Hey everyone, back with another chapter. I haven't been very proud of the last couple chapters that I've posted, they're poorly written compared to what I'm capable of writing and I apologize for that. I'm sure this doesn't make up for it but hopefully this chapter has a bit more…meat to it (for lack of a better word) than the past few. Hmm this story is starting to reach its climax and I can't wait, this is the longest story I've written ever and that overall I'm very proud of. Also I'm glad that people are willing to read my stuff, for that I thank all of you. I don't know why but for the 100th reviewer, I want to give them something. Be it their own fanfiction or just a 'Yay congratz and thank you for being number 100', I don't care but I just want to do something to thank you guys for following me through this whole thing (even though it's done finished yet). I'm going to leave now and let you read, as always I hope you get some enjoyment out of this next chapter : )

L POV

I sat there for what seemed to be hours in a confused stupor, the events that had just occurred only minutes ago still roiling around in my head. My pants and underwear still pooled around my ankles and I had no way to pull them up, but it's not like it would have mattered, no one was coming for me anyway. They were just going to let me go down along with the ship. The door to my little prison room was shut when the hallway emitted a low gurgling sound. My eyes widened as water poured under the door in a steady stream, spreading rapidly across the floor.

"Shit." I muttered, mustering up all the strength in my drained limbs to hoist myself to my feet and hop onto a platform raised off the ground. I yanked my arms back, trying to pull at least one hand out of the cuffs, working until the skin around my wrists started to crack and bleed. No good. "Help!" I yelled futilely. "Someone! Can anybody hear me?" I waited for 3 seconds to see if anyone would reply even in a different language, but I was only met by the sound of more rushing water. I lowered my head slightly, squeezing my eyes shut.

"This could be bad."

Light POV

I had never run so swiftly in my entire life. I dashed and weaved through panicked masses of people, blindly pushing people out of my way so that I could find L. I had no idea where to go but either way I was running. I turned down the hallway through the First Class corridor and immediately ran smack dab into the one person I was also subconsciously looking for: Mr. Gordon Michaels. Trouble was I was running so quickly that I tripped over a bump in the waterlogged carpet and disgracefully knocked over the man in the process, sending us both tumbling to the ground. I pretended not to notice the obvious blush on his cheeks when I landed on top of him because this was an emergency. After a breathless apology I helped him up, habitually straightening out my clothes.

"Mr. Michaels, thank God!" I huffed, trying to regain my breath. "Where would the Master at Arms take someone under arrest?" He seemed confused at my request because his eyes flickered out towards the open deck and he shook his head.

"What are you talking about Light? You need to get to a boat right away!" he said, his voice heightening in alarm. I shook my head quickly.

"No! I'll do this with or without your help, sir. But without will take longer." I watched the confliction pass through his eyes as I waited on my toes for an answer. After a moment he closed his eyes and pointed behind him to the elevators, beaten.

"Take the elevator to the very bottom, go left, down the crewman's passage then make a right." Only in this state did I have to actually think to retain information.

"Bottom, left, right. Ok I have it." I said. Michaels nodded to me, placing a hand on my shoulder, a worried look in his eyes.

"Hurry, Light." He murmured. With that I sprinted to the elevators, the last operator closing up his lift to leave.

"Sorry, sir, the elevators are closed—" the man started to say. Without thinking, I grabbed him and shoved the man back into the elevator.

"I'm through with being polite goddamnit! I may never be polite the rest of my life! Now take me down!" I barked, my gaze steely and determined as the operator fumbled to comply. The doors finally closed and silence fell upon us for the first time since the iceberg hit as the lift descended. This silence was abruptly shattered when ice water began to seep through the thick metal doors about a foot off the ground. I swallowed painfully as the elevator finally stopped and the doors opened, the frigid water flooding into the compartment, swirling around my shins. I yelped, having sorely underestimated the actual temperature of the water. The operator screamed in shock, rudely shoving me from the lift and closing the door to rise back to the upper decks, leaving me behind in a matter of moments.

