Chapter 3

Light felt his anger begin to rise again as he walked into NPA headquarters. It had been the hardest thing in the world to leave L lying in bed this morning. It had been so long since he had been able to wake up and find the detective beside him, he had almost cried at having to leave. L had awakened with him and they had enjoyed early morning lovemaking, and coffee in bed before he had to leave. Watari had insisted on bringing him in so that he could be assured of coming home quickly when the meeting was over.

Now he was making his way to his father's office and it was quite obvious he was not happy about being there. Soichiro was speaking to his secretary when Light walked in, glaring at him. The Deputy Director walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I apologize again for this Light, but I am glad you agreed to come in."

"I didn't really have a choice, did I Deputy Director? Because if I had I would not be here right now." Light answered quietly, his voice dripping with all the anger he was trying to keep under control. Soichiro nodded sadly and they both began to walk out of his office.

"I know, Light. Come on, let's get this over with so you can get back home. One thing I do want to say before we get there is I would not be unhappy if you didn't wish to do this either. We've already lost one good officer to this maniac, the last thing I want to do is risk my son." Light said nothing, but merely began walking towards the Director's office.

The Director ushered them immediately into his briefing room as soon as they arrived. His secretary came in with a tray of coffee, tea and pastries as he got his paperwork together for the case. Light took the coffee if only to keep his hands busy as he kept imagining ringing the Director's neck, and the warm liquid had a calming effect on him as it traveled down his throat.

"First of all, let me tell you how sorry I am that I had to demand a meeting like this during your vacation time as you very rarely ask for any time off. But I think once I tell you the particulars of this case you will understand the severity of it."

"I am aware of the case, Director," Light said quietly, "And it is easy for me to understand why you want me in particular. You believe it would be easier to have someone under cover on a gay related case who is also gay, which would be me." The Director's face colored slightly as Light's eyes bored directly into his with a fierce unwavering gaze that rivaled L's. He cleared his throat and looked down at the papers in his hands.

"Yes, yes this is true, Detective Yagami. But that is just one reason we think you would do the best work on it. You have shown your abilities in deduction and reasoning ever since you were a youngster helping your father on a few cases here and there, and now as a full detective you are even better," a smile found his face, "I would even say you would give L a run for his money." Light couldn't control the sudden narrowing of his eyes when L was mentioned, but he managed to force a small smile on his face at the compliment the Director was trying to give him.

"Well, thank you Director I appreciate that you think that highly of me." He said, still in his quiet tone.

"I take it the Deputy Director has given you the particulars then?" Soichiro nodded and then spoke up.

"I believe you need to tell him the rest of it, the type of characters the victims were and what he would have to emulate in order to catch the eye of the killer." He said, realizing it would make the Director uncomfortable and reveling in it on the inside.

"Well, it would appear that the victims could be classified as the…uh..promiscuous types. Not that I automatically assume that all gays are that way," he hastily added, "You yourself are testimony that it isn't the norm for that lifestyle anymore than normal…I mean…straight men. I know that you are in a long term relationship…"

"Which could be tested unnecessarily depending on what else you want for me." Light finished, ignoring the "normal" remark.

"In order for you to prove effective and gain the proper attention, you would have to come off as being as they were, playboy like, flirtatious." The Director finished, his discomfort obvious. Light continued to stare at him and stood up, closing the distance between the himself and the Director.

"So what you're saying to me is not only do you want me to go undercover with this, you need me to behave like everything I abhor? Anything else?"

"You would have to live elsewhere than where you do now, we know the killer tracks his victims for a while before he strikes, perhaps even dating them. You can't take that danger back to your…your partner and we can't let the killer find you're in a relationship. The M.O. is that he attacks young, attractive flirtatious men. We would set you in an apartment near the area.." Light's fist hit the desk, startling the Director into silence.

"No, I will not do this!", he nearly growled, "I have been separated from my partner for three months and he just got home today. I will not turn around and abandon him like this."

"Light…" his father began and the Director quieted him.

"So your father said. Detective I would not ask you to begin this case until after your vacation time, we wouldn't want to introduce a new face into the area so soon after the death of our last officer. But I do ask you to reconsider, especially since you have an affinity for the victims. I don't want it to look as if we're ignoring these cases, they will be public soon we can't cover it forever, but it is very difficult to get a regular investigation started, there is little that we know about the lifestyle and, quite frankly, it is difficult to get detectives who aren't a little biased on the situation," he leaned closer to Light's face, a look of determination on his face, "I want this killer caught, Detective. What he has done to these victims is heinous and no one deserves what he did to them, no one. I don't believe we'll be able to do it properly without your help, please. These victims deserve your help before there are more. Ofcourse I cannot force you to put yourself into such obvious jeopardy, all I can do is ask."

