CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Adrenaline, At Last

Elaine watched as Light's plan unfold in front of them. The frantic call between Higuchi and Mogi confirmed every step of their theory, and she was tense as she waited. Something was swelling up inside of her, that familiar nervousness that had overcame her since the Kira case and it was about to burst. She was shaking. She just hoped that it would all be over soon, and they would find out how Higuchi had been killing and skip all this waiting! She groaned as she shot up. "I can't take this."

"Where are you going?" L called out.

"I'm going to track down Higuchi, if he's going to Yoshiba, he'll have to go through this way and I'll follow him."

"Wait -"

Too late. Elaine was already gone. She couldn't handle the feeling of watching and waiting. Before when she had to listen as Soichiro pretend to kill Light, it almost killed her with nerves, and she simply couldn't do it again. The ever so helpful Watari had already heard her leaving and set up her means of transportation. Although she couldn't drive a car, she had her motorcycle license when they had worked in Italy for several months. She threw off her clothing quickly and zipped up in a full, skin-tight suit. Her hands were still shaking as she grabbed an earpiece, two handguns, and slipped on her helmet before she raced out the building.

Zooming down the lit up streets of a Tokyo night, she turned on her earpiece. "Where is he?"

It was Light who responded. L must have been irritated at her. "He's coming -

"Never mind, I see him." She felt a pang of guilt. "I'm in pursuit."

There was an audible pause, and she had a fleeting fear that her communication was compromised, but then -

"Be safe." It was L this time, and all anticipation – of the Kira case, of waiting for a break through, of finding a new lead, of him being angry with her – disappeared and for the first time in a while, she became conscious of the smile she had to fight down. It felt unbelievably better to feel the wind and the speed, seeing Kira being chased down. Not just sitting behind a screen and watching, waiting. This was the life she was used to. Before the Kira case, this was her role. No wonder she had been feeling so low for the past couple weeks, she had been stuck in a building and reading and looking at documents. She preferred this, this chase.

"Link me in with Sakura channel."

"Got it."

Matsuda was going as planned, baiting out Kira. "Something's going on," Light's voice broke through the newscast. "He's talking to himself."

"Should I still follow him?" Elaine asked, zipping through the streets, making sure she wasn't caught. She wore all black, and her motorcycle matched – but at the speed she was going at just to keep up with Higuchi's sports car, she needed to cut all the corners she could without getting pulled over. "He's here."

"The show's about to begin," L said, and she grinned. She wondered how he seemed so calm – she practically bounced, waiting for him to leave the building again. She was too in the moment, feeling too strongly. L was the perfect person to have behind the screen. He was calm, rational, steady. She, on the other hand, was not. Too excited. She wanted to go and tackle him, shout out his rights before knocking him out with the back of her pistol.

Except he walked out this time, calmly. Assured. She lowered herself closer to the motorcycle. "What's going on? Why is he so -"

"- he just took a note!"

Now she regret leaving the headquarters. She wanted to see what was going on. "Audio inside his car!" she demanded. There was a quick click, and the next thing she heard was his heavy breathing, screaming in anger. What the hell had happened? One moment, he was walking out as if he had the world at his fingertips...with some note. And now he was angry? Maybe...maybe he wrote down a name on the note, thinking it would kill Matsuda. But it had been a fake name, and that would've pissed him off, sure, but...

But that was impossible. You couldn't kill by writing their name. It was completely irrational. She quietly moved her motorcycle on foot in the alley, trying to watch him through the window.

"He's calling for Rem, a shinigami?" L muttered.

She froze. Another thought dawned onto her.

If he was angry...It was likely, very very -

Damn.

And then he was racing ahead and she kick-started her bike, racing towards him but - "This is bad," she groaned, "he's being pulled over by a traffic cop and if I stop, he'll notice me. I'm going to meet up with the other team."

"Good for you," L couldn't help but comment, "making the reasonable decision." She didn't respond, regretting -

"I see him again!" she announced, suddenly the red sports car was zooming past by her again. "What's going on?"

"Elaine! For God's sake be careful." L spoke directly towards her. Simultaneously, the traffic cop that had been pursuing him suddenly dropped, falling off his motorcycle as if he...he died? Her hands tightened around the clutch, cursing. How did this happen – how did Higuchi manage to kill him so quickly while he was still in the car? She was amusing the idea of killing by writing down a name, but yet there was no way that he could have knew the cop's name unless -

Suddenly the night that felt years ago – the night where she slept at Light's house, the night where she heard L's shaky voice over the phone telling her that someone had died came in to mind. "Ryuzaki! He has the -"

"I believe he has the same power as the second Kira, he is able to kill just by looking at someone's face. Please keep this in mind as you move in to arrest him." And as always, they thought the same thing. Even if L was miles smarter than her, when it came down to it – their minds were alike. She would smile if it wasn't for the fact that it felt like her blood was trying to explode out of her.