"Left, crew passage." I muttered to myself, turning in the correct direction and began slogging down the corridor. The water acted like suction for my legs and feet even though there was only about a foot and a half. It soaked through my leather shoes and socks, rendering my feet numb and icy after only a few minutes. The place was understandably deserted, leaving me with the crushing reminder that I was complete and utterly alone. "Right, right…right." I said to myself, recalling the instructions. I turned into a cross-corridor, splashing down the hall. There was a row of doors on each side and I knew it wouldn't help to check every one of them individually.

"L? Lawliet where are you?" I yelled, cupping my hands over my mouth. I waited for three seconds, dread creeping up my spine when I was met by only the sound of rushing water. "Lawliet are you here? Where are you?" I was about to start knocking down doors when I heard it.

"LIGHT! I'm in here!" It was faint but definitely there, L. L's voice. I ran as quickly as possible towards the end of the hallway through the water to one of the last doors. I called once more for confirmation but I already knew L was behind that door. I tried the handle but it was locked. Raising my foot, I mustered up all my energy in my numb foot to crash through that wooden door, knocking it off its hinges. Without a second's delay I splashed over to L, immediately wrapping my arms around him.

"L, L…I'm so sorry I didn't believe you, I'm sorry!" I was almost crying with relief, my shoulders shuddering. I couldn't help but look down, noticing L's pants and underwear floating in another part of the room. "W-what happened to your—"

"I don't want to discuss that." L muttered grimly, squeezing his eyes shut. "Ward put the jewelry in my pocket." I took L's face in my hands, kissing his mouth roughly.

"I know, I know." I said, my voice barely louder than a whisper.

"So…how did you find out I didn't do it?" L asked quickly. I shook my head, biting my lip.

"I didn't. I just realized I already knew." We shared a look for a moment before the urgency of the situation crashed back on us. I glanced at L's bound wrists and decided to start with that. "Ok did you happen to notice where they happened to put the key to those?" L shook his head.

"It's useless, I kept track and Guilford took the key with him." He spoke the name 'Guilford' like it was a disgusting maggot. It made me cringe inwardly but I nodded, frantically looking around the room for anything that might help break the cuffs. L was looking as well when our eyes simultaneously fell upon a small handgun hanging on a hook by the door by its trigger. I looked back at L and leapt through the water towards it before he could object. I carefully grabbed the weapon from its hook, holding the cool metal in my hand for a moment before repositioning my fingers how I had seen it on TV many times before. I looked back at L whose eyes were growing wider by the second.

"Now Light, I'm almost 96 percent positive that you have no idea how to shoot that gun in your hand. If you're planning to do what I think you're planning to do, because of your lack of experience there is an 89 percent chance that you will shoot at least one of my hands off." He said with pseudo calmness. I rolled my eyes, trudging back to him.

"We don't have much of an option L, it's either this or I find an axe and try to chop the chains apart." I couldn't help the irritation that colored my tone at his lack of faith in my shooting abilities. He had every reason to doubt them but all the same. He noted the resolve in my eyes and resigned with a sigh, his body sagging at the thought of me aiming a gun at his person.

"Ok fine, but do a few practice shots first alright?" he nodded towards a blank wall across from us. I turned, holding the weapon at eye level, wasting no time in firing a round into the wall. It was a clean shot and I was able to tense my muscles enough so that the kick of the gun didn't end up hitting me in the nose. I glanced back at L who nodded in approval.

"Now try to fire at the same mark again." My brow furrowed with doubt but nevertheless I aimed and fired, the bullet piercing the wall at about 4 inches from the initial mark. My faced paled. "Okay that's enough practice." L's voice wavered behind me as he assessed the wall and my sub-par aim. I couldn't help but notice the blood drain from L's face as I turned the gun on him as he stretched his hands as far apart as the metal would permit. I had about 3 and a half inches of space to shoot and it would only take one shot. There wasn't much time to think as I raised the gun and winced, swallowing hard.

