Kaito now fully understood the apologetic look that the detective of the west had shot his way. He needed his particular brand of skillset-specifically his lock picking skills. He stood out in front of the vaguely circular house surveying the neighborhood while Hattori noisly messed with the gate until the latch came undone. Kaito and Yagami winced at the loud squeak and the loud noise it made when it crashed against the fence. He'd make a terrible thief with all that noise. It was almost appalling.

Kaito rolled his eyes and glanced towards the large mansion next door-the Kudou Manor. He squinted and could have sworn he saw something in the window but as far as he knew that house was empty and had remained so since the appearance of little Edogawa Conan. He winced again as Hattori kicked something with a clang and glared. This was not how he'd wanted to spend new years. Someone was going to call the police on them at this rate.

"And what are we doing here?" Yagami questioned, standing off to the side while watching Hattori prove he was incapable of being quiet.

"This is Agasa-hakase's house." Kaito supplied. Hattori whipped around to look at him, probably surprised that he knew. "He's a family friend." Yagami was watching them both carefully, Kaito could tell that he knew they weren't telling him something and it was digging under his skin. Good.

"Agasa was the one that had the means to track Conan-kun, correct?" He asked. "Did we get a spare key?" Hattori looked over at Kaito who sighed and made his way over to the door handle. At least it was probable that Kudou Shinichi knew how to pick a lock. He knelt down by the door and inspected it carefully-it was relatively simple and he should have it in a matter of seconds.

"Conan-kun has the spare key." Kaito stated, working the lock until he heard the audible 'Click!' and swung the door open. "Desperate times, my friend." Yagami raised an eyebrow at him but stepped into the dark empty house with the other two. Hattori had obviously been here before as he went straight to the light switch.

The main room was rather spacious and circular. The Kitchen was off to the side and there were a set of stairs leading to the top level of the house. Hattori wasn't interested in any of this though and moved straight for a door on the ground floor, yanking it open and quickly descending down the stairs. Kaito looked at Yagami before following after him.

Hattori moved straight to the desk to the far corner and ripped the drawer open. He pulled the glasses from inside it and immediately turned them on. At least they could find him now. Leaving Hattori to handle that, Kaito looked around the room curiously. The room was an obvious mess-a coffee cup sitting on the desk, papers scattered here and there and few test tubes and beakers on display instead of stored away. It wasn't that unexpected-Kudou's neighbor was an inventor after all.

"Got him!" Hattori announced triumphantly. "He ain't that far." He spun around, glasses on his face and started to sprint up the steps only to find the way was blocked by a man with curly light brown hair, rimmed glasses and a turtleneck standing with his arms crossed. It was that guy from the archrive heist. Something about him made Kaito feel slightly uneasy.

"Should I ask what you three are doing breaking into my neighbor's house?" He asked calmly. Where had this guy come from? Kaito looked over to Hattori who seemed just as surprised. This is what he got for trusting Hattori to get that gate open.

"We don't have time fer this! I gotta go get Ku-Conan-kun!" He shouted at the man blocking their exit. But the name sparked recognition and Kaito could have sworn he saw a glint of green in the man's eyes.

"Conan-kun? What's happened to him?" He asked, uncrossing his arms. That time Kaito was sure there was a glint of green aimed in his direction

"You can ask questions later, right now we gotta move!" Hattori shouted. The man-Okiya Subaru if Kaito was remembering correctly- only shifted his position.

"Conan-kun was abducted." Yagami spoke up. "We're trying to track him as it seems his kidnapper was murdered and the building he's trapped in was set on fire." Well, that was certainly the gist of it.

"Aa, so then you're here for the tracking glasses. If you're short on time, I'd be more than happy to drive you to his location."

oooOOOooo

Shinichi coughed violently as the smoke was starting to make its way under the door and across the wide basement. A room this big should have had another exit due to building codes but it didn't. He sighed and looked at the dead body he was currently sharing space with. Could Hattori and that idiot get the glasses in time? And even if they did, how could he be sure they could even get to him? If the fire had spread enough then no one would be able to even get down here to get him.

Well, if he died at least he wouldn't have to choose between Kira and the Black Organisation. He coughed again and glared at the door that held the fire back.

A jolt of energy shot through him as a loud ringing met his ears and he looked around. It sounded like Conan's phone but the kidnapper had-oh. Of course. He got to his feet and moved over to search the dead body again-this time he was able to dig his phone out from his pockets. At frist the call seemed to have been lost and Shinichi just sighed, it probably wasn't important anyway. However, it sprang back to life after a few seconds. He he glanced at the caller ID reading: 'Unknown.' Helpful.

