Chapter 10:

"Vermouth is late" said a mysterious man dressed in all black, as he stood up from a leather couch. He was a strongly built man, whose face was covered by the shadow casted off his hat. Gin and Vodka waited for him to sit at the head of the table before they both took their seats, Chianti and Korn were sitting on the other side.

"Maybe if we're lucky she was killed" Chianti said, a hopeful look on her face

"Now, now" the man said.

"I don't understand why you like her so much, Boss" Chianti said crossing her arms.

"Watch it" Vodka threatened.

Gin quietly blew out a cloud of smoke next to him, waving his arm to put out a match. "What I don't understand is why we're having such a dangerous meeting, if the kid is such a big threat we should be out finding him" he said annoyed.

The Boss smiled "Your brilliant mind is always an incredible asset to the organization Gin, and we all know how careful you are when it comes to keeping our secret" he said, looking around the table at everyone before continuing "That's why, I'm so concerned about this boy"

"There are other things that you should worry about" Bourbon said entering the room. "Vermouth is gone; I think she might have joined forces with that kid"

"What proof do you have of this?" the Boss asked quietly.

"When I was looking for the boy I found her" he pointed to a man tugging along a girl, a gun held to her ribs.

***

"That's Ran!" Shinichi whispered loudly to Heiji. Even though she was blindfolded and had duct tape covering her mouth, he knew it was her. The two of them had been waiting for her all day. After meeting that boy and getting a location, they took no chances. Shinichi explained everything to Inspector Megure.

-----

"I'm sorry, but with so little time and so little evidence it'll take some time to get permission" he said to Shinichi.

"Inspector! You know I wouldn't lead you wrong; this Organization is dangerous and extremely hard to find. If you let them go today, we may never get another shot"

"Yeah! Besides, this is a tip coming from the best detectives around!" Heiji said confidently.

"I know that, but the best I can do is get some guys up there around 10" Inspector Megure said, annoyed.

"They meet at 9!" Shinichi and Heiji screamed in unison.

-----

'I didn't expect it to be in an abandon factory' Shinichi thought, looking around 'This place is huge! It's going to be pretty hard for the police to surround it. Plus their meeting is in that room' before the meeting, Heiji and Shinichi looked around the building. It was mostly empty space, a walk way was located near the ceiling, and there was one large office room located at the back. The office had a door leading outside. 'And just like we predicted, it was the room the Organization was using' Shinichi thought smugly.

Heiji brought Shinichi back to the present "She's hurt" he whispered. He quickly looked at her through his binoculars and noticed the dark red stain on her arm.

His stomach did a flip 'That must be how they managed to capture her' he thought. He shook his head 'No, wait- that wouldn't explain why she left on her own like that. Was she threatened and then taken hostage? And if so, why was I cured before that? Plus that mysterious boy' he rubbed his chin thinking about everything. He looked at the Organization members, stopping at Gin and Vodka. After listening to the conversation so far, he knew he was a target once again. 'Was it them? Did they find out about me and do this in order to get Ran?' he shook his head 'This isn't the time' he thought, quickly looking back at Ran.

"This girl is the last person that saw Shinichi Kudo" Bourbon said, as the man brought her closer. "She's a childhood friend of his" He reached up and ripped the duct tape off, making her wince and moan. "Tell them what you saw" he demanded. She looked up and said, shaking.

"He said he had a break in the case"

"What case was that?" Gin asked coldly.

"I-I don't know" Ran said, tears coming to her eyes "He said he was on a big case with dangerous people, and now he's one step closer to finding them"

"What does that mean!?" Vodka asked, slamming his hands down as he stood. Ran jumped at the sudden noise, as tears began falling from her eyes.

"And what makes you think it was Vermouth helping him?" the Boss asked calmly, his hands folded on the table.

"She's been in contact with him" Bourbon replied, reaching into his jacket and throwing a handful of pictures on the table "She's known his location and had been following him for months". Pictures of Conan with various people spread across the table.

Gin picked up a picture of Conan and Haibara "This is Sherry" he said, a cunning smile covering his face. "So, that's where she's been hiding. Looks like we've got another traitor"

Chianti looked at a picture of Conan and his friends before throwing it on the table "I knew she was dirty" she said, happily "I'll gladly get rid of her, Boss" The Boss looked at the pictures silently, shuffling through them all before talking again.

"He's an even bigger threat now, if she's helping him" he said calmly "We shouldn't be here, from now on only contact me through the phone. Until he is found and disposed of, be extra careful" he got up from his seat and started leaving. Placing his hand on the door he quickly said "Oh and Bourbon get rid of her" he pointed to Ran, before closing the door behind him.

