Summary: Mostly AU: L is currently working on the Kira case, in which he meets his match. Fearing the worst for the future, he calls up an old friend who he knows Kira won't have an effect on…
Why it's AU: Well, other than the fact that L will not die (Yays!), Light isn't going to play as Kira. He will be suspected though and he will still be chained to L due to suspicion falling on him.
Genre: Adventure/Supernatural/slight Romance and Comedy
Possible pairings/Hints: LxLight, past one-sided OCxL, one-sided (?) NearxOC, past OCxBB, MattxMello, dark and twisted past OCxOC and more…
Disclaimer: Let's see, if I owned Death Note, I'd do what any fangirl would do: Lock L and Light in a closet (wearing their handcuffs of course) and see what happens like the little pervert I am.
Chapter 1:
As he sat in the back of the black limousine, Light Yagami couldn't believe that this was happening to him. He refused to believe it. It was too ridiculous, too silly, and too…weird! Yet, he couldn't escape the facts: this was happening to him.
His life officially became Hell on earth.
He glanced over at the man who sat next to him, a.k.a. the source of his misery. He was a pale, lithe man who looked younger than his actual age (not that Light knew his age of course, but he was guessing the man was over 20). He had dark circles under his wide dark eyes and unkempt black hair, and was wearing baggy clothes that looked too big for him, but no shoes (not even socks). He sat in a crouched position that hunched his back and stared blankly ahead, silently directing his driver, Watari to the airport.
"Ryuuzaki, I can understand you suspecting me of being Kira," Light ground out. "But does it have to go this far?"
He lifted his wrist, which had a handcuff around it. It was connected to a long chain that connected another cuff, which was on Ryuuzaki wrist. Ryuuzaki glanced blankly at Light, then at the chain, and then back at the teenage boy.
"Yes," was his monotone reply.
Light rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, staring out his window. "I could have stayed back at headquarters you know."
"That would have been too dangerous, Light-kun," Ryuuzaki said. "Especially when the possibility of Light-kun being Kira rising five percent almost every day."
The teenage boy's sepia eyes twitched as he groaned softly. Usually he would yell back on how he wasn't Kira, but it was too early in the morning. He just resolved to glaring out the window and muse about the last couple of months.
It had all started with the death of a man in the Kanto region, who had been holding people hostage in a building. His death was ruled as a heart attack and was shrugged off, despite the fact that he had no history of heart problems. Since the act helped the hostages escaped, no one really cared about the man's death.
Then, within a week from the first death, fifty-nine prisoners had died of heart attacks.
Coincidence? Japan didn't think so.
Hence forth, Kira's twisted mission to "cleanse the world and create a Utopia" had begun. It had at first seemed reserved to only Japan, but then moved worldwide. Kira started attacking any small town criminal, serial killer and rapist that could be detected through any worldwide database, including the FBI, and even Massad.
The case had gotten so intense that it attracted one of the greatest detectives in the world: L.
Who Light still couldn't believe was sitting next to him, and accusing him of being Kira. Well, okay, the accusations have dulled over the past few weeks, but still, they were there. Ryuuzaki, a.k.a. L, had accused him of being Kira under the pretense that Light had the means of access to criminals, since his father was Chief of police, had a similar mentality to Kira and also because his father was part of the special Task Force that had been created to catch Kira.
Looking at all that, Light could understand a little bit why L had suspected him, but he had already proven not to be Kira and always adamantly denied it. True Light thought that the world could do without a few criminals, but to kill every single one? The thought alone was impossible, and Light was begrudgingly aware of that. Frankly, he had a good idea that L knew that he was innocent. The man probably did this entire "chain and drag" thing to mess with Light's head.
Now that Light thought about it, L had been acting strange lately. He seemed more…paranoid than usual, not to mention a little melancholy. Light had a good idea about that also. The Kira case had gotten stale over the past few weeks. Kira's bloodlust seems to have skyrocketed and the Task Force hadn't gotten even close to a solid suspect, not even with Light's recent help. That frustrated Light to no end, and he was certain that L was even more frustrated, considering the man had such a track record in catching perpetrators. There was no such thing as a perfect murder, because the murderer is always caught—if not in this century, then at least the next.
So, where the hell is Kira? That was the question that hung over every person's head, in Japan and in other countries.
Which led to another question, at least in Light's mind: Who is this mysterious person who L is so anxious to have in the Task Force?
Light turned around to look at the man he called Ryuuzaki. "So, who is this guy anyway?"
He didn't really expect an answer. L was really secretive about certain things in his past. So, Light was surprised not by what he heard, but the fact that he was hearing it.
