Disclaimer: The Maiden of Autumn owns nothing.

...Let's forget the fact that I kinda disappeared for awhile and move on, yeah?

...Enjoy, yes?

…You think you've manipulated me.

You think you've gotten what you've wanted.

…But you're wrong.

I've had time. Countless moments, minutes, days, weeks, months, years.

…You think that I wouldn't have tried?

Not even once?

Then you are an utter fool.

…Even steel has its weaknesses. Even it can be worn down.

Time does it.

It might still be strong, but there are moments….

And a moment was all I needed.

…It might not be checkmate yet, but…

I'd say that it's definitely check.

Enjoy this small victory while you can.

Because your control is slipping and you will topple.

I promise.

"What are you-?!"

"Hey!"

"HEY!"

"Stop!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Unblinking empty eyes watched emotionlessly as one investigator after the other fell to the ground, either unconscious or too wounded to stand in his way anymore. No longer did he identify them as co-workers or members of his "pack."

To his once-more altered mind, they were simply flesh obstacles- easily disposed of and shoved out of the way due to the enhancements he was gifted with. Pleas for him to stop and protests fell on deaf ears, and once more, his skin was splashed and fur matted with blood, though he took no pleasure in it.

It was what he was ordered to do by the voice that consumed his will, and so it was what he would do. There was no defying the all-encompassing voice, and so he moved swiftly and silently down the halls, shoving away anyone who got in his way- and for those who came back, they were rendered unable to stop him, slashed by his claws or teeth.

There was something he had to do, an order the voice was giving him that he was unable to disobey.

Come to the cell.

It whispered insidiously in his mind, urging him down the halls and to the elevator. His movements were swift, silent and graceful, but to a close watcher, they appeared almost mechanical, as if his body were being controlled by someone other than himself- as if he were being controlled by strings, tugged and played by a master puppeteer.

He left a path of blood behind him, wounded, unconscious bodies leaning against the wall. He stared straight ahead, ears pricked intently as he reached the doors of the elevator. Slowly, he looked down, reaching out with a clawed finger to press the button that would take him down. Gracefully, he stepped into the elevator, turning as the doors closed.

An investigator looked up at the near-silent swishing of the elevator doors, and dark brown eyes widened in shock as they met blank, lifeless yellow ones. There was something horribly wrong, something not right about all of this…

And then, the doors closed, cutting off the sight of the altered detective.

His ears twitched as the elevator dinged and came to a shuddering halt. The doors swished open and he stepped out, clawed feet making not a sound on tiled floor as he made his way down to the cell that he had entered just once before- though for vastly different reasons.

He halted outside the heavy metal door, head inclining to eye the keypad that required both a code and certain fingerprint to open it.

Type in the override code, the voice hissed into his mind. Mechanically, he raised a clawed finger and delicately picked out the code that the voice hissed to him.

A few seconds passed as the code was read, and then the keypad blinked off, the code disabling the security measures and the metal door made a clicking, whirring noise as the mechanism unlocked.

Go.

Obeying the single word command, he sidestepped to stand in front of the door, raised a hand and with some effort, pushed the heavy door open.

And then, L stepped inside, blank yellow eyes surveying the room, ears pricked intently and awaiting the next order now that he had fulfilled this task.

The subdued figure tied to a chair in the middle of the room lifted his head, crimson-red eyes blinking once before red lips parted, twisting into a smirk.

"Hello, pet."

The insistent ringing of Light's phone woke him the next morning, tearing him from the state of unconsciousness he had finally been able to lapse into. It had been so odd, sleeping without the warm presence of L at his back, hearing the former detective's deep breathing and occasionally feeling the brush of coarse fur from L's ears or tail.

But eventually, exhausted from worry about future dealings with L, Light had fallen into blissful repose- though his sleep was light and somewhat uneasy. Worry for L, though he knew that the former detective was alright, made his sleep fitful.

The shrill ringing shocked him to alertness, however, and he shot up, sight whirling as he was torn harshly from sleep. Shaking his head, he groped blindly for the phone he had set off on the nightstand, flipping it open and answering it without a second thought.

"Hello…?" Light muttered, shaking his head to clear it and sitting up, pushing the sheets away from his body. It was getting to be fall, and though there was a state-of-the-art heating system in the building, it still tended to get a bit chilly sometimes. Not that Light minded; he'd rather be cold than hot.

