A/N;

Beta'd by VirtualDraconium who I thank as always for her hard work on these chapters, and was written on a train.

Please read and review!

Chapter 11

"Light, what happened to Lucan?" L asked again, his fingers still brushing Light's cheek.

"I don't know," Light whispered, "I didn't see him, and you were shot and not healing. All I could think of was getting you to safety. I thought you had died…"

L halted Light's flow of words by placing his fingers over Light's mouth; then to his extreme surprise Light's arms suddenly tightened around him and pulled him close. Light's quiet sobs made L's own heart ache; had he really scared Light that much?

"Light, I am alive now," L said soothingly, "you saved my life, and everything is going to be alright. You know we never make the same mistakes twice."

L was, truth be told, slightly stunned by this outpouring of emotion from Light; he was bad at dealing with other people's emotions normally, but such obviously profound grief and from such an unexpected source… In his still weakened state L felt a little overwhelmed. Carefully he took hold of Light's arms and slowly pushed Light back so he could look into his eyes; he had to make Light see sense somehow.

"It is alright now Light," L whispered, holding firmly onto Light's wrists as he tried to force those words into Light's brain. The sincerity of his gaze seemed to work and Light finally seemed to steady himself and looked momentarily embarrassed about his behaviour. L glanced down at Light's hands as he realised that they felt sticky to his touch and gasped in shock, blood was engrained into the skin and under the fingernails, so much so that even Light's sleeves were soaked.

"Light is this my blood?" L whispered.

"No; it was, well, it is the hunter's blood," Light replied quietly. "The blood of the man who shot you. L, I… I killed him."

L stayed silent and continued to look up at Light, trying to meet his eyes with as kindly an expression as possible. He wanted Light to tell him all the particulars of his own volition, L didn't want to accidentally order Light to tell him. He knew that if he ordered him then Light was likely to dissolve into tears on him again and L definitely didn't want that, it was unnerving.

"I…" Light whispered, looking down at L, "I moved to hit him, to stun him so we could escape, but my hand went straight through his chest… I killed him instantly. It must have been the vampiric blood giving me extra strength…. I'm sorry."

Light looked down as if shameful of his actions; L sighed in a mixture of consternation and a strange pride that Light felt guilty about his actions even when such actions had been necessary. Very necessary actually as far as L was concerned, he found he rather liked being alive; well undead anyway.

"Thank you Light," L said. "Thank you for saving my life, for killing the hunter and for having the strength to tell me the truth yourself." Light gave a small sniff and looked back up at L, surprise evident on his face; his eyes looked teary again too. "Of course I would thank you for all of this; I would have killed that hunter myself if I had been given the chance. Oh, please don't cry, it really isn't like you."

His words had the desired effect and Light began to laugh as he said, "At least one of us knows what is like me then, because I certainly don't anymore."

"Now that is something I don't believe," L said smiling even as Light almost snorted in derision.

"You ordered me to tell you the truth remember," Light said still laughing a little, "how could I lie to you now?"

"True, but it would only be the truth as you see it," L replied, his grin almost wicked.

"I am not even going to try and argue with you in your current state," Light replied, sighing in mock consternation.

"Good, now could you tell me where we are and how we got here," L said, becoming serious once more.

"This is Matsuda-san's apartment; it was the only place I could think of that would be relatively safe. I carried you here from the Investigation Building. Matsuda did tell my father we were here; I think it was the only way to get the blood you needed… I don't know what to say to him L, how can I face him now?!"

"I would start with an apology and then thanking him for his help," L said quietly, "but I don't think the problem is as bad as you think it is. I sent him all the information I had about the effects a Death Note has on a user, namely you, and from his reply I think he understood. He hasn't got the most recent findings though, but he is your father Light and I know he cares deeply for you."

"You did what?" Light gasped, to have L do such a thing was quite unexpected; he'd never thought the detective would give away information like that to another so freely. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I had hoped to allow you to see your family before we left so you could talk this over as you wished. I didn't want you to think I was overly protecting you, I didn't want to hurt your pride… again," L whispered, his attention drifted away from Light's face and he could feel the craving becoming overwhelming once more; to have Light sitting so close was becoming maddening. "You need to move away Light before I bite you again."

"Surely I've proven that I don't mind," Light replied quietly, and L went tense in his arms.

"Are there any more bags of your blood group left?" L asked quietly and when Light shook his head added, "Then I can't and I won't feed from you, one of us needs to be strong at least and I rather like you alive; you don't have nearly enough blood at the moment."

Light quickly shifted away from L's tense form and was stunned to see that the vampire looked exhausted; it was as if the past few minutes had passed like days for him. He hurried to the box and was about to pick up a handful when he shrugged and brought the entire thing over to L. A few minutes later he was sat with L's back pressed up against his chest as L slowly drained the contents of every bag that was handed to him. Light realised with no small shock that L consumed the equivalent of three people's worth of blood before he finally stopped; he wondered over why he didn't find any of this disturbing in the least, instead just feeling worried for L. He was also extremely grateful that L had had enough strength to not take him up on his offer; if he had taken the offer then Light probably would have died.

