Sumimasen. I am terribly sorry for this long and excusable wait between updates and will not bother you with excuses. For all those readers who have diligently stayed with me up until this point despite the enormous gap between my posts, I am deeply grateful. I hope this 28 paged addition will do something to atone for my prolonged absence.

DEatHNOtE:Erased

Chapter XI

Better Backup

Misa Amane was running a brush gently through her long blond locks as she hummed the catchy repetitive tune of a newly released pop song. The happy carefree girl was haphazardly posing in front of the large bathroom mirror located in her's and Light's apartment. The unbelievable fact that this was her's and Light's apartment, that she had finally achieved her lofty goal of living with the man she loved above all else, that she could at last call him her's, that kind of boundless joy was impossible to contain and would always cause an electrifying thrill to shoot down her spine, leaving her almost breathless every time she contemplated it.

She beamed at her equally ecstatic reflection which greeted her with adorable doe brown eyes. The public liked them when they were a mischievous enchanting green and their favorite was the stunning blue she usually displayed during her shoots. But despite her strong desire to please others, her favorite color for her glittering orbs was their own natural brown. Besides, putting on colored contacts all the time was a hassle, and furthermore, Light's eyes were also a gorgeous shade of brown. Just thinking about her lover's strong eyes caused that wonderful warm tingling feeling to envelop her core once more.

Thus pleased with the perfect appearance of her hair and face, Misa turned her attention to the rest of her girlish form. At the moment, she was clad in a set of black, lacy, and mostly transparent intimate nightwear which perfectly accented her slim curves. She'd picked her attire up at her latest lingerie shoot, and she had a feeling that Light would be very pleased with it. Light really wasn't the kind of person to verbally express his appreciation of her looks but, he had more...physical ways of showing her how he felt, and that was fine with her.

In lieu of all the happy thoughts bouncing excitedly though Misa's mind it was surprising that the slight pout currently resting at the corner of her full lips had found its way onto her usually joyful features. The reason for the pout could also be traced back to the center of her universe and continued reason for existence. Recently her Light had been so stressed. Well, with the director's kidnapping and everything else that had been going on she could hardly blame him, but she just hated seeing him so on edge.

Before this whole kidnapping fiasco, Light had been calm. It wasn't a happy relaxed sort of calm, but more like a predatorial confidence that a deadly hunter possesses as it's stalking prey that it's assured to kill. But now that his previously guaranteed victory was threatened, even minutely so, that glassy calm had shattered and was being replaced by an almost violent nature that drove him to yell and snap easily. Such changes made Light almost frightening to be around as if there was something terrible and inhuman lurking within the depths of his amber, red flecked eyes.

Misa's pout deepened into a full frown. She couldn't stand seeing her beloved Light as scary or frightening, in fact, she refused to. This blatant disregard for the truth that only the dead detective seemed to have been able to fully embrace left Misa right in the path of Light's ever growing wrath and often caused him to lash out at her. Thus far it had only been verbally—something the young Yagami excelled at—and though Misa would have staked her life on the fact that Light would never raise his hand to her, she wasn't known for her gambling skills.

In actuality, the thing that bothered Misa the most about their current situation was the fact that she was helpless to ease his problems. All she could do was obediently follow his explicit orders for who to kill and how to do it, just as she had followed his orders a few days ago to kill Takimura.

Misa could not even begin to describe the pain she felt when Light would suffer from his seeming violent nightmares, tossing and turning next to her, murmuring desperate apologies over and over to some unforgiving relentless being that dwelled only within his own mind. At first she'd tried to comfort him, to wake him up and hold him. However, after the first six or so times she had been roughly shoved away and yelled at for her loving intentions, she had taken to just sitting next to him, uselessly holding her knees, wishing desperately that she could do something, anything to help him.

All such depressing thoughts instantly vanished from her mind however when she heard the front door open and shut and saw the kitchen light flick on, illuminating the base of the stairs.

Light's home! she mentally singsonged. And with one last quick look at the mirror to make sure she was really as cute as Misa-ly possible, she happily traipsed down the wooden stairs taking them two at a time. The sight that met her eyes immediately caused her to falter. The man before her was slouched almost as heavily as Ryuzaki had been. His eyes which flashed with anger were darting in an almost panicked manner around the room, as if he were a cornered animal frantically searching for an escape, and he was so tense with fury and frustration that he was actually shaking.

In all the years Misa had been with Light and assisted him as the Second Kira, she'd never seen him look like this. The constantly chuckling form of Ryuk hovering over his shoulder only strengthened Misa's initial perception that something was terribly wrong. She had to take several deep breaths and remind herself over and over again that this was Light, he loved her and there was nothing to be afraid of.

"Light?" she questioned uncertainly, her bare feet padding cautiously towards him.

In response he violently threw his bag to the floor causing Misa to jump and turned his attention to to the hysterical Shinigami he had been forced to ignore ever since the creature's sudden appearance at the exhuming of L's grave. "Shut the hell up you miserable Shinigami!" he cried, his voice almost cracking under the strain he was experiencing.

Ryuk waved his clawed hands in front of his widely grinning face. "Hey Light, don't get mad at me, I've got nothin' to do with it. It's not my fault if you can't properly kill someone." he admonished with a shrug.

Light rounded on the dark figure haunting him with increased vigor. "You knew, didn't you? You knew this whole time he wasn't dead! Why the hell didn't you tell me?"

Light was screaming so loudly now that Misa was fearful the neighbors would hear, and what was worse, she had no idea what was wrong.

"Whoa, whoa hold it, Light," protested the apple addict, "I never said he was or wasn't dead, or even that I knew which it was myself. And even if I did know, you should know better than to believe that I'd let you in on a secret as juicy as that one. It wouldn't benefit me in the least. Remember," laughed Ryuk, wagging a single finger before the livid man's face, "I'm just here for the show, I'm not an actor in it and I don't intend on signing up for the roster any time soon. But just to let you know, I can't wait to see how this is going to play out..." With those last words the Shinigami took flight and disappeared through the apartment's first floor ceiling.

