"Papa?"

"Mh?" L's lazy-lidded eyes looked up from his troubled thoughts, a thumb squished against his lips. He was sat hunched over in a plushy armchair upholstered in white velvet with his arm hugging his knees. Across from him was an identical chair, and Bean was in it, looking quite small. A chessboard was positioned on a table between them.

"It's your turn." Bean's chin rested in his hands, smushing his cheeks a little.

"Oh." L shifted stiffly. "So it is." He reached rather robotically to make his move, and Bean's gaze followed his father's gaunt hand.

The boy's brow lowered as though he hadn't anticipated the move. "Hnnnh..." he drew out in deep concentration as he picked up a hoodie string and ran the aiglet over his bottom teeth the way one might drag a stick along a picket fence.

Light sat behind L, his back to him as he worked on a laptop. They were all set up in the new HQ now, but the Task Force had yet to arrive for the day.

The melancholy detective's eyes wandered again, his whole demeanor likened to a loaf of bread left out in the rain. His stare was listless, and his posture was shlumped, and while this wasn't exactly the most stimulating game of chess for him, boredom was not the cause of his current state of what could aptly be described as blah.

No, it was more than that. He was depressed.

He'd never failed a case before. And if Light wasn't Kira... well, then, this just might be his first.

L was certain that he had been correct- that Light Yagami and Misa Amane were Kira. But now, it seemed as though the power had left them (or at least the memory of it had), suggesting that either Kira had been controlling the two of them, or the power worked by moving between hosts. And if that was the case, then it was going to be impossible to catch him, and that meant that everything... all of it... had been pointless.

"Papaaaaa..."

L's attention was once again pulled from his moody thoughts. He reached again to make a move but then paused, his shadowed eyes on the board. "Bean... why did you move there?" he asked slowly. He wanted to see if such a smart move had been made purposefully or coincidentally.

"Um, because-" Bean leaned forward and pointed. "You can take this one, and then I can get this one." He looked simply up at L, but a coy little smile played with his mouth.

L blinked, and even Light looked over his shoulder. Thinking two steps ahead was awfully advanced for a five year old...

"Huh." L met his son's gaze, still with a thumb pressed to his parted lips. He hovered his bony fingers over the pieces for a moment before deciding to reward Bennett's cleverness rather than counter it.

A smile spread across Bean's face as he watched, and once his pawn was taken, he reached eagerly to take L's bishop with his knight. "Hehehe!" He giggled, waving the defeated chess piece towards L in victory, his nose scrunched in a smirky grin.

Half of L's mouth quirked upwards around the thumb he was chewing on, his eyes narrowing towards his tiny opponent as though he'd really been bested. Seeing his son's gleeful happiness in moments like this felt like a faint glow in an otherwise grey and gloomy place.

"Well done," he commended, and even his dull tone couldn't conceal a hint of fatherly pride.

Light's phone chimed, and he looked down at it. "...hey, Ryuzaki, sorry to interrupt, but we should probably head up now."

"Hm?" L turned his head in the direction of Light's voice but didn't bother turning all the way around. "Up where?"

"Remember, Misa invited us- er, well, she invited me for tea."

"Oh, that's right..." L's ho-hum response couldn't possibly have sounded less enthused. He sighed as he started to stand, Bean's expression falling.

"We didn't finish the game," the child complained in a small voice.

L popped a butterscotch into his mouth and spoke around it. "Keep it set up. We can finish when I get back." He ruffled his son's hair as he passed.

Bean slouched back and pouted.

L walked beside Light as they left the suite, his back hunched and his hands shoved in his pockets. "Do you think she'll have cake?" His mouth smacked against the hard candy as he switched it to the other cheek.

"My guess is as good as yours," Light answered plainly. They stopped, and he pressed the button for the elevator, glancing up and then over to L. "Your kid's pretty smart," he remarked.

"Yes." L scratched the side of his disheveled head. "He's very bright." Looking up at the numbers above the doors, he twitched the smallest likeness to a smile as his hand returned to his pocket.

"Guess he takes after you," Light chuckled as the doors opened.

"I suppose so." She was very clever too.

Together, they stepped inside and turned around as the doors slid shut, having to switch places due to the chain that joined them.

L was staring dejectedly at the floor while Light briefly checked his own reflection in the mirrors on the walls. Despite his indifference towards his girlfriend, his tidy appearance was important to him and in keeping with his personal values. L, on the other hand, could not have appeared more in stark contrast to this principle.

The elevator doors opened, and the divergent pair stepped out, making their way to a door. It was Light who lifted his fist to knock before stepping back again.