Still, the cool air washing over his bare skin aided his brain in clearing away the last vestiges of sleep, and that combined with the chill sent down his spine at Watari's words sent his brain into fully-awake status.

"Light…" Watari's voice was soft, breathless, as if he had a hard time forcing them out. "There is a problem."

It was insinuated and immediately understood that the problem was with L.

Watari was barely finishing his sentence when Light was out of bed and tugging on his day-old clothes that had been strewn across the ground, not bothering with straightening them properly as he held the phone to his ear with his shoulder, speaking urgently into the cellphone.

"I'll be down," Light said shortly into the phone, already pulling it away from his ear and snapping it shut, tucking it into the pocket of his slacks with one hand as the other drew his belt through the loops, then fastening it even as he sprinted to the door, opened it, and headed straight to the elevator.

Thoughts of what could have happened raced through his mind, sending flashes of worry through him.

The surgeon had said that everything had gone perfectly; L's vital signs were healthy and normal when Light had finally left L. Had there been some sort of post-operation problem, something that had happened much later, after L had been left alone? Some sort of delayed problem?

What had happened? And why had Watari… something had seemed wrong with Watari, Light thought as he shifted impatiently, hands twitching restlessly as he keenly watched the lights change in correspondence to which floor the elevator was on.

Finally, the elevator reached the bottom floor and as soon as the doors slid open, Light was out and running down the halls, straight to the workroom. Skidding to a short, shocked halt once he was through the doors, he was very unprepared for the sight that met his eyes. There was no blood; he was more than thankful for that.

Yet, the sight of Aizawa thrown against the wall, Mogi half-slumped over a table, and Watari sitting up weakly in a chair was more than distressing to Light.

Simply because there was only one person in the whole building that had this sort of strength. With a sinking feeling growing in the pit of his stomach, he made his way carefully around scattered papers and other desktop paraphernalia to crouch in front of Watari. Weary eyes rose to meet his, and an expression of relief flashed across the tired face.

"Watari," Light began before the other man could start. "Was this… what happened?" He didn't want to ask if L had done this. He was certain it was, and they both knew it. Only L could have had the strength to subdue all of the Task Force members this way without killing them.

But… what had triggered L to do something like this? And whatever it was… if L had totally given over to his wolfish side, why had he not killed them? Why only knock them unconscious, instead of truly eliminating them? It made no sense to Light.

"I do not know what provoked this," Watari said weakly. "He came in here… But there was something wrong with his eyes. Matsuda tried to stop him, usher him back to his bed, for it was very odd that he be up, even with his advanced healing. But the moment Matsuda touched L, he… snapped. And this," Watari raised a trembling, wrinkled hand to gesture weakly around the destroyed room, "is the aftermath."

Light's eyes widened in shock as he simply stared at Watari, mind whirling as he desperately tried to figure out what could have possibly happened.

L was supposed to have been fixed. The microchip should have allowed L to wake up in possession of his human mind once more. That he didn't proved something had went horribly wrong, and gazing around at the aftermath of L's coming, Light felt a horrible, niggling suspicion that they had been purposely misled.

But…

Taking in the situation… the implications…

Light's shoulders sagged and he stepped backwards as the anger drained out of him, falling lightly into a chair situated next to a destroyed computer. Scattered, torn papers fluttered to the ground slowly as Light bowed his head, cradling it in his hands, amber eyes narrowing as his mind raced, stuttering between fury, disbelief, and an undeniable welling of hopelessness as it seemed that everything had been horribly twisted.

For just a moment…

It had seemed like everything was finally going right.

Was it too much to ask that it be so?

A shuddering sigh escaped from between Light's lips as he attempted to get a grip on his tumultuous emotions and think rationally. There had to be some sort of higher purpose for this- something had to have happened to L for him to snap like this.

It all came down to the chip, and right as this thought flitted through Light's mind, a limping Matsuda hastily shuffled into the room, blood trickling down a slashed shoulder as he leaned against the wall for support. His brown eyes were wide and pained, but lucid as he gasped, "Light!"

The call of his name gained the detective's attention and his head raised, amber eyes widening as they took in Matsuda's wavering form. Quickly, he jumped to his feet and made his way through the carnage to Matsuda's side, leaning against the man. He drew Matsuda's uninjured arm carefully over his own and bearing the older man's weight, helped Mastuda over to the chair he had been previously occupying.

The others who had been in the room got to their feet and gathered in close as Light knelt down in front of Matsuda, a silent question written in his eyes as he waited for the older man to speak.

