"L!"

Naomi burst into the apartment, not bothering to knock.

L swung around in the computer chair and shot her a look that could kill.  He was on the phone. 

Both of Naomi's hands flew up to clamp shut.  Oops.

She waited impatiently, fidgeting with her hands and pacing back and forth.

At last, L hung up the phone and began typing on the computer.

Naomi stepped forward immediately.

"L, I know who The Bishop is!"

"It's Gerard Leveque," L said flatly.

Naomi's mouth fell open.  "What- how do you know?"

"There's no time to explain right now."  L rolled the computer chair over to another monitor and began typing vigorously.

Naomi suddenly felt irritated.  "L, please listen to me... Gerard is going to be at this church tonight and-"

"Misora, please, I have this under control!" 

Naomi took an instant dislike to being shoved out of the loop.  She had valuable information to contribute and he wasn't listening.  Her hands lifted to rest on her forehead in aggravation.  It was Sunday and she knew where The Bishop would be tonight!  If he could only hear her words... She tried one more time.

"L," she spoke firmly, placing a hand on the desk and leaning forward.  "I know where he's going to be!  If you could just-"

"Misora!" L spun around and yelled, making Naomi jump back.  His eyes shot daggers at her as he flung his arm behind him and pointed at the door.  "I am working against the clock here and I need every spare second!  Please, leave me to my work and I will call you when I am ready for you."

"But-"

"That's an order, agent!"

Naomi's brow lowered into a scowl and her lips pursed together tightly.  She spun on her heel and moved with quick steps out of the apartment, shutting the door a little too loudly behind her.  Once inside her apartment, she began unpacking angrily, for lack of anything better to do.  Inwardly, she fumed at L, forming her perfectly legitimate argument inside her head.  Why was he acting like this?  She had valuable information and he didn't even care!

She shoved her clothes into the bureau drawers and slammed them shut, muttering to herself.  It would be another whole week before the whereabouts of The Bishop could be almost guaranteed and someone's life could be taken between now and then.

If he would only listen...

And then, something occurred to Naomi.  Even if L refused to hear her out and send a police squad to the church, she could still go... Arresting The Bishop all by herself was out of the question, but she didn't need to do that.  All she needed was to snap a quick picture and she'd have photographic evidence that Gerard Leveque was still alive.

She stood in the silence of her apartment thinking it over.  Distantly, across the hall, she could hear L's muffled voice talking on the phone.

Stubbornly, she stepped forward and grabbed her keys and her gun, tucking the Glock into the back of her jeans.  Then, flinging her door open and slamming it again behind her, she moved with quick, determined steps toward the elevator.

---

The sun was just starting to go down as the large, stone church came into view. Naomi had parked her bike a few blocks away and was now walking briskly toward where she expected to photograph The Bishop placing a rose on his late wife's grave. She realized that she could potentially be waiting for hours- but what did that matter if it provided the evidence they needed to close this case once and for all?

She made her way around to the back of the church, which was surrounded by a stone wall, creating a courtyard of sorts with the graveyard at the back of it. Naomi began making her way through the little cemetery, and it didn't take long for her eye to catch a headstone with a dark, red rose atop it. The petals were wilted and dying.

"He hasn't been here yet."

She began walking backwards, scanning the courtyard for an out-of-view place to sit and wait. She looked up and saw that the stone wall was wide, with a walkway atop it. That would be perfect if she could find out how to get up there.

She turned to go back the way she came and ran smack into someone standing right behind her.

And immediately, she knew.

Swallowing hard, she looked up into the estranged eyes of Gerard Leveque.

He was more beast than man. Standing easily over 200 cm, his shoulders were broad and his neck was thick. His head was shaved and a nasty scar slashed across one eyebrow. He was huge and, from the looks of it, incredibly strong.

Naomi managed a small smile. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said innocently. "I didn't see you there." She moved to go around him but he grabbed her arm. Her instincts wanted to immediately kick him, but this man was military. He was trained for combat and brute strength was not on Naomi's side here.

