Disclaimer: The Maiden of Autumn owns nothing.

Thank you to all the readers and reviwers- please, continue to enjoy the story.

The next morning, Light strode out of his room and down to the working area of the Kira Task Force with new purpose, armed with information he thought he could use to help keep L under control and get him out of that solitary confinement cell.

The rest of the team was already there, gathered around a screen set in the middle of the table. Light slowed, not knowing what was going on.

"Did you see that? God, I'm glad I'm not the one who had to go in there," Light heard Aizawa say.

"Yeah," Mogi agreed. "He looks pretty bad- those teeth are dangerous."

"What are you doing?" Light asked, coming up behind them, and Matsuda turned, the only one to actually address Light's presence. The others continued watching the screen, enraptured with what was on it.

"Watari sent a worker down with food to L," Matsuda explained sheepishly. "But the worker let L's hands free, and somehow, he was able to get the rest of his body out of his restraints. He went after the worker and tore a chunk right out of his shoulder, and ripped a gash in his chest. Watari had to tranquilize L, or he'd have killed the worker," Matsuda said. "It was kinda scary, seeing L like that, but it was kinda cool, too- you'd have to see it for yourself to understand," he hurriedly added, seeing Light's face darken at his words.

"He's not here for your entertainment," Light said angrily, stepping forwards and unplugging the security feed to the monitor from L's cell. "He's been tortured at the hands of Beyond Birthday, a psychopath with an unhealthy obsession with L and whose mind was filled only with thoughts of revenge. He's not some form of amusement- he's mentally sick, and you should be trying to figure out a way to help him, not gawk at him!"

The rest of the team looked shamed, and Light turned away angrily, seeing Watari there, with a box.

"You have it?" Light asked, mood still sour from telling his team off.

Watari nodded, setting the box down. "I have all that you requested here. I'll admit, I'm not sure where you're wanting to go with this, but if you think it's for the best, then do what you feel is right."

Light nodded, already reaching down and opening the box. "Thank you, Watari," he said, pulling out a black, padded suit with red strips going down the side. The team watched as Light pulled it on, zipping it up, and then reaching into the box once more, pulled out what looked to be like long cuffs. When Light slipped them on, they extended from his wrist to his elbow. He tapped it once with a nail, and the cuff made a loud clicking sound, revealing them to be coated with some sort of hard plastic.

"Light, what are you doing?" Soichiro asked, looking up from his desk from where he had been working. He'd had no interest in watching L, obviously not in his right mind, maul a poor worker almost to death. He'd instead opted to work more on another case. The Kira case had fizzled out a few months ago, after the heart-attacks had simply stopped overnight and showed no sign of continuing. They'd instead moved onto other cases, devoting half of their time looking for L, and the other to solving cases.

It was only Light's sudden angry appearance that had broken Soichiro from his work, and now, he looked up to find his son putting on what looked almost to be a suit that a dog trainer for the K-9 police unit would wear.

"I'm planning on trying to help L," Light responded, slipping into thick boots that were lined with a teeth-stopping rubber lining, a thin, yet strong plastic covering on the top of them. "If I can get him to understand that we're not going to harm him, perhaps he'll become calm enough so that he won't have to be locked up anymore."

"What makes you so confident that what you're going to do will work?" Soichiro questioned.

"Well, Beyond told me that right now, in L's mind, he's a wolf- Beyond altered his mind to think like one, but the instincts took over. He told me that by copying an alpha wolf's behavior patterns, he was able to keep L under his control. I hope to do the same."

"Yeah," Aizawa snorted, "because we should obviously believe everything a psychopath like Beyond Birthday says."

Light pulled on padded gloves, and then finished dressing, turned to Aizawa, leveling a cold, steady stare at the man. "And what would you do? Do you have any other ideas, besides sitting and watching L for your own amusement?" Light challenged, and Aizawa backed down, not knowing what to say. "I thought so," Light said, satisfied.

He turned to Watari. "Keep the feeds to L's cell shut off- I don't want to worry that I'm being watched," Light told the older man, and when Watari nodded in compliance, Light, assured that he could work in privacy, left the room. He made his way down the hall and to the elevator, going down the shaft until he reached the bottom floor of the headquarters where the cells were located.

