Four points of the same star.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan.

-...- transceiver talk

FOUR POINTS OF THES SAME STAR Chapter 25: Final confrontation(A)

"Courage isn't about being the strongest or the bravest. It's about believing in your heart no matter what anyone else says and it's about facing your fears head on, even if you know you can't win in the end." -Author Unknown (A.N: Actually, I don't remember.. Anyway, not mine.)

-

Ran felt her heart go into a thousand of pieces.

Tears of pain were willing to fall from her eyes.

Shinichi was unreachable for her now. He had chosen Miyano and she realised that her attempt to get him back was fruitless. It was just a childish attempt, she knew it now.

Only now, when she had seen him hug Miyano with her own eyes, as she saw his concern, she realised that her fight to get him back would have been extremely hard.

Maybe impossible..

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Rei turned her head from left to right, taking in her situation.

Hands handcuffed to gas pipes, legs bound to together with a rope and two stools with lit candles right in front of her.

'One harsh move and I blow up like a firework..' she thought darkly, "Great! Really great..'

However, she had to find a way to free herself. Koizumi had gone away and she was sure that he would have found a way to stop Ryu, Shinichi, Shiho and FBI from capturing him. He would have stopped them in all the ways he knew and Rei dreaded this.

She gently moved her hands. The pipes squeaked slightly but didn't break as she reached a safety length and then she frowned. She couldn't move her fists a lot: 5 centimeters was the maximum.

'It's not much..' she thought.

Rei tried to move her legs but they were bound too tightly. She looked at the stools in front of her and a sudden idea came to her mind.

Her leather jacket was quite near to her. Koizumi had checked out her pockets and had taken away her gun, chargers and sunglasses and had thrown it on the ground. Near to her legs.

She eyed the candle on the stool on her right.

'All right..' she thought, 'Leather is inflammable, right? If I manage to kick or touch the stool so that it falls on the jacket, I could start a small fire without the danger of exploding. And then I could burn the rope that ties my legs even though... I might also burn my jeans, shoes and myself in the attempt. But it's worth a try.'

Rei gently grabbed the pipes she was bound to and slowly tried to rise the lower part of her body. She didn't want to admit it but her heart was thumping furiously in her chest. She had done a similar exercise only at school during physical education and with the right equipment and not in an unknown place with the possibility of blowing up if she put too much pressure on her arms. She couldn't be fast because there was the risk that the pipe could break if she moved harshly. She had to be slow and accurate at the same time.

Very slowly, Rei lifted her legs and then, with a sharp movement, she hit the stool. It fell to the ground with a thud, lifting small clouds of dust; the candle on the top got unstuck, rolled off and landed on the jacket. Rei smiled in relief.

Now she only had to wait for the flames to become bigger..

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Ryu looked around, thinking where Vodka could be as he stood under a tree.

He had made a vague calculation, judging by the shots on Kid and Matt: he had an idea of his position but how could he get there without being seen?

He glanced at Matt: Chris had treated his wound a bit and had tied a handkerchief tightly around his thigh to stop the bleeding. On the other hand, Kid didn't seem to bother to his wound.

He tilted his head to the right. Detectives Satou and Takagi still had their guns in hand and were standing protectively in front of Hattori, Mouri and Toyama.

At the end, he looked at Shinichi: he was leaning on a tree trunk with an absent stare on his face. It didn't take him a lot to understand what he was thinking since he was in the same state.

They were both worried, terribly worried for the girls they loved. And they wanted to find them but, unfortunately, they blocked there with a shooter somewhere near them.

For the moment...

Ryu looked around in frustration when something caught his eye: Hattori was carrying a weapon on his shoulder. One look and he got all the details of it.

'Assault rifle.' he thought, 'With precision rifle scope and silencer, bullets... calibre 8.' An unknown smile appeared on his face. 'That's a start..'

He had to inform Shinichi. With Matt and Kid wounded, he was the only one that could help him.

He clicked the right button on his glasses, activating the transceiver.

-Shinichi.- he said, hardly moving his mouth. He couldn't risk Vodka to see them talking to each other. -Answer.-

Nothing: the detective didn't move. Ryu tried another few times but without results.

-Shinichi, take those damn glasses and answer!- he grumbled under his breath after another useless attempt to contact him.

The other boy must have heard something this time because he looked up. He then felt a stare and tilting his head, he met Ryu's eyes. The blonde nodded slightly and touched his glasses as quickly as he could. Shinichi understood right away: he swiftly put on his glasses.

-What?- he whispered, keeping his eyes low.

-About time..- Ryu remarked, -I have an idea.-

-Tell me.- the other replied very interested, -How can we get rid of Vodka?-

Ryu smirked: Shinichi had understood right away.

-Do you see the rifle Hattori's carrying?- he asked.

-Yeah. Where did he get it?- There was confusion in his tone.

-I don't know but I must get it.-

-What for?-

-To get rid of Vodka.-

-How? You know where he is?-

-I have a vague idea.-

There was a moment of silence.

-What should I do?- Shinichi asked. Ryu whispered his plan. When he finished, they looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

It was time to get into action.

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Shiho was walking along the trail, feeling extremely nervous and the thought that she would see Gin soon was definitely not helping her. She was also worried for the others. Vodka was still there and he could shoot someone if they tried to follow her.

