Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There were things that L liked: chocolate-covered strawberries, solving cases quietly at the computer as everyone else slept, and wriggling his bare toes under a warm blanket as Quillsh Wammy brought him a mug of sweetened hot cocoa.

There were things that L did not like: shoes, mud, oatmeal, and the look on Roger's face when he told L that he ought to spend some of his time tutoring the other students.

Roger was not like Quillsh. There was something harder and colder about the man. He worked at the orphanage because it was his job, not because he liked it. He was more difficult to manipulate than Quillsh, and had no love or devotion for L, but rather a grudging respect. The feeling was mutual.

But Quillsh wasn't here now; he was at Interpol representing L during his current case. L hated when Quillsh was gone. He had to run his own errands, and stop working to find his own sweets and take them to his room.

Roger steepled his lined hands in front of himself on the desk and started talking about the virtues and benefits of working closely with peers and tutoring. There were back-ups, if anything ever where to happen to L, and it would be a good thing if he would spend time teaching them and working with them. Beyond's name in particular came up. L remembered seeing Beyond before. The student was pale with messy black hair, a nearly unnatural mirror image of L. It was vaguely disturbing.

Roger went on and seemed determined to find someone to harness Beyond's creative outlets and thought L would be better suited than himself. The request was accompanied by a large glass jar of amber colored honey, because, like L, Roger was not above bribing to get his way.

L wasn't one to beat around the bush. "You don't want to spend time with him, so you want me to do it instead?"

L picked the jar up and studied it. "Roger, normally a colony of healthy Apis melifera produce a surplus of 20-45 Kilos of honey a year. I think you should at least give me that much honey for tutoring Beyond." He paused to think. "And sweets. Mr. Wammy will be gone for the next two weeks, so I expect that you will have a cart of deserts delivered to my room once a day while I'm tutoring Beyond. That's a fair exchange, don't you think?"

Roger muttered something under his breath about 'Wammy's House for the criminally inclined', but agreed to L's terms.

.

Beyond stared at him with a hungry, predatory gaze, his eyes flicking back and forth, following L's every movement. L shifted back and forth on the chair in front of his computer desk. B sat on the floor.

L paused and stared back at him, lifting a finger to his lips.

Beyond mirrored the gesture.

It would be almost creepy, fascinating, if L actually gave a damn. But Beyond was nothing more than a Roger-mandated exercise in teaching, one that L was certain was doomed to be abysmally unproductive.

"So," he began, breaking the silence that had stretched between them for nearly twenty minutes. "What do you intend to study for your year end science project?"

Beyond's lips curled back in a smile that was nearly a snarl, revealing sharp white teeth. "Bees," he said, adding a breathy huff of a laugh as an afterthought. "Afterall, we want to impress Roger, don't we…L Lawliet?"

L sucked in a breath, his attention caught at last. "How do you know that name?"

B's grin widened, and he continued to stare at L. "It's a secret." He paused. "I'm special, Lawli, just like you."

Chapter Text

Beyond was quiet and polite at first, not interrupting as L typed case notes on his computer, or scanned over data, finding patterns. Beyond would sit on the floor watching and staring at L with black unblinking eyes. He would eat as he watched sometimes, but he always cleaned up every single crumb, not leaving even a trace of food. This arrangement suited L just fine. After all, observation was an effective means of learning.

But as the deadline for the year-end science project drew near, Beyond began to talk more. And the problem was, once Beyond started talking he never stopped.

No matter how he asked, Beyond never did explain how he knew that name. Instead he would address L by annoying versions of the name: Lawli-pop, Lawli-dearest, My-Fair-Lawli, and Lawli- would you tell Roger to bugger off, he's being such a prick, and all I did was put worms in A's underwear drawer.

And L would sigh and count down the days until Quillsh returned. Fortunately Beyond's project did not require much actual beekeeping, just specimen collection, mostly, but they still had to learn the fundamentals, and L could have sworn he saw a sadistic gleam in the older man's eye as he fumbled through the basics.

