Chapter Three: Flight

The person walked over, hands held aloft, the cigarette held in one hand. It was a woman. Despite her thick clothes, they managed to be tight enough to show off the figure and they were surprisingly clean. Not spotless, nothing was ever spotless, but pretty clean all things considered. The woman was cleaner than most would expect of a lone person, blonde curls tied back. One might think the woman a diva type.

Except the glasses. The glasses were large and thick and the style was quite familiar to the two boys. It didn't seem to fit the woman, but perhaps those were the only type of glasses she could find after her old glasses broke that might work? Scavenging didn't give a lot of choice.

Or at least they might have assumed that.

Except there was something familiar about the woman to both boys. They just couldn't say where.

"Hello," the woman called, stopping in front of the car. "So what sort of safety procedure am I to follow?"

"Over here," Hattori said, waving her over to his window. "And put yer hands on the side of th' van. Cigarette hand on the roof," he instructed. She did as instructed. "What da ya want?"

"A ride. You guys have a safe place, right? You passed by here earlier. If you're heading back, it's because you have people waiting in a secure place, right?" She asked. She didn't seem at all intimidated by the fact Kaito had a gun in his hand, pointed at her even as he scanned the area for any signs of life.

"And wh-" Hattori paused. "How'd ya know we'd come back to wait in the street? Ya didn't run out, yer were waitin'."

The woman was silent for a moment and then chuckled. "You noticed that quick," she said.

Immediately, the tension in the air became thick enough to cut with a knife.

"...what's tha' supposed ta mean?" Hattori asked.

"Simple. These glasses aren't a similar style. They're Cool Guy's spare," the woman said with a smirk.

The nickname was all that needed to be said as recognition flashed on both boy's faces.

"Vermouth," Hattori hissed.

Kaito looked at Hattori in surprise, mouthing the words 'you know her?'

"So good to meet you, Hattori Heiji. And I believe this is the second time, isn't it, Kuroba-kun?"


Six Months Earlier


Kid was panting now. He was only a mile from the train station, but having to go by foot for that distance, even he needed to rest. Especially when dawn was an hour ago. It didn't help he had lugged Conan along the entire way, his concern building the longer they ran.

Why hadn't he woken up yet?

At the moment, he was on a roof top, setting down Conan as he scanned the area. Just a jump and he could glide the rest of the way to the train station. No one was expecting Kid, so even if they saw the hang glider, police pursuit would be too slow to grab him before he could disguise himself and board a train back to Tokyo.

Though now he wondered if he should go back. His flight instinct was screaming to leave and leave NOW. But usually he could think of the reason when he paused. The danger was back in that warehouse. He didn't have to leave, right? Yet no specific reason came except that he found he couldn't believe that thought.

But first, he needed to wake up Cona-

"Hello, Kaitou Kid."

Kid spun around to see a strange blond woman. She looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place where. He quickly composed himself, stepping to the side to hide Conan from her view, poker face slipping on easily as he opened his mouth to greet the suspicious female.

Except when he opened his mouth...nothing came out. Not even poker face hid his surprise.

The woman raised an eyebrow at that. "Hm, interesting," she said. "Well then, I suppose we could skip the witty banter. I take it that's Edogawa Conan behind you? I suppose it's like Cool Guy not to listen."

Kid tried to speak again, but nothing came out. What was going on?

"Confused? Understandable," the woman said and held up a radio. "This is connected to my police scanner," she said and pressed the on button.

And then there was a chaotic symphony.

"Calling for back up! There's violent rioters in the shopping district!"

"I need help at the mall! Believed group of thieves have broken in and there have been calls that the staff are being assaulted!"

"All cars in the area of Yasogami High School come immediately! The students are rioting!"

Several reports like that were coming in, but then one stood out among them all.

"H-help me! They're biting me! I think-I think they're trying to eat m-UAGGGHHH!"

The woman removed her finger and the radio was silent. "I have one question for you, Kid. Did they try to eat people?"

Kid's expression was a complete poker face, just a casual grin on a relaxed face. It was the only way to hide the pure horror he was feeling. He knew what had happened. He KNEW now. The idea had entered his mind back there, but he hadn't bothered to entertain it, but there was no way that all those reports were only coming from that small group. It could only mean one thing. One...terrifying...horror movie cliché thing...

He met the woman's eyes and nodded. Just once.

"Thought so," the woman said. "The next train leaves in three minutes. There's still ten miles before anything gets to that train according to the reports coming in. It'll be heading for Tokyo," She said and pulled out a card, tossing it to Kid. "I'm sure you have the Agency's address, but just in case. The next is a port. That's where his friends are."

Kid caught the card, looking at it, before focusing back at her in confusion.

"Who am I? Why am I helping? What do I know? You're wondering all that?" She asked.

Kid didn't even need to nod. She only smirked. "But don't you know? A secret makes a woman, woman. And...you could chase me, demand the answer, but think of it this way, Kuroba."

Kid suddenly felt his blood turn to ice. What...? How did this woman...?

"We both know what's going to happen as soon as one bit person gets on any form of mass transit. So you best make sure you're on that train, Kuroba-kun. Because I'm making sure none are leaving after it," she said. "And do keep in mind, you have that boy to get to his family. And then there's yours," she said before she turned and left without another word.

Kid almost followed, but she was right. He wasn't sure what was wrong with Conan, and he hoped the other would wake up soon, but either way, he HAD to go to Tokyo. He had to make sure Conan got back to his family.

And then he needed to get to his.


Thanks to 66ButterflyOfDarkness99, and Skippy_The_Hobolo for reviewing. And congrats to anyone who noticed Kaito was indeed not speaking in the future scenes, though it'll be a bit longer before the how of it is explained.