'Maybe.. they should just leave.' she thought, 'If they try to save me, they could.. he could die.'

She was still lost in her thoughts when a buzzing sound reached her ears. Shiho took the transceiver and answered.

-Sherry here.- she said coolly.

-Stop.- Gin remarked and she did as she was told, "You're already here."

Shiho was startled to hear the voice right behind her. She turned and found herself face to face with her sister's murderer. Once again.

"Gin." she said without emotions.

"My dear Sherry." he stated jovially, "How are you?"

"As though you cared.."

"I do care."

"Don't make me laugh."

Gin smirked. She hadn't changed a bit: still emotionless and cold. Even more than him.

"I will always care for you, my dear little Sherry." he said, "My precious, sweet red wine."

He approached her dangerously. Dangerously from Shiho's point of view because his proximity always made her feel very uncomfortable. She wanted to go away, run away from him but she couldn't. She didn't know why: it could be fear. For herself, for the others, she didn't know but she knew that if she tried to escape there would have consequences and at the moment, other problems were unnecessary. Unneeded.

She stayed still as the pale blonde haired man got closer to her, forcing herself to be calm. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her face.

"You have escaped from death three times." he remarked silkily, "From the gas chamber, from me and from Vermouth. Let's see if you'll disappear this time."

Shiho felt a chill run down her spine.

"You want me dead." she stated, "And here I thought that you wanted me back alive."

Gin smirked and lit a cigarette.

"Our boss wants you alive." he underlined, "Not me. I only have the order to look after you."

"Look after me?" It was Shiho's time to smirk now. "Why? I can take care of myself."

"I wouldn't be so cheerful if I were you, Sherry. My orders are to keep you alive but if something unwanted happens, I will have to take care of you..." He fingered the gun in his pocket. "In my ways... You don't know how much I would want to do it. You know, I'm nearly hoping that your new FBI friends will give us trouble so that I can do it. "

Shiho didn't reply but her mind was racing.

'So this is their plan.' she thought, 'They want me alive for their project but if FBI harms their security, I'll be killed. Typical...' She then wondered if Rei would have received the same treatment.

"What about Rei?" Shiho asked, "Where is she?"

"That shouldn't concern you, Sherry." Gin replied brusquely, "You should think of yourself."

"Tell me."

Gin smirked.

"Worried for your friend?" he asked, tauntingly, "Anyway, you won't miss each other."

"What do you mean?"

"In life or in death, you will be together. But now move. In front of me and no harsh moves."

Shiho did as she was told and walked straight in front of her with Gin coming behind her.

His statement didn't have to be cleared out. Shiho felt a chill run down her spine.

If FBI failed, if Shinichi and Ryu failed to find them and catch the Organisation's members, she and Rei would have been forced to work for the men in black. They couldn't refuse otherwise they would have been killed or blackmailed in the same way Gin had done before with her.

But, on the other hand, if the Organisation was brought down, Gin and the man that was guarding Rei would have killed them before getting caught.

However, Shiho noticed that Gin didn't mention the police raid that was going on at the Bay of Tokyo. Was it possibile that nobody knew about it yet?

'I just hope they'll find out as late as possibile..' Shiho thought, 'Otherwise...'

She glanced at Gin who was smoking but had a hand on his gun as well.

'Otherwise Rei and I...'

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"I'm nearly.. done. Come on.. just a little bit more.."

Rei bit her lip as she felt the flame's heat on her feet. The smell of burnt leather filled the room. The rope was burning slowly: too slowly, in her opinion. Finally, she felt the rope loosen: she moved her feet and the rope broke into shreds.

'And one problem is solved..' she thought, sighing in relief. 'Now the difficult part..' She glanced at her handcuffed wrists. How the heck was she going to free herself from these metal chains?

She moved her wrist a bit: there wasn't enough space to get her hand out.

'Think, Rei. Think!'

There had to be a way out. She had to free herself as soon as possible: for herself but also for her friends' sake. Koizumi was after them and she probably was the only one to know that he was there.

She had to be quick.

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"Hey, calm down!"

"Yes, come one, this isn't the moment to.."

Two well sent glares silenced Takagi and his feeble attempt to stop Shinichi and Ryu from arguing. Matt wasn't giving up though.

"Ryu, Shinichi, for God's sake, cool down!" he exclaimed, standing between the two, despite his injured leg. It was hard to explain. Everything had started so suddenly that he still couldn't believe it was actually happening.

Ryu and Shinichi were standing opposite each other, fury blazing in their eyes. Their argument had

exploded in less than a minute.

FLASHBACK

The whole group was in absolute silence: Shiho had left only ten or so minutes ago and a feeling of helplessness was in the air.

Shinichi was standing with his back on a tree: Shiho's gun and her small computer were on the ground right in front of him where she had dropped them and his stare was fixed on the spot. Ryu was a few feet away from him, leaning on another tree, his finger playing with the silver chain in his pocket. Both looked oddly absentminded.

Then, all of a sudden, Shinichi straightened up and tilted his head to his right. Ryu noticed his movement and, stood straight, eyes widening in alarm.

"Don't even think of doing it, Shinichi." he said loudly. The boy turned to him as well as the others who were surprised.

"What?" There was clear annoyance in his tone and it made Matt raise an eyebrow.

