Of course it was the moment L thought the night had turned out to be a waste of his time that full hell broke loose. He and Mello were each hiding in separate conners of the first evacuated victim's room. L had a clear view of the door and Mello could see the window. These were the only possible entrances, and the pair were ready for their killer to make his entrance at any moment. Well, they at least had been ready.

They had been sitting there for over an hour, and L could practically feel the impatience radiating off of Mello. He was tempted to tell the boy to settle down, for his high-strung energy was doing nothing to calm L's nerves. He himself was tired of waiting, that he would admit. L was uncomfortable in his hiding place, and the pistol that he had brought for security purposes was too big for the pocket he had shoved it into causing it to press into his leg. Given Mello's current irritation, L was starting to regret arming him as well, lest the blonde becoming even more bored and decided to play with the gun.

That was when the laptop that L had kept tucked out of view sounded a loud alert.

"And he told me to turn my phone off," Mello muttered this, but it was clear that L had been meant to hear it.

L whipped the device open with speed that he doubted was good for it. His eyes frantically scanned the screen for what he hoped the alert was not for. L's stomach dropped and the blood rushed from his face when his fears were realized.

"Is something wrong?" Mello's annoyance had turned to anxiousness. L had no doubt that the blonde could read L's face like an open book.

"Yes," L had no need to sugar coat the situation. "Raito's tracker has stopped responding."

"But he's supposed to be with Misa and the shinigami," Mello's face reflected the creeping worry L himself was feeling.

"How did I let myself believe that he'd stay put?" L laughed darkly. From the beginning he had been marveling at how alike he and Raito were. Of course the boy wouldn't listen when told to stay out of danger. That was something L himself would never do, especially at his age.

L produced his cellphone from his pocket and dialed the number Misa had given him for her apartment. She picked up within seconds. This did not quell L's nerves.

"Ryuzaki?" he heard her high voice on the other end of the line and immediately identified fear.

"Where is he?" L bypassed the formalities.

"I hoped he was with you," Misa's voice broke with a sob. "I'm sorry. Misa tried to stop him from leaving, but Raito wouldn't listen! Then he kissed me and—"

"He what?" L asked before he could stop himself. He mentally chided himself for asking the jealous question when there was work to be done. "Never mind, that doesn't matter. When did he leave your apartment?"

"Less than fine minutes ago," she answered, voice was quivering.

"Where did he say he was going?"

"To find you," she paused for a moment. "He said that he needed to warn you. He said you're not the target."

"Who did he say was?" L knew that Raito's revelation must be enough for him to risk not only his own life, but L's and Mello's had he made it to the room an exposed their hiding places.

"Mello," her voice still shaking, and he was grateful that he could understand her through it. "Ryuzaki, how did you know Raito left my apartment?"

"I don't have time to explain," he told her harshly. Then added in a softer tone, more considerate: "We'll get him back. I promise."

"Okay," she whispered, hopefully trusting his words.

L hung up the phone without saying anything more to the girl. He let this new piece of information sink in. Raito had just given him the final piece of the puzzle, but that left putting it together to him alone. Or did it?

"Mello," L turned to the blonde. "The stake out is off, B's not coming."

Mello nodded, and L appreciated that the blonde didn't feel the need to ask for more details or comment on this fact.

"Grab your roommate," he instructed. "I need answers fast."

If kidnapping and interrogating B's spy was the only way to get them, then so be it. L didn't have time to do things the right way. Every second that he wasted was another tick of the time bomb that was Raito's life.

"On it," Mello darted from the room.

L didn't move.

"Raito is gone and Mello's the target," he murmured to himself.

This made sense! Raito must have deduced that B was going after L's man under cover, who he would assume was L's successor. The percentage of this being a coincidence was minimal, but L doubted that B had known that Raito had come to this conclusion and attacked him for this purpose. And, if Raito was correct, why hadn't B tried to kill Mello earlier?

"Because he doesn't know that Mello is my successor," L realized out loud.

B took Raito because he thinks that Raito is!

