It was past nine o' clock when Jubilee slipped into the main room downstairs, a tin-foiled baking pan in her hands. Hellenos glided in alongside her and took up position in a corner of the room. She approached L, who was sitting at his desk and busily typing away.

"Evening, J," he said without turning around. "I see you got my message."

"'Coast is clear?'" quoted Jubilee, reaching his side. "Yeah, you sure know how to be concise." She set the baking pan down next to him and removed the aluminum foil, revealing a cake topped with chocolate frosting and strawberry slices. "Here."

L glanced down at the dessert and became instantly still, his fingers freezing over the keyboard and his eyes growing owlishly large. "What is that," he stated evenly, bright colors dancing around him.

"It's a cake, obviously," she replied, arching a brow at him. "A strawberry chocolate cake, to be precise. I heard you like strawberries, and everybody likes chocolate...so."

"Where did you get it from?" he asked, still staring at the cake.

"What do you mean, where did I get it from?" she said, annoyed. "I made it, obviously. How else would it be here?" She dropped into her seat with a huff. "Honestly, for being the greatest detective in the world, you're acting a little dense. What's the deal?"

L didn't answer her, but instead reached out and scooped a dollop of icing—along with a strawberry slice—onto one finger, and popped it into his mouth. Slowly a smile formed on his lips. He gazed appreciatively at the cake again, and the briefest flash of a rosy pink hue colored the air around him for a second. Jubilee barely refrained from a sharp intake of breath before he looked up at her, and the color instantly disappeared—along with any momentary hope she had felt.

Great, she thought to herself, restraining the urge to roll her eyes.. The closest he's ever come to falling in love so far is with a dessert.

"Like it?" she asked dryly.

"It's excellent," stated L. "I insist that you split it with me so that you can enjoy it as well. Well, only if you can eat half." He thought about it for a second, then amended quickly, "Just have a slice or two for now, then, and I'll finish what you can't. Or have as much as you like, we'll work it out as we go. Would you be so kind as to get plates and utensils from the kitchen, please? Or just utensils—we can eat straight out of the pan...I really am not particular."

Jubilee stared at him as he finished this rapid fire speech. Lights and colors were dancing excitedly all around him. She started to laugh.

"I don't think I've ever seen you so enthusiastic," she commented.

"It's been a very long three days," returned L. "Besides...this will be the first cake I've had since my return to life."

"Ah." She smiled at him. "So, in a way, it's kind of like birthday cake."

He gazed back at her. The colors around him brightened a touch. "Yes," he said softly. "I suppose it is."

A warm finger pressed her temple then and an image filled her mind. It was of a young L, seated at a dining table in front of a tray of cake with four candles stuck in it, smoke drifting from the wicks to indicate that they had just been blown out. In front of L a younger looking Watari stood, smiling broadly as he cut a slice and slid it onto the plate in front of his charge. L gazed down at the slice, his eyes round. It was the first cake he had ever had...and it was a strawberry chocolate cake.

The little boy looked up at the older man and, for the first time in his life, beamed.

The image faded and Jubilee glanced up to meet the warm gaze of L's guardian angel, who withdrew her hand and gave Jubilee a grin and a thumb's up, before gliding back over to L's side and dissolving from view.

Told you strawberry chocolate was the right choice, called Hellenos from the corner.

Jubilee swallowed back a sudden swell of emotion and looked down at L. He was still gazing up at her. Cerulean and mauve swirled around him, flecked with golden undertones. She stared. Mauve...could it be...

"J?" he said quietly.

"Y-yeah?" she stuttered, her heart hammering.

He cocked his head at her. "Shall one of us get utensils, or are we going to eat this with our hands?"

She snapped back to her senses. "Oh. Uh—right. I'll be right back." Turning, she fled to the kitchen, ignoring the soft chuckles coming from Hellenos' corner.

"Do make it quick," L called from behind her. "This cake won't eat itself."

She returned shortly with plates, forks and a knife. Wordlessly she cut a slice and set it onto a plate, handing it over to him.

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"Happy return to life, L," she murmured.

His fingers brushed hers as he took the plate. "Thank you, J." Without further ado, he dug in.

In moments the slice was gone. He reached out to get himself another slice, and then stopped to give her an inquisitive look. "Aren't you going to have any?"

She gawked at his empty plate. "Uh..."

"You really should at least try some, seeing as how you spent a good portion of the day on it," he pointed out, cutting a huge slice and sliding it onto his plate, before cutting a smaller slice and depositing it onto hers. "Here," he said, pushing the plate over to her. "The sugar rush will help keep you awake for our debriefing session."

She shook her head, bewildered. "I'm pretty sure the surreal shock of witnessing you scarf down a whole slice in a nanosecond will be enough to keep me awake," she said as she took the plate, then paused. "Wait a second—how do you know how long I spent on it? I did get some case work done, I'll have you know."

