* * * December 18 * * *

Bambi sat there, leaning against the wall as she breathed heavily. Her eyes were closed and her cheeks painted with a mixture of old tears and blood. Even the immediate area around her was not spared of the dried red substances, particularly her now-torn clothes and the floor directly beneath where she had been slashed by her kidnapper's knife. A shaky inhale filled the teen's lungs as she flexed her fingers, the motion sending a burning shock through the broken skin on her arms.

It was clear to the investigator from the severity of her wounds that Beyond had no intention of killing her... yet. Rather, he wanted to make this experience as painful as possible – though she could not find a reason amongst her distress. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, but it felt like an agonizing eternity. She knew that she had to wait until she was capable of moving again to make her escape, and she would have to do that as soon as possible.

The brunette took a deep breath as she pulled down on her chains to keep them from making noise. Step two: she shifted both of her legs so that she was sitting on her calves, tightening her lips at the searing pain that jolted from her wounds as she moved. 

Using her good foot, the [risoner pushed herself upwards. At the same time, she bent her elbows, keeping her wrists where they were before she moved. She raised herself up just high enough to reach the bobby pin that she had left attached to the back of her bra. Moving as swiftly and silently as possible, the detective used the bobby pin to pick the locks on her shackles, freeing her wrists.

Bambi quietly dropped her arms, careful not to disturb the shackles and cause a noise. She slowly crawled toward the door, ignoring the pain searing through her body. When she reached the door, the brunette felt around, searching for the doorknob. Once she found it, she realized that the door was unlocked. Although she was initially suspicious, Bambi calmed herself down. He probably thought I wouldn't be able to escape. It would be pointless for him to lock the door if he's the only one using it.

The brunette peeked out the door, watching for Beyond. When she was certain that she couldn't see or hear him, Bambi opened the door completely and pulled herself up to stand on her good foot. The hallway seemed to be falling apart, confirming that this building had been long unused. To her left, the hallway continued before it met with an intersecting hallway. Bambi frowned. I'll get caught right away if I get lost in a maze of hallways, better not go left.

To her right, the hallway continued for around thirty yards, ending at a door with a broken "Exit" sign hanging above it. Bambi smiled at the sight: that was where she needed to go. She leaned on the wall and hopped on her good leg toward the door. When she opened it, she saw a window to the outside, and a flight going down on her left. Next to the door was a faded "4". The brunette smiled as she hopped over to the stairs.

Back at Deneuve's makeshift headquarters, Mello had been watching as Bambi escaped her shackles and left the room, impressed that she was capable of such a feat in the condition that she was in. Still, he knew that the girl wouldn't be able to get very far on her own.

He called out to Matt, "Bambi escaped. Are you going to tell me where she is now? We need to help her."

Matt sighed before breaking the news to his friend, "Dude, she's a seven-hour drive away. We won't make it to her on time."

"And there's still the matter of the trap to worry about," Near added from his position on the floor.

"Oh, so we're just going to leave her there to die?!" Mello clenched his fists as he narrowed his eyes at Matt. "If you told me where they were, we could have reached her in time!"

The redhead raised his voice at the accusatory tone in Mello's statement. "It's not like I knew that this was going to happen! You were ready to kill her just a few days ago, anyway. Why do you care about her well-being all of a sudden?"

The blond narrowed his eyes as he briefly glanced to his rival on the floor.

Mello's voice was low as turned to the redhead and commanded, "Shut up."

Matt recoiled at the statement, eyes wide as he stared at his best friend in disbelief. After a few moments, he narrowed his eyes and a frown settled on his face. Meanwhile, Near had been sitting on the floor, twirling his hair as he weighed their options.

Bambi had been struggling through her descent for a few minutes. She was just between the third and second floors when she heard the pounding of footsteps as they rushed up the stairs toward her. Her heart sunk and she backed up slightly as she realized what was happening. Shit! What do I do? What do I do?

