Near sat in almost pitch-black darkness, the only illuminations were the various monitors and screens that shone like squares of diamond against the cold backdrop of the new SPK headquarters in Washington.
His once small frame had noticeably changed in the four years since the Kira investigation, he had gotten a little stockier, and had cut his hair slightly, now resting around his ears instead of his shoulders, but he was still recognisable as the man who solved the mass genocide caused by Light Yagami and his sinister "new world" followers.
It had been an investigation that had shown him how depraved a human being can become, how there are powers other than reason that should be taken into account, powers that obviously operated outside the usual meanings of the term God.
IT was also an investigation that had taken so many people Near had held in what some would consider "precious" to him. Mihael, Mail, Lawliet, even Anthony ended up killing himself following the atrocities, but he knew he had one more person to rely on.
He sat in silence, monitoring the constant flickering of the screens as he twirled a set of rosary in one hand while running his thumb over the ignition source of Mail's lighter as his mind wandered to his most trusted advisor.
They had been together since the beginning, right when the first SPK were formed, he had escaped Mihael's mass execution by using a pseudonym, a move that had, albeit momentarily, impressed even Near. It was then he felt the first pangs of what he could only surmise as being the feelings of "love."
The feelings had grown stronger with each passing case, to the point where the other SPK members simply referred to them as a single entity and although they worked together in such a close proximity, their feelings never came into question when they were working on a case.
Now, with what appeared to be a new Kira arriving in London, they would be back into the fray once more. So many questions were left unanswered between them, but maybe, in the settings of London and England in general, there would be a chance for the two of them to steal themselves away, see if they could work out some of the answers that were being so elusive.
Near didn't even turn around as the electronic doors opened in near-silence, he already knew it was him. He tucked the lighter into his pocket and draped the rosary over his neck, as had become customary since he had found them during the Yagami investigation.
"Near, the plane for London is ready." The voice of certainty came from behind him, but the mind was clearly on other things.
"Thank you." Near said as he turned the char round and climbed down from it. "and Geavanni, please, call me Nate."
"if only it was that simple." Geavanni thought to himself as he turned after near to make their way to the airport.