L had never been so tense in his life.

He was standing in the playground, looking around him frantically, searching for clues of any kind. His heart had almost literally leapt into his mouth when Raito rushed in to say that one of the children couldn't be found, and even now, he found it hard to accept.

Roger had already ordered the guards to search the premises for the missing child, find a way that he or she could have run off but so far, there were no results.

L saw Raito standing a few feet away from him with some of the other caretakers, gathering the panicked children and leading them into the building.

"Take them inside," he'd ordered.

Wammy's House had always been a sanctuary. Only authorized people were allowed to enter so as not to hamper the children's upbringing anyway. The only way a child could go missing was that if he was playing hide-and-seek.

Or wandered off on his own.

He considered that but no, that wasn't possible, either. Wammy's House was closely guarded and the premises were constantly under surveillance, both by cameras and security guards.

And there was a third possibility but he prayed fervently that it was not so, that the child was just playing hide-n-seek.

Roger was standing beside him, features tense with worry. In all the years that they had been in Wammy's House, neither had encountered a situation like this.

"This is unimaginable," Roger said.

L was inclined to agree. He spotted the security guards approaching them, having returned from their search of the premises and Roger stepped forward to talk to them. L, on the other hand, felt his heart sink when he noticed that they had returned empty-handed.

"What news?" Roger wanted to know.

The security guard who answered mirrored his anxiety. "We found nothing."

"Nothing?" Roger paled, sounding confused.

"Yes, Sir," the guard affirmed. "We searched the whole place and there's no sign of a forceful entry or a breakout."

L spoke up then. "Bring me all the surveillance tapes," he ordered. "And the records of every employee entering and leaving in the last one hour."

"Yes, Sir," the security guard nodded and left with his colleagues to do what he'd been told..

L started to chew on his hangnail, a habit he'd retained over the years as an outlet for his worry.

Watari came to him right, forehead wrinkled, looking older than he usually did.

L shook his head in dismay. "None," he answered. "I'm going to take a look at the security tapes." He saw the sun setting in the horizon, announcing the end of the day in red blue and purple, and he wondered what had happened to the child.

"Do you think it's a kidnapping, Ryuuzaki?" asked the older man. Was he wringing his hands?

"Logically, that would be impossible," L said, considering the thought. "But we can't rule out any possibility. The only way anyone could get in was if they were allowed to." He looked over his shoulder to find Raito ushering the last of the children inside, looking very worried. As soon as they were in, she stopped and meet his eyes.

"Are you guys coming?" she wanted to know.

It was the first time they'd spoken since their kiss and while L would have liked to dwell on that, he now had more important things on his plate.

"In a moment," he answered. He had to ask the other children some questions. So far, the only thing he knew was that the missing child was a boy named Jake and he was nine-years-old. He preferred not to get emotionally involved in his cases but this was one situation that left him with no choice. While on the outside, he seemed laid-back, he really did feel responsible for the children's well-being, and he didn't know how he would handle it if something had happened to Jake.

His heart clenched at the thought of what that happened to the child by now.

"Okay," Raito nodded, closing the door.

It was then that Watari, in the presence of Roger, who knew about everything, dared to ask the question that L did not.

"Do you think it's him?"

It was L's turn to become pale and feel his heart stop. He didn't want to admit it, but sometimes he did think…that it was…

Memories from long ago, a raven-haired, competitive boy, avowing to become the best…

L looked at Roger and Watari. "I hope not," he replied truthfully. He tilted up his head and saw the sudden gathering of dark clouds blanketing the sky, shielding the beautiful colors of the sunset. And he was left with a really bad feeling about this.

Raito leaned against the glass wall and looked at the pouring rain outside. It was harsh and relentless, so sudden when the weather had been sunny and pleasant just minutes ago. She rubbed her arms for warmth, her fingers brushing back the hair that had stood up in the cold. Behind her, the children were huddled on the floor fretfully, wondering what had happened to their playmate. It broke her heard to see some of them crying. She felt so sorry for them because they'd already faced one trauma by losing their parents, and she didn't want them to go through more hardship.

