(I don't own Death Note)

~Chapter One~

Near knew they were watching him. He hated when they did it, but it wasn't really a big deal. Besides, in this place, there was always someone watching. So, he said nothing. Lately, he'd been stacking deck upon deck upon deck of tarot cards, always in the same order. Mello had gotten into the habit of knocking them down, though. Near wasn't really sure how to handle that. He'd asked him many times to please, please refrain from such things, but he had, so far, failed to comply. Near didn't understand this behavior. There was nothing to be gained from destroying the card towers, and it almost seemed as if Mello made more of an effort to destroy them than was necessary. Wasn't it just a waste of time and energy? Perhaps there was some reasoning behind it... Mello had insulted his habit of building the towers, saying that it was stupid and childish, but to Near, that made no sense at all. He didn't see how people could think clearly without doing something with their hands, and building was the best way to get his thoughts in order. If he could hold onto the cards or blocks, touch them and see them, turn them around and line them up in an order that made sense and allowed them to defy gravity, it was almost as if he could do the same thing with all the information in his brain. Same thing for those stupid... emotions. Such a waste of energy. They got in the way of everything. They were what was wrong with the world. By lining them and stacking them, arranging them into an order that made sense, he was able to store them away, where they couldn't get in the way and impede his judgement. When he had suggested to Mello that maybe, if he were to try a similar approach, he would be able to beat Near's test scores, he had received a bloody nose. That just sealed the deal on emotions, as far as he was concerned. They made no sense, and it didn't matter how hard he tried to understand them, he ended up making major social blunders. Not that he really cared, but it was just too much effort to try to understand what other people were feeling. It was so ambiguous...

"Yo." He didn't look up from his careful construction, but nodded his head in the direction of the one who had spoken. Matt sat at the table to his left, his PSP clutched in his hands. The two sat in peaceful silence for almost an hour, neither of them speaking. Near found that he almost enjoyed the other boy's company; he was much nicer than his blond best friend, and he seemed to understand Near's obsession with order. Near could even appreciate the games that Matt was constantly toting with him. They each had their own set of rules, and they each functioned in a certain way. Even those so-called "random encounters" with enemies, like in Pokemon where the adversary would appear at a seemingly random place and time, had a certain pattern to them. They functioned logically, and there was no room for variation based on the characters' emotions. They were predictable, so they were good.

"So," Matt finally spoke, not looking up from his game. "They finally caught that Light bastard."

"Good." Near nodded once. He didn't really care that much, although he was glad that L and the rest of the SPK would leave him alone. And maybe Mello would stop being so competitive... everyone had known that Light was Kira, but no one had been able to prove it. L had tried to get Mello to work with Near, but that hadn't gone too well. Near had said something that set Mello off, and Near had ended up on his back, Mello's hands wrapped around his windpipe. That had not gone well. Near strongly disapproved of Mello's quick temper; such levels of anger only left room for error, but he could see the merit of it in some situations. After all, he'd been successful in the mafia... that was quite the feat, and although he wouldn't ever be able to admit it to Mello (the older boy would only make fun of him), he was rather impressed by his success.

"He wants you to work with us on the next case." Near paused. He knew who Matt had meant by "he" and "us;" L, and Mello and Matt, respectively. "They wanted me to tell you." That made sense; Matt would talk to Near on occasion anyway, and if they had sent Mello to tell him, bad things would have probably happened, to one or both of them.

"What is the case?" He wanted to ask why they were expected to work together, but he knew that Matt wouldn't know any more than he did on that subject. Matt shrugged.

"They didn't tell me much. We'll be transferring to Russia for this one, though. Must be pretty big, to move the three of us out there." Russia? They already had a branch in Russia. Near actually looked at Matt this time.

"Why Russia? Aren't there already agents located there?" Matt shrugged again, flipping his hair out of the way of his goggles.

"Dunno. They're gonna formally brief us later in the week."

"Has Mello been informed?" Matt shook his head, sighing heavily.

