CHAPTER 59

The Elevator Reprise

SYDNEY

"I am ze daughter of Russia's Czar, Ellazavita Krispinov. I do not carry zis 'ID' you speak of." I said dismissively. "Zey misspelled my name."

"It's just, we don't have your name on record as a guest here, ma'am." The attendant said with a slight bow of his head.

"Eet iz not my fault vor computer iz brokyen. I vant my mail."

"Maybe if you showed us your room key–?"

"I told you, it vaz stolen." I huffed. "Ze Czar vill be very dizpleased."

He just kept typing into his tiny keyboard, shaking his head, mumbling apologies.

"Look, I can zee my mail. It iz right zere, in zat leettle pile bevind your desk."

The poor attendant just kept bowing and apologizing. Meanwhile the line up behind me was getting annoyed.

I was running out of time.

Inside, underneath my entitled, royal exterior, I was panicking.

I need that cheque. If I could cash it, I could maybe find myself a motel or a hostel or heck, buy a damn tent if I had to.

I knew I couldn't afford this place in a million years, but without the cash I would have to resort to thievery again.

And I promised Aizawa I wouldn't.

A manager with small spectacles, a double chin and a grim smile slid beside their employee. He also bowed. "On behalf of the Peninsula, I deeply apologize for the inconvenience. But we require a key card, I.D, or for you to be vouched by one of our paying guests."

He looked at my ruined school uniform with a twist of his lips.

I was out of arsenal.

Okay, persuasion and intimidation failed. Clearly I'm off my game. Maybe I can sneak in later and just steal my mail. Aizawa can't fault me on that - that money is mine, I earned it.

But the idea made me want to rub my eyes and groan. I was already too tired and hungry for a caper. My knife wound hurt and my leg was acting up - either from the cold air or the stress, like I had turned into an old lady with a false hip.

And Mikal kept rubbing my shoulders, which was only making me more sleepy.

This day just wouldn't end.

"I am ztunned by zis miztreatmeent! Ze CZAR vill hear about zis! I vill geev vou a VUN ZTAR review!" I threw my finger in the air like I was casting a curse on them all.

A hand, a real hand, lightly touched my shoulder. "I will vouch for her." A quiet voice spoke up.

I froze.

What is HE doing here?

L stood beside me, wearing his blue baseball cap "disguise", calmly staring down the hotel manager. He leaned forward, and I could feel his chest brush my arm, as he showed them his key card.

They both stiffened.

"You know this woman, sir?" The manager asked, emphasizing the sir.

"Yes, she's a Russian–" L glanced at me.

"Acrobat." I said in my thickest Russian accent.

"...Acrobat." He repeated slowly, with the hint of amusement on his lips. He then turned the entirety of his black gaze on the manager. "May she have her mail so we can move on with our evening?"

The way he said our evening sent a shiver up my spine.

Reluctantly, the manager picked up the manuscript and cheque, and handed them over.

I snatched them both like a starving child grabbing scraps of bread and clutched them to my chest. I originally planned to spin on my heel and stomp out of the hotel in a righteous huff, but L's grip on my shoulder tightened.

"I'll escort you to your floor, Miss Krispinov." He said in my ear.

Before I knew it, L was steering me away from the desk and to the open elevator. He pushed me inside.

One wall of the elevator was glass, the rest were cherry wood, with a dainty sakura-blossom chandelier made of gold and pink crystal.

Furious, I spun around, but the doors were already closing.

The last thing I saw was Mikal, standing in the lobby, staring after me with an unreadable expression on his face, before the doors shut tight.

I yanked my shoulder away from L and backed up. "You didn't have to do that." I said, a little harsher than I intended.

L took off his baseball cap and tucked it in his back pocket. He pushed a button and I could feel the weight of the floor move as the elevator slowly began to rise.

"Why did you send mail to my hotel?" He asked.

"I didn't know it was your hotel. You move around all the time. And it's none of your business." I quickly tucked the cheque into my sock, and as I was leaning over L plucked the manuscript from my hands. "Hey!"

He held it high above my head, ignoring me as I tried to jump to reach it, and read the title curiously. "A movie?"

"Yes, I have a job. Give it back." I hopped up and down, straining my arm, but it appeared L only stooped when he wanted to.

"You are an actress now?" He tilted his ear to his shoulder and rolled his eyes over to look at me.

He's making fun of me. I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'm a lot of things."

"I noticed." He handed the script back to me.

I whipped around, peering at the buttons on the console and doing my best to ignore L's proximity. "How do I stop this thing?" I muttered.

All at once the lights turned off.

There was a wonky, winding down noise, and the elevator shuddered to an unnatural stop.

After a moment's silence in the pitch black, I turned around, ready to strangle him. "You didn't."

"You are correct." I could see the outline of L's shadow looking up at the ceiling with curiosity. "I did not."

"And I'm supposed to believe that? You've already trapped me in an elevator once–!"

