Captive
-Seshennu

PART THREE

You can have power over people as long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power. - Aleksander I. Solzhenitsyn

We humans are fragile and mortal. But even if we are wounded or tortured, we'll fight to live and survive. - Gutts, Berserk

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.X.

.X.

And his eyes saw faces his mind couldn't identify as icy cold water was poured into his mouth.

.X.

He felt a sudden relief as all the ropes and tape were cut away. Soon after, he felt as though fiery needles were piercing every inch of his body, and his vision went black.

.X.

He was lying on his back on something soft, with white, warm blankets covering him.

.X.

His new room was very white, with loudly beeping machines all around his bed. From the corner of his eye he saw a familiar, friendly face.

"Where," he began, voice rasping.

"In a hospital, L. You're going to be fine."

He shook his head. "Where is Yagami Light? He -"

"Yagami Light has fled the country."

At this L struggled to sit up, to stand, to leave, to do anything but

"Rest, L," and he was gently pushed back onto his pillow. L opened his mouth to protest, but was interrupted. "There will be time later. You must rest now."

The gentle, worried, caring eyes and tone were still enough to stop him, and he settled into the pillow, and allowed his eyes to close. Under the vigilant guard of Watari, he slept peacefully.

.X.

.X.

.X.

.X.

.X.

The wind whipped his hair and sent a chill down his spine. He looked down at the small grouping of gravestones. No one who had entered L's headquarters, save for himself and Watari had been spared.

As he looked upon them, no words came to mind, no questions or final thoughts or anything else that was said to happen at times like this. He waited a moment, unsure, and fidgeted with his clothes - sizes smaller than his old ones.

His phone rant quietly. He flipped it open and heard Watari's voice.

"An individual with a strong resemblance to Yagami Light was just spotted in a small town in France. I have a feeling this one is legitimate."

L nodded - Watari was not so far away that he couldn't see the motion - and returned to his car without a backwards glance.

As the thin layer of snow crunched under his untied shoes, he thought of Yagami Light and Kira and the anonymous message giving the address of L's prison that had been sent by urgent, over-night mail.

"You too," he murmured. "Are the most interesting person I've ever met."

---

It is bitter to lose a friend to evil, before one loses him to death. - Mary Renault

END

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Author's Notes: The original version of this story was written in a frenzied writing period from approximately 2:30pm until 11:37pm on Feb 1, 2007. The end result was ten sheets of looseleaf bearing a story much shorter than this, and rather painful to read. But we're not getting into that. I was just going to do a simple proofreading the next day. More than two months later, I'm pretty sure I'm finished. This rewrite was a terrible, long, hair-pulling, time-consuming project. And I'm really glad I did it. :3

If you've come this far without gouging out your eyes with a spork to relieve yourself of the pain, thanks. I hope you've enjoyed this. Feedback of any kind is always welcomed.

Finally finished,
April 6, 2007, 1:23am (written)
April 8, 2007, 12:06pm (typed)

Top-Secret Update: June 1, 2007: I've been thinking about it for a few weeks now. I'll probably end up continuing this after all. My profile has more details.
Top-Secret Update: June 9, 2007: There is now an audio recording of this fic available for you to download and listen to, should you want to. If you're interested, check my profile for details.