"I know who you are," he said calmly, in perfect English. His voice was not as deep and gruff as Naomi had expected it to be, but it still sent a chill down her spine.

She lifted her gaze and looked at him steadily. "I doubt that," she said evenly.

"Oh, I know all I need to know," he said, still not releasing her arm.

Naomi didn't break eye contact as her mind surveyed her surroundings. They were completely walled in and no one seemed to be out on this cold, winter night. The sun had slipped behind the trees and Naomi realized with an instantaneous flutter of fear that she was alone in the darkness with this monster of a man.

But she lifted her chin and spoke bravely. "Well, then I should tell you... I know all I need to know, too."

Slowly, ever so slowly, she was reaching with her other arm behind her to grab her gun.

The Bishop nodded. "I'm sure you do," he said in a low tone. His voice was rough and he smelled of stale cigarettes. "But that's no matter... you're not going anywhere!" His grip tightened in an instant and his other arm moved quick as lightning around her to the back of her waist.

She grasped for the gun blindly, but he knocked it out of her hand and it clattered to the ground. Gerard gave the Glock a swift kick, sending it sliding across the stone floor to the far side of the courtyard.

Naomi elbowed him hard in the abdomen, but it was like punching a brick wall. Gerard didn't even flinch. She tried with all of her might to wring free, but his massive arm encircled her, pinning her back against him with his hand over . She was about to attempt to kick him below the belt when he hastily extracted a military-grade tactical combat knife and held it in front of her face. Her eyes widened in terror above his gloved hand. She could see her warped reflection in the razor-sharp blade.

"There. I thought that might calm you down," he said slowly, his words soaked in venom. "I know you know my story, so I don't have to explain to you why I have to do this."

Naomi jerked and struggled but his grip only tightened more. He swiftly brought the edge of the knife to and she froze again. She could feel the cold metal against her skin.

Her mind flailed and grasped for a way out of this and, in terrible panic, Naomi came up empty. She wanted to scream. But there was nothing- no way out. One wrong movement and that knife would slice her open and end her life.

"It's nothing personal," The Bishop hissed directly into her ear. "It's only justice." He pressed the flat side of the blade against her neck a little harder.

Naomi squeezed her eyes shut. Her whole body was shaking. She'd never dreamed it would end like this.

He rotated the blade so that the sharpened edge was against .

Gerard's breath was hot against her neck as he whispered bitterly, "I have to avenge her. Can't you see that?"

He spoke the last words with gritted teeth as he sunk just the edge of the knife into the soft skin of her neck. A sharp pain seared through her whole being and her painful cry was muffled by his gloved hand.

She felt the blood trail down into her shirt. A steady stream of tears ran down from her closed eyes as she realized with horrific clarity that she was taking her final breaths.

And in that terrible moment, all she could think of was L.

She saw him then, behind her closed eyes. She saw his slumped, curved posture under his plain, white shirt and faded blue jeans. She saw the way the corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly when something amused him. She saw his long fingers, his floppy hair, his tired, wide, grey eyes...

Her mind erased everything from existence, save for the sound of her beating heart.

And L...

The crack of a gunshot rang out and blood spattered onto Naomi's face. Her eyes shot open. The knife clanged to the stone floor, the echoes bouncing off the walls of the courtyard.

Gerard roared in pain and Naomi saw instantly that two of his fingers had been blown clean off.

She acted immediately, slamming her heel into his shin bone.

His grip loosened just enough for her to whirl around and uppercut him hard in the chin. His head snapped back, and she ducked out of his hold to make a run for it.

But he was quick, too.

He dove onto the ground and grabbed her ankle. She fell forward, her chest crashing into the stone floor. He flung her into a small alcove, out of view of the mystery gunman.

The wind was knocked out of her just long enough for The Bishop to reclaim the knife. He clamored to his feet and turned to face her, blood dripping from his mangled right hand. His eyes were filled with mad hatred.

Naomi shook her head in an attempt to restore clarity. She rolled onto her back, shot both feet into the air, and flipped herself into a standing position. He came at her full force.

