* * * February 8 * * *

The sun was just starting to rise above the horizon. Its warm rays had just barely reached the hotel room that housed the Japanese Kira Task Force. Once Bambi had her laptop carefully balanced on her lap and a new room key in her pocket, she quietly opened the bedroom door with her good arm to peak into the main room. As she scanned the area, she found Matt playing one of his handhelds on the couch, Mello rummaging through the kitchen, Aizawa sifting through piles of files at the coffee table, and L occupied at a computer in the corner of the room, facing away from her.Perfect.

Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, the teen silently wheeled herself out the door and into the empty hallway. After checking the time, she took the new room key out of her pocket and checked the room number. She then returned the key to her pocket and wheeled herself down the hallway, coming to a stop once she located the correct number.

Bambi quickly let herself into the room and locked the door behind her. Then she wheeled herself to the table, placed her laptop in front of her, and swiftly made her way to the private video chat that she had set up several days earlier. The hacker checked that the webcam was still off before opening her voice scrambling program. After confirming that it was exactly six o'clock, she opened the video feed.

Two faces appeared on the screen. On the left sat Kato, a young man with dark brown eyes and messy black hair that was no longer than Near's. His eyebrows furrowed and a worried frown settled on his face when he saw an Old English 'B' on his screen. To the right sat Melinda, a young woman with long red hair and a face dotted with freckles. Her sky blue eyes were pained as they frantically skittered across the screen.

Bambi spoke into the microphone. "Before we begin, I will ask you a few questions to confirm who you are and that you are alone. Only then will I show you my face."

As Melinda vigorously nodded her head, Kato said, "Okay."

"What's my zodiac sign?"

Kato raised an eyebrow before looking over to the girl next to him. She looked up as she pondered for a moment. "Hmmm... Your birthday is... Oh right, you're a Pisces!"

"Kato, what is my favorite color?"

He glanced around the room before looking to his right as he answered, "Green."

Bambi smiled and shut down the voice scrambling program. "It has been a while since we've had to use those codes."

The pair returned their eyes to the screen and smiled at the sound of their friend's voice.

As the brunette turned on her webcam, she laughed lightly. "I almost forgot them, actually."

Kato smiled and his body visibly relaxed as he sighed in relief. Melinda's expression fell as her eyes landed on the scar on Bambi's cheek and her arm in a sling. "Oh my God. Amy, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Mel."

"Are you sure? You don't look it." Tears started welling up in her eyes.

"Mel," Bambi drew out with a warning tone.

"Your job isn't safe, Amy. Please quit!"

"Melinda," Bambi raised her voice.

"That guy is still out there! Please-"

"Melinda Ann Carter." She stressed each syllable, silencing the redhead. "Just listen to me!"

The eldest looked down ashamedly. "I'm sorry."

Bambi took a deep breath, rubbing her temple with her good hand before looking back up at the screen. "Mel, he's dead."

Melinda stared at her best friend, wide-eyed in disbelief. "What?"

"He's dead," the brunette repeated. "The person who did this to me was killed."

This time Kato spoke up, his tone wary. "How did he die? I read about him, and he didn't seem easy to catch."

Bambi hesitated for a moment before deciding that they had the right to know. "Have you two heard of someone called Kira?"

Kato nodded his head and Melinda jumped in. "You mean the guy who's been killing criminals?"

"Yes," Bambi confirmed. "We think that Kira killed him."

"How do you know?" The redhead asked.

"He had a heart attack, but nothing that should have lead up to it."

There was a short silence between the three friends before Kato cautiously asked, "What kind of work are you even doing now?"

Bambi frowned. "We've been over this before. I can't tell you."

"Right..." Kato looked down at his lap, a small frown present on his face.

Silence settled once more. Bambi did her best to keep a straight face despite what emotions she was going through. Still, her eyes gave some of it away. These two were like the family that she never had and they meant more to her than anyone else. She knew that this was for their own good, but it still hurts to let go of the people you love.

Bambi took another deep breath and began. "I need you guys to do something for me." The pair on the other side of the world looked back up at the screen as the brunette continued. "First, if anyone asks if you know someone called 'Bambi', tell them that you don't. If you really have to talk about me, only use my real name."

Melinda raised her eyebrow. "Why?"

"My work is very dangerous right now and I don't want you getting caught in the middle of it."

They reluctantly agreed, though not without worry for their friend's safety.

"Kato," the hacker began again. "I need you to find that article again and get rid of the picture for me. If you see any other pictures of me online, delete those as well."

Bambi could see him fighting off tears as he tightened his lips and furrowed his eyebrows. He must have just begun to realize her true reasons for contacting them. A few moment passed before he nodded his head.

After bringing up a new window and making a few keystrokes, Bambi addressed him again. "I'm sending you a code. I need you to save it to an empty USB drive and upload it into one of the school's computers. Once you're done with that, you need to destroy the USB."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Why? What is it going to do?"

