Family Ties

Light didn't flinch this time as the world rearranged itself back into the plain grey room. L was sitting on the floor, folding something complicated-looking out of a square of paper, but stopped in surprise when Light walked over without stopping and pulled him to his feet.

"Shirt off, now."

"Light-kun?" L blinked in complete bafflement, but Light ignored him, yanking L's shirt over his head in one smooth motion. L twisted away, but Light grabbed him and whirled him around so that he could see the detective's back.

Scars spread over his back in lazy spirals, and Light's back burned in response, even though it was healed. He pulled L around to face him again, and asked carefully, "Why didn't you tell me?" The scars were faint, just slightly lighter than his skin tone, which explained why Light had never noticed them when they were changing. L was almost always facing him anyway, always watching.

"Tell you what?" L asked, his eyes looking huge and innocent as Light stared at him. The teenager sighed.

"You have scars, spiraling scars on your back." he explained briefly. "What do you remember this time?"

L sat thoughtfully for a moment, then said, "I remember early cases. Watari and I, we started small, building up my reputation gradually. I could solve just about anything, but they wouldn't give me huge cases right off the bat. I also started collecting smaller aliases, to protect my main one as L. Interpol finally started to take notice, after I brought in a small organized group of jewel smugglers in Switzerland. After that..." He trailed off, uncertain, and then admitted reluctantly, "I don't remember. Most of those early cases are too simple to want to discuss, either."

Light hesitated a moment, then said quietly, "Who are Mello, Matt, and Near?"

L tilted his head to one side. "Three children at the house that I was close to. They are like my little brothers. But... why would you ask me that? Did you know them, before I lost my memory? I didn't think I would tell anyone about Wammy's..."

"They were in the last challenge." Light explained. "Matt and Near were my guides. Near is just like you." L nodded.

"I'm proud of all three of them." he said, fiddling with the paper still in his hands. Light glanced at it, seeing it for the first time.

"Where did you get the paper?" he asked, confused.

L was silent for a moment, then said with complete seriousness, "Under the bed."

Light stared at him. "Under the bed." he repeated blankly.

"Yes." L defended. "I was bored, and decided to look under the bed, and I found origami paper."

Light knelt, peering beneath the bed uncertainly. There was nothing under there. He glanced at L quizzically, and L shrugged. "I don't know. It was just there."

Light laughed. "Well, we at least know that the Labyrinth isn't going to bore you to death while I'm doing challenges. We already know that less time passes out here."

L nodded. "Do you have any idea what the rest of the challenges could be?"

Light shook his head. "No." he lied easily. He had an idea, mainly that the Trial would make him face his identity as Kira at some point, but he certainly wasn't going to share that with L. Better to keep L from hating him for as long as possible. He moved to the door, and L called after him, "What would happen if I went with you?"

"I don't know." Light turned back to look at him. "You don't want to have to face what I'm seeing in these things. I had to live as you, while Beyond Birthday tried to kill you."

"Beyond?" L blinked, looking stunned. "Beyond is a little strange, but he would never..."

"He did. He watched After die, and tried to kill you." Light insisted. L looked away, and shook his head.

"He..."

Light frowned. "I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry." He walked through the door before L could move to stop him, and once again, everything went black.

xXx

This is getting old, fast. I like being able to see.

When sight returned, Light found himself sitting in one of the helicopters on the roof, hunched down behind the pilot's seat. He unfolded himself from the cramped position, pushing the door open a crack and peering out. This was L's building, after all. He couldn't possibly be in mortal danger here...

Matsuda was coming around the corner, and his eyes widened when he saw Light. He hurried over, whispering urgently, "Light-kun! You have to be careful!"

"What's going on?" Light asked in a rush. He had never seen Matsuda look so worried in the entire time that he had known the man. Matsuda shook his head, and what he said next completely disarmed Light.

"Light-kun, your father is trying to kill you!"

It took a second, but Light was finally able to summon the strangled, "WHAT?!" that such a statement warranted. He stepped from the helicopter to be on the same level as the worrying officer.

"Ryuuzaki found it... He found evidence that you're Kira. Rem helped, Rem told him everything about what had happened between you and Misa..." Matsuda said in a rush. "He told the task force... He wasn't going to tell you, because he thought you'd run, or that you'd kill the task force. He didn't want to risk our lives. But your father... He was so upset..." Matsuda turned to look at Light. "He knows Ryuuzaki's going to give you the Death Penalty. He wants to do it himself; he doesn't want to watch you sent to court, or tried, or convicted. It's L we're talking about, so he would get a conviction..."

"Matsuda, where's my father now?" Light asked. He didn't know what the goal of this challenge was, but he was getting more worried by the second.

"He's combing the building for you." Matsuda said. "I don't know where he is now. I sent you up here to hide." He glanced to one side, then said, "I'm your guide. You have to get to the front door, on street level, to win the challenge."

"Why can't I just take a helicopter?" Light asked.

Matsuda smiled weakly. "For one thing, only Ryuuzaki and Watari know how to fly a helicopter, and they won't help you. I know you could figure it out, but the goal is to find a door, remember? You can't trust anyone on this challenge. Your father wants to kill you, and the others are helping Ryuuzaki, who wants to take you into protective custody. Either way, you can't get to the door."

