A.N: Yayness, thank you to all that reviewed! Wow, tonsa favs, too! :D
Disclaimer: No, I still do not own Death Note :P If I do, I'll tell you, alright? So unless that happens, just assume I don't own it.
Light blearily opened his eyes, licking his lips. His vision began to clear, though his bound hands couldn't rub the sleep from his eyes. He noted with a certain amount of joy that he could swallow with ease. As dazed and dizzy as he may have been, he nonetheless felt a lot better. And he could deal with cramped limbs, so long as he was hydrated.
Slowly, his brain came back to him, trying to recollect the last five days to the best of his ability. Had he ever been let out of the contraption? How had he gone to the bathroom? It was with extreme disgust that he realized he had used a bedpan (not like he had needed it often when dehydrated to such an extent). He had been so focused on other things, he had hardly noticed...
His fists clenched the best they could, eyes managing to narrow in a glare. Oh, yes, L would definitely pay for his transgressions.
Speaking of the detective, he was soon entering the room. This time he was followed by Watari, a cart with an array of items being brought in. Light fidgeted in his bonds, clenching his hands. Maybe he could give them a false location for the second death note... but then they might think he had been lying all along, and send him to his execution.
His usual flawless acting had left him, and he found himself wide eyed and pulling at his bonds. Watari lifted a knife before Light, and the teen held perfectly still as it approached, fearful. The knife made quick work of Light's strange gown, which was soon placed out of sight. He watched as he was connected to a heart monitor, his heart immediately thudding in his chest as he thought of reasons for its necessity.
"This is illegal," he said, even as he wondered what was in store for him.
"Luckily no one will find out," said L. Watari was soon connecting what appeared to be wires to Light's chest and temples, and the teenager shivered at the implications. Something rubber was forced into his mouth, keeping his teeth from connecting when he bit down. They wouldn't...
L turned to a big, strange device. He reached for something on it...
White hot pain racked Light's form. He convulsed, body thrashing as his nerves lit on fire, searing him from the inside out.
It took many moments for him to realize it had stopped and he was being spoken to. The rubber mouth piece had been removed. He trembled and gasped, gulping in deep breaths of air, eyes incapable of focusing on any one thing.
"I will repeat myself once more. Where is the second death note?"
Light shakily shook his head, managing a stuttered, "Not telling."
L sighed. "The shocks will continue in increasing voltage if Light-kun does not tell us where he has hidden the second death note."
Light tried to shake his head, motion hindered by his shaking. The rubber was shoved back into his mouth.
The fire returned, scorching his insides, sparking and igniting in horrific pain throughout him. His thrashing left him banging his head against the contraption, the sensation going unnoticed under the shock-filled current torturing his weakened form. It was only when he had managed to realize it had, once again, ended that he felt the strong burning in his throat, a result of shrieking screams. The heart monitor was beeping loudly, the sound only adding to Light's disorientation.
L removed the rubber. "Talk."
Light could hardly manage a single, "N-no," tremors coursing throughout him. He vaguely noted the wetness trailing down his cheeks, and deliriously wondered if the added water- however slight- would increase the electric shocks.
The only thought that he could successfully form was, L... L will pay.
Misa waited a mile away from the designated meeting place she had scheduled for Mikami and herself. She was in a car obtained from a rapist. She had him go somewhere secluded (athough she personally didn't know where) and then stab himself in the heart. She had conveniently added that he would walk to the place and leave his keys in his car.
Thus she remained looking at the blurry image of the cheap camera feed she had managed to buy from a pawn shop.
She couldn't help the smile that pulled at her lips as she saw a black-haired, glasses-clad man entering the specified building. It was dingy and falling apart, but it would do.
She made quick work driving to the place, getting out and smoothing the wrinkles from her annoyingly-plain blue shirt.
Entering the building was done with caution, steps slow and cautious. Walking into such a decrepit building gave her shivers...