Ryu walked towards him.

"Don't think of going after Gin and Shiho." he said calmly, "Vodka has all of us under his weapon's aim. It would just be like walking towards death."

"Then what should I do?" Shinichi asked, his voice raised slightly. Ran could swear that there was anger in it as well and this surprised her greatly because she hardly remembered seeing Shinichi get angry. Annoyed or irritated, yes but never really angry.

"Wait." Ryu replied with the same calm voice, "And think of a way of getting away; in other words, we have to make a plan."

"We?" Shinichi snorted a derisive laugh, "Knock it off, Ryu. Plan makings have never been a we-thing: you have always been the one to decide at the end."

Saying that Matt and Kaito were surprised or shocked was an understatement. They looked at each other and then at Shinichi.

"What the hell's going on with him?" the American muttered incredulously.

"I haven't got the slightest idea." the magician admitted softly.

Ryu's expression, however, didn't seem to falter: he still looked extremely calm. As though forced to be so, if one looked carefully.

"Oh really?" he asked, "So you're saying that I've forced you into doing things you didn't believe in, right? Why did you do follow my suggestions then?"

"I thought they were right but it seemed that I've been wrong. Look what happened now."

"Ah, it's my fault if Rei and Shiho are under the Organisation's clutches as well."

"Well, you let her go on her own, didn't you?"

Shinichi had touched a nerve and Matt knew it: he sensed danger coming.

"Hey, wait a.." he started to say but he stopped immediately, seeing Ryu. His light blue eyes had turned incredibly cold, something that he had never seen before. The blond stepped closer to Shinichi so that there were merely a few inches between them. The tension was palpable.

"If I had even the slightest hint of what she was heading to, I wouldn't have let her go alone." he hissed, "As for Shiho, it was her decision: I couldn't stop her."

"But you could have at least tried to do it!" Shinichi was practically breathing on Ryu's face. "You say that she's like a sister to you, right? Would you leave your sister die without trying to...?"

Ryu seized Shinichi by his shirt's collar before he could finish the sentence; his eyes had reached a dangerous degree of coldness. Matt's alarm sirens were ringing madly in his head: he had to stop them. He took a step forward but his leg ached in pain and he swayed. Kaito dashed in front of him.

"Calm down, you two." he said, pulling Shinichi and Ryu apart. He looked at them in bewilderment. "What the heck is wrong with you?"

Neither answered. They just glared at each other.

"Very easy to blame me for all problems, eh?" Ryu remarked, "Makes you feel better if I am the main responsible of everything, right Shinichi? Well, listen to me, it's too easy and definitely a coward's behaviour."

"Why you..?" Shinichi growled and launched against Ryu. Kaito put himself in the middle but was harshly pushed aside. Ran and Kazuha shouted as Shinichi's fist collided with Ryu's face, sending him crashing on the ground, his glasses flying away.

Matt decided that it was time to stop them. First, he turned to Detectives Satou and Takagi.

"Don't move, understood?" he said, "We're still in danger and you have to worry of Hattori, Toyama and Mouri's protection." The two nodded.

Ryu had got up and was massaging his injured jaw. He was looking at Shinichi with the coldest of glares: he was scaring. Really.

Matt put himself between them.

END FLASHBACK

-

Vodka was on a cliff, hidden to the ones below by many trees and clumps of bushes; he was crouched on an old stump that was in front of him and had an assault rifle with a precision rifle scope and silencer in his arms. He was looking through the scope with great interest.

'Seems that the nerves are strained...' he thought with a smirk.

Martini and Kudo had just had a fight: Kudo had hit Martini, much to Vodka's amusement. The imperturbable Martini had also lost his calm; never in the year that he had worked at the Organisation, he had seen the engineer loose his annoying cold façade. And now, that same boy had threatened to hit and had been hit by the detective.

'Let's see how it will go on..' the man with sunglasses thought, looking in the scope again.

-

"Calm down, will you?" Matt exclaimed, pushing the two friends(could he still call them like this after what had happened?) far from each other.

Shinichi and Ryu didn't even bother to look at him: they just glared at each other and were definitely looking as though they wanted to tear each other into pieces.

Ran was aghast: Shinichi had punched Kazama! Weren't they friends, good friends? What was going on then? Was it possible that their respective concern for their girlfriends(Ran winced slightly when she thought of Miyano as Shinichi's girlfriend) outstripped their friendship?

Matt was thinking on the same lines.

"Listen, you two." he said firmly, "I can understand how you're feeling but.."

He had chosen the wrong words. Shinichi and Ryu looked at him.

"You don't know that." they snapped together.

"Well, that's the first thing you agreed on till now." Matt remarked with a smirk, earning a glare from the two.

"Why should I agree with one that thinks he's God almighty?" Shinichi spat out, "One that decides everything not caring if the people around him will be in danger or.." He couldn't finish.

Ryu had thrown himself on him, knocking Matt out of the way. Chris and Kaito managed to catch him before he fell to the ground.

Ryu slammed Shinichi on the ground and lifted his fist ready to punch him. Heiji leaped forward ready to stop them fight: he had seen Kazama and Kudo's skills after all.

What happened later was... surprising.