Silence fell over the two still standing at the base of the steps. The only sound in the apartment was the sound of Light's ragged breathing.

"Light please," beseeched Misa, stepping closer to him, "tell me what's wrong? Did something happen with the kidnappers?" she asked in as soothing a way as possible, trying to keep the heavy amount of anxiety she was feeling out of her voice.

Light turned, regarding her with his crimson tinged eyes. He didn't seem to even acknowledge her current attire. The clothes did nothing to still his anger as she had hopped they might. In fact the stupid ordering of Misa's priorities only irritated him more.

"L," Light spat the name like it was poison, "h-he wasn't in his grave." His words were deadly and spoken in a whisper, but as terrifyingly as they were spoken, they were also bewilderingly absurd. Where else would L be? He'd been dead for a little over five years now. Light wasn't making any sense.

A soft, "What?" was all Misa could manage in response to such confusion.

Almost schizophrenically, Light rounded on her, pinning her frightened body against the wall, a shaking hand on either side of her shocked face. "I said, Ryuzaki wasn't in his grave, Misa! There was someone else buried there! That on top of the fact that it was his fresh DNA we found on the kidnappers' calling card makes it highly likely that he's still Alive!" Light bellowed.

Misa flinched away from him, salty tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. This is why she hated Ryuzaki so much. She hated the way he could do this to Light, how he could hurt Light so much and twist him into the frantic animal that now stood before her.

"B-but, Rem killed him," shuddered Misa, unable to meet the raging almost blood colored eyes that were a twisted version of the kind honey ones she loved, "that's why she d-died. I-I mean you s-saw him die, right?"

"That's not the point!" Light practically screamed in her face. "The fact is that no matter what I thought there is now a strong possibility that L is alive! That that son-of-a-bitch is out there making me look like a fool and that everything up until this point has been a lie, a fake!" His voice dropped to a steely whisper and his eyes lowered away from the frightened girl's face to glower at the wooden floor. "My victory...my acclaimed title...everything..."

Misa took in a deep shaking breath and forced herself to focus on her lover's wrath filled face. She might not be at same level of intelligence that Light was, hell, she might not even be close to it, but that didn't mean that she couldn't help him.

"Light," she murmured calmingly, placing a warm hand on his cheek. He brusquely shoved it aside looking like he was about to start yelling again. Despite the brush off, Misa persisted, locking her gaze with his burning one. "Light, check the Death Note."

Light blinked, his surprise at her shockingly logical solution plainly visible.

"We have Rem's Notebook and we know she died because she killed Ryuzaki and Watari. If you have any doubts that they both actually died, all you have to do is check Rem's Death Note."

Light's demeanor began to calm, his ragged frantic breathing returning to stable rhythm, a flush of shame due to his recent actions coming with it. He'd never thought of Misa as someone he could turn to for advice, let alone rely on, and he was sure he didn't like that that's exactly what had just happened. Misa was no where near being his equal and the fact that she'd stayed calm and collected while he was fraying at the seams made him realize just how desperate the situation really was. It was as if he could not stably exist in this world if L was still alive.

Light nodded mutely and removed his hands from where they rested against the wall on either side of Misa's now much more relaxed face. Several short seconds later he was walking briskly up the steps.

A few days ago, a peruse of Rem's Death Note would have entailed a trip into the woods with a shovel, but, since the director's kidnapping, Light had wanted all the Death Notes they possessed close by as he now had little idea what to expect—a feeling he absolutely loathed.

Once they'd reached the upper landing and opened the door that led to the couple's bedroom, the first sight that met Light's gaze was Ryuk's absurd form sprawled out on the bed he and Misa shared, typical gleaming red apple crunching between his razor sharp teeth. The Shinigami grinned, eyes darting over to the dresser where the two Death Notes were hidden.

"Took you long enough," he drawled in his deep scratchy voice. "I was getting bored."

Light seethed. Not only had Misa arrived at the conclusion of checking Rem's Notebook before he had, but Ryuk had as well. Light could not afford to keep going like this. He had to pull himself together or he wouldn't prevail against this new enemy let alone L if, God forbid, he was actually still among the living. Saying he was rusty was no excuse, he could not make any mistakes.

Not even deigning Ryuk a reply, Light moved silently over to the dresser. His skilled fingers made quick work of the evolved version of the explosive drawer trap he had used in his room during one of L's period's of intense surveillance. Within seconds he was flipping through the ivory pages irrevocably marked by the permanence of the deep black inked death sentences. The cool smoothness of the irreversible pen strokes further helped to sooth his rapidly beating heart. There was no possible way that anyone could have survived their name being written in a notebook of death, not even the resourceful Ryuzaki. He had won, he had killed that ephemeral dark eyed detective, he—

Light's comforting thoughts stopped dead in their tracks as his trembling fingers moved over the marred surface of the charred pages at the center of Rem's Death Note.

Light's sharp mind had of course recalled the female Shinigami's dismal attempt at trying to stop him from getting his already blood stained hands on her Death Note. He knew that the flames had eaten away at a few of the Notebook's pages rendering it charred but by no means unusable. What Light had never realized was that the flickering flames could have possibly licked away the most important piece of knowledge he had ever needed in his entire 23 years of living.

What...what if it's not there. What if the page has been destroyed...what then? It wasn't possible. If such an event were to come to pass, Light had no idea what he'd do. The thought that the forever unending uncertainly, the continuation of this terrible emotion he was feeling right now would never be resolved... it was unbearable. Even knowing L was alive—as horrible as that would be—was better than this twisting writhing emptiness caused by the lack of such an important piece of knowledge.

