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Thank you to all the readers and reviwers- please, continue to enjoy the story.


Light had not known how L would react to new stimuli, but while wary, seemed willing to trust Light, and followed him silently into the elevator. He looked around while Light typed in the passcode and buttons to unlock the elevator and have it take them up to the floor where the rest of the Task Force was waiting.

He was reluctant to expose L to the others, but the sooner he got it done with, the sooner he could start doing his research on L in order to restore him to his former self.

L whined, obviously alarmed as the elevator had started moving, stepping closer to Light as if seeking reassurance. Unsure of what to do, Light hesitantly reached out and ran a hand through L's hair, noticng for the first time how soft and feathery it really was.

The action seemed to calm L, however and soon, he stepped back away from Light, resuming his watchful stance.

L jumped slightly when the elevator dinged, letting out a low growl at the unfamiliar noise. The door swished open, and L stopped his growling to stare at the door, recognizing it as an exit from one place to the other.

Light watched all of this silently, marveling at how much more open L was with his reactions and emotions since his alteration. It was fascinating, seeing how L reacted as a wolf would to new things.

Shaking his head, he left the elevator, hearing the swift clicking of claws on the hard floor right behind him, signaling that L was still following. He glanced behind, seeing L's head turn at every thing that captured his attention, ears flicking and twitching at every sound that reached him. He looked tense, clawed fingers twitching and tail waving agitatedly back and forth, fur puffed slightly up.

Light was able to recognize these signs as fear from his research and stopped, realizing that in this state, L was going to be dangerous to any person that approached them. He wouldn't attack Light, but the chances that L would attack any unfamiliar person in the state he was in were extremely high.

Rubbing his temples, Light wracked his brain for any solution to the problem- and then blinked as he came up with one. Glancing down, he eyed his ripped training suit speculatively, before shrugging.

There was nothing else he could think of to prevent the inevitable bloodshed if he simply led a scared, defensive L into a room of unfamiliar people. Quickly, he unzipped his suit the rest of the way, his arm a bit stiff from he
wound L had given him, the pain making him wince as he forced his hurt arm to work.

The suit was prevented from coming all the way off, and irritated, earned down to yank the rubber and plastic boots off, jerking the laces from their eyelets and slipping them off. He then removed the gloves, glancing once at L's claws speculatively, before setting them off to the side. From there, the rest of the suit came off easily, leaving him in his now-ruined working slacks and button-down shirt, barefoot.

Holding the suit in one hand, he gestured L forwards, pointing at the ground right in front of him.

L didn't move, just cocked his head to the side, watching Light's movements. Impatient, Light gestured again. "Come here, L."

L's ears twitched once at Light's voice, but he remained still other than that.

Sighing in impatience, Light made to move towards L, taking a step forwards, but L skittered backwards, keeping a steady distance between them. Frowning now, tired of L's antics, he made to move forwards again, but L moved back again, this time curling his lips in a grimace and turning his head away, ears flattened against his head.

Light stopped, regarding L with frustration. He knew that less dominant wolves showed their respect by keeping a distance away from alphas, but how the hell was he supposed to get close to L now?

Sighing, Light rested his head in his hand, thinking, and cursing Beyond to the inner circles of hell for making him put up with this. Fuck the psycho.

Removing his hand, Light straightened, putting his chin up once more before approaching the now-cowering L slowly, making no sudden movements. This time, L remained in place, although he remained tense and kept his head turned away, tilting it to bare his neck to Light.

He took advantage of L's stillness, once he got close to him, to wrap the legs of the training suit around L's thin waist and tie them tightly, double-knotting it so that it wouldn't come unraveled. Light then stepped away, grabbed the gloves he had been wearing and grasped ahold of L's quivering hands, slipping first one glove and then the other onto them before stepping back, keeping a tight hold ion the arms of the training suit.

He surveyed his work with satisfaction. The legs of the suit tied around L's waist served as a makeshift leash, and the gloves Light had put on L's hands prevented his claws from potentially slashing anyone. There was nothing he could do about the teeth, but Light hoped that these measures would at least prevent anyone from being killed once he got L into the room where the rest of the Task Force was.

