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Chapter Text

Chapter one
Scars and scratches
ooOO-OOoo

Silently, she looked at the small form lying on the bed.

The doctor had just left and recommended that Conan should take the rest he needed, after reassuring Ran that there was nothing to worry about. Conan might have a slight head-ache when he woke up, but other than that he should be okay. If anything else occured, they could just give him a call and he would come back.

"Haah, Conan-kun – you really tend to get hurt a lot," Ran sighed to herself. She sat down by the bedside and brushed his fringe out of his face. Just then she recognized how sweaty he was.

'Probably from the tennis-match earlier'.

She got out a tissue and dabbed it gently on his forehead. His blue polo-shirt was damp and stuck to his body.

'I think we should get you out of this, or you will catch a cold.'

She went down the stairs to the living room, where the others were gathered. Her father looked up at her entrance with a grouchy expression. "How's the little brat?"

"Otou-san! Don't call him that! He is still sleeping." She turned to their host. "Momozono-san, do you have by any chance a shirt he can lend out? His own is all sweaty from our tennis-match and I don't want him to get sick."

Momozono gave it a short thought. "Uhm – you're lucky! I have some spare clothes here for my nephew when he uses the tennis-court. One moment – I'll get one for you."

She left the room and came back some minutes later with a small green t-shirt in her hands that she handed to Ran. "I think it should fit him, since my nephew is about his height."

Ran took the shirt and did a quick bow. "Thank you very much! I'll go back to Conan-kun and change him."

After closing the door and carefully avoiding any loud noises, she returned to his bedside and looked at her little charge. 

'Still fast asleep – so let's get this done without disturbing him.'

First, she took off his glasses, which he was still wearing – as usual. She sat down beside him and carefully lifted his upper body with both hands, supporting his back and head. Scooting behind him, she let him rest against her and reached for the seam of his shirt. Slowly, she brought it up and pulled his little arms through the sleeves, followed by his head - avoiding touching the big band-aid right over his left eyebrow.

Again, she let him sink against her chest and was about to reach out for the new shirt, when her gaze fell on his now uncovered skin. She could see - well, rather imagine several traces of long since healed wounds.

Aside from the normal scratches a child his age would bring home from playing, running and falling, she knew that he had suffered some much more serious wounds.

'And for sure not caused from normal "kid's-stuff"'

Just yesterday, she had removed the latest band-aid. It had been on his right elbow, covering a scratch from what he said had been "An earlier tumble". But she had seen how he'd bumped against the wall hard, after kicking a soccer ball at the criminal who was threatening Sonoko and how he held his arm afterwards with a pained grimace.

So, again he had been hurt because he went up against a criminal and tried to protect others.

It hadn't been the first time either.

The day she'd first met him, he went off all by himself to search for the kidnapped girl. What was her name again? Oh right - Tani Akiko. When Ran had finally found the two kids by following the dog, Conan had been really badly beaten up by the culprit.

He'd scraped his whole forearm when he rescued Ai from the bus that was about to explode. He had tried to hide it from her, but she'd noticed it right away.

When this crazy serial killer had attacked her, he'd stepped right in front of her without even thinking a second about his own safety and nearly got stabbed.

She looked down at the soft rosy skin of the child's stomach and could almost see the sore angry red spot the knife had left - just stopped by the small link of the handcuff-chain in the lucky charm, Hattori had given him.

She sighed again.

A little round area of skin - slightly paler than the rest - caught her attention.

'This one is from the bullet those gruesome men fired at him in the cave.'

She still could feel the fear coursing through her, and the tears that stung in her eyes when she had seen him on the stretcher on the way to the operating room. She had been so certain that time that he was Shinichi, (although she had been disabused later) that she just knew that their blood would match. And it did.

She had been so close to losing him.

This thought made her shiver and without being aware of it, she started to run her fingers through the hair of his bangs – unconsciously trying to comfort him.

In the middle of her movements, she stopped.

Her fingers felt something at the center of his hairline, right where the dark strands of his fringe began. She shifted him a little to her left side to get a better view, stroke his hair back and took a closer look, just to discover a thin line – a scar.

Her eyes widened.

Images flooded her mind.

There was no mistaken. The form, the position - she knew this scar!

The images showed a little boy at her side. Maybe seven years old with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. It could have been Conan, but the glasses were missing and above all, she was eye to eye with him without kneeling.

They were remarkably similar, especially when Conan was without his glasses that he was wearing day and night.

But right now, when she was looking at his bare face, touching that scar, she saw straight into the face in her memories.

A memory of... "Shinichi!"

Reference chapters:

825 - the tennis match with Bourbon
814 - Conan rescues Sonoko
005 - Tani Akiko's kidnapping
289 - Conan rescues Ai
188 - the serial killer attacks Ran
254 - Conan get's shot and has to undergo surgery

Chapter Text

Chapter two
Hero of the day
ooOO-OOoo

Flashback

It had been an exhausting day. They had followed the clues of the 'school-ghost', what led them to a wonderful sunset.

Ran was happy that during this she had been able to convince Shinichi that calling each other by first names was absolutely all right. She had been hurt and confused when he had suddenly told her to call him 'Kudou-kun' and that she would be 'Mouri-chan'. They had been just 'Ran' and 'Shinichi' to each other for so long and she didn't understand why he wanted to change that. She was proud of herself that she had stood up for their friendship, and that he had agreed, even if in a resigned manner. He could be so stubborn sometimes.

So, now she was hopping up the stairs to the agency cheerily, with Shinichi right behind her. Agasa Hakase had been so kind to bring them both here after their little adventure. Since Shinichi's mom was not at home yet and his father had to keep the deadline for his manuscript, it had been decided that Yukiko would pick Shinichi up at the agency after her meeting.

"It was so exiting! First thing tomorrow, I will put the message into the wallet," Ran said, turning her head to Shinichi. "It was very nice of your… kyaaaAAA!"

Missing the next step, she tripped and was falling backwards with her arms spread out and flailing – trying to regain her balance. Immediately, Shinichi jumped forward to catch her. He gave her a push on the back that sent her to her hands and knees, scraping them, but preventing her from falling down the stairs. At that, his own foot slipped, and he crushed face forward on the edge of the step. He let out a pained scream and tumbled a few steps down, before he lay still.

Ran whimpered a little as she hit her knees, but when she heard his scream and the thuds behind her, she spun around and saw her friend lying there - unmoving.

The first second she was frozen, but then she raced down to him and knelt at his side.

"Shi-Shinichi? Shinichi! Wake up!"

Tears of shock and fear ran down her cheeks as she called his name repeatedly without getting a reaction. Blood poured down from a wound on his forehead, creating red traces on his face. The amount of blood scared her to the bone as she kept on crying out his name.

Alerted by the noise in the staircase, her mother Eri dashed through the door.

"Ran? What happened? Are you…" She stopped when she caught sight of the unconscious boy next to her daughter and sprinted down the stairs.

Quickly, she examined him, pulled her cell phone out and dialed the number for the ambulance.

ooOO-OOoo

His head hurt. It hurt a lot!

Nonetheless, he decided opening his eyes was worth a try to find out why he felt like his skull had been split in two.

'Okay – let's see. White ceiling, smell of medicine and something beeping beside me. Oh, just great... It must be a hospital,' he groaned to himself.

The pain faded slowly, but left an unnerving throbbing sensation at his temples. Carefully, he turned his head to the side where he located the beeping tone coming from. He still felt a bit dizzy and it took his eyes a moment to focus.

Next to his bed was a chair with a book placed upon it and a jacket hung over the back. He recognized the jacket right away and he knew what would happen the second the owner of it would return.

Just on cue someone opened the door and stepped into the room. The woman's expression changed from concerned to relieved, and then to a bright smile when she met his gaze.

"Shin-chan! You're awake!"

Yukiko rushed over to his bed and hugged her son tightly.

"I was so worried! Don't you do that ever again!" she scolded. He panted and tried to loosen her hug a little. "Kaa-san! Air! Let go!"

Hesitantly, she gave him room to breathe and looked at him intently. "How are you feeling, sweetie? You got a pretty bad bump on your cute little head."

'Ah – explains the headache.' He reached up to find out how bad it was.

His mother's expression turned apprehensive. "Oh, please don't freak out, but they had to shave some hair to stitch up the wound. But it will grow in no time – don't worry!"

He looked at her dumbfounded. "They shaved my hair? Oh man, I will look ridiculous!"

"Don't say that! My son never looks ridiculous!" Yukiko said in a stern tone and hesitantly let go of him completely. "Well, I'll go and get the doctor, so he can have a look at you. Just stay put!" With that she was at the door, but turned around again and smirked. "You're the hero of the day! Your little girlfriend will be overjoyed to see her savior save and sound."

With a giggle she left and he sank back against his pillow with a sigh.

"She is not my girlfriend," he grumbled silently.

ooOO-OOoo

The next day he was released from the hospital and two days later he went to school again – with a cap on his head, hiding the shaved part.

But his fears had been unfounded. His classmates were very impressed with the stitched up wound, and Shinichi showed it off to them like a trophy. Nobody cared about his hair in the least.

Right at his side stood Ran. She clung to him since the accident – always anxious that he was alright.

"Ran - you don't have to stick to me all day. I promise you, I'm fine!"

"But you're hurt because of my clumsiness! I want to make it up to you."

He rolled his eyes. "It wasn't your fault. Unless you were stumbling intentional - so stop blaming yourself!" Then he grinned at her. "Wanna see it, too? They had to make seven stitches!" He began to pull on the band-aid.

"Uuhrg… Shinichi – No! I don't want to see it! That's gross!"

"Come on! Don't be a baby! See – it just looks like the second kanji of my name! It is a perfect " 一" (speak: ichi) and they said, it will remain as a scar," he proclaimed proudly.

"Be glad that you won't be able to see it all day, since your hair will cover it. And now put that band-aid back on! I still think it is gross!"

Chapter Text

Chapter three
What if it's true?
ooOO-OOoo

She'd never noticed this scar on Conan before. Not even while she'd checked his temperature when he'd been ill, but at those times she'd had other things in mind. Like: how high is his fever, should she call for a doctor…

She simply did not pay attention.

'How is that possible. How can two different people look so alike and share the same scar?'

The answer was very simple: It wasn't. But that left her with a new problem. A whole bunch of them.

'People don't change back to their child-bodies just like that! That is absolutely absurd! If anyone would tell me something like that, I would doubt their sanity.'

It was not the first time that her mind took this road.

Every time when she had been sure that Conan was Shinichi, it was the one thing that she hadn't been able to figure out; that made absolutely no sense; that kept her from seeing what was right in front of her. But somehow it must be exactly what had happened.

'But how? There is no illness or anything that would display even close symptoms.'

Her thoughts went back to the dinner with Shinichi in the Beika Building and her speculations she'd told him.

'What if it's true? What if Agasa Hakase really did something to shrink him - to protect him?'

But what could have happened that he had needed to go into hiding? And again - how was shrinking someone even possible?

She was no scientist, so she didn't know what Agasa was able to do with all his chemicals and strange looking machines. Back then, she had made fun of herself and shrugged off the topic, too curious to know what Shinichi had wanted to tell her.

Ran felt her heart race as memory after memory of Conan appeared and she replaced Conan with Shinichi.

As an only child, she had loved to take care of the little boy who seemed to be sent to her as a substitute for her absent childhood-friend. With his beaming simle, he'd helped her through many sad hours and his caring words had made her feel loved when she'd thought he was far away. She had told him almost everything! He was like her little brother - well, had been.

She wouldn't be able to treat him like before if he really turned out to be Shinichi. It was embarrassing enough with what had happened so far.

But what now? Should she tell him bluntly that she knew to draw him out and diffuse her last doubts? She had done that before and it didn't went well at all. Every single time something occurred to diffuse her suspicions. Like Conan and Shinichi together in one room, or a phone call just in time.

Her gaze fell on the bullet wound once again and she gulped.

He had been shot.

Shinichi had been shot!

All this scratches and wounds she just had compiled – he had suffered them! She had not only been close to losing her little brother - if it was true, she had been close to losing him!

And she wouldn't even have known.

She tightened her grip on the boy in her lap as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Shinichi!"

...

"Hmm…? What's it Ran? Argh... My head hurts. Did I fell down the stairs again?" a small, weak voice slurred.

Her eyes shot open again. Her breath caught in her throat.

It was true! 'It really is him!'

What should she do now? Laugh it off, or confront him? Run for it, or kick his ass?

He shifted a bit in her grip and then he tensed up when he realized what he just had said. Leaning his head back, he looked at her with horrified wide blue eyes.

She wasn't able to bring her expression back from shock to a smile fast enough, so the decision was taken from her.

'Ok, I don't have to hide it. It's written all over his guilty face. He knows that I know.' There was no turning back now.

Confused by her own thoughts, she shook her head and noticed that she was still holding him.

Holding him!

She blushed deeply and let go hastily - let him nearly just fall on his pillow, before she remembered his injury. Instead she lowered him back carefully and then hastily brought some distance between them.

"S- Sorry! I just... you are…"

He sighed. "It's ok, Ran. I think it is about time that I tell you."

His voice had dropped an octave deeper than usually - the childish undertone completely gone. The missing 'neechan' attached to her name made it even more real for her.

He locked his eyes with hers as if he tried to tell her everything through this one look. Pleading to hear him out.

Leaning back, he broke into a small unsure smile.

"But please, before I do so – could you get me a headache pill or something? I don't think I will make it through the whole explanation without, since my head seems to fall apart, and our little talk will take some time." His face showed a painful expression and he hissed as he touched the band-aid.

"Su-Sure," she stuttered as her caring instincts kicked in. She stood up and went to the door. "Don't run away! I will be right back!"

Her mind settled down a bit. "And I am very curious about what you'll have to tell me. It'll better be really good!"

She closed the door, leaving behind a not-so-happy looking boy and went down to the living room to get some medicine from Momozono for him. She didn't notice the silent figure standing in the poorly lit corridor – a water and tea loaded tray in hands.

She also missed the calculating look on the figure's face that morphed into a malicious grin.

Chapter Text

Chapter four
Pleased to meet you
ooOO-OOoo

'Shit – how could I slip up so badly?'

Shinichi cursed while putting on the clean shirt, Ran had left on the nightstand.

'This damn racket must have hit me pretty hard for me to be so off my game. I was even too dizzy to talk her out of it. Think I have to deal with it now. If just my head wouldn't hurt so much and the room would stop spinning...'

Waiting for Ran and the hopefully strongest painkillers she could find, he was left with his thoughts. And knowing what kind of conversation was coming up, that meant his mind was in a big uproar.

How should he start this?

To understand him fully, he would have to tell her everything from the beginning and give her some detailed information. But the story was long and he was afraid that patience was nothing Ran had to offer right now. Maybe he should lock the door when she was back, so she could not run away madly...

On second thought – a furious Ran in a locked room? Bad idea. Just the thought of it was terrifying.

Using his tranquilizer-gun-watch when she would try to leave? He cringed - that would be even worse.

'She would kill me the moment she wakes up. I'm afraid all I can do is to pray that she is willing to hear me out.'

He let out a very heavy breath, as the door opened again. 'Here we go.'

Looking at the entering person, he was surprised – it wasn't Ran. Pushing the door open with his back, Amuro Touru turned around with a tray in his hands. He had changed out of his tennis-outfit into blue-jeans and a black polo-shirt.

"Good to see you're awake again, Conan-kun. Momozono-san is sending water and tea. Do you like some?"

Conan needed a second to process that he was given a respite until he would have to face his likely doom, but then he slipped into his child-role without even thinking about it.

"Uhm, thank you very much, Niisan! Some water would be great!" '

I hope this niisan/neechan habit will not stick when I'm my old self again. Would be very embarrassing,' he thought, wincing inwardly.

Amuro placed the tray on the nightstand and filled a glass with water. Handing it to Conan, he smiled. "You really scared your Neechan, but I assume that you are better now, since she did not call for the doctor again."

Knowing to whom he was speaking, Conan was uncomfortable being alone with this guy, and he felt much too vulnerable for his liking in his current position, but he held up his cheery childish tone.

"Yes! My head still hurts a bit, but Ran-neechan gets me some medicine, so it will go away."

"I see! Your Neechan is very kind, isn't she?" Amuro asked while taking Conan's glasses that still lay on the nightstand beside the tray, and turned them in his hands.

'Shit! Ran took them off to change me and I was so focused on what I should tell her that I completely forgot about them!'

He held the glasses up at eye-level, blinked through them and sweat broke out on Conan's palms. This guy was too observant at times and he hoped he wouldn't notice that the lenses were just plain glass.

"Since Momozono-san ran out of painkillers suitable for kids, Ran-san went out to buy some for you," Amuro said pensively, taking the glasses back down again.

'No need for the trouble. I would have preferred the adult-stuff anyway,' Conan thought with a cringe, thinking of the sickly sweet taste most kids-medication held. 'Well, too bad this kiddy body wouldn't be able to handle it.'

"I think she will be away a bit longer, so the two of us can have a little chat. What do you think about it, Conan-kun?"

'Was it my imagination or did he intonate my name in a dangerous tone? He cannot know – how should he? I think I'm still a bit dazed.'

"Sure, Niisan! Do you have something in mind? I've seen you like tennis. I prefer soccer, but tennis is also fun!"

"Oh, yes! I've played tennis as a semi-professional. I've done pretty well, but I had to slow it down because of an injury. Nowadays, I play just for fun. So, you like soccer. Is Mouri-san playing with you often then?"

"No, Ojisan is not good at soccer at all. Also, he has no time to play around, because he has to solve so many cases."

Amuro tapped at his chin in thought. "Hmm… yes, his cases. Don't you think that he is clueless very often? I know – I am still just his apprentice, but he seems – yes, let's call it dense to me most of the time."

'Not good! No way would he speak like that with a child. I have to be careful.'

"You think so, Niisan? But he solves all of his cases! So how can you call him with such a mean word? Ran-neechan told me not to use such words, because they are hurting people," Conan frowned.

"She is a very polite and clever girl," Amuro nodded. "Oh, by the way: You should tell her not to use such a predictable password for her computer like her birthday, because that is not clever. And tell Mouri-san that 5563 for 'Go-Go-Ro-San' is creative and funny, but not very safe. In particular if you tell it to whoever is asking for it."

Conan's face went pale. Kogoro gave his password to this guy of all people?

Amuro leaned closer to Conan.

"Yes, he told me – just like that!" He snapped his fingers. "Do you still think that he is not dense?"

The blond smirked and standing straight again, he continued turning Conan's glasses. "You know – I think it's kind of funny. You are wearing these glasses all the time, pretending that you need them, but right now you don't seem to have any difficulties seeing me. And on top…," he put the glasses on "…they don't have any optical power. Why could that be?"

Now Conan was definitely alerted. This was a member of the Black Organization and he was more than suspicious of his alias 'Edogawa Conan'. Trying not to draw the attention of the man, he reached for his tranquilizer-gun-watch.

'Maybe I'm a little bit at a disadvantage at the moment, but I will NOT sit here and wait for him to…'

"I would stop that if I were you," Amuro spoke calmly and pointed a gun with a silencer attached to it at Conan's head. "You already have a headache and we don't want it to get worse, right?"

Conan growled slightly, but stopped his movement, while Amuro reached out for the watch and took a close look at it.

"What an interesting design. I don't think you can buy this sort of watch at your average convenient-store." He put the watch into his trouser pocket without lowering the gun.

"I thought you were fascinating since we first met. You are way too observant and smart for a child your age. Not afraid of dead bodies and always so helpful with your little hints. And you own so useful gadgets," he said with an impressed face and patted on his pocket. "But I was just a little intrigued… up to the phone call from my… colleague."

Conan searched feverishly for a way to escape the situation, but there was no chance he could dodge a bullet with the gun so near to him. With his tranquilizer-gun-watch gone and of course not wearing his power-kick-boots in bed, he was left with… nothing.

All he could hope for was that Ran would return and look after him, but at the same time he wished that she wouldn't come back into the room and might end up as a target herself. She was the type to throw herself into danger without thinking twice about it. Not that he himself had much room to talk.

Amuro seemed to enjoy his role as the movie-bad-guy, explaining everything to his captive.

"She told me that I should stay away from you and took my promise not to hurt a special person. As well, she advised me to watch my steps when you are around, because you know about… us and may expose me."

'A female colleague who knows so much about me? It must be Vermouth. Damn! Just how much did she tell him?'

"After the panic-stricken look you gave me on the tennis-court, I am sure you already know who I am, but I would like to introduce myself properly. My codename is Bourbon and I am in charge of gathering information for my boss.

Pleased to meet you... Kudou Shinichi."

Chapter Text

Chapter five
Time is up
ooOO-OOoo

The room was silent, the atmosphere tense. Conan stared at the blond man standing there, who took off the glasses and put them back onto the nightstand, while he pronounced the last sentence with a smug satisfaction. "Pleased to meet you... Kudou Shinichi."

Shinichi's mind went blank – just to erupt into absolute chaos.

'He knows! Vermouth told him! But why? She never really endangered me until now. What should – what can I do now? Who else knows? Gin? I have to warn Ran and Kogoro - everybody - before it's too late. Focus! First I have a more urgent problem. How the hell can I get out of here? Geez… my head still hurts as if someone is stabbing a knife into it.'

"Don't try so hard to think about your options. I've prepared two for you, but before I give you the opportunity to choose one of them, I am sure you are dying to know what gave you away in the end," Amuro smirked, clearly pleased with himself.

'Uh? I thought he made it clear that Vermouth talked to him.'

"You are right when you think that my colleague – you figured out that I'm speaking of Vermouth, didn't you – gave me the last confirmation. But I was lucky when Momozono-san asked me to bring up the tray. I have been just in time to overhear a very interesting conversation. A young boy of seven stated that he is 'Shinichi'. I know that you didn't say that exactly, but anyway – it came across clear enough. The name rang a bell and I remembered that 'Kudou Shinichi' happened to be the childhood-friend of Mouri Ran. So why would Edogawa Conan state to be Kudou Shinichi? It made no sense at all. I had a little chit-chat with Vermouth after Mouri-san left, and guess what I found out? Kudou Shinichi had been the first 'victim' of APTX 4869 and your 'death' had been confirmed without a corps. Interesting, don't you think?"

'So Vermouth didn't sell me out directly. It was - again - my bad luck that revealed my identity. Shit!' Conan gritted his teeth. 'Fortuna must really hate me!'

"Everything fell neatly into place. How a 'detective' like Mouri Kogoro could become so famous. Why a little boy is smarter than most adults. And last but not least – what happened to the missing 'great detective of the east'. Never would I have guessed that this is even possible! A teenager turns back into a child... But here you are - the living proof. Everything else I will leave to our scientists."

Conan knew that denying it would be pointless. "So, what do you intend to do now with all your information? Kill me on the spot and bring me to your laboratory?"

Amuro laughed. It was unnerving how engaging and pleasent he was even now. Always the polite one.

"Oh no! I told you that I have two options for you. And I guess the scientists would prefer you alive, so:

"Number one: You refuse to come with me and start to make a big fuss. I will take you nonetheless, but I will have to kill the people we are meeting on our way out of the house. Since we have to pass the living room that means: all of them. And remember: we are really good at covering our traces. I think a little fire might do it. Gas-ovens are really dangerous or so I've heard. I think Momozono-san used it for the tea water. Maybe she forgot to turn it off? It's a classic.

"Number two: You pretend that you are feeling very bad and I'll take you 'to the hospital'. Looking at your current condition that should be easy for you to pull off. No one gets hurt and I can save my bullets for someone else.

"Now tell me - what is your decision?"

'Either I go with him or he will force me - what will be no problem for him. I can't let all the people down there die! Doomed if I do and doomed if I don't! What kind of choice is that supposed to be? Crap!'

Then he heard something that froze him completely. Steps on the stairs. Ran was coming back.

'No!'

His hands went ice cold, while his neck felt like it was burning up. 'Please! Don't come in!'

Amuro had heard it too. "Seems like your time is up. And I am very sorry for Vermouth that the little 'promise' is in my way now. I really don't like to disappoint her, and normally I would stand to my word but in this special case I think I'll make an exception. So hurry up!"

ooOO-OOoo

The pharmacy had been awfully crowded and she had been one of the last customers before it was closing for the day. A little exhausted, because she ran all the way back, Ran reached the house and entered the living room.

"I'm back! How is he? Any changes?" she asked her father.

"Not that I know," Kogoro grumbled. He was annoyed that they where still stuck here even when the brat seemed to do better.

"Amuro-kun is upstairs to bring him something to drink and I think he's keeping him company, since he didn't come back yet. So make short work of it and give him that medicine, so we can head home already. Yoko-chan is on TV tonight and I don't want to miss her because of that squirt!"

"Otou-san! How often do I have to tell you... mouh… never mind." Ran gave up to scold her father for now and made her way to the room Conan - no, Shinichi... argh... it was so confusing right now – lay in.

Just when she reached the end of the stairs, the door flew open and Amuro dashed through it with a heavy panting Conan in his arms.

"Watch out! He's worse! I'll bring him to the Beika Hospital immediately! Go home and get him some stuff!"

She stood there, stunned - staring at the seemingly nearly unconscious boy.

"What? How? I mean… sure! I will catch up with you at the hospital. Take care of him!"

"Sure thing," Amuro said and with that he was down the stairs, passed an open mouthed Kogoro and left the house.

Chapter Text

Chapter six
Worse and worse
ooOO-OOoo

Amuro's white Mazda RX-7 was parked in the almost empty street in front of Momozono-san's house. Just one young man passed the two on their way to the car. Amuro unlocked it, placed Conan on the passenger seat and fastened his belt, before he got into the car himself.

"Time for a road-trip! But don't be afraid. It won't take too long," Amuro smirked to the scowling boy beside him. He started the engine and drove down the street.

Conan was beyond nervous and on guard. 'Everyone I know is in danger since this guy met many of my friends, and he seems to be good in his so-called 'job'. I don't think just because I went with him they will be safe. I have to find a way out of here!'

"You know, I would love to continue our conversation, but I'm afraid you are not allowed to see where we are going to. When we arrive at our destination, my very capable colleagues will take care of you, since I have to verify something."

"And what would that be?" Conan tried to stall for some time, always keeping an eye on the weapon Amuro hid under his shirt – still within easy reach.

"Nice of you to ask," Amuro beamed, delighted to have a chance to boast about his competence. "See, when I logged in on your Ojisan's computer – don't look at me like this. You knew I checked it when I told you he gave me his password. When I logged in, I found a very badly recorded video, but the content was more than surprising. I assume the name 'Miyano Shiho' sounds familiar? I am instructed to look out for her and there she was – wearing this Bell-Tree-Express-ring. Long-short story. I boarded the train to see if she would really turn up there – I found her – and unfortunately she had been blown up with the storage hold carriage."

Conan remembered this incident very well. Although he knew that Haibara had been safe while KID had taken the place of Miyano Shiho, and had escaped with his hang-glider.

"So my job seemed to be finished, but looking back now, I remembered something. Along with your little friends, the shonen-tantei-dan, there is one girl who resembles Miyano Shiho just the way you resemble Kudou Shinichi. I think it is better to be safe than sorry, so I will give her a ride as well."

The small detective tried to keep his pokerface, but he was trembling inside. This was getting worse and worse. 'If they'll get hold of Haibara – if Gin or Vermouth will get the chance to lay a hand on her… everything will be over!'

The car came to a halt in an empty industrial area. 'This is my chance!'

With a swift motion, Conan unfastened his seatbelt and reached for the door handle – trying to open it and jump out of the car. As he grabbed the handle, a bullet hit the door with a sharp 'tzing', just inches away from his hand and forced him to stop.

"Make one more move and I'll have to apologize to my boss that he didn't get the chance to question you."

Conan glared at Bourbon, who was looking back with an ice cold expression. The contrast to his usual behavior was startling. Was this his true character?

"I bet you have enough to ponder over to not be bored in the trunk, but because I can't trust you to not give me away with any noises, I can't allow you to stay awake. But you are lucky! I've heard that chloroform is really unhealthy. So it comes in handy that I have a new invented sleeping drug with me and I know how you love to test our new toys," he told the glowering boy.