Seeing as he had little else to do, he slid the screen over to accept the call.

"Yes?" He Answered lazily, leaning against one of the support beams.

"Edogawa Conan?" The voice on the other end caught his attention immediately. It was distorted-mechanic. A voice modifier?

"Who's calling?" He demanded sharply.

"That is unimportant." The voice stated. "I am going to walk you through your escape." Who was this? Who needed a modulator to get hold of him? He shook his head and focused on the empty promise. As much as he'd liked the idea of escaping there wasn't really a whole lot he could do.

"You wasted your time then, there's no way out of here." Shinichi sighed, looking around again for good measure, though this time he was in search of cameras. How did this person know where he was? "Why do you want to help me escape?"

"There is a way. However, it will not be easy." He noticed the voice did not answer his question and took a breath. Should he trust the mysterious voice on the other end or hang up? He looked back over at the source of the smoke and then at his phone. He didn't exactly have any other options, he'd die if he just sat here.

"Okay. How do I get out of here?" He gave in, listening closely to the background for some form of noise to indicate who his caller was. There was nothing but silence for a good few minutes. Was he looking over information? He couldn't hear the clack of keyboard but a touch screen would hardly make noise.

"In the north eastern corner there is a small grate, please tell me when you've found it." The voice instructed. That much Shinichi could do. He looked in the direction the grate would be and slowly made his way over to it, clicking his watchlight on to see it better. It looked like it was on there pretty solidly. What did this voice think he could do?

"I found it." He announced. "But I don't have any tools to get it off."

"That wall has been severely weakened and feeds into the basement of another company. If you want out, you will have to destroy it." Shinichi looked at the wall and then back at the grate. He pointed his watch light up to see where a good deal of water damage had overtaken the top half. The wall couldn't have been very sturdy, the voice was right. How could this person have known about this?

"I see that, but what am I supposed to destroy it with?" Or did this guy forget that Edogawa Conan was seven?

"You are a resourceful child. I suggest you find a way." The voice cut off abruptly and Shinichi was left with a dull dial tone in his ear.

Destroy the wall, huh? Shinichi looked at it carefully. According to the voice his freedom would be on the other side. Unfortunately, breaking down a wall was a tall order for his current size. Hell, he'd probably have difficulty with it even at his real size. He took a breath and looked behind him. He might be able to do it with a soccer ball but was there enough space for that much force? He could definitely do it with the firework brand but that might be dangerous.

A buzzing in his right pocket pulled his concentration away from the problem at hand, a quick look at the caller ID and he answered it without a second thought. "What is it, Hattori?"

"Ku-nan-kun!" He sounded excited. Shinichi pulled the phone away from his ear just a bit. "Ki-udou an' I think we know how t' getcha outta there." Interesting.

"Aa, there's a weakened wall down here. I just have to break it down." Hattori's silence spoke volumes about the reason he was calling.

"Uh.. yeah. That's exactly what I was gonna tell ya. Think yer shoes can handle it?"

"I have the utmost faith that they can." Shinichi could hear a bitter voice on the other end and couldn't help but snicker.

"Not funny, You could really hurt someone with those." He rolled his eyes at Kid's complaining and looked back at the wall. He probably could knock it down-He hoped.

"I'll give it a shot, but you should still get the fire department." He decided, moving back further away from the wall in order to allow plenty of room to get a good running start. He heard Hattori saying something but he killed the call and stored the phone back in his pocket. Break down the wall. Right. Ran was the person you went to for that kind of remodeling. Well, here went nothing.

He squatted down to crank up the power on his shoes and started to run towards the wall. He twisted the knob on his belt to inflate a soccer ball, let it hit the ground once and then kicked it full force at the offending wall. He watched as electricity crackled around it and the ball slammed into the barrier, knocking right through it and shaking the room slightly.

That was his cue. Shinichi took off at a run again, the faster he could get out the better. As the mysterious voice had said the wall fed into another basement and he didn't waste much time looking around too much as he located the stairs and made his way out.

Clean air had never tasted so good and he took in as much as his lungs would hold, hands on his knees. He took in a few more breaths and then stood up straight, turning to face the building he'd only recently been trapped in. It looked like it was on the verge of collapse and Shinichi was infinitely glad he'd made it out in time.

