The next few days passed by at an agonizingly slow rate. It was like he was waiting on something to happen but he didn't know what it was. He'd tried to investigate Isobe but found his computer and any other electronics had been wiped clean of information-courtesy of the Night Baron Virus, no doubt. The Organisation got there first. Maybe that would be the worst of it. He was being optimistic but he had to be in order keep sane. Nothing had happened yet. The Organisation didn't know who Kira was so they couldn't retaliate. Yet.

"Kudou-kun." The voice of Haibara Ai snapped him out of his revere. "You've had that expression on your face for sometime now. There's something you're not telling me." She stated. He swallowed, trying to think of an excuse. How could she tell? He stammered incoherently at first but then put a hand on her shoulder, gathering his nerve.

"It's nothing for you to worry about." He assured her. She wasn't impressed and only fixed him with an icy glare. She knew him too well. "Promise?" He tried, getting nowhere. "...Did we already leave the kids at the crosswalk?"

"Yes." She answered curtly. "Does this have to do with Them?" Shinichi sucked in a breath and debated lying but the look on her face told him she already knew the answer and he just let out a sigh, letting his hand drop from her shoulder.

"Yes." He finally confessed. "It's nothing I've done-It's Kira. He killed one of their contacts within the police-a pretty important one." Haibara stared at him for a good long moment, did she not believe him?

"And now you're worried they're going to retaliate." Haibara mused. He nodded. There was also the added fact they wanted Kira's weapon and had already infiltrated the task force. One thing at a time. "Depending on how useful he was to the organisation it wouldn't be unheard of for them to want to send a message but since no one knows who Kira is, that's a bit difficult, even for them."

"So you don't think they'll do anything?" Shinichi asked hopefully as Haibara thought about it.

"No, now more than ever they'll probably want to keep to the shadows." She decided. If they could, technically Kira had just blown a massive hole in their cover-like ants whose mound had been disturbed and they all crawled out at once.

"...Say, Haibara." She looked up at him. "Did you ever meet with someone with the code name Absinthe?" She considered his question.

"No, I don't think so. I didn't meet everyone while I was working for them." He didn't really think he'd get that lucky with how things had gone so far but he still couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. "Perhaps you should come with me to the professor's." He could tell by her tone she wasn't really giving him a choice.

"Fine." He sighed in defeat. "But first let me drop my stuff off at the agency." They rounded the corner and Mouri Detective Agency was already in view. Haibara followed after him as he moved towards the building. He headed up the steps like he usually did and went straight for the office. "I'm home!"

"Conan-kun! Welcome back." Ran greeted him as he came in the door. She was holding a serving tray and wearing an apron which could only mean-he glanced over at the two couches. Yes. They had a client-a very peculiar client at that. He appeared to be very unkempt from what Shinichi could tell just by his current vantage point.

"Ran-neechan, we have a client?" Ran moved over to the door to take his coat and backpack.

"Actually, Conan-kun-He says he's one of your cousins." Ran stated, not realising the weight of the words she'd just dropped on him. "Oh, Ai-chan, I didn't see you at first. May I take your things?"

What did she mean? Conan didn't have any cousins because Edogawa Conan didn't exist. He glanced at Haibara who shook her head at him. The curiosity was too great-he needed to know. He moved over to the two couches to get a look at his 'cousin.' The man was deathly pale with dark circles under his eyes that would put Akai Shuichi's to shame.

"Aa! Conan-kun!" The man greeted, doing his best to sound friendly. Shinichi looked back at Haibara again to see if she could feel anything from him but she shook her head.

"Hello…" He said suspiciously. Why had Ran let this person in the house?

"Glad to see you're home from school." He continued with the charade. Shinichi could fee his heart beating faster-he couldn't give anything way-Ran couldn't know that this was a complete stranger to him.

"A-Aa…" He made no move to get any closer to the man than he already was.

"Since I'm in town I thought I'd treat you to dinner and catch up-you have grown quite a bit since you were an infant." Liar. Shinichi's eyes narrowed. What did this man want from him. What would happen if he refused? He couldn't put Ran in that kind of danger. He shoved his anxiety down and adopted the cheerful persona of Edogawa Conan.

"Mm!" He chirped. "That sounds like fun! It'll be just the two of us, right?" Don't you dare drag Haibara and Ran into this.