He pulled a small bottle out of a bag on the backseat and moistened a tissue with the clear liquid. Bringing it up to Conan's nose, who tried to keep away the hand in vain, he smiled. "How cute! But I have to insist that you take a nap. I am a bit short on time right now and I have to make a call to slow down your Neechan and Ojisan. So be a good boy and take a deep breath," Amuro said with an intonation parents would use on a stubborn child, and held Conan in place with his other hand.

Unable to move and to hold his breath any longer, Conan inhaled the sweet smelling substance. His struggle waned, his vision blurred, and his mind became fuzzy - leading him into a deep, inevitable darkness.

ooOO-OOoo

Ran and Kogoro were on their way back to the agency with very different feelings.

Kogoro was mostly confused and unnerved, even though he couldn't shake off a twinge of unease. 'What is it with that brat? Always a troublemaker! How can that little bump be so bad?'

The girl next to him was clearly worried, and was wringing her fingers in her lap. 'What happened to him while I was gone? He seemed okay when I left him. Not fine - but okay.'

She considered what damage a hard hit to the head could cause. 'Headache, concussion and maybe even amnesia, but he only displayed the first symptom. No nausea or disorientation and he recognized me just fine. Can symptoms occur with that much delay?'

She felt very anxious and jumped out of the rental car the second it stopped. The way back home had taken more than two hours, caused by the typical traffic plus a closed road (she still wondered about that. There had been no obvious reason for the closure) and the sun was about to vanish at the horizon. She sprinted into Conan's room and the bath, collecting everything that might be useful for a stay in a hospital, and threw it into a bag.

Rushing through the rooms, she saw her father leaning back on the couch. "Otou-san! Get up! We have to drive to the hospital! I can't believe you are that cold and don't even worry about Conan-kun!"

"I am cold? This boy attracts accidents in a row! If I would always freak out, I would not make it till my next birthday," Kogoro said annoyed, but had to admit that at the sight of the boy's pale face, he had felt a pang of worry his gut. Just like that one he'd felt when Conan had been hospitalized the last time with the bullet wound. 'Think I got used to the brat during his time staying with us. And Ran cares a lot for him.'

He pushed himself up. "Ok ok, give me that bag and get back into the car."

"I don't think that will be necessary," a voice suddenly stated from the entrance. Both looked astonished to the blond man standing there.

"Amuro-san! What are you talking about? What's wrong with him?" Ran asked anxiously.

"Don't worry too much! He will be fine. The doctor said that his concussion was more serious than we thought and gave him something strong to sleep it off. So, he is not allowed any visitors at the moment. He needs absolute calmness to rest."

„I see… but he will need some stuff to change and…"

"You can give me the bag. I forgot something in the hospital, so I have to go back there anyway. I will leave it for him at the nurse-station. Besides – the visiting time just ended a few minutes ago," he informed her after a glance on his wristwatch.

"Okay – thank you. When can we see him? Did they tell you?" It was obvious that Ran was not too happy about having to stay at home. If it was her decision, she would spend the night in the hospital, but she knew her father wouldn't allow that. She could almost hear his voice. 'No way! The brat is sleeping and you can do nothing there! You will stay put until tomorrow!' So, she didn't see a reason why she should not agree with Amuro's offer and handed the bag to him.

"The doctor will call you when Conan-kun wakes up. I gave him your phone number."

Kogoro cleared his throat. "Thank you for your help, Amuro-kun. Sorry for the trouble."

"No problem! If I can do anything else – just give me a call." Amuro waved his goodbye and left the agency. Down on the street, he pulled out his cell phone while he got back in his car. "Hey! I need the address of an elementary student from Teitan. Her name is Haibara Ai."

Chapter Text

Chapter seven
They have him
ooOO-OOoo

The deep black behind his eyelids faded to a diffuse grey. Slowly, he regained some feeling in his body and realized that he could not move as freely as usual.

It confused him, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong. Was it one of those weird dreams where you felt like you were awake but couldn't move? Even though his eyes were still shut, he felt as if the floor underneath him was spinning. A very nauseating sensation.

Some more impressions came to his awakening senses. He lay on a hard, cold underground that felt a little bit rough against his hands. A low, constant humming was all he could hear.

He let out a small groan and opened his eyes with much blinking. His vision was hazy and the room around him denied to stop turning. Above him was a blinding source of light, and he squeezed his eyes shut again against the stabbing pain it caused him.

'Ok – bad idea…'

Trying to turn to the side but failing at that task, he became more conscious, and was sure now that it was no dream. This was worse than all nightmares he'd ever had. Scenes of what had happened rushed back into his mind.

He'd been busted.

Twice at one evening.

He got captured by his deadly enemy and had been brought to who-knew-where.

'Great performance, detective! As if it wasn't bad enough that Ran found out – No! – Just then there had to be a member of the Black Organization eavesdropping. Seriously! How much bad luck can one person have? At least this new drug seems to work without any unwanted side effects. Can't say that about all of their stuff…'

With his hands and feet bound tightly with duct tape, he tried to get up into a seated position to find out where the hell he was. The light that had blinded him before was not as bright as it had seemed at first. Actually, the room was lit dimly by only this one fluorescent tube on the ceiling. Scanning his surroundings, he saw some shelves lined up at the wall, filled with folders. In one corner across the massive door lay a stack of open boxes. The humming sound came from a ventilation system that blew chilly air into the room.

'Seems to be a storage room. I've imagined the organization would have some sort of interrogation- or torture-room for their captives, but maybe they usually don't have much of them, because they shoot them outright.'

He shivered a bit at that thought. Just the still present police had saved himself from being shot on the spot on that damned day in Tropical Land.

Fortunately, there weren't any guards to be seen. So, he had at least a chance to search for a way out. But with his immobile limbs, his actions were really limited. He rolled over the ground to the boxes, to see if there was anything useful in it. As he rolled over his back, something stung him through the fabric of his shorts, and he let out a surprised gasp.

Turning until he lay on his stomach, he tried to get his fingers into his back pocket. 'I can't believe that I still have this with me! Didn't they search me? Maybe they didn't expect something like that in the back pocket of tennis shorts… Either they are careless or really confident, but hey - who cares!? I have it and now… I only… have to…'

"Yes!"

He finally managed to get out the little badge, whose needle had stung him, and pressed the button to connect with Haibara. He knew she would be terrified as hell, but she was the only person he could contact, as the rest of the shonen-tantei-dan were clearly out of question.

Conan brought his face to the badge to speak. "Haibara! Haibara, can you hear me?"

For a few moments there was only static rustle to hear, and Conan grit his teeth in frustration. What if Haibara didn't have her badge with her and his call for help would go unheard?

"What is it Edogawa-kun? We're having dinner right now, so I hope this is important."

'Charming as ever,' he thought but let out a relieved breath when her voice finally came through. "I can assure you it is! Get the spare glasses and track my badge! And hurry up! I don't know how much time I have before someone will check up on me," he instructed her urgently.

ooOO-OOoo

Ai could hear the absolute serious tone in his voice and it gave her the chills. The girl ran down into her lab, followed by a questioning gaze from Agasa. She ripped open a drawer, snatched the glasses and switched them on. "Okay, I've got a signal! What now? Shall we pick you up? What happened?"

"No! Don't come here alone! You'll need help for that, but try to find out where I am. Now take what you need for a few days and leave the house with Hakase immediately! Bourbon found out about me, and he is on the way to you right now! And… Haibara, please take care of…"

"My my! See what we have here," a new voice could be heard through the badge in Ai's hand. "I don't think that we gave you the permission to call your friends, so…"

A yelp from Conan resounded, and with that the line went dead.

Ai stared at the small transmitter as if she hoped it would come back to life again if she just wished for it hard enough. The pulsing red point in the tracking glasses was gone.

'They have him! They know!'

During the last sentences from Conan, she had started to tremble. 'He is as good as dead…'

Agasa stepped down the stairs to the lab. "Ai-kun, what is going on? What's up with Shinichi?" He stopped as he saw the small figure of the girl in front of him - wide-eyed and shaking; the badge firmly clasped in her hand. He kneeled down and grabbed her shoulders. "Ai-kun! Look at me! Where is Shinichi?"

Eventually, her eyes cleared and met his intense gaze. Her voice came out as a barely audible whisper. "They have him…"

Then Conan's massage sunk in and she was back to earth, now nearly screaming.

"Hakase! Go and get some stuff! We have to leave now! Maybe for a few days or a month – who knows...! Just grab what you need! They are coming here!"

ooOO-OOoo

Conan watched through squinted eyes, due to the pain the kick in his stomach caused him, how the white clad man crushed the badge under his shoe.

The kick hasn't been too hard, but enough for his small body to need a while to regain his breath. Still a bit panting, he looked up from his position on the ground, as the man crouched and spoke to a young woman behind him.

"Give me the syringe!" He slightly smirked at Conan. "Let's have a look at what your blood can tell us."

Chapter Text

Chapter eight
All-nighter
ooOO-OOoo

The two people in the yellow car were silent and the mood was tense as they drove through the nightly city.

"And you are sure the signal came from this area, Ai-kun?"

"Yes. It was clearly somewhere in the Chūō district, but I couldn't locate where exactly." If she just had caught up with Kudou's instructions faster. Then they wouldn't be so clueless now. Frustrated, she balled her hands to fists so tightly that her nails dug little half-moons into her palms.

"It would be useless to drive up and down the streets. Also, Shinichi told us to bring back-up when we go get him," Agasa thought aloud, noticing her distress. He felt the same helplessness in his churning stomach. Just the thought of what might happen to Shinichi right now while they aimlessly drove through Tokyo was making him sick.

Ai's gaze was fixated on the street, her thoughts running a mile the second. "I know, but we have to do something! When he spoke of back-up, I'm pretty sure that he thought of Jodie-san, since she already knows about the organization. I'll give her a call. We need a safe place to stay at anyway and I assume she can help us out."

One phone call later, Ai had the address of a building about fifteen minutes to drive from their current location.

"Jodie-san said that there is a parking lot underneath it. Your car is too easy to recognize to park it in the street, Hakase," Ai told the Professor as the building came in sight.

It looked like an office complex. Most of the twenty floors seemed to be empty, but ready to be rented.

The yellow beetle rolled into the parking lot and stopped near an elevator that led to the different floors.

Both got out of the car and took their few belongings. After Ai typed in the code she'd received from Jodie, the elevator doors opened. They entered and were brought automatically to the twelfth floor.

A short ping informed the two passengers that they had to leave the small cabin.

Jodie was already waiting for them. Her face all earnest and questioning, but also relieved.

"I'm glad you've made it here safely! Come on. You can put your stuff in the rooms over there. We have plenty of space here. The FBI uses this place as a safe house if needed, and I believe that is the case right now."

The rooms were planned out for an office, but in some of them, they found furniture that made them a living- or a bedroom. Only the ones without windows to the front were used, so it wouldn't be too obvious when someone was inside.

In one room, a big table, six chairs, a mini-fridge, microwave and a coffeemaker could be found.

With a sigh, Agasa plopped down on one of the chairs and nodded thankfully to Jodie, as she handed him a cup of coffee. Ai got some coffee for herself, what Jodie noticed with a raised eyebrow.

"So, if I got it right from your phone call, Conan-kun is in real big trouble and so are you. Please give me all details you have."

Ai glanced to the Professor and steeled herself. Time to man up. "Before I can get to the actual situation, there is something you need to know to understand the full consequences of Edogawa-kun's kidnapping. You need to understand who I really am and more important - who he really is."

ooOO-OOoo

It's been ten minutes since Amuro had arrived at the round-shaped house. The lights were out and nobody could been seen through the windows.

'Time to take a look inside.'

The blond took the bag from the backseat and left the car. Reaching the front door, he picked the lock so fast that a bystander would have thought he'd used a key.

Standing in the entrance, he closed the door carefully and made his way to the living room.

Silently, he let his eyes roam through the almost dark room. Just the gleam of the street lamps and the pale moonlight revealed the couch with a blanket and a science magazine on it, the round counter and the unfinished dinner on the plates.

All doors leading here were left open. Everything told him that the two people living here had left in a hurry.

'They have been warned. I'm impressed, little detective! However you managed it - well done.'

Amuro went further into the house and found a stair leading down. He switched on a flashlight and followed the steps into a fully developed basement.

'Let's see – what do we have here… A desk with a computer on it and an open drawer. Shelves with folders, bottles that look like they belong into a lab and…'

A squeaking sound made him turn around and he caught sight of a glass cage.

'Mice? I don't think an inventor like Agasa Hakase needs experimental animals. I see you have not been lazy, Sherry. And for sure you did not blow up in that carriage.'

Back at the desk, he glanced in the open drawer. Taking out a small plastic box and opening it, he grinned as he looked at the content.

'Actually you have been very busy as it seems. I am really curious what you've been able to do here.'

He put the pills he'd found in his bag, sat down, and pressed the power button on the computer. Waiting while the PC was booting up, he flipped through some discs in a case.

Finally, the screen showed an entry field for a password and it's glow let the lab appear in a ghostly green light.

'You are not the kind of person to leave your password underneath the table, are you? Doesn't matter. Fortunately, I don't depend on knowing your password. Although I have to admit that it can be fun to manipulate people until they give it away willingly.'

As he had told Conan, he was in charge of gathering information. And for this job, he was equipped with some very useful technical gimmicks.

He pulled out a small device and connected it with the computer.

'Nice toy this little hacking machine. Now I just have to wait a moment and then…'

The control lamp on the device lit up green. A quick search showed him that Sherry had attempted to delete all files. Very sloppily though, probably due to lack of time. For someone less skilled than himself, restoring the data maybe would have been difficult, but Amuro was a pro on his field. It didn’t take him long and files and folders became visible on the screen. He plugged in an external hard drive and began to search the data.

'Hmm… very interesting stuff. Our scientists will love that. Get the feeling I'll have to pull an all-nighter here.'

He leaned back, crossed his arms behind his head, and watched the copying process.

ooOO-OOoo

In the neighboring house, a curtain fell back in place. The man standing behind it thought about his options.

In the end, he decided that he would wait how things would develop next door and to keep an eye on the intruder.

Chapter Text

Chapter nine
Please be okay
ooOO-OOoo

Ran woke up with a start. She lay on the couch – a blanket pooled around her. On the table beside her, the cell phone showed 7:04 a.m.

'Must have fallen asleep. Still no call from the hospital.'

She got up from the uncomfortable position and stretched her back.

Her thoughts went back to the last evening and the unbelievable truth she'd found out. Or better to say – that finally had been confirmed to her.

The whole night, she had pondered over the facts she knew and had imagined the ones she didn't. Yet, there was so much left she couldn't figure out, but she was determined to let Shinichi tell her every single detail!

Also, some very delicate scenes came to her mind and made her blush deeply.

'Now I know why he always made such a big fuss about bathing or sleeping together…'

But what bothered her most was that nagging feeling that something terrible must have happened to make him - that way. It scared her that he did not feel like he could ask for help. Yes, he has always been very independent, but he was a high-schooler, just like her. He had worked with Megure for several years, so shouldn't it be logical for him to speak with the Inspector if something dangerous was going on?

But he'd played his part as the innocent and inquisitive child every damned day! He'd fooled her, her parents, the police!

And he had lied to her.

His best friend.

Or so she'd thought. Weren't friends meant to be there for you - to confide in them?

She was sad and angry that he had shut her out when he had been in trouble, when she could have helped him.

'He will definitely pay me back for all the worry about him!'

But at the same time, she was sure he hadn't done for the fun of it. Not Shinichi! Let him be a mystery-loving geek whow sometimes lacked in the social skills department, but he never had lied to her before. And why on earth would he stay in such a tiny, restricting body willingly when he was the most promising young detective in Japan?

It had taken her nearly all night to get over her fury and frustration and come to this acknowledgment.

He had always put the truth on a pedestal – to find the truth was what kept him going as a detective. And he was good at what he did. Maybe a bit too good as was healthy for his ego. They even called him the 'Heisei Holmes' sometimes. No wonder he could be so cocky now and then.

It must have been hard for him to stay back, to not be taken serious, be treated like a child.

'I even gave him a bedtime.' She let out a soft giggle. The great Kudou Shinichi had to follow her bedtime and go to elementary school. She made a mental notice to pester him later about that – when he was better.

Her smiling expression dropped and was replaced by a concerned frown.

His suddenly worsened condition was still tugging at her nerves. Just like there was something – off. But she couldn't put her finger on it.

Exhaling, she got up to get a fast breakfast ready. It was early, but she wanted to go to the hospital as soon as possible. Walking over to the kitchen, she saw something on the table next to her cell phone.

Conan's glasses.

'Right – after Amuro-san left with him, I gathered all of Conan's stuff before we drove home. Good thing that he doesn't actually need them. Shinichi has almost perfect eyesight.'

She was about to leave it at that, when she realized something.

'Shinichi might not need them – but Conan does! They are a big part of his disguise. Unbelievable, how some simple glasses can change your whole appearance. I don't know if anyone will be able to connect the dots just because of his missing glasses, but I'll better bring them to him! Just in case.'

Breakfast forgotten, she searched a piece of paper and left a note for her father, who was still fast asleep.

'Geez…was it really necessary to drink so much again while watching Yoko?'

She grabbed her jacket and her handbag, and swung the door open…

…just to collide with the person who was about to knock on that very door.

"Uhf"

"Whow – slow it down! It's a bit early for a sprint don't ya think?"

She lifted her head and was greeted by a grinning, tanned face.

"Hattori-kun! What are you doing here?"

"Haah? Didn't Ku-Conan-kun tell ya?" He looked a bit embarrassed and scratched the back of his head.

Ran had heard this little slip up so often, but now she really paid attention to it. How many times had Hattori called out 'Ku-Conan-kun' or even 'Kudou'?

It was crystal clear that Heiji knew everything!

'Explains why he and 'Conan-kun' get along so well,' she grumbled.

That Heiji knew about his secret while she herself had been left in the dark irked her.

'I think I let him sweat a little bit.'

She gave him an innocent smile. "Oh, I'm afraid he forgot somehow to mention that his 'Heiji-niichan' is coming over for a visit. Too bad! I just gave all our spare futons away for cleaning, but I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem for you two pals to share one, right?"

Satisfied, she noticed his face was showing a beautiful shade of red.

"Uhm… yeah… sure… hehe… why not?" Heiji stuttered nervously.

Ran snickered followed by a sigh, "Ok, enough! Just drop it – I know about his little secret."

"Ya – wait! What?"

"Long story. I will tell you on our way to the hospital. Come on - let's see how our patient is doing today."

'Patient? Oh no, Kudou – what is it this time? Can't ya stay out of trouble just for once?'

"Wa-wait up!" he shouted and sprinted after Ran, who was already down the stairs. Catching up with her, he fired his questions at her and she gave him an update of the recent events.

Totally distracted by their conversation, it was an easy task for a certain young man with a basecap drawn into his face and covering his unruly brown hair to follow. He could hardly believe what he was hearing, but suddenly a few things made a lot more sense to him.

ooOO-OOoo

"Hee? What do you mean 'Edogawa Conan is not here'? He has to be! He has been brought here with a concussion yesterday evening by a friend of us! Look it up again please!"

Ran's eyes were wide in worry and she bit her lip as the nurse at the reception clicked and scrolled through the data in her computer for a second time.

"I'm sorry, but his name is nowhere listed. Maybe he was brought to another hospital?"

Heiji pulled on Ran's sleeve. "Nee-chan, I have a bad feeling about this."

On their way he'd had to tell Ran why he was into this whole Conan/Shinichi-thing. He told her how he'd found out on the Sherlock Holmes event, but he'd refused to tell her more details. "This is not my story ta tell. He would kick my ass for that!" had been his excuse.

But now Shinichi was missing.

'Oi, Kudou! Don't ya dare leavin' it ta me! Ya better be okay ta get the beatin'-up from her yaself! But I have ta give her somthin' more, so she understands how dangerous this might become.'

A glance at the nurse assured him that she was distracted and not longer listening to them. Nevertheless, his voice was close to a whisper. "Ya said that this Amuro guy brought him ta tha hospital? Kudou told me a little bit 'bout him. He was suspicious that he was not what he pretended ta be, but he had no evidence. I'm afraid he was right. Wait here – I have ta make a call."

Heiji left a very confused Ran at the reception, but he made sure that she was still in eye-sight. He dialed a number and waited for the connection. Ignoring the response from the one on the other side of the line, he hissed into the reciever. "Haibara-san! I think tha whole thin' is blowin' up in our faces! Kudou is missin'!"

"I know – it's them," came the straight answer that made him almost drop his phone.

"Ya… ya know it's them?"

After his little outburst, he hastily lowered his voice again.

"What tha heck is goin' on here? Mind ta fill me in? I'm in tha hospital with Nee-chan ta check on him, and he has never been here! And now ya're tellin' me ya know already that he is gone and that they are responsible?"

"Good, that means you are in Tokyo," Ai totally ignored his ranting. "That will safe us some time. I'll give you the address where you can meet us. Bring Mouri-san as well."

'Did she listen ta me at all?' he sweatdropped, but noted the address.

He hung up and returned to Ran, who had watched him impatiently and with growing concern.

"Who did you call? Did you find out something? Where is he? What…"

"Whowhow! Breathe, Nee-chan! We'll find him! I received an address where we will meet up with Agasa Hakase and Haibara-san. Come one! We don't have any time to waste." Dragging her along, he rushed to the exit.

"Hakase and Ai-chan? What about the police? If he really is missing, we have to report that! Megure-keibu will help us," she said and Heiji spun around - almost crashing into her.

"We can't do that! Listen, I don't wanted ta worry ya more than I have ta, but as tha situation is now, ya must be aware of this! Tha people who did this ta him are dangerous. Even too dangerous for tha police ta handle. Don't ya think he would have told them right away if it was that easy? They're like shadows! And they don't give a damn who they have ta kill ta keep their secrets! He's chasing after them for so long now, and he couldn't gather enough evidence ta bring them ta justice. It won't help ta catch just a few of them. Tha rest would vanish and start over again – more deadly than before! They must be eliminated completely! But so far we lack tha necessary information for that."

Ran just stood there. She tried to process what Heiji told her.

'So I was right. He is in danger – had been in danger the whole time! And now… his enemies got him.'

Tears welled up in her eyes.

'Shinichi – please be okay!'

Chapter Text

Chapter ten
Questions
ooOO-OOoo

Amuro left the house when the sun rose. He was impressed with what Sherry had done with so limited resources. After copying all the data from the computer, he had sent everything via a save connection directly to the headquarters. The external hard drive in his bag was just a backup in case something went wrong with the transmission.

'Okay, just a short stop at the headquarters to drop off the hard drive and a quick check on our 'guest' before I can finally get some rest. I better use a new place to stay. It won't be long until they find out that their 'little kid' is missing. It wasn't satisfying being a waiter and an apprentice for this incapable 'detective' anyway.'

He stretched out, headed to his car… and stopped.

A man with light-brown hair leaned casually against his Mazda; hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket.

'He looks familiar. I'm sure I have seen him before… Oh, yes! He was the man leaning out of the pink Subaru when we were out to rescue Conan-kun from that crazy woman. I saw him for just a second, but I'm sure it's him. These squinted eyes are hard to forget. What is he doing here at this time of day?'

"Good morning," Okiya greeted, but there was nothing 'good' in his voice. "Mind telling me what you were doing in Hakase's house all night while he is absent?"

Their eyes met in silence.

Several early risers passed them, making their way down the street.

"Maybe we should discuss this somewhere more private, don't you think?" Okiya sent a smirk to Amuro and a bulge in his jacket convinced the BO-member to obey his instructions for the time being. His boss would not be pleased when he drew too much attention, and a gunfight in the middle of a street would definitely not go unnoticed.

They walked through the gate of the mansion next to Hakase's house. Amuro looked at the name plate

'Kudou, huh? Who is this guy and why does he have access to the detective's home?'

Standing in front of each other in the big entry hall, only two meters separated them as they assessed the opponent.

Okiya finally broke the silence and pointed his now exposed gun at Amuro. "I'm well aware of who you are, so don't try anything stupid. What is your mission?"

Amuro looked at him with a coolly grin. "When you know who I am you should also know that it is not healthy to stand in my way. My mission is none of your business."

"I'm afraid it is. So, you…"

The attack came not surprising, but it was fast! With a well-aimed high-kick, Amuro disarmed Okiya and tried to punch him in the face right after. He was not into material arts, but a trained former police officer and member of a criminal organization. He knew how to fight!

Okiya barely managed to dodge Amuro's fist, but his glasses clattered to the floor. Still moving away, he hit his rival in the stomach, sending him flying backwards.

The blond landed in a crouch and looked up - gasping for air - at the exposed face and into now wide open green eyes.

"You!" he brought out through gritted teeth with hatred in his voice."I knew you weren't dead! It was just too good to be true!"

All he got from Okiya– No! Akai Shuichi! – was another grin.

They circled each other, waiting for a gap in the opponents cover. Attack and defense equal on both sides, neither wanted to give in.

After several strikes and kicks both men sported bruises on their faces and bloodstains on their clothes.

They waited for the one chance to break through the defense to place a knock out.

There! Some blood ran into Amuro's eye and he had to blink it away. That was all the time Akai needed to roll over to the abandoned gun – aim – and to fire a bullet in Amuro's left thigh.

With a curse, Amuro lost his balance and slumped to the floor. Immediately, Akai was on top of him and pinned him down.

"Okay..." he panted "Now you will answer all of my questions. And I advise you to answer them quick and honest!"

ooOO-OOoo

'Edogawa Conan is Kudou Shinichi…'

The sentence sounded repeatedly in Jodies head, trying to get used to this new information.

The previous night had been full of questions, explanations and more questions. She'd lost track of how much coffee she'd drunk by now, but filled her cup again and glanced at the clock.

'7:45 a.m. I think no one of us slept more than one or two hours this night.'

She watched the little girl – no, that wasn't right – the teenager in a child's body, as Ai's cell phone went off. The strawberry blonde left the table and began to talk to the caller.

'It's unbelievable, but I have the proof right before my eyes. And it makes so much sense! I've always thought that something was strange about these kids, but really – who for heaven's sake would consider something like this?'

An hour ago, she had called James Black to inform him of their situation and to ask for some advice. He couldn't join them, because he was in America right now, but he'd promised to send her help.

He left her brooding over the facts again and again.

The FBI had no official permission to operate in Japan, so she couldn't just go to the place Conan was being held captive and… Hell, she didn't even know where she should go to!

Frustrated, she buried her face in her hands.

"Hattori-kun and Mouri-san will be here in about… twenty minutes if I'm taking his hot-blooded temper into account," the evenly, and always a little cold sounding voice of Ai reached Jodie's ears.

Agasa entered the room with a cell phone in his hand and sat down at the table.

"I've tried to reach Shinichi's parents but their phones are not available. Most likely, Yusaku-kun is hiding from his editors again. I will try it again later. They have to know what happened to their son. And Yusaku-kun has connections to Interpol that could be very helpful."

The 'ping' of the elevator brought all three to their feet.

Jodie shoved Agasa and Ai out of the way and pulled out her gun. Although she was pretty sure that this must be whoever James sent to her because the person knew the elevator code, she was not going to let her guard down. It was far too easy to hack an electronic system.

She took on a firm stance and pointed her gun at the elevator doors that slid open.

Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a silent 'No' as the person left the cabin.

Tears blurred her sight, and she blinked hard to clear her vision. Her hands trembled as she tried to tighten her suddenly trembling grip on the gun.

'This is impossible! I must be hallucinating from the lack of sleep. You are dead! You left me…' her voice was a toneless whisper "…Shu!"

Chapter Text

Chapter eleven
Answers
ooOO-OOoo

Akai heard the one word she managed to bring out, as quiet as it may have been, and took one step forward.

Right behind her, he could catch a glance of two familiar persons.

While Jodie was still frozen on the spot, the small girl moved in front of her after she was seemingly sure that they were not in danger.

Icy blue eyes looked up through strawberry blond bangs, and Akai could feel the atmosphere tense up between them, seeing her body shaking in rage. Her hissed words cut the silence.

"What of all people are you doing here?"

He did not break the eye-contact with her. Green eyes steadily met blue ones. "I know you want answers - both of you," he added, finally throwing a short look at Jodie. "And you deserve them, but I need you to wait, because we have more urgent topics right now. All you need to know, little girl, is that I'm a member of the FBI, and I'm here to find your friend."

Ai clenched her teeth, but remained silent.

