A/N: The thing that Lacey taught Allison is real. While I didn't choose any specific technique, there are real techniques that do what Lacey was talking about, some of which are more dangerous than others.
This chapter was extremely difficult to write; not so much its contents, but rather the decision of whether I was going to stick with the original events all the way or start to shift gears and move away from that, since Mello is such a huge part of this story. Even writing it logic-wise took a lot of thought. Light's plan was basically flawless, so thinking of a way to get around it was not easy.
I am extremely glad that I added onto the part I had with Lidner, though. The anime totally skips over this aspect of the manga. When Near gives her orders, you can notice that the text bubbles become less circular and more like blobs, indicating that her voice is trembling.
Just know that the timing here is a little iffy. You have to realize that some of these scenes are going on at the same time.
On another note, "Riddles" is coming to an end. Part of me is sad, and the other part is saying, "FINALLY!" Thank you to all of my readers for both your support and your patience (no pun intended).
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Allison

Patience isn't the type of person to get angered easily—annoyed, maybe, but not angered—especially not with me.

Despite knowing this, I wasn't very reassured as I took a left on my rented motorcycle into the car park Matt had told me about. It was nearly empty, save a van open in the back, but I was sure that Matt hadn't lied to me. I could read him like a book, so I'd have known if he was lying.

I put the bike somewhere inconspicuous so that Mello wouldn't notice it—not right away, at least. I turned off the ignition and then pulled my neck warmer off my face so that I could breathe easier. I was sweating despite the cold, and I pulled off my blue leather jacket, exposing my bare arms. It took about a minute for me to clear my head; I could start thinking now, and now I could feel the biting cold. I pulled my neck warmer back up so that it covered my mouth, and I slipped my jacket back on. My fingers were numb, and even the tips of my toes were cold despite my heavy leather boots.

Probably should have worn gloves. A trivial thought to help pass the time until Mello inevitably arrived.

I'd been in such a rush that I hadn't even had enough time to put on a helmet. I was lucky not to have gotten pulled over, but I hadn't worried about falling and hitting my head. Joy and I never had much in common but one of the few things we did was riding. She had taught me back when I moved into the same town as her, and she'd taught me well. Joy had become much easier to talk to ever since that incident a few years prior.

I looked at the scar on my hand from where the mirror's glass had cut me, and only then did I notice the hum of an approaching motorcycle. Then the engine died. I pulled down my neck warmer once again, and I reached into my bag and pulled out a gun, holding onto it tightly. I knew Mello's MO by now.

"Mello."

His eyes widened; his head snapped towards me, and then he slammed the back doors of the van Takada was in so that she couldn't escape.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Allison?" he asked, his eyes not leaving the van.

"Honestly," I said, "I have no bloody clue."

"I am going to—"

"—What, kill me?" I interrupted Mello. "In addition to the fact that I'm armed, in case you haven't noticed, it would seem that you're a bit occupied at the moment."

"If you're here to stop me, then you've got another thing coming," he said.

"Who said that's why I'm here?" I said. "At this point, I'm just here to make sure you don't get anyone killed."

"The only person in danger here is me," he argued, "and that's my business, not yours."

"Matt is my business."

"He's not in any danger."

"I highly doubt that, but even if he isn't, the one thing that could kill him is if you mess up."

"I'll only mess up if you get in my way."

"Then I won't get in your way," I said with a shrug. "Come on, you know you're not going to get rid of me."

He groaned and nodded, and he gestured for me to follow him into the van. I shut the doors behind us and was silently glad that I had pulled up my neck warmer before coming in. I didn't want her to see the grimace on my face; the clear guilt I felt about helping Mello with something of this nature, but I had to.

"Take off everything that you're wearing and put it in that box," Mello said in Japanese, gesturing to a cardboard box. I tried to hide my surprise.

"You're asking me to get naked, right here?" Takada said in disgust.

