Choices

AN: Wow this chapter came like 5 chapters later than I thought it would. But nobody minds, right? Erm… and if anyone hasn’t read it (and is interested) the 4-shot “Blood on My Hands” is complete.

And….. I was able to finally fix the glitch that WORD had, so now I can finally write ROGER rather than RODGER. Go me? So i will, when i get motivated enough, go back and change the spelling for te rest of the posted chapters.

Also…… read the LONG AN at the end. It has important information. :)

Suggested Listening: Someday by Younha; This is How a Heart Breaks by Rob Thomas

Chapter Fifteen: L

Matt had awoken before dawn, and it was probably the only day he didn't lament that fact. He had already made a trip to the kitchens and taken his laptop to the library with him; where he allowed himself the luxury of smoking inside, though the window was open a crack.

He had debated for a good minute or not, whether to watch for L in the comfort of his and Mello's room, but had decided that it would only be harder to get Mello to let him leave on his own once the blonde had already seen him.

Never mind let him leave on his own, as on Saturdays Mello usually followed him despite his claim to be bored. Though it was anyone’s guess if Mello's would have done that as he'd still been irritated the night before.

But Matt couldn't take the chance, so he'd taken the problem away and slipped out of the room long before the blonde woke.

Mello would probably be rather pissed at him when he saw his bed empty and laptop gone. Pissed off and suspicious. It couldn't be helped. Though Matt had to concede that Mello looked good with a flush to his cheeks.

He sighed and took an extra long drag of smoke and leaned against the wall. Mello was always on his mind, no matter the situation, and in some strange way, it calmed him. Leave it to Mello to be both the problem and the solution.

Matt walked back over to the laptop, cigarette still lit, and swore. He sat down and quickly put in his ear buds.

“-at it is time to meet Mello, I believe he was ill the last time I visited. I would also like to meet the new third ranked in person. He has climbed the ladder rather quickly, though he could have easily taken the rank of second had he the ambition.” a shaggy haired man, who sat in a rather peculiar way, stated from the chair in front of Roger's desk.

“L you think Matt could take second?!” Roger hissed, clearly surprised, yet not wanting to yell.

Matt's eyes widened. So that was L. He didn't look the part, but then again, looks could be deceiving. The man's eyes were wide, owl like, as he neatly chewed on the edge of his thumb. His eyes seemed to settle on one of the cameras for a moment before they slid to focus on something else.

Had L found one of them so easily?

It was only then, as he watched L, that his brain finally processed the previous parts of the conversation. L wanted to meet with them. Well, Near had already seen him before. He hoped that he wouldn't steal all of L's time, as he knew Mello really wanted to meet the detective.

The conversation seemed to dwindle down and Matt knew it was time to pack up. He shut the laptop, though it was merely on standby now, and put the cigarette out on the table. He took the stairs two at a time, careful not to trip, and rushed out the library doors.

He placed a new cigarette in his mouth and slowed his pace as he neared Rodger's office. He could feel his heart begin to race as he heard the tell tail click and turn of the door knob. He forced his expression to stay blank even as Rodger stopped short.

“What are you doing here?!” Roger asked as Wammy and L stood in the office doorway.

Matt stopped and cocked his head to the side. “Going to smoke, unless you suddenly changed your mind about me smoking inside?” he drawled. Roger looked flustered, much to Matt's amusement.

“No, not at all. Be on your way then...” Roger stated with a frown. Matt shrugged and started to walk off again, though before he did he turned slightly to face them.

“Nice to meet you L 12-1-23-12-9-5-20.” he watched L stiffen and his eyes widen slightly. L got the code immediately. Not that he'd expected any less; it was childishly easy.

Roger looked ready to blow a gasket, though he doubted the man had paid any attention to the code, only the fact that he'd known it was L. Matt turned to continue to the main doors, it would be up to L as the next move.

“Roger, is there anywhere else besides your office where I could hold my meeting with Matt right now?” L asked, his voice was steady and betrayed not a hint of his thoughts, only mild curiosity.

“Well, your room is ready but I don't think-” Roger was cut off by L.

“The usual one I presume? That will do nicely. Watari, I do believe you wished to run a few errands, I believe I will be preoccupied for a while so you will have most of the day to yourself.” Wammy looked questioningly at L but merely nodded, probably used to L's odd ways after many years.