Akai went over to the still dumbstruck looking Jodie and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Jodie, may I have a few words with you?"

She managed a brief nod and followed him to one of the rooms.

Agasa led Ai back to the table and made her sit down. "Ai-kun, what's the matter with this man? How do you know him?"

She was far away from calm, but forced herself to answer the question in a steady voice. "He is Moroboshi Dai – known as 'Rye' in the organization. My sister Akemi was in love with him, but he just used her. As it seems now, only to get information for the FBI. I met him a few times back then, that's why he recognized me on first sight – even in this form."

"He didn't seem to be surprised that you are a child. I wonder what he knows…"

Again the elevator announced the arrival of new guests.

Ai and Agasa watched the parting doors, and Akai and Jodie ran back, taking their protective positions again.

Two people stepped out of the elevator and stopped at the sight of the weapons pointed at them, but relaxed when Jodie and Akai lowered their guns and waved them in.

Ai glanced at her clock and back to the tanned boy and the brown haired girl. "Only fifteen minutes. You've been even faster than I expected, Hattori-kun."

"Ya little… what were ya thinkin', not tellin' me what happened ta Ku-Conan-kun?" Heiji shouted, barely remembering there were two people present who were not supposed to know Conan's secret.

"I would have called you, but we had to deal with some problems ourselves! So, stop yelling when you have no idea what you are talking about," Ai shot back. All pressure of the last night and the sudden appearance of her sister's ex-boyfriend were getting on her nerves and made her voice sharp.

He was about to give her a very rude reply containing lots of shouting and 'Aho', when the girl next to him spoke up.

"Ai-chan... you knew about his secret... didn't you? And Hakase – you too?"

Ran sounded teary and bitter. "Seems like everyone else other than me… even you Jodie-san? And who are you anyway?" she almost screamed at Akai – now with visible tears in her eyes. She had seen this man twice before. Once in New York and a second time on a snowy street in Tokyo.

"And don't tell me again that I'm crying all the time! I have every right to cry! Can anyone just please already tell me what's happening here? I can't take it anymore! I don't care if Shinichi told you not to keep quiet! He is not here and nobody knows what might have happened to him or where he is! So spit it out!"

All eyes were on the heavily breathing girl until Agasa cleared his throat.

"Ran-chan, I think it will be best when you come with me. I will give you as much information as possible."

She gave him a thankful look, and the two of them went into the room Akai and Jodie had gone to before.

Knowing Agasa would be much gentler than Ai, Heiji was glad that the old men took over the responsibility for this most likely very difficult conversation. Also he would not have to dodge her karate moves. Heiji shuddered at the thought.

"So Haibara-san – what have ya done so far ta get him back? What is tha plan?"

"The plan? He was able to contact me with the transmitter Hakase invented for the shonen tantei dan. The tracking glasses showed he was in the Chūō district, but where exactly and if he is still there? Who knows. He couldn't tell us more than that Bourbon was after us before he was… interrupted and the signal was dead," Ai explained.

She remembered Conan's pained yelp and clenched her hands in helpless frustration.

"So – we don't have a plan, because we have no idea where to start!"

"This Amuro is really a member of tha organization? Damn! Nee-chan told me he took Kudou ta tha hospital after he'd been hit hard on tha head. Oh, by tha way – Kudou had been a little bit out of it due ta tha concussion and that's why Nee-chan knows about him too. She had ta leave tha house ta buy him some painkillers. When she came back from tha pharmacy, Amuro ran off with Kudou, who apparently looked like he was about ta pass out any second. He'd sent them back ta tha agency ta grab some stuff and bring it ta tha hospital, but caught up with them there and stopped Nee-chan ta go ta tha hospital herself." Heiji sighed and plopped down on one of the chairs.

"Ya know tha rest. I met Nee-chan at tha agency, we found no sign of 'Conan-kun' at tha hospital and here we are."

Ai frowned, "Did he drug him? And how did he know about his true identity?"

"I think I can fill some gaps here."

They turned to Akai, who had listened quietly until then with questioning expressions.

"I observed your house, Agasa-san, and tonight there was an uninvited guest, who searched it after you two drove away."

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Ai glared at him, "You observed the house? Why?"

"Maybe because I live next door and want to be a good neighbor?" An ever so slightly amused grin tugged at the corner of his lips almost mockingly.

"You live… Oh, I knew that this Okiya-san was suspicious! So in the Bell-Tree-Express you…"

"Yes. I have kept an eye on you for a while now. You should save your death-glare for the guy who messed up your lab. I intercepted him this morning when he was about to leave. It took a little 'persuasion' to make him talk, but in the end he had to give in," Akai told obviously satisfied.

"I found this hard-drive in his bag. You will need it. I don't think there is anything useful left on your computer. Unfortunately, he was able to send this data to his boss before I took care of him, so they are informed about your working process."

Ai looked down on the small grey square of plasic on the table. 'He restored the data. Of course. All my researches about the antidote are in their hands now. What will they do with them? Alter the poison to make it a perfect killing instrument?'

"What did he tell ya about Kudou? Did he spit out where he is?" Heiji asked impatiently.

"No. Even his arrogance ends somewhere. He wouldn't betray his boss, but at least, he won't bother us anymore. I made sure of that. And what gave Kudou-kun away in the end – I would call it 'unfortunate circumstances'. Bourbon stood right in front of the room in which Ran was caring for Conan-kun. Apparently, she found something that convinced her that Conan-kun was her missing friend Kudou Shinichi and she addressed him that way. He didn't deny it and Bourbon used his connections to find out the rest."

A gasping breath came from behind them. Turning around, a shocked, wide eyed Ran came in sight. Her hands covered her mouth and slowly she sank to the ground.

"I… it was… my fault!? If I hadn't… he… no… NO!" she screamed - curled into herself and looked like she was having a complete breakdown.

Agasa, who was standing next to her, kneeled down and tried to comfort her. Whispering soothing words, he hugged her fatherly and rocked her in his arms. It hurt him to see this always friendly and smiling girl, he knew since her early childhood, crying her eyes out like that.

It had been too much for her. She had just calmed down a bit after learning the whole truth about Shinichi's disappearance, what had affected her deeply. He had told her about the poison, the organization, Ai and even about the times she had seen Shinichi in his true form. She'd tried to remain composed, but he had seen every twitch, every wince and every silent tear that had ran down her pale cheeks.

And now she blamed herself for what happened to Shinichi. He sighed. 'How much more do these two have to suffer?'

Slowly, he got up. Supporting Ran's trembling body, he led her back to the room, so she could lay down for a while.

The other three people had watched her outburst with growing concern.

"Will she be ok?" Jodie asked anxiously.

Heiji's distressed gaze lay on the closed door through which he still heard muted sobs.

"She is strong. Give her some time."

Chapter Text

Chapter twelve
Private stalker
ooOO-OOoo

Chapter Text

Chapter thirteen
An impossible wish
ooOO-OOoo

After the man had taken the blood sample from him, Conan had been left alone again. He'd lost track of time by now. First he'd tried to count the hours, but after he'd fallen into an exhausted sleep, he had no idea how much time had passed since he'd woken up in the storage room at first.

He felt hungry, but that was something he could deal with. More difficult to ignore was the thirst. How long had it been since he'd drunken the last time? His throat was dry and it hurt when he had to chough or swallow.

When Bourbon came to him in Momozono-san's house, he'd brought water with him, but Conan had had no chance to drink it. Well, who would think of drinking water when his biggest secret was about to be revealed from an enemy?

His body ached all over from the uncomfortable position his bidings forced him into. Would they just let him die here? Didn't they want to interrogate him? What if his warning came too late for Ai and Hakase to leave the house in time? What about Ran, Kogoro and all the others? The Organization knew the truth about Kudou Shinichi; all of them were in the firing line.

It drove him insane not to know what happened to his friends.

'Why didn't I tell Ran sooner?'

Now that the worst case had happened, he saw that it didn't matter if she knew or not. It wasn't likely that Gin or whoever would care if she was in on his secret or not before pulling the trigger.

He had to admit it – he had been afraid. Afraid, that she would hate him and that was nothing he would be able to stand. The longer he'd lied to her, the more difficult it had been to even think about telling her the truth.

Now she knew, but he had no chance to explain his reasons to her.

This has not been the way he'd wanted her to find out.

He had hoped that when he finally told her, it would be with his real voice and in his real body.

That 'Edogawa Conan' would be just a faint memory... and that they would have time.

He tried to repress the thought that they would possibly never have time together again.

At the clicking of a key in the lock, his gaze shot to the opening door instantly.

A woman he knew all too well came in sight. She closed the door and leaned against it. Her blond hair flew down like cascades over a black leather catsuit and a matching short jacket.

"Oh, Silverbullet – what have you gotten yourself into this time?" Vermouth sighed.

"That's nothing for you to…" he started but had to stop, bescause of a choughing attack.

"Okay, I see. Here you go."

She knelt down beside him, cut the tape on his wrists and ankles, and helped him to sit up. In her left hand he could see a bottle, which she held out to him.

"Drink. No need to be so wary - it's not drugged or poisoned – just water," she smirked at his sceptical expression.

Conan held the bottle in both hands and took a careful first sip. He had to restrain himself not to gulp down the entire content at once.

Vermouth stood up again. "You may be relieved to hear that your friends were gone before Bourbon made his little visit."

He lowered the bottle and closed his eyes thankful for a moment, then looked back up at her. "And what now? Are your killers out there to find them? To eliminate everyone who knows me?"

"Actually, we are in a difficult situation. Sure – we want the traitor Sherry and we can't afford to let anyone run around with information about us, but we don't like to draw too much attention. Killing many people who are connected with each other will definitely be suspicious."

She took out a cigarette and a small, golden lighter. The flame licked on the end of the cigarette until it gleamed red. After a deep inhale, she blew out the smoke slowly.

"Bourbon made a mistake by taking you right there and then. If he would have been a bit more patient, he could have caught you later without being seen and could have kept his cover as Mouri-sans apprentice." She didn't sound disgruntled - rather a little amused.

After another pull on her cigarette, she gave him a slightly haughty smile. "Don't worry. We won't go out there and shoot wildly all your friends. It would be  too small a step to connect a missing boy with the sudden deaths of people knowing him. A bit too unusual for a kidnapping, don't you think?"

'Could it be true? Are they safe for the moment?'

He'd love to believe her, but his experiences with the Organization had taught him better and he snorted. "So, you will do nothing and hope they will investigate my disappearance as a normal kidnapping – never find me and leave it as a cold case? That will never work and you know that." He narrowed his eyes. "Stop treating me like a fool. What are you up to Vermouth?"

She sighed. "Geez, you are no fun."

"I've been told so before," he retorted unimpressed.

"It is true! For now the boss wants to hold back, but this won't last long. A sniper here, an accident there – sooner or later he will get rid of all people who came too close."

Vermouth looked silently at his tense face for a moment. "As you already know, I have always played by my own rules. I've followed the orders the boss gave me, but I've been free to come and go as I pleased."

She snapped the fag-end away. "Things have changed. For a while now, I'm not longer going conform with the guidelines. Maybe I'm becoming soft? Who cares?" she shrugged. "The boss noticed that too – thanks to Gin – and began to limit my movements. I have to act soon. I want out, but I don't want to hide for the rest of my life as a chased traitor like Sherry."

She smirked as Conan gaped at her. "Surprised? You've heard right. I will help you to bring them down – but not at the cost of my life and freedom!"

He stared at her, still disbelieving. "You want to… how?"

"I started my plan the day Kir 'shot' Akai Shuichi. I'm sure you have been involved?"

Conan nodded and she gave him an approving look.

"Just as I thought. I never believed in his death, and a few weeks later you had a roomer at the Kudou mansion. Coincidence? I don't think so. You would never let an unknown person live at your home and so close to her. I paid him a visit and afterwards, I was sure that Okiya Subaru is Akai Shuichi. After all, I'm a master of disguise myself and I can see a good one if it stands in front of me"

"So you knew the shooting has been just a show. What about Kir?" Conan asked.

"I don't care about the NOC. She was well aware of the risks when she came back, but I didn't give her away so far," she said in a snide tone.

"Whatever – I've spent more time with the Research Department to get an overview about their projects and to be able to steal - this." She reached into the pocket of her jacket and showed him its content on her palm.

"Is this…?" his breath caught in his throat as he looked at the small pill.

"Yes. This is the original poison APTX 4869."

He frowned. "Why did you have to steal it. Isn't it used like 'working material'?"

"Yes, but they are not longer using the original poison. They altered it a bit, and from the prototype there are just a few pills left for researches. I had planned to give it to you. With this, Sherry would have been able to create a permanent antidote. Back in your real body, you would have received some very incriminating material, which would have put you in the position to go up against them."

Conan couldn't believe it. 'Everything would have been over soon… and then I had to slip up! I am such an idiot!'

Vermouth could read his feelings straight from his face. 'Sorry Cool guy – but fate can be a bitch sometimes.'

He tried to compose himself. His voice was rasping – now more from frustration than from thirst. "I think your plan is no longer an option."

She nodded. "As Bourbon called me and asked about 'Kudou Shinichi', I've been a bit… worried. Rightly, as one can see. I followed him after he dropped you off here."

Throwing her hair back, she said, "Normally, I like to work with him. He is not as grumpy as some other men in the Organization, but now he was about to ruin my plans. He'd made things more complicated." She seemed to be really disappointed and lost in her thoughts, before she continued.

"Here comes the rest of the story in short: When Bourbon arrived at the house Sherry hid in, he found it empty. He spent the night there and sent some very interesting data to our Research Department. As he wanted to leave, he 'collided' with Akai, who'd locked him up in the basement of your house after a little interrogation. Bourbon didn't look like he would go anywhere sometime soon."

He wondered briefly that she just left him there to his fate, but probably that was benefitting her plans. As long as Bourbon was out of the picture, he didn't care about him anyway. Other people were far more important.

"What about Ran? Depending on how late it is, she must have noticed by now that I am not in the hospital. I'm also sure that Haibara will not sit back and do nothing."

"Oh yes, she calls herself Haibara Ai now, right? How cute," the blonde scoffed. "She would be well advised to keep a low profile instead of trying something stupid such as rescuing you, but as I remember, she ran to your aid as fast as her short legs could carry her when we met at the harbor. I expect her to plan something self-sacrificing," she shrugged and glanced at her wristwatch. "It is ten a.m. now and your girlfriend is not at home. I went there after I checked on Bourbon and found just her very drunken father, so yes – I think she noticed."

Conan bit his lip. 'Oh no! I hope she won't do anything reckless. Kogoro is as useless as always! Crap!' He was also concerned about Haibara. Would she really try for a rescue attempt? She used to be so afraid of the Black Organization that just the mentioning of their name left her a shivering mess, but she had changed over time. She was stronger now, and for the few people she called her friends, she would go to great lengths. He could just hope that the Professor would have an eye on her. Right now there was nothing he could do about that, but maybe he could gather some information at least.

"What does your boss want with me? I don't know where Haibara is hiding, and he has her researches already. What are his goals anyway?" he asked a bit afraid of the answer.

"His goals?" Vermouth gave it a short thought as if she had to remember herself. "Money, might, the secret of youth… the list goes on."

"The secret of youth? He wants to be what - immortal? That's an impossible wish," he said unbelieving.

"Is it, now?" Vermouth asked softly. "Look at yourself – look at me. We are the living proof that we can turn back the hands of time. The boss is not stupid. He doesn't want it for himself. He knows that staying young forever is more of a burden than a gift, but there are enough people out there who would pay any price to be young again. Fools!" she almost spit out.

Conan looked at her curiously. "You didn't take the APTX willingly, did you?"

"It wasn't the APTX and- no…" Her gaze seemed to be absent. "It was an experimental substance that until now never could be made again. The APTX 4869 was really meant to be an untraceable poison and beside you and Sherry, we've had no more unconfirmed deaths."

She looked back at Conan, pitying. "Now that the boss knows that APTX has the potential to rejuvenate, all the scientists have just one order: To wring the secret from your body and create the perfect formula of youth."

Chapter Text

Chapter fourteen
Plans and unexpected acts
ooOO-OOoo

"They… they are going to use me for their creepy experiments?" Conan asked horrified. He had always feared that it would come to this should the Black Organization ever catch him, but hearing about his fate like this was something else entirely.

"Your reaction to the poison is rare. The chance to induce it again by feeding APTX to other people is rather low - what doesn't mean that they are not trying," Vermouth said, disgusted. She had seen some of the poor souls and it hadn't been pretty.

"Unlike Sherry, our scientists have access to the best-equipped laboratories, plus they have the original APTX 4869. They are working fast, so we have to get you out of here as soon as possible." She noticed that Conan's gaze was blank. "Hey –" She snapped her fingers in front of his face, causing him to snap back to reality. "You with me?"

He had to force his thoughts away from the terrifying scenarios his mind created. 'Focus on something else! Like a way how to get the hell out of here! And where is 'here' anyway?'

"You haven't told me yet where I am now. I assume we are at your headquarters?"

"You're right. We are in the building of a company named 'Kurosake Pharmaceutics' in Chūō."

Conan looked at her skeptical. "The Black Organization is a pharmacy company? Although the name 'Black Sake' matches your high percentage code names and your discreet wardrobe."

"Stop the mockery," Vermouth said unperturbed. "This is just the current facade. From time to time the boss switches the public known company. But behind it, you'll always find the same cruel man and his loyal followers."

He couldn't say if she was proud or sarcastic. Most likely the latter, but after she had been a member for such a long time, he was sure that she held at least a little bit of respect for the boss.

Conan tried to catch her gaze and asked the one question that made his thoughts spin since he had been shrunk. "Who is he?"

Eventually, her eyes met his. "You have met him before and I have been at his side. You will find out soon enough. He won't miss the chance to meet his 'fountain of youth' in person." With a snort, she shook off the grossed-out feeling that went with this thought. "It would be better if your surprise is real at that moment. He has a sixth sense for fakes."

'I have met the boss already? When? Where?'

He waited a moment for Vermouth to continue until he was sure that she would say nothing more on this matter. He sighed and decided to change topics. "This incriminating material you spoke of, can you give it to someone who would be able to help?"

"Sure. Who do you have in mind?"

'Good question… Haibara and Hakase have gone into hiding. My parents are too far away - if we are able to contact them at all. Maybe Hattori? He is in Osaka – no, wait! He wanted to come by for a visit. Vermouth can call…"

"Argh!" he facepalmed.

"Are you alright?" Vermouth raised an eyebrow.

He wanted to yell but remembered that it might be a bad idea. Instead, he hissed the words and slammed his fist on the concrete floor. "I don't have my freaking mobile with me, so you can't contact any of my friends who know about me being in this damn pint-sized form."

"Wow - you are cursing a lot when you are frustrated, my dear," she smirked.

"Oh, shut up," Conan grumbled. "What sort of material is it anyway?"

"Reports of some illegal transactions, corruption and, as a cherry on top, information about some unsolved murder cases. That should do it, don't you think?"

"That's amazing!" Conan's face lit up. "With that, we can even inform the police!"

"You are asking me to go to the police? Seriously?"

"You've just called yourself a master of disguise, didn't you?" he teased her with a sly grin. "How good is your kansai-ben?"

She lifted one skillfully styled eyebrow. "Good enough to pass for your Osakan friend. That's what you're planning, right?"

Conan nodded. "As we can't contact the real Hattori, we take you as a replacement. He planned to come by today... I am sure he noticed already that I am missing. Maybe he met up with Haibara and Hakase and if we are lucky, Ran is with him too."

'Would be one thing less to worry about.'

Vermouth frowned. "What if he went to the Police Department instead of meeting with the two? They would be more than surprised to see two Hattori's, don't you think?"

He shook his head. "I'm sure Ran told him what happened at the tennis-court. Hattori knows that I've been suspicious about Amuro, and knowing that it was him who brought me 'to the hospital', he will try to contact Haibara and Hakase. Without enough evidence he won't involve the police."

Conan looked at her intensely. "Talk to Megure-keibu, Satou-keiji or Takagi-keiji. Only to these three! They are familiar with Hattori and will trust him. If possible, don't tell them that I am Kudou Shinichi, but if it can't be avoided – involve them." At this point, it won't take long anyway before they got wind of something.

Vermouth hummed in agreement. "So, I'll walk into the Police Department as Hattori Heiji, talk to your police friends and give them the information. They'll set up a task force to bail you out and to bring down a deadly organization." She winked at him. "Should be a piece of cake."

Conan rolled his eyes. "One more thing. Ask them to involve the FBI. They will be helpful."

"Okay, then I'll leave ya now, as I have a job ta do," she grinned, imitating Hattori perfectly.

"That was quiet... scary," he deadpanned flatly.

In that moment the door was opened again and Conan tried his best not to look caught.

"Vermouth," the entering man nodded at her. "I'm afraid I have to take our guest to his new room now. You can talk to him later again – after our first round of tests."

The man was the same who had interrupted Conan's call to Haibara. He went over to Conan, noting the cut duct tape. "Why is he not bound anymore?"

Vermouth gave him a reproving look. "My dear Akamoto-san… I thought you would prefer him more vivid and not near to death caused by thirst. Do you think you can handle an unbound child or do I have to help you?" Her gaze was cold and piercing.

"Uhm… no! Sure… I can handle him," Akamoto stuttered.

"Good!" She smiled in sickeningly sweet sympathy. "I will leave him to you then."

Vermouth turned around and gave Conan a last serious look before she left.

'Hang in there, Silver bullet. I hope for you your police friends will act fast.'

ooOO-OOoo

Ran jolted up with a gasp.

Panting and sweating, she needed a while to realize that she had been dreaming.

'It was a nightmare… just a nightmare.'

Due to this much too real dream, she felt groggy. She sat up in the bed and surveyed her surroundings. After a moment of confusion, she remembered where she was, what had happened, and why she had dreamed of a suffering, screaming and bleeding Shinichi.

Immediately, she felt like crying again but chided herself. 'No! Stop it! You've cried enough and it won't help Shinichi the least bit, so pull yourself together!'

She breathed deeply in and out a few times, got up, and made her way to the small bathroom to refresh herself. At the kitchen table, she saw Jodie – fast asleep. Searching for Haibara and Agasa, she found them sleeping as well in another room. Heiji and Akai were nowhere to be found.

She reached for a blanket and placed it over Jodie's shoulders. 'It's been a long night for all of us,' she smiled sadly.

In the bathroom, she looked in the mirror and sighed at her reflection. She was pale and her eyes were red-rimmed. She turned up the faucet as cold as possible and splashed the water into her face.

Back in the kitchen, she gave the coffeemaker a suspicious look. She didn't like coffee and this one was lukewarm at best, but she needed something to revive her senses.

The coffee mug in hands, she leaned against the fridge, sipping at the bitter-tasting liquid. 'Unbelievable how much has changed since yesterday. I've made breakfast for Conan-kun and Otou-san, we've been excited about our trip to Izu, we had fun on the tennis court and then…'

Agasa had assured her over and over again, that it hadn't been her fault, and deep inside she knew that but she couldn't help it. She felt guilty. She wished there was something she could do. Sitting around - waiting and fearing, was nothing she could bear.

She looked at the sleeping Jodie. 'Maybe I should wake her up, so she can lie down in a bed. Else, she will probably have an aching neck later.'

Walking over to the agent and leaning in closer to shake her softly, Ran glanced over the papers on the table – and stopped before her hand reached Jodie's arm.

'These are ground plans and printouts about a company named 'Kurosake Pharmaceutical'. Could it be…'

Her pulse sped up. With wide eyes. she stared at the papers. 'They found him! This must be where Shinichi is! Did Hattori-kun and Akai-san go to rescue him? Why didn't they wake me?'

She could answer that one herself. They didn't want her to get in their way. But she couldn't help it. She needed to be there – to do everything possible to get Shinichi back safely. It was like something from deep within pulled at her, drew her there.

She studied the plans - tried to memorize them. 'So many floors. No chance I can remember them all.'

An idea hit her and she set down the mug and pulled out her cell phone. With the built-in camera, she shot a few photos of the plans and the printouts.

'This will do. He's rescued me so many times, has always been there for me. Now it's my turn. Hold on, Shinichi – I'll get you out!'

All warnings from Heiji and Agasa were forgotten at the chance to help her best friend – to help the boy she loved.

She tiptoed to the elevator.

The 'ping' of the arriving cabin sounded awfully loud in her ears. Fearfully, she listened for a moment if anyone had woken up.

After nothing happened, she bit her lip and pressed the button for the underground parking lot.

ooOO-OOoo

Ran was born and raised in Tokyo. She was used to the traffic, the noise, and the crowded streets. But now, for the first time in her life, she felt unsafe and vulnerable. She found herself looking over her shoulder more than one time, felt eyes on her back, and started at sudden movements.

She felt hunted.

'Is this what Shinichi has been through? Always afraid of shadows and suspicious of black-dressed people?'

She opened the photo with the company address on her phone and searched for the connection to Chūō on the train schedule. A glance at her watch told her that it was 15.19 p.m. and the next train would leave in six minutes.

In the train, she was almost overwhelmed by a panic-attack.

'Calm down, Ran. It's not like they'll shoot you in a jam-full train.' But she couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling.

Finally, she stood across the street from the company building and tried not to look suspicious as she observed the entrance.

It was a modern building, the facade mostly made of glass and steel. Darkened windows protected the employees from the summer heat, and kept out curious glances. Only a few people in business attire entered or left through the revolving doors.

'Most likely sales representatives.'

How should she blend in with them? And what if her face was known already? She had no desire to go in there just to be captured right away.

'Maybe there is a backdoor, an entrance for suppliers or something?'

She was about to cross the street, as a hand covered her mouth, and she was pulled into a dark alley.

Ran wanted to resist and prepared herself for a shoulder throw when a voice hissed into her ear. "What do you think you're doing here, Mouri-chan? Are you insane?"

'This voice…'

She stood still and waited until she was released out of the firm grip. She had heard this voice in her dreams, and she longed to embrace the person it belonged to.

'Shinichi.'

Turning around to face her attacker, she came face to face with an unfamiliar young man, who was dressed like the sales representatives she'd watched before. Over his arm hung a white piece of clothing that looked like a lab coat.

Ran's hopes were shattered - this wasn't Shinichi. "Who are you?" she asked wary and confused. "And how do you know me?"

He blinked at her for a second - then he realized what was wrong. "Ahh - I forgot! You slept when we discussed the plan. I have to apologize for my rudeness."

He grinned at her and served an elaborate bow. "I'm known as Kaitou-KID." With a flick of the wrist, he produced a white rose and held it out to Ran. "Gentleman-thief. Fancy meeting you, Mouri Ran."

Chapter Text

Chapter fifteen
Got mixed up with what?
ooOO-OOoo

Chapter Text

Chapter sixteen
Allies and traitors
ooOO-OOoo

"We can't meet here. Maybe we are in need of the safe-house later again and the arrival of several cars could give us away. …Yes, Hattori-kun is back… No! – It wasn't him who gave you this information. No matter how persuasive they are – be careful until we know who our strange tipster is… Okay – I'll call you back."

Jodie pressed the little red button on her phone and turned to the others. "Seems like we have an unexpected ally in this battle. Someone with access to top-secret material of our enemy and who is really skilled in disguise. I think…"

"It's Vermouth," Ai stated calmly. So much had happened since the last day that her mind had become kind of numb, and the name 'Vermouth' couldn't scare her more than she was anyway.

Heiji, who ran around in circles, stopped dead in his tracks. "Vermouth!? This woman is unpredictable and does nothin' without ulterior motives."

Jodie nodded grimly. She'd made her own bad experiences with this member of the Black Organization, and still she held on to her promise to avenge her father's death. "Why should she want to help us? She is a high-ranked member and an ice-cold killer. What would she gain by this?"

Ai was again the one who answered her. "Who knows? Maybe she's aiming for mitigation?" She exchanged a glimpse with Heiji. "Although she does seem to have a soft point for Kudou-kun. She knew about his secret and didn't sell him out – she had more than one opportunity, but didn't shoot him." Ai shrugged. "She likes to be mysterious and follows her own rules."

"A secret makes a woman, woman," Jodie remembered Vermouth's favorite catch-phrase.

"That's all nice and stuff, but can we trust her?" Heiji interjected.