But as much as this horrible apprehension of never discovering the truth was, that dread was not the only thing causing the secession of his quick flipping through the notebook's charred pages. There was something else...

Though many would find it odd, Light had never before looked at the page that contained Ryuzaki's true name. In the past he'd written it off as unnecessary, unusable information and even told himself that he'd rather the cryptic sleuth disappear from his mind without ever knowing the man's true name. But the truth was, it was fear that had kept him away; a fear that he couldn't admit to himself let alone describe in any significant detail.

L as a symbol, as a faceless opponent, as a mere machine was easier to deal with—to kill. Light wasn't sure why, but deep down inside he was terrified to face L's death as a human being, as a person that he'd once called his friend and meant it—even if it had been under the guise that he'd never been Kira during his time without the memories of the Death Note and anything that he'd accomplished with it. It was as though he felt that some already fragile cracking part of him would shatter completely if he were to gaze at those simple black pen strokes.

Despite his many uncertainties and trepidations, Light forced himself to continue turning the soot smudged pages. Suddenly his movements jolted to a halt and all at once any sort of pain that could have been wrought on his already twisted psyche by seeing the great L's true name became absolutely meaningless. Any sort of punishment, no matter how horrible, would have been better than this.

The page that Light's wide shaking eyes were staring at, barely able to focus—the only sheet of paper in the entirety of the world that meant anything to him—had been almost completely consumed by the greedy flames leaving nothing but a charred mess attached loosely to the binding. Light could make out Watari's real name: Quillsh Wammy, written in small wispy scrip, but underneath it, all that remained of L's demise was a single straight backed L whose bold tail running parallel to the lines on the page disappeared into the uncertainly of the crumbling ashes where the rest of his name should have resided.

There was no proof that L was dead.

"Well I'll be damned..." chuckled Ryuk, who had come to hover near Light's left shoulder.

Kira howled in rage, his cry reverberating though the apartment, echoing up to the heavens, communicating his unbridled wrath to any deity that dared to proclaim control over the sick twisted joke that had become his very existence.

...DEatHNOtE...

Mello stretched out on the frayed leather couch residing in the main room of the Mafia's current hideout in a way very much akin to a lazy tom cat, possessing the smug expression to match. He grinned widely as the sharp snap of the chocolate now held between his teeth jumped across the quiet room. Right now he felt as though he was the ruler of much more than the mafia; everything was going exactly according to his brilliant plan.

He'd recently received the call from Matt stating that the kidnapping of the Kira Task Force leader's daughter had been a complete success. As soon as the video feed was established he would gleefully inform the already distraught Task Force of her capture. He was especially looking forward to hearing the panic in Chief Yagami's voice.

Mello began to twirl a stray thread hanging off the seam of one of the surrounding cushions, imagining how, much like this string, he had all the major players in this riveting game wrapped around his finger. Kira, the Japanese Police Force, and best of all, Near were dancing to his tune.

Even the director's suicide/murder had played to his advantage. His death and the rather gruesome pictures documenting it that Mello planned on sending Japan's incompetent Kira Task Force would prove to them just how serious he was and exactly how far he was willing to go to get what he desired. And if it turned out—as he suspected—that Kira had actually killed Takimura, then that meant that he had successfully manipulated his mentor's murderer as well. That was a little fact that he'd make sure to rub in the coward's face once he'd successfully avenged L and brought Kira to justice.

Another piece of the chocolate bar was noisily broken off and savored between Mello's lips. For the first time in a long time he was in such a good mood that he didn't even mind waiting for Matt and Lady to establish the video link from the underground facility in the Californian desert.

...DEatHNOtE...

The first thing that Sayu noticed when she woke up was that her head felt as if it were going to split in two. The intense headache was so bad that for the first few minutes of her regained consciousness all she could do was grit her teeth and try to somehow escape the pain. However, as the minutes ticked by and she became more awake, the pain began to lessen—either that or it wasn't near as bad as she had first thought. Regardless, now that the intense hurting had subsided, there was room for much more terrifying thoughts to worm their way into her now panicked mind which was currently racing through the events of a few hours ago.

For a moment Sayu wished that her headache, courtesy of the now dead thugs and exacerbated by the drugs her would be savior had dosed her with, was still the only thing pounding across her brain. That wish was but brief though, for Sayu Yagami had vastly more important things to worry about.

Where am I? What do these people want with me? Did they come after me because my dad's a police chief or... Does this have something to do with the Kira investigation?

Sayu forced her racing thoughts and breaths down to a somewhat normal rate—well at least to one where she wasn't hyperventilating. She had to stay calm and try to figure out what her next best move would be.

Okay, she spoke calmingly to herself, first things first. I need to figure out where I am. A careful look around her didn't reveal much. Currently she was sitting in the center of a dingy looking, dimly lit room. It was mostly barren, its only adornment being the pile of ratty blankets she'd been laying on. The only source of light was trickling though the room's door which looked formidable to say the least. It appeared like it was made of metal complete with a small barred window at it's top.

All in all her surroundings felt more like a dungeon than a room except for the fact that it wasn't damp. The surrounding air had a hot but very dry feel as it was pumped through her lungs. Sayu had never been to a desert before, but she imagined that this was how such a place would feel.

If that's true, she realized with a shudder, then that means I'm a very long way from home...

That thought cause salty tears to prickle at her eyes; the first of a giant cascade she was barely able to hold back.

Blinking hard, she managed to only become bleary eyed for a few seconds. She couldn't afford to show any weakness now. Reaching up to wipe at the escaped tears mixing with the grime covering her cheeks, Sayu discovered the first pleasing fact since the moment she'd been assaulted back on Japan's surface streets: She wasn't bound; not her hands nor her feet.