"Comingggg!!" a bright voice sang out from inside, and then the door opened. "Light!" Misa flung herself into her boyfriend's rigid arms.

"Hey- Misa, cut that out." Light spurned her affection, straightening his shirt as though she'd messed it up.

Misa pouted. "What, I can't hug my own boyfriend??!" She swung her gaze to L. "...ohhh, I get it. You feel awkward about being affectionate with me because he's here, don't you?" She scowled. Her manicured hands possessively took hold of Light's arm, but it was to L whom she spoke. "Would it kill you to leave us alone for a couple of hours??"

"It might," L answered, deadpan and unbothered.

"Ugh. Whatever. Come on in." Misa turned and yanked Light into the apartment, and of course, L followed, not at all in the mood for this. But his eyes did lock onto a strawberry cake sitting on the coffee table...

Downstairs, Watari was setting Bennett up to work on his reading lesson for the day. Soichiro had arrived and was pouring himself a cup of coffee while Mogi and Matsuda were going through security to get into the building through the parking garage.

"Man," Matsuda remarked as they walked in a few minutes later, re-buckling his belt with his jacket slung over one arm. "Ryuzaki sure didn't skimp on the security, did he? This place is incredible!"

Mogi finished buttoning his jacket as he made his way over to the coffee pot to join the Chief.

"Good morning, gentlemen," Watari greeted as he rose from having been bent over the small boy's schoolwork. "As I've already informed the Chief, Light and Ryuzaki are attending tea in Miss Amane's suite."

"Oh! That sounds nice." Matsuda smiled, secretly wishing he could have been invited to tea. Maybe if he'd have arrived earlier...

"Technically, it's a date," Soichiro informed with a sigh, already tired of the drama this whole handcuff situation was causing.

"Oh," Matsuda said again, realizing that if that was the case, he wouldn't have been invited anyway. He turned to reach for a coffee mug, feeling thankful, as he often did, that no one could read his thoughts.

Bean read the short story and then answered the comprehension questions on the computer. He was just finishing up when Aizawa arrived.

The disgruntled man walked in stiffly, fed up already with L's security measures. He wore a shirt and tie with his boxers and socks, his jacket and pants draped over one arm with his shoes and belt in his other hand. He also wore a small bandage on his forehead along with a crabby scowl.

The Task Force shared some chit-chat while Bean submitted his lesson. He turned to look over his shoulder to inform Watari that he was done, but the old man was on a phone call. It looked to be important.

A hoodie string hung from fidgeting baby teeth as blue eyes turned to the police agents. Shutting the laptop, Bean shimmied down from the chair and then walked over to where Aizawa was now sitting on a couch, fully clothed and putting on his shoes.

"What happened to your head?" Bean asked curiously as he approached the man.

"Hm? Oh." Aizawa yanked his looped shoelaces to secure the knot. "Just a silly accident," he muttered.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." Aizawa sighed as he sat upright again, flopping back into the couch cushions and running his hands down his face.

Bean stared before brushing some messy black hair aside. "Did you go to hospital?"

Aizawa drew in a breath. "No, I didn't go to the hospital."

"Did you-"

"What are you working on in school today?" Aizawa quickly interrupted, trying to be patient. He wasn't in the mood to discuss this morning's little domestic dispute... most especially not with a five year old.

"I read a story about a bumblebee," Bean responded, but then he switched back to the topic that he found far more interesting. "Don't you have better plasters than that?"

"Huh?" Aizawa's arms were crossed over his chest, trying to appear comfortable when he really just looked annoyed.

"Mine have Blues Clues on them. See?" He bent to roll up one leg of his jeans, and sure enough, there was a colorful adhesive bandage displaying a rather happy-looking mailbox.

"Ah, I see that," Aizawa murmured, giving only a glance to the child as he adjusted his arms a little.

"What happened, Bean-chan?" Matsuda asked, having been eavesdropping.

"I fell outside," Bean informed, standing upright again after adjusting his pant leg. "There was a lot of blood," he added seriously.

"Wow! You must be very brave!" Matsuda said with sympathy.

"Yeah. I am." Bean brushed aside some hair again. He could probably do with a haircut soon. He looked back to Aizawa again, thinking. Then he turned and scurried off. "Stay there!" he tossed over his shoulder.

Aizawa just sighed and pinched his eyes shut. "How much longer is this date gonna last, anyway?"

"Not sure," Mogi responded with a shrug.

"We could check on them!" Matsuda suggested, reaching for a remote

A big screen came to life, displaying live surveillance of Misa's apartment.

Two couches sat facing one another with a coffee table between them. Misa was slouched on one of them, pouting over her date's third wheel, but Light appeared perfectly content on the other couch, just relaxing with his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. L was hunched beside him, woefully sucking on the end of a fork and staring ahead vacantly.