"I wouldn't trust her as far as I can spit," Jodie clarified. "But at the moment, we need every help we can get. Whatever she has to offer – it won't save her from her right punishment." Dialing the Inspector's number, she said, "I'm going to discuss the meeting point with Megure-keibu. Hakase – I think it is time to wake Ran-san. We are leaving soon."

Agasa, who had listened to their conversation silently, stood up and went to the room Ran was sleeping in.

Heiji looked questioningly at Ai. "Where's Akai-san? He was still here when I left."

"He left about half an hour ago. Not a hunch where he went. The oh-so-great Akai didn't bother to inform other people about his plans," the girl replied surly.

'Uhh – we're a bit testy, aren't we? Memo ta me: don't touch this topic again while she's around,' Heiji thought, when he heard Agasa shouting.

"She's gone! Ran-kun is gone!"

ooOO-OOoo

Since hours he was stuck here in this drat basement room. Amuro was off the wall that Akai of all people had brought him in this damned situation.

The defeat was hurting him more than the wound in his thigh that fortunately wasn't too bad. The bullet had gone straight through and had hurt nothing vital, so his movements weren't that restricted, but nonetheless it was painful, and he had to support most of his weight with his healthy leg.

His bag with his mobile phone and everything else was still in the entry hall – if Akai hadn't taken it. His gun and the hard-drive he did for sure.

What he needed now was a way out. He had tried everything possible. The door was solid and the windows and the ventilation shaft were far too small for an adult.

'Guess being a child can have some advantages, hmm, Kudou-kun?'

Bored, he'd begun to search through the boxes stored here. Most of them contained useless stuff like old clothes and decoration. He'd ripped a shirts in stripes and patched up his leg. In one box he'd found some sports equipment. Not that he planned to exercise now, but besides surprisingly many flat soccer balls, there were a skipping rope and a baseball bat.

At least he was now provided with something that could count as a weapon.

'As soon as I am out of here I promise you – I will find you, Akai!'

The closing 'thud' of a car door let his head snap up. He listened to the approaching footsteps. Glancing out of the small windows, he saw a red car parking in the driveway and recognized who was coming up to the house – producing weapons out of their holsters.

'Two cops – Takagi-keiji and a woman. Must be his partner.' Amuro grinned. 'Doable.'

He took position next to the doorframe – his back pressed against the wall, the baseball bat ready in his hand, the skipping rope over his shoulder. Due to his police training, he knew very well how they would storm the room.

'One will kick open the door and step aside, while the second will secure the room with a raised gun. But what if they can see no one in the room? They'll have to take a closer look and come in. It's the oldest trick in the book, but it works surprisingly well.'

Just at that moment the door burst open and a male voice shouted, "Beika Police Department! Hands up and don't move!"

Amuro waited.

He knew he had just this one chance. He heard both of them breathing in the following silence.

A careful step towards the door.

Another one.

A shadow fell over the threshold. 'Just a little bit closer…'

As the officer finally stepped into the room, Amuro slammed down the baseball bat on his head and pulled the falling, groaning man to his chest. Wrapping the skipping rope around his neck, he held him as a shield in front of him.

"Takagi!" the woman shouted and pointed her gun at Amuro.

"Let go of him! Now!"

Amuro smirked at her – twisting the rope, what caused the befuddled Takagi to hiss in pain and chough. "I don't think so. I suggest you put your gun to the ground, if you don't want to witness your colleague's early death."

Satou clenched her teeth, but obeyed.

"Your phone as well if you don't mind," he smiled sarcastically. He was strong enough to hold up the currently defenseless officer with one hand while he took out Takagi's phone and threw it out of the room to the other. "Now it's my pleasure to invite you in. Come on – make yourself at home."

He gave Satou some space to walk into the basement room. As she passed him, he twisted the rope a bit tighter. Takagi panted and had to hold back a whine as the thin plastic material cut into his skin and restricted his air supply.

Amuro could see that she had to keep her temper in, and he held her furious glare with an even brighter smile than before. "Good girl! And now take your cuffs and chain yourself to the pipe over there. Don't worry; your dear friend will follow you in a second. Oh, - and your keys please."

He waited until she'd followed his orders and dragged Takagi to another pipe – using the officer's cuffs to chain him too and took his keys as well.

For the first time Takagi got sight of his captor and gasped. "You!? But… you are Mouri-san's apprentice! You've even helped us on some cases! What…'

"Aww… I'm sorry – I lied to you. I'm one of the bad guys," Amuro interrupted him. He picked up the gun, Takagi had dropped near the door and swirled it around his finger.

"And now, if you'll excuse me – I have to find a friend of mine and shoot him."

'Don't know if I should be glad or offended that they've only sent two cops to arrest me,' he thought as he left the appalled officers, locked the door to the basement and picked up Satou's gun.

He wasn't a cold-blooded killer. Not that he would hesitate to use his gun if it was really necessary, but if possible, he delegated the dirty jobs. He would send someone to get rid of these two as soon as he was back at the headquarters.

After limping up the stairs, he cursed when he found his bag. The complete content lay scattered all over the entry hall. Just as he had thought – his gun, the hard-drive and his phone were gone.

'Damn it! With this leg I can hardly drive my car or take the bus. I need someone to pick me up.'

He thought a moment who to call, and hung his head, frustrated.

It had to be him, right? It's the only number I've memorized. And that just because he got a new one, and I had to safe it in my phone yesterday. I hate to call him – I will never here the end of it.'

He sighed, but went over to the house phone and dialed.

"What?" a rough voice snapped at him after picking up.

'In excellent mood – as always,' Amuro grimaced. "This is Bourbon. I need a lift."

"First Vermouth and now you… Who do you take me for? A cab driver? Did my Porsche turn yellow over night?" Gin growled on the other end.

Amuro replied angrily, "No – but I got hurt while I tried to clean up your mess! So, stop combing your hair and move your ass over here!"

ooOO-OOoo

Gin's green eyes stared at Amuro in the rear-view mirror, who answered with a steady gaze.

Amuro snorted. 'Why does he always have to look like a psycho? Does he really think it impresses me?'

As Gin concentrated on the traffic again, the blond rolled his eyes, annoyed. Gin and Vodka had picked him up only twenty minutes after his call. He'd spent the time waiting with deleting the number memory in the phone and searching for a first-aid kit to bandage his wound properly.

In the car, he had told what had happened so far, but held back the information about the two cops in the basement. He had no need for a condescending comment from Gin. They would be dead soon enough and until then, they wouldn't do any harm.

Most likely Akai had called them as Okiya and told them something about a burglar. He was the type who tried to deal with everything single-handedly, and he would not like to be hindered by the police; what would be the case if he involves them in his hunt after the Organization.

"So, this little brat is actually the high-school detective Kudou Shinichi? And Sherry has been the one who changed his status to 'confirmed death'?" Gin mused.

"That's what Vermouth told me. The change is tagged with Sherry's ID-code. She hid with him since the day she disappeared," Amuro replied.

"Then it was this filthy snooper who helped her on the rooftop back then. He will pay me for that!" He absently rubbed his arm where he had shot himself in that night, then lightened up a new cigarette.

"Smoking is really unhealthy, you know?" Amuro teased him. He knew it was stupid to provoke Gin, but he couldn't help it.

"Shut up," Gin snarled. "It may have been my fault to blindly trust in the poisons deadly effect, but it was your fault to let Akai get away, and you even managed to get shot by him." Again, a pair of green eyes tried to pierce through his skull.

Before Amuro could bring out an equal answer, Vodka tossed in, "You've mentioned that Sherry had been warned by this Kudou Shinichi. Doesn't that mean that they are after us right now?"

Gin gave him a sidelong glance. "For sure they are assembling their forces, but who could that be? A little girl, an old man and a bunch of FBI agents." He looked in the rear-view mirror again and a devilish smirk spread over his face. "Don't turn around," he ordered. "One of our friends is right behind us. I think Akai came to check upon his house guest. Seems like you'll get a second chance, Bourbon. Don't blow it!"

Amuro narrowed his eyes and inspected the gun he'd taken from the cops. "You are luring him into a trap? Alright…" He worked the slide of the gun with a smug grin. "This time you will die for real – Akai Shuichi!"

ooOO-OOoo

The warehouse was located in a backstreet near the docks. It belonged to a company that hasn't been able to pay for the Black Organization's 'protection'. After the sudden death of the leaders, the company had been closed. Now, all workers were gone and the sun burned down on the empty concrete yard.

Gin had made sure that Akai was following them with sufficient distance, to be prepared for his arrival.

Amuro stood impatiently in a shady corner of the building. He wanted revenge for the bullet wound and his hurt pride. For the third time, he checked his gun, when he heard a clicking sound and felt the cold metal of a gun muzzle, pressing against his temple. He froze and glanced sideways over a silencer and a shimmering black Beretta, straight into Gin's cold, green eyes.

"Did you really think I would let you take the final shot at Akai?" Gin said with grim amusement. "He is my prey, and you, Bourbon, have made too many mistakes."

Amuro could see the satisfaction in Gin's face, as he continued. "First you blew your cover by taking the child in bright daylight – then you gave him the chance to warn Sherry and on top, you allowed Akai to get on our track. The boss doesn't like that at all."

Beads of sweat formed on Amuro's forehead, as he saw how Gin's finger bent around the trigger. Gin must have talked with the headquarters after their phone call and obviously he had received the order to let him kick the bucket. In and of itself that was not surprising. Mistakes were never tolerated in the Organization and elimination was the typical punishment, but never had Amuro thought that this would be his fate.

His eloquence and intelligence had always been his best weapons. He hoped they wouldn't fail him, now that he had to convince the deadliest assassin of the Organization of his indispensability. He steadied his voice and adopted a nonchalant tone. "Gin, are you really…"

"Another flaw of yours that always annoyed me; you talk too much!"

*phiu*

The silencer swallowed the noise as the bullet left the barrel and found its way through Amuro's head. His blond hair turned to crimson and he sank to his knees with blank lifeless eyes and slumped forward.

Disgusted, Gin turned away from the bloody mess on the ground. A headshot never was a pretty sight.

'And now it is your turn, Akai.' His fingers slid over the scar under his left eye. 'I owe you a bullet for this one.'

He waited for Vodka's signal and grinned as his partner nodded to him.

'With one thing Bourbon has been right. Today you will die! That traitor-bitch, Kir, will be next and then I will deal with Sherry and her precious detective.'

Chapter Text

Chapter seventeen
No more games
ooOO-OOoo

"I can't reach her! Her phone is turned off," Heiji said upset. "What tha hell is she thinkin' ta leave without notifyin' anyone!? Kudou'll kill me, if anythin' happens ta her!"

His outburst was interrupted by Jodie, who was still speaking with Megure. "Ran-san is gone? Oh my god – Keibu, we have a new problem!" Listening to the Inspector, Jodie's eyes wandered through the room and stopped on the coffee mug on the table and the plans beneath it. "Yes – I have an idea where she might be, though I pray that I am wrong. We'll see you at the meeting point." After disconnecting, she tried to call Akai, but had no luck. She turned to the others in the room.

"Okay – it seems like Ran-san went off to rescue Conan-kun all by herself. That means we have to act faster and we can't wait for KID's report. Heiji – try to reach him. Maybe he can find Ran-san and stop her, before she is running into her likely death. Come on – we are leaving!"

Heiji dialed the number the thief had given to them while following the others down to the car. Again, a recorded message told him that the phone was not available at the moment.

'Shit! Why can't girls just once do what they are expected ta?'

ooOO-OOoo

Ran tugged uncomfortably at her disguise. The blond wig itched and she sweated underneath it. The lab coat was slightly too big for her - after all, this should have been KID's spare disguise, if he would have to shed the one he was wearing right now. Fortunately, he was of lean built and not much taller than Ran. He just had to make small changes, so it would not be too obvious that she wasn't the person who was supposed to wear this lab coat.

"Stop the fumbling, would you? Or do you want to blow our cover right away?" KID whispered in Ran's ear while giving a brief nod to a passing man, who wore a similar outfit to theirs.

KID had spent most of the time since the meeting in the safe-house with observing different employees, to learn their rights of access in the areas. Disguised as a pharmacy representative, he had gained easy access to the lower floors and had been able to keep an eye on the coming and leaving people. Fascinating what a briefcase, a suit and a self-confident attitude could do for you. As the phrase goes: Fine feathers make fine birds. As long as you seem to know what you are doing – no one will bother you.

His now and then slightly changes of his appearance did the rest. He didn't want to be remembered as the guy who ran up and down the corridors after all.

Obviously, the company was running a normal working routine and nothing suspicious occurred.

After some time, he came across two employees he had also seen in the last night and stuck to their heels. He had been right – both of them entered the security area. They had to show an ID card, which the guard pulled through a reading device, type in some kind of PIN or code and had to press their index finger on a scanner. The man seemed to outrank the woman, as she yielded him precedence.

KID waited until they went out for lunch, sedated them both with his sleeping gas, tied them up and took their clothes and ID-cards. Their fingerprints were now on ultra-thin gloves that looked and felt like real skin and the lab coats were a bit altered to fit him. His biggest problem was the code. He had seen someone enter a code yesterday as well, but it had been longer than that one today. Did they change the codes on a daily basis? If yes – the members needed some kind of information about the new code, what most likely wasn't the bulletin board. Mobile phones and computers with internet access were too easy to hack. He searched the pockets of the lab coats and found something that looked like a pager. Checking the last message, he grinned. Just one incoming message and it was a combination of letters and numbers.

Prepared with a male and a female disguise, he had waited for the right moment to go back into the building when he had seen Ran.

He was still cursing inwardly, but he didn't dare to leave her behind after he had seen the determination in her eyes. If he had not taken care of her, she would have gone off on her own and that would have meant big trouble. Like in really, really massive-screw-all-my-plans-trouble.

Ran on the other hand had her own awkward feelings, while she was walking through the corridor alongside the thief.

Could she really trust him? The others seemed to count on his help, but – he was a thief! A non-violent one, but nonetheless a criminal.

'Come on Ran – who could be better at helping you in this than someone who is a criminal himself? Shinichi has never been afraid when he attended one of his heists. Quite the contrary – he has been exited to solve the riddles and to chase the moonlight magician.'

She relaxed a bit until a thought hit her. 'The others! They don't know that I am with KID! And now it is too late to call them. We are already in the building and KID insisted to leave the phones outside, so they won't give us away when somebody finds them on us.'

Guilt stabbed in her stomach, but she wouldn't turn back. Not now that she was so near to Shinichi. Somewhere in this building, he was being held captive and she was here to help him!

KID felt the girl straighten up next to him, as the air around her changed from uncertain to resolved. 'That's right – show some confidence.'

They neared the check point on the tenth floor. The guard took their ID-cards quietly. A green light indicated the successful registration of KID's card. He typed in the code he had memorized and pressed his finger on the scanner. Two more green lights flashed up and the guard gave him a nod.

Ran's card was next. After the first green light, it was her turn to type in the code.

A red light – she had made a mistake! The guard raised an eyebrow and KID tried to save the situation. "Thick fingers today?" he asked harshly. "Don't waste my time – hurry up and try again!"

Ran gave him an embarrassed shrug and waited for the guard to signal her to enter the code again. This time it worked and after her fingerprint was scanned successfully, she was allowed to pass as well.

After they rounded a corner, Ran sighed in relief. KID frowned and hissed at her. "Pull yourself together! I know you are not used to this kind of stuff, but at this rate they will catch us in no time!"

Ran bit her lips and nodded barely visible.

Their first goal was to get an overview of the observation cameras, number of guards and escape routes. If possible, they would search for Shinichi, but just when they could do it without risking to be discovered. The rescue was supposed to be pulled off with back-up from Akai and Jodie.

On the floors ten and eleven they had seen many scientists – busy with experiments and taking notes, but nothing special, so they took the elevator to the next floor.

They had made just a few steps out of the parting doors, when a man approached them.

"Where on earth have you been so long?" he snapped at Ran. "Come on – we need you for the bioscientific documentation."

With that he sped down the corridor. Ran had no choice, but to follow him – casting KID a help-seeking glance. The thief thought about going with her, but the man had clearly just addressed Ran. If the man KID impersonated was not part of the team, it would be out of character to accompany them. He cursed under his breath and followed them as inconspicuous as possible.

ooOO-OOoo

At the meeting point – a house in the Chūō district, not far away from Kurosake Pharmaceutical, the gathered people listened to Megure while he summarized the recent events. "KID is in the company building to gain a better overview for the rescue. I still can't believe that we are working with a thief…" Megure shook his head, before he continued. "Ran-san is most likely also at or even in the building – hopefully unharmed. No one knows what Akai-san is doing and you say our tipster is a member of this organization?"

"Yes," Jodie confirmed. "I'm afraid we have to trust her information, for we have nothing better at the moment."

Megure sighed. This operation was a mess even before it really had started. "Well, if they are really correct, we can close more than one cold case and it is more than enough to go officially against this pharmacy company," he said. He and his team had seen through the papers and were astonished in how many criminal deeds this company was involved. Since parts of them were connected with cases overseas, the FBI and CIA would have been contacted anyways at some point.

"So, I think it can be assumed that this woman – Vermouth – called us to the Kudou mansion to arrest the organization member, Bourbon," the Inspector mused. "Satou-keiji and Takagi-keiji are taking care of him right now."

Ai stared at him. "You've sent them there alone?! Bourbon is the one who kidnapped Edogawa-kun – he is very dangerous!"

Megure looked at the girl mildly irritated, because she implyed that his officers weren't capable of taking one singe criminal into custody. "Be assured – they are my most reliable officers, as you should know by now and…"

"You are underestimating him!" Ai cut in sharply. "Don't make this mistake, or the whole operation will end in a disaster! Call them!"

Baffled, Megure did as he was asked – no, commanded from a girl that was still in elementary school. He let it ring ten times on Takagi's phone – then tried to reach Satou. None of them answered. Worry spread in Megure and with harsh orders, he sent a back-up team to the Kudou mansion. He turned back to the girl. "Now to you, young lady. What do you know about this organization that you are so good informed about their members?"

Ai paled, as she noticed what she had just said in her panicked state. Should she really tell them everything? It was true – she might be able to help a lot with her knowledge, but who would listen to a child that wasn't supposed to know anything about deadly organizations? She could try to give the information to Hattori or Jodie, who would pass them on to… Oh my... – how complicated! They were going to bring them down, so maybe this tiring game of hide and seek was no longer necessary. It would mean to reveal her's and Kudou's identities. Could she make the decision for both of them? What if the operation failed? The responsibility lay heavy on her shoulders.

"Tell him."

Ai startled at Heiji's sudden statement. He squatted down in front of her. "What use is it ta keep his secret when he dies therefore? Maybe it's for tha best this way. Do ya think he would blame ya if only he makes it out of there alive? And for yaself – aren't ya tired, pretendin' ta be someone else?"

She looked down. Her strawberry-blond hair covered her eyes as she began to speak. "Alright then – no more secrets." She lifted her head and her steady upward glance met Megure's confused one.

"My name is Miyano Shiho and I am a former member of the Black Organization. My codename was Sherry and I worked on the poison APTX 4869, which was fed to the nosy high-school detective Kudou Shinichi with the intention to kill him after he had witnessed a criminal transaction of the Organization."

Megure's eyes grew wider and wider in disbelieve with every word, but she wasn't nearly done.

"It failed. Instead of killing, it just shrunk him and he went into hiding as the grade-schooler Edogawa Conan. The Organization killed my sister and I betrayed them – taking my own drug. As you can see, I am not dead. I share his fate and since then Kudou-kun and I are hiding from them while trying to bring them down, creating an antidote and getting our lives back."

"Conan-kun is… and you are…" The Inspector was lost for words.

Heiji grinned at him and patted his shoulder. "Take yar time, Keibu. All at once is a bit much, huh?"

ooOO-OOoo

Gin leaned relaxed against a pillar and took a deep pull on his cigarette. Bourbon's dead body lay behind him, half hidden in the shadows.

He could feel that his mortal enemy was near. Vodka had seen Akai in court square and had taken his position in the other dark corner of the hall. If everything went according to his plan, the FBI snooper will take his last breath in a few moments and he, Gin, will be the one to dispatch him. He had enough of their game and if anything would go wrong, Vodka would take the shot for him.

Gin was a killer all through, but he was also a man. A very possessive man. Akai had dared to take Miyano Akemi from him. The only woman he had ever really wanted. She had been so wonderfully obedient. As long as Akai had been in the Organization, Gin's hands had been tied. He had watched them, observed them with growing hatred, while he consoled himself with the younger sister. Little Shiho had been a very nice distraction. And then – finally, Akai had shown his true colors and had to run back to his useless FBI colleagues.

It came in very handy that Akemi agreed in the 'one billion yen robbery'. She gave him the perfect excuse to eliminate her. First, she dumped him and then she betrayed the Organization. Her death had given him satisfaction, but as long as Akai was alive, his vendetta wasn't complete.

'Come on Akai – let's bring it to an end. The time for talking is long over. Show me your ugly face, so I can blow it up!''

There – the noise was scarcely audible, but it told Gin enough to know that Akai stood next to the open gate. Another deep pull and his cigarette was done. The stub fell uncared to the ground. Gin raised his Beretta – his favorite gun. He didn't give a damn about honor or fairness. Way too often, Akai had gotten away. All that mattered now was his death. If he could take him out, he wouldn't fuss about the how.

The corrugated iron of the gate was thin – thin enough for his bullets to go through. Again a faint sound reached his vigilantly listening ear.

'There you are!' His grin was near to insanity as he shot; one – two – three – four.

A painful grunt told him that he had hit his target. This was almost too easy. Carefully, he went to the gate. A wounded animal was the most dangerous one. With a headnod, Gin signaled Vodka to give him cover.

He could hear hissing panting and it was like music in his ears.

Vodka leaped out of the hall and was immediately under fire. He cursed and tried to doge the bullets, but one graced his arm.

Gin used the distraction and shot the gun out of Akai's hand. He towered over the badly injured man, who leaned against the gate in a sitting position and glared up to him. One bullet had gone through his chest and blood purred out from under his hand that was pressed on the wound.

Gin raised his gun at Akai's head. This time the headshot would be deadly.

"Say 'Hi' to Akemi."

Chapter Text

Chapter eighteen
Who am I?
(Part one)
ooOO-OOoo

The blond woman stood in the apartment, she had rented under a false name. No one had lived here since she'd signed the rental agreement and no one in the Organization knew about this place. It was her ticket to freedom. No bed and no wardrobe could be found in here - just a desk with a laptop on it and a wooden chair.

Her slender fingers swept over the closed black-lacquered computer. Today, she had added the last entry and after the door would close behind her, she wouldn't come back.

The information she had given to the police had just been a small piece of her work. Just enough to let them come into action. In this room, on this laptop was every name and every company that was connected to the Black Organization. As a high ranked member, she had access to most parts for the company databank – the rest she had gathered in months of painstakingly researches. Bourbon wasn't the only one who knew how to hack into systems without leaving traces.

As soon as the word would spread that the Organization was uncovered, very many people would act rapidly to save their money and lives. It would take the police ages to question the members and even longer to get the right answers out of them – if they would ever talk at all. They were trained to keep their mouths shut at all cost.

And then it would be too late. All evidence would be destroyed by then, and they would never be able to catch all of the mighty men, lingering in the shadows all over the world.

She would offer to the police the only way to shatter the Organization completely – and her price was a new life. No jail, no prosecution no further contacts. The actress Chris Vineyard would vanish, just as the killer Vermouth.

She would sell out the whole Organization - her boss, who had destroyed her life, had killed her daughter and let her – Sharon – take her place after testing this damned substance on her. Yes – she looked young and beautiful to the world, but inside she felt old, worn out and ugly.

'You've been right, Akai Shuichi – I am indeed a rotten apple,' she thought with a sad smile.

After a last look at the laptop, she left the apartment and put the keys into her own mailbox.

Now, she just had to make sure, that this bastard had no chance to escape – and that her Silverbullet would hit its target.

ooOO-OOoo

He had never felt so tired in his whole life. He had no strength left to do so much as lift his arm to look at his own hand. At the slightest movement, pain would spike through his body, leaving him with gritted his teeth and held breath until it faded. But still, he yearned to see his fingers, touch his face and to use his legs – because they were his own again.

Fully grown – not longer small and frail.

He'd had this feeling already five more times today, after they had forced him to swallow the temporary antidote again and again – just to try an altered youth-drug every time his body was strong enough to bear it. He was sure that his heart couldn't stand this changing back and forth much longer.

Just about five minutes ago – or half an hour? He wasn't sure about time spans anymore – Sakai had given him another one, and now waited for the drug to kick in while she noted something down on the clipboard before she hung it back to the bed.

Shinichi tried to concentrate on something – anything to distract him from his situation. He closed his eyes and evoked happy memories to brace himself against the surely soon coming pain.

Ran and he on a swing – flying higher and higher.

Both of them on a rooftop – viewing a beautiful sunset.

His parents – waving at him with smiling faces.

Ran's hand gripping his own on the Mystery rollercoaster.

Agasa Hakase - proudly showing off a new invention to him.

Ayumi, Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ai – cheering with him after a solved case.

Hattori - turning around his cap with a bright grin.

And over and over again – Ran's beaming face.

He felt a lump in his throat and his eyes burned, but his body was even too exhausted to cry.

A creaking noise interrupted his thoughts, and he could hear a male voice he couldn't place. It sounded distorted and came out of a speaker in a corner of the ceiling. "Hello, detective. What a pleasure to meet you again in person – well – almost in person," the man greeted amused.

Shinichi's mine whirled. 'This must be him – the boss of the Black Organization.'

He knew his voice would betray him, and he just let out a disgusted snort.

"Now, now – no polite answer and no smug phrase? My dear scientists must have really drained you. But don't worry – I've never expected anything else. You may be proud to hear that they are making fast progress due to your kindly efforts."

"Efforts?" Shinichi forced out, wheezing. "You mean due to your torture!"

"I'm sorry to hear that. I hoped that you would appreciate being part of it and getting your body back, even if it is admittedly just temporary. I think I shouldn't be surprised – regarding who you are and why you are here. It doesn't matter anyway – just one or two more tests and we will be able to give the drug to other test persons; without causing their immediate death."

'Vermouth has been right. They are working fast'

"Sakai-san," the voice commanded through the speaker. "Leave us alone."

"At once!" Sakai bowed to the invisible man and left the room.

One of the cameras made a zooming sound and Shinichi felt the intent gaze through the lens as if it was crawling over his skin. He felt the urge to flinch but forced himself to lay still. For nothing in the world would he show weakness in front of this man.

"You know, detective, I didn't like the way you interfered with some of our operations, but I have to admit that I am impressed with how long you managed to stay hidden. Must have been tough to live in such a tiny body. Too bad that you are lost for our side. With your intellect, you could have been one of my top men."

"I would never… never work for someone… like you," Shinichi hissed.

"I know, I know… Well then – I'm not just here to see you suffer. I think for all what you have been through, I owe you an answer before you will leave this world. The answer you are longing for for such a long time. You are a brave young man and you deserve to know who your grim reaper is."

"I'm really touched… Fire away… as it happens… I can spare some time," Shinichi pressed out sarcastically.

"Charming until the end," the voice laughed. "You see - I once called someone who could have been a threat for us "Silverbullet". Do you know why? Because of the real name of our organization. A Silverbullet is special. Not only can it kill like every other bullet, it can even shoot down the supernatural, like a werewolf. Otherwise you could say werewolves are bulletproof. I like to call my best agents 'wolves'. With them, our organization is also 'bulletproof' – unassailable like a castle.

"Our color is black like the night and the shadows we are acting in. We are the bulletproof Black Castle. 'Kinjougen' in Japanese. Do you know the Kanji for this? I'm sure you do. Now tell me, detective – who am I?"

Chapter Text

Chapter eighteen
Who am I ?
(Part two)
ooOO-OOoo

Shinichi groand inwardly. 'Oh great – a question and answer game is just what I need right now. Are you kidding me? I think Hakase would love it – it sounds like one of his stupid Kanji-quizzes.'

He sighed. 'Don't think I have a choice here, so let's see. The first one should be 金. Readings are 'kin', 'kon','kana' and 'kane'. Together with 城 we get 'unassailable castle'. The readings for 城 are 'jou' and…'

He gasped. 'No – this man… I've met him so long ago. I just remember this case so well because Ran had tried so hard to find that karate-champ's alibi, and because it was about the 'Night Baron'. The answer had been right in front of me – laughing at me!'