"It will give me access to delete all of my electronic records in the school."

As the file was sent to his laptop, Kato gulped. After a moment of thought, he uttered a shaky, "Okay."

"I need one last thing from you both." Bambi waited a few moments as she mentally prepared herself. "Don't try to contact me again."

Kato looked down, his lips forming a tight line again. He knew that she was leading up to this. Melinda, on the other hand, hadn't figured it out. Her eyes were wide and her mouth agape. Tears began accumulating in her eyes once more.

"Wait for my message," Bambi instructed. "I'll contact you when it's safe again."

They nodded, neither of them able to speak at the moment.

The hacker forced a smile, though it was a sad one. "As thanks, I'm going to-"

The door handle jiggled.

Bambi's eyes went wide at the sound and partially turned the wheelchair so that she could face the door. She motioned for her friends to stay silent before closing the screen halfway and turning the laptop around. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she realized that she was completely vulnerable to an attack with only one good arm and one good leg.

Her eyes were trained on the door as it was pushed open, revealing a bandage-less Mello holding what appeared to be lock-picking tools. Bambi tensed at the sight. If he got in here that way, L must have noticed that I left.

The brunette forced a smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Ryuzaki sent me." He stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. "What are you doing away from headquarters?"

As his eyes landed on Bambi's half-opened laptop, she pushed it further away from him. "Just... playing games."

As he shifted his gaze from the laptop to Bambi, his eyes narrowed. His tone became low, almost matching that of all those times they argued that first week so long ago. "Oh, really?"

He took a step toward her, briefly glancing at the laptop again. The hacker's false smile faltered as a cold sweat began to trickle down the back of her neck. She didn't want to involve him in this, and she certainly didn't want L to know.

Bambi carefully wheeled herself in front of the table, facing Mello a short distance away. Neither of them dared to speak as they stared each other down. He glanced to the laptop again. Another few moments passed.

"Mello-"

He darted forward, past her incapacitated arm, and grabbed her laptop.

As Bambi turned her head to follow him, she pushed herself out of the wheelchair and onto her feet. She stumbled on her healing ankle as she swiveled around, accidentally pushing her wheelchair away. She caught herself with her good hand on the table as she faced the man behind it.

"Mel-" Her expression dropped.

He had opened the laptop and was now staring at the two teens on the screen, wide-eyed.

"What's going on?" Bambi heard Melinda call out. "Ame-" She could only assume that Kato had covered the redhead's mouth to prevent her from saying the brunette's name.

Mello narrowed his eyes and turned his attention from the screen to Bambi as he demanded to know, "Who are they?"

The hacker speechless. Her mouth was open, but she could form no words.

"Who are they and why did you contact them?" He repeated, his voice even lower than before.

"Mute it," Bambi whispered. "I'll explain everything then, but they don't need to hear this."

He waited for a moment, taking in her expression before turning his attention to the laptop. The young woman waited as he used the touchpad and clicked on a few things. He then turned the screen to face her, showing her that the video chat and microphone were muted.

"Now close the screen and put it down." She instructed. "She can read lips."

He returned the screen to face him, but did not comply to the demands.

Bambi narrowed her eyes at him and tightened her grip on the table. "Look, I can barely stand right now. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't take it back. Just put the damn thing down already."

Another few moments passed before Mello grudgingly agreed. Once the laptop was closed and on the table, he folded his arms. "Well?"

Bambi fumbled with her words as she began her explanation. "I grew up in an orphanage too... And those guys... We're like a family, and..." She groaned at her inability to think straight and paused to recollect her thoughts.

After a few moments, she sighed and looked down. "Back in California... He did what he did to me... to both of us," she corrected, "because he wanted to get to L."

When she looked back up, she could see that Mello's expression had softened.

He remained surprisingly quiet, allowing the brunette to continue. "Thanks to Lind L. Taylor, we know that Kira will do anything to get rid of L... probably the Task Force too." She paused. "That's why I called them... I'm severing our connection. I can't leave the possibility of them getting hurt because Kira wants to get to the Task Force."

Mello looked her straight in the eye. "How do I know that you're not leaking information about the case to these people?"

Bambi furrowed her eyebrows as she tightened her grip once more. "Then just stay here and listen. I don't care! I need to do this whether you believe me or not."

He took in her expression, waiting for a few moments as he made his decision.

"Fine."

Mello pushed the laptop across the table to the hacker and took a seat. Bambi removed her hand from the table and limped to the nearest chair. Once sitting across from the blond, she pulled the laptop back to her, opened it, and turned on the sound.

Before she could even speak, Melinda was yelling out. "Who was that guy? What's going on?"

"Don't ask. Everything's fine. All green," the brunette assured her. "Anyway, to thank you guys, I've wired money into both of your bank accounts to pay for your college tuitions for the next four years." She looked directly at Kato and said, "You can go to MIT if you want."

