Disclaimer. Here. 'Nuff said.

A/N:

Again, reviews would be most welcomed.

Warning though, this is a transition chapter. Don't expect too much from it. But I'll try to make up for the lack of action in this one in the next chapter.

YunCyn and Nia:

Yes, I will keep on writing. =) Thank you.

Kyoko:

It's fixed, it's fixed. Yeey!

Chapter 8:

Phase Two

          "There are two aspects to the Pandora Project." Miyagi told them. "The scientific part and the mythology part." He grinned. "So far, we're two steps ahead of the Black Organization when in comes to the scientific part. After all we have Johnny Walker. And from what we learned from him, the Black Organization tends to lose their scientists. Now, all we need to do is to find the legend, the Pandora Gem."

          "And how do you propose we do that?" Sonoko asked.

          "Oh, my dear, dear Sonoko-chan." Miyagi grinned. "I think that you're going to enjoy this project most of all. That's why I'm putting you in charge."

          "Really?" Sonoko screeched. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She had jumped up and impulsively hugged Miyagi. "You're the best!"

          Miyagi grinned. "It's about to get better." He handed Sonoko a note.

          Sonoko quickly scanned it and yelled even louder. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe it! This is the best assignment ever!"

          Kazuha and Ran exchanged amused glances.

          Sonoko placed the note on the table and began dancing around the room.

          "It's a note from the Kaitou Kid," Kazuha read as she snatched up the note.

          Ran gave a knowing grin. No wonder Sonoko was psyched.

          Miyagi placed a thick envelope on the table.

          "What's this?" Ran asked. She opened the folder and grimaced.

          Miyagi saw this. "Why, Ran-chan, some people would give up their arm to read the file before you. It's top secret."

          Ran rolled her eyes as she pushed the files towards Kazuha.

          Kazuha peeked in curiously. "It's about the Kaitou Kid,"

          "Really?" Sonoko's impromptu dance screeched to a halt as she heard the magic words. She rushed to the table and grabbed the file folder. "Can I take these home tonight?" She pleaded. "I'm the leader now, so I need all the information need!"

          "Yes, Sonoko-chan, you can have first go at the files,"

          "Why him?" Kazuha asked. "What does he have to do with anything?"

          Sonoko glared at her. "Don't look at a gift horse in the mouth," she said. Then, she frowned. "Whatever that means."

"Good question, Kazuha-chan," Miyagi grinned. He then turned to the computer. "Ran-chan, can you hit the lights?"

          After the lights turned off, a small beam of light emitted from the projector to the white wall before them.

          "Once again, our research department had outdone themselves!" Miyagi said proudly. "According to legends, there is a stone believed to give immortality to the one who possesses it."

          "The Pandora Gem," Kazuha guessed.

          "Right," Miyagi replied. "But there's a catch. Nobody knows where it is or even what it looks like. All that is known about it is that it's a precious stone, no bigger than a fist."

          "How do we know which one is the real one then?" Kazuha asked.

          "Well, they said that if you hold the gem in the moonlight, a beam would emit from it," Miyagi replied. "But no one's really sure, though. As I've said, no one's gotten their hands on it."

          "And what does the Kaitou Kid have to do about it?" Ran asked.

          "Look at the left of the screen," Miyagi said, motioning to the projected image on the wall. "That's the list our research team's compiled that's possibly the Pandora Gem."

          "That's a lot of stones," Sonoko whistled.

          "And the ones with checks are the stones our thief had stolen over the years." Miyagi said.

          "Wow," Sonoko's eyes bulged. "That's a lot,"

          "Almost seventy percent," Miyagi replied.

          "Maybe he just like 'em stones," Ran suggested.

          "Kaitou Kid always returns the stones he stole. That means that he's looking for something," Miyagi said.

          "Or he's really bored," Sonoko joked.

          "So our next mission is to look for the Pandora Gem?" Kazuha pressed.

          Miyagi shook his head. "Our next mission is to bring in the Kaitou Kid. He might know something of value about the Black Organization. He might even work for them. After all, they're after the same thing."

          "Ran!" Mouri Kogoro instructed. "Call the police!"

          Ran nodded as she took off to the direction of the nearest phone.

          Conan was already examining the dead body.