L might have a great deal in common with Sherlock Holmes, but one trait he most definitively did not share with the Great Detective, was an affinity for working with honey bees.

His shoes felt too tight, the veil felt clunky and confining, his hair itched against his neck, out of reach, and the thick leather gloves that marked him as a novice pulled and tugged against his skin, making his fingers feel stiff and clumsy.

Beyond was already learning faster, but that was only because he tossed the thick leather gloves aside and didn't give a damn whether or not he was stung.

Surely Quillsh would put an end to such torture. But the case took an unexpected turn, and Quillsh didn't return for several months.

.

Lady Bee, Honey Bee,

Fly away home!

Your house is on fire,

Your children will burn!

Honey Bee, Lawli-Bee

Fly away home!

Your project's on fire,

The children will Burn!

Lawli-Bee, Lawli-B-

.

Beyond sang under his breath as he puffed more smoke into the colony. Beyond turned and faced L, his eyes gleaming and held up a match. "Do you think Roger would mind if we burned one of them? All that wax-"

"No, Beyond," said L. He grimanced. They only needed to collect several hundred worker bees to run the DNA tests. Then they could go back inside and work in the more controlled and clean and organized environment in the lab.

Beyond laughed, a sickening creepy sound that sent chills up L's spine. He picked up one of the worker bees off of a comb, and held her with both wings carefully between thumb and forefinger. The bee curled her abdomen menacingly, but her barbed stinger couldn't reach Beyond's flesh. It was a trick he had picked up from Roger. L preferred to use the forceps. It was safer, cleaner, gave him distance, and didn't require nerves of steel.

"Lawli, Lawli," Beyond said as he continued to hold the bee. "We need to name them, don't you think?" He bent his head down to talk directly to the struggling bee. "Everything should have a name, don't you think? Even if they're going to be killed for science, Lawli, I think they should at least get names before they die."

L plucked a young worker with the forceps and dropped her into a vial of alcohol. "It's not personal, Beyond, it shouldn't be."

"Lawli, you're no fun at all. What do you think I should call her? Honey-B or Lawli-B? She looks like a Honey-B."

"Yes, she does indeed look like a honey bee," L commented dryly.

Beyond pouted. "You know that's not what I meant, Lawli. This one can be Honey-B, and yours can be Honey-L, and this one-" Beyond stomped on a stray worker that was crawling on the ground, "-can be Honey-A."

"Beyond-"

"Oh look, Lawli-B, there's a death right in the bee-yard. Someone tragically flattened Honey-A. Call Honey-Roger and Honey-W, they'll know what to do."

L couldn't hold back his sarcasm. "What a mystery. Are you going to arrest yourself?"

Beyond stomped his foot and dropped Honey-B. "Don't be such a jerk, Lawli, everyone knows you shouldn't spoil the surprise even before the investigation has begun."

"Yes, but for now-" L held up the vial "-we need to finish sample collecting."

"You killed Honey-L, Lawli. Did you like to watch her choke and drown? Do you think you'll die like that one day? And then I'll be you, but you won't be me. Roger said I get your job when you die…"

"Stop it, Beyond, you're being depressingly morbid."

"Everyone dies, Lawli, how do you think you'll go?" He gazed up at L, right above his head with a creepy grin. "It's like a countdown that takes your whole life to reach zero."

L stared at Beyond, he knew he shouldn't say what he was about to, but he just couldn't help it. "B is for back-up, right? That implies that you're not as good as the original. Maybe you should try working harder instead of crushing insects and scaring the students."

Beyond's eyes flashed red. "One day when I'm a detective, I'll be even better than you."

.

Chapter Text

When it would rain, Quillsh would always bring a cup of hot cocoa and freshly baked scones to L's room, so he wouldn't have to get out from his blanket cocoon while working a case. But Quillsh wasn't here now, and what was left of the dessert tray Roger had left earlier had already gone cold. L got out from under the covers and walked into the kitchen by himself, the cold linoleum floor under his bare feet. It always seemed colder when it rained somehow, even during spring and summer.

