A/N Sorry about the kind of late update. I was away for the weekend. =(

Kakashikrazy256: Thank you for reviewing! Your reviews all always so nice. I'm glad you liked that little scene with Vodka and Gin. =) You're right, there aren't many fics out there about Bourbon… But that's why I wrote this!

Chelseaj500: Thank you for reviewing! =D Yep, he is. I planned it that way from the very beginning… Also, thank you for the tips you've been giving me! By 'bring anyone'… You'll see right below the disclaimer what I meant. I'm guessing Conan is tactful enough to not bring, like, the whole police force. XD

I was guessing that Anokata would be all polite and stuff on the outside, but evil within. But I will change that in the next note.

Disclaimer: I don't own DC yadda yadda yadda.

It was Saturday.

Conan was just getting ready to leave, when Heiji intercepted him.

"What cha got there Kudo?"

Conan saw he was directing his question toward the letter in his pocket. "None of your business Hattori."

"Okay, I'll just be going-"

Before Conan could react in any way, Heiji swiftly moved his hand to the pocket and snatched up the piece of paper.

"Hattori, this isn't funny." Conan growled and tried to tug the letter out of his grip. But because of his height, he couldn't reach it.

Conan scowled, cursing words under his breath. He barely caught the paper when Heiji threw it back.

"You shouldn't go Kudo."

"That's exactly the reason why I didn't want to show it to you!"

Heiji frowned. "That's not important. You shouldn't go."

"Ran is in danger if I don't go. In fact, everyone close to me, including you, would be in danger if I don't go. So move."

"It's an obvious trap. I thought you would see that." Heiji said, rolling his eyes.

Conan ignored him, shoving the paper back in his pocket. He dodged around Heiji and stepped into the early morning air. There wasn't an exact time on the letter, but he figured the earlier the better.

He stopped when he noticed Heiji was following him, trailing behind a few steps. The other boy looked casual, but his eyes were determined.

"What are you doing?"

Heiji rolled his eyes. "Ahou. I'm going with you so you don't get hurt!"

"…Why?"

Conan knew what the answer was, but felt a warm sensation in his heart when he heard it out loud, spoken from a person's mouth. "Because you're my friend, aren't you? That's what friends do."

Conan tried to act cool, but couldn't stop the warm smile creeping up at the corners of his mouth. "…Thanks Hattori."

It was almost eight when the pair got to the warehouse. The paint was black; making it look like the night sky was around the building. The building itself was old and run-down, paint peeling off, moss growing on the walls. It was a perfect cube, but it didn't look like it since the panels for the walls were falling off. Strands of ivy were snaking up on the walls, entering the building through little cracks.

"I wonder how old this building is." Heiji remarked, taking in all the details. "Whoever built this did a really bad job of making it sturdy."

In downtown Beika, a couple of construction workers working on the new shopping mall sneezed.

"Do you think they're here yet?" Heiji looked back at Conan with a worried expression.

"Only one way to find out. Wait here."

Heiji growled at this, forming a frown on his face. "I came with you to go and face the danger, not to just sit on the sidelines."

Conan responded with a little twitch at the corner of his mouth, but didn't protest as the pair entered the dark building. They were imminently immersed in a flood of darkness, making both of them a bit claustrophobic. The little creaks and squeaks from who-knows-where echoed around the chamber of darkness.

"Hey Kudo, do you have a flashlight with you?"

"Yeah, just wait a sec…"

A beam of light shot out from the wristwatch, illuminating their surroundings, casting tall, dark shadows on the peeling walls. Both of them squinted and blinked at the sudden light but quickly recovered.

"I thought they said-"

"I brought it with me, just in case." Conan quickly replied, knowing what the other boy would ask. "No use letting them know what this watch does…"

Both stood still for a moment, eyes searching for any signs of life. There was no sound, no ripples in the darkness that revealed anything.

"Maybe you're too early."

"Being early is better than-"

"Being late."

