Disclaimer;

Own it I do not...

-cackles- Iggy's fun to play with.

Gah I love him. :3


Chapter Two- Secret Organizations and Brothers

When I woke up I wasn't outside. I was in someone's house, there was tea going somewhere, and I was on a couch. I sat up and winced, my head felt like...well like it'd been hit several times. I was rubbing my head when I heard the two voices. Two of the kids I'd met earlier today.

"I told you the day would come when we met another like us Kudou-kun." The girl, Haibara, said. I tipped my head to one side as I listened to her talk. What the heck did THAT mean? "It was only a matter of time."

"Perhaps he knows some information about the syndicate." The boy who had called himself Conan mused. I felt the surprise spike in the air from the two when they noticed I was awake. And I'M the blind one. For lack of anything else to do I waved in the direction their voices had been. "You're awake."

"Oh, so our patient must be feeling better." A new voice actually startled me. The heavier footsteps of a big guy sounded on the carpet and he hovered over me, "Has Shinichi told you everything yet?"

"Eh?" I said. Seems like I'm not the kind of person to say full sentences. I winced and added, for the sake of sounding a little intelligent at least, "No, nobody's told me anything. Do you guys have something important to say to me?"

"You were poisoned yes?" Haibara said in a blunt and cold way that I decided was way CREEPIER than anything that Angel had managed to do before. I felt a flash of surprise that was instantly replaced by something ingrained into me from years of being chased by scientists. Wariness.

"You know about that?" I finally said, narrowing my eyes. It's kind of hard, in case you were wondering, to give accurate death-glares when you're blind. You have to guess where that person is, and where they can best see the death-glare. Too much trouble most of the time.

"You see, I was correct." Haibara said a little snidely. Conan made a snorting noise that I agreed with a little. She turned to me and said, "We both have had the same thing happen to us actually. Though I took the drug on purpose...I am currently working on an antidote for it. Unfortunately the one I have works only for a short period of time. You are the third person to actually survive my poison."

"Your poison." I said dryly.

"Haibara-san is the doctor that created it." Conan explained. Or...was he Conan? Haibara had called him Kudou earlier, and the other guy had mentioned something about a Shinichi..."Dr. Agasa is working with her to find the cure."

"Doctor." I said, and inwardly shuddered. I've had bad experience with people who like wearing lab-coats, doctors and scientists alike. People like that are the reason the Flock has spent most of our lives running from people. We don't particularly like those who are in the proffession of science.

"That would be me." The other man said, mistaking my outburst for a confused question. "Doctor Agasa. I work on many inventions, many of them Shinichi here uses to continue solving cases."

"Cases?" I queried, and added, "Conan's Shinichi isn't he? I had a feeling he was lying about something."

"I'll explain when you explain." Came the strangely cool reply from the other boy. I seriously considered just saying 'no thanks' and heading out the door. Still they happened to have something that I needed...an antidote, or at least one that was being made. Even if it was being developed...I don't think I could STAND the embarassment of having to explain how this whole mess happened to the Flock. Not to mention the fact that Max was going to kill me. "What's your name? You never told us..."

"Iggy." I replied, "Just Iggy. Nothing else. I ended up getting...a little lost while looking for...my brother of sorts. I found myself in an alley and decided to try and help a woman who was being held at gunpoint there. I couldn't...make myself leave...it was stupid and didn't get me anything. She died anyway."

I felt a flash of rage towards the two men. They would pay. I'd make sure of it somehow. I had failed to save her but there was no way in hell I was going to let those two guys get away with her murder. Haibara said slowly, "You got in their way...plus they probably thought you saw them. You didn't see them though, did you, you're blind."

"Yesssss..." I replied, "I don't think it matters. Even if they knew I was blind they would have tried killing me. I don't think that guy liked it when I broke his ribs...It's his fault for not dodging in time. I mean really..."

"So basically you're just like me." Conan/Shinichi sighed, sounding incredibly irritated, "Somebody who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Dammit, and I thought you'd have some information too..."

"So what happened to YOU then?" I asked, to be completely honest with you I was curious. I could care less about freaky-scientist-child-girl-thing, but this Shinichi guy..."You were in the wrong place at the wrong time as well?"

"Kudou-kun is a detective." Haibara said.

"My real name is Kudou Shinichi." He explained, sounding a little irritated. "When I was at the theme park with a friend of mine I stumbled on a black-mailing over a company that was smuggling drugs. I got caught and practically brained with something. Then they fed me that medicine and I shrunk. I ran here and convinced Doc who I was. Then I became Edogawa Conan to protect my friends and family. I live with Mouri-san...you may have heard of him, the sleeping sleuth?"

"Doesn't ring a bell." I replied, feeling a little bored. Still something was bothering me. Something a little important. "You're staying with your friend so that they won't find you at home right? Erm...I kind of don't have anywhere to go...and I'm assuming it would be best to stay close to you guys."

