Summary: Mostly AU: L is currently working on the Kira case, in which he meets his match. Fearing the worst for the future, he calls up an old friend who he knows Kira won't have an effect on…

Why it's AU: Well, other than the fact that L will not die (Yays!), Light isn't going to play as Kira. He will be suspected though and he will still be chained to L due to suspicion falling on him.

Genre: Adventure/Supernatural/slight Romance and Comedy

Possible pairings/Hints: LxLight, past one-sided OCxL, NearxOC, past OCxBB, MattxMello, dark and twisted past OCxOC and more…

Disclaimer: Let's see, if I owned Death Note, I'd do what any fangirl would do: Lock L and Light in a closet (wearing their handcuffs of course) and see what happens like the little pervert I am.

Prologue:

A young man stood at the counter of a half-assed candy store, looking bored and agitated. He was about five foot nine, broad shouldered, lean, and muscular. His handsome face had smooth peach colored skin and looked like a Renaissance sculptor carved it out of marble. He had shaggy brown hair that curled at the base of his neck, and eyes the color of jades, which earned him his name: Jade.

Jade Graves propped his elbow on the counter and leaned his cheek on his palm. His now twitching eyes were lidded and his scowl was deepening. Finally, right when three younger boys walked inside, he opened his mouth wide.

"I'm bored!" he whined.

Each of the three boys blinked, but didn't look completely surprised. They knew him well, so they were aware of most of his quirks. The boy in the middle, the blond wearing black, scowled over at Jade while crossing his arms. The two boys on either side of him just looked at the young man with blank looks.

"Yo, Green Eyes!" Mello yelled, using the older boy's nickname. "You open or what?"

Jade looked over at the entrance and brightened slightly. "Well, if it isn't the infamous Whammy prodigies. How you doing today boys?"

Mello walked quickly and got up in the older looking boy's face. "Chocolate. Now."

Jade stared down at him blankly. "Dark or milk?"

The fifteen year old scrunched his face in thought. "Dark."

"In the back."

Mello's smile was wide enough to rival The Joker's trademark grin. Jade smirked slightly, amused at how Mello ran like a child towards his beloved chocolate, his hands reached straight out, ready to grab whatever was in sight. Meanwhile, the two other boys walked up to the counter, making his smirk grow into a full out grin.

The auburn haired boy (lacking his usual game module), who wore his trademark goggles and striped shirt, grinned back at him and waved. The shorter, white haired boy, who was clad in white pajamas, stood beside him glanced up at Jade once, but then lowered his gaze, seemingly deciding that the small Optimus Prime in his hand was more interesting than the man. Not that Jade really minded.

"Hey there Matt," Jade offered a high five to the brunette, which was taken full heartedly. "Anything new?"

Matt shrugged. "Not really. Just playing videogames, watching over Mello, making sure the idiot doesn't make a fool of himself—"

"Efforts that aren't all that successful honestly," Near muttered.

"HEY! I heard that!" A screechy yell from Mello came from the back of the store. The boy's head popped out from behind the aisles, directing his heated glare at the two boys, especially Near.

Near glanced back at him dispassionately. "Why should I care?"

Mello stepped out from the aisles and stood tall (with five wraps of chocolate in his arms), glaring down at Near with icy blue eyes. Near stared blankly back with emotionless, silver-black orbs.

"So, yeah the usual," Matt finished with Jade, ignoring the exchange between Mello and Near.

Jade chuckled, "That's great." He eyed Mello and the chocolate in his arms. He leaned over to Matt to whisper, "So…is Mels on PMS or what?"

Matt looked over at his best friend and chuckled. "He's just getting his weekly fix, with me paying of course." He crossed his arms, his face serene as he stared at Mello.

"Okay, that explained why you two are here," Jade scratched the back of his head in thought. "But why is Near here?"

Jade didn't see, but Near seemed to tense when he heard that. Mello noticed this and smirked, having also hearing Jade's question.