Light took another step back, and tugged slightly on the suit. Immediately, L's eyes flew open and he tilted his head down, regarding the suit tied around his waist with some confusion. Letting out a short huff, he leaned down and began to pull at it with his teeth, trying to get it undone.

Light stepped forwards with a short growl and shake of his head, causing L to stop pulling at the tie and shrink backwards. Pleased, Light stopped, nodding. "Good," he said, and L perked up at the sound of Light's voice, watching his movement carefully.

Light stepped back, careful to keep the suit slack between him and L, and started walking forwards again, L followed his movements unsure, until Light made no move to stop him, and then his gait grew more confident, sure that Light still wanted him to follow.


They made it to the outside of the room with no mishaps, although L seemed to be getting annoyed at the suit tied around his waist. He kept pawing at it, as if he wished to tug it off, but made no attempt to do so.

Taking a deep breath, Light reached out and opened the door. He stepped through into the workroom, L following close behind.

The Task Force looked up at Light's entrance, a collective shock settling over the room at the sight of Light and L. They had to be quite the sight, Light knew- L was still bloodstained, Light's and the worker's blood drying on his face, clothes, and hair. His clothes were ripped and his wolfish alterations were brought into clear sight. Light himself wasn't as bad as L, but the slash on his chest was still a raw, throbbing red, and the wound in his arm didn't help matters any, either.

"Holy shit, Light," Aizawa said, disbelief lacing his voce, staring incredulously at the pair. "What happened? And what were you thinking, bringing him here?!" he questioned, sounding somewhat panicked as he gestured at L, whose eyes were scanning over all those in the room. His tail was just starting to bristle, and a side of his lip curled up in the start of a snarl.

"I hoped to get him introduced to you all," Light said wearily, ignoring L's threatening posturing from behind him. "That way, we can start research right away, and I don't have to worry about him going after one of you."

"That's insane!" Matsuda cried, casting a wary look at L, flinching when L's hostile yellow gaze landed on him. "How can you know he won't suddenly attack? He's obviously not in his right mind!"

"No," Light replied. "He's not. But I was able to figure out how to get through to him, using what I learned from beyond. He sees the world through a wolf's eyes- by following a wolf's behavioral patterns, I was able to establish myself as his leader."

"And how did you do that?" His father asked, standing up and coming a bit closer, although he was careful to maintain his distance.

Light smiled wryly, and held up his wounded arm. "I fought him for the title of alpha. Luckily, I won- if I hadn't, I would be dead at the moment."

"So, what, we're all going to have to fight him?" Aizawa asked skeptically. "Come on, Light, this is ridiculous! Why are you going through with this? If he won't attack you, that's fine- you deal with him, and get the data, and then we can work on it once you get it. Keep him locked up and away from other people, for God's sake. Look at him- he's dangerous!"

L only punctuated the statement by letting out a hair-raising growl at Aizawa's raised voice, eyes narrowing threateningly at the unknown man.

"Aizawa!" Light hissed, glancing back at L, slightly crouched and tail bristling. "Don't be stupid! I know he's dangerous, but I refuse to lock him up like a wild animal! He's my friend, damn it, and I refuse to just leave him caged up! If you don't want to do this, fine, but you'll have to stay away from L- which means you'll also have to stay away from the building itself, since I plan on letting him free as soon as he gets settled. Make your choice, Aizawa," Light said, staring the other man down.

There was a moment of silence, and then Aizawa stepped back, shaking his head. "This is crazy," he declared. "I'll do it, because I want to keep working here, but it doesn't mean I like it. And I won't be going first."

Light nodded. "Whatever makes you feel better, Aizawa. Is there anyone willing?" Light asked, eyes flicking over those in the room.

Surprisingly, it was Matsuda who volunteered. "I guess… I'll go. I don't think anyone would be willing, and I probably don't seem like much of a threat," he laughed, but it sounded nervous and uneasy. It showed in the hesitant step he took forwards, and in the way his hands grasped the sides of his slacks nervously.