"Right away, Boss. Hey, you heard him shoot her" he said to the man. Ran screamed and thrashed around, breaking the man's grip as she ran. The man quickly lifted his gun and shot. Ran went down, hitting the ground face first.

"NO!" Shinichi called out, he jumped down from the walkway he was hiding on. The Organization looked over to see him running toward them. Bourbon quickly swore under his breath before taking out his gun and shooting Chianti. At the same time, Vermouth quickly shot Korn. As Vermouth and Bourbon ran behind the couch on the other side, Gin and Vodka quickly flipped the table and started shooting. The sound of gun fire and ripping fabric filled the air.

"Bastards! How dare you do this to the Organization!" Vodka screamed, while firing over the table. "You're dead!"

Gin quietly held his gun; he looked over the table 'The girl's gone...another one of their tricks' he thought quickly. He looked at Shinichi who was getting dragged away by a dark skinned kid. "Cover me for a second" he whispered to Vodka, as he began running toward Shinichi and Heiji. Bourbon and Vermouth both shot at him but missed as he caught up with them. Shinichi turned around and faced him.

"Party's over boys. You've seen too much--!" Gin suddenly began to swagger and fall to his knee. The room was getting cloudy; he looked down at his leg and saw a clear dart that was beginning to dissolve. The darkness was closing in as he looked up to see Shinichi's back, heading toward the door. He lifted his gun.

-POW-

-POW-

-POW-

The gun was smoking as it slipped from his hand and he fell to the floor. Gin stayed awake long enough to see Shinichi fall to the ground, before he slipped into the darkness.

"Brother!" Vodka screamed, standing up from the table and running over to him. Bourbon and Vermouth didn't waste a second, their shooting mixing together as they watched Vodka fall to the ground. There was an unearthly quiet as the smoke settled in the room. Ran's body was shaking uncontrollably as she griped her knees. Vermouth and Bourbon stepped over the couch, checking each body for a pulse.

"I'll check on Gin" Vermouth said to Bourbon, as she began walking towards him. She placed her fingers on his neck "He's still alive!" she screamed back to Bourbon. As she was about to flip him over to see how badly he was injured, she looked up for a second and made out the shape of a body. Vermouth began to stand before she heard another gunshot.

"Glad to hear somebody survived" the Boss said, stepping into the office. He stepped over the Bourbon's body and walked until he was in range of Vermouth.

"Should have known" Vermouth said under her breath.

"You can take off that disguise now" the Boss said, watching as she ripped the mask off and shook out her hair "You were my star, Vermouth. You were the past, present and future of this Organization"

"I never wanted this" she said, meekly. "You took everything from me!"

"On the contrary, I gave you a new beginning" the Boss said raising his arms "This world is cruel, there's no God, there's nothing but money!" Vermouth glanced behind her as she saw Heiji trying to bring Shinichi out. She let out a sigh of relief, closed her eyes and spoke.

"There may not be a God...But there are angels" she said quietly, looking toward the couch where Ran was still hiding. "That's good enough for me"

"Good enough for me too" Kid said suddenly, jumping down from a window. Before the Boss could turn around, Kid shot him with a tranquilizer gun. He staggered, as he ripped the dart out of his neck.

"You bastard" he screamed, firing his gun at Kid, who easily swooped down and dodged. The boss fell down on his knees "This isn't over" he mumbled, his hand was shaking as he reached into his jacket. He pulled out a bottle of Schnapps.

"Oh shit" Vermouth said "KID! GET RAN OUT OF HERE!" she screamed, as the Boss tossed the bottle toward her. The bottled rolled before it exploded into an incredible explosion. Vermouth disappeared into the light, as Ran watched amazed and terrified. Kid had grabbed her and was pulling her to the door. Looking at the explosion she saw Shinichi through the flames. Heiji was dragging his body; blood was covering his stomach and dripping onto the ground. Ran stifled a cry as she was carried out of the building. 'It's all my fault'

***

"Kudo!" Heiji called, desperately trying to drag him away. Shinichi shook off the darkness as he looked up to see a huge fire spread across the room. He tried to stand "Ran! She's still over there! She's alive" he called, the blood flowing faster from his stomach as he thrashed around.

"Idiot! Stay still! We have to get out of here! There's no way we can get to her now, and you're seriously injured"

Shinichi tried to answer, but his mouth wouldn't open. Heiji lifted him up and put his arm over his shoulder as they walked toward the exit. Shinichi looked back and saw Ran, being carried out the door. Heiji noticed and turned them around. Shinichi lifted up his hand before it fell down, and he sank into darkness. Shinichi's full weight made Heiji lose a step, before he shrugged his arm over further up his neck and kept walking "I wish you were a kid again" he said through clenched teeth.