However, once her eyes landed on the immaculate prosecutor, anxiety was replaced with excitement. When his eyes landed on her, they seemed to be taking her every feature in. It wasn't in the usual way men looked at her. His eyes were deep and analytical, as if assessing what her very soul was made of.
"...I'm Amane Misa," she greeted. "The second Kira."
"Mikami Teru." The man pulled out a piece of paper. It took a second, but Misa quickly recognized it as the note she had written to Mikami. "You said Kira-sama is in danger. I will do anything in my power to help him return to his rightful position."
Misa beamed at the man. A certain thought caused the joy to fade. "L is trying to torture information out of Li- the first Kira. I'm on the wanted list, too, so I can't really do much. I can't rent a hotel, or access my bank account. And someone might notice if we keep meeting up right here, or even overhear."
Auburn eyes narrowed in thought, the prosecutor silent for a moment. His eyes lifted, almost abruptly, and he seemed to come to a conclusion. "You can stay with me." Misa was taken aback at the offer, forcing herself to focus as he continued, "You'll have to pose as a relative... though that would be hard to believe."
"I could just stay hidden in a back room if anyone comes around," Misa suggested.
"That could work," he said. "I could tell anyone who sees you entering my apartment that you are a witness..."
"Ok. Then I'll explain everything when we get there. Right now I need to destroy the cameras."
Mikami stared for a moment. "What cameras?"
"I put one up to make sure it was you entering the building, in case the letter had ended up in the police's hands instead."
"...that creates unnecessary evidence." His tone was belittling, and Misa pouted. No one appreciated her efforts. At the very least she would get some thanks from Light, even if it was only faked gratitude.
"I know he's Kira," said Matsuda, "but can't you just kill him?"
"Since when did you advocate his death?" asked Aizawa.
"No, I don't," said Matsuda, shaking his head. "I just think he's been through enough for one person. All he has to look forward to is death, and death is better than torture."
L returned his attention to the monitor. Light was hanging from his ankles, a straight jacket keeping his arms in place across his chest. Already Light's face was red with blood. L took a bite out of his ice cream cone. "Light-kun knows the location of a second Death Note. We cannot allow him reprieve until he tells us where it is."
Matsuda looked away, eyes downcast. "But it might not even exist. And if it does, it's probably somewhere where no one would find it. So it should be fine to just kill him."
"It is much more likely that Light-kun left it somewhere with the sole purpose of it being found. If it has already been collected, the least we can do is find out who he intended to find it. I am guessing Amane Misa."
"That makes sense. After all, she's still-" Aizawa cut himself off, eyes on one of the few monitors that wasn't focused on Light, instead on the front of the headquarter building. "Ryuuzaki!"
L followed Aizawa's line of sight, ice cream cone falling from his hand. It hit the floor, ice cream instantly splattering all over the tile. But no one even noticed. On the screen, at least a hundred men and women were flooding into the headquarters. They all seemed to hold weapons, mostly things akin to hammers and knives.
The computer screen went on, a W appearing. "What would you like to do, sir?" came the familiar voice of Watari.
"Call the police. Everyone, head to the roof to the helicopters. I will retrieve Light and be up there in a moment." With that said, L made his way to the door.
"Wait!" Aizawa's voice managed to get the detective to stop. "I'll back you up!"
L gave a brief nod. "Mogi, Matsuda, make your way to the roof."
That said, he cast one last glance at the monitor before booking it. The crowd had gotten past the first level of security, and would be in the very hall L stood in a minute's time.
Breaking into a run, L led Aizawa to the stairs, taking them three at a time as he made his way to the bottom level, two stories below ground. He ran down a hallway, stopping at the third door and swiftly entering.
"Hold Light-kun for me while I cut the rope."
Aizawa did as told, L grabbing a knife off of the metal hospital cart. Aizawa really didn't want to think about why it was there... He didn't have to, either, soon focusing on catching the too-light teen. L reached for yet another item: a syringe. He stuck it into Light's arm, the teen relaxing completely into Aizawa's hold.
