APOLOGY/IMPORTANT INFORMATION/WARNINGS FROM THE AUTHOR:

I sincerely apologize for the long wait. To those of you still faithful to this story, I hope you understand and I will attempt to try and redeem myself. There is no excuse for making you guys wait over a year for an update. Although this chapter is short, I promise you guys I am going through the process of revising and editing the past chapters and making them more cohesive. Therefore, the story may change slightly. Since I am re-reading all of this over again to try and recapture the world and the personalities I have set up, I recommend you re-read as well.

I honestly started this months and months ago but didn't know how to end it. I don't know how many more chapters are left, but I definitely have a direction, a means to an end.

Also, for anyone that is confused, Light and L will NOT end up together. I may have them be intimate together again, but do not get the idea in your head that Lawliet will have a dramatic shift in personality and decide that the other half of his soul is a boy he barely knows and is using as a pawn. I don't do Stockholm Syndrome, although I suppose you could argue that Light and Ryuk is, but then I would have to cheerfully remind you they were together before the abduction.

If this is a problem, I suggest you look elsewhere.

Also, there may be mentions of boy/girl, although it will definitely not be explicit. I find it difficult writing for "straight" couplings. It's just not in my mojo.

And there will be mentions of girl/girl as well. Seeing as I don't discriminate the sexes in my personal life, I take that belief to my fictional worlds. Sorry to anyone who is offended, I suppose.

Ah, one more thing. There is POTENTIAL for character death. I won't spoil all the fun to be had with this particular form of angst, but yes, there is a possibility of more than one "main" character being killed by the end of this fic.

So…I think that is all the warnings you need.

Ah, and another fun tidbit: I'm cosplaying as Beyond Birthday at a convention in EXACTLY 13 days. -TPP

The Lost Ones

Chapter 17: An Apple a Day

Ryuk stared at the sloppy message that had been spray-painted on the wall, not liking it one bit. The black paint had been hurried, no doubt because of the location.

L, DID YOU KNOW GODS OF DEATH LOVE APPLES?

"What do you think of it, Ryuk?" Lawliet murmured, his eyes preoccupied with opening a small chocolate candy.

"Somebody's fuckin' with me," Ryuk said, his fists clenched at his sides. He had a lot of enemies, sure, but none he knew with enough balls to go this far. Who the fuck was trying to send a message to L, especially about himself? The only dissension Ryuk had ever committed against Lawliet in his life was his promise to Light. All he wanted was for Light to live, to somehow be happy. He was still working on the last part, and for the past month they had been inseparable at Wammy's, considering 'Kira' was practically a prisoner of war.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" Lawliet asked, his tone innocent. Ryuk's spine tingled: no, Lawliet could never truly sound innocent.

"No," Ryuk said, staring into his boss's tired eyes, "I don't know what this means, but I sure as hell am going to find out."

"You had better," Lawliet warned, his voice sounding bored, "I don't need any useless distractions right now. I have much to get done in the next few weeks, and knowing there is somebody trying to break my faith in my closest comrades is disheartening. Have Matsuda paint over it immediately."

Ryuk gulped, his eyes shifting back to the spray-painted wall. It was on the alley-facing wall of Lawson & Lawli's, the private firm that was more of a front than anything else. Of course Lawliet had employed several lawyers to keep it looking legitimate, but it was little more than a skeleton. The building was mostly used for laundering money between the different companies and nightclubs, so to have such a message here was a good indication that whoever this was knew exactly who Ryuk was and who he worked for. This person obviously knew more than enough to make Lawliet on edge, although you would never know it looking at his calm, bored demeanor.

"A security camera picked up a female image, although her face is hooded. This was done very quickly and discreetly. I suggest you run over the footage and get started," Lawliet said, pulling out his cell phone and approaching the alley roadway. The Rolls Royce appeared, Watari at the wheel when L said, "Join me for dinner tonight, Ryuk. Mello and Matt will be joining us as well."

