A.N: Thank you for reading and staying with me! Thank you so much to all the reviewers! And if you haven't checked out the poll on my profile yet, go ahead and do that.

Disclaimer: I don't own D.N.

Light tried to crawl away, but he was bound to the bed. L approached, a big knife in hand, and Light gasped for breath. "L...?" he whimpered.

"Light-kun should tell me where the second notebook is."

"No! I can't!" said Light, shaking his head, and the knife only got closer.

"Then Light-kun will never talk again."

Light tugged fruitlessly at his bonds, screaming for help. Someone had to hear him... They couldn't just agree with this!

"No one's here to help you now, Kira-kun. Open your mouth."

Light sealed his lips, but a hand gripped his chin and yanked it down. He curled his tongue in his mouth, but lithe fingers gripped it and yanked it into view. Light whimpered, tears of fear falling down his face as razored blades were on top and bottom. He yanked and struggled fruitlessly. He'd talk! He would! But it was too late. He couldn't get a single word out.

Snip.

Blood flowed, and flowed, and Light screamed and screamed...

"Light!"

Light shot up, gasping for breath, cheeks wet with tears. He instantly opened his mouth, sticking in his fingers and feeling... Thank god. Just a dream. But for how long would it remain a dream? It must have been a warning of what would happen if he didn't tell L where the death note was, before his next session.

"I have to tell him," he said, brokenly, not bothering to wipe drying tears from his face. He would probably be forced to write the information after his tongue was removed... and if he refused that, what then? Would they cut off his fingers? He trembled at the mere thought, holding his hands close to his chest, as if that would help keep them safe.

A hand fell on his shoulder, and he cried out, scooting back to get away from it. But scooting back would only make things worse, wouldn't it?

"Look at me, it's your Misa-Misa!"

Light froze, trembling instantly coming to a halt. Was this a crueler form of torture? He looked up, despite his fears... and frowned. This girl... was Misa? Wouldn't L at least have someone with the same colored hair, and same clothing style? "Who are you?"

The offense on the girl's face was clear. "Misa had to dye her hair and change her style to keep from being recognized."

This time he listened closely as she spoke. Her voice and speech pattern were most definitely Misa's. He cast his eyes to her face, ignoring the hair and hardly-there make up. "Misa," he acknowledged, wide-eyed. Which was even worse than if she wasn't Misa. "L caught you? Did he force you to dress like that?"

"We're not caught," she repeated. "Misa-Misa saved her Light!"

Light stared, before letting his eyes take in the room, truly, for the first time. He resided upon a twin-size bed in a normal-sized bedroom. There was an open door, a dresser, and a night stand.

Was it really possible...? Could he have been saved? And by Misa? Light wanted to believe it, but he couldn't be sure, and fear rose up inside of him. It could so easily be a mind game, or even a cruel dream taunting him of his desired freedom...

"Teru-kun!" Misa called, and Light watched with intrigue as a man entered. Dark hair fell neatly to his shoulders, bangs slightly obscuring dark brown, red-tinted eyes. He wore a neat, creaseless business suit, posture pin-straight. His entire form exuded confidence and control.

Then his eyes landed on Light, and the teen watched with rapt surprise as the calm expression immediately changed into awe and adoration. "Kami," he said, giving a low bow once he reached the bed. "I am Mikami Teru. Misa found me and informed me that you were in danger. Together, we retrieved you."

The pure reverence in this man's voice expelled Light's fear of this being a trick. "And..." He closed his eyes, forcing the word out. "...L?"

"We've got him tied up in the other room," Misa answered, voice brimming with excitement.

Light nodded, trying to take this in. They had... captured L. And saved him, Light. "You guys are amazing," he praised, sincerely. To have managed that... "You'll have to explain how you did it sometime. But... but right now, I want to take a bath."

Really what he wanted was a shower, to wash away all the horrid memories, the sick feeling in his gut, his terror... but his limbs felt so weak, and he didn't want to risk cracking his skull against the floor.

As Misa left to start Light's bath, Mikami asked, "Would you like a glass of water?"

Now that Light thought about it, he was really thirsty. "Yeah. I'd appreciate that. And... food, too. Please."

At the sudden shock of ice cold water being dumped onto his head and dripping down his body, L jumped into wakefulness. Now cold and wet, with usually-loose clothes sticking to his body, he made quick work of taking in his surroundings. Which weren't much. He felt his chest tighten with panic. It seemed he was in a closet, no bigger than that of a janitor. His wrists were bound, his ankles were bound, and his bound wrists and ankles were bound together, all with very efficiently knotted ropes. And the last thing he remembered was torturing Light-kun, before the world had abruptly gone black...

But that wasn't what was causing him to seize up in fear. No, he didn't care about the binds, or the closet, or the random blackout. While those were all worrisome, what was causing him so much fear was the brown-haired girl towering over him, an empty bucket now at her feet. It had taken him a second, but once he recognized her as Misa, his heart began to pound painfully hard against his rib cage.

It didn't take a genius to figure out the horror of the situation. L had no doubt that being alive right now meant he would soon prefer to be dead.

He could only hope he was alive because Misa hadn't managed to rescue Light, and was going to use L to get Light back. In that case, he would have quite a bit of leverage.

On the other hand, she might have Light already, and figured his fate should be left up to her god. In that case, he was screwed.

All he could do was wait and find out which of the two cases it was, while hoping she would mess up and give him a chance to escape. Escaping would be highly unlikely if Light was around, though. And if Watari was dead-

L's stomach twisted at the mere thought, and he had to force it out of his mind. He had to keep his calm if he was to have any chance of getting out of this alive.

