L splashes down the hall to a stairwell, going up to the next deck. He bounds up the stairs to find himself in a long corridor, part of the labyrinth of steerage hallways. He is alone here, as well. A long groan of stressing metal echoes along the hall as the ship settles.
"Hello?" he calls, "Somebody?"
He turns a corner and runs along another corridor in a daze. The hall slopes down, the water shimmering, reflecting the lights on the ceiling. The margin of the water creeps toward him.
A young man dashes around the corner behind him, sending up geysers of spray. He pelts past L without slowing, his eyes crazed.
"Help me! We need help!" he begs, following the man for a moment. He doesn't look back. It is like a bad dream, as the hull gongs with terrifying sounds.
The lights flicker and go out, leaving him in utter darkness. He finds himself hyperventilating; his heart pounding in his ears, his muscles tensed. He holds a hand out, feeling his way forward, the groaning sounds of the sinking ship made all the more ominous in the complete blackness he is engulfed in. The lights flicker back on and he nearly sobs with relief, realizing that what seemed to him as hours of darkness was really only a matter of a few terrifying seconds.
A steward runs around the corner, his arms full of lifebelts. He sees L and reprimands him for being there. He grabs L's arms forcefully, and L winces as he pulls him like a wayward child.
"Come on, then, let's get you topside, son, that's right."
"Wait! I need your help! There's—"
"No need for panic, my boy. Come along."
"No! You're going the wrong way! You don't understand! There's a man down here and he needs your help!" L pulls against his captors grip, "You're not listening to me! Let me go!"
He doesn't comply, so L shouts the order. The man turns to chastise him, and L punches him in the nose, rubbing at his abused arms. Shocked, he staggers back into a wall, bringing a hand up to his bleeding nose.
"To hell with you!" he says before standing to run down the corridor.
L turns, giving up on finding help. He sees a glass case with a fire-axe in it. He removes his shirt and wraps it around his elbow before smashing it into the glass. He clutches the axe, running back the way he came. At the stairwell, he looks down and gasps. The water has flooded the bottom five steps. He goes down and has to crouch to look along the corridor to the room where Light is trapped.
L plunges into the water, which is up to his waist, and pushes forward, holding the axe above his head. He grimaces at the pain from the freezing water, but continues toward his imprisoned lover.
Light has climbed up onto a level part on the pipe that is about a foot under water, and hugs the pipe. L wades in, shirtless, holding an axe above his head.
"Will this work?" L asks, and Light notices he can see his breath.
"We'll find out." He answers, pulling his hands as far apart as he can, stretching the chain taut across the steel pipe, his exposed wrists on either side of it.
L lifts the axe above his head, closing his eyes.
"Wait! Try a couple of practice swings."
L sloshes over to the desk and swings at it. He pulls the axe out of the wood and looks at Light.
"Now, try to hit the same mark."
He swings hard, the blade cutting into the wood four inches from his target.
"Okay, that's enough practice." Light says, eyes wide. He braces himself as L raises the axe, aiming for a target that is about three inches wide. He has to hit it with all the force he can muster, with Light's hands on either side.
"You can do it, L." Light tells him, meeting his eyes, "Hit it as hard as you can. I trust you."
Light closes his eyes, as does L.
The axe comes down, the sound echoing around the room. L gingerly opens his eyes to see Light grinning, with two separate cuffs. L drops the axe, his strength leaving him. Light jumps down into the water, swearing at the cold.
"Shit, this is cold! Shit!"
They wade out into the hall; L starts toward the stairs, but sees the water bubbling up into the opening.
"That's the way out!" he exasperates.
"It's too deep. We have to find another way."
They continue on, finding a stairwell that isn't completely submerged and go up. There's a panel door that's locked. They look at each other and agree wordlessly, backing up and running at the door, crashing their shoulders into it. The doorframe splinters and the door bursts open under the force of their combined weight. L and Light stumble through, into another corridor; a steward nearby turns at the crash.
"Hey! You'll have to pay for that, you know! That's White Star Line property—"
"Shut up!" they say together, both turning to the man at the same time before rushing down the hall. They join the steerage stragglers, heading aft.
