Thank you for your reviews and for following, guys! I know the prologue was short and this chapter isn't much longer but at least L shows up :) I hope you enjoy it!

Oh, something I forgot to mention: since English isn't my first language I hope you won't mind my mistakes, but of course point them out if you want so I can improve. Thank you!

Disclaimer: as if I would actually own Death Note...

Thoughts

L Lawliet was sitting in his usual stance, knees brought to his chest, back hunched over. He was looking at the table in front of him, where Watari had just left a piece of cake and hot tea.

He brought his thumb to his lips. He needed to ponder… on the best thing for him and for B. He knew that for the moment B needed to stay with him, it was the wisest decision. But what about the future? Could he trust Beyond Birthday and set him free?

Slowly, he took the cup and sipped the tea. It didn't taste as good as usual. He added five sugar cubes.

B was locked in a room a few meters away- probably trying to figure out how to escape and vanish without a trace. There was a 70% chance. L was sure that he wouldn't try anything for a while, first he needed to gather his ideas and make a flawless plan if he wished to be certain that he wouldn't be tracked down once again.

L had talked to him, at first a bit reluctant to show himself, but then persuaded that it wouldn't make much of a difference: B wouldn't hire a hit man to kill him and, in the very unlikely possibility that he would, the killer definitely would never find L. He was much too good for that.

Only ten days had gone by since their first meeting...

L entered the darkened room, lit only by the light of the moon. Beyond Birthday was there, handcuffed to the leg of a heavy piece of furniture, so that he couldn't free himself in any way, and he was kneeling in a pose very similar to his own. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and his ruffled hair was almost as messy as L's.

If L were a regular folk, he'd shiver as he took in the youngest's appearance - ascertaining just how much the young man sitting nearby tried to resemble him. From what he knew, B was only a couple years younger than him, so he was probably around 20.

"I am L," he muttered, in his usual bored tone. It worked. B raised his head and L could finally see his face.

The room was gloomy, after he'd been brought over B had insisted in staying in the darkness and L couldn't see any valid reason to refuse. But when he saw his face he was tempted to turn on the light, to examine him and verify just how much he looked like him. Because, right then, he thought he could have passed for his brother, if not even his twin.

"I am B," was the simple reply that came from the young dark haired man. Then he coldly smiled. He seemed to know something that L was unaware of.

"Beyond Birthday... I suppose it will be impossible to get you arrested, since I stopped you before you could pull off any kind of crime," L began, also kneeling down nearby. It was almost as if he was in front of a mirror. L brought his thumb to his lips and started nibbling on it.

"L… who says I meant to commit a crime?"

L didn't reply. He didn't have any intention to explain anything to him. He didn't want B to understand his logic. Whoever picked up on the way the other's mind worked first would lose.

"I would like some jam," B added.

As a matter of fact, since he'd been brought there that morning, B had yet to eat anything and it was then nine PM. L was hungry, too, so he asked Watari to bring some jam and ice cream for himself.

B ignored the bread and cutlery and dipped his fingers inside the jar. L observed him grimace and comment: "Apricot jam, it's not really my favorite…"

They ate silently, each of them intent on studying the other, each of them aware of the attention. Although L knew that B was trying to look nonchalant. "Beyond Birthday-"

"My name is B," he cut him off.

"B. I would like to know why…" he intended to say Why do you copy me?, but he tried to soften the sentence. "Why do you imitate me?"

B waited to finish his jam before replying (he'd complained about the taste but, apparently, it wasn't that awful, or maybe he really was that hungry). Beyond Birthday laughed coldly. "Figure it out yourself, great detective."

Afterwards, he hadn't been able to get anything out of him. Since then, Beyond Birthday had wanted to be addressed as 'B', had only eaten jam and kept quiet, as he observed L work on some case. L wasn't used to having people around, other than Watari, so he wasn't able to focus fully and in the past few days he had solved 5% fewer cases than usual.

Then, that Monday morning, B had asked to be left alone and L had realized that - despite being alone once again in front of his computer - he still couldn't concentrate, knowing that the younger man was locked in a room nearby, concocting who knows what trick. Not that he would be able to pull off anything…

L had come to the point of wondering if B wasn't a relative of his. The physical resemblance was striking. Same height, same build (though B looked even a bit skinnier than him, it was worrisome), same big dark eyes… almost identical features. It was hard to tell them apart. B's hair was a bit shorter than his and his eye bags weren't as pronounced, but as for the rest - it was as if L was in the proximity of his evil twin…

That's nonsense. L got up and headed toward the closed door. He listened, not sure why… surely B wouldn't start talking to himself out loud.

He lingered by the door for a couple of minutes before fishing the key out of his right pocket and opening the door.

The sudden light hit B as if someone had slapped him. He read, for the umpteenth time lately, L's full name and his life span. He snickered. Not even the great detective could escape death.

L thought he'd seen a strange glow in B's eyes but he decided it must have been a trick played by the light. Then, without reflecting, almost automatically, he sat beside B and asked him a question that caught him completely off guard. "I think it is right to use your intelligence while you are stuck here. Would you tell me your opinion on one particular case?"

B stayed silent as he tried to rationalize what was going on. L… the great L… wanted his opinion on a case?

He wanted his… help?

L persevered. "After all, you're getting bored, aren't you? To date, you're the student that scored the highest marks in the tests at Wammy's House, after me. I think we would both benefit from working on this case together."

Initially B felt a surge of anger. The student with the highest marks after him. Then pride took over. Finally, the desire to prove that B could be superior. He could solve the case that L wanted to show him. "I will help, on one condition."

L waited for him to go on.

"…I want more jam."

L's eyes widened.

"…strawberry jam, this time."

Hopefully I managed to keep both L and B in character. Let me know what you think!