She turned and ran with everything she had. She could see that the alcove lead out of the courtyard and into a back ally. Naomi could feel him getting closer. He was too fast for her. He was right on her heels.

As she exited the alcove, she took a sharp right turn and collided hard with another person. The Bishop rammed into them both, and all three toppled into a heap on the ground with Naomi on the very bottom.

All she could make out in the chaos was a tangled mess of jet-black hair and a white t-shirt...

Naomi's heart caught in .

Before there was time to think, L ducked his head into the ground and his heel slammed into Gerard's face, knocking him hard against the stone wall.

Naomi scrambled to her feet. L's hand forcibly met her lower back as he staggered to a standing position.

"RUN!" he shouted with a volume and intensity she'd never heard from him before.

She ran hard, her heartbeat pulsing in her ears. L was close behind her. Another gunshot rang out and Naomi started to turn to see what had happened.

L's hand slammed into her back again.

"I said, RUN!"

Naomi's vision was blurred and her lungs felt as though they were about to burst. But she kept running.

"Turn left!" L yelled abruptly.

Naomi turned a sharp left and sprinted down the back street. A truck with a large trailer was at the end.

"Do I get in the truck?" she shouted over her shoulder.

"Yes!"

She skidded to a stop when she reached the trailer and hoisted herself up. L was close behind her. His hands grabbed her waist with continuous momentum, practically tossing her into the back of the trailer. He jumped up, vocalizing a sound that implied a great amount of effort.

He pulled the doors shut and the truck began to move.

Naomi lay panting on the floor. It was dark inside the trailer, the only light coming from the narrow slit in the doors. Cardboard boxes were stacked along the walls.

L's breathing was heavy as he pressed his back against the wall and slid down it, landing with a thunk in a knees-up sitting position. She heard him groan softly.

"L... I'm so sorry..."

L lifted his index finger.

"Stop," was all he said.

His voice sounded so weak. It echoed against the metal walls.

He dropped his head back to rest on the wall. His breaths were labored. Naomi caught a glimpse of his face in the darkness. It was twisted in pain.

She crawled over to him quickly.

"L? Are you hurt?"

He mumbled something incoherent, his chest rising and falling in short, painful breaths.

Something was wrong.

She knelt before him, placing a hand on his knee.

"L?"

His head flopped forward onto her shoulder, knocking her backward. She caught her balance and used all her effort to push his dead weight back against the wall. She realized with horror that her right hand was instantly wet.

She shifted her stance to straighten L's legs. He didn't move or speak. Her hands shaking, she reached into his jeans pocket to retrieve his phone. She accessed the flashlight app and the interior of the trailer flooded with light.

Naomi gasped, putting a hand to .

L sat slouched against the wall, his body limp and his head flopped forward. Just the handle of The Bishop's combat knife protruded from his left shoulder, just above his heart, and the entire side of his cotton shirt was soaked in blood.

"Oh my god, L!" she whispered from behind her hand.

She moved to kneel beside him and set the phone on the floor. Using both hands, she tore open the shirt, completely ripping off the sleeve.

The blade was entirely embedded in his shoulder. It had been pulled downward upon impact and an angry, red gash rose from the entry point of the knife. A thick stream of blood continued to flow mercilessly from the laceration.

Naomi knew she couldn't remove the knife; there was no knowing what further damage that could cause. But she had to try to stop the bleeding. She balled up the already blood-soaked sleeve and, bracing herself, pressed it firmly against L's shoulder. His head shot up and slammed against the metal wall as he cried out in pain. His hand grabbed her wrist so tightly his knuckles immediately turned white, but she didn't budge.

"L, I'm so sorry, I have to do this." Her voice trembled.

His eyes scrunched and his teeth gritted, but he slowly loosened his grip on her wrist, letting his arm fall limp onto his lap.

The blood was still trailing down from the cloth. Naomi's hands were completely red now. She pressed with all her might, causing L to slam his head against the wall again with another painful scream.

Then, his voice silenced abruptly and his eyes fluttered and rolled back. His head flopped forward, and Naomi cried out his name in panic as he lost consciousness.