A cold, harsh voice cut through the chibi-detective's voice, drowning out any other sound. It made both their spines shiver, the voice sounding like the darkness itself.

"…Gin."

Heiji said nothing, but seemed like he wanted to retreat into the shadows. A figure stepped out from the darkness, blond hair waving. Another figure followed.

"Aniki…"

Gin raised his hand, silencing his ally. He inspected the two figures before him, gazing hovering at Heiji for a heartbeat before moving to Conan. He smiled menacingly as he spoke. "I see you followed the directions. And you brought a friend."

His tone was light and cheerful, like he was talking about the weather. Gin's eyes reflected pleasure at two new victims.

"So you're Kudo Shinichi?" Gin asked, gaze swinging around.

"I'm his cousin." Conan spoke in a calm voice, not letting in any emotion into his voice. His gaze was icy and filled with hatred at the man in front of him.

"As if I believe that."

Conan said nothing, but threw the APTX at him. Gin caught it with skilled hands and looked at it closely before putting it in his pocket.

"Now, how did you get this?"

Conan's gaze flickered to Heiji, whose face was blank. "Like I would tell that to a bastard like you."

Behind his back, Conan clicked a button on his watch that would call for the police. It was the latest feature, making sure that someone would come if he needed help.

"K-Conan!"

Conan yelped as he was lifted into the air by strong, tough hands. "Aniki! Look at what he was doing!" He felt Vodka detach the watch from his wrist and throw it to Gin. Vodka let go, a tiny smirk on his face.

"What's this?" Gin threw it on the floor and smashed it into pieces. Conan flinched as he watched Agasa Hakase's precious invention be destroyed in front of his eyes.

"He called the police, Aniki."

Gin took out a gun from his coat and aimed it at the child. Conan tried to move, but only got bolts of pain shooting up his body.

"My ankle's broken!" Conan thought with a chill, remembering how he landed on the floor awkwardly and felt something snap.

"Tell me."

Conan hissed. "Like hell I would!"

Conan closed his eyes, afraid of what would come next. What would Ran do when she finds out that both Conan and Shinichi are dead? What would his parents think? He braced himself.

He felt the air being knocked out of him and he was pushed sideways with a powerful lurch. He tumbled on the floor and groaned; only feeling pain. But when he touched the spot where he thought the bullet had hit him, he found no blood. In fact, he couldn't feel blood anywhere.

Then, all the pieces fit together. Conan snapped his eyes open and was met with a bleeding figure on the ground, curled up like a ball.

Hattori.

"Hattori!" Conan shouted and tried to inch forward to his friend, but found the task impossible with his broken ankle. Gin stood there with a blank sort of expression on his face, but, for some reason, there was pleasure on his face. He said something, but it was impossible to make out because Conan's ears were buzzing.

Gin threw a little piece of paper which bonked off his head and landed beside his arm. And they left hurriedly. (probably because of the coming police cars)

Conan squeezed his trembling fingers around the tiny piece of white, closing his eyes to conceal the pain. With much effort, he managed to drag himself beside Heiji's body. His ankle scream in pain, and he flinched at the sudden jolts that came up from his leg; but concentrated more on examining the condition of his friend.

The teen was curled up in a tight ball, absorbed in pain, while blood blossomed out of the bullet wound and spilled out on the floor, making it red. Conan knew it was bad judging by how the blood seemed to be covering most of the front side of his shirt. "The bullet probably hit somewhere near his waist… If I could just…"

Another flash of pain blocked his thoughts and sent him falling to the floor.

"Shit…" Conan thought as he gritted his teeth to prevent the yell of pain coming out.

There were flashes of light out side. A familiar female voice called out, and made other come inside the building instantly.

The figure grabbed him and started to shake him by the shoulders.

"Conan-kun… Conan-kun!"

Conan barely heard her as he began to become linp, feeling the energy rush out of his body…

And he promptly passed out.

A/N This was an important chapter. That's all I'll say.