Author's Note: Okay, so I started this story on a bit of a whim, not really knowing if anyone would be interested but I couldn't get the idea out of my head. Typically, I just write for myself but that doesn't mean that I haven't posted my stories before... of course I have, but only a fraction of the amount I actually write. The reason I decided to post this one is because I'm absolutely in love with Death Note; whether that be the anime, manga, novels, films and drama series... All of it! And I just needed to get an OC in there somewhere. This story, if I find the energy, should detail the OC's childhood at Wammy's, the BB murder case, and of course Kira. In case you hadn't noticed already, the pairing is of course L xOC

First chapter is slow and dark, but necessary, so I hope you patient souls stick around!

I'm a little nervous about this one, so any feedback would be helpful. Thanks!

Chapter 1 – The Happening

A small, eight year old hand clutched the doorknob of the house study, slowly turning it in an attempt to avoid the usual creaks that accompanied an old English manor. Raya Addison, a girl of eight, was currently attempting a dangerous mission of espionage otherwise known as... sneaking up on her father whilst he worked on his latest invention. So far, her attempts had been in vain due to the fact that whatever her father was building had been kept out of her vision and therefore was keeping him on the defensive. This just made the curious little girl even more curious as to why she was being shut out and kept in the dark. She knew her father had accepted a job from the American government, but wasn't told exactly what it was nor what he would be making.

However, keeping her in the dark was exactly what her father had to do. You see, Raya Addison was no ordinary little girl of eight. Even before she could fully walk, she had been a quick study. Her father had often brought her to his workshop and it wasn't long before she was assisting him in his endeavours. Her mother at the time had been more than against this development, but when she passed away it allowed her all the time in the world to learn the art of inventing. Despite being in the process of learning the trade, her father was now concealing his current job without an inkling of an explanation. Even her father's old mentor, Quillish, had not been to visit since the job started about six months ago. Not that she'd ever met the man herself, well not that she knew of. Marie, the house nanny and her dad's house keeper, had always kept her in her room when he visited, which was more than irritating as she knew of all Quillish's work as an inventor himself.

However, in all honesty, this was now less about discovering her father's secret but more about finding out exactly what was keeping his attention so diverted that he could no longer spend a second with his only child.

As the door finally slid open an inch, an alarm sounded within the room – automatically shutting the door and locking her out. Raya was often figuring out new talents she possessed, and right in that moment, she found impatience.

"Father! Please..." In an instance, all she really wanted to do was cry because with the sound of the alarm, came the sound of her father's lackey, Marie.

"Raya! Your father told you not to disturb him. He's a very busy man," she boldly marched towards the seething girl, stretching out her hand in an attempt to swipe her away. But this time, she would not take no for an answer.

"No!" The young girl pulled away before slamming her fists back on her father's study. "Please, daddy! I don't want to see it, I just want to see you!" Marie tried again to drag her away, so Raya took to drastic measures and slammed her foot down on the woman, who instantly screeched in pain and began hopping on one foot. Raya didn't miss a beat and instantly began crying for her father once again.

A minute later the door swung open and the little girl embraced her father tighter than she ever had before. Raya had always been devastatingly close to the man that had raised her, and therefore it had been eating her up inside to have to go days on end with out speaking a word to him.

"Oh, honey. What did you do to, Ms. Hunningsworth?" He asked formally, in an attempt to suppress a smile at the sight of the hopping woman.

"S-she was t-trying to take m-me away again," she mumbled through snuffles as she clutched onto his brown jacket.

Eventually, he pulled away from her with a kind smile on his face. "Because I told her to, sweetie. It's not Ms Hunningsworth's fault," He spoke in a soothing voice as he crounched down in front of his sniffling daughter, who was still wearing her nightgown, and her short copper hair remained dishevelled. He took in her appearance and sighed, adjusting his glasses. "Have you remained in your room all day again?"

She didn't say a word, unable to lie to her father. Raya had previously decided that if her father was going to remain locked in his study, she would remain in her room. The servants of the manor had been unable to make her leave for anything for days and her father had been kept updated on this development. Evidently, sweet Raya had had enough of this situation, deciding to take matters in to her own hands again. But it had taken until about 5 o'clock that evening, hence the surprise of her current state.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. You must feel ever so lonely," he spoke with genuine remorse and sadness that made Raya cry once again.

