A gen fic written for a reviewer. Not exactly what they requested, but Near is the star, with a little bit of Linda thrown in.
Comfort
"Nia-tan?"
Near blinked and turned to see Linda standing by him at the entrance to Whammy's House. "Why the nickname, Linda?" Near asked quietly.
Linda stood stoically for a moment then shrugged as an answer just before she began to talk about more pressing matters. "I just returned from recovering the bodies from Japan," Linda stated quietly. "I… I wish I would have known what was going on with the Kira case. I could have left my art gal-"
"No, there's no way you could have helped," Near interjected as he pushed open the iron gates to the orphanage.
Linda flinched at Near's harsh words before she followed him towards the front doors. "Maybe not, but perhaps I could have died instead," Linda said sadly. "We both know that Mello and Matt were better than me. I was only the lowly fourth, after all."
Near silently pushed open the doors to the mostly abandoned orphanage. They walked together through the eerily quiet corridor that used to be full of laughter. Near paused at the door of Mello's room, strange feeling encompassing him. He felt a pull to enter the room, but he refrained to be swayed by the urge, glancing at Linda.
"I apologize," Near stated as he passed Mello's room followed by Matt's and his own.
Linda continued to follow Near, looking at Near's back with a questioning look. "For what?" she asked bluntly as they made their way to Roger's office.
"I'm rather inept with social interaction. That was more Mello's forte," Near said as he reached for the doorknob to enter the office. "I should have said something earlier to comfort you."
Linda let out a small laugh in disbelief as Near opened the door. "Near, I didn't expe-"
Linda let out a gasp, cutting her sentence short when she saw Roger seemingly passed out on his desk. "Roger is he…?" she trailed off as Near walked around the desk to take the man's pulse.
When Near moved away from Roger, Linda's eyes shone with unshed tears. Once close, Linda pulled Near close, sobbing into his shoulder. Near stiffened slightly at the almost foreign contact before he awkwardly wrapped his arms around the small girl. He hoped, even though the contact made him uncomfortable and felt strange, that this would comfort her, even if just for the moment.