"It'll be alright, Matsuda," Light reassured him. "Now, I'm going to come closer to you. Don't move, no matter what, unless I push you out of the way. If I do, do your best to dive to the side- when I and L fought earlier, he always started by jumping at me. You'll have the best chance of evading if you do that," Light told him. "And, I need you to do exactly as I say, no matter how odd it may seem- what I'm going to do will seem normal to him, alright?"

Matsuda nodded, gulping nervously, and eyeing the still-bristling L. "Alright, Light."

"Good." Light let the suit-leash go slack between him and L, leaving as much possible space between them as possible. He stepped closer to Matsuda, but L made no move to follow, only snarled, making those in the room jump.

"Stay still," Light reiterated, "and I want you to tilt your chin up, not straight up," Light amended, "but up and to the side-good," Light said as Matsuda did as he directed. "Now, keep it like that, and try not to flinch or move, alright?"

Matsuda nodded slightly, and Light moved until he was right in front of the taller man, and lifted his chin straight up, as he had done before when approaching L. As Light leaned forwards to brush his nose over Matsuda's face, the growling stopped, and collectively, those in the room turned to look at L. Hewas no longer snarling, but instead staring intently at Light and Matsuda, observing Light's actions.

He nosed at Matsuda's cheek, then trailed his nose down to Matsuda's neck, and sniffed it- luckily, it smelled clean, and of soap, along with a slight hint of aftershave. Matsuda had taken a shower today, then. That was good- he was already slightly squicked out about having to do what he was going to next, although he wondered idly why licking L's neck hadn't disgusted him.

He pushed those distracting thoughts away in favor of returning to the task at hand. Steeling himself, he reached out to lick at Matsuda's neck, feeling the man flinch slightly at the wet contact. Light ignored it, and sniffed more at his neck, before reaching out to run a hand through Matsuda's hair gently, and then stepped back, glancing behind him at L. His stance wasn't hostile anymore, although it remained wary, and he was gazing at Matsuda interestedly, tail waving slowly back and forth behind him.

Light let out a near-silent sigh of relief. It had worked, then. By imitating the process of acceptance with Matsuda as he had done with L, he had shown that Matsuda was safe, and that he was part of the "pack," as well as L.

He nodded at Matsuda in approval. "It's working," he whispered. "Don't move- L's going to do the same thing I did. He won't hurt you, don't worry. As soon as he licks your neck, like I did, tilt your head down and sniff his ears. It's communicating to him that as part of his pack, you're trying to imprint his scent so that you recognize him in the future, and he'll do the same to you. Don't do what I did to you, though- that was a display of dominance, and it'll provoke him," Light explained hastily before stepping back, and glanced at L, and then to Matsuda.

L took the silent signal as permission o move forwards, and he did so, ears perked forwards and tail wagging interestedly. Immediately, L leaned forwards and sniffed Matsuda's face, nuzzling it and licking his cheeks, before trailing downwards and doing the same to his neck.

Matsuda, remembering what Light had told him, leaned his head down, and wrinkling his nose as the tips of L's ears brushed against his face, sniffed into L's black spikes. He recoiled a bit, as they were stiff and crusted with dry blood. But he persevered, aware of L's very sharp, dangerous teeth right at his neck.

He heard L huff, felt the puff of warm air on his neck, and then L was leaning up, burying his nose in Matsuda's hair and sniffing behind his ear.

Light watched, relieved that it was going off without a hitch. He had to admit, perhaps Beyond did know what he was talking about- though it didn't enhance his feeling towards the psycho any.

After a moment more, L stepped back, tail waving lazily behind him. He nosed once under Matsuda's chin, let out a soft growl, and then moved away. Matsuda seemed confused, and looked to Light.

Light nodded at the man in reassurance. "You did well- you're safe. If I read his reactions right, he sees you as part of his pack- although, I think he may see you as below him, judging by the growl at the end, so keep that in mind. You need to be careful not to raise your chin to him if you ever approach him- only do it if he seems angry, and always do it in the submissive position."