Moving in the suit wasn't as bad as one might think, and Light moved quickly down the hall, to the last cell, where L was being kept.

Light went through the unlocking process, hesitating a moment before he entered the passcode necessary to unlock the door. After hearing what the rest of the Task Force members had said about L, he was hesitant to go in there, see his friend in the state he was now.

It ate at something inside of him, knowing that there was nothing he could do except heed a psychopath's words on how best to help L. Light didn't trust Beyond Birthday one whit, but the information he got from the murderer was all he had to go off of.

Procrastinating was not going to help L's state right now, though, so taking a deep breath to steel himself for whatever he might see inside the cell, Light finished entering the passcode and stepped inside once the door swished open and then shut, locking him in with L.

The breath Light had taken outside of the door was useless, it turned out. It escaped him in a shocked gasp as he saw the carnage of the room- the white material of the straightjacket scattered in ripped pieces along the floor, and the splashes of blood and blue cloth from the worker L had mauled not long before.

The rusty-iron smell of the blood pervaded the air, and the crimson blood shone a bright red under the glaring white fluorescent light.

L was crouched in the middle of the room- a terrifying sight. His black clothes that Beyond had had him wear were ripped and torn in places, no doubt from getting the restraints off of his body, and slashes of pale skin could be seen in the gaps. He was covered in blood- red was smeared across his cheeks, splattered on his clothes and on the white skin that showed through his ripped clothes.

The former detective was in his familiar position, hunched over, but one hand was resting on the ground, bracing him, and the other was held to his mouth. Blood dripped off of L's hands and claws, and he was calmly licking the crimson liquid off of his right hand, getting red blood smeared over his lips. It matted the black fur of his ears and crusted on the edge of his flyaway black spikes.

L was a terrifying sight to behold, especially to Light, who knew how against violence L truly was. His friend had viewed violence as a last resort, and seeing him fall so easily into the violent instincts that came with bearing the mentality of a predator unnerved Light.

L looked up as Light stepped into the room, his head snapping up and regarding Light with a suddenly hostile gaze. The brown-haired man flinched away upon seeing the savageness in the cold, yellow gaze, and Light suddenly found himself longing for the warm grey rings that encircled black pupils.

He had always thought the detective's eyes were unsettling, in their unusual dark coloring, but at the moment, Light would have given the world to see the familiar sight again. Would have done anything- and it was that thought that strengthened Light's resolve to see his friend back to normal, not this beast that Beyond had made him into.

Determined now, Light pushed his uneasiness to the side and stepped forwards, putting his plan into motion. He straightened his bearing and raised his head high, meeting L's yellow eyes and holding them as best as he could, forcing himself not to look away from the unnerving yellow gaze.

L's ear flicked once before his lips curled up in a sneer, showcasing white teeth stained crimson with blood. Light watched, still holding L's gaze steadily, as he slowly lowered his right hand to the ground and stood up, not hunched over like he was before he was altered, but straight, like Light, who was shocked to see that L was about the same height as he was when not slouching.

Still, Light did not let that distract him, and took a step forwards, raising his chin higher to look down upon L.

This provoked the detective to let out a ferocious snarl, the sound ripping through the room. L's black tail bristled, becoming puffy with agitation, and he leaned forwards on the balls of his oddly-shaped feet, his whole body tense.

It was a new side of L, so startling to see that Light almost forgot his plan, before remembering it once more. Steeling himself for what he knew-hoped-was going to come, Light curled his own lips and let out a growl of his own, taking another step forwards.

This pushed L over the edge.

In his mind, he viewed the room as his territory, and he was the alpha of the territory- or so Light assumed, from his readings. Coming in like he had- deliberately encroaching upon L's territory, exerting alpha behavior, and
adopting a challenging poise had provoked L into attacking him. Light hoped to be able to subdue L and set himself up as L's "alpha," so that he could, to an extent, control him. Wolves were very loyal, and if Light held the position of a leader in L's wolf-like psyche, then he would be compelled to listen to Light.

Or, so he hoped.