"It's okay," she knelt beside the children, addressing them in a kind voice, patting them on the back and stroking their hair. "Don't cry. Everything was going to be all right."

But they were just empty words that came automatically, and she herself didn't even know if things were indeed going to be all right.

Where on earth was L?

She felt frustrated being in the dark and knowing nothing when L was the one holding all the cards and she desperately needed answers if she was going to do something to help the situation.

There was a sudden knock at the door. Startled, Raito spun around to find L standing at the doorway in his usual casual posture, his face expressionless.

"I need to ask the children some questions," he explained, stepping inside.

"Of course," she nodded, feeling slightly annoyed that he was treating her like she was in charge of things. Then again, she was grateful for the chance to get some information that would quickly help them solve the puzzle.

The children, who had been whispering to one another, immediately fell silent as L entered the room and approached them. The ones who had been crying quickly wiped their eyes.

L stood before them, looking at their faces as if wondering how to deal with them. She knew that many of these children were not acquainted with them, but judging from the expressions on their little faces, they had already deduced that he was someone important and he had come here to help them.

Why did that make her feel warm all of a sudden?

And then, L crouched on the ground, in perfect imitation of the children, and his thumb found its way to the corner of his mouth, face adopting a thoughtful outlook.

Ah, Raito thought with some amusement. Getting down to their level. Interesting.

Not that L had ever acted "grown-up" in its conventional sense.

"Who were with Jake when he disappeared?" he asked.

After some hesitation, three children raised their hand and exchanged fearful looks, wondering if they were in trouble.

"Where did you last see him?" L questioned.

"Well," said one of the kids when they'd put down their hands. "We were playing hide-n-seek like we always do. Jake was supposed to come find us but we waited for a long time. He never showed up."

"All right," said L. "When Jake was hiding, was there a special place he liked to go?"

"He always liked to hide behind the rose bushes on the east," said a little blonde girl. "Just beside the swimming pool."

L appeared to be disturbed by this information. Had the child drowned?

I hope not, thought Raito, and bit her lip.

And before she could stop herself and before L could speak, the question escaped her mouth:

"Did any of you see any odd guys around?"

L turned his eye to look at her. She wondered if she'd asked something ridiculous but something told her that he also thought it could be a kidnapping.

The children were confused by the question. They looked around at each other and slowly shook their heads. "No. We only see the cleaning people."

The cleaning people?

Onyx eyes hardened at this. L got to his feet as though he'd finally found his answer and he turned to leave. Raito went after him, just like she had in the morning.

"Ryuuzaki!" she called. "What's going on?"

He faced her, eyes apprehensive in a way she had never seen before.

"Listen to me, Raito-kun," he took a step towards her, the gesture akin to grabbing her by the arms. "Until further notice, I don't want you or the children to leave the building."
Raito stared at him, astonished. "Why me?" she asked. The children she could understand but why her?

"It's too dangerous," he told her vaguely. "I fear that we have the murderer closer to us than we think."

Raito's heart skipped at beat when she heard that. "You mean, he's found you?" she breathed in disbelief, cinnamon eyes growing large

The detective seemed affronted by this, as if he had said more than he should have. He turned away, his raven hair falling over his eyes. "I will explain to you later," he said quietly. "I would like you to come to my room when dinner is over. I've asked the security guards to hand over the recent surveillance tapes and we'll watch them together."

Raito was half-torn between her anxiety over the posed threat and that of being close and alone with L. "Okay," she agreed. "I'll come."

Of course she wouldn't. She would never allow such a heartless perpetrator to go unpunished.

L looked at her for a moment, face unreadable as usual, and she wondered if he had anything more to say to her. He seemed to be struggling with so much, and her heart skipped a beat again, in the most inconvenient time, when she remembered their kiss and the sensations it had aroused in her, not to mention the confusion and the conflict.

