Truth and Justice

Warnings for this chapter: Abuse, Angst, Bond, Humil, Language, Torture, reference to N/C, Violence, WIP.
SPOILERS: All manga, all anime, L's true name, Another Note, Law and Right.

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Truth and Justice

Chapter 11: Preparation

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One day passed. Two, three. He was covered in tiny, painful cuts, dried blood and sweat. He had been permitted three bathroom breaks per day, with no privacy at all. He was fed rice, tea and vegetables for each meal. It was impossible to tell what time of day it was anymore, and only the cuts, the bruises, would tell him how much time had passed.

He knew he was becoming dehydrated, knew it was a tactic to weaken him, and knew the spinach that was quickly becoming B's vegetable of choice was being used to keep him from getting anemic. He wondered just how B intended to keep him alive for a full month, with all the cuts. Surely he would bleed to death before then.

He hoped he would. As one week turned into two, he realized just how careful B was being. All the cuts were small, shallow. Shedding just a tablespoon of blood at most. He was weak and the handcuffs that had kept him restrained were discarded. There was no strength left in him, to fight off his captor.

He hardly noticed when he was cut anymore, hardly registered the pain from the bruises. His entire body was pain. Throbbing, aching, spreading pain that consumed his attention most of the time. The small futon that was spread out on the floor for him had been padded with blankets, and Light found that letting the blankets surround him was the best way to stave off the pain.

Sleep consumed him or eluded him constantly, interrupted by the cuts, the bruises, the beatings that would leave him trembling and gasping for breath.

Was this the way the criminals had felt, as they awaited their death at Kira's pen? He wondered how many of them even knew Kira was going to kill them. That Light was going to kill him.

He wished, somewhere in his mind, that it were possible for him to die, for Kira to scrawl his name into a Death Note. End it.

It wasn't possible, he knew, not with L's precautions. He was immune to the death note. The very idea brought tears to his eyes. He was too weak to fight them, didn't bother wiping them away as they slid down his temples, moistening in the blankets beneath him.

L turned away from the monitor then, chewing on his thumb roughly, his gaze shifting to Matt and Mello.

"Nothing yet," Mello sighed weakly. "Stop watching it, will you? You're only making it harder on yourself."

"I am responsible."

"Bull fucking shit," Mello snapped, paused to glare at L. "B is responsible. He's the only one responsible."

"But I--" L blinked when he was cut off. Despite the source, the reprimand was strangely comforting. If only Mello knew what L knew.

"But nothing," Mello snarled. "It isn't your fucking fault."

L sighed deeply, getting up and retreating to the bedroom for a little while. He stepped into the closet there, found himself pressing his face into one of Light's dirty shirts, just to get the scent of him. He was glad, at least, that they'd shared intimacy the night before he disappeared. If that were to be the last they were to see of each other...

His vision clouded, his breath caught, and for the first time since he was a child, L began to cry. He didn't look up when he heard the closet door opening. The footfalls had been too distinctive for him to worry. "I love him," L managed to whisper, even as a hand settled onto his back, rubbed in small circles.

"We will find a way to save him," Quillish Wammy promised.

"I don't want to keep going," L wiped at his eyes, blew his nose when Wammy offered him a handkerchief. "I don't want him to suffer."

"Suffering builds character. He will be better for it, when all is said and done, and so will you," Wammy promised, smiling softly when L looked up at him. "Don't worry, L. You are not losing him. Not just yet. I've come into some very interesting information, from a friend of ours. Come, let's go to the thirteenth floor."

L only nodded, rising and going with Wammy to the indicated floor. The only area without surveillance. Aiber was asked to go out for lunch. Once he had left, L and Wammy were alone.

"We have the opportunity, from Mikami-san, to save Light. It is an act of last resort, to be used only at the last moment possible, but it will work," Wammy assured. Then he outlined the plan. "It will be your call, as far as deciding when to do it."

"And what if it doesn't work?" L frowned. "We've taken precautions and they've already proven effective."

"That has already been foreseen," and Wammy explained that part, too.

