A/N:

Yes, I did used to have this posted! Good catch if you've been following my writing for that long, thanks! I figure I might as well try again because after chapter one I wasn't really happy with how it turned out! I hope you enjoy re-reading chapter one, or if you haven't read it yet, enjoy it for the first time! Yay!

Thanks to my beta: xxXAngelDreamerXxx she's awesome :3

~``~``~``~ L ~``~``~``~

My knees were huddled against my chest and my thumb cradled in its usual position against my lips. My teeth sunk into the skin slightly as I bit down. My eyes scanned quickly over the daily news for important updates on Kira or anything else important that I'd need to know about the rest of the world. One of my hands clicked one side of the mouse and it took me to a new page of news, in Spanish. After that I took on French, then German and Dutch, even a hint of Swedish here and there. Braille had been hard to learn to read with just my eyes, but after a while I got the terms down and now can read quite fluently without actually touching the small dots.

"Ryuzaki?" I blinked and turned my attention to the older man standing over me. Quillsh Wammy, otherwise known better as Watari, my care giver, brought over a tray of sweets.

I looked him over; a suit that covered the old man fully was adorned on his body. His wrinkled face usually held no emotion, much like my own, but to me he gave a small smile before standing properly again. Watari has and probably always will be with me. He wasn't just the person that cared for me, if need be I could always care for myself, I was a twenty-five year old grown man, almost twenty six, he was more than that. Watari had always been like a father to me. My eyes scanned the room. The police department of the Kanto area in Japan sat on the couches, all crouched over piles of paper work.

Soichiro, the chief of the police, sat in the center of the group of people, looking over certain points of papers and giving slight orders to the rest. Matsuda, the youngest of the police, sat on the edge, seeming bored with his job. Matsuda always seemed to be left out in everything important, and when he was involved, he usually caused trouble to create the importance of something. He was still quite young and didn't work things through before acting on them. Still he, along with Aizawa and the other members of the task force, was quite a vital asset to the investigation; especially now that all of them had gotten so involved."Matsuda, can you check the authenticity of these dates?" The young man's face, lined with stubble from not having shaved in a while, lit up like a million suns. He snatched the papers, began sifting through others, and even went to the computer on the far side of the room to work on confirming them.

My gaze flicked over to the person who'd handed Matsuda those papers. Light Yagami. Light was a very proud young man. Very proper and into the times. He'd just stopped in his schooling to take on the Kira case with his father and the rest of police. His dark hair fell over his forehead ruthlessly, still seeming to be just the way it had been before we were all together; locked in this small room for days on end, drinking only tea and coffee and occasionally having something to eat. His dark eyes watched Matsuda happily accept his task, seeming to have thought he'd done something good for him. I could tell that Light still thought Matsuda was an idiot. We all did.

"Light." I called to get his attention. However, he pretended ever so calmly not to hear me. "Light!" This time I gave a tug on the chain from the handcuffs that connected us.

"Yes, Ryuzaki?" Light asked with slight annoyance in his voice. Oh, the handcuffs? You see, out in the world is a killer whom we call Kira. I suspect that if you watch any news whatsoever then you already know about the Kira case, so I will skip that part.

Light Yagami was my number one suspect.

Light Yagami fits all of the ideal traits that fit Kira. In fact, no one could be more perfect to fit the part of the killer. Light was definitely Kira, all that was left was the evidence. This is where the handcuffs come in. If anything were to happen, I'd be right there with him, so nothing would be able to pass me without notice. If he was not Kira, and he somehow ended up dying, I'd die along with him.

"I was wondering if you had any plans tonight." Obviously he had no other plans then to stick with me for the rest of tonight. He froze in his tracks, eyes slightly widened.

"U-um, I-"

"I would like to have an outing alone with you and Misa Amane." He blinked and nodded to signal that my request would be fulfilled. "You may go up to tell Misa yourself, I have no doubts of giving you a bit of freedom." His lips turned up into a slight smile.

"Please meet me down here in five minutes while I go to tell Watari that we will be leaving for a bit. This is quite alright with you Mr. Yagami?" I looked over to Light's father. He only gave a small wave before writing down more onto an almost filled piece of printer paper.