There was a good and a bad side to this. If B thought that Raito was L's successor Raito was surely still alive, for B would want to make the boy's death memorable. However, this double edged sword meant that, at that very moment, Raito was suffering all of the pain that B could not inflict on L himself. The taste of metallic hatred and fear filled L's mouth, and he fought to regain control of his emotions. He couldn't save Raito if he was swimming in rage and fear. Right now facts needed to be L's best friends once again.

If Raito was B's target, then that explained why Raito and Misa had been attacked by B's ally. But why had B stopped there? If he wanted Raito gone so badly, he surely could have found another opportunity to kill him. After all, Raito had to walk alone at night on occasion, and it wasn't as if B hadn't figured out easy and undetectable access to the Lowood campus.

Had B somehow gained news of L's arrival and wanted to lay low? No, this didn't fit. If B didn't want L's attention he wouldn't have increased the deaths. Not to mention that theory would assume that there was something special about the present night.

Why take Raito now? There had to be something significant to Beyond about that night. It was possible B knew that L planned to catch him, but not even L had known he would act now until the night before. And he'd only decide to speed up his plan because he'd found out about Raito's lifespan….

"No," L shook his head in pure disbelief. His voice was so soft that he could only barely hear it himself. "That's impossible."

Beyond dumped the unconscious boy onto the basement floor. Getting him here had been a long process. Beyond wasn't just referring to the trouble it had been carrying his body all the way to the hideout. For a skinny Japanese kid, Light Yagami was heavy. Still, that was not the hard part.

Beyond's source had been vague when it came to details. He hadn't even been told what L's successor looked like. The source had proudly given him the boy's class schedule. At the time, he thought that narrowing it down would take ages.

Yet luck was on his side. He chose the smallest class the boy attended to look over. It was easy to fin the smartest student in the art class. The school records were not hard to hack. Surveillance on Yagami proved fruitful, and now Beyond had his prize.

He looked at the red numbers floating above the boy's slack face. A smile curled his lips. Luck truly was on his side.

He didn't like the word fate, but he knew that his escape from the asylum was a fluke. This motivated him to seize the ripe opportunity. He knew that he'd end up in flames again once this was over. He didn't delude himself of that. Life was something he would always be deprived of. Death had always been his curse.

Beyond was most proud of how quick he had formulated his plan. He was quite capable of escaping alone, but he knew he was going to need others for his revenge. This was why he broke out with the four inmates.

Inmate-number-one's design was to die. This wasn't Beyond's fault. He had chosen the man because of his death date. This was the first blood that Beyond had spilled since he was locked up. It rejuvenated him. He almost wanted to thank the dead man.

He knew that inmate-number-two was going to die soon as well. He used this to his advantage. It was easy to convince the man to rob the store. Beyond savored the feeling of manipulation. He loved pulling stings. The sensation was almost as thrilling as hushing out a life. When L found out about the death, Beyond knew it would look like inmate-number-two had left the group. This would throw off the purpose of the next two.

Inmate-number-three knew that Beyond was smarter than him. He had no idea how much of a fool he really was. Beyond sent this one to America. He told the former inmate who to kill and how to do it. Beyond understood that L would catch him eventually. That didn't matter. Inmate-number-three was only necessary for a few short months.

Inmate-number-four was not meant to die. Beyond chose him because this man's life span was longer than his plan. Inmate-number-four was not crucial, but Beyond enjoyed having someone at his disposal. This man was security. Beyond still did not understand how he died. But soon that would not matter. Soon nothing would matter.

A long time ago, Beyond knew he would have wanted an explanation. There were many things that he used to want. There were also many things that he used to have.

He took his own sanity for granted. In his rare moments of true honestly, Beyond knew that the real BB was gone. That man died when Naomi Misora and L beat him. Now only a shattered fragment was left. Yet that was still enough of him to take what he wanted.

Beyond pulled his thoughts back to the present. He took the knife from his pocket. Playfully, he twirled the blade in his fingers. His eyes moved up and down the handsome boy's body. Where to start?

There was no need to stain the boy's pretty white shirt. He peeled the article of clothing off and tossed it to the side. This gave him a better view of the purple bruises that were already forming on the boy's neck.

