I'm backies, children. ;D Finally got off my ass and back into Death Note. 3 and I hope to make up for it with a great chapter!

Enjoy.

The back of his eyelids were so dark. But those little bursts of color gave him hope that he wouldn't be swallowed.

Or were his eyes even closed? He couldn't tell; he couldn't feel his body. Was this foreign room just so drowned in shadow that his eyes were making light to cheer him up? Either way, nothing could get rid of the terror he felt in his chest as he roused himself more and more into consciousness.

Deja vu crept over L in slow waves. The darkness was familiar. The smell of it; sweet. Sweet with a tinge of metal. It was awkward...awkward and so, so familiar. I want out... out of this scent, this darkness, this unknown place. He took a deep breath. Was he trapped? Feeling gradually began to return to his limbs, and at once, he attempted to lift his arm. No restraints. He folded his legs to his chest. None...Standing for the first time in what felt like years made him dizzy, but luckily there was a wall behind him for support. It was cold...worn out stone, he guessed.

"L-chan~ Are you awake? I hear rustling."

That voice...that painfully joyful voice...

His spine was ready to crawl out of his skin. It took L all of two seconds to realize where he was and what kind of situation he was in.

"L? Answer me, please~."

L swallowed, still pressing himself against the freezing stone to try and phase through it. No luck. What would happen if he stayed silent? Would B leave? Or come in and hurt him? He swallowed again. "I...I-I'm awake." His voice sounded like it was wrapped in sandpaper. And felt like it, too, against his throat.

Almost immediately after he spoke, a crack of light appeared in the darkness around him. It gave him a little depth recognition- at least the darkness was no longer never ending. L now knew he was in a very small room- with a crazed serial killer from his past.

"Hi." There was that voice again.

And L's own meek whisper. "...Hi."

Ryuuzaki couldn't fully see Beyond Birthday, but he knew he was close. Too close. He could hear the slow, even breaths through his nose, while his own breath stayed in the back of his lungs. And if he focused really hard, he could see those red eyes that had followed him all throughout his childhood. Those fucking eyes that carved their way through the darkness and into the pit of his stomach. His spine threatened to leave again.

Then a weight was upon him, pressing against his chest, wrapped around his shoulders, pinning him against the wall. Warm breaths were hitting what he realized was the exposed skin of his chest. When did his shirt dissappear? "I missed you so much, L," B whispered against L's skin, tightening his, as he would insist, loving embrace. It felt like a death grip to Ryuuzaki. "I'm so sorry I left you. I didn't want to, but I had to. You know?"

What? L looked down at the dark form against him in confusion. You left because you killed a man, how did that affect me...Maybe his memory of the past was getting blurry. Who was right, he had no idea.

B kept talking. His voice sounded eerily similar to the one L used almost every day. Like B had been practicing his L impression- for years. And years. And years. "I spent so much time finding you, and really all I had to do was find that Light boy and convince him to lead me to you. Oh, he was such a big help, he made me so happy. Are you happy to see me too, L-ai?"

L's eyes had now adjusted to the darkness around them, and he could too-clearly see the dark, crimson-dipped eyes staring blankly at him, waiting patiently for an answer. They looked like they could wait for years for a few simple words, never blinking.

"I..." L didn't know what he should say to keep himself safe. Play along? Try to escape? He knew how B's mind worked, for the most part...he had had time to decode it, but the pieces of Beyond Birthday never fully clicked together. L wondered why that was, what piece of the puzzle was missing inside his consciousness.

But he knew he should try to preserve himself and stay calm. Playing along with the little fantasy taking place in B's head right now seemed like the best option. "Y-yes. I missed you so much."

He almost /felt/ BB light up into a firework. "I knew you did! They told me you didn't care about me, but look, look, you do!" They? Did he dare ask? B pulled away after a little while, finally giving L an opportunity to breathe properly. He heard footsteps going away from him, and then a flick- the a blinding light that forced his eyes shut and his arms to cover them some more. "Ah-"

L suddenly didn't want to know where he was. He was scared of what might be around him. But his eyes eventually grew used to the light, and he forced himself(out of pure curiosity) to glance around. "Welcome home." B announced with a vacant smile.

It was a disgusting room. The walls and floor were all stone, with no windows to let in the light. A rotting dresser sat in the corner, and a moth-eaten mattress was lying miserably on the cold floor. L's lip twitched.

B was by his side once again, staring up at him with those eyes. Those eyes L had seen right into as a child, but now couldn't delve farther past the lashes. He clenched his teeth as BB took his hand. He was too frightened to move on his own. So Beyond moved him over to the mattress, forcing him to sit down and following him after. "Are you tired? Do you want to sleep? Eat? Drink?" B looked at him with the expression of an obedient puppy, one that L once knew very well. Nostalgia knocked at his heart.

But he simply shook his head and stared down at the browning mattress. "L- what's wrong? Are you okay? Please don't be sad. We're together now. You should be happy-"

"Why did you kill those women?"

"...Ah?"

L turned his eyes to glance at B. "Why?"

B cocked his head, putting a thumb to his lips. Ryuuzaki inwardly cringed at the likeness. "You told me to."

"What?" L's eyes widened.

.x.

"L?" Frantic spread across his face, even as he just stared at the empty room and the scrawl on the wall. "Ryuuzaki! L!" Please let this not be happening. "Watari?" his voice went high at the end when he didn't mean it to. There was no shuffle of feet or the familiar voice of the elderly man; just the silence of sleeping. Shit. Light grabbed at his hair, eyes wide with desperation and worry. Worrying about your mortal enemy- some god you are. Put he ushered that thought away to make room for more worry as he walked into L's room. He used to have to sleep in here, right next to the detective. Now he wished they were both just there, chained together, away from this horrible man who was probably torturing L half to death.

When he got close to the vacant bed, he noticed that amidst the tangled sheets that there was a small scrap of paper, perched like a snowflake against the dark blue of the bed spread. Light reached for it, unfolding it carefully.

'12107

10:07pm'

The scrawl matched that on the wall.

What? He glanced at the clock on L's bedside table; 9:48pm. He didn't have that much time left.

Time left to what? He had no idea. Light stared blankly at the first set of numbers, mouthing them over silently until they were ingrained into his brain. But why were they important? Light racked his A student mind for a solution, a clue, just an x. Anything.

12107...sounds like a zip code, or an address. The address of HQ was 12115, minus street names. 12107 would be slightly nearby...if he knew this city well enough, it would be the apartment building some blocks away. The complex was a little infamous for its lack of...pretty much anything. Hygiene, service, electricity...

Sounded like Beyond Birthday to him. But was he on a time limit to get there?

Against his better judgment, Light pocketed the note and ran for the door, exiting the private building and making his way down the street, each building marked with a descending number. 12107...His brown eyes were everywhere and nowhere, checking the numbers bolted onto buildings like a madman. When the 12107 finally met his gaze, he almost passed it by, he was in such a rush to find it. But he entered the complex...and was once again alone and lost. Where did he go now? The sordid lobby was empty, and there was only a desk, an elevator door(which most likely didn't work), and a stairwell. He ran towards it, glancing up and down and finally deciding on descending into the dank bottom of the complex.

Next chapter is something special, so I made this one kinda yaoiless to build it up and also to be a dick.

R&R~ I love all 34 of you who have been nice enough to leave reviews. 3