I quickly unlocked the key from a drawer in the desk I sat at, staring sternly at Light as I freed his wrist. He rubbed it lightly and began walking up the stairs to get Misa. I waited until he was fully up the stairs that I made my way to the door to notify Watari of our departure. Before I left, I turned to look back at Soichiro." If any new crimes come up while Light is away from me, your son is Kira." I left that in the air as I turned to leave.

~``~``~``~ Light ~``~``~``~

Ryuzaki had dragged Misa and I out with him for some reason. Now, the three of us were seated in a small café that wasn't known very well; very few people came here. There was a small display of pastries and they served coffee and tea. A woman sitting in the corner was trying to calm her crying child, who was giving me a headache, while a man continuously flopped news papers around every few seconds. Why couldn't L have chosen somewhere nicer? Misa sat across from me, twirling one of her blonde pigtails around her finger and pouting.

I watched as pink mixed with the blonde. Misa had decided she needed a fresh new look because she was tired of the same old thing. When L had told her that she was not leaving the task force, Misa started whining and crying which eventually broke L, because he couldn't stand her whining anymore than I could.

So he told Watari that he would need to pick something girly up for her the next time he sent out for food and other things for L. So, when he returned, Watari had a bottle of Pink hair dye recommended to him by a saleswoman. That night, L and I had to stay up to help Misa fix up her hair, but L had been taken off the task when he squirted pink dye all over Misa's white top, leaving me to do the rest by myself. And that's Misa's story for the day .quite an interesting life she lives, huh? L himself was also causing me a headache. Even though we were in a public place, he refused to sit normally or eat anything besides sweets.

The table full of sweets, L sitting like a loon, two men handcuffed together and a pop star all at one small table earned us many interesting stares .L was watching as I continued to look around, embarrassed for us all. I'd started to notice that the dark circles under his eyes were getting darker as the Kira case went on, but being out in the sun made it ten times worse as his pale skin was almost see through. If he wanted to keep his identity as L a secret, he should try sleeping every now and then. Also, those midnight black locks that stuck in odd directions didn't help to keep him hidden.

"So, L," I pulled the detective's attention away from a piece of strawberry cake, "what did you need to speak with Misa and I about?"

"Well, Misa had been complaining about not being out for a while, so I decided to let you have some freedom." He gave an annoyed face when I shook my handcuffs.

"This isn't what I meant. I wanted to go on a date with Light alone!" Misa stood up and screeched, causing everything around us to cease in action. Everyone would look at Misa worriedly then glare at us, like maybe we'd kid napped her, and she was trying to get away that kind of look.

"Misa, please sit." Ryuzaki simply stated as if nothing had happened around us at all. Misa huffed and sat with her arms crossed and a pout on her face. Everyone else went back to what they were doing after making sure everything was alright, though I'm sure they were still wary about the fact that Ryuzaki and I were handcuffed together.

"Ryuzaki." My tone came out harsh and clipped. His head shot up, his eyes wide and very innocent. It almost looked cute "You can't keep us like this in public. You have to trust me for once, trust Misa! I swear that if anything happens while I'm gone, anything at all, then you can put me behind bars and call me Kira. Poke me with sticks and have the village people throw rocks at me if you want." I joked a bit at the end but he seemed to take it seriously, his thumb twirling around his lips as he thought.

My watch that held the smallest piece of the death note actually seemed to sigh in its hidden position, knowing it surely wouldn't be used if L left us alone for once. His eyes scanned over my face, which held its intense stare calmly as he thought about my offer. If anything happened at all while I was gone, he could lock me up forever, but if not, he could continue to have me as a suspect. It was an offer he couldn't refuse. His gaze softened. And Misa cheered as he stood up and unlocked our wrists. Misa attacked him and placed a small kiss on his cheek before dancing her way over to snuggle into my side. I could've sworn she actually purred. L looked at her, defeated, and then glanced to me before he left the café. He seemed sad. Even his hunch seemed to shag over a bit more. I had started to feel bad until I realized it was just Misa and I, alone, without surveillance on us

~``~``~``~ Watari ~``~``~``~

The police were still hard at work. All except Light's father, who seemed to be constantly worried that L would have Light arrested whenever he wasn't there to defend him. He worried too much. Ryuzaki may have been a detective, but he wouldn't do anything unfair and twisted in such a way as that. The halls were quiet, and the only sound in my office were the soft taps of keys from my keyboard. I was looking up a few things Ryuzaki had wanted from me. He was not expected back for half an hour still, so it came as quite a shock when I looked into the surveillance cameras (ones that Ryuzaki had me set up with) and it appeared as though he was standing right behind me