Ryu grabbed Shinichi's glasses and rolled on his right side; Shinichi leaped up and snatched the rifle away from a flustered Hattori's shoulder. Ryu clicked the button that activated the zooming-effect of the device and spun around, looking at a determined direction while Shinichi loaded the weapon.

And then, he saw him.

Vodka was crouched on a stump with a rifle in his hand: he was looking through the precision rifle scope but he was exactly like Ryu had expected him to be.

Not prepared.

"Now!" he said and Shinichi tossed him the rifle. Ryu aimed and fired. Through the scope, he saw Vodka start as he saw the blond engineer with the weapon aimed at him.

The shot hit his right arm: Ryu saw him stagger but, despite this, Vodka didn't drop the rifle; he fired back even though not very accurately.

Shinichi saw the red spotlight on the ground next to him and a second later, Ryu fired again. And again. Vodka fired once and the bullet hit Ryu's arm lightly. The boy's first shot hit exactly what he wanted: the rifle. He saw Vodka's grip on it loose and it fell down the cliff. Now the man was disarmed and injured because the second shot hit Vodka's shoulder. Ryu saw the Organisation's man wince and fall down.

"Well?" Shinichi asked, approaching him.

"I got him." Ryu replied, clicking the glasses off, "But I don't know if he has fainted for the wounds or what else."

When the two turned around, they saw a group of shocked-surprised faces staring at them.

"What the hell is going on?" Matt asked, limping towards them.

Ryu and Shinichi looked at each other and smirked.

"We - er put a little act." Ryu confessed.

"Yeah, it was quite convincing, wasn't it?" Shinichi remarked casually.

Matt couldn't believe his ears.

"An act? You mean that you were only.. you two were not..?" he exclaimed.

"No." the two replied as though nothing had happened, "All planned previously."

Kaito looked at them as though they had gone mad.

"Why didn't you tell us anything?" he asked.

"Trick your companions if you have to trick your enemy." Shinichi stated.

"It was the only way." Ryu explained, "Vodka was observing us and we couldn't talk to each other freely without being suspicious. That's why we used the transceivers on our glasses and put on that small fight. It was the only way to distract Vodka enough."

"But.." Ran surprised herself in joining the conversation, "You.. insulted each other and.. Shinichi hit you, too!"

"Yeah, speaking of that." Ryu said, suddenly remembering it. He turned to Shinichi. "Got a bit carried away, didn't you?" He fingered his chin, "Good one though.."

Shinichi smiled slyly.

"What can I do?" he stated, "I learned from the best."

Ryu smiled back. He then looked around and saw his glasses; he picked them up and saw that they were chipped in many places. "These are useless now."

"Sorry about that. Take mine." Shinichi said, "And.. well, Ryu, I didn't mean what I said.. I mean..."

Ryu waved his hand in air as though plainly saying -don't worry and turned to the others.

"I'm going after Vodka." he said, "He's injured and I don't think he will go very far but I have to stop him before he contacts Gin or someone else. And he might know where Rei is."

"Wait a second.." Matt remarked, "You're going alone?"

"Yes, it's better if you guys stick together and go after Shiho and Gin." Ryu turned to Shinichi. "We thought it was the best thing to do."

Matt turned to the young detective who nodded in agreement.

"I still can't believe that you two were acting before." the lawyer muttered, "I swear that you looked as though you were going to smash yourselves to pieces."

Shinichi and Ryu smirked.

The blond boy put the rifle on his shoulder and turned to his side.

"Hey, Hattori, do you know how to use a gun?" he asked.

"Wha..?Yes." the Osaka teen replied, slightly surprised by the sudden question.

Ryu nodded and took out his automatic from his pocket; he removed the charger and then handed it along with the gun and silencer to Heiji.

"I suppose that having another shooter could be handy." he remarked, "Especially in a place packed with men of the Organisation."

"What about you?" Heiji asked, pocketing the weapon.

"I've got my revolver and this rifle." Ryu replied, "Should be enough." He looked at Matt. "Be careful, will you?"

"I should be saying that to you." the other said, "You're going alone."

"I'll take care of myself."

"As usual."

Ryu smirked at his brother's remark. He then turned to Shinichi.

"Keep your guard high, understood?" he said.

"Yes and you too." he replied. Shinichi approached Ryu and faced him: he looked very serious. "Ryu, I truly didn't mean what I said before. I know that it was necessary for our plan but I'm sorry. Really."

His friend smiled and shook his head.

"Don't worry." he said, "I must apologize too: I suppose we both got a bit carried away. If Yukiko-san saw us, she might get us a part in a movie, what do you say?"

Shinichi grinned.

"True." he stated, "Take care, eh?"

Ryu nodded and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You too." he said, "We're on the top of the Organisation's 'Wanted' list: they will take advantage of our smallest mistake."

"Find Rei."

"Find Shiho."

The boys looked at each other and nodded. It was not a goodbye or anything like that. They would see each other later and the girls would be there too. They were sure of that.

They had to be sure of that: it was necessary for them.

With one last look at everyone, Ryu turned around and sped away down a trail. Shinichi and Matt who were close to each other, didn't move till he disappeared from sight. As soon as he was gone, they looked at each other.

"How can you find her without your glasses?" Matt asked.

"I'll use Shiho's radar." the detective replied.

"All right, then. Of we go to find Shiho."

