A/N: I own no rights to the Kelly Clarkson song or lyrics Hear Me quoted below.

Hear me

I'm crying now

I'm ready now

Turn my world upside down

Find me

I'm lost inside the crowd

It's getting loud

I need you to see

I'm screaming for you to please

Hear me

Hear Me – Kelly Clarkson, Breakaway

"They've been informed, just as you requested Light." Rem leaned against the closed door of his dressing room. "I can take them back there when you're ready." She eyed him anxiously, protectively. "Are you sure this is what you want to do."

He turned towards her after he finished checking his appearance in the mirror. He was freshly showered and looked ready to face anything the world could throw his way. Her worries instantly dissolved.

"Wants and needs are irrelevant in this case Rem." He gave her a hard look. "This is something that has to be done."

His eyes softened slightly. "I appreciate your assistance with this...you've been very supportive." He gestured towards the door behind her. "Shall we?"

xxx

L checked the time on his phone, annoyed at being kept waiting. How long is he going to make us wait? He wondered, tucking the phone back in his jeans.

It didn't help that it had been suspiciously silent at the table since the performance. It was an exercise in futility trying to get much of anything out of the three men at the table at this point. I've had an easier time getting serial killers to confess.

They all looked slightly haunted. But L supposed that was appropriate considering they'd all just watched their dead friend's son shake his ass for money.

Not to mention they all probably got turned on by the performance. Can you say awkward? L chuckled lightly at the idea, earning an odd look from Aizawa. L wisely kept his musing to himself.

"Detectives?" Rem leaned in to speak to them. "Light will speak with you now. Follow me please."

They all looked at each other as she used his real name instead of his stage name. Well, that's interesting. L thought to himself. I have a feeling there's a reason for that as well. Perhaps to establish a clear distinction regarding who we're dealing with at the moment.

They all stood and followed the statuesque white haired woman towards the back of the club, down the hall towards the VIP rooms that L recalled from the other night. She took them all the way to the one he'd previously visited with Kira in and gestured silently for them to enter, giving L a nasty look as he entered.

Bitch. He thought to himself as he walked through the door. His eyes scanned the room, expecting to find Kira in all his glory in lace, leather, fur or silk, but were pleasantly surprised when they settled on the attractive young man sitting on the sofa, clothed in khakis and a brown v-neck sweater. He sat elegantly with his legs precisely crossed, possessing a poise befitting a GQ model, hands lightly resting on his knee.

Fresh off campus innocent...is that what you're going for Light Yagami? This might be your best look yet.

L quickly turned his mind to terrible images, like crime scenes and *shudder* Watari naked to keep from embarrassing himself and getting hard right there.

Light looked at them all impassively, as if waiting for them to bring their complaints to his feet.

"Hi Light." Matsuda broke the ice nervously.

"Matsuda." The younger man acknowledged the detective with a slight nod. "Did you enjoy the performance?" Light continued, his mouth twitching up slightly at the corners. "It certainly felt like you did at the time."

Matsuda looked down and turned bright crimson.

"Light, was it really necessary to say that to him?" Mogi spoke up; his normally quiet voice had an unmistakable edge to it.

Light leaned back further against the sofa. He placed his arms along the back and appeared to ponder the question before fixing Mogi with a hard stare.

"Would you rather I said more to you? Didn't get enough of what I whispered in your ear earlier, Mogi?" He smirked as he teased the imposing detective, undeterred by the man's attempt to chastise him.

"I-I, didn't..." Mogi fell silent.

"Light-" L began to interject.

"No!" Light held up a hand to quiet the raven haired detective, but otherwise refused to acknowledge the man. "I'll get to you eventually; just wait your turn Ryuzaki." Light's hands returned to his knee and he gave his full attention to the final NPA detective he had yet to address.

"Detective Aizawa?" Anything you would like to say? The floor is yours." Light indicated with a sweeping gesture.

"Yeah, I do Light. How about you start with telling us what the fuck is going on?" The other two NPA detective's jaws dropped. L just grinned and tried not to laugh outright as Light narrowed his eyes at Aizawa.