Light gulped. "So I just have to get to the front door without running into anyone else in the entire building. Easy enough." he said sarcastically.

Matsuda nodded. "I'll help you as much as I'm able. But against Ryuuzaki and your father, I'm not sure how much help I'll be." He half-bowed apologetically.

Light took a deep breath. "Well... We have to try, we can't stay on the roof all day."

Again, Matsuda bobbed his head up and down in agreement. "Do you know where the back stairs are? I can try to lead everyone away from there, and you'll be able to get down most of the stairs before you have to return to the main building."

The back stairs ran from the twenty-second floor, one level before the top, down to the fifth floor. The door was at the end of a seldom-used hallway, past the last empty set of rooms. For all the elaborate work put into L's twenty-three story building, they really only used about six floors. One for the lobby, one for the investigation rooms, one for Misa, one for the task force, one for L and Light, and a private floor with a password on the elevator and all the doors from the stairs that only L was allowed on. This plus the two basements, and all in all they really didn't use much of the building. Light remembered the day that L had shown him the back stairs, which were not much more than the same type of rough concrete steps you would find in a parking deck. L had explained that they were mainly for emergencies, and that there was a door to every floor somewhere along them.

Matsuda blinked, then added in a sudden burst of inspiration, "Oh, yeah! And it would be safer to take the back stairs because there are no cameras!"

"No cameras?" That was something L had never told him. But under the circumstances, he could see why.

"I'll tell them I think you're heading for L's floor, to try to break in." Matsuda said. "You'll have to go fast."

Light nodded. "Thank you, Matsuda." He'd never really thought of any of the officers his father worked with as friends, but now, he thought that maybe Matsuda wasn't as dumb as he sometimes appeared. He set off for the door to the back stairs, wondering how long he'd be able to avoid every police officer in the building.

xXx

The back stairs were silent, compared to everywhere else. There was absolutely no sound save for his own echoing footsteps as he took the stairs two at a time. Light was in a hurry, and he wasn't going to stop for anything at this point.

And then he stopped. There were voices coming from lower on the stairs, heading upwards towards them. He strained to make out what they were saying, and faintly heard Aizawa commenting, "It might be Mogi... He was looking upstairs..."

Light glanced around frantically, and hurried out the nearest door. He was only on the twelfth floor. Not quite where he needed to be, but it would work for the moment. The investigation room was on this floor, but there shouldn't be anyone in there now.

He hurried to the steel door, which was designed to lock down in emergencies, and paused when he heard voices from the other side. He heard a low, familiar voice that belonged to Ryuuzaki, as well as his father's voice. It sounded like they were arguing.

"He is MY son, and I will decide his punishment, both as chief of police and his father!" Chief Yagami was shouting. Light cracked the door just enough to see both standing illuminated by the light of the computers.

L held up a hand. "I am not denying that you are his father, Yagami-san, but since Light-kun is Kira we have to assume that he is potentially dangerous. And because his crimes extend beyond this building or even this city, it is my responsibility to take him before Interpol for trial." Before the Chief could reply, he continued, "I understand that you are distressed. Anyone would be so, knowing that their son is a mass-murderer. Watari would be heartbroken if I were to do such a thing."

"He's my son…" Chief Yagami repeated, seeming not to have listened to L's explanation at all. "My son, and I will deal with this myself!" He moved towards L, and L, not expecting the Chief to physically attack him, was a split-second too slow to avoid the gun. It struck him in the side of the head, and he dropped to the floor, unconscious.

"L!" Light gasped before he could stop himself. He locked eyes with his father as Chief Yagami looked up, and mentally sighed. He just knew that this challenge wasn't going to let him escape without confronting the older man. Pushing the door open the rest of the way, he stepped into the room, and said quietly, evenly, "Hi, Dad."

The gun was pointed at him in less than a moment, and Chief Yagami said tightly, angrily, "Light… I honestly believed that I raised you better. To kill so many people… As your father, it's my responsibility to…"

"To what?" Light said, reining in his temper before it got his head blown off. "To knock out the man who is the greatest detective in the world, as well as your superior? Ryuuzaki is following the justice system, but you…" It hurt him to say it, but he finished, "This is vigilantism, no better than Kira."

"You are Kira!" Chief Yagami roared. "Do not preach to me about vigilantism!"

"I know I'm wrong!" Light shouted back. "Ryuuzaki showed me; I was wrong to do the things that I did! He tried so hard to save me, and now it's my turn to save him!"

As it turned out, he dodged just in time, as his father fired the gun. A bullet hole appeared in the wall two feet from the steel door, and Light stared with wide eyes at the smoking gun. It hadn't sunk in until that moment. His father was really trying to kill him this time. And he was here, with no backup and an unconscious L, facing him alone. Light wondered briefly where his genius prodigy mind had gone, and disregarded the thought in favor of analyzing the gun. It was a typical handgun, six bullets in the round, the one in the chamber already fired. If he could dodge six more bullets…

He might make it out of this alive.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

(roll eyes) Seriously, Light... You've become quite the risk-taker. XD

Sorry it's been so long. School, you know. But I hope to be more regular about updates after this. I promise!

Hugs!
Li