After all L had told Dorian, he shouldn't have been surprised, and L's question drove the realization home. He wanted to cry. He wanted to stare L straight in the eye and tell him he was more important than that. But he didn't know how.
"No pain, no gain is a line for people who think they deserve the pain." Dorian said straight and narrow through Quigby's lips. "I was pained for many years. And what was my gain?" Biting back his retorts, Dorian knew this wasn't about him. Not right now. "You have logic, you have strength, but there is something amiss with this. Let me help...your plan is keen, but there must be...yes, must be...another means to getting to this...this man who haunts you. Yes? Please say yes."