And when he did, it sent a mixed flash of dread and anger through Light, eliciting a series of gasps from Watari and the rest of the Task Force Members close by.

Beyond Birthday's been released!" Matsuda informed Light urgently, distress evident in his drawn features and shakiness of his normally cheerful and light voice. "He's… he's gone."

Light remained silent, staring into Mastuda's eyes as the rest of the men in the room broke out into mixed questions and outcries. A feeling of fear pervaded the room, sinking into each of their subconsciouses. For such a psychopath to be on the loose boded ill.

"How could this have happened?" Soichiro asked, shocked.

Dimly, in the back of his mind, Light worried that his father would give himself another heart attack, bringing to mind thoughts of the long put to rest Kira case, oddly enough. A chill went through Light at the mere mention of the case that could have resulted in his death if he had been found wrongfully guilty and he pushed the thoughts away with force, determined to focus on the matter at hand and not a dead case.

"Could L have…"

"He already turned on us…"

"It's definitely possible…"

Light's eyes slipped shut as he found himself unable to block out the torrent of doubting voices. The constant babble rendered him unable to think, to fully process what had happened and think about it. Everyone was panicking, unable to think clearly in the wake of a suspected betrayal and release of a psychopathic serial killer. Nothing would be able to be accomplished if the members of the team were acting like a flock of panicked sheep, bleating uselessly and incomprehensively.

He needed to be alone, to speak with Watari at length and sort through this. There had to be a reason behind L's actions, a purpose for Beyond Birthday being set free, and he needed to find the dots that would connect all of this together.

But such a thing would not be accomplished in the state they were in, and decision made, Light's eyes snapped open and he pushed himself off of his knees. Raising his head as he stood to his feet, he took in the babbling members of the team, amber eyes flicking around and tightening as he noticed their disarray.

In a clear, loud voice, Light finally spoke, his voice cutting through the noise and rendering all in the room silent.

"…Everyone," Light said clearly, locking eyes with each of those in the room.

His father stepped forward, answering for all as he said, "Light."

"Please leave," Light asked politely, yet with an undeniable underlying tone of steel.

"What?!" Aizawa exclaimed, stepping forwards, eyes narrowing in anger. To be dismissed so blatantly when such a disaster had taken place was preposterous! They needed to regroup, regather, and figure out what to do next, such as find L and Beyond Birthday! Telling them to leave was ridiculous, and it sent a hot flash of anger through the older police member.

"I would like some time to think on this alone and discuss our next plan of action with Watari."

"Whatever you want to talk about can damn well be-" Aizawa started to swear, before Soichiro laid a hand on the man's arm, causing Aizawa to stop and turn his head to look at his old boss, blinking once in confusion.

"Aizawa," Soichiro said quietly, giving a small shake of his head. "No. Leave it. He'll tell us tomorrow, won't you, Light?" This last part was directed right at his son and Soichiro turned to regard him with an unwavering stare, a silent authority in his gaze. Soichiro was willing to accept Light as his evident superior- it was what L had wanted and as the lead investigator in their case, he would abide by the former detective's wishes.

But Light had a responsibility to keep the team informed in order to keep them all together and working on the same wavelength, and the former chief of police was willing to use his authority as Light's father and elder to make sure that happened.

And Light must have realized this after a moment, for he broke Soichiro's gaze and looked down, away towards the papers that had fallen to the floor. He gave a sharp nod as he raised his amber gaze once more, conceding to the compromise his father had subtly offered. "…Of course, father," Light said quietly.

"I would simply like some time to collect my thoughts," he explained, raising a hand and gesturing to the door. "Besides, you all are injured and no doubt tired. Please, take the time to rest and recover."

Mogi and Matsuda nodded, accepting the temporary reprieve with relief. With some help from a quietly offering Mogi, Matsuda made his way out the door, leaning on the larger man and heading to the infirmary.

Aizawa seemed displeased, but at some silent urging from Soichiro by way of a gentle pressure on his shoulder, he let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. "…I don't like this," Aizawa muttered, turning to go, Soichiro still at his side, "but I'll go with it. For now."

The last part was added as a subtle warning, one that Light took to heart. Beyond Birthday's actions had slowly been tearing the Task Force apart, and unless they figured out what had went wrong and resolved the issue, restoring L's mind and body, the rift only ever threatened to grow wider.

