Ch19

"speeches"

'Thoughts'

Saving the Last Bit of Dignity

"Find him, his around here somewhere!" Shouted the team leader as it's members scattered around the area.

"Lieutenant Samuel, perhaps we should call in another team for support. It's a jungle out here, there's too many hiding spots for him to switch around in," complained an officer.

"If he is changing his position, Private," Samuel snarled, "Then you will track and hunt him down. I do not want to hear anymore sissy talk out of you, IS THAT CLEAR PRIVATE!" he exclaimed.

"Yes sir!" the young officer jumped and saluted before he ran out for his search.

In a near by bush, a man glared nervously as he watched the by passing men. 'Damn, I need to find a place to hide. If I keep running around, I risk the chance of being seen again, and if that happens then I don't think I can out run them again,' Heizou thought, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he panted quietly.

(By the Quarantine line of the Police)

Hattori ran down the road, lit by the flashing lights of the police cars as he gasped for air with every step. 'It can't be dad. I must have just heard wrong cause I was tired and mistaken the culprit's name for the police chief's name that's doing the chase. Yea, that's it…that must be it…" he thought, denying his conscience that which screamed to him the truth. Looking down with a confused look of disappointment, he bit his lips and picked up his pace.

He lifted his head as he noticed two lamp posts that marked the entrance to the hiking path up the large forested hill. 'I made it,' he thought as prepared for his turn.

"Whoa there young man, where are you off in such a hurry," an officer called from ahead.

"Let me through! My dad is in there!" he demanded.

"I'm sorry, but I still can't let you in. No one is to enter nor leave this place unless the orders comes from the FBI about it. There is a very dangerous criminal out there you know," the officer replied, blocking his way.

'Damn it, I can't tell them I'm Heiji or they'll never let me in.' Calming his mind and settling down his breathing slightly, he searched in his mind for a quick plan. "You idiot!" he exclaimed suddenly as the officer watched of shock at the young man's rudeness, "I'm an FBI agent!" Hattori finished off by pulling his wallet from his pocket and opening it with a quick flip of a wrist then closed it back up the moment it opened with another flip of his wrist. "I'm sergeant…Hirota, a Japanese coordinator for the FBI!"

Seeing the officer about to extend his arm to his wallet to ask for a closer look, he pushed a step forward, standing only a few inches from the policeman. "Maybe you didn't hear me clearly," he glared as he put the wallet behind his back and slid a small object to the center, " Here, look! Don't you know what this badge stand for?" he shouted with another flip of his wallet with a quick shut, this time revealing a small star like object upon the inside.

The young officer stepped back nervously. He wanted to ask for another closer look, the man that talked to him looked awful young to be what he says he is. But he showed him his badge twice and if he asked once more then he could risk a yelling from his chief for delaying the FBI from doing their job. "Alright, you may pass," he gave in, glancing repeatedly at the young boy who walked confidently in.

"What are you looking at," Hattori growled. The young officer jumped as he spun around and faced the opposite direction.

Hattori made his way up the trail quickly, 'I don't believe it. It worked. It's a good thing I kept that star shaped locket Kazuha gave me.' He thought looking into his wallet.

He was halfway up the mountain when a rustle jumped to his ear. "Who's there!" he demanded, halting his steps. No answer came. He moved toward the area where he heard the rustle cautiously. "I know your there, show yourself!" he demanded once more.

A long hard sigh came from the area and a figure rose from the dense leaves of the bushes. "and so I go down by the hands of the FBI," the man chuckled, "All good things must end I suppose."

'That voice…' "Dad?" Hattori gasped a question as his legs began to tremble in fear of the answer.

The figure's eyes widened with surprise, "He..Heiji! What are you doing here!" he exclaimed.

"I came here after hearing the news tonight…" he whispered, then with a joking smile he flipped his face up, "I actually thought that they said you were the head of some crime syndicate. I heard wrong right? You're after some boss of a crime syndicate right?"

Silence…

"Why won't you answer me!" Hattori cried out with desperation in his voice.

With some difficulty, Heiji managed to squeeze out a cold one word answer of "No".

Hattori bit his lips and clenched his hands into a fist.

"I'm the head of a crime organization widely known as the black organization." Heizou said looking straight into his son's eyes.

