," he commanded, and when Matt ignored him Mello snatched the boy's lighter with phenomenal speed. Matt took a dive for it. Mello tossed it onto Ridner's floor and crunched it into metallicky, plasticky bits under his boot. Lighter fluid leaked onto the hardwood.

"Mello, goddamn it!"

"Matt is helping me monitor everything Near does," Mello volunteered while Ridner's eyebrow ticked at the mess beneath her coffee table, "And everything L does, to the extent that he can. It's not foolproof, but we've been tracking all movement so far." Satisfied that Matt could no longer wreak any havoc, Mello joined his furious partner on the couch and waited for Ridner to take a chair.

"Where'd you find this guy?" Ridner asked, curiosity about Matt getting the better of her in increments.

"Jesus," Matt yelped, "I'm right here, you know! And Mello, you'd be shit out of luck without me to save your sorry ass after that circus gig you pulled. So don't you go feeding this chick any lines about how badass you are by yourself." Then Matt went back to his game, fuming at the buttons when they didn't do what he wanted.

Mello averted his eyes and lifted a hand unconsciously to the scar that formed a net across his face. A shock of understanding ran through Ridner's consciousness.

It would have been impossible for Mello to tend to himself after an explosion the size of the one that had trapped L's Taskforce. He had more than likely come out burnt — to the third degree or worse — with a body weak and useless. No mafia to order to help him, no trained agents at his beck and call. Yet somehow, Mello had survived, and recovered fast enough to come sneaking up on SPK members in the alleyways outside their houses. The bandages had been fresh then, Ridner remembered. With what she knew of Mello, there was no way he would have trusted a doctor to do the job — and not just because going to a doctor would get his name into a system that could trace him. No, Mello would have had to go to someone he trusted, completely and entirely, or accepted help from some concerned passerby that didn't know of his history, even if that person hardly knew what he was doing. That was why Mello had scarred so badly. But Mello had never complained, never cared, because the person that had saved him had been someone that meant something to him. And that person was…?

"Matt, was it?" Ridner looked at the redhead with new respect.

Matt glanced up, happy to focus on something other than his troublesome game. "Oh, finally decided to acknowledge my presence?"

"I'm sorry," she said, aware that Mello was watching her through narrowed lids. "I didn't mean to be rude."

"No big deal," Matt shrugged. "Hanging around a mannerless guy like Mello, I can see how the habit would rub off." Mello, who had been taking off his gloves, reached out and whacked him.

"Go ahead and tell me what you came here for," Ridner told them both. "I'll tell you what I can, within reason."

Matt looked relieved. "Ever since Near released those two Japanese guys from your headquarters, we've been tailing them," he said. "The big one — Mogi — he's really boring to watch. I mean, how straitlaced can one guy possibly be…."

Mello growled, "get to the point," and raised a hand to seize Matt by the hair again, but Matt was faster for once. He caught Mello by the wrist and licked Mello's fingers. "Let me talk, Mellowy Mello. And your fingers taste gross."

Mello tore his hand free and viciously began scrubbing it clean on his thigh. "Then don't fucking lick them!"

"Anyway," Matt continued coolly, "We uh… need more help."

Ridner sagged in disbelief. "What?" she groaned, losing her composure for the first time in ages. "I already told you exactly where those two men would be released — on Near's orders, no less. I can't tell you anything else!"

"I told you it was useless, Mello," Matt grumbled. "We're stuck in front of the monitors again, being bored."

Mello tugged his gun from its usual place and pointed it across the room at Ridner. "Talk, Hal."

Ridner rolled her eyes. "Do you really think that's any good anymore?"

Mello jammed the gun back into position.

"There's one other thing I can tell you, but I assumed you would have known it by now."

"Just tell us," Mello grated.

Ridner bit the inside of her lip. She cycled through the information in her head. It was not paramount to capturing Light Yagami at this point, and it was information that Near had possessed for a long while. It would not put her into jeopardy to pass the tip to Mello, and if a problem arose in the future… Ridner would deal with it then. Perhaps Mello could do more with the knowledge than Near was doing, for the time being.

"There's a girl that we suspect of being the second Kira," Ridner said. "She's tied to the Japanese Taskforce. That's all the information I can safely give you. You'll have to work with it."

Matt's eyes went wide at the information, and then he regained his composure. "We can probably do that," he murmured, glancing over at Mello, who was spread out like a cat on his half of the couch. "What do you think?" When Mello sat musing instead of providing an answer, Matt leaned back and sighed. "Remind me again why we didn't just stay out of trouble like good little children."

"Because L died," Mello replied at once, and Matt slapped his hands on his knees and stood up.

"Yeah, you're right. So let's get the hell out of here and avenge him. Then I can smoke a cigarette, huh?" Matt waved at Ridner on his way out. "See you, and thanks loads. Try not to let Near bully you, okay? Give him hell for me. Mello, I'll wait outside."

The blond canted his head in acknowledgement. Ridner looked from one boy to the other as Matt adjusted his goggles and clomped outside in his furry vest.

"This case is important to him too, isn't it," Ridner observed, rising from the chair she was in to make herself a cup of coffee by the stove.

"Don't mistake it for what it's not," Mello said, toying with the beads on his rosary absently. "He's been with me a lot lately, but we haven't been what you'd call close, and he was never close to L. I helped him, so now he's helping me. I wasn't sure I wanted to bring him into this, but it was too late when—" Mello cut himself off.

Ridner's fingers strayed from the coffee pot to find the spoon she'd left on the counter. "When he saved your ass?" she quoted slyly. "It's not a bad thing to trust in people."

"Trust in people gets you killed." Somehow, Ridner knew he was alluding to the first L.

"You seem to trust me."

Mello got up to leave. "But you were always different, Hal."

Ridner felt her chest tighten. "Will you be coming back?" She abandoned her coffee to watch him go.

"If I need your help," Mello clarified, and then he was gone.