~``~``~``~ L ~``~``~``~

I hadn't walked alone down a street in a while. Actually, I hadn't walked down a street ever. I usually traveled by car or plane or helicopter. Even when coming to the café we'd taken a car, and I'd told the driver to come back for us in an hour. Now, I had time to kill and was out on my own. People that passed me gave me strange looks, and a few people tried to get me to buy things. I would have purchased a chocolate covered strawberry on a stick had I been carrying money. Unfortunately, Watari had the control of my money and he'd only given us enough for the café. I had been wandering in a straight direction for a while now, and the area was starting to thin. The streets became narrow and the buildings were further apart. It seemed as through the sidewalk was actually getting rougher and cracked in some places. I was so concentrated on walking forward that I wasn't aware when something struck out from between two of the buildings. It caught onto my leg. I looked down and saw as it wrapped around my ankle. My eyes went wide, but as I was about to try releasing myself from it, it pulled and sent me to the ground on my back. My head hit the ground with a loud crack, which unfortunately no one was around to hear.

I tried to grip at the ground around me, finding anything to hold but I was pulled away, colors flowing past my dizzy eyes. I was pulled up from the ground really quickly to be pushed painfully into a wall. The hand that had grabbed me at first came around my throat and its owner leaned in near my ear; I still couldn't see this man. The first conclusion I'd come to was Light Yagami, Kira.

Then I thought about how far Light was from me, plus if he had somehow managed to catch up with me, I would hear Misa's girly little voice from a corner somewhere. Maybe it was a random robber, or someone who would not be happy to find out what happens when Watari and the others notice my disappearance. What happened next was the most surprising thing I'd heard in my life.

"Well, well, well. Hello L." I froze and my breath hitched in my throat. "What? No hello?" This was impossible. It couldn't be done. There was no possible way on earth. But it was him. How? It goes against the laws of nature. How why what not possible, period.

"Y-you can't be-"

"But I am." The voice hissed matter-of-factly.

"Beyond Birthday." I stated the name simply, no further meaning behind it but disgust.

~``~``~``~ Light ~``~``~``~

L hadn't come back for the ride back to the task force. After waiting in the hot sun for a while, we all decided that maybe we should just go back. Perhaps he'd already gone back, and had Watari pick him up. Still, to no avail, Ryuzaki wasn't back. Watari hadn't been seen in a while either. My father was just happy to see that nothing happened to me while we had been away.

Now everyone was snapping into finding L. Matsuda had been drinking too much coffee lately, because now he was hyper and worried at the same time. We sat at the desks, making phone calls and trying to get a hold of Watari. No one had been able to reach him after an hour, and when the driver we sent out to see if L had come back, he returned with nothing. Matsuda had started to feel a bit sick now, so I sent him out to let him go check None of us were allowed in Watari's office, but this was turning into an emergency.

"Light, it's been four hours nothing's come up. We should put out a search, declare them missing-"

"No!" I snapped at my own father. His hand, which was on the back of my chair, pulled rapidly away to hang by his side. For some reason, I couldn't accept that they were just missing that he was missing.

"Light!" everyone turned in their seats to face a very sick looking Matsuda in the doorway...with Watari! Watari was currently supporting Matsuda as the man hung onto his shoulder. When Watari moved to the couch, Matsuda dropped and started to breath heavily. He was now looking paler than the green sickly hue he'd taken on before. Watari himself seemed a bit shaken. For such an old man, you'd think the tiniest surprise would put him in cardiac arrest, a heart attack that L would surely blame me for it later once he's returned.

"Light, Matsuda may need a hyperventilation bag, would you find him one?" Aizawa asked sitting across from the pale man. My eyes narrowed into a glare but I still got up to find something for him to breathe into.

"Where were you? Where is Ryuzaki?" I asked Watari, handing Matsuda his bag.

"Have you ever heard of the Los Angeles BB murder cases, Light?" My eyes narrowed. That did sound familiar.

I searched the room, as if it would give me the answer. It was really going to bug me until I found out where I'd heard of those cases. The pieces of the puzzle were finally coming up, I could almost see them lacing together in my mind. Then it hit me. The death note. A convicted murder. Beyond Birthday. His name was one of the first few that I'd written. He may have been the last 'test', or maybe he was the first one when I finally became Kira. It was somewhere around there. I looked at Watari again. How did a serial killer link with L?