Ryuk nodded, knowing it wasn't an option to refuse. He'd be there, but it made him nervous that Lawliet was having the others tag along. What exactly was running through that gifted brain of his? It made Ryuk shudder, but also angry. He didn't know whom this FEMALE was, but he was going to make sure he killed her with his bare hands for compromising his delicate position. How dare ANYBODY doubt his loyalty to Lawliet? It was insulting, and made Ryuk's blood boil.

And if he was going to keep Light safe, he would have to eliminate all threats as soon as they appeared. He stared down at the tape in his hands, which Lawliet had given him and nearly shook with rage: time to get to work.

"I did exactly as you asked," Sayu said sweetly, sighing as Near ran his fingers lightly through her shoulder-length hair, "When will we leave? When can we leave, Near-kun?"

"We have to wait," Near said quietly, placing a kiss on the stupid girl's mouth to hush her up, "As soon as our enemies are dead, I will take you away from this place."

"And no more hurting?" Sayu said, practically whimpering as she shook. Near had been very diligent with this newer edition to the Wammy household, a girl who was nearly his age but very dependant on drugs. Near had been carefully controlling her through giving her supply whenever she craved it, and also won her trust by being tender and loving towards her. It was all an act, but she was too dense to realize that yet. Near needed his pawns, after all. If he was to win this game against Lawliet and return to his proper place in the world, he had to win. If he had to destroy a few lives in the process to complete the puzzle, so be it, "No more hurting, Sayu. You will never have to listen to anybody ever again."

"I want to listen to you," Sayu breathed, arching her back at Near's hands as they ran along her thighs, "I want to be with you, Near-kun. Always."

"You will be," Near lied, enjoying the mewling sounds she elicited as his cock slipped into her dripping heat. He ground against her, his mind focused on things beyond pleasure. He felt nothing for this girl. He breathed against her ear, knowing this pawn had very little time left, "I promise."

Chief Soichiro Yagami was once again in his cluttered office at headquarters, knowing he looked rough. He hadn't shaved in days and had slept very little in the past week. Aizawa and Mogi still had a thirst in their eyes for justice. That's good, Soichiro thought. At least if he failed, he knew his subordinates wouldn't give up as easily.

No, he wouldn't give up. He had to stop thinking that there was no other way. Once headquarters had received the information that the 8 top executives of Yatsuba Corporation had been found murdered in their conference room, the investigative team had been quick to arrive. Soichiro had stayed at the cold crime scene for nearly 48 hours trying to make sense of it all. Forensics had identified the bodies as having been dead before arrival, the bodies moved during the closed hours of the building. This had led to a fiery search through the employees of the company as to who had access to the building or could have had their keys stolen. Then there was the issue of the high security systems, having been shut down from an outside source on the roof. Top-notch work; Soichiro knew this had been some very heavy-duty preparation and teamwork. His head was still reeling at the absolute professional criminal perfection that had been offered the police force.

Again, they were left with nothing. Not even a weapon. Not a single slug or discarded cartridge. Nothing but cold, bloody bodies and a double-tap to the head of the vice president of finance. All expert shots. Professional, efficient, clean.

Except for one. The company president's body had been nearly unrecognizable, his skull shattered from an intense beating against a hard surface, his throat sliced, nearly no blood left in his body. The only clues they had been left with were two shiny pennies placed over the dead president's eyes with traces of blood from him and the president of finance. It was all mind-blowingly difficult to understand.

So Soichiro had finally gotten clearance to call out the big guns. Soichiro had only ever used the services of the infamous investigative detective Eraldo Coil twice in his entire career, and now was one of those times where he was desperately needed. He was the greatest detective in the world and was extremely private; he solved all cases electronically and communicated via a voice-distorter on a laptop. Nobody had ever seen his face, and Soichiro didn't care as long as he could help with this investigation. It had taken him barely any time at all to come up with a theory.

"The pennies are important," Coil said, his voice both deep and robotic as it filled the gruesome crime room, "I believe the pennies were originally on the eyes of the president of finance. The killer then placed those pennies on the president of the Yatsuba Corporation. I believe this is an indication that the president was the main target."

