Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.

A/N- I've struggled with the decision on whether to post this chapter or not. I just wanted to create a bit of back-story for L (who's character remains mysterious to this day)

I could really use feedback on this chapter. I would be grateful because I do not want to write a story that isn't any good. Let me know what is working or isn't. Thank you for any advice.

Everything to Save

Chapter 6-

Five years earlier- England

The windowless room was filled with stacks of documents, notes, books, and empty dessert plates. Surveillance camera's adorned an entire wall of the room, giving viewing access to every room at the facility and to the outside entrance.

On the other side of the room a hunched figure sat on the floor, as he stared at a computer screen as his long fingers flew over the keys of the keyboard.

Awhile later, the young ebony-haired man got to his feet and stretched as he walked over to look at the surveillance cameras. He had been holed up in this room for days, as him and another detective had been waging a war with each other on a case- a war that ended up with L victorious. The detective was pleased that he outwitted the other detective, but he wasn't surprised- for he always won. It was hard to find a case that he couldn't solve quickly. He knew that one day there would be a case so challenging that he might actually lose; and he hated to lose.

The surveillance cameras had been his only key to the outside world these last few weeks, besides Watari's daily visits to make sure that the young man was all right.

L studied the cameras that were placed around the facility. It was daytime and most of the children were studying or playing. The detective usually focused his attention on three special young boys- a blonde, a redhead and one with white hair, these boys could possibly become his successors one day. It gave L a strange feeling that he was so important that if he died, someone had to carry on his trademark detective name and take on his cases as if he was L himself!

He didn't want to think about his other successors, it was rather painful to think about A and B. Those were memories that he tucked far away into himself, along with the memories of his childhood. He didn't wish to revisit such dark moments in his young life.

A sudden movement from the outside surveillance camera caught his attention, as a limo pulled up to the front entrance of Whammy's House. Watari got out of the driver's side, then went around the car and opened the passenger side door as a young man around L's age stepped out holding a small suitcase.

The detective brought his thumb to his mouth and stared in rapt attention at the situation unfolding before him. The man had an olive complexion and a mass of curly brown hair that looked as untamed as L's was, and he was dressed casually in a black t-shirt, baggy khaki pants, and boots. The detective's stomach clenched and he bit down hard on his thumbnail. Why did he suddenly feel so strange…?

Who was this young man? L thought. Curiosity filled him, but he had work to do and forced himself to focus his attention away from the new arrival. He would find out what he needed to know from Watari soon.

A few hours later, there was a knock on the door. L unfolded himself from his position on the floor and padded over to the door, looking at the surveillance camera that focused especially on the outside of L's workroom and the area around it. He quickly unlocked the door when he realized it was Watari, and smiled as his guardian pushed in a tray laden with tea, fancy cakes and other assorted sweets for him.

"I knew you would be hungry L, so I hope this will sustain for a few hours at least," Watari replied, as he looked at L fondly.

"Thank you, Whammy, I was hungry and I was afraid that my deductive reasoning was going to decrease by 20 percent if I didn't have cake soon," L replied, as he snatched up a plate of strawberry cake and quickly devoured it.

"Do you need anything else?" Watari asked his ward, not wanting to keep him from his detective work,

"No, but I noticed that a young man arrived here today," L stated, as he started eating another piece of cake. "Who is he?"

"Ah yes, he's a nice young man. His name is Julian and his parents were recently killed in that terrible train bombing last month. His grandmother was a very dear friend of mine and I knew his father when he was a little boy." Watari responded as he sat down on L's couch, it was one of the few pieces of furniture in the sparse room, and then continued with his story,

"I promised her that if anything ever happened that I would take care of her grandson if he needed me. Unfortunately, I had hoped that it wouldn't be under such tragic circumstances," the old man explained somberly, looking down at his hands.

"I assume your dear friend is dead?" L asked gently, as he climbed next to the old man, bringing his legs up and resting his hands on them as usual.

Watari nodded at him sadly.

"Yes, she died last year. She was the finest woman I have ever met," the old man replied, his voice filled with pain. L felt badly for he rarely thought of Watari's life except for his instructing him on his detective work and running Whammy's House. He suddenly felt selfish that he hadn't taken an interest in learning more about the old man.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Whammy. You're always thinking of others, aren't you? I don't know what would have become of me if you hadn't rescued me all those years ago." L said softly, as he awkwardly reached out to pat the old man on his shoulder.

"How could I not rescue you? You were such a wee boy with haunted big black eyes that held so much intelligence. I knew you had special abilities from the moment I saw you. You have made me very proud and I know you will continue to do so," Watari responded as he reached out to ruffle L's hair, as L smiled at him.

"My goodness, look at the time!" the old man exclaimed, surprised at the sudden show of emotion from L, and quickly diverted his attention from the subject at hand.

"Yes, it IS getting late." L agreed, also slightly embarrassed by the unusual show of feelings. He and Watarai both stood up and began to go about their normal routine as usual.

"I need to go check on Roger. A few of the children were misbehaving today and he was very upset about it." Watari replied, as he loaded some empty cake plates on to the tray.

"I take it that Mello one of them?" L asked. He hadn't actually met the boy in person yet but had talked to him a few times before during a broadcast for the children. The blonde boy had many interesting questions for him and he had made a good impression on the ebony-haired man. It seemed as though L was quite the legend around Whammy's, and the detective had heard that Mello was his biggest fan.

