It was 2 AM at headquarters. Twelve hours since Jubilee had written in the Death Note.

The Task Force members had stayed up until midnight, debriefing each other on what had been found upstairs in Watari's room, and with L giving everyone a condensed version of what had happened to him on the other side. Jubilee had noticed varying shades of wonder and disbelief flicker between the others during this account, but no one said anything. Perhaps because it was too late to process such claims without sleeping on it first.

L had neglected to mention Light at all. The boy was the only one who emanated neither hues of awe nor skepticism, but instead, fiery rage. But he hid it all under a mask of curious interest, punctuated by perfectly timed lifting of the eyebrows to convey surprise. He said nothing at the end either, simply bade the others goodnight as he and Soichiro took their leave to go home for the rest of the weekend.

Jubilee, too, had neither been mentioned nor addressed by L ever since the incident with the notebook. In fact, he hadn't even looked at her once. She remained at her desk long after everyone else had trickled off to bed, and still he sat there in silence, hunched over in his chair and gnawing on a thumb while deep in thought. Either that, or he was brooding. She wasn't sure which.

On the other side of her, Hellenos wavered in and out of her vision, standing like a still and silent sentinel. But she paid him little attention. Instead her thoughts flitted back and forth between the turmoil of her own misgivings and the storm cloud of distressed colors that were hovering over the detective. The dark, somber blue still had not left him, though the streaks of red were starting to fade slightly.

"So, are you not talking to me anymore?" she finally demanded.

L still didn't look at her, nor did he speak for a long moment. At last, he stated tonelessly, "This is not me giving you the cold shoulder. There is no time for being petty. This," he continued, his voice coming out short and clipped as he scowled around his thumb, "Is me using all the possible brainpower I have available to come up with a solution to the problem."

She sighed to herself, looking up at the ceiling. "The problem being that I was reckless, I take it?"

"The problem being that Kira is still at large and will now undoubtedly make killing you one of his top priorities," L snapped. "That is the problem, Miss A—" He stopped and finally looked over at her, measuring her with a long gaze. "What do I call you now?" he asked softly. Lilac undertones wisped through the blue around him, making it lighten a shade. "I believe we are past formalities at this point. Yet it seems insincere to call you Julie when we both know that is not your name. At the same time, I obviously cannot call you by your actual name, given the circumstances."

Jubilee shrugged, though her heart beat faster at the sight of bright colors around him. "Call me whatever you want," she said. "It doesn't matter to me."

He looked at her for a moment longer, his scowl losing some of its severity before it faded altogether. "Well then," he said at last. "How about I call you...J."

She returned his gaze with a blank look until the suggestion slowly registered with her. Then a smile crept onto her lips. "J," she repeated. "I think I like that."

He nodded as though satisfied. "It suits you."

She beamed. "So, does this mean you forgive me?"

He looked puzzled for a split second, then pained. "There was never anything to forgive," he said, turning away again. "You did what you thought was best for the case at the time. I overreacted. What's done is done, and the important thing now is to continue forward in solving the case...as quickly as we can."

Jubilee noticed the darkening blue around him, its lilac streaks replaced by a return of faint red. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, understanding at last. "You only just lost Watari. I—I didn't even think about...about the added stress that doing something like that might put on you." Her eyes stung with moisture as she added, "We didn't even get to give him a proper funeral."

"Watari's remains were sent back to England, where he would have wanted to be buried," said L. "When this case is solved, and only then, will I give myself the luxury to visit his grave and mourn for him. Otherwise, his death will have been in vain, and I cannot allow that to happen."

"No," Jubilee agreed. "We can't." Briefly it occurred to her that his willingness to share the location of Watari's origin was yet another indication of his growing trust in her. Then again, Watari always did have a bit of an accent."If it's any consolation," she went on, "I'm pretty sure that I will turn out fine somehow, one way or another."

L didn't reply immediately. "Perhaps," he said after a moment. "But, be that as it may..." He eyed her sidelong. "A wise man once said, 'Do not test the Lord your God.'"

She snorted. "Oh, if we're dropping Jesus quotes, two can play this game. 'Nothing shall by any means hurt you.' Remember that one?"

He gave her another pained look. "Are you willing to put that to the test?"

"I thought all of us were, when we signed up for this case," she retorted.

He looked away, letting his hair hide his eyes. "But you didn't sign up for it willingly," he pointed out. "I gave you little choice in the matter."

"He finally admits it," she said with a smile. L didn't respond, and she let the smile drop. "Listen, L," she said, rolling her chair closer and leaning forward. "That was back then. Things are different now. Now, I'm willing to put my life on the line...just like you are."

He looked back up and met her eye. "Is that why you wrote what you wrote?" he asked quietly.

She looked at him blankly. "What?"

His expression softened slightly. "First Corinthians thirteen," he clarified.

She blinked, then flushed. "Ah, right. That."

He considered her for a moment longer, before quoting, "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things...Love never fails." He paused, then added, "Watari used to recite that verse often. I believe it was his favorite."