"That's right; you've got a tracer that'll alert the bodyguards to your whereabouts, don't you? They're going to come after me if I don't get rid of that. This delivery company has a shipping office close by, so I'll toss the box there.
"Hurry up. Don't worry, I'll give you a blanket."

"O-okay," she said reluctantly. "I-I'll give you my bag, my cellphone, and the stuff inside my pockets. I won't be able to contact anybody, s-so can I at least have that blanket around me when I take my underwear off?"

"Okay!" he said, obviously not caring one way or the other. "Just hurry up!"

I didn't particularly care if I had told him I would stay out of his way. We both knew that wasn't true, after all, so I had no problem speaking up then.

"No, no blanket," I said. "Now's not the time to be modest. You leave, I'll watch her."

"Do you honestly think I'd trust you enough to do that?" he replied in English.

"Are you daft?" I said. "For all we know, she has paper from one of the notebooks with her."

"She doesn't know our names."

"She doesn't know my name—hell, neither do I—but can you say the same?"

"The only people who know are—" he stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widening in realization. "Shit. He had a plan."

"What are you on about?" I asked.

"L's Kira; that much is obvious," Mello said, "and L knows my name now. Anyone who's trying to stop him is a threat, and if she and L have met..."

"Then L will have told her about you," I concluded.

"He was expecting this; maybe even hoping for it."

"But I don't get it," I said. "If you die and the task force comes to rescue her and finds that you've kicked the bucket, isn't that a dead giveaway that L is Kira?"

"Then she becomes an encumbrance," Mello said. I knew what that meant.

Takada seemed slightly confused, unable to understand the entirety of what Mello and I were saying due to the speed and style of our speech and some of the unfamiliar words we were using, but she was able to make out the gist of it. She hugged her arms, her fingernails digging into her skin in fear and anxiety.

"Then all this tosh was useless?" I said.

"If he could be convinced that I was dead," Mello said, pondering the situation. "...No, that won't work. He'll only believe it if he hears it from her, and she's just another mindless Kira worshiper."

"I don't think so," I said, earning a confused look from Mello. I knelt down in front of Takada, who flinched in fear when I did so.

"Takada-san," I said in Japanese, "he's using you."

Her eyes widened, clearly shocked to hear this, of all things, from someone who seemed to be working with the men who had just kidnapped her.

"W-what?"

"Kira is using you. He's going to kill you when this is over."

"No," she objected, "no, Kira is Justice. He wouldn't..."

"Mello is one of the biggest threats to Kira," I pointed out. "Kira would be a fool not to want him dead. He told you about Mello, just in case, didn't he?" Not waiting for a response, I continued. "How do you think it will look when the Japanese Kira Investigation Team and the NPA get here and find Mello dead?
"They'll know you did it, and no one—no one knows Mello's real name except for Mello and the Kira Investigation Team, and they are aware of this. It won't take them long to realize that someone on their team gave you that information and for them to come to the conclusion that Yagami Light is Kira, but you can't keep Mello alive; you know that. And once Mello's dead, you become a liability."

"No, you're wrong! He wouldn't do that to me! He—he loves me!"

I stared at Takada, taking her in. The two of us had so little in common. She was so refined, whereas I practically grew up in a zoo—albeit an intelligent zoo, but a zoo nonetheless. Famous for her father's legacy, whereas I had no father of which to speak. We were different ages and had grown up on different sides of the world. She was so radiant, even after having been put through so much in less than an hour. Her clothes were neither stained nor tattered, her makeup un-smudged, and her hair still neatly combed. I, on the other hand, probably looked like a mess. My clothes were wrinkled and strands of my unkempt, red hair kept falling in my face. All of this set us apart, and yet there was something about her that I recognized.

I can see it in your mincers.

Lacey's words rang in my head, causing me to grimace.

