I changed my mind last minute about a little something, so I'm sorry if you were really expecting it to happen. Um, but I think I made it work okay.
This is the longest chapter yet, being 2900 something words. It's one of my favorites to, so far anyway. It seems to get more interesting as I go along.
Anyway, forgive me for changing it last minute because I know some people wanted to know what was on the tape. You'll probably find out later, but I figured that Sybil would be less inclined to kill someone than I made her seem, even if Fang was technically supposed to be the one who did it. Again, I'm sorry.
Review plz!
Geof growled under his breath.
It was just himself, Jerrod, and L in the room now. The others had gone home. At the moment, he was extremely frustrated with the fact that he couldn't find anything that could lead to the whereabouts of Sybil. Some hacker he was.
Jerrod hovered by him, doing what he could to help while the dark haired detective continued to watch Light and Misa. Although, it was painfully obvious that he wasn't focused. He hadn't been able to focus since she had disappeared, now seven days prior.
Seven days. Seven damn days. L's expression was emotionless, as it was most of the time, but his eyes glittered with pain.
Never had he ever thought Sybil would leave so abruptly. He knew that it wasn't because of him. He knew that it was because of the stress. However, he at least expected her to accept his calls. But, he wasn't that lucky.
"I take it that you're not having any luck." His voice was quieter than it had been just hours before, Jerrod had picked up on that.
L was losing hope on Sybil ever coming back. He apparently needed and loved her a lot more than it first appeared at Troy's wedding and that wasn't saying much. The middle aged man had seen how affectionate L had been towards Sybil then and it was heart-warming. Sybil felt the same way, Jerrod knew that. Her disappearance wasn't random and he doubted that it was just out of stress. There must have been some other reason behind it.
"Geof, it's okay if you-" The blue haired man shot Jerrod a look that told him to shut up.
"I told you that I'd find her and I sure as hell meant it. Besides, Ryuuzaki seems to need her too and her coming back seems to be resting on my shoulders." Geof paused and then took a deep breath.
"I betcha she has another apartment somewhere, or that she's registered in a hotel. Although, it doesn't seem that she's using her own name." At hearing this, Lawliet glanced over his shoulder and spoke.
"Strange. Sybil usually uses her name. She has not once used an alias during this entire investigation." Jerrod looked thoughtful for a moment before it hit him.
"It's not an alias that she's registered with. It's her middle name. Geof, do whatever you can to find a Zeeland Cruise. Her middle name that her mother chose and the nickname her brothers used to use for her when she was just a toddler." Jerrod glanced to L.
"She has never told a lie in her life, so it would make it hard for her to use anything different. It's probably hard enough for her to use that. Although, it means that she really wants to hide." Jerrod paused before continuing.
"She's trying to protect us." Lawliet and Geof both looked to the man, who seemed to have aged several years in just a few short days.
There was a significant increase in the amount of grey hairs that had sprouted throughout his brown hair.
"Protect us? Jerrod, what gives you that idea?"
"Think about it. She's been doing this for almost fifteen years. She's probably worked cases just as stressful as this. It doesn't make sense for her to choose now to give up. Sybil isn't someone to just breakdown and leave, she never was. Gets that from her mother." Jerrod's voice wavered at the thought of Jane before he continued.
"Sybil knows something that would put all our lives at risk if she told us and I'm pretty certain that it involves that Kira suspect you're currently investigating, Ryuuzaki. Especially after you described her reaction to me. After being reunited with her, even if only a short time, I've realized that she's really protective of those around her. At this moment, she's probably even willing to commit murder to capture Kira and keep us all safe." L's eyes then widened.
"Commit murder? Sybil-" He really believed that.
Sybil would commit murder for those around her and with all that was going on, she probably was on the brink of the crime as well. If it ever came to be that she did commit such a crime, he was quite sure that it would be for a good reason. He would forgive her. After all, Sybil was not the type of person to attempt to hurt anybody without being provoked first.
"- we must find her before it comes to that. It's been seven days, plenty of time for her to have come up with a plan. Jerrod, I believe that you are right." Geof blinked and then returned to the computer, hurriedly typing in the information he was given.
***
Sybil laid on her couch, her body pulled loosely into fetal position as she attempted to sleep.
No such luck. She had not been able to sleep since she had hidden herself away from the eyes of those she cared about. She hadn't been able to eat either.
A little over a week without food or sleep. Her body was on the brink of giving out on her, but her mind was as alert as ever. Alert and regretting the decision she had made to create that tape.
