A/N: Okay, seriously. My brain is not being cooperative; I now have five other stories that my brain wants to write... D:
Warnings:
Strange English, OOCness
Uploaded: 2012-05-29
Revised: 2014-09-15
Chapter rating: T
Words: 4,100
Chap. 29
Checkmate, my dear Whisky
Down on the 23rd floor, they watched White Horse pace back and forth outside one of the huge meeting rooms as he waited for Whisky. They were standing in the far end of the corridor, inside the stairwell, using a coin to keep the door slightly ajar.
Shinichi never noticed when KID frowned and began studying him worriedly; the thief had discovered that he had blood spreading from the shoulder, even though most of it ran underneath the vest. A swift hand covered the detective's mouth and forced him up against the wall before he realised what was happening. Shinichi gasped and eyed him in shock, but didn't have time to protest before KID had opened his tie and shirt and was staring at the wound in his shoulder.
"I knew it! You idiot!" the thief hissed quietly at the detective, making him tense.
"No, don't," Shinichi quickly whispered and tried to stop KID from opening the bulletproof vest to look at the white shirt, but it was no use; KID was faster than him and he gasped when he saw the shirt that stuck tightly to the detective's chest. Shinichi assumed that almost his entire torso was covered in the red liquid by now; he had after all felt how it had slowly spread.
Shinichi closed his eyes and turned his head away, realising that KID would be angry. He would be, if it had been the other way around; being injured drastically increased the chances of dying.
"You," KID murmured with his voice strained in a strange way; it was like he was trying to grasp for words that could describe his anger, but the words didn't exist, or wanted to shout at him, but couldn't, since that would draw attention to them. "Why the hell haven't you told anyone?" KID growled lowly, too close to the detective, and Shinichi swallowed nervously; his brain was anything but cooperative, bringing up memories from some of his wilder dreams, and forcing him to fight a blush.
"I've had worse, and I'm not going to let that man go underground," Shinichi met KID's eyes with a determined gaze; he was doing everything for the thief, so that he would be safe, but that was something he couldn't say loudly.
Kaito sighed; it was obvious by the look in the detective's eyes that he would continue no matter what he did.
"Listen to me KID," Imposter-san mumbled with sad eyes and a gentle smile played on his lips. "Our goal might be the same," he whispered as Kaito lost himself in those warm blue eyes, "but that doesn't change the fact that you can't do this alone. You can never catch them alone. The only reason the police listen to me is because I'm a detective. They won't listen to you because they only see you as a thief." Kaito stared at the detective and felt a shiver run through him; it was like Imposter-san's eyes were burning and there was something in his gaze that made Kaito nervous. The magician knew that what Imposter-san said was true; the police wouldn't listen to a thief without unmasking him and that was one of the main reasons as to why he didn't go to them for help.
"So what am I to you if not a thief?" the magician mumbled and Imposter-san's eyes sparkled in amusement.
"You are a bit of an eccentric magician, a fun puzzle wrapped in an interesting riddle. Now, we should check on White Horse," Imposter-san asserted and Kaito immediately went to look into the corridor; White Horse was still pacing.
Shinichi turned his back to the thief; he was fighting his blush fiercely as he closed his shirt and reattached the tie. He was annoyed at himself for not being able to keep himself from constantly reddening when he was around the other.
"How about a change of plans?" the detective asked after he turned around and smirked as KID looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "as soon as the plan here is done, you can go after Snake in a helicopter and I'll only supervise the capture of Whisky, instead of going face to face with him." KID frowned as the thought about it. "I'm fine for now. I haven't lost that much blood; I'm not even dizzy yet," the detective lied; he was dizzy and his pulse was racing, but if that was because of KID, the mission, being shot at, adrenalin, the blood loss or everything combined, he didn't know, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to go face to face with Whisky. KID stared at the detective and seemed to slowly reach a conclusion.