L had been the backbone of their operation, the anchor that held them steady. Even though Aizawa and Soichiro had often been angered by his actions in the Kira case, had annoyed Light in the beginning and insulted Matsuda on a few occasions, there was still a heavy amount of respect the man demanded in his abilities to do his job and lead the team single-handedly.

Light was a good replacement, but he was not L, and he had never felt the loss of the detective more keenly than he did now, floundering in the aftermath of L's destruction, Beyond's escape, and trying desperately to keep together the unraveling threads of their team together.

He needed L.

But there was nothing he could do about that at the moment, except to bite his tongue, incline his head, and give a quiet, "Thank you," watching as Aizawa turned fully on his heel and made his exit, followed by his father.

He stood there silently for a few mere moments, watching the doors to the workroom swish shut. Once he felt they were alone, his head snapped up and a determined glint steeled his eyes.

He glanced over the room once, truly taking in the destruction caused before his flicked to the right, looking to the elderly man perched tiredly in his chair.

"Watari."

There was a silent question within that word, asking questions that he had no answers to.

"Light," Watari sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know… I'm not sure what could have happened to make L snap like this."

Light shook his head before Watari finished speaking, closing his eyes briefly as he spoke. "It was the chip."

Taken aback, Watari could only lean forwards with a wince, asking, "What?" He didn't see how the chip that was supposed to have helped L had anything to do with the situation at hand.

"I've figured it out," Light said. There was only one logical solution to what had happened. "Beyond withheld his information purely to provoke us into asking the questions he wanted us to ask. The whole time, he manipulated us."

Fury flashed through Light at this thought. He despised being controlled in such a way, in being jerked around and used as someone else's tool. "He wanted us to find the blueprints so that we could make an exact replica of the chip that he was using to control L before. There was never any chip that would suppress L's animalistic instants- it was always, always about keeping L under his thumb. By implanting that chip into L's mind, all it did was keep him under the same control he was previously under."

Taken aback by Light's vehemence, as well as this new revelation into Beyond's motives and actions, Watari was silent for a moment, processing. It was only after a few moments that be spoke, questioning, "But how would he have been able to control L from where he was? He had a remote that controlled L previously. He was confined with no outside contact with the exception of yourself and I. It is… impossible that Beyond could have gained control of the chip and thus, L's mind."

"I know that, Watari. I haven't gotten that far," Light said, frustration lacing his voice. His amber eyes closed, mind racing as he attempted to piece together what he could. "I don't know how he did that, how he controlled L to free him. But when we catch him… when we get L back… Beyond is going to tell me everything I want to know. I'll rip it out of him in any way I can. I've had enough of being used. This needs to end," he said, a sense of finality echoing in his voice.

This had gone on for too long. His hopes of restoring L's mind, of having L himself back, had been dashed over and over, and he was sick of this. It needed to end. And it would.

"But how will you even figure out where Beyond's taken them?" Watari asked, wincing as he stood shakily from the chair, sensing that Light was becoming more determined, sorting through thoughts in his mind, developing some sort of plan as to what action to take. They only had a limited amount of time- both in the fact that they would only be able to work unhindered for so long before the Task Force returned, and before L and Beyond disappeared off the map, untraceable.

Light was silent for a moment, gears in his mind working, before a flash of an epiphany went through his eyes, and confidently, he said, "Beyond couldn't have taken L strolling down the street. Right now, L's very hard not to notice. His appearance will draw attention and provoke questions, and that is the exact opposite thing that Beyond must want right now."

Looking up, Light smiled slightly, a spark of hope beginning to kindle in his chest. "He found some sort of transportation. Get me the video tapes, for both inside and outside the building, for the time from L's first attack to an hour after that."

Watari nodded and left slowly to do just that, leaving Light wholly alone in the destroyed room. It was only after he felt secure in the fact that he was alone did he allow his shoulders to slump, his confident demeanor bleeding from him.

A weary sigh escaped from between his full lips and he raked a hand through his hair, mussing it up even more. He was so tired of this… of having his hopes crushed after having them raised so high. He had thought… this time, he had been so sure that L would be restored to his right mind. He had worked so hard, dreamed of L opening his eyes and having his friend back.

Light didn't even care if L wouldn't stay, if he wouldn't be allowed to stay and keep working with the detective anymore now that the Kira case had fizzled out. He just wanted L back, wanted his friend back and... perhaps…

No.

Shaking his head, he took a step forwards, intent on making his way over to his own workstation, when his foot landed upon something and he instinctively looked down to see what it was. A piece of stationery lay under his foot, folded twice and in pristine calligraphy, it said, "Light Yagami."