"Nope. Not yet. I'm off to tell him next. Wish me luck, though." Near kept his mouth shut, resisting the urge to explain how there was no such thing as luck, just the probability of outcomes.

Matt sat there for a while longer, before regretfully turning off his game and shuffling out of the room, dragging his feet as he went. Near knew that he had broken the news to Mello, when, almost an hour later, he heard an angry shout from the other room.

"What the fuck? Why do we have to be stuck with that little freak?!" Near scowled. He wasn't that much more of a freak than the rest of the Wammy's kids; at least he hadn't lost his mind, like some of them. "No. No! Shut up, Matt." The other boy's voice could barely be heard, as he spoke in more reasonable tones as he tried to calm his more explosive friend. Near turned away as the door banged open, closing his eyes in anger as his card tower fluttered to the ground. "What the fuck did you tell them?" Mello demanded, his voice full of rage.

"Why would you think that I have anything to do with these arrangements?" He flinched as Mello grabbed the front of his white pajama shirt.

"Don't fuck with me! You say 'jump,' they say 'how high?' What are you playing at?" Near was feeling extremely uncomfortable in this situation.

"Please stop touching me," he mumbled, not looking at the other boy's face.

"Damn you!" Mello complied, shoving him roughly to the floor.

"Mello, man, calm down. He didn't even know about it 'till, like, an hour ago..." Mello spun to glare at Matt as Near began methodically picking up the scattered cards. Now he would have to reorder them and everything...

"Shut up, Matt. Stop being stupid. Of course he knew. Nothing happens around this fucking place without him knowing." Matt ran a gloved hand through his hair, sighing in defeat.

"Whatever, Mello. Just keep telling yourself that everything's Near's fault." Even Near knew that Matt had made a mistake as Mello lapsed into silence. When he finally risked glancing at him, Mello's hands were balled into fists, and he was trembling with anger.

"So now you're on his side?!" He finally hissed. Matt tried to defend himself.

"Mel, I'm not on anyone's 'side.' There aren't really 'sides' in here, so just chill. We're not out to get you, man." Mello shoved Near in the ribs with his foot, and Near glared at his back as he shoved Matt into the wall.

"What the fuck, Matt. If that's how you're gonna be, than just get the fuck away from me!" He stormed out, leaving Matt shaking his head sadly and rubbing his shoulder where he'd hit the wall.

"You shouldn't have said that," Near reprimanded softly. Matt made a disgusted noise.

"Why, so he could just be a total dick to you again?"

"It isn't that big of a deal." Near didn't like to see Matt and Mello fighting. They were friends; they weren't supposed to fight, and it totally threw everything off when they did. He wished that things would just stay the way they were supposed to be.

"Well, he needs to learn to deal with life." Matt stormed out of the room, leaving Near to pick up his cards in silence. He was almost done putting them back in order (all fourteen decks of tarot cards) when the Matt walked in the door again, this time sporting a slightly swollen black eye behind his orange goggles.

"They want to see us in the meeting room." Near sighed in defeat. He would never finish with his cards... Matt watched as he carefully made a pile of the deck he was currently working on. "You want help with that?" Near was surprised, and rather pleased, but politely declined the offer.

"Thank you for your offer, but I would prefer to do it myself." Not that he didn't trust Matt, but he knew how ADHD Matt could get, and he knew that after a few minutes of organizing them, he would lose interest, putting them in the box out of order. Matt shrugged.

"Whatever. Let's get going." They arrived in the small room shortly before Mello, and when he walked in the room, he headed directly to the opposite corner from them, glaring daggers at the small, white-haired boy, as if Near were responsible for all of the worlds problems. L was already there, sitting in the comfy chair at the front of the room, his knees pulled up to his chest as he lovingly devoured a piece of cheesecake. Watari stood to the side impatiently as he waited for L to finish. Rushing him with food, especially any kind sweet and cheesecake the most was totally pointless; he'd finish when he was damn good and ready. Finally, he set the fork and now empty plate on the table, swiveling the chair to face the his successors.

