...

L settled into his crouching position in the furthest corner of the ice cream parlour. He frowned down at his sticky jeans, and tried to lighten his mood with the super strawberry sundae which sat before him. Holding the spoon carefully between his finger and thumb as though it was diseased, he scooped up the creamy dessert and savoured it's sweetness on his tongue.

He was disappointed Persephone had gotten away without him being able to discover who was behind her following him. It was also a disappointment that he should let a wanted murderer slip away so easily. He vowed to learn a more physical approach to such situations. A martial arts maybe?

He let his mind wander over the details of their discussion as he ate another spoonful of ice cream.

She had approached him first... Why had she done that if she was a wanted murderer and knew he was a detective? And there was the strange way she nervously looked around the room. Was she covering for someone? Distracting him whilst the person she worked for left the parlour? It would seem a plausible explanation considering that if the said person was in fact a member of Wammy's house, they would want to stay hidden in order to not be recognised by L.

Yes, L was 87% sure that was the case. And if so, all he needed to do was to check the surveillance cameras of the parlour to see who Persephone was sat with before he entered.

L gave a rare smile which only seemed to appear when he felt himself growing closer to the closing of a case. Justice made him happy after all... Well, justice and a strawberry ice cream sundae.

...

Beyond sat in the hotel going over his plan one more time and waiting for Persephone to come back, if she even came back at all. Either way, he knew it was time for a change. A change in location and also a change in company. Persephone had exhausted her usefulness to him, she was no longer necessary for his plan. And although he admitted he would miss certain aspects of her presence, he had known from the start that she would have to go sooner or later. He ran his fingers through his hair and caught his reflection in the mirror on the far wall.

His expression was serious, ready to do what he needed to do. Yet he couldn't help but notice the slight sadness in the way his mouth turned downwards. Maybe he was going to miss Persephone more than he had anticipated…

...

Persephone found Beyond inspecting a large plastic tub full of petrol when she entered the hotel room and he glanced up at her briefly.

"Planning on killing someone with fire?" She asked when she realised he wasn't going to ask how her encounter with L had gone.

"Yes." He said bluntly and she stepped towards him.

"What an awfully exciting way to die." She said and there was flash of emotion across Beyond's face, his eyes staring at the liquid in a distant way. Persephone smiled and crouched down so that she was level with him. She placed a hand under his chin and raised his face so that she could kiss him.

Beyond hadn't planned on becoming intimate with her again, but there was something tragically addictive about the way she tasted. He always found himself wanting more than just a slight touch. He pulled off the red wig so that her original dark brown hair tumbled around her shoulders. He felt her smile slightly during the kiss but he pushed his lips against hers harder, as if to crush her grin into nothing.

Persephone was getting carried away in his passion, she had to remind herself that it was alright, that happiness would be at the other end for her. His fingers tightened in her hair, pulling it so that she gasped slightly in pain.

"I'm glad you have the contact lenses in, your eyes look dead without them." He hissed cruelly, his breath hot on her cheek.

"Maybe I am dead." Persephone's small voice came back and Beyond's eyes flashed, his other hand slipping around her waist to pull her closer.

"That's a shame. I don't like the idea of fucking a corpse." He grinned and she brought her gaze to meet his with an intenseness which made him excited.

"Could a corpse do this?" She said through gritted teeth and then she brought a clenched fist hard down on Beyond's face. His grip on her loosened as he fell back clutching his face. He was shaking and it took a moment for Persephone to realise that he was laughing.

"That's the second time you have made my nose bleed." He said, revealing the stream of blood pouring down over his pale lips.

"You deserved it both times." She sneered back and Beyond recognised the light in her eyes suggesting she was enjoying every second of it. She moved so that she was hovering over his body sprawled on the floor and then teasingly licked a drop of blood from his lips. A sigh escaped from him and both his arms snaked around her waist, his nails digging into her skin tightly on the small of her back so that she wouldn't move away. She started to kiss him hungrily again and in the small LA hotel, their bodies became one for one last time.
...

Bleurgh, this chapter isn't as long as I thought it was but some pretty big events are planned for the next chapter so I didn't wanna spill over into that. Anyway, please leave a review and I shall send you some virtual Pocky. :D