It would be airing that afternoon and she wasn't sure if she could allow Fang to kill that criminal. It just was too evil in her opinion. Everyone deserved to live until true justice nailed them. She was not true justice. Sybil merely helped to get justice, she was not justice herself. She didn't deserve to choose when someone lived or died. Not in her present mind and not when she herself was only a human being.
"F- Fang." The shinigami looked down at her, his purple eyes flashing in concern.
He knew what she wanted now. To not follow through with her original plan. It was just too difficult for such an innocent human to allow. Especially when she had been in the room when her own mother had been murdered.
He nodded.
"Alright, I won't. I'll go get the tape too."
"Good. No human being deserves to choose when someone lives or dies. Only God can do that. God and Christ." Her eyes drifted closed and she gave a small yawn, making Fang glance to the floor guiltily.
Such an innocent, pure human. She didn't deserve to live such a short life. She didn't deserve to suffer like she was doing.
Sybil gripped her body tighter and shivered slightly.
"Cold."
"You should try and sleep."
"I've tried and failed. The guilt keeps me awake. I can no longer ease myself into my dreams. I'm alone." Fang frowned before looking around and spotting a blanket on the arm of the couch.
He reached out and tugged at it enough so that it covered her now frail form.
When would that detective of hers find her? She wouldn't last much longer like this. Her broken heart was causing her to feel sickly and it was beginning to show more and more every day.
Sybil opened her eyes slightly and peered up at her companion.
"Fang?" He blinked and looked back down at her.
"Yeah?"
"I'm scared. I don't want to die. Not like this. How would Lawliet feel?" Fang's eyes widened.
"I'm scared." Scared.
Never had he suspected to hear that word from her lips. Not personalized, at least. Sybil was truly a being that didn't fear much and what she did fear, she never admitted to.
"I don't want to die. Not like this." Not at the hands of a serial killer and not in such a pathetic state.
He understood that. What he didn't understand, however, was why her thoughts always seemed to focus on those around her.
"How would Lawliet feel?" That detective, mainly.
Then again, it was part of her innocent nature. She wanted to protect those around her from feeling the pain of loss and death.
It was then Fang made a silent promise and was determined to make sure that he kept it.
"Alright, Sybil. You just stay here and I'll go nab that tape."
***
Nine days and nine nights. Was he really going to have to resort to calling in the police to help? After all, he was the world's top detective. Then again, so was she.
Lawliet hadn't had even a sugar cube in the last thirty six hours and as much as he was on withdrawal from Sybil, he was on withdrawal from sugar. Luckily, he could cope. Nine days without Sybil was much worse than just thirty six hours without sugar.
He shifted uncomfortably as he once again attempted to refocus on the computer monitor in front of him.
He had to be glad that the Task Force had gone to get lunch. That left himself, Geof, and Jerrod to speak about the progress made on finding the woman he felt deeply for.
It was just then that Geof let out a whoop and punched the air.
"Got it! Apparently, a Zeeland Cruise owns an apartment not far from here. Two blocks, apartment number seven, seven, seven." Lawliet immediately stood up and couldn't repress the relieved sigh that escaped his lips.
"At last. Watari, prepare the car. I will personally go and retrieve Sybil. Alone." Jerrod didn't argue, although he had wanted to.
He didn't argue for the sake that the young man in front of him looked even more rugged than he did just five days earlier. The bags under his eyes were darker. His dark hair was messier. Jerrod knew from just the sight of L that he was so deeply in love with Sybil that he would sacrifice nearly anything for her.
"It was love at first sight, wasn't it?" The middle aged man asked, getting a confused glance from Geof.
"Jerrod, what kinda of a-" He was interrupted with Lawliet's response.
"I suppose you could say that. Sybil was as striking to me then as she is now. Although, at the time, I couldn't quite see it. Not until she gradually began to open up to me, pouring out her thoughts and her emotions. She was and will always be the only person who can truly frustrate me without trying. Although, I suppose the main thing that captivated me were her eyes. I can never read her emotions through them like I can with many others. Her eyes hold too many emotions to just be read like an open book. And, yet, I get lost in them." Lawliet paused.
"Jerrod, I myself have a question for you before I leave to bring her back." Jerrod blinked.
What kind of question would that be?
L looked to face Jerrod, his onyx eyes harsh.
"Why is it that you never taught Sybil to tie her shoes? And why would you choose to kill her mother in front of your own daughter?" Jerrod bowed his head and clenched his fists.
"Still can't tie her shoes, huh?" It was the most he could say before he looked up and locked his eyes with the detective's.
"No she cannot and I must admit that I truly don't understand how a woman as intelligent as herself cannot be able to complete one of the most simplest of tasks."
