No words needed [L x Reader] • Death Note

Chapter 42 | Rosie

Rosie Nakata.

That was the identity of the girl you'd pulled from a crime scene. Once you had seen her face you were quickly able to compare her to missing persons in the area and find who she was. The red hair, freckles and bright green eyes were unmistakable. It was the same girl in the missing persons photo. She was even in the same clothes she was last seen in.

She was 6 years old, considered a missing person as a result of a kidnapping. You were hoping that you could return her to her parents safe and sound, so when you were informed that she had no parents to go back to, your heart just sank even more.

That exact same crime ring that kidnapped her, were behind the murder of her parents as well.

Several weeks ago, neighbours complained of a bad smell from the house next door and when the police showed up, they found the bodies of her parents and no sign of Rosie. The house was wrecked, clearly a robbery gone wrong and crime of opportunity. They likely saw the child and figured they could profit from having her alive, and took her instead of killing her. You had no idea this case was connected, but it seemed this crime ring has many many more connections than you thought.

You started this case in a whole other country, catching a poisoner... and now you had a missing child with murdered parents in your custody.

It was lucky that you had an orphanage to bring her back to, but the situation was still tragic and extremely traumatic for her.

The car ride back was silent, a heavy gloom hung over everyone as you sat in the back seat with Rosie in your arms calming her down. She was so exhausted from everything that had happened to her, she eventually fell asleep. It was when she fell asleep that L finally spoke up.

"She's going to be destroyed..." he stated, a twinge in his voice.

"I know... she's been through hell" you replied.

That was all you said the rest of the car ride, the weight of the situation coming down on you like a tonne of bricks. When you finally got back to the orphanage that night, you didn't want to send her to bed dirty and cold, so you woke her up to give her a bath and get her into some clean pyjamas. She was already stressed and tired enough, so you didn't try to question her right away. But you did make sure she understood what was going on.

"Alright sweetie, I'm going to give you a bath so you can be warm and clean ok? I promise I won't hurt you. I just have to make sure none of your wounds are infected alright?" You assured her.

She nodded, sleepily and rather nervous.

But her nerves calmed a little once she was in the warm water and gently having her cuts and hair washed. She looked so tired she could barely keep her eyes open, so you didn't keep her in there too long. Just enough to get her warm, clean and check her wounds.

She'd been looked at by medical staff at the crime scene once you'd gotten her out, and they couldn't find anything dangerous. But told you to check on her cuts regularly until they healed so they wouldn't get infected.

You had no idea what horrors she had to face to be in such a state, and you weren't sure you wanted to know. She had a lot of bruising, and some large gashes up her arms and on her back. She was underweight by a bit as well, she needed more food as she'd likely not eaten much in the weeks she was kidnapped.

Wrapping her up in warm pyjamas, you sent her to bed in one of the empty rooms. Informing her where to find you if she needed you and where the bathroom was if she needed it, she just nodded and ended up asleep before she even hit the pillow. You took a moment to just watch her sleep for a moment, a little worried she'd wake up scared or have a nightmare. But she was clearly knocked out cold after all the stress, so you left her to sleep.

Although something was bothering you...

You knew that any child who'd seen such horrors would be absolutely terrified and traumatised for life. But you'd worked with kids who'd been kidnapped before, and while they were clearly shaken, they didn't act like she did.

She was so... quiet. Once she's stopped crying she just didn't make a sound. Usually the kids would ask questions, or answer the ones they were asked. But she didn't make a single sound, only ever nodded or shook her head.

It reminded you a lot of someone.

"Hey, you alright?" You said, sitting on the bed next to L.

He looked like he'd seen a ghost.

"Is she ok?" He asked.

"She's asleep, none of her cuts are infected. She'll be alright with a lot of help"

It was silent for a moment, before L sighed and buried his head in his hands.

"Fuck..." he sighed.

"You ok?" You asked.

"It was like looking in a mirror... like my child self was staring right back at me..."

You weren't surprised he was emotionally affected by this. Seeing a child terrified and beaten up was eerily similar to how he was at that age. The only difference was who did the abuse, it really was like looking in a mirror. He's mentioned before that working on cases with harmed kids was always hard for him, but he had to do it for the sake of the children.

"I can handle this part of the case, you just focus on the drugs and the dark web marketplace... don't trigger yourself" you said, wrapping an arm around him.

"Thanks... but I want to be at least a bit involved. Just to make sure she's ok... I don't want her going through what I did... all the nightmares, the paranoia, the panic attacks. She doesn't deserve that" L replied.

"Just don't push yourself too far ok? Although... I think there is one major thing you can do for her"

He looked up at you, intrigued.

"That whole time... all day I've been asking her things and talking to her to make sure she's alright... she hasn't said a single word. She only nods or points at things. Whatever happened to her... I think she's mute as well" you explained.

L was silent again for a moment. It made total sense she'd end up mute after what she just went through, he'd experienced that exact same thing and to this day was still partly mute. As if her situation wasn't already similar, now it was like seeing a mini him.

"She hasn't even said something simple like her name or a yea or no?" L asked.

"Nothing. Even when I grabbed her out of the building, she didn't cry for help or say anything to me. She just cried, no words just tears" you said.

"Jesus Christ it's like me but a girl... no parents, abused, mute..."

L had become numb to a lot of cases in his days as a detective, of course he could sympathise with the tragedy but it never emotionally effected him like it is now. He could see his past self in Rosie, it was like a parallel version of him.

This was the first case to hit him right in the heart, the first one he felt the need to cry over.

"I think if she sees there's someone like her, let alone an adult who can help her then she'll be more comfortable. Teach her how to communicate without talking, if she sees an adult that's like her and helping her she might feel safer. And maybe the blow of loosing her parents will be softened a little if she had an adult to look up to" you suggested.

"Yeah... I'll teach her sign language, and get her some notebooks to write in. Maybe she'll feel... cared for" L replied.

"And hey, the boys are good kids. I'm sure she can make friends with them, they know how to talk to mute people anyway since they learnt from you"

As tragic as the situation was, and as hard as it was hitting L, he was at least glad that he could provide Rosie with the support her didn't have as the first mute kid in the orphanage. He could teach her all he'd learnt and she could make friends who could communicate with her, even if it wasn't with talking.

L had two goals now, close this case for good and help Rosie learn to cope with the lack of talking.