A/N: Welcome to the sequel to The Lion and The Shark. Although it will help to read that one first, you shouldn't get too lost if for whatever reason, you choose not to. Here's a summary of what's happened so far. If you're a returning reader (Or you don't care), you can skip the rest of the Author's Note and start reading.
Oh yeah, no ownership, no money. You know how it goes.
Light falls in love with L while they're handcuffed and he's memoryless, then his memories come back and he decides to stay with L and confess (L tells him his name, too) and they agree to protect each other, but problems arise in the form of Light's personality starting to split and sometimes his eyes go red and he occasionally goes batshit on L. I might reference the fact that during this falling in love process, L and Light get reallyreallygood at acting like each other, and Light starts calling L beautiful, which L doesn't like, but secretly does. Anyways, L decides to use it as a learning opportunity for his successors, by calling in Matt to fake a new Kira they can frame, thus saving Light, but mostly so that his successors can understand what he did and see him as a human being, capable of mistakes. Oddly enough, when Matt and Mello come, Near is with them, and it is revealed that they are in a three way relationship of glorious MxNxMness. Also, they get rid of Misa by having her give up the notebook, and then Light telling her he's gay and calming her down by telling her he loves her more than anyone still, just not in that way and agreeing to still hang out with her. Meanwhile, L starts tying Light up at night- not in the kinky way- so Kira doesn't emerge and slit his throat while he sleeps, and Soichiro walks in and decides L is a pervert and tries to separate the two of them. Light gets sent back to school, and we find out that he's secretly plotting with Ryuk, but L rescues him and brings him back to the base. Then Misa shows up. L and Light are reprimanded by Rem for neglecting their promises to Misa. After some tense moments, and a plethora of threats from Rem, they agree to do better, but Misa overhears the conversation. (And by that I mean eavesdrops on the human side of it.) She is able to deduce that "Kira" is present, as a spirit-like invisible creature, and is for whatever reason, looking out for her wellbeing. She also hears Light admitting he doesn't love her, but she dismisses it in typical- oh he must be saying that because L is there, so he DOES love me, and needs rescuing- Misa style. She talks to Rem and Rem moves a pen) and confirms her theories, then uses Rem to blackmail L and Light (With death and with exposure as working with Kira, relatively). She flounces off with Rem so she can "talk" to Rem Ouiji board style. She only gets far enough to get her to spy on Light. L and Light start discussing some very productive ways to get Misa out of their lives, when Soichiro appears, furious about the stunt they pulled at school. He starts yelling at Light, saying he had chalked it up to stress, sexual tension and living in indecent proximity to another man, but clearly, Light is sick, and needs help for his disease. He blames L for all of Light's behavior, and basically assumes that homosexuality is what's making Light act the way he is, and he really needs to see a counselor. He recommends a specialist, and Light flat-out refuses, saying he is with L and blahblahblah. Soichiro begins to turn the team against L and Light at work, since he can't force his now legally-adult son to get the help he thinks he needs, but Light feels somewhat betrayed and neglected by his family for being the perfect son for so long, yet being immediately neglected at the first sign of any "fault". L does his best to comfort him, but with the increasing amount of time he is forced to spend with Misa, the continued verbal abuse from his father, and the rude treatment of the rest of the team, Light continues to be affected by his father's words. One day, Sayu shows up at the workplace while her father is sick to see Light and bring him some dumplings. Kira emerges and in a fit of rage, blames her for being part of his father's issues against him. He strangles her, and just before she dies, he whispers in her ear, "I am Kira." Which would all be fine and dandy, except then L and Mello rush out of the building and saves her life. So then he has to kidnap Sayu as a "witness" without allowing anyone from the task force to talk to her, and Soichiro naturally suspects that this is a continuation of his perversion and L is now banging two of his kids. He throws a fit, and that's when Ryuk uses the distraction to sneak into Light's room and tease him about the plan he's been thinking up with the Kira side of Light, in which a death note is created, and the natural process will suck the life span out of everyone nearby, thus killing the task force and getting a new note out of the bargain. Rem, who had been sent by Misa to spy, overhears and informs them that actually, the creation of the note may take out the entire city with the life span needed unless two shinigami sacrifice themselves. She does so, but Ryuk flees, so to save L, Light confesses to being Kira and pretends its all part of a plot to be reincarnated as a shinigami. Then, Rem writes his name down to force Ryuk to break the rule that he needs to be the one to kill Light, and basically forcing Ryuk to die for the cause. L suffers through his loss awkwardly and quietly, and sadly notes that the only person who could read him well enough to realize how crushed he is is Light, and Light is gone. He is just wrapping up the spare bits of the Kira case, when he slips on something and hits his head, giving himself a concussion. Just before he loses consciousness, he thinks he sees Light, standing in front of him. Experimentally, he gives himself a (carefully calculated) dose of painkillers that's enough to –almost- kill him. Again, he sees Light. This time, Watari steps in, putting him on his own equivalent of suicide watch, though L insists he does not intend to die. L is being surly about this, and taking a walk in the small garden Watari builds for him on the roof (so he can be "outside" without being untraceable in case he tries to kill himself again), when a notebook lands in front of him.