But now he had other things to be concerned about. Such as who was that voice that called to tell him about the weakened wall? Who had access to that kind of information? His breathing slowly returned to normal and a firefighter took note of his presence, quickly scooped him up pulling him away from the danger zone. Shinichi wasn't listening as he was told off and once the man's back was turned he wandered off in search of Hattori as he had to be around somewhere.

"Ahou! Why aren't ya listenin' I jus said that-" Oh. There he was. Shinichi swallowed another breath and moved silently over to the osakan detective shouting at the fire marshall, the thief and bored college student.

"Hattori." He said flatly.

"Don' mess with me now, Ku-" Shinichi rolled his eyes and Hattori's snapped back down to him. "Ku-Nan-kun!" he nearly said the wrong name for probably the millionth time. "Glad ta see ya made it out okay!" Shinichi was glad to be out.

"Yeah." He said dismissively. "Were Sato and Takagi able to track down the murderer?"

"You just get out of a burning building and the first thing you ask is about the case?" Kid asked, still disguised at the high school detective. Shinichi raised an eyebrow at his imposter.

"O' course tha's what he'd ask. Good ol' Ku-Ku-Uh-Conan-kun." Shinichi and Kid both shared identical sighs. At least it was slightly less annoying with 'Kudou Shinichi' standing right there. It probably just seemed like Hattori frequently mixed their names up. Which was technically true. "An-anyways, yeah. Sato and Takagi-han were able to get her-she's probably at the station now. And Neechan's waitin on 'Kudou" He shot a glare at Kid. "-to bring ya back to the agency."

Shinichi shot a glare at Kid but as he opened his mouth to say something he was cut off by a smooth but familiar voice.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to intervene." He spun around to see Subaru had somehow gotten involved. "I'll take him back to the detective agency after I've had a word if that's okay."

"Aa." Shinichi replied distractedly. "That's fine." There was only one reason Subaru would want to talk to him alone.

"Conan-kun." Yagami's voice caught him off guard and he spun to face him. "I wondered if I might have a word with you later? I'm sure you're tired now." Shinichi's eyes narrowed. In all the excitement he'd nearly forgotten about the information he'd gotten from Naomi and regarded the other cautiously.

"Sure!" He chirped in true little kid fashion. "If you come get me at the agency tomorrow we can talk then."

"Perfect. I'll see you then." Yagami nodded. Subaru's hand fell on his shoulder and gently started to steer him away from the others signifying it was time to go. He followed the man silently, not saying a word as he let his thoughts wander back to that voice. Whoever that was had called at just the perfect time with just the right information for him to get out. As absorbed in his thoughts as he was, he almost didn't register the door to Subaru's fiat was being held open for him and he certainly didn't utter a word of gratitude.

"Did you receive a call?" Subaru's question shot right through him and Shinichi stared. How had-?

"Do you know who it was?" He asked quickly, eager to solve that annoying little mystery.

"L." The statement was nearly enough to knock the air out of Shinichi's lungs and his gaze shot up to Subaru.

"What?" He asked inelegantly. He had to have heard that wrong.

"It seems he found out about the fact our James was letting you look through highly classified information." That shouldn't have been surprising. Of course he would have. "Due to the sensitive nature of the case and high praise the bureau has for you, he was naturally curious."

That wasn't good news, it meant he was doing to much as Conan again. At this rate his identity would be discovered. He swallowed thickly and nodded.

"Curious about me?"

"Yes, but your... predicament caused a bit of trouble when he requested a meeting." Subaru explained. "So I'm taking you to meet him now." Shinichi knew enough about how the mysterious L worked that he doubted very seriously that this meeting would be in person. "Are you comfortable with this?"

"Eh?" The question caught him off guard.

"While you are remarkable and have proven to be a great asset to us, this may be a risk you don't want to take." Subaru explained. "You have much more at stake than just your life."

"The same could be said of you." Shinichi shot back, though he did appreciate the concern. Subaru was right, in this case his identity was the only thing that would keep him safe and if that were to get out... He swallowed. In all honesty he wasn't comfortable with this but what could he do? He didn't have a choice. There was no turning back now so he might as well just move ahead.

"Of course, the bureau will continue to support you and look forward to your contributions regarding that one case. If you don't want to do this, now is the time to back out." Shinichi took a breath and looked down at the floor of the car. Subaru didn't know about the threat from Vermouth. He closed his eyes.

"I-" He didn't want to do this. This was dangerous even by his standards. There was so much on the line now and it just wasn't worth it. "I want to do it." He felt his mouth moving. "This isn't the kind of case I can leave alone."

Subaru cast a look at him briefly before returning his gaze to the road and then nodded. "If you're sure."