A/N: Well, looky there. I managed to get another chapter out and it hasn't even been a decade. ;P I like the feeling of this chapter, something that's actually sort of rare for me, so I hope you guys will enjoy it as well. (I can totally see everyone hating one of the only chapters I don't get a strong "I could have done better" vibe from. XD)

By the way, I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, but I try to keep an up-to-date progress log on my profile when I'm writing. If it's been 2-3 weeks and I haven't submitted anything, just go and check when I last updated my profile. 'Course, I just wrote ~half of this in the last hour or so, so you can't say "Oh, it took him a week and a half to do 40%? He won't be done until Christmas!" I just like to let everyone know how much I've gotten done.

And as always, if someone feels out of character, or you see a spelling/grammar/punctuation error, or anything at all that you particularly liked or disliked, let me know in a review. They make my day~

- - - - Reviews - - - -

Guest: Somehow, I always seem to find my way back to this story myself. I don't know what it is about it - I guess just because, you know, zombies + Conan = a little bit hilarious, sort of frightening, and mostly awesome. Hope I can keep you coming back. ;P

Aquos35: Well you're in for a treat then, this chapter is pretty Haiabra-centric, and I'm pretty sure the next chapter will wind up that way as well. I used to think I wasn't very good at writing her, and in this chapter I feel like I did somewhat decently, so you just might hate it. XD

Junko Enoshima: And I'm thrilled to see you still coming back to the story after all these years! ^_^ I mean it, I can't believe some of you guys still remember this story, let alone hold any interest in it. And I never really plan to drop off the face of the writing earth, it just kind of... Happens. I get busy, life happens, etc... Though once I go on a Conan binge, I get that writing urge again and I can't help but coming back here.

Kudo Residence
July 6'th
2:02 P.M.

"Hakase!" Haibara darted into the kitchen, tone sharp, startling Agasa so much that he wound up dropping the bread he'd been holding, which then proceeded to bounce against the edge of the counter and plop onto the floor with a soft thop. On the table before him were slices of ham, a bowl of loose lettuce and a bottle of mayonnaise.

"I-It's for the kids, I swear!" he complained, still managing to sound indignant while clearly rattled and confused.

"Never mind that now!" Haibara shouted in impatience. "Clear off the table!"

Ran and Kamiya were already rushing into the room by the time Haibara had finished her last sentence. As soon as the inventor's eyes fell upon the unconscious boy, he felt his heart plummet. Realizing he was in the way, he tried to scoop everything on the table up into his arms at once, succeeding in scattering a handful of lettuce on the floor as he frantically retreated to the counter.

Kamiya immediately went to work once Ran had gingerly set Conan down on the table, taking his time to carefully examine the wound as a handful of children gathered in the doorway.

It was then that Agasa felt a tug on his sleeve and, looking down, found Haibara looking pointedly in Conan's direction. "I need to get to my lab," she told him in a low monotone.

"Do you think we can help him?" Agasa asked, turning his stare in the same direction.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Kamiya stood up straight and scratched his head like he was trying to figure out the punchline to a joke that wasn't particularly funny. "He's going to be fine," he grumbled, like he couldn't believe he'd gotten worked up over such a triviality. It was about then that Sonoko could be heard running back down from upstairs, a sound which was quickly proceeded by a "Get out of the way, brats!" as she worked her way through the small crowd of children that'd gathered to gawk at what was going on.

"Will this work?" Sonoko asked as she held out a clean washcloth.

Kamiya eyed it for just a moment, then turned his attention back to Conan's condition. "Ah, yeah, that'll do. Soak it in cold water then stick a few ice cubes in it. It should help bring his fever down." It was then that he let out a tired sigh, saying "I don't know what got you two so worked up though, or the guys for that matter. He's got a high fever, but nothing too dangerous. Besides that, there's hardly anything here. A little scratch, maybe a stitch or two's worth, that's really it."

Something inside Ran's already strained mind was on the verge of snapping, something frantic that'd been growing stronger and stronger over the past half hour stirring within her. "A scratch?" she echoed back at him, her voice a low, dangerous mimicry of her typical self as she stretching out the fabric of bloodied patches on her shirt, presenting them for all to see. "Does this look like a scratch?" Tears started prickling at the edges of her eyes and she couldn't even figure out why. She was long since past her emotional limit for the day, and his offhanded dismissal was just about as much as she could take.

"I'm not saying I necessarily understand it," Kamiya made a sweeping motion towards the table as he stepped aside, "but you don't have to take my word for it. Look for yourself."

Agasa could feel the atmosphere shift around him. Ran took a tentative step forward, and as if taking it as her cue Haibara turned on her heel and began walking out of the room. She paused only to share a quick "follow me" glance at the aging inventor, then headed off towards the back door. Agasa, still absolutely confused as to what exactly was going on, turned to follow her. Haibara knew something; that much was obvious. He just hoped she was willing to fill him in on the details.