Sayu stood experimentally and cautiously made her way towards the windowed door and the dusty shaft of light filtering though it. Her stiff limbs and throbbing head offered some resistance but she pushed through it. The source of her strength and determination? A mental image of her older brother who was perhaps the person she admired most in this world—a image that was shockingly unlike what her brother had twisted himself into. Though she doubted Light would have ever gotten himself into this situation in the first place, she was certain he wouldn't just sit there on the floor praying for a miracle.

She had almost reached the door when an amused laugh echoing from the other side of it froze her in her tracks. The cruelty hiding behind the guise of humor reminded Sayu strongly of the laughs of the thugs who had attacked her a few hours ago.

"So I see you finally woke up miss Yagami," observed a sly greasy voice spoken in English. Moments latter, a ratish face that matched the voice perfectly became framed by the iron bars making up the prison cell's door window. "I don't suppose you need anything? Some food, water, blankets? Or maybe you just need some company, eh?"

Sayu's English was not half as good as her brother's who could just about speak the language perfectly without hardly a sign of an accent, but she knew enough to tell that she wanted nothing to do with the man. As such, she took several quick steps backwards into the darkness of her cell. Her fear, which she'd just been managing to keep at bay, began clutching mercilessly at her pounding heart and making it hard to breath properly.

The man just smirked at her actions. "Come now miss Yagami, I only want to help..." he crooned.

Sayu heard the lock on the door click and felt her entire being freeze solidly in place. He's going to come in here. The panicked thought crackled though her racing mind like a hot burst of lightning, yet she still couldn't bring herself to move.

Just as the door had started to creek open the man's grinning face vanished, replaced momentarily by a flash of shining black and blond before the window once again became empty. A split second latter the sound of something heavy being slammed up against a wall thudded though the dry air.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Y462?" inquired an icy voice. The words were also spoken in English, but the speaker's voice sounded familiar.

"I-I just..." stammered the man apparently called by the code Y462 .

"You just what? Thought you'd pay Mr Yagami's daughter a little visit? Keep her company? Was that it?" Her voice dropped from mocking to a threatening growl during her last words and Sayu heard the man give a startled sort of yelp. His cry when coupled with the woman's inflection convinced Sayu that something painful was being done to the man.

"Y-you're just a hired hand. An errand girl! Y-you've got no right to threaten me!" The man's message and delivery were a million miles apart in their confidence level.

"Oh really?" sneered the woman, and Sayu heard the metallic sound of a gun being cocked. "You wanna bet your life on it 'Big' Man?" she questioned in a mocking tone.

He whimpered.

"The man I run 'errands' for has already had it up to here with you," hissed the woman, doing something to her hostage that cause him to cry out again, "and I'm certain that he wouldn't be the least bit put off by my leaving you here, lying in the middle of the floor, bleeding with a hole big enough for me to fit my entire fist into right in the middle of your disgusting face. You still wanna try your luck? We can play some Russian Roulette if you'd like..." she offered in a voice that spoke mountains about her sanity.

Sayu only understood about a third of what was being said by the two outside her cell, but the little she comprehended was enough to send shivers down her spine.

"This mission was supposed to be your redemption in the Mafia's eyes, clean your slate right?" Well, you lay one finger on this girl and you won't live long enough to worry about your bad rep anymore. Do I make my self perfectly clear?" she hissed in a voice that was beyond threateningly.

"Crystal," whispered Y462.

There was a heavy thump as the man's shaking body hit the concrete floor.

"Go on, scurry out of here, you piece of trash."

A clanging sound echoed throughout the hallway as Y462 rapidly obeyed her command; almost frantic to get out of the woman's immediate vicinity. For a few seconds, all was silent, and Sayu's wide eyes were drawn to the crack of light shinning from the slightly ajar cell door.

Why didn't I notice that before! She wailed internally. I could have escaped while they were fighting! Sayu wasn't sure where she'd escape to, but anywhere was better than here. Maybe there's still time, prayed Sayu inching quickly towards the strip of light that signified a way out. Maybe that woman didn't realize he'd left the door open. But the moment before the youngest Yagami reached the door, it was opened; sweeping inwards to reveal the form of an imposing looking masked woman dressed entirely in black leather. Sayu had barely stopped in time to prevent running into the terrifying figure.

Looking up into the woman's shimmering green eyes she realized with a jolt that this woman towering over her, with the help of six inch black heels, was the same one who had saved her and then turned around and kidnapped her a few minutes later. Looking back on the incident, Sayu couldn't believe how stupid she had been to just get in the car with this lady. Sayu guessed that she had been in too much of a shock to see the violent method of her rescue as the giant red flag that it was, but she had no idea how she'd been able to disregard the woman's ornate facial covering as unimportant.

"What...what do you want with me?"sputtered Sayu in nervous Japanese.

The masked female cocked her head to the side in thought before answering in a nearly perfect version of the girl's native language. "Saying I'm sorry for Yagami-san's current predicament, despite my sincerity, would mean close to nothing, so let's just skip over that part of the conversation shall we?"

She's sorry? Thought Sayu in anger. Well she's right about her apology being meaningless...

"As for what we want... my associate and I brought Yagami-san here in order to initiate a trade with Yagami-san's father."

Sayu blinked in confusion. "B-but he's just a police chief, he doesn't have enough money for a ransom!"

Lady sighed. "Really, the less Yagami-san knows about this the better off she'll be."

Sayu fixed the woman with a glare. "I deserve to know why I was kidnapped."

The determination in Sayu's voice actually caused Lady to smile. That's good... I thought you'd given up but it seems you've still got some fight in you. Perhaps you're stronger than I thought.

"Yagami-san's father is the head of the Japanese Task Force charged with investigating and pursuing Kira. What we desire is not money but a vital...piece of evidence which is currently in the possession of said Task Force.