There was one thing Light had miscalculated however- L's new strength. Beyond's DNA serum had done wonders to L's senses, but it also played havoc with his body as well. He was strong, much stronger than an average human, and faster as well.

L attacked as any wolf would- his instincts leading him to do so. He sprung at Light, who wasn't able to move out of the way in time to avoid L's sudden attack. Hands outstretched, L knocked Light to the floor, snarling and trying to get his jaws around Light's throat so that he could bite into the jugular vein.

This, however, Light was prepared for, and brought his left arm up over his neck in time so that L's teeth sunk into the suit's padding instead of the skin of his arm.

Still, the suits were made for K-9 dog training, and even then, with the protection, the dog trainers still walked away with teeth and claw wounds from the German Shepherds they worked with. The jaws, teeth, and claws of a large dog such as the German Shepherd are strong, but still no match for a wolf's.

Light was unable to stop his shocked cry as the tip of L's sharpened canines started to dig into the skin of his arm, just lightly breaking the skin. L jerked his head, attempting to dislodge his teeth even as Light took advantage of L's momentary preoccupation to reach up with his other hand and grasp a firm hold of L's furry black ear and yanked it to the side, causing L to recoil and let out a howl of pain.

Light elbowed L in the sternum, causing him to fall back, and, using his shoulder, knocked L to the ground on his back.

L recovered quickly, however, and rolled, pushing himself onto his feet in a crouch, and yellow eyes blazing, snarled once before leaping at Light once more, teeth snapping and claws fully extended. The lightning-quick movement caught Light off guard, and he was slashed in the chest, L's claws slicing through the suit's padding like hot butter- it was then that Light realized his disadvantage.

He was reluctant to hurt L, held back by his memories of what the detective used to be like as his friend. L, however, possessed no such limitations, and was fully intent on killing Light, seeing him as a rival that needed to be eliminated from his territory.

Light was going to have to cast away his inhibitions to hurt L if he hoped to walk away from this fight with his life. Silently, he apologized to L for what he was about to do.

L's claws were scrabbling to slash at him again, held only at bay by Light's hands upon L's shoulders, restraining him somewhat.

With his new attitude in mind, Light took a chance and pushed hard against L's left shoulder, throwing him off balance for a single second. That was all it took for Light to bend his right arm and elbow L across the face, stunning him and pushing him off to the side.

He cuffed L in the temple as he quickly sat up, ignoring the pain shooting down his arm and chest. The blow knocked L backwards, onto his side, and taking his chance, Light swiftly tackled L, rolling him onto his stomach. L tried to struggle up, twisting and struggling, but Light was faster and used a knee on the small of L's back to pin his lower half to the floor, and held his left shoulder down, Light also pressing a hand against the nape of L's neck.

The detective growled and struggled, letting out a frustrated snarl once in a while, but Light had him pinned, adrenaline and desperation giving him the strength he needed to pin L to the ground.

Eventually, after a time, L went totally still, not moving at all, not even to breathe.

Light didn't dare relax, fearing that this might be a ruse- wolves were extremely clever, intelligent creatures, and Light wouldn't put it past L to attempt something.

But it wasn't long before L's tense body relaxed, and he let out a long, low whine; his tail thumped once, twice against the white tile floor, and he wriggled a little bit, as if to show that he wished to move.

Submissive behavior, Light realized, and greatly relieved, released L and sat up, shifting so that his knees were on either side of L's outer thighs.

A moment passed, and then L wriggled and shifted around, turning as he did so, until he was on his back under Light.

L's eyes were closed, his head to the side and neck bared, ears flat back against his skull. He shifted, bringing his arms up to rest against his head, elbows bent and palms facing upwards. Light felt a sudden furry brush against his inner thigh, and realized that L had brought his tail up between his legs- all displays of submissiveness to a dominant male.

It's over, Light thought with a jolt. I've… won.

Elated, Light smiled, heaving a sigh of relief. He'd subdued L- the detective wouldn't attack him now. The others were still at risk, but L was smart, and could learn to regard the other Task Force members as part of Light's "pack."

Hopefully.

A sudden wriggling brought Light's attention back to L, who was still bared in a submissive posture, as if waiting for something.