"Of course he was," Soichiro said, running a hand over his tired face, "He's the most powerful, the most influential, and was the only body that was partially mutilated. The others were clean kills."

"But why move the pennies?" Aizawa had wondered aloud.

"It seems as if the killer wishes for the hit to be revealed," Coil droned, "The pennies were moved for a reason; a link, of sorts. Another clue to reveal the true intentions of the murders. Obviously the president of finance and the president of the corporation have something in common that aggravated the killer, or killers, to kill all."

"The company's balance of power has been shifted," Soichiro murmured, a hand grasping at his chin, "To knock out all the competition in one night…with the president of finance and the president of the company…"

"Laundering?" Aizawa offered, staring at the dead vice president of finance, "money was the reason."

"Money is always the reason," Coil said, "Men are driven by one thing in this world: money. Confiscate the files of the Yatsuba Corporation and dig through any and all of the past six months of the financial records. We need to look for inconsistencies in any and all accounts, especially the emergency and ghost accounts. You may find numbers, possibly addresses of contacts that could lead us deeper into the investigation."

"Mogi, I want the top investors in the Yatsuba Corporation on the phone as soon as possible," Soichiro said, pointing his finger at the man before motioning at Aizawa, "Aizawa, get clearance for those records. I want you and Naomi on account detail until further notice. Get a sniff of something interesting and contact me back at headquarters."

The men nodded before leaving the room, Soichiro concentrated on getting a hold of those accounts. Yes, there was finally hope for cracking this mad man known as Ryuzaki. Obviously everyone knew it had been him, as he had already confessed in the Death Note, but Soichiro needed to dig a hell of a lot deeper into the underworld before he got a chance to take out the motherfucker one-on-one. And it was all thanks to Coil's careful phrasing, as if he had already foreseen all of this.

"Well done, Chief Yagami," Coil intoned, "I will contact you via the private chat room I arranged through your department. Please remember the pass code changes every thirty seconds to insure our security."

"Yes," Soichiro said, knowing he would receive the code through another ghost file that destroyed itself virtually upon opening. Coil was nothing if not extremely careful.

"Until next time then," Coil said, the gothic letter C disappearing as the screen went black.

Lawliet sat at his desk once again, steepling his fingers in front of him as he stared at the video monitor into the eyes of one of the world's greatest con artists, "Have you begun phase two as instructed?"

"Yes sir," the blonde middle-aged man answered, smirking slightly, "of course Wedy will be terribly upset with me once the truth is realized."

"She was a necessity," Lawliet said, closing one of his many laptops to keep him from distraction. Light sources of any kind tended to distract him, "I could not trust anybody else with Yatsuba Corporation's security systems. She did it flawlessly, thanks to you."

"I have her wrapped around my finger, like you asked," he replied, "It was difficult at first, I must admit. Under Dons tend to…have no respect for each other, I'm afraid."

"That is the way of the underworld," Lawliet murmured, his chin resting on his hands, "A family is only as loyal as its children; all the children want to make sure they are the favorite of the father."

"But when most of the children are dead…"

"Exactly. Those left will be drunk on the idea of power. All the branches are weak, and will grow weaker as every John Doe with a gun tries to be a mafiosa. It will be another delicious bloodbath to keep everyone's prying eyes away from the true agenda."

"So all this was simply a distraction," Aiber laughed, holding up a cup of wine on the screen, "You managed to not only weaken the Dons severely, but keep them crippled in their attempt to regain some amount of control. But in that time, we will have already accomplished what they are too blind to see. I must hand it to you, Lawliet, you are one devious son of a bitch."

Lawliet smirked, unable to help himself, "I simply know how the human mind works. We don't like to admit it, but most humans are all the same and have the same weakness."

"Which is?"