His amber eyes narrowed as he bent to pick it up, feeling the stiff, heavy paper under his fingers. His eyes flicked over the unfamiliar handwriting and he turned it over, examining it more closely before carefully unfolding it.

There was a note written on the paper inside, and a rising sense of anger overtook Light as he read what was written.

Little Red Riding Hood,

I thank you for the gift of the wolf. You did everything so wonderfully, and I must congratulate you for your marvelous work. However, you should sit back and take care of Granny dearest, for there is no more use you could possibly give me.

Now. Sit back, and watch the events unfold.

-The Hunter

Clenching the note tightly in his hands, Light's eyes narrowed as he skimmed over the words once more, taking in the oddly subtly mocking tone. The paper wrinkled under the stress, threatening to tear in two.

But then, the situation truly hit Light, the fact that their Task Force was scattered, L was gone, the psychopath had escaped, and everything seemed to be crumbling, turning into ruin. The note only brought the situation to light and reinforced that fact.

That sense of despair settled upon Light's shoulders one more, but rather than succumbing to it, it only served to reinforce his determination to get to the bottom of this, to catch Beyond and put him behind bars, to return L to normal and just fix this whole situation. Amber eyes hardened, and Light re-folded the piece of paper carefully and slipped it into the pocket of his slacks, keeping it safe.

L. I thought…

I had hoped…

But it looks like that'll have to wait.

I have to get you back first, and I will, make sure of that.

Just…

Give me some time.

An hour later found Light sitting in his usual chair, amber eyes locked onto the computer monitor in front of him. Headphones were over his ears, allowing him to catch any audio hints as he watched and then re-watched from the point where L had exited the medical room, to when he had left the building. Watari had long since straightened up the rest of the room in his quiet, unobtrusive way, and upon hearing Light shift in his seat, he looked up. Light was reaching up to tug the headphones down, around his neck with a weary sigh.

He quickly made his way to Light, stepping to his side in order to see if he had come to any conclusions.

Upon sensing Watari at his elbow, Light looked up, running a hand through his disheveled caramel-colored hair. "L and Beyond were carried from here by a black limousine," Light said quietly, garnering a raised eyebrow from the elderly man. "I don't know how the hell Beyond managed to pull that off, but…" Light trailed off, shaking his head in frustration, eyes going back to scan over the screen once more, where he had paused the recording.

It was frozen on the moment when L, recognizable through the tail and clawed feet, was just climbing into the limousine, Beyond waiting patiently behind him. The psychopath's head was turned away from the camera mounted on the outside of the building, but the black hair, spiked and flyaway like L's was, gave his identity away.

Hands clenching, Light finally said, "…Somehow, he did. Someone knew Beyond was going to be freed."

Those sorts of implications… Watari's faded blue eyes widened. The only way that someone knew that this was going to happen would be if they were working directly with Beyond. There would have had to be a mole within the building. But even that was impossible, because…

"That makes no sense," Watari spoke up, shaking his head. "How… he's been confined here for the past few months. There would be no way…" he trailed off, trying to think of some way that Beyond's escape could have been orchestrated. After a few moments, though, he spoke up once more, throwing an idea to Light.

"Maybe…" Watari said thoughtfully, regaining Light's attention, "Beyond left behind instructions for someone to follow?"

Even before Watari had finished his thought, Light was shaking his head. "No," he replied. "That would be impossible. The precise timing of their transport's arrival is too accurate to simply be instructions," Light explained, rubbing his temples in frustration, because none of this was helping and nothing was making sense. "Beyond would have had to know exactly how long it would take for the chip to be completed, to how long it took L to get down to the cell, free him, and return to the surface."

"Then what do you think?" Watari dared to ask, trying again. "Could Beyond have had a partner?" He was throwing ideas to Light, attempting to get him to truly think, to come up with ideas and give him some sort of lead to go off on. It was the same technique he had used with L during the rare times he came to a dead end on a case, and had always seemed to work with his ward. Light was not L, but they thought and processed things in a similar way, and perhaps this would serve to help Light as well.

This was the way it had always been. Watari was intelligent, even called a genius at times for the inventions and creations he designed and thought up. However, he was by no means on the deductive level that Light and L were. He fit well into being the complimentary part of L, helping his thought processes along with small thoughts and leading questions.

