Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or its characters nor do I make a profit from the use of them in this fic.

Chapter Two – Hell

"Sayu, breakfast!" A cheery voice called out, pulling Light from a dreamless sleep. The sound of footsteps crashing about, laughter and the screechy sounds only a young teen-aged girl can make are heard in abundance. They also effectively ruin any attempts at a sleep-in for a one Grade-A student, Yagami Raito.

"Liiiiiigggggghhhtt! Mum says you gotta come down now! It's my birthday and if I don't get to sleep in, then no one does!" Grumbling heavily and swearing a bit in his newly fluent German, Light slowly climbed out of bed. Stretching his muscles and cracking his slender neck before smiling.

Today was the little brat's birthday and he had gotten her the perfect gift. Of course she wouldn't get said gift until she learnt to shut up so early in the morning-some people had some late night studying to do after-all.

"LIGHT, Wake up!" A loud pounding started on his already-beyond-abused door. The hinges protesting against the energetic fist, Raito shook his head and laughed a little. Standing up he pulled on a pair of sweats and finger-combed his sleep-mused hair into complete submission.

"I'm coming, you little creep!" A small yelp was heard through the door, suddenly the pounding feet were back making the smile on Light's face widen...but his heart hurt to hear the noise disappear, the silence permeated the air-he choked on the nothingness suddenly surrounding him.

"Sayu, wait, WAIT!"

And then -

"NO-HELP ME, PLEASE, MOM! RAITO! MOMMY, I CAN'T BREATHE-HEL-"

The door wouldn't open, Light slammed against it-the handle made his hand hurt-it was burning, the smell of smoke and the sounds of his parents yelling for their children's lives...his heartbeat making his chest feel like it was about to explode, his lungs no longer breathing in air but death-DEATH—

SAYU!

"SAYU!"

"SAYU!"

A hand was suddenly on the back of his head, an arm around his body. His limbs were shaking with fear, adrenaline rushing through his veins, feeding his primal instincts to run and find shelter until he realized he wasn't being held up by one of his parents, rather...

"Ryuzaki?" the word was whispered into a white shoulder, tears soaking into the soft material. The hand on Light's head was threading through slender fingers, making the younger's spine tingle lightly. A shudder rocked and tore through him, suddenly feeling that his bed was soaked into sweat and tears.

"What happened?" the calming voice asked, drawing Light out of his shell, making him remember and those memories hurt to bring up. After several breaths, the story finally came out-the dream sequence and the fear.

"It was her birthday, from years ago b-before the fire...she was waking me up in her usual way and then-then-" another choke, another sob. A hand worked its way up landed on Light's bare shoulder, drawing comforting patterns into the almost-perfect flesh found there.

"And then what, Light-kun?" the question spoken softly, the words ghosting over Raito's flesh-his ear just picking up the voice. The brown-haired youth froze up, the comforting rocking and the touches suddenly feeling like too much, he pushed away the pale man to find him staring into a pair of understanding eyes.

Twin abyss stares burrowing deep within his own eyes, he could see the same misery there-the knowledge, the pain, the depth of the reality.

"She died." A small nod and the drop of his eyes, a hand coming up to continue to work at Light's hair, simply letting him know to take his time. It worked, they sat there for minutes, which felt like hours, and then the dreams of the past were suddenly pouring out.

"The fire-it, it sometimes feels like its alive, a-and talking to me. It feels so real, Ryuzaki. She talks b-back to it sometimes, let's it consume her while she carries on the conversation. I watch her die a thousand times to the hands of that bloody fire, and every time...I'm so helpless to save her, I can never save her." It felt safe to say all of these things out loud, in the dark room where secrets soaked into the walls and never left the two of them.

It felt easier to confide in him, a boy who seemed to know the exact taste of death; the same one that Raito fell asleep with on his tongue and woke up to, choking and gasping on the lingering feel in his mouth...

"Sometimes people cannot be saved, Light-kun…and that's not always our fault, no matter how much we feel it is." L spoke with experience, and Light wanted to deny it, but he was so tired—of the blame, of the guilt, and the shame and burning feeling he sometimes woke up screaming to—so instead he closed his eyes and allowed himself the comfort of L's arms, and fell into a dreamless sleep that gave his exhausted mind and body the reprieve he so badly needed.