His mind was suddenly overcome with images of similar bruises on a different, more delicate neck. Beyond frantically shook his head. He blinked wildly. No matter how hard he fought to expel it, the corpse stayed etched into his memory.

He'd stay away from the neck for now. That was for the best. He wanted this night to last anyway.

Beyond grasped the left hand of Light Yagami. He admired the boys manicured finger tips for only a second. Smoothly, he shoved the blade of the knife between the nail and remainder of the boy's pointer finger.

The boy howled in pain. He jolted awake. Beyond watched the fear fill Yagami's face as their eyes met.

He swiftly flicked the blade, severing the blood coated nail from the finger. Yagami stifled another scream. His eyes pooled with hate and pain. The boy tried to pull away from Beyond's grasp, but was easily shoved back to the ground.

Yes. Beyond couldn't help chuckling to himself. This was going to be fun.

Mello's fist collided with the wall of his empty room. He didn't have the time—or the esteem—to wonder at how it had not left a dent. The night before Matt told him that he would stay in their room—he has promised that he would stay in their room—but now he was no where to be found.

Twenty four hours was not a long period of time, but it was enough for Mello to fully process that Matt worked for B. So why was the final piece of full betrayal only now fitting into his emotional puzzle? He had understood that L was right and Matt was a liar. Was he really holding on to one last shred of hope before letting go of the idea that his friend was what he said he was?

He didn't want to admit, even to himself, that what Matt had said about not wanting to say goodbye had fazed him. Even in the moment of that conversation, Mello had reminded himself who Matt was. Therefore, the look in the redhead's eyes should not feel burned in Mello's memory.

He shouldn't be stooping to this level! He had more control of his emotion. Granted, he didn't have very much, but it was supposed to be enough to prevent him from falling from a trick that he was fully aware of.

Shaking his head, Mello tried to focus on what needed to be done. His initial concern that Light had been murdered (or was about to be) won the battle for control of his mental state. He bolted down the hallway and back to the room he had left L in.

"I can't find him." He wasn't surprised that L had not moved from his position in front of his laptop. If Mello was upset, he could only imagine the whirlwind of emotions L was currently in the mix of. "Do you think he's with B?"

"It's more than possible," L's eyes were not on the laptop but they didn't meet Mello's gaze. "You could see the day that Raito's life ran out, correct?"

"Yes," Mello knew that L wouldn't ask a question he knew the answer to for no reason.

"The day only?"

"Yes," Mello confirmed.

"What did Misa Amane's life span look like?" Now his eyes met Mello, and the blonde silently wished the L would resume staring at the wall. He felt like the intensity of L's gaze was powerful enough to wear a hole through the middle of him.

"It was long," Mello couldn't remember the exact numbers. "Didn't Light say that she was given the rest of the life of the shinigami that died for her?"

"She was supposed to die the day that her and Raito were attacked," L sounded like he was talking more to himself than to Mello. "If he knew this and knew that Raito would run out of time soon, then this was the perfect moment to take Raito."

"What are you talking about?" Mello watched as L stood from his crouched position and began to pace the small room (thankfully not in Mello's direction).

"But then the inmate died and Misa's years expanded," L continued in a mumble. "He wouldn't understand this, since he couldn't have one of the notes, so instead of trying again he kept his distance. Yes, yes! That's why he waited until now."

"L!" Mello's voice reverberated in the small space.

"Yes?" L looked back at him, a neutral expression on his face.

"What are you going on about?" He demanded.

"Beyond Birthday has the shinigami eyes," L carried the weight of these words without any pride in discovery. "That's why he took Raito tonight. It's why he didn't bother coming after any of the three boys we evacuated."

Mello was briefly filled with disgust that he shared yet another quality with Beyond Birthday. He pushed through this in order to process exactly what this new piece of information meant.

"But he can't have a death note," Mello argued sensibly.

"No," L agreed. "If he did he wouldn't bother killing people on the day they're meant to die. If I could, I'd like to meditate on this more, but we need to find Raito now."

"The tracker isn't working," Mello reminded him. "Do you have any ideas where B is hiding."

"B's trying to spite me one last time," L said to himself, ignoring Mello's question. "He only does this because he knows he can't beat me. No matter the circumstance, he will never win the game."

