' ' -Thoughts " "-Speaking

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Gosho Aoyama does. I'm just using them.

Chapter 1: Kidnapping

'What a day', KID thought as he tugged the brim of his white top hat lower, covering the top of his eyes. His white suit glowed in the spotlights that were trained on him. The thief stood on top of an armored truck that had been ready to transport the jewel that had parked on the sidewalk outside the building he had just exited. Empty cars were abandoned by the same sidewalk as the owners had been shooed away before the truck first pulled up. 'Cities are nice for blending in. Lot's of faces', he thought absentmindedly as he examined his surroundings.

Bringing his mind back from his thoughts, he bowed, and when he was back up he victoriously held up his prize in one hand above his head and put on his usual winning grin. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I have taken Midnight's Dream", he exclaimed loudly, holding the world's largest dark Opal to the moon. There was the usual twinge of disappointed when it remained unchanged in the moonlight. Yet he kept that same grin on his face as he pocketed the jewel. The ear piercing screams of his fans roared back at KID's announcement. He gave the sea of hysteria and signs- being held back by the line of police in riot suits- a glance. Girls nearly fainted and a couple did, thinking that KID-sama had looked at them specifically. Some struggled to get through the experienced officers' barrier.

"It's was a pleasure, Nakamori-keibu", he acknowledged the man who was glaring at him from under a pile of police outfits and bodies. Nakamori let a few curse words lose at his one of his more "quiet" volumes, still deafening the officers around him. The men muttered and tried the wiggle out of the complicated pile unsuccessfully. The chase had been a long one, KID had lead them across the length of the building twice before heading to the top floor on level six, run through a flock of pigeons, only to jump off the roof, watching in amusement from his perch as the men eventually appeared on ground level covered in sweat and bird poop, and collapsed in a giant pile right outside the doors. And to displease them even further, a white net 'poofed' out of nowhere, trapping all of the Task Force underneath it.

KID's disappointment faded as he felt the truck shift as another body climbed on it.

"Ah, Tantei-san! One of my favorite critics!", he grinned, "I was wondering when you would show up."

He ignored the glare the drained half-British detective blasted at him. The look quickly shifted from exhausted annoyance to tired determination. "Take note that your time of your capture is 20:18:58", he glanced at his pocket watch before looking expectantly at the phantom thief, "Return the jewel and turn yourself in, KID. You've avoided the law long enough. Besides, we all know you'll return Midnight's Dream eventually.", Hakuba held out his left hand. His right one was behind his back, gripping the handle of a modified tranq-pistol tucked in his waistbands.

KID's face remained unchanged, but he felt a pang of hurt that he was becoming predictable. What an insult to magician shows. Thank goodness for the person he could hear huffing and puffing down below as they tried to scale the truck at a snail's pace. It would be hard for anyone- slippery, few handholds- but for a seven year old it's like trying to climb an iron Mount Everest. However, as KID knew, it was one very determined climber trying to reach the top, and once he did the heist would become a lot more exciting.

Hakuba took a step forward, slowly pulling the gun lose. KID turned his attention back to the teen, knowing he should be gone before the more dangerous Tantei-kun reached the top.

KID kept the grin as he fingered the pink smoke bomb in his palm- fully aware of what Hakuba was doing behind his back- "You know me so well, Tantei-san. However, I will have to decline your offer. I've created a brilliant plan on how to return Midnight's Dream that unfortunately does not involve you."

The teen detective spluttered words in return that was lost in the rise of fans' screeching at the sight of a stupid detective trying to get in the way of KID. KID grinned at his plan, 'I'm sure Nakamori would love to find the jewel in his pudding tonight.', he thought with a hint of anticipation.

"Fine", Hakuba repeated once it quieted down enough to talk and now that he was more calm, "But I will still try to catch you."

KID laughed and tightened his grip on the device in his hand, "I expect nothing less, Tantei-san."