Jubilee swallowed, feeling flustered all of a sudden. "It was well-known back at Wakahisa," she replied, forcing herself to sound nonchalant.

He measured her with a look. "You miss it there."

"I—" she faltered. "It's complicated. I'd...miss it here, too, if I left—I think," she finished quickly, looking away.

"Hmm," the detective intoned contemplatively.

There was an awkward silence, and she tried to think of something else relevant to say. "It was being at Wakahisa...with those kids," she blurted after a moment, "That...that made me first start to understand that verse." And being here with you that made me understand it completely, she thought, but would have sooner crawled into a hole than said it out loud.

Beside her Hellenos glowed more brightly, and it was suddenly impossible to miss the ear to ear grin on his face. She scowled. There was no mental privacy with guardian angels, was there?

Oh, come on, chuckled the angel. We ship you two.

You WHAT? she thought, aghast. Who's this 'we'?

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Myself and that other angel over there, answered Hellenos, indicating the space beside L with a wave of his hand. I believe you briefly made her acquaintance earlier? Naturally, the two of us are more biased, but I have to say...after the most recent turn of events, your fanbase among the heavenly host is growing.

Jubilee resisted the urge to drag a hand down her face. L, unaware of this exchange, was speaking again.

"I never did understand that verse myself, when Watari was alive," he murmured to himself as he turned away. "Even though he tried to help me to." He looked upwards, and the swirl of color around him suddenly brightened. "But now I see. Love is...a person." The blue around him turned bright cerulean, laced with soft mauve and a majestic purple, as he continued softly, "One who bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things when it comes to us...and, who never fails us."

He turned back to Jubilee then. "It is astonishing to think that we may be two of the only people walking this earth who have ever encountered that person face to face—and lived to tell the tale." His gray eyes, large and round in wonder, locked with hers. "And yet, despite the statistically unbelievable odds, our paths are somehow crossed. Surely that is no coincidence, is it?"

She returned his gaze. "My friend at Wakahisa used to tell me that coincidences are just blessings shrouded in a veil of worldly logic."

He stared at her for a second, before the side of his lip quirked. "Well said," he replied. "So then, it is no coincidence that Love is also a person whom we can become. Perhaps all of life, even, is meant to be a journey of finding and becoming that."

"Are you saying that the purpose of life is to become God? That's blasphemy," she joked.

"I'm saying, J, that I have seen you emulate that characteristic. And so I see why you wrote what you wrote. I believe that you, indeed, will not fail."

She stared at him for a long moment, speechless. "You give me a lot of credit," she said at last, awkwardly. "And I'm not even that far along in this whole life and finding-or-becoming-love thing you're talking about, or whatever. I mean, it's taken me weeks just to come to terms with the fact that I'm in lov—er, ah, that I'm in this...this journey, as you say," she finished lamely, face red. It wasn't as if he didn't already know about her feelings. But still.

"Perhaps," L conceded, then looked to the ceiling thoughtfully. "But you're still quite a ways ahead of me on that journey. And I don't like being behind. So...let us hope that I catch up to you soon, so that we are in step, shall we?"

Jubilee paused as the implication of his last statement registered with her, and then her jaw almost dropped. Did he just...? She glanced discreetly at Hellenos. Is he saying what I think he's saying?!

Hellenos gestured upwards grandly. Annnd the fanbase goes wild, he announced.

Jubilee thought she might keel over from a combination of shock, jubilation and wild hope suddenly bubbling up within her, and fought violently to keep her expression neutral. She coughed, trying to hide the heat rising to her cheeks. "Yes, let's," she managed.

"All that being said," said L, his voice suddenly reverting to a business-like tone as he swiveled around in his seat, "I do intend for you to have some help along the way." He hopped out of his chair and onto his feet. "Follow me," he instructed, not sparing her another glance as he made his way over to a filing cabinet in the back of the room.

Jubilee, surprised, hastened to obey. By the time she caught up to him, he had opened a drawer and was pulling something out.

"Here," he said, handing her a laptop. "This is for you."

She looked down at the device in her hands. It was large, with a wide screen, and yet sleek and lightweight. It looked brand new and easily worth several thousand dollars.

"Uh..." She looked back up at him. "Is this a gift?"

His eyes crinkled slightly at that. "That's one way of looking at it." He gestured at the laptop. "This is what you will be needing to conduct your own secret investigation from your room."

"My own what?"

"Your room, J."

"No, not that, the part before that," clarified Jubilee. "What do you mean, my own secret investigation?"

"You'll still report to me, of course," L went on, strolling past her and back towards the desk. Jubilee followed after him in helpless confusion, the laptop still in her hands. When they reached the desk again, he turned to face her, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "I will have Aiber and Wedy report to you. They will be at your disposal...since we could use some help."

"L," said Jubilee, her head spinning. "What are you talking about?"