"You can do it, Light. Just focus. I trust you." L said, his voice stronger than before. It was a shame he had said that because I didn't trust myself at all at that moment. Even so, L closed his eyes and I took aim. I didn't realize I had closed my eyes as well until my finger pulled on the trigger. K-WANG! I was about ready to burst into tears when I gingerly opened my eyes, to look… L was grinning with two separate cuffs. I dropped the revolver and it floated away from me across the surface of the now 3 foot high water. All the strength drained from me and my brain fizzed out for the moment. I did it.

"I knew you could do it, Light." L said, still grinning. He hopped down from his dry perch into the water next to me. I could hear the breath hitch in his throat as his bare skin (he was still without pants) hit the ice cold water. "Shit! Excuse my French. Ow, dear God that's cold!" he screeched. If the prospect of death wasn't looming over us like a shadow I would have laughed. Without saying a word I sloshed through the water to L's only half-soaked pants, carefully grabbing them from the rising water. I handed them to him and he looked surprised for a moment before wordlessly slipping the jeans onto his body awkwardly. Now that we were both clothed, I grabbed L's hand to leave.

We waded out into the hall and I started towards the nearest stairwell but L stopped me. There was only about a foot of the stairwell visible.

"Too deep. We need to find another way out." He said grimly. I released his hand and looked around for an escape, any escape. We splashed through the hallways until we came across a doorway that seemed to lead back up towards the main decks. It was tightly locked.

"Back up." I told L who did as I commanded, staying off to the side as I backed up as far as I could in the narrow corridor and sprinted towards the door, shoulder first. The wooden doorframe splintered and the door burst open under the force of my shoulder. I had no idea how strong I was until that night. L and I stumbled though into a new hallway, a slightly dryer one thankfully. A steward, who was nearby herding people along, marched over to us, an angry scowl on his face. He shook his finger at our backs as we hurried along, holding hands once again.

"Here you!" he started to rant. "You'll have to pay for that, you know! That's White Star Line property—"

"FUCK OFF!" L and I turned and yelled in unison. I lead L past the dumbfounded steward and we soon caught up with the steerage stragglers going aft. In places the corridor was almost completely blocked by large families carrying all their luggage. An Irish woman handed L a blanket to his astonishment, more for modesty than anything because she herself was blue-lipped and shivering. L shook his head and in turn wrapped the blanket back around the woman and her young child, smiling reassuringly. He didn't know I was watching him and I smiled at his thoughtfulness. Who knew he could be so selfless. The woman's husband offered L and me a flask of whiskey which I gratefully took.

"This'll take the chill off." The man said and I nodded in thanks, taking a swig. The liquid burned all the way down my throat. Any other day I would have spat it back out but it offered comfortable warmth to drip through my frozen limbs. I closed my eyes for a moment, passing it to L who refused it. I passed it back to the owner, thanking the man once again.

After a few more moments of standing, I decided that being there wouldn't help us at all. I gritted my teeth, grabbing L's hand and leading him away from the group of commoners.

"We need to find another way; they're obviously not going to let anyone through here." I said. L nodded, following me without much protest.

"L! LIGHT! THERE YOU GUYS ARE!" A voice sounded somewhere behind us and before I could turn around, something launched itself onto our backs. My heart faltered and skipped a beat at the sound of someone weeping loudly in my ear.

"Mello get off of Light!" I heard L say as he began to pry the blond from my neck. My windpipe was constricted as Mello clutched for dear life, blubbering about never seeing L and I again. I used my hands to wrench Mello's fingers from my neck and lurched forward, gasping for breath. I turned to see the whole gang together, hugging L like, well like a family. The white haired kid, Near I think, was carrying a teddy bear close to his chest, looking obviously shaken up, but the most level headed out of all of all the boys.