"Of course. Are you ready to go?" No. No he was not but what choice did he have? He nodded his head once with enthusiasm and the man stood up and headed for the door-he was gangly and thin to an unhealthy degree. Shinichi let out a breath and started to follow but felt a tight grip on his wrist stop him and turned to see Haibara.

"What are you doing? There's no way that man is-"

"I know." He cut her off. "But I don't have a choice. If he knows something about me, I need to know." He whispered. She released his wrist after a moment of consideration and Shinichi continued on.

"I'll see you later Ran-neechan!" He smiled up at her as she busied herself with cleaning the office.

"See you later Conan-kun. Stay out of trouble and have fun." He shut the door behind him as he exited the office. A quick glance down the stairs showed the man was waiting at the bottom for him and standing next to luxury limo. It did nothing to calm him nerves. He took in a breath and started down the steps. Who was this man? What did he want?

"After you, Conan-kun." He was probably offering for him to climb in first so he knew he wouldn't try and make a break for it. He took in another breath to calm his nerves and climbed into the limo as he'd been instructed to. Once the door was shut Shinichi fixed the man with a glare.

"What do you want?" He demanded. "We both know you're not my cousin."

"Quite." His demeanor seemed to change altogether as he settled himself into the seat across from him, sitting in the same peculiar way he had been sitting in the agency. "Merely another chance to talk to you." Shinichi's eyes narrowed at the word 'another.'

"I've never met you before in my life." He said sternly. The man didn't seem at all phased by the harsh tone.

"You have. Although it wasn't in person." The man said calmly, watching him. Not in person? But the only person he'd met recently that wasn't face to face was-Oh. The realization must have shown on his face because the man spoke again. "I think, at this point you have realised who I am."

"L." Shinichi answered. The man-L gave a nodd. "But I thought you didn't show your face to anyone." He prompted.

"Yes, that is generally the case. However in this situation I have been forced to do a number to things I would not normally." L explained. "I have had to show my face to the Kira task force-something I did not want to do, but sacrifices must be made if I am to catch Kira."

"Well then, I wish you luck on the case." He started to pull the door open but found it stayed stubbornly closed. Shinichi sighed. Child lock.

"It is unwise to open the door of a moving vehicle." L advised. Recognising that he was stuck Shinichi turned back to face him.

"What do you want?" He demanded, not at all happy about being trapped.

"I want the truth."

"I already told you, I don't know anything." He stated firmly. L stared at him, thumb pressed against his lip.

"Yes, and you lied." He said bluntly, catching the small detective off guard. "Why are you trying to protect Kira? From what I've seen and heard of you, his methods are something you would be entirely against." That was certainly true, but he'd have to put up with it for now because as bad as Yagami was with that weapon the organisation with that power would be even worse.

"I said I don't know anything." He repeated the statement, not actually expecting it to do much.

"You are afraid of something." L deduced. "It isn't Kira himself as you are no doubt aware that any information coming from you will remain anonymous. So what is it that you are not telling me?" He stared.

For a moment, he wondered if he should just tell L about the organisation, about the fact that someone on the task force was a member just waiting to steal Kira's weapon once it was discovered. However, if he did he couldn't be sure the organisation wouldn't find out that L was aware of them and if that were to happen-He swallowed.

"There's nothing." He said stubbornly. L sighed.

"Then I will keep you until you are ready to speak the truth." Oh great. He just got himself kidnapped by L.

oooOOOooo

The explosion that ripped through the Haido City district came without warning, it was big enough that it shook the foundation of much of the district. The damage was massive, debris had flown in every direction creating more damage to the surrounding buildings. There was nothing left of the targeted building-it had been packed with enough explosives to completely level it.

Haido Hotel shook at the time of the explosion and nearly sent Shinichi to the floor. He rushed over to the large window and could see the huge smokestack reaching into the sky. He pressed his face against the glass as he tried to remember what that building was.

"Oh god." It hit him suddenly and he staggered backwards.

"Hm?" L looked down at him.

"The hospital." Shinichi's voice was weak as he stared numbly in the area that the Haido city Hospital used to stand. That whole section of the town had to be completely obliterated. He felt vaguely nauseous. All those people-dead.

This was the message. The weak and innocent-the people that needed to be protected. What had Yagami done? In killing their cover he'd unknowingly just sparked a war. He ignored whatever it was that L was saying to him and pulled out his phone, quickly calling Haibara. He didn't give her any time to speak once she answered.

"Haibara! It's open."