"Yes, sir, I have." He gave a suspicious look in my direction, but no one else seemed to take my statement another way than how it was said. It seemed that even when L wasn't around, I was still being tried as Kira.

"Well, Beyond Birthday, the convict, has always had a sort of fetish for Ryuzaki." Beyond Birthday has an obsession for L. Why? L had never shown his face to anyone but Watari until the task force came along. "Yes, well, Ryuzaki would not be comfortable with me telling you this, either way " I didn't want to hear the next words that would come from the older man. "Ryuzaki has been taken by Beyond Birthday."

Everyone gasped, as if in a cheesy soap opera. I just stared at Watari even more intensely, maybe to get information from him, maybe because I didn't want to turn away. He held my gaze and amplified his worry for the detective ten fold. Not that I cared for L

~``~``~``~ L ~``~``~``~

The hand around my throat clenched tighter after I'd said his name, and a bit of laughing could be heard. The alley between the two buildings was extremely dark, the only light that came from it was the bit from the way we'd come. B was hidden within the shadows beside me, so even though I knew it was him standing next to me, it felt as if I were alone with the ghosts of whom I could not see.

"Ah, so you do remember my real name." My narrowed my eyes as his hand pressed further into me, his nails digging into the sides.

"Backup." I spat at him, knowing that teasing him would be a dangerous thing to do, yet I started it anyways.

"Don't." He pushed me further into the wall. "Call." Even further. "Me." His hand gripped strangling at the base of my throat. "THAT!" The pressure he applied could have broken my neck right then and there. I clawed at his hand and writhed underneath it.

He continued with the force he applied. His breath came out in angry pants next to me. Then he released me. I fell to the ground, coughing and gasping. My hand tried to heal the pain by rubbing in places that hurt the most on my neck. Soon my breathing slowed to panting. I could hear BB chuckle to himself as he watched me from wherever he was standing now. I could feel an indentation from where his hand had pressed into my throat, causing it to feel like it was burning. Pressure was applied to my back, and I fell flat against the ground, coughing as dirt entered my mouth. His foot pressed hard into my back, causing me to emit a squeak. He could seriously damage my spine and rib cage with the force he applied, shoving me into the ground. I tried to move my hands to grab at him ankle, but his foot was positioned in the middle where I couldn't reach it.

"B " I choked out. He growled a bit but removed his foot from me. I turned onto my stomach, trying to get the pain to stop. I knew I was in a worse position now, my torso exposed to his cruelty completely. My eyes clenched shut, waiting for his next move.

"Lawliet." I gasped, which was painful, when he used my real name. I hadn't heard it in so long. It was as if it were the first time hearing it. No one ever spoke it, not even Watari. Mostly this was for safety, but otherwise I was just so used to being called L. In fact, B was the only other person in the world besides Watari that knew my real name. Three people in total, which was too many for comfort.

"Beyond, how is this possible?" I asked the shadows in the direction his voice had come.

"It's true what they say, bribery works in most situations."

"They said you were dead." I whispered to him.

"Yes, well, as I said, bribery works with just about anyone. That prison wouldn't dare speak a word now." He let out a laugh that echoed through the alley harshly. In the distance I heard a cat take off running, trying to escape Beyond, just as I wish I could do now. "And for those that refuse to give in, they must pay the consequences." I visibly flinched at the thought of Beyond going back to his serial killing.

"Backup-" I instantly regretted saying that name. He pulled me to my feet, then had me pressed against the wall of one of the buildings again. My head felt extremely sore from where it had been hit several times since B and I had reunited.

"What?" He asked harshly.

"Do you intend to kill me now that you've returned?" Even though it was almost pitch black in the alley now, I could feel B's smile creep onto his face.

He gave one small throated chuckle and leaned his forehead against the side of mine, whispering the answer back to me that made my eyes widen, not just with fear but also with surprise, who knew B knew of such things. Some I hadn't even heard of, but they didn't sound good.

~``~``~``~ Light ~``~``~``~

The hot sun that had once beat down onto my skin was now gone. Instead, it was replaced with a clouded over moon. The night air still had a hint of warmth in it, but was rapidly beginning to cool down. You could definitely tell that winter was around the corner. I placed my hands in my pockets in hopes to keep them from chilling. Finally, I'd reached my destination. I was back at the café from earlier. My hopes of finding L were already falling and dragging on the sidewalk behind me. The shop was still open, so I went in to see if maybe he had returned and was looking for a way to contact Watari. To no avail, he was not there. The woman behind the counter had said that last she'd seen of him was when he was here with Misa and I earlier. I also had to refuse her offers of free food and tea about thirty times before I could leave.