          The three of them had decided to watch a movie to unwind. And as usual whenever the three of them go together to do something fun, someone is murdered. So Conan wasn't really that surprised when the lights turned on and lo and behold! There was a dead body. He looked up to see Ran speed off outside the movie theatre, the hood of her navy blue jacket flying just below her hair. She had been wearing long-sleeved tops lately, as opposed to her favored sleeveless tops and shorts. And lately, she had taken to wearing rubber shoes, whereas before, there were slip-ons, and moccasins, and strappy sandals, and closed shoes, and clogs, and…

          Conan's eyes narrowed. The shoes. The jacket. The hood!

          Sonoko's hero was Ran!

"Wait, Kudo," Hattori said through gritted teeth. "I don't think there's any need to blame the Black Organization just yet. I think that we're being set up."

          "What? Why?" A childish voice asked, yet the eyes of the voice's owner glittered with wisdom and maturity.

          "There's no way Kazuha won't be able to open that cursed disk," Hattori replied, absent-mindedly tugging on his baseball cap. "Kazuha can hack circles around us. And even if she's unable to hack into the disk, there was no way she would just give up. She's too stubborn for her own good."

          "I see your point." Conan nodded. "So she knows what's in that disk. And if she knows—"

          "She would also know that we're keeping something from her." Hattori finished.

          "And under normal circumstances, she would confront you and demand an explanation," Conan frowned.

          "But she isn't." Hattori looked at the person before him. "That means she's up to something, but what?"

          Comprehension dawned on Conan's not-so-childish eyes. The questions. The meaningful glances. The interrogation. The late-night phone calls. The man who saved and switched Ran's envelope on their way to school one morning. "She's working for someone," he said. "Someone's instructing her to do things."

          "What? Who?"

          "Miyagi Ken." Conan said through gritted teeth. He should've seen it before. "It's quite possible that Miyagi's after the Black Organization and he enlisted the help of the girls."

          "What is he then, a detective?"

          "Possibly." Conan shrugged. "Or more probably a spy."

"She's a what?" Hattori demanded. "You're crazy Kudo. This is not Hollywood, you know."

"Think about it." Conan said. "The gadgets, the impromptu travel from Osaka to Tokyo and back. The way they cover their tracks. It reflects that someone's backing them up with money and manpower. A detective doesn't have that."

"Yeah, right. And my name's Charlie…"

          During dinner that night, Conan felt Ran's eyes on him. They were the only ones on the table, as Mouri had once again drunk himself to a stupor, celebrating his genius in solving yet another murder case.

          Ran sighed.

          "W-what is it, Ran-neechan?" Conan asked innocently. But deep inside, he was squirming.  Ran's secret is beginning to unravel; he had a few theories, but believed them to be farfetched, bordering on the impossible. But then again, a year ago, he didn't think that reversing the aging process was possible, either.

Conan's eyes met hers.

          "Do you have something to tell me, Conan-kun?" She had asked, her voice even.

          "What do you mean, Ran-neechan?"

          "Nothing," Ran replied with another sigh. "Are you done eating? I feel a headache coming on…"

          Conan jumped from his seat. "I can clean up," he offered. "You go lie down or whatever,"

          Ran smiled at him weakly. "Thanks," with that, she trudged to her room.

          Conan watched her retreating form with a sigh of his own. Oh, Ran. I do have something to tell you. A lot, in fact. But I can't. I can't let you get involved in this one…I have to do this alone…

          "Argh!"

          Johnny Walker and Miyagi looked up from their table.

          "That's enough practice for today, Ran-chan," Miyagi told the girl behind him.

          On her head was a virtual reality device, one that had helped her train her martial arts technique.

          Johnny peered over the monitor where he could see a virtual Ran fight a virtual teenager with spiky brown hair and blue eyes wearing a blue suit. The boy was getting beaten up pretty bad.

          After her opponent had fallen unconscious on the ground, Ran tore off the contraption in her eyes and slammed it on the table.

          "Hey!" Miyagi protested. "That's expensive, you know,"

          "Sorry," Ran muttered half-heartedly as she sat down opposite Johnny.

          "Why are you mad, Sweetie?" He asked.

          "I'm not." Ran replied. "And don't call me Sweetie."

          "Now, be nice, Ran-chan." Miyagi grinned at her. "You know we need a special favor from Walker-san,"

          Ran looked up. "Can we not call him that?" Ran asked. "He's not with them anymore."

