Title: Ambiguity

Rating: T for now.

Pairings: L/Raito Mello/Matt

Summery: After Higuchi is captured, evidence pointing to Misa leads for them to be charged with being the first and second Kira's. Raito never gets his hands on the DeahNote, and L keeps him under observation until he can prove his guilt. Now working on cases together, their relationship has escalated and emotions run high. Running into Mafia plots and his old troublemaker heirs won't help the confusion, either.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Mamaison Pokrovka Suite Hotel, or Death Note.

"… It's your fault for walking in the snow barefoot, Ryuuzaki!"

L frowned, his arms tightening their hold on Raito's neck. He was shivering violently, making a valiant attempt to hide this fact with the stubborn set of his jaw. His raven hair was dusted with enough snow to make him look like a dark-chocolate pastry with white icing. If he wasn't in so much pain, L would have contemplated the likeliness of acquiring the object of his analogy.

As it was, Raito shouldered his way into their hotel room with a shivering insomniac in his arms and a very annoyed president of Interpol chirping in his ear. The silver bug was starting to slip out of its hold it was vibrating so much from use, and Raito continued to stream curses at the carelessness of his partner. He held L away from his body and dropped him carelessly onto their bed, two fingers pressing into the button of the bug in his ear as he tried to calm the chattering Interpol officers.

"…He was right there! Now that he knows his location has been compromised the element of surprise has been lost. This is a huge blunder on L's part…" The director was yelling, and Raito shut the door with the heel of his foot as he spoke in the most soothing voice he could conjure.

"I know, I know. We spotted him on accident, Director. If the meeting hadn't been so spontaneous, we would have been far more prepared than we were initially. I'm going to have to connect with you later, Sir. I need to attend to some very important matters at the moment."

"Wait a minute--!" Raito clicked off the bug with an agitated grunt, yanking the device from his ear and throwing at against the wall violently. "Damn it!"

"Your language is quite offensive, Raito-kun." The monotonous drawl only succeeded to infuriate the brunette even more as he narrowed his eyes at the detective sitting on their unmade bed. He had one of his feet in his hands and was trying to blow on it, his nose and fingers red from what had to be the first stages of frost-bite. His shivering had worsened when he entered the warmth of the room to the point that it looked like he was having a small seizure. Raito let out the breath that he was holding, all of his anger fizzling with it. He removed his knee-length coat and hung it on the post of the bed after deciding that the large flowered comforter would warm up his partner more efficiently than the thin material of his trench coat.

L's teeth chattered loudly as he rubbed his numb feet, leaning into the warm material draped over his shoulders with a grateful sigh. "I apologize for my carelessness, Raito-kun." His voice was surprisingly calm in contrast to his shuddering form, and Raito rolled his eyes at the man before moving towards the small kitchen a few feet away.

"I would say that it's fine Ryuuzaki, except for the fact that it isn't. Heischner saw us. I'm sure you know why that's bad for many reasons other than the obvious. We better hope that he doesn't remember your face." Raito pulled up the sleeves of his black sweater as he turned on the faucet, placing his fingers under the water as he waited for it to heat. His other hand retrieved the empty complimentary ice bucket that came with most hotel rooms and placed it in the sink as he waited for the water to steam. He turned his head to the side so that L could hear him over the water.

"What in the world possessed you to go after him like that?"

L looked perturbed with his feet, his head cocked to the side as he still attempted to warm the frozen flesh. The tips of the appendages were turning a disturbing shade of purple, and he brought them so close to his mouth that he was practically eating them. "It wasn't Heischner I was going after. He was just a very unfortunate coincidence. I thought that I saw an old acquaintance in the crowd, and I acted rashly."

Raito blinked and attempted to process the idea that L actually had friends. It was so absurd that he almost started to laugh. Almost. The bucket was filled as he grabbed a few small washclothes, making his way over to L with his remedy in hand. "Who was it?"

The question was simple, yet L made no attempt to answer it. He opted to shove one of his feet in his mouth, instead, as Raito sat down next to him. The comforter covered his head and shoulders, and he looked quite comical sitting there with a foot in his mouth. Raito hadn't noticed L's strange action, and had a washcloth dunked in the hot water and wrung out before he even noticed the spectacle.