He remembered what Vermouth had said to him earlier. That she had been with the boss at that time. What meant, that she must have been his female employee. Shinichi hid his surprise and anger as good as possible, and tried to answer in his typical detective manner. 'If talking just wouldn't hurt so much. Get a grip, Kudou – If he wants to play, give him a good game.'

"You can read it also as 金-Kane… and 城-Shiro… 玄. 'Gen' just means black or mysterious. I met just… one man with that name… and that one pretended to be blind… and to be the boss of a computer company… We met… at the competition for the computer virus 'Night Baron'…" He needed a short brake to recover his breath.

"Am I right… Kaneshiro Genichiro?"

ooOO-OOoo

They were ready – finally! To instruct the task force had taken forever to Heiji, while the time was running out.

Megure had been enraged as the back-up team reported from the Kudou mansion that they had to free Satou and Takagi out of the basement. He blamed himself that he hadn't taken the tipster more seriously. Fortunately, both of them were unharmed, except for some bruises on Takagi's neck.

No lead of what happened to Bourbon could be found.

Now, Heiji drove with Jodie to the place of action, but was forced to stay behind in the car – much to his distaste. At least he was allowed to be there, unlike Hakase and Haibara. Not that the girl had been eager come with them anyway.

She had told everything she knew about the members and the structure of the Black Organization. Most of it, he had already heard from Kudou or from earlier in the safe house.

For the task force, two main points were left: Catch as many of them alive as possible. Shoot if someone points a gun at you – they won't hesitate to kill you.

Heiji clawed his fingers so hard into the passenger seat that his knuckles turned white as the company building came in sight.

'Please - don't let us be ta late!'

ooOO-OOoo

A slow clap came out of the speaker.

"As expected from someone who is called 'the savior of the Japanese Police'. Well done, detective." This time the voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Why?... Just for the money?" Shinichi growled.

Kaneshiro seemed to think about his question, for his answer took some time. "Don't you think money is reason enough?"

Shinichi just huffed in response.

"Okay – you got me. So, you remember my disguise as old, blind man and no – that's not what I'm actually looking like. Do you as well remember what I've told you about the 'Night Baron' and its meaning to me?"

Shinichi racked his brain. Gosh – it has been ages ago and the 'old man' hadn't been the culprit, so he'd just mentally put him aside after the case had been solved. But he remembered, that on this case, he had felt that certain glare that had often warned him when he had been watched by someone of the Organization, and he hadn't been able to place it that time. 'So it has been his glare I've felt. Think, Shinichi – what did he tell you? Wait! Hadn't there been something about a son that had died?'

"I can read it in your face – you know the answer. Yes, I had a son – Kiyoshi – who died due to hepatic failure. Happens all the time you could say, but he wasn't a drinker. He wasn't allowed the slightest sip of alcohol – his liver couldn't process it. He suffered from several illnesses and infantile brain damage, and had to stay inside all the time. Computer games had been his greatest enjoyment, and so I invented many of them for him. As you see, the computer company wasn't a complete lie. One of my games – his favorite one with mystic elements like vampires and werewolves - became a huge success. The market is hard-fought and the competition destroyed my game with the virus 'Night Baron' – warning me to never invent a game again. Kiyoshi was outrageous and depressed after that.

"I wasn't at home that day, but when I entered our house, I found his nurse crying in his room – rocking my unconscious son in her arms and repeating over and over that it wasn't her fault, that she had given him the chocolate to calm him down. Next to them lay an open box with candies, and a card saying 'Remember - your game is over'. The nurse hadn't noticed the card in her rush. The candies contained high percentage alcohol and he ate just one, but it was enough. He fell into a coma and the doctors gave him seven months at most. During this time, I invested all my money to find a cure for him, and to find those bastards who had sent this 'present' to us. The police was no help at all, but I found them," Kaneshiro said in a voice that sounded like the promise of death.

"I found this organization that was already active for about fifty years. The boss was a greedy, ice-cold killer. All he was thinking of was how to rule the underground organizations all over the word, and how to increase his wealth. I was just a tiny problem he had been hired for, to destroy my game and to blackmail me. And therefor Kiyoshi had to suffer!" he shouted and heavy breathing sounded from the speaker before he continued. His voice – cold and callous – let Shinichi shudder.

"I killed him and took his place. It was easy enough, for no one of his underlings knew who he was. I let most of the 'business' go on as usual. The high ranked members took care of that anyway. They arranged the death of the leader of the competitive computer company at my command. I felt the might my new position gave me. Suddenly, I had all the options I needed to help my son. I could hire as many scientists as I wanted and let them find the cure.

"Accidently they found a substance that had the power to rejuvenate. The testing person was twenty years younger after taking it and all health problems were gone. I thought I finally found it – but we weren't able to reproduce it. At least I knew now for what I was searching. It was the secret of youth. I redoubled my efforts, but it was in vain – Kiyoshi died and with him everything dear to me. At this point, I adopted the behavior of the old boss. I gave my best assassins alcoholic names, for alcohol had been the silent killer of my son.

"Now money is everything that counts to me and the secret of youth will make me as rich as no one has been before. Guess how surprised I have been when I reviewed Sherry's researches. What a pity that she turned out to be a traitor. Her parents did such a good job with APTX 4869. Who would have thought that this poison would be my pot of gold? We just have to alter it further, so we can control how much younger it makes one – oh, and the thing with the deadly effect of course."

"You are… insane! Hhngg…" Shinichi hissed as the well-known pain flooded his body again.

"You may be right, but I think our time for talking is over now. My scientists will take over again. Even though one of my best assassins knows who I am, because I'm not making the same mistake as my predecessor, my scientists know nothing about my person. So please excuse me; it was a pleasure to talk to you, detective. Cheers!"

The speaker gave a last cracking sound, before it went dead. A second later, the door opened again and Akamoto, Joshura and Sakai entered.

Shinichi's mind tried to process what Kaneshiro had told him, to analyze it as he usually did, but he was completely occupied with the drug that was burning its way through his veins. He heard Akamoto's rough voice.

"Joshura-san – check his vitals. Sakai-san – take care of the brain-monitors."

A cold hand took his wrist and searched for his pulse. 'Why is her hand shaking?'

"Joshura! What are you doing? Get that clipboard and write down what the heart-monitor shows. Can't be that hard!" Akamoto snapped at her and was answered with a quiet "Uhm."

Shinichi fought to open his eyes. 'What's up with her? She has been very forceful until now.' Adjusting his blurry vision, he glanced at the blond woman. Her head was bent over the clipboard while she seemed stressed about what to fill in. She bit her lips and her big blue eyes wandered over to him – locked with his own that went wide in recognition.

'No! Not her – not here!'

It was his last thought, before his mind shut down as suddenly the pulsing pain evolved again, made him yelp and his world became black once more.

Chapter Text

Chapter nineteen
Panic
ooOO-OOoo

Ran stood with Akamoto at a closed door. A brunette woman just had come out and told them they'll have to wait a while. Akamoto raged that it won't be his fault if they were going to lose data because of the interruption.

Ran just listened with half an ear. She was too busy cursing her bad luck that had separated her from KID, and left her with this scientist, who behaved like a madman right now.

'Come on, KID! This would be the perfect time for one of your magic tricks. I have no frigging idea about bioscientific documentation.'

She looked over to the brunette and Akamoto, who had finished his outburst and now stared at the door, as if his glare could make it opening faster. Instead, the door next to Ran was opened and a man gestured at them that they could enter now. Akamoto waved impatiently at her and nearly pushed Ran into the room – where she froze.

A teenager lay restrained on the bed – sweating and panting heavily.

Oh god - how badly had she wished to see him again in his true form and there he was - right in front of her. But the sight of him tore her heart apart and sent stinging tears into her eyes. She was about to sob and to cover her mouth with one hand, when Akamoto's orders brought her mind back to her current situation. "Jashura-san, check his vital signs. Sakai –san, take care of the brain-monitors."

'If I give myself away now, they will kill us both. Shinichi looks already as if he has reached his limits. But he is alive! Alive! We still have a chance!'

Ran swallowed hard and stepped to the bedside. She settled her scattered thoughts as good as possible, and tried to remember what she knew about vital signs. All she could come up with was what she had learned in the first aid curse they absolved with the karate team on a regular basis. Hesitantly, she took his wrist and shoved the cuff aside to check his pulse and found it racing under his too hot skin against her trembling, cold fingers. She longed to wipe away the sweat from his face - to do something; anything to make him feel better.

"Jashura-san! What are you doing? Get that clipboard and write down what the heart-monitor shows. Can't be that hard!"

Again, Akamoto's voice had kept her from doing something extremely stupid. She reached for the clipboard and gave him just an "Uhm," as answer. Even if she would have been able to imitate voices as perfect as KID, never could she speak a word with such a big lump in her throat.

Nervously, she glanced at the monitor and back down at the form on the clipboard with no idea what to fill in. She bit her lips and looked helplessly at Shinichi, as if he knew the answer.

Instead of his squeezed shut eyes, she met two questioning looking ones. She sank into them – drowned in the azure blue color.

Then she saw how he recognized her and how his expression turned from pained to panicked before he let out a loud yell that scared her to the core. She wanted to close her eyes and cover her ears to shut out the scene in front of her, but even more she wished she could just hold him; give him her strength and comfort until the pain faded.

She wasn't allowed anything of it. All she could do was to watch helplessly how he struggled and lastly fainted. A look at his shaking body revealed that he was still hurting, even in his unconscious state.

'God, what have they done to him? What can I do now and where is this damned thief when you need him?'

Suddenly, the heart-monitor gave a loud, fast beeping tone that startled her. "He's going into cardiac arrest. Jashura-san – defibrillation!" Akamoto commanded.

Ran couldn't move nor could she say a single word. She felt numb at the sight of her flinching friend and the urgent beeps of the machine. Someone shoved her rudely aside and Akamoto rushed to the bed; the paddles of the defibrillation machine in his hands. "Sakai-san – Charge! – Step back!" The electrical impulse raced violently through Shinichi's body as soon as the pads made contact with his skin, and left angry red marks on his chest. Some seconds later Akamoto repeated the process.

Ran was in a state of shock. Her brain refused to acknowledge that the twitching boy on the bed, who could be announced dead the next moment, was indeed her Shinichi.

'No… no nonoNO! This can't happen! Not to him! He will be fine!' She repeated the thought like a mantra until, after the third shock, Sakai finally gave the all-clear. "Heart rate down to normal; sinus rhythm."

Akamoto exhaled heavily. "Ahh – would have been a pity to lose him before the change. His breath is a bit shallow. Give him a breathing mask." He turned to Ran and shouted, "What the hell is wrong with you? Have you lost all of your wits during your lunchtime?"

Ran clutched the clipboard like a shield to her chest, as he railed on. 'He will notice it. He will see that I am not the real Jashura and then I am screwed.'

With a loud 'bang' the door burst open and drew Akamotos attention from her.

'Finally,' she thought relieved. 'Was about time, KID.'

Turning to the door, she stiffened. She had expected to see KID in his disguise or even in his white suit, not a man in a black coat with long, silvery hair. Piercing eyes glared over an outstretched arm and a gun. With a calm, emotionless voice that sent shivers down her spine, he said, "Hand him over to me."

Akamoto looked at the gun, speechless for a second and then his temper heated up again. "No way! The boss ordered these tests and not even you, Gin, have the right to interfere! Get lost and let us do our work!"

"Are you looking out for an early death?" Gin growled. "You are not on my list yet, but he is. Aside from that, you have no time left for your precious work anyway because the police is about to storm the building. So, if you don't want me to add your name to my list: Hand! Him! Over!"

"The police? But how… why…?" Akamoto stuttered.

"Thanks to him," Gin gestured to the bed, "and this useless idiot Bourbon, they found us. But I won't go down so easily. Not until I had my revenge, and he will lead me there. He will lead me to her."

Akamoto hastily backed away. No one who wasn't completely crazy would stay between Gin and his target. Therefore, he watched dumbfounded how Jashura brought herself between the teen on the bed and the killer in black.

Gin stopped. "What the…"

"Don't lay a single finger on him!" Ran stood there – both arms protectively outstretched to the sides.

Gin just gaped at her. He wasn't used to people who wouldn't obey his orders, but he recovered fast from his surprise and found back to his snidely smirk. "Today everyone just seems to want that I shoot them. For all I care – as you wish."

Pointing the gun to her head, his finger bent around the trigger. Ran's view zeroed in on the barrel. 'Maybe a well aimed kick…'

'Puff!' - Smoke filled the room and left everyone blind and coughing, except for the thief – now in his trademark uniform – who leaped to Ran and dragged her to the ground; just in time to avoid Gin's bullet that bore into the wall behind them.

With lightning speed, KID untied the detective, who was slowly coming to again, but was in too much pain to stand alone. Now, without the breathing mask, Shinichi began to chough as the rest did.

"Hurry!" KID hissed at Ran. "Help him out of here. I will lead you the way and distract our trigger-happy friend."

Ran felt how Shinichi's weight was shifted onto her shoulder, supported him as good as possible and followed KID's lead. All of a sudden everywhere in the room were screaking noises like firecracker that covered their own steps and coughs. She heard Gin curse as he blindly fired bullets into the smoke. They just made it through the door and a few steps down the corridor, as the room behind them blew up in a deafening roaring fireball. They tumbled to the ground and the heat licked over their backs.

"What was that?" Ran cried out, barely hearing her own voice over the ringing in her ears.

"Think a bullet hit the oxygen-tank next to the bed," KID responded a bit breathless while he hoisted Ran and Shinichi back to their feet. "Come on now!" He glanced nervously at the surrounding laboratories. "We have to find a way out of here, before everything goes up in flames."

ooOO-OOoo

Heiji hated to be left behind. All he could do was listening to the police radio they had installed in Jodie's car to keep up with the operation. In a few minutes they would begin to seize the building. He peered out of the window and observed the entrance. A car arrived and stopped in front of the revolving door. Heiji took in a sharp breath. It was a black Porsche 356 A, and the man who got out of it had been described to him by Kudou very detailed.

'Shit! It's Gin! Tha shorter man must be Vodka then. I have ta inform Megure and tha others!'

He grabbed his phone and dialed the Inspector's number. Holding it to his ear, he heard nothing. He looked at the display.

'Shoot! Tha battery is empty! This radio has just a receiver, not a sender. So I have ta go there myself!'

Heiji knew very well that Megure had listened to Haibara's explanations just as he had himself, but he was willing to use any excuse to be in the game. Once he was with the task force, he doubted that Megure would send him back to the car. He opened the car door and sprinted down the street. For security reasons, Jodie had parked as far away from the building as possible without losing sight of the entrance.

Some policemen observed the building out of hidden places to pass on everything suspicious to the Inspector who waited with the rest of the task force in the next street. In the windows and on the roof tops across the pharmacy company, snipers had taken their positions.

As he was about to reach one of the policemen, the roar of an explosion was heard out of the building. Heiji skittered to a halt, spun around and left it to the officer to speak with Megure. In no time, he reached the revolving door and shoved through it. The entry hall was in chaos. The fire alarm blared and employees fled from the upper floors, and ran out on the street. 'Think Megure's men will have their hands full out there.'

Searching for the staircase, he pushed through the crowd. The elevators were out of order due to the fire alarm.

'Tenth floor and beyond. Good thing that I am in my best shape ever after my extra training for the upcomin' tournaments.'

ooOO-OOoo

The fire was spreading fast. All the chemicals gave it enough food to turn it into a blazing inferno. KID, who now supported the weak detective, sped down the corridor, followed by Ran. The only advantage of the fire was the panic it caused. Nobody paid attention to them; not even to the white clad thief, who definitely else would have been an eye-catcher. The stairway down was crammed full of people. On the tenth floor they were forced to make a break, as Shinichi toppled. KID's hand grabbed his arm tighter to steady him, but the detective's knees gave out, and he sank groaning to the ground. KID dragged him to the side, out of the way of the passing people.

"Shinichi!" Ran knelt down, the clipboard that she was still clutching, skidded out of her hold. "Stand up! Please! We have to get out of here!" she sobbed and grasped his hand. She paled; his skin was even hotter than before. Her other hand flew to his forehead. He was burning up, and obviously was in intense pain. He squirmed; his grip on her hand was almost bone breaking, but she didn't let go.

"Ran…" he panted. "Dont worry... In a… few moments… you can… carry me. AAargh!" He screamed as the pulsing set in.

"Thank heavens – I've found ya! Are ya alright?" an osakan tinted voice called out. Heiji stopped beside the thief and gathered his breath. "This is a madhouse! I think most of tha people are out by now and we should follow their example right away or…" He faltered as he saw in what condition his friend was. "Shit! Kudou! Yar changin'?"

The only answer he got was an agonized outcry.

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty
Descent into hell
ooOO-Oooo

"Hattori-kun, do something!" Ran pleaded fearfully. Her eyes never left Shinichi's face like she was paralyzed.

"And what?" Heiji asked, looking very lost.

"You knew about this – you have been with him when he changed before!" Her voice begged him for help.

"Yeah, but I've never actually seen it. He always dealt with this all by himself. 'am afraid all we can do is wait 'till he is Conan again," he said awkwardly.

Ran paled. 'All by himself? He had to endure this alone every single time?'

She thought back at the times she had seen him at his true age.

The day they had met Hattori-kun, and Shinichi made a sudden appearance to solve the case. He'd seemed ill that time. Feverish and in pain.
The school-play, were he had fainted on stage, but had still been himself afterwards. That had been the longest time he had been around after Topical Land.
That village where they had encountered this guy who pretended to be Shinichi. Again pain and fever, what she now knew were pointers for the coming change.
And in London.

'London – he didn't use the exact words, but he had never been closer to say that he loves me.'

Ran took a deep breath, bedded Shinichi's head in her lap and took both of his hands. "You are not longer alone in this Shinichi – you'll never be again! You can do this! Hold on to me; don't you dare leaving me now!" she said insistently with a determined expression. Their gazes met for a moment and she saw thankfulness in his eyes.

She could feel how it began. How his fingers became smaller and she had to tighten her grip, so his hands would not slip out of hers. It frightened her, but she wouldn't. let. go!

KID saw the first signs too. To give the young man as much privacy as possible in this moment, he spread his cape over his trembling, steaming body; covering it with the smooth, white fabric.

'Hang in there Meitantei.' He turned around to block the two on the floor from the last few people, who hasted down the stairs.

Heiji wasn't sure where to look at. The scene in front of him had a very intimate touch, and he felt like an intruder. Kudou was barely conscious; hissed breathes escaped through his gritted teeth. Ran was holding onto him for dear life.

'Ya could have had this support much earlier, Kudou, ya know? Better late than never I guess,' he thought with a small smile as he turned around as well and waited until the last and inevitable most painful scream signaled him that the transformation was finally over.

"He passed out," Ran said quietly, holding Conan in the folds of the cape. He looked fragile against the white cloth. "Is it always that bad?"

Heiji sighed. "Ya've heard his screams yaself before, so no point denyin' it. He doesn't always faint, but he seems ta be really worn out, so…"

"Can we discuss this later?" KID tossed in. "There is still a huge fire above us and ten floors between us and the exit."

"Come on, let me help ya," Heiji said and took the little boy out of Ran's hesitant hands, so she could get up.

KID reached his hand out to her and hoisted her to her feet. "And off we go!"

As soon as she stood, Ran pulled back. "Wait – where is the clipboard? We have to take it along. There might be important data on it," she said and searched the floor frantically. "Ah, there it is!" She reached down for it as a part of the ceiling suddenly gave in and crushed down on her. At the very last moment, KID dragged her out of the danger-zone and both tumbled towards the stairs that led down.

A second later Ran jumped up again and tried to get across the burning debris that now seperated them from the other two of their group. "Shinichi! Hattori-kun!" she shouted.

"We're fine!" Heiji's voice came through the flames. "KID – take Ran and get her out! We're searchin' for another exit route. See ya outside!"

"No – Shinichi!" Ran screamed again, now held back by KID, so she wouldn't burn herself. "Mouri-san, we have no time! They will take the stairs on the other side!" The thief took her hand and forced her to follow him. Pressing the clipboard to her chest, Ran glanced over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of the two boys; but all she could see was fire, and black billows of smoke.

ooOO-OOoo

Heiji paced down the corridor to the opposite side. From the ground plans, he knew that there was a staircase as well. This floor was spared by the fire until now, but he felt the heat radiating from above and smoke was already beginning to fill the air. At any moment the fire could break through. Feeling his friend stirring, he looked down at the white bundle in his arms. "Long time no see, Kudou," he greeted the confused-looking boy, who tried to clear his head from the cloudy darkness.

Conan surveyed his surroundings. "Hattori! Where is Ran; and was that really KID with her?" he asked. He was still dead tired and every part of his body hurt. At least he could breathe freely again.

"Uhm, yeah – ya've been really out of it, weren't ya?" Heiji grinned. "Good ta see ya awake and sane again. KID and Nee-chan are on tha way down ta tha exit. And we two my friend, are about ta do tha same. Unfortunately, we've been separated by a crumblin' ceilin', but I'm sure, KID will take good care of her."

Conan squirmed in his arms. "You can put me down now. I think I can walk myself."

"And risk ta be beaten up for it from yar neechan when she finds out? No way! Ya stay put!" Heiji ordered while running. He saw the embarrassment on Conan's face and sighed. "Even if ya can walk, we need ta be fast, and I don't think that runnin' around would be good in yar condition. Take it easy and enjoy tha ride."

Conan had no option but to admit that Heiji was right. He leaned his heavy head against the teen's chest, and decided that it wasn't so bad after all. They reached the end of the corridor and entered the staircase. Heiji put Conan to the ground and leaned over the banister. "Damn it! This one is also damaged. Tha only way left is up."

Conan nodded gravely. Running to the top of a burning building wasn't the smartest thing one could do, but it was their only option. He grabbed onto Heiji's shirt, while the latter lifted him up again and started to sprint up the stairs.

ooOO-OOoo

He watched them. The smoke covered his dark silhouette additionally in the corner where he blended with the shadows. His left hand gripped tighter around the gun; ignoring the burning sensation. The hand had been injured in the explosion, after he had shot the oxygen-tank from outside the room. It hadn't been by accident, but a well-aimed bullet.

'This nerve-wracking Akamoto; I hope he burned to a crisp! As for Sakai-san… I think collateral damages can't be avoided,' he shrugged. 'The fire will burn all evidence that could be found by the police. Order from the boss.' A sinister grin spread over his face while his gaze never left the pair at the end of the corridor. 'You and me 'detective', we are nowhere near done.'

ooOO-Oooo

As they reached the twentieth floor, Heiji was out of breath. Running twenty floors with just a short break in the middle plus the smoke-filled air drew on his strength. "We are now enterin' tha floors where tha boss seats his butt in a comfortable office chair. KID described this as 'Fort Knox'."

"Normally it surely would be, but due to the fire, the security systems should be offline," Conan mused.

"How lucky for us. Just look at tha retina scanner over there, and I've no clue what that thin' next ta it is supposed ta be. Would've been a pain in tha ass ta avoid this." Heiji straightened himself. "Okay, then let's tackle tha last three floors." With a leery glance, he passed the scanner-terminal and entered the corridor. Different from the lower floors it didn't really look like they were in an office building anymore; more like they had just entered the apartment of someone damn rich. Thick carpets swallowed every step, and obviously expensive paintings decorated the walls.

"Tha ground plans showed tha next staircase is… uhm…" Heiji looked around.

"Hattori," Conan said annoyed. "Did you forget the way? Really?"

The currently older boy laughed a bit embarrassed and Conan sighed. "Then we will have to search for it. Can't be that tough."

With Conan still in his arms, Heiji rushed through different doors, but all led into further rooms. The teen opened another one and huffed. "Are ya kiddin' me? There must be a way ta tha next floor."

Conan put his hand to his chin. "These rooms are looking private. We should check the elevators. I'm pretty sure one can use them just for these three floors. Maybe they are connected to an independent electricity supply that is not affected by the fire-alarm."

"But isn't it dangerous ta use elevators when a building is on fire?"

"Barou! This is the elevator for the boss. Don't you think it is specially secured against fire, so he can escape safely?" Conan replied.

"True. So let's go."

As they neared the elevators, Conan stiffened. "Stop, Hattori!"

"What's…" "Shhh!" Conan shushed him and whispered, "Listen – there are people in the next room."

"Shouldn't everyone be out by now – or at least tryin' ta get out? Sounds as if they're havin' a nice chit-chat in there," Heiji murmured.

Conan didn't pay attention to him. He was fully concentrated on the voices that were barely audible through the closed door. He could distinguish two; one male, one female. Right now, the male voice spoke, but Conan waited for the female one to talk again, as it had struck a chord in him. There – now he was sure about the people in the room.

'Why didn't he flee? And why is she here anyway?'

Before he could say anything to Heiji, a growling voice turned his guts to ice. "Now now, isn't it very rude to eavesdrop?"

Heiji turned around to face Gin, who pointed his gun at them. The hand which held up the black beretta was terribly burned, but the man didn't even seem to notice it. His grin was as vicious as always. "Go! Knock on the door as your mother has taught you to do."

Conan just stared at him and Gin's grin became even wider. He forced them to back off as he went to the door himself and made two loud knocks. He didn't bother to wait for an answer, but opened it right away. The gun still aimed at Conan and Heiji, he gestured them to go in.

Two pairs of eyes focused on them. One blue pair wide in shock and a green one mildly surprised.

"Detective! What a pleasure to meet you again. And this time actually eye to eye. Welcome to our little descent to hell."

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-one
Over the edge
ooOO-OOoo

"Go in there!" Gin ordered and shoved Heiji further into the room. Conan squirmed in his arms. Sore body aside – he would not stay in this humiliating position with these people around. Heiji put him on the ground before he would fall down due to his struggling.

Conan needed a moment to find foothold. His balance wasn't at its best at the moment. Looking up, he took in the sight in front of him. Kaneshiro eyed him with an interested smile. For the first time, Conan saw the man without disguise and no speaker was between them. He wasn't the evil looking dark figure Conan had always had in mind when he'd thought about the boss. His appearance was more that of a nonchalant business man. Modern cut suit, short black hair with some grey strands and a clean-shaved face, somewhere between forty and fifty years old. He could have been very handsome, but one look in his green eyes revealed the soul of a ruthless, cruel and cold-hearted man.

More disturbing was just the woman next to him. With her gun pointed at her boss, Vermouth's gaze shot back and forth between him and Conan. Never had Conan seen her so nervous. Thinking about it – he had never seen her nervous at all. Her serenity was kind of her trademark. Now, she formed a huge contrast to the relaxed Kaneshiro, who spoke again.

"It's kind of fitting that you accompany us, because I think it's thanks to you that one of my most loyal members turned against me. So it's just fair enough that you'll join us on our last journey." Without the distortion of the synthesizer, his voice was smooth and winsome. Conan understood why this man was so successful. Looks, charm, persuasiveness combined with cruelness can bring one pretty far.

"Tha last journey? What tha hell are ya talkin' 'bout?" Heiji asked and attracted the attention of the boss, who looked at him as if he noticed his existence just now.

"I'm sorry – you are the son of Hattori Heizo, right? Oh yes, I know who you are. Some of my people over in Osaka had a couple of clashes with your father's men. For sure we know everything about him and his family. It's good to know your friends but much better to know your enemies," Kaneshiro said with a smug grin. "Of course, you are invited too."

Conan saw how Heiji clenched his fists into the fabric of the cape he was still holding while Kaneshiro continued. 'Calm down, Hattori – don't do anything reckless.'

"As you can see, I'm in an awkward position. I just wanted to leave, but Vermouth insists that I should surrender – what I refuse to do. So we're kind of stuck here. She has the key for the elevator and the gun, but as long as I'm not going with her, she says she would rather die here with me than let me escape somehow. No clue why she just doesn't shoot me." He fixed Vermouth with his sharp gaze. "Qualms my dear? Didn't I teach you well to be a killer?"

"Oh – you taught me enough, but death would be much too cheap for someone like you. I want you to rot in a cell for the rest of your pathetic life," she answered, disgusted.

Kaneshiro turned to the men again. "You see? It's a standoff. I won't leave and she won't shoot me, so we are going to die in the flames. And now that you are here – you will keep us company."

