Last Shot at Love

Author's Rumblings: Whoot. I got like, 2 reviews in the first hour that the fic was up for. I fell asleep giggling at the cleverness of me! (I love Peter Pan so insanely much o.o;) So thanks for making me feel all special and such. And now, I respond to reviews!!

Lady Starlight2: Nope. Ya aren't worthy, are you? Hee. You get a muffin for being my first reviewer. Feel loved. And as for this "updating soon" you speak of, I'm going to try to get a file up every two days so I don't cut it too close to the horrors of starting the dreaded Highschool.

Ember Mage: You already know how much I love YOU. -wink- Anyways, for everyone else who has no clue who Dr. Araide was, he was a doctor and it appeared he and Ran (Rache) were in love. Conan got REALLY jealous. I used the same concept here. I'm sucha baddddd girl... The Doc and Joey will be defined as REALLY different shortly, though.

Sirena: Yeah. Rachael and Jimmy are adorable together? I just love toying with emotions, even if the people I'm toying with are fictional cartoon characters.

Itzjustme: -bow- Thank you. 'Nuff said. -hee- You get a bit of thread 'cause I ate all the muffins besides the one Starlight got and I gave you a really short response.

Ginzo: You're one of my best friends. You have to say that or I kill you XD

Claddeh Ring: Aw. I'm so loved an' stuff. Fwee. And you sound like me...? That's really scary. The world should now live in fear; there is a Bunny-like creature lurking about. As if one wasn't bad enough.

foxfire22: Yeah. I think I just might finish this one... this chapter here was done yesterday, but I didn't upload it until I left for the bookstore and was busy all the rest of the night with a spur of the moment sleepover.

Also, just for those who'd like to know, If I get enough good feedback off of this fic, I will try to get another one up. Don't expect it anytime soon however. I have exactly 10 days until highschool starts. I still have done virtually NO school shopping. Yeah. You get the picture. So review and maybe I'll be nice and make another Detective Conan fic for you.

I've decided that once I hit 10 reviews I'll draw, ink (Maybe...), and scan one illustration for you guys, so review people, review.

Disclaimer: I still haven't obtained the copyrights to Case Closed/Detective Conan. I have, however, gotten a mug of lukewarm tea and some j-pop put together to help me write.

Last Shot at Love, File 2

Conan had scarcely gotten ANY sleep all night...who could have? With the prospect of getting himself back to normal and surprising Rachael, he was so excited he was surprised he wasn't having some sort of seizure. He spent a good deal of the night staring at the ceiling and contemplating everything he was going to say. He, after all, needed something extremely suave and dashing to make Rachael forget she was mad and refrain from giving him a concussion. He had forged a call the night before informing the Moores that Conan's parents were going to be retrieving him early the next morning. Rachael had tucked him in on the couch so he would hear them knock... she had tried to stay up all night so she could bid him goodbye. Of course, he couldn't have that, so he used his trusty watch to give her a little push into dreamland. He felt sort of bad for doing that to her, but he had to. She couldn't very well watch him pull off his plan. At roughly 6:30 the next morning, he got up, dressed, and with a last glance at the sleeping Rachael, silently left the house. He rushed to Dr. Agasa's home, picking up the pill (it was on a small vial under the doormat, just as Agasa had said). Conan had to practice a good deal of will power not to pop it down then and there. He thought it would be a rather bad idea, however. He was in the clothes of a 7-year-old. If he took it now, he'd find himself stark naked... not to mention the fact that he had no clue as to if this was going to put him to sleep or not.

He walked quickly to his old home. NORMAL home. he reminded as he slipped inside. It was cold inside as well, so he turned on the heat, going and dressing into one of his typical Jimmy outfits. Plopping himself onto the couch, he stared at the vial for a moment, before salivating profoundly (he didn't have TIME to worry about getting a glass of water! It was nearly 8 as it was! Rachael's competition started at 10!!) and popping the blue capsule down. He sat there for a moment, before he felt it. It was a curious sensation. He stared to actually feel his bones growing and his flesh stretching to allow him to grow so quickly. It was at that particular moment that his body decided to go into sleep mode, reserving all energy for maintaining the boy's vital's and making this transformation work. Conan, or should I say JIMMY, awoke, first noticing that he took up the full couch. He grinned. It had WORKED. He was normal again!

Nothing could describe the rush of emotions that came next. He jumped up and began to dance in a carefree manor around the room, giving great whoops at random intervals and laughing his head off. After this subsided, he glanced at his watch. It was about 10:45. He stretched, yawning, before this hit him. 10:45?! He was LATE. He grabbed his scarf and coat, forgetting his gadgets all together. He didn't need them. Right? Right. He decided to neglect finding his car as well. The hall where the competition was being held wasn't far at all. He jogged, not wanting to exert himself yet... he had a full day ahead of himself. As he ran, he came up with what the case was over (some people were sniping in London and it was his job to find them.) and all the other details his childhood friend might ask about. He reached the hall within about 20 minutes... He nearly hit himself. What luck! Rachael was currently in the middle of a fight. She looked miserable...probably because her private cheering squad, aka Conan, wasn't there. He found a seat that she would see him from, before letting out a loud, "GO RACHE!!"