"I know," I began, "I know you think that. I know that you think he cares about you more than anything else in this world," my eyes stung as I held back tears unshed, and I noticed that Takada seemed to be doing the same, "but he doesn't." I could practically feel Mello's eyes on me; I wondered what he was thinking. Part of me yearned to know, while the other felt I'd be better off remaining ignorant. "Maybe if things were different; maybe in some other universe, but now... he only cares about his own goals. He only cares about himself, Takada-san."

"How... how would you know?" she said. "How would you know what I feel?"

Unable to hold back the tears, I felt them run down my face, but I didn't sob or whimper. I just pulled down my neck warmer, looked her in the eyes, and whispered, "I am you."

She stared at me for a moment, dumbfound, but then she realized that I was right. That we were one in the same.

"I'll do it," she said in a whisper barely loudly enough for me to hear, sounding remorseful yet determined, "but he expects me to kill as many criminals as possible once I've dealt with Mello."

"Don't worry," I told her, "it will work."

"Alright," she said reluctantly, louder so that Mello could also hear her this time.

I felt a huge gap between us, but at the same time, a strong connection.

"Give me the papers," Mello ordered her.

Reluctantly, Takada reached into her shirt, pulled the papers out from under, and handed them to me instead of Mello, clearly not trusting him enough to hand the papers over to him directly.

"So what happens now?" I asked Mello.

"First, we ditch her tracking device and get the hell out of here," he explained. "Allison, you stay back here with her."

"Oh, you trust me now?"

"I trust you not to be stupid enough to jump out of a moving vehicle, yes," he said, jumping out the back of the truck. "We'll stop when we arrive at the planned location."

"And then?" I inquired.

"I'll think about that on the way there."

Patience

I was alone with Near again. It ended up getting surprisingly lonely without having Birdie around all the time (though, admittedly, more peaceful), and once again, Allison had headed out somewhere without saying a word.

Suddenly, a beeping noise penetrated the silent atmosphere. Near was getting a phone call, and the caller ID indicated that it was from Lidner. I stiffened; she was still undercover, so if she was calling Near, then something big had to be happening. Near glanced at me, and understanding his unspoken message, I headed to the receiver and answered the call, putting it on speaker.

"Near, Mello kidnapped Takada," said Lidner.

Near was calm, likely having come to the same conclusion I had when we had realized that it was Lidner who was calling.

"Lidner," said Near.

"Yes?"

"Have you been leaking information about our investigation to Mello?"

Silence. She definitely hadn't expected Near to realize that she'd been in contact with Mello. Near and I had sort of silently come to that conclusion on our own. I remember a while back a look he had given me shortly after telling us that Mello might contact one of us and how he had later confirmed it. The two of us had silently exchanged confirmation on our suspicions of Lidner. I may have not necessarily agreed, but I could tell he wanted to keep her ignorant of this knowledge, though he had eventually told her. Perhaps Lidner had forgotten or she'd hoped that Near had. Even in the brief silence over the phone, I could sense that Lidner felt like a fool as she realized this.

"Well?" said Near, waiting for an answer.

"Yes," she admitted, "but I haven't told him about Mikami. I swear."

"Fine," said Near. "In that case, we should still be okay. But if Mello finds out about Mikami from Takada and seeks him out, this will all be a waste.
"I want you to find Takada... No, I want you to stop Mello at all costs."

"But," Lidner said, her voice breaking.

"Do it."

He usually didn't give orders. Well, he did, but he phrased them as questions, as though he were asking a favor or giving a suggestion. When he occasionally phrased them as commands, he never spoke quite so... forcefully.

"Alright," she agreed.

"Is that all?" Near asked.

"Yes," she confirmed, her voice almost a whisper.

"Then you know what to do."

"Yeah."

"I never would have guessed," I said after she had hung up.

"It was inevitable that Mello would make a move eventually," Near said. "Especially since he was no doubt informed that we would be meeting with L tomorrow."

"No," I said, "not that."

I noticed Near stiffen. "No." That wasn't a word he heard a lot; it wasn't often that he was told he was wrong. It's not like he can read minds, though. Well, I suppose that's debatable.

