A/N

I'm lovin' the song Irresistible by Fall Out Boy (feat. Demi Lovato)… Oh, right, warnings on kidnapping stuff and well, yeah. I don't know how to put warnings, but yeah. Enjoy~

Ran and Aoko were sitting somewhere, in a café, that's for sure, talking about random stuff. "Eh?" Ran said, noticing Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Haibara together, their faces serious, their eyes searching. "What is it Ran?"

"It's Conan's friends…" Ran said and stood. "Genta-kun! Mitsuhiko-kun! Haibara-chan!" she called, waving her hand. Haibara was on the phone, and Genta noticed her. "Ah! It's Ran-nee-chan!" he said. Haibara turned her phone off, cutting the connection between her and Conan.

They all ran towards her. "Ran-nee-chan," Haibara said, her tone filled with such an urgency that made Ran immediately alert. She then explained the situation, and Ran and Aoko made a silent agreement to help them find the girl.

'Best chances are, if they're kidnapping a girl her age, is that they use the alleyways and deserted places… Or extremely crowded places… No, that's not gonna get us anywhere…' Kaito cursed as he ran through an alleyway—a shortcut, Conan said, to where Haibara was.

Turning right, left, go straight, through another big road place, enter another alleyway, and—

Conan's yelp and a thud made him stop. They'd ran into someone, a person in black, behind him, two guys, one holding Ayumi, the other had a knife in hand. "Oh shi—" he heard Conan say, before he got kicked in the stomach by the black-clad man, making him curl in pain.

Kaito kneeled beside him, a hand over the hand that clutched his stomach. Seeing his little detective's face scrunched in pain, he growled at the black-clad man. He somewhat reminded him of Snake, but that can't be, right?

But he learnt far before to trust his instincts more than his logic, his logic more than other people. Conan uncurled and got up, taking a sharp breath as something in him pained him. "You bastard…" he said, breathing heavily.

The 'bastard' smiled, the cold kind, as if he loved the resistance Conan was putting forth. With a jerk of his head, the guy who had a knife in hand lunged forward, his face one of fear. "He doesn't want to kill us," Conan whispered, audible only to Kaito.

Nodding, Kaito got into a fighting stance, and Conan prepared himself to lounge past the man, onto the black-clad man. Kaito dodged the knife and took the man by the wrist, punching his solar plexus, miking him faint.

Conan, as he'd planned earlier, lounged for the man in black, hugging him by the waist and pushing him down. He felt something hard and cold on his cheek, and realized too late what it was; a stun gun. That must've been what knocked Ayumi out. And it was the thing that would knock him out.

'I won't let you!' he thought, gritting his teeth. "Kaito!" he said, not realizing that he called him by his first name. Heck, Kaito only told him that his name is 'Kai'. Somewhere in his heart, he hoped that it was a sign that Conan—Shinichi was starting to remember him and their relationship.

But he pushed away that hope for now and helped Conan with pinning down the black-clad man. "You idiot, go save Ayumi!" he hissed and the last forgotten man had ran a little bit further from them, Ayumi in his arms, unconscious.

Kaito ran towards the man, his feet faster than the man's. In a matter of minutes, he'd caught the man, twisted his arm, and freed Ayumi. The next thing he knew was the feeling of something prickling at the back of his neck, and his whole body went numb.

One of his smoke bombs activated from him crashing to the ground, and the next thing he knew was darkness.

Haibara was the first one to notice the white smoke amongst the clear day's clouds. It had a tint of pink and yellow, certainly not the usual cloud that passes by overhead occasionally. She had a hunch, though. And she motioned the others to follow her. She called Ran, just to be sure.

Arriving at the alleyway, she saw two figures lying on the ground, and dreaded for the worst possible scene. One man had a knife on his back, his eyes filled with surprise and terror. The other was simply unconscious, a broken shell right beside his arm and some sort of bruise—one a stun gun would make—on the back of his neck.

