Three days passed. With each passing day, L felt hope slipping away a little bit more and more.

His successors were brilliant, everything that he could have asked for—with the exception of finding a way to save both himself and Jubilee. Speaking of his visually gifted colleague, she was everything that he could have asked for too, with her increasingly keen insight and her faith in both him and the boys which seemed to bring them all together. Everything that he could have asked for, that is...except for being guaranteed to stay alive.

He had already failed to protect Watari, along with scores of victims and innocents who had been in Kira's way. It cut him to the core to think that he might fail to save yet another friend. And not just Jubilee, but the entire Task Force. They were all innocent men. They didn't deserve to die at Kira's hand.

L had been determined to patiently wait for a solution to form, for he knew that worrying would produce nothing beneficial. But as time ticked down, it became increasingly difficult to remain calm.

And then, when Aizawa walked into headquarters that afternoon carrying several sets of firearms and declaring that the police force had finally decided to reinstate them, it pushed him all the way into high alert.

"What do you mean?" Matsuda gaped at Aizawa. "I thought the police had declared themselves to be on Kira's side!"

"No, they declared themselves neutral under threats from Kira," corrected Aizawa gruffly, handing both him and Mogi guns. "But that doesn't mean that everyone on the force agreed with Kira's ways. I've been hounding them about it for a while...told them that they needed to either just give in and officially declare themselves to be Kira supporters—in which case I'd quit—or they needed to take a stand, and have our backs when we meet with Kira at the Yellow Box Warehouse. Naturally they're too chicken to actually give us reinforcements, but they've finally agreed to at least allow us to carry firearms again, by officially reinstating all of you as policemen. Technically this is all on the down low, though, so don't go broadcasting it or anything."

"This is very fortunate, indeed," stated Soichiro, taking a holstered gun for himself and attaching it to his belt. "At the very least, they are passively taking a stand, and we won't be totally defenseless when we go to the east countryside in five days. Ah," He patted the gun at his side. "It feels good to have this on again. Here, Light...it appears there is one for you as well." He handed the remaining weapon to his son, then turned to L. "Ryuzaki, you have your own firearm already, isn't that right?"

L had slowly swiveled around in his chair to face all of them. "Yes...though you must know, Mr. Yagami, that the honest truth is that we are no better off having guns than not having them, when we face Kira."

"Hey," protested Matsuda, "At least it's something—"

"Furthermore," continued L, his eyes narrowing, "I find it very strange that the police are suddenly unafraid of what Kira might do to them." He turned back around to face his computer, as though to continue his typing from earlier, but discreetly pushed a button as he did so. Unbeknownst to the others, live surveillance of the main room was now being sent to Jubilee's laptop upstairs.

He continued casually, "It almost makes me wonder if, somehow, this is actually Kira's doing?"

There were gasps of dismay behind him, mostly from Matsuda.

"What are you talking about?" Aizawa demanded angrily. "Why on earth would Kira want us to have weapons we could use against him?"

"Because they won't be for him," L murmured, too softly for the others to hear. He turned around to face them again, leveling Light with a cool gaze. "What say you, Light? Does this not strike you as odd?"

Light blinked at him, as though surprised. "Well, I admit I didn't see this coming," he began. "But like Aizawa said, it sounds like the police force does actually want to help us, albeit discreetly. They're just too afraid to do it openly. I think that that's pretty feasible."

L eyed him for a long moment. Finally, he turned back to his computer. "Perhaps," he said shortly.

Glancing up quickly at the surveillance camera in the room, he thought, I hope you are watching this, J.

It was time to consider taking more drastic measures.

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Jubilee was on her couch, eating lunch and watching public surveillance channels, when her laptop suddenly flickered and the screen changed.

"What the—?" she murmured around a mouthful of noodles. Behind her, Hellenos leaned across the back of the couch with interest.

She eyed him sidelong as surveillance from downstairs filled her screen. "You don't know what's happening?"

I'm not God, stated Hellenos. Angels aren't omniscient. Then he chuckled to himself. Did I ever tell you about how none of us saw the whole thing with the cross coming, and then when He rose again after three days we all thought it was the biggest plot twist in history?

"What?" Distracted, she turned to him, furrowing her brow. "Did you just call the resurrection a plot twist?"