"Yes, give me a minute." Shinichi replied. He walked to the tree where he had been standing and took Shiho's gun; he looked at it for a moment, fingered it for a second and put it in his pocket. However, when he bent down to pick her computer, his eyes widened in shock.

"No.." he muttered, "No.. no.. no.. NO!"

"Shinichi?" Matt looked at him curiously, "What..?" The other boy's white face stopped him.

"The.. bullet." he muttered. Shinichi got up, holding the small computer; Matt noticed that there was a hole that went through it. He understood right away and cursed under his breath: Vodka's shot had bounced on the ground and had hit the computer. How many chances were there for that to happen? Honestly..

"What now?" he asked, "That's gone and Ryu's glasses are gone."

"We have to go after him." Shinichi remarked, "He's got my glasses: they've got the last of our radar devices."

"We don't even know where he is!"

"We don't have other choice." Shinichi looked at Matt with a firm expression. "It's either finding Shiho with the risk of confronting who knows-how-many Organisation's men or chasing Ryu."

The answer was obvious.

"He's got quite a head start." the lawyer stated, "But, since we don't have other choices..." He turned to face the rest of the group that had overheard the dialogue between the two teens. He was in charge after all, wasn't he? "Detective Satou, Detective Takagi, you stay close to Mouri and Toyama: they're your charges." The two police officers nodded. "Hattori, you stay behind them: keep your guard high and be ready to use the gun if needed." Heiji nodded in agreement. He turned to Kaito. "Can you still steer your hang-glider? Yes? All right, fly exactly over us so that we can see you and inform us if you see Ryu or anyone else." Kaito did as he was told. "Chris, you stay in the front with me and Shinichi." Matt spoke in English, "We'll be the first line, all right?" Shinichi and Chris nodded. "Off we go."

As they group walked down the trail Ryu had previously taken, Shinichi turned to Matt.

"You said that you managed to make that shooter.. Cognac, explain what they were doing here right?" he asked, "Did he tell how many men were involved?"

"Well, he said that there were twenty agents and a group of high members." Matt replied, "But we have caught some of them by now. Let's see.. one.. five.. five again.. Uhm, yes, we caught eleven simple agents and there are our men guarding them. Plus.."

"Plus three high members." Shinichi completed, "Vermouth, Akai and Port.. well, he's dead."

"And Vodka too, if Ryu's injured him. So, to sum it up, there are nine agents and I-don't-how-many high members left."

Shinichi didn't say anything: he was thinking deeply. There was something missing..

'Vermouth, Akai, Vodka, Port... and Gin.' he thought, 'But.. there must be someone else; they have to follow somebody else. I doubt that one of them would take the lead: the others would have surely retorted. FBI's arrival was not included in their plan of trapping us here. Someone else must be here to take the decisions because their plan has surely changed recently. But who..?'

A vague idea came to his mind.

'It could be him.' he thought, 'That would explain the 'he' Akai used but... would he really risk to come here? Just to catch Rei and Shiho?' He thought this over. 'It could be.. He's the creator of this plan, after all..'

Everything depended from the ones at the Bay. If they finished their work there, they could come and help them out.

In this way, they would have a chance to catch everyone, including.. him.

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The old building.

That's how people call the three-floored, brick building at the harbour. Once, it was used to store the merchandises that had to be shipped for long journeys but nowadays it was just and old, empty building that many wanted to demolish and replace with something more useful. However, it had never been brought down.

Nor was it empty and unused as everyone thought.

The Organisation had used it secretly for more than five years and no one knew or noticed it; they had used it to store stolen goods but in the last months, it had become their Headquarter. While the American Headquarter had always been the same, the Japanese one had been changing continuously. Koizumi had thought of this for his safety.

The boss had ordered all members to work on an emergency plan: FBI was close to find them and they had to get away. In the past weeks, all the information, material and work was brought there, packed up and ready to be shipped to the new Headquarter. The latter's location was known only to Koizumi: he didn't trust any of his men enough to tell them its name.

Anyway, the building was a battlefield now.

The cement floor was littered with debris, rubble, bullets and small puddles of blood mingled with dust. Bodies were lying here and there on the floor, by the pillars, by the crates, the cardboard boxes and near the walls.

Mark Xanders ducked and a stray bullet whizzed past his head; he hid behind a stone pillar and found Lucas Daimon and Derek Morris crouched there. Lucas was intent in bandaging his arm with a blood-stained, ragged cloth.

"Mark." Inspector Morris said, loading his gun.

"Sir." Lucas said as the man crouched down next to them.

"Daimon, what happened?" he asked; he was clearly concerned, not only because he was one of his agents but also because he had his son's same age. It was as though he saw Matt injured.

"Nothing, sir." he replied, "Just my distraction."

"Well, be careful." he said gently. He then turned to the other man. "Derek, what's the situation?"

"There's a big fight at the third floor." Morris replied curtly, "Jason's squad and half of mine are up there. Scott's busy with a group of forty that tried to get away from the back; that Japanese Inspector ...Maigret.. no.. Maguire.."

"Megure." Had it been a different moment, Inspector Xanders would have cracked a smile.

"Whatever his name is, well, he's got his work with some on the second floor." Morris' head looked up as a loud thud was heard, "They're putting on a damn hard fight... By the way, what's going on outside?"

