Darkroom

Chapter 2

"Roger, I believe you're fully aware that these photos are imperative to this case. Now I'll ask again, what happened last night? That could've been a picture of myself and I wouldn't have realized it." Near said into the headset he was wearing while sprawled on the floor as usual in front of his bed.

"There was a short window of opportunity where the suspect was visible, and I couldn't focus fast enough. I think I might've had the aperture set wrong too." Roger said, dignified as always, his digitized image on the screen not even showing a hint of the annoyance he felt.

"You think?" Near asked sardonically.

Roger stayed silent for a moment as he allowed the boy one quarter of his age to chastise him. A difficult position to be in for sure, considering he practically raised Near, but as fate would have it, Near was the heir to this whole operation and thus it was his show. Besides, he could almost excuse his recent testiness considering the circumstances.

While Near hadn't been the quiet but sweet soul (he wasn't cold to everyone all the time) he was back in Wammy's house for quite some time, his attitude, his impatience, and sometimes downright rudeness was purely out of frustration. Frustration with life. Frustration with others inadequacies. Most importantly however this frustration was due to loss. Roger had suspected that Near and Matt had something going on between them after Mello had left, however he turned a blind eye to it. Both of them needed the companionship desperately and for the first time Roger saw Near come out of his shell. The redhead made Near happy. He completed him, and after his death Near didn't quite know how to handle it.

He was distant for a few months, communicating sparsely via e-mail only. He moved to a city strange to him with the intent of moving on, and he certainly put on a good show, but inside he never accepted it.

"I suppose I could have another go at it tonight. According to the case profile Montvac should be expected around 10PM." Roger said.

"Forget it. I'll go myself. Perhaps I expect far too much out of someone your age. My apologies."

Near disconnected the call and tossed the headset down on his keyboard. He rubbed at his temple with closed eyes for a moment before picking himself up from the floor and going to the door of his walk-in closet.

While Near didn't usually deviate from his usual attire of what essentially were white pajamas, he did have other types of clothes for when the situation required it. Sneaking out into the middle of the night for a covert reconnaissance mission was one of those situations where white pajamas would definitely not be the preferred outfit of choice. So he pulled from some of the darker corners of the closet and came up with a pair of black pants, a black fedora, and a knee length black trenchcoat which he bought to help make New York winters a bit more survivable.

From the bottom of the closet he pulled out a camera bag and unzipped the lid, pulling out the digital SLR and a long lens. He screwed the lens onto the front of the camera with a satisfying 'click', and turned the apparatus on, before turning the lights in the closet off and shutting the door. He peered through the viewfinder and scanned the insides of the closet though a ghostly green perspective. Satisfied his night vision lens was working correctly, he turned the lights back on, dis-assembled the camera and stuffed it back into the bag before zipping the top closed again. He hefted the clothes he selected over his arm and carried everything out to the bed before starting to remove his pants. He slid the slim fitting dress pants over his legs and around his round globes before buttoning the waist. It fit a bit loosely on him as he had lost some weight recently. Nearly loose enough to require a belt in fact, which of course he didn't own. However it would make do for just one night. Next he pulled on the trenchcoat and the black, wide rimmed hat before making one last minute addition. He pulled open a drawer from the nightstand and pulled out a pair of narrow, black plastic rimmed glasses and setting them on the bridge of his nose.

He was almost afraid to look at himself in the bathroom mirror and to confirm his suspicions that he did in fact look as silly as he feared. It was at least enough for him to smile childishly at himself, trying to think of what clichéd TV detective he looked like the most. It served its purpose however, as he definitely wasn't easily recognizable for sure.

A glance at the clock showed it to be 9:00 PM, which meant he needed to get going if he wanted to be in position at the right moment. The target's location was actually nearly on the other side of the city in downtown Manhattan so it would take some time to get there. Once Near stepped outside into the balmy late-august night air he flagged down a passing taxi and climbed inside.

The financial district was somewhat quiet at this time of night. All the stock brokers and high rollers have long since gone home (or out drinking themselves into a coma) with the closing of the market being several hours ago. Near surveyed the area across the street from the building for a hiding spot. There wasn't much there to conceal him, and unfortunately while the area wasn't particularly well lit, it was well lit enough for him to be easily visible. Perhaps Roger wasn't so incompetent afterall, Near thought. This wasn't as easy as he hoped it would be.

Finding a set of bushes in the courtyard of the next building over, Near squatted into position, letting only the lens from his camera peek out over the top of the bushes. He felt so vulnerable like this, with nothing behind to obscure him. Nearly anyone would be able to see him if they were walking down the street. Pushing the glasses down the bridge of his nose he peered through the viewfinder at a figure seen walking in the distance. Sure enough, it was him, it was Montvac. This case might finally come to a close, Near thought. He clicked the shutter.

Focus.... and again,

"Click"

Coming closer,

"Click".

He turns his face in Near's direction,

"Click"

"I can see you, but you can't see me." Near whispered, a sudden outright cockiness making itself apparent.