And in this case, in the situation they were in, Watari knew that if Light couldn't figure this out, no one would be able to. The least he could do was to help Light gather ideas and perhaps come to some sort of conclusion or a starting point.

But Watari's latest interjection was shot down, for Light shook his head, frustration lacing his voice as he said, in a short tone, "No. He's too volatile, too insane to have a partner. Anyone in association with him would have had to be working under him. And there's no way that, even if Beyond had had a minion, he could have relayed information to him…" Light trailed off, eyes closing as he attempted to think, to figure out some way to rationally explain this, some way to figure out where Beyond and L could have possibly disappeared to.

Watari was silent, graciously allowing Light to think. However, a few moments later, Light shook his head hopelessly, muttering, "…That's it, then. I don't know what else to think."

This sort of despair was something that Watari was well familiar with. L was by no means overly emotional, but he did succumb to fits and bouts of moodiness every so often. He was well acquainted with this, and so his next words were specifically worded to help Light. "…When L was confused or stuck on a question, he often went over the evidence many times, searching for something he might have missed."

"You think I missed something?" Light asked quietly. His tone of voice was not insulted, but thoughtful and, if Watari were correct, a bit hopeful. If Light had missed something, even in his careful observations of the recordings, there was still a chance at putting everything together and finding L. At the moment, they had nothing, but if they were able to find one missed clue… that could be the difference between finding L and Beyond escaping.

However, Watari did not want Light's hopes to raise too high. The young man was very careful in his observations, and he noticed most everything. There was only the slightest chance that Light had, in fact, missed something. And right now, Light was looking somewhat desperate, as if the thought that he had missed something was the only thing driving him.

…But Watari understood. If what he had seen in the infirmary after L's surgery had been any indication… Light was just as desperate to find L as he was. Their regards and respective emotions for the former detective may differ, but Light wanted, needed to find L and have him back as much as he did.

And he couldn't fault Light for this.

It was for this reason, for not wanting to raise Light's hopes only to have them crashing back down that Watari remained purposely ambiguous as he murmured, "Perhaps. It is not improbable that you might have missed something."

An expression of relief bled over Light's face, his amber eyes softening as they flicked back over to the computer screen. His hands rose to fiddle with the headphones around his neck as he nodded, now apparently anxious to get back to the investigation. "…Alright," Light conceded, turning away to face the computer screen. "Alright. I don't know what else to do."

Light pulled the headphones back up over his ears, blocking out any other noise other than that of the recording, and Watari, taking his cue, turned and quietly left, leaving Light in peace to pursue scanning the recordings, raking over them for any hint as to what might have happened to L, or how Beyond could have escaped.

Give me something.

I don't…

Just…

Please.

"Damn it!"

A few hours later found an exhausted Light slumped over the table, face buried in his hands as he struggled to get his rising anger and desperate feeling of hopelessness under control.

I don't see anything, Light thought with dire and consuming frustration. I've been through this over and over again- if I haven't seen anything yet…

Raising his head, Light's amber eyes slitted into a glare of utter loathing at the monitor's screen, where the recording was paused on the moment when L had stepped into Beyond's cell. The psychopath was looking up, and Light could just imagine that there was pleased smile fixed on red lips, the expression on his face no doubt one of utter smugness. And L himself…

Light shifted to raise a hand, fingers gently reaching out to brush over the monitor's screen. He could see that L's eyes were staring straight ahead, fixed upon nothing. It was obvious that he was being controlled, and while that thought made Light rage inside, it was a bittersweet feeling of relief that accompanied it, for at least L was not doing this of his own will.

Letting out a deep breath, Light straightened and leaned back in his chair, amber eyes flicking over the picture frozen on the screen. Nothing, none of this made any sense. There had been no way that Beyond could have had outside help. There had been no contact with anyone save him, Watari, and very briefly, L, for the months since they had first captured him and rescued the former detective.

He knew now that something had been off with the blueprints. The chip that they had constructed and then implanted into L in an effort to return him to his right mind had obviously been designed by Beyond. It nettled him now, thinking of it, that he had not suspected that Beyond was attempting to trick them.

Rubbing his face, Light's tired eyes fixed upon the psychopath. His wounds seemed to have had healed quite well. The vantage point that Light was looking at showed the back view of Beyond, and he could clearly see the pale hands, handcuffed and restrained behind the back of the wooden chair the killer had been tied into. The nails had grown back fully, though upon second glance, they seemed quite short and ragged.

Odd.

They had went a few months without attention… if anything, they should have been long, not jagged and short.

