A/N: Hullo. Between me and my beta having real life delays, this chapter is later than expected, but...here it is!

Shoutout to Ubermarine, SheWhoWearsRed and Day for reviewing!

SheWhoWearsRed: Well thank you. The whole exchange had me worried. I wasn't sure how it would be received. Heh.

House of Cards

By Catsitta

Part eleven: Collapse

Screams cut the air, gouging apart the fragile seams of silence. Gunfire followed. Smoke stained the air black, clotting out the watercolor sky. This what he was trying to protect Light from when he stole her away from Japan. Damn that Misa. If she kept her mouth shut, the tension might have been resolved instead of broken. Now the fledgling government, desperately picking up the shatters of their society, was at war with the people. Fear saturated every heart and gleamed in every eye. The people never wanted to go back to the ways of the Oligarchy and Kira was their martyr, a faceless figure placed high on a pedestal as a false protector and god.

L ducked further into the shadows. This was his fault. If he did his job, then none of this would be happening. He held both Kiras in his possession at one point, the only thing stilling his hand a lack of evidence about their method of killing. Now he was wading through the ashen murk of revolution. No one lied in wait with a Death Note in hand, ready to force a change in the people's favor with a few swift swipes of a pen. This would be the collapse decades in the making.

He shuddered.

Perhaps that thought was partly untruthful.

Someone did possess a Death Note. There were two tucked away in his bag, untouched since their confiscation. It would be painfully easy to use those tools to his advantage. Misa would no longer be a problem, and if he used his database skillfully, this war could be managed in a matter of hours. He was an assassin by trade, what did a few deaths on his hands matter?

No. No! He could not let his thoughts trail in that direction. He was better than that. He would not fall in step with Kira. This power belonged to no mortal. It needed to be destroyed.

Footsteps caught his attention.

L shifted, artfully avoiding the pair running past him. He would have paid them no further heed, but the smaller of the two stumbled, nearly dragging their companion to the ground.

"Mama, I can't do this anymore," the smaller one said. It was a girl.

Her mother pulled the girl onto her feet, "We have to keep moving."

"I can't!"

"Yes you can."

"We're going to die."

"Sayu, please. You need to stand up."

"I want big brother!"

"He's gone. Crying won't change anything. Please, get up or we'll get caught."

"Why would he leave us?"

"Sayu!"

"There they are!"

The women turned pale faces towards the light filtering into the space in which they hid. Five men in black uniforms stood with their backs to the glow of streetlamps, their faces hidden. Two of the men held guns. L held his breath. It was not his place to interfere.

'Isn't Sayu the name of Light's sister? Is it possible this is her family?'

He reached for a slick dart, fingers trembling just slightly. This wasn't his war. This wasn't his fight. This wasn't even his country. But the believer in justice that guided him through his life refused to allow him to walk away. What kind of man simply allowed two women to be killed in some back alley when he could stop it with a few flicks of the wrist?

"Leave us alone, we didn't do anything!"

"Everyone heard the announcement. We all know that the first Kira was Light Yagami. L killed the bastard, thank god, but we can't take any chances with one of you continuing his war of terror."

"Liars! My brother would never hurt anyone!"
L sucked in a sharp breath.

What else did the people know?

He gripped a dart, ready to strike, when gunshots rang out. L tore his gaze from the men to look at the girls, to see which one was shot. Both remained standing, fearful and clinging to one another, but standing. Alive. Then who?

The five men were facing away from the women, one of them kneeling, cupping his chest. More bullets rang out, sending two men sprawling onto their backs.

"Leave them alone!"

"Matsuda, you idiot."

Abandoning his hiding place, L leapt into the fray, throwing three darts into the back of a man aiming his gun. He closed in as the only uninjured man spun around. He never saw L's assault coming as the assassin ripped open his jugular with the keen point of a blade.

"L?"

He wanted to smack Matsuda. Why was the moron even here?
Silently, L finished what the young man started, stealing away the final breaths of these nameless souls. Such a waste. As he examined bloodied hands, L felt bile surge into his throat. He was getting sick of this trade. Taking away lives held less appeal after almost losing his and nearly losing that of his beloved.

A girlish scream pierced the post-battle quiet.