L Lawliet was brilliant. He was calculated, cunning, logical to a fault and possessed so many skills and abilities that detailing them could fill several books. Of all the considerable talents and virtues that made up his incredibly complex character, patience was not one of them. Therefore, it wasn't that L didn't possess the intelligence to list every single consequence that could result from touching the death note, it was that he chose to disregard all of them and only briefly glance around before licking his lips and snatching up the black notebook.
When no magical entities snapped into existence, he slumped slightly in disappointment, but recovered enough to shove the notebook into the waistband of his jeans and sneak it back inside. Close inspection showed it to be exactly the same as the other notebook in his possession. In fact, L had a brief moment of panic during which he switched the two, only to realize that the old notebook would of course be the one with names and bits of sand still caught between the pages. He counted the pages and tore one out, measuring the time it took to be replaced against the older notebook. He replayed every test on the notebook that he had before and was simultaneously elated and frustrated when each result came back the same.
Had he known, Watari would have worried at his new obsession.
L didn't care.
His mind, which had shied away from the name was now a mantra of Light Light Light, and in constant turmoil between the wild hope that Light can return! Eight feet tall and bony, perhaps, but Light! And the understanding that I shouldn't get my hopes up, I shouldn't be irrational, it could be another Shinigami, the drop could have been random, or worse, Kira could come back and smile at me with Light's face, then go on killing.
He rapped his fingers for the umpteenth time against the notebook and felt new horror rise at the thought. The fourth sleepless day standing watch over the notebook began to take its toll and, though L fought it, he began to drift off.
"Wake up." L was briefly roused by the command, but while he would normally have snapped awake, he didn't really see why he should get up just then when he'd been having the best dream, and his bed was so warm.
"Wake up." He burrowed slightly closer to the source of the warmth and noted how much nicer it was to sleep in his bed when someone was occupying the other side of it.
Suddenly, L was wide awake. He flattened himself against the headboard and started to reach behind it to the compartment which held a gun. The stranger in his bed seemed amused.
"L Lawliet," How does he know my real name? "You have something of mine." He reached towards L and L recoiled, but he only tapped the notebook in L's shirt before withdrawing his hand.
"You are the shinigami, then?" L asked, and tried not to show the debilitating wave of disappointment that Light would not be coming after all. I was so sure. "You don't look like the shinigami I've met before. What is your name?" The man grinned.
"My name is Light." L sucked in a breath.
"You don't look like him, either." He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and smiled at L.
"Nonetheless, I am he. He as he is now. Stupid humans, so obsessed with looks." The man's flesh began to melt off his face, until his features were little more than a lump where his nose had been and a brief flash of black skull through the top of his head, then began to reform, switching him from identity to identity as he spoke. Some of them were grotesquely disproportionate, while others rivaled Rem and Ryuk in strangeness. "And to think I wasted effort trying to put you at ease with a normal appearance." He heaved a dramatic sigh. "But tell me, what do you think I should look like?" L dug around in his bedside drawer for some of his files, and handed him one stuffed with pictures of Light, from every angle imaginable.