"I wouldn't let you do the next part even if you fought me, but tying you up and leaving you here seems too risky. Transmit the change of plans and I'll go along with it," the thief muttered and sent an annoyed gaze at his white gloves, which were half covered in blood, before going back to survey the man in the corridor.
"The door just opened and people in suits are exiting," KID mumbled as the detective tried hard not to stare at the thief, "White Horse is speaking with someone." Shinichi looked out through the gap and the thief moved so that he could get a better view.
Whisky waved to the others that had been on the meeting, indicating that he would stay behind. He was smiling politely and by the way he looked he could've been the neighbour next door. The man had gentle eyes, hidden behind glasses, and a very dominant posture. He had a well-defined jaw, narrow lips, and a short cut, dark brown hair while his skin was a flawless shade of olive. Shinichi was surprised by the man's appearance; in most cases when a person had had a past like him there was some kind of tell, like Gin's murderous eyes, not many people could avoid getting changed by working with years and years of torture, murder and human experimentation.
"We've got visual on Whisky," Shinichi quietly informed the others, "he's changed slightly; no beard or moustache and shorter hair, otherwise he looks the same as in the FBI's file."
As soon as the elevator doors closed the man's eyes grew cold and his smile morphed into a hungry grin.
'Hello,' Shinichi thought, 'showing our real colours, are we?'
"Give it to me," the man demanded and White Horse took out the fake Pandora as they walked to the large window at the end of the hallway.
"I've checked it myself," White Horse announced confidently, obviously proud to have delivered it, "and Snake killed Kaitou KID." The boss snorted at the statement.
"Again?" he asked and chuckled a little, not actually caring if the thief was dead or alive, "and what about his assistant?" The man gave his subordinate a smug glance as he examined the gem in the moonlight and White Horse swallowed nervously.
"I don't know. He was alone during the heist."
"And you think that he stole Pandora and took out our snipers singlehandedly, at the same time?" Whisky's voice grew irate as he spoke and he threw White Horse a bored stare before he continued. "No one can know that we have this," he declared quieter and hid the gem in his palm, "you are not allowed to mention it to anyone, not even me, otherwise that woman will find us before we're finished. She's probably already out there, not far away, and slowly sneaking closer."
"You mean Vermouth?" White Horse asked and Shinichi drew a sharp breath, which made the thief send him a glance.
"Who else would I be talking about?" Whisky snarled and glared at White Horse like he thought he was an idiot, "she will never stop looking for it, you know, and as long as her masters had it, she obeyed like a faithful dog. I don't even think they told her that they lost it, but she must've known, and that is why they are gone, destroyed from within. How else would the FBI have had information on everyone if it wasn't an inside job?" the boss smirked as he pocketed the replica and walked over to the elevators.
"We need to get as far away as soon as possible. Get ready to go to America and meet me at the JFK Airport in New York. Take the soonest flight you can. I'm going there now and don't arrive at the airport at the same time as I do, if you take the same flight, make sure you're not followed." The ding from the elevator told them that it had arrived and Shinichi sent KID a glance. The thief nodded and placed the white smiley-mask over his face, silently understanding what he meant. Shinichi moved out of the way while KID backed a few steps, ran for the door and then slammed it open.
"You! Murderer!" the thief called out in a deeper and older voice than what he normally had as he made a run for White Horse, who gasped, but was thrown to the floor by the thief's body before he had time to do anything.
"Where is Pandora?!" KID roared at the man as the doors to the elevator closed completely and smoke erupted around the man. The elevator started to descend and the thief smiled down at the now tied up and gagged man.
"Tell me, Imposter-san," the thief began as Shinichi joined them, "what would you have done if I decided to not work with you?"
"I would've gassed you," Shinichi stated casually and KID snorted amused, "just kidding. There were multiple plans if you decided to work against us. One was a fake transport of Pandora, another was that Satou-keiji was going to brag to one of the members that she was protecting the real one and a third was to just hand the gem to one of the members, which could've aroused suspicion after you disappeared after a failed heist and they might've examined the gem closer. Many, many other plans too," the detective explained calmly as he stared at the 'floor number'-display above the elevator and sighed.