"L, what the hell are you doing?! Do you know how many germs are on the bottom of your feet?!" He wrapped a hand around L's ankle and pulled it out of his mouth. A thin line of spit followed after, and the former Kira suspect grimaced in disgust as he covered the foot with the washcloth. "Especially because you never wear shoes! You're acting exceptionally idiotic lately, Ryuuzaki. What's gotten you so rattled?"

L frowned at the comment, his eyes slitting dangerously as his entire disposition changed. "Have you forgotten, Raito, that I am the greatest detective and most likely smartest person in the world?" He hissed, purposely dropping the honorific. "Or have you already become so comfortable with your situation that you have neglected the fact that you are still under suspicion for being Kira? Just because the case has gone cold and I have given you certain liberties does not mean that you can speak to me as an equal."

Raito's face went red in anger, and he opened his mouth as if to retort.

"Don't bite the hand that feeds you, Raito-kun. I can very easily collar you again."

With a strangled sound of frustration Raito threw the bucket at Ryuuzaki and stormed from the room, grabbing his coat off the post as he went. L flinched at the slam that accompanied Raito's departure before staring at the mess left on his bed. Not sure what to do with it, he opted to stare at it for a while before finally deciding that dry clothes would be the best choice at the moment. He didn't want to catch a cold, after all. Smiling smugly that his distraction had worked, the detective hopped awkwardly off of the mattress and padded comfortably toward the bathroom for a much needed bath. Hopefully Raito would sulk for a long time.

--

That stupid, emotionally retarded bastard! How could he still say those things to me, after having caught Higuchi and Misa?! He probably doesn't think he did anything wrong by saying something like that to his lover, either.

Raito clenched his fists tighter into his jacket as he walked, the Russian snow whipping at his face painfully as he glared at anyone who looked his way.

There's nothing I can do about it. If 'all powerful' L believes that I'm guilty, despite all the evidence pointing towards my innocence, I'll only be free when he decides to give up.

Raito grimaced, and rubbed his wrists. L wasn't known to ever give up.

At least I'm not in those ridiculous handcuffs anymore…

--

L hummed quietly to himself as he exited the lukewarm water. The entire bathroom was a disaster area; bottles of shampoo and bars of soap laying open across the ground, towels tumbling out of the small cabinet, water sloshed everywhere on the tiled floor. Any normal person would be inclined to clean it up, but L simply stepped over his pile of dirty clothes and opted to let Raito do the work. He'd never cleaned a mess in his life, after all, and they couldn't afford to have any hotel personnel in their room.

After pulling his head through his baggy white shirt, he ran his fingers through his tangled black locks and looked at the clock on the wall. Raito had been gone for almost forty-five minutes; twenty minutes longer than his usual sulking.

He could have run into trouble… Russian gangs are quite fearsome, after all…

L shrugged and turned to his laptop, getting himself settled with a pile of doughnuts as he began to compose an E-mail.

Rodger

I understand that it is not customary for me to send you a direct E-mail, but the matters are important enough that I think you will forgive me.

I recently saw Mello in Moscow, Russia. Specifically on Ulitsa Maroseyka, not far from where an operation I was conducting was taking place. In a moment of haste I acted rashly, and because of the unpredictability of the moment I made a grave mistake in a very important case. This mistake was caused by Mello, and I would like to know what reason he has to be in Moscow. He is not of age to leave the institution yet, so I am assuming you are not aware of his absence.

I am currently staying at the Mamaison Pokrovka Suite Hotel, and have enclosed the most likely places in the area that Mello would be residing. Please come and collect him immediately. I would advise that you check for Matt's whereabouts as well, and delete this message immediately before destroying your computer to prevent Matt from hacking it and acquiring my location. If you must contact me directly, use the line that I have set up with my mobile phone.

L

After confirming that the E-mail had been sent, he proceeded to download his hard-drive onto a disk and wipe his computer clean. L sighed in annoyance as he began reinstalling all of his information, nomming on a chocolate doughnut in impatience. He hated this part; it was always so boring.

Speaking of boredom, Raito hadn't yet returned. L wouldn't have worried his spiky little head about it, if it wasn't for the fact that he was bored and Raito was very entertaining. Leaving his computer to its devices, L picked up his phone with two fingers and pressed the speed-dial for Raito's number. He was bored and wanted entertainment. And he always got what he wanted.