In My Hands the Means

Myles

Actibus immensis urbs fulget Massiliensis

As I lay on the floor staring up at my ceiling I wonder how I got there in the first place. Then the memory replays in my mind that I had stayed up all night again working on a case with L.

It was something I had been doing for the past week.

I was someone who typically worked alone but I made an exception with him. Every now and then I helped him with his last couple of cases over the years including the Kira case. My guess was he was comfortable working with me since I was more than used to his oftentimes unorthodox methods of doing things. Then again, he was used to my habit of falling asleep at the most random and inconvenient moments.

The Kira case had nearly killed him, if not for my insistence on him making certain choices. War would have left himself wide open for the kill had those words not been exchanged.

L's current case involved a murder that appeared to (once again) consist of more than one person. There were at least four people working together in this new disaster. As a bit of a literal term the case had earned the title of 'The Quad Murders of Tokyo' because it seemed that one day out of the week, four bodies would pop up in four totally different areas.

"Good evening, Myles."

The sudden words made me jump and turn my head in all directions. My hands reached up to find that I was still wearing my headset.

"L." I muttered almost questioningly looking at the screen with the bold letter on it. . I have known him for many years but have never actually met him face to face. Whenever he had a case he wanted assistance on, I usually ended up getting involved after an anonymous message from him. For a least a decade or two, he's been known as the world's greatest detective because he solved cases around the world... as long as he was personally interested in them. He was an odd sort of genius, though, with strange quirks and a knack for stating the obvious every now and then. In a way, he was the closest thing I had to a friend.

"I hope you slept well. You fell asleep while explaining a thought again." The distorted voice said.

"Yes, thank you...and I'm sorry about that." I chuckled sheepishly.

"It's fine. Do you remember what we were talking about before you dozed off? It sounded like you had come up with a plan of some sort."

"A plan..." I let my voice trail off.

"Well, think about it while you get something to eat. It's the best idea since you just woke up." My head snapped in the direction of the laptop.

"How'd you guess that?"

"Your breathing pattern changed. If it wasn't for that I never would've known." He explained, and I nodded more to myself than to him.

"Yeah, you're right, I guess. Be back in an hour then." I replied removing my headset and walking into the kitchen. L and I weren't all that different. We solved cases for a living, were proven geniuses, and hardly knew anything personal about the other. For example, he knew nothing of my boyfriend Avent, my age, or even my gender. As for him I didn't know of any significant others he might have, his age, or about any family he might have. Things like that. We definitely haven't seen each other's faces. He lived in Japan and I lived in Marseille.

Now don't get me wrong I've often wondered about meeting him and working with him in London (where he mentioned growing up), seeing the sites there, and, well... finding someone that shares my hunger to see that criminals pay for what they do. I didn't know about L but I had grown up with a strong sense of justice...which is why I am here now, sipping deliciously sweet, hot, creamer-filled coffee trying to thoroughly contemplate something that no one would usually want any part in.