"O-oi… Is he dead?" Genta asked, fear in his voice. "That one is. This one's just unconscious," she replied coolly, but her tone still serious. A detective badge laid on the ground, further from where they were, and Haibara recognized it as Ayumi's. She then paled.

"Edogawa-kun!" she said and turned deeper into the alleyway, finding yet another dead body. The knife used to kill him should be the same knife used to kill the other man. Her eyes scanned the scene, searching for any indication that the perpetrator and Conan might still be around.

Rigor mortis hasn't settled in yet, despite the heat, so it must've been less than thirty minutes since he died. After a few moments, her eyes found it; Conan's voice-changing bow tie. Picking it up, she went back to the two others, worried for their safety.

And her worries paid off.

Just as she rounded up the corner, where she left the two boys, a man, clad in black held both Conan and Ayumi in his arms, both unconscious. "Move," he said, his voice reminding her of someone she used to know.

"Castello…" she said in a very, very quiet voice of fear and surprise. Unfortunately, he heard her and turned around, his cold eyes flickered with both recognition and struggle to remember where he'd seen her face.

He raised his gun towards her, meeting her teal, fierce gaze with a cold one. "Haibara-chan!" Ran said, appearing just in time. "Ran-san!" she said, surprise and fear clearly evident in her voice, "Get away!"

The man raised his eyebrow and narrowed his eyes. "You seem to know about us, young lady," he said and smirked, pulling the trigger and shooting, the bullet grazing her cheekbone. He then ran towards her, shooting his gun so that another bullet lodged itself into her shoulder.

"Haibara-san!" the others shouted, Ran charging as she told her "Don't—"

Another shot, this time grazing Ran's upper arm. He's bad at guns, that's for sure. But that made her stop, at least in between the man and Haibara, she stopped. He smirked and ran, faster and faster, despite having two unconscious children in his arms.

Unable to catch up with him, she stopped at the big road.

Haibara wouldn't talk. Not even if she were in the interrogation room. Her eyes were filled with horror, her head imagining the things the Castello would do. She knew him, personally, as she'd watched him experiment on humans.

No, not just any human. Children and those whom he thought interesting. Taking Conan's personality into consideration, she just knew that when he felt like it, he'd be the first person in mind to torture.

And yet, she knew that he's the only one who can put the Black Org behind bars, nationally and internationally. And Gin and Vodka would be the first people captured.

"Haibara Ai-kun," Megure said, snapping her out of her trance. "We need your knowledge about who that was… Because according to the others, you seem to actually… know about this man."

Agasa placed a hand on her shoulder, giving Megure a stern look. But he couldn't say anything. At least, anything he knew which would blow her cover. Haibara sighed, her eyes glazed with tears, memories of her sister's death replaying in her head, but this time, she saw Conan's lifeless eyes, a dull shade of azure in the middle of milky whiteness of his sclera.

No. She won't let that happen. Never.

She opened her mouth. "I'll tell you everything," she said, her tone like one of an adult's, surprising both Megure and Agasa, for different reasons, "but promise me some things."

He opened his eyes slowly, his whole body felt weirdly numb. 'I was hit by a stun gun…' he thought, regaining control over his body. His focus became clear when he saw Ayumi beside him, sleeping with a duct tape on her mouth and a rope immobilizing her.

Memories from before came rushing in in perfect clarity. Kai running towards the person carrying Ayumi, his head getting hit (in the same place Gin hit him, apparently) and his eyes coming to a close. His ears picking up the sound of someone whimpering and a scream.

Then, silence. His body getting picked up, and he cracked open one eye to find the man's face so close to his, eyes showing a wild emotion despite his calm face. He weakly thrashed, a hand on his neck not quite suffocating him, yet he was off of the ground.

A spark of light caught his attention and his neck felt electrified. No, it was the bow tie, conducting electricity. He took it off immediately, his glare met the man's eyes. A prick on his hand blackened his vision, and now he woke up.