The young woman knew that she was far too weak to fight back, and she didn't think that she could survive crashing through the window onto the ground from this height. She backed up as she desperately tried to think of something. Beyond reached her before she could make a decision.

Bambi tried to hobble away, but he tackled her to the ground. He dragged his prisoner back to the room as she kicked and screamed, desperately trying to get away or at least get someone to help. Beyond threw her into the room and dragged her by her arms back to the shackles. Once her wrists were secured, the murderer wrapped his bony hand around her neck.

His eyes were wide open, and his voice sounded more frantic than before as he spoke. "I tried being nice to you, Amelia, I really did. But here you are, rejecting my hospitality. You've hurt my feelings, Amelia, and you will be punished for that."

He pulled his knife out. Bambi frantically tried to push him away, involuntary tears streaming down her face.

The boys were silenced as they heard the familiar muffled sounds of Bambi and Beyond come from the computer again. Near looked down, and Mello addressed Matt, "Get your car started. You're taking us to them. I'll call and get a SWAT team set up on the way there. You guys can stay in the car as surveillance, but I'm going in after them."

Matt and Near agreed to the plan, and the three of them headed out.

* * * December 19 * * *

Beyond had come back multiple times throughout the night. Bambi's spirit was broken at the failed escape attempt, and her sense of time was distorted due to the numerous amounts of torture sessions that she had to endure. The brunette sat there, chained to the wall as she kept going in and out of consciousness. Her body was covered in slashes and blood. Her clothes were barely holding together because of the many long cuts that were made through them.

Her eyes were glazed over from tears that she could no longer cry. Her breathing was ragged and labored. The time between her breaths was slowly increasing. Faint beeps resonated in her ears, it was as if she could hear her own clock running out of time. Bambi's eyes started to close as a surreal feeling washed over her, beckoning her into the welcoming arms of death. As she struggled against it, a part of her began to wonder if it would really be so bad.

Far away, Beyond was standing in an isolated room, hidden away from all natural light. Several monitors illuminated his path as he shuffled across the floor, watching the live videos for his prey. The streets were as barren as ever, and he snorted before taking a seat in front of the chess board and shoveling yet another spoonful of jam into his mouth. As he looked down, he carefully scrutinized the positions of the pieces. There were only two ebony ones that mattered on the board: the king and the queen. Of course, there were a handful of pawns scattered throughout. Opposite the murderer were six pearly pieces: the king, the queen, a rook, two knights, and a bishop.

"You know, Alice, this is all like a game of chess," he mumbled through his meal. "L has an advantage with his five pieces, but you and I have all the pawns we need to win."

A soft voice called back to him, "Who is who? Are you and L the kings?"

"I'm so glad that you asked, Alice, but I am not the king – you are." He ate another spoonful. "No, I need more versatility. I am the queen." He chuckled as he glanced to the pristine skull across from him. "Besides, you are at quite the disability here. Kings don't move much, and you're better suited for that."

The empty eye sockets stared back at him before she softly asked, "Who are L's pieces?"

"Our opponents," he explained. "His new successors and Quillsh Wammy."

"Is that Watari?"

Beyond cocked his head. "Oh yes, I always forget that you can't see the names. That's him – the old bastard."

She hummed. "Is he the queen? He is L's right-hand man, after all."

"No, no." He laughed. "Good guess, though. He is the rook; he's trying to protect the king, see?" He pointed to the castle-piece beside the white king on the opposite end of the board. "The queen is the most versatile and dangerous piece. Can you guess who it is?"

The former B paused as he waited for her to think. There was an empty row in front of L and Watari, but the following three spaces were occupied by the bishop, a knight, and the queen just in front of them.

"Mihael?"

Beyond grinned. "Good, good. You always were so astute, Alice. It's no wonder you were meant to be his successor."

His eyes widened as his vision flashed back to that fateful night – to the body he found hanging in her room.

"Beyond?"

He snapped back. "I'm sorry, Alice. What did you say?"

"Who is the far away one?" she asked.

