He couldn't count how many times that person had sent him to stand on top of some building waiting for some annoyance to come to him. Usually to be killed, but the annoyances rarely knew that. In fact the only way this was different was because of him.

"He'll be coming out soon." Snake leaned forward, his face twisted into a dark smile. Rum watched the smile darken and twist even more before he looked away, closing his eyes in resigned exhaustion. "When he does I'll distract him and you kill him!"

"… You seem to forget." Rum's voice was low but smooth, he sounded younger than Snake at least. "The only reason I am here is because he wanted me to. I will watch and act on my own terms. Understand?"

"…" Rum could feel Snake's sudden unease and let a grim smile take over his face. Faint footsteps could be heard from inside the building. "Shouldn't you be trying to hide, Rum-sama?"

"I'm fine where I am." Rum's eyes flickered open to pin Snake with a dark glare. The hood over his head covered his entire face in shadow and when his eyes were open he looked like something out of a nightmare. Snake paled dramatically tensing under his gaze. The footsteps grew in volume causing Rum's stare to skip over to the door.

When the rooftop door banged open Snake raised his gun. Rum frowned, reaching out a hand and tapping on the gun's barrel just as Snake fired causing the bullet to hit the wall instead of the wondrously white creature that almost seemed to dance out onto the roof. Snake snarled, the sound cutting short when he realized who had messed with his shot.

Rum watched as the figure stumbled in surprise before covering it with a skip. He could see now why the media loved this phantom. His look was one of a classic gentleman, the image complete with a top hat, and that cape made him look even more like a ghost. The phantom's recovery was immediate and impressive.

"Always a pleasure to see you Snake." Rum nodded memorizing the sound of his voice. Young, smooth, he would probably be a tenor if he were in a choir. "Although I seem to recall your aim being much better."

"It usually is." Snake hissed glaring at Rum who chuckled softly. The phantom twitched ever so slightly, invisible unless you were looking for it which Rum was, before turning around, again gracefully like a dancer, to face them.

The portion of the phantom's face that was visible confirmed Rum's thoughts about him being young. The skin was smooth and without scars. A teenager maybe? That smirk was overflowing with confidence, no hesitation at all. Rum smirked, he liked this guy already.

"You brought a friend!" The phantom sounded honestly pleased. His arms stretched out as if he was greeting a friend.

"An acquaintance." Rum shrugged. Snake sent him a shocked glance.

"Oh?" the phantom turned his head to look at Snake. "I see."

"Give us the Crystal Tear!" Snake demanded but faltered when Rum snorted.

"You sound like something out of the Lord of the Ring."

"I've always thought so too." The phantom chuckled before raising his hand showing his palm to the two men in black. Then he twisted his wrist, closing his hand into a fist and opening it again with the gem in his hand. His smile never faltered as he raised it up to catch the moon's rays. While the stone did sparkle it was nothing different from any other jewel.

"Are you sure you still want it Snake-san?" The phantom's tone turned teasing. Snake growled and raised his gun again to shoot.

"The phantom and I are talking." Rum's voice was calm but the underlying ice made Snake halt. The phantom's smirk turned to a light frown.

"Who exactly are you Shadow-san?" Rum smiled at the nickname.

"A business associate of the Snake here." Rum gestured to the uneasy next to him. The ripple of tension that went through the phantom's body had Rum frowning sadly.

"Are you here to kill me then?" The teasing lilt in the phantom's voice was at odds with his tense posture.

"I haven't gotten that order yet." Rum shrugged. Suddenly there was a click near his ear and he noticed the phantom start before he turned casually to see Snake pointing a gun at his head. "What is the meaning of this Snake?"

"You're an imposter." Snake snarled. "No assassin would rather chat up a thief then kill him, especially not his personal assassin."

Rum's eyes zeroed in on Snake's trigger finger, just when it was about to press down he moved. As if it was one gesture he pushed a knife slightly into Snake's neck while his other hand pushed the gun away, pointing it towards the ground. Time seemed to freeze for a second as Rum glared into the other's eyes.

"Never. Try. That. Again." Rum ground out his tone dangerous. "If you do you just might find yourself without a head."

"H-hai." Snake would have shaken in fear if not for the knife causing a shallow cut in his neck. Rum let go of the gun, sliding the knife back into its sheath in his sleeve, and stepped away. He turned to look at the phantom again and found him pointing an oddly shaped gun at him.

"Now what could that be for?" Rum forced himself to relax making the dangerous tone vanish.

"Just in case you decided to follow through with your threat." The phantom shrugged but didn't release his stance. Rum sighed.

"Well at least now he'll learn to respect his betters." Rum sent a kick at the other man making him jump. "As much as I would love to continue this charade I believe my ride is here."

Suddenly a helicopter dropped down from the sky, hovering just behind Rum. The assassin opened his arms in a mock of the phantom's position earlier before sinking into a stage bow.

"I'm afraid, dear phantom, I must bid you adieu." Rum felt his hood fall, grinning at the thief. He could feel the ponytail at the base of his skull start to come undone from the wind the helicopter's blades made. He turned and stepped off of the roof and into the copter. "I'd invite you along, Snake, but I'm sad to say you've gotten on my bad side tonight. Let's see how you evade the police this time, hm?"

With that said, the door slid shut and the copter rose into the air. Rum sighed, sitting back in his seat to run his hand through his hair. He touched the spot where that stupid little cowlick had been and smiled when his fingers glided over it without any trouble.

"Any problems?" The humored feminine voice that cut through his relaxed bubble made him frown.

"That fool Snake decided to try and kill me tonight." He growled.

"Like that's anything new for you." He glared at the woman.

"Shut up Vermouth."

"So how did you like the Poltergeist?"

"Amusing, charming, and he has a very good Poker Face."

"Sounds like you have a crush." Vermouth's mouth curved into a teasing smile.

"… Don't you have someone else to torment?"

"Oh! Is that a blush?"

"Don't make me knife you!"

Laughter.

-There are no stupid questions, just stupid people-

I'm so much happier with this one! This is Rum, Shinichi's identity when he was with the BO, he is that person's favorite assassin. He specializes in throwing knives and guns and he knows hand-to-hand combat. His best friend is Sherry and Vermouth was his mentor. When he changes into Conan he wears all kinds of masks to hide the reactions the BO would recognize and to hid his pain that is a result of all of the people he has killed. Pobrecito!(Read: Poor thing) *Huggles*

Poison: Haha! Snake nearly got knifed!

Hoshi: Rum is scary!

Hua: He doesn't act like an assassin.

I tried to make him a little like Vermouth… _

Sketchy: There wasn't a lot of KID though.

I know! I'm sorry!