“Matt, shall we?” L directed towards the redhead. Matt let his lips twitch slightly, though he was careful not to let it form into a smirk.

Part one, success. Now if he could only prevent himself from immediately getting arrested or subdued once they were alone, things would be great.

He nodded to the detective and walked over to him. The man was hunched over, though Matt could tell L would easily be taller than him if at full height. As they walked away, Matt could hear Roger whisper harshly to Wammy, and he hoped he hadn't caused the older man any problems.

Wammy, not Roger. He didn't care if Roger had more problems...

“I have a feeling you know exactly where we are headed.” L stated. It was not a question. Matt shrugged.

“Can I smoke when we get there, I’m sure you know this will be a long conversation.” might as well ask. The worst the detective would do was tell him no.

“Depending on your answer to my first question, perhaps.” L’s hands rested inside of his pockets, and now that Matt looked, he had no shoes or socks on. He wondered if the man had any more strange quirks.

Matt immediately recognized the dusty hallway and stopped, L along with him, and opened his laptop. When L didn't move to attack him or demand to know what he was doing, he decided it was alright to continue.

He had already locked Light out of his computer, but a little more precaution wouldn't hurt. He disabled the camera in the hallway, as well as the other ones. If Light were to somehow get into his laptop, he wouldn't be able to track their movements any more, nor would he know that Matt was with L.

He probably should have done it the moment he left the library, but then he might have missed his chance.

“I was disabling all my equipment.” he commented, and closed the laptop once more. L's eyes were piercing, as though they could see into his soul, and the man stayed silent as he moved on.

It was a toss up as to what the man had been thinking. Hell he could have been thinking about what to eat for breakfast for all Matt knew.

It seemed that no one was expected to go down there, as the door was unlocked, so Matt wondered if anyone else knew about that hallway, or it was just ignored because of the dust.

The inside of the large room was sparsely furnished, with just one bed, an overstuffed chair, a desk and a table. The room was twice the size of his and Mello's room, and only had one extra addition to it, being the chair.

Matt shut the door and L turned to face him immediately.

“Tell me, how is it that you know my name?” L appeared neither disturbed nor worried, and Matt wondered at that.

“Because I hacked into Whammys and searched through the files. I needed a way to talk to you without Rodger or Whammy with you. And I couldn't do it around anyone else either. Can I smoke?” if Matt hadn't really needed a smoke, he might have been amused at himself.

“You may. Now, I believe you wanted to speak to me...” L trailed off and appeared almost lost in thought.

Matt eagerly lit his cigarette and was calmed the moment the poison reached his lungs. L was being gracious in his decision to allow Matt time to explain. And he wasn't about to waste it.

“L, do you know who Kira is?” Matt asked as his hands shook while he pulled his goggles down, a sign of trust that he knew L would have made note of.

“I have heard the name mentioned before, I believe Kira is the alias of an underground crime lord, if I am not mistaken?” L's thumb was once again beside his mouth and now that Matt's goggles were gone, L’ eyes never strayed from his.

“Yes. Among other things, such as the owner of the Death Note clubs, which he uses for major business transactions.” Matt watched as L absorbed the information, though he didn't seem surprised. It was also possibly that L didn't believe he was being completely truthful.

Matt wouldn't blame him. Though L did stay silent as he waited for Matt to continue.

“You caught Kira's attention and he became intrigued with you, witch turned into obsession. But recently-” he took a long drag from the cigarette, and turned his head to blow the smoke away from L. “-recently... you began stepping on his toes, so to speak. Began catching a lot of his associates and jailing them. It cut majorly into his business.”

“And that is why you are here? To stop me.” L said the last part as a statement, not a question, as though he had already formulated everything in his mind.

“No.” Matt said and locked eyes with the detective’s. He needed to make the man understand...

“Originally... I was sent here as a spy, to gather any and all information about you. About who you are, what you looked like, what your name was. Everything. I was to send weekly reports about things I found out about this place and you.” Matt's fingers gripped the cigarette tighter as he drew it from his mouth.

To speak of his job now... made him sick.

“And then your orders changed when I began to interfere with your bosses business.” L finished for him.

“Yes. But you have something wrong.” Matt paused and looked despairingly as the cigarette was crushed between his fingers. “Light Yagami is not my boss any more.” he now held L's full attention. For he had just given Kira a name, and soon a face.