A hand went over his mouth, and he went still and closed his eyes, and the hand pulled off the duct tape from his mouth. "Boss, this guy's still unconscious," someone said, lifting him by the rope which immobilized him.

"Doesn't matter," the cold voice he'd registered before said, and he knew immediately that it was Castello. After laying him on some sort of altar, he presumed, judging from the hardness and coldness and the surface his finger felt, he felt eyes on him.

"No, you idiot," Castello said, a smirk clear in his voice, "he's just playing dead."

'I was found out?!' he thought, panicked. He felt his glasses taken off, and he opened his eyes, just a crack. Castello was smiling in triumph, glad to see a sliver of those azure eyes. He turned around and took something which clattered in some sort of tray.

"What are you planning to do?" he asked, surprised by his voice which sounded odd. "Oh, nothing… Just that some experiments should do you some good, now won't it?" he said with a smirk. A syringe needle made its' way through his neck, pushing some sort of substance into the artery there.

"What—" he choked, eyes watering from the pain and his head throbbing, possibly from the hit he received in the alleyway. Pulling out the syringe, he saw that the tube was now empty, and he felt the need to puke.

"It's…" Castello said, awe evident in his voice, "it's a miracle!" Conan looked at him, confused and hazy. The thing must've done lots of things to a person. "You're still alive?!"

"Fairly—" he coughed out, "so…" His throat felt tight and raw. His lips felt dry, dryer than Sahara. Having lead as a body wasn't helping the situation at all, and all he could was glare in his hazy state. His ears picked up a small whine, not coming from his mouth, but from elsewhere.

His eyes landed onto Ayumi's eyes, wide and terrified. "Boy," Castello said, his tone sounded accusing, "do you know a drug called APTX 4869?" His eyes involuntarily went wide with recognition. "I thought so," he chuckled and picked him up gently, and Conan curled in disgust.

"So, what's your real age? Hm? I know for a fact that anyone who survives the drug would become a little kid… Like how Sherry turned out."

Conan's wide eyes flashed with anger, and he managed to choke out, "Why… Should I… Tell you?!"

"Hmm… Since you know of the drug's name, I suppose you also know someone named Sherry… Or better yet, Miyano Shiho?" Conan kept quiet, which Castello took for a 'yes'. "Well, if that's so," he said and took Ayumi by the hair.

"Let her go!" he said, his voice cracking. He hated it, but it's probably whatever drug it was was working on him. "I wonder about that," he said in a low purr. Ayumi was terrified, disgusted and terrified. She thrashed around trying to wiggle free, even if it meant that her head hurt from her hair getting torn.

"Quiet, girl!" he snarled in her ear. "Don't you dare hurt her any more than that!" Conan shouted, a snarl evident despite his weak voice. But he felt that he was getting stronger. Probably adrenaline rushing through his veins.

Her duct tape was peeled off rather harshly, making her yelp. "Conan-kun…" she whimpered. "Conan-kun, huh? That's your name?" Castello said, a smug smirk on his face. "Well, let me tell you something, Conan-kun… I'm quite a curious man, of you haven't noticed… And what I'm asking you is what your true identity is… Or was, for this matter," he chuckled.

"Why would you care who I was?" he asked defiantly. "Well," he said in a somewhat happy tone, "whoever you were, it depends on your answer… If you're one of… Gin's mistakes… Then I'd be happy to keep you alive… and the girl too, I suppose…"

Conan gritted his teeth. "You're a sick bastard, Castello," he said. Castello's eyes went wide, with happiness. "You knew who I was from the start, huh? Or probably… you're Silver Bullet Vermouth talks about so highly these days? Hmm?"

'Shit, that was a wrong move…' he thought as the man laid Ayumi in Conan's laps. "Conan-kun, are you alright?" she asked him, and he gave her a gentle smile and a small nod. It wouldn't do good for her to be terrified in a place like this.