Never mind, said Hellenos, waving a hand. The point is that, like I said, humans can still surprise us whenever they make choices based on their free will.

"Huh," said Jubilee, returning her attention to the laptop. Onscreen, Light was speaking.

"Well, I admit I didn't see this coming," the boy was saying.

Over his head, a line snapped.

Didn't see what coming? wondered Jubilee as she watched. Light finished giving a spiel about how he believed the police force wanted to help them now. The line over his head kept breaking the entire time.

What is going on? she thought, confused.

Then she saw what was in everybody's hands.

"Why do they have guns?" she asked aloud. The Task Force members all had to surrender their firearms months ago, after the police passively sided with Kira. How was it that that had now changed?

Beside her Hellenos was silent, as though he knew what she was about to say next before she did.

Realization hit her like a ton of bricks then. She sank back on the couch, her eyes wide as she stared at the broken line over Light's head.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"He planned this," she whispered.

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That evening when Jubilee came downstairs, L didn't have to say anything for her to know that he already knew. They exchanged meaningful looks with each other as she entered. On the large monitor ahead, the three successors' initials were lined up side by side, indicating that a call was already in session.

"J has arrived," announced L into his headset, handing another one to Jubilee as he came to his side. She put it on in time to hear the boys responding.

"Yo, Jules!" greeted Matt.

"Hey," said Mello at the same time.

Near said nothing, but Jubilee sensed a distinct sense of welcome from him. Interesting that she could feel it without even seeing or hearing him now. Were her senses getting even sharper? Hellenos gave no response to her musing from where he was positioned in the corner of the room.

"Back to the topic at hand," said L, interrupting her thoughts. "J, we have a plan."

She spun to him. "A plan? A plan for what?"

"There is at least an eighty percent possibility that Light has orchestrated for the Task Force to have firearms again, so that he himself can have one on the day of the warehouse meeting," L explained. "Did you see anything today that might dispute that possibility?"

"No," she said sullenly. "I think you are a hundred percent right."

"My hypothesis, then," he continued, "Is that this is his last resort method to make sure we are both dead, if all else fails."

Jubilee was stunned. She had understood, on an analytical level, that Light wanted to kill both her and L. The notion of him actually being willing to shoot her, however, hit her hard.

"But what about the others?" she asked, unable to wrap her head around the idea. "He can't shoot all of us if it's in a room full of police officers with guns."

"He knows the others' true names," L pointed out. "They are as good as dead already, for him. And once they are, he can easily take us out."

"What about you? You've got a gun already," argued Jubilee. "You think he's willing to risk a shootout with you?"

L was silent for a second, before he said softly, "You are the only one whose name I am certain he does not know yet."

She stared at him with wide eyes, her heart dropping. The memory of L dying only a week ago—and her heart breaking in two as he did—filled her mind. She couldn't stomach the thought of him dying again.

L turned away from her, back to the monitor. "As such, we need to nullify all his means of using the Death Note's power, and that includes both Takada and Mikami. We've done what we can about Mikami for now, but it is time to take drastic measures in regards to Takada. Mello has suggested a plan, and we have all agreed upon it."

Jubilee felt her heart jump back up and into her throat. "What? What plan?" she demanded, feeling a sense of unease.

"We're going to kidnap Takada."

Jubilee said nothing for a long moment. She stared at L. Then she turned to stare at the monitor with the boys' initials on it. Then she turned back to stare at L again.

"We're what?" she shouted.

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The next day Jubilee sat in her room, watching live footage of Takada at Sakura TV station, and waiting for her to get kidnapped.

"I cannot believe we are doing this," she muttered to Hellenos.

I'm not judging, was all he said in reply.

Apparently Mello had a slew of connections that he had remotely forged in major cities worldwide, including Tokyo. As such, he had called in a favor from members of the Yakuza. Oh, and he'd gotten some black market dealer, who also owed him a favor, to sell him a small bomb.

Jubilee had decided to stop questioning things when it came to the three child geniuses.

In ten minutes the bomb would go off. It was installed in the corner of the ceiling at Sakura TV station, strategically placed so that it wouldn't hurt anyone but would cause enough alarm for the building to be evacuated. A dozen Yakuza members would be outside causing a scene in order to serve as a scapegoat, and during the ensuing chaos, Aiber would shepherd Takada by car to a box truck waiting in a remote garage. From there she would be driven to an isolated location.