Geof, sitting in the chair behind his buddy and the insomniac detective, couldn't help, but feel the tension in the air. He felt extremely awkward and out of place.
"Um, I'm gonna go and pray! You know, so that everything goes well when you get there!" Jerrod's eyes flickered to his friend, who darted from the room, his hand in his pocket.
That was where he kept his pocketknife.
"Answer my questions, please." Lawliet watched as the man closed his eyes and as a slight shudder ran throughout his body.
He himself felt the chill, but it was only due to the anxiousness he felt on the inside to hurry out that door and go to the one woman he would always love. The only reason he was still there was because he knew that he needed the answers before he could do anything.
"The only explanation that I can give to you for your first question is that everyone has their flaws. No one knows how to do everything and Sybil can't tie her shoes. Jane always tried to teach her, but Sybil never understood the concept behind it. Also, I recall her saying once that if she tied her shoes, her feet felt too crammed." L's eyes flashed.
Exactly what he expected to hear. Now, for the next question.
"And as for the- I loved Jane and I still do. I- I was drunk and had no idea that Sybil was in the room. Although, Jane probably tried to tell me. I'll have you know, that even though I am a murderer, there's not one second that I don't wish I could just go back and change everything. But, I've also noticed something." L refocused.
"What would that be?" Jerrod gave a weak and bitter smile.
"If I hadn't of killed my wife, Sybil would not have run from love and she would not have run into you and then you wouldn't have met her, would you? Despite the horrible thing I did in the past, something good came from it." And from that final word, Lawliet could see just how Sybil was related to this man and just why she continued to feel the bond she shared with him.
His eyes flickered as he nodded and quickly spun around to leave headquarters, leaving behind a slightly guilty, slightly happy Jerrod.
At least one good thing came from his torture, ironically enough. He took away his daughter's happiness for fifteen years, but yet she still managed to find someone who loved her more than life itself.
Yes. Ironic was the word.
***
Her eyes were partially open on day nine of being alone.
She hadn't said a word to Fang for thirteen minutes and he knew that her exhaustion was getting the best of her. Her exhaustion and her hunger were just symptoms of her guilt which was caused by her broken heart.
Fang frowned to himself.
She had truly chosen that detective over capturing Kira. At least, she had chosen the detective over capturing Kira alone.
His purple irises watched as she trembled under the blanket, pale and cold. Were these truly symptoms of a broken heart? A heart that she herself had broken?
He allowed himself to focus back on the numbers.
Yes. It seemed that it was. Lovesickness. Sybil was lovesick for the one she had chosen to leave behind in an attempt to protect. She must have been feeling it coming on slowly with every passing day since she had left, unknowing of what it was.
Sybil coughed and shivered violently.
She was sick to her stomach, probably from not being able to eat anything for nine days. But, her hunger wasn't what was bothering her. Sybil was physically sick and it confused her. She had never been sick before in her life. Was this the way she was going to die? Pathetic and alone?
"No other way." She murmured, her eyes fluttering shut, yet sleep would still not come.
It was then that she had given up. Sybil had truly given up. She didn't understand why this was happening, although she did suspect that it was because of her separation from Lawliet. Fang had also hinted on several occasions in the past week or so that her separation and her broken heart was all having a toll on her lifespan.
Was she truly going to die of a broken heart that she brought upon herself? Well, as she had only recently stated, she would have it no other way. Better to die like this than to die at the hands of Kira or in the arms of the ones she loved. After all, they didn't deserve to see her in such a pathetic state.
Sybil was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't hear the soft knock on the door, but Fang did. He heard it and he didn't hesitate to gently shake her from her thoughts.
"Get up. Door." Her eyes opened and she stared at him blankly before she forced herself to stand up.
She didn't even bother to ask questions. She already knew who it was and she had a feeling that her current situation would surprise her visitor to no end. She must have looked like crap.
Sybil stumbled, but grasped the doorknob tightly. Her eyes had little light to them as she glanced back to Fang, seeing that the shinigami had the notebook in his possession before opening the door. They immediately locked onto the dark haired detective on her doorstep, who peered at her with his wide onyx eyes.
Her appearance must have startled him, for he had jumped slightly. Lawliet wasn't one to scare easily that she knew of.
Of course, she was the first to speak.
"I'm scared." Sybil reached her hand up to the doorframe, using it to support her weak form.
L had soon after reached out to help keep her standing as well and she fell willingly into his arms, hardly conscious.
His eyes were wider than usual when he felt her fingers grip his shirt tightly and when he heard her next quiet words.
"I can't live without you."