"So?"

"He's trying to spite me," L repeated. "Not undo me."

"Oh." The gears began to click inside Mello's head.

"He's losing his touch—no, he lost his touch while incarcerated." L dove back to his laptop. "Originally I thought that B destroyed Raito's watch when he attacked him, but what if it was only damaged in the struggle."

He furiously pressed a series of keys.

"What are you doing?" Mello couldn't help but ask.

"Rebooting the device." A confident smile broke across L's face and he spun the computer around for Mello to see. "Found him."

Raito was wrenched from his numbing unconsciousness by an acute and agonizing pain. His eyes first met the rabid gaze of Beyond Birthday before jumping to his blood soaked pointer finger. The knife was a cold burn against this severed skin. Looking at his separated nail made bile rise in his throat. He wanted to pull his hand away from the maniac, but knew this would only hurt more.

In less than a second and with the smallest movement of his wrist, Beyond Birthday had completely removed Raito's finger nail. Raito heard a loud cry, and vaguely registered that it was coming from his own lips. Instinct propelled him away from the now grinning murderer. But, with what seemed like no effort, Beyond shoved him to the ground again.

The cement floor felt like ice against his bare back, but was nothing compared to the stinging spot where his nail used to be. He slowly contracted his palm into a fist, daring to put pressure on the wound in an attempt to slow its bleeding. Only now did Raito realize that Beyond had removed his shirt. Even through his pain, Raito still found enough pride in him to feel violated by this gesture.

Defilement quickly turned to trepidation, as he realized that Beyond was not eyeing his chest or abdomen. Instead the killer's gaze traveled up and down Raito's recently stitched shoulder. His mind recalled how much the stab wound had hurt the night he and Misa were jumped, and was not soothed by the detail that this attack had been quick and precise. That man's goal had been to injure him, not to cause him extra pain. He didn't doubt that Beyond was currently conjuring how he would make every inch of Raito's shoulder scream in agony.

"Why are you doing this?" The question flew from Raito's mouth in a poor attempt to stall the man. Beyond looked at his face with curiosity, Raito used this opportunity to elaborate. "This isn't going to benefit you at all. You must know that."

Maybe he could keep Beyond talking until… Until what? L bursted in a rescued him? Raito subtly glanced to his cracked watch. It was likely that the tracking device hidden inside of it was damaged. And, even if L could find him, the detective couldn't risk coming himself. Raito doubted that he would allow Mello to come either. If the two of them rushed in to save him, there was a high chance that Beyond would be able to kill them both.

If L and Mello died there was no point to any of this! Raito knew that L cared about him. He had known that before they kissed. Somehow the careful lens of responsibility that L had regarded the teen through had turned into something more than plutonic affection. Raito doubted that it was as potent as the burning desire he felt for the man, but that wasn't what he wanted. From the moment that he kissed L, he'd known that once the case ended so would whatever was between them. Now it seemed that Raito wouldn't be around to mourn this ending.

By now L must know that Beyond had him, and that Raito's minutes were numbered. Raito was supposed to die, and they had been foolish thinking that they could prevent it. L couldn't risk his own life for someone that was already doomed. He couldn't give Beyond Birthday the opportunity to win. As the world's best detective, he wasn't allowed to make that sacrifice.

Raito was pulled back to focus when Beyond placed the tip of the knife at the end of the scar on Raito's shoulder. He forced his face not to wince in anticipation, but could feel himself twitch. His heart sped up on it's own accord. The smile on his attacker's lips darkened.

"And how does following him benefit you?" Beyond spoke for the first time in a low but oddly gentle voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Raito quickly learned that this was the wrong answer, for instead of speaking Beyond pressed down on the knife. Raito sucked in a harsh breath as the blade ever so slowly broke through his skin.

"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about," Beyond smirked. "I'm surprised that he's told you who I am. Tell me, did it give you second thoughts to know of those who fell before you?"

He thinks I'm Mello. Raito realized. Or, at least, he thinks I'm L's successor.