"Exchange successful," Shinichi informed the others through the headset while the captured man stared at them in shock, "we've got White Horse. Whisky is heading for an airport; he's going to travel to New York. We'll see if he goes to a safe house before the airport or just, home."
"5-42. I've sent one car to pick up White Horse, they are waiting in an alley for Pandora to move out and away from the building," Shiratori answered after a moment and KID gave Shinichi a glare.
"Are there any injuries?" he asked as the thief tilted his head in annoyance.
"1-62. Only a few bruises from members that resisted when they woke up and discovered that they were being brought in," Megure answered.
"14-12. There has been a change of plans since your lovely little detective has been shot and should go to the hospital," KID said and made up his own number as he got bothered by the outdrawn reluctance of the detective.
"Again?" the thief frowned at the question by the inspector, "how many times have you been shot now?"
"Eh, eight times, but this time it's just in the shoulder and it didn't hit anything important."
"Humph, the FBI is obviously bad for you, you should come back permanently."
"Yes, I'm back now and I'm fine, but I'll be going with you, Megure-keibu, to oversee the capture of Whisky," Shinichi smiled at the slightly annoyed thief. 'Damn it, I can stop irritating him. KID,' Shinichi said firmly in his head, 'stop being so horribly cute when I annoy you.'
"Chiba-keiji, pick up KID and let him help you in my place. If anyone can bring Snake in without serious injuries it's him." Shinichi didn't want to send his thief into harm's way, but KID would never forgive him if he was somehow able to stop him.
"If you say so, we've trusted your decisions so far. I'll will come and pick you up and Chiba-keiji will pick up Kaitou KID." The thief grinned as he grabbed a hold of one of the ropes that tied up White Horse and dragged the wide-eyed man over the carpeted floor into the stairwell.
"We're going to leave you here," the thief said and then turned to the impostor that had followed him, "you can go ahead, I think I can catch up with you now. I want some alone time with him." KID's voice was threatening while his eyes gleamed of mischief and he winked. Shinichi shrugged and left, knowing that the thief wouldn't physically harm the man even if he would torment him.
Kaito watched how Imposter-san walked up the stairs until he disappeared and the thief grinned evilly as he turned his attention back to White Horse. He made a muffled sound and shook his head.
"Oh?" Kaito said as he leaned in a bit closer, "what was that?" He placed a hand by his ear like he was trying to hear better, "are you saying that you want me to hurt you?" The man's eyes widened in fear and he shook his head violently, causing the thief to chuckle coldly as an unfriendly smile curved his lips.
"Now, Horse," the thief said viciously as he nonchalantly eyed the blood on his right glove. "This is your last moments in freedom, so why don't we make it memorable," Kaito murmured darkly and grinned hungrily as he pulled out a small knife. The man only stared at him in fear, too scared to struggle and too restrained to flee.
"This might-," the thief frowned thoughtfully as he stopped to consider what he'd said, "no, it will hurt, a lot." White Horse started to struggle hard and his cries for help was efficiently quenched by the gag. The thief sprayed the man with his sleep inducing gas and sighed. "But mostly, it will hurt your pride," he stated as he got to work.
It didn't take long before Shinichi sat beside Megure and watched how KID entered the news helicopter.
"IC! What the hell?! Did you and KID do this?!" a transmission filled with laughter was heard and Shinichi frowned.
"7-2-4. I haven't done anything. KID, what did you do?" Shinichi asked as both of the helicopters headed in different directions.
"14-12. Just pull in the string by the door and he'll come down. I tied him to the ceiling and, fixed him," KID answered and Shinichi got a vision of a widely grinning thief.
"Got it," the other officer snickered and the detective shook his head in exhaustion.
The black helicopter followed the unknowing Whisky to his home and Shinichi watched how he pulled out his phone as he exited the cab.