And then, L turned around and walked up the stairs. She went back to the room to quiet the children, who had started to cry again, and she felt a surge of maternal feelings rise within her. She spent the rest of the evening before dinner time holding the children and comforting them, telling them that they should not be scared because nothing was going to hurt them. Some of the teenagers came in the room, strangely curious and cooperative, and they helped her calm the youngsters down, asking quietly when they got the chance about how the situation looked, what she made of it, and how long it would last.

(She wouldn't tell L this but there was one boy Near, who made her very uneasy. Mostly because she reminded him of a younger version of her husband. But this boy near was more withdrawn and self-centered, caring only for his puzzles and toy cars and she had to say that she had never seen someone so apathetic.

Except towards this other boy called Mello, who was blond and had quite a temper. She'd watched them interact and while Mello seemed unable to incite a reaction from Near, the white blond was always successful at making Mello angry. It was interesting and entertaining but sometimes, she couldn't help feeling that their rivalry had been set up on purpose.

And at the moment, none of them were on sight.)

It surprised her how objective and calculating these children were, scrutinizing their surroundings before deciding on anything; in a way, they actually reminded her of herself as she rarely got emotional.

L was the same way.

Logic and determination was the clear way to win this battle, not to mention a strong sense of justice. And Raito felt that she was equipped with all three to succeed.

Raito did not have an appetite that night. She could tell the children didn't either from the way they were absently stirring their soup and staring blankly at their water glasses. She sifted through the green leaves and tomatoes in her salad bowl, poking a ring of onion and chili with her fork before pushing away the bowl and leaning back in her chair with an inaudible sigh.

She eyed the children warily. "You should eat," she suggested encouragingly to them but they had been turned off from the way she had rejected her dinner. Some of the children were tiredly rubbing their eyes and it was near their bedtime anyhow, so she gave in

She tucked them into their bed like a Mother Goose. A few kids fell asleep as soon as their heads touched the pillows. Others clutched at their blankets fearfully and she had to wait until they were overcome with weariness.

She had never seen the orphans' quarters before but now, she got a chance to check them out. There were two long rooms, assigned according to gender, with beds on either side and pin drop silence. It reminded her of a hospital ward, but less bleak and with more color. There were windows on the far end of the room and she stepped forward quickly to shut the door to stop the cold air from coming in.

And to prevent an intruder.

She would've thought that the security in this fairy tale orphanage was impenetrable. However, today's experience had caused a crack of doubt in her. A part of her felt reluctant to leave them alone but she had other responsibilities. L would already be upstairs waiting for her so that he could show her the tapes and they could work something out.

As Raito stepped out of the girls' room and went up, the entire house so quiet that she could hear her footsteps echo throughout, she found her thoughts wandering to what could have been with L if things had turned out different. She would have been the…'mistress' of this place, if one saw L as the master of Wammy's House.

Well, she guessed that she was still the mistress since she was still legally married to the raven-haired detective and the thought made her smile with cynical humor. She felt like Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice, wondering what it would have been like to be the mistress of Pemberley. While L was not a handsome gentleman like Mr. Darcy, he was certainly as rich as him. Probably richer.

I can't believe I'm comparing this situation with a Jane Austen novel. She immediately made up her mind to throw out her copy of Pride and Prejudice next morning.

As expected, L was waiting in his third-floor dungeon with a cup of steaming tea and a tray of assorted sweets that Watari had no doubt procured for him.

"Ah, Raito-kun," he acknowledged her presence as she shut the door behind her, digging hungrily into a generous slice of strawberry shortcake with an elegant silver fork.

How did he have the appetite to eat during a time like this?

"Did you have dinner?" he asked genially as she lowered herself on the floor beside him, facing the computer.

She shook her head. "I wasn't really hungry."