Misa huffed. "Man... this has gotta be the lamest date I've ever been on."

"No, no, no," L spoke around the fork. "Please just pretend I'm not even here, okay? By the way, are you gonna eat that piece of cake?" He pointed with a lazy finger.

"Cake makes you fat," Misa sneered. "I'm not gonna eat any."

"Actually, I've found you don't gain any weight as long as you burn calories by using your brain." L tapped the top of his head with his finger.

"So now you're calling me stupid??" Misa shot back. "Fine, then! I'll give you the piece of cake as long as you agree to leave me and Light alone!"

"Even if I leave you two alone, I'm still gonna be watching on surveillance cameras, so it wouldn't make any difference," L's voice droned out like a sad raincloud rolling along.

"You, pervert! Could you stop it with your creepy hobby?!"

"You can call me whatever you like. Last chance for cake."

The Task Force looked on as L stood up on the couch only to move one bare foot to the coffee table and snatch up the piece of cake before resuming his scrunched-up frog pose.

"Tch." Aizawa shook his head as he watched from the couch. "Well this seems to be going well..."

"I can't say I blame Misa Misa," Matsuda spoke up as L and Misa continued to bicker on the screen. "A third wheel doesn't exactly make for a romantic date."

"Huh? What a weird thing to say, Touta!" Aizawa scoffed and shook his head. "And would you cut it out with that Misa Misa crap??!"

On the screen, L was mumbling about his reasons for being depressed.

The thudding of small feet hastily approached the Task Force as Bean returned from his room, holding up what looked like a piece of paper. "Here you go, Aizawa-san!" He crawled eagerly up onto the couch and then sat up onto his knees, showing off a sheet of small stickers.

Aizawa just stared dumbly at them.

"For the bandage!" Matsuda realized aloud. He laughed delightedly. "What a great idea, Bean-chan!"

The look that Aizawa shot his comrade was significantly less than amused.

"I got these with my Star Wars Legos," Bean explained importantly. "You can have the Storm Trooper one, if you want, or the light saber. I'm keeping the Millennium Falcon, though." His mouth twitched thoughtfully. "...unless you really want it..." He looked at the Japanese man, hoping that he didn't.

"Uh- thanks, kid, but..."

"I'd go with the light saber," Mogi spoke up casually as he brought his coffee cup to his lips.

"Okay." Bean stuck his tongue out in concentration as his thumb started to peel off the light saber sticker.

"Damn it, Mogi-!" Aizawa's words were cut short as a blue light saber was firmly placed over the boring white bandage on his forehead.

"There." Bean sat back, looking pleased.

"Wow, you were right!" Matsuda enthused. "That does look cooler!"

"Totally agree." Mogi nodded seriously.

A horrified shriek from Misa suddenly snapped their attention back to the big screen on the wall.

Light had just thrown a hard punch to L's jaw, sending the detective flying.

"Oh no!!" Matsuda cried, bringing both hands to either side of his head.

L crashed against the wall, the chain yanking Light along with him.

Misa screamed and stumbled back, the heel of her striped stocking smushing the cake L had dropped into the carpet.

L groaned before pulling himself into a sprawling sitting position. "...y-y'know, that really hurt..."

Light scrambled to his feet, his fists clenched at his sides. "That's enough!" he shouted. "You don't feel like doing anything just because your genius deduction was wrong, and I'm not Kira??"

"Hm," L huffed tightly. "Fine. Perhaps I phrased that in the wrong way. I meant it would be pointless for us to make a move, so we shouldn't even bother."

Light gritted his teeth, continuing with a passion. "If we don't chase Kira, he'll never be caught! Is that what you want? If you were just gonna give up, then why did you involve all those innocent people? More importantly, what was the point in putting Misa and me behind bars??"

"I understand..." L said slowly but with a sharp edge to his tone. "But still... whatever the reason..."

All at once, he turned and ducked down, throwing out a forceful kick to Light's chin.

"...an eye for an eye, my friend," he said darkly.

Aizawa grit his teeth as he stood. "Should we do something??"

The tension was only rising between the two as Misa cowered in the corner, trembling all over and whimpering.

Matsuda winced. "I- I don't think Bean should be seeing this-" He turned to where the boy had been sitting on the couch...

...but all that was there was a sheet of stickers.

"You should hear yourself!" Light was saying. "It's as if you won't be satisfied unless I am Kira!"

L sat up, couched on his hands and feet like a cat ready to pounce. "I won't be satisfied unless you're Kira..." he repeated in a murmur. "Well, there may be some truth to that. In fact... now that you mention it, you're right. I think I wanted you to be Kira..."