"Sayu. Shush."

Matsuda, the fool, dropped his gun and bolted into the shadows. L watched as the young man wrapped his arms around the youngest Yagami girl and held her to his chest. Mrs. Yagami watched on, her face grey from the stress.

"It's okay. He's one of the good guys," Matsuda said, stroking Sayu's hair. He looked up from where he knelt, a thankful smile on his face. "He...he was the one your brother was working for when Kira came."

"B-but the bad men said..."

"Don't listen to them," Matsuda commanded, acting a man instead of a fool while holding the young woman. "Light was a good man. He would never be Kira. And L would never let Kira work for him."

"That is enough," L interrupted. "If at all possible, please refer to me as Ryuuzaki. The walls have ears."

"O-oh, right."

"Miss and Mrs. Yagami, I have been looking for you." Well, it wasn't false. He did look for them before he fled to England.

"Why would you want anything to do with us?"

Choices. This world was full of choices. What would be best for the world. What was moral. What was just. What would make him happy. What would make someone else feel insurmountable joy.

"Light is...he is alive."

"WHAT?"

"Matsuda. Please. Be quiet."

"Alive? How?"

"That information is classified. I should not have mentioned his survival, but..." he left the words trailing. The bodies on the ground finished his thoughts well enough. "Matsuda. Why are you away from the rendezvous point?"

The young man flushed, "You were gone for a long time. I...I worried you were hurt, so I decided to investigate. Then I saw some men chasing after women, and I couldn't just stand by! B-But I'm glad I disobeyed orders. I'm sorry sir, but because I did, I've found my betrothed."

Betrothed?
L's mind flickered back to the earliest moments of the Kira case. He recalled Matsuda holding up Light's profile, loudly questioning why the boy was part of the investigation. Friend of the family, he claimed, citing knowing Light and the fact that the boy's late father was the former chief of police. He knew he kept visiting the Yagami house after Light was taken into custody, even following L's orders to snoop and bring back information from the house.

How had such a small detail escaped his notice?

"Miss Yagami seems rather young."

"I-I-It's not what you think! It's just, we really like each other, I mean, we met during this case that Light helped out on and we really bonded. Uh, Light didn't approve, b-but he was kind enough to give me permission to court his sister, and marry her when she came of age."

"Ryuuzaki, you said your name was?" L flicked his eyes away from the crimson Matsuda onto Mrs. Yagami. "Would it be possible to see him again?"

"He's...he's unwell, Mrs. Yagami. Alive, but a shock to his system could do more harm than good right now." Everyone fell silent for a minute. "Come. All of you. It is not safe to remain here."

"Where are we going?"

"Someplace safe. Tell me, am I the only one who has experience with planes?"

Three sets of eyes blinked up at him with horrified interest.

L sighed.

One more day until he had to be back in England, the Death Notes destroyed. He still had yet to deal with Misa, who would likely open her gob any hour now to spout his name to the world. Both Death Notes were intact. And now he had three lost sheep in his care.

There was only so much one man could do.

And without time to search for Misa and more than just his life on the line, L found himself shivering. He slipped one of the books from his bag. This one was...his? The one he claimed from Mikami...wait. He froze, eyes fixated on the black cover. If this one was his, and the other one Light's...that meant only their memories were bound to the Death Notes. Destroying them would not affect Misa!

"Rem..."

That Shinigami did something. Awoke Misa's memories with a different book than one of those that he held in his hands. Did that mean there was a third one out there? No. If Misa had one, he would be dead. L shook.

No time.

"Ryuuzaki? What's that?"

He swallowed.

"Citizens of Japan, this...is Kira."

No.

"It is time to take back our country!"

Damn that girl.

"The first step is to destroy those who hold our chains."

L felt a small chuckle slip into his throat, only to dissolve into a whine.

In his mind's eye he could see Light, dressed to the nines in the finest suit money could buy. On her head was that newspaper crown, and in one hand was a fountain pen. She smirked at him from her throne of playing cards. They say the pen is mightier than the sword. Light blew him a kiss. She held the winning hand.

"Blackjack."

"Ryuuzaki?"

"Matsuda, I need a pen."

-tbc-

A/N: (And we all fall down...Review please!)