"What took you so long?" he asked through a mouthful of whipped cream, pieces of cake flying out in tiny bits. She raised an eyebrow inwardly. Was he one of those people who ate when they were really nervous?

"I was putting them to sleep," she told him.

Something in those obsidian eyes softened as they always did when she mentioned the orphans. She hoped that he wouldn't say something cheesy like "You'd make a good mother."

Though she couldn't deny that she did feel very maternal towards them.

She noticed the shape of his torso despite the loose shirt he wore, noticed how skinny he was and that nothing much had changed about his appearance. It was amaze her that he was really strong despite his appearance, which showed that looks were deceiving.

Especially in L's case.

To tell the truth, Raito didn't feel very comfortable being alone with him after what had happened today but she pushed those irrelevant, distracting thoughts aside, instead choosing to focus on the matter at hand. She had already promised herself at the beginning that she would not let her emotions get in the way and she had to be professional with him.

Why did you kiss me?

She was not going to think of that!

"Do you have the security tapes?" she asked, getting right down to business.

"Yes," he said and to her surprise, he stood.

She felt alarmed. "Where are you going?"

"To my room," he replied, having been done with his tea and cake. "The tapes are there. As you can see, we don't have a TV or VCR here."

If she'd been a lesser woman, Raito would have swallowed. The feeling of unease in the pit of her stomach deepened but she tried to ignore it. There were more important things to worry about.

"Okay," she said and stood up, too.

She had never been to his room before. Although she knew he had one, she'd always assumed that he ate and slept in his dark study because that was where she'd seen him mostly. And outside sometimes but that was during her lucky days, she thought wryly.

L's room was on of the far end of the third floor, a place that she'd never been to. But unlike his study, this door did not have any fancy carvings on it: it looked very ordinary but she reminded herself that looks could be deceiving. She waited as L fished a key out of the pocket of his baggy jeans, its hems worn out from being dragged against the ground so much, and inserted it into the lock. When the door opened, he stepped aside to let her enter first. She did so suspiciously, not sure what she would find here.

For the first time, Raito was actually surprised that his room was actually ordinary, just like the door. There was a double bed in the center, as there was in hers, a bookshelf on the right, a table on the left with his iBook, and a TV and VCR just opposite to the bed. She was reminded of a hotel suite, much like the ones he would stay at.

(Had he rented a hotel room when he had gone to Japan this time?)

"Make yourself at home," he said eerily as he closed the door. She fought ridiculous urge to run out screaming. No, L did not bite, even when you wanted him to.

She took a few steps further into the room, watching the rain fall outside. It had lessened and she could see the water droplets glistening on the glass.

"It's nice," she commented. He smiled a bit at her right then but he said nothing.

He walked past her and inserted the tape into the VCR, and lifted his legs up on the bed. He turned his eyes expectantly on her, implying that she should join him. She did so reluctantly. Being in his study with him was one thing but being alone with him in his bedroom was another.

"The guards gave them to me an hour ago," L offered to her, a subtle effort to make her more comfortable (or at least, that was how she saw it).

"Did you get a look at them?" she wanted to know.

"Not yet. I have the employee records here, though," he said, handing over a long, thin book with printed sheets of the employees' names, time of arrival and time of departure. She quickly scanned through them.

"Anything suspicious?" she glanced at him.

"See for yourself," he said mysteriously.

What Raito saw left her in dismay. There were no questionable records, i.e. no one had left Wammy's House in the last hour before Jake went missing.

"This is so frustrating," she said under the breath. "But you can hardly imagine that whoever did this would sign his name before he left."

"I'm half-tempted to actually tell the police about the missing child," L admitted to her darkly as the tape started playing. "But it would be unwise to draw attention to me or Wammy's House. We already have more on our hands with this stalker."

She had to agree with that.

