End Games

Chapter 27: Incognite

"Yup. She's gone. Left with some guards to who-knows-where?" Said Ryuk, casually floating around. "I didn't follow her or anything..."
L bit his thumb, anxiously. There was a good chance that his day was about to be ruined.
"Rem! Please come" he said. Rem appeared. "Where is Misa?" He asked her.
The bony Shinigami gave L a blank stare and looked inside the empty room where Misa should have been.
"She is not here."
"...Yes, I can see that for myself, it doesn't take Shinigami Eyes to make note of that." He said sharply. Rem narrowed her eyes at him and Ryuk laughed.
"Oooh somebody's in a bad mood" He said in between chuckles. This time, L didn't waste his breath on the troublesome Shinigami. He needed to figure out what happened to Misa. But first, he needed something else desperately: sweets.
He walked out of the ICPO headquarters with both the Shinigami still following him. L didn't say a word to them as he wandered into one of the nearby bakeries. Even though the store was well stocked with many different delicacies, L settled for something a bit more practical. He bought a lollipop. As soon as he walked out of the store, he popped it into his mouth, instantly feeling better, and walked towards a fancy hotel across the street.
'Ok, now that I can think properly...' His thoughts raced as he walked into the hotel. 'Misa's gone, surely as a result of some interference by the ICPO. What could it have been?' There was only one way to find out.
He walked closely behind a group of people that had just checked into the hotel and managed to get past the security as he boarded the elevator along with them. The other people in the group eyed him wearily but before they could say anything, L arrived at his destination, on the 10th floor.
President Ferraro was surprised to see L standing at his door, and with the two Shinigami following behind him.
"Detective L!" He said, wide-eyed. "How did you-?"
"-know you were here?" said L, finishing his sentence.
"Yes, I didn't tell anyone that I was staying at this hotel..."
L looked at him with deflated eyes."Do you really have to ask?" He said dryly. President Ferraro did not miss the edge in his tone.
"Of course..." Said the man, acknowledging the frivolity of his question. "One should expect no less from you, L. Anyway, to what do I owe the honor of your visit?" He asked, but then held up his hand to prevent him from speaking. "Wait, no, don't tell me. It's about Misa Amane, isn't it?" He said, taking a seat in an overly stuffed armchair. L removed the lollipop from his mouth.
"Bingo." He said, holding the candy delicately. "What happened to her?"
"Ah. You want to know where she is." Said Ferraro, looking smug because he knew something L didn't. "Well I can't tell you that because she is in our custody now, and you are not to see her or speak to her any longer, is that understood?"
Yes, L's day was well on its way to being ruined.
"And why is that?"
"That's none of your business, detective. Why do you care so much about Misa Amane anyway?"
L was getting irritated. "With all due respect, why I care about her is none of your business either, Ferraro. May I also remind you that I offered my life as collateral to ensure that Misa never kills again. Obviously, I value my life and I damn well want to make sure she's not put in a situation where doubts might be raised. So...let's try this again. Where is Misa Amane?"
Ferraro's brow knit together at L's impertinence. It was bad enough that the detective showed up at his hotel suite unexpectedly, especially after he took extensive precautions to cover his whereabouts. Ferraro was a man who prided himself in being difficult to find so the fact that L found him so easily was bothersome. Then to top it off, there he stood, looking languid as ever, demanding information from him. This, Ferraro could not tolerate.
"Do not challenge me detective L. You may be the world's greatest detective, and a hero, many might say, in light of your recent accomplishments. But don't forget who I am. And I will not take your audacity in coming here to press me for information lightly. Now, I suggest that you, and your monsters there, take your leave before I call my personal guards. They don't take kindly to intruders threatening me in my own rooms." Ferraro said menacingly. L took a long suck of his lollipop, mulling over Ferraro's words. So that's how it was going to be. He sighed.
"So I'm not allowed to go after her or see her ever again?" Asked L.
"That's correct. Any obligations you had in regards to Misa Amane have been revoked. You have no business whatsoever with that woman now."