Rachael threw punch after kick after punch at her opponent, but she felt it just wasn't the same. She missed Conan too much to fight properly. She had already done much worse than usual and would be out of the competition if she lost this fight. And boy, this guy was tough! He was a lot bigger than her, for starters. And he was good. Real good. Her foot made contact with his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and giving her a moment to gain her bearings. That's when she heard it. 'GO RACHE' echoed through her head, before she deemed, No. That's impossible. He's away... and aimed another punch at his protected head. Not the best of plans, as his head WAS protected. Her knuckles went slightly red... ouch! She frowned, dodging a punch at her shoulder. She dropped down. She needed this fight over so she could just see. She needed to see... It was impossible, but she just HAD to see.

In dropping down, she found she had just opened her own opportunity. One swift flash of her leg, he was fallen like a tree and down for the count. Upon being signaled that this round was over, Rachael got up and looked around. Her heart almost stopped. Jimmy had since taken his place just over the small plexiglass "fence", and was smiling that smile of his. She blinked several times, as if trying to see if he was really there. Her mouth dropped, and she gaped, eyes wide. How? Who CARES?! were the first things that went through her mind. "JIMMY!!!" she squealed, rushing through a small gate and tackling him And when I say tackle, I mean TACKLE. Before Jimmy knew anything, he was on the ground, Rachael's arms wrapped tightly around his neck, her face buried in his chest. He coughed. He hadn't expected THAT. After a moment of being stunned, he just sort of rubbed her back. After roughly 30 seconds of pure clinging, Rachael got off, smiled, then whacked him over the head. "Jimmy Kudo! I can't believe you! You just LEFT without saying goodbye!! You creep!" she got up, stomping off with her head held high.

Jimmy smiled, rubbing his head. "Yep. Rachael is fine." he murmured to himself, finding a seat to watch her. She walked onto the mat again after about 20 minutes of other fights. Jimmy was shocked to see her opponent, however. Apparently she was too; She had a very confused look upon her face. It was none other than Joey... Isn't he on her team? What's going on here? he thought. As if on cue, taking advantage of her stunned state, Joey pulled out a knife and grabbed Rachael, holding it to her neck. He smirked and yelled to the flabbergasted crowd. "You know who you are! Come rescue her, if you want to see her alive again!" with that, two other people, dressed in black and wielding guns, threw out a smoke screen and by the time it had cleared, they were gone.

Jimmy stood up, his breathing hard and ragged. How'd they know?! How?!! He glanced around. He needed a plan, now. Well..undoubtably they'd contact him with threats on her life. He'd go home, think something up, and go rescue her. Yes. That's what he'd do. He tore off, but upon getting home, he found himself very sleepy...very sleepy indeed. He fell to the floor, his eyes closed.

He really should have listened to Dr. Agasa...

But the time he woke up, the first thing he noticed was the fact that he was swamped in extremely large clothes. He blinked furiously, looking around desperately, attempting to get his bearings. That's when it hit him, and he let out a loud groan. He was a mutchkin again. Terrific. He got to his feet blearily, cursing aloud. Of all the times... stupid Agasa. What had he been thinking?! This was probably some sick joke. Of all the times for this to happen. He stood up, going to sit on his couch. He needed a plan now more than ever. But what was he to do? If he didn't show up in a certain amount of time, those creeps would kill Rachael without a second thought. If he just barged in, they'd both die. What to do... He got dressed in his child clothes, getting his watch and bow tie. He felt a great deal of remorse slapping that watch on...if he would have brought it to the competition, he could have shot the guys down and this wouldn't be happening. Poor Rachael. She must be terrified... he frowned. This guilt trip wasn't going to help his thinking at all... He needed help. And with Professor Agasa out... The only people left were his fellow munchkins. And Ai isn't here either. She left town on a lead about a cure last week... This is great. He sighed heavily. He was going to have to rely on Amy, Mitch, and George to help him. He secured suspenders with care. You never knew when they would come in handy... He grabbed h is skateboard, too. He was going to need to zoom about quickly. After thinking for a moment, he decided to leave them out of this unless it was absolutely necessary. He didn't want any more lives at risk.

As he sat down to think things through, he was interrupted for the second time by a phone ringing. He looked to it. Wasn't the phone service here cut about 4 months ago? he stared at the device with apprehension for a moment, before picking it up gingerly, setting his bow tie to Jimmy's voice, and clicking on.

"Hello?"

MORE rumblings: Oooh! Cliffy! You all hate me, don't you. Yep... I know ya do. But don't despair. This is only part ONE of File 2. Yep. I've decided to break it into two...mostly because I'm about to go meet with some friends at a local bookstore XD I MAY have part 2 up as early as tonight, but don't get your hopes up. It will more than likely take me until tomorrow to get it up. Luff ya'll! REVIEW.

-Bunny