Beyond was in the kitchen, emptying jars of strawberry jam into a mixing bowl, pouring in cupfuls of granulated sugar and stirring. Beyond was a messy cook, and bits of jam were splattered on his arms and down his shirt. He paused as L sat down at the table and brought the stirring spoon up to his mouth.

"Would you like some jam, Lawli?" Beyond asked, the spoon dangling out of his mouth, and jam running down his chin.

L stared blankly at Beyond, not giving him the satisfaction of an emotional response. "I prefer not to infect myself with your mouth bacteria."

"Lawli, you're such a bore. Obviously if the sugar concentration is high enough bacteria can't live in it." He stirred the jam some more. "And you really should challenge your immune system once in a while. It's good for you."

L curled his legs up underneath himself on the chair, and chewed on a fingernail. "I take it you've finished your science project."

Beyond laughed, a shrill, breathy, almost choking sound. "Of course I did, Lawli." He bared his teeth in a smile, made even more gruesome by the red jam stuck between his teeth. "I'm not as inferior as you think. Honestly Lawli, once Roger explained how to use the tissuelyser the rest was easy." He paused in thought and continued stirring the jam. "But I've been thinking, hemolymph is so~ Paleozoic. Red is a much better color for blood, don't you think? Much more dramatic." Beyond paused in his musing to spoon a heaping serving of jam onto a tiny scone, and pushed the plate towards L. "There you go Lawli, don't say I never did anything for you."

L poked at the dessert with a fork. The jam completely covered the scone, and it dripped and gobbed down onto the plate, like partially clotted blood. "Thank you," L mumbled.

Beyond's smile widened, and he continued to stir his jam, pausing only to messily slurp a mouthful of jam from the spoon every few minutes.

L poked at the jam-covered abomination on his plate some more, and finally took a bite. It wasn't how he liked his food. Sure, it was sweet enough, but Quillsh's desserts were always warm and flaky, and comforting. This was too sticky and runny, and the way Beyond was looking at him reminded L of blood.

L quietly excused himself and grabbed a package of cookies before leaving the kitchen. These would have to do for now.

Beyond continued to laugh in the kitchen and stir his jam.

.

When Watari returned, he said that L didn't have to tutor Beyond any longer, and L avoided Beyond, avoided all thoughts of Beyond, except for the times when he would catch a rustling and crunching sound under the bed, and later find re-glued skeleton of bleached bones. It appeared that Beyond was continuing his "scientific studies" under L's bed.

L paid no attention to Beyond, but he heard the rumors. Beyond was progressing well in his studies, impressively so, but he continued to frighten the other students. First with his appearance, which was almost a wild-haired, hunched-over, bleary-eyed parody of L by now, and his "experiments" which included vivisecting mice in class, and filling A's sock drawer with jam until it ran down the sides onto the floor.

Quillsh laughed the incidents off as quirks of a mad genius.

.

L thought that was an overly optimistic assessment, but he preferred not to think of Beyond at all. He definitely wasn't thinking of Beyond every time he checked under his bed, and Beyond was the farthest thing from his mind as he checked behind the shower curtain before taking a bath.

And it wasn't until L stepped out of his warm relaxing bath that he noticed the scrawled message revealed by the steamed over mirror:

DON'T LOOK BEHIND YOU

It was Beyond's handwriting. L grasped the sink hard enough to turn his knuckles white. He could make out faint movement in the frosted over mirror, as a black mess of hair bobbed up and down. He felt his skin crawl, with the unmistakable sensation that someone was there, had to be there behind him. It was an irrational sensation, since he had inspected the room before bathing, but it persisted all the same.

L knew Beyond had written that message so he would look back, and he had no idea what horror he would find. Perhaps he hadn't looked over the room thoroughly enough and Beyond would be there behind him, toothy grin spread wide. Or maybe Beyond had left behind some more "left-overs" from his experiements.