It kind of killed me. As embarassed as I would be to face the Flock like this saying that made me feel a stab of loneliness. Were they worried about me? Thinking about that made me realize I hadn't exactly been what you'd call 'smooth' about leaving. I left a note, which, as I pondered about it, was something rather insensitive since that's how Fang said goodbye for good. It sounded like I didn't have anybody to turn to, and I KNEW that I technically did. Yet I felt a stab of something else at the thought of approaching my family, reluctance. Max had enough trouble without creepy crime bosses running after her too. Not saying she couldn't handle it, just saying that it's one more thing I don't want to heap onto her plate.

"You could stay here." Dr. Agasa said, and I shuddered. No way, no how, was I going to live in the same house with two scientists. I didn't really trust anybody in the group but those two were definitely toward the top of the not-likely-to-let-them-watch-my-back list. I was a little surprised when creepy-small-scientist unknowingly came to my aide with that though.

"I don't think that would work. He may just get in our way." She said, as rude and slightly annoying that comment was I could almost kiss her. Almost, not quite. She was still really creepy. The room fell silent with thinking and I heard the Doctor pound his fist into the palm of his hand. (I'm so super awesome, knowing what that sounds like...)

"Then he'll have to stay with you Shinichi." Dr. Agasa said. I actually had to stop myself from laughing at Shinichi's reply, which was basically the word 'what' drawn out in surprise. Dr. Agasa placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "Yes, you can tell Mouri-san that Iggy-kun is your brother."

"We look nothing alike!" Shinichi stammered.

"I can't see the difference." I said cheerfully, I could almost see the death-glare that I got in response. So I just leaned back into the couch and added, "I think it's a good suggestion Shinichi. You could say that I was adopted or something..."

"And that you two were very close and that Iggy-kun missed you and thought it was unfair that you were living with a famous detective. Besides, you would miss your brother too! I'll even set it up for you Shinichi!" I could literally hear the smile in Dr. Agasa's voice. Haibara agreed with us, and Shinichi was the only one left to gripe. Lucky him.

"How old are you?" The detective finally asked, I leaned against the couch leisurely and arched an eyebrow in his direction. He added with an irritable snort, "I mean originally. What's your age?"

"Fifteen..." I finally said, a little warily.

"So you're my little brother." I could almost hear the smile in his voice. I opened my mouth to protest, I was sure that I was taller than Shinichi anyways. Actually we were the same height, since I was technically five years old I guess that kind of made sense. I would be about tall as somebody who looked older than me. "Fine, I'll go back home. If we do this right you'll be in as easy as anything."

"Sure." I replied, and listened as he ran out of the house. After a moment I scratched my arms and said, "Could I take a bath or something to get this blood off?"

"Yes, and you'll need some fitting clothing as well." Agasa said, and led me to the bathroom. When the door closed behind me I heaved a nervous sigh. I didn't know what I was going to do. I wanted to go home to the Flock, but I was so reluctant to bring any trouble to their door...and I hadn't found Fang yet either.


Two hours later I was in a car with Dr. Agasa on my way to the Mouri Detective Agency. I shifted a little uncomfortably in the new clothes. They were some of 'Conan's' and I hoped he didn't want them back because I slit holes in the back. That was going to be a tad hard to explain... I was being told that it was technically improper of me to call people by just their names, something that I must have missed on my iPod lessons. Oops. I should add -kun or -san to it depending on who I was talking to. Even -sama or -sensei. It was a little confusing, and in my opinion completely ridiculous.

I missed the Flock severely, and as I stepped onto the sidewalk I felt a strange stab of guilt. They were probably looking for me right now, and I was playing little brother with somebody I hardly knew. I shook my head and followed Agasa up the stairs. He kept wanting to guide me, which was a little annoying. I'm blind but I can walk just fine thank you.

"Remember, you are a little kid." Dr. Agasa reminded me. Which honestly didn't help. When I was a little kid I had been shoved in a dog crate...in other words my childhood wasn't exactly what most kids faced in their life. Still I managed to give him a thumbs-up sign and he rang the bell.

"Iggy-kun!" Shinichi yelled when the door opened, in a voice that was a little creepily high-pitched. I was surprised when he hugged me, and a second later I heard him say in a chipperish voice, "I've missed you so much!"

I will never have a career in acting. "I've...missed you too Conan...kun." I added the 'kun' part a little hastily, remembering it at the last second. Hey, you know what give me a freakin' break. I was a little caught off guard by Shinichi playing the super-cute-little-kid part so...well, creepily well.