Raito decided against correcting the madman. It was unlikely that Beyond would believe him, and even if he did he'd still want Raito dead. If Raito pretended that he was L's successor, Beyond would not know to go after Mello. This would keep the blonde out of harms way in time for L to catch him.

"I asked you a question," Beyond dug the knife deeper into Raito. An excruciating agony boiled in him.

"No," Raito blurted.

"You must think you're too smart to descend into madness," Beyond chuckled.

"No, that's not it," Raito choked out with a defiant—and entirely forced—smirk. "I'm too loyal to end up like you."

Raito laced these words with as much malice as he could. Beyond was going to torture him no matter what he said. He was going to die that night no matter what happened. If Raito had to loose his life, he was not going to throw away any more of his pride.

Beyond's smirk thinned into a sneer. He slowly dragged the knife along the healed wound, opening the now throbbing and bleeding scar.

"He must have not told you about A," his voice was now heavy and almost human.

"No," Raito fought to keep his own tone steady.

"A was L's first successor," Beyond explained as he continued the sever Raito's flesh. "I doubt L will ever find another more dedicated. Poor, driven, intelligent A."

A frigid laugh escaped Beyond's throat. Raito tensed in order to repress his shudder. He didn't bother asking what happened to the person Beyond was talking about. He feared that if he spoke again his voice would betray the nauseating weakness his body was diverging into.

"A was bright, but he wasn't strong," Beyond continued, this time his voice was close to remorseful. "He couldn't handle the life you've pledged your loyalty to."

In a swift motion, Beyond sliced through the remaining half of Raito's scar. Raito convulsed in torment. Beyond laughed at he wrenched the knife out of Raito's blood coated shoulder.

When Raito shifted he could feel the piece of the death note and pen that had not been removed from his pocket. If he moved fast enough, maybe he could retrieve it. Writing the name Beyond Birthday shouldn't take more than five seconds, but Raito was not one hundred percent certain that this was the man's real name. If it wasn't or if he failed to write the entirety, Beyond would want an explanation. Raito would refuse to talk, but he couldn't risk Beyond discovering what the paper was on his own. Even a single page of the death note was too much power for this murderer to have.

Beyond lightly trailed the tip of the knife down Raito's chest, leaving a trail of blood from the wounds he had already inflicted. He stopped at his abdomen. His smirk was back in place, but this time Raito could tell it was forced. The subject of A had affected Beyond more than Raito thought was possible for such a sociopath.

"L ended A's life and destroyed mine." For a short moment the crazed look in Beyond's eyes had diminished. "Are you sure he's worth your loyalty?"

Raito summoned all that was left of his the dwindling strength and compacted it into the most hating glare that he had ever given.

"Yes," he held Beyond's eyes in his as he spat the answer. "He's more than worth it."

Without a word, Beyond sunk the blade into the boy's skin.

L ignored the burn in his lungs at how short of breath he was. Not having the time to find a quicker mode of transportation, he and Mello had ran the distance to the motel that Raito's tracker pointed them to. Upon arriving L's suppositions that the motel was run down and out of business were confirmed. Beyond wouldn't bring the prey he had been working so hard to ensnare to a place where there was a chance he would be interrupted.

That being said, the building wasn't very far from the rest of the town. L was sure the Beyond enjoyed the sadistic pleasure of hearing the screams of his victims. In order to make himself as safe as possible while indulging in this, Beyond would choose the most sound proof area of the house to torture Raito.

They were in the basement.

"Gun out," L shortly instructed Mello.

"Don't have to tell me twice," the blonde anxiously muttered as he pulled the weapon from his vest pocket.

L did the same, cocking the weapon in case he only had the chance to fire it when it was needed. L was nearly certain that he would have to shoot B. This did not mean that he intended to kill his former successor. His goal was to wound B and get Raito away from him. A bullet to the shoulder or leg would be enough to subdue B in order for L to arrest him. This time he'd make sure that, insane or not, Beyond was sent to a prison with maximum security.

L directed his attention to Mello to explain how they would have to enter the building and that Mello was not to use the weapon unless he absolutely had to. Before he could part his lips the speak Mello's face contorted into a furious expression, and he darted past L to something standing not far behind him. L turned around just in time to watch Mello launch his fist at a short boy with bright red hair.

