Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or any characters affiliated with it. It is owned by Tsugumi Ohba. Please don't sue me.

Note: This is very much AU. In this, there is no Near, Mellow, Matt, or any other enemies Raito encounters after Rem kills L. But he does have a bigger problem in this one.

Raito:
The REturn

Five years tomorrow. That's how long it'd been since L died. I was counting down to the last minute to open a bottle of champagne I'd been saving for the occasion. I had to hide it from Misa, of course. Like most stars she started to sink into the world of drugs and alcohol.

I, on the other hand, spent my time at the police station chasing "Kira", my colleagues not even suspicious that I am, myself, Kira. I was working late at night. Well, specifically, I was implicating some more likely suspects. I was surprised I'd managed to keep this up so long. Most people weren't frightened anymore, either. Criminals were becoming few in numbers and citizens were willing to even walk at night with how uncommon crimes were becoming.

"Raito," I heard from behind me. My father was there, ready to head home. "Why don't you call it a night? Everyone's clocked out."

"I'll clock out after I'm done entering this new evidence," I smiled. I looked at the wall clock. It was midnight already. Misa was going to kill me if I got home after her. She always returned from her celebrity parties after midnight, usually at about 12:30am. I knew she spent most of her time at the parties flirting and cheating on me with handsome celebrity men. I didn't particularly care, there wasn't much love in our relationship but we didn't dare break up, not trusting each other and our Death Notes.

After saying goodnight and making sure that dad was gone I turned back to the computer and let out a startled yelp. In the reflection of the screen was L. I held a hand to my chest and felt my heart beating quicker than it had ever before, closing my eyes. 'I really have been working too late,' I thought. I rubbed my face and neck and reopened my eyes. I then opened them wider, because across the screen were the words:

I DO NOT FEAR DEATH

After five years, L's voice flooded back into my memories. I heard "I'm not afraid to die" over and over.

"I need to get out of here," I said aloud, the sound of my own voice comforting. I chuckled to myself. "I must be tired, I'm seeing ghosts." I decided to shut down the computer, making sure everything was off before I left. I've seen enough horror flicks to know what to and what not to do about ghosts.

Of course, those were only movies. Ghosts don't really exist. 'Just like Shinigamis don't exist?' a voice in the back of my head asked. I sighed. That wasn't the same thing. 'Shinigamis kill people, but those people don't come back.'

I felt reassured and left the building, the new home Misa insisted we move into only a ten minute walk from work. I settled into my after work ritual, picking up a paper from a box only two minutes into the walk and reading it for five minutes under the streetlamps until I reached the 24 hour coffee shop and bought something to keep me awake long enough to enjoy the champagne. I finally reached home, finding Misa's car in the driveway. "Shit," I muttered. "Misa, I'm home!" I called, opening the door.

"It's about fucking time!" Misa slurred out. I swore inwardly when I saw her lean against the doorframe to the kitchen holding the champagne bottle I'd saved.

"Misa," I said calmly, "Were you in my office?"

"So what if I was?" Misa said indignantly. "You care more about your job than you care about me!"

Okay, so I wasn't about to deny that, but I wasn't going to admit it either. I settled for, "Honey, do you want to be arrested?"

"No…" Misa muttered. "But I want you to explain the bathroom mirror!"

"It shows you your reflection…" I said slowly. How much did she have to drink?

"Very funny," Misa glared. "I mean the writing on it!"

I looked at her questioningly. "What writing?"

"The writing done in my expensive ruby red lipstick!" Misa huffed.

I ran to the bathroom. Did someone know who we were? I looked at the mirror and my heart stopped.

I DO NOT FEAR DEATH

was written across the glass in, sure enough, Misa's expensive ruby red lipstick. I'd paid 60 for that imported, French lipstick, listening to Misa whine for weeks that it "probably got lost on delivery", only to have an annoying ghost waste it on a cliché message. Oh, but not just any annoying ghost: L's especially annoying ghost. Well, there was no need to worry Misa about it.

"One of the neighborhood kids probably picked their way in for a prank," I told her. She looked skeptical, but accepted it with another swig of champagne. Well, odds were good she'd forget the message – and everything else – when the hangover kicked in when she woke up later. "I'm going to work on something in my office," I lied. Before she could object, I ran to my office and locked the door. "Ryuuku!" I called. Ryuuku emerged from the closet, grinning that stupid grin that said, 'I know something you don't and I'm going to milk it for all it's worth.'

"Get a little surprise today?" he asked.

"What do you know about it?" I demanded. I didn't have time to play his games.