"Can you take the shot?" he asked as the sniper took aim, but then shook his head. Whisky placed the phone next to his ear.
"Shiratori-keibu, report on the members and is anyone of them receiving a phone call?"
"5-42. No one, but I have no eyes on Snake. Viper and Monkey was caught during the heist. Viper was the one who shot at you inside the target room." Shinichi watched how Whisky dialled a new number as he entered his house. "Wolf and Jaguar are at a small diner, they have backpacks and Wolf just got a call. They are leaving."
"Move in," Shinichi commanded and waited.
"We got them," Shiratori declared in the headset and then continued, "Fox is in her apartment reading a book. Lynx is pacing back and forth in his living room and Bat is having a coffee inside his car, sitting outside someone's house observing them. Wait, Lynx just got a call. And now he began to pack."
"Go get him too, and you can get Bat whenever you'd like since they are leaving him behind," Shinichi informed and Megure sent him a glance, wondering how he knew, but instead of answering the detective simply waved his hand a bit airily. "Shiratori-keibu, is everything ready?"
"5-42. Yes, we have three cars at the nearest airport and four cars circling nearby in case he goes somewhere else, not counting the ones just around the corner from his current location."
"2-21. Snake just drove into an old and nowadays unused harbour, but I think that they rent out storage facilities and water storages."
"Move in on him now, he probably has his pontoon plane there. KID, don't let him start it."
"Bossy~," KID said with glee, "how do you know that he has a plane?"
"Irrelevant," Shinichi answered short and his patience disappeared completely as he felt how the fatigue got a stronger hold over him; he was cold and had begun to breathe heavy, he was fighting the weariness for all he was worth.
"Give me your weapon," he demanded and the sniper did as he was told. The detective held into the weapon with his right hand while supporting the barrel on the tip of his right shoe. Whisky exited his house and Shinichi smirked. He watched as Whisky got halfway to the taxicab and Shinichi forced his injured arm to grip into the rifle to steady it. The detective gritted his teeth and fired. Whisky twitched and then slowly collapsed.
"We've got Whisky, move in!"
Megure watched how the young Kudou leaned back into his seat and sighed deeply.
"Checkmate, my dear Whisky," the old inspector heard the youth mumble as he took the weapon away from him. The teenager's eyes slowly sealed and the panting became a steady breathing.
"Oi, IC?" Megure said and then shook the young detective carefully. "Kudou-kun!" he turned the boy's face towards him; he was very pale. "Get us to the nearest hospital, now!" Megure roared to the pilot and felt the entire helicopter shift. "Ooka-keiji, you are not allowed to tell anyone about what this boy has done," Megure said to the sniper as he quickly pulled of the unconscious teenager's hat, monocle, mantle and suit; it would arouse too much turmoil around the hospital if they brought in an unconscious Kaitou KID.
"He's back," Ooka gasped as he recognised the Detective of the East.
Kaito smirked at the officers inside his helicopter; everyone except Chiba was nervous from his presence.
"Move in on him now, he probably has his pontoon plane there. KID, don't let him start it."
"Bossy~," the thief said gleefully and hoped that he would appear to be as calm as he pretended to be, "how do you know that he has a plane?"
"Irrelevant," came the short and somewhat angry response. The thief opened the door with a shrug and fell out of the opening. He soared down to the storage facility which they'd seen Snake enter.
"We've got Whisky, move in!" Kaito smiled when he heard that and silently landed beside an old and broken window. Inside there was a pontoon plane, standing in a pool of water which flooded inside from the hangar doors, but other than that; nothing but metal pipes, stairs, railings, beams and empty storage shelves. Snake was walking towards a button beside the large doors and Kaito quickly opened the window and landed on a beam as he slipped inside. The thief placed one speaker on the metal underneath him and silently ran over to the wall where he placed the next. The facility was mostly obscured in darkness with only some old and dusty light bulbs hanging in the air, creating a dim light.
