Author's Note: Okay, wow, um, okay. I haven't updated this since...June. Yeah, that's not good. Seven months, Ilandere, are you serious? I'm sorry! Really! You see, I've lost a lot of inspiration to, well, write. Anything. Original stories, fanfiction...I can only seem to write really depressing poetry and draw disturbing pictures...

And then, while avoiding doing homework, I grabbed my journal and found what I have written of Imperfection - a few chapters beyond what's posted. I started writing for the next chapter...And then almost got caught and so went back to my hw. Then, on my computer and faking doing homework, I'd decided to try my hand at writing more Death Machine. And then, over the course of a few weeks, I wrote L's part at school.

To recap last chapter: Aiber was killed by L. Light is pissed beyond belief. L and BB are both suffering from the missions because of memories reserfacing - ones of A, mostly. And L has revealed his hidden motive of wanting to shut down Wammy's from the inside.

Warning: The usual - swearing and BB. Also, L and BB are becoming more...human...?

Disclaimer: I own Death...Machine. Not Death Note. Sorry.


Chapter 12

Light

I stared at Mello in disbelief. He had come to my room early the following morning, after apparently pulling an all-nighter. Luckily, I had done the same thing, contemplating the newfound note and all the clues it held. It wasn't that the conclusion he had reached was shocking or surprising; it was just that he had actually figured out exactly what I had been thinking.

He had knocked on the door, jolting me only slightly, though I was able to appear completely at ease. The knocks were hurried and followed closely by another set. I had quickly pulled open the door to a frazzled Mello, who looked even worse off than I probably did at that moment.

Breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath, he had slammed the door shut—too loudly for so early—and had stridden to the center table and his normal chair. Once seated, he'd stated with urgency, "The Death Note. It has to be the Death Note creator. He has to be working with this creator. I know how weird it sounds, but just hear me out."

And that's when I just began to stare at him, eyes wide but otherwise with a stoic face. The staring contest continued or a few more moments before he pulled out a few documents.

"Okay, just listen. There was no way the stalker could've done everything yesterday all by himself. He needed either a techy person or a person to double for other things, like helping with knocking out the servants. And I've decided—what better person to use as backup than the very person who can manipulate people the most, the one who created the Death Note and Shinigami drugs?" His eager words were met with silence.

Finally, I voiced, "Have you been doing more research?"

"Yes," he stated firmly. My eyes pressed him forward. "And…there's nothing. He's gone, disappeared. The crime rates have gone down to normal levels for Japan, eleven of the thirteen hideouts he had there have been found, and there's no increasing crime rates anywhere else in the country or even in the United Sates, if he was going any farther east, like he should, according to his pattern. I know it might be too early to tell, but I feel like he's gone backwards, to the beginning."

"What do you mean?" I questioned, my sleepless night starting to catch up with me, and yet adrenaline beginning to pump through my veins.

Mello took a deep breath before continuing, "I've gotten all the way back to Northern Ireland. Before that, there's nothing more western. And it's still the UK, which is where we are. Plus, he goes to all the major countries, and yet skips over Great Britain from Ireland? It makes no sense unless he was always meant to come back here, or had a reason to leave in the first place. He had to have started somewhere, and is avoiding the United States quite well in his country hopping, as if there's no importance to it. Or perhaps it's too big? Either way, he's back here, has to be. And he's working with our stalker."

I paused for several seconds, processing everything. After a while of tense silence, I ordered, "Get Matt and Near here, now." Mello nodded and scurried out of the room.

We're either dealing with an evil mastermind and his henchman, bent on ruining my teammates' lives, or two evil geniuses willing to sacrifice everything…to destroy us. It's time my team knew about everything going on.

It didn't take long to debrief Near and Matt on everything Mello knew about the Death Note's creator. The information coincided wonderfully with Near's data on the Shinigami. I, of course, refused to admit anything about the notes left for me. Even without the extra information, both of the others were easily able to understand all the details. Everything seemed to be coming together perfectly…

Almost too perfectly. There was a missing link, I knew. I suspected at least Near had the gears turning in his head that something had to be off. Something was just not right. Something was missing. But what?

At precisely ten o'clock, just about three hours after Mello first entered my room, Watari's voice filled my room through the speakers installed in each corner. As brief as always, he stated, "Mid-Knights, well done on yet another mission. I have your next victim waiting in my office."

Matt jumped up and shouted with a hand raised, "I'll get it!" He then bounded out the room. The three of us stared after him, almost in awe if we weren't so used to it already. Still, it made me wonder…How can a trained assassin be that…upbeat? No, more like deranged.

We three waited in perfect silence for a few minutes before Mello became impatient and began to pace. Near and I continued to sit at the meeting table, staring at nothing in particular and each in our own thoughts. However, I'm quite sure they were similar thoughts. We both needed that extra missing link. There must be something hidden from us, something possibly…emotional?