L's heart hurt upon hearing those words.
"And what will you do if I look for her?" He said.
"Don't bother. You might be the greatest detective on earth but I'm sure even you can't go toe to toe against a police force that extends across all the countries covered under the ICPO. I assure you, you'd be wasting your time if you tried"
"So you will mobilize agents across countries just to keep me from finding her?"
"That's right." Ferraro said smugly.
"Why? What do you gain from this?"
"That is for me to know. Like I said, it's none of your business what use we have for her."
There was a long pause, during which L sucked on his treat, sizing up the situation.
"Very well, I understand." He said. "Would you mind answering one last question?"
"It depends. What is it?"
"If you were me, where would you go now and what would you do there?"
President Ferraro looked at him suspiciously. "You're asking me what to do now?"
"In a way...yes. I value your opinion." Said L.
"Alright. I recommend that you remain in France, try to relax, and unwind from this case. That's what I would have you do."
L's expression lifted ever so slightly, as if he'd just caught something very important. He nodded his head.
"Thank you President Ferraro, you've been of great help. I can honestly say that I feel much better because of it." and with those parting words, he turned and left the room. On his way down, L stopped at a different floor and locked himself inside one of the fancy bathrooms. He took out a small marker from his back pocket and got to work. If he had to go to war with Ferraro and the ICPO, then so be it.
"Hey what are you doing?" Asked Ryuk. L was crouched down on the floor of the bathroom, scribbling some lines on a piece of paper towel.
"I'm thinking" He said dismissively, drawing a couple of X's on the paper, each symbolizing a country. He then drew three other X's around the first two and looked at his handiwork, lost in thought.
'After speaking with Ferraro, I'm 99% sure that Misa isn't in France anymore. He knows that I wouldn't give up on finding her so easily, and on that premise, he would never recommend that I stay in France if Misa were here, within my reach.' He swished the lollipop in his mouth as he picked apart his conversation with Ferraro. 'Not only that, but the rest of the ICPO would not mobilize their agents for someone on French territory. That's the French representative's job. So she's definitely gone elsewhere...' He glanced back down at the paper and started to draw on it again.
"...We're here in France...and Japan's twelve hours away..." He mumbled, through the lollipop in his mouth as he drew an arrow from the 'X' representing France to the 'X' representing Japan.
L looked at the other X's on his makeshift 'map' as Ryuk peered over his shoulder.
"Oh I see, those are locations! You're going to look for her aren't you?" Said the curious Shinigami.
"Shhh-"
Ryuk looked at him and laughed. "How are you planning to find her like this? She could be anywhere in the world!"
L looked at him and cocked his head a little. "Not really. Ferraro mentioned that the ICPO has Misa in their custody, so she must be in one of their member countries. That narrows down our list of countries slightly. But then, if you discard the non-English, non-Japanese speaking countries where Misa would not function well, along with all impoverished or developing countries that she would never go to, then the list becomes quite manageable." He explained. "In fact, I'm positive she's either in Japan, the United Kingdom, The United States, or Australia."
"Oh, and you managed to deduce all that just from talking to Ferraro?" Asked the Shinigami, scratching his head in confusion. Ryuk had heard everything Ferraro said but none of it stood out as useful information. L paid no mind to Ryuk as he continued to look at the map he'd drawn, tracing lines from the X representing Japan, to all the other X's. Finally, L wrote some numbers down on each line. They were hours, measuring how long it would take to fly from one 'X' country to another.
'Depending on where she goes, I either have a 32-50 hour window to catch up to her, or a 12-20 hour window. And that's assuming that I guess the country she's in correctly...' Thought L, starting to chew on the lollipop. '...or there's always option 2...' He bit down hard on the lollipop, crushing it into sugary bits. '...which will it be?'
He came to a decision, stood up, and crumpled the 'map', throwing it away.
"Hey, wait up!" Said Ryuk, following quickly behind L. The detective picked up his cell phone and called Watari.
