A.N: Thank you to all the lovely reviewers! You encourage me to get past stupid writer's block. This chapter kept eluding me, and I didn't know what to write... Finally I just went ahead and typed it out, though. Yay :D Lol, how come I write best during the middle of the night? Things flow so much easier when I should be sleeping...

Disclaimer: Don't own Death Note.

Enough of my babbling! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Ch 7

Light was propped up against the bed's headrest, soft pillows behind his back. He was positive it was Mikami's bed. Where were Mikami and Misa sleeping? On couches?

The treatment he was receiving was such a complete contrast to where he had been the prior morning. He was still having a hard time wrapping his mind around it.

And then there were Rem and Ryuk. Rem floated in and out of the room from time to time, but ultimately hadn't stopped to speak to him or anything. Light hadn't seen Ryuk, but Misa had told him the shinigami had arrived soon after he had.

Misa entered with a tray of soup. He gave a small nod, and she placed it on his lap and sat criss-cross on the bed, facing him.

"What would you like us to do with L? Should I kill him?"

Light swallowed a bite of the surprisingly-tasty meal. "No. After what he did... I'm going to do to him everything he did to me." He locked eyes with the model. "I should be up to visiting him tomorrow. Today, I need you to get him situated."

"I see," said Soichiro, in a gruff voice. "Then we all might be under Kira's control this very minute."

Matsuda sat across from the ex-NPA chief and beside Mogi within a hotel room. Watari had already stated he'd continue helping them with the Kira case, even if L was dead.

Matsuda opened his mouth, yet again, but was cut off by Watari.

"I'm going to have a couple of L's acquaintances join us. Wedy, a thief, and Aiber, a conman."

Matsuda followed Watari's gaze, eyes landing on a blond woman with outrageously large sunglasses, and an equally blond man with a button up shirt and khaki shorts. It seemed he wouldn't get a chance to tell them about the tape he had found... Well, in any case, he could just watch it, and show it to them with his deductions. It would show how useful he was, at the very least.

"If L is indeed dead," said Watari, "there are people in line to take his place. I just don't feel they're ready yet. But if it comes to it, I will call a successor to Japan."

Misa had to admit, torturing L filled her with a sort of vindictive glee. He had detained her for 50 days, bound uncomfortably and deprived of sight. She had been injected with weird chemicals that made her feel loopy and sick.

And then he had tortured Light. Misa glared at the drugged-up detective, watching as Mikami bound him to a kitchen chair. It wasn't nearly cruel enough, in Misa's opinion, but it would do for now. His arms were crossed over his chest, rope around his wrists tied to the sides of the chair. Rope wrapped around L's midsection, binding that to the chair as well. An ankle was bound to either of the chair's front legs.

"Do you think Light will let us torture him too?" she asked.

Mikami gave the binds a few testing tugs before focusing his dark eyes on her. "Kami probably wants to do it himself, but I can't claim to know the way he thinks."

Misa raised a brow. They both loved Light, but Mikami held a strange reverence for him that Misa couldn't quite understand. She had a feeling Mikami didn't understand her feelings towards Light, either.

Despite that, he still seemed to understand her better than Light did...

"Did you buy more apples yet?"

Misa glanced at the shinigami, phasing through a wall. Mikami was unable to see Ryuk, as he had only touched the Death Note that allowed him to see Rem. He had witnessed apples disappearing in midair, though. "I can't just go out whenever. I'm safer now, but if I'm seen I can still be put onto deathrow."

Ryuk scowled. "Why can't Mikami buy apples?"

Misa had her answers prepared, having discussed this with Mikami. "It would be suspicious if he randomly started buying tons of apples."

When Ryuk started twisting his body strangely and saying strange things, Misa returned her focus to the stirring detective. He would definitely be paying for all the hardship he had caused Misa.

L stared into the darkness before him, barely able to make out the shape of a door. He couldn't stop himself from licking his cracked, dry lips. How long had he been in here now?

He had woken from his drugged sleep to find himself bound- quite painfully- to a chair in the kitchen. Knowing he was in an apartment complex did nothing to calm him down. Sure, if he screamed he would be heard, but he wouldn't put it past that dark-haired man to make up some excuse. Mikami, Misa had called him.