Kaito pulled out his card gun and immediately fired at the plane's rotor blades; he didn't want to shoot Snake with the strange tranquilizer gun without him knowing exactly who it was that caught him. Snake twitched at the sound and spun around while the thief fired at the fuel tank, cutting it open and allowing the gasoline to drain into the water. Kaito quickly moved along the beam close to the wall, knowing that the assassin wouldn't be able to see him in the darkness. He placed another speaker on the wall as he got to the corner and then used a rope to get down to the small balcony-like second floor. Snake was investigating what had happened to the plane and pulled out one card from the propeller with a disgruntled look.
"I killed you, KID!" he roared out into the quiet storage.
"Actually, no," Kaito answered and his voice echoed from three different places and he slid down one pillar to get to the same floor as Snake, "you shot my impostor which was working with the police, and he's still alive so you did a great job." The thief watched with a smile how Snake pointed the gun towards the roof.
"You have an uncanny ability to stay alive, Toichi! After I kill you, I'll get that wife and son of yours!" the man called out with a dark smile. Kaito knew that Snake was trying to rile him up into doing a mistake, but he couldn't stop the anger that started to pulse through his body. "I haven't touched them since they have nothing to do with our business, but now I'm thinking that I might still have some fun with her before I kill her before your son's eyes," a horrible picture of Snake forcing himself on Chikage flashed through Kaito's mind and he felt sick. He couldn't get the image out of his head and he gritted his teeth as the anger turned into rage. His body trembled with fury and for once in his life he wanted someone dead, in a slow and excruciatingly painful way.
"I would kill you before that would ever happen," Kaito announced quietly through the speakers and Snake's smile was broadened as he heard the anger in the thief's voice.
"Maybe I'll rape her before your son's eyes," the murderer said almost thoughtfully and chuckled. Kaito's eyes widened and he got the image back. He shook his head trying to get it out of his mind and tried to keep the little calm he had left. Kaito picked up a small metal pipe from the ground, threw it and ran in the different direction. Snake's attention was immediately drawn to the noise and Kaito shot the grappling hook to the roof. A shot rang off and almost hit him.
"Come out and play, Toichi," Snake backed towards the stairs as Kaito pulled out the tranquilizer gun. The thief walked on the beam on the opposite side of the building while Snake slowly walked up the stairs.
As Snake got to the top of the stairs movement in the corner of his eyes made him jolt his head towards the wall. The shadow of Kaitou KID had been displayed in the light that flooded in through the window high up on the wall. He glanced around, now knowing that the thief was somewhere higher than him. A muffled gunshot was heard and Snake twitched as it struck him. The murderer immediately pulled out the small syringe from his arm and leaned on the wall as he felt his body slowly relax. He was caught and he knew it; police sirens could be heard from outside and the light from their cars were lighting up the dust in the windows. Snake wasn't surprised when the white-clad thief showed up from nowhere and smiled as he watched him. Anger glowed from the one eye that wasn't obscured and it was obvious to Snake that he'd gone too far when he threatened the thief's family.
Kaito's hand trembled slightly and he was gripping hard into the gun; he could shoot him again before the police came, just for good measure.
"With abilities like yours you could do anything and everything," the murderer spoke slowly and it seemed like he was falling asleep. "Why a thief? Why do you-" suddenly the man interrupted himself as he shot out from the wall and grabbed the thief. Kaito didn't have time to react before they tumbled down the metal stairs and he hissed in pain as he struck his head in the hard steps. "You," Snake gasped as he stared at the thief that laid on top of him, "you're not Toichi, you're Kaito." The thief forced his eyes open and stared at the surprised man; he had lost both his hat and monocle in the fall.
The door was thrown open and police officers ran into the building as Kaito got up and swayed lightly.
"Kaitou KID's identity is Kuroba Kaito!" the man yelled to the cops and Kaito felt his heart beat in panic; how would he get out of this? "Kuroba Kaito is Kaitou KID!" Snake called out before he lost consciousness and there was no way that the police didn't hear him.
