A/N: And so, here we come to it. Last chapter. Chapter-wise, if not word-wise, this was my longest fic, and the feedback I got was awesome. What, 140+ reviews? *laughs* you're so great. Actual thanks are at the bottom. By the way, the chapters' titles' have a meaning to them, gents. I'm a girl of routine.

On another note, happy b-day, Katie-chan! Much love to you, and have a lovely day. A double present is on its way, but it might take some time to wind it up.

Warnings–nope. Amounts of plot.

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0.1

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They ended up at dawn in a dusty end-of-the-road café fifty miles away from Mortown, the car they had borrowed from Takagi-keiji and Satou-keiji having all but broken down and refusing to take them any further. It would necessitate serious repair, but for now they were left to enjoy their sunrise.

Bare from them and a couple of early hands at the counter, the place was empty, and long stretches of increasing sunlight leaned, pale, but not cold, over the tiles and tables. The TV above the drinks' counter was on, but the sound had been tuned down, and, so far, no news had come off the last two days' pandemonium.

"So if I get this straight," Aoko said, frowning, "you, Kudo and Hattori, the police forces, and the FBI have all been in on this to stop these guys, whoever they are."

"So far you're all good," Kaito replied, with one of his tired grins that rippled slowly on his lips."

"And the experiment­–"

"Well, I'm not too certain about that." It was his turn to frown. "Kudo could tell you much better than I–he's been a victim of it, actually. And so have I–indirectly, you might say." There was something he wasn't telling her here, clearly. She saw it in the rapid quirk of his lips, and god, after eight years, she had learnt to read him. It'd just taken her time to deal with it. "This–Organization, whatever, has been trying to achieve one aim for many years–probably longer than we were involved with it. Longer than I even was involved with it, and I was before even Kudo."

"What aim?"

"Immortality." The word was dropped bluntly like a lump of sugar in a cup of coffee, and then Kaito frowned again. "Or at the very least, extended lifespan. Now my guess is, though I never really got these scientific things, they believed, they would attain that by discovering its exact contrary–which might actually prove in handy for them, later on. It did."

"A poison," Aoko breathed. "They intended to find a cure for death by first discovering the perfect poison?" She pondered on this for a moment–the ultimate venom, undetectable, tasteless, colorless, painless even– "That's crazy," she asserted eventually.

"They were the sanest people I met," Kaito said, with a twitch of his lips. "Especially considering they intended to try it out on the population of Mortown–"

"That was the experiment? To poison a whole town?" Aoko's face was crumpled in disgust. "To find immortality?"

"Sickening, isn't it," he said somberly. "All for a theory that probably would have proved out to be wrong–a random guess–a myth." His face had closed in on itself, and the blue of his eyes had darkened with the tilt of his head. "Funny how much men are ready to sacrifice for fairy tales." –and then the moment passed, his face cleared, but she felt he wouldn't explain more; not as of yet.

"What about the murder?" she asked, more to divert his thoughts than by real curiosity–she had worked it out, mostly.

He shrugged a little, as though abashed. "Assistants, scientists, anyone who worked with them at some point and knew even little about this experiment. Their mistake, of course, was to kill them on a clear track that led us straight to Mortown, but it was quicker and they were out of time." The simple, straightforward explanation seemed to pull him together again.

"The FBI intended to simply follow the lead until its end–but people were dying and well–Kudo and I sort of tried to prevent it about at the same time. We didn't talk to each other–or if we did, it was after we'd started."

He glanced at the TV above the counter. Nothing new there, though the sun had certainly risen by now. "But we started up late, and we were in a hurry. The snowstorm kinda slowed us up…" he offered her a smile like a present to take, and take it she did.

"It's over then," she said softly.

"Yes, it's over." Then, suddenly rebelling himself– "No, it's not. That is over–everything else–" his eyes fastened on hers. "–everything else-is not over." And then the corners of his mouth softened. "You won't stop coming after me, will you?"

"Would you stop running?" she asked.

He smiled. "Well–" he leaned forward to grab her hand again, "there's a bus leaving from here half an hour from now," he breathed over her lips, and as the sun rose above the tress of the stationing area, the light it now spilled white-gold over the large windowpanes and into the bar, the soft, hushed whisper of the TV, even the distasteful coffee standing in what small distance remained between them, all held the distinct shine of a promise.

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Tada! The end.

Now, for the traditional thankyou time–your reviews for this have been great, and I thank you all. They moved me, made me laugh, made me dream, and generally made my days during all this month. I have read and enjoyed every single one of them–and tried to respond to all, so if I forgot someone, I can only say I'm sorry. Thank you so much for reading­–this means a huge lot to me.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this fic, for I certainly enjoyed writing it. Cookietime!