Fade to Dusk - A Death Note AU

[Light spends most of the trip to the hotel feeling quite unapologetically smug. Seventeen years of anonymity, working from the shadows, hiding behind that insignia - that black on white letter - and today it comes down for good. Falls apart at Light's directive, the perfect coming together of a plot. Snap. Just as planned.]

[It isn't until he draws near the hotel and sees his father outside that triumph becomes tainted with irritation. He knows that hotel, knows it well... though he's only been inside once. Life's great turning points, they never fade. And he can remember pulling into the parking lot and walking the halls, comparing the number in his mind to the numbers on the elevator panel. Penthouse floor. A fateful meeting; the first time he saw Ryuzaki's face.]

[Light presses his lips together slightly as he parks, and shadows his own steps as he approaches the door. Clever, clever, cruel. Exactly what he'd expect from Ryuzaki, and from himself.]

[He drops his car keys into his pocket as he steps up to his father.]

Ah. Are the others already inside?

[Light makes his way from his car to Police headquarters, ignoring Ryuk's chatter as he walks. Everything has been going according to plan, and yet still his stomach is wound tight with stress, a little indecision. Rage. It's annoying, really - he has no reason to be offended by Ryuzaki's lies, and Light already knew about them - already knew what Ryuzaki would and would not say, what he wouldn't admit to, before even making the first overtures to him. In a way, things had gone even better than predicted: with the police involved, he hadn't needed to manipulate someone else into triggering the inevitable backlash that provided the means for ridding him of Rem. He had even managed to meet one of L's successors, providing the necessary leverage to turn the suspicion around to some degree, and yet...]

[He shouldn't be so irritated by the situation, and yet he is.]

[He presses his lips together briefly, dropping his head as he walks. The truth is, while his situation is certainly better off than it could be, considering the circumstances, it is also rather worse off than it would have been if he hadn't sent Misa to England to begin with. And while he had ultimately learned a great deal from that debacle - he had learned, for example, the location and flavor of that particular successor: what he looks like, and a certain attitude that he carries with him. He had gotten a feel, as well, for the underworld there, and the command that successor has over it. Everything he had wanted to know, in effect. And if he hadn't gotten the information from Misa as he had intended, it was likely all the more accurate for his having gathered it himself.]

[And sending her, that had afforded him the possibility of going on that info-gathering trip to begin with. But.]

[Even so.]

[Standing in the elevator, Light drums his fingers against the handhold bar running the width of the elevator.]

[Even so, he had managed to make himself a suspect, even if he hadn't been already. And while he would likely be able to deflect the damage - had even planned to do so from the moment Rem told him Misa's situation - it was, even so... not an ideal situation.]

[He sighs.]

[Not at all ideal.]

[The elevator opens to his floor, and Light steps out into a madhouse.]

[Light rides in the passenger seat, letting Aizawa take the wheel, listening to the sirens blairing around him from his car and those of the other officers speeding to the scene. Watching the street, his heart beats faster - in nervousness or anticipation. It's difficult to tell them apart, sometimes. But in truth, nervousness is harder to come by these days. For some reason, he never lacks for confidence.]

[Since getting the notebook, he's had the chance to look over the list of rules more fully. One of these rules, he now knows, is that no one else can be indirectly killed as a result of Asakawa's death. This makes him infinitemy more comfortable; regardless of how this turns out, he will not be responsible for the needless deaths of innocent colleagues. Perhaps this is one reason for his confidence, tonight.]

[Light taps his fingers against his knees - outside, the city spirals by. Given his prominent role in two serail killing cases in these past months, it is not unreasonable to attempt a transfer to the NPA -preferably the information division. It isn't that he wants a promotion - money is dine, but his life is humble - almost ascetic - and he is in no particular rush to find a larger apartment, or a nicer car (or, for that matter, a car that bleonged to him and not the force.) Still, there he would have a greater range of access ot internation and domestic crime information and all the records, the cases, everything he needs to fully enact his plan with Misa. ...assuming he has the strength to go through it it. The thought twists his gut slightly, and he frowns.]

[By the time Light reaches the station, he's run through his story a million times in his head. He's also run through a plethora of questions Ryuzaki will probably ask at the earliest possible opportunity, checking and rechecking his answers, searching for holes - he can't leave any gaps, not a single opening, or Ryuzaki will definitely notice, and then Light's life will become more difficult than he has the patience for.]

[So far it hasn't gone badly, but of course it's always easy to fool his colleagues, and even his father. It was Ryuzaki he had to worry about - it was Ryuzaki the entire plan had been designed to satisfy.]

[As it stood, he seemed slightly pinged - not terribly unexpected, but still a little annoying.]

[Annoying like the sirens screaming down the street - ambulance, police cars, even his own police car, currently driven by Aizawa as is customary when an officer is assaulted. No one wants him to drive with frayed nerves. Of course, in this case, his nerves aren't really in danger of fraying, but there's no way for them to know that.]

[Aizawa pulls up to the curb, and Light stares out the window at headquarters for a long moment, allowing Aizawa to snap him out of his "thoughts." He follows Aizawa to the door, and past security, up the elevator and to his floor, listening to the footsteps of their escort all the way. He lets Aizawa open the door into their offices, bracing himself for the storm to come.]