Below, a single screaming fan- a woman -managed to wiggle through the human barrier. Ignoring the police's shouts of warning, she ran straight towards the tense situation on top of the truck. Everywhere else, News Stations panicked as all the video feeds from their cameras cut to static. After running about a fifty meters or so, the fangirl paused a couple meters from the vehicle, then flung her pink leather purse at a very surprised Kaitou KID- who barely managed to catch it with one hand.

BOOM!

Something that was very much not one of KID's pre-planted smoke bombs went off. One of the abandoned cars by the side of the road went up in flames. The screaming started again, but this time in fear. The police barrier held- just barely -as the crowd started to panic. Reporters started swearing as the techies tried to get cameras back up in vain.

More bombs went off, this time emitting black smoke instead of fire. The lone fangirl had screamed with the rest of them at the first explosion, and dropped into a ball to protect her head from flying debris as three more empty cars at the end of the street exploded.

KID watched with unconcealed surprise- Poker Face slipping and purse forgotten but still grasped in his hand -as the first bomb blew up, flinching as the next set went off, extremely grateful for the large gap between the cars and the crowd. Beside him, Hakuba paled at the destruction and chaos not usually associated with a KID heist and habitually checked his watch for the time. "This wasn't part of the plan.", he stated, flipping the watch shut- mentally keeping track of time -and stared at the phantom thief for confirmation. Both of them scooted back- right up to the edge- ready to jump down and use the truck as a shield if necessary.

"Not at all.", was all KID managed to force out of his throat as he took a step closer to the other teen, prepared to jump in front of him if necessary. 'These explosions are worse than than the ones from that Mystery Train.', he thought briefly as his face was lit up by another explosion. His hand tightened on the purse.

The sensation of the leather strap digging into his hand brought the purse owner back to his mind, stuck in her more vulnerable position. Apparently Hakuba had followed his train of thought because the teen detective managed to gasp, "The lady! We have to get her to safety!", before a long row of smoke bombs went off simultaneously, blocking the crowd from any view with black smoke. They exploded meters in front of the police barrier, swallowing them in dark smoke.

The black van that was parked behind the armored truck suddenly roared to life, headlights on high beam. It pulled up, parking next to the cowering fangirl. The driver's window rolled down and a thin pipe poked out of from the dark. KID's eyes widened as he recognized the shape and where it was aiming. Without hesitation, he shoved Hakuba off the truck- who would forever deny the girly shriek -onto the ground ten feet below. The half-Brit groaned once he settled, habitually marked the time, and then began to protest very loudly. The rifle almost seemed disappointed as it lowered its aim. 'They want me to watch.', KID realized, 'And only me.'

The back door of the van slid open. Poker Face immediately slammed back down on KID's face as one of the inhabitants leaned out of the van. The handlebar mustache revealed the man's identity as he roughly grabbed the woman by her arms and yanked her out of her curled up ball. She freaked, swinging her arms wildly and screaming as Snake tried to wrestle her into the car.

After a couple futile attempts, another man appeared, this one a foreigner with silver hair down to his waist. He snapped something at Snake before he latched onto her hair with one hand and helped to drag her into the van. Snake disappeared into the dark depths of the car with only one glance at KID, tugging the struggling lady after him. The foreigner stayed leaning out of the car, examining the surrounding with a quick twist of his head.

Conan happened to choose this moment to pop his head over the edge of the truck almost directly behind KID, breathing heavily from the climb and adrenaline rush. The sight of Hakuba flying off the trunk made him understandably wary, but he'd underestimated his foothold in his hurry, and Conan's head ended up higher above the roof of the truck then he wanted.

He had half a second to take in everything that wasn't blocked by KID's legs- the damage, smoke, the van, rifle poking from the window, bottom half of a woman being pulled into the dark of the van, and the left half of a man wearing a black trench coat and fedora with long silver hair -before KID stepped back onto his head, squashing him down from view except for his tiny gravity defying cowlick.

Below, Hakuba balked.