"I'm not sure what you mean. I think you'll have to be more specific." Light replied coolly to the angry man in front of him.

"Well, last time I checked, you had guardianship of Sayu, were on scholarship and entering as the top first year student at To-Oh. You were living in your home still and everything was fine. What changed? What am I missing, Light?"

"All of those things are still true." Light said evenly. "I think a key part of your statement could clue you into the problem here, the words: last time I checked." He gave them all a scornful look.

"How dare any of you be shocked at the choices I've made...when all of you, everyone, was there for about 5 minutes after mom and dad died before going back to their own lives." He said quietly before continuing.

"Sure, I managed to gain guardianship of Sayu, but I was also left there with her to pick up the pieces, to help her maintain some sense of normality in her life." L could sense the faint scent of distress emanating from Light, though he knew the Omega was likely trying to control it. As an Alpha, it was hard instinctually to refrain from attempting to comfort the young man.

"Helping her stay in the same private school, finding a way to stay in our home because that's where she's happiest..." Light trailed off as if slightly lost for a moment in thought.

"Light, we just-" Aizawa started.

Light cut him off "-All this I've done while entering To-Oh as the top student in the first year class and maintaining perfect grades, as well as coming here a couple nights a week...I haven't let a single ball drop." Light chuckled and shook his head before looking up at them all and sneering.

"So before you start questioning MY choices, you better take a good hard look at your own lives and determine whether you have nearly as positive outcomes in your life from choices you've had to make as I do in mine. Because from where I'm sitting, I've made some pretty amazing lemonade out of the lemons I've been handed." Light sat back and regarded them.

"Now if that's settled." Light turned to L with a fake smile. "Can you please get the fuck out of here?"

L grinned at Light. Oh, this one is fun...

"That's just not going to be possible Light Yagami." L took a few steps forward towards the young man, who to his credit did not show a hint of nervousness as the Alpha advanced on him. "Your little 'shaming' of the detectives here was very impressive, but it won't work on me."

Light's eyes narrowed at him. "What is this really about then? Get on with it Ryuzaki." He said with a dismissive gesture towards L.

L gazed at the young man, his mind still processing all of the information that had just been revealed. They'll be time to think about all of that later. He told himself, shoving it all down and refocusing on the matter at hand.

"You were correct the other night. The case I'm working on has to do with the Omegas that are missing, except that they aren't missing, they've all been murdered, brutally so actually." Light's eyes widened at L's words.

"Okay, you've got my attention." The young man muttered.

"I figured as much." L nibbled on his thumb and paced slightly as he spoke. "I came in to take the lead on the case for the NPA because I believe I know who the killer is. It fits his MO and given my past involvement in tracking his cases, I feel a personal obligation to see this through to the end." He gave a sidelong glance over at Light to gage his reaction so far and saw he was attentively listening, but calm. So far, so good.

"You asked the other night why I was coming to you...why not other dancers." L paused, trying to decide how much he wanted to say and determined he should just lay it all out on the table. "It's because the killer is committing these murders in alphabetical order based on the victim's stage name. Not only that, he's only targeting the most popular dancers, headliners mostly, at clubs in the Kanto region." He sensed the other detectives shifting anxiously behind him at the mention of this classified information.

Light cleared his throat. "W-what letter do you think he is currently up to now?"

"I believe he is currently in possession of an Omega with either G or H names. He may have already moved on to H and G could be dead already, but we just haven't found the body yet. I am unsure at the moment." L returned Light's gaze with an unwavering one of his own.

"You think the killer is going to target me." Light stated quietly. He uncrossed his legs and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, chin perched on his now clasped hands as he appeared to contemplate this information.

"Knowing the killer as well as I do...yes, I know for a fact that he will come for you, even if you quit today or went into hiding. He likely has you in his sights already and would still make you his target regardless." L responded, describing the twisted obsessive nature of the madman.

"You're the most likely, if not only potential victim meeting his profiled criteria for the letter K and I believe that unless you cooperate with our investigation, you'll be dead within a month, Light." The young man's head jerked up, eyes meeting with L's, giving him a glimpse of emotion swirling within.