"Lidner," I specified.

"What about her?" said Near. "I thought you already knew that she was a spy for Mello." It wasn't evident, and most wouldn't have noticed, but I could tell Near was slightly annoyed. Not with me, but rather, the fact that he had gotten something wrong.

"No, I did know," I told him, "but I thought that was it. I thought she was just a spy or a friend of his."

"What do you mean?" Near said. I don't know if he believed what I was saying. Then again, I don't know if I even believed what I was saying.

"She loves him."

There was only a breath of silence before the quiet was broken by a shrill, panicked cry.

"Patience!"

"Birdie?" I said, turning around to see the young blonde frantically running towards me. "What is it?" It hadn't been too long that Amane had been in captivity, but I was already used to Birdie being with her all the time.

"Patience, where is she?" Birdie asked. She was practically hyperventilating in her panic, even holding back tears.

"Calm down, Birdie," I said, putting my hand on her back. "Breathe."

Birdie nodded and took a few deep breaths, calming down after the third or fourth.

"Now, what's going on, Birdie?" I asked.

"I need to know where Allison is," she explained. "I wanted her to pick me up something at the corner store, but she won't pick up her phone. Where is she, Patience?"

"Birdie, she's fine," I assured her.

"Where is Allison?" she shouted, now expressing her worries with anger.

"I don't know, Birdie," I told her. "She left in a hurry, and she wouldn't tell me where she was going, but I'm sure she's fine."

"She can't be fine!" Birdie argued. "If she's going today, then that means Mello must be doing something!"

My eyes widened.

"Birdie," I trailed off.

"How did you know that?" Near said, finishing my thoughts.

"So I'm right!" she said. "Matt must have told her."

"Wait, what?" I said incredulously. "What does Matt have to do with this?"

"He's helping Mello," Birdie explained impatiently. "That's how Allison found Mello in the first place. She got a phone call from Matt and went to see him a few days ago. That has to be why she's gone, right?"

"Oh my god," I said.

Then I remembered Allison's constant texting. How she would always check her cellphone and make private calls. "She didn't."

"It would seem that she did," Near said, having come to the same conclusion I had.

I tried not to groan, shaking my head as if I could shake all of the frustrations out, too. "Birdie, you go back with Misa and Mogi, okay?"

"But Patience, I—"

"—If anything happens, I will tell you right away," I assured her. "For now, just stay with those two and keep your mind off of this." And so I could keep my mind off of her. With all of this going on, the last thing I needed was Birdie running around.

Birdie frowned but nodded. She walked to the tailgate, stopping to look back at me. I nodded, and with a sigh, she left. She left, and Near and I remained. All we could do now was wait. I have no clue how long I was pacing back and forth, waiting, with nowhere to go and nothing to do. Knowing that I was completely powerless in this situation. It was the worst feeling ever.

Matt. Now, that was the last thing I would have expected. It just goes to show how far Mello had changed, though. Desperate to the point where he was willing to call an old friend and risk putting his life in danger.

If I'd known Matt was involved, I probably would have figured out what Allison had been doing weeks ago.

"Patience," I whispered to myself. "Patience, patience, patience, patience."

It didn't do much, though. Usually, when I reminded myself it was to let myself know that whatever annoyance or anger there was would come to an end. To remind myself not to snap, but now? I had no idea how this was going to come to an end, and I had so many emotions that I couldn't even single one out, let alone burst out into a fit of hysteria over them.

"Pacing doesn't do anything," Near pointed out.

"It helps me think," I said plainly.

"And what are you thinking?"

His question caught me off guard, but somehow, it also eased my anxiety. I stopped pacing, and my tight muscles loosened.

"That's the problem," I said. "I can't think. I can't think of what might happen. This isn't just analyzing one person and what actions they'll take. There are too many factors that could affect that outcome. All we can do is sit around and wait. There's nothing we can do!"