"I'm going to give Kuroba a good one tomorrow.", he muttered as the pain of his landing finally faded enough that he could sit up. 'Of course, he'll deny anything I say, claiming he's not KID.', Hakuba scowled at that thought.

Conan's squawk of surprise and pain had been drowned out by another round of smoke bombs blowing up. Silver-hair seemed to have missed the small head and KID lowered the nearly forgotten purse to block the small cowlick from view. KID praised his own luck, knowing that Conan's luck would had given him away. Silver-hair locked a stone cold gaze on KID. The thief froze- Poker Face slightly slipping -as the man gave him a long glare before slamming the door shut with a loud clap.

The rifle swung back up, Kaitou KID's heart as it's target. Instead of firing, it stayed locked on as the van pulled forward. 'No chance to follow it then.', KID thought. The van hit the gas when the rifle couldn't follow his heart anymore. Another round of smoke bombs covered the roar of the engine as the van took off down the street and disappeared around the corner.

It was a couple seconds before KID could think again. "What... in... the... world?", KID breathed. His thoughts were fuzzy and random-things connected with no pattern- going somewhat like this, 'Snake being ordered by someone?... Black clothes... He barely looked at me… Kidnapping... Gun... The guy with long hair...'

Conan's irritated hand grabbed KID's shoe, bringing him back to reality. Poker Face instantly fit into place as he looked down at the head he was standing on.

"Ah, Tantei-kun? How long have you been there?", KID teased softly. The chibi-detective glared at him the best he could from his angle. The smoke was starting to fade, slowly revealing the panicked crowd.

KID shook off the small hand and removed his foot off Conan's head. He mocked a salute at the child, purse dangling from his hand.

"Wish I could stay, Tantei-kun, I really do, but I've got something to do. Tantei-san." He tipped his hat at the teen detective who had recovered and was climbing the truck once again.

KID bent over and patted Conan's hair, ignoring the squawks of protest. Conan would have swatted his hands, but both of his were clamped into the edge of the truck, keeping him from falling.

"Sorry, Tantei-kun, had to protect my favorite critic after all" he mused softly, loud enough for only the child to hear. Conan's eyes widened, but before he could say anything, KID stood and spun dramatically away. The smoke had cleared enough to see the other side- the lack of any order obvious as the crowd dispersed in all directions. In case the MIB had people in the crowd he didn't want to draw any attention to the small detective, making himself more noticeable. Hakuba pulled himself up besides Conan, face red in anger and exhaustion.

They watched the thief as he tossed his own smoke bomb, disappearing-along with the purse- in the pink smoke while some doves popped out of the pinkness and flew away. Conan eyed the doves, smiling when he recognized one of them.

"Are you okay Conan-kun?", Hakuba turned to the child.

"Yes.", the tiny detective was all business, ready to jump into this case head first.

"Someone was kidnapped…", Conan trailed off when he realized the teen detective was checking his watch instead of listening to the child.

"20:20:37. That lasted under thirty seconds", he noted, before turning his attention on Conan "Did you see anything? Of course you didn't", Hakuba scoffed, suddenly displeased, "KID stepped on your head. Gentleman thief my.."

He trailed off, rant forgotten as he noticed something sparkling. Conan felt his gaze land on his head along with the weight of the object resting there and started cursing. Hakuba raised an eyebrow at the choice words that spilled from Conan's mouth, none that no seven year old should know. Then again, he did live with Mouri Kogoro. Conan was bound to pick something up here and there. Wisely, Saguru chose not to comment on the child's word choice after seeing the glare Conan had already latched on the thing on his head.

Conan spared a hand to pluck the precious jewel out of it's nest of hair that KID had created. Midnight's Dream gleamed in the moonlight as the two boys stared at the Opal. "Can't he do anything normal?", Conan growled.

"I'm absolutely positive that he can't.", Hakuba confirmed as he snatched the shiny rock from the elementary student's grasp and slipped it into his pants pocket.