          "Quite right," Miyagi replied as he turned to Johnny. "What shall we call you then?"

          "Yoshke." He promptly answered. "My name's Yoshke. I don't remember my last name anymore, but I can remember my mom calling me Yoshke when I was five,"

          Ran looked at him. "You last saw your mom when you were five?" She asked softly.

          Johnny, now Yoshke, nodded. "I was orphaned at that age when my mom was killed by robbers. I was sent to an orphanage. I was classified as a genius when I started school at six. Then, someone adopted me. I was very ecstatic, but I was only handed over to a group of scientist who worked for the Black Organization."

          Ran's eyes filled with tears. "Oh, you poor baby!" She cried as she impulsively hugged Yoshke.

          "Sweetie!" Yoshke cried with her, returning her hug.

          Miyagi hid a knowing grin. Ran may be tough and strong, and can beat up three guys twice her size, but inside, she was still a softie. He cleared his throat.

          Ran released her hold on Yoshke. A minute later and still Yoshke made no move on releasing her.

          "If you don't let me go in two seconds," Ran growled, which produced the desired effect.

          Miyagi turned to the young scientist. "Yoshke-san. We need a favor from you." Miyagi began. "Can you find an antidote to the APTX 4869?"

          Yoshke's eyes widened. "What for?"

          Ran's eyes were downcast. "You see, my friend…" She began.

          Yoshke stared long and hard at her. "Say no more." He said. "I'll do my best." He declared loudly, but there was a certain sadness in his eyes.

          "So can you do it?" Miyagi asked hopefully.

          "No!" Yoshke replied. "But I can try!"

          Miyagi face-faulted. "What?"

          Yoshke shrugged. "Well, I don't want to give you false hopes. I'm not even certain that there's even a cure, you know. All I have are a few theories."

          Ran's eyes gleamed. "What if I can give you Sherry?" She asked thoughtfully.

          He and Kudo were going crazy, weren't they? He didn't believe such a wild theory. It was an illogical jump. There was no way.

          So what was he doing in Kazuha's room looking for incriminating evidence?

          Wait. No. He was just waiting for Kazuha to go home from her computer classes, right? He wasn't here to try and confirm or deny Kudo's accusations.

          That's why he's looking under the bed…

          Wait. What's that? A wooden box?

          Hattori reached for the box and dragged it outside. He opened it. He gasped.

          It was a gun…

          No…

          Kazuha…

          "What are you doing here?" A cold voice demanded, making Hattori drop the gun and back off to the wall.

          "Nothing, nothing," he denied, but the gun was on the floor for all to see.

          Kazuha was on the doorway, hands on her hips. "What do you think you're doing?" She demanded, her eyes taking in the disarray of her room. Then, she saw the gun. She walked to it and knelt down. She picked it up and stood up, staring straight at Hattori. "Where did you find this?"

          "Under the bed," Hattori replied weakly. "Why do you have a gun, Kazuha?" He asked. Kudo's words repeated themselves in his ear. The Black Organization…The Black Organization…

          Kazuha slowly aimed the gun at Hattori. "I'm sorry, Heiji," she said softly. "I never intended for this to go this far,"

          "Kazuha," Hattori gulped. "What are you doing?"

          "You weren't supposed to find out," Kazuha cried. "You weren't supposed to stick your nose in my business."

          "You're my best friend, Kazuha," Hattori argued, hoping that Kazuha would snap out of it. He didn't like the blank look in her eyes. "Your business in my business."

          "I'm sorry, Hattori-kun," Kazuha then said, calmly. "I'm so sorry."

          Not as sorry as I am. Hattori thought as he closed his eyes. So this is the end. Hattori forced his eyes to open. He wanted to see her for the last time. Good-bye, Kazuha. And I lo—

          He saw Kazuha slowly squeeze the trigger…

Miyagi gasped. "You know where Sherry is?"

          Ran shook her head. "I have my suspicions, though,"

          Yoshke grinned. "If you could find Sherry, that would make my life a whole lot easier." Almost immediately, all signs of sadness were wiped from his psyche. "You know what they say, two heads are better than one!" 

          Ran looked at him, once again seeing his goofy side. But she knew that all of it was just for show. The poor thing…

          Hattori braced himself for the pain.

          But none came.