Light growled angrily, his fist smashing directly into L's nose.

L balked to his feet, but he held his ground, giving a snarl of his own. "Nnhhh- as I said before, an eye for an eye... mh!" He grimaced against the throb from the blow. "...I'm a lot stronger than I look, you know!" He flipped around and threw another hard kick, sending both boys into an all-out brawl.

Just outside in the stairwell, Bean stumbled over a landing before dashing around the corner and bursting into the room with a panicking Matsuda on his heels. Without a second thought, the child took a flying leap onto Light's back and started pulling his hair, yelling fiercely in Russian.

"g-AH! HEY!!" Light grasped and struggled, bent under Bean's weight and tripping over the chain in the process.

L shook his head quickly, seeing stars from that last blow. But his eyes widened when he saw his son attacking Light like a feral cat with a frantic Matsuda attempting to pull him off. A low growl emitted from L's throat, and he marched over, shoving Matsuda aside.

"Get him off, get him off me!!" Light was yelling.

L peeled the kicking, grunting child off of Light, having to pry his little fingers out of Light's hair as he spoke firmly to him in Russian.

Misa was huddled in a corner, shaking and crying hysterically.

"Oh my gosh, Misa Misa!" Matsuda rushed over to her side, stopping awkwardly with an outstretched hand.

Bean was still kicking as L managed to get ahold of him, backing away from the others.

Light huffed, scowling hard as he straightened his shirt and then attempted to fix his hair.

Misa completely disregarded the well-meaning Matsuda once Light was freed, jumping up and rushing over to him. "Oh, Light! Don't ever do that again!!" she wailed, throwing her arms around him, and at this point, Light was too spent to protest.

L was still talking to his son in Russian, and Bean was starting to calm down, but he was glaring at Light with an almost uncharacteristic ferocity.

Aizawa and Mogi just stood in the doorway, neither one of them looking like they had any clue what their job was here.

Bean finally looked to L and started speaking with him, still in Russian. He pointed to the handcuffs as his little voice started to break. L tried again to explain, but the little Bean suddenly burst into tears and buried his whole self into his Papa's shirt.

L sighed as he wrapped his arms around his boy, glancing over towards Light.

Light just frowned, his own arms at his sides as Misa cuddled up to him as though she wasn't going to let anything bad happen to him ever again. Sighing, Light patted Misa's head, hoping that the gesture would satisfy her enough to back off, but she only clung to him more.  She started to make a big fuss over the marks already forming on Light's face, vowing to take care of him but declaring that he just shouldn't be so stupid next time!

It was during this commotion that Soichiro arrived with Watari, the older man moving without hesitation over to kneel beside L.

"I'm sorry, Ryuzaki. Is he alright?" His eyes moved with some concern to the trembling, overstimulated child.

Misa was still carrying on, her shrill voice dominating the room as L looked to the old man with tired frustration. His nose had some blood smeared under it, and the area around his jaw and the side of his mouth was already bruising.

"He doesn't like me being attached to Light," he murmured as he held his boy close.

Watari's eyes softened with understanding, and he sighed quietly. He looked back to L, assessing his injuries. "And you?"

L furrowed his brow and tucked his tongue under the side of his bottom lip while he touched his fingertips to the sore area. "Mmh... I think I'm alright." He glanced over at Light again with narrowed eyes.

"Perhaps some ice-"

"I'm alright," L repeated stubbornly, being childish as he so often was. Like hell he was going to nurse his wounds after the manner in which they'd been sustained.

Watari digressed with a nod.

"Uhh, by the way!!" Matsuda suddenly blurted out, desperate to lighten the mood. "I've got good news! Misa Misa was voted number one in Eighteen magazine's reader popularity poll!"

The whole room just stopped and stared at him.

"And get this!" Matsuda went on.  "She's gonna get a lead role in Nishinaka's next movie! Let's hear it for Misa Misa!" He started clapping, but no one joined in.

Aizawa groaned, his fingertips coming to the light saber sticker on his forehead. He turned to leave the room, and Mogi followed. After a glance towards Light, Soichiro sighed and followed as well.

As they all filed out, Matsuda taking up the rear with his tail between his legs, L stood to his feet, still holding Bean close as the boy's legs wrapped around him. He turned to Misa.

"Well," he exhaled breezily. "Thank you for tea."

"You weren't invited," Misa reminded him hotly.

"All the same," L murmured. "Light, shall we?"  He turned to leave.

Light swiped the back of his hand over a spot of blood on the corner of his mouth. He followed without a word, leaving Misa to sulk with cake on her stockings.