Forever

Title: Forever
Author: Ever1
Fandom: Death Note
Summary: “We could have gone forever like this.”
Genre: Angst/Romance
Length: Drabble
Pairing: Ostensibly gen, but written as squint! L/Light
Rating: PG
Warnings: Possible deviation from canon, since I am an idiot & have only really read/seen/devoured bits and pieces of DN, to my dismay. Can also be seen as slash if you feel thus inclined, and I hope that you do. Spoilery?

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“We could have gone forever like this. Don’t you understand?”

Understand? Light doesn’t understand. He has never understood L, and he understands him even less now. The detective’s voice is mildly curious. It is a nonchalant tone Light is all too familiar with, and in response he bites his tongue so hard to keep from answering that he can taste blood. If looks could kill, L would have died a long time ago. But Light knows that this isn’t exactly true.

“I knew you were Kira…and you knew that I knew…out of friendship to you, I allowed myself to entertain the notion that I might be wrong. It was all I could do to sustain that tiniest bit of doubt.”

He cannot answer. How can he? He is too busy fighting to survive: curled into himself, hand over one knee, as though he can stay alive if only he can keep all the blood inside. Light has convinced himself he is dying of a gunshot wound, because how can one stop a heart attack? At least this way, he has something to do with his hands…and bleeding to death gives him more time.

“Don’t you understand?”

He cannot answer. Can he? Lips to the floor, he mouths against marble, experimentally: “I don’t want to die.” L doesn’t seem to hear him, expression distant, thumb raised and nestling in the corner of his mouth.

“But now you have robbed me of that doubt, Yagami.” The hand is lowered, and L looks strange with his mouth half open but empty. “Light,” the voice continues blandly, and Light raises his head to discover that the detective is not so far away after all.

No, not bland – blank.

“Why did you think the percentages I told you rose so slowly? So that I could never, never be one-hundred percent certain… ”

L touches his cheek, and yet his drawl is still as monotonous as ever.

“We could have gone forever like this,” he repeats, quietly.

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A/N: Grah. I am so hesitant about posting this. But it’s 1:39 AM and in retrospect I am past caring. So hah. Take that. He did get shot in the knee, right? Oh, what the hell. If I’m way off the mark, just say it’s AU. I will probably edit this tomorrow since I’m sure Light’s raising his head way too many times, or too few, or that there’s some massive POV problem I haven’t noticed but…graaah. Sleep first.

A/N 2: Uh, um, reviews are love. Yes.