The living genius turned his attention to the one opposing piece away from the protective formation. The knight was standing, but trapped by the pawns Beyond had laid out. Any move would be met with a swift and permanent demise.

"Oh, that's our little Bambi," he explained.

"Why a knight?"

"Hackers are strong in their natural settings, but difficult to use elsewhere," he told her as he put a finger on top of the piece. "The other knight can't reach her from here. His best bet is to confront me, but he never will... And the bish-"

"Is that Miles?"

"The other knight?"

"Mhmm."

Beyond nodded. "Yes. You know, you're getting very good at this." He paused as he looked up. "Now what was I- Oh, right." He returned his attention to the board as he pointed out to the skull, "The bishop can reach us, but that would put him in a bad position – he likes to wait too much, that Near." He reached down for Mihael's piece and waved it in the air. "The queen is the only one who can reach her now."

"You have a trap for him," her soft voice echoed.

"Very astute indeed," he mumbled to himself with a wide grin. "It will leave them crippled and out of my way, but they won't die – I saw it in their numbers."

"But Beyond, how will we defeat L?"

He chuckled darkly. "All in due time, Alice. All in due time."

A glance to the screens showed armored men and vehicles arriving on the scene.

The corners of Beyond's lips extended into a wide grin as he returned to the computers. "Like a fly to honey, he comes."

Mello was standing with the SWAT team leaders around a table with floor plans of the building that they had determined to hold Bambi. Like the rest of them, the teen was dressed in a SWAT uniform with a bullet-proof jacket and two-way radio on his belt.

Matt's scrambled voice rang out from the radios. "Each leader knows their instructions, right?"

Mello responded as he put on his protective visor, "Yes, and we're moving out. Over."

The teams moved into position and waited for the signal. As soon as it was given, SWAT members poured into the building. Mello led his team up the stairs to the top floor. They ran down the hallways to check their assigned rooms, followed quickly by Mello. He opened the first door only to find a bunch of old desks. The next door he tried contained broken filing cabinets. The third door he opened led to Bambi.

Mello's heart sunk at the sight, and he felt a slight pang of guilt. The brunette was looking down at her feet, barely reacting. The blond ran across the room to the fourth investigator, kneeling down next to her. He took off his helmet, placing it on the ground next to him before he carefully put his hand under her chin.

He lifted her head up and said, "Bambi, look at me. It's me, Mello."

Her pained, hazel eyes slowly trailed upward and met his concerned, blue ones. After a few moments, a hint of recognition sparked in her dull eyes. She opened her mouth, and weakly whispered, "Mello...?"

Her voice trailed off, but that was enough to tell the blond that she was alive and somewhat aware of what was going on. He assured her, "I'm gonna get you out of here."

Mello moved Bambi's head so that it would lean against the wall before removing his hand. He then pulled out some tools from his belt and began picking the locks to the shackles.

Bambi watched, barely conscious, as he freed her arms, carefully placing them in her lap. Mello started to take off his jacket, meaning to put it on the brunette as he carried her out of the building. He only got the left side off when he recognized a high pitched beeping sounding off from the wall to the left. His blue eyes widened, and he threw himself on top of his coworker, shielding her from the fires of the explosion as she lost consciousness.

He cried out as felt a burning sensation on his left side encompassing everything from his hip up to his face, including his arm. He pushed himself up with his good arm to see the room in shambles. Mello knew that the building was old and not very structurally sound to begin with; this explosion would bring down the building for sure. In the distance, he could hear calls from the radio telling the SWAT members to evacuate.

Mello looked over to Bambi. She was unconscious on the floor, but mostly unharmed from the explosion. He grabbed the teen, lifting her up with mostly his good arm. He then began running down the hall and out of the building, ignoring the intense pain.

When they made it out of the building, one of the SWAT members approached him. "Sir, L instructed the ambulance to come here. He wanted me to tell you that he wants you and the girl to stay together while in the hospital."

Mello nodded, and began walking to the ambulance. Halfway there, he was met with medics who tried to help him to the vehicle.