From the airport, Watari received L's call.
"Ryuzaki, is there something you need?"
"Yes, where are you right now?"
"At the hotel's reception." He lied. "There was a lovely continental dinner tonight I absolutely had to attend"
L did not question it.
"Watari, the ICPO relocated Misa without my knowledge. I need you to purchase four-no make it five- cell phones and two plane tickets to Japan immediately."
The old man's eyes widened. Did L already figure out that Misa was on her way to Japan? Honestly, it wouldn't surprise him.
"Why Japan?" Watari asked.
"I have reason to believe that she will go to Japan first. If the ICPO intends to hide her from me then they'll want to destroy all hard documents and public records related to Misa Amane, all of which are currently in Japan. It's standard procedure, pretty predictable on their part."
"Understood. I will obtain what you need right away" Said Watari.
"Please do." Said L before hanging up with a click.
The old man sighed, tired. Playing both sides was going to be difficult, especially because he's essentially going up against L.
-Later that night-
"I'm impressed, you're taking this rather well. I didn't expect you to be so methodical about this..." commented Ryuk. L sat in his hotel room, finishing up the last of his phone calls to agents in Japan, the UK, the US, and Australia. Each cell phone corresponded to a group of agents deployed in each country for the purpose of hunting down Misa.
"I am worried." He said, biting his nail, staring out the window. "But you must also consider the fact that I'm L, and I've never had any issues finding my targets."
L was in full detective swing now, and as high as the stakes were, this is what he lived for: the thrill of the chase.
"I'm a detective, and Misa is a pop idol on the run who happens to be very pregnant and easy to spot. Finding her should be no trouble. It should be cake." He said, looking toward a cart piled high with cake. Still, L wasn't touching any of it. While part of him was enthralled with this new challenge, something was bothering him.
The ICPO may have pulled a fast one on him, but above that, L could not get over the fact that this must have been Misa's idea. Why else would the ICPO change their decision so abruptly? It now made sense to him why she asked him to leave the court room and why Watari asked him to apologize. Misa was angry with him and so she left him. She actually left him...that alone was enough to make him lose his appetite. Regardless, L fully intended to catch up to her and apologize once and for all. He missed her, and if apologizing would make her come back, then he could find it in himself to swallow his pride just this once.
The door clicked open and Watari walked in.
"Ryuzaki, the jet is ready for us to depart." He informed.
"Perfect. Thank you." Said L, jumping to his feet. He walked over to a pile of papers on the desk by the window and stuck his hand underneath, searching for something that was no longer there. The yellow envelope was missing. L observed the pile with a hint of a frown on his face. 'Misa was here...no one else would have taken that envelope without knowing its significance.' That she had taken the envelope knowing that he had not even opened it was worrisome. It was then that L realized just how imperative it was that he find her as soon as possible.
"Let's go, Watari."
-Two days later-
"We're almost there! This is so exciting!" said Misa. Cedric's lips curved into a smile. After two days straight of traveling from France, to Japan, to the U.S., the two had become quite friendly with each other. As it turned out, Cedric was a French ICPO agent who couldn't speak a lick of Japanese and spoke limited English, though he understood it well. When Misa poured her heart out to him, he could do little more than give her a sympathetic look and nod his head, but it was enough. She turned to him with an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry for talking your head off this entire flight. I had a lot to get off my chest, and you're a good listener!"
"It's OK." He said, smiling. He carefully formed his next statement.
"I wanted to have talked more. But you're-"
He was interrupted mid sentence by a strong vibrating sound. Misa felt the special phone that Watari gave her vibrate and light up. She looked at it and gasped.
"L sent agents to scout every major international airport in the US?!" She read out loud, turning to Cedric with a panicked look. "I'm so screwed! What was I thinking?! He's gonna find me!"
Cedric looked just as surprised as she was. It appeared that L was willing to part the seas if he had to, in order to find her.