Castello leaned back, onto the altar, watching them closely. Conan met his eyes with his determined ones. "You're right about one thing," he said with confidence. The man raised an eyebrow. "I am one of Gin's mistakes."

Ayumi gasped and tensed, not knowing who they were talking about, but knew from how the conversation carried on before, that this Gin person is a bad person. "I thought so!" Castello said happily. "I take it that you're Kudou Shinichi and that girl over there to be Sherry, huh?" he said and came closer.

"But… Sherry-kun, you look different… Where did your beautiful perms go?" he asked, stroking Ayumi's hair gently, making her lean into Conan even more. "She's not her," he said with such firmness that made the two look at him.

Squinting, Castello tried to see through any lies in the boy's words. Finding none, he rose, "I suppose not." He then turned, opening the door and letting someone in, saying something to him which Conan couldn't hear, except for the last word; basement.

Charlie looked at them, seemingly conflicted, yet he complied anyways. He carefully picked up the two children and went downstairs. Down, down, down, until they arrived at the basement. It was dark and empty. A light bulb hung from the ceiling, lighting up the room just a little bit, and Conan identified some air vents in the dim light.

If his eyes weren't as sharp, he would've missed them.

"Are you guys alright?" Charlie asked gently, his eyes searching for any external injuries. He was genuinely worried for them, so Conan switched from his adult tone into one of a child's. "We're fine," he said.

"I'm gonna untie these ropes, alright? Promise me that you won't take the chance and run away?" he said, fear clear in his face and voice. Ayumi shook her head, tears of fear in her eyes. Conan nodded childishly and said, "Okay."

Untying his ropes first, Charlie put a shackle on his foot, one that connected to the wall. He did Ayumi's next, who protested and thrashed around before he was done. Then, he left, telling them that he'll bring food in an hour or so and closed the door.

Conan's smile immediately vanished, turning his face into a serious expression. Ayumi looked around frantically, searching for an escape. Conan put a hand on hers, pulling her into a calming embrace. "It's alright," he crooned, "it's alright…"

Kaito woke up in the hospital, Aoko sitting in the chair beside his bed. Tears streamed down her face, and he felt sore all over. "Ahoko, what's with that face?" Kaito said in a joking manner. "You…" she sobbed. "You… BAKAITO!"

"E-eh?"

"I can't believe you let yourself go ahead and get knocked out, and get some drugs pumped into your system, and… And…" she wiped a tear away. "And worry me like that…" she said in a quiet voice. He put a hand on her face, wiping another tear away.

"Sorry," he said gently. He then looked around. No one else was in there. "Hey, Aoko, where's Conan-kun?" he asked, dread filling his every being before she even answered. She didn't answer anyways. Ran walked in with a solemn face and doctors behind her.

In the middle of those white coated doctors, a smaller girl was in the middle of them, her face serious. "He and Ayumi-chan was taken," she said coolly, sternly. At that, Kaito paled. "Then—I—"

"Not so fast," the young girl stopped him, motioning so that a doctor gave her a syringe with a yellowish liquid within. "We need you neutralized first."

Aoko and Ran looked at her in twin confusion. She shrugged and tested the needle first before getting up and reaching for his neck. She cursed under her breath before sinking the needle into him, pushing in the liquid, making him wince at the feeling.

"You better be grateful that he didn't give you an overdose like he usually would," she said and gave one of the doctors the syringe. She then said something to both Ran and Aoko, making everyone go away, leaving them alone.

"Greetings, Kai-san," she said, making the addressed man tense. "I'm Haibara Ai, a classmate of Edogawa Conan's. He spoke fondly of you, you know?" she said with a smirk, despite the situation. Kaito's heart soared in happiness before he got it back and chose to focus.

"And?" he asked, urging her to go on. "And I need your help."

A/N

Should this stay as a T-rated thing? I mean, for one thing, the theme used in this story is sort of… Eh. You know? I'm doing my best to tone down the gore though, so if you're a little bit bothered, then I apologize. Well, see you next chapter~

- To be continued -