"Hey, Light." I sighed when he finally showed up at the worst time imaginable.

"Ryuk where have you been all day? Aren't you supposed to follow me around until I die or give up the death note?" I asked, turning to stare at the shinigami. Ryuk's clown-like face curled into an evil smile.

"Luckily, I have my own death note, meaning that I can have more freedom than other Shinigami." His laugh split through the air and amplified into my ears. I really didn't understand Ryuk sometimes, he was a complicated creature. "So what are you doing out here? Aren't you missing something attached to your wrist?" I turned to walk backwards so I could still face Ryuk at the same time.

"That's why I'm out here. Ryuzaki gave Misa and I time alone, and now he's missing."

"Missing?" Ryuk repeated back to me.

"Well, kidnapped really. By someone named Beyond Birthday. I mean, you name your kid that and really, they have no future career choice, what kind of person does that?"

"The same kind of person who names their kid Light." I glared at Ryuk as he laughed like a maniac. He'd gotten tired of walking, so his wings unfolded and he began to hover along my side, so I was also able to walk forward again. We've been over this Ryuk, there's a difference between evil and justice-"

"Apparently a very fine line." I decided that now would be a good time to start ignoring the winged creature as I've done for so long now. Instead I concentrated on finding L.

"Ryuzaki?" I called out. No answer.

The streets were empty of people. Just a few stand owners were still out, obviously getting ready to close up. I called his name once more, still no answer. The streets up ahead were even more deserted than the previous ones; they also seemed to get darker as I went on. I called his name a few more times, and still nothing. I leaned against the wall of a building and hoped that he hadn't been taken by that serial killer. I didn't know why, but I wanted him to come back. You would think I'd be happy L was finally gone. I could take on Kira's abilities full force once again

No! It just wasn't the same. At first when I first found the death note, just being Kira was fun. Now that I had more of a challenge to it, I would quickly get bored with just being Kira. After all, no one would be able to take L's place and be able to face me head on in this mind game we have going.

"Why aren't you happy? Your enemy is gone! You should be cheering!" I rolled my eyes at Ryuk.

"For one, I would not cheer, it seems highly un-god-like and second, it would become boring." I repeated my previous thoughts to the reaper.

"Still, aren't you a little happy that your enemy is gone?" I thought about it, really thought about it. Everything I thought of came back to the same answer.

"No, Ryuk, I'm not."

~``~``~``~ L ~``~``~``~

I struggled against B's hand as he held it firmly over my mouth. I tried screaming, yelling, getting some small sound to slip past his fingers, but nothing would come but muffles so soft only bats could hear them. I don't even think B himself heard them.

This current situation had started a few minutes ago, when someone was yelling for me. BB had promptly clasped his hand over my mouth and trapped my hands behind me. The small puffs of air that came from my nose were swallowed by the night. We stood like this listening to Light call for me, his voice getting closer every second.

"Ryuzaki?" He called again. I suppressed a shudder when B leaned into me so he could whisper to me.

"So, you're using my name after what had happened aw, did you miss me?" He gave sarcastically. I pushed my tongue past my lips to lick at his finger, trying to disgust him, showing I did not miss him in the least. I tried my hardest to get sound through his hand when I heard noise close to us, as light leaned on the building that supported one side of the alley. It was his conversation that caught my attention.

"For one, I would not cheer, it seems highly un-god-like and second, it would become boring." The interesting thing was, no one had spoken to him. "No, Ryuk, I'm not." Not what? Who was he talking to? The hand pressed harder onto me to make sure that nothing would come from my mouth, making it seem like he was pressing back my teeth. I bit my tongue on accident and even that sound was muffled by his hand over my mouth.

I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping that the words going through my crowded mind would reach any higher being and help me. This was insane; I needed to just get away from here. If I could get away from B then I could restart the Los Angles BB murder Cases and put an end to Beyond Birthday once and for all. In order to do that, I needed to get away from the psycho killer. Oh god! I don't care who he's talking to! Light, help!

Thanks for reading, please review! :D