"I'll keep the helmet on then," she practically shouted through the earpiece as she switched gears and accelerated behind his maniac driving. She swerved side from side to avoid getting hit by the cars, and the entire speed she was going at made it almost seem like a dream to her – left, right, left...right again. Don't get hit, don't get hit. All the while, she had headquarters shouting instructions and the police communicating between each other on the radios.

Damn it, he's going fast.

"He's getting closer! Evacuate the building as planned!"

"We're coming in on air, Emiko. Trail him."

"Got it."

Higuchi's car was a steady distance away from her, but she still had to practically lie flat against it so that she wouldn't go flying off at the speed she was going at, approaching the Blackbird's maximum speed at 150...155...160mph dangerously. "Wait – he's not heading towards Sakura TV. He's going towards the Yotsuba group," she informed. This was not going as planned, and despite the adrenaline, she had too much space in her mind to think of all the possible way this could go wrong.

She couldn't do this alone, if she were to continue to follow behind his wild goose chase...and then she saw her opening. "I have time to meet up with Yagami's ambush group." She made a swift turn, relief that she was able to slow down a notch and her breathing slowed just the slightest. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

And true to her estimate, as soon as she arrived at the TV channel, she practically jumped off her motorcycle and threw it aside, racing into the building. She touched the earpiece, whispering through the speaker, "Mister Yagami, are you at location A?"

"Emiko – you're joining as well?" He couldn't help but ask. She ran down the hallways quickly, endorphin high.

"Yes sir, and I'm well prepared. Now we have three minutes until -"

"Yes, yes, location A – and hurry."

She was already there, throwing the door open and sliding behind the cover next to him. Her breathing was racing, and her heart pounding but God she loved it. In loved with the thrill, craved the fast pace. He took one look at the eighteen year old girl who looked not at all out of place. Although he had seen her wrapped up tight as a baby around blankets for the past couple week, looking tired and bothered – seeing her now with her long hair pulled back, and her in a skin tight suit, she looked every bit like the Emiko that was ready to take on Light as Kira.

"In position," she whispered for L's benefit as she quickly loaded up the magazine into her M1911. "Ready, Mister Yagami?" she asked, tossing him the gun but he threw it right back at a shocked Elaine. "What are you -"

"I am no longer a police officer, Japanese law prohibits civilians from having guns, which means -"

"But I'm not Japanese," she said quickly. She had learn how to use firearms during her time with the SIS and Watari even taught her a bit on marksmanship. When she had such a role in the front with the criminals, learning to shoot was necessary and wasn't something she brought her morals into. "And you should be able to defend yourself if anything were to happen."

"I'll be fine," he said, but he still spared a glance at the eighteen year old girl with a gun in her hands, while the other tucked into the back of her pants.

"He's here," L told her. She nodded at Soichiro, and they both tensed, hearing him step in.

The silence was horrible.

Yet so deliciously exciting all at once.

And then -

Bright lights. Ambushed. Motion – and he was surrounded.

"Higuchi, hold it right there!" Soichiro shouted, but it was Elaine who raised her arm with a gun in it that made him freeze, as if the shock of finding the place deserted wasn't enough. "Don't move!"

The sound of footsteps and shuffles filled the silence. Her heart was pounding in a whole other way. No more of the nervous, flutters that L gave her – no, this was action at its peak. She felt like finally, her mind was working again and she saw everything very clearly, very quickly. She felt invincible. She felt like she won. "I wouldn't move if I were you," she said, feeling powerful behind the gun. Hearing his cover up, she watched him carefully as he reached into his bag. "I'm with the Yotsuba group -"

And there, in those exact moments, a thrill ran down her neck and she knew exactly what was going to happen but she couldn't move fast enough and -

The bullet flew.

And then, she didn't feel anything. She heard another bullet went off and Soichiro was shouting but she was trembling in disbelief as she touched her chest.

It's wet.

She pulled back her fingers, but all she saw was darkness, something wet dripping between her fingers.

I'm...I'm bleeding?

And then L's voice was in her ear, shouting, but she was already gone – falling, falling.

I apologize for the long wait - but here it is! I am writing up the epilogue right now and I am so excited to post this up for everyone :) Reviews would be encouraging - and lovely, as always!