Genre: Gen. and probably AU. SO SO AU.
Characters: MIB.
Length: 830 words.
SPOILERS: for file 622. Probably only makes sense after reading and placing within file 622. Inspired by my doodles on Ai's 6th sense moment. Thank Claude for the posting of it here.
It took time for Bourbon to notice it, but once he did, he was very intrigued by it.
Bourbon was a smart and a clever man. He believed in logic, but he also believed that nothing was impossible, so when he sensed Gin approaching him, as he came to hear the results of the latest investigation, he didn't just shrug off the feeling as coincidence; especially when it happened the following time they met.
At first he thought it was just Gin. After all, Gin was a man with such an austere appearance, such sharp instincts and hundreds of executions behind him, it wasn't surprising to feel as if one was in the presence of a predator around him. Then Bourbon noticed he felt the same shiver run down his spine when in proximity with Vodka... And although Vodka had done his own share of executions in the past and could be menacing in his own right, Bourbon had never considered him to be in the same category as Gin.
It was most curious for two members of an organisation only known for it's secrecy to be so easily detectable merely by a feeling or a scent, if one could call it that. More importantly two so highly ranked members. Just to rest his mind, Bourbon decided to investigate some other members of the organisation, to see if they too gave him this impression. And they did. Vermouth for one reeked of it. So did Calvados, Korn and Chianti. He was lucky enough to meet Pisco before his... demotion, and he too had given him that peculiar twinge.
Bourbon couldn't fathom why. None of these operatives had that much in common in their roles or their personalities. The only thing they had in common was that they were members of the organisation and that they had already killed.
It then crossed his mind that maybe that was where the feeling came from. Birds of a same feather flock together, after all. To become a member with a codename, one needed not only to be talented, but also to have killed. There was an eerie kinship between these members. They were like members of a select club. Break the rules and forever you shall be scorned.
With this in mind, Bourbon noticed that the feeling was stronger the longer he spent without meeting any, but it got weaker the more time he spent in their company. He wondered if there was another member who had felt this. Gin and Vodka were out, Calvados was dead, Korn and Chianti were stuck together like two fingers on a hand... Kir maybe? But no, the last he saw her, her aura had been so chaotic he hadn't been sure what to think. Anyway, she was currently under investigation after a brief captivity within the FBI.
Perhaps Vermouth would do. She may be a contrary and irritating woman at times, but she was also the most likely to be able to empathise... and damn sexy. She hadn't wanted to talk about the subject. She had merely shown a brief second of surprise, then shook her head, whispering something about a secret making a woman woman, and my, what a surprise to see little Bourbon so interested in the mystical.
Bourbon had left the café feeling both frustrated and annoyed. He never broached the subject again.
When he was given the assignment to investigate Kogoro Mouri, possibly in relation to the whereabouts of Sherry, Bourbon hadn't thought much about it. Mouri was just a clown who seemed to only take an investigation seriously when he'd figured it out... And then he'd put on some childish act as he calmly explained everything. His daughter was bland and banal, and there had been no sign of Sherry. The young boy, on the other hand, had been quite intriguing. It wasn't often one noticed one so bright, with such a knack for crime scenes. Maybe the Mouri household was worth more than a cursory probe after all.
It was chance that brought the boy across his path. His accommodation had burnt down, and Conan Edogawa had just turned up with a group of friends, expecting to meet the son of the owner no doubt. He had glanced at them, momentarily thinking about his investigation before turning back to the criminal fire investigator, when he noticed something odd. One of the two girls accompanying the boy seemed suddenly to go pale and hide behind him. He barely had the time to register her shivers and a wisp of auburn hair. It couldn't be... Could it?
He felt for the aura he'd grown accustomed to looking for when in presence of a codenamed member. It was weak. But it was there.
Bourbon smirked inwardly as he returned to focussing on his persona of an innocent lodger. So he had found Sherry... And more. He'd found a member of the organisation who, like him, could sense the men in black. For this, he had been glad. It meant he wasn't going mad.
Fin.