Caramel-colored eyebrows furrowing, Light leaned forwards, head tilting as he examined the fingernails more closely. It was almost as if they had been chewed on, though that was impossible, because they had been restrained. And thinking on it now, the jaggedness reminded Light of when he and Sayu were little and still enjoyed playing in the dirt. At the end of the day, after clawing and digging in the hard ground at the park near their home, their fingertips had been filthy, nails ragged.

But then, how…

Wait.

Light blinked, lips parting slightly as a small breath of something that might have been shock escaped through them. There, on the back of the chair… right where Beyond's fingers were…

What's that?

Light's hands rose to tap at a few keys on the keyboard. The picture zoomed in on the back of the chair, boxy pixels appearing for a moment and then dissipating, allowing Light a clear, close-up image of the wooden back of the chair. Eyes narrowing, Light took in the way Beyond's arms seemed to have been raised slightly, rather than hanging low and relaxed on the back of his chair. The fingers of his pale hand seemed to be curled up slightly, as if they were attempting to get out of the way.

…Out of the way for what?

Looking closer, Light's eyes traveled down to a spot just below the curled fingers, examining the area keenly. It took a few seconds, but then, his eyes widened as they saw something carved unmistakably into the wooden back of the chair, born of an endless amount of time tracing fingernails over the same spot over and over again in a certain pattern.

It looks like a…

"K," Light murmured to himself, amber eyes narrowed as he locked onto it. Something pricked, niggled at the back of his mind at the letter, and a small streak of excitement shot through him at this new finding.

Was this the clue that he had missed?

Sitting back, Light remained staring at the letter, not really seeing it as his mind worked and gears turned, clinging onto this small clue like a lifeline.

K, K, K... That keeps coming up, but why?

Beyond mentioned working with her… but why would he carve her letter in the chair…? It has no significance if she's dead!

Unless…

"I thank you for the gift of the wolf."

That doesn't sound like B at all. I've seen his handwriting on the blueprints, now that I think on it, and that's not his handwriting. That's not the way he talks, his syntax. A note left by him would not have been so subtle. It would have been openly mocking, not… almost refined, as this is.

This note was written by someone else. Someone who…

Light's eyes narrowed as his thoughts trailed off, and then, it hit him.

K!

His hands clenched, eyes widening as everything started to piece itself tighter, mind running back over everything that had ever been said about Beyond's elusive and shadowy partner.

… K was a piece of work herself, but she lacked the… creativity Beyond did.

It was a very sophisticated microchip, one that completely reprogrammed a person's brain. It took years for K to develop it, and a few more for me to get it where it is today.

…Take me at least another year or so for me to perfect it…once it is perfected… with that microchip, and the right hard settings, you totally control a person- force a soldier to be unable to kill, or force a Buddhist monk to pillage and rape.

Light jolted, a shocked exclamation issuing forth from his full lips as it struck him, clearly and with the force of a wrecking ball.

Control a person.

Not L, not just one person in particular, but instead implied through the rest of the sentence that anyone could be controlled. This sort of microchip would be extremely useful, valuable beyond belief to certain organizations and governments.

L was only the test. He was the one who was used to test it, to make sure that it operated as it was supposed to. Revenge on L was only an added bonus- it might have been part of the motivation, but that was it. Only part of the whole. And so was Beyond.

They had completely and totally missed out on the fact that there was another variable.

Beyond was an accomplished liar- he could have easily lied about K being deceased. It was perfect. By getting himself caught and acting as if he were alone, it would allow K to work behind the scenes. She had been the one to plant the blueprints and control L from a distance! She was behind the transport and knew that Beyond was going to be freed because she had been the one who had freed him.

It was perfectly planned and perfectly orchestrated!

Somewhere in the back of Light's mind, it occurred to him that it made no sense as to why Beyond had given them such an important hint- wouldn't he want to keep everything obscure? He had basically given Light the answer by inscribing that K into the back of his chair. However, with everything piecing itself together, Light failed to truly think of this. He was more concerned with the fact that he could use this, could find L and finally get him back, get everything back to normal and the way it should be.

How could I have been so blind?!

Scrabbling for his cell phone, he flipped it open and punched in the speed dial number for Watari's cell phone, biting his lips as he waited. The elderly man picked up on the first ring, and before he had a chance to talk, Light was hastily issuing forth his orders. "Watari! Get me the limousine's license plate number! I know what happened! Beyond wasn't the only one behind this!"