"Yes, I read the file. If I recall correctly you climbed through an air duct and dropped a gargoyle on a government vehicle, destroying it. Is that right?"

"Well," I squirmed, "it was a tad more impressive than how you made it sound but–"

"I assure you. Assisting you in the lobby was intended as a minor delay. I am busy with work." L strode over and attempted pressing a few buttons, to no avail. The console was dead.

My eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness.

L was mostly shrouded in shadow, but faint moonlight seeped through the window, dancing on the ridges of his hair and outlining his figure with a pale glow.

Too busy for me, you mean. "Right, because you're interrogating Misa?" I rolled my eyes.

L looked at me sharply. "How did you know that?"

I paused. Uh…

The lie came out smooth this time.

"Misa, who is dating Light, didn't show up to the movie set today. And there were rumours of police in riot masks kidnapping a girl at Toho - Light's school, who I know you've been trying to connect to Kira for months. I put two and two together." I shrugged, playing it off.

L leaned forward unblinkingly. "That is very...observant...of you."

"Or maybe you're just not as clever as you think you are." I shot back.

He retracted. "You are quite hostile today."

"Start the elevator back up." I ordered. "I told you at the stadium - I don't want to play any more games."

L made a displeased face. "As I said before, this was not me. If you look outside you will notice it appears to be a city-wide blackout."

Impossible.

But I hurried over to the window, and indeed, the usual humming neon of Tokyo had disappeared. Only little golden circles of vehicle headlamps, slowly inching forward on the roads, gave off any sign of life. You could even see the stars instead of the usual orange haze in the sky.

"No way I'm that unlucky." I whispered, in awe. After a moment, my head fell. "Actually, never mind. I am that unlucky."

"Is it so terrible being trapped in an elevator with me?" L's voice said, and I could feel his breath on my temple.

Alarm bells rang in my head.

L was right behind me, leaning over my shoulder, gazing out the window.

My heart fluttered, I commanded it to be quiet. "Yes." I muttered.

"Why?"

I could tell from his reflection in the window that he was no longer looking at the city, but at me. I stiffened and stared straight ahead, pretending not to notice. "Why do you care? You don't remember me."

"How can I remember you? You change identities the way most people change shoes."

I scowled. "I wasn't pretending around you."

I felt L's skepticism burning into the back of my neck.

"Most of the time." I clarified, swallowing the lump in my throat. It was just YOU pretending, L. Because I think I really liked…

"Is that so?" He drew the words out, long and slow.

I shifted my feet uncomfortably. "I really did want to help you catch Kira."

"No. You wanted to make yourself seem useful so I would protect you from Beyond." L said firmly.

I spun around angrily, but L did not move a muscle, so we were only inches apart. "Then I must be pretty stupid," I shouted up at him, "because last time I checked you didn't protect me at all! You only made it worse!"

L's jaw stiffened.

"I have survived most of my life just fine without you, thank you very much!" I jabbed a pointed finger at his chest. "Do you have any idea what Beyond put me through just for fun?" JAB. "No!" JAB. "Of course not!" JAB. "Because a coconut fell on your head and you don't remember anything!"

JAB. JAB. JAB.

I had to give up my spark for you! I served myself up on a silver platter just to SAVE you! Then you show up at the last minute with a dumb dagger and think YOU'RE the hero? You ungrateful, deceitful–

L's large fingers gently wrapped around my hand, stopping me.

I didn't realize how badly I was shaking until that moment, or that my eyes were watering. I looked down at my feet, taking deep, shuddering breaths, trying to get it under control.

"Then explain it to me." He said softly.

"You wouldn't believe me." And even if you did. Scab might wipe your mind again - or worse.

"There is a man out there killing people just by knowing their name and face." L replied. "You would be surprised at what I am willing to believe."

I shook my head and slowly drew my hand away from him, pressing it to my chest. "Why the change of heart?" I mumbled.

"Because I think Watari hid a file from me, a file about you, and I want to know what is in it."

But this did not interest me the way it did L.

What did he expect to find in there? It was probably a document about my favourite kind of cheese. Great. I'm just another mystery to him again. A case to solve. Is that all the L cares about?

"Look, do you have a cell phone? Mine's dead. Maybe you can call for help." I wiped my nose with my sleeve.

L exhaled, disappointed, lips tight. "Yes." He took a flip-phone from his pocket and pressed a single button.

I wandered over to the corner and sat down, placing the script carefully beside me and hugging my knees to my chest.

L spoke briefly with someone, then pocketed the phone. "The lobby is aware, but we are between floors. We might be here a while."

To my irritation, L crouched down against the wall beside me, balancing on the balls of his bare feet. "No escape attempt through the air ducts?"

I sighed wearily and buried my face in my knees. "I'm too tired."

"Then how shall we pass the time?"

I focused on the steady expansion and contraction of my lungs, breathing in through my nose. "Do you know any stories?" I joked.

L was quiet for a moment. "To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominated the whole of her sex."

I nearly choked. "I was kidding."

