#81 Medicine

L's tower was dark, only the top floor showed any sign of life. Midnight, and still one small soldier of justice was working away diligently.

Scattered around the small albino boy were various pots of play dough, some half-full, some empty. Multicoloured moulded animals stared up at him from their various perches on buildings of his lego city.

With a soft sigh, he reached for the cellphone placed carefully by his side and dialled.

Gevanni watched all this in silence, standing by the doorway of this main investigation hub, it was his turn to stay up with the new L and attend to his needs. Rester had disappeared to his room hours ago, complaining of a headache, and Halle was out on a job.

He felt sorry for the little boy. He knew that was a silly notion, Near had the maturity of someone well beyond his years, and he'd always known that eventually he would take over for his mentor.

Still, that didn't mean it would be easy for him, being expected to take over so suddenly and grow up all at once.

His watch gave a three sharp beeps and he sighed, glancing down at the face before quietly speaking up, "Sir, its time for your pills."
Near gave a grunt in response and squished whatever creature he was creating with his dough.

Gevanni sighed and headed to the small kitchen, reaching to the one high up cabinet where Near's huge number of medicines were kept.

Another reason for him to feel sorry for the boy. The exact number of tablets varied, depending on how heavy the onset of various symptoms were, but it was never less than ten at a time.

Tonight it was fifteen various little capsules that he sorted into the tiny cup. He shook his head and started to make the tea that Near insisted on taking with the pills.

This was part of why he'd been removed from active service in the FBI, he knew that. Oh, he was excellent at infiltration and spy work, but he had a worrying tendency to empathise. More than once he'd allowed the small fry's in his cases escape, the people who did what they had to in order to survive, who still had a chance to be good.

So he was sent to the SPK, to be a glorified babysitter to a boy genius.

And even now he felt so unbelievably sorry for his charge that some days all he wanted to do was steal the boy away somewhere where the world couldn't bother him, if only for a few hours.

He carried the tray out and set it down in among two lego skyscrapers.

Near scowled up at him, as he always did whenever someone approached him with the dreaded tablets.

"I don't want them. I hate them." He snapped.

Gevanni sighed. "I know, sir. But you have to-"

"Why do I HAVE to?" the albino snarled back, knocking over one of his towers bitterly. "There's already another child at the house, waiting for my place. No-one would ever know. Everyone who knew me is dead. It would be like I never existed."

Gevanni blinked a few times.

He reached and very gently placed his hand on Near's tiny shoulder, ignoring the flinch from his skinny shape.

"I'd know." He mumbled.

There was silence for a few minutes.

Then a tiny white hand shot out and snatched up the cup, swallowing the pills in one gulp, before grabbing the tea and slurping it noisily.

Gevanni smiled and patted his snowy hair.