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The resounding buzz that accompanied the metal security door opening stung L’s ears. With his hands shoved deep in his pockets, he gave the guard a nod of thanks, a silent formality he had grown accustom to giving when forced into situations where he had to interact with strangers. He scuffed his sneakers along the concrete floor, head lowered but eyes never faltering from his destination. His steps stop short in front of an eight-by-eight cell, nothing inside but what was necessary to meet human needs…barely, though the inhabitant emerging from the darkest corner’s shadows could arguably be considered anything but.
L exhaled, his eyes meeting those of the one he came to see. “Beyond…How are-”
“Save it. I don’t need pity from the reason I’m in here in the first place.” He snarled, Pacing the cage he was trapped in like a tiger on display at a carnival.
“I assure you this was never my intention for you.” L kept his stare fixed on him. “I’m doing everything in my power to get you out of here and in a facility more suited to your needs.”
“More suited to my needs? You think that’s what I meant? That I wanted a nicer room to rot in?” Beyond’s bitter laugh cut into L. “You were supposed to let me die. It was the least you could have done after you spoiled everything.”
“I never wanted this for you…not now, not when we were children.” L’s eyes became darker, menacing in the lights of the prison hallway.
“Really? You sure had an interesting way of showing it. Which nomer did you prefer?” The corner of Beyond’s unscarred lip twitched into something that resembled a smile. “Backup, was it?”
“You know I always found the successors’ program distasteful.”
“Distasteful? Is that it?”
“Beyond, I have no control over what Roger implements at the orphanage and if I remember correctly, you willingly joined the program.”
“That was because I wanted to work with you.”
“I was never one to work with others. You know this.”
“You couldn’t make an exception just once when it came to my father’s murder? You never even gave me a chance.” His words laughed from him without humor.
L turned away from him. “I only came to see how you were Beyond. I didn’t come for an argument we’ve had many times before.”
Beyond was suddenly on the bars of his cell, hands gripped into the cold steel as he pressed his face as far as he could between them. “And why would you care? Feeling remorse for the part you played in all of this?”
“No, Benjamin,” L used B’s given first name. “I came here because I still believe there’s a good person in you. “
B’s hand slid down the metal as he craned his neck to keep his eyes locked on his nemesis. “There’s no way you mean that!” he called after him in a pathetic and desperate attempt to draw him back.
L kept his back to him, continuing to head to the exit. “I do, actually. You were just never given the chance to show it.”