Light swallowed his anger long enough to actually listen to the realities of what the Director was saying. He knew from his own experience how homosexuality was looked at on the police force, and he also knew it would have probably been worse for him if his father wasn't the Deputy Director. So he realized what the Director was saying about the attitude that would probably prevail by the others was probably true. He stood up straight from the desk, his eyes downcast as he thought about what was the right thing to do. He looked at his father and suddenly realized why Soichiro didn't want him to do it; it was very dangerous and he would have to put himself out there as something he wasn't and it wouldn't only attract the killer, there were others that fed on that type of personality.

The bottom line was the victims; they deserved to have their killer found and punished for what they did to them, no matter what the situation was. He could not look at himself in the mirror if he didn't do what he could to find the monster that was doing it, the reason he was here was to bring justice. He couldn't just ignore it because it was uncomfortable for him. He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly through his nose. He looked back up at the Director and nodded slowly.

"Alright, I'll do it." He said finally and he heard his father behind sigh deeply. The Director nodded and sighed himself, dropping to his chair to sit down at his desk. He put papers into a manila folder and handed it to Light.

"Thank you, Detective Yagami. Inside is all of the information on the case, the victims, crime scene pictures, where they were known to frequent, etc. We will do our part in getting everything set up for you to move into the new place, and you will need a liason between yourself and the department, I would imagine you would want Matsuda to be that person." Light nodded, there was no one else he trusted more than Matsuda except for L. His breath caught as he thought of L, how would he explain this to him? He seemed to be understanding the night before, but he didn't know about his having to move out for as long as this case took.

"I am sure once you explain the situation to your partner, whom I understand is also a detective in the private sector, he will understand what has to be done. In the meantime, finish your time off, make whatever preparations you have to and report back here Friday morning for your briefing." Light nodded and turned to leave the office, his father directly on his heels. Once they were out in the hallway, Soichiro grabbed Lights arm and swung him around to face him.

"Light, it isn't too late to change your mind on this, I think you should at least go home and talk to Ryuzaki about it before you make a decision." Light looked into his father's worried eyes and smiled.

"No, I've already given my acceptance, I can't change it now. Ryuzaki doesn't discuss what cases he should take with me, and neither do I with him. I have to do this Dad, you know that."

"Yes, I know." His father answered and then suddenly took his son into his arms into a quick but very strong hug, "I'm very proud of you, son. Now get back to Ryuzaki." He told him and then turned and walked towards his own office. Light sighed again and headed for the door.

He was quiet the entire ride home, causing Watari to gaze at him through the rearview several times. He knew what the situation was, and could only assume that somehow he had been talked into taking the case. He had assumed as much, he and L were so alike that he knew how he felt about his cases, and just as L would never turn down a case no matter the dangers, neither would Light. All he could do was get the boy home as quickly as possible.

L had not spent the time Light was gone idly. He had gone into his office and looked up this case; he needed to know exactly what Light was walking into. He knew that Light would most likely take this case when presented properly to him; from what he had heard over the phone it was definitely one that needed to be taken care of.

He quickly broke through the barriers that had been put up to guard the information and began to read the particulars. He couldn't help but be alarmed when he read what had been done to the victims. According to the medical examiner reports, there were ligature marks on the wrists and ankles and even around the neck, and gagged. They had been shackled tightly in place so they couldn't move much during the torture they had to endure, raped repeatedly and eventually shot execution style through the head. The torture had included beatings, burnings and in the case of the police officer, mutilation. After their deaths, they were taken to secluded alley ways and unceremoniously dumped as so much garbage. He could tell that whoever was doing this was also gay, and very angry about being so, lashing out at those who had the audacity to be obvious about their sexuality. It made him wonder about the possible age of the murderer, and what he had suffered to make him behave this way, and what had been the catalyst to make him begin to murder. It also made him frightened for Light's safety if he had indeed taken on this case.

The number one factor that all three victims had shared, besides their sexuality and obvious flirtatious natures, was their beauty. All three had looks that rivaled Light's, thus the other reason the Director wanted him for the job. L's thumb came to his mouth as his mind ran through all the possible things that could happen to Light in such a situation and it nearly made him stop breathing. He would have to find a way to keep Light as safe as possible, if he took this case, from the moment he left the front door until he walked back in. He would find a way to keep him under surveillance without jeopardizing his life or the case, he had to.