Standing in the doorframe Gin growled, "Vermouth, you traitorous bitch! I've had this feeling for some time now that you are playing foul. I'm sure you knew about the APTX all along, and that you covered for this dirty detective! But to raise your gun against the boss while I'm around; how stupid can one be?" The barrel of his beretta moved from Heiji to Vermouth. Now they had a delicate problem. If Vermouth would shoot Kaneshiro, she would be dead the next second; if Gin would shoot Vermouth first, there was no guaranty that her bullet wouldn't find its way into Kaneshiro's head before she dropped dead.

Kaneshiro smiled at Gin. "Ah – I knew you wouldn't fail me, Gin. You understand I can't afford to be captured by the police. Due to Vermouth's efforts, they know too much about me to go on with the Organization myself. I have also no interest in a painful death in the flames. I like to decide my fate myself. I let you handle the rest in here, and to take care of the remaining members – if there are any left." Looking down at Conan he said, "My dear detective – I'm sorely afflicted that I won't see the light dying in your eyes, but I'm sure Gin will take care of you and your friend. It's time to end this pointless situation – if you excuse me?" He shoved a hand into his pocket and took out a little pill. Vermouth saw what he was up to and dashed forward with a scream. "No!"

Everything seemed to happen within a second. Gin shot at Vermouth to hinder her reaching his boss. She slumped to the ground; a bloodstain spread on her chest; her gun clattered to the floor. The boss swallowed the pill and wrapped his arms around his upper body. His face was a mask contorted with pain as he fell first to his knees and then to the ground, where after a short moment of shaking, he lay still.

Conan couldn't believe it. The man he had hunted for so long; who had destroyed so many lives, had just committed suicide to avoid his responsibilities. The boss of the Black Castle was dead.

He had no time to ponder over this fact for too long, because there was still a very angry Gin to deal with.

"Kudou – down!" Heiji's yell pierced through his ears and immediately he dropped to the floor. Just in time not to be hit by Heiji's leg that cut through the air above him. The kick sent Gin a few steps backward. Searching for his balance, the agent already raised his gun again and fired a round at Heiji, who leaped to the side. The bullet shattered the window, and glittering glass rained down on the street below. Gin's face was ghastly distorted and his eyes glowed with insanity. Obviously, he didn't take the whole situation too well. His gaze burned into Heiji's eyes. "You hit me – so, you made the decision to die first of you both."

Very slow and careful, Conan scooted closer to Vermouth. Gin'a attention was fixated on Heiji and he intended to leave it at that for the moment. Next to the fallen blonde lay her gun – shimmering black. His small fingers bent around the grip; pointer at the trigger. The weapon was still loaded and cocked. He aimed, what was difficult due to his position on the ground and his small, weak body. 'I can be happy if the recoil doesn't knock me out.'

He shot.

The vase next to Gin burst into thousand pieces. 'Shit – I missed him!' Realizing that Heiji was in a much better position, he used the moment of distraction to throw the gun to his friend. "Hattori – catch!"

Gin recovered incredibly fast, giving the Osakan no chance for a second shot. Instead, Heiji had to dodge another bullet. With a budo-roll he landed next to the open door – the gun firmly in his hand. Seeing the older boy with the weapon as the bigger threat, Gin followed him as the teen drew backwards into the corridor.

Heiji kept him covered for the moment, what gave Conan the time to run over to Vermouth to search for the elevator key. He knelt down beside her. She was still breathing and her eyes tryed to focused on him.

"I have not much time left, Shinichi," she panted. He was surprised by the usage of his first name, something she had never done before – not as Vermouth. But Sharon Vineyard, his mother's friend had. Maybe, even after all these years of lying, she still felt connected to Yukiko – and to her family.

"Listen Shinichi! Tomorrow, an envelope with a mailbox key and an address will arrive in the Police Department. You will find everything you need in the apartment. Act fast and you can catch them all. I didn't plan to die in here…" She coughed and inhaled shakily before she could speak again. "I had hoped to give you this under more pleasant circumstances." Her hand slowly slid into her pocket and again a pill was the result. It was the original APTX 4869 she had shown him earlier. She held it out to him and let it drop in his open hand. He looked at it astonished. With this it'll be so much easier for Haibara to create the permanent antidote. He'll be Kudou Shinichi again – have his old live back.

Shots behind him ripped through his little daydream. 'Hattori! I have no time to space out. Vermouth is dying and we will die too if we don't move our asses.'

Her eyes lay still on him and a little smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Please tell Yukiko…" Conan moved closer to catch the faint words. "Tell her I'm sorry." Her glance broke and the blue eyes lost the shimmer that meant life. He took a moment to bid her goodbye. "I will tell her – Sharon."

Patting Sharon's pockets frantically, Conan searched for the elevator key. "There!" He held up the little silver thing.

The shooting in the corridor went on. "Ahhrg!" Heiji's yelp startled him.

'I have to help him! Here must be something! Anything!' His eyes searched the room hastily and got captured by the bosses' suit coat that had opened and revealed a holster. 'Of course, a man like him wouldn't be unarmed. I hope my next shot is better than the last – damned child's body!' His hesitation was washed away as again a shot was rang out. After one last look at the two dead people, he grabbed the weapon, sped across the room and glimpsed through the door that stood slightly ajar.

Hattori had taken cover around the next corner and every time Gin, who stood behind an open door not in direct line of sight to Conan, moved in his direction or tried to approach the room Conan was in, he sent a bullet towards the assassin. Most likely he would run out of ammunition very soon.

The gun weighed heavy in Conan's little hands – cold and deadly.

Conan waited until Gin moved again to aim at Hattori and sprinted as fast as he could over to the elevator. Gin turned around to find out what caused the noise behind him and Heiji took the opportunity to race down the corridor. The precious seconds he had gained due to Conan's diversion were enough to run past Gin before the agent had the chance to aim at him again. Seeing the teen running to the already opened elevator, in which Conan waited for him, Gin sent a bullet after Heiji, who dodged it, jumped forward and landed next to Conan. Reaching up, Conan tried to press the button for the ground-floor, but had to withdraw his hand quickly, as a bullet hit the panel.

"Hurry up, Kudou!" Heiji shouted and shot his last bullet at Gin.

"Shit! We can't go down – just up!" Conan said after a survey of the resulting damage on the panel.

"Why does this sound familiar to me?" Heiji growled, but pressed the button on top, Conan couldn't reach.

The doors began to close unnerving slowly. Both looked out of the narrowing gap at an enraged Gin, who had to watch his prey escape. He fired at the elevator nonstop now. Heiji pressed himself against the walls while Conan lay on the ground – trying to give as small a target as possible. In his lying position, Conan propped up his elbows and answered Gin's gunfire with his own hail of bullets. His rounds zipped through the nearly closed doors and hit the nearing man in his arms and legs without much effect.

He cursed. "Fuck – just what is he? A zombie?" He fired another salvo. One of the bullets glanced off a metal plate on the wall and hit Gin from behind. The agent stopped dead in his tracks. Wide eyes glanced down on the red color blooming on his chest. His breath rattled as he tried in vain to get oxygen into his shredded lungs.

Conan watched in horror how Gin went down on his knees – still clutching his precious beretta.

'I killed him – I really killed him! No one survives such a wound.'

While the doors finally closed, he was transfixed by Gin's expression. It was the face of someone who saw his dead coming, but rejected to accept it and whose mind fell into madness. Conan shuddered.

The elevator was going up now and reached its destination just seconds later.

Conan and Heiji stepped out on the rooftop. In the middle of it, a big 'H' was painted to mark the landing spot for helicopters. The little boy stopped straight in front of the elevator, illuminated from behind by the light that shone through the still parted doors.

"I've killed him," he said toneless. His eyes searched Hattori's with a tortured look. "I've killed a man."

Heiji kneeled down and put one hand on each small shoulder. "It was not intentional! It was self-defense!"

"I'm a murderer…" Conan's voice faded away at the end.

Hattori shook the little detective "That's not true! He was a murderer! Do ya think he would have shown mercy? Remember who he was. He would have killed us with a fuckin' smile on his face – just as he had done who-knows-how-often before." As he still got no response, he decided it was time for more drastic measures. He slapped Conan with his left hand and shouted at him, pronouncing every single word loud and clear. "You are NOT a murderer!"

Conan's eyes cleared and he saw who was actually crouching in front of him. His gaze was drawn to the bullet-wound Heiji had suffered earlier. Blood stained the light-blue jacket on his right arm. "Hattori! How is your arm?" he asked, forgetting his insecurities in concern for Heiji's well-being.

Heiji smiled reassuring, glad to see his friend regaining his senses. "It's just a scratch, Kudou. No need ta worry. Ya're good to go?"

"Yes - I think. Sorry about… about that and… thank you."

Heiji grinned. "Just ask and I'll slap some sense inta ya any time, buddy."

Conan answered that with rolling eyes, and went back to the task at hand. They had to find a way down from here, before the building beneath their feet crumbled to ashes. Carefully, he bent over the roof's edge. Down on the street police cars, ambulances and fire trucks flashed blue and red lights on the walls of the surrounding buildings.

"Any chance that they'll see us and send a helicopter ta pick us up?" Heiji asked from behind him, but he didn't sound like he believed it himself. They were too high up and it was starting to get dark. Conan searched the rooftop. Looking down he had seen that the fire had spread widely. They had to come up with something – and better fast! Eyeing a pile of boxes in a corner, he mused if they could contain anything useful. Something shiny behind the pile caught his attention and he pulled it out of the corner.

'What is this? Some kind of…' He frowned - then he laughed.

"What's so funny?" Heiji, who searched as well, asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I think now we both owe KID one. Look!" Conan replied and unfolded a steel-frame. "Combined with the cape you've shoved under your jacket, it becomes KID's glider. He must have deposited it here just in case he would need this escape-route."

"Eeh? The cape I…" Heiji looked down on his clothes and noticed only now that he must have put the cape there to have two free hands to shoot. "Ya expect me ta fly with this… thin'? Yar just kiddin' right?" Under his dark skin, Heiji paled.

"Either that or we can wait for the flames to burn us to death." Conan said dryly.

"True," Heiji admitted reluctantly. "So let's put this together and hope that we won't end up flat on tha concrete. Good thin' that yar small at tha moment. Don't think it's constructed ta carry two adults."

Eventually, the glider was complete, and they stood on the edge of the roof-top. The wind tugged at the white material like it wanted to encourage them.

Conan was pressed between Heiji and the handle. He made the mistake to look down and gulped. This was high! The people looked like miniature toys. More and more of them raised their heads and pointed up to them.

'No surprise with this big white triangle behind us. This must be how KID is feeling on his heists. No – I'm sure he always enjoys it to fly with his glider instead of feeling really, really uncomfortable.'

He searched Ran in the crowd, but it was impossible to make out who was who.

Heiji's hands clutched the handle left and right from him. "Are ya ready, Kudou?"

"As ready as I can be."

Conan felt Heiji's chest extending in a deep breath. "No turnin' back now. Here we go!" Heiji shouted and pushed off from the edge.

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-two
Turbulences
ooOO-OOoo

It was impossible to get an overview over the place.

People were running around, some of them hurt and most of them frightened. The police had a hard time to coordinate them. Additional to the employees of the pharmacy company they had to take care of, a lot of bystanders had shown up and crowded behind the black-yellow barrier tape. No one knew who was involved in the criminal affairs and who was not, so no one was allowed to leave the area except in a police car or an ambulance.

Megure sighed and looked at the fire trucks. They tried to keep the inferno at bay and watered the neighboring houses, so the flames wouldn't jump over. Strictly spoken, his division wasn't in charge for such operations. He was here because he had been the one the tipster had informed and he was familiar with the persons concerned.

Watching the attempts to bring order into the chaos, he searched for some particular faces. He had given the instruction to be informed immediately when Conan, Ran, Hattori or even Shinichi were appearing somewhere.

'This stupid teen! To run off just like this. What's up with all of them anyway? One gets involved in such a dangerous case and decides to deal with it alone; the next follows a thief right into the headquarters of the enemy without telling anyone, and the last runs into a building in which a bomb just exploded. One should think them of all people would know better.'

The Inspector still had some trouble to cope with the news he'd heard from this little girl, who was in fact an eighteen years old teenager. And on top of that even a former member of a criminal organization and an excellent scientist; what would have been astonishing by itself at this young age.

And to think of Edogawa Conan as Kudou Shinichi… it made sense, but that didn't make it less disturbing and unreal. A poison like this shouldn't exist at all. And from what he'd heard about the company so far, it wasn't the worst thing that the laboratories were burning down.

'Who knows what else they were developing in there.'

Unfortunately any other evidence would be destroyed in the fire too. But there was no use complaining about it. Highest priority right now was to get this mess straight and to find the missing kids – hopefully unharmed.

Megure shuddered as he thought of the phone call from a very enraged Mouri Kogoro, who searched for his daughter. Let him be a drunkard - when it came to Ran, he was really determined and protective. It turned out that he'd tried to call Heiji after finding the note the boy had left. When he couldn't reach him, he had guessed that the Osakan would be involved in an investigation again and called Megure. After all, this kind of stuff happened all the time Heiji dropped by for a visit.

It had been a bit awkward speaking with Mouri after learning the truth about the 'sleeping Kogoro' while the man himself was still left in the dark. He'd sent out Takagi and Satou to pick him up and bring him to the hideout, where Agasa and the girl waited for the end of the takedown. He wasn't looking forward to the upcoming conversation, but he had to fill him in.

After a heated debate with Haibara, they had agreed to keep the detail of Edogawa Conan's real identity on the low. Megure had just informed Satou and Takagi by now, who had dealt with the shrunken teen most of the time.

'Since Kudou-kun most likely will be involved in future investigations with them once he is back to his real age, it will be much easier this way. After all, they know and trust Edogawa-kun and appreciate his skills. Kudou-kun, they have met just a couple of times, though they know how capable he is.'

Megure felt a bit aggrieved that Shinichi hadn't asked him for help, and he wasn't happy being lied to all the time, but he understood the reasons – however tough it may be for him. He hoped Satou and Takagi would be as understanding as he was and were willing to work with the young detective. It would be a pity to waste such a talent as Shinichi's.

Hopefully, he wouldn't have to tell much more people about it. It was way too dangerous to let leak out that it was possible to create such a substance, and if some of the higher ups would learn about it, researches would be inevitable. And the risk was too high that it could fall into wrong hands. Not to mention that it would be kind of awkward for Shinichi should he decide to join the police force after school. But Megure saw the flaw in this plan. The interrogated scientists might talk about it.

'Seems like I have to inform Superintendent Matsumoto at least.'

Another sigh escaped him. He would deal with this later. 'Now - where the heck are these troublemakers?'

ooOO-OOoo

The same time as Megure's, a second pair of eyes searched the crowd. This one was blue and very concerned.

"I can't find them! They have to be here by now if they took the other stairway," Ran said to the thief next to her.

KID and she were plain-clothed again and shoved through the masses of people. Incredible how many employees worked for the company. She wondered how many of them actually knew what kind of man paid their wages.

"Mouri-san," KID spoke up. "It's time to bring you back to the others."

Ran looked back to the entrance in hope that Shinichi and Heiji would just emerge. "But, Shinichi…"

"Will do exactly the same as soon as they come out," KID interrupted her. "It's futile, trying to find anyone here, so we are using Megure-keibu's position as a meeting point. I'm sure, Meitantei-san and Tantei-han will come to the same conclusion. Besides, we have to report to him what happened in there anyway."

She nodded and KID managed to cut a way through the crowd for them with seemingly no difficulties. After a few minutes, they reached the Inspector, who showed huge relief at their sight. "Kaitou KID, I assume?" he asked the unknown young man, who led Mouri Ran to him in a low voice.

"It's a pleasure meeting you, Megure-keibu," the thief answered with an elaborated deep bow, at which the Inspector raised a brow. He wasn't used to the thief's ways and felt slightly uncomfortable in his presence. After all he was a searched criminal.

They gave him a summary of the recent events, whereas Ran's description clearly focused on Shinichi's well-being, while KID was able to outline everything from a more observing point of view. Megure was worried in which state of health Shinichi might be and that no one had seen him or Heiji so far.

"Anyway, I'll call Satou-san to pick you up and bring you to your father. He is worried out of his mind," Megure said to Ran and already waited for the connection.

"No way! I can't…" she began.

Murmurs arose around them and spread fast. Heads lifted and fingers pointed at something above. Puzzled, the three looked up, as a well-known shouting set in.

"KID! KID! KID!" the crowd chanted. And really – on top of the building, KID's white glider stood out against the dark sky. Ran felt the thief tensing the tiniest bit next to her, his poker face still in place.

"Binoculars!" Megure demanded and looked through the lenses that were handed to him by an officer. He inhaled sharply. "It's Hattori-kun, and Conan-kun is with him."

This sentence took a weight off Ran's mind, just to be replaced by another one. "They are not going to jump, are they?" she asked anxiously.

"I'm afraid that is indeed their intention, Mouri-san," KID answered her. His voice was a mix of deadpan humor, curiosity and concern.

How she wished it would have been just the first two emotions. She looked up at the silhouette of the white glider and clasped her hands in front of her chest.

"Tell the ambulance to get ready!" came an order from Megure again. The people around them didn't seem to notice that something was amiss as they cheered on for their gentleman thief. The shouting whirled through Ran's mind until it was an indefinable noise. Her eyes stuck on what she could make out from the glider, Heiji, and Conan.

They jumped.

Her body went numb.

They fell.

Her heart stopped.

The wind caught under the glider and pushed them up again.

She let out a rush of breath she hadn't been aware holding.

The world around her came back with force. Now, everyone had figured out that this was clearly not Kaitou KID. The unsteady flight was proof enough. The glider swayed dangerously back and forth, sunk a few meters and went up again.

"Turbulences," KID cursed. "Keibu! With this wind they won't make it far, and I'm not sure if they could land the glider safely even under best conditions. The wind blows from south, so they are drifting to the park."

Megure nodded and gave further instructions. "Send an ambulance over there. KID, come with me. We keep up with them. Maybe you can give them instructions for the landing."

"I'll come too!" Ran declared.

"No," Megure refused. "Satou-san will be here any minute. She can drive you to your father or to the hospital if needed." His voice allowed no back talk. Ran lowered her head and clenched her fists. Megure felt sorry for her. "We will take care of them," he said softer. "They will be alright."

He really hoped he could keep his promise.

ooOO-OOoo

"Next turn left!" KID commanded.

"Left? But…" Megure started and was interrupted by the thief on the passenger seat. "Believe me. I've studied this district very thoroughly. They are still flying to the park and this street is a short cut. We better be there before them or I will be of no help at all."

"Alright! Cling on tight!" Megure said and stepped on the gas. The sirens cleared their way as they sped through the city, followed by a second police car and an ambulance.

KID always kept one eye up to the glider and even leaned out of the window, attemptting not to lose them when they had to take an inconvenient turn due to the road conditions.

"They are losing height," he informed Megure. "I hope they will reach the park before they are too low or they'll have to maneuver through the houses."

Megure winced at that comment and suppressed the thought of the glider crashing into a building.

"There," KID pointed out. "The entrance to the park. We made it in time."

They drove through the gates at high speed and came to a halt on the widest clearing they could find. KID jumped out of the car and searched the sky for his white glider. Who would have thought that his choice of color would be so useful one day? The floodlights of the police cars marked the landing place as good as possible.

The two neared and just made it over the first treetops, trundling after the almost contact. KID grabbed the megaphone Megure handed to him, and hoped with this his voice could be heard over the wind. He knew it was kind of loud up there.

"Tantei-han! Lean to the right – and make sure you are shifting your legs as well. You have to fly circles to phase out your height," KID's amplified voice resounded through the air.

He waited until he could see that Heiji was following his instructions and nodded. Maybe this could really work out.

"Turn against the wind with your last circle. Shortly before you reach the ground, push the handle forward. If you miss the ideal moment, you have to run."

KID lowered the megaphone and watched the sinking glider with a frown. "Something is wrong. He doesn't seem to be able to lean to the right hard enough. Keibu, do you have the binoculars with you?"

Megure handed him the required item and the thief looked up again. "Damn! He's right arm is injured. This is going to be a crash landing. Step back everyone!"

They vacated the clearing just in time. After a last swerving, the glider and his two passengers crashed to the ground. The aluminium frame gave in and broke with a screaking noise as they rolled over several times. In a mess of burst rods and shredded sailcloth they finally came to a dead stop.

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-three
Waiting and hoping
ooOO-OOoo

Flashback

Heiji's hands clutched the handle left and right from Conan. "Are ya ready, Kudou?"

"As ready as I can be."

Conan felt Heiji's chest extending in a deep breath.

"No turnin' back now. Here we go!" he shouted and pushed off from the edge.

Flashback end

For a second nothing seemed to happen. They were hanging in midair – the cheering crowd beneath them.

'Are they seriously cheerin' for that thief right now? One should think, with tha fire and all that they have other things in mind.'

Then the second was over, and now everything Heiji could think of was the rapidly approximating ground. They were falling. Fast!

How could the same time span feel like a second or like eternities?

'I knew it – this was a stupid idea!' Heiji shut his eyes, not willing to know how much time was left before he would be dead.

"Ouch! Aho!" he shouted, when he felt Conan kicking at him. The wind snatched away his words as soon as they were out.

'Tha wind! He's right – We won't give up that easily.' With new determination, he tried to steady the glider. He had never used something like this before, and all he could do was leaning left and right to try out what might work.

There! He felt how a gust of wind caught under the wings and they were dragged up again. Heiji's stomach was turning at the sensation. 'This is worse than every rollercoaster I've ever been ta.'

It was a useless attempt trying to influence their flight course. It was hard enough to control the swaying and to stop the up and down. The wind chose the direction and Heiji followed as good as possible, hoping that they would find a landing place soon.

'Landing place? Oh god – I have ta bring this thin' down without killin' us, or we could have jumped without a glider from tha start.'

"Are ya okay, Kudou?" he shouted into Conan's ear. The boy nodded. Heiji felt his tension and a slightly trembling from his whole body.

'How long can he pull through? He must be more than exhausted.' His hands gripped the handle harder. Down on the streets, he saw the glowing neon-signs of the city, what would have been a pretty sight – in other circumstances. Some of the bright spots were moving, and he recognized the flickering lights of two police cars and an ambulance escorting their flight.

Ahead, he could make out a darker area. 'Must be a park or somethin' like that. At least it seems ta be an empty area.'

Looking down again, he cursed. The buildings were much closer than before. He wanted to be back on the ground again, but not right here and now! 'What we need is some upwind.'

The police cars entered the park and came to a halt. The floodlights illuminated a clearing.

'That's where I'm supposed ta land.' Heiji thought. Suddenly, he was aware that the treetops were dangerously near. "Shit!" He shifted his weight. The glider answered with a violent trundling. He struggled to regain some control. A wary glance downward showed that they would make it just above the highest branches. 'Hell - that was close!'

A person ran to the middle of the clearing, raising something to their mouth. "Tantei-han! Lean to the right – and make sure you are shifting your legs as well. You have to fly circles to phase out your height."

The words were a bit difficult to understand over the howling wind in his ears. 'Tantei-han? Must be KID then.'

What a relief! Not only that he knew now that the thief and Ran were in safety, he couldn't think of a better person to help him with the landing. After all this was his glider. 'Ta tha right? Alright – let's do this.'

He had to lean more to the side than before if he wanted the glider to fly a full circle and not only a corner. Putting more and more pressure onto his right arm, he felt a sharp pain shooting up to his shoulder. Heiji gritted his teeth. This was not the time to cry over such a silly little wound.

"Turn against the wind with your last circle. Shortly before you reach the ground, push the handle forward. If you miss the ideal moment, you have to run," the thief's voice reached his ears again.

'Ideal moment? I wouldn't mind runnin' through tha whole damn park if we just land somehow.'

His body thought this was the appropriate moment to remind him that even if it was a graze, it was still a bullet wound and intensified the pain, combined with a starting numbness. He couldn't do anything about it. As hard as he tried – there was not enough strength in his arm to steer the glider as he wanted. The glider swerved and bucked. Heiji had no idea if they were with or against the wind. All he knew was that this would be their last shaky circle, before they would hit the ground. There was no chance doing a proper landing. Just seconds before the impact, he let go of the handle and wrapped his arms around Conan's small body to protect him.

'This will hurt!' was his last thought, before he felt the ground beneath his feet, just to be upside down in the next moment. The world swirled around them in a screaking, blue-red blinking kaleidoscope. He heard Conan yelp in pain and joined his outcry, as his already injured arm bumped hard against something, and he had to let go of Conan.

After what felt like hundreds of hurting tumbles, they finally lay still.

Heiji felt shattered. His body ached all over and his arm was killing him. Slowly, he raised his head and used his left arm to prop himself up a bit. The floodlights blinded him and worsened his emerging headache. People came running up to them.

"Wasn't tha smoothest landin', but I think we made it, huh?" he said with a shaky voice. When he received no answer, he frowned with concern and looked over to Conan. "Kudou?" His friend didn't move. He lay on his back – his pale face covered with blood, oozing out of a nasty head wound on his right temple.

"Kudou!"

ooOO-OOoo

Waiting. She hated waiting. Yet, this still was what she had to do time and again.

Waiting for Shinichi to come home or at least give her a call. Waiting for Conan to wake up after he'd been shot in the cave. Waiting again for him to wake up after the tennis-racket incident. Waiting in the hideout for any news about him, and now she waited for this little lamp to go out to announce that the surgery was over.

Yes, she waited all the time - and she hoped. She had hoped for Shinichi to come home safely; to hear his voice. Had hoped that her 'little brother' would be alright. Had hoped that Shinichi would be found soon, and hoped that when the lamp finally would stop mocking her with its bright light, the operation had been a success.

She glanced at her watch. '3.45 in the morning.' She sighed deeply, and eyed the other occupants in the waiting area. On the chair next to her sat her father – sleeping. 'How can he be tired again after sleeping the whole day?'

He had been frantic when he was brought to the hospital by Takagi and had examined every howsoever small scratch on her. She assured him that it was nothing. Just a few bruises and burns plus a little smoke intoxication, which most of the people displayed who had been in the burning building. She didn't even need to stay at the hospital overnight.

With him also came Agasa and Ai. The Professor watched over the little girl, who was gazing into space. She hadn't said a single word since her arrival, just climbed a seat and stayed there.

No one from the police was present at the moment. Ran had given her statement to Satou after they'd arrived at the hospital. The female detective had decided to bring Ran here to undergo a complete medical check-up – just in case.

Flashback

Ran had just left the treatment room and headed to the exit to call her father, when she saw an ambulance arriving in full speed and with blaring sirens. Her gut twisted. '

Don't be ridiculous, Ran. This is a hospital. Ambulances are arriving here all the time.'

She tried to shrug off the uneasy feeling, but the lump of ice that had formed in her stomach refused to melt. It was like in the hideout when she'd felt something dragging her out to help Shinichi. Just like then, she couldn't ignore it now neither and ran to the emergency area.

She wasn't allowed to enter before she had been identified as a relative of one of the patients. "My name is Mouri Ran. I think Shin... my little brother has just been brought in. His name is Edogawa Conan," she rattled down for the nurse at the reception desk. She clung to the desk so hard that her knuckles turned white, while she waited for the nurse to find the information in her computer.

"Ah, you are right. He's just been signed in with the last ambulance. Go through the door over there and have a seat please. We will inform you as soon as we have the results from his examination."

She did as asked and went to the waiting area in front of the surgery rooms. She was so afraid. What had happened? Just her will to be there for Shinichi if anything occurred prevented her from collapsing right there and then.

Satou showed up again after she had left Ran to contact Megure and Takagi. She told Ran what had happened in the park just in broad outlines, so she wouldn't frighten the girl any further.

Heiji had been brought in shortly after Conan by Megure, who had to leave again to supervise the takedown further and Satou followed him. Heiji's injuries hadn't been minor, but not so worse that he needed to undergo surgery. A sprained ankle, bruises and cuts all over and a mild concussion. His right arm needed the most attention. During the crash landing he had rolled hard over one of the burst rods and broke the arm right above the elbow. Fortunately, the joint itself hadn't been harmed or it would have limited his kendo abilities. If he rested properly and didn't strain his arm for a few weeks, the doctor was positive that he would heal up completely. Ran was allowed to visit him for a few minutes and he gave her some more detailed information about the flight and what had happened afterwards. He didn't know in what condition Conan was – just that he had been unconscious when he'd seen him last.

