Disclaimer: Things used from DC or MK aren't mine.

One Truth

By: mysteriousangelgirl

Chapter 4: A Cure?

"Conan, are you sure about this trip?" Ran asked for the fifth time today. She and Conan were packing for his trip to California. Conan said that he was going to visit a relative, just as Sandra had told him to when she called him again.

"Yes, Ran-neechan. There's a cousin there that I haven't seen in a long time and his parents thought it would be a good idea to get together." Conan stuffed the last shirt into his duffel bag, zipped it up and turned to smile at Ran. "Don't worry about me, Ran-neechan. I'll call you everyday to let you know how I am, okay?"

"Okay, but when are you coming back? Winter vacation doesn't last forever, you know." Ran stood up, bringing Conan's duffel bag up with her.

"I know and I'm not sure when I'll be back, but I promise it will be before school starts." Conan followed Ran out of the bedroom.

"Okay, but how are you going to get to the airport?" Ran dropped his bag by the door and turned around to face him.

"They sent someone to pick me up." Actually, Sandra's coming to pick me up. Conan looked up at Ran, expecting to see a smile, but instead she had tears in her eyes. "Ran-neechan....."

"So when are they coming for you?"

"Around 6 tonight."

"Okay then."

"Ran-neechan......why are you....crying?" Conan ventured to ask.

"Oh, I just.......well, Conan, you're always getting into trouble, and I just want you to come home in one piece, and well, at least you're not like Shinichi who just runs off without notice.......but anyway, just come back safely, okay?"

Conan nodded, as he looked away, no longer able to stand the sadness in her eyes. Ran left, as Conan sat on the sofa, his guilt pilling up.

Ran walked off to her room, locking the door behind her. He knew without even looking that she was crying, crying for him. Again. Conan put his head in his hands and groaned. This is the worst! I hate seeing her cry, and I hate not being able to talk to her, as the real me....when will this nightmare be over? Just as Conan lifted his head to glance at his watch, a horn honked downstairs and Conan knew he had to go. He picked up his duffel bag and just before closing the door, he said, "Bye, Ran-neechan...."

There was no answer. Conan sighed again, and closed the door softly behind him. As he got into Sandra's black car downstairs, he must have had on a very sad look, because Sandra asked, "Why the sad face?"

When Conan didn't answer, Sandra chose to remain silent as she dialed a number on her cell phone.

"Hey, Kuroba...."

At the mention of his brother's name, Conan sat up from the slouched position he had been in.

"No, he's okay, kind of sad........ahh, yeah, you what? Oh, cool, congrats, well, see you.......no it'll have to wait................how long? Well, at least until we get back........"

Conan glanced at Sandra, wanting to know what the two were talking about.

"Ok, so we'll see you then.......ok, later." Sandra hung up and glanced at Conan. She was quiet for a few seconds. Then she said, "You want to know what Kuroba knows?"

Conan stared at her.

"Well, obviously," she said, laughing a bit. She made a turn off the highway as they neared the airport terminal. "Kuroba-kun knows just about as much as you. There isn't much I can explain, but......."

"You know very well that I would like to have my history explained," Conan finally said, his tone full of sadness and betrayal.

"Yes, I do, Kudo-kun, but that will have to wait. Kuroba-kun would like to explain it all to you in person when we get back. I don't want to say something wrong. But let's just go over the facts, Kudo-kun, so you're not too upset.

"You, Kuroba Shinichi, was born to Kuroba Toichi and Meimi, a year after Kuroba Kaito was born, so Kuroba-kun is a year older than you. For some personal reasons, you were abandoned in a deserted park on the night of May 4, sixteen years ago. A young couple, namely Kudo Yusaku and Yukiko, happened to pass by and found you. They took you in, naming you Kudo Shinichi, as you were found with an identification card....."

"I was found with an identification card?!?"

"Yes, but the only thing written was Shinichi."

"Oh, go on."

"Okay, and so you grew up. I know that Toichi ojisan's accident was actually a murder to silence him, and the FBI are already working on that, and we found all this information from Kuroba Toichi's hidden files, just like the ones your parents, I mean, the Kudo's had. The Kudo's suspected that you were from the Kuroba family, as there was a child with the name Shinichi who belonged to them. But............."

"You have another thought?"

"Well, yes. I suspect that, it's very difficult to explain, so when we find out the whole truth from Kuroba-kun, because he'll confront his mother, then I'll tell you my suspicion." Sandra parked in the loading zone, mentioned for Conan to go, and got out. They left the car there, and a few minutes later, Conan saw a man get into Sandra's car and drive it away.

As they were waiting in the security line, Conan asked in a low voice. "Who was that?"