Desperately, Light wracked his brains for what to do in response to submissive behavior- and then remembered. He was slightly reluctant to do it, but if it helped secure L's feelings towards him as an alpha, he would do it-
especially if it would help further his cause to return L to his former state.

Bracing his hands on the floor beside L's shoulders, Light leaned down, performing the expected actions of an alpha wolf. He sniffed at L's face, near his nose for a second- he felt a sudden warm fluttering as his nose brushed against L's, his lips coming perilously close to his friend's, and Light could feel the warm, fluttery breath coming from L's mouth, brushing over his lips.

It was an odd feeling that settled in his stomach, brought on by his proximity to L, and, both confused and unsettled, moved away from L's face. Still, the feeling persisted as he moved onto L's bared throat, snuffling at it, and then licking it, for some odd reason enjoying the feel of the surprisingly soft skin under his tongue, salty and hot from his exertions with Light.

He trailed his nose down L's body, until he reached L's trim waist. He was somewhat reluctant to do this part, but L was still waiting, obviously for Light to complete the wolfly ritual. Shaking his head, trying to banish his inhibitions, Light slowly leaned his head down and sniffed around L's general crotch area, the trembling in his stomach only increasing as he felt the warm heat radiating from the area.

He couldn't bring himself to do as the website he had gotten information from had said, and lick the genitals, though- that would be far too intimate, too personal, and he was definitely not going near L's backside anytime soon, either. He felt as if he had completed what was demanded and leant back, wincing as burning pain shot up from his wounds. God, L really had done a number on him. He could feel blood trickling from the gashes.

Standing up, a bit stiffly, he moved away from L, who cracked an eye to watch him. Grimacing, Light held his upper arm up for inspection, seeing the savage teeth marks in his arm. L had ripped a good chunk out of the suit, a testament to how lethal L's new alterations were. This suit was designed to stop teeth, and L had ripped through it easily, and Light shuddered to think what would have happened if he had come here without the protection.

L could have killed him.

L… had wanted to kill him.

Light sucked in a breath at the sudden realization, at the thought of how close he could have come to actually dying, and adrenalin rush fading, sunk to the floor, back against the wall.

God.

Things are so fucked up now, Light thought sadly, resting his head against the back of the wall, and taking a shuddering breath. L… we're never going to be the same after this is all over, are we?

L had rolled over as soon as the brown-furred alpha-male-human had released him, posturing as he had to do to a dominant male.

He had been unsure, not knowing if the brown-furred alpha-male-human would follow the correct ritual. Humans did odd things, followed weird rituals, and he had not known if this alpha male would perform the correct ones.

But then, he had felt the first tentative sniff against this face, and L had almost wriggled in shock. The other human alpha, the black-furred-bad-alpha, had never bothered to follow the correct procedure of declaring his dominance over a submissive. He had been sneaky and underhanded and cowardly, causing him pain that was quickly followed by a frightening loss of strength and consciousness, and controlled him through a voice in his head.

He had been compelled to follow the black-furred-bad-alpha's commands, because he would be caused hurt of he did not, and it felt wrong to go against the alpha. He had hated and feared the black-furred-bad-alpha, but was compelled to listen.

Until he had woken up here. The voice in his head was gone, along with the bad alpha. But then, this new one had shown up. This one was odd. He smelled of sadness and anger, and walked with the determined stride of a dominant male. This made L curious- there were not many humans that had this bearing. The only other one he knew of was the black-furred-bad-alpha- all the other humans had been submissive in their posturing.

This alpha acted like one of his species, in the way he correctly sniffed at his face, neck, and then groin, imprinting the scent into his brain for future recognition. When the alpha moved away without any further growling or signs of aggression, L knew that he had been accepted.

While he was still infuriated at losing his territory to the other alpha male, he knew that he had been a worthy opponent, and would make a good leader- a better one than his last alpha had been. This was an alpha he would not mind being submissive to, and pushed his anger away.

Tail wagging, he rolled over and crouched down more comfortably, resting one hand across his knees, and the other on the floor for better balance, and regarded his new alpha somewhat critically, ears perking up in interest.

