AN: Clearly I don't own DN.

This will be a fourshot about Near from the perspectives of the SPK members just after the Kira case. Sequel to Sins of the Father (definitely need to have read) and Under One Roof (helps to have read but you could probably get by without). I meant to get some work done on a chronologically later sequel (oy, my fics are all becoming so codependent :S) but it hasn't been coming together for me so this will hopefully be sort of a stepping stone for me to get to that one.

Anyway, on to the fic and hope you enjoy.

Eggshell

It was all over.

But now, as though the pressure of the case had been the only thing holding everyone in place, Rester's compact little world was suddenly collapsing under the strain like an empty eggshell.

Gevanni made no effort to hide the fact that he was ready to grab the next flight back to the States and be done with the SPK. The usually stern Lidner looked as though the slightest push or wrong word would have her in tears. Even Near had fallen into a deep funk ever since they'd confiscated and examined the belongings left behind by that crazed schoolmate of his and his accomplice. After reading the journal Mello had left in the safety deposit box, he seemed unable to do more than sit against the wall for hours at a time, like a broken doll, and stare at nothing.

It was years and years ago, but Rester felt now just like he did when he was fourteen and his dad had walked out on his mom and sisters and him: both relieved and torn apart in ways that he didn't really want to quantify or examine, and didn't have time to anyway because he was the one who had to somehow stand up, be the man, and pick up the pieces.

Pressing Near mercilessly for information and assuming permission, he accessed the reserve account the young man had saved, all that was left over of L's fortune (there wasn't much) and cut the final paycheck for Gevanni. He hardly stuck around to say a word to any of his teammates before grabbing a taxi to the airport. Rester had always known the younger agent disliked Near, but it was cutting how cursory his goodbyes to the rest of them were on his way out. His abrupt leave-taking clearly shook Lidner, though she made no comment on it.

The case had been hard on all of them, Rester told himself, and Gevanni was still young. There were more pressing things to worry about than sitting around feeling slighted.

Things like wrapping up with the Japanese police, and dismantling their headquarters, and planning for the quickly approaching future. They needed a direction. Was the Special Provision for Kira just that—a special task force that, once Kira was taken care of, disbanded? Were he and Lidner still employed? In any case, it seemed irresponsible to just leave Near somewhere, especially in this state.

"Near," Rester said quietly and firmly, crouching down on the floor next to the young man. Despite having worked with him for nearly three years, he rarely found himself at eye level with the investigator. This close he could see that Near had visibly lost weight in the week since Yellow Box, and he hadn't really had any spare to lose. "Near, did you have any plans for what to do after the case was over?"

The young man stared at the floor, and Rester wondered if he had even heard him. "…I must return to the House," he said finally. "I must make my report to Watari."

His expressions were always subtle, but this one Rester had seen once before, just before Near had called Watari to inform him of Mello's death, and he thought he could put a name to it: dread. No part of facing down the worst serial killer in the history of the world had ever put that look on his face. Watari must be a real charmer, Rester thought with some apprehension.

"I've met Watari, haven't I? He was the man who brought you to JFK? Roger?"

"Yes."

"And by 'house', you mean the institution in Winchester?"

"The House. Yes."

"Do you want Lidner and me to accompany you?"

"…Yes."

Rester decided to interpret that as standing orders for the moment. It seemed like the closest he was likely to get.

"I'm scared," Near said, sounding more apathetic than scared.

Stifling his impatience, Rester proffered a tight almost-smile. Strange, how he now had to remind himself that N was nothing more than a really, really smart kid who had inherited an impossible situation—just when Rester had finally convinced himself to stop thinking of him as a child.

Though Near had never told him more than he needed to know about the institution or Watari, Rester wasn't a world-class agent for nothing; it had become clear over the last few months that whatever Near's guiding motives were, first finding and then cooperating with Mello had always been high on the list. Rester was beginning to suspect that the people Near answered to were not so pleased that Mello had been killed, in spite of everything they had accomplished.

(Privately, Rester felt the whole world was probably better off for his loss, but he wasn't about to say so to Near.)

It bothered him, and irrationally angered him, a little, how after everything the team had been through—from the slaughter of most of the team to putting all their lives on the line at Yellow Box—Near now suddenly proved himself to not be made of stone. But the young man had never let him down when it counted, and Rester figured he owed him this much at least.

"There's nothing to be scared of, sir. I'll book the three of us a flight to London for tonight."

Near didn't agree, but he didn't say no either, so Rester interpreted that as a go ahead.