"Goodnight Light-kun," L whispered as Light was on the brink of true sleep, "may you have no dreams at all…"

Waking up in L's arms should have been more awkward than it was. But instead of feeling embarrassed, Light just felt thankful for the half-decent sleep he had gotten due to the other man's presence.

"Do you sleep with every new client on their first night here, or am I just special?" Light joked quietly as he took in L's open eyes, staring up at the patterns of light dancing on the ceiling. At Light's voice, L turned to look at the younger man, a quirk of lips quick on his face.

"Do not flatter yourself Light-kun, this nightly service will cost you dearly, you now "owe me big," as Mello would say," L joked back, and Light groaned at the reminder of the blonde he had met previously the night before…

The younger boy had glared at Light as L had directed him to a table, nearly empty save for the four or five teens sitting on the long bench-style rows that lined the three tables suited for youths.

"Who the hell are you?" A blonde with peculiar—and nauseatingly familiar scarring down one side of his face and body—had been the first to talk to Light, and his fierce blue eyes seemed to spark with an icy fire. But the look was toned down almost entirely when a boy with goggles and red hair next to the mouthy blonde punched him hard on the arm. "Ow, what the fu—?"

"Don't be a douche, Mels," the red head spoke not unkindly, but with enough seriousness amongst the amusement to be sincere, "and that didn't hurt, so stop rubbing your arm like that or I'll give you something to really complain about." The orange sheen of the goggles blocked out the colour of the younger boy's eyes, but not the glint of mischievousness in them.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Matt," Mello rolled his eyes heavenward and muttered what sounded like a prayer for strength before once again looking at Light. "The name is Mello, the scars were from a fire—no, I didn't get them playing with matches and gasoline or trying to blow my school up—" A gloved hand and a stripy-arm sleeve was suddenly thrust at Mello, and his speech was cut off as Matt pressed a hand to end the tirade before it got any worse.

"Welcome to Wammy's, I'm Matt, I like video games, matches and obnoxious blondes—so, mostly things that aren't actually that good for my health—and this is Mels, he's a jerk. Also, if you value your life, you won't touch his chocolate, fuck with my tech or poke fun at Near over there." Matt nodded towards another of the tables occupants, who was busily trying to crash-land a toy fighter-jet into a pile of mash potatoes.

"Right," Light nodded, wondered if these were some of the more unstable clients at this place before Mello snorted and pushed Matt's hand away.

"Heh, we're just messing with you, welcome home—or rather, welcome to your home away from hell. We're really not as awful or crazy as we appear—except for Near, and Linda…and L, and Mat—hey! That's mine, you fucker! Give it back!" Matt dashed away from the table with a shriek as Mello gave chase, a shining chocolate bar in gloved hands the evident reason for the impromptu game of tag…that looked a little more violent than Light remembered it being when he was a child.

"Um?" Light looked over at Ryuzaki, who shrugged and sat down to eat his small pile of mash potatoes and green beans, and three servings of jello.

"Do not mind them, they are still in that peculiar stage of dating that requires them to flirt and behave without any regard for those around them…then again, as they have always behaved like that, perhaps you should mind them…" Near—the boy Matt had pointed out—suddenly spoke from his seat a few places down the table. L huffed out a quiet laugh as he quickly consumed two of the jello portions before beginning to slowly pick through the pile of vegetables, as if they were possibly poisoned.

Light shook his head, trying to make sense of the words and behaviours he had encountered before he just gave a bit of a laugh himself.

"Would Light-kun care to share what is so funny?" Ryuzaki asked, as he pushed a pile of beans violently into the mash, before scooping up a small bit to eat with a fork that was grasped between two fingers.

"I'm not even sure," Light said with another chuckle, watching the peculiar man and then turning to watch Near pick up his fork with his own wiry fingers, making Light snort. "I guess…I just didn't expect it to be like this." Ryuzaki nodded, and then picked up his final jello bowl that he quickly ate with a satisfied sigh.