"He is a man I've worked with before on special cases," L replied, still staring into space. "He has a certain skill—if you want to call it that—that I've realized would be of use in the Kira case."
Light raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "What kind of skill?"
L shared a glance with Watari, who was also thinking of the young man in question. Then he looked over at Light, smiling slightly.
"You'll find out soon enough."
---
Jade Graves walked out of the airport, a brown leather bag slung on his shoulder. Through a pair of shades, he searched the heads of the crowd for two familiar men, but came up with nothing the first few times. Then he spotted a familiar black limousine and a familiar old man step outside of it.
He smiled and ran over to the man, as eager as a child.
"Watari, you old devil!" He tackled him into a hug, almost making Watari fall over. "I haven't seen you in…in—God, I don't even know how long anymore!"
Despite him almost losing his balance, Watari smiled down at the boy hugging him and patted him on the shoulder. "It's great to see you too, Jade."
"Still as energetic as always," came a smooth, deadpan voice.
Jade felt his heart jump at the voice. He hadn't seen him face-to-face in so long… He turned around and (if possible) his grin grew.
"Panda bear!" he exclaimed as he ran to hug L around the torso.
L's eyes twitched in annoyance. Not because of Jade's embrace, but because of the use of his old nickname, which only Jade would use on him. He twitched even more when he heard Light's snicker from behind him. There was no doubt in his mind that the teenager was close to—as the expression goes—laughing his ass off.
"Jade, what have I told you about using that little codename of yours?" L scolded.
"Oh, but it's so cute on you," Jade let him go and grinned up at him, waving his index finger in mock scolding. "You know, I wouldn't have come up with the name if you listened to my advice and actually slept every once in a while."
"And since when do I ever listen to you?"
"Touché."
Meanwhile, Light observed the new guy, who had called L such an embarrassing name (which he was still silently cackling to himself about). It seemed like this guy and L had some history, possibly during childhood. Light had kind of expected the guy to be an L-look a like, both in looks and personality. He honestly didn't expect someone so…so…what was the word he was looking for?
Jade looked past L and noticed Light and walked up to stand in front of him. He blinked a few times, looking up and down at the teenager, trying to size him up. When he was done his eyes lidded with a strange look in his eyes that made Light shudder unpleasantly. The other boy's smirk made it worse.
"Well hello gorgeous," he said with a voice that was as smooth as velvet.
Light twitched, his eyes bugging out. "E-excuse me?" he stammered in English.
Jade's smirk didn't falter as he ran an index finger down Light's cheek. "Tell me hot stuff, would you like to take a walk to the dark side with me as your guide?"
The teenage genius blanched. Is he…Is he flirting with me?! Realizing this, Light started to stammer out responses that sounded something like "What the hell?" and of course "Hell no, perv!"
Behind them, Watari chuckled, murmuring how Jade hadn't changed, and L's twitching seemed to worsen. The detective quickly walked over to intercept Jade getting closer to Light and directed an irritated glare at the young man. Though Light would never admit it, not even if he was tortured painfully, he was grateful for L's intervention.
"Jade, I'm going to have to ask you to stop," L demanded with a steady voice. "Right. Now."
Jade raised an eyebrow, and then noticed the chain that connected L and Light. "Oh, I get it," he winked up at L. "Don't worry, I'll keep my hands off. I'm no home wrecker."
L remained unresponsive, having figured out what Jade meant but didn't really care; however, Light looked bemused.
"Home wrecker?" he repeated quietly in Japanese, then realized what the man meant. Then he went into a fury. "Wait—no! Hell no! Even if I was gay, which I'm not (this was directed at Jade, who just shrugged), I would never be…attracted to him!" He directed an accusatory finger at L.
L glanced over at Light with an unreadable gaze. "The feeling is mutual, Light-kun," he replied softly, shifting to Japanese.
He looked over at Jade, "Let's get going, Jade. You have a lot of work ahead of you. Oh, and you might want to start speaking in Japanese from now on."
When the two of them went inside the limo, Jade leaned over and whispered to Watari in English, "The men doth protest too much, methinks."
"Indeed," the man replied, taking the new passenger's bag and putting them in the trunk.
Jade bit his lip nervously. "Watari, is Kira really this…bad that L had to call me in?"
His old mentor and teacher shifted a glance to him, one that made Jade shiver with slight fear. Watari didn't reply, but the look said it all. When he stopped looking at him, he gestured for Jade to get inside, which he did. Watari then got in the front seat to drive back to the hotel slash headquarters.
As the drive went on, Jade silently looked out the window with blank eyes.