L steeled himself and glanced sharply back, but the room was empty.

And Beyond didn't even have to be there for L to know what he would say:

There's no-one there, Lawli! Do you know why? You're the monster in the mirror!

.

Quillsh agreed that perhaps moving to a different location to work on cases would be beneficial for L's productivity.

Chapter Text

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.

Burning. It was a painful way to die, and yet Beyond had attempted it, and now that he was wrapped in white bandages from head to toe, and restrained securely in a hospital bed, L came to visit him.

Beyond's black hair stuck out in tufts between the bandages, some of it was burned away. Angry red and black burn marks covered his skin where it was visible under the remaining bandages. He was heavily dosed with painkillers, but his head jerked sharply towards the door as L stood there.

"Lawli, you came," Beyond rasped. His voice was scratchy from all the smoke inhalation. "I was wondering when you'd stop hiding behind your computer screen." He probably would have sneered if his face wasn't so badly burned.

L silently approached the bed, and stood there, peering into Beyond's unblinking eye. "B," he said.

"I wish I could see the world burn," Beyond whispered. "Do you think that's how it will end, Lawli?" Beyond paused and gasped for breath, hissing quietly, obviously even talking was painful, but he continued. "It's beautiful, poetic, don't you think? Red, orange and blue flames licking away until nothing is left. Just flame and ashes. A brilliant light for a while until it all ends."

L wasn't in the mood for Beyond's nonsense. "Your last victim, what happened to her arm?"

Beyond made a choking gurgling sound that was probably meant to be laughter. "Always so serious. She doesn't need it, and you won't find it, so don't bother looking." Beyond stared up at L again, just above his head like he had always done. "You have less time than the last time I saw you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Numbers. I see numbers, Lawli. Yours are running out, clicking down. I can see everyone's time except my own." B coughed and grimaced. "You really should lay off the sweets."

Numbers. Beyond's whole crime scene had been nothing but a game, fourth floor – four was an unlucky number in Japanese - it sounded like the word for death; one and three made four, or if you placed them together - 13 which was unlucky in English, and associated with the tarot card for death. 1313 or BB. Anyway L looked at it; B was spelling out death in circles. It was all a game, just even more morbid than usual.

But that was what B wanted, wasn't it? To play mind games and twist reality around until L almost believed that Beyond's heinous crimes were a distorted mirror image of the darkness inside himself.

And yet, L couldn't shake off the feeling that he'd somehow had a hand in all this. That despite all the grotesque murders, all B had ever wanted was attention, acceptance maybe. To belong and fit in, and be something other than a back-up. Plan B.

But it was too late now, and L couldn't bring himself to feel anything resembling compassion for a man who had gouged out a thirteen year-old girl's eyes.

"Goodbye, Beyond," he said coldly. "If all you talk is nonsense, you won't be hearing from me again.

Beyond feebly struggled in the bed, pulled against the restraints, and hissed in pain at the burns. "No, Lawli, wait-"

But L didn't wait to hear what he said next.

.

.

And later on, even when Beyond Birthday was safely locked up and behind bars for life, L would feel eyes watching him at night. Or he would feel a creeping at the back of his neck as he tried to enjoy his sweets. He would hear Beyond's laughter echoing in his head as he helped sentence a man to death. You're special, Lawli, just like me! You're the monster in the mirror!

But L still ignored him and never looked back. Attention, that was all Beyond had ever wanted, and it gave him a perverse sort of pleasure to think of B all alone, singing to himself in the asylum with no-one to listen.

And L never thought of him again, not even when he heard of his death. But when Kira started killing people with just a name and a face, and the second Kira killed with just a face, L couldn't help but think of the only person who had ever known his true name just by looking at him.

"I should have tortured the answer out of him," L said between clenched teeth.

And he didn't dare look in the mirror that night.