"I know," said L, wolfing down his second slice as he turned back to his computer. "Wedy and Aiber have already informed me that they are now investigating one Teru Mikami, and I also received a thorough status report from Near earlier. But, to answer your question, I know that it takes a minimum total of two hours to prepare this cake, including baking time, chilling the icing, and slicing strawberries. Add to that the fact that, one, you have not had to cook or bake for the last nine months—and thus probably had to look up a recipe as well as work at a slower pace—and two, that you were likely experiencing debilitating stress and confusion before Near contacted you...and I estimate that the time was almost double for you."

She clenched her jaw, irked by his accurate assessment of her slow baking abilities, and decided to change the subject. "Right, so...about Near. You going to tell me about him?"

"What is there to tell?" said L around a mouthful of cake. "He is an associate of mine." The line over his head wavered but did not break.

She crossed her arms. "An 'associate' who is merely a child?"

He stopped chewing then and looked at her. "How could you tell his age? Did Near deign not to use a voice changer? That is very unusual for him."

At that moment a buzz sounded from the computer monitor in front of him. He turned to it. The words on the screen read Incoming Call - N.

"Interesting timing," murmured L, grabbing a pair of headsets and handing one to Jubilee before slipping his on. He clicked Accept. "Good evening," he said into the headset, then promptly added, "We were just talking about you."

The N from before appeared on L's computer screen. Jubilee slipped on her headset just in time to catch the end of a crackly pause.

"Greetings, Ryuzaki," said the filtered voice slowly. "And...Miss Julie as well, I presume."

"Hi again," said Jubilee shortly.

There was another brief pause. Then, "It is an honor to finally be speaking with you, Ryuzaki."

Jubilee turned to gawk at the man beside her. "You two have never spoken before?!"

L's attention was back on his cake. "Not directly," he answered in between bites.

"But—but—" She turned back to stare at the N onscreen, then rubbed at her temples. "Okay, I'm lost. You call him your 'associate' but you've never spoken directly before? And you just said that it's unusual for him not to use a voice changer. How would you know that if this is your first time speaking with him?"

L gave her a sidelong glance. "I have some questions of my own. Like how you are aware of his age, when he apparently is indeed still using a voice changer. Unless, he did not do so when you two conversed earlier."

"Oh, he was using a voice changer alright," said Jubilee, crossing her arms again. "I could just tell that he's a kid. Like the same way I can tell that, when you call him an 'associate,' there's more to it than that," she added, giving a pointed look at the space over L's head.

From Near's end of the line, there came only a slightly staticky, perplexed silence.

L sighed, putting down his fork. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised anymore by you and your perceptive abilities. Very well. I suppose some more thorough introductions are in order, which I often forget is the social norm. If you don't mind my sharing with her, Near?"

"I trust your judgment," said the metallic voice.

L turned to Jubilee and began to explain, "Near comes from the same place that I did, and is one of several candidates up for the position of succeeding me as L, when and if something should happen to me. As such, I keep tabs on him and the others, to evaluate how they conduct smaller-scale cases."

Jubilee took a good three seconds to process this information. "So he's like...your heir?" she said slowly.

"Successor would be a more accurate term."

She gave him a long, hard look. "You have...successors," she stated with incredulity.

He calmly returned her stare. "Yes."

"So...he's like the Robin to your Batman?"

There was a brief silence, before Near's robotic voice slowly asked, "Who is Batman?"

L gave her a blank look. "I still don't get that reference, J."

I do, offered Hellenos, raising his hand from where he stood.

Jubilee ignored the angel. "Successors?" she repeated, furrowing her brow. "Wait, so—there's more than one?"

"Well, now that you mention it..." L gulped down another bite of cake. "I was rather surprised that Near alone contacted you. At first I assumed that he was simply acting as the spokesperson for the two of them, but his report made it clear that that was not the case." He sat back in his chair and frowned. "I can't say I'm very pleased, Near...I made a strong implication from the beginning that the two of you ought to work together."

Jubilee's brow furrowed even further. "The two of who?" she demanded.

"I am aware of that, L," answered Near. "And I was willing to do so. But, as I already mentioned in my report, that willingness was not mutual and he has deigned to leave the premises altogether without any further discussion."

Jubilee glanced over at the screen in confusion, then back at L. "Who are you guys talking about?"

L swallowed a last bite of cake and opened his mouth to answer her, when the large screen on the wall in front of them suddenly crackled and went white. A loud static sound buzzed through their headsets, drowning out the connection with Near.

Jubilee went similarly pale. "What's happening?" she asked, alarmed. "Have we been hacked?"

L had also tensed, but then relaxed after a moment. He slid a thumb into his mouth and gazed at the screen as though waiting.

"L?" She turned to him. "What's going on?"

The screen crackled again and then a large, bold-faced M appeared.

"Ryuzaki," said a new voice through the headsets. It was a boy's voice that sounded no older than fifteen and held the low edge of someone who had just made it out on the other side of puberty.

Jubilee gaped at the M. It was the same font as Near's and L's. "What in the—" she began.

The voice continued, smugly, "Mello here, reporting in. Sorry I'm late."