"Come on. We need to make it to the roof," said L, swiftly leading the way out. He ran smack dab into someone. The man was big, and L's fear and adrenalin kept him from being able to take much else in. The man held a gun...
A shot sounded, and L closed his eyes.
...it took a shake of his shoulder for him to open his eyes, watching the big man gasping for breath on the floor, bleeding out through his stomach. L turned around, helping lead Aizawa to the elevator. The stairway was undoubtedly filled with criminals. The elevator was finger-print locked, and the people were more likely to charge in and continuously move than wait for an elevator to appear.
L chose the floor directly before the roof floor, shifting anxiously as the five second wait felt like hours. When it opened, he quickly rushed in, pressing the 'close-door' button once Aizawa had safely entered the elevator.
The elevator took forever, and L worried that the people would somehow get the elevator to stop and open the doors. He closed his eyes, trying to keep away the sudden feeling of being trapped. The walls were awfully close, and he took deep breaths in an attempt to steady himself. It had to be in his mind. They couldn't actually be closing in on him...
When the door finally opened, he peeked out carefully before beelining it for the stairs that led to the roof. It was once he reached the open air that he could make out the distant sound of sirens, nearly completely muted by distance and helicopter fans.
Watari was already in one helicopter, Matsuda and Mogi accompanying him. L got into the remaining helicopter, Aizawa sitting beside him and setting Light in the back.
It was with shaky hands that L flew off, following Watari. He had almost lost everything.
"Let go of me!"
Mikami held onto the girl, even as nails bit into his skin, as fists hit his chest. "Misa-san," he tried, but she was gasping for breath, struggling to escape his hold. He refused, arms tight around her midsection. She could still kick and bite and scratch, but she couldn't get to her death note.
He was not going to fail his god. This girl had good intentions, but she was too emotional. Any chance of rational thought seemed to be failing her. He could see why his assistance had been required. "If you write a name down, we might never find him," Mikami tried to reason.
His gut twisted painfully as he recalled the image of a gorgeous male being hung from the ceiling by his ankles, arms straight jacketed across his chest. And that was probably only a hint of what had happened... "The best thing to do is capture whoever is in charge and let Kira-sama witness this person's death."
Misa tensed for a brief moment, before slowly lowering her hands from where they were gripped in Mikami's shirt. He released her, but kept on guard in case she made any rash moves. "Mikami-kun's plan was stupid. Light should be rescued as soon as possible."
As true as that was, Mikami was sure that he was doing the right thing. Using the power of the death note, the two had controlled four dozen criminals to storm the Task Force headquarters. Three were given the objective of finding where Light was (or, as written in the death note, searching for people being held hostage/prisoner) and equipped with cameras plus a bug. Further instructions had been to stick the bug on any non-criminal they could find.
Only one had succeeded, but the criminal had succeeded in both tasks. Now the video was turned off, useless as it merely pointed at a wall, the man wearing it dead. It had revealed a strange person with big black eyes cutting Kira-sama down from the ceiling.
Mikami turned up the audio, listening intently for clues.
"So how are we supposed to find Light now?" asked Misa, pouting as she took a seat.
"We will listen for any hints of where they are going. I'm guessing a hotel. We might be able to use more criminals to break them out, though I don't want criminals handling our Kira." As an idea filled his mind, Mikami felt pride swell within him. His god would be proud. "...we could do something a little different. Do you know the name of the task force members?"
A smile pulled at the girl's face, and Mikami was taken aback at the beauty held there. He hadn't really noticed up to this point, so focused on rescuing his god. Now things were finally on track, and he could allow the briefest moment of casual thought to enter his mind.
"Yep," said the model, brushing brown bangs out of her eyes. "And I even saw L's name."
A.N: Review, plz :D Next chapter the 'M' rating sorta comes into play, so bewarrreeeee~ XD