Jubilee didn't think she had ever worn a dress this tight, even back in her thieving days. As instructed, she had retrieved the offending article of clothing out of the back of Misa's closet at headquarters. Now she was sitting on a couch in Misa's downtown apartment, squeezed between half a dozen other girls in dresses that matched hers except for color. Hers was blue. The others flaunted a variety of other colors from the rainbow.

Misa, flouncing about in a pink dress, addressed the group of middle-aged men in suits who were filing through the door, followed sheepishly by Matsuda. "Welcome!" the blonde girl announced cheerily. "Tonight, I'll be entertaining you, our special guests, along with the girls from our agency."

She gestured towards the couch where Jubilee and the other girls sat. As rehearsed, Jubilee plastered a smile on her face and, along with the other models, chirped, "Good evening! We're very pleased to meet you."

It made her want to gag. Behind the men—whose expressions ranged from wary to intrigued—Matsuda gave her a bewildered look upon recognizing her, and Misa sent a wink and thumbs up her way. Jubilee just barely refrained from cringing.

Just be cute! the younger girl had chided her twenty minutes earlier. I know you can do it!

Right, Jubilee had responded glumly as she vainly attempted to tug the hem of her dress down. Thanks.

If the men from Yotsuba weren't staring at her and the other girls just now, she would have liked to throttle Matsuda for putting her in this situation. Both him and L.

There had been one more argument between her and the detective before she managed to make it to Misa's. It was right after she had reentered the main room after changing into the assigned wardrobe. Walking stiffly down the landing in high heels borrowed from Misa's shoe rack, with her hair piled high and her face cosmetically enhanced by products found in the younger girl's bureau, Jubilee felt her breathing grow suddenly shallow as images from Chicago—the glitzy outfits, the nightclub strobe lights, the men sidling up close behind her—assaulted her mind's eye. She had frozen and gripped the banister railing tight, afraid she would have a panic attack.

I can't do this, she had thought.

Wedy approached her then, oblivious to her turmoil, holding out a benign looking purse. Reaching in, the other woman pulled out a tiny security camera mounted on a pin.

"These are state of the art security cams," the other woman began saying. "They're wireless and easy to install, even for a child. Secure one in every corner of the room. There's a hammer in this purse." She put the bag into Jubilee's hands before she could protest. It was heavier than it looked.

L had shuffled over during Wedy's instructions. Jubilee, still feeling like she was about to hyperventilate, just barely managed to process both Wedy's words and L's presence. She stared at the purse in her hands.

"Wait," she said, her voice cracking. She turned slowly to L and pointed a shaky finger at Wedy. "Wedy's hot. Wedy's more suave than I am. And Wedy knows security cams better than I do. Why don't you make her do this?"

L met her panicked, kohl-rimmed eyes with an emotionless gaze. "Wedy already has another role to play."

"Pretending to be a civilian on the street? That doesn't make any sense! I should be the one doing that! You—"

"Miss Amachi," L suddenly snapped. It was the first time he had ever used such a tone with her. "If you propose to infiltrate the Yotsuba Corporation's head office, wiretap and install much more advanced and complexly hidden security cameras throughout the entire building in less than thirty minutes, and then make it back to the designated meeting point in time to perform the final steps of the rescue mission—then please, feel free to switch places with Wedy. Otherwise, stop second-guessing my plan. We are out of time."

Jubilee stared at him, shame heating her already rouged cheeks. "I didn't know you were having her do all that," was all she could say, meekly.

"The heads of Yotsuba will all be at Misa's apartment. It is the best opportunity we will have," explained L, his voice returning to a neutral and emotionless tone.

She said nothing then but this was mostly because, at the sudden revelation that this was really happening and there was no way out, she could no longer breathe. She turned away from them and put a hand to the wall, feeling faint and praying desperately that she wouldn't make a fool of herself by passing out, or worse, having a complete meltdown right there in front of everybody.

"Wedy," she heard L's soft voice say behind her. "A moment please."

The clicking of Wedy's heels walking away from them indicated that the detective was the only one still within earshot of her.