The captive girl's eyes widened. "Y-you're working for Kira!" she whispered in shock. Sayu couldn't think of any other reason why anyone would what to hinder the investigation by taking something dubbed as a "vital piece of evidence". Maybe dad and Light are closer to solving the case than they were letting on...

Lady let out a full blown laugh; a harsh sound that twisted glee with malice and cold irony into an icy blend that sent shivers down the girl's spine.

"Oh no," chortled Lady. "Yagami-san couldn't be farther from the truth. The 'organization' I work for desires nothing more than the complete and utter cessation of Kira's existence. It's actually Yagami-san's beloved Task Force that has fallen prey to the ever extending shadow of Kira's twisted will."

She's insane, thought Sayu fearfully; doubt covering her features, absolutely insane. She has to be. There is no way that Kira has infiltrated the Task Force or is somehow influencing it...is there?

Lady's laughter ceased. "Whether Yagami-san chooses to believe me or not is up to her and makes little difference in the long run. Though, I hope this experience has taught Yagami-san not to throw her trust around so carelessly and that even people who Yagami-san believes have her best interests at heart are the people who are close enough to stab her in the back.

"Anyway," continued the masked woman, "take one or two of these and drink this," she instructed producing a rattling bottle of pills from her pocket and leaning outside the still semi open door to grab a steaming mug of a brownish liquid that smelt like coffee. "It'll help with the extreme headache I'm sure Yagami-san is experiencing right now."

The girl made no move to take the proffered items, shaking her head.

Lady grinned. "Good Yagami-san is learning," she praised. She unscrewed the container and dumped a single pill in her hand which she quickly swallowed with a swig of the liquid. "They're Excedrin Migraine," she said with a grimace, "and coffee. Personally I can't stand the stuff but it's high in caffeine and that works wonders on migraines. Not to mention that Yagami-san is most likely dehydrated."

Sayu still remained motionless.

"As Yagami-san wishes," she shrugged. "I'll leave them here in case you change your mind." After setting the pills and drink on the floor the masked woman turned and walked to the cell's door. Just before disappearing through it, she turned to the youngest Yagami, her emerald green eyes burning into the girl's brown ones. "If you do everything we say," said the woman, her polite form of address slipping, "if you don't try anything stupid, I promise that I won't let anyone here hurt you. Remember that. However, once you leave this facility I'll consider my debt repaid and the rest will be up to you. Understand?"

Sayu nodded almost involuntarily. She had no idea what this woman was talking about but she did know that she didn't trust her, and that even if she got out of here in one piece as the woman had promised, they were by no means even.

Then the door slammed shut and was locked. The strange woman was gone, her sharp heel clicks fading into absolute silence and solitude.

...DEatHNOtE...

"Light...?" ventured Misa cautiously. "Light what's wrong? Why are you shaking?" She gently placed a timid hand on his swaying shoulder, wishing he'd turn around so she could see his face.

When Light spoke, his voice was so quiet it could barely be considered a whisper. "I-it's not here. H-his name...it's not here."

"What?" she breathed in shock. "But it has to be Light, there's no way he's—"

Misa's high worried voice was cut off by a sharp smacking sound and the next thing she knew, she was crumpled on the cold wooden floor of their bedroom, hand held in absolute horror and disbelief to the side of her red stinging face. The man who had just backhanded her towered ruthlessly above her, his fearful panicked eyes literally shining with a murderous blood red as they glowered down at her prone vulnerable form.

Even Ryuk took an awed step back from the almost demonic looking human. Well it looks like the perfect boy finally cracked... mused the Shinigami. He held out for quite some time but eventually, everyone succumbs to the madness of the Death Notes...

"Don't you get it?" Light practically screamed at the horrified girl beneath him. "His name isn't written here, it probably never was! The pages were burned by that wretched bitch of a Shinigami, not to keep me from claiming her Notebook, but to keep me blind to the truth until it was too late!"

Light's frantically chaotic brain turned the possibility that L was still alive into an unalterable fact that he was. It's too perfect. How could there be any other conclusion? He's alive. He's not dead. He's Alive...He's ALIVE...HE'S ALIVE!

"L's not dead! He never was!" Light yelled, his voice punctuated by random bouts of humorless insane laughter. "This has all been some sick game throughout which I've been dancing like a marionette on his goddamned strings!"

As Misa helplessly watched the scene above her continue to unfold, becoming more and more warped by the second, she felt an uncontrollable fear well up inside her rapidly rising and falling chest. Her heart, which was beating faster and faster with each passing second began to crack as she came to realize that it was Light, her Light, whom she loved with every fiber of her being, that she was so scared of.

Uncaring of the broken way Misa was looking at him though her tear filled eyes, or perhaps even reveling in it, Light continued his crazed rant. "If you had even an ounce of intelligence in that empty skull of yours, you'd realize the direness of the situation, but apparently, you have the perceptiveness of a self-obsessed wannabe starlet whose only true usefulness resides in the bedroom!"

Although the blow to her face had been hard, she didn't even feel the pain anymore. Light's words cut her so much more deeply than any blade ever could have.

"In fact," Light advanced a step forwards and Misa couldn't help but flinch back, "the more I think about it, the more I realize that this whole godforsaken situation can be traced back to you."

A twisted grin enveloped the watching Shinigami's face as the anticipation of the upcoming excitement filled him. I wonder if he'll kill her. That would be interesting but... his smirk lessened slightly, who'd give me apples then?

"If it wasn't for your constant need of protection causing me to alter my carefully plotted schemes, then maybe I could have seen this coming," raged the mass murderer. "Actually, if you'd have died when you were supposed to, then I never would have had to have been taken into L's custody in the first place!" Though he didn't know why, those few months of his life were the things Kira hated the most. If he had even half a chance, he would have erased them in a second. Something he was seriously contemplating doing to this worthless bitch laying before him. He had the Death Note right in his hand...it would be so easy...