"Hello. I've already told Matt a little of what will be happening, and I see that he's passed that news on to you..." Mello glared back at his slightly accusing gaze, as if daring him to bring up his violent reaction. "What you have not been told, however, is the nature of the case." He broke eye contact with Mello, swiveling the chair back so that he was facing the computer. "Yes. As you've already been told, you will be transferred to Russia, as our Russian... 'comrades,' if you will, are unable to work on the case openly." he opened up a file on the computer, projecting it on the large screen at the front of the room. On it was a compilation of case files, all involving the brutal rapes and murders of children. Near studied the descriptions silently for a moment. "So what can you three tell me?" L asked after a moment. Matt shrugged apathetically, while Mello just looked furious. Near sighed, reciting his conclusions as if reading them aloud.

"The murderer targets only women and children, victims unable to defend themselves. Most likely, he is sexually excited by the violence or the actual act of killing the victim, possibly by the sight of blood. He started with only one or two murders, progressively becoming more and more bold as time went on, the concentration of murders reaching a peak during the last month." He lapsed into silence as he played with his model jet. He hoped they were almost done; he was bored. He didn't know what else they wanted, but Mello's scathing glares were making him uneasy. L nodded.

"Thank you, Near." Mello rolled his eyes.

"Why do you even have us here? Why not just put him on a leash and take him with you?" L stared at Mello, blinking slowly.

"Because I'm not going to Russia. We need the three of you to cooperate, which does not entail killing each other. The Russian branch had been under close scrutiny lately. They have been working on this case for the last year and a half, and due to the secretive and restricting nature of the Russian government, have been unable to make any progress."

"Well, why do you think we can do any better than they've done?" Matt asked politely.

"Because so far, none of you three have let rules and regulations hamper your work."

"So basically, you want us because we don't follow laws?" Mello looked slightly happier at the prospect of illegal activity. L smiled ruefully.

"That sounds accurate."

"Well. That changes things." The smile on Mello's face was enough to give someone nightmares for a week. "We just have to catch this guy?"

"It's a little more complicated than that. We need hard evidence that he's the one responsible for the murders, and a confession. There have already been numerous confessions due to the... violent nature of the interrogation style." Again, Mello smiled like a man possessed.

"I can get a confession." None of them doubted that he could.

"The thing is, it cannot be a false confession. If the murders continue after we've caught the supposed perpetrator, we risk all friendly relations we've built over the years with Russia."

"How can we be sure there are no copycat murders?" Near spoke again.

"That shouldn't be a problem; the Russian government has forbidden that any news of this be released. Apparently, a serial killer/rapist is a product of a corrupt society. Since only Western society is corrupt, serial killers are primarily a western problem. That is the reasoning, at any rate." Near frowned at the hubris of those in power; here was another reason that emotions were more trouble than they were worth. "I will give you three access to the case database; you will depart tomorrow. Until then, I suggest you familiarize yourselves with the details of the case." One thing was still unclear.

"Why all three of us?" Matt voiced Near's question.

"You all possess essential qualities that, by themselves, are almost useless in this case. The three of you together could form a far superior team, if you're able to work together without killing each other." Near got the idea that L was being humorous. He didn't personally see the humor, however; the threat of Mello killing him was very real, as he'd found out.

A/N: So I wrote this pretty much because Krista hates Near, but she it totally wrong. Because he's adorable. Don't get me wrong, he can be a total ass, but he's still adorable. So tell me what you think, and I will love you forever!

The serial killer in this story is based heavily upon Andrei Chikatilo, a serial killer in Russia who killed 52 women and children between 1978 and 1990. Very interesting fellow; you should look him up if you're bored and this kind of thing interests you.

Nothing actually starts between Near and Gevanni for a while. I decided to do this pairing because I don't really like Near with anyone else, and since Gevanni works so closely with Near for so long, I thought it kind of made sense.

*many thanks to soundofmadness223. even if she doesn't like Near...*

~alex~