"I do... So let me help. You know I could." He laughed gently in an attempt to disguise his own welling up.

"You're right, I have no doubts that you could assist me. You're a natural at tinkering that's for sure." She smiled at the compliment, feeling it to be genuine. "However... this is too dangerous for you to get involved in, sweetie. I'm under strict instructions to work alone." His tone had grown darker, and Raya raised her head to stare into the utter seriousness of what he was saying.

She was afraid.

"T-then... if it's dangerous... Why are you getting involved, daddy? I don't want to lose you too!" Raya almost screamed the last part of the sentence, ripping her father's chest open in the process. He was breaking his daughter's heart, and that terrified him.

Family life was the life he was supposed to have chosen, but did he ever really choose? As Alfred Addison, he was a father... but inside that room he was Ade, the alias Quillish had created, just as his was Watari. He had decided to give it up to start a family, but he never really could. He'd make little things at home, things that Raya had taken to herself. However, when his wife had died... he buried himself in his work once again. Typically, his old mentor Watari might have rejoiced, if it wasn't for the fact he had been busy working with his latest charge.

Alfred hadn't returned to the orphanage he grew up in, but he knew Watari was keeping it as much of a friendly environment as possible for orphans. If the joke he was currently undertaking turned out to be as dangerous as he expected...

No, he wouldn't think of such things, but he would have to prepare for that situation accordingly.

After a moment of silent thought, Alfred spoke. "Why don't we spend the day together, sweetie?" After all, he wasn't sure how much more time he had.

It was a week after the study incident and Raya was currently curled up on her bedroom floor, waiting for her father to come in. After being able to spend the day with her father, she had never wanted to let him go. With devoting a good hour trying to pry her off of his legs alone and then bribing her with sweets and cake, they had finally come to an agreement that he would spend an hour with her before bed every night as a bare minimum.

Raya rolled on her back and spread her feet and arms wide, resembling a star, as she waited patiently for her father to enter. In one hand she clutched the book that her father intended to spend some time reading to her tonight. It was called 'The Inventor's Handbook' and her father had stated that it would become like her Bible when she replaced him. At the time she had shrugged him off, not wanting to even believe that she would ever replace him. Whenever she envisioned the future, in no part did she ever think about living without him. They were always together, and always would be.

Raya's dazed thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the intruder alarm going off by the front door. The manor was large, but the alarm was made to wake up the whole household if need be. Raya clutched herself tightly at the overwhelming noise filling her eardrums... She was afraid. If that alarm was going off, it meant that somebody had come in without permission.

Her over-active mind drifted straight to her father's words... It is too dangerous for you to get involved in... Was this because of his job? Was that why they were here?

It was a second later that her door burst open and she yelped in fear. She relaxed a little at the sight of her father standing before her, but his eyes were completely petrified.

"Sweetie, you need to hide right now." Raya took a second to glance away from her father's frantic face at the file he was tightly clutching to himself. She wanted to question him, beg him for answers, but he was leaving no room for argument. "You remember where the panic room is, right?" She nodded, hugging herself to stop her shaking. "Go there quickly, and don't look back. Am I understood?" Her father placed both hands on his daughter's arms, taking a second to be close to her one more time. He knew this would not end the way he wished.

"But daddy... I can't leave you! You have to come too!"

He shook his head, unable to suppress the tears that were running down his crimson cheeks. "I can't, sweetie. There's something I must do... but you must hide! Now!" He pulled her out of the room and pushed her towards the direction of the panic room. Unable to disobey her father, Raya ran to the door at the end of the hall, in order to make way down the side staircase, too afraid to look back. Once at the bottom, she yanked the last door open and entered a seemingly normal living area. Wiping tears from her eyes, she crouched before the fireplace and hit the hidden switch under the bust that resided there. The fireplace back disappeared as it slid downwards, allowing enough room for Raya to squeeze into.

The last thing she heard before the back slid shut once again was a loud shrill of a scream that sounded eerily like Marie.

Raya covered her hand over her mouth, unable to stop the sobbing that spilled forward. She had never been so afraid in her life. It was only in that moment did she realise that she still had hold of her inventing bible... and she cried even harder.

