Chapter 14

When Christine opened her eyes the next morning she was more than surprised to find L still asleep beside her. Then once she thought about it, she wasn't surprised. She had no idea when the last time was he'd probably had sleep and considering his rather "extensive" activity last evening, he should be passed out for days. She chuckled to herself and sat up looking for a clock. It was 8:30 and she usually tried to be in her office not later than 10:00. She found herself trying to remember what day it was, and she found herself outright laughing. She looked over at the sleeping, angelic looking L.

" My, my what did you do to me last night?" she whispered and toyed with his hair.

"If you do not remember then it must not have been very good." He answered without opening his eyes, making her jump.

"I thought you were still asleep!!" Christine cried indignantly and he smiled and opened his eyes.

"Obviously. But I have not been awake for very long, which is quite unusual for me."

"Well, you haven't had much sleep lately, I'm sure. Your body just bitch slapped you is all." She watched his face as he tried to make sense of what she'd just said, and she couldn't help laughing.

Finally he sat up and got out of bed without giving her a response. Christine could not help admiring the thin but well toned body as it walked past her towards the chest of drawers. Once again she was in awe of what was lurking beneath those baggy clothes. She watched as he opened a drawer and removed from what appeared to be drawer full of them, the familiar white shirt. She burst out laughing and he turned to her completely confused.

"I'm sorry, but I always imagined that you had a huge drawer or closet filled with white shirts and jeans and it appears I was right!!" L continued to stare at her incredulously and then turned to continue to gather clothes.

"I fail to understand the humor," he said grabbing a pair of jeans and boxers, "Where else would I keep my clothes?" The look on his face just made her laugh more, an indignant looking naked L was more than she could stand. He finally turned away from her and walked away towards the bathroom. When she heard the shower, she got out of bed and went to the drawers. As she suspected the second drawer was filled with his favorite shirts, the third filled with jeans. The top drawer with boxers and nothing else. She knew he was constantly barefoot but she thought he must have at least one pair of socks. Then she suddenly felt bad about going thru his drawers and jumped back into the bed lest he should walk back in and find her there, but she had to placate her curiosity. She heard the shower stop and a few moments later he walked back in, clothed and hair still wet and carrying a towel. He walked over to her with a wicked smile on his face, and just as she realized he had something evil on his mind, he shook his wet hair at her like a dog, sprinkling her with chilly water. Christine screeched and pulled the covers over her yelling at him to stop and go away. She heard him chuckle and then heard the sound of him opening the bedroom door and out into the living room, closing the door behind him. She peeked out of the covers and looked around in case he was faking it, but he was gone. She sat up and giggled, enjoying this playful side of L, even if it did mean getting splashed with cold water. She decided it was time for her to get up as well and shower. Perhaps one day she'd show L the joys of sharing a shower, but that was for later.

When she was done and toweled dry a naughty smiled crossed her face. She went back to his dresser and pulled out one of the many white shirts and pulled it over her head. She knew it would be huge on her, they were huge on L and he was bigger than she was. She was right as it hung down to her knees. She went to the door, opened it and sauntered out. She'd get him back for getting her wet.

She got the expected response from L who practically choked on his coffee as he saw her walk out. What she wasn't expecting, was to see Watari at L's desk retrieving used dishes.

He stopped for a moment when he turned and saw her there, and she could see his eyes dancing merrily from across the room, however his facial expression never changed. She knew it was too late to run back into the bedroom, the damage had been done. She looked to L who had managed to hide all expression including his eyes. But she knew he was laughing behind them, she just knew…

Watari brought the dirty dishes to the trolley, picked up the coffee on the table and poured a cup that was obviously meant for her. He then faced her and bowed very low, which caused L to make a small choking sound, turned back to his trolley and headed for the door. When he arrived he turned back towards them and grinned the biggest grin she'd ever seen at L, and then left the apartment.

Christine turned to face L again, and saw him struggling to not burst into laughter. That choking sound when Watari bowed to her was the beginning of it, and he was practically trembling with the effort. She walked over to the table and sat down, stared across the table at him….and they both lost it.

The next few months flew past her quickly. Before Christine knew it, the holidays were upon them, complete with cold weather and snow. L, however was in the States, Florida to be exact and teasing about how warm he was when he called. She never asked how his case was going, she had learned to leave that alone. If he wished to mention it he would, but that was rare. He would sometimes mention things that had happened if they were odd or he wanted to bounce something off of her but she let him decide if his case came into the conversation.

He also spoke to the kids in the criminology section of the orphanage at least once a week via the computer. They would gather in the play room after lunch and Watari would set up the lap top, that familiar L would appear on the screen to the delight of the kids. He would field questions about cases; about classes and studies they were involved with, and generally just see how everyone was doing. The trio would tradionally be in the back of the room, Near usually doing a puzzle as if totally uninterested, Mello nonchalantly eating his chocolate bar and Matt, as usual, playing his video game. No one else was the wiser as to how special those three were, or if you looked in their eyes, they were paying the most attention of anyone in the room.

She came into her office afterwards and sat at her desk as usual, only to jump up screaming to find someone had left a snowball in her chair. The smudge of chocolate on it told her immediately who it was; that and the streak of blond she saw flying past her office when she screamed…She picked it up and stuck it in her desk side fridge, waiting for her opportunity.

It came later in the day as she spied the trio coming down the hall. She quickly grabbed the snow ball and went into the hallway, leaning against the wall. She waited until the three had walked past her, noting the unmistakable smirk on Mello's face. As soon as they passed she leaned back and threw it at Mello's head. He yelled, put his hand at the back of his head and pulled back a hand full of snow. He turned looking for who would have the audacity to do such a thing, and found the good doctor smirking at him for a change. Matt howled and Near gave her a big grin and a thumbs up. The few kids that were in the hall began to laugh until Mello scowled at them and then they all turned and scattered. He turned his scowl towards Christine who merely wagged her finger at him and returned to her office. She was quite sure she'd never see another snow ball in her chair.