Near's heart was racing. This was more exciting than he had ever imagined. The sense of danger, the fear of getting caught, and the absolute power he felt was amazing. His senses were heightened as the adrenaline coursed through his body. He hears something behind him, sounds like the shuffling of shoes on the ground. Could it be a security guard wondering what a made-for-TV spy might be doing hiding behind the bushes? Could it be an associate of his target sneaking closer with a blade for him to slit Near's throat with?

Frozen with panic, Near struggled to come to a decision. If he were to dart out from his hiding spot now, he would be discovered by Gaston Montvac, the man who's visage now filled Near's Compact-flash card, and potentially blowing the whole case to hell. If he were to stay he could be in great danger. There was no way for him to make a quick escape quietly. Once he leaped from the bushes he would have to run as hard and fast as he could, gigantic camera and all.

Thinking quickly, he whirled around with his camera pressed up against his face and started firing off the shutter rapidly. Not that a camera is such a dangerous weapon, but he figured such an unpredictable action might startle whoever was lurking behind him and at least buy him some time. For a moment he thought he saw something, saw someone through the green-lit image projected in the viewfinder. There was nobody there. Peering back over the bushes, he could see Montvac about to enter the building. He quickly fired off a few more shots focused on him when he felt a presence behind him. He could even feel the heat on the back of his neck. Through the corner of his eye he noticed a car driving up the street, and as it got closer Near recognized it as a taxi with its 'for hire' sign lit. He bolted out from the bushes and onto the middle of the street, flagging the taxi down wildly in the process. The cab skidded to a stop, the driver startled by a boy in a trenchcoat that suddenly darted out in front of him.

"Start driving please." Near said, locking the door behind him as he got inside. As the cab pulled away Near looked at where he just was, where he felt that strange presence behind him. There was nothing there. Was it all in my head? Simply caught up in the moment? He thought.

"Where are we headed, my friend?" The driver asked.

"Upper east side. 57th and 1st. Just drive around a little first."

"Being followed? You look like a private detective of some kind. What, were you staking someone out?"

"Something like that."

"Well it's either that or you're just coming back from a costume party." The driver clucked.

Near gritted his teeth as his face flushed in embarrassment. He wondered what he was thinking, going out in the middle of the night dressed in such a way to mess with potentially dangerous criminals. All he wanted at that moment was to be safely locked away inside the sanctuary of his own home, maybe even pull the covers over his head for good measure.

The cab pulled up in front of Near's apartment building. Near paid the fare and left before the driver could fire another snarky comment his way. Once inside he dropped the camera on the sofa and immediately stripped off his clothes, collapsing on the bed and pulling the sheets over him. He wasn't tired enough to sleep, still wound up from earlier's encounter. He wondered why at one point he bravely faced off with one of the most dangerous killers in history, yet now he was scared of his own shadow.

He was alone. Back then he had the support of an entire team of people. Rester, Giovanni, Lidner. He knew that he owes nearly everything to them, that his victory against Kira was just as much theirs as it was his. Possibly even more so. But now? Who did he have? Roger? Near realized shortly after he started working with Roger that the old man was far better suited as a caretaker at an orphanage than being his right-hand man, but it was just as well. After the Kira case, Near would've been perfectly happy to never work on another case again. But he needed this on some level. This was the only thing he had. Without Matt, he had nothing to come home to. No other reason to exist. For years he dreamed about reconnecting with Matt after the Kira case was over if he survived that fateful meeting at the warehouse and starting a new life with him.

Damn Matt for getting involved. Damn Mello for involving him.

Angrily he threw the covers off of him and got dressed in his usual white shirt and pants. He needed to shut off for a little while, to go somewhere else before he lost his mind. He knelt down in front of the sofa and reached underneath it, pulling out a box filled with roughly one thousand dominoes. Sitting indian style in front of the glass coffee table he began to stack them, one by one. He kept at it until he could barely keep his eyes open anymore and that they were so high he had to reach as far as his arm would stretch to add the last piece to the top.

Near admired his handiwork for a moment before expressionlessly flicking one of the bottommost pieces with his finger, sending the entire contraption tumbling down onto the table. Several of the pieces spilled over onto his lap, and with the same cold gaze he got up off of the floor and trudged to his bed where he climbed in and shut his eyes tightly against the still lit room and eventually put a spare pillow over his eyes.

Near always slept with the lights on lately, even though it made it more difficult to fall asleep at times. Perhaps it was a habit he got used to from working on the Kira case, where he often slept on the floor or in an office chair with the fluorescent lighting glaring overhead, or maybe he simply was scared of the dark, another of his numerous childlike qualities. Whatever the case, for some reason he found darkness unnerving. The light helped him feel less alone, less vulnerable, even if he had to fall asleep with a pillow over his face.

A/N: I promised the next chapter would be here shortly and here it is. I actually have more than half of the story written already. I hope the story seems a bit more interesting now with this chapter. Chapter one is very short and doesn't give much info to go on. I LOL'ed to myself thinking Near dressed that way. So freaking cute. He seems really depressed doesn't he? Thanks for reading. PLS review. I'm a review whore. Ja Ne.