"Whozzat now?" A rather drunken voice said, and I was pushed in the room by Agasa. I felt very trapped, and suddenly longed for my friends again. Another thing that I couldn't see without them, exits. It was a habit of ours to memorize every way out of a room when we entered it, especially with people we didn't know. I didn't have that luxury without them. I felt a little claustrophobic.

Still I managed to put on a better act than before. I'm a little proud of myself actually. I pouted a little, imagining the way that Angel sounded when she was a little hurt about something. (Before she got a bit on the creepy side. Don't get me wrong, I love Angel with all of my heart but...well...erhem...) "You didn't tell them about me Conan-niisan?"

"Tell us...?" A girl that must have been about seventeen said, I felt a soft hand on my head and blinked a little at the gesture. She was...very gentle. She kind of reminded me of Max's mom actually.

"This is my little brother, Edogawa Iggy!" Shinichi chippered, and I actually wanted to rid myself of the cuteness that seemed to seep from him to me. Oh good lord if the Flock ever saw me playing cute little boy they'd probably die of laughter. I don't think I've EVER acted like a small child, even when I was a child! Again, with the dog-crate thing..."I guess I forgot to talk about him."

"You're mean Conan-niisan." I said, stealing Angel's pouting voice again. Shinichi made like he was apologizing to me over and over as Agasa walked into the room behind us.

"About four years ago Conan-kun's parents adopted Iggy-kun." Agasa explained as Shinichi and I chattered brainlessly about some show about a guy called...Yaiba or something like that. It was all improve, and again I'm proud to say that I was pulling it off rather well. There is hope for my acting career yet, "He's been missing Conan-kun so much that apparently he's been feeling sickly. Mouri-sama I was wondering...if you would be willing to take Iggy-kun in so he could stay with his niisan?"

"No." The man said flatly and before even thinking about it. I was a little caught off guard. Shinichi had said that I would probably be able to pull off getting to stay here. Yet the guy shot me down without a second thought.

"Dad don't be heartless!" The girl said, suddenly grabbing my hand. "You can't just send him away! If he misses Conan-kun so much then we should let him stay!"

"And his parents will add more money to their checks of course." Agasa added. Shinichi stumbled a little at this and I laughed inwardly. Something told me that Shinichi's real parents had a hand in this charade, and were going to end up a little blind-sided by this surprise. I could only hope they would be able to compensate for me.

"Of COURSE he can stay!" The man was suddenly singing a totally different tune. I blinked in bewilderment and actually felt my face drop as the realization that this guy would do anything for money struck me. What a wonderful man. (That final statement being completely and totally sarcastic of course)

"I'm Mouri Ran." The girl said to me, very gently. "You can call me Ran-neechan if you like Iggy-kun, Conan-kun does all the time."

"Kay Ran-neechan!" I said, and I think I must have managed to be extra cute because she hugged me after I smiled at her. Sheesh that girl had a bit of a grip. I struggled not to have my face turn bright red. Hey! I just got hugged by a teenaged girl okay, and I don't usually go by looks but I can tell you just from that hug that she's a very physically fit person. Erhem...

"Iggy-kun is blind, but it shouldn't be much of a problem. He can handle himself very well." Agasa explained. I felt the eyes of Mouri and his daughter on me and I squirmed a little bit. Ran was making me the most uncomfortable, I could feel the sympathy coming off of her in waves. Sheesh.

"Great, a kid who's damaged on top of a freeloader." Mouri drawled drunkenly from his place in his chair. I'm not much for rude gestures, but had I not been a kid I would have liked to flip him off rather nicely for that comment. Only that's something I shouldn't do because people could get caught in the line of fire and all...

Agasa excused himself saying that he had a lot of work to get to and disappeared from the room. I felt suddenly awkward, and unsure of what to say or do next. Who the heck knew being a little kid could be so hard? I was saved from having to do anything after an uncomfortable silence that lasted for almost an entire minute when I heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Someone's here!" I said, it was an automatic reaction to give the people a heads-up around me when I heard somebody approaching. I felt myself flush almost instantly and knew without seeing that they were all looking at me weird. "I'm sorry, I heard-"

The bell rang, cutting my sentence off and rescuing me from having to say anymore. Mouri grumbled something about not letting somebody in when the door slid open. Something changed the mans mind, because he was suddenly ecstatic and practically threw me to get to the door. I yelped and stumbled, only to be caught by Ran.

"I'm sorry..." Ran said, as if it were her fault for the way that idiot acted. I was about to scathingly point out that she had no need to apologize when I noticed something...slightly odd. It was a smell, and I knew it instantly. I tipped my head to the side and blinked twice.

"Gunpowder?" I said, obviously startling everybody in the room because the chatter fell quiet. "Eh? Oh...erm...I was wondering what it was! Conan-niisan what's gunpowder!?"