"A fellow agent, he works for me."

"I see."

"Yeah, now let's talk about something that doesn't relate to the current case."

"Alright, I'll talk about the past soccer season you must have missed with......never mind, but anyways, the soccer tournament started with........"

Soon Conan and Sandra were both deeply engaged in topic of soccer, that they failed to notice that a man in a black suit was only ten meters behind them, boarding the same plane with them, and sitting only 5 rows behind them.

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"Will all passengers please buckle your seatbelts, as we will be landing in the San Francisco International Airport in just a half hour. Thank you for choosing Japan Airlines, and we hope you have a nice vacation. Come back next time!" The flight attendant was saying.

Conan sighed as she poked Sandra next to him. Surprisingly she was already awake. "Did you actually sleep?"

Sandra pretended to yawn. "Of course not. Agents never quite feel comfortable sleeping in public or when on a mission," she hissed softly. In a normal voice, she said, "I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be right back." Sandra got up, slapping Conan on the back, sticking a small bug that even Conan didn't even notice onto his collar. Just as soon as Sandra closed the door to her bathroom stall, the man in the black suit wearing dark sunglasses stood up and walked forward 5 rows to where Conan was sitting alone. He sat down in Sandra's empty seat and didn't look at Conan.

Conan tried not to flinch in his window seat, but he knew that the man must be trying to kidnap him or something, but wondered why he would try to attempt such a thing on an airplane. Just as Conan was wondering if he should shoot the man with his stun wrist watch, Sandra walked out of her stall and appeared next to the man in the black suit. She stood there for a second, taking in what she saw, as the man looked up at her. Then she crossed her arms and said, "Move." The man smiled and stood up, letting Sandra back to her seat. When Sandra sat down, the man took the empty aisle seat next to her.

Conan knew his eyes were bulging, but he didn't say anything. Sandra took out a piece of paper and wrote "Bodyguard" on it. As Conan read the word, he could feel his body release its tension and he let go of the arm handle he was gripping. Sandra settled back in her chair as Conan looked out of the window, watching the buildings and trees come into view, he wondered how much more complicated one simple mistake could get him into. He sighed as he settled in for the bumpy landing.

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Conan and Sandra got off the plane with the 'bodyguard' close behind. Thought Conan was still getting creepy vibes from the man, he trusted Sandra, and to anyone, he looked just like a kid who was nervous about traveling. Sandra rented a small black car and as they drove away, Conan saw that their bodyguard had gotten in a car that went the opposite way of the way they were going.

"Sandra, how come our 'bodyguard' went the wrong way?" he asked, glancing in this rearview mirror.

"We don't need him anymore."

"What?"

"You heard me. And he's going back to our office here."

"But then why did we need him on the plane?"

"Well, technically we didn't, but he just happened to be finishing on his assignment and his orders were to come protect you if needed, and he was just doing his job."

"So you're my bodyguard?"

"I guess."

"Sandra, can I ask you something?"

"Shoot," she said as she turned off the highway and onto a small street with a whole bunch of houses.

"Well, where are we going?"

Sandra smiled. "You'll see," she said as she stopped the car and turned off the engine. She led Conan into a beautiful house. The windows were all drawn, however, and that was what aroused his suspicions.

"Why are the windows all dr-"

"Shh." Sandra grabbed his hand and yanked him behind her. "Don't say anything," she hissed so softly Conan had to strain to hear. Conan obeyed as he stayed absolutely still and silent behind Sandra, who was dressed in a white tank top, with a light blue half-clear jacket thrown over that. She was wearing a pair of white short with a pair of white and blue sneakers. She silently reached into the backpack she was holding and as she was looking for something, a man cam down the stairs, causing her to whip her head up.

The man smiled, evilly as stopped on the third stair and pointed a gun at Sandra. Sandra let go of her backpack and drew out a gun, pointing it at the man.

"Seems like I got here before you," he said, smiling and flashing a row of glimmering teeth.

"Where is Ken?"

"Somewhere safe, I assure you."

"And I bet you're trying to force him to tell you the antidote of the apotoxin, then you'll kill him and steal it, huh?"

"You really should join us, Sandra. You would be a nice agent."

Sandra snorted.

"Seems like I can't change your mind, huh?" He raised his gun, and put his finger on the trigger. "So should you or the boy die, first?"

Conan couldn't stand it any longer. This man is flirting with her and at the same time threatening her! It's absolutely gross and I don't have all the time in the world to hear him blabber. He glanced around and saw a clock sitting on the counter. Reaching down to his shoe, he grabbed the clock with his free hand, and kicked the clock at the man's hands. Obviously surprised at the sudden movement from the kid, the man didn't have time to react before the clock made contact with his gun, whipping it out of his hands and landing on the floor. Sandra ran forward and kicked the man in the......place where it hurts, and he collapsed with a big 'UH!'.

