A/N: Just like all of my other stories, I barely have any idea where exactly the idea for this series came from. I think I had a dream about a certain scene and then it came to be. Either that, or I started with another question, like… "What if Near and Mello had to work together on a case" and this came out. I don't know…

Dedication/written for: This story is dedicated… eh… I'm writing this story for Iludehcaj because… well… he's been an amazing person to me and put up with all the shit that I've thrown his way. I think he deserves this for that. I tell you all the time, but we gots a connection, you and I, and I cherish that more than you understand! Thanks, man, you're amazing!

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of the characters in it.

Chapter 1: Life

It's been about a year and a couple months since the end of the Kira case, and in that time things have begun to return to the way they were before. People began to commit crimes again, as the horrors of human beings usually makes them.

Though, this process is slow… for there are many people who still fear that Kira will return and begin punishing criminals again.

This fear in them, and the lack of crimes happening leaves only simple, childish, cases such as finding drug lords or serial killers for me to do. There is no more challenges left to test my ability and to show me that I was really meant to be the next L.

As hard as it is to say at times, Kira was the best criminal there was for this problem… and I beat him.

And while I should be glad for this, and relishing in the fact that I solved the only case that L could not, I just can't anymore, for I have found things to be just as L said.

Solving crimes is a passion, and becomes an addiction.

For a while, a detective is fine with simple cases to solve such as the ones I've been solving recently. But after a while, it becomes a heavy desire for more… harder cases and less evidence to go on in order to bring more of a challenge to the plate.

I have reached this point and it has begun to feel as though each day is becoming more and more monotonous and unbearable.

Each day goes by in the same exact way, without fail.

Every morning I wake up, in a room that is white, cold, and devoid of any life whatsoever. Then I get up, dress in the same white outfit I always wear and head down to the investigation room to begin any case that's waiting for me.

Now, after the Kira case was solved, I inevitably had to disband the SPK after a while and thus get a whole new team on investigators. Well… all except Rester, he stayed with me of course since he's my second in command.

But the rest finally left and I brought in a new team of people for whom I didn't trust in the least, yet could manipulate to do as I wanted. There were mainly only another two that worked immediately with me, however.

Anyway, at night, I would eat something small before turning in to bed at about midnight or later depending on how much I was feigning that the cases held my interest.

Once I was in the confines of my room once again, I would slip under my cold sheets and lay there with my eyes locked on one item.

On the opposite side of the room, parallel to my bed sat my dresser, and on top of that was one lone picture of a certain young, deceased, blonde in a dark wood frame.

I had lied to Mello when I told him that I hadn't made any copies of his photograph. This was the only one though, and I'd never let it out of my sights, so I'd known, at the time, that there was no risk of anyone else getting it.

What could I say though, I always knew somewhere in the back of my mind that Mello would do something that would end his life prematurely. Mello was my only competition, my only equal, and the only one who had really known me. I couldn't let someone like that be left strictly to my memories when I had the ability to change it.

So there I would lie every night, starring upon his younger self in the photograph, and sometimes my wishful thinking would appear from beneath the thick layers of my otherwise logical mind.

I am human after all, I am capable of wishing and hoping even if I know the percentages are not in my favor.

I would wonder and wish that he was up there and could see down to all that I did, all because of the heavy sacrifice he'd made.

Then I would wish that things could somehow be resolved now and he would no longer harbor such a strong hatred for me. As if... his sacrifice and my success at the end of the Kira case had put him at ease. I knew those were hopeless thoughts and probably could never be true, knowing him, but i could never fight the wishing.

These were often the thoughts that put me to sleep at night, and oddly enough I found that I had no problem with that.

I knew when I got up that this morning was not going to be any different from yesterday… there were no alarms buzzing, or the sound of people running on lower floors. There was simply… silence. The same silence of this building that I was no longer sure of if I liked or hated.

But when I finally made it down to the investigation room, I was surprised to see the three members of my immediate team surrounding the back table instead of starting on some case as usual.

I held back my confused look, preferring to make my way over to the head of the table and sit down, drawing one leg up close to me as my grey eyes darted around the table… waiting for someone to speak.

"Good morning, Near." The woman, Allison Logans as I believe was her full name, spoke up with just a bit of nervousness in her tone. She was a small woman with thick dark hair, light skin and brown eyes who was in her late twenties and who had worked in the CIA for an amount of time. But with her quiet personality, one would hardly even guess it.

She was good at what she did… but there were times when I contemplated having Rester dismiss her. Simply because she had a way of being oblivious at times… and that trait annoyed me quite a bit.

"What is going on?" I asked back, wanting no more of this casual act for conversation and instead wanting only to get down to my case for the day.

"Well…" The new male investigator, Richard Joseph said. He was in his early thirties and had short dark blonde hair and green eyes. I wasn't completely sure what he had done before working here… but he was good with maps and good with riddles as well. "Some reports have been filtering in, recently and based upon them…" His voice trailed off.

I exhaled a small breath, hating the way that they were evading my question if even in the smallest of ways. I then looked over at Commander Rester, knowing he would tell me as it was.

He looked back at me before understanding that I wanted to know, now. "Well, as Joseph said, some reports have been coming in within the past couple of weeks… a couple dozen people have all died… of heart attacks."

My attention was instantly spiked.

My mind began to race faster than anyone here could ever hope to follow but I listened as he went on anyway, I wanted to rule this out over everything else. There was no way… we'd made sure…

"What's more interesting is that all of the people who were killed were lower level gang members and the greater majority of these have happened at, or around, the Las Vegas area. We're currently looking into other gang member deaths and trying to see if this could all just be a coincidence."

"But," Joseph said instantly after Rester had finished, "Based on all of this information and everything that we've been told about the events of a year ago… isn't it safe to assume that this could be the working of someone with a Death Note?"

My fingers rose to begin twirling a lock of white hair as I thought it over. Of course this was probably the case… but I didn't want it to be so.

In one way, I'd been desiring a case just like this… and I knew I should take it with grace. But on the other hand, I began to review over the past events that had happened many years ago.

L had taken the Kira case… which is just like this one… and he had made careless mistakes in the hope of luring Kira out, when instead he was giving Kira exactly what he wanted. It had ended up in his death.

Thankfully, I had these events to look back upon and thus I wouldn't fall into the same place L ended.

"Yes… even though I would like to find another reason to explain all of these… in the most realistic situation… I think that this is the reason behind it."

"So what are we going to do about it?" Logans asked in her quiet voice.

I was quiet and continued to twirl my hair… yes it was a good question. What was I going to do about it? I did not want another Kira era to happen when the world was beginning to turn back to the way it had been.

So how did I keep that from happening?

I exhaled another breath, unsure of how exactly I was supposed to tell them that I was unsure of how to start this case.

I stood up from my seat, beginning towards the door. Despite how wrong it all seemed… nothing I did with my hands would be able to help me solve this problem. I wasn't sure what else would help… but I felt like just continuing to move until something came to me.

"Where are you going?" Rester asked.

"I am not sure yet," I answered honestly. "But I will be back." I told them before exiting from the investigation room again.

A/N: So… this was kind of a suck-y place to end this chapter and I'm sorry it was short, but I really didn't want to keep going or else it would end up being about 13 pages. Anyway, let me know what you think! I'm kind of already struggling but I'm hoping that after the first three chapters it will get better. And i have an amazing helper with this story! So I'm sure he'll help me as well! At least... I hope he will.

Oh! Just so people know: I have read the extra chapter that deals with the new Kira and what not, and I realize that that also took place about a year after the Kira case. Well... let's say this happens sometime after those events.

Let me know your thoughts!

Please review!
-Forbiddensoul562