"All the boats are going." He informed us. L nodded and started speaking to them in a language that I didn't quite know, was it…Swahili? I can't say I was surprised; they all seemed like absolute geniuses. Yes I was very smart, yes, but I couldn't compare to L and his brothers. Their intelligence was insurmountable.

Eventually after some arguing in several different languages (most of which I knew, they weren't exactly saying kind words) and dragging me into the talk, we agreed to split up, and meet back up in the main deck. L, B and I were together, Mello, Matt, and Near were together as well. We all exchanged hugs once more before going our separate ways. Mello, Matt, and Near disappeared around a corridor, in search of another route to the main deck while B, L and I stayed behind. We tried to find our way through a sea of confused passengers.

Past a woman arguing heatedly with a Serbo-Croatian, a wailing child next to them…past a man kneeling to console a woman who was just sitting on the floor, sobbing… and past a man with an English/Arabic dictionary, trying to figure out what the various signs mean while his wife and children waited patiently. I stopped for a moment, helping them quickly, speaking Arabic as flawlessly as a local. I directed them in the right way and they thanked me gratefully, rushing off along the hallway. I couldn't help but smile to myself, hoping that would be one more family still alive by morning.

B and L were both ahead of me in a narrow stairwell and I caught up quickly, we passed through two decks before we were stopped by a small group pressed up against a steel gate. The steerage men were yelling at a scared steward.

"Go to the main stairwell, with everyone else. It'll all get sorted out there." The steward explained in an irritated voice. He couldn't care what happened to these steerage people one way or the other. I took one look at the scene and finally just lost it.

"God damn it to Hell son of a bitch!" I screeched, shaking the steel gate so hard I thought it would break off its hinges. My vision flooded red and I kicked and yelled, the steward backed away like I was a caged wild animal. I felt L's arms wrap around my torso as he dragged me back down the stairwell.

"Calm down, Light! You need to calm down! It's going to be alright, we'll get through this." He said into my ear with such unerring calmness that I broke from his grasp, rounding my anger on him.

"How the hell can you be so calm in a situation like this?" I yelled at him, throwing my hands in the air. He just looked at me, a mix of sadness, compassion and fear glinting in his eyes.

"I know we'll get through this, Light Yagami. I'll be with you, until the end. I promise you that much okay?" He murmured, just loud enough for me to hear. My anger burned away reluctantly as I soaked in his words, and I grudgingly nodded, running a hand through my hair.

"For now we have to find a way to get up there…" My brain finally kicks into gear when I spotted a bench not to far from where we stood. B seemed to match wavelengths with me because we both sprinted over to the bench at the same time, grabbing the end of the wooden bench bolted to the floor. In no time the bolts sheared and broke free and we hoisted it up off the ground. L was quickly ushering people aside just in time as B and I nodded and ran up the step with the bench and rammed into it with everything we had. It ripped loose from its track and fell outward, narrowly missing the steward. Led by B, the crowd surged through like a single entity. I stepped up to the cowering steward and lifted my nose like the First Class snob I was and looked down at the man.

"If you have any intention of keeping you pathetic job with White Star Line, I suggest you escort these good people to the boat deck…now." I said in my most imperious voice. Class won out. He nodded and dumbly motioned for the crowd to follow him. I nodded with satisfaction, jogging to join B and L at the front of the herd.

We burst out onto the boat deck from the crew stairs just aft of the third funnel. We looked at the empty davits.

"Damnit the boats are gone!" L cursed, grinding his teeth. I spotted Sebastian Lewis chugging forward along the deck, escorting two first class ladies. I ran towards him, leaving L and B for a moment.

"Sebastian!" I yelled out. "Are there any boats left?" He stared at my bedraggled state but replied.

"Yes…there are still a few all the way forward. This way, I'll lead you!" I shook my head and motioned for L and B to follow me as we sprinted through the crowd recklessly, streaking past everyone. The brothers were surprisingly agile and were able to keep up with me no problem. We passed a band playing classical music amidst the panic and I heard B scoff under his breath.