"Hattori and Shiratori are keeping on guard and have caught a few members that tried to escape with a boat and water scooters. There's a fight on the harbour, too."

"Any causalities, sir?" Lucas asked in a forced calm voice, drawing out his gun and loading it. The Organisation's men were still firing at them and they couldn't wait there forever.

"Unfortunately, yes." Morris replied, grimly, "Alpha lost five, Beta ten, Gamma six, Delta four, Omega eight."

"Squads Theta and Sigma lost twelve." Xanders added.

"That bloody criminals.." Morris muttered, "To think that we're using hypodermic bullets on them."

"And that's good." Mark remarked fiercely. Derek looked at him and smirked.

"Don't misunderstand." he said, "I agree with you, Mark. The more we catch alive, the more information we get. Remember me to have a chat with your son, eh?"

"Who, Matt?"

"No, Ryu. Great idea, the one he had of using these particular bullets."

"Sure, I'll tell him the moment I see him."

The three crouched behind the pillar as a few bullets hit it and another whizzed past Morris' arm. They heard a few shouts from the other side.

"What the bloody hell are they saying?" Inspector Morris asked with annoyance.

Inspector Xanders, the only one that could understand Japanese, smirked.

"Oh, nothing.." he said airily, loading his gun, "They think that we're tired, injured or close to give up and that they can do us in. What do you think, Derek?"

"Like hell they will." Lucas answered automatically. He immediately looked up, realising that he was with two inspectors, "Sir, I meant.."

Inspector Morris smirked.

"Took the words out of my mouth, Daimon." he remarked at the boy, "Off we go."

"Yes, we have to hurry up to finish here." Mark said, "Matt's waiting with Ryu and the others."

The three slowly stood up. They looked at each other, guns in their hands, and then dashed in different directions, firing at the Organisation's men that were in front of them and dodging their shots. The other agents that were there saw them continue the fight and were boosted in doing the same and fight along their side.

The police forces hadn't given up.

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Shiho was wondering if Gin was taking her to a particular location or if he was just making her walk around randomly. He hadn't said a word and was merely coming behind her with his gun pressed against her back now and no longer in his pocket.

The only thing she knew for sure was that they were slowly raising in height; among the thick vegetation, she could see the rooftop of the old mansion she had seen when she had come here with the others.

It seemed incredible but only a few hours had passed since the moment when the four of them had come to this isolated place, hoping to catch the Organisation but instead falling in a trap.

'So brilliant but yet so stupid..' she thought, 'We messed up everything when we were a inch or so from reaching our goal..'

A sudden chilly gust of wind made her come out of her thoughts and look around. She saw a wide forest spreading in front of her; she could see Tokyo in the distance.

"Stop." Gin's cold voice reached her as though he was very far and not right behind her but she didn't bother to it. She was too busy trying to slow down her heartbeats as she took in better the landscape around her.

They were at an open space, near a cliff. Shiho saw that there was a deep ravine below the cliff and again, she felt the cold wind reach her. She had rarely seen a harsher view. Wild vines slithered over sharp rocks and boulders but there wasn't any other type of vegetation. It seemed that plants or any other living being had deserted that place. As Shiho looked down, she realised that from that height no one could survive: if a body was thrown down there, it would be lost forever. She couldn't see it's end: a thin mist was the only visible thing.

"Do you like it?"

Shiho turned and saw the white-blonde man staring at her with a twisted smile on his face.

"Like what?" she asked colourlessly.

"The place I chose for you, my dear Sherry." He moved the cigarette to a side and his smile turned even more twisted. "You are special: you escaped death so many times. You escaped me as well. Your death is something I cherish witness. And now, I have got the chance. I personally chose this place for your captivity; if something goes wrong.." He fingered the trigger of his gun. "I will have to kill you. But I couldn't kill you anywhere: you deserve a good place to die and I chose this. Think how much I care for you.. You could exhale your last breath here. Do you like it?"

"I am flattered." Sarcasm dripped from her tone but it didn't show the fear and dread that was flooding her body.

Time was running fast and danger was approaching.

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Ryu was sprinting down a trail, Shinichi's glasses on his nose and the rifle on his shoulder. He was following a track: Vodka must have gone past there, judging by the footprints and drops of fresh blood on the dry ground.

'He can still move..' he thought, 'Despite my shots..'

He was very careful; he knew the Organisation enough to expect anything from them. And a injured member was just as dangerous as any other agent. Add the fact that the member was Vodka, a well-known killer and you can understand why he held his guard do high.

The blond engineer stopped abruptly and a frown appeared on his face.

'What the...?'

The footprints and the blood had vanished. Slightly confused, Ryu looked around.

Nothing.

It seemed that Vodka had disappeared on that spot.

'But that's impossible.' he thought, 'He must be around here..'

He swiftly took the rifle in his hands and loaded it, carefully observing his surroundings.

If there was one thing he had learned during the year he infiltrated in the Organisation was that the members always accomplished the tasks they were assigned; not doing so meant death.

Once in the Organisation, your life has value only if you achieve the missions that you have been entrusted otherwise you can die because failures are a sign of weakness.

And now, Vodka's mission was to kill Ryu and the boy knew it: he stood still, his senses all in alert. He was there, Ryu could feel him near. Vodka was there.

