A/N: This chapter is chronologically a few hours after chapter 6, One Choice.
Formatting note: I've used [square brackets] to indicate text that is shown on a phone screen.
Kaito is running finger dexterity exercises with an imaginary coin in an attempt to keep his mind busy. It's working fairly well since without being able to feel the coin he has to focus to visualize the positioning and how it would move across his fingers. He flicks his fingers and visualizes the coin flipping back to his left hand—only to freeze when he hears the door of his cell click as it's unlocked.
It's enough warning to let Kaito hastily pull himself to his feet and restore his Poker Face before the door opens far enough for him to be visible. A long-haired woman walks into the room holding an unmarked manila envelope in one hand and a gun holstered on her opposite hip. (Something about her tugs at Kaito's memory…has he seen her somewhere before? He doesn't think it was as one of Snake's minions, but her face definitely looks familiar.)
"Kaitou KID," the woman states calmly, "Your next target has been decided."
"Target?" he questions warily, images of being forced to kill someone flashing through his mind.
"You'll be allowed access to any necessary equipment and information, of course," she says, "But do keep in mind that any misbehavior on your part will have consequences for the child."
Kaito can't keep himself from tensing as the threat registers, and mentally shoves his questions about what exactly he's being made to do aside for a moment—he needs to know the detective's all right. If they're lying to him and Tantei-kun is already hurt or worse…forget consequences, the second he gets a chance he'll break them both out.
"I'm not doing anything until you prove that he's still alive," he says bluntly.
The woman clicks her tongue in annoyance and walks out of the room, leaving Kaito to wonder what's just happened, and mentally praying that the worst-case scenarios flashing through his mind are wrong.
A few minutes later she comes back in, her formerly free hand holding a cell phone—his KID phone, to be precise. She types something into it, and waits for a minute until the phone chimes with his text alert before holding out the phone and angling the screen towards him. Cautiously, he moves closer; just close enough to read the screen but not enough to be in arms reach of the woman. (Not that the distance would help him if she decides to shoot him, but he's guessing she won't pull the gun unless he tries to escape. They probably need Kaito to stay relatively uninjured if they're threatening to harm Tantei-kun as punishment instead of directly threatening to injure Kaito now that he's been captured.) The screen is showing a text conversation with Tantei-kun.
[How are you, Conan-kun?]
Is the message sent from his phone, and Kaito blinks in bemusement at the detective's single word response.
[Bored]
The response is both just like Tantei-kun and utterly unlike the boy. (No demands for information or even deductions? Is this really Tantei-kun?) Although, looking at the text he's supposed to have sent, Tantei-kun probably decided not to waste effort trying to get information when it's obvious the message wasn't sent by Kid.
"…Can I reply to him?" Kaito asks.
The woman pulls the phone away from him and tells him, "If you want to send something, you tell me what to type."
Kaito huffs in annoyance at the blatant monitoring, but decides he should at least attempt to confirm that the one sending the texts is actually his detective. "Write 'be serious, Tantei-kun'" he tells her.
A moment after the woman sends his message, the phone chimes again and Kaito stares at the unhelpful response.
[Still bored. Can I talk to KID now?]
That…sounded a bit more like Tantei-kun, if he was attempting to act slightly childish. Though looking back at the texts, it was true that they weren't typed in the way Kaito would have…he shouldn't be too surprised that Tantei-kun assumed they weren't written by him. (It was probably better for Tantei-kun to keep the childish act anyways; if their captors underestimated the detective they'd be more likely to let their guards down.)
"Call him, please," Kaito requests.
The woman narrows her eyes at him, and he adds, "Those messages could easily be faked, I need to know that he's unharmed."
After a brief stare-down, the woman silently concedes and calls the detective's phone. She turns the screen so that he can see the display [Calling Tantei-kun]—with the correct phone number underneath—and see the speaker symbol is selected as they wait for the call to connect.
"Hey, is it really KID this time?"
Kaito can't help but laugh at his detective's question, "It's me, Tantei-kun."
"Prove it."
"Eeehhh? Shouldn't that be my line, brat?"
He can hear an annoyed-sounding huff on the other end, "What's the first thing I said to you when we met?"
Kid's mouth twitches as he suppresses a smile, "You set off a bottle-rocket and told me you were launching fireworks. From the top of a building in the middle of the night, with no responsible guardian in sight."
"You know the word responsible?"
"Shocking, I know."
"Hey, KID-san?"
"Yes, Tantei-kun?"
"You're okay, right?"
Kaito blinks and swallows down an incredulous laugh. He'd gotten Tantei-kun kidnapped and held hostage, and the detective was asking if he was okay? "I'll be fine, Tantei-kun. You?"
"…That wasn't an answer."
Kaito huffs, replying, "I'm not injured, but I'm starting to worry about your refusal to give me an answer to the question."
"I had a headache when I woke up, but I drank some water and it went away and now I'm just bored," the detective says the last word with such disgust that Kaito has to take a second to shove down his amusement before he responds.
"Only you, Tantei-kun, could get kidnapped and call it boring."
"It's not like I have anything to do. There's only so much time I can spend staring at empty walls before my brain starts falling out."
"I don't know how much I can help you, Tantei-kun, They probably won't let me call often."
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Just be careful, stupid thief."
"Thanks, Tantei-kun."
"Ah, they're saying I have to hang up now."
Kaito hurriedly replies, "I'll try to talk to you again soon, Tantei-kun."
"Okay."
[Call Ended] flashes on the screen, and the woman speaks up, "I assume that was sufficient proof for you?"
Kaito nods slowly, not wanting to know what he's about to be forced to do, but knowing he really doesn't have a choice, "You mentioned a target?"
The woman drops the manila envelope on the floor and tells him, "You have the details in there. Tomorrow you'll be taken to a workroom; I suggest you start planning what equipment you believe will be needed."
He doesn't move to pick the envelope up until well after she's gone, bracing himself for some terrible mission to be detailed inside.
Eventually, Kaito opens the envelope and pulls out a stack of papers. On the top of the stack is a news article about a gem, Queen Marie's Sapphire, which will be displayed by a wealthy businessman (not Adviser Suzuki, for once) at a hotel in just less than two weeks. The rest of the papers contain more detailed information along the same lines: the hotel layout, which room the gem will be displayed inside, and the businessman's planned event security.
He practically collapses in relief when he finishes reading. A heist. He's just doing another heist. Snake must have decided that if he couldn't kill KID, he would force the thief to cooperate instead.
Kaito could make this work, somehow. He'll have to see what they're willing to allow him access to, but even if they search him every time he gets dumped back here, he will find a way to get out of this mess.
Tantei-kun is depending on him, after all.
A/N: Queen Marie's Sapphire is an actual jewel that exists (that used to be owned by Queen Marie of Romania) and could theoretically be owned by some wealthy businessman. I didn't really research into who owned it when, but it's been auctioned at least once. It's also huge: 478.68 carats, so it's a reasonable fit for the 'stone-within-a-stone' business as a Pandora candidate.
Next chapter is moving forward with Haibara receiving the message! It's only half-written at the moment, but I think I finally have a better idea of how the next few chapters will go so y'all shouldn't have to wait too long for the next update.