A/N And I am back! XD This chapter will be more a 'filler' than a plot, because I think the plot is going way too fast.

Kakashikrazy256: Thank you! (I'll probably stop saying this, you post… every chapter! But I thank you deely.) I'm glad you like it! Ah yes, I had to add Kid somehow, and Vermouth seemed like the perfect character to… 'Pair up'. And it's amazing what love and friendship can do to a person, huh?

Chelseaj500: Thank you! (I'll probably stop saying this; you're such a dedicated reviewer!) Thank you for that correction. Yes, I'm bad at writing out 'mysterious characters', but I think that was better than my first draft. XD And Ai was acting like that, mainly because she was worried. Huh? Is that ConAi I'm seeing? *gets shot by ShinRan fans* I bet Kaito is good at English too, but I must make sure he isn't good and English FOR THE SAKE OF THE PLOT! *does a stance and gets shot for lame excuse*

Disclaimer: It was never here.


A day passed, then two, then three. Each night was another nightmare, each dawn another spark of hope (that always dimmed), and each day another boredom. The Detective Boys always visited him before or after school, bringing him new homework. Haibara visited in the evening, just standing in the corner of the room, looking at him with piercing eyes. Conan was racked with guilt during those times, since he still hadn't told her about the note.

Ran came in and talked to him about what was happening. Of course, it wasn't like anything had changed. As she said, "It's only one week."

His mother and father would come in, eyes glazed with worry for their son. Yukiko broke down crying once, saying she was a terrible mother, and that she should've taken better care of him. It took quite awhile to get her to calm down, and at that moment, he was drowning silently in the guilt that came off from the note by his bedside. At night he would gaze at the note, half of him wanting to destroy it, rip it up into shreds and throw it away. But he couldn't.

There was no news of Heiji, who Conan guessed still hadn't waken up. But he did know that no visitors were allowed in his room (not that there actually were visitors) and doctors wandered in and out of it restlessly. Ran started to consider calling his parents, but she had promised, and she wasn't a kind of person to break a promise.

The fourth night, it was different. Haibara had tears in her eyes, trying to hide them under her cherry-blond hair. When he had questioned it, she glared at him and left. Ran had come, but left in a hurry. He couldn't sleep in fear that the nightmares would come again. He felt the cold night air nip at his skin. Shivering, he pulled the covers closer to his body.

There was a rush of wind. He tried to stand up and failed, leaving him defenseless. On the windowsill there was a familiar white costume, cape flickering out behind him. The smile on his face was hard to miss, and the thief politely bowed to the shrunken tantei.

"Kid." Conan growled out, but didn't make a movement.

Kid didn't react beyond raising his eyebrow and gesturing at his leg. Not wanting to explain, he asked first. "What are you doing here?"

Kid gently leaped down from the window and swiftly came over to the child. "Answers."

Conan shifted in his bed. "What about?"

"That 'Vermouth' person. You know her, don't you?"

Conan flinched a bit, but tried to hide it. "… You shouldn't get involved."

"Why not?"

"You might die. They'll hunt down anyone who's close to you if they find out. All the people you know… that you care about… Gone because of you sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong."

"I still want to know." He didn't back down, but his voice revealed a tiny hint of uncertainness.

"Even if-"

"I'm risking my life? Yes. I have to know."

His eyes drifted to the paper. "She's part of an illegal organization that I just call 'The Black Organization'. They smuggled drugs, make illegal drugs to sell, and kill people. Anyone who knows about them, or betrayed them, they kill."

"Do they know about… Pandora?"

"About… what?"

"A jewel inside a jewel. It makes you immortal."

Conan looked for trances of humor in the thief's eyes, but only saw deep seriousness. "You're joking, right? They're no such thing as immortality."

"There's no such thing as black magic either, but look what happened!" He laughed dryly.

"Wait… What?"

He smiled. "A fan of mine is a witch. She used black magic on Nakamouri-keibu in order to kill me."