“This Light Yagami, is Kira? Why give the information so freely? There is nothing for you to gain.” L's voice was mildly curious and his mind seemed to go over all avenues in his head, though Matt doubted the detective would get the exact one.

“Throughout the entire time I’ve been here, with the exception of the first transmission, I have withheld data from Kira. And until recently I didn't even understand why I would do that, why I would jeopardize my mission. I was supposed to get in, get the information, and get out. Nothing more, nothing less.” to speak like that, Matt felt some of his tension lessen. To finally tell someone things that had weighed on his mind for weeks, and even in some cases months...

“I met someone, who helped me open my eyes beyond my existence as a spy.” Matt stopped; he needed to think of how to word it. He would tell L as much as he could, but not that he was in love with Mello. That was his secret alone to bare.

“He was a complete asshole for the first little while I knew him. And even after he warmed up to me being his roommate, there was really no reason for me to hide things from Light. But I think I knew that I would end up, or at least knew that I wanted to be, his friend. It started out with me keeping things about Mello from Light, my conversation with you, then things about Wammys, tampering with the video and audio I recorded.”

There was something different in L's stance, he was less guarded, but would still be ready should anything happen. It was enough, to Matt.

“Then just four days ago. I was ordered to kill you.” Matt flicked the spent butt to the carpet and pulled out a new one; he let it sit to the side of his mouth. He'd seen L's eyes narrow just a fraction, but the fact that he hadn't been handcuffed yet, spoke volumes.

“It's almost a relief that he decided to do something so drastic. It forced me to make a decision, one that I had been fighting with for some time.” Matt paused, and swallowed almost painfully; he wasn't used to having to say so much at one time.

“You asked why I gave this information freely. Why I would effectively turn myself in when I probably could have killed you?” though L hadn't said all of that, he knew it had been implied, even before Matt had outright told him he was supposed to kill him.

“I won't have to see my best friend break apart when he finds his idol, his role model, dead. I've never had someone so close to me, and I won’t destroy his life to spare mine. And now knowing what I do, I couldn't let Kira continue on. It’s amazing what a person can become numb to until they have a reason to see it.”

Matt closed his eyes and held out his hands. “I'll tell you everything else I know, just make sure everyone evacuates from here first. I covered all my tracks carefully, but it's possibly that he will want a kill confirmation. Something I obviously can't give.” Matt was calm on the outside.

But inside... it felt as though worms twisted and swirled around in his gut. No matter what happened, Mello was going to be hurt. But at least it wasn't L that was the reason; that was better, right?

He doubted that L had any handcuffs, but he was sure the detective would find something.

He felt a cold, boney hand turn his left palm up, before something was placed in his hand, and not around his wrist. He opened his eyes in confusion, and glanced at L after he spotted the candy that sat innocently in his palm.

“I do believe that Mello would be rather upset if you disappeared, whatever the reason.” was all the detective said while he ate, what appeared to be, a marshmallow. Matt could not be sure where the detective got the candy, but he supposed he may as well try it.

If it were drugged, he'd find out rather quickly. And if it wasn't... Matt would have more to explain.

He unwrapped the small red candy and popped it into his mouth after having removed the cigarette. It was a cinnamon candy, Matt didn't mind them. And when it became apparent he wasn't about to drop to the ground in drug endued unconsciousness, he turned quizzically to the man before him.

“I believe we have more to discuss, as I feel you have merely skimmed the surface of your job. As well as what Kira knows about this place.” Matt nodded to L, and gently bit into the candy and jerked as something squished from inside it.

“Ah, I see you found the chocolate inside. A rather odd candy, that I must admit to not taking a liking to.” L shrugged, barely noticeable, and sat in his peculiar way on the armchair across the room.

Cinnamon and chocolate. Matt rather liked it.

Over the next two hours Matt explained, in great detail, everything about his previous job. Which included where HQ was, as well as any known contacts and associated that Matt could remember off hand.

Matt had given L control of the laptop, open with most of the files he'd pulled from the old one. He did have to keep his own contacts hidden after all.

L then made a call to Watari, who was supposed to send police to HQ to detain Kira and anyone else there. Matt hadn't felt even the slightest bit guilty.