L may be socially inept, but he could read people. And what he deduced about Mikami was that he was a smart, meticulous guy that was good with his words. He could probably make an excuse for anything suspicious. Without someone extremely intelligent searching for Light, he didn't see how he'd ever be discovered.

At least not without a stroke of luck, but luck never had favored him. He didn't have enough information to calculate a percentage of whether he'd be rescued, and his emotions would probably bias it anyway.

L let his thoughts ramble, the best way to distract himself from his worsening thirst, aching limbs, and absolute dread.

He tensed at the sound of footsteps, trying to figure out who it was by the steps. There were at least two pairs of feet.

The door flew open, and it took L a moment to adjust to the sudden light. He blinked to speed along the process, instantly wishing he had remained blind.

Before him were both Light and Mikami, but L hardly noticed the attorney, eyes riveted on Light's face. The expression there was rapidly changing, and L had a feeling the emotions that were settled upon would dictate his fate.

First came the widening of honey-brown eyes, fear flashing briefly as the teen took a step back. Then those gorgeous eyes narrowed, hurt flashing before being masked with cold anger. Light regained his lost step. "L," he greeted, and his voice was harsh and unforgiving.

L barely suppressed a shiver, looking straight into that infuriated gaze. He had put that anger there. Light had never intended on torturing him, of that L was sure. Whatever he had planned... it was because L had tortured him first. Any guilt that could have kept L from too much pain was gone, replaced with the fear he had given Light.

Kira wasn't meant to fear anything. And if he did, surely he'd do everything he could to conquer and destroy that fear.

Like the fear that L held the power to torture him...

"Are you thirsty?" Light taunted.

L kept his expression passive, not wanting to goad or anger the teen. "...100% chance Light-kun is Kira."

Light laughed, but it sounded forced. "It was a hundred percent weeks ago." Now that L looked closely, everything about Light seemed forced. His expression, hard and unreadable, seemed ready to fall apart. His straight posture and cool confidence was betrayed by a hand clenching and unclenching at his side. Even his words, strong and unwavering, had a strange flow to them.

"That's true," L agreed. His lips hurt when he spoke, cracking further. When he went to lick them this time, he could taste blood. He supposed it made sense that he would dehydrate faster than Light had, seeing as L didn't drink enough fluids as it was, while Light kept himself well hydrated.

"I'm guessing you know why you're still alive."

"So Light-kun can get revenge?"

"Very good," Light mocked, but like everything else, this wasn't completely convincing. "I'm going to do everything you did to me... back to you."

L swallowed hard, staring with wide eyes up at the pain-filled orbs. Light didn't seem to realize he was showing his true emotions, staring down at the detective fiercely. Light's mocking, his taunting, even his confidence wasn't convincing. But that last sentence...

L had no doubt in his mind that he would regret every single thing he had done to Light during those seven days.

The door fell shut, and L was entrapped in darkness once more, left with nothing but Light's haunting words and his own vivid imagination.

Matsuda blearily opened his eyes, staring up at the ceiling. It was with confusion that he took in his surroundings. He was sitting before his TV, and had been asleep on the couch. It was rare for him to fall asleep in front of the TV. He would much rather drag himself to his comfortable bed and pass out there...

He blinked, casting his eyes back at the TV. Memories came back to him, startling him into full awareness. He hadn't fallen asleep on the couch. He had passed out after what he had seen on the tape, which he had taken from that hotel room.

He shivered, disgusted as images flashed through his mind. Before he had left the hotel that day, having heard L had been kidnapped, he and Mogi had searched the entire building. Matsuda had been the first to search the room L had been in. Upon seeing the camera, he had thought it might be helpful in finding L. But every time he remembered it and tried to bring it up, he was spoken over...

Matsuda didn't want to share this disgusting video with the task force members. He wanted to destroy it on the spot. Poor Light! L had... How could he do that to him? I know he's Kira, but... but that's rape. If that was the way L's 'Justice System' worked, Matsuda wanted nothing to do with it.

If anything, he wanted to find Light and see if the teenager was alright.

Matsuda grimaced, realizing that he'd have to watch the tape again for clues as to where Light was, if he wanted to find him. But he had already watched the beginning, so... he could just skip to where he had been before he passed out...

A.N: Whatcha think? Please review! Trust me when I say it encourages me to fight my laziness and writer's block.