No, impossible. Whatever we needed, it was purely informational, not at all out of reach.

Eventually, possibly only fifteen minutes later, something collided into my door with an audible thump. As Mello was already up, he strutted towards the door and eased it open, wary of what could have hit it. In crashed Matt, face-first, onto my floor. Luckily, while the rest of the floor is beautiful, sparkling tile, I've placed a mat at the door so others can take wipe off all excess dirt. It still didn't cushion the fall much, nevertheless.

Mello immediately scrambled to pick up his friend, questioning what had happened. Near and I were on edge, though I more than Near, as he still lacked my fighting abilities. "Has someone hurt you? Was it Linda? Oh, no! Was it Halle?" Mello had flipped over Matt so he was lying in his arms and I could see his chest heaving with large breaths.

"Shut that door," I called to Mello, who quickly followed my orders without breaking eye contact from Matt's seemingly abused body.

While Matt continued to breathe heavily and randomly have coughing fits, Mello carried him to my bed—my precious, clean bed!—and laid him down gently. Minutes passed and the three of us crowded around the other teen. I was about to grab my mission tools when the redhead finally held up a picture with writing on the back. I knew it had to be our next victim, so I just snatched it from him and slammed it on the table before coming back to him. Despite my utter detestation, he was still my teammate and I couldn't just lose him like this.

"W-w…" Matt finally gasped out. We leaned in closer. After another coughing fit, he whined, "Watari's sending me back to PE! I…I was so…out of breath…by the time…I got to his…his office, that he…told me and ha-handed me this…slip…He then…had Ms. Amane…chase me the rest…of the way h-here…!"

The three of us groaned and fell back into our original positions, Mello going so far as to land on his back. I stared at the ceiling, pleading that this must be a hallucination!

A knock at my door caused me to shoot up. I carefully stepped over Mello—despite my desire to step on him—and opened the door to find Amane-sensei standing sweetly, chest jutting out just slightly. Her eyelashes batted a few times before she asked in an obnoxiously sugary voice, "I just came back to ask if Matty is alright. I didn't want to hurt him! I was only following Watari's orders. So, how is the cutie?" Her voice dropped an octave on the question, though it did nothing to seduce the one who was trained to be asexual.

I sighed, but smiled a sultry smile of my own and allowed my teacher entrance to see the boy she had chased. At the sight of her, Matt screamed and slammed into the wall my bed was next to, trying to get as far away from her as possible. Amane-sensei pouted, but muttered, "Fair enough." She sauntered over to my bed and leaned down, her chest in fully view for Matt, lacy top barely covering anything. "I'm very sorry, Matty-kins. I promise I'll…make it up to you…" Though I couldn't see, I swear she winked at him. He gulped and she stood before simply walking out of my room. "Bye, Light!" she called before I closed the door on her.

Mello, Near, and I shuddered and Matt continued to shiver and whimper on my bed, messing up my covers.

Thirteen days later, Mello gunned his motorcycle and we traveled through the streets of a small Romanian city under the cloak of night. Merrie Kenwood, AKA Wedy, a professional cat burglar, lay in her bathtub in the motel room she'd been living in for the past four days with her throat slit. By now, the bathwater must be cold and staining her body red with the blood dripping from her neck—though not as much blood as I would have liked for it to look like I had killed her that way. The surveillance cameras she'd installed herself Mello had added just the day before what Matt hoped to be a replica of the chips we'd stolen from our previous scenes. Nevertheless, without our knowledge, though we can't figure out how, they were replaced by our stalker and his friend.

Why can't anything go my way?

At least I had the last piece of the puzzle hidden inside my jumpsuit…

Raito-kun, you are wasting precious time. I would have thought a death machine like you would have centered your search by now. Are you giving up or simply running away? Ryuzaki-sempai

Oh, I'm far from running away, Ryuzaki-sempai. I'm simply…fitting together the last of the puzzle…

L

Back in England finally, L and BB remained as separated as before. They barely talked to each other except when discussing their next plans or BB telling L what he needed from the store. L, however, continued to do little things to please his old teammate and friend, knowing how hard the missions were for him. These included extra jam jars and straw for his Wara Ningyo, as well as a detailed book on the human eye, as L remembered BB's fascination with the instrument of sight.

More than once, L caught himself staring at BB from across the room or through a rarely opened doorway. These times forced him to realize how much they had both changed over the years. And not just the years separated. Sixteen years from the time they had met, and the scared, innocent, brown-haired boy seemed just a faint memory of a dream. Now, a (possibly) criminally insane man with a blood—and jam—stained shirt and died black hair stood in his place. And L didn't know if he lied or loathed the drastic change.

A few times, his hands subconsciously found the old drawing of the three of them…LABB. After their team formed, A became more outgoing and self-confident. By the time of their escape, many of his nervous twitches were gone. He had even stood up against all those other classmates so his friends could get away.