This must be Matt. He concluded before rushing to pull Mello off of the boy. He removed the gun from that hand that had not collided with Matt's face, before Mello tried to shoot the redhead or in the least hit him with the blunt of the gun. L shoved the blonde's weapon and well as his own into his pants pockets in order to deal with the situation.

"I'm going to fucking kill you!" Mello screamed at Matt.

"Mello, calm down," L ordered, letting his lack of patients show in his voice.

"Yeah, calm down," Matt staggered backwards and away from Mello. His hand cover his left eye, where's fist had collided with his face. L held Mello back by the shoulders. He inwardly groaned. He did not have time for this.

"You're L," Matt stammered, gapping at him in disbelief.

"If you want to knock him out, you may do so as long as you make it quick and not unnecessarily violent," L reluctantly released his hold on Mello.

"Stop! I'm on your side!" Matt frantically shouted, throwing his arms in front of his face in an attempt to shield himself from Mello.

"Don't lie to me, Mail Jeevas" Mello spat at him.

"How do you know that name?" L watched the boy fight to regain composure over his astonishment.

"You've been giving information to Beyond Birthday since we met," Mello's voice nearly broke as he shouted this.

Matt lowered his arms, and look intensely at Mello. L watch his successor hesitate, not punching the boy as he had intended to. Mello's hands were balled into fists, but they only shook at his side. It was then that L realized why Mello had trusted this boy so blindly.

Matt laughed.

Raito was fading. In between the spurts of burning pain, he could feel his life slipping from his grasp. His thoughts pulled him away from the dark room as the man hovering above him slowly dissected him. Instead Raito wondered what L's face would look like when he found his body. He imagined what the detective would tell his family. Losing him was something that he knew his parents would not recover from. He felt a twinge of guilt as he reminded himself that whatever sorrow his family would feel was his own fault. Sayu would endure, he had to believe this. She would probably hate him for leaving her, for putting himself in a station where he could leave her. He supposed he deserved that much.

Beyond roughly pulled the knife away from Raito's chest. Raito exhaled sharply, his eyes trailed down to the recent gash. Beyond laughed as Raito discovered that he had carved the letter "L" into his torso.

"This is what loyalty gets you," the madman hissed into Raito's ear, using the word against him once more.

That was when he heard the door being flung open. Raito hand't realized that there was an entrance across the room until that moment. Beyond Birthday dropped his weapon with an audible gasp, and Raito watched his eyes widen in surprise. Beyond Birthday snatched the knife back and shakily rose to his feet. Raito took this chance to push himself into a sitting position and turn toward the door.

Standing across the room from the was L, Mello, and Matt. Raito briefly wondered why the boy that they had earlier deduced was Beyond's spy was currently with his two rescuers. Raito pushed these thoughts away, trusting that L had a reason. For a moment he was angry that L was there, L was not supposed to be risking his life on Raito's behalf. Even so, he couldn't deny the relief that washed over him when his eyes met the detective.

Relief was quickly replaced with motivation. Beyond Birthday was frozen in the shock of seeing L, and this meant that he could not stop or may not notice Raito pull the piece of the death note from his pocket. Ignoring how his agonized muscles protested against sudden movement, Raito ripped the page from his pocket. He didn't bother to uncap the pen, and instead touched the wound on his chest. His finger came away with a thin coat of scarlet.

His eyes darted away from his hands and to Mello. The blonde's gaze locked onto his after darting to the murder behind him for less than a second. Mello understood.

"Beyond Birthday," he stated, confirming what Raito needed to know.

Raito touched his blood covered finger to the page and now rested on his knee. Instead of quickly scrawling the name, his sight rebelled against him and found L once again. The expression of poorly concealed horror on the face of the man he loved was enough to give Raito pause. He couldn't help but wonder what L must see as he looked at him, face distorted in fear driven determination and back hunched over the world's most deadly murder weapon.

In that second, Raito realized that the second he took a life, even if it was someone as horrible and death deserving as Beyond Birthday, he would loose L forever. He realized that, even if he were to die then and there, even if they had no chance at making it together in the real world, Raito would never knowingly do anything that resulted in this. Never had he thought that he'd feel this way about anyone (spare maybe his little sister), but Raito would rather loose his life than loose L.

