Detective Conan/Case Closed- The Real Edogawa Conan

Rating: M (for sexual content, suggested violence, and some language)

Genre: Romance/Drama

Pairing: Kudo Shinichi and Mouri Ran

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan…

Main Summary: The day had come! The Organization has caught him, and they want to know the secrets of his youth. There's a reason Vermouth is the Boss's favorite, after all. But, what happens when they have larger plans for him? How does Ran fit into all of this?

Chapter Three

The next day, he woke up to the sound of a compartment opening. Food was slid through the door on a tray. He sighed and ignored it.

"Kudo, if you don't eat, then Sherry will be punished as your keeper." A voice called over an intercom.

Shinichi cursed under his breath but picked up the tray. He didn't want her to get hurt either. Sure, she'd made the drug originally, but it wasn't like she had much choice. She was told to do it, and as a slave born into their Organization, she had obeyed, probably for her sister's sake. He couldn't blame her or let them harm her because of it.

After the meal, he was sent a pair of handcuffs through the compartment with an order to put them on before they opened the door. He did so and tugged on them for the camera as proof that they were actually on. The door opened and the little child walked towards the scientists. They ohhed and awed him, like he was some sort of miracle. It honestly disgusted him but he played nice as they took him to an exam room. They took his blood, did several tests, such as a MRI, x-rays, CAT scan, etc. They took a saliva sample, a skin sample, a hair sample, a partial fingernail sample, fingerprints, footprints, and for the most part, they had been creepily gentle with all of it. But then they explained that they had more in-depth samples to take tomorrow. Shinichi shivered at the thought as he asked Haibara aloud, "What other samples of me can they take aside from whole limbs?"

"You're not a frog… they aren't going to test regeneration. This may seem like science-fiction, but as immoral a group as this is, they aren't mad scientists. They think you're the first step to immortality, in a sense. Why do you think Vermouth has been so favored by the Boss? She doesn't seem to age. She's looked like that for the past twenty years as far as I can tell. The only reason they aren't using me as the test subject, is because they need someone who knows how to monitor the side-effect and has personal, detailed knowledge of the Apotoxin. They can't do the tests on me because they need me to run the tests. If I ran the tests on myself—."

"You could be killed, and they need your knowledge for the tests to work. I get it…" Shinichi finished for her.

"I'm sorry, Kudo-kun, but if I don't do this, then Hakase—."

"I know, I know. Don't apologize, Hai—Sherry, I don't blame you for this. It's my own fault that I'm like this…" Shinichi said, looking up at the 18 year-old woman who he'd grown to have as a close friend.

"Alright, Kudo-kun, it's time to go back to your room. We will continue tests tomorrow." A scientist said, helping the seven year-old detective off the exam table.

Shinichi almost fell over from the anemia that came from all the poking, prodding, and testing they'd done all day. As he lay in his cell's cot, his mind went back to Ran's face. They'd made him throw out every belonging he'd had as Conan, except the clothes on his back. They'd been smart enough to dismantle his glasses and toss out his watch, suspenders, belt, and shoes, but with that, he was left with no cell phone, no camera, no photos, and not a single memory. He wanted so much to see her face again, hear her voice again, even just to know she was okay. He wondered how she had reacted to his note. He felt his heart cringe at the thought of her now crying at the loss of her little adopted brother. Not that Shinichi would give his Conan form credit for keeping Ran sane or anything, but Shinichi knew that Ran had felt a bit better knowing she had someone there to be a friend, even if it was comforting her over his own absence. Now… now she was alone. He prayed that her father would act mature and comfort her or that Sonoko would help her get over the loss of both of them, Shinichi and Conan. He never wanted to put Ran through that, but if she was alive because he was there, then, he'd gladly be an experiment or even die for her.

"I love you, Ran…" He whispered to no one in particular.

He started to fall asleep when he was surprised by the compartment opening to slide something in. There was dinner, but then he noticed something else. There was a note that said, "I can't free you, but I can try to lessen the blow… This is all I can think to do. –Haibara Ai."

He looked at her gift and held in his emotions at the sight of a printed cellphone photo of Shinichi and Ran at their school play just as they had almost kissed. He stared at the camera and mouthed, "Thank you."

In her office, Shiho smiled at the camera monitor but sighed as she tried not to think about what would come tomorrow. She had spent the whole time after they'd put him back up in his cell looking into the test results and information. Just as she suspected, there was no clear indicator that there was anything biologically or genetically wrong with his body, proving that the Apotoxin was doing partially what it was always intended to do. It hadn't killed him, but it was untraceable.

She groaned as her eyes ached at having stared at a computer screen for hours. 'I need some sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day.' She thought to herself, placing her coat on the chair and heading to a room just down the hall from Shinichi's cell.