"Light? What do you mean?" Watari asked, his voice taken aback both at Light's revelation and his urgency.

I was stupid for not realizing it earlier… the signs… Beyond might have been helping K, but he was only half of this. He was only helping to get revenge on L- K's plans for the chip are surely much more sinister.

But… he kept talking as if she were dead. How could I have seen it?!

It was perfect.

Shaking his head in frustration, not wanting to waste time on explanations, Light hissed, "Watari! Beyond was only half of this!"

"Light? What do you mean?" Watari repeated, and Light's hand clenched around the phone, irritation and an unmistakable sense of urgency overtaking him. Something bigger than they thought was going on here. They knew Beyond, they knew the psychopath's motives. K, however, was a variable that was just being introduced. They knew little of it, though Light had a feeling that K's motives were more than just revenge. This sort of microchip… the one that she had designed… too much time and effort had been spent on it to just simply use it for revenge on L.

…Something deeper, more widespread was in the works.

He could feel it.

"I'll explain later! We have to find them as soon as possible!" And then, knowing that Watari would do as he asked, even if he was displeased about Light withholding information, Light snapped his phone closed.

He stood up swiftly from his chair, so fast that it knocked the seat over, though Light paid it no mind as he ran swiftly out of the room, eyes narrowed as his mind raced, piecing everything together.

He knew Watari would do as he asked- the license plate of the limousine would be traced by the time that they got there, and the respective code for the tracker implanted within that limousine entered, activating the tracker.

Earlier, he had recognized the two miniscule katakana stamped on the bottom right corner of the license plate- "Eru." It marked the vehicle as belonging to L, a way for any of the Task Force members to recognize one of his vehicles if they had a need to go undercover. It was very subtle and yet very effective- the ambulance that had taken L back to the headquarters after they had found him had borne the same two katakana, allowing Light to be certain that it was not a standard-issue ambulance, but one driven by those trusted by L.

The limousine had borne the katakana, and after watching the surveillance tapes, how they had escaped made sense. Security on the cars kept as a transport for L was not heavy. The Task Force building was disguised as a skyscraper that was a company's headquarters. It drew less suspicion from the populace to have it so, and the attaching garage appeared as a simple garage. It would have been suspicious to have a heavily-secured attaching area to a seemingly innocuous building. However, L was not without certain measures, and part of the reason he had implanted trackers in the cars. It was as much to keep track of where everyone was while on the move as much as it was to prevent them from being stolen by carjackers.

It was a simple reason, a simple motive to such measures being taken, but in this case, it would serve Light very well. As an open garage, the cars were out in the open. It would have been a simple matter for K and an accomplice to sneak inside and take one of the limousines as an escape vehicle without anyone noticing. She had counted on everyone being distracted by L's destructive rampage, which Light was becoming convinced that she had forced him to do on purpose to keep their attention away from her doings.

It had bought her some time, certainly, but she had no way of knowing about the trackers that would allow Light to see where they had driven in the stolen car.

K might have a head start, but Light wasn't totally clueless.

He knew where they would be. He knew what he was up against, facing L, Beyond, and K. He knew what to do, and how they were going to do it. He knew exactly what the stakes were and what was going on.

Light wasn't going to let K slip out of his grasp. He wasn't going to let Beyond get away, and he wasn't going to let L go.

Not this time.

Hold on, L.

I'm coming.

And this time…

We're finishing it.

A black limousine rolled up slowly to the curb, nothing inside seen through darkly-tinted windows. L and Beyond waited patiently as the back door closet to them was opened, silently inviting them to climb in.

L was first, mechanically climbing in and settling down, staring straight ahead, blank yellow eyes unwavering, even as a slim, delicate hand came up to trace gentle hands over his hair, gently raking through it and patting it down.

Beyond climbed in just seconds after L, closing the door behind him. He then turned to face the front, hands almost demurely settled into his lap, blank crimson eyes staring at the headrest right in front of him. As soon as the doors were shut, the driver pulled away from the curb, entering the lane of traffic. As this was done, another hand came up, reaching around Beyond to stick a needle in the side of the killer's neck. Blank red eyes closed and Beyond's lanky form fell limp, settling back against the comfortable seats of the limousine.

In the darkness of the limousine, white teeth glinted against cherry-red lips, curled into a vicious smile. "You did well, pet," the voice whispered, and L's ear flicked as the hand ran soothingly through his hair, scrubbing gently at his ears.

"You did very well."