"Don't worry" He said, taking her hand to reassure her. She received another message from Watari; this time it contained a picture file of a handsome man with crystal blue eyes and dark hair. The name on the picture was "Gevanni, Stephen" and the message read, "Beware of this man, he's at your airport."
"Damn!" She said, showing the picture of the man to Cedric. He scowled.
Their plane landed fifteen minutes later, and they wasted no time in heading for the concourse. Cedric took Misa's hand as they quickly traversed the pockets of people at the airport. In the most crowded part, a woman side stepped in front of them, blocking their path.
"Cedric Beaulieu?"
Cedric instinctively reacted to hearing his name, and looked at the woman suspiciously. She was a tall, slender blonde, who looked about 25, with sharp golden eyes that looked like she meant business.
"My name is Halle Lidner and I'm with the American division of Interpol. I will be taking her from here" She said, glancing at Misa. Cedric held on tighter to Misa's hand, refusing to let her go.
"I was not told this"
Lidner scoffed. "I'm not surprised. You're from the French division aren't you? You guys aren't very organized. Misa Amane is to be under my protection and surveillance from this point on so your services are no longer needed." She moved to take Misa from Cedric.
"I need proof" He said firmly, pulling Misa closer to him.
"Listen French boy, don't test me. I'm under strict orders and I'm not in the mood to do you any favors." Said Lidner.
Misa didn't know what to think. For all they knew, this woman could be one of L's agents, in which case he already knew her location. She was seriously contemplating running away into the nearest crowd, but she knew she wouldn't get far, not in her state. The two agents stared each other down, as if daring the other to make a move. It was Cedric who cracked first as he dragged Misa into a mad dash for the nearest crowd.
"Son of a bitch!" cursed Lidner, taking off right after them.
The people around them gasped and stepped away in confusion and alarm. Misa squealed as they clumsily dodged mountains of luggage, airport personnel and travelers in their awkward run up some escalators. Misa couldn't keep up with Cedric and when she turned back, Lidner was nearly on them.
Meanwhile, Stephen Gevanni was standing at the main exit for the concourse, scanning the mass of people for his target. He was dressed in a business suit, posing as a business man on a trip. Just when he was about to change locations, a commotion caught his attention. A crowd of people was quickly moving away from what looked like a chase scene up some elevator stairs. A suited woman was running after what appeared to be a couple. Gevanni looked on as the woman caught up to the couple, taking hold of the pregnant blonde woman.
"How strange..." He muttered, walking toward the scene. "Could it be?..." He got his cell phone ready.
Lidner caught Misa by the wrist and glared daggers at Cedric. "Are you crazy, attracting so much attention like this?!" She hissed.
Cedric said something in rapid fire French, and it didn't sound too friendly. Lidner responded by tugging Misa by the arm in her direction, while Cedric did the same.
"STOP PULLING ME LIKE I'M A RAG DOLL!" Misa yelled before addressing Lidner. "Lady, are you with L or not?!"
"What?"
"Answer the question" Pressed Cedric.
"I told you who I am!"
Cedric did not look convinced.
"Fine! I'll show you my badge and give you my identification number, but just don't run!" She said.
Lidner passed Cedric her badge and he verified the number through his phone. It was genuine; the woman was telling the truth. He sighed and slowly released Misa. He'd only known her for two days but already he felt that she was someone very special.
"Well this is goodbye, Misa" He told her regretfully. Misa did not miss the look of sadness written on his face.
"Oh, you don't have to be sad. I'll be fine! Besides it's not a goodbye-forever-type-thing, it's more like a see-you-later!" She told him.
Cedric was hesitant for a moment, his eyes darting nervously from her lips to her eyes. Oblivious, Misa stepped in for a parting hug when Cedric leaned in for a kiss. She caught his intention at the last second and moved her head slightly so that he ended up kissing her cheek.
"Sorry..." He said, embarrassed as he stepped away. Misa couldn't look him in the eye.
"Cedric...I can't." She said looking down with a frown on her face.