"Ooh, snappy," Ryuuku said, laughing. 5 years later, he was still just as annoying. "What's in it for me?"

"I'll triple the amount of apples I give you!" I declared. I was desperate.

Luckily he was still easily pleased. "You saw L today, did you not?" he asked.

"Yeah, and I've gotten the same message from him twice," I explained.

"Twice?" the genuine surprise in Ryuuku's voice wasn't comforting. I didn't bother to say anything as he started thinking. This was something that didn't happen to my advantage often and I wanted to take full advantage of it. "You said you got a message from him. What did it say?"

"It was almost the same thing he told me when he was alive," I explained. "It was two written messages, each saying 'I do not fear death'. What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you have a Vengeance on your hands," Ryuuku grinned maliciously.

"What in the hell do you mean I have a Vengeance?!" I yelled at him.

"In short, you're screwed," Ryuuku was still grinning. "You didn't kill him directly but he was killed because of your orders. He's turned into a Vengeance because he wasn't able to convince everyone that you were Kira. Now he's going to show them how wrong they were in the worst way."

"You better start making sense," I growled threateningly at Ryuuku. He laughed at me. I didn't blame him. After all, what was I going to do to the Shinigami?

Despite that, he started talking again. "A Vengeance is born when a person is killed by those they have unfinished business with. It's a Death Note exclusive, and you're getting the full effect of it."

"What did you mean he's going to show them in 'the worst way'?" I asked. Ryuuku smiled maliciously and slid his finger across his throat while making a threatening sound. "He's going to kill me?" I raised an eyebrow. This was turning more cliché by the minute. Ryuuku shook his head, chuckling. He then disappeared back into the closet where he liked to spend most of his time.

I sighed, frustrated. I then left the office, checking the living room where Misa often crashed when she was drunk. Sure enough, there she was, too drunk to make it up the stairs on her own. I took a blanket from the closet and covered her with it as she snored. I may not love her, but that doesn't mean that I am completely heartless about her.

I then headed upstairs to the bathroom and got to work cleaning the message off the mirror. Menial labor always helped me concentrate on really difficult problems. And let's be realistic: there's nothing more complicated than a ghost that's trying to kill you. And, as I said before, not just any ghost. The ghost of someone you hate with the burning passion of a million supernovas.

"You couldn't just die, could you?" I asked the smudged lipstick that I managed to more smear all over the mirror than clean off. "What is it with you and making my life miserable? What did I ever do to you? I mean, besides order your death."

At that moment the phone rang. I nearly tripped over a potted plant trying to pick it up before it woke Misa. Who puts a potted plant right next to the bathroom door for people to trip over when they wanted to answer the phone? Misa does. It was almost worth chancing her writing my name in the Death Note if it meant getting away from her and her ridiculous sense of interior decorating.

I picked up the phone and listened for a moment before actually speaking into it. I heard Misa give a particularly loud snore that shouldn't be within the capabilities of a young woman and sighed in relief. "Yagami residence, this is Raito," I said politely into the phone.

"Hello, Raito," my mother's voice came through. I frowned. It was almost one o'clock in the morning. Something must have been wrong.

"Hi, mom," I answered. "Is something wrong?"

"Well," my mother seemed to hesitate for a moment. "It's your father. He hasn't returned home yet. Your sister and I are getting worried." Sayu had recently gone into college, but she was visiting home on break.

I furrowed my eyebrows. Dad had left the office before I did, he should have gotten there already. But there was no need to worry mother and Sayu about this. "I'm sure he just got held up. There shouldn't be anything to worry about. Dad's a smart man," I reasoned with her.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then replied, "I suppose you're right. I'll keep waiting. But I'll call you at a more reasonable time if he's still not here."

I smiled. My mother was always one of the most considerate people I knew. It made it a little harder for me to have to lie to her about my position pursuing Kira. But I was doing it to protect her and my family, so I strengthened my resolve. "Sounds good. Don't worry, he'll be along. I'm sure of it."

We said our goodbyes and hung up, and I felt the worry start to kick in. Where could dad be? I decided to call his cellphone. I was sure mom had probably already tried this, but it was still worth a try.

After a few rings, the phone was picked up. There was silence on the other side of the phone, besides the sound of the occasional car driving by. "Hello, dad?" I inquired. The silence was replaced by the sound of someone breathing into the phone. "Dad? Dad, this isn't funny!" I said desperately. Whoever was breathing into the phone, the breath was labored and it sounded like they were dying.

That was when the voice came over the phone. A voice I hadn't heard in five years. "I do not fear death…"

I dropped the phone.