Something clicked inside the young Osaka detective but quickly faded away from his anger and disappointment. 'The black organization? My father was the one that was behind everything that happened to Kudou?' "The black organization?" he asked to confirm his thoughts.

"We were making a drug named APTX4869, or apotoxin…but you already know about us now don't you?" he narrowed his eyes.

Hattori jolted and licked his dry lips. The night winds whispered across the tips of the trees as he gazed downward.

"You knew about our presence. I could tell just from looking about the fact that you weren't all that surprised in hearing about the black organization. If I'm correct, you heard about it from Edogawa Conan, that little brat you seem to like so much, or should I call him…Kudou Shinichi." He said putting pressure upon the young detective.

"You knew?" Hattori gasped.

"No, but you just told me," he let out a smirk.

Another strike of anger flew in to Hattori's eyes. "I respected you dad, I thought of you as my hero! You're the Osaka's chief of police, you…you…" Hattori was a lost for words in showing his disgrace.

"Yes, it was beautiful," Heizou chuckled.

Hattori's eyes widened with shock at his father's words. "Alright…FATHER…" he whispered putting slight emphasis on the word father, "Shoot me…" he finished looking down to the ground.

"What?" Heizou's eyes twitched at his son's words.

"If you will not shoot me then I will call the police over, now shoot me," he spoke quietly, still keeping his eyes to the ground, hidden under the shadow of his bangs "All my life, I've been learning from you. The way you solved your countless cases, the way you raised yourself to your current standings through your skills rather than relations. I've wanted to be like you, you were my goal in life…now…I wonder if that was all just an illusion. If you tell me that, that is true then shoot me here and now...If not…then turn yourself in."

Heizou narrowed his eyes pensively as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a gun and pointed its head to the young man before him. Hattori didn't move, not even a flinch at the turn out. He shut his eyes, squeezing out the thin layer of tear that overcastted the surface of his eye into a drop as it fell quietly to the floor.

"You are a good kid Heiji," the old man spoke softly.

(BANG!)

"That was a gun fire!" exclaimed Samuel as he pointed to the direction of the bang. He dashed to it with his crew closely behind.

(BANG, BANG)

"Two more shots? It came from the right! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" His steps froze when he noticed two figures in the dark. One swayed slightly then fell to his rump, the other appears to be raising his hand. He moved in closer and pressed the tiny button on his glasses. A smile found its way to his face as he found the man he was searching for with both hands in the air. "Hattori Heizou, you are completely surrounded. Through down your weapon and give up!"

Hattori looked up from the ground dumbfounded as he saw the gun pointed skyward after losing his balance from the sound of fire. "Dad…?"

"Oh bequiet!" Heizou shouted, "Just hurry up and get over here so I can get this over with."

(Time passes)

"Get in!" one of the agent shoved Heizou to a truck.

"Yea, yea…" turning his had back to the sad figure in the crowed, he gave a call, "Heiji, for whatever you choose this to be worth, I'm proud of you." And went in the truck.

Heiji shifted his glance bitterly and walked away.

(Somewhere down the mountain)

An aching smell stimulated the tiny chemist's nose as vision crawled back into her eyes. The sun has not yet come up but it's radiance can be seen in the distance, just barely showing it's crest upon the hills in the horizon. 'Where am I' she wondered as she looked around. She rose to her feet but her body refused to stay in one spot. The area around her seemed to turn into one direction, then spinning back in an attempt to correct its way but goes slightly overboard and have to come back once again. Looking above, she could see a small window upon a concrete wall. Before her was a small trail that led to a road. Her thoughts quickly collected itself as a sharp pain struck the back of her head. "Shuichi!" she called and picked up her pace to the road. She looked about in search of a vehicle but only the silence of the foggy morning mist greeted her calls. Her spinning vision began to accelerate from her excitement as she collapsed upon the pavement. 'I've lost too much blood, I can't even see straight' Her ears picked up the sound of engines just before her eyes came to a close and all was dark again.

"There's a young girl here!" a voice of a man mumbled through her ears, "I think she's hurt, let's get her to the hospital."

(In the Beika General Hospital)

"Boy what a night that was. 3 gun shot victims in 10hours, it's a dangerous world we live in," the voice of a doctor echoed down the hall.

