Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, let alone the characters in this story.
L's Road Trip: Chapter 1
Timing: This story is only nominally tied to the Death Note story. It takes place in the two month stretch where nothing apparently happens, shown in episode 18.
It was around midnight, on a dark but clear night, in the bowels of the Kira investigation's headquarters, and strange things were afoot. As always, Light had fallen asleep handcuffed to L while L punched away on the keys of his laptop. For days and nights now, L had struggled to come up with some lead in the Kira case, but every day and every night proved to be another disappointment. Light tried to lend his assistance, but it was difficult while L continued to remain bitter that Light had been proven not to be Kira. The investigation had hit a stand still, and everyone, even Matsuda, could tell as much. L had been more than a little depressed, his obsessive behavior ebbing and flowing into a state of apathy.
At 12:37 at night, the phone in Misa Amane's living space went off, chiming to life in the dead of night. The girl staggered out of her bed, pink nightgown and all, and towards her phone, picking it up.
"H-hello?" she asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.
"Misa, pack a bag for a short trip, get your passport and meet me and Light at the ground floor." It was L, not making a request but clearly giving an order.
"Ryuzaki?" Misa asked, still groggy.
"I said pack a bag for a short trip, get your passport and meet me and Light at the ground floor," L continued, as if Misa had said nothing at all.
"Ryuzaki, what's going on?"
"Misa, this is very important. Light will be with me. Now pack a bag for a short trip, get your passport and hurry down to the ground floor," L said before hanging up the phone.
Once he hung up the phone, L turned to the sleeping Light, turning off his laptop as he shifted his attention towards Light. Light was sleeping peacefully despite the shackle on his hand. L momentarily considered letting Light sleep, but by the time he decided that perhaps he should leave Light alone, L had already started dragging Light out of his bed, letting Light drop to the floor with a loud thump.
"What the hell?!" Light said, sounding more than a little spooked as he woke up to the sight of L's face, "Ryuzaki, what the hell is going on?"
"Pack a bag for a short trip and find your passport, quickly," L said as he hastily reached for a large gym bag and started wrapping his laptop in a spare set of clothes, L's standard baggy white shirt and blue pants.
"Ryuzaki, what are you talking about?" Light said, quickly recovering from his initial shock.
"I said pack a bag for a short trip and find your passport. This is of the utmost importance," L said without skipping a beat.
"Damn it Ryuzaki," Light said as he started packing.
About a half hour later, L, his gym bag, Light and a small suitcase were gathered at the ground floor of the Kira investigation's tower headquarters, waiting for Misa to come through the elevator. L was on the phone with Watari, who was likewise surprised by L's sudden request when the elevator chimed open and revealed a still sleepy but dressed Misa dragging two large suitcases on wheels with her.
"Ryuzaki," she whined, "Why did you get me out of bed? What does this have to do with me?"
"Yeah, Ryuzaki," Light said, rubbing his eyes, "What's going on?"
Their only response was L staring at them for a minute with his dark ringed eyes.
"C'mon, Ryuzaki!" Misa whined again, "Why'd you drag me out of bed? Have you caught Kira yet?"
"Ryuzaki, what does this have to do with the Kira investigation?" Light added.
"Nothing," L said flatly.
"What?!" Misa wailed, "Then why did you get me out of bed at one in the morning?!"
"Ryuzaki, this isn't funny. What's going on?" Light asked.
"We're going on a road trip," L said simply, much to the disbelief of Light and Misa, "Perhaps I've seen too many movies, but it seems like a fun thing to do. And given how the Kira case may very well get me killed, I decided to fly to Los Angeles and go on a trip across America, while I've still got the chance. So I booked the three of us on a flight that takes off in a few hours. Light is coming along for rather obvious reasons," L continued, raising his handcuffs, "And I thought Misa would appreciate the chance to come along with Light, to say nothing of the trouble she might cause if she was left behind."
"Well if Light's going of course I'll go!" Misa squealed cheerfully, as if the fact that it was one in the morning was suddenly lost on her.
"Ryuzaki," Light said warily, "Shouldn't we be working on the Kira case?"
"Yes, we should," L said plainly, "Now get ready. Watari's bringing the car around to take us to the airport."
"If we're not investigating Kira," Light went on, sounding slightly outraged, "Then why are going across the planet to do something completely unrelated?"
"Because we have no leads," L said as he hoisted his gym bag, "And just hanging around here doing nothing isn't helping the investigation."
"Ryuzaki," Light said, exasperated, trailing off while L made his way to the exit. L gave the handcuffs a quick tug and forced Light to come staggering after the detective. Misa followed soon after that, dragging her suitcases behind her with great difficulty.