The smell of blood pervaded the air, which would have been appealing if it had not been distinctly human. In a way, L was pleased that the fight had not ended with him being completely subdued- he had not gone down easily, and could accept his loss as long as it was to a worthy opponent and leader.

His ears still throbbed from that vicious yank, and he could feel his cheek swelling from the blow the new alpha had landed on his face. But, he had inflicted some damage onto the new alpha as well. Blood leaked from the two
wounds on the alpha's front foreleg and torso.

L flicked an ear thoughtfully, stood, and then slunk forwards. Ritual dictated that he helped his new alpha by cleaning the wounds he had inflicted, and that was what he was going to do.

Light was broken from his thoughts by the sudden feeling of being watched. He looked up warily, seeing L crouched a ways away from him, one arm resting across his knees and his right hand braced on the floor, watching him intently with calm yellow eyes. He had to admit- he was slightly relieved to see them not wild and infuriated, like they had been before.

He still missed the familiar back and grey color, but at this point, he would take whatever he could get.

One of L's ears twitched forwards, and his tail wagged for a moment before he stood up, transitioning from crouched to standing with an almost predatory grace. L still hunched slightly, but not as badly as he had before.

Light hadn't really been able to fully examine L's feet before, but seeing them now, Light found himself fascinated with them. The foot had been elongated, the heel held high in the air, and toes and ball of the foot firmly on the ground. L's fifth toes had migrated to the side slightly, and had a thick claw on the end- the dewclaw, Light realized.

L's new, oddly shaped feet caused him to walk silently, with an almost graceful, predatory sway, and Light found himself mesmerized as L came closer, before crouching directly in front of him. L leaned forwards, placing his hands on Light's knees. He saw that L's hands were till human, save for the lethal claws instead of the usual blunt nails of a human- Beyond probably didn't want anything to interfere with L's ability to grasp and hold things, Light figured. It made sense.

Yellow eyes bored into his, L's furred ears pricked forwards intently- and then L broke off the gaze, and lowered his head. Light watched, curious, as L reached out to grasp Light's arm, on the lower forearm. Clawed fingers curled carefully around his arm, and Light repressed a shudder at having the flesh- tearing claws so close to his wound. "What are you doing…?" Light questioned, although he knew L wouldn't understand.

He didn't, obviously, just glancing up once and flicking an ear, cocking his head curiously, before lowering his gaze once more dismissively. He brought Light's forearm up to his mouth, bending his head, and Light flinched as a smooth, only slightly rough, wet tongue ran over the tender flesh of the bite-wound on his arm.

Understanding dawned upon him- L was cleaning his wounds. It was what dogs, cats, pretty much every animal did when they were hurt. L was trying to help him, not hurt him.

With that thought firmly in mind, Light relaxed, letting his arm go limp in L's grasp. He leaned back as L huffed at Light's movement, licking the blood and other debris away from Lights wound, tongue lapping over it in long, hard licks.

L has a very long tongue, Light thought, watching the pink muscle move over his arm. It was silent in the room except for the wet sounds coming from the movements of L's tongue, the atmosphere almost relaxing. For a moment, Light could almost imagine that everything was back to normal, just two friends sitting together in peaceful silence, before he banished the fantasy.

Wishful thinking would not get him anywhere. L was not the L he knew right now, a thought that saddened him.

L stopped licking his arm, grasping it awkwardly with clawed hands and placing it on the ground. Light looked from his arm to L, confused.

L just licked his lips, and let his eyes travel to Light's chest, where a gash was ripped in the fabric and Light's skin from his claws. Reaching out, L brushed his fingers over it, before trying to tug the material off, brows furrowing and ears tilting back as the material wouldn't budge, much to L's apparent confusion. His tail thumped once against the ground in frustration, a frown appearing on his face.

Light almost laughed the confused look on L's face, finding it weird to see such confusion on L's usually blank visage. It was just so weird to see L like this, be in this position- the whole situation was oddly, sickly humorous. Restraining the laughter that wanted to escape, and taming it down into a slight chuckle, Light brought his hands up, and started unzipping the suit.

L blinked once, eyes widening in understanding and then with a huff, batted Light's hand down and bent his head, snagging the hole in the zipper with a fang and then drew it down.