Matt and Mello returned shortly after to the table, both of them flushed with excitement and probably something else…as both boy's lips were kiss swollen and Matt's hair was more messed and tangled than before.

"Er, Sorry about before," Mello spoke softly as he looked over at Light, "people just usually stare and ask a lot of stupid questions…sometimes it's easier to just, tell them off first, you know?" Light nodded in understanding. Mello looked over sheepishly towards Matt, who nudged him carefully with a shoulder, then pulled out a different handheld game from his fur-lined vest.

"Anyway, have you gotten the tour yet?" Matt asked after another minute, without looking away from the screen, and Light studied the other boy's hand movements as he answered.

"Not yet, Ryuzaki's been slacking off," Light teased, and both teenagers laughed and looked up at him, surprised at his playful words.

"Yeah, he's pretty lazy—not as bad as Matty here though—ow, hey!" Mello frowned and rubbed his head where Matt had tugged gently on a strand of blonde hair.

"Oh, it didn't fall out, princess…and I am not lazy, I just don't always want to be picking up after your sorry arse," Matt answered. The two continued to bicker, but all the while Light could see that they were very close, closer than just newly dating teens, they were practically reading one another's minds and they had a way about them that spoke of a years-long friendship.

"They are good kids, Raito-kun," L spoke in Japanese softly as he stared down in determination at the pile of vegetables that were still heaped generously on his plate.

"Yeah, I'm sure they are," Light answered back, not wanting to judge the boys unfairly…and not really all that concerned with their behaviour so far. "Hey, if you finish those I'll give you my jello and a stick of pocky I have in my room," L looked up with bright interest in his dark eyes, making Light laugh again and feel lighter than he had in…months.

"Light-kun, only one stick?" L asked in an almost whimper and Light shook his head in disbelief.

"Yeah, this is why I was so confused about your age, Ryuzaki—jeesh, I need to keep some pocky for other meals, if this is your attitude towards vegetables, it's a wonder you're not malnourished." L narrowed his eyes and stuck out an awkward and pale hand.

"Fine, Light-kun will force me to eat these disgusting vegetables and in return he will give me sweets from Japan and desert from his own plate." Light shook his head at the ridiculousness of the situation, and L smirked in response.

"Hey, what're you two creeps talking about in Japanese?" Mello suddenly interrupted, "Never mind, I want to be able to finish this plate of food without being sick…then Matt will let me have his chocolate soufflé!" Light burst into fond laughter as he shared a withering glance at Mello's plate with Matt and recognized the similarities he shared with the other people here…

They didn't feel like victims just sitting here…they just seemed like normal teens, and for a moment, Light felt hope for the future, burning brightly in his chest. He just hoped that feeling would last into the evening, and hopefully the bad dreams wouldn't take over his whole night…

Unfortunately for him, it had not…

But that had been how L had ended up in his bed, so maybe it had been for the best…

"Yeah, yeah—Ryuzaki-kun, I think our meal-deal is payback enough…though I probably shouldn't encourage your dessert intake," L huffed a soft laugh and reached out a hand to untangle Light's unruly hair.

"I agree, you are a very bad influence Light-kun, what with your love of vegetables and full-nights of sleep…you will be the end of my unhealthy lifestyle before it has even truly begun," L smiled softly, and then covered his yawning mouth with a long-fingered hand. "Come, it is still early yet, and I believe we are owed more of a sleep-in," L pulled Light closer to him and closed his eyes once again.

Light looked in shock at the arm now wrapped securely around his middle, and then stretched out his body before falling back into sleep as well, grateful for the chance to sleep in peace again…and wondering what it meant that this stranger could bring him solace and sanctuary away from the hellish nightmares that haunted his nights…

"Sleep well, L."

A/N: Hope there is some more clarity in this chapter, please continue to ask if things are unclear…or point out mistakes. I've yet to get this baby beta'd, and I fear that it may take a while yet…still have two more exams to go for uni, I'm exhausted and migrainey...and later on this month I have a whole lot of junk to clean up, but I really want to finish this.

Anyone interested in more?

Yours,
-Sinner