Had he, L, changed as much as the other two? Since running away, he became more reclusive, secretive, but he thought that only natural. But since his original kidnapping, had he curled in on himself more? Had he tried to cleanse the murder from his body by drowning himself in sweets? Had he wished to taint the fewest things possible with his touch?

And he realized, yes, he had. His entire being derived from his only memories—those of Watari and Wammy's House. So, L became scared. For the first time, he realized the implications of his final mission.

Light could not be the same boy his parents had adored eight years ago. He was a completely different man, a killer…a death machine. Would they want him back? L couldn't answer that.

So, he paused and thought. While he knew he couldn't back out now, and refused to stop playing his game with Light, could he…fake a failure? He would destroy that accursed institution, of course. But he could just not save Raito…

The answer lay with the boy's parents, though. So, while he waited for Light's team to go on their next mission, a cat burglar deemed Wedy, he decided to contact the Yagamis again. He reread his email over several times, editing out details and adding in words here and there, before he deemed it ready.

Mr. and Mrs. Yagami,
I have indeed located your son. However, for many reasons, I am unable to simply bring him back to you unharmed. I have called in special, private forces to help me. We are working hard on freeing your son. Nevertheless, this may take a few more months. It is incredibly dangerous.
Which brings me to a very important question. Raito, after spending eight years without proper parental care, will very possibly not be the same ten-year-old boy you dearly miss. I am will to stop this case if you do not wish to discover exactly what has changed about him. I can guarantee, though, that Raito is completely safe at the moment. No harm can or will come to him where he is. Reply as soon as possible.

Finally, L hit the send button and the email began its encryption process, shooting through numerous emails before landing in the Yagamis' inbox, completely untraceable. They would email him in two days at the latest. He wondered briefly if they waited day in, day out, for an update from him in their emails. Or if they could have just moved on with their lives, taking care of their daughter and just wondering what had happened to their first-born. What if it was just a monthly debt they paid, just a bill like any other?

But no, he knew better than that. Not a day went by that the thought of their lost son didn't cross their minds. His monthly bill was a constant reminder.

"I think I remember this Wedy woman," BB shocked L out of his thoughts. He was standing directly behind L, who was perched in his usual crouch, not unlike the fetal position, on the couch in their living room. He craned his neck to see BB, for once calm and almost…solemn. At the elder's inquisitive gaze, BB continued, "A faint haze, as if it's not supposed to be in my memory…But, her picture…she reminds me of…of a person…who I think tried to break into Wammy's…or maybe how…A described a…dream…What if it happened?"

"And we were brainwashed into forgetting?" L inquired.

BB nodded slowly. "Yes." He stared straight ahead, above L's head. "Could it be possible…?"

After a moment's thought, L replied, "Highly probable, 87 percent, actually…" He furrowed his brow, realizing what this meant. Someone had been able to break into the impenetrable fortress that was Wammy's House. And she survived! But Watari couldn't handle that and erased it from everyone's memory…But A was able to remember flashes, like a dream…or he was the one who saw her…

Whatever the case, this woman had valuable information and L needed to speak with her before she was inevitably killed.

So, several days later, L perched himself on Wedy's bathtub ledge in her hotel room. BB had successfully hacked and replaced the devices Light's teammate, Matt, had tried to replicate, just mere hours before. Nobody on their team knew that or would know until it was too late. After all, Wedy would die within the hour.

But first…L had a few questions for her…and she was only too happy to provide him with the information, seeing as she thought it would be killed anyway and it served him right sneaking into her room while she was naked in the tub.

She never saw it coming when she shook his hand and a needle slipped into her wrist…


Author's Note: Oh, god, did you notice Mello called BB "backup" for L? I just couldn't help it. Sorry. And I'm sorry if you've noticed my obvious bias towards Mello, as he is the one who keeps getting all the information and whatnot while Near...is an ass...and Matt...seems to exist for comic relief! Oh, god, I'm so sorry, Matty! Luckily I have something planned that's sort of like redeeming him...Nothing for Near. He's still an ass.

So, I'm sorry the chapter is so short. I just couldn't write anymore. And you got a lot of info from both parts! I really didn't feel like writing out the whole next mission, only because it would be so similar to the last ones and not that great. You got what you needed and that's really it. I was focusing on the characterization I guess for this chapter...?

Have I mentioned how much I hate the name "Mid-Knights"? *sigh* And I was rereading the beginning and realized something: My writing has DEFINITELY developed quite a bit from '09! Eventually, I hope to do a rewrite to 1) get rid of any continuity errors that might have resulted from plot-hole coverings, added plot, and whatnot, 2) get rid of the team's stupid name as well as some of the childish humor ((yes, I'm serious)), and 3) just rewrite it to make it sound better, written by a more educated/advanced writer. ^-^

Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed! Review if you wish! ((They help me update faster, juuuuust pointing that out...))