"I have Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works memorized." L offered.

I shifted, bringing my knees down and tucking them next to me, leaning my head back and shutting my eyes. "Do what you want." I said with a shrug. "I'm taking a nap."

Strangely, the thought of sleeping did not frighten me like it usually would. Here, in the dark with L, there were no red eyes or cackling laughter following me.

Even Mikal was absent.

Don't think too hard about it, Sydney. I made myself comfortable.

After a moment, L continued. "It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise, but admirably balanced mind."

Already I felt my body sinking into the elevator floor. L's voice was always so soothing.

"He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen; but, as a lover, he would have placed himself in a false position."

My mind drifted along the cadence of L's words in the dark. Did he read Sherlock Holmes when he was younger? He's quoted it before. I wonder if that's why he wanted to become a detective.

"He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the observer–excellent for drawing the veil from men's motives and actions."

Like velvet. I thought as sleep started to overtake me. His voice is like smoke and velvet.

"But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusion into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might…"

L's voice trailed away as my head rolled sideways onto something soft. I was already fast asleep.

L

When Penny leaned her head against his shoulder - L made himself very still. He could hear his own pulse, and wondered if she could hear it too.

But when he looked down at her, her lashes were resting against her cheeks and her chest was rising and falling evenly.

She really fell asleep. He thought in slight amazement.

Then his face softened.

She must have been tired.

Penny looked small and delicate compared to him. Especially against the backdrop of a darkened Tokyo, several stories below them.

L's eyes drifted, following the dip in her neck, noting the bump of bandages still wrapped around her arm.

Penny certainly leads an exciting life.

Especially considering the amount of action in her files. Car chases, heart attacks, a serial stalker - Penny was a magnate of intrigue. She was fearless.

In direct contrast to his own life. L stayed in his dark rooms, in front of his computer, watching the world happen around him. He solved its mysteries, but experienced very few of his own.

He thought he liked it that way.

But L wondered what life would be like with Penny. Not knowing what she would do next with each day, going on adventures, taking risks.

What he'd had with Ambrosine had been twisted. Penny danced around her lies, and seemed broken, but L sensed she was good, deep down.

He'd worked with other criminals before, Wedy and Aiber had proven particularly useful on more than one occasion. From the report he dragged out of Aizawa, Penny was talented.

Who would she have been, if Beyond had not ruined her life? Who could she be, if Ambrosine got out of the way?

Penny kept getting tangled up in L. They were connected, somehow.

L's eyes gravitated down the curve of her torso to the hem of her skirt and her bare legs.

There it was again, that molten flame. This time it was more subtle. It stayed in the base of his stomach, more of a simmer than an overwhelming surge.

I don't even know her.

Maybe he wanted to know her.

With difficulty, he forced his gaze to move on. Her socks were bunched up around her ankles, and her shoelaces were untied.

His eyes finally fell to the manuscript on the floor beside her.

Curiously, he reached his arm around her body and picked it up. Penny stirred, but she merely burrowed her cheek deeper into his sleeve and did not wake.

L gently eased back into position and flipped open the script on his knee. His eyes scanned the pages in the dim light.

After a minute, he closed the script and carefully put it back.

So, that's the game Ambrosine is playing.

If Ambrosine thought that making L jealous was the way to win his attention she was wrong.

L leaned his head back and looked up, sighing. The moon had shifted, and the rays of light struck the ornamental chandelier, casting white prisms across the ceiling.

What does Ambrosine expect me to do?

To himself, L admitted he did not want to share Penny with anyone, even if it was just acting. And the thought of her in some of those scenes...with another man...

But L didn't have any claim over Penny, he barely knew her, after all. Trying to contain her was like holding a live firecracker in his bare hands.

She was just a...distracting factor. Like the book said. A pretty foil that was interrupting his case. Right now he should be interrogating Misa Amane.

Instead his temptation brought him here, during a blackout, trapped in an elevator.

With her.

And oh, the things L could imagine doing in this elevator with Penny besides sleeping. He'd–

L's phone hummed in his pocket, interrupting his train of thought. He pulled it out and answered quietly. "Yes?"

"We apologize for the wait, sir. You are a top priority client. Would you like us to ask the elevator technician to bump you to the top of the list?"

A heavy sigh escaped Penny's lips, drawing L's attention back to her for just a second.

"Sir?"

"There is...no rush."

"Very well, sir."

L shut the phone. Best to let her sleep. Just for a little while longer.

End of Chapter 59

I love you guys. Thanks for the incredible support. Ya'll are my favourite peeps on the internet.

I enjoy what I'm writing now. It's fun. Romance is in the air. Drama is aplenty. It doesn't feel like a chore anymore and it's a riot sharing it with you. You guys make all my worries disappear.

I queried an agent the other day. I expect it to be a long process with many rejections. But if anything happens I WILL give you guys the pen name I'll be using for social media/publishing so we can keep in touch.

Forever your faithful fan,

~Satchelle