His horrible unrealistic thoughts as well as the assault of his vehemous words were brought to a sudden halt be the sound of his cell phone—which was reserved for Task Force use only—going off.

Almost reluctantly Light picked it up, his crimson eyes remaining locked onto Misa's silently weeping face. "What?" he spat into the receiver, not even trying to hide his rage.

"Light..." his father's voice was strained almost to the point of breaking, "the kidnappers they...they took Sayu. Light, they took your sister."

The phone dropped from Light's shaking hand as both he and Misa watched the very different worlds they'd sacrificed everything to create and would do anything to protect crumble into countless shattered pieces of broken memories scattered irrevocably on the floor.

...DEatHNOtE...

As Lady walked down the narrow hall away from Sayu's holding cell, a small sad smile played across her lips. That little girl will probably never be the same again. It was obvious that Sayu Yagami was strong, but Lady doubted that Sayu was that felt a flush of anger. This whole situation was caused by a selfish older brother who, despite the fact that he likes to play god, is nothing to look up to.

The saddest thing however, mused lady as she walked through the metal door at the end of the hallway and plopped down on the dusty sofa resting at the center of the room, is the fact that I can't do anything about it. No, that wasn't right. There were many things that Lady could do to alter Sayu's situation, but she would do none of them because they would jeopardize the success of her mission. And as disgusting as it was, this poor girl's safety and mental stability were nothing in comparison to what she was trying to accomplish.

The masked woman sighed in annoyance at her leather outfit which refused to allow her ease of movement as she attempted to stretch out on the old sofa. One very bad thing about leather, it didn't breath, at all, and in the hot dry environment of the Mojave desert, wearing it was absolute torture. It was no wonder Mello had opted to stay in the city.

Lady's sharp eyes darted over to her temporary partner who was, as expected, playing a video game, this time on an actual gaming consul instead of on his usual hand held. The device's annoying sounds of mock battle and weirdly smooth music, along with the ever present smoke cloud, the compounds intense heat, and everything else that had just happened finally succeeded in driving the leather clad woman over the edge.

"God dammit!" she yelled, causing the red head to jump and almost lose his grip on the PlayStation controller. After hitting the pause button he fixed his somewhat worried blue eyes on the obviously ticked woman.

"Lady?" he questioned uncertainly. She was usually so cool and collected. Seeing her almost ready to pull a Mello—Matt's special term for a temper tantrum—was unsettling to say the least.

Lady pulled uselessly at the collar of her long sleeved top in an attempt to rid herself of the unpleasant feel of sweat trickling down the back of her neck, not to mention every other inch of her overheated body covered with its unbreakable layer of leather clothing. Deciding that such gestures only exacerbated the situation, she fixed the curious, still smoking, gamer with a glare.

"It's too fucking hot!" she whined.

Matt grinned, his new partner was uncannily like Mello once you got past all her walls and masks. If the techy's best friend were the one roasting under all the leather on that dingy couch, he'd have said something almost identical.

"Well no duh, Lady," laughed Matt. "We're in the middle of the Mojave desert in an underground facility with faulty air conditioning. I suggest you lose some of those layers," advised the smoker, jerking his thumb over to the corner where his striped sweater, fur vest, gloves, and even socks and shoes were piled in a messy heap. "I can't even imagine how miserable you are right now in all that," he commented after taking a long draft of his cigarette.

Lady scowled at the red head clad only in his jeans and telltale red tinged goggles. "Easy for you to say," she grumbled. "You just want me to parade around in my undergarments."

And then there are ways that her and Mel are worlds apart...

Matt shrugged, going back to his game. "That wasn't my goal, but I'm not objecting or anything."

Lady rolled her eyes, the emerald green orbs eventually settling on the TV screen, on which the game's heroine—obviously designed with mostly male fan service in mind—was pulling off combos against angelic looking enemies that could double as pole dancing moves.

"What are you playing?" questioned Lady with a sigh, making no moves to take off the sweltering clothing that could be the cause of future heat stroke.

"Eh?" asked Matt, eyes remaining glued to the screen. "Oh, it's a game called Bayonetta. Mostly action, a lot of almost naked shots. Plot line's weaker than I'd like, but the combat system is to die for. Very smooth combos and they all look great too. The designer also worked under Capcom to make Devil May Cry—which has got to be one of the best series ever—so I guess it's no surprise. But man," grinned Matt, "who ever thought of giving her guns on her feet is an absolute genius."

Lady, who had tuned out most of Matt's video game drabble and started the process of checking her many phones, suddenly brought her full attention back to the gamer. "What?"

"I was just saying how the game designer—"

"No, that last part."

"Guns on her feet?"

Lady nodded.

"Yep, everything from handguns to shotguns, and even grenade launchers," Matt informed her, demonstrating the fact by initiating a move that highlighted the main character's fire powered boots.

Lady watched in silence as the battles with larger and larger enemies unfolded, her interest slightly piqued. The game of course blows it way out of proportion but the concept...as ridiculous as it is, might actually be feasible... She grinned as she pulled out her white phone and entered the pass code that would allow her to finally listen to her many messages. Her smile persisted as she imagined the look on her weapon specialist's face if she ran the idea by him. I wonder if he—

Her mind halted mid-thought as Gevanni's annoyed voice met her ears. 'Lidner, I don't know where you are, but Near thinks the guys who hacked into our secure files are in the Los Angeles area, and we've narrowed their location down to a ten block radius. Near wanted you to run point on this mission, but...well we've got no idea where you are.' The rest of the conversation—in which Gevanni informed Lady how "pissed" Near was—was lost to the sound of Lady's horrified cry of, "Shit!"