'Look who is so trusting.', Conan mentally deadpanned as the teen detective climbed down, mumbling about finding the police to give his report. Conan could hear ambulances screaming in the distance. 'Hope no one was seriously hurt', he thought briefly. When Hakuba reached the bottom, he called out, telling Conan to jump and that he would catch him. The boy sighed wearily, but threw himself at the half-Brit. The blonde nearly collapsed under his weight, staggering around for a second before catching his balance. Conan's glasses went flying when the two detective collided, and he gave Hakuba an unamused stare until the bigger teen set him on the ground.

Once they were on the ground they heard the curses and cries for help emitting from under giant pile of metal that was currently trapping the KID Task Force. Hakuba went over to help immediately, tugging uselessly on the net. Conan scanned the ground for his eyepiece, watching in amusement from the corner of his eye as Nakamori wriggled over his men and started screaming at Hakuba to forget about them and go after KID. Even showing the inspector Midnight's Dream did nothing to calm Nakamori down.

Conan found his glasses and shoved them back onto his face at the same moment the first round of ambulances screeched into the square, a fire truck close behind. First responders hopped out of their vehicles and went to work immediately, putting out fires and wrapping burns with bandages. Conan and Hakuba were swarmed by worried medics. They examined Conan first, despite his insistence that he was fine and that Hakuba was in worse shape. Conan was unharmed, and the only thing that ended up damaged on the British high school detective was sore muscles from his KID induced tumble and later catching Conan. That didn't stop the teen from insisting that they absolutely had to find that strange black van immediately.

Hakuba, never one to forget a lady in need, sent a medic to take care of the fangirl, worried that she might have been hurt in whatever took place after he was removed from the scene. He was just as confused as the medic who returned seconds later with news that the KID fan wasn't there. Determined to at least make sure she was safe, Hakuba walked around the armored vehicle to the place he's last seen her. Nothing remained of her except tire prints and some footprints, which Hakuba read with growing concern. He blinked and put a hand on his forehead, feeling the headache coming.

"A kidnapping, of all the things.", he mumbled as he went to stand by Conan. The shrunken detective rolled his eyes. 'You would have known that if you were listening to me,' he internally grumbled.

Next, guardians were called, and Nakamori received an earful from Ran over a cell phone once he and the others was released from the net. The inspector winced, held the phone a couple feet from his ear, and glared at the child he was suppose to be watching- the only reason why Ran had allowed Conan to come in the first place while she and her father were visiting some distant relative who despised small children. Kogoro was surprisingly pushy to visit, giving Conan the feeling that the old man had chosen to see the wayward relative for that exact reason.

Conan gave Nakamori an innocent shrug from his place besides a standing Hakuba, sitting on the edge of the ambulance's trunk. He was wrapped in a warm blanket drinking from a cup with a lid that contained hot chocolate while the inspector received a cold reception and a deaf ear.

He took a sip from his cup smugly and ignored the angry inspector's face.

Once Ran was done chewing out Nakamori, the cell phone was passed to Conan, and she turned her wrath on him. He tried to explain that he wasn't hurt and was completely fine, but she wasn't having any of it. Hakuba, seeing Conan's struggle, snatched the phone from the child and calmly explained what Conan had been trying to say. Ran was thrown off by the new voice, but the half-Brit worked his polite magic, and the not-child got away with only a one-month grounding instead of a lifetime's.

Hakuba ended the conversation with a polite 'goodbye' and flipped the phone shut with a loud snap. "You are very lucky to know someone like Ran-san.", Hakuba commented as he handed the phone back to the owner- an anxious nurse who looked ready to snatch the device before the person on the other end blew the speakers with her voice -who raced off to take care of other injured people.

"I know! Ran-neechan is the best!", Conan declared happily, switching to child mode. His posture straightened, a huge grin split his face, his eyes lit up with energy he didn't have before and started swinging his legs. Hakuba raised an eyebrow at the sudden change. He didn't comment on it, just leaned against the back of the ambulance and closed his eyes with a sigh. 'Young ones with their endless energy', he thought, and held back a snort at his next one, 'Not that there is not much of a difference in our age. Goodness, I feel old.'