"Why he wanted to see you, Jade. I thought it was obvious," he laughed maliciously.

Near's eyes narrowed, showing a rare anger and fury. "Shut up, Mihael."

Mello's smirk didn't falter, despite the fact he wanted to yell that he wanted to be called Mello, not by his real name. The fact that he got a reaction from the other boy was enough to allow his real name to be said just this once.

Jade got out from behind the counter and stood between the two boys, putting both of his hands out to prevent a fight. With an easy going smile, he looked from one boy to the other.

"Come on guys," he said, slightly nervously. "Not in the store at least. My boss will be pissed with me."

Near looked up at the older boy, his expression now calm and emotionless, despite that wasn't what he truly felt. Jade knew that though he was an expert of hiding his emotions by a mask, that still didn't mean the boy didn't feel anything.

"I could leave, if my presence is distressing you," Near said softly.

Jade's eyes bugged out and he started waving his hands frantically. "Near, you aren't bothering me. I was just curious because it's rare that you leave Whammy's and go out, at least without a reason."

The younger of L's two successors (by one year) lowered his gaze again and went back to fiddling with his toy. "I just wanted to come," he answered extra softly.

Near almost jumped when he felt hands ruffle his curly hair. He looked up and was surprised to see Jade smiling tenderly down at him, his namesake eyes seeming to shine as bright as his smile.

"I'm happy you came. It's great to see you finally out of the room and out among us. Sorry if we humans aren't as interesting as your puppets and robots," Jade added, voice laced with good-natured teasing.

Near allowed himself to wear a small, almost unnoticeable smile, while twisting a finger around a lock of his hair. "That's all right. I prefer you to most human beings anyway."

This made Jade laugh as he ruffled the boy's hair fondly. Near was one of his favorites among the Whammy orphans, right up there with Mello and Matt. A sentiment that both he and L shared. That was after all, the main reason why the detective had chosen these three as his possible successors. Strangely enough, Matt had declined the offer to be L's successor (only Jade had a clue as to why), but Mello and Near stayed in the race and were both doing pretty well. The two of them would make a good team…if they got over their differences of course.

A familiar ring tone rang throughout the store, making Jade's eyes narrow slightly. Only one person would call on that phone…

Jade spouted out a quick apology to the three boys and ran to the office at the back of the candy store, door slamming shut. Once he was inside, Jade reached inside his back denim pocket and took out a sleek black Razor cell phone, not bothering to look at the caller I.D.

"What's up?" Jade said, stone faced.

A male voice answered, "Jade, I need you."

The young man chuckled teasingly. "Why L, I'm flattered. I guess what they say about absence making the heart feel fonder is no shit."

L sighed (Jade could picture the crouching man squeezing the bridge of his nose), "You know what I mean."

"Yeah, but you can't blame me for trying."

Jade sat in a leather chair in front of a desk and computer. He could already tell that this was going to be a long conversation, and would probably need one big web search.

"Do you know which case I'm working on right now?"

"Who in the world doesn't? L, the Kira case will probably go down as one of the most freaky murder sprees in history." Jade smirked slightly, "To have the three greatest detectives in the world working on it isn't all that shocking."

A slight snort, "Now I'm flattered. Seriously though Jade. This case has gotten more…complicated then I expected it to be. As much as I hate to admit it, I am not even 80 percent sure that I will make it out this time…"

At this, Jade's eyes widened in panic. L? Die? No, that wasn't possible. The Kira case can't be that dangerous…

Right?

"You know I wouldn't call you unless it was serious enough, especially since I'm in dire need of your special…condition."

Jade didn't even hesitate. "I'll book the next flight to Japan and be there as fast as I can."

"I'll hold you to that." With that, L hung up.

Jade closed his phone and logged into his boss's computer to order the tickets online. The fat old man wouldn't even notice that it was hacked by his employee.

He smiled bitterly to himself. So much for boredom.