No words needed [L x Reader] • Death Note

Chapter 3 | thoughts of the silent

L had only ever spoken to 4 people in his life.

Watari, and his successors.

It took a long time for him to build up that bond, after the train wreck that was his early childhood it left him very terrified to speak.

The reason he couldn't talk to most people was a mix of things, all stemming back to his birth parents and how they treated him. Despite L being incredibly intelligent, when he was under the care of his birth parents, he was neglected. So baby him had to learn how to walk, talk and read by himself. So his speaking skills were already but behind for his age despite his amazing brain. But when all the screaming, shouting and eventually getting hit started, he learnt very quickly that he needed to be silent. Silent people stay out of trouble. Silent people don't get scolded harshly for minuscule things, because they're out of the way.

When he was eventually completely abandoned, he didn't even talk to the police officers that got involved to rescue him. When he came into the orphanage for the first time, the staff assumed he was completely mute. He'd never said a word to them, it took several years, but eventually one day at around age 9, L finally felt safe enough to speak.

Watari almost had a heart attack hearing the child's voice for the first time in the long time they'd known each other.

From that point on it became obvious to L and the people around him that all that trauma and damage to his fragile child mind re-wired him in a way. He wouldn't speak out of fear, even now he's an adult and knows he's safe, he still can't bring himself to do it. It's involuntary, if he forced himself to speak to someone he didn't have that bond with it'd probably come out a stuttering mess and eventually a panic attack.

Luckily for him, his job meant he didn't have to talk face to face to many people. And when he did usually Watari could translate for him or he could just write out a message.

Even when it was just him, and just the people he trusted, he still didn't talk much. But the option was always there.

It was a complicated mix of various mental conditions that made him unable to talk, but he didn't let it stop him. He could read and write 6 languages, solve any crime from behind a computer screen and was a good excuse to never have to order his own food, Watari did that.

So when he found himself needing an extra set of hands for the case, someone to go out on the field for him, he was a little apprehensive. How can you communicate face to face with an agent if you can't talk?

He picked you out of all the investigators he'd researched because not only were you qualified for the job, you specialised in working on cases with families that were victims of some kind of act if discriminatory violence. So he figured if you were passionate about fighting said crimes, surely you wouldn't discriminate him for being mute right? And he was right.

He'd admit that when you first met a week ago, he was on the edge of his seat. He didn't meet people face to face much, was was already anxiety inducing. But having that communication barrier made him worry even more. He breathed a sigh of relief when your only reaction to him not being able to talk was 'ok chill'.

And he was taken by surprise when you decided to start bringing snacks. The fact you'd noticed he liked desserts and were willing to get him some after only a week of knowing each other was a refreshing act of kindness. Something he didn't see much dealing with criminals.

He was now confident he'd made the right choice in hiring you. So far, you'd been amazing to work with.

"Dad"

Watari jumped slightly, having not heard L's voice in a while.

"The silent one has broken his silence I see" he joked.

"You think (y/n) was the right choice... right?" L asked.

"They seem to be, they're the first person you've dragged into a case that hasn't given you weird looks"

Well, as blunt as it was it was true. You'd been rather kind and unswayed by his obvious mental condition.

"True..." L mumbled.

Watari knew L, he was the first person to hear him speak after all. They were practically father and son at this point, he knew when L was lost in one particular thought.

"They were the right choice, don't stress it" he assured.

"Yeah... trust issues..." L replied.

"I know, but anyone that's so willing to throw themselves into such a strange case, destroy their hard drive, get you snacks and isn't swayed by your lack of speech is clearly the right pick"

He had a point, you could have been a total dick, but you weren't.

Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear, his phone beeped and when he picked it up it was you. Obviously a call would be pointless since he couldn't respond, but texting was on the table.

You: hey I know it's like midnight but your eyebags tell me all I need to know about your sleep habits. I was looking into ways to kill without leaving evidence and I think I found something. I'll email the link

Seconds later, his computer beeped and in came an email from you with the aforementioned link.

Lethal poisons so powerful micro doses can kill, and leave no trace.

Poison! Of course! The thought slipped his mind because the autopsies didn't show any, but micro doses of one's so lethal it can kill in such small amounts would be harder to spot in a standard autopsy or maybe wouldn't show up at all.

"Ok, you're right they're the right choice" L said.

"They're up this late working on the case and you didn't even ask them too? Definitely the right choice" Watari replied.

Reading the article it all started to fall into place. If it was poison there'd be no external injuries, and they'd die slowly and end up in a somewhat natural position depending on what they were doing when their heart stopped. And from what the descriptions of these poisons could do, they'd likely just think their symptoms were a mild seasonal bug and not know otherwise until it's too late.

The questions were, which poison was it? And why were these people targeted? How did the culprit get such a hard to come by substance, what was their motivation? And of course, who were they?