"Except," said Near, "to consider those outcomes and plan for our next move. Tell me: what do you think the most likely outcome is?"

"I'd say the most likely outcome has to be that Mello and Matt will both die," I admitted. "Maybe even Takada. The only problem with that assumption is that there's something major that needs to be put into consideration. An unpredictable variable that can change the tides in so many ways."

"What variable would that be?" he inquired.

We were both aware that he knew the answer, but I said it anyway. "Allison."

Allison

It was a long ride, or at least it seemed like it, but when we finally arrived at some random location, Mello parked the truck.

"Alright," Mello said, opening the back of the truck and looking at Takada, "make the call."

Takada nodded and carefully reached into her coat pocket; she knew Mello and I were armed, so we didn't have to worry about her reaching for a weapon. She pulled out her two cellphones, and Mello gestured for her to hand over one of them, which she reluctantly did.

Taking a deep breath, Takada flipped, opened her phone, and dialed. I looked at Mello nervously. Having her put the phone on speaker might allow for Light to hear the echo, which was something we couldn't risk. We'd just have to trust her. We'd just have to hope I'd make a convincing enough argument, and when I turned to look at her, I noticed she had been watching me and Mello. That's when it seemed to click for her the exact circumstances of the situation I had in common with her. She smiled sadly at me, empathizing, and I knew then that she wouldn't betray us.

"Light, it's me.
"Th-there's a guard around, but I'm calling you in secret; I'm using the other cellphone I had hidden on me. L-Light, help me.
"O-okay.
"T-Takada Kiyomi, born July twelfth, 1985. I work as an announcer at NHN, and I'm on News 9 every day as Kira's spokesperson.
"Yes, and I did it, but, but I was scared, and I didn't do it exactly like you said. He was driving, a-and I thought if I just did it, he might crash. N-no, it's done, but it's hidden.
"I don't know where... I was locked inside a truck. And there's..." she glanced at the motorcycles, and I held up one finger, indicating for her to say that only one was present... "There's a motorcycle inside it, too. Oh, but I was able to see a road sign that said 'to Nagano' when we got on the highway. I'm inside a building right now... I'm locked in the back, but there's a small window, and I can see that it's parked indoors.
"Yes, I did exactly as you told me to do, with my survival as the priority, and I called you as soon as I got the chance.
"Yes, I'm going to stay put and make no false moves, like you said.
"Oh! The guard's coming back, I have to hang up!"

Takada ended the call and was about to dial another number when Mello snatched the phone from her. "Nice try," he said, shoving the phone in his pants' pocket.

Her eyes widened; she looked at me, and I shook my head. To Mello, it may have seemed like nothing, but Takada knew what I meant. She was going to call Mikami, as was no doubt part of Light's initial plan. However, Mello didn't know about Mikami, and I intended to keep it that way.

"So what now?" I asked Mello.

He sighed. "Just give me a minute to think. We should have enough time to..." He simply walked away, not bothering to complete his sentence, and shut the back of the truck behind him.

"He doesn't know about Mikami, and it's best if we keep it that way," I whispered, sitting next to her and sliding her my own cellphone. "Punch in 'asterisk-six-seven' so that the number can't be seen and then call Mikami."

"But like I said, he'll expect me to write as many names as I can," she reminded me.

"That's the reason I didn't want you to tell Light that you didn't have the papers," I explained. "Mikami is going to write down the names whether or not you do, and if he thinks that you will write them down... well, if I was Mikami, I would write them down just in case," I said. I may not be as smart as Mello or Near, but I'm still a Wammy's kid. For Mikami to write down the names regardless seemed to be the most likely course of action to me.

She nodded, a small smile on her face. Not happy, but slightly impressed. She punched in the first few numbers I'd instructed her to and then followed it up with Mikami's number. She put it to her ear and seemed more confident this time as she waited for Mikami to answer.

"It's me," she said. "Send me as many names as you can of those who are to be brought to justice. My email is..."

