I started writing this story a few years ago and I recently re-read the few chapters I have written so far, I thought I'd share and see if people enjoy reading it.

I love B and L and I've always wondered what would have happened if L had found B before he could carry out the murders… here it goes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or I'd be a damn genius.

Prologue

Beyond Birthday looked around. Perfect. Some peace at last. He really needed it.

He'd never believed that things could change so drastically in only a few weeks' time. Seattle. Portland. San Francisco. Las Vegas. And finally… Los Angeles.

He laughed, not amused in the slightest. He had to carry out the perfect crime, that nobody would ever be able to solve. Nobody - not even the world's greatest detective. So he had wandered, restless, around the West Coast of the United States, getting closer and closer to California, though he wasn't sure why. But in all those TV series it looked like heaven on earth, with its crystal clear ocean, the wonderful climate and almost nonexistent rain.

But Beyond Birthday definitely wasn't the Californian type. He should have known that he would end up hating that State. Too sunny, too American.

A positive thing had happened though: he had finally managed to lay out the final part of his plan. He only needed to choose the victims and that was the most boring part - yes, it was certainly a brilliant plan, no, amazing, in every single detail. He was sure that L would not have caught any shut eye as he tried to figure it out. Not that he used to sleep a lot, he'd been told, but he was confident that he would cause him serious distress for the first time in his life.

Then… before he could carry out the first murder… he'd been screwed. He had no idea how that had worked out, but he'd been found. Had L imagined what was about to happen? No, how could he… He was the world's top detective, alright, but he didn't have supernatural powers. And anyway, if he had been able to imagine it, he definitely wouldn't have wanted to meet B. He wouldn't have brought him over and insisted that he stayed. Insisted was really an euphemism: L had forbidden him to leave and he was constantly observing him, usually having him stay in the same room while he worked on his cases. At first he had handcuffed him to a piece of furniture, so that he wouldn't try anything, but he had eventually decided that it wasn't necessary - even though he wanted him to remain seated in front of him, at a short distance.

Beyond Birthday needed his space, though, and so he'd asked L to be left alone at least for a few hours. That's where he was - locked in a room in the dark, a completely empty room, except for the bed. He felt much more at ease without the presence of another person always close. He hated to have people around all the time, it was another of the reasons why he'd left the orphanage a long time before.

He didn't have good memories of the place… not many. He had grown up there after his parents had passed away shortly one after the other, but he had never bonded with anybody - not because he was withdrawn or arrogant, it was seemingly the other children that tried to avoid him. They used to say he was weird… because of something that happened shortly after his arrival at Wammy's House.

"Hey, come here!"

"What?"

"Look what B's done!"

He was surrounded. He could feel the kids staring even without raising his gaze. And he was busy anyway…

"What is going on?" A deeper voice than the rest. "B! What have you done?"

The voice sounded worried. No - frightened.

B finally looked up and saw Mr. Wammy. Watari, as everybody used to address him, was staring at him as if he'd never seen him before, as if he were a vagabond who had managed to infiltrate the precious orphanage, resolved to spoil everything contained inside. "I only wanted to see… what was underneath."

B's left arm was copiously bleeding, but he seemed not to be in pain, or at the very least he managed to appear unconcerned in front of everybody else. He seemed to think that all that blood that was dripping on the grass and on his shoes wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

B smiled to Watari. "I didn't do anything wrong."

Beyond Birthday grinned at the memory. It was true, he hadn't done anything wrong after all… he hadn't hurt another kid… the body was his, he could do whatever he wanted with it.

He knelt down in the usual pose that he'd started adopting since he'd left the orphanage, L's stance, the posture that he'd finally be able to observe personally ten days earlier, when he was brought before him.

Then, he opened the jar of strawberry jam that he was holding and he dipped his fingers in. Since he was alone, he needed sugar to concentrate. He had to focus on the task at hand - how to escape L Lawliet.

I would love to hear what you think! :)