Lawliet licked a lollipop he had just unwrapped, his eyes focused on the swirling pink and red colors of the strawberry-flavored treat. Aiber, although one of the world's leading con artists, was as blind as the rest of them. Lawliet had needed him to infiltrate and become an Under Don, being eyes and ears Lawliet needed. Then he had needed Aiber to gain the trust of Wedy, the only Under Don Lawliet had felt threatened by because of her skills and intelligence. Having Aiber become her lover was crucial, to help mold her into the perfect pawn to continue Lawliet's mission.

Every piece was being utilized on the chessboard. Every move pre-determined on Lawliet's side. The checkmate was close enough to taste.

But Lawliet was no fool. There were still so, so many ways in which his operation could fail. Being an expert in statistics, Lawliet knew there was no possible way to insure 100% success no matter how much time he was given or how intelligent he was.

There were simply factors in the world that even HE could not control.

So he kept his plans changing constantly, continuously monitoring his queen and king with the bishops and his knights at the ready, his pawns tamed, ready to be used once and discarded at will and at whim.

Unlike the real game of chess, Ryuzaki had nearly an unlimited amount of cheap pawns.

Lawliet licked the lollipop one more time before answering Aiber's nearly-forgotten question, thinking to himself that it was truly a pity that such an intelligent and useful man such as Aiber was going to fall into darkness along with the rest of them:

"Predictability."

The computer screen continued to flash RENDERING.

Matt lit another cigarette as he enhanced a grainy image of a girl from a convenience store tape. This was the eighth or ninth tape Ryuk had dumped on him in the past few hours as he continued to canvas the neighborhood surrounding the Lawson & Lawli law firm. Although Ryuk looked the way he did and was constantly judged by all because of it, he was exceptionally smart and resourceful.

Street smart, too. He'd been born and raised on the streets, one of many reasons Lawliet had taken him under his wing. He was a good dog, able to hunt things unlike some of the others. Matt knew he was useless in that department, but he was a genius when it came to technology and hacking (and making explosives, but Mello was good at that, too).

So Matt really couldn't complain. He liked being in his various computer rooms, the only light source coming from the many screens he had set up around the large desk. He was actually multitasking at the moment, trying to break into some encrypted databases for Lawliet and help Ryuk out with whoever his mystery tagger was at the same time, a tagger who was currently a large thorn in Ryuk's side, which meant she was a thorn in all of their sides.

Matt would do anything for his close brothers and he knew the sentiment for them was the same.

Matt realized he was basically helping Ryuk figure out who to murder. A young girl too, by the looks of the tapes.

The resolution of the still-shot taken from the convenience store video feed continued to intensify, become more clear. Matt took a drag from his cigarette before adding another layer of coding and set the toner to bright.

He froze the image. She looked familiar.

He took out his cell phone and speed-dialed Ryuk. He picked up on the first ring.

"Tell me one of those goddamn tapes worked. I'm tired of getting harassed by these pissy shopkeepers."

Matt smiled, "Yeah. I got a shot for ya. She looks familiar…"

"A'course she does. We gotta know her or she'd never have pulled this shit in the first place."

"I'm sending it now," Matt intoned, watching a green bar pop up on the screen, initializing the transfer to Ryuk's phone, "Have fun hunting, dog."

Ryuk growled, sending a shiver down Matt's spine, "I'm gonna rip her larynx out with my bare teeth."

"Well just make sure to clean up behind yourself. Maybe have BB tag along? I've heard he's driving Lawliet crazy. You might earn some brownie points for babysitting."

Matt had only been joking, but the silence from the other end was surprising. Matt knew that their tight circle was uncomfortable with BB, so for Ryuk to be taking a moment to consider it made his brows draw together.

Ryuk finally chuckled, a chuckle that reminded Matt of the not-too-distant past when Ryuk had been a stray dog free of his master's chain, "Not a bad idea, Red."

A/N: Since I'm beginning to remember my original plot idea, I hope to have another chapter out by December 15, the day before the convention. I'm actually quite excited. I'm going to have the English voice actor of Light Yagami sign my Death Note. Heh heh heh.