"Of course. That boy needs to control his emotions; he actually punched Near in the stomach over some silly argument. He will need to be disciplined and Roger wants me to take care of the situation. Mello will have to learn self-control if you really want him to be considered as one of your successors one day," Watari replied, not sure what L saw in the blonde boy with the hotheaded temper.

"But it's his emotions that make him special Whammy. I predict in the future that he'll make an excellent detective, but he must learn to get along with Near," L explained, then changed the subject.

"Um, I was wondering how long is Julian planning on staying here?" L asked keeping his tone neutral. In the back of his mind, he wondered why he cared….

Watari smiled. "I'm sure he'll be here for a few months at least, if not longer. Why do you ask?" the old man asked lightly, it was unusual for L to ask about anybody else other than his possible successors.

"I'm only curious that's all," L said as he turned his attention to the tray of desserts.

OOOoooOOO

A few weeks later, L noticed that his daily supply of cakes and candy had increased and that they tasted better than ever before.

When Watari came to collect the dirty dishes and teacups from L's room, the detective decided to ask him about it.

"Did you hire a new cook, Whammy? The desserts I have been receiving as of late are delicious; they are the best I've ever tasted." L raved, rubbing his stomach for emphasis. "I might even gain a couple of pounds from all these wonderful treats."

"Oh, that's because of Julian - remember the young man that arrived here a few weeks ago? His goal is to become an excellent chef, but his specialty is desserts. He was becoming bored and so I gave him the job of becoming our new baker," the old man replied proudly. "He's done an outstanding job!"

L stared at the plate of cake he held. It was the most exquisite creation; the attention to detail was perfection. The detective had to agree with Watari, it seemed Julian was very special.

"I'd like to meet this Julian. I want to thank him in person for his excellent baking," L said, it's given me hours of enjoyment."

Watari raised his eyebrows at the request. "I don't see any harm in arranging a meeting between you two. I trust that the boy would not harm you or compromise your identity," he agreed cautiously.

OOOoooOOO

The next day L was very nervous. He paced back and forth, as he waited for the young man to arrive. The detective hadn't had hardly any contact with other people besides Watarai's daily visits. Sometimes he would run into one of the children when he left his room, but hadn't had contact with anyone his own age in a long time.

There was a sudden knock on the door and L went over to open it. He took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind before opening the door.

A man with brown curly hair, grey eyes, and an olive complexion smiled at L with straight white teeth, wearing casual clothes. He looked up at L expectantly.

"Hi, my name is Julian. Watarai told me that you wanted to meet me," the young man said, holding out his hand. "I haven't seen you around here before."

L could feel a blush began to creep up his neck, and his heart suddenly started to race. He stared down at the outstretched hand, wondering why the young man held it out to him. Then he came to his senses and nervously shook the man's hand.

What were these odd feelings? L thought, as he felt breathless and lightheaded.

"My name is Liam, it's a pleasure to meet you, Julian," the detective said, flashing a shy smile at the man. "I tend to work a lot so I usually don't get out much."

"Really? Well then, I'll have to change that." Julian responded, shocking L.

And so began the start of a special friendship…

OOOoooOOO

Present time-

Light noticed that Mogi had fallen asleep in the chair next to him. He wondered if the task force member had a key to the chain on him, perhaps Ryuzaki had given it to him for safekeeping.

The teen leaned over and careful not to pull on the chain, began to search the pockets of Mogi's jacket. He frowned when he realized the key wasn't there, and with deft fingers, Light reached down to check the front pocket of the man's pants, when suddenly Mogi grabbed his wrist roughly.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing, Yagami-kun?" Mogi demanded, looking at him bleary-eyed and very suspiously.

Light decided to play it cool. "I was looking for the key, of course. I needed to go to the bathroom, and I couldn't wake you up. In desperation, I decided to check your pockets. I'm very sorry Mogi-san but I felt that it was an emergency."

Mogi looked at him skeptically. "I'm not sure I believe that, Yagami-kun, but since you need to go to the bathroom, let's go," he grunted.

As they made their way back from the bathroom, they could hear Matsuda laughing in the surveillance room.

Mogi looked in at Matsuda, "What's so funny?" he asked.

Matsuda looked back at Mogi. "I'm not allowed to let you in here or tell you about the surveillance, remember?" the youngest task force member warned.

"Don't you think it's only fair that I get to watch Ryuzaki on his date since he always watches Misa's and mine?" Light asked Matsuda, striding into the room, leaving Mogi no choice but to follow him. The teen laid his hand on Matsuda's shoulder and bent down to the young task force member's ear. "Please Matsuda, for me?" he whispered, knowing the effect it would have on the young man.

"Uh, well, you DO have a point there, Light-kun," Matsuda said slowly, his face beet red. "Okay, as long as you don't tell anyone and get me an autographed copy of the new magazine that Misa-Misa's in, you can watch," he agreed.

"Thank you, Matsuda-san. You're the best," Light lied, as he sat down in one of the seats and looked up at the cameras. So far, it showed that the limo had pulled up to the restaurant.

Mogi shrugged as he sat down, "It's okay with me as long as you don't tell your father. I'm curious to see who would actually want to date Ryuzaki," he scoffed.

Light smirked to himself.

Things were going exactly as planned.

To be continued-

Yes, L does introduce himself to Julian as Liam. He's protecting his identity as L the world's greatest detective. I'm sorry that I had to use an OC- Julian in this chapter, he was only created to move the plot along and help make Light jealous. Julian (OC) will only be in this chapter and next chapter unless you readers want more of him;)

Hopefully, Light and L will be having some yaoi action very soon! Please keep reading and reviewing!