Conan deadpanned, and decided to drop the subject. "Okay, let's say that there is a gem that makes you immortal. Why do you want it?"

"I don't want it. I want to destroy it to prevent it from falling into… wrong hands. Vermouth knows about it. I think."

"What 'wrong hands'?"

"There's this man named Snake. He wants the gem."

Conan suspected he was going to say more, since most of his face was now hidden in the shadow of the moon.

"He killed my father."

Conan didn't know what to say to that, so he just stared out the window.

Kid coughed, trying to break the awkward silence. "There were two more. One had a hat and sunglasses on, while the other had long, silver hair. Do you know them?"

Conan breathed out, mastering the anger raging inside of him. "Gin and Vodka." He said flatly.

Kid turned on swift feet. "Well I'll…" His eyes got round. He jumped and shot out his hanglider, shouting a warning to something.

Conan struggled to get out of the device holding his leg up, but felt jolts of pain extending from it whenever he moved. "What happened?"

Kid flew back in, looking calm and collected but a little nervous. "Something just fell off the window next door."

"Hattori."

He turned to the thief, eyes blazing. "What the hell are you still doing here? Go and get help!"

Frightened by the tantei's tone, Kid nodded and vanished. A moment later, he heard frantic footstep outside, a scream, a burst of chatter. A spiky haired boy entered the room, and for a moment Conan thought he was looking at himself (which led him to believe he was going crazy.) But he saw that it was someone else, dressed in messy jeans, a worried glimmer in his eyes. "I'm sorry…"


The next morning, Conan persuaded Ran to call Heiji's parents. Ran didn't argue, but was shaking when she dialed the numbers in. According to the police, there was no sign of struggle so it either means he left willingly or someone kidnapped him while he was passed out. It was mostly likely the latter, but there was no rope of any kind in the surrounding area. Witnesses also said that they saw no one.

It was a surprise when they didn't come right away, but instead, came with Kazuha.

Heizo didn't understand. "I was in Osaka the whole time; I never came to Tokyo within the past two months."

The reality came crashing down on Conan. "Heiji had lied… but why?"

The taunting voice in his head came back. "You know why, you just don't want to believe…"

Conan shook his head rapidly, refusing, going against the voice.

Haibara came in during the morning. With numb shock, he realized it was Saturday. Not like it mattered anymore.

"Kudo-kun… I'm sorry."

Conan stared at her with blank eyes, still fighting against the voice.

"I should've told you… That they were planning to take more Apotoxin subjects. After you, and you reappearing so many times, they weren't sure."

"…what?"

Haibara let out a shaky breath. "I didn't tell you on purpose, because I thought… If I knew this would happen I would've…"

"So you think they took him for the research?"

Haibara opened her mouth and closed it, not being able to reply. A flash of pity came across her eyes, only appearing for a brief time. Conan didn't miss it.

"He left by himself. It was his choice."

Her head jerked up. "What?"

"He left on purpose. He did it for the same reason I haven't told anyone yet."

Haibara frowned. "Kudo-kun, please explain."

"I…" there was a raging battle in his mind, two sides arguing fiercely. The side that didn't accept the truth won. "…Never mind. It was a stupid idea."

Haibara didn't question him, and left silently.


His breathing was getting faster and faster, and sweat was pouring down his face. But he didn't go back. If he did, they would find everyone, and then…

He leaned against the small warehouse, closing his eyes. "He'll be coming…"


Gin growled, obviously displeased at the news he had just received. "He's gone."

Vodka turned to look at him. "What?"

"Stop the car. It's no use looking."

Vodka u-turned and exited the highway. "I thought he was in a coma?"

"I thought the same."

Gin snorted. "He'll come when the little brat comes. He's too foolish to let the tantei come alone.

Gin lit a cigarette and twirled it around his fingers. "He'll come…"


A/N *evil smile*