This time Matt actually did drop the controller; his health dropping dramatically as a result. "What?" he asked not even worrying about pausing the game. Lady being this agitated probably meant that the entire mission was collapsing around their heads. However, despite his rapt attention on the masked woman, the only answer the smoker received was her rapidly retreating form into her temporary room and a look that said, "don't you dare follow me."

Lady's door slammed shut and after several seconds of mental debate, Matt shrugged. Curiosity killed cats, and by now he might as well have been the Kira of the feline world. Abandoning his now dead character, Matt nimbly moved over to the woman's door and pressed his ear against it.

Lady quickly moved into the somewhat more private area of her room and wasted no time in pulling out the ebony phone that was quite possibly her only way out of this sticky situation. It's L. It has to be. There is no one else in LA who has enough skills to hack into Near's system but doesn't have enough to keep from getting caught in the act. Her finger's were frantically dialing the proper number. That, coupled with the fact that L's been trying to get in contact with me and that I know he was attempting to gather info from the SPK, makes it almost a certainty. Why the hell didn't I check these messages sooner! I thought that he could handle a week on his own, and I didn't want Matt getting suspicious about my contacts or worse trying to hack into my phones, but I could have found a way. The sound of the connecting call played across her restless mind. "Come on...pick up!" she muttered. Dammit! This is really bad. If L get's caught here, everything will have been for nothing...

After what felt like an eternity the silky voice of the man she'd been working with for the past six years sounded smoothing across the receiver. "It's been a long time Lady. To what do I owe this pleasure."

"I need you're help," she said getting right to the point.

"Oh really? Already? I thought you weren't going to need me for almost another month now."

"Change of plans, he's been discovered."

The man at the other end of the line laughed. "You're going to have to be more specific dear..."

Lady growled. You know I can't do that. This place isn't secure enough for names!

Suddenly her contact paused in his laughter. "You don't mean...himdo you?"

With the level of excitement her associate had said "him" it was unquestionable that he meant L. "Yes. I'm sure you're aware of the current status of things?"

The giddy insanity filled laughter was not really the affirmative Lady was looking for, but it would have to do. "Listen, we don't have time to waste. I'm sure he's taken steps to insure his safety, but that may not be enough. We need to make sure he get's out of there without anyone knowing about his existence."

His wide grin was almost audible over the phone. "So in other words, you need Backup."

She sighed. "Yes, I need Backup."

The receiver clicked and silence filled the room. Now it was Lady's turn to dwell in the same uncertainty she'd been so happily imposing on those around her. She was worried about initiating her Backup Plan so early on. There's no telling what he'll do... The anticipation was killing her almost as badly as the fact that she was powerless in this situation.

Well, at least I won't have to wait long. In a few hours I should know if we're still operational or if the Blood Bath has started...

...DEatHNOtE...

"Dammit..." The rare sound of The World's Greatest Detective swearing hissed thought the small dark interior of the surveillance room. Ten minutes ago, L had managed to sneak past the rather bleary eyed guard and gain access to the apartment complex's security camera system, but time was ticking. From L's previous and thankfully done observation of the guard shifts, he calculated he had about five more minutes until the evening shift's more competent surveillance room operator replaced his much less motivated counterpart who—as he was often prone—was on a rather long smoking break outside

L cursed again, this time utilizing a rather unsavory word from his first language. This sort of job had been much easier when all the necessary equipment had been laid out for him, or better yet, when all the work had been done by... L's finger's slowed on the key board as painful memories of his beloved, long dead care taker began to fill his mind.

He shook himself, No, I can't afford to be distracted. This building was the next to be searched, and unless he wanted to reveal his continued existence to a rather flabbergast Near and risk the success of his and Lady's plans, he had to be out of here in the next fifteen minutes.

Bringing an already abused thumb to his lips to be mercilessly worried, L continued navigating through the many files, searching for, eliminating, and replacing all his and the currently most unhelpful Lady's images. By this point he was seriously considering just leaving all the deleted parts blank instead of undergoing the time consuming process of inserting the proper believable footage. It wasn't as if he could construct something that Near's observant gaze wouldn't eventually uncover in this limited amount of time anyway. Sometimes I believe I trained those three too we—

L's thought's stopped midstream as the sound of the cheap metal door sliding open squeaked across the small room. L's body became frozen stiff as his eyes locked with the guard he was sure he'd left dozing outside. Apparently his rather stupid slip of the tongue had done more than momentarily damage his image.

"What the hell do you think you're doing in there?" exclaimed the middle-aged Hispanic man. By the look in his wide brown eyes, the site of the shrouded man crouched like a gargoyle in front of the glowing monitor was obviously the strangest thing he'd seen while working the night shift. In fact, the poor man looked as though he'd just seen a ghost. With the way the artificial light caused L's almost deathly pale skin to glow and deepened the already predominate shadows underneath his wide eyes, the detective wouldn't have faulted the just awoken guard for believing that he was some sort of wraith.

L's mind raced to come up with a solution to fate's newest cruel twist in his life, as he helplessly watched the percentages of not being discovered drop precipitously. Unlike surveillance tapes, human minds could not be so easily erased of things they shouldn't have born witness to. Even if L was able to convince the man that he was a new member of the night staff—which only had a rate of success of 7.4%—his face and presence here had been permanently engrained in the man's memories and once the SPK members started their investigation of this location, it was an almost certainty—96.3%—that this little encounter would be brought to light.

Still, it was the best out of a multitude of bad options. Near already knew that someone besides Mello and the Kira Task Force was involved in this convoluted mess of a case and while he didn't want to reveal anything more to Near for the moment, this slip up would not necessarily put a stop to all of his and Lady's schemes for defeating Kira.

L put on his best imitation of a friendly smile, hoping it didn't look too strained, and adopted an accent similar to the one he'd used when posing as Matsuda's drinking buddy, Asahi. "Oh, hello. You must be Marcus Sanchez." Again L thanked his careful examination of the nigh shift member's names, and schedules. "I'm Chris, Chris Baker. I'm the new security guard trainee. You know, under James, James Lorenzo?" At this point L didn't even stop and wonder at how quickly and smoothly the lies formed in his mind and were transferred to his almost silver tongue.