Dropping the purse, Jubilee slid down to crouch on her heels, hugging her knees to her chest and taking long, gasping breaths.

"I'm sorry," she rasped between heaving breaths. "I know. I know, I'm being a child. I have been, this whole time. I'm sorry." There it was at last. The long belated apology. Much more sniveling and less smooth than she had been hoping and picturing.

L padded around to stand before her, before lowering himself into a crouch so that they were knee to knee. Jubilee was too preoccupied with trying not to drown in the throes of a panic attack to pay any heed to his proximity.

"Apology accepted," the detective said quietly. "Miss Amachi, there is something you must remember."

"What," she sniffled, her voice muffled through the material of her dress, where her head was buried into her knees.

"That you can do all things," said L. "Through him that gives you strength."

Jubilee stilled slightly. She knew this line. But at the moment, she didn't quite believe in it. And it aggravated her that, between the two of them, he was the one quoting Bible verses at her.

"What are you, a believer now?" she scoffed.

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"I didn't say that," said L. "I enjoy facts too much to replace them with faith. However, in this case, it is a clear fact to me that that everything you have done—impossible as it may have seemed at the time—was never accomplished by your strength alone. Rather, it has been by the strength of another." He paused, letting the statement sit for a second. "I have confidence that it will happen yet again. You must have confidence in this as well."

It took Jubilee a moment, but eventually she nodded, her forehead still pressed against her knees. She took a slow, shuddering breath. "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength," she whispered, more as affirmation to herself than to anyone else.

"Yes, Miss Amachi," said L softly. "Yes, you can."

Beside her, she felt Hellenos flicker into view. I concur, said the angel gently.

"Okay," she said. "Okay." With more courage than she felt, she stood up abruptly.

Her vision darkened momentarily as the blood rushed to her head, and she grasped desperately for the wall, swaying on her feet. Cold fingers reached out and steadied her with a firm grip on her bare shoulder. She looked up, wide-eyed, into L's face, suddenly acutely aware of her revealing outfit and made up face. He looked neither concerned nor apprehensive, but his hand remained on her shoulder until she regained her balance. Then he let her go stepped back.

She looked away, cheeks pink even underneath the blush. Hopefully he wouldn't notice, but then again, he was the greatest detective in the world, so her chances weren't so good.

She glared sidelong at Hellenos. You could have caught me instead, couldn't you? she thought.

He grinned at her. But why, when there's another capable human to do it?

Jubilee rolled her eyes and then addressed L. "I can't promise I won't still be mad at you for this once I get there," she muttered, stooping to retrieve the purse.

"I'll take my chances," said L, then gestured for Wedy and Aiber. "Get the car. We're ready for phase one of the plan."

Now, as Jubilee sat on Misa's couch getting eyed by several businessmen like a tasty piece of meat, her mind tore between L's final words of encouragement and her own anger over being put in this situation.

I can do all things through Him who gives me strength, she repeated in her head like a mantra as the men leered at her. But…I'm still mad at L for making me do this.

She did her best to smile at the man who was approaching her now, but the attempt was feeble. "Hajimemashite," she said weakly as he stood before her. The other girls had scattered, each assigning themselves to one or two men to play host to them. She sat before this one alone.

"Oh-ho," said the man, looking intrigued. "A foreigner, eh?"

"A quarter Japanese, actually," she clarified. "This is—was—my mother's homeland."

Shoot. Not the right time to be bringing up her dead mother. She was supposed to be distracting the man with her charm, not chasing him away with a sob story.

"Uh—" She fumbled uncomfortably for something else to say. Out of desperation she gestured at the empty seat beside her on the couch. "Would you like to sit?"

Smile, Jubilee, she scolded herself, and tacked on a half-hearted smile to her invitation.

The man, on the other hand, grinned widely. "Gladly," he said, plopping down on the couch beside her and slinging an arm over her shoulders. She flinched, and then awkwardly patted his hand that was hanging off of her shoulder, before wincing at herself.

This was terrible. When did she become so awful at this?

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Back at headquarters, L and the other task force members watched the proceedings onscreen. Misa took up the main screen, bouncing about the room as she brought drinks to all the men.