But Misa had the shinigami eyes, didn't she? Even if he escaped, she could write his name in the death note. They might even be upset enough to make him do something dreadful, humiliating, or excruciatingly painful.

"Lawliet-kun doesn't look too well," she mocked, and the detective swallowed hard.

Light wanted to look strong in front of his followers. He wanted to appear every inch the God he was going to become.

Not being able to walk without stumbling and falling seriously hindered his goals... Mikami hadn't offered Light help to the bathroom, but stood dutifully nearby as Light made an attempt, like he knew Light needed to at least try for the sake of his pride.

When he stumbled, Mikami immediately had his arms around his god, steadying him. Light didn't need to ask. Mikami anticipated Light's needs. Mikami helped him walk the rest of the way to the bathroom, while still retaining an air of reverence. Light decided right then and there that Mikami would be his right hand man. How in the world had Misa managed to find such a person? She apparently had much more worth than he had thought. Without her, he would still be...

Light shivered, forcing back the thought. To Mikami's credit, he completely ignored the shiver.

The bathroom was very simple, with a sink, toilet, and shower with a tub. Yet right now it looked like Heaven to Light.

As all he was wearing was the coat Mikami had wrapped him up in during his rescue, Light wouldn't need any help in undressing. Mikami helped Light sit on the toilet seat lid. "Would you like any incense, Kami?"

Light felt his lips twitch up at the corners upon hearing the way Mikami had addressed him. Kami... Yes, he was God. He was bruised and beaten and battered, but he wasn't broken. He would never be broken. He would be able to get past his horror of the situation. Someday he could look back on it as a task he had endured for the sake of his new world.

Not today, though...

Light gave an affirmative nod, watching as Mikami pulled an array of candles out from beneath the sink. He presented them to Light one at a time, lighting the one chosen and placing it on the sink counter.

"If you need anything..." Mikami seemed to be trying to word his sentence carefully. "I'll do anything for you, so just call for me if you need help."

Light waited until the door shut behind Mikami's retreating form before slipping off the coat. He forced himself to his feet, leaning over and grabbing the ledge of the tub. He sat on it, before slipping into the water...

A sigh immediately fell from his lips, as his body was engulfed in warm, soothing liquid. He relaxed further into it, so only his head was above the water. The sweet scent of vanilla and honey filled the air, and Light inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with the slightly-steamy air and sweet fragrance.

He soaked for a long time, letting his thoughts fall away with his worries. When the water started hinting at coldness, he opened his eyes and looked around for the soap, looking forward to washing away all evidence of what had transpired. He couldn't erase the marks, but it still felt nice to rub the bar of soap over every inch of his skin, scrubbing until the water started to be filled with the foamy whiteness of his efforts.

Afterwards, he picked up the only available shampoo. It was very basic, saying it was good for keeping shine and luster... Light applied a generous amount to his scalp, the suds trailing down his face and back as he lathered it up. He closed his eyes to avoid getting any shampoo in them.

After dunking his head a few times and rinsing out the shampoo, he did a quick double check of his scalp with deft fingers. A sigh of relief left his lips at the lack of grease. It was nice to be so clean... All he had left was the conditioner. The simple movements, done so many times in his life, only further relaxed him.

He took is time getting out, feeling his relaxed, languid state leaving him as he got to his feet. His butt instantly hurt, legs wobbling. Why did his legs hurt so bad? Maybe not walking for a week was the cause of this...

He reached for the towel, which was hanging from a towel rack, promptly tumbling onto his knees as he failed to keep balance.

A knock at the door met his ears, followed by, "Do you require any assistance?" Clearly worded so as not to demean Light...

"Yes, I would appreciate that," Light answered.

Mikami entered after Light's approval. He cast a quick glance at Light, and grabbed the towel. Light relaxed as it was wrapped around his shoulders. There would be plenty of chances to prove his superiority and Godliness in the future. For now, what would it hurt to allow himself some personal catering?

Soichiro sat at his desk in the NPA, doing his best to focus on his work. His head was crammed full with current crimes. He had taken on way more work than was recommended, and even with such distractions his mind still strayed to his son.

They had promised to contact him if they made any progress. Seeing as they hadn't...

Soichiro slammed his fist against the desk. He had to stop thinking about it. His son was a mass murderer, and knew the where-abouts of a mass murder weapon. Deaths were continuing despite Light's containment, and Misa had yet to be found. Soichiro could not allow himself to feel upset over the situation.

When his phone rang, he picked it up with an aggravated, "Hello?" Very unprofessional, but he figured he could be excused considering the circumstances.

"Yagami-san?" The voice seemed unsure.

Soichiro immediately recognized it as Matsuda. Which meant there was progress. "What? What is it? Is Light's trial decided?"

"No. Actually..." Then, in a rush of words, "Light escaped and L was kidnapped!"

Soichiro nearly dropped the phone. "And the task force members?"

"Aizawa and Ide... They didn't make it... We found their bodies, and... I'm pretty sure a Death Note killed them."

"How did this happen in the taskforce headquarters?"

"It was... uh... trashed by a mob. So we're staying at a hotel. But I think Watari is having it cleaned up, and extra secured, so we might be able to go back soon."

So the investigation was continuing. And Watari was still alive.

"Mogi and I aren't that great of a team just by ourselves... I know this is hard, with Light being your son, but could you rejoin the taskforce? You'll have to quit the police force again, too..."

"This is much more important than being part of the force. When is the next meeting?"

A.N: So, whatcha think? Review, plz, and thanks for reading!