L had watched as his alpha approached the strange human, and not knowing what was going on, had growled as a warning- if this human did anything threatening to his alpha, then he'd attack.

But, the human had displayed his throat to his alpha in the proper display of submission, and he had watched alertly as his alpha had gone through the proper ritual.

So, this human was part of his alpha's pack- and if his alpha accepted him, then he would, too. He patiently waited until his alpha had finished, and with permission, had approached this human as well, imprinting his scent for future recognition, although humans were so diverse in their looks that it was easy to tell them apart.

Then, after the process, he had stepped back, nosing under this human's chin once in a playful gesture, but growled to remind this human of his place- which was below him and his alpha- before his attention turned to the other humans in the room.

Were they part of his alpha's pack as well?

Curious, he had stepped forwards, approaching one with very bushy fur protruding from the top of his head, intent on learning if this human was part of his alpha's pack as well, or if he was from a different pack.


Light saw Aizawa stiffen as L started to approach him curiously, ears perked forwards and demeanor speaking of interest. Aizawa looked as if we were going to bolt, glancing nervously at L's glove-covered claws, and then at his teeth, but behind L, Light shook his head desperately.

"Don't move, Aizawa," he hissed. "He won't do anything if you do as Matsuda did."

The afro-haired man looked skeptical, but nonetheless turned his head away with his chin up, allowing L to sniff at him, doing the same as Matsuda had done in return. The process went off without a hitch, and Aizawa sighed in relief as L stepped away from him and moved onto Mogi.

However, when L made to move onto Soichiro, he suddenly stopped, sniffing the air in front of the older man, and flattened his ears to his head. He looked to Light, and back to Soichiro- Light furrowed his brows, not really understanding what was going on.

"What's his problem?" Aizawa asked, and Light shook his head, confused as well.

"I'm not really sure," he admitted. Desperately, he ran through the information he had gotten, trying to figure out why L was acting so hesitant towards his father.

Soichiro suddenly spoke up, however. "I think I may know- I've actually worked with some K-9 in my younger years, when I was thinking about joining the unit. Part of the training included going to a breeder's farm to gain some experience with the dogs, and I picked up a few things there. Let me try something," Soichiro said, and Light shrugged, not knowing what else to do. It didn't seem as if L would attack his father, and he seemed as if he knew what he was doing.

"Sure, dad."

Nodding, Soichiro straighter, approaching L, who didn't move. He reached out around L to grab the scruff of his neck. L immediately went limp, held only by Soichiro, and the man ran a hand through L's hair, tugging gently on his ears once before releasing him and stepping back.

Light stared, confused, as L recovered, shook himself, and calmly returned to Light's side.

"What was that?" Light asked, incredulous, and Soichiro shrugged. "You smell somewhat like me, as you are my son. He was simply confused and through my actions, I demonstrated that I was higher than him, as I held the position of your father- through the grabbing of the scruff. The hand running through the hair imitated a grooming gesture, relaying to him that I was not angry as the earlier motion could have been easily misconstrued. He still sees you as alpha, but as your father I command respect as well."

Light nodded, still a bit amazed- he had never known his father was a prospective K-9, and wondered what had changed his mind.

But now L was back beside him, and the atmosphere in the room was considerably less tense, now that they knew L wasn't a threat to them anymore.

In fact, L had crouched down beside him, still a bit behind him and off to the side, one hand braced on the floor and other across his knees, observing everything with renewed interest. It was obvious that he had accepted the other Task Force members, but remained wary of them- his eyes narrowed whenever they made too sudden of a movement, and his lip curled menacingly once when Matsuda picked up a piece of paper with information on it and tried to go over to Light to show it to him.

Light was just about to start discussing going back to the warehouse and obtaining the blueprints for a new microchip to fit L with, when the door suddenly slammed open. It made L jump up in shock, bristling at the sudden unknown intrusion.

A loud squeal rent the air, and Light's eyes widened, dread pooling in his stomach as he remembered. It was something vital, something he had forgotten, and the dread only increased as he heard a warning snarl from L rip through the room.

Shit.

Misa.


Edited version uploaded 4/7/13