Disclaimer: Again, I don't own anything taken from Magic Kaito or Detective Conan.

Masked Memories

By: mysteriousangelgirl

Chapter 4: Kidnapped

---from the previous chapter---

Ran looked up at Shinichi. She had on a sad expression. "I....I....."

"Hmm?" Shinichi asked, waiting for Ran to say something.

"Who are you?"

------end-------

"I....I....you don't remember me?" Shinichi sputtered out.

Ran looked down and shook her head.

Eri and Kogoro gasped.

Shinichi laughed, sarcastically. "I guess I got what I deserved." He turned away from Ran, nodded to her parents, and then walked out of the room. As he closed the door behind him, he knew that one of Ran's parents were bound to come after him, to comfort him. After all, they knew of his feelings for their daughter. To avoid the contact, Shinichi took off running once his hand left the doorknob, and was in his car on his way home in less than one minute.

On his way home, Shinichi tried really hard to not let his emotions show, but his emotion won and tears slid down his face. As he stopped the car in front of his house, he heard the professor next door making some kind of invention again. He decided to visit the professor and Haibara.

He got out of his blue sports car and walked over to the professor's house. He rang the bell and hearing a big clatter and a 'OWW!', he assumed it was okay for him to go in. He let himself through the front door and found the professor tangled up in the cables criss-crossing on the floor. "Oh, hey Shinichi-kun......just let me get out of these wires......."

Shinichi couldn't help laughing at the sight. Then he turned to the right and found a 24 year old Ai on the computer. No big surprise there. She was frowning.

"Hey, what's up, Haibara?"

"Hello, Kudo-kun. You seem to be doing really well on your cases, huh?" she said, taking her eyes off the computer to look at him.

"Yes, thank you." Shinichi settled himself on the professor's sofa and tried to see what Ai was working on. "What's the new project?"

"Nothing much. I'm just trying to assist the professor by doing research for his new invention, however, Hagase tripped over the internet cable on his way to get to the door, and broke off the internet access."

Hagase finally managed to get himself out of the mess and reconnected the internet cable for Ai.

"Well, I'm going to go back to work."

Shinichi nodded, thinking back to when she gave him the antidote to APTX4869.

"Kudo, get a change of clothes before you take this."

"Is it.....?"

"Yes, the antidote. We were on the right track all along; I just couldn't figure one of the ingredients." Ai smiled. "Just make sure you don't put too much strain on your body after you returned."

"Thanks, Ai. Really."

Ai waved her hand. "Nah, no need. I should be thanking you for being with me through this whole thing and not throwing me out for being the one who created it."

"Ai, we've been over this a million times!"

"Yeah yeah I know."

Conan looked at the pill in his palm and then looked at Ai. "Are you going to take it?"

Ai stopped shuffling papers and looked at Conan. "Do you want me to?"

Conan looked away from her piercing glance and said, "Well, I think you should take it.....because........"

"Kudo, you know I don't ever want to me Miyano Shiho again."

"Yes yes I know! But you could still be Haibara Ai, I mean, we've been with each other through this whole thing, can't we still be friends?"

"Does age make a difference?"

"Well, technically it would look kind of weird if I were friends with a elementary school kid, also I think you'd be bored to death."

Ai laughed as Conan blinked. "That's true. Don't worry, I was planning on taking it, so I have my own antidote." Ai nodded to the bathroom. "Now go."

Conan smiled and then walked off with a set of clothes that belonged to the real him.

Now, Haibara Ai was 24, and teaching as a science teacher at Tokyo University. Hagase had also married his childhood friend, Kinoshita Fusae. Shinichi was glad for her achievements, as she always specialized in science. Then Shinichi snapped back to reality.

"So, Shinichi-kun, having any hard cases lately?" Hagase asked, bringing in a tray of fruits and cups of juice on the coffee table.

"Nah....they're all too simple," Shinichi said, picking up a glass of apple juice and taking a sip.

Hagase smiled. "Of course......you're too smart huh?"

Shinichi smiled. "By the way, where's your wife, Fusae-san?"

"Oh, she went out buy some things to make for dinner."

Shinichi nodded, not paying much attention to what he was saying or doing. He was just hurting inside, hurting because of all people to forget, Ran didn't remember him.

"Shinichi-kun?"

He knew that he couldn't do anything about it, but his promise wouldn't change. His promised to always protect would never change even if Ran was 50 years old.

"Shinichi-kun!"

Suddenly, he snapped out of his thoughts to see the professor holding the phone out to him. "Hmm?"

"I've been calling you for the last 5 minutes......you have a call from the hospital." Hagase handed him the phone and walked off with Shinichi's empty glass.

Shinichi blinked as he took the phone. The hospital?

"Hello?"

"Ran's gone! She's gone!" Eri's voice sputtered out.

"What?"

"Kudo-kun, Ran's gone. When I left to go after you when you ran out of the hospital, someone came in the room and knocked my husband out. Then they kidnapped Ran! She wasn't there when I got back, and all I saw was my husband unconscious on the floor."