"I know. Sorry..." He said, running a hand through his wavy hair in frustration. After a long silence, he sighed, and let it go. "Goodbye, Misa" He said walking away, leaving her alone with Lidner.
"Well that was interesting." Commented the female agent as she watched Cedric disappear through the crowd. She looked at Misa who was still looking at the ground, also looking frustrated.
"Now, for a proper introduction, I'm Halle Lidner, your warden. For now."
"Hi, I'm Misa Amane. Um, you're being followed-" She took out the special phone and showed Lidner "-by this man."
Lidner grimaced in confusion as she looked at the phone. "What?"
She turned around and as soon as she did, she locked eyes with the man in the picture right as he arrived up the escalator. Misa gasped, and Lidner froze for a moment, thinking of what to do next. Before she could come up with anything, Misa grabbed Lidner by the arm and broke out into an awkward run, hauling the woman with her.
"What are you-"
"I have an idea! But I need my luggage" Said Misa, breathing heavily. Gevanni saw the two women retreat further back into the concourse and he followed at a quick pace, keeping them in his sight. As he did so, he pressed a number on his phone, sending a signal to his contractor.
After retrieving Misa's rolling bag, the two women made a beeline for the women's bathroom. They dashed into it, panting from the exertion. Misa was in much worse shape than Lidner.
"Hey, are you alright?"
Misa nodded her head briskly, catching her breath and supporting herself against the bathroom sink. Sprinting was probably not something she should be doing at 8 months pregnant.
"I know this is not a good time, but who the hell is that guy? And why is he following us?" Asked Lidner.
"I don't know who he is-" Misa answered breathlessly-"He's following me. L is looking for me."
At the mention of L, Lidner's eyes went wide.
"What? L as in detective L, the top detective in the world, the one who just solved the Kira case?!"
Misa nodded again. "You know about that?"
Lidner looked at Misa like she had three heads.
"Of course! Everyone knows about Kira, and detective L, though no one knows who L is or exactly what happened with Kira. All we know is that L caught him and the ICPO took care of it quietly. Then I got assigned to this mission, to find out that you're running from L?!"
"Yup"
"...fuck." Said Lidner. She walked to the bathroom door and peeked outside, and surely enough, there was their stalker, Gevanni, waiting for them. She sighed and shook her head. "They didn't tell me any of this at the bureau. This is too much, even for me. I'm sorry, I have to make a phone call."
Misa started digging through her luggage as Lidner stepped into a corner to call her superior. The female agent sounded distressed as she described the situation. "...yes we're being followed...we're trapped in a bathroom...Stephen Gevanni...wait, you can't be serious...I can't do this, I can't go up against L by myself!...you're not sending backup?!..." Lidner argued over the phone for a few more minutes before hanging up and slumping down next to Misa, who was done rummaging through her things.
"Well, it looks like it's gonna be you and me..." Said Lidner, defeated. "Now what? We gotta get out of here..."
Misa perked up and handed Lidner some clothes, a red wig, and other accessories.
"I have just the thing! We're going incognito!" Said Misa with determination. Lidner's face scrunched in distaste as she eyed the clothes that Misa had given her. Once again, she sighed in defeat.
"Well, I suppose this is our best shot." She said as she went into one of the stalls to change out of her pantsuit. A few minutes later, Lidner emerged from the stall, dressed in a black tanktop with a frilly skirt with skulls on it, black lace gloves that went up to her elbows, black shoes and black and white striped stockings. To top it off, she was now wearing a red wig with red lipstick.
"I look disgusting"
"No, you look cute!" Said Misa giggling. "Don't forget the glasses!" She passed Lidner the final accessory. The agent studied herself in the mirror with a mixture of awe and disbelief.
'I don't even recognize myself..."
"Yay! That's the point" Commented Misa, admiring Lidner in her clothes. "I haven't been able to fit into those in months, so enjoy" She said, putting the finishing touches on her own disguise. She donned a short black wig, glasses of her own, and a large overcoat that hid her belly a little more.