They watched the tape carefully, not missing out on any details, for the next one hour. All Raito noticed were the legitimate vans going in and out to deliver supplies, the gardener doing his job, and the guards patrolling the border. Seeing this suddenly made it seem as though Wammy's House was a high security prison as opposed to an orphanage for the gifted, but of course, L would take all measures to ensure the safety of this unique establishment.

But then, something on the screen suddenly caught L's eye and he pointed at it with doused excitement. "Look at that!" he quickly paused the tape and pressed some other buttons on the remote control to zoom in on the image. Raito narrowed her eyes and leaned forward to get a better look.

There was a van driving out at five P.M. Naturally, she couldn't see the driver from this angle but what she did catch was the colorful logo on the back of the vehicle.

"B's Bakery," she read out aloud and felt a small thrill to finally get a clue. "Maybe that's our hint." But when she turned to look at L, his gaunt face had fallen slack as he stared wordlessly at the TV, eyes fixed on the logo.

"What is it?" she asked, worriedly, looking from the screen back at him again. She had thought that he would be a bit more excited but his reaction had really taken her aback.

He didn't answer her. He just stared at the TV, his hand frozen on the remote control, as if in shock. Tentatively, she reached out to touch him, surprised to find that his blood had almost run cold.

"Ryuuzaki?" she was starting to get worried. Why was he reacting like this? What could it be about this logo that impacted him so much? "What's wrong?"

When he still did not reply, she decided to look for her next clue in the image. She peered at the logo, remembered all the other letter-clues and then, it dawned on her.

"B," she breathed. Yes, it was the letter B. L, X and B. But what did it mean? What was the murderer trying to tell them?

"This makes no sense," she muttered to herself. "B doesn't have any significance in Roman numerals either."

Still not saying anything, L leapt up from the room paced for a minute, and then stared out the window, almost fearfully. It was starting to creep her out, too as she had never seen him like this.

"Ryuuzaki," she tried again. "What's wrong? Why are you acting like this?" She was so eager to listen to what he had to say but she felt so frustrated now that he had locked up his mouth and thrown the key away. She saw his face reflected on the window glass, the sleek black strands falling over his forehead and saw the look in his deep midnight eyes.

Recognition.

"L," she addressed him in a more business-like manner, straightening up. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

Still nothing. He kept staring mutely out of the window as if something totally out of the blue had fallen upon him and his worst nightmare had come true.

L made a sound then by clearing his throat, as if nothing had happened. "It's late," he said somewhat awkwardly and her eyes became slits with suspicion. "You should go to sleep."

Sleep? That was the most ridiculous thing she'd heard. How could she sleep when a mass murderer was on the loose and for all they knew, had found them in their very home?

"You're hiding something from me, aren't you?" she pressed in a soft voice that sounded almost threatening.

This time, L was more confident. "I'd appreciate it if we didn't discuss this at the moment," he said to her, baritone voice cold with reservation (ah ha, hiding a secret!). "Raito-kun needs her rest."

This annoyed her. "I'm not going until you tell me what's going on," she shot back stubbornly. "Do you know this guy, L? Does the letter B mean anything to you?"

Once again, for a long moment, he was silent, undergoing an internal struggle to decide if he should open up to her or not. Raito would say that she didn't give a damn about his stupid personal life (or lack, thereof) but if it involved their case...

Finally, he turned around and met her gaze, undaunted.

"All right," he spoke. "I'll tell you."

A/N: What secrets could L be hiding, I wonder ;)? Well, I warn you that in the next chapter there will be some spoilers from L's history and the background of Wammy's House.

Yes, their fight was about the fact that L didn't want to consummate their marriage - he felt like they were going too fast and Raito got offended and insecure, thinking that he didn't really want her, or he had another woman on his mind. She's a little more mature, yeah, and about L's baser desires...well, let's see where things go ;).

Hope you liked this chapter! Feedback is much-loved! And anonymous reviewers, do leave your e-mail address if you'd like me to get back to you :D.