"Hmm," murmured L to himself. "Misa seems pretty good at this sort of thing."

"How's Julie doing?" inquired Light.

The detective glanced at the brunette woman sitting on the couch in the corner. One of the Yotsuba men had his arm snaked around her, and her smile was tight.

"She's surviving," said L simply.

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"So what brings you to Japan, pretty one?" the man, who had introduced himself as Kyosuki Higuchi, asked.

Jubilee swallowed. All of the men here had auras that were reminiscent of Tokyo's polluted air on a hot summer day, but there was a particular blackness to this man's aura that made her shudder. Her nerves were stretched so taut, however, that it kept flickering in and out of her view. Being asked questions about herself didn't help.

"I'm—here for—for—" she stuttered. Oh, how she hated that question. Why was it that the less she wanted to talk about herself, the more people always wanted to know? The more she tried to run away from her past, the more it chased her down.

I can do all things, she reminded herself, though the sentiment was unenthused. I can do all things, she repeated in her head. Through Him who…

Suddenly, an absurd notion formed in her head. It was so dumb that it just might be brilliant. Slowly, she turned to the man next to her and pasted a fake smile on her face.

"For the Lord," she heard herself say.

Higuchi's leer disappeared behind a look of blank confusion. "What?"

"I said," she repeated, her smile becoming genuinely amused, "That the Lord led me here." She grinned maniacally at him then. "Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior yet?"

Higuchi stared at her, his grip around her waist loosening. Beside them, Hellenos popped up, wearing an expression of equal parts bewilderment and disapproval.

What are you doing? he demanded.

Shush, I'm sharing the gospel, she thought. You should be proud of me. Out loud she said, big smile unwavering, "It's the most fulfilling relationship you can ever have. He died for you, because He loves you. See the truth—" She leaned forward, closer to him, and he hastily released her to back away, scooting sideways along the couch. "And let it set you free," she whispered.

"Um," said the man. "So…you're a missionary then?"

Jubilee almost laughed at that. It was the last thing she would have ever though of being. But she forced her expression into one of mock seriousness. "Life is a mission, Mr. Higuchi. A mission to fulfill the Great Commission. To make disciples of all the people of all the nations."

The look of utter alarm on Higuchi's face gave her a gleeful sense of satisfaction.

Hellenos raised an eyebrow at her. There IS such a thing as doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, you know.

Jubilee huffed to herself. As far as she was concerned, wanting this sleaze ball to take his slimy hands off of her was not a wrong reason.

But it's not a right one, either.

She ignored him and returned her attention to Higuchi. The man was still inching away in an attempt to escape her. She grabbed a wine glass off the coffee table and pounced, offering it out to him. "Drink?"

"Er, thank you," he said, taking the glass from her.

"You know," she went on as he took a sip, "Jesus said, 'Whoever believes on Me shall never thirst.'" She leaned forward and stared unblinkingly into his face. "Do you believe?"

Higuchi looked unnerved. "Um, I—" he began. Catching sight of Misa walking by with a sushi platter, he jumped to his feet. "Excuse me," he said. "I just, ah, I'll grab us a little food, shall I?" He rushed away.

"I have food you know not of, sir!" she called after him. "Quote un-quote, Jesus the Messiah. Minus the 'sir' part." Higuchi didn't look back at her.

He's not coming back, is he? she thought.

Doubtful, said Hellenos.

Several of the other men in the room were giving her funny looks. Matsuda took that moment to slip from the room, muttering something about needing the bathroom. None of them noticed.

Jubilee smiled at the men and gave them a cheerful wave. How's THAT for a distraction, she thought smugly. Getting to her feet, she looked around for her next target.

Never thought you'd enjoy evangelizing so much, said Hellenos dryly, his arms crossed.

Jubilee didn't bother to correct him and tell him that her main enjoyment at the moment was being a complete turn-off to the likes of men such as Higuchi. She knew that Hellenos already knew that, and probably didn't approve. Nevertheless, he didn't try too hard to stop her.

"Hey you." She stopped a man who had risen to follow Matsuda. "Let me tell you about the Good News."

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