"I am talking about how we will have to be prepared to investigate the upcoming moves that Kira—and whoever he chooses as his new puppet—will make, without drawing attention from the rest of the Task Force. You are perfectly suited to carry this out, under the guise of remaining in the protection of your room. And because you are you."

Jubilee might have flushed at the compliment if her head wasn't spinning so much. "Sorry, wait," she began, rubbing at a temple with one hand. "I need to catch up here. 'Whoever he chooses as his new puppet?' You think Light will pass on Kira's power again?"

"There's a ninety-five percent certainty," answered L, his dark eyes narrowing as colors began to churn over his head. "There have to be at least two notebooks, remember? Maybe more. One is now in the custody of the Task Force. Light knows better than to use the other one and potentially incriminate himself again. But Kira has amassed many devoted followers that he can choose from. Misa was only one of them and, long story short, I believe he's reserved her for another purpose at this time. He can easily find someone else to pass judgment in his place for now."

"So...we're going to figure out who that will be?"

He nodded, but his expression darkened. "Unfortunately, we won't be able to do so until killings start again. And they will. Then, we will find patterns and narrow down the suspects."

Jubilee hesitated, then nodded. "Okay, next question," she said. "What do you mean, 'remaining in the protection of' my room? Am I being grounded or something?"

L winced and she instantly regretted the jibe.

"J," he began sternly. "Kira is aiming to kill you in thirteen days. Assuming that my hypothesis is correct about the thirteen-day rule being fake—" Here a streak of red fear sliced through the air above L, but his face betrayed none of the emotion, "He will not be able to kill you remotely and supernaturally as he does with his other victims, but will have to resort to doing so directly or through a middle man. Therefore, you need to be kept under lock and key."

Jubilee thought to herself that that sounded even worse than being grounded, but bit her tongue.

"That won't eliminate every possible way of him trying to get to you," L went on, "But it will at least eliminate some."

"Don't you think some of the Task Force members might object over the necessity of such a move?"

"They won't have a say in the matter," said L curtly. "And once they think about it, they'll realize there's nothing for them to lose either way. Except for Light perhaps, but he'll already be anticipating such a move."

"So then what's the point of making it?" she asked flatly.

He gave her a look.

She sighed. "Okay, point taken. No need to make me completely accessible."

L nodded. "Any other questions?"

"Yes." Her brow creased. "You want me to conduct a secret investigation of this person? How am I supposed to do that?"

L gestured towards the desk and monitors. "Much like the way you have already been working down here," he said. "Like when you monitored Higuchi and the Yotsuba group." He stepped closer and tapped the laptop beneath her fingertips. "This has access to all public surveillance channels, just like the computers down here. But this time, you will be working from the privacy of your own room so that no one will be able to see who you are monitoring, or hear your respective communications with Aiber and Wedy. You and I will reconvene in the evenings to discuss your findings, after the rest of the Task Force has dispersed."

Jubilee stared at L helplessly. "I'm flattered that you think I can do something like this," she began slowly. "But L...I can't conduct an investigation on my own. I don't even know who or what to investigate."

"Like I said, J, you won't be doing this alone." He met her eye. "You will have Aiber and Wedy. They will be our hands and feet, and you will be our eyes."

"But you're our brain!" she protested. "And I won't be able to communicate with you except in the evenings, or short coded messages via computer, in case anyone is watching you downstairs..." She gesticulated helplessly. "What am I supposed to do by myself in my room if something major happens, and I don't know what to do next?"

L's gray eyes took her in for a long moment. "For one thing, J," he began finally, "You need to remember that you are more capable than you think. And for another--" He paused, then finished cryptically, "I will make sure that you have the help you need...one way or another." At the doubtful look in her eyes, he added, "Trust me."

Her shoulders sagged at that and she nodded slowly. "Alright."

They stood for a moment in silence, looking at each other, Jubilee still holding the laptop.

"Get some sleep," he finally told her. "We have a long day ahead...or rather, a long thirteen days."

She looked at him a little wistfully. "Until tomorrow night, then?"

"Yes. And you better grab some food from the kitchen, to have on hand during the day tomorrow."

She bit her lip. It was yet another painful reminder of Watari's absence—no more home-cooked meals from him, or friendly deliveries to her room whenever she missed breakfast or morning tea and coffee.

"What about you?" she asked. "Will you be—do you need anything?"

He turned away from her, back to the desk. "I'll be fine. Just make sure you get whatever you need. Goodnight, J."

She gazed at his back for a long moment. "Goodnight," she said quietly, and made her way to the kitchen.

Grabbing a skillet from off the pot rack as she entered, she surveyed the contents of the pantry shelves and then opened the refrigerator to do the same. Her suite had its own kitchen, but she'd never had to use it before. She sighed. The last time she had cooked for herself or for anyone else had been almost a year ago, at Wakahisa.

A glass baking pan on the counter caught her eye. Beside her, Hellenos flickered back into her awareness. She mulled over the items in the fridge, then eyed the baking pan again.

"Say, guardian angel," she said. "How are you with helping in the kitchen?"

The angel grinned.

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