"Yea, you'd think world war three is starting," the nurse laughed in reply.

"You shouldn't mock things like that, or god will smite you down someday," the doctor replied jokingly.

"Yes sir…" the nurse sighed as she rolled her eyes.

The two laughed as they finished they way down the hall. A young man stirred from his slumber at the sound of laughter. Sweat was forming upon his forehead as he rolled to his side. His eyes opened slowly. Sitting up, he looked to the window. It was blocked by blinds but he could see a faint hint of light making its way through the spaces in horizontal lines. 'It's just before morning,' he thought as he licked his lips. Pain still aroused in his abdomen but it was tolerable. He moved slowly to the door and slide the door open. The hallway light forced him to squint his eyes slightly before they gotten use to its new environment. Still half confused, he began to wonder around the hospital. 'Ran…be okay…' he prayed in his mind.

His eyes fell upon one hazy window, through which he found a familiar brown-red hair. He opened the knob slowly and made his way in. "Haibara?" he whispered looking at the bandage that warped around her head.

The tiny girl snuggled into her sheets before she forced her eyes open. "Kudou…kun?" she asked.

"Yea, it's me. You managed to get out from that place I see," he smiled.

"Yea…" she answered sadly, then turning her head to the other side, she lowered her brow.

A moment of silence came to the room. Kudou stepped forward cautiously. "Are you okay Haibara?" he whispered.

"I'll manage," Ai replied coldly.

"Hey, I'm only trying to help here,"

"Sorry, guess I'm just in a pissy mood from all that."

"How's your head doing?"

"Minor concussion, high loss of blood, no infection."

"I see, well, you can lose a few brain cells and I don't think it will matter." Kudou laughed. Ai shot him a glare. "Hey hey, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But, I'm glad you're okay."

"…"

Kudou walked to her bedside and pulled over a chair. He squinted his face from the pain as he took his seat.

"What's up with you?" Ai asked.

"I got a hole in my body but other than that, nothing," he replied with a smile.

Ai turned her head with concern, "You got shot?" she asked with surprise in her voice.

"Yea, another one on the stomach," he said patting the damaged area then realizing what he had done, he gave a scream of pain before returning to a chuckle.

Ai looked down to her sheets and ran her fingers through them. "It's all my fault…" she mumbled.

"huh?" Shinichi fell silent and raised an eyebrow.

"Where's Ran-san?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. The last thing I remember before passing out after exiting the chopper was her being rolled to the emergency room. Haven't seen her since," he replied. "I'm sure she'll be fine…she's a tough girl," he smiled.

'This is all happening because of me…' "I'm…sorry…" she whispered.

"Hey, don't be. Not like you could have done anything to prevent it. You're tired tonight, I'll leave now to let you get some rest. It's almost morning and I best get some shuteye too. There's going to be a lot of questions flying tomorrow," Shinichi gave one last smile at the door before he walked out and shut the door behind.

'There was something I could have done…I Could have chosen death…' Ai thought as she closed her eyes.

End…

Next chapter is the Finale. I reread this chapter and still not quite satisfied with it. I may rewrite this chapter later on but for now, this was the best that I could come up with lol. Next chapter will turnout to be either super long or unusually short. And I hope it will turn out better than this one ;

Crystal Snowflake: Now that the case about Hattori is done for…for now…we can start with the more intricate stuff .

Tantei: I know I got off from S/S for the past 4/5 chapters but how can I put them as lovers when Ran is around. Next chapter will have LOTS of S/S…well..C/A, you'll see heh heh.

Anime Obsession260: No prob, glad you liked last chapter.

Fanfic Maniac: I see, alright, glad to know you're there haha

The Number one Case Closed Lover: Wow, you're kind of pushy there. I probably shouldn't but I did and have been feeling some what offended from you.

I Demand Peace on Earth: I'm working, I'm working, (wipes sweat, gasps for air, flip through 15 dictionaries) "Who ever said words don't hurt didn't know the true meaning of writer's cramp was, I can say that much"

Once again, I apologize for this mediocre chapter, maybe I'm just tired from my midterms haha. Thank you for letting me know that there are still all of you out there who's reading this story, I'm very happy to know

And to all who are reading but haven't left a review, I curse you…then I'll hope that you've enjoyed this story