"Hey, Hakuba-niichan?"

Hakuba cracked an eye open, "Yes, Conan-kun?"

Both his eyes flicked open once he recognized the caution in Conan's voice. The kid's posture had completely flipped from earlier. He was slouching, completely still, staring at his steaming cup with a dead look- crushing his cup, causing the liquid to press against the lid.

"How much did you see?", Conan asked, catching the blonde's eyes.

The teen blinked, taking a moment to understand the question, then wondered how much he could tell a child. But as he took in Conan's tense shoulders and stress lines on his face, the teen couldn't hold back. 'He's worried for me.', Saguru thought, polite icy coldness cracking under the kid's warm innocent concern.

"Not much,", Hakuba admitted, "KID pushed me off the truck before I could see anything."

The relief was obvious. The boy seemed to turned to jelly as he sank into the blanket and he released his crushing grip on his hot chocolate. Hakuba couldn't help but smile at the cuteness in the reaction. Then he pursed his lips. 'That was.. different.' he thought as he examined Conan, 'There was more then worry in his gaze. There was fear. True fear. Conan is the bravest kid I have ever seen. I've heard stories of him facing murderers head on and not flinching. Yet these assailants scared him. Caused him to fear and worry for others. How bad are these kidnappers that they scare Edogawa Conan?!'

Before Hakuba could open his mouth to ask, Nakamori barged over with more officers in tow. "You", he bellowed and pointed at Hakuba, "We need your statement and the jewel,"

"And you-", he growled, turning on Conan, who was trying to look innocent while sipping on his hot chocolate, "-are going home."

Conan nearly spat out the drink, "What! Don't you need my statement as well?"

"Yes, except I promised Ran-san that you would be back by eleven-thirty and it's five minutes past eleven. We can get your statement tomorrow.", Nakamori ripped the blanket off the boy as he explained, Conan struggling to not drop his hot chocolate.

"But Ran-neechan isn't home! She wouldn't know if I'm a couple minutes late. Statements are more accurate right after the incident.", Conan protested as the grown man grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and dragged him away. The boy wiggled and jerked around, wanting to hear what other people had to say. 'I need to know how They are involved!', Conan swore in his mind as the distance between him and the scene lengthened. Hakuba watched with a curious look in his eyes as the two disappeared around a corner.

"Normally I'd agree, but if your Ran-chan is anything like my daughter, she'll know somehow and I'll pay.", Nakamori grumbled as they rounded the corner and approached his car.

"Plus I'm taking you to an Agasa-hakase's house. He'll be watching for us and report to her.", Nakamori opened the back door and tossed Conan inside, before climbing into the front seat, angrily jamming his keys into the side of the steering wheel. "Trust me,", he said as he started the car and pulled away from the curb, "I would much rather be back there trying to figure out what the heck happened instead of playing chauffeur to a brat."

'You and me both.' Conan thought angrily as he stared at the back of Nakamori's neck. He took a small sip of his drink, still displeased with the whole situation.

Once he was sure the older man wouldn't look, a small grin slipped onto his face. He touched the rim of his fake glasses, pushing a hidden button. A green grid map popped up on the lenses, with two pulsing red dots on the fringes of the tracers' range, and still moving. He took note of the direction they were going, and turned off the map before Nakamori could notice. Already several ideas and strategies were running through his brain. His grin turned into a small smirk. By the time they were halfway to his old neighborhood, a solid plan had formed.

'Wait, how am I going to do that one thing?', he paused and frowned. The answer alluded him for the rest of the trip. It certainly was the most crucial part of the whole plan, if it didn't happen then nothing else would. But it wasn't until they pulled into Agasa's driveway- when his eyes happened to land on a certain object -did everything clicked into place, and his smirk return.