"I have videos on my laptop, as well."
"No need." Replied the shinigami, and his features once more melted and reformed into the familiar face of Light. "So were you my stalker?" He asked, conversationally.
"No, I was- am- a detective, and you were my prime suspect."
"What'd you suspect me of?"
"Millions of murders."
"Wow, did I do it?" L looked at him evenly.
"Yes, you did."
"Well, that explains this." Light said, gesturing to the space above his head.
"I cannot see life spans." L reminded him.
"Of course, my mistake. Mine is exceptionally long." L's disappointment began to return as he noted every single difference between the shinigami and his Light. Although he wasn't Kira, and that was an improvement, he didn't seem to remember L, or any of the other things that made him who he was.
"Why did you try to put me at ease?" L asked bluntly.
"Hmm?"
"Why did you make an effort to put me at ease?" Light smiled widely.
"I wanted to get a sense of who you were and what importance you held before I decided whether to kill you or not." L's face betrayed nothing.
"Oh?"
"I have been temporarily relieved of any memories from my human life to remove bias, but I am not yet a shinigami. If I make your name the first in my note, I became a full shinigami, and get wings, the ability to make deals with humans, and several other perks I am not at liberty to share."
"It sounds like an exceptionally good deal. Why didn't you make it?"
"I wondered who you were that it was even presented as a choice. Who would turn down all of that to save some fragile human? I decided to fully investigate you before making my decision. You say we have history? Tell me." Well, the skepticism is certainly Light's.
L recited his everything he could remember in the carefully detailed manner of one who had written up too many reports, until he got to Light's confession, which he recited word for word, with noticeably more emotion. He described the sex they'd had in the same curt manner, and ignored the shinigami's snort at his technical terms, until he got to Light's death.
"…which was, apparently successful, as evidenced by the fact that you have indeed returned." L finished. Light wrinkled his forehead.
"That story seems strange. The way shinigami are born is more of an accident than anything else, and it seemed like an inconvenient point to die. Also, if a death note was being created, as I believe one was…" He pulled a white notebook out from a pouch at his side and began flipping through.
"What is that?" Asked L, curiously.
"Rulebook. Hmmm…no, it appears I omitted some information when I confessed. Piecing together the entire story would most likely require the aid of my memories. I'll get them back when I make my official choice."
"Are you choosing to stay?"
"You are interesting enough. If I get bored, I can always kill you. You now have two notebooks, correct?" L held both up. "A shinigami must always keep at least one notebook, but if I take this one, I can stay bound to this world with you as the keeper of my personal notebook."
L handed Light one notebook, and as soon as Light slipped it into his pouch, he gasped and clutched at his head. L stood back, unsure of the consequences of getting in the way of a shinigami fit, but less than two minutes later, Light straightened and smiled at L.
"I remember." He reached out, and ran his finger over L's jawline, but Watari burst into the room with a gun.
"How did he get here?" L stared at him, surprised.
"You can see him? Light, I thought you were a shinigami."
"I am a shinigami who gave up his powers. All I have now is my death note, basic form changing, and of course, I'm not so easy to break as when I was a human." Watari shot him in the chest, and Light flew backwards, landing in a mess of his own too-dark blood. L ran over and crouched by his body. Suddenly, Light coughed, a thin stream of blood running down his chin, which he quickly wiped off. As the blood around him began to rise and flow back into his body, he stood back up. "That, for example, won't keep me down for long."
"But I can see you!" Said Watari, in an almost complaining tone, as if he could convince the bullet to re-inflict its damage in a more permanent way.
"Yes." Light smiled, and there was a little Kira in it. "For all intents and purposes, I'm back."
A/N: Please review! Tell me what you think. Remember, reviewing gets you speedy updates. Seriously, I've been updating every day for a few days now, so reward me!