Only when he felt himself being yanked to his feet by stiff hands behind him, did Raito register that he had just missed his window of opportunity. The page from the death note floated harmlessly to his feet and out of reach. He felt the cool mettle of the knife still wet from his blood press against his throat.

"Let him go, B," L's voice was dark and threatening.

Raito watched the detective swiftly pull a gun from his pocket and point it at Beyond. He didn't doubt that L could shoot the man without killing him, but the fact that Raito was blocking the majority of his target made the task nearly impossible. Beyond couldn't be more than an inch taller than Raito. This didn't give L's shot much of an advantage. Even if L was able to pull of this feat, Raito knew that Beyond's reflex would be to slit his throat. The flick of his wrist that it would take Beyond to take Raito's life was as small of a maneuver as it had taken to remove his finger nail.

"Do it," Raito heard his own horse voice utter. His eyes locked onto L's. "I'm supposed to die tonight anyway."

He felt the pressure on his throat lessen, but was unsure what this meant. In a swift motion, Mello reached into L's jeans pocket and produced a second gun. Raito watched the blonde aim for the shot that L would refuse to take. As Mello pulled the trigger, Matt grabbed his arm and forced it upwards. The loud blast of the gun sung through the small space, but the only harm the bullet did was to the ceiling.

Raito took the paralyzed moment that the shot provided to shove Beyond's already less steady arm away from his neck. He tried to run to L, but only made it three steps before Beyond grabbed a fist full of his hair and shoved the knife into his back.

He didn't scream the way he had when Beyond had tortured him minutes before, instead not a sound escaped his lips. His breath tightened when Beyond wrenched the blade out of him. Raito knew that he would push it in again while he still could. Beyond would end Raito's life before L's shot sealed his. A soft fright filled him as he realized that this fleeting moment was his last.

Raito's gaze met L's wide eyes once again, a different horror filled them now. He felt almost as if the seconds were slowing around him, but instead of seeing his life flash before his eyes all he saw was L. A sad smile pressed onto his lips, and he was glad he was able to muster one. He didn't want the last thing L saw from him to be an expression of pain.

"You're still worth it," he mouthed.

L's expression of sorrow was the last thing that he saw before closing his eyes in preparation for the next stab.

He did not expect to feel Beyond's hold on him relinquishing or hear the madman stager backwards. Instinct forced his legs to move, carrying him away from Beyond and to the three at the doorway. L met him halfway, pulling Raito into his arms in an attempt to both comfort him and shield him from Beyond.

Raito's gaze whipped to the murder just in time to watch him collapse, his hands clutching the spot of his chest above his heart.

The next few second were ones of complete confusion on Raito's part. He watched in a daze as Mello and Matt were cleared out of the doorway by what Raito could only describe as a SWAT Team. These armed men in black uniforms filled the room with a hurried purpose.

"Thank you Mail." Raito heard L mutter.

He was about to ask what this meant, but his attention was snagged by a pile of white ash at the conner or the room. Next to it was a black notebook. Realization as to what this was dawned on him, but before he could voice it to L or Mello he felt a wave on weakness pass over him.

Unable to utter a word, he collapsed into L's arms, and let the world around him go black.

Dear Raito-kun, I would like to take this time to apologize for embarrassing you, stabbing you, humiliating you, accusing you of murder, torturing you, and almost killing you in this story. Sorry love… —Piper

There will be one more chapter after this to clear up and explain all that just went down. Thanks for reading! Reviews make the world go round!

Callicanios, I supposed I deserve to be shook after that one (and after this chap as well).

Cyinmas, yes, the more you try to change your fate the more you cement it (that's what drives me crazy when I read Greek myths)!

Wizard-Party-Forever, I'm definitely guilty of the cliffhangers. *evil laugh*

Blazedoll, thanks for the review!

Guest, I actually considered possibly killing Mello or Matt. However, with the shinigami eyes it was impossible to kill Mattie, and I didn't want to off Mels just for the sake of adding to the body count.

Corliss, thanks for the review!