KID had vanished soon after the ambulance had left with Conan. He hadn't been injured as far as Ran remembered, so there was no need for him to show up at the hospital. Maybe he was also a bit unsure how far the agreement 'No one will arrest Kaitou KID' went on after the job was done. She couldn't blame him. She was more than thankful for his help.

Heiji had mentioned that the thief had looked rather unhappy at the sight of his shredded and burst glider, what caused Ran to giggle a bit. She knew very well that Heiji tried to lighten up her mood, and gave in more than willingly.

The worries came back soon enough as she closed the door to his room to let him rest, and went down to the waiting area again.

Flashback end

And here she had been since then – waiting.

She sighed. Was there a limitation how often one could sigh per day? If there was one, she was sure that she must have exceeded hers already and the day had just begun.

'Pling'

Ran's head shot up. The light was out. Finally!

With a humming sound, the doors opened automatically and two nurses rolled a bed out in the corridor. A doctor in green clothes under his white coat followed.

Ran jumped to her feet, what startled her father into awakeness. She ran to the bed, just to be held back by the two strong arms of the doctor. "Whow – calm down please. You can visit him in a while. He is stable now. Just let the nurses set up everything in his room first," he said soothingly.

She nodded absently. Her eyes never left the small body on the bed until he was out of her sight. The breathing mask and the white bandages around his head and arms were burned into her mind.

'So fragile – so small.' Her heart convulsed painfully.

Ran just stood there, numb.

She jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder "Ran?" She turned around to face her father. Her answer was hoarse and weak. "I'm okay. He will be okay." She cleared her throat and straightened. Her glance wandered to the doctor and over his name tag.

"Please Hirata-sensei – can you tell us more about his condition?"

Agasa and Ai neared now too. The girl's eyes were no longer blank. Ran could see the mind of an adult working behind the blue irises.

"As I said before, he is stable now," Hirata began. "His condition had been critical when he'd been brought in. Although his injuries could be fixed without noteworthy problems, both his body and mind seemed to be exhausted to a point where his system just shut down. We had to reanimate him once, after he reacted badly against the pain medication we gave him."

Ran inhaled sharply. 'Two reanimations within less than twelve hours. Have they seen… Stupid – of course they have!'

Hirata looked at them scrutinizing. "We found burn marks on his chest of a not long ago reanimation. And it hadn't been done with medical care. Can anyone of you tell me what exactly happened to him?"

Agasa answered him hesitantly. "He… was involved in the fire you might have heard of. I'm afraid I can't give you many details without the permission of Megure-keibu."

Hirata didn't seem satisfied, but left it at that. Of course he knew about the fire. Several patients had arrived within the last few hours. If an ongoing police operation was concerned, there was not much he could do for now. "Anyway – besides this we fixed two fractured ribs, treated his cuts and bruises, and stitched up the head wound. It's likely that he will stay unconscious for a while due to the concussion and the overall fatigue, but the risk of a coma is pretty low."

The tension in the air dissipated at his words. "Still, we have the problem with the pain medication. We didn't dare giving him anything more than a light sedative. We are running blood tests right now, but they will take some time. So any information about what exactly had been administered to him previously would be much appreciated."

Kogoro nodded and took out his cell phone. "I'll try to contact Megure-keibu about that."

"Thank you. For the rest of you: Please don't visit him all together and be quiet in his room. He needs to rest. You can ask his room number at the reception desk. The nurses should be done by now. If you have any questions, ask them or tell them to call me out." Hirata bowed and took his leave.

Ran's thoughts raced at the meantime. 'The clipboard! Maybe the data on it are what he needs. Where - I left it in Satou-san's car!

She ran after her father to go to an area where cell-phones were allowed, leaving behind a baffled Agasa and a curious Ai. She barely made it through the doors as she waited for the connection already. "Satou-san? Yes – it's Ran. Where are you right now?... Can you come back to the hospital, please? I left something in your car and I need it badly… Thank you! I'll wait at the main entrance. See you soon!"

She pocketed her phone and headed to the main entrance. 'I hope it's true what they say about Satou-san's driving abilities. I don't want Shinichi to be in pain any longer. He has endured enough.'

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-four
Knowledge
ooOO-OOoo

Ran shifted from one foot to the other while she waited for Satou's arrival. Looking on her wrist-watch every ten seconds, she was relieved as finally the figure of the female officer appeared in the main entrance, the clipboard in her hands.

"Here you go, Ran-san. I couldn't help but take a look through the papers. You saved this from the fire, didn't you?" She saw Ran's nod and hummed knowingly, handing it to her. "You intend to give this to the doctors, right? I don't think we should give it to them like this though. We…"

A small hand snatched the clipboard from Ran and flipped through the pages.

"For sure we can't," Ai stated without even looking at the two surprised women. "These are the complete records of the experimental trials on 'Kudou Shinichi'. I think it would be pretty hard for Hirata-sensei to overlook this fact, and that would result in questions and revelations we can't afford." She handed the clipboard back to Satou instead of Ran. "Just copy the list of medications without his name on it and pass it to Hirata-sensei. This should be enough information for him to arrange everything for Edogawa-kun. Oh, and please give it back to me afterwards, would you?"

"Okay… yes," Satou answered. She knew the truth by now about Haibara Ai and Edogawa Conan, but it still confused her to see a little girl standing in front of her, speaking like an adult and giving orders to her.

Conan-kun had had his mature moments as well, but he'd concealed them with an innocent childish smile. She remembered his bright "Ah le le!?" only too well. He usually used it right before he pointed out some important clues on a case.

This girl now had never behaved like she was seven or eight. Especially next to cute little Ayumi-chan, she appeared calm and reserved. Her comments – if she gave them at all – varied from bored to sarcastic to sharp.

'Not much difference to now when I think about it. I've always thought she was simply more mature because of her family background and maybe kind of shy,' Satou mused and shrugged off the topic for now.

The not-girl seemed to know what she was doing, so no point hindering her. As soon as things will have calmed down, she was determined to have a word or two with both of them; Kudou-kun as well as Haibara-chan…-san… whatever. She brought her attention back to the task at hand. "OKay," she repeated. "Then I will be right back." With a last thoughtful glance she left the girls.

"I think it suffices if I'll wait here for her return. Why don't you go and check on Edogawa-kun?" Ai offered and sat down on one of the nearby seats lined up on the wall.

"Yes, you're right. Thank you… Haibara-san," Ran smiled unsurely at her, and turned to leave.

"You know," she was stopped by Ai's quiet voice and looked back to the girl whose gaze was pointed at the floor. "'Ai' will be still just fine for now."

Ran's smile softened. "Alright then – Ai-kun."

ooOO-OOoo

Ran had a déjà-vu as she sat beside Conan's hospital bed. Not long ago she'd sat like this in Momozono-san's house.

The nurse had just left after inserting some pain-killers in Conan's IV that wouldn't cause complications with the stuff he'd been given earlier. He was pale but looked peaceful now in his sleep. The breathing-mask had been replaced by a tube in his nostrils. The IV-drip led to his right arm while on his left pointer was a clip that sent his heartbeat through a wire to a monitor, which converted the signal into a steady beeping tone.

Ran leaned forward in her chair, placed her arms on the bed and rested her head on them, looking at Conan.

Finally!

Now that she knew where he was, that he was save and that he would be better soon, she could let go. She hadn't to worry anymore about what this organization could do to him and no one would take him away from her this time. She would make sure of that! The downside was that she had nothing to do right now but let her thoughts wander, and they decided that it was time to think about the whole 'Conan is Shinichi' dilemma again. The great heart-to-heart talk had yet to come and she wasn't exactly looking forward to it. She was in on it due to the conversation she'd had with Agasa-hakase, knew the facts that had led to his current situation, but she hadn't heard Shinichi's side of the story. She wanted to hear it in his words and learn about his reasons from himself.

After all what had happened, she'd already forgiven him. She still was sure she could've handled the truth and helped him if he had told her from the start. She didn't fool herself – it would've been hard to see him in this small body all the time, and in spite of all treat him like the child he appeared to be. Yes, their daily life would've been a great deal more awkward.

'Would it really have been better knowing everything? Easier? I wouldn't have been worrying about his whereabouts, but I would have seen his constant struggle with… everything. And this ever-present fear…'

She remembered all too well how she'd felt on her way through the city yesterday.

The recent events had taken a toll on her as well as on everybody else. She felt exhausted. Allowing her eyes to close, she slid into sleep. 'Maybe Shinichi actually did me a huge favor, leaving me out of the loop.'

ooOO-OOoo

Cautiously, Ai opened the door to Conan's room.

'Just like I thought – she fell asleep here.' She tiptoed to the second chair opposite to the one a sleeping Ran occupied.

She just wanted to do a quick check of Conan's current health-state and looked at the monitor. Memorizing the data, she turned to the chair to sit and jot them down onto the clipboard she'd regained from Satou. On the chair lay a pile of folded clothes. Obviously the loose, too big hospital gown Conan had worn on their escape. Putting them down – surly Conan wouldn't mind – something fell to the ground, skipped a few times over the laminate and rolled under the bed. Sighing, Ai kneeled down and searched the floor.

'Where the heck…? Ah – there.' She had to crawl on all fours to reach it, closed her small fingers around it and came out from beneath the bed again to examine the little thing.

Innocently, the capsule sat on her palm. 'It can't be… can it? Don't get too excited about this, Ai – this can be any sort of pill. But…'

Forgetting about being quiet, she grabbed the clipboard and stormed out of the room. The door closed shut behind her with a thud.

"What?" Ran started and looked around. Nothing had changed in the room except for the clothes that now lay on the ground and no longer on the chair.

'Strange.' Seeing that nothing was wrong with Conan, she went back to sleep.

ooOO-OOoo

Mouri Kogoro was currently on the phone with Megure. Satou had called the Inspector in the meantime to inform him that she was on her way back to the hospital with the documents about the experimental trials. Now that this was taken care of, Megure informed Kogoro about the take down.

"You're saying that you are not sure if you've caught all of them?" Kogoro asked, frowning.

"I think we can assume that not all members have been in the building, and that they have numerous hideouts spread all over the city, if not even the whole country," Megure answered tiredly.

"So, it's not over yet," Kogoro remarked gravely. "I have trouble to understand what this organization wants from a child like Conan-kun. Sure – he can be a pain, but honestly – how much of a threat can he be to them? He is just a nosy, annoying child." He knew that he used these harsh words just to conceal how much he worried about the boy. It helped him to keep a clear head.

"Yes… uhm… about Conan-kun… Can you meet up with me now at the Police Station? There are some issues I have to talk about with you."

"Now?" Kogoro was confused. Couldn't that wait until tomorrow? Conan hadn't woken up by now and he hesitated to leave. Then again, Ran would have a hawks-eye on him and he wasn't tired at all – sleeping during daytime had its advantages.

"Alright, Keibu. I'll be there in about half an hour."

ooOO-OOoo

Her fingers trembled.

'Inhale – exhale. Calm down.'

She repeated this until she was sure she wouldn't damage her experimental setup. If this was the real deal, she couldn't afford any mistakes. With a scalpel, she cut the capsule in half and tapped some of the white powder it held into a chemical solution that contained some unicellular organism. She absorbed the substance with a syringe and put the content on a microscope slide.

"Alright – let's do this."

Ai adjusted her microscope until she achieved the correct settings. Peering through the lenses, she prayed that she would see what she expected.

Different from necrosis, apoptosis caused the cells to swell until they destroyed themselves. Phagocytes eliminated the remains. They were like the body's own garbage collection - not that in this solution any of them would appear.

She held her breath while she waited for the cell-reaction. 'Wait! Was that…?'

She zoomed in for better view and suppressed a cry of joy. The cell walls expanded and degraded. This was an ongoing apoptosis.

Ai leaned back in her chair with closed eyes, and let out her held breath in a relieved sigh. Now, she had something she could work with. Something much better than paikaru, which she had used to create the temporary antidotes.

'I think it will be best to start from scratch. Let's see what they have given to you, Kudou-kun.'

She reached for the clipboard and began at the first entry.

As expected, they'd started with the data they'd received from Bourbon and gave Conan her current antidote.

'Wanted to see what I'm capable of, huh?'

Next came some notes regarding pulse, breathing, temperature, blood samples and so on. Then he'd been given the APTX again, but this time it was named 4958. 'Wow – have had some failures there, haven't you?'

She pitied all the poor souls who had to take the numbers between 4869 and 4958. She turned to the page with the formula for this new version. 'What did you alter? The amino acids of somatropin.'

Ai had tried that too. The basic idea was simple. To grow up, our body used somatropin, known as 'Human growth hormone' (HGH) that was released from the hypothalamus and regulated by somatostatin. She had taken the hormone and played with its amino acids. The problem was just that somatropin consisted of 191 of these, what resulted in almost vast combination options. Until now, she'd tried just 52 variations because the process was immensely time-consuming. There was so much one had to take into account before ending up with an actual result to start trials.

Skimming through the next pages, she concentrated her attention on the different amino acids and the effects the changes had had on Conan. She shuddered when she realized how often he'd had to go through the painful process of changing. Ai was one of the few people in this world (most likely the only one) who could truly empathize with what he'd endured.

It seemed that the BO had aimed for a more controlled... what? Poison? No, that didn't sound right. The poison was working well enough. Conan and she were the exception of the rule. All the other victims were dead. She knew that because the poison had been used off and on until she'd 'quit' and there had been a corpse every time. So, the antidote? No, they'd altered the APTX every time but barely the antidote - just enough to fit the new forumal of the APTX. They'd just needed him in his adult form to try a new version of APTX.

The results showed an increasing amount of somatostatin. This hormone was taking part in initiating apoptosis. That was nothing new to Ai. Somatostatin had been an essential component of the poison from the start. But to just repress it didn't work for the antidote. She'd tried it and the results on the mice had been… rather disturbing. She needed to know how to balance out the two counterparts. What brought her back to the problem with the 191 amino acids.

She studied the data again. The extracted body-cells seemed to grow younger every time. In fact, the last samples belonged to a younger Conan than he was supposed to be by now. As if he was seven again and not nearly nine.

'So they'd aimed for youth after all.' Ai was aware that there had been several top secret projects concerning this topic, but APTX had been none of them, or else they'd known what had happened to 'Sherry' right away. Only when they'd learned about Conan, they'd started researches in this direction. 'And they'd been close.'

Just the thought of what would happen if this was brought to perfection and leaked into public – it would unleash hell. No, this had to be concealed completely.

'But maybe the BO scientists still have been on the right track for the permanent antidote – just in the wrong direction. After all, they did alter it slightly – if I reverse and intensify this, maybe… '

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-five
Lectures
ooOO-OOoo

The thin pages of the newspaper crinkled between her fingers. It was the third she'd bought in the little store in the hospital. Three days since Conan had been brought here, and three days in which he hadn't woken up. To him completely unnoticed, Tokyo had witnessed the biggest police operation in years. The newspapers went head over heels with their reports. Every day there was a new headline about arrested members, most of them along with sensational pictures.

Ran folded the paper twice and threw it in the trash. She'd read every article twice at least and remembered every word, though she would have preferred information from the police directly. You never knew if not some over-eager journalist added a few details to pep up the story.

She fed a vendor with some coins and bought a tea. Carefully blowing over the hot liquid, she went back to Conan's room. After she had insisted very persistently to stay with the boy, the nurses had been so nice to set up a second bed in his room for her. She had fetched a few things from home in the first night and camped out in Conan's room since then. Nobody was waiting at home for her anyway. Her father had given her a very short call and informed her that he wouldn't be available for some days and had muttered something about 'coming clean with some issues'. To her it sounded like a new paraphrase for 'I'll get very very drunk – don't disturb me.'

Just thinking about her father made her blood boil. 'How can he leave at a time like this? Doesn't he have any sense of responsibility?' Plunking down into her chair next to Conan's bed, she blew away some strands of hair in an angry manner. 'He really is impossible! But just you wait, Otou-san. When you are back I will…' Her following thoughts included some for her father very unfortunate ideas about karate, cooking and her mother.

The sound of the opening door distracted her from plotting more scenarios.

"Hey, Neechan," Hattori greeted her through the door-crack, the smile on his face not nearly as bright and carefree as usual. A brief glance behind him and he slid into the room, what looked a bit awkward because he had to do it on one leg.

"Hiding from your nurse again, Hattori?" Ran asked smirking.

Heiji snorted. "Yeah – for some reason she thinks that I shouldn't run around and visit my buddy here."

"Could the reason be that you have a mild concussion, and that it is likely that you'll stumble over your sprained ankle?" Ran giggled. "You should stay in bed or at least call someone to bring you here in a wheelchair."

A horrified expression spread on Heiji's face. "A wheelchair? No way, Neechan! I'd rather sprain my other ankle, too before I'll use such a thin'."

Ran's smile softened and wandered over to the bed. "You are as proud and stubborn as he is. He hates to admit a weakness to anybody as well."

Heiji sat down in the second chair. "Is he any better?"

"I don't know. Hirata-sensei says that everything looks fine and that his body and mind are recovering. They're still giving him pain medication for his ribs and his head, but he will wake up on his own when he is ready. We simply have to wait."

Heiji watched her while she took Conan's small hand, which was almost swallowed from her currently bigger ones.

"Simply, huh?"

'Ya're really scarin' her, Kudou – and me too. Think she could use some better company here than me. I suck at this kind of stuff.'

"Ya know what – I think I'll go and call Kazuha. They'll release me in a few days, and she can come and pick me up. She'll chew me out anyway for not callin' her earlier, so why kick it down tha road any further, right?"

He rose and hobbled back to the door. Opening it, he heard the voice of a very angry nurse in the next corridor.

"Hattori Heiji! I told you I'm going to restrain you on your bed if you're wandering off again! Where are you this time?"

Heiji shuddered. "See ya, Neechan. I'll come by later again – have ta hurry now," he said and left.

Ran shook her head amused, and turned back to the sleeping boy. "He is a wonderful friend – but you know that already, don't you? I'm glad he was there for you and still is."

ooOO-OOoo

He noticed four things while he slowly broke through the thick dark blanket of unconsciousness.

One: waking up to the beeping sound of your own heartbeat was reassuring but also kind of annoying.

Two: his eyes needed much longer than he would have liked to focus on the white ceiling.

Three: he was not alone. He hasn't yet moved to learn who was keeping him company, but he could sense the presence of another person in the room and heard the rustling of paper.

Four: it was a very difficult task to count to four when you still felt drugged to the eyeballs.

Looking for whoever was with him, he wasn't sure if he was really awake or still dreaming.

In the chair beside his bed sat Kudou Yukiko and read a book. Or at least she tried to do so if the pace she was skimming through the pages was any indication. Sighing, she finally closed it with a soft thud and lifted her gaze to his face – where she was greeted by his opened blue eyes. She stared at him. Obviously, she had some difficulties to process what she was seeing.

'Okaa-san…' he gulped at the sight of her red-rimmed eyes and the tousled strands of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail. His usually perfectly styled and shining mother looked like she hadn't slept for days. And she'd cried – a lot.

"Didn't I tell you not to do that ever again?" she managed with a strained voice in a mix of scolding and relief. Yukiko leaned forward and embraced him like only a mother could. Conan felt her body-warmth and inhaled her familiar scent. No matter how old you are – nothing works better than a motherly hug when you are hurt. He allowed himself to relax in her arms for a moment.

When he felt her shoulders shake in stifled sobs, their roles where suddenly switched and he was the one who gave comfort to her.

He opened his mouth in an attempt to respond in a reassuring way, but found his throat too sore and dry.

Yukiko noticed it and let go of him to pour him a glass of water from the pitcher on his night-stand. She helped him in a more upright position, careful about his broken ribs, and handed him the glass that was actually made of clear plastic and came with a  twisted, blue straw. 'Right, I must be on the kiddy-station after all.'

He took a sip of the water. It was lukewarm, but it soothed the raspy feeling, so he didn't feel like he was near a coughing fit any more. Lowering the cup in his lap, he looked up to his mother again. Her concerned frown slowly melted into her usual beaming smile, seeing her son was as well as possible for the moment. She was an actress after all and he was sure she would hide her worries from him like she always did; because she thought she had to.

It was part of the problem why he and his parents didn't have much of a connection. Neither they nor he liked to admit when there was a problem or help was needed. It was all about happy facades and 'Yes, I have everything under control.' They cared about him and they loved him – he knew that. But once gained, independence was hard to give up on. Had he or Agasa told them about all the trouble he was constantly in, they would have flown him to America without discussion. Heck – they didn't even know that he had been shot back then in the cave. At his insistence, Agasa told them mostly about the less dramatic cases he'd solved when he called to inform them how their offspring was doing.

Conan was well aware of how uncomfortable Agasa felt because of all the half-truths he was telling his parents, and he was more than thankful that he did it nonetheless. It had been hard enough to convince them to let him stay in Tokyo after Vermouth had kidnapped him at the harbor. 'Oh god – I have to tell her about Sharon. But not right now. Let's wait for a better moment,' he thought, being well aware that something like 'the right moment' for such topics didn't exist.

Right now, he was eager to know what had happened while he'd been out – and how long that had been. Taking stock of his injuries, he began to examine his body as good as possible without moving too much.

He still felt groggy, and a faint pain in his upper body while sitting up had warned him not to overdo it. His mother filled him in, seeing his questioning look as he touched the heavy bandages around his head and winced.

"You did a great job crashing some ribs and bumping your head – twice in a few days."

"I didn't ask for any of it, you know?" he muttered. He felt how it was easier to form complete sentences the more he came out of the stuff the doctor's had given to him.

"I know Shin-chan," Yukiko said and took his hands. "But didn't it occur to you just once that it might be a bad idea living above a café where one of them was working? Aaa~nd …" she interrupted his attempt to speak up. "…who was even closer to your secret being Kogoro-kun's apprentice? You said that you suspected him long before we found him out on the Mystery-Train, but you stayed anyway."

Conan crossed his arms in a defending manner. 'OK – maybe this time she is not up to hide anything. It is obvious that she'd pressed every single information out of poor Agasa'.

"Of course I knew all of that, but what did you expect me to do? Run away and leave Ran and Kogoro behind? Who knows what could've happened? We all agreed that Bourbon would most likely vanish after his cover was blown. Surprise – he didn't. But the BO was more interested in Kogoro than in me and he wasn't even aware of it. Although I'm sure that Bourbon noticed that the 'Sleeping Kogoro' was not what he seemed to be. He just lacked one puzzle piece to see the complete picture – what he did in the end as we all know."

"Yes, he did, and we've almost lost you, Shinichi," came a new voice from the door. Kudou Yusaku stepped to the end of the bed, hands in his pockets. A behavior his son had adopted over the years.

"We didn't expect you to run away – that is not how we've raised you. We expected you to have enough sense of self-preservation to ask for help if necessary. Do you have any idea what it feels like when you receive a call that your only son is hospitalized and in severe condition?" The writer sighed, fetched the other chair and sat down next to his wife. "You are right. We've let you stay in Japan after the Mystery-Train incident because we thought you were safe. Had we known then what we know now; we would have tied you to a seat in a plane to L.A. if we'd had to. I've told you about my connections to Interpol long ago, and somehow we would have managed to bring Ran, Kogoro, Ai and Agasa out of the fire-line as well."

He turned to Yukiko. "By the way - Agasa is still afraid of you, darling. I think you have to talk to him later again to reassure him that you are not after his head." That earned him a little giggle from her, which she suppressed quickly, given the seriousness of the situation.

"Anyway," Yusaku continued, facing his son again. "We can talk about 'what if' as long as we want. Things turned out the way they did, and we are more than glad to have you back in one piece." Yusaku locked his eyes with Conan's – two blue pairs that were so similar to each other. "We're aware that we've let you live alone at a young age and we haven't been there for you much, but please know that we are very proud of you, and we love you. I know I can't keep you from being a detective, but please, don't do anything dangerous again when we are not able to help you."

Yukiko cleared her throat. "That doesn't mean that you should do dangerous stuff at all. We want you to come home to us safely every day," she smiled at him.

"Huh? To come home to…" Conan was lost for words, perplexed by her choice of words. Yukiko helped him out with glee. "Yes! We decided to move back to Tokyo. As your father already said: We love you and the recent events showed it more than clear to us that we belong at your side. We've missed enough of your life, and we don't want to miss just one more day."

"What your mother is trying to say, son, is that as soon as you are released, we want you to live with us again. In our home in Beika."

Conan was stunned. His parents were coming back. He could go home, sleep in his own bed, wake up in his own room… "But… Conan lives with Ran and Kogoro. I can't…"

"Oh, I'm sure we'll find a way," Yukiko beamed. Eyeing her baffled son, she raised an eyebrow. "Or could it be that you want to stay with Ran?"

Conan's face turned beet-red.

"Ah, I see," Yukiko giggled. "But, remember why you moved there in first place. You hoped to find clues about the BO due to Kogoro's work. There is no more need for it. And honey… you know you can't live there as Conan forever – especially not now that Ran knows about you. 'Conan' has to go home someday."

"I know… and I want to return to my old live, it's just… it doesn't feel like Conan is all fake anymore. He has real friends, he goes to school every day and he solves cases with the police. All these people have no idea who 'Kudou Shinichi' is. They just know what the newspapers have written about his cases, maybe met him once or twice, but they are not his friends. I think… what I'm trying to say is… that somehow, I will miss all that." He had looked at the cup in his hands while he spoke. Now his mouth bent into a bitter half-smile. "But it doesn't matter right? As long as Ai doesn't find a cure, nothing will change. I will return to grade-school and stay in this small body. The only difference will be that I pack my school-bag in my old home and no longer in the agency."

His parents knew nothing to answer. There was nothing to say about it – he was right.

Conan took a deep breath, looked up from his lap and put on a brave smile. "Anyway - tell me what happened since our unfortunate landing in the park. Where is Ran, how is Hattori and how did the takedown go? And aren't there any doctors who want to know that I'm awake?"

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-six
Something's missing
ooOO-OOoo

"Alright Conan-kun, everything looks pretty good so far," Hirata said and put his stethoscope around his neck. "I want you to rest as much as you can and don't worry; in a few weeks you'll be able to play soccer with your friends again. You like soccer, right?"

"Yes, I do," Conan beamed up at the doctor. 'Ok – this I won't miss at all. Being treated like a child sucks. Aside from that, this question reminds me quite too much of this dreadful 'conversation' with Bourbon.'

"When can we take him home, sensei?" Yukiko asked. She and Yusaku had called for Hirata after their talk with Conan and had also informed Megure that he was awake. Right now, the Inspector was waiting with Takagi in front of the door while the doctor finished his examination to give the 'all-clear' for the inquiry.

"I would like to keep him here for about two weeks to monitor him. Concussions on children shouldn't be taken lightly. Afterwards he can go home, but he has to stay in bed for another week and I want you to bring him in after the week for a final checkup. If he feels unwell, you can bring him here anytime of course." Hirata turned the pages on his medical chart. "In this 'Mouri Kogoro and Mouri Ran' are listed as his currant guardians." Questioningly, he looked up. "Where are they? I assumed they would be the ones to take care of him?"

Yusaku answered him. "That is correct, though there had been an unexpected change of plans. Mouri Kogoro won't be available for a few days, and his daughter is still a minor, so we called Conan's parents and they agreed that we take him to our house in Beika. We will also keep an eye on Ran-chan."

Hirata considered this new information for a while. Of course he knew who was standing in front of him. The Kudous were quite famous. The father a writer, the mother a former actress and even the son had made the headlines a few times. They were distant relatives to the Edogawa-boy, and as long as the parents agreed…

"All right, then please make sure to bring the written agreement from his parents that you are allowed to sign his release papers." He collected his belongings and turned to his patient. "Okay, Conan-kun, I think there are two nice police officers who would like to ask you some questions. Do you feel up to it?"

"For sure, sensei," he responded in his best little-kiddy manner.

"Good. Then I will take my leave now." He bowed at Yusaku and Yukiko and left the room to have a short word with Megure.

Conan exhaled relieved. "Finally – I know this acting-thing should be easy for me by now, but at the moment it's hard to hold it up."