Hours passed in that metal space and nobody came for her, not even her father. In a way, the shrill scream she heard as she entered was enough to let Raya know that whatever she would be greeted with when she exited the panic room would not be pleasant. She wasn't sure if she was quite ready to face that just yet. In her gut, she was residing a hope that this was just a dream, or a misunderstanding and her father would come and collect her any minute. She wanted to hold onto whatever naivety she had left, knowing as soon as she stepped out of the room, her one claim to innocence would be shattered into a million pieces.

And yet, she had to know the truth.

Taking a deep but shaky breath, Raya exited the panic room by pushing the release switch. For a moment, she just listened. All she was greeted with was an eery and unwelcome silence. It was so quiet she swore she heared her heart breaking.

Raya whimpered under he breath like a cornered puppy as she dragged herself out from the fireplace, still clutching the book her father had given her for her seventh birthday.

There was no going back now.

Steadily, Raya made her way back out into the hall and up the staircase that she had previously escaped down. Facing the hall of her bedroom, the first person she saw was Marie... lying in a pool of her own blood. Raya's hand shot back up to her mouth, tears springing from her eyes once again. Her little feet ran barefoot against the carpet floor as she peered down at her old nanny. She had been a stern woman, middle aged, but she had been there when her mother could no longer be. This was too much for a young heart to accept.

But she couldn't stop there. Her father was still missing.

Her mind raced with the possible locations her father could be and her mind always stopped at one in particular – his study.

Before she could second guess herself, Raya raced towards the room she despised so much. The room that had always kept her father away from her. The room she had spent countless hours trying to enter if only to be with him again. Well, nothing was going to stop her this time.

It didn't take her long to reach it, the adrenaline fuelling her tiny limbs to run faster. Once outside, she didn't hesitate to push the already slightly ajar door, fully open. Straight away, the first image she was presented with was that of blood... that was enough for her to fall to the floor, floods of tears escaping her pretty brown eyes. Raya gathered the strength to crawl forwards, the blood trail growing larger as she did so. That's when she heard it... a wheezing. Shocked, her eyes searched for the source of the sound, just in time to find her father slumped forwards taking his final breaths.

Sprinting upwards, she cried for him before falling in front of him as he carefully raised his head.

"Daddy! W-what do I do?! You need help!"

He smiled, unexpectedly calm as his eyes doted upon his daughter. "M-my darling daughter..." He coughed between words, blood dribbling from one side of his mouth. Raya took in his injuries frantically, wanting to find a way to save him. "I'm s-so sorry, sweetie... I-It seems I w-won't be able to b-be with you any longer..."

Raya's face could only be described as one of absolute sorrow. "D-don't say that... There's still so much you have to teach me."

A weak smile appeared once more on her father's face, a single tear drop escaping silently. "Find... Watari..." These were the final words uttered in a shaky breath, before Alfred's head drooped to a final stop.

With a scream of anguish, Raya shook her father violently in an attempt to wake him. When he made no so much move, she clutched his jacket tightly, allowing herself to finally fully release herself in the emotion she was left with. She had no idea who had done this, why they had left her father to suffer... and she had no idea who Watari was. Why were they his final words?!

When her mother had died, her father had told her to be brave. This was again one of those times. Her father had died for something... he'd been killed. She had to know why.

Glancing around the trashed study, she had to take a guess that whatever her father had been working on for all this time was missing, as she definitely didn't see it. Plus the file he had been holding when coming in to her room had vanished. So a motive then. Now she needed to discover who Watari was, and how they played into all this. Her father must have left her some sort of clue.

In that instant, Raya noticed something clutched on the inside of her father's right hand. It was a piece of paper. She unravelled it with shaky hands to discover a number and the words "say A122" written underneath. So obviously her father wanted her to call this number and say that to whoever answered, right? Okay... she had to do this.

Braving the unknown, little Raya walked up to her father's study phone and entered the number with shaky hands.

A silent pause filled the manor as the young girl awaited the sound that let her know that the phone was ringing.

A moment later the line was picked up, and through sobs of tears she said "A122".

An intake of breath could be heard from the other end of the line, before an old soothing man's voice was heard speaking to her. "Raya? Everything will be alright, now."

Somehow, she believed it.