He didn't have Shiho's formidable sixth sense that made her 'feel' the Organisation's members presence but he had his instinct. Rei had often pointed out that he had a outstanding ability in realising if someone was hidden close to him. She said that he didn't need another sense since he had his instinct. He had merely waved airily at her remarks.

She was right..

Without even thinking what he was doing, Ryu dashed to his right and hid behind a tree. A bullet whizzed past him and got stuck in the tree trunk next to him. He examined it and saw that it came from an automatic. He slowly peered out of his hiding and another bullet whizzed past him; this time he felt a jet of hot air graze his ear.

'That was close.' he thought, 'So, he had another gun with him..'

He clicked the zooming mode of the glasses and peered out again. He saw him at his second try. Vodka was crouched behind a thick clump of bushes. The boy could only see his hand, his gun and part of his face.

Ryu took the rifle and tightened the grip on it. He realised that he had to be quick and very sharp: he had to get Vodka with one shot. He took a deep breath.

It was now or never.

He jumped out of his hideout, rifle ready in his hands and fired. Vodka fired back, expecting the other's manoeuvre but, fortunately for Ryu, he didn't have his usual aim due to his injuries; his shot missed Ryu's face by a few inches; Ryu's shot got the man's hand.

With a yelp of pain and a loud swore, Vodka dropped his gun and clutched his blood-dripping right hand. He was ready to dash away but froze on the spot when he saw the blond boy towering over him with the rifle pointed at his head.

"Going somewhere, Vodka?" Ryu asked nonchalantly. Vodka growled something unflattering that made the boy smirk and shake his head. "You know, I'd be more polite if I had an assault rifle pointed at my head."

The man glared at him. Ryu could see his eyes narrow menacingly beneath his sunglasses.

"What the Hell do you want?" he growled.

"Well, since you're asking with so much courtesy..." Ryu's attitude changed after this witty remark; he dropped his sarcasm and looked at Vodka. "Where is Rei?"

A smirk appeared on the man's face.

"Worried for your girlfriend, Martini?" he said.

"Just answer my question." Ryu replied harshly.

"You will never find out."

"I will." A click came from the rifle as Ryu loaded it. "Or you're dead."

"You won't kill me, Martini. You're a damn FBI agent: you don't have the guts to do it."

"Want to bet?"

A sudden rustling noise from behind him made Ryu start; without wasting time, he rapidly bent down and hit Vodka at the back of the head with a sharp blow and knocked him out. Then, he whipped around, rifle pointed in front of him.

"Woah, cool down man."

Ryu's eyes widened slightly as he found himself face-to-face with Matt.

"What the Hell are you doing here?" he asked, hastily lowering the weapon and staring at him and the small crowd behind. "Shinichi, shouldn't you be on your way to get Shiho?" He looked at his friend with bewilderment.

"We don't have the radar." the detective replied dryly and pointed to the unconscious man on the ground, "That idiot's bullet got through Shiho's computer."

"Our usual luck.." Ryu remarked sarcastically. He took of the glasses and tossed them to Shinichi. "I don't know how much battery is still there, though."

"Where's Rei?" the detective asked, slipping the glasses on his nose; he would save the battery as much as possible and use the radar later from the spot he had last seen Shiho.

"No, Vodka's not that cooperative." Ryu said grumpily, "And I knocked him out, thinking that some other agent was coming instead it was you lot." He looked at Matt. "Any news from the Bay?"

"I thought of calling Dad now." he replied. Shinichi looked up in interest.

Matt reached for his walkie-talkie and started to call his father. A deep American-English voice was heard after a long buzzing; in the background, they could hear people talking in English and Japanese and other indistinct noise.

-Matt?-

-Dad, yeah it's me.-

-You're all right?-

-Sort of... Anyway, how are things going there?-

-We've managed to catch them all but there's no sign of the Boss.-

Shinichi nodded: his deduction was right then.

-Good.- Matt replied, -You should send a few people here: we've caught a group of agents, too.-

-They're on there way already. I sent them as soon as we were sure none of them were still around free. James' at the command.-

James Fabian was probably his father's best friend and Matt knew he could trust him throughly.

-Great.- the boy replied, -Well, we might meet soon then.-

-See you later: we'll be there as soon as we've done here.-

The transmission fell and the young lawyer looked up.

"That's the first good news I hear in the last few days." he remarked with a small smile.

Before anyone could reply, a soft buzzing sound reached their ears followed by an evil chuckle.

Vodka, unknown to them, had waken up and had turned on his transceiver. Ryu rushed to him, snatched the device out of his hand and threw it away: it hit a tree and smashed into pieces.

"Who did you contact?" he demanded.

Vodka smirked; he was cocky despite the fact that he had several wounds on his arm and shoulder and was bleeding profusely.

"You'd like to know.." he remarked with a evil smile.

There was something wrong... Both Shinichi and Ryu felt it.

"Who did you contact?" Shinichi hissed, glaring at him.

The man seemed to be utterly enjoying himself.

"Someone." he replied, "By the way, you have just condemned them."

Ryu and Shinichi felt a wave of dread go through them.

"Rei and Shiho?" the two boys said together. They looked at each other in alarm.

Ryu took Vodka by his collar and lifted him up.

"Tell us everything immediately." he said in an icy voice.