Outside the bathroom, Gevanni was getting impatient. He picked up his phone and scrolled through the pictures of Misa Amane, sent to him by his contractor. 'Yes, it definitely looked like her, but it could have been someone that looks similar too...I couldn't get a good enough look...'
Gevanni heard his transceiver blip as it usually did whenever he was about to receive orders or information from his contractor.
"Gevanni" Said L's voice masked by a vocoder. "I received your signal. What is it?"
Gevanni whispered into the transceiver. "Something really weird is happening here. I think I found the person you're looking for, but I could be wrong."
L's heart skipped but he remained serious. Ever since he'd dispatched the agents, he'd gotten about a dozen possible Misa sightings, all which proved to be false. He would check up on this one as well, but without direct visual, it would be tough and that particular airport didn't store their surveillance videos on a server that he could access, which was troublesome. They were kept in the airport as hard copies which he would need to physically retrieve in order to analyze.
"Why do you think so?"
Gevanni explained everything up to the point where he'd cornered the two women in the bathroom. L was silent.
"That is strange." He said. "Good work Gevanni. Please stay there and give me a visual of the women if you can. Oh, and be aware that Misa Amane may disguise herself, so use your imagination when comparing people to the pictures."
"Right" He said, and with that, L's voice was gone. Gevanni held up his phone in such a way that it would record anyone who came out of the bathroom. A minute later a red-head in a gothic lolita outfit came stumbling out of the bathroom, walking right into him.
"Hey, what the-" He said as the woman took his arm and turned him around, away from the bathroom. "-hey! What are you doing?!"
"I'm sorry sir! Could you please tell me where gate number 165 is? I've completely lost my way!"
"I don't know, ask someone else!" Snapped Gevanni, pulling his arm free from the woman. While this was happening, Misa was sneaking out of the bathroom. Gevanni turned back around but his view was obstructed by the red-headed woman once again.
"How rude! Why are you stalking the women's bathroom anyway? Are you some kind of pervert?! I should call the police on you!" Said Lidner.
...
From the Kira investigation Headquarters in Japan, L sat in front of a laptop monitor, observing the video feed from Gevanni's phone. About 50-60 computer monitors surrounded him, all with footage being sent from the other agents. He pressed his thumb to his lips, as he watched the scene between Gevanni and the red-headed woman play out.
"What an annoying woman..." He said to himself. Watari watched from behind L, with a look of consternation. L continued to watch even though the video feed was being obstructed by the woman.
"...hmm...those clothes, they look familiar." He muttered, immediately thinking of Misa in them. L took a still frame of the woman's face and imported the image to a separate laptop. He turned back to the video and frowned.
"This looks too contrived, too much like a distraction..." He said to himself. He pressed a button on the laptop and spoke.
"Gevanni! Lose that woman now and go into the bathroom." Ordered L. Gevanni froze in place as the woman gave him an earful about his behavior. He knew this would look bad, but he had a job to do.
"Sorry, my wife is in there. Gate 165 is that way" He said pointing in the opposite direction from the bathroom. Now the woman had no excuse to stay. With that Gevanni walked into the women's bathroom. Luckily there was no one else in sight so he could check every stall without running into trouble.
"There's no one in here!" He said, surprised. "But how?! I saw them come in here...unless-"
L narrowed his eyes. Gevanni ran back outside the bathroom only to find that the red-headed woman was gone. He looked around everywhere, but could not find her.
"...it appears you've been deceived." Said L through the transceiver. Gevanni was flabbergasted, humiliated.
"It's fine." Said L. "I ran a search for that strange woman's face through all law enforcement agency databases and I just found a match. It might surprise you."
L sent the file to Gevanni, who opened it immediately.
"That's her! The woman from before!" He said, looking at the image.
"Yes, I too had my doubts about her attire. Her name is Halle Bullook, alias Halle Lidner; please follow her closely. I will send you the rest of her information shortly. That is all for now." Said L, leaving Gevanni to ponder over this defeat.