L didn't like it, not in the least, but things of last resort were rarely pleasant. It could work, if they needed it, they would make it work. Reluctantly, he nodded his agreement. "If we haven't found him in thirteen days, we'll do it. He doesn't need to suffer through another rape."

"Then it's settled. On the thirteenth day, I will ensure Mikami-san is able to do his part," Wammy agreed.

"I will write his name," L replied softly, closing his eyes. "He would want it that way."

"Very well. I will come back with Mikami when it is time. Until then, be strong," Wammy let his hand rest on L's head for a moment, before he stepped away and walked to the door, pausing. "Lidner has returned to America and gone into the Witness Protection program once again. She has asked to remain anonymous in this investigation. Near agreed."

"Then I will agree, as well. It is for the best, at any rate. Thirteen days, father," L chewed on his thumb.

"I'll be on time," it warmed his heart to hear L use that word. It was the first time in almost fifteen years that L had called him father. He was smiling as he stepped out onto the street, made his way back to his hotel, settled in for the evening with a good book.

Thirteen days more passed. The final six days had seen Light deteriorating rapidly. Every time B came into the room, terror struck him, adrenalin pumped into him, and by the third day, B had restrained him again, hooked him up to an IV to keep him alive a little while longer. It was a simple thing for him to get hold of the saline bags, checking them every hour as he delivered a fresh cut.

In any other circumstance, Light would have been mortified by the fact that he had been put in an adult diaper. All he cared about now was escape, survival. He was strapped down, an IV in one arm, and he was pretty sure there were drugs in his system, keeping him lucid.

There would be nothing to soften the blow of the rape, and if B was telling him the truth, he had only a day left. Just one day.

He received a burn when B was forced to clean up his vomit.

Mikami arrived at the headquarters with Quillish Wammy, entering the building without issue. When L saw the movement on the security cameras, he retreated to the thirteenth floor, where both Death Notes were kept.

He and Wammy opened the case containing Light's Death Note and let Mikami set to work. It was only a few seconds before the case was closed again, a small sheet of the Death Note's paper torn free. L carefully wrote the cause of death and slipped it into his pocket.

"Thank you," L said softly, gaze locking with Mikami's. "I will not be turning you over to the police when this is over. If this works..."

"It will work," Mikami replied confidently. "I would not put his life at risk if I did not know it would work."

L nodded. "Thank you. When the time comes, we will come to you. Be ready."

"Of course," Mikami and Wammy left then, and L returned to the main floor, his gaze falling to the live feed, sadness gripping him. He sighed deeply, pulled his legs up to his chest. It would be over soon, and in all the confusion, he would ensure that Kira was arrested.

The hours counted down, the cuts increased until another bruise was added.

"You can rest now," B laughed softly as he hovered over Light. "You'll have a full ten hours of rest before I come back again, and then," he laughed louder when Light trembled. Carelessly, he stabbed his knife into the futon near Light's head and retreated.

A new message appeared on the web site.

When the count reaches zero, one month will be over.

It was set for ten hours, and B settled down to rest for the night. Tomorrow was going to be more fun than he'd had in years. The thrill of causing L such pain was a boon, a thrilling, lovely thing that was building up inside him. Light would be lucky to survive another day. Those images, those pictures that had shown him so perfectly just who it was that L valued. Those were truly worth a thousand words and more. He had to take a sedative just to calm down enough to sleep.

Sitting in the dark, with only the glow of the monitor to keep him company, L considered killing B. His hand sought out the piece of Death Note hidden within his pocket. He sighed, pulled it out, added a time to the conditions of death, and reluctantly wrote his husband's name.

B deserved worse than death.

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A/N: And now! You must wait until I've gotten some sleep before I give you more! The next chapter will contain the Big Reveal, and I have only one big question for you reviewers!

Just how much detail would you like to see me going into with Light and L recovering from this personal hell B has made for them? A mention in the last chapter, or actually go through the recovery process over several chapters like I did in the first part of Law and Right? (No promises on how many chapters it would take up, of course.) Please help me out here! I haven't yet decided how to close, so any feedback will help me out there. =3 I'm really torn between ending it, and continuing. This series has just been so wonderful for me, I want to give you the chance to help me shape it.