Jubilee covered her eyes with her hands. "This is insane," she groaned.

Your words, not mine, said her guardian angel diplomatically.

"I mean, isn't this—I don't know—kind of wrong?" she asked.

Hellenos seemed to hesitate for a moment. We could ask the same question in regard to a slew of things, he finally said, in a careful tone. You running away from your crimes, for example. That boy imprisoning you for almost two months on account of false charges. But if neither of you had done those things—or, if those things had not been allowed to happen—then you wouldn't be where you are today. He may not even still be alive. That is not to say that those things are to be condoned. But, the question is...in light of there being redemption, are they still to be condemned?

Jubilee stewed over the angel's words for a minute. "I don't know," she answered honestly, her voice soft. "Are they?"

Hellenos smiled and tapped her on the head. That is for you to figure out, not me to always tell you.

She was silent for a moment longer, watching the TV station workers mill about onscreen. Mello was standing by Takada with clipboard in hand and a calm expression on his face, looking innocently attentive as usual. The pulsing chocolate hue around him betrayed his excitement, however, while the wheels of light above his head spun rapidly, as if impatient.

"Hey, Hellenos?" she said quietly. "What was it like for you when I—back in Chicago, when I used to...all those years, when I stole and—and did the things that I did...and you had to be with me the whole time and watch me do all that. Did you...why didn't you..." She trailed off, not knowing what she wanted to ask and afraid to know.

Why didn't I stop you? he said for her gently.

She buried her face in her hands. "I know the answer to that," she said, shame rising up within her. "Free will." She felt tears sting her eyes then, as the weight of everything—her past with all of its mistakes, the present with all of the havoc instigated by Kira, and the future with all its uncertainty—bore down on her. "Why?" she went on between her fingers. "Why does Dad give that to us, when we just do stupid things with it? When we lie, cheat, steal...when we hurt and kill each other?"

Hellenos came around from the behind the couch to sit down lightly beside her. She felt him simply watching her for a moment. You think The Father should have kept all of this from happening, is that it? he finally said. That He should have kept you from doing what you did, and Kira from doing what he did?

Jubilee didn't answer. She had a feeling that if she did, it would be the wrong answer.

She felt the angel smile at her then, even though she couldn't see him. Tell me, Jubilee, he began. If your earthly father had never allowed you to leave the shelter and safety of your room, so as to prevent you from ever disobeying him...would that truly be love?

Slowly she lifted her head. She turned to look at Hellenos, a conflicted expression on her face. "Is it worth giving us freedom of choice," she asked softly, "If it means never having peace in this world?"

Is it worth taking away your freedom of choice, if it means never having love in this world? countered the angel.

She stared at him, unable to answer.

Apparently, he said with a shrug, The Father seemed to think it was worth giving you the choice to mess up, rather than completely taking it away.

"Do you?" she asked.

Well, I admit that a lot of us were rather befuddled for a good long while as to what in His name He thought He was doing, he laughed. But then, like I said... He gave her a wink. There was a plot twist.

She shook her head, bewildered. "I kind of get it—mostly because I think I'm supposed to—but I also kind of don't," she admitted.

He considered her for a moment thoughtfully. Would you want that boy to love you back, he began, Only because he had no other choice...and had to choose you?

Jubilee's eyes widened. She sat back hard. "No," she said softly.

Why?

"Because...because then it wouldn't be his choice," she said, her eyes round as she stared ahead, dazed by sudden revelation. "It wouldn't be real love."

Hellenos tapped her on the head again. Bingo.

She stared ahead blankly for another minute, then looked to the ceiling. "Oh, my God," she said, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes again. "I get it now." She buried her face into her hands once more, overwhelmed.

I guess that one doesn't count as taking His name in vain, remarked Hellenos, then reached out and patted her on the shoulder. There there, now. You humans are such emotional creatures.

"I know," she sobbed. "I don't know how any of you put up with us."

Hellenos chuckled. Dry your eyes now, child. It is time.

"Time for what," she sniffled, rubbing her nose.

For the show to begin.

At that exact second, the bomb went off.