It was late. Darkness hung in the luxurious hotel suite, save for the dim, flickering light of three television monitors. The tape containing security footage reached its end, and the screens turned to fuzz.

"That was footage from surveillance cameras at the station." Aizawa informed in a scratchy, tired voice. "The death of one of the FBI agents is captured on here." He squeezed his eyes shut and brought the fingers of one hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.

L and the Task Force were viewing all footage containing the activity of the twelve FBI agents during their investigations into the families of the Japanese police force... and they had been doing so for three days straight now.

L sat knees-up on the couch as Aizawa took out the security tape and put in another one. Matsuda was going over the agents' reports, and Bean was curled up against his papa, wrapped in a blanket and sound asleep as Watari distributed cones of green tea ice cream.

It had been a few days since L had met the Task Force, and all five of them had been given falsified police badges to protect their identities from Kira. L had also provided them with ordinary-looking belts containing a feature in the buckle that would send an alert to Watari's phone should the need arise.

Bennett was his usual quiet, content self, the presence of the Task Force doing little to upset his daily life. He completed his schoolwork each morning with assistance from Watari, following the standards for homeschooling in England. His subjects included the basics- Reading and Grammar, History and Geography, Mathematics, and Science- as well as Foreign Language. Already speaking Russian and English fluently, he was now continuing to learn Japanese. In addition, as per L's instruction, part of his schooling included daily puzzles and brain teasers to challenge his brilliant little mind. The puzzles included anything from Sudoku and crosswords to tricky and intricate riddles wherein a given set of clues was used to form a deduction. This was by far Bean's favorite class, and Watari had to smile proudly at the small boy's intelligence, so reminiscent of his father's.

Bean's lunchtime was always spent chattering to his papa about what he had learned that day. That small window of L's time, as it quickly came to be understood, belonged solely to his son. The Task Force and Watari would carry on with their work, and L would take Bean down to the cafeteria of whatever hotel they were staying in at the time. L had specified that they would be switching hotels every few days, so as to keep a low profile.

And now, here they all sat, L's eyes not being the only pair rimmed in tired shadow. The only one getting any sleep at all was the tiny figure snuggled up at the detective's side, blissfully undisturbed by the low-spoken voices around him.

But it was then, at long last, that L noticed something potentially relevant in the security footage. An FBI agent by the name of Raye Penber was seen carrying a large envelope onto the train but then exiting ninety minutes later without it, dying of a sudden heart attack on the platform. L pointed out that, just before Penber died, he appeared to be straining to look at something or someone inside the train as the doors slid shut.

"If that's the case, do you think it could mean something?" Chief Yagami queried.

"Wouldn't it be interesting," L queried pensively, "if Kira was on that train?"

The notion seemed quite improbable... but it was the only lead they had. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that Raye Penber's fiancée, a Japanese woman and a former FBI agent by the name of Naomi Misora, had mysteriously disappeared only days earlier. This was enough evidence to prompt L to focus the investigation on only those people Raye Penber had been tailing: Deputy Director Kitamura along with Detective Superintendent Yagami and their families.

This was not well received by the loyal members of the Task Force, but it was nonetheless agreed that cameras and wiretaps would be placed in each of the two Japanese homes.

It took some time to set up the equipment, but a few days later, L's monitors came alive with video feeds of both households.  Both the Kitamura and Yagami families went about their days, unaware of the invasive surveillance they were under.  And as L studied and watched and pondered, he was drawn to one individual in particular. 

Light Yagami, the Chief's eighteen-year-old son and eldest of two children, was a brilliant young man and more than capable of being the clever, cunning, evasive Kira.  He was popular among his peers, and his cumulative high school grades were among the highest in all of Japan.  He participated in sports, spent his free time studying in his room, and was preparing to take the entrance exams for admittance into Toho University.  He seemed to be entirely above suspicion, but... wasn't it likely that Kira would appear that way?

L and the Task Force were now two days into surveillance.  Aizawa, Mogi, and Ukita sat on one side of the suite watching feed of the Kitamura household, and L and the Chief sat on the other side observing the Yagamis.  Bean was playing quietly in a corner of the room nearest L.

"Wow, you're good at that!"  The young and bright-eyed agent Matsuda stood with his hands on his hips, looking down at the small child, who was busy building a structure out of Legos. The colors were particularly arranged in a pattern- red, yellow, green, blue, white- and repeating in that order.