Yusaku nodded sympathetically. "You are drained, hurt and impatient to know what news Megure-keibu might tell us. That was to be expected. As for the takedown, I'm as curious as you are. It was hard to get a hold on Megure-keibu in the last days. He was busy with interrogations and arrests."

"Yes, nearly all officers we have are in action," Megure declared as he entered the room. Takagi followed him and closed the door.

"Conan-kun… um… Kudou-kun…" Megure corrected himself, clearly troubled how to address the boy. This was the first time since the disclosure of Conan's real identity that Megure spoke to him and it felt - odd. The Inspector still saw the unusually bright grade-schooler in front of him, but now he could recognize Shinichi's sharp mind reflecting in this intelligent eyes.

Conan helped him out. "Let's leave it at 'Conan-kun' while I'm still in this body, Keibu. Less confusing for all parties I guess."

"Well then Conan-kun, it's good to see you awake again. I hope you are not in too much pain or too exhausted to help fill in some gaps regarding the events of your kidnapping?"

"It's alright, Keibu. Although I am tired, I don't think I'll be able to get some proper sleep before I know what is going on out there. So, fire away – what do you want to know? I take it you're already informed about how I became like… well, this." Conan gave Megure a half-smile gesturing down at his body.

Megure nodded. "Haibara-san informed us about your current… situation and helped us with our preparations for the takedown. Though I would like to get a more detailed version from you, and I'd really like to give you a piece of my mind about not telling us – we'll save this for later," he interrupted himself and cleared his throat. "Maybe you can begin with how this agent, Bourbon, got you out of the house."

Conan's glance was focused on Megure while he reported what had happened. How Bourbon found him out, about their drive to the headquarters, how he woke up and contacted Ai. He had to stop now and then to answer an additional question. Takagi's fast scribbling pen put everything down in his notebook.

At the mentioning of Vermouth's involvement, Yukiko took in a sharp breath. Conan looked up at his mother and he could see the distress in her eyes – both from his statement (which he'd tried to keep as free from his painful experiences as possible) and from the memory of the woman she'd once trusted.

"Kaa-san, she helped me. Without her support I think I wouldn't be here right now. She was the one who alarmed the police in the first place and passed on the information. And she…" His mind showed him the dying woman on the floor again, and he closed his eyes for a brief moment. He didn't approve of what she had done as a member of the Organization. There was no justification and no excuse for murder. But to see someone dying like this, to see the light fading out of the eyes – it affected him like it would affect everyone.

'And there is something else – something she had… told me? That doesn't seem right. Wha-'

"Shin-chan?" His mother's voice reached him and the hospital room snapped back into focus.

"Sorry, didn't want to worry you," he smiled gently at Yukiko.

Her eyes were knowing and her question quiet. "She is dead, isn't she? Hattori-kun told me." He answered with a slow nod.

Hesitantly, Megure broke the silence and the moment between mother and son. "Vermouth was indeed the one who tipped us off – in disguise of Hattori Heiji. And there's more than that. In the morning after the fire, we received an envelope with an address and a mailbox key. Satou-keiji led two officers to the apartment in which they found a laptop. On it was everything – really everything. From high-ranked agents to the last employee in the post-office. Who they are, since when they worked for Kurosake Pharmaceutical and what had been their range of duty. It helped us to separate the actual criminals from plain employees, who weren't involved in anything illegal. They just helped to hold up the façade without knowing anything."

"I think many people are shocked to know for whom they were working, plus they have to search for a new job now," Yusaku mused. "With all this new information, I'm sure many cold cases can be closed now."

"True," Megure nodded. "And it's not just us. The data contained also information that should keep our colleagues in America quite busy for a while. I think their returned CIA-Agent, Hondo Hidemi, will be a great help for them," he said and turned back to Conan. "Vermouth added the background of the boss, Kaneshiro Genichiro, as well. Did you meet him?"

"Yes, I did. Though our first 'meeting' was just through a speaker during my, um - treatments." He saw his mother wince and went on quickly. "He felt the need to enlighten me about his motives, and was eager to let me know who he was. Actually, I'd met him shortly after I became Conan back then, but he was in disguise at that time and just a bystander on a case."

'Why do the bad guys always feel the urge to tell their victims what keeps them going anyway? Well, maybe even the evil minds need some sort of appreciation.' Conan chased away this disturbing train of thought. Really – he didn't need a deeper insight in a criminals mind.

"We've already spoken to Hattori-kun and Ran-san about what happened during your escape. I assume your third… ally is not available to answer any of our questions. Do you mind giving us your point of view then?" Megure asked, raising an eyebrow at mentioning Kaitou KID.

"We've found three corpses on the top floor of the building. Unfortunately, the flames didn't leave much to identify them. Apart from that, most of the employees were able to leave the building. Just on the floor where the explosion took place, some more victims had been found," Takagi added.

"I'll do my best, though my memory about our run through the corridors and how we met Hattori at the stairs is kind of fuzzy. Actually, the first thing I really remember is Hattori and I after my transformation back into Conan."

Faint impressions of that event crossed his mind. A warm body he leaned against, strong hands supporting him and above all that, Ran's encouraging voice. The pain hadn't been any less, but he had just known that he would pull through. Shaking his head slightly he continued. "About that medical-stuff earlier, I think you better ask Haibara. All I can tell you is that I changed back and forth more times then I could keep track of." He bit his tongue as he noticed his parent's reaction and changed topics. "Did Vermouth's information include the 'big goal' of Kaneshiro?"

Megure's expression showed that that had indeed been the case.

"Good," Conan said with a heavy exhale. 'Then I don't have to talk about this crazy stuff. Guy must have gone bonkers to think that this could have worked out without any problems.'

"Hattori and I had to go up, for the way down was barred with debris. We've encountered Gin up there." He shuddered again as Gin's distorted face ghosted through his vision. 'Think this will haunt me in my nightmares,' he sighed inwardly.

"Gin forced us into a room where Vermouth tried to compel Kaneshiro into submission. They ended up in a standoff. Kaneshiro was kind of… I don't know how to name it - dejected? I think he was aware that no matter how the outcome of this situation would be, he was busted. He knew that Vermouth had passed on the information to the police. There was no way and no reason for him to continue. His son was dead, his company burned down and with it, his whole organization was about to be shattered. So, he decided to die and took a poison – maybe his beloved APTX?" he shrugged. "Who knows. Then everything was utter chaos. Gin shot Vermouth and Hattori attacked Gin. I tried to injure Gin with Vermouth's weapon, so that Hattori would have an easy job defeating him. I missed and threw the gun to Hattori, who lured Gin out in the corridor. I sat next to Vermouth – and she was dying."

Everyone present listened quietly. The silence in the room was tangible. The little boy in the bed continued, barely aware that his voice had dropped nearly one octave and now was almost as deep as his adult one. "She told me about the envelope, the keys and she…" His voice softened and he reached for his mother's hand. "She asked me to tell you, that she is sorry." Again there was something tugging at the edges of his awareness.

'Strange. I'm sure there was more – something important, but I can't put my finger on it.'

His mother let out a hiccupping sob and squeezed his hand – quickly composing herself. "Thank you Shin-chan," she smiled at him sadly. Yusaku placed one hand on her thigh to give her his comfort. He would embrace her later when she would allow it. Now she needed to be the strong mother for her child.

Conan took a deep breath to complete his story. "Next, I took the keys for the elevator from her. It was meant to be our escape route. Because the gunshots hadn't stopped and I'd heard that Hattori had been hit, I took the boss' weapon. We had a shootout with Gin in the corridor – he damaged the elevator-panel, so we had to go up to the roof. He didn't stop to fire at us, and shortly before the elevator doors closed… I shot him."

Yukiko stifled a gasp and covered her mouth with the hand that was not holding Conan's, while Megure's head jolted up. "You shot him? Hattori-kun stated that it had been a ricochet shot; a bullet that glanced off the wall."

Conan nodded and raised his eyes – full of sobriety. "That's right, but it had been my bullet nonetheless, and I will take full responsibility."

Now Yukiko lost it. "Responsibility?" she shouted. "For what? For defending your life; defending your friend? You didn't aim at him with the will to kill him, did you?"

Conan couldn't stand her gaze and turned his head away; looking stubborn.

For his mother that was answer enough. "There, I knew it," she said gently. "You never could kill someone and you know why?" With a finger under his chin she turned his face to her again, forced him to look into her eyes. "Because you know what death means. You have seen so many corpses and met even more sad people who have lost someone beloved and you've always shared their sorrow. You know that no motive in the world is good enough that it's worth someone else's live, 'cause in the end the culprit is as dead as his victim."

Conan looked at his mother wide-eyed. Yukiko smiled. "I know you just want to do the right thing, but look at your situation from the outside. If this was one of your cases, what would you say?"

"Self-defense," he whispered. Hattori had told him so, and now he believed it himself.

"That's the way we see it too Conan-kun, and no one had believed otherwise," Megure reassured him. He cleared his throat. "Good, I think we all know what happened next. We should let you rest now, and we still have some work to do." He turned around to Takagi and gestured at him to get ready.

"Who's missing?" Conan asked calmly.

Megure froze in his attempt to bid his goodbye. He scratched his neck awkwardly. "Um, don't worry about that. It had been foreseeable that we won't catch them all at once. Not all of them have been in the headquarters but in the various hideouts, so we have to do some footwork."

"Who. Is. Missing?" Conan repeated. Megure gave in. He knew this boy would find a way to get the information that he wanted anyway. "As I said, we're still searching for some of the agents. At least two of them are old acquaintances from you. Bourbon and Vodka."

Conan closed his eyes. He knew it. It wasn't over yet. 'Would have been too good.'

He had a very bad feeling about that already, but Megure wasn't done. "Also, we haven't heard from FBI-Agent Akai Shuichi since the day after your kidnapping. Although he is known for his solo actions, his colleagues were sure that he headed out to help you. Therefore it is unsettling that he didn't report back yet. After all, it was made public that the Organization's headquarters has been brought down."

Those were indeed bad news, and Conan frowned. A sting in his head reminded him that it wasn't up to him right now to save the day.

After Megure and Takagi had left, his parents were about to follow their example and let him sleep. Musingly, Conan leaned back in his pillows.

"Stop it," his mother said. "I know you, young man. This is your thinking-face. If you're planning to mull things over and over I will go and ask the nurse to sedate you. You need your rest, so let go for now, will you?"

Conan sighed, but tried to relax. Yukiko made sure that he had everything he needed within easy reach. On the floor next to his bed lay some clothes. Picking it up she asked, "I don't think you'll need this anymore, do you?"

He surveyed it with a quick glance. It was the hospital gown he had worn in the headquarters. "No, just throw it in the trash please." His mother nodded and turned to follow her husband, who was waiting at the door.

"When did you say Ran would be back?" her son's voice held her back.

Yukiko glanced at her watch. "I think you have at least one hour left. Ran refused to leave your side since you've been brought in. She really needed some fresh air, so Kazuha-chan took her out to Shibuya for a shopping trip, and I think she planned to lighten up Ran's mood very thoroughly. I'm sure Hattori-kun is glad to have Kazuha-chan off his back for a while. She wasn't exactly pleased to find him in a hospital yet again," she winked at him and closed the door.

'Poor Hattori,' he grinned, knowing that it was best not to cross Kazuha when she was angry or worried – or both. Thinking of Ran, his pity changed suddenly into unease. 'Come to think of it – Ran can be just as creepy when she feels like it,' he gulped. 'No use bothering about it. She even deserves a free punch for what she's been through.'

Against his mother's advice, he reflected the events at the headquarters once again. This tingling sensation just wouldn't stop.

'I'm missing something, but what?'

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-seven
Emotions
ooOO-OOoo

"Pleased to meet you... Kudou Shinichi." Bourbon's smug smile turned into Asamoto's sadistic grin. "Let's have a look at what your blood can tell us."

Terrified, he watched the syringe coming closer and closer…

... and morphing into a glass of water, held out by Vermouth. "Here you go." Her laughter rang in his ears, and all colors blurred together, swirled around until they formed a new face.

It was Ran, leaning over him in the disguise of Jashura, but the eyes – they were all hers. Blue, beautiful and so full of worry.

He felt heat. His whole body burned.

"Shinichi - Stand up! Please!" Her voice was pleading, and he wanted so badly to do as she asked, but his arms and legs refused to work properly. The heat got more intense and Ran's face faded into darkness.

For a moment, he drifted through black velvet, then it ripped apart to reveal Gin's vicious grin, overlaid with the horrible expression he had seen last on his face.

New scenes came up, changing rapidly. Just short flashes of colors, sounds and feelings.

Kaneshiro.
"No!"
A shot.
The structure of carpet beneath his hands.
The weight of the gun.
Shattering glass.

"-inichi!"

A voice calling him?

He strained his ears to hear the words more clear. "Listen, Shinichi!"

And suddenly, the flood of pictures came to a halt. He could see Vermouth's eyes looking up at him. Death was already written into them. Her closed hand reached out to him and opened over his palm. "I had hoped to give you this under more pleasant circumstances."

A pill dropped down.

He jolted upright and regretted it immediately, as pain shot through his body.

"Aack!" He panted hard, looking at his hand as if the pill he had seen in his dream would still be there. It wasn't.

He felt cold.

The pill – the APTX 4869. He had put it into his hospital-gown and… his mother had trashed it. He clenched his bandaged hands and ignored the aching scrapes and cuts.

"Damn it!" His small fists rammed into the mattress. Why hadn't he remembered earlier? How could he forget about that?

"I have to call her!" His head shot up, his hands searched frantically for the buzzer to call for the nurse. "I have -"

"A meltdown?" a sober voice asked.

"No, I have to… what?" He blinked a few times to clear his head, and focused on the strawberry blond girl that sat on one of the chairs, flipping through a fashion magazine without looking at him.

"Haibara! Thank heavens you are here. Listen! Call my mother right now! Maybe it's not too late. Tell her to not throw away the hospital gown, or to retrieve it if she already did."

She closed the magazine in her lap and watched him with mild interest. "And why should I do so? Did you evolve a foible for hospital fashion or did you set your heart on this one piece especially?"

He bristled. He didn't have time for this. "Haibara, this is important! In those clothes was a pill of the original APTX 4869 – maybe our only chance to get our lives back! So, stop mocking me and get goin-hnnng!" He clenched his teeth and stiffened as a sharp pang in his chest took away his breath. One hand pressed over the hurting area, he folded forward, panting.

"As pleased as I am to see that you're already good enough to yell at me again, I think another heart-attack is not what you need right now, so I'll better tell you right away," the shrunken scientist said and dropped her act, watching his monitors with a concerned frown.

Conan got over it slowly. "Tell me?...'bout what?" he asked baffled and winded.

A little smile tugged at the corners of Ai's lips. "I have the pill."

He stared at her open- mouthed. "You? But how? Not even Hattori knew that I had it."

Ai leaned back in her chair nonchalantly. "I've found it the last time I came here to check up on you. I thought you wouldn't mind if I'd run a few tests on it."

"You did- Haibara, is it… can you…" His thoughts were completely jumbled. From sheer terror they'd jumped to utter excitement, leaving him almost speechless.

"Get a grip Kudou, or do I really have to worry? Loss of native language could be a sign that you're concussion is worse than we initially thought," she said, not actually sounding worried at all.

Conan groaned slightly annoyed. "Thanks for your concern," he grumbled. "Now please, stop beating around the bush. Can you make an antidote with that pill or not?"

She met his eager gaze very earnestly. "I can."

A wave of relief washed over Conan. He leaned back and raised both hands to his head. "Thank god," he breathed shakily.

'This nightmare will be over soon! No matter what I've said about Conan's non-fake live – I want my own back – permanently.'

"How long?" he asked, eyes closed.

"I'm positive that I can finish a sample by the end of this week. Then I have to administer some trials and-"

"Haibara, the short version please," he interrupted her.

She actually showed an expression that came very close to a pout. "Very well then – I think in about two weeks it will be ready if all tests turn out the way I expect, BUT!" she cut so firmly in his breakout of joy, he could practically hear the capitals. He waited for her to go on expectantly and a little anxious.

"But you can't take it until you're healed up completely. As long as you are not 'right as rain' in Hirata-sensei's books and in my assessment, all pills you'll get from me will be made of chocolate."

He groaned, sulking like the child he appeared to be. "I've been sick before when I took the temporary cure. It worked even better. As soon as I'm home-"

"No."

Ai sighed. 'He really can be a handful sometimes.'

"Firstly: What do you think Hirata-sensei will say if 'Conan-kun' doesn't show up for his checkups? And secondly: The other times you've just had the flu not broken ribs. Ever heard of pneumothorax, internal bleeding or spleen rupture? What do you think how a sudden growth-spurt will affect an instable site of fracture? So, you do the maths then."

Satisfied, she observed his reaction as he realized – flinched – and finally gave in. Being impaled by one's own ribs really wasn't a pleasant thought. "Right – you win. I think 'likely death' outweighs impatience, huh?" he resigned.

"Glad you came to the same conclusion as I," Ai deadpanned. "Another question," she went on. "Did you really just now remember about the pill?" Curiously, she eyed him frown deep in thought.

"Yes, even though I spoke to Megure-keibu about everything else, this was… like a bad erased drawing. I knew there was something, and I could make out the faint outlines but I couldn't wrap my mind around it."

"I see," Ai hummed. "It's not unlikely after a concussion to have some gaps in your memory."

"Perhaps, but why this memory? I have lots of pictures in my head I wouldn't mind to forget forever, but this one was none of them."

"Maybe your body has a different opinion on that," Ai mused. "It remembers very well the pain a change brings along, and made the connection between the pill you received, a new antidote and the following agony involved." She hiked her shoulders. "Your body protected itself, knowing your mind wouldn't do it."

Conan rolled his eyes. "Great, now my body makes my decisions?"

Ai raised a brow."I think you should be grateful for that, considering how often you tend to exceed your limits. Anyways-" She hopped off the chair. "Your girlfriend will be back from the cafeteria soon, and I have a lot of work to do. Culturing cells, infecting innocent mice, creating an incredible antidote, yada yada – you name it."

"Uhm… yes, ok," he stammered at her leaving small figure. "Oh, and Haibara?"

She turned around with her hand on the doorknob. "Yes, Kudou-kun?"

"Thank you."

ooOO-OOoo

Conan hadn't told Ai anything of what Megure had said about the Organization and she hadn't asked.

'Her fear isn't gone by now, even though the two people she'd dreaded the most are dead. She knows that it's not over yet and she buries herself in work for distraction. I hope the Professor's got an eye on her.'

The setting sun filtered through the blinds and painted orange stripes of light over his blanket and his nightstand were his glasses lay, abandoned for the moment. Apparently, he'd slept for some hours after the police had questioned him. Speaking about the police – Takagi had been awfully quiet. Sure, Megure was the leading investigator, but usually the Inspector interacted more with him.

'He even couldn't look straight into my eyes. Learning that the bright little fellow who helped out solving cases actually isn't so little at all must have been… a big surprise to say the least. I really hope we can sort this out.'

With a 'bam', the door suddenly burst open to reveal a very angry and seemingly very drunken Mouri Kogoro.

Conan jumped at this entrance and cursed under his breath as his body reminded him once more that abrupt movements were out of question right now.

"Yoouuu!" Kogoro pointed at Conan. "Youu ruinnd ma ca-career!" he slurred accusingly.

Taken aback, Conan just stared at the man who swayed slightly in the doorframe.

"Aand ya sedjuced ma Ran 'nd then ya ledd 'er hang." 

'Uh oh, he knows. Seems like somebody forgot to inform me about this little detail,' Conan thought, sweating.

He had expected that Ran's father would be furious, and had been a bit anxious about the upcoming conversation, but he'd hoped to deal with a sober Kogoro not a drunken, aggressive man. His hand felt for the buzzer once again, but this time slow and careful to not aggravate Kogoro any further. If things turned out for the worst, he would have to call for a nurse.

Wary, he waited what his 'uncle' would do next. He didn't have to wait for long.

"Wanna know what I thing 'bout ya, Kudou Shin-'ischi?" Kogoro stumbled further into the room and pushed the door shut behind him. "I thing y'ar 'n nosy 'n' arrogand j-jerk!"

He almost spat out the last word, now close enough for Conan to see that his eyes were blood-shot and his skin pale underneath his flushed nose and cheeks. He had seen Kogoro in bad shape before, but this was the worst by far. He must've drunk non-stop the last days.

Beside his fear how far the man would go in this state, he felt anger rising inside him. 'As if Ran doesn't have enough on her plate right now –Nooo – He had to drown himself in beer and sake instead of supporting his daughter. No chance for a rational conversation right now. Seems like I have to be the adult here – again.'

Breathing deeply, he calmed down as good as possible and fixated Kogoro with his gaze; what was kind of difficult since Kogoro had clearly problems to focus on one spot for longer than ten seconds. "I think you may want to go home and sleep it off before we continue this, Mouri-san," he said – purposely using the more polite addressing and his adult-like manner of speaking.

Kogoro gaped at him for a moment.

Megure had told him that the freeloader actually was Kudou Shinichi and after many explanations, he finally had believed it.

His sudden success, his black outs and this way too intelligent little boy – every piece fell into place. But to see him now right in front of him, without the childish act, was a bit much for his befuddled brain to process. Everything he knew at the moment was that this boy had lied to him – had played him like a marionette, had sneaked his way into his home and had betrayed his beloved daughter. He did the only thing he could think of. Unsteady steps brought him next to the bedside and within reach of the boy underneath the blanket.

The moment Kogoro raised his hand to slap him hard across the face and Conan was about to press the buzzer, both of them stopped cold at the new voice coming from the door.

"No! Otou-san, don't you dare touch him!" Ran growled at her father.

Under her furious gaze, Kogoro slowly lowered his hand, and he seemed to come out of his rage. His eyes darted back and forth between Conan, who hadn't even flinched and his daughter, who was still standing in the doorframe with two cups in her hands. If she would tighten her grip any further, the already crushed plastic was going to give in and spill its content all over the floor.

"Ran, I…" Kogoro began.

"Save it! I don't want to hear your excuses right now," she hissed at him, tears welling up in her eyes. "I knew you were gone to drink away your senses again and that I couldn't count on your help, but this… you've never… how could you?" Her last words got lost in hiccupping sobs of suppressed anger – full of disappointment.

Kogoro tried to control his wobbly gait as he walked towards Ran and reached out to her. She flinched away and glanced at the floor, unable to control her feelings if she would meet his eyes and see the sorrowful and pleading expression in them.

"Just leave," she whispered hoarsely. "Maybe I can talk to you later, when you're sober."

His arm fell down to his side. Kogoro waited one more moment, nodded sadly and left without another word.

Conan watched worriedly how Ran set down the cups on his nightstand. Her head still bent, she took his hand, her slender fingers moving carefully over the white bandages. He felt at a loss what he could say to comfort her. He knew how much she loved her father despite his bad habits. Her grief hurt him too, and knowing that somehow he was responsible for this mess was harder to take than any slap Kogoro could have given him.

"Somebody told him, right?" she finally broke the silence.

He nodded "Seems like it. I had no chance to ask him who, or to explain anything to him. I… I never wanted this to happen – anything of this."

He waited for her to look at him. "I'm so sorry, Ran."

A sad smile played on her lips. "I know."

Suddenly, he became aware that this was the first time they actually talked to each other since the events had started spiraling downward. The first time she looked at Conan's face while speaking with him as himself – Shinichi. No phone and no bowtie between them. No worries that he would have to leave her before he could finish his sentence.

Though he would have preferred to be in his true form when they were finally coming clean, he was grateful that he had the chance at all to give her his point of view. And he would be his old self again. A detail that made him more confident, and would hopefully be good news for Ran too. He braced himself to start his story as Ran's quiet question stopped him.

"How do you feel?"

He blinked confused. "I, um... good so far… I guess. The painkillers are doing a great job even though they make me a bit dizzy," he said a bit sheepishly. He didn't want to worry her. Actually, he could use a new dose of this heavenly stuff since his head started to throb and his body ached all over in a dull pain. This would have to wait. If he'd call for a nurse now, their conversation would be interrupted – again.

"Good – that is…good." She'd let go of him and wrung her hands in her lap now.

'Seems that she is as nervous as I am.'

Conan waited, because Ran seemingly was about to go on.

"I'm glad that you are doing better now, though… that wasn't what I wanted to ask. It was more meant like 'How do you feel... emotionally'?" she rephrased her question. "I mean – I know what happened to you in Tropical Land and mostly everything that happened after that, but these are just facts. What I don't know is, well – how you felt during all this time." She looked at him expectantly. She knew that he had support from Agasa, Haibara, Heiji and even his parents, but she also knew that he wouldn't go to any of them to talk about his personal struggling with the situation. He had always put up a brave front for others, even when she had met him in pre-school. The only person he had opened up to aver time - if he talked at all - had been Ran herself, and as Conan, he hadn't even had that option anymore.

He must have been so lonely.

She wanted him to share his hurt with her, to know that she was there for him.

"How I felt? Oh. Ok - I'm afraid I'm not good at this sort of stuff," Conan admitted embarrassed, but he tried to put into words what he had been through nonetheless.

"When, when I realized what had happened to me, my first reaction was denial. Seriously – who would believe that shrinking into a grade-schooler would even be possible? But there I was – standing in front of my own house, too short to open the damn gate. I think frustration went with that situation, followed by relief that the Professor was at home and determination to convince him that I was indeed, Shinichi."

He gave her a crooked smile, remembering how he had used his deduction skills to proof his own identity.

"You told him? Just like that? What happened to 'This is too dangerous, I can't tell anybody.'?" she asked him unbelievingly.

"Ran, do you really think I would have told him if I had been in my right mind? I only just shrunk, I was wet, cold and yes – I've been confused and… afraid. A feeling that increased to panic as the Professor pointed out how grave the situation really was. We agreed to keep it at secret, and in just that moment you came in. If I had thought to freak out before – jeez have I been wrong. I had to come up with a false name out of the blue, and because of the books behind me-"

"-you created Edogawa Conan," she finished his sentence.

"Yes, not the most creative but, well... before I knew what was going on, I found myself as your permanent houseguest."

He hesitated, fiddled with his blanket. "You know – I was about to tell you the truth right on that evening, but was interrupted by your father and our first case. I hoped the 'man in black' he spoke of was one of them. Back then I thought it wouldn't take me too long to get a lead, get the poison and the cure."

He sighed. "Had I known how long… No – who am I trying to fool? As soon as I was aware of how deadly only knowing about the BO could be, I knew I couldn't tell you anymore. Though I now see that I have been an idiot to believe that ignorance would protect you in the long run."

Seeing her lips thinning, he hurried to go on. "Don't get me wrong. You are one of the strongest and most reliable persons I know. You would have kept my secret come hell or high water, but you are also very kind-hearted and protective when it comes to your friends and family. I was afraid you would endanger yourself in an attempt to help me."

Again, he had to pause for a second to recollect himself. "Seeing you hurt… I… I don't think I could stand that. If they'd ever used you to get to me..." He swallowed hard. Even knowing that the immidate danger was over, the thought alone was enough to make his throat close up.

He reached out and she took his hand again, his eyes searched hers. "Losing you would break me," he whispered hoarsely, before a small smile played on his lips. "But we will talk later about what this last feeling means."

"Later?" Ran asked perplexed, still reeling from his admission how much she meant to him. She had him expected to go on, to maybe even...

"Yes, later," he interrupted her train of thought. "To be more exact – in about three weeks, when I'm out of here and Haibara allows me to take the antidote. I want to do this as myself."

His last sentence sank in very slowly. Three weeks? Antidote?

He snickered as he watched her blooming understanding.

"Oh my gosh! You're serious?" she finally burst out.

He gave her a bright grin and nodded. "It's true. Haibara just told me. Your annoying detective-geek will soon be back for good."

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-eight
The new status quo / Scientific stuff
ooOO-OOoo

Chapter Text

Chapter twenty-nine
Get this over with
ooOO-OOoo

Chapter Text

Chapter thirty
Wake up
ooOO-OOoo

Chapter Text

Chapter thirty-one
I'm sorry
ooOO-OOoo

Chapter Text

Chapter thirty-two
Change of perspective
ooOO-OOoo

Chapter Text

Chapter thirty-three
Scars and scratches all over again
ooOO-OOoo