Fear...good, you should be scared Light. Beyond is the monster in the dark that you never want to meet. Fear is a healthy thing in this case. Fear just might keep you alive.

xxx

Light looked at the other three detectives, and then back down at his hands, considering all that Ryuzaki had said.

If I'm killed...what will happen to Sayu? She'd be all alone, I can't let her lose the only person she has left. Light thought to himself, frustrated at the position he was in...to be exposed in this investigation. He planned to one day work in law enforcement as a detective and a case where he had key involvement as an Omega stripper was not going to help build his credibility amongst his future colleagues.

I don't really have a choice. I've made my bed and I have to lie in it. Being alive and taking care of Sayu is more important than my pride. I wouldn't have taken this job in the first place if it wasn't.

"What do you need from me Ryuzaki?" He sighed and replied in a calm tone that did not expose the inner turmoil beneath the surface. "I can't take a chance that I'm going to leave Sayu with no one...so I guess I don't really have a choice."

"Light, we would never let that happen, no matter what!" Matsuda exclaimed.

Light snorted derisively and gave him a dark look, his facade cracking. "Just like everyone was there for us before? No, I don't think I'll take that chance...we'll just have to make sure this asshole doesn't kill me, right Ryuzaki?" He smiled bitterly at the detective.

Light thought he saw something like respect in the man's eyes as he looked back at him calmly before responding.

"That would be the ideal scenario." The man's mouth twitched upwards at the corners slightly. "As for how we should proceed, you will become our top priority in terms of surveillance and monitoring."

"There will always be someone keeping an eye on you at home, school, work. This will be accomplished through both surveillance equipment and on-site monitoring in-person. We'll provide transportation in between those points to avoid a chance of abduction that way as well."

"Has this killer ever hurt anyone close to his intended victim in an effort to get to them?" Light asked worriedly. "Is there a chance Sayu could get caught up in this, because if there is, we need to figure out a way to protect her too."

"Not as of yet in this specific case, but I wouldn't put it past B if it came to it." He scratched his head. "We will establish monitoring for her as well, but more discretely so as not to alarm her."

"B?"

"Ah, yes, the person we believe is committing the crimes is a man named Beyond Birthday. I can provide you more information and a case file to read if you would visit the location I have established for the taskforce to work from for the duration of the case."

What the fuck kind of name is that? Light thought to himself.

"I have a condition to my involvement." Light said suddenly. "Let me work on the case, not just as a potential victim, but as part of the team. I'm studying law and criminal psychology at To-Oh and I even helped the NPA with cases in the past. You can't just ask me to sit on the side, not with so much on the line. I know I can be useful."

Ryuzaki gave him an appraising look. "Very well." He sighed. "It will be helpful in keeping an eye on you I suppose in any case." The raven haired detective took out a piece of paper from his pocket, walked forward to hand it to Light. "This is where I am staying and working from, please come by tomorrow and I can review the case with you."

Their fingers briefly touched as Light took it and he felt a tingle of electricity shoot through his body. Nope, shut those thoughts down right now Yagami!

"Is morning alright?"

"Yes, that's fine."

"Is there a particular time? I wouldn't want to disturb your sleep."

"I sleep very little Light, so you're unlikely to disturb it no matter what time you come by." The detective smirked at him. "However, if it helps you to have a time, let's say 10am." You're definitely different Ryuzaki...no doubt about that.

Light looked back again at the other men, who had been silently observing their exchange. "Are we done here for now?" Ryuzaki nodded. Light stood and strode purposefully past them out the door, not quite ready to speak with any of them yet.

I'll have to get along with them eventually though, since I've been allowed on the taskforce. I'm going to trust them with my life after all. Light took a right out of the VIP room and headed towards the door that would take him to the backstage area.

He entered and went straight to his dressing room, locking the door with a slightly shaking hand before sitting down in front of the mirror. He took a good long, hard look at himself.

This whole situation is so fucked up... He was exhausted, down to the very core of his being.

Light laid his head down on his arms and for the first time in nearly a year, the teenager felt hot, stinging tears well up in his eyes as silent sobs shook his body. He didn't make a sound as they pooled onto the table below and caught on the sleeves of his sweater.