The laboratory was dim, and equipment, stacks of papers, and unusual inventions were scattered throughout the room, disappearing into pools of shadow. Giving most of the room the appearance of a haunted junkyard.
One corner, in contrast with the rest of the room, was highly organized and there stood a lamp on a table. The light from the lamp shone on neat stacks of paper and rows of flasks and test tubes. The only other source of light was a computer screen.
Perched on a tall chair and working on the computer with a speed and level of concentration that didn't match her childish appearance was a blond haired girl. She seemed to be no more than eight years old and appeared delicate, almost frail in appearance particularly in contrast to the large object that leaned at an odd angle against the wall behind her. It looked like half a jet engine fused with a giant eggbeater and the scorch marks on its sides seemed to indicate it had been on fire at least once.
Whatever it was supposed to be it now provided a screen of sorts, between the computer and the door. She neither turned nor paused in her work as she said, "I know you want to ask me something so stop lurking in the shadows."
There's no answer. She sighed as she turned around and glared at the shadows, "Well?"
A small boy crept out of the shadows, "How did you know I was here?"
"You know how I was raised. What do you think would have happened if I ever let my guard down?"
"Oh."
"I doubt that was the question you came in here to ask."
"Well, uh..."
"Just spit it out Kuroba."
"I need one of those temporary antidotes."
"No."
"Look, I'm not going to do anything stupid. I just need to see my mom and Aoko!"
"Do you have any idea of the risks you would be taking!"
Kaito backed off, the last thing he needed was for Ai to get angry.
"I'm not doing this just because I miss them," he said "I'm asking for the antidote so I can get Aoko to stop trying to find me before she attracts the wrong kind of attention. She's getting too close, Kudo and I send her, Ran, and Kogoro off on wild goose chases but she won't give up, and it's getting harder to trick her."
The two not-exactly-children were silent for a while before Ai finally said, "I'm not saying yes, but I will consider it."
She turned back to the computer; obviously she considered the conversation to be over.
"Thank you"
"I didn't say yes, I'm only considering the possibility that you may have a point."
"Not for that," he said softly as he left the room "for calling me by my real name. I needed that."
Ai was not sure how to reply to that.
Later that day Ai and Agasa were sitting in their kitchen when Conan came in looking unhappy.
"Is something bothering you Shinichi?"
"It's just that it's getting harder to mislead the girls. I'm afraid that sooner or later they are going to attract the attention of the Black Organization." He sat in a chair with a sigh. "We need a new plan to distract them and get them to drop their investigation."
Ai and Dr. Agasa looked thoughtful but didn't appear to have any suggestions. About then Arthur bounced in, his trademark smile stretching from ear to ear.
"What are you grinning about?" asked Conan grumpily.
"Nothing."
"Yeah right, you're up to something."
"No really, I was just thinking about those two jerks earlier today."
"A smaller grin appeared on Conan's face and he started to chuckle."
Although Ai's face was almost expressionless as usual, Agasa looked confused "What happened?" he asked.
"Just two idiots who wouldn't take no for an answer until Ran-neechan explained, with a punch to a stone wall, why they should leave Aoko and her alone."
"Now I understand what you said about Aoko and her mop." Said Conan "I didn't know it was possible to swing a chair around like that! Not that they didn't deserve it."
"Yeah, They shouldn't have called Ran a freak." Said Arthur. "Aoko's kinda protective of her friends."
"I'll say!"
A very different conversation was happening next door, at Shinichi's house.
"Thank you for helping me with this Aoko."
"You're welcome Ran. Cleaning this place is too big a job for one person anyway."
"You can say that again!" Said Ran as she handed Aoko a broom.
"How long has he been gone anyway?"
"Almost, almost two years."
"Two years! Where are his parents? Aren't they looking for him?"
They moved to America years ago."
Aoko dropped the broom she held as she asked, "He's been living alone for years and when he disappears his parents don't come back, don't even try to find him! I've never heard of such irresponsible excuses for parents before!" Grabbing the broom again, she began angrily swiping at dust-bunnies and cobwebs
"Shinichi had such an odd childhood, I think that's why he can be so smart but so clueless at the same time." Said Ran.
"So why do you put up with him and wait for him?"
"Aoko, why do you put up with and look for Kaito?"
Aoko turned red and stammered something incomprehensible while Ran smiled at her reaction.
"I thought so, it's amazing what you'll put up with from a loved one."
"WHAT! I don't care about him that way! That messy-haired magician is just a friend that's all, just my best friend." Aoko continued for a while, as if trying to convince herself that Kaito was nothing more than a friend, when she noticed that Ran wasn't paying attention any more.
"Ran? Are you ok?"
"Oh, I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You looked like you were in another world there."
"It's nothing, just something reminded me of an odd dream I had a while ago. Well let's get to work," Ran said with a false cheerfulness "we only have a few hours before you have to go home."
Although Ran wouldn't talk about it, for the rest of the afternoon she couldn't get an image out of her mind. An image of Arthur in the moonlight.
Caution! The following was written while we were suffering from extreme sleep depravation.
Tigger says, "I did it! I did it! I found the cure for writers block! Now every author in the world will beat a path to my door! MWAH HAHAHA!!! And the formula is, is.... A dream! It was all a dream! NOOOOO!" Tigger runs off sobbing.
Manzanita says "Oookaay, and she says I'm weird just because I can write humor while listening to 'Gloomy Sunday'. Sorry this took so long, between now and January we will both be really busy so updates will be slow but, THIS STORY WILL NOT BE ABANDONED! It will be finished, eventually."
"Thank you for the reviews, Psycho King, Tsubasa-667, Night-Owl123, PRIVATE, Animefreak1230, dragon-game, arsg66, Private, The amazing spell-checker, and Southpaw. Southpaw, Tigger and I really like constructive criticism and we appreciated your review. Yeah I know it's a little rushed in places, blame it on being a first fic for both of us. When we have more time we will re-write all the chapters and try to fix this. Spell-checker, you are welcome to point out any errors you find, spelling isn't one of my strong points, (It's not one of Tiggers either but don't tell her I said that.)"