Bean's lithe, blue eyes looked up with a tilted head as his fingers pressed two of the bumpy, plastic blocks together. "It's not hard," his small voice said simply around the hoodie string dangling from his mouth.

"Yeah?" Matsuda knelt down and then shifted to sit cross-legged as he adjusted his tie. "Can I help?"  He leaned forward a bit, his arms draping over his knees.

Bean nodded, his soft, inky hair flopping up and down from underneath his light blue cotton hood. "It needs a red one now," he informed with the utmost importance.

Matsuda noisily fished his hand into the container of Legos, straining a bit to see inside. He pulled out a red block and held it out to the little boy, relaxing back into his casual, cross-legged stance.

"Spasibo," Bean thanked him in Russian, plucking up the piece with his long and slender fingers. He clicked it into place, then turned to reach for another one. But he stopped, his fingers readily in air, to see that Matsuda was already holding out a yellow Lego on his open palm. Svelte, cobalt eyes looked up at the young Japanese police officer, who offered him a cheery smile with raised eyebrows. Bean paused shyly for a moment. Then he smiled back childishly, tucking his bottom lip under the aiglet in his pearly white baby teeth as he took the brightly-colored block from Matsuda's hand.

Nearby, L sat with both hands on his knees, his dark-rimmed gaze intent on the video monitor before him.  Light had just arrived home from school.  As the Chief and the detective watched him, it appeared as though he took daily precautions to ensure no one entered his room while he was out.

"I don't believe it," Chief Yagami murmured incredulously as he watched live footage of Light carefully placing a slip of paper in the door as he left his room after having deposited his school supplies inside. "I never knew he went to such great lengths... What could he be hiding in there that he doesn't want anyone else to see?"

"For a seventeen year-old kid, I wouldn't say this kind of behavior is particularly abnormal," L assured him.  "When I was his age, I did strange things too... Have you ever talked to your son about the investigation?"

"Of course not!" Yagami replied defensively.  "I've never once revealed classified information to my family!  Besides..."  He hung his head, bringing his fingertips to his temple.  "I don't get to see them too often these days.  Usually, as soon as I get home, all I can do is sleep."

"I understand..." L mumbled quietly, turning his attention back to the video feed.  "However..." he sighed, "His behavior seems too contrived, too... perfect."

"Hey!"  The Chief quickly turned an offended gaze toward the detective.  "That's my son you're talking about!  Are you honestly telling me that you suspect him?!"

"I do suspect him," L answered curtly, bringing a thumbnail to his teeth.  "That's why I placed wiretaps and surveillance cameras in your house and the Deputy Director's house."

A tense silence hung in the air between them.  L's shadowed gaze remained fixed upon the screen as the Chief looked away with a heavy heart.  After a moment, he spoke again.

"Ryuzaki."  His voice was tight, his body stiff.  He shut his eyes and lowered his head, his hands resting on his thighs.

"Yes?" L didn't look away from the monitor.

"I'm trying to see this from your perspective," Soichiro went on, speaking in a low tone.  "Of all the people we've investigated so far, not one of them seemed the least bit suspicious, and I understand that you have to be thorough.  But please try to see this from where I stand... as a father."  He looked at L directly.  "I mean... What if this was your son?"

Wide, grey eyes turned to meet the Chief's.  Then L's gaze lowered a bit as he deeply pondered the honest inquiry.

"Yes..."  L wondered.  "What if it was my son who was suspected of being this terrible Kira?"  

The notion alone was enough to form a knot in L's stomach.  He turned his head to look at Bean, who was sitting up on his knees and peering into the container of Legos as Mastuda rummaged around inside it.

"Ah ha!" the boyish agent cheered as he held up a green Lego.  Bean's little expression beamed as he reached out for the brightly-colored block.

The knot in L's stomach only tightened as he looked at his little boy and sincerely contemplated the Chief's current position as the father of a Kira suspect.  The detective swallowed dryly as he turned back to meet the eyes of Soichiro Yagami.

"It would feel terrible," he admitted softly.

Chief Yagami's face relaxed a bit as he looked back at L.  He nodded slowly.

"However..." L went on, looking back toward the monitors.  "If it were my son, and not yours, would you not continue to uphold your duties as a police officer?  Would you not strive to remain objective for the sake of the case and the fate of the world at large?"

Soichiro stiffened again, then looked down at his hands.  His chest rose and then lowered in a weighted sigh.  

"I would," he conceded.

And neither said anything more for a long time.