He would have felt almost sorry for what he was about to do. Then he reminded himself that this was just another job even if he did know the people involved. He was tempted to check if his gun was still in his holster but he didn't. He reminded himself to stay in character. He didn't have to be here that much longer and then he could go back. If everything went according to plan, no one would say a thing about his motivations and identity.

He lift the small pistol. No one was paying him any attention (There weren't even that many people to pay attention) and even if they were, there was a criminal here. Was it out of character for a policeman to raise his gun? He looked at the man dressed in black and they're eyes locked. They both knew someone here was about to die. The boy in the man's arms looked calm, as if the prospect of dying didn't truly bother him.

He had always known the bespectacled kid was special. How special had eluded him until that moment though.

Blood seemed to be rushing threw his head at the moment and he had an almost delirious thought. 'Who's going to die here?' But he knew who was going to die here. It was- No. That wasn't right.

Maybe it was those glasses or the face or something! He didn't know.

'Take the shot,' his mind ordered. 'Him or you?'

He hesitated. No. The boy was so small. Hell, he wasn't even touching the ground!

Ah. There were footsteps now. The police? Wait, wasn't he the police? Yes, he was. He had to fight the insane urge to giggle. Why would he giggle? There wasn't anything funny here. It was still a tempting option though…

He was the police. The police stood for justice. It would have been just another mission and it was just that in the beginning. Then he started to know the people. He fell in love. He mourned the losses. He laughed with friends.

And with this kid, he had saved lives.

Would saving lives atone for taking many?

"Onii-san," came the voice of that surprisingly serious child. He could see the man tighten his hold on him to stop him talking but that didn't even make the boy blink. "Don't shoot."

His eyes widened. Don't shoot.

He had been told to not do many things in his life. Don't kill. Don't betray us. Don't die. Don't love. Don't hesitate. He had disobeyed sometimes but would he follow this little boy's orders?

It didn't matter a second later. The boy slammed his foot back and the man behind him grunted and stumbled. The boy squirmed out of his hold and held up his wrist. He shot him with his watch and watched satisfied as the man fell back unconscious. He almost didn't realize this had happened until the boy had landed with a thump as the man's final act had been pushing the boy.

Cider let his gun clatter to the floor as the footsteps grew louder and he fell to his knees as if an unimaginable pressure was forcing him down.

"Good job Takagi-keigi. I won't lie. You will be targeted if he ever escapes. However, you have saved lives. Maybe you can be a real cop this time around, ne?" Conan said with a hand on Takagi's shoulder.

"H-how do you know?" Takagi's eyes were still wide and fear was creeping into him as he realized what he had just done. He wasn't even sure what his question was. How did he know what to do? How did he know about the Organization? How did he know about Takagi? How did this boy know anything?

"Let's just say I'm smarter than I look and leave it at th- Ran-neechan!" The little boy voice was back and Takagi remained seated there, on the ground, shaking.

There was meaningless chatter in the background as Takagi realized the consequences of not shooting. Rum was lying on the ground unconscious and Conan was still alive. He was a traitor. They would come for him.

Then again, he mused as Satou came over and hugged him, he had plenty of time to worry and plan later. Maybe he would ask Conan for some advice. He seemed to be doing pretty well despite being wanted for over a year.

'So, am I Takagi Wataru now?' he asked himself.

Maybe, he decided. Then again, being Takagi, a cop who had pretty straight morals, a relationship and some damn good friends, wouldn't be so bad.

It would be a lot better than Cider.

A/N: So I was reading a story and then I had the thought, 'They can always go to the trustworthy police if they really need help.' Then I thought, how can you tell if they're trustworthy?

Now, don't criticize me because I chose Takagi to be the bad guy. He is my favorite cop and I love him to death. I kind of managed to change the direction of the story multiple times while writing this one-shot so I hope you don't get confused. The original thing was that Cider had kidnapped Takagi and was posing as him and was going to kill Conan during a heist or something. Then it morphed and it was Conan being held by Gin. Then it morphed again. And again. Honestly, when I was writing the end, I was kind of shocked at what happened.

Completed: October 17, 2010

Uploaded: October 18, 2010