Call your men off. I almost killed one of them.

He stares at his phone for some time before replying.

You knew this was coming. You're supposed to be in prison.

I'm supposed to be dead. Call them off. Last warning.

L doesn't call them off, but he tells them to be careful. He doesn't hear from Beyond again that night, and none of them die.

The next night, Beyond texts him an address, quickly followed by, Come alone, obviously.

L doesn't even bother replying. As if he is meeting this man anywhere. He is about to forward this to the team on Beyond's arrest, and is interrupted by another message.

I mean it, Lawli. I know Yagami is Kira. How would you feel if I approached him and struck up a little alliance?

L feels sick. He doesn't dare look at Light, who is typing oblivious at his side.

Get here right now.

"I have to go."

Light gives a start, looks at him in confusion."What?"

He stumbles to his feet, avoiding Light's eyes. "I just…have to go. I'll be back soon."

"Go where? L?"

The daylight folds his forehead in a wince, like he's been living indoors, which of course he has. Now he is away from Light, he finds he can think a little better. Panic made him hasty. He gets another text before he can consider his options further.

I'm willing to be cooperative if you are. You can tell Watari or someone where you're going, when you'll be back, so long as you can guaranteed I'm not arrested. Because I will fight back.

This is ludicrous to him, and he feels a stab of anger at the words. You're going to be arrested, Beyond. Get over yourself.

I just want to fucking talk to you. It's important. It'll help with the Kira case. You can keep your fucking phone or a knife in your hand the entire time.

He doesn't know why he gives in. Instinct. His instinct is always right. He texts the address to Wammy just in case. The man replies with a simple ? but L leaves it, knowing he will if he doesn't elaborate. Beyond has given up his location. He is trusting L to not send the dogs. L has no reason to trust him in return. So why is he doing this?

He takes one of Watari's seldom used cars, a less conspicuous BMW. He has always quite liked driving, though he never really has the time for it, or the concentration for long spurts. Driving, L can almost pretend he's normal. He's normally open the window and play something, anything, on the radio, but now he wants to keep his tension. He wants to be ready.

The house is typical of the suburbs, large, old-ish, fairly pretty with the cherry blossom tree just over the porch, flecking it with petals. There is a solid SOLD sign in the ground. No cars.

He parks on the empty driveway. He has to take a few breaths to steady himself. His brain keeps jumping between who is more dangerous, who he is more afraid of, and has been telling himself resolutely that it is Light, Light is the biggest threat to himself and the world. But now, moments from facing the other man, that is hard for L to believe.

"L." Beyond steps aside to let him in the hall. It smells fresh, new, like the wood has been varnished. He doesn't turn his back to Beyond as he closes the door, and leads him in. He is half expecting to find a family bound or dead.

Instead, in the partly furnished living room, a fluffy white puppy is lying on its back, chewing the corner of the rug. It jumps up when it sees L and runs over to him.

L stares at the puppy at his legs, then at Beyond, and Beyond rolls his eyes.

"I'm not going to hurt the puppy."

Beyond gets down on his knees and starts playing with it. L continues to stare. He looks around warily, in case this is a distraction. From what he can see, there is no-one, nothing. A few boxes stacked against the wall, creamy white sofa, coffee table, TV.

"They didn't have any fluffy white cats," Beyond jokes, and L looks down at them.

Slowly, he eases into a crouch, a safe distance away from Beyond, and the puppy runs to him at once. After a moment's hesitation, he pets it.

"You look better," Beyond begins, and suddenly L begins to laugh.

Kira is baking him cookies, and Beyond Birthday has a puppy. These are the people who will break him.

"L?"

The puppy is trying to lick his face, and he realises he is about to cry instead. He ducks his head so Beyond won't see, and the puppy begins to chew on his hair.

"Oi." L stiffens as Beyond reaches out, but he only extracts the puppy gently. The puppy squirms in his arms and tries to lick his nose. Then he rolls his eyes as L's catch them.

"What part of, 'I'm not going to hurt the puppy,' do you not understand?"

L doesn't answer. He is trying to figure out why he's here. He reaches out to tickle the pup's tummy. "When does he die?"

"15 years, 3 months, 2 weeks, 1 day, half an hour." Beyond kisses its head. "I reckon he's about 12 weeks old."

"What are you doing with him?"

"I found him. He's an orphan too, I think. I've had posters up everywhere, called all the pounds and vets, but no-one's missing a fluffy white pup. Maybe it was a litter taken to be drowned, or something, and he got away."

L looks away.

"So I had him vaccinated, and he's house trained now. He's a smart boy." He hesitates. "You can borrow him, if you want. For stress relief."

L looks at him, incredulous. "That's why you brought me here?"

"No." He puts the puppy down. It flops onto its stomach and begins to lick his hand. "I've been rethinking my career as your back-up."

Just at the name, L feels sick.

"And I was thinking I could maybe be your eyes."

He waits for him to explain.

"Kira has an extra pair of eyes, right? So you need one too."

"You were threatening to join forces with Kira an hour ago."