Light stared, swallowing once at the sight. It was almost reminiscent of that trick that one girl had pulled on him while giving him oral- she had pulled his slacks zipper down with her teeth, which had been quite arousing at the time. For some reason, the hot tingles in Light's groin returned upon the thought, before he shook them away.

What the hell had that been?

They were friends, for Chrissakes, and Light should not be having these sorts of thoughts when thinking about L.

A brush of soft fur on his chin caused Light to scrunch up his nose and look down, a slight flush spreading across his cheeks as he did so. L had leaned forwards while Light was distracted, bracing his hands on the ground on both sides of Light's waist. It put him in an intimate position, almost straddling Light, and his hair and furry ears brushed against Light's skin periodically, little tickling touches that raised goosebumps over Light's skin.

L's wet tongue lapped over his chest, clearing the blood away- it was an innocent act, but the feel of L's tongue laving over his chest caused his breath to hitch in his throat. He flinched, though, as the tongue dipped into the bleeding gash, causing pain to shoot outwards from the sensitive, torn nerves in his skin.

He gasped at the pain, and L flicked his eyes upwards, tongue halting mid-lick at the sound from Light. Light stared back at L, closing his mouth firmly to prevent any more sounds from coming out. At this angle, Light could see that L's eyes had a slight upwards slant to them, making them more wolf-like in appearance.

Funny- he'd never noticed it before, being either too shocked or scared when around the detective to notice small details like that. The slight slant made them look almost… exotic. They weren't slanted at a deep angle like a cat's, but more of a subtle, uplifting tilt, and Light found them to be particularly fascinating.

But then, L broke the eye contact to lean down, and he licked once more, almost apologetically, and then leaned back on his haunches, gazing at Light, as if waiting for something.

Not sure of what to do, Light got to his feet slowly, noticing the bleeding in his arm and chest had pretty much stopped. L followed Light's example, getting to his feet as well. With his wolfish feet, L stood an extra inch or two taller than he had before- if he straightened fully, he'd be exactly at Light's height.

As it was, L just stood, ears perked straight upwards and black tail slowly waving side to side.

Light hesitated, looking at the patiently waiting L, then at the door.

Light had established himself as L's leader- it was obvious in the way L had submitted to him, and his deferential behavior towards Light, waiting for him to move before following.

If he left this room, would L follow him?

And more importantly, how would L react upon seeing the other Task Force members?

To experiment, Light stepped away from the door, to the side, L's yellow gaze following him. Experimentally, he took another step back, watching L suddenly come to attention, paying close attention to Light. He took a step to the side, further away from L, and proceeded to walk away from him.

After a moment, L followed after Light, padding swiftly after him with the same predatory grace he exhibited in all of his movements. Light stopped, L a few respectful feet behind him, and cocked his head to the side, as if waiting for Light's next move. The whole time, L's yellow gaze never left Light, always watching with the same intentness that was so like L.

Some things still remain the same, even when other things change irrevocably, Light thought. He then sighed in relief.

So, L would follow him- it would appear that that was what he had been waiting for, after all. Nodding to himself, he started towards the door again, feeling L's presence behind him.

It was odd, knowing someone was following you, but not being able to see or hear them.

He stopped at the door and unlocked it, pausing as it swung open. Light glanced once behind him, seeing L lean forwards a bit, gazing out the door with wide eyes. His tail waved back and forth, as if excited and his ears twitched and flicked at the swishing sound the door made. His whole demeanor was very alert and intent, and Light couldn't help but smile a bit.

It was odd, seeing L openly showing emotions like this. Perhaps… once he got L situated, and started doing research on L to get him back to normal, then maybe, things could go back to the way they were before all of this.

God, I hope they can go back.

Those motherfuckers.

Ruining a perfect plan-goddamn them!

They would pay- everything had been set up, and one slip-up, one wrong word from the wrong mouth could throw everything that had been worked for these long years, away.

Yes; extreme caution would have to be taken; plans would have to be re-worked, precautions taken.

But it would work- if careful methods were applied.

Things would have to be changed, that was all.

Because there was only one shot at this, and mistakes could not be afforded to be made.

Edited version uploaded 4/7/13