L didn't return until the day after Christmas and she hadn't realized he was back until she'd opened her office and found a small present on her desk. She thought she'd opened the ones she'd received from some of the students, so she was surprised. She sat down and unwrapped it to find a small jewelry box. Inside she found a chain of silver with the caduceus hanging from it, outlined in diamonds. It took her breath away and she was completely overwhelmed. As if on cue, her cell phone rang, the familiar "unknown' on the screen.

"L….I don't know what to say." She heard him chuckle.

"Traditionally one says thank you and Merry Christmas, I believe. Although I cannot take all the credit, Watari actually picked it out. I do not generally get involved in the holidays and as such did not really think about it. Watari suggested you deserved something, I agreed, described what I was looking for and he found it. Well, actually I believe he had it made as he could not find exactly what he wanted."

"It's perfect, L. It's so beautiful. Believe me it will never leave my neck!!"

"We both believed that as the Whammy House doctor and my friend, both of which are difficult tasks, it was deserved. Oh, and I understand you made points with Mello recently. That alone deserves a gift." She laughed.

"You heard about the snow ball incident, then?"

"Matt could not wait to tell me, he emailed me as soon as it happened. It is very difficult to best Mello and he certainly did not expect you to smash him with a snowball in the middle of the hallway….especially the same one. Brilliant Doctor Thompson."

"Well, I can't let him think he can get away with things like that, and especially with me. And it wasn't malicious so it didn't require disciplinary actions, just a return. Oh and I do have a present for you as well, when you're ready."

"I will give you a call later once I have closed all my loose ends on this case and made my reports to everyone necessary. " click. She stared into the phone; he never learned the courtesy of saying good-bye at the end of a conversation. She shrugged, L was still L. She unclasped the necklace, put it around her neck and rehooked it. She pulled out her compact mirror and admired it around her neck. It was indeed truly beautiful and so unexpected. She looked over at the present she had purchased for L; it was a beautiful hand crafted chess set that she hoped to put into use that evening. L was in for a surprise; she fully felt she could beat him this time. And if not truly beat him, get him to declare a draw. She looked forward to it.

She knew she had him when he sat back on the couch, and wrapped his arms around his drawn up legs, glaring at the chessboard. His eyes rolled from the chessboard to her face and then back again.

"It appears your game has improved immeasurably. I find I have to think a few steps ahead now, and even then you have managed to stump me at the moment."

"Well, you had said you were distressed at how appalling my game was before," she said smiling, "So now you should be happy!" He glared at her again and all it did was make her laugh. He continued to stare at the board, leaned down and began to pick up a piece.

"Are you sure about that move?" she asked trying to rattle him. He looked over at her, annoyance crossing his features.

"I believe I am 90% sure about it." He said and made the move. Christine jumped up from her seat unable to contain her excitement any longer. She reached down and moved her piece placing L into check.

"Check my fine detective, you are in check!!" L's eyes got impossibly wider and stared at the chessboard. After a few moments he unwound himself and stood up and walked towards his bedroom door.

"I seem to have developed a headache, Doctor. Please excuse me. We can resume this game another time." He opened the door, walked in and shut the door…loudly. Christine stood with her mouth agape and then she began to laugh. She'd always known he hated to lose, it was part of his childish traits, but this was outrageously funny. She marched over to the door.

"Oh no you don't Mr. L whatever the rest of your name is, you are NOT going to deny me my victory!" She grabbed the doorknob and yanked it open ready to charge into the room when both her arms were grabbed from the front and she was pulled into the darkness of the room and door slammed shut behind her. She was turned around and held against L's body, his arms tightly wrapped around her.

"You know I hate to lose, " he whispered in her ear, "And in here, I always win." Christine had no chance to complain as she was spun around again and her mouth captured in a kiss.

Over the next few months, Christine found herself involved in more of the administrative end of Whammy's with Roger. She had discovered that he was more of an accountant than what she would expect from a school/orphanage administrator. Not that he was bad at his job, but he didn't often see things from the student's point of view. They and sometimes faculty, were seeking her out for advice in situations they had with Roger and she would intervene if she felt it necessary. She had begun taking courses in child psychology during her down times as she found herself against several situations that she felt out of her depth at times. Sometimes new children coming in were filled with the trauma over whatever had happened to make them orphans, and some simply had needs that had to be answered. She and L sometimes bounced ideas off one another, he already schooled in psychology, although she found some of his ideas and possible solutions not only unorthodox but down right alarming. However, she couldn't argue with success.

As he was away more often than not, she would put ideas together and proposals and wait for he and Watari to return, or run them past him on the phone if he called, before bringing them to Roger. She never wished to step out of bounds with L again. At least with the no nonsense detective L. She wished others could witness the other L once in a while, the one who would play for hours with a bubble maker to see how may types of bubbles could be made, the one who would play chess while eating the largest rainbow lollipop she had ever seen, the one who made Watari go and fetch him an entire bowl of cherries when she had the audacity to snatch one from his sundae and then refused to share. And the one who sat with Mello telling him stories from his cases which kept the boy enthralled. There was also that side that no one had seen except her, but that side she wasn't willing to share with anyone.

But she knew most of the world, including Whammy's, would only know of the mechanical voice from the computer, the brilliant mind that could quickly surmise a situation and make everyone else involved feel ridiculous with a few choice words. In a way she thought it a great shame because there was so much more to him than that.

She wondering about trying to preserve that other part of L. But that harsh detective side did make him more powerful and that was an important factor in his success rate. And speaking of success rates, she wondered what her percentage would be in getting a picture of L.