"Music to drown by. Now I know I'm in First Class." He said, his voice carried by the wind whooshing past us. A few feet ahead I saw the shock of white hair amongst the crowd and felt relief flood through me.

"Near!" I yelled out, waving frantically. He turned and grabbed Mello and Matt who ran up to us again, giving us all hugs. For some reason, they made me feel like I was one of them. I didn't have much time to dwell on this fact when Matt pointed somewhere behind him.

"Alright I saw some boats up ahead; we need to get there right now. There's about 10 people getting in boats every 2 minutes and there are about 5 boats left." We all took this into account, taking off in the right direction in a large mob. Somewhere along the way L ended up scooping Near into his arms, carrying him as we ran. Near didn't protest as we finally made our way to the last few boats. In one there were three spots left. Matt pushed Mello towards the boat and helped him in, talking in a quick hushed tone that none of us could hear. I watched Mello's face go from relieved to panic-stricken as Matt backed away from the boat, kissing Mello's cheek one more time.

"What? No Matt what are you doing? Get in the boat! You can't leave me!" Mello wailed hysterically, trying to leap out of the boat after his lover and best friend. The stewards wouldn't allow him to as Matt led Near to the boat next. Before he went over the edge, Near trudged back to L, wrapping his thin arms around L's torso.

"I love you, L. Take care and be safe." He murmured, backing away from the ebony haired man. For the first time I had seen him, Near had tears running down his face. L dropped to his knees, hugging the boy again, wrapping him in an embrace too intimate for me to understand.

"Praesent dapibus, Nate." (Stay safe, Nate) He said in Latin into the boy's ear. I couldn't help the tear that slid down my cheek as L helped Near into the boat along with another woman and child who needed to be in the boat more than we did. L, B, Matt and I stood on the boat deck as the seamen began to lower the boat to the ocean. Mello reached over the edge of the boat, crying uncontrollably as he held his hand out to Matt. Tears even ran down Matt's cheeks as he lunged forward to grab Mello's hand and hold it as long as he could.

"I love you, Mihael, I'll see you soon okay? I promise. We won't be apart for long, you'll see!" Matt cried out reassurances as their fingers were forces apart. The boat disappeared from sight over the side of the boat moments after. Near didn't say anything but he cried softly into his bear and didn't look back at us. I watched Matt lift up his glasses to wipe the tears from his eyes as he was forced to part with Mello and B pulled him into a tight hug.

"It's gonna be okay, we're getting on the next boat so we'll be right near them." He said comfortingly. After a few heartbreaking moments we finally move on to another boat which was filling up quickly. Once again only three spots available. Matt and B hopped in without question and I gazed at the last spot. L seemed to sense my unease and gripped my shoulders from behind.

"Go Light. Get in the boat." He whispered. Something in my heart cracked at his words and I released myself, shaking my head.

"No, there's no way I'm leaving without you, L. After all this I'm not leaving you again!" I said, my voice bubbling into hysteria that mirrored Mello's from only minutes before. L closed his eyes as if he was about to say something when I heard another voice sounded behind me, recognizable out of the screams emitted from the general chaos.

"Yes. Get into the boat, Light." My blood ran cold and I spun around, met by the worst sight I could have thought of at that very moment.

It was Misa.

Ah the sneaky bitch is back. What has to happen to her for her to die? I'm not sure but I guarantee I'll find a way. So Light busted L out of jail, they met up with the rest of the gang and now they're on their way to safety right? WRONG. Just joking (sort of). Either way there you go, I feel kinda bad about splitting Matt and Mello up but I did it anyway. Hope you liked this chapter, next one will be coming up soon, I'm sort of on a writing roll so to speak so it should maybe be a few days till the next one. Nevertheless I'm trying to focus on quality rather than how quickly I can crank out the next chapter. Alright well I'm going to go rock out with some Owl City and drift off to sleep, reviews would be lovely : )