Shinichi was speechless as the phone slipped out of his hand and landed with a loud clatter on the floor. Ai looked over at him, her hands stopping in mid-sentence.

Eri's voice called from the other side of the phone line. "Kudo-kun? You still there? Hello?"

Shinichi managed to pick up the phone and said, "What should I do?"

"Kudo-kun, I know there was like no trace left, but I think......I think it has to do with that organization you came in contact with, a few years back. You and your detective friends managed to catch the ones in Japan, but I heard from Megure-kun that it's much larger than you thought and it's all over the world.....and the police have checked out the room and they think this wholet thing is targeted at you.....so, please help us get Ran back......" Eri trailed off, sobbing a bit and trying to regain herself.

"Eri-san.....I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. I can't believe I let them get Ran into this. I swear I'll get Ran back for you, and I promise I'll bring those people down this time."

"Kudo-kun, its not your fault, all I was saying, since we have absolutely nothing to off of, just watch yourself and do all you can....."

"I will, and I swear I'll get Ran back." With that Shinichi hung up. Ai was looking at him with a worried look, and Hagase was right behind her.

"Is it.....them?" Ai squeaked out.

Shinichi nodded, but he said, "They're not after you, they're after me, they think I killed you.......in that accident......"

"But all I did was pretend to be dead and get sent to the hospital, you think they would believe that?" Ai's voice had raised almost an octave.

Shinichi looked in Ai's fearful eyes. "Look, I'm serious. I know what they're after, and it's me. Just chill and act normal, and you'll be fine. Besides, you let your hair grow and you wear glasses now. Your hair isn't reddish brown anymore. If they haven't been watching you for years, they would never know who you were." Shinichi got up and left the house without giving either of the two a chance to reply. Shinichi walked through the door of his house just as the phone rang.

He ran to get it, not expecting what was to come.

"Kudo residence."

"We got the girl, you know that don't you?"

"Who the hell are you? And Ran's not your target, let her go!"

The man on the other side laughed. "Let her go? Then how are we going to get to you?"

Shinichi gritted his teeth. "I can do anything you want, just let her go!"

"Humans don't do things without a price, so that won't work."

"What do you want from me?"

"You destroyed a big portion of our organization, what do you think we want?"

"You can't get your people back, they're all dead."

"We don't need people. Our organization just wants revenge."

"Then kill me! It's not going to help by keeping Ran with you, let her go!"

"Killing you alone wouldn't make up for our loss."

"What the hell do you want me to do?"

"We want to see if you can follow directions."

"What?"

"For now, we'll be keeping the girl hostage. You have to do everything we tell you to do, and then you'll get her back safely, if all the tasks are completed."

"No, you can't keep Ran like that. It's not right for her to suffer for me!"

"The girl will be fine. Now you shut the hell up before I kill her."

Shinichi shut up.

"Good. Now I want you to find the guy who used to play as Kid the Phantom thief."

"What?"

"We know you know who he is."

"You're going to kill him."

"Maybe."

"And once I do these things for you, that only I, with the connections, can do, you'll kill me too."

The man laughed. "You could join us."

"Never."

"Alright then, but you just follow my orders and do whatever you're told to do."

The man hung up. Shinichi dropped the phone back onto it's cradle and sat down on the first step of the stairs going up to the second floor.

"I'm sorry Ran, I can't help you right now. But I promise, I'll get you out of there......."

-----somewhere------

In another part of the city, a man dressed in black hung up his cell phone. He looked over at the young girl asleep on the floor. He smirked. Then he left the room, making sure to double lock the window-less room with a 2 inch door of steel.

Ran groaned as she woke up. Her head hurt. She rubbed her forehead and tried to remember where she was. As she looked around, all she saw as brick wall and a steel door. There's no way I can break through that........And where am I? Ran tried to remember, but all she could come up with was telling that boy that she didn't remember him and then the next she remembered was falling asleep. What was that boy's name? Shinichi? Just thinking of him made her heart hurt. She knew she had hurt him badly when she told him she didn't remember who he was. Just that look of shock and pain in his eyes was enough.

Ran didn't know where she was, why she was here and why she was thinking of the boy named Shinichi. She just sat there, thinking of who he was. She let her eyes close for a bit, and suddenly, a memory flashed through her mind.

She saw a picture of her and the boy named Shinichi betting on candy.......but she didn't know what that meant. She couldn't remember......If only I could remember who he was.......And with that thought and a long forgotten memory, she fell asleep from lack of food and energy.

The man in black watched the girl fall asleep from the hidden camera in that cell. He smiled. Sweet dreams, girl.

-to be continued-

I'm really sorry it took so long. I was on vacation for a week and a half and then I missed the first day of school, so I was trying to catch up. I'm really really sorry. I hope you didn't all abandon me......Well, hope you liked it, and I decided to give this story a bit more than just the romantic part between Shinichi and Ran. Don't worry, everyone's going to show up in this one. Please review!!!!!