Disclaimer: Do not own Detective Conan, Magic Kaito, or that pesky stone called Pandora.

Hi! This is my first multichaptered DC fic (other than Time and Space, which is a crossover so it doesn't really count). Well, the first one that I'm posting. It's not going to be very long, and I'm more or less half-done already. This first chapter may seem like it's going to be some big "Let's bring down the Org. together!" thing, but it's really not.

Conan payed no heed to what Ran and Sonoko were saying. Since it was Sonoko, he didn't need to guess what they were talking about. Instead he focused on the world around him, including that dark shape barreling towards him.

Hang on…

Comprehension dawned too late as Conan was picked up by a larger body and spirited speedily away. He could hear Ran shouting in the background, giving chase, but his kidnapper quickly lost her. He looked up at the face of the person, who grinned cheekily back. Suddenly all sense of adventure was lost. "Kaito Kid."

"Oi oi. Better not shout that too loud. I'll have to keep out of your sight in civilian form from now on, otherwise you'll be all "It's Kaito Kid!" in my face."

"Why are you kidnapping me?" Conan asked, getting straight to the point.

"I'm not kidnapping you," the thief protested. "I'm rescuing you from a hostile situation."

Conan glared. "You can't possibly be referring to Sonoko-neechan, so spit it out already."

"Some friends of mine," Kid elaborated, the subject of the conversation indicating that they were anything but friends. "They're getting a bit antsy since I'm taking so long to return the last heist. Getting a bit more desperate than usual to figure out who I really am. So desperate in fact that they're willing to bet that you might know something. Which you do, but we'll forget that for a moment as we contemplate what would happen to the both of us should they get their hands on you."

"What about Ran-neechan?"

"About half a minute ago, she received a text message from her precious Shinichi saying that he's back for a little while and he's waiting for her at his house."

Conan quickly searched his pockets. "Uwaah! When did you-?"

Kid patted his jacket pocket. "Don't worry. Your precious phone is safe."

Conan glared. "You do realize I'm going to kill you for that."

"No you won't, not at all. We need to have a man talk, and those girls just can't come with without certain secrets being aired out like last week's dirty laundry." Kid suddenly stopped in the middle of an alleyway. "Can I set you down without fear of retribution or you running off?"

Conan quickly weighed his options, then realized that he had been hooked at the slightest hint of danger. "Yeah."

Kid put Conan down, then knelt so they were face to face. "Listen, Kudo Shinichi. The men that are after me are suddenly desperate because we are looking for the same thing for different reasons and I haven't given back my last heist yet. This has, in turn, put you in danger. Other then the fact that that just doesn't flow with me, if I die before I manage to destroy it and they get their hands on it that spells a whole lot of bad for the entire world."

"It?" Conan queried.

"I'll explain later," Kid waved it away. "The point is, if I destroy it before they kill me then at least I'll have destroyed it and they won't have it. Unfortunately even that is looking like more I can accomplish at the moment."

"You're convinced they're going to kill you?"

"It's only a matter of time before they get a brain among them and figure out who I am. The hints are all there, just no one smart enough to put them together."

Conan folded his arms. "I still don't get what this has to do with me, other than these friends of yours going after me because of it."

"I need you to help me destroy it. If we can't destroy it together, then I need you to take it and hide it away somewhere where it won't ever see the light of day again. But in order for either of those to happen, I need you to trust me. And," at this Kid grimaced slightly, "I need you to keep my secret."

"Meaning that in order for me to help you, you will end up revealing your true identity." Kid nodded. "Well, considering that if I ever ratted you out you would end up deader than a doornail from what you've told me, you don't need to worry. There are worse crooks than you."

Kid looked relieved. "Thank you. Now come on, we've got to hurry."

The two of them walked for quite a bit longer, until Conan didn't recognize the surrounding area at all. "I don't suppose you'll tell me where we are."

"I've got your word that you won't rat. We're in Ekoda."

Conan blinked. "Could you live in a bigger nest of enemies?"

Kid laughed. "Well, Hakuba didn't join the party until later on. Inspector Nakamori balances that out however by living only a street away."

Conan blinked again. "I'm not quite sure what to say other than that you're impressive."

"Then why don't you just say I'm impressive a dozen times over?"

"Shut up."