He was speechless. Melinda smiled at him and shook his shoulder excitedly.

Mello jumped in, his eyebrow raised incredulously. "Where the Hell did you get the money for that? We don't get paid that much."

Bambi looked up from the screen. "I'll tell you later."

As the young woman brought her attention back to her friends, Kato spoke up. "Won't it look suspicious if we suddenly had all that money?"

She thought for a moment. "If they do suspect you, I'll be sure to have 'my boss' leave a message. They won't give you any trouble then."

"You wouldn't." Mello narrowed his eyes at the hacker.

"Yes, I would. He's not gonna care anyway."

Bambi's tone reminded Mello how seriously she was taking their safety, and he certainly didn't blame her for it. He stopped arguing, allowing her to continue.

As she looked back up at the screen, the brunette saw Kato smiling sadly. "Thank you, Amelia."

Bambi returned his smile as she began to wrap up. "I'll call you again when it's safe. Don't worry about me, though. It's your senior year, enjoy yourselves."

Kato nodded, unable to look up at the screen and respond. Melinda wiped her falling tears and looked up at the screen. Her voice was shaky as she said, "I'll miss you."

The investigator smiled sadly. "I'll miss you guys too."

The three friends bid their farewells, not wanting to drag this out any longer. Once Bambi turned off her laptop, she looked up at Mello.

He leaned his folded arms on the table as he began. "Before we head back, mind telling me how exactly you have all of that money?"

She smiled, grateful for the distraction. "Have you ever heard of the Robin Hood Hacker?"

~o~

Once Kato had carefully returned his laptop to his backpack, he followed Melinda out of the old tree fort that the trio of friends had built as children. He was silent as he followed the redhead to her car. As they drove, he thought back to Amelia and the blond man who had interrupted their conversation. She had called him 'Mello', and Kato knew that he had never met him before. If that's really the case, then why did he seem so familiar?

Melinda had been surprisingly quiet throughout the car ride, so Kato was surprised when she pulled up to his house already. The two bid a short goodbye as he exited the car and she drove off.

He stepped into the small house, locking the door behind him. It was silent as he walked in. Mom and Dad must be working late again, he realized. The young man sighed before walking into the kitchen and setting his backpack on the table.

After grabbing a microwaveable dinner out of the freezer and heating it up, he returned to the table and powered on his laptop. He took a bite out of his meal and brought up the article that he had bookmarked in order to hack into it and remove the picture. As the page loaded, his eyes went wide. Mello is the guy who saved Amelia.

Later that night, once her parents and brother were asleep, Melinda locked her door and turned on her laptop. The screen lit up her dark room and she logged into her homepage. She went to the section of the website for thank-you messages and left her own.

"Dear Kira, Thank you for killing Beyond Birthday. He hurt my friend, but now I know that he can't hurt her anymore. You have put me at ease once again."

~o~

Many hours later, back in Japan, Light Yagami was sitting in his room and taking a short break from writing names in the Death Note. Instead, he chose to look at one of those Kira websites again. He had been making a habit out of visiting one American site in particular because it had a page solely dedicated to people thanking Kira for what he has done. Whenever he begins to doubt himself or feel a little sick from killing people, Light reads the page to remind himself how much people have benefited from his work as Kira.

He smiled as he read through the thanks left for him. One comment thread in particular piqued his interest.

"Ryuk, come look at this."

The shinigami stood from his position on the bed and walked behind Light. He loomed over the brunet's shoulder, reading the opened comment thread.

________________________________________

+softballginger: Dear Kira, Thank you for killing Beyond Birthday. He hurt my friend, but now I know that he can't hurt her anymore. You have put me at ease once again.

-mrxmime: Was your friend that girl from Cali? I did a report on this guy in my psych class and she was the only person he didn't kill.

-softballginger: Yea, that was her. And, Oh my gosh, I didn't know that. So scary :(

-mrxmime: She's lucky. Did she know him before he was thrown in jail? It's pretty abnormal for a guy with his criminal history to suddenly change from murder to torture like that.

-softballginger: No.

-mrxmime: Damn. I guess no one will ever really know why he did it, then. I guess something just snapped when he saw her. Though, the guy must have already lost his marbles by then, knowing what he did to his first victims and himself in the Wara Ningyo case. Maybe he was one of those crazy stalkers.

-softballginger: Please stop, you're scaring me :(

-mrxmime: Sorry, I got carried away. Don't worry, though, Lord Kira will protect us from evil like him =)

________________________________________

Several moments passed before Ryuk commented, "Humans are interesting."

"Is that all you got out of that?" The brunet asked, a tad of irritation clear in his voice.

The shinigami's silence told Light that he was correct.

"They're talking about the girl that I met at the entrance exams," he explained.

"...Okay?"

"It's just nice to put a friendly face to these people, especially when my work is appreciated." Light smiled as he thought back to the girl, hoping that he would be able to see her again.