Mr. Sanchez did not look convinced. "If you're workin' under James, then why isn't he here?"

L didn't miss a beat. "Oh you know how he loves his smoking breaks. He asked me to just sit here and mind the system for him and, ya know, familiarize myself with the software." L tried a new tactic, attempting to turn the tables on the guard. "This place is great; the rules are so lax. Where I used to work if any of the night shift were caught not at their posts or sleeping we would have been fired right away, no questions asked. We couldn't even smoke on the job! Can you believe that?" questioned the detective with a sorry shake of his head.

The strategy seemed to have the desired effect as Marcus suddenly looked worried about something besides this possible intruder. L was quite certain that no security job would be so lax as to allow unmanned posts and sleeping guards especially considering the area of Los Angeles they were in. Unfortunately the effect didn't last. "Look, 'Chris', forgive me for bein' suspicious but I didn't hear anything about there bein' any new trainees. I suppose ya wouldn't mind verifying who you are with James. Ya know, just for my piece of mind."

Dammit...this is not good. "Sure, as soon as he's back I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you who I am."

"Why don't we just go now? Get it over with?" The guard was obviously not backing down.

"Uh...well shouldn't we not leave the security room unwatched?" questioned L in a last ditch effort that had a 97.9% Chance of failure.

"Nah, as you said, the rules around here are pretty lax."

His own ploy used against him; it was insult to injury.

L knew if he went with the man, James Lorenzo would reveal that he was not who he said he was, and further more, L had no intention of being revealed to two people. Not to mention the fact that all the footage was still not edited. Negotiation with Mr. Sanchez was obviously pointless now... His only option left was to incapacitate the guard, delete the rest of the footage—editing being a useless effort at this point—and get out of here as fast as he could with the knowledge that Near would be hot on his trail. Hell, it might even be easier to join forces with his youngest successor at this point.

L was just about ready to put his latest scheme into action, shifting the weight of his body to the balls of his feet as he made a show of standing to follow Mr. Sanchez out of the room, when the man suddenly clutched his chest, a look of agony shooting across his face.

Immediately thoughts of heart attacks and Kira raced though L's mind. But if Kira's here and watching, why would he attempt to 'help' me! If he's here, he can see my face, why am I not the one falling to the ground!

However, the possibility that it was Kira who had killed Marcus Sanchez quickly vanished as a red stain began to spread across the man's chest, radiating from around the tip of a blade just protruding out from the man's breast that until now, had gone unnoticed by the great detective. With a heavy limp thud accompanied by the ragged sound of trying to force air into a ripped lung sac, Marcus fell to the floor at L's feet, leaving the supposedly dead detective face to face with a impending dark figure that seemed to materialize out of the shadows.

"W-who are you." Stammered L. He both hoped it was Lady and at the same time prayed that it wasn't. For while L had desperately needed her help, this was not the way he wanted to be "saved". L knew that Lady had in fact killed people before to further her plans, but they had all been convicted criminals currently involved in the crimes that had landed them in jail in the first place. Not that that made her actions condonable, but it was a whole lot better than murdering an innocent man who had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A soft manic giggling filed the seemingly electrified air as the figure leaned down and removed his dripping red colored blade from Mr. Sanchez's no longer moving back. The sound was so eerily familiar that is caused the hair on the back of L's neck to stand on end.

The shadow examined the murder weapon and seemed to struggle not to lick off the gleaming crimson liquid. "Oh come now, Lollipop... don't tell me you've forgotten about me..." Crooned the figure stepping out of the shadows, eyes shining the same color as the growing pool of blood around the dead man.

L's mind emptied of all thought, only reverberating with the single letter that man who should no longer exist used as a name. B!

...DEatHNOtE...

AN: And thus the plot thickens and our favorite psychopathic L doppelganger joins the roster. His addition was hinted to in several of the previous chapters (Chapter VIII: Stylish and Chapter X: Exhumed). I hope you enjoy this new twist to the story.

Also I am happy to have finally revealed the Death Note character whom Lady is based on. To all of you who had already guessed Halle Lidner/Lidner Bullook, congratulations; you were correct! Now I know there are several inconsistencies (eye color ect...), but have faith in me. All such items will be justly explained as the plot progresses. And please keep in mind that I have done a lot of background and character manipulations when it comes to underdeveloped characters like Halle.

The last thing I want to talk about before I go, are my personal feelings towards Misa's character. I will admit that, when I first started out with this story, I was a Misa-Hater. However, I am a firm believer that character bashing—of any type—is a highly unprofessional and immature way for a writer to behave. So, after many long weeks of putting myself in Misa's extremely cute platform shoes (even Misa-Haters have to admit that girl's got style!), and re-watching/reading several of her more important scenes, I am happy to say that, not only am I confidant that I can do her justice in my story, I have come to really appreciate the importance of her character and even to grow fond of it.

Kinda odd seeing as what I put her through in this chapter... But I must clarify that it was not out of hate, but out of the need to develop her character and cause her to realize just how "messed up" Light has become. This is very good news for all you Misa-Misa fans out there because it means that she will now have a much bigger part in this story.

Well, that's all I wish to say for now. Comments, criticisms, and/or questions are highly appreciated.

-Asiera

P.S. If I do end up taking forever to update again (I'm hoping against that), here are some amazing Death Note stories that could use your support: Friend or Foe and Friend or Flame by Spotofpaint, Quench the Flame by Senshi'sBard (ongoing fic), Love Games by PapertownsL (ongoing fic), Asylum and Silence by Bahari (ongoing series), and Caveat Emptor by Tierfal.