Just as he was leaving the kitchen he could hear the front door opening, and with a curious look back he saw the two men who'd gone out earlier returning with a backpack. They tossed it at Kamiya, the contents of the bag clanking around when he caught it against his chest, then he gave them a shallow nod and mumbled thanks. As Ran stared down at Conan, a mask of confusion and disbelief on her face while Sonoko was just coming up behind her to look over her shoulder, Agasa left to catch up.

He found Haibara standing in front of the back door, arms crossed and a pensive stare that seemed to see nothing. Apparently noticing his presence, she closed her eyes and sighed out through her nose. "Let's hurry before the commotion dies down. I doubt we'll be able to make it back in without being noticed, but I'd rather not have to take an escort." Without waiting for a response she unlocked the door and stepped out, leading the way into the unsettling silence of the afternoon heat.

Haibara's Lab
July 6'th
2:20 P.M.

Haibara poured over her notes, looking for anything she might have overlooked, anything that might be of some use. In the back of her mind she was somewhat aware of Hakase standing uncomfortably in the middle of the room, anxious that any minute now he could hear a sound from upstairs that would signal that they weren't alone, but she couldn't allow herself to be distracted. If it had been anyone else, anyone but Kudo who'd been bitten, Haibara would have already given up on them. They would be condemned to a fate worse than death, unless the fever was too much for them or someone who cared about them was willing to end their suffering before that could happen. But Kudo... She knew with Kudo, even if there was only the sliver of a chance, she couldn't count him out yet.

While she was digging she came upon a case, inside of which was a small red and white pill. She let an ironic smile tug at her lips as she pulled it out. Gingerly, like she was handling a live grenade, she held the pill up to the light and reminisced. She couldn't begin to imagine how different her life would have been had she not developed apotoxin 4869. Would she have ever gotten involved with the Organization if they weren't interested in having her develop their untraceable weapon?

If she had, she would certainly be dead, as it was only thanks to the pill's little side-effect that she managed to survive her own suicide attempt, and only because she shrunk that she was able to escape her former comrades when they came to kill her. Kudo... Kudo would be dead too, she realized. It was, once again, the fault of the apotoxin that the teenage detective survived his brush with death with nothing more than a rapid reversal in maturity.

With a renewed sense of urgency and determination coursing through her, she stowed the pill away in her pocket. The pill had already saved their lives once. And if she was half as smart as those bastards back at the Organization thought she was, it was about to save the life of a certain detective again.

Having found what she'd been looking for, her hand still caressing the pill in her pocket, she turned her attention to her computer. She'd already either memorized or copied every file of interest onto a storage drive Agasa had prepared for her. All that was left were her paper documents, which she intended to burn before they left. With a few deft strokes of her pale fingers the system whirred to life, erasing every trace of what it had once stored. There was little chance that she would be returning here any time soon, and she couldn't risk leaving all of her raw data and test results out in the open, even with all of the layers of security she had it locked away behind. The risk that it could fall into the wrong hands was far too high, even as small as it was.

"I'm done here," she said as she tore herself away. She would have preferred to be able to stay until the process finished, but they didn't have the time. "Did you find anything?"

Agasa pulled a few bottles out of the little plastic bag he was holding one at a time, naming them each before putting them back. He had pain killers, blood thinners, and a bottle of placebos he could say were something else. If someone asked where they'd gone or why, Agasa was to say that they'd gone to get his medication that he'd need if they were going to be staying at the Kudo household for an extended period of time. At least, that was the plan.

Giving one last look around the place, she realized that she was genuinely sad to be leaving the place behind, uncertain if she would ever see it again. While she hadn't lived here long, this place just might have been more of a home to her than anywhere she'd ever lived in her previous life. "Anything else you want to take?" she asked.

"I thought it would be nice to take some food," Agasa offered, ever his cheerful, vaguely glutinous self, though it seemed a little more purposeful then usual, if not just slightly forced. Haibara realized her mood must have been clear on her face, and forced herself to throw on a mask of composure. "We don't know how long it will be until help comes, after all," he finished.

Taking a subtle deep breath, swallowing her anxiety and fear, she turned all of her efforts towards attempting a smile, realizing that his genuine kindness made it a much easier task than she'd anticipated. "That sounds nice," she replied as the two of them began to climb the stairs. A slight smirk flashed across her face like a shooting star streaking across the sky. Then, in a perfectly genuine tone of voice, "I'll need to ensure that you stay on your diet anyway, so making sure there's some decent food in the house will make meal preparations much easier."

The old man faltered, feigning an uncomfortable laugh. Haibara for her part pretended not to notice, passing through the doorway at the top of the stairs and headed for the kitchen. Watching her small form disappear, Agasa let out a secret, relieved chuckle, happy that she was still feeling well enough to play with him.