The two of them rounded a corner to bump into a messy-haired girl and a tall blond. "Kaito!" the girl exclaimed. "Me and Hakuba-kun are going to Tropical Land! Want to come?"

Conan almost missed the flinch that shuddered through Kaito's body. Kaito, likewise, definitely saw Conan's flinch. "Sorry Aoko. I can't. I'm watching this kid for a friend." He jerked a thumb down at Conan.

Aoko's face fell. "Oh." Then it lit up. "Why don't we all go?"

Hakuba leaned down and almost leered at Conan. "You're watching Conan-kun? I didn't know you knew the Mouris Kuroba."

"Kaito-niisan is so cool! He's going to show me his magic!" Conan improvised. Uh-oh. Hakuba Saguru was no idiot. Hopefully Kid… whose name was apparently Kuroba Kaito… had something planned.

"Really? Kuroba is certainly good. As good as Kid himself I'd say."

Shit. Hakuba Saguru really wasn't an idiot. "Re-really? You think so, Hakuba-niisan?"

Kaito interrupted them. "I really wish we could go with you," he started. He then glared at Hakuba. "I really, really wish we could go with you, but we're a little busy. Have fun."

"Okay! Bye Kaito!" Aoko started dragging Hakuba off, who looked like he wanted nothing more than to stay and interrogate the two of them on their relationship.

As soon as they were gone Kaito let out his breath. "I hate him so much. Come on."

They walked in silence to a small yellow house. As soon as the door was shut though, Kaito rounded on Conan. "Why didn't you tell me you knew Hakuba?" he demanded.

"Why didn't you tell me you were chummy with Inspector Nakamori's daughter?"

"Kaito, do you have a friend over?" came a feminine voice from another room.

"Yes Mom," Kaito answered back.

Conan's face was unrelenting. "Kaito Kid, famous jewel thief, lives with his mother?"

Kaito mimicked Conan's voice perfectly. "Kudo Shinichi, famous shrunken teenage detective, lives with his girlfriend?"

"I'm going to hurt you!"

"Kaito, are you sure it's a friend?"

"Mostly!" he called back, picking Conan up by the back of his collar. "Now come on," he hissed. "We have work to do."

Conan was dragged up the stairs, into a rec room of some kind, and through a revolving painting. The painting surprised him the most, though the logical part of his brain realized that Kid must have a pretty good hiding place for all his junk. Once he was set down, he rounded on Kaito again. "Why the hell did you just shout it out like that? Your mother heard you!"

Kaito folded his arms. "And my mother is the best secret-keeper on the planet. She's kept two generations of Kids, she can keep a shrunken detective she isn't even related to."

"It's the 'isn't even related to' part I'm worried about."

Kaito ignored him, instead choosing to drag Conan over to a work table on top of which sat a decent-sized piece of alexandrite, shining emerald in the darkened room. "What can you tell me about alexandrite?"

Conan smirked. "You're the internationally wanted jewel thief. You tell me."

"Fine then. It's the third hardest natural gemstone. They are known for displaying a color change based on light, known as the alexandrite effect. This particular specimen is from the Ural Mountains in Russia. The alexandrite from there is green in daylight and red…" He reached over and turned on the desk lamp. The room flooded with the color of blood. "In incandescent light. Also, did I mention that it's the third hardest natural gemstone, and I can't break it?"

Conan picked it up in awe. The red shine filled the room, lighting up darkened areas that probably haven't seen light in years. "Are you sure you've been trying to destroy it? It's not even scratched. And I was at the heist. It was certainly colored red, but it didn't glow like this."

Kaito shrugged. "The best I can come up with is that I charged it or something. Hearsay says its name is Pandora and that it cries tears of immortality when a certain volley comet passes. Hearsay also says that it glows red under the moonlight, which it certainly did the night of the heist, and hasn't stopped glowing since."

Conan gave Kaito a meaningful look. "And you're sure you want to open Pandora's Box?"

Kaito shrugged again. "Hey, give Pandora some credit. She may have let loose all the ills of the world, but at least she shut the box before Hope escaped." He held up a broken drill bit. "Besides, right now I'm not having much luck as it is so it's a bit of a moot point."

"Why do you want to destroy it anyway?"

Kaito leaned on the edge of the table, suddenly more serious than before. "The people who are after it, who I saved you from, they want it too. They want it for its immortality legend, and they're willing to kill for it. I swore that I'd destroy it so that they won't get their hands on immortality, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. That's why I want to destroy it."