“So, what happens now?” Matt had lit another cigarette, which left only two more in the pack, and leaned back against the wall.

“Now, you go to lunch.” the owlish detective said a moment after a quick glance at the time, which read 11:53am.

“That’s it? I'm not going to be arrested, or punished at all?” Matt was more than a little confused. L was a detective, the world greatest perhaps, wasn't he supposed to bring people like Matt to... justice?

“You will be permitted to stay at Wammys, and wherever we evacuate to, but you won't be allowed on your own again. You will work for whomever I choose as my successor.” L said while he stuffed another marshmallow into his mouth, quickly followed by another using only his thumb and index fingers.

“No.” Matt told him. L stared levelly at him as he waited for him to continue. “I will only work with Mello.”

L smiled slightly. “I believe that arrangement shall be just fine. If you wish to eat, you may want to leave now.”

Matt nodded to the detective and turned from him, and left out the door, though he made sure to shut it behind him. If only things could go that well with Mello...

Matt knew that he needed to speak with the blonde, and soon, preferably before L gave the word that they were leaving. Which according to L, would be a soon as dinner or as late as the next morning.

More than likely it would be around dinner. Matt knew he wouldn't keep the children in danger for longer than necessary.

Mello would more than likely not be happy, in the slightest, but it was best for him to hear it all from Matt. He hoped, that with L on his side, Mello wouldn't turn out to hate him...

But whatever might happen, it seemed that so far, his decision had been the right one.

-End L-

AN : So, thoughts on this chapter? You have no idea how incredibly hard I find it to write L, or Light for that matter, which is why I don't write fics for them. Well, that and im obsessed with Matt and Mello. But I did at least an OK job on L?

And as of right now the name of the next chapter is “End” or some form of that. But don't be fooled by the title, the fic isn't ending quite yet. ^-^

Special thanks to reviewers : Ironytoday, Living in a fantasy, DeathNotes-Matt-Chan, Yaoiluver190, Floppy-IDon'tCareWhatYouThink, Pyroluminescence, Kara 'Nine', ShyClown, kat716, Persona'sHostage, xHanako, The Sora-muffin,snappygirl, DarthxInvader, fadedlines, RainbowJapan, Anon, xzombieViolinistx, Enjy, zchocolatebunniesrulezworld, Moonphase9, Salvi, foreverunloved

LONG AN:

Shinigami: *shuffles into room with head hung low and slumps into a chair*

I give up…… Choices murdered my muse…. So I can’t write the fic I had been planning to after I finished Choices….. EPIC FAIL!

But that’s good for you guys…. Because it’s either a choice of my DN fic dealing with a virus (which is half completed already but was put on the back burner when I started NAA) or…… ‘The Silent Place’….. which happens to be JNRR’s sequel…

So, I’m going to give you the reviewers a choice, but I need to know soon as I don’t like to take breaks from writing as I tend to.. get obsessed with other things if left to my own devices…. Meaning I would probably leave the DN fandom for a LONG while.

Which fic would you prefer me to write/finish. (mind you it wouldn’t be out for a while I generally like a fic to be 6 or more chapters ahead of what I post.)

1: (Currently untitled virus fic)

A strange sickness invades Whammys. During the warm summer months of mid July and august a sickness spreads like wildfire throughout the populous of Wammys. It starts off with very minor symptoms; chills, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, fever.... but it gets worse. You lose all energy to move as the fever gets dangerously high, loss of fluids, bloody noses, inability to hold foods, coughing up blood... and death. Mello and Matt centric. (I cant really say any more about it as it would ruin the surprise, mind you this was started MANY months ago) But I will tell you it doesn’t have zombies……

2: The Silent Place (WSF, NAA & JNRR’s sequel)

Mello is finally getting used to life with one hand and is patching up his relationship with Matt, which had been tried many times because of Mello himself. They are living relatively peacefully in England, in medium sized flat, and Mello feels... comfortable. And that was when the trouble started. After a set of strange phone calls, and the acute feeling of being watched, Mello discovers that sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just cant escape your past. (again that is all I can say without spoiling the fic)

-I would also like to know if you would rather have it continue in the same first person style the rest of the series has had, or break away into 3rd person.

I will post the results in one week, as to what you all have decided. OK?

So far though The Silent Place is winning, and my beta wants me to write it in 3rd person. So…