"How do you feel now?" Light asked as L finished the final bag and leaned back into him, a slight rosy glow colouring the detectives usually pale face, and he definitely didn't look exhausted anymore.

"Much better," L replied smiling up at Light, his fangs still showing, Light felt a small shiver run through him at the sight of them, "Now I think we should go show the two men waiting outside that I am now alive, and we need to go in search of our friends."

Light nodded in agreement and they untangled from one another and slowly left the room. L quickly took Light's hand and leaned towards him, muttering in annoyance about still feeling like he had been hit by a truck. Light said nothing, just shifted his arm to around L's waist so he could support him better, there was no way he was going to threaten the trust L had begun to show him. Light found he was also feeling weakened, though considering what he had just done to save L he knew he shouldn't have been surprised.

"L!"

The two men who had been sat waiting nervously for L and Light to appear, now hurried over to the pair. They stopped in their tracks as they saw how the two were standing, their worried looks returning.

"I am alive, and swiftly healing," L said, "my recovery is all thanks to Light-kun, and to your understanding help. If you hadn't been here to help I would most likely have died."

"What happened?" Soichiro asked, as he watched his son guide L into a chair. He was astounded that his son was showing this much care to another person; it gave L's email about Light that much more weight.

"The headquarters were attacked by people looking for me," Light said quietly as he sat on the edge of the chair next to L, "there is another Kira; a woman who is thousands of years old and seems to have many followers. To her I am either competition or another potential follower; but I am never going to side with her and I expect she knows it, so she will want me dead. Plus, many people want me dead because I used the Death Note and they believe I will become like her. L was hurt when a man, a hunter I suppose you could say, ambushed us as we attempted to escape the building. When L took the bullets that were intended for me and collapsed to the floor at my feet I attacked the hunter… I managed to get us both away to safety; all I could think of at that point was saving L."

Light finally trailed off and looked down at L.

"That seems to cover everything," L said quietly, both he and Light turned towards the now silent and apparently extremely shocked men.

"There's another Kira?" Matsuda gasped, he looked almost terrified at the thought.

"Yes," L replied nodding, "There is more to the Death Note than even Light was able to deduce through his time using it. For example a user gains the life of all the humans they kill; that is not shinigami specific. However as a human continues to use it their soul is gradually destroyed and who they originally were is warped out of all recognition. We have all witnessed the beginning of this with Light-kun."

As he spoke Light suddenly shifted away to stare out of a window, his hand that held the curtain shaking slightly; he frowned as L continued to talk.

"That was why there was such a dramatic change in personality when Light ceased to have ownership during his confinement; he is still Light now, as he was before his initial use of the Note, because of all the many months he had away from it; it gave his soul time to heal, and somehow his soul must have developed some resistance by the time he reclaimed the Death Note by writing Higuchi's name. This resistance saved him and means Light is no longer a Kira, and as such he cannot be held accountable for his actions during that time."

Light couldn't bear this, to hear his time as Kira laid bare and under discussion once more; he almost hated L for using it as a diversionary tactic to steer his father and Matsuda away from knowledge about the other Kira, but he knew it was just hate for himself; the longer he spent away from the Death Note but with his memories intact, the longer he felt like a sick fool for using it the way he had. Why had he ever thought he could become a God? Light stared out at the dark street his face grim; then started as a hand landed on his shoulder. He turned to find his father standing behind him; he looked up in worried apprehension. Before Light could say anything he was pulled into a hug, his father's arms holding him close.

"Light you will always have my love. I am your father," Soichiro whispered, "and I forgive you; it wasn't you when you were using the Death Note. How could I not forgive you?"

Light hugged his father back tightly, he was never going to explain that it had taken time for the Death Note to begin to have an effect on him and his plan had been his own.

"Matsuda-kun," L said suddenly, he sounded a lot more alert, "could we borrow your car; and could you drive us where we need to go?"

"Of course," Matsuda replied, "I'll drive you wherever you need to go."

L nodded in thanks.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Soichiro asked, as he and Light finally moved apart, he smiled beneficently down at his son.

"Not any more than you have already done," L replied slowly, "you don't have the ability to see Squee, and as such you won't be able to help me, I have no clue as to what else you can and can't see compared to Light and myself."

"Squee?" Soichiro asked, looking extremely confused.

"A bundle of trouble and sugar addiction about this big," Light explained, gesturing with his hands as he smiled, "he's an imp and just as much trouble as L is."

"I see," Soichiro replied slowly, "well actually I suppose I can't. Well I'd want to spend more time with Light, but I know that this is not the time. Please come and see your family before you leave Light."

"Of course," Light replied, and was once again surprised as his father pulled him into a hug.

"I hope to see you again soon Light, and you as well L," Soichiro said softly, and with that he was gone.

"So Matsuda-kun," L asked, rising to his feet, "where is your car?"