I have no idea why I said that, it kind of didn't make sense. I could have explained that the woman practically reeked of it, and since it happened to be something I was familiar with (thanks to Gazzy and my lovely run-ins with several psychos) it easily stuck out to me. Shinichi said hesitantly, "It's the stuff that makes the stuff in guns explode. Like bullets and stuff..."

"Oh...cool." I said, flashing a smile but squirming under the sudden curiousity that seemed to seep out of Shinichi. Sheesh this guy was sharp, I'd have to watch out for that...if he wasn't on my side that could bite me in the rear. I fell silent and decided to listen to whatever they were talking about.

"It's my husband." The woman said, after the uncomfortable pause she seemed a little on edge. I'd be on edge too if somebody just noticed I smelled like an explosive substance. "He's gone missing."

"What did you mean by that?" Shinichi whispered, startling me. I blinked and made a face as he added, "It might be important Iggy-kun, please tell me what you meant."

"I have a better sense of smell than most people, hearing too, since I'm blind." I said. Plus I happen to be a mutant, but we're not going to get into that one buddy. "Gunpowder is something that I'm a little familiar with, I'd know that smell anywhere and that woman reeks of it."

"Of gunpowder?" Shinichi said, and I got the sensation that while he knew everything I was saying he was on a completely different planet too. That's...interesting. I felt a twinge of amusement and nearly jumped out of my skin when Mouri yelled very loudly.

"Mouri Kogoro is on the case! Have no worry ma'am!" He cried, and I blinked and laughed a little inwardly. I bet she's really pretty. Something tells me this guy's a bit of a pervert.


Meanwhile, several thousand miles away;;

Gazzy was hating this more than anything in the world. Fang had disappeared nearly two weeks ago, and Max STILL hadn't come out of her room. To make things worse this was the fourth day in a row that he hadn't seen Iggy. Three days ago he had noticed his friend was nowhere in sight. He'd assumed that Iggy was fuming in his room or something but...

Then Total had explained that he hadn't seen Iggy either. Neither had Nudge or Angel. Angel said she couldn't sense Iggy anywhere and...well when only one of the Flock is a really good cook you're bound to notice when they disappear. So Gazzy found himself opening the door to Iggy's room and praying that his friend was going to be listening to a book or something. Maybe even the one he got from Fang for his birthday.

Nobody had been there. Just a note with the words messily scrawled (it's hard to write when you're blind you know) on it's white surface: BRB, don't worry bout me. Solving problem.

That wasn't good. That meant that Iggy left, and Gazzy could guess why. To look for Fang. At first Gazzy didn't know what to do, he was sure that Iggy would be back before the end of the day. Iggy was blind, but he could take care of himself. Then one day turned into two, and two days into three, and three into four...

So that was why he was standing in front of Max's door, hating himself for taking it to her but not knowing what else to do. Gazzy twisted the knob and peeked inside. His heart twinged a little. He didn't like seeing Max like that, she was always the strong one of the group but this had taken her down worse than anything he'd ever seen before. Except maybe when she thought that Fang was going to DIE.

"Max?" Gazzy said tenatively, she lifted her head and put on a fake smile. For his sake, he knew with all of his heart. Slowly he closed the door behind him and stared down at his feet and blurted, "Max Iggy went to go find Fang and he hasn't come back."

"Iggy...left?" Max said slowly, her eyes narrowing slightly. Gazzy didn't know what he'd do if she regressed further. The mere thought terrified him. He was happily surprised when she sat up and swung her feet over the edge of the bed with a snort. "To go find Fang? He asked us not to look for him."

Gazzy knew exactly what his friend would say to that. Fang asked MAX not to go looking for him. Max must have realized this too and she looked a little annoyed. "He was worried about you I think."

"Right." Max groaned, "That idiot, when did he go now? A few hours ago? We should be able to catch up to him pretty easily..."

"Four days ago." Angel said from behind Gazzy, startling the boy and making Max's head whip around. Gazzy was both a little afraid for Iggy and overjoyed to see that spark of fury enter Max's eyes. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner Max it's just that things have been..."

"We still look for him though right?" That was Dylan, peeking his head in. Nudge didn't say anything, merely nodded her head nervously and began to wring her hands. "If Iggy gets hurt because of this I won't forgive..."

Dylan was cut off when Nudge elbowed him in the stomach. Gazzy winced. As angry as they were with Fang, he didn't think it'd be too good to badmouth the dark teen over this. Max stayed silent for a moment, and a look of sadness entered her eyes that made Gazzy wince.

"This is all because I wouldn't quit being all mopey." She said, sounding bitter and utterly pissed at herself. Gazzy blinked as she stood up and rolled her shoulders, "Right, first we get some food. We're going to find Iggy, and I'm going to beat him to a bloody pulp when we do because it was really stupid to do this."


I'm loving this fanfiction so much.

It's tons of fun to write, but really challenging because of Iggy's blindness...