"They are condemned." Vodka replied with a sarcastic smile, "Now that the Boss knows what's going on at the Bay, he doesn't need them anymore."

It didn't take much for them to put two plus two.

"Koizumi's here?" Shinichi demanded, "You contacted him!"

"What will he do to Rei and Shiho?" Ryu bellowed, "Tell us!" He was close to strangle Vodka.

The man didn't reply but the blond received an answer nevertheless.

An explosion shattered the silence.

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Rei was helplessly shaking the handcuffs that were binding her to the pipes. She had recalled all her inventive to find a way to free herself but she still didn't have the slightest idea.

She had lost track of time; she wondered how long she had been chained to that wall and even how much time had passed since the Organisation's boss had left. She also wondered if he would come back to get her. Or kill her.

Her spirits weren't high. She hadn't heard anything from outside: no shots, shouts or anything.

'I just hope that the others are fine..' she thought, eying the grim window at her left. She didn't know what to think: were they alive? Were they dead? Or were they with FBI?

This silence was unnerving.

What happened next made her heart stop.

In the eerie silence that enveloped the mansion, Rei heard a soft, muffled sound: it was a low beeping. The colour drained away from her face as realisation hit her.

'Of course... if he wanted to kill once things went wrong, he wouldn't come here so... Damn it!'

She glared at the handcuffs that were immobilizing her: she had to free herself or she was dead.

'All right..' she thought, fighting back the fear and dread that were trying to overwhelm her. She had to keep her mind clear. 'There's still a candle in front of me so I can't break the pipes. And my chances of breaking the handcuffs are very slim. Damn...'

She could still hear the beeping.

'How much time do I still have?' she wondered, 'And where could the bomb be?'

Her thoughts rushed to Ryu.

'He's the expert in these cases. He would know what to do if he was here.' A small smile flickered on her face at the thought of her boyfriend but it quickly faded away. 'No.. No, he mustn't come here or he'll be involved in the explosion.'

The thought that Ryu could die only to save her made her resolution come up. She had to get away on her own and if she didn't.. she would be the only one to die. She wouldn't let him or anyone else die with her.

For her.

Rei glanced at her left handcuff and a ray of light went through her fear-fogged brain.

She had thin wrists; they weren't thin enough to slip through the handcuff and her thumb was in the way anyway. But if she...

'What's a twisted wrist or a couple of broken fingers compared to your life?' she thought, 'And it's surely better than blowing up with this place.'

She slowly moved her left hand upwards so that her fingers could grip to the thin pipe above the gas one; it was certainly firmer than the pipe she was bound to. Rei stretched all to her left; she felt the right handcuff cut her wrist while on the left side, it had slid halfway down her arm. Now she could move her left hand.

Rei was lost in her thoughts for a few moments, making a few quick calculations. Then, shaking the last doubts away from her mind, she reached for the firm pipe, hooking her thumb on it and using her other fingers to press the metal tube against her finger.

Last time she hurt herself to this point, breaking her bones, she was nine and had broken her leg skiing during a vacation with her parents.

'It's the first time I actually hurt myself purposely ..' she thought, eying her left hand. She gritted her teeth, steeling herself. 'Now or never!'

She abruptly pulled down and failed to stifle a cry of pain and through her tear-tinted eyes, she looked at her hand. Her fingers were throbbing painfully and the thumb was in an odd angle; she tried to move it but she just felt a great stab of pain go through her wrist as it slowly moved. Wincing, she managed to close her fingers together and slowly slid her hand out of the handcuff.

'And one is out..' she thought, 'Now the ot..' Rei forze as she heard the beeping sound accelerate.

A few seconds later, there was an explosion.

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Hello, everyone. Long time since we've last heard.. I've got a couple of things to tell you.

1. Don't kill me for this rather 'short' chapter (in my standards) that ends with another cliffhanger. I know very well that they are incredibly annoying for readers but they do also make you wait with anticipation for the next update.

2. I'm sorry for the delay but.. oh, God everything seems to be happening to me. I never fully understood the meaning of 'being stressed' till now and I sincerely would have liked not to know it.

When I started writing this fiction, I wanted to do something enjoyable that could be done between my studying duties and the fact that there were people like you who are reading now, who actually enjoy my story, spurred me on going on and bettering my writing skills. However, on September of last year, problems have begun for me and family; unfortunately these problems rather than stopping are increasing and at a year's distance, my life is still complicated.

My studies have been effected by this and, believe me, concentration and calm is necessary if you study Maths.

But don't worry, I'm not going to stop writing this fiction or any others that I might write. Writing these stories make me stop thinking for a few moments of my problems, taking me into the fictional world. I know that it's quite childish to find refuge in the world of cartoons, anime and so but who cares? It's the only way I have not to break down completely. Writing, reading and listening to music have been my therapy to stress in this past year.

I hope I haven't depressed you but I wanted to explain why 4points has slowed down so much; I mean, last summer I posted 4 chapter while only half this time. Sorry for this outburst: I know that lots of people suffer even more than I do and I should be glad of not being in their place.

I sincerely thank all readers and reviewers, hoping that you will go on appreciating my story. I promise that I'll try my best to update soon.

REVIEW!

Hope to hear you soon.

Annitha.

A.N: Corrections have been made