"That was to get you here," Beyond says, patiently, like L has chosen to be slow today. He doesn't quite look L in the eyes. "I'm sorry for what I did."

L snorts. He doesn't believe it for a second. "Can I pick him up?" L gestures to the puppy. He doesn't know when he'll have the chance to hold one again.

"Sure."

He gets his hands around the pup's belly and picks him up, buries his face in his fur, but still keeps an eye on Beyond.

"You know, I've only ever killed people who were going to die anyway," B tells him. L doesn't bother disputing the logic of this. "And I always drugged them before I hurt them."

"Except me," he says, voice flat, slightly muffled by fur.

"Except you." He pauses. "You never came to see me. You or Wammy. I know you paid for the surgery and the therapists, but you didn't even call. Not even a God damn Christmas card. Then when I was out…I knew no-one would ever look at me or touch me again. Then I…I made a mistake."

L holds out the puppy to look at him, still keeping Beyond in his sight, and it wriggles and tries to lick his face. He refuses to be taken in by this, even though he can tell Beyond is not lying.

"Let me help catch Kira."

"I don't need your eyes," L tells him, drawing the pup near again. "I already knew Yagami was Kira. And I know who the second Kira is."

"I can still help."

"You're going to be arrested, Beyond." His voice is flat, cold. "The only reason you haven't been is because I have chosen to prioritise the Kira case. All of your crimes still stand."

"All of them?" he repeats. "Then why didn't you tell them what I did to you?"

L's grip tightens on the puppy, and it starts to bark. He has to put it down. Beyond distracts it with a little ball.

"I know you haven't. I know you blame yourself for what happened with A, and maybe with me. But I shouldn't have said that to you. It's not your fault."

"You could have had that realisation sooner," L snaps, and B lowers his head. "It doesn't matter, anyway. I'm not letting you near this case out of some twisted sense of guilt, or your need to redeem yourself."

"You'll have to take him in." He nods at the puppy.

"Are you taking this seriously?"

"Are you?" He rolls him the ball. "It's just another day for you, isn't it?"

L rolls the ball back, says nothing.

"There's something else, too."

L looks at him steadily, bracing for more bad news.

"Wammy is going to die next week."

He feels as if Beyond has punched him. All the air leaves his stomach. He squeezes the ball in his fist.

"How can I believe you," he spits. The puppy whines and nudges his hand, urging him to keep playing.

He shrugs. "That's up to you."

"And even if I did," He is hard. "Are you implying he can be saved? Is that how it works?"

"I've no idea," Beyond admits. "I've experimented with saving people, but it never works. I've seen people's numbers change, but it'd be impossible to point to the cause and effect. But if I could pinpoint the cause of death, I think it could be changed. Do you know how Kira operates?"

"Yes." L sits there staring into space. He's testing it in the back of his mind, how much help Beyond could be. A lot, potentially. Not necessary, but it will certainly speed up the arrest. When he is calmer, he strokes the dog's head. "What's his name?"

"Chacha."

"Isn't that a girl's name?"

He shrugs. "He's a dog, he's not going to care. Chacha was my favourite manga character."

L absorbs this without comment. "Why here?"

"This was my parents' house."

L looks at him to see if he is lying.

"It's been for sale since I was announced dead. I was supposed to get it when I turned 18."

"And now?"

"And now I made the estate agent an offer she couldn't refuse. Which isn't fair, seeing as it's technically my house, but with me being legally dead and the new identity and all…"

"I don't believe you," L says. "Either a lot of people are dead, or scared, or you're somehow in with money or people."

"Money," he says simply. "Don't worry about where it's coming from. No-one's been hurt other than you."

L doesn't push it. It's not like it matters. Beyond won't be free for much longer.

"I was planning on just messing with you until I was arrested and killed. But, you're so wrapped up from the world, it's hard. I did a lot of thinking. I came to see this house. And I realised, faking my death and all…I didn't have to do the same stupid shit over again. I don't want to be you anymore."

L is unimpressed. "So then why did you give yourself up, if you've got it all worked out?"

"Give myself up?"

"To me."

"I want to help you. I've been trying to observe from a distance, but obviously there's only so much I can do."

"There's only so much you could do on the inside, too."

"I could talk to his Shinigami." L looks at him, and he smiles. "Good, I knew you would have figured that much out. I can also mess with him a little, or even pretend I'm on his side, however you want to play it."

"He's very smart," L finds himself saying. "He'd be at Wammy's if he were an orphan."

"All the more reason for you to let me help. And he's not that smart," B says with contempt. "There's only one L."

"Beyond," he says in acid tones. "You can't just get a house and puppy and tell me you want to help and think that makes it OK." He speaks a little louder than he means to. The puppy whimpers and runs to Beyond instead.

"I know that," he says.

Their eyes fall to the puppy. Beyond rolls the ball to him, and L rolls it back. He is beginning to get a migraine.

"You could just think about it," Beyond suggests.

"You could just help from your prison cell," L growls. "That will kill two birds for me."

"That wouldn't be much use to you."

He doesn't respond.

"Just think about it. Talk to Wammy, if you want. I won't do anything while I'm waiting."