Shinichi stood in front of the door to the Mori Detective Agency, He knew Ran was home and her father wasn't; yet he still stood on the step nervous and unsure. It had been months since he had seen her as Shinichi not Conan and despite his continual daydreams of this moment he wasn't sure what he should say to her.

The wonderful girl who had waited for him for nearly two years, never knowing that he was right there. That the small boy she watched over was all the time wishing he could be himself and protect her. He was grateful for her care and humiliated by his need for it. And now, for one precious day he could be the strong one. He just had to hope it would be enough, that he could be convincing enough to keep her out of trouble and that maybe he could make the sadness in her eyes fade a little.

Taking a deep breath he knocked on the door. 'I hope this works.' He thought. If it doesn't I'm going to lock Kid in a closet with a really big fish. After I hide his lock picks.'

As Ran opened the door her eyes widened with disbelief as she said "Shinichi? Is it really you?"

"Hi Ran."

As he stepped through the doorway she grabbed his shoulders, holding on as if she was afraid he would vanish. Startled, he brought his arms up and held her, gently, tenderly, with arms that just for today could hold her, not like a little brother but the way he dreamed of. They stood there for a timeless instant in each other's arms, their eyes bright with unshed tears.

"Shinichi?"

"Yeah?"

SMACK! "Where have you been!"

"Oww" He groaned as he rubbed his shoulder, "I've been on that case."

"For almost two years? On the same case? If you're having that much trouble maybe you should turn it over to someone else."

"I, I can't Ran."

"Why? Nobody solves every case, just admit you need help for once."

"That's not it!"

"Then what is the problem? Why can't you just come home?"

"Too many lives are at stake here."

"Lives? What do you mean?"

"The murderers I'm after have wiped out whole families, Ran, I can't walk away. I have to try to stop them."

"Why can't you leave it to the police?"

"The police can't help." He said cynically. " The only cops who know are the ones who work for them."

"But how? I mean they can't bribe everyone who discovers them. Can they?"

"They hardly ever bother with bribes." Said Shinichi sounding disgusted. "They prefer 'permanent solutions'."

"What?"

"A man dies in a tragic accident, or a house burns down and no one escapes in time, or a heroic officer takes a bullet to the head and his killer commits suicide, or a random mugging turns deadly and there's never enough evidence to prove that it was more than it seems. Or someone has an unexpected stroke or heart attack or a fatal allergic reaction." Shinichi was tense, his voice low and angry as he described the kinds of permanent solutions he knew the Black Organization used. Ran's eyes were wide with horror as she realized how serious a situation Shinichi was in.

"You can't keep doing this alone. Sooner or later they'll find out about you and what's going to keep them from killing you?"

"They already know about me. That's why I had to disappear."

"SHINICHI! Why didn't you tell me this before!"?

He took one look at Ran's face and very quickly tried to explain himself.

"I didn't want you to worry!"

"You've been gone for almost two YEARS and you're just now telling me why and you didn't think I would be worried! I've been worried about you EVERY DAY!"

"Um, well, at first I didn't think it would be this long. A couple of weeks at most, and then when it had been a few months I didn't know how to explain why I hadn't told you at first and it just got harder and harder to even think about telling you or where to begin, and I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

"Afraid that you would get involved and be in danger too." He looked at the floor as he spoke; his voice was soft and hesitant. "I couldn't stand the thought of you getting hurt, or worse. Ran, I, I just wanted to keep you safe."

"Idiot, I'm not made of glass, you don't have to act like I'll break if anything goes wrong. Shinichi, promise me you wont keep me in the dark anymore, I'm not stupid and I'm not helpless and I think I'll be safer if I know to expect trouble."

"But Ran…"

"I'm not going to follow mysterious figures into dark alleys or anything like that but you need to tell me something about what's going on, if nothing else so I can know when to duck and run."

Thoughts of someone from the Black Organization coming to Ranand telling her they had a message from him. Or that hewas hurt and needed herflashed through Shinichi's mind. A cold chill ran up his back as he realized how easy it would have been for them to take her hostage, or worse. "I'm sorry Ran, I put you in more danger by keeping you ignorant of the truth. I never meant to."

"You alwaysdid say"There is only one truth" I'm glad you finally told me. But why did you change your mind and decide to stop hiding this from me?"

"A friend said if I didn't he would make me regret it. He didn't think I was being fair to you." Shinichi muttered.

Ran laughed and Shinichi looked at her in surprise as she said, "I have to meet this friend of yours!"

"I'm sure you will." He said. A hint of a smile touched his face as he looked at Ran.

"So how long before you have to get back to this case?"

"I can stay until tonight, would you like to go somewhere or do something?"

"How about a movie?"

"Sounds good, there's this one about…"

"We're not going to see anything about detectives, murders mysteries, or Sherlock Holmes."

"But Ran."

"No way, we both need a break from those cases. Now come on, lets get going before something happens."