Conan had no response to that. After a few tense minutes, the revolving painting revolved again, to reveal a middle-aged woman carrying a tray with a plate of cookies and two glasses of milk on it. "Are you boys hungry?" Kaito's mother asked them. "Here's a snack for you." She set it down on the table next to where Conan had put the alexandrite. "And it's nice to meet you, Kudo-kun."

"My name is Edogawa Conan," Conan nearly growled, reminded of Kaito's earlier transgression.

"Whatever you say, Kudo-kun." She left.

Kaito picked up a cookie and bit into it, licking melted chocolate off of his lips. "Give up. She's a fan of your father's, she's going to call you Kudo-kun in private 'till you're sick of it. Have a cookie, they're good."

Conan blinked at Kaito. Then he exploded. "Is your mother insane? You wander out night after night to steal jewels, get shot at, always with a chance of arrest and or death, and she brings you cookies and milk in your secret lair?"

Kaito smiled indulgently. "She's always been very supportive of whatever I decide to do," he said in a slow, mocking voice. "Seriously though, the cookies are really good."

Glaring, Conan ate a cookie. He admitted that they really were good (though not out loud).

"I'm home!"

"Conan-kun!" Ran was in his face, angry. "Where have you been? I've been worried sick! You could've called at least!"

"Sorry, Ran-neechan!" Conan grinned, trying to look as sheepishly little-kiddie as possible. "I met a new friend and lost track of the time!"

"Oh?" Ran asked, almost disbelievingly.

Conan nodded, as enthusiastically as he found possible while thinking about the thief. "Yeah! His name is Kaito, he looks a lot like Shinichi-niichan! In fact, I bet he's the one you saw in Shibuya that time!"

The room suddenly got hotter, as Conan belatedly remembered Kid's earlier distraction technique. "That good for nothing, mystery loving idiot!" Ran threw the duster she was holding at the ground very hard. Conan had to suppress a wince.

"Ah, what did Shinichi-niichan do this time, Ran-neechan?"

"That moron sent me a text message saying he was home! But when I got there nobody was home and the house was still locked up! That idiot! That scumball! That-"

Conan held up his hands to stop her. "Ran-neechan, I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation."

Ran turned her fury on him. "Yeah?" she asked, eyes burning.

Conan flinched. "Y-yeah… Ran-neechan, I'm going to go do my homework."

"You do that."

Conan fled to his room while Ran headed for the kitchen. In reality, Conan had no homework. He just needed to give Ran some time to calm down while he figured out a way out of this one. In the kitchen, the banging of pots reverberated louder than ever. Conan decided that he was going to need a really good story.

During dinner, Ran seemed a little calmer. Conan came to the conclusion that she wasn't going to calm down any more without some outside interference. After they were done eating, he snuck out so as not to be disturbed.

Rrring!

Rrri-

"Mouri Detective-"

"Hi Ran."

3… 2… 1…

"Shinichi! What the hell was up with that stunt earlier?"

Shinichi chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I called as soon as I found out. One of the people I'm working with got a hold of my phone and decided to play a prank. Sorry about that."

"Mou, Shinichi. You should be more careful with your stuff."

"He's a reformed pickpocket. Even if I were more careful, it wouldn't have helped a bit." Though not technically a pickpocket, and not exactly reformed.

"What kind of people are you working with anyway?"

Shinichi laughed. "Sometimes it seems like every single oddball on the planet." Because Kaito Kid was definitely an oddball.

"Hit him for me, would you?"

"Yes Ran."

"Hey, Shinichi?"

"Yeah?"

"When are you coming home?"

"As soon as I can Ran. Not right now, but as soon as I can."

"This one case is taking an awfully long time. Are you sure you haven't gotten in over your head?"

Over his head. Funny. "Don't worry Ran! I'll take care of it. Don't you know that nothing's over my head?"

"Pompous detective twit."

"Baaro. If you're going to be like that, I'll just hang up then."

"Goodbye Shinichi. Come home soon."

"Bye Ran."

When Conan walked back into the detective agency, Ran was nowhere to be seen.

There. A-ha! Reviews please, let me know what I'm doing wrong. Failing that, let me know if you like my wittiness.