Once the phone call was done, she hung up and handed my cellphone back to me. She closed her eyes and breathed, doing her best to relax. I would have done the same if it weren't so crucial for me to keep my guard up right then. A million thoughts raced through my mind, and I didn't even have ten minutes to sort through them before my thought process was interrupted.

"Mello!" I cried.

The tailgate of the truck slid open, and Mello came in, a look of concern on his face. He saw me holding Takada, who was gripping her chest and trying to catch a breath. Then she stopped moving.

"Oh my god," I said. "Oh my god. I should have... she's dead."

"It's not your fault," Mello assured me, "but this still doesn't add up."

"What do you mean?" I said.

"If he thought that I was dead, then that would probably mean that Takada had the papers with her," Mello pointed out, "and they could still be traced to him."

"So what's that supposed to mean?" I wondered, still struggling to hold back tears.

"It means that he would have wanted to destroy all of the evidence," Mello said, "and there's only one way to do that. Burn it."

"You're not suggesting that we..."

"Allison, it's the only way," he told me.

"We can't just burn her!"

"She's already dead!" he argued.

"She's still a person!"

"If we don't do it, then we might all end up dead!"

"Fine," I relented, tears beginning to run down my face. "Fine... just... just do it."

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"Are you sure no one will find us here?"

"I'm sure," Mello replied, heading for the kitchen. "This is... this is where Matt stayed while he was surveying Misa Amane. It was safe for him."

Mello had informed me of the news broadcast he'd seen about how the unidentified man who had helped with the kidnapping of Kira spokesperson Kiyomi Takada by throwing the smoke bomb had been shot dead upon surrendering.

"Matt..." I rummaged through my pocket and pulled out a small plastic square. "You bloody idiot... you were supposed to come back for it..." I squeezed my eyes shut and said the collect.

I heard Mello's voice coming from the kitchen. "Near and the others are going to meet the task force tomorrow. I've got the address."

"How do you know that?"

"...I've got someone on the inside."

I was quiet for a moment. "Halle Lidner?" I guessed.

His silence was answer enough. I stood up, my shoes off, and walked silently into the kitchen. Mello sat quietly at the kitchen table, biting into a bar of chocolate.

"Eating chocolate to calm your nerves," I mused. "Same as always."

"You bite your fingernails," Mello retorted.

"Not anymore," I said defensively.

He cracked a smile. "You haven't changed at all."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" I said skeptically.

"Maybe."

Come on, Allison.

"Mello."

Seriously, Lacey? You want to go out and walk to a pub at three in the morning?

"What is it?"

Don't be so scared. We're just going to the local, yeah. Ain't like I plan on getting pissed none.

"I'm scared."

It's dangerous, Lacey.

"...I know."

Well, I know how to protect meself.

I walked over to him, placing a hand on the table and staring at it. I could feel myself trembling all over.

What about me?

I could see his hand put down the chocolate bar, and I heard him get up from his chair.

No worrit. I'll teach you something I picked up a while ago.

He put his hand on my chin and forced me to look up at him.

That way, no one can hurt you, Allison.

"Please don't die," I pleaded in a whisper.

Alright.

"I can't promise that."

But you must use it wisely.

I felt tears roll down my cheeks.

This'll be our little secret, Allison.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him close.

What? Why?

I could feel him put his arms around my waist.

Because it's dangerous.

"Mello?"

So you have to promise only to use it in self-defense. Not to kick it off or nothing.

"Hmm?"

You know me, Lacey.

"I'm sorry."

I needs you to promise me, Allison.

Then I did exactly what Lacey had taught me, and I felt Mello fall limp in my arms. I carefully laid him onto the ground, staring sadly at him and watching his chest go up and down.

Lacey, you're acting like a ten-year-old.

I walked to the table and grabbed his gun.

Do you promise, Allison?

I looked at Mello's unconscious body and sighed.

Fine, Lacey.

I looked at the gun, then at Mello.

I promise.

"Sorry."