Sandra then took out a pair of handcuffs, cuffed the man to the railing of the stair way, with both hands behind his back and picked up his gun. She stuck both his gun and her gun into her backpack, and glanced over at Conan.

"That was a nice kick."

"Thanks, but what happened?"

"Hang on, let's get Ken out first."

Sandra walked over to the bookcase to the right of the staircase, pulled a specific book out of the top shelf and the bookcase swung open, revealing a secret room behind it. In the center of the room, there was a man, probably in his late forties, tied and gagged in a chair. Just as Sandra was going to walk in, the man looked up, saw her and shook his head. He gestured with his head, frantically to the cabinet on the right of Sandra. Sandra narrowed her eyes and yanked it open. Conan walked as her eyes grew wide. She glanced back at the man, who just nodded. Sandra nodded a thank you, grabbed something out of the cabinet and ran back out to the front door, picking up Conan in the process. Once in the car, she floored the accelerator, and didn't talk until they reached the highway.

Conan's heart was still beating at 100 beats/minute because Sandra had gone through five red lights, nearly missing 8 cars, and now she tossed her cell phone to Conan and said, "Call the first number on the list."

Conan scrolled down and found to his amazement that the number was one that her recognized. It was his brother's, Kuroba Kaito's.

As Kaito picked up the phone and Conan said, "Hello, Kuroba, no, niijan would be better."

"Kudo?"

"You forgot, I'm not Kudo. I'm Kuroba, so you can call me-"

"Kudo, shut up and give me the phone."

"What?" Conan was surprised that Sandra had spoken and handed her the phone.

"Kuroba, where are you?"

"Where am I? Well, at the coffee shop, like you sai-"

"Then hurry up and get your butt over here. Meet me at the train station ASAP, got that?"

"Yup."

Sandra hung up, leaving Conan to wonder what was going on.

All Sandra said was, "I'm getting Kuroba and you back to Japan. They won't be ready that quick and as soon as you two get out of here, then I'll call for reinforcements and settle these guys down."

"Are you sure you can handle them? I mean, there may be more than one. Also, you should know that they aren't exactly that easy to knock out," Conan asked worriedly as Sandra made a sharp right turn, almost crashing into the pedestrians. Sandra suddenly stopped at the corner, nodded to Conan and he got out, abandoning his duffel bag, but only taking the small vial that Sandra handed him.

"Go, Kuroba is waiting for you."

Conan turned to see his brother standing there. Kaito smiled slightly. Conan looked back at Sandra and nodded. "Thanks."

Sandra nodded, and Conan shut the door with a slam. Just as the door slammed shut, Sandra floored the accelerator and no soon had Kaito bent down and stood in front of him, blocking him from view, did a another small car come zooming after Sandra's.

As Kaito dragged Conan from the sidewalk, Conan looked up at his brother and asked, "Will she be alright?"

Kaito looked at him awkwardly and then looked away. "She should be." Kaito looked back at his brother. "You seem attached to her now."

"Well, she did risk everything she had to help me. I owe her thanks, but even that wouldn't be enough....." Conan felt even more guilty, as Sandra put her life on the line, to save a whole bunch of people she didn't even know.

"Here, put this on first." Kaito put a blue baseball cap on Conan's head and gave him a pair of sunglasses.

Conan put the items held out to him and followed silently to the train station. Kaito put on a cap backwards and slipped on Conan's glasses. To anyone, they just looked like a pair of brothers having fun.

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Later that day, at about 11:30pm, Kaito and Conan arrived at Kaito's house. Kaito mentioned for Conan to take the guest room. Just before leaving, he said, "By the way, Kudo. There's something very important I need to talk to you about.....it's about our......relationship to each other. So take a good night's rest. Oh yes, before I forget, that vial that Sandra gave you. It's the antidote to that drug that shrunk you. You might want to take it and save one for your friend that is if she wants one. If I wake up tomorrow and you're not here, I'll assume you left to see Mouri-san. I'll find you later, but be careful, okay?"

"Thanks, Kuroba."

"No need to thank me. Thank Sandra."

"I'll be here tomorrow."

"Ehh?"

"I need....to sort my feelings out first......and I want to know what you have to say......"

"Okay, 'night, Kudo."

"'night."

-to be continued-

Well, that wasn't what I expected in the beginning....but new ideas popped up.....Oh, just a fore-warning, someone might die in the next chapter, so please don't kill me.....And I know this take a long time because I spent all my time doing something else....sorry and I had writer's block too....Well, I hope you liked it so far and please review!!!