          Instead, he felt something wet splash on his face.

          He heard Kazuha's laugh.

          "Oh my gosh!" Kazuha choked out in mirth. "Did you really think that I was going to kill you?"

          Hattori's posture immediately became defensive as he crossed his arms on his chest. "Do you think that's funny? Ahou!" He glared at her.

          "Ahou!" Kazuha called out automatically. "You know what they say, turnabout's—"

          "Fair play," he finished for her. "I know. I know." He grumbled.

          Kazuha glanced around her room. "Just what are you doing anyway?"

          Hattori started to fidget. "Uh, spring cleaning?"

          "Nice try," she replied as she got down on her knees and placed the gun in the wooden box.

          "Just what is that water gun for, anyway?" Hattori demanded.

          "Koshiro asked me to keep this. It's his gift for his younger brother's birthday, but they share a room and the brother had a tendency to mess with his stuff." Kazuha rolled her eyes. "Like someone I know, but I wouldn't mention his name. That idiot."

          "Remember when we were kids and I used to mess with your things?" Hattori asked Kazuha.

          Kazuha's features softened. "You used to make me so mad,"

          "But I only did that because I wanted to know what you were up to and you didn't want to tell me."

          A ghost of a smile touched Kazuha's features. "Dad enrolled me in ballet class," she laughed remembering. "I was soo embarrassed."

          Hattori knelt down beside Kazuha as they began to clean up the mess he made. "I just want to find out what you're doing again,"

          Kazuha lost her smile as turned to look at her oldest friend. "Why didn't you just ask me?" She asked softly.

          Hattori turned slowly to look at her. "Would you have told me the truth?" He asked.

          "I guess you'll just have to trust me on this one."

          "We're in luck, girls!" Miyagi excitedly called.

          "About time," Kazuha grumbled. "With the way my luck is going, Heiji will find out what I'm really doing with my free time,"

          Sonoko grinned at her. "Well, at least your luck's better than Ran's," she joked. "At least your boyfriend's not a ten year old kid," she giggled.

          "Point taken," Kazuha grinned.

Ran glared at her. "Not funny. At least I don't have a crush on a forty year old," she shot back.

"Hey!" Sonoko protested.

          "Girls! Girls!" Miyagi cried in exasperation. Teenagers these days. They've got the attention span of a newborn.

          "What?" The three asked irritably in unison.

          Miyagi sweat dropped. "Uh, Kaitou Kid," he mumbled.

          Sonoko immediately perked up. "Listen to the man, girls," she said. "And to me. After all, I am your leader."

          Ran and Kazuha exchanged pained glances before settling down to listen to Miyagi.

          "Once again we have to congratulate the research department. They've cracked the code Kaitou Kid gave us," Miyagi explained.

          "Really?" Sonoko asked eagerly.

          "Really." Miyagi grinned. Sonoko's enthusiasm was contagious. "Apparently, we don't have to infiltrate and disguise ourselves for the next mission. We don't have to come and get the Kaitou Kid. He's coming to get us…"

          "No way!" Sonoko wailed as she slammed the phone down. "This is probably the worst time ever!"

          Ran, who was on Sonoko's bed, doing her long overdue schoolwork, looked up. "Wasn't that Kyougoku-san?" She asked lazily.

          Sonoko nodded.

          "Aren't you usually psyched to hear from him?"

          Sonoko nodded.

          "So what's up this time?"

          "He's coming to visit me tomorrow," Sonoko replied with the smile. "As in tomorrow, my big day with Kaitou Kid, my first assignment when I get to order you and Kazuha around." She sighed. "And he'll only be here for one day."

          Ran grinned amusedly. "Talk about timing."

          "I'm glad someone's getting amused about my dilemma." Sonoko cried out, with a glare at her so-called best friend.

          "Well, take him with us tomorrow then," Ran suggested. "After all, I am taking Conan-kun and my dad."

          "But, but…"

          "Hey, what kind of spy would you be if you can't even get away from your boyfriend for ten minutes?"

P. S.

I have reached my limit of mush (yannoe, with Conan's musings and the interaction between Heiji & Kazuha)… Dpn't get me wrong, I like reading waff, writing them is another matter…

P.P.S.

I have a really important question…I don't wanna get flamed, so can anyone please tell me how Ran address Ai? Thanks. =)