An Irish woman gives L a blanket, more for modesty than because he is blue-lipped and shivering.
"Here, lad, cover yourself." She says kindly. Light rubs L's arms, trying to warm him up as they walk along. The woman's husband offers them a flask of whiskey.
"This'll take the chill off." He says, smiling at the pair. L takes a great swig and hands it off to Light, who smiles kindly, because L looks close to tears, and follows suit.
Up ahead, a group is converged in front of a gate, and Light sees a familiar face among them.
"Matsuda! Matsu!" he calls, and the man turns as L and Light run up to him. He and Light hug like brothers and he flings an arm over L's shoulders in greeting.
"What's going on?" Light asks, standing on his toes to see over all the people blocking his view.
"The boats are going." Matsuda explains sullenly.
"We have to get up there or we'll be drinking saltwater." Light comments, "Where's Aizawa?"
Matsuda points over the heads of the solidly packed crowd to the gate. They make their way forward as a group, pushing through the crowd. When they reach the front of the group, they see Aizawa with his hands on the bars of the steel gate which blocks their salvation.
The crew open it a foot or so and a few women pass through.
"Women and children only! No men!" They shout over the voices of the crowd, but some terrified men, not understanding English, try to rush though the gap, forcing the gate open. The crewmen and stewards push them back, shoving and punching them.
"Get back!" a steward shouts, "Get back, you lot!"
"Lock it!" a crewman bellows
They struggle to get the gate closed again, another steward brandishing a small revolver, holding it hesitantly. They lock the gate and a cry goes up among the crowd, which surges forward, pounding against the steel and shouting in several languages.
"For the love of god, man! There are children down here! Let us up so we have a chance!" Aizawa yells, shaking the bars, but the crewmen are scared now. The situation is quickly spiraling out of control, and now they have a mob. Aizawa gives up and pushes his way through the crowd, followed by Light, L, and Matsuda.
"It's hopeless that way." The angry man says when they reach the back of the crowd.
"Well whatever we're going to do, we'd better do it fast." Light says, his arms around L.
"Everyone! All of you!" Matsuda calls, gesturing wildly to a small group that Light recognizes as his girlfriends family, "Come with me now! We go to the boats!"
They can't understand what he's saying, but they sense his urgency. A brawny man, apparently the patriarch of the family, shakes his head, refusing to panic or to allow his family to go with this group of men. Matsuda turns to the blonde girl.
"Helga… Kudasai… Please… Come with me, I am lucky. It is my destiny to go to America."
She kisses him, then steps back to be with her family. Light lays a hand on his shoulder, his eyes saying 'let's go'.
"I will never forget you." Matsuda tells her with tears in his eyes, and turns to Light, who leads the way out of the crowd. Looking back, he sees her disappear into the sea of panicked faces.
They get lost while searching for a way out. Pushing their way through the crowded halls till they come upon a narrow stairwell. They go up two decks before they are stopped behind a small group pressed against a steel gate, the men yelling at an exasperated steward.
Light moves to the front, L following along behind him, and speaks to the man firmly.
"Open the gate," he orders.
"Go to the main stairwell. It'll all get sorted out there."
"Open the gate!" Light repeats, his eyes flashing.
"Go back to the main stairwell!"
Light finally loses it, grabbing the bars and shaking them violently.
"God damnit, you son of a bitch!" he shouts, and calms when he feels L's hands on his arms. He turns to his lover and L points a slim finger at a bench on the landing between decks.
"Great!" he says, pulling L along with him, both grabbing the end of the bench that is bolted to the floor, Aizawa and Matsuda joining them, taking hold of the opposite end and yanking until the bolts shear and it breaks free.
"Move aside! Quickly, move aside!" L says, clearing a path between the waiting people. Light and Aizawa charge up the steps with the bench and ram it into the gate with all their strength. It takes a couple of slams, but it rips loose from its track and falls outward, narrowly missing the steward; led by Light, the crowd surges through.
"If you have any intention of keeping your pathetic job," L says in his most imperious tone, "I suggest you escort these good people to the boat deck. Now."
Class wins out, and the steward nods dumbly before motioning for them to follow.
I was supposed to post this hours ago... Sorry about the wait, guys. Enjoy!