Author's Note: This chapter is some of the laziest writing I've done in a long time. It's just pure self-indulgent fluff. I have no excuse.

Desperate Revival: Part 2

When the next morning finally came, Sherry wasn't even sure she was fully awake when she saw the digital clock by Gin's night table read as after ten. All she knew for certain was that she felt, as Gin promised the night before after they had Round One in the Porsche, both incredibly sore and thoroughly well-loved. Gin had been voracious and she had been no better, which surprised her admittedly. She had no idea if her libido had been enhanced by the antidote or if she was just that starved for sexual activity that the moment her body had a sex drive again, it kicked into overdrive. No matter the cause, her prototype antidote had definitely worked well so far. She had been her adult self for eighteen hours already and experienced none of the effects she'd endured when she'd used the baijiu to transform. Err… well, she'd experienced none of the effects as a result of the drug anyway.

"Sherry, quit squirming already," Gin muttered grumpily into her ear and the arm around her waist pulled her flush against his naked chest.

She smiled at him over her shoulder and rolled over onto her other side to face him, snuggling even deeper into his embrace. Considering how late in the morning it already was, she should probably do something sensible like get up, get dressed, and make breakfast, but she simply couldn't find the motivation to do so. Waking up in Gin's arms was a luxury she had taken for granted before and she wasn't going to waste this. Reality would eventually catch up with her, but that time wasn't now.

"I love you, Gin," she murmured, smiling wider still when she felt his arm squeeze back in response.

()()()()()

Gin could not remember the last time he'd had such a lazy day. Even on his days off, he didn't usually lay around in his apartment and do absolutely nothing. Yet, that was exactly what he did. It had started when he woke up late in the morning to the familiar weight and warmth of Sherry in his bed and he might have believed he was still dreaming were she not wiggling around so much. Quietly pleased that reality had not deceived him again, he'd brought her close and she promptly settled down, leaving him free to doze once more.

It was nearly noon when he woke up again and he did not begrudge Sherry for leaving the bed to go to the toilet. While he'd enjoyed the view of her backside, he hadn't missed the stiffness in her walk, so he'd decided to be a good boyfriend and start getting the bath ready to help her to soak some of the soreness out. He hadn't expected her to grab him by the arm and drag him into the bath to soak with her. His bath tub really wasn't big enough for the both of them, but when Sherry was determined, there was very little that could stop her. So that was how he ended up leaning against one end of the bath tub with Sherry nestled between his legs with her back leaning against his chest and her head resting on his shoulder. They hardly spoke and despite her use of him as a human body pillow, he would have been hard-pressed to deny he wasn't enjoying the quiet, steady affection that was so very different from the frantic sexual frenzy of the previous night.

"We've been in the bath for quite a while," Sherry had piped up after what felt like hours – and was probably only one at most – of relaxing in the once-hot water.

"Umhm," he'd hummed.

"We should probably get out soon and maybe eat something," she continued.

"Probably," he agreed.

"We're going to turn into prunes if we stay in here much longer."

"The sexiest prunes," he said, dead serious.

"There's no such thing as a sexy prune," she giggled.

"There is when those prunes are named Gin and Sherry."

"No, juniper berries and grapes are used for gin and sherry, not prunes."

He rolled his eyes. "Someone's being a smartass this morning."

"It's technically the afternoon now," she crooned and turned her head slightly to kiss his jaw.

"I'll get out whenever you're ready, but I won't force you to hurry up," he reassured her, stroking his fingers through her short locks.

"Well, if that's the case…" Sherry sighed dramatically and rose to her feet in one fluid movement. "Then we should definitely get out of the bath for some food at least."

Gin smirked as he watched her get out of the bath and start drying off with a towel. "And here I was starting to wonder if you even needed the extra energy after last night since it's past noon and you're not dying of hunger yet."

That earned him a towel thrown in his face and by the time he'd uncovered his eyes, Sherry had already left the bathroom, presumably to put something on and start scrounging for food. He wished her luck in that endeavor; he didn't even know what he had. Without further reason to stay in the bath, Gin drained the water and dried off with the same towel Sherry had thrown at him. Once dry, he unbound his hair from the heavy clip pinning it all against the back of his head and it instantly fell freely through his fingers like fine silk. Although it was not as thick as it otherwise might have been, one of the major downsides to having such long hair was that it took forever to dry, so if he wasn't going to wash it, he saw no point in letting it get wet.

He left the bathroom and returned to his room to retrieve some clothes. Sherry wasn't there anymore, but a quick count of the clothes still strewn over the floor told him she was wearing her underwear and his shirt from the night before. Smirking at the mental image, he pulled on underwear and pants and wandered into the kitchen hoping to find Sherry. Sure enough, there she was already standing at the stove with an expression of intense concentration on her face with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to her elbows and the hem just reaching her thighs.

Gin came up behind her and placed a quick kiss right behind her ear before wrapping his arms around her waist and looking over her shoulder at what she was cooking. "Omelets? Going American on me, are you?"

"Well, I did grow up in America, but it's not a strictly American food," she said stiffly, though they both knew he was teasing and she was just playing along. "Besides, you didn't have very much and this is the quickest thing I could think of based on what was available and what I was feeling up for."

"Sorry. I might have made more of an effort to stock up sooner if I'd known I would get to see you this weekend."

"Maybe after breakfast-"

"-Lunch," he corrected with a smirk.

Sherry looked over her shoulder and gave him her classic deadpan expression. "Maybe after lunch-" she turned back to the stove and flipped the large omelet onto its other side to cook. "-we can go out and restock your cupboards before I leave."

Gin raised a questioning eyebrow. "Is that wise? You still don't know how much longer you have before you change back into a child."

"True, but considering it's been about twenty-one hours since my initial transformation and I still haven't experienced any symptom of regression yet, I'm working under the assumption that I have maybe three hours left," she said.

"Three hours?" he repeated, his eyes wide with shock.

He'd had her around for twenty of those twenty-one hours and it was the longest he'd seen her in months. Probably the longest she'd been herself in months too, and even three hours was a lot compared to the last time she'd been her grown self, but still… It seemed like so little time left before she was out of reach once more. Gin tightened his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck.

"Honestly, Sherry, I don't feel like going anywhere or doing anything other than enjoying my remaining time with you while you're still here," he said heavily.

Sherry huffed in exasperation, "I swear to god, you are still the clingiest man I've ever met."

"Yet you love me anyway," he retorted with a sly smile.

"I'm going to burn your omelet out of spite."

She ended up not following through on that threat (possibly due to a couple of new well-placed hickeys at the base of her neck) and lunch was thankfully both tasty and unburned. After lunch, they washed the dishes and then he led her back to his room to knead the stiffness out of her body. It was half his fault that she was so sore after all. However, Sherry decided to be difficult and wanted to play with his hair first, so he gave up and let her do so. Much to his annoyance, Sherry didn't lay herself out on her stomach for her massage until after she'd put his hair up into two long braids and a bun. However, his annoyance with her was replaced with satisfaction as he felt her slowly start to relax and become boneless under his touch.

Gin had no idea how long he sat there with Sherry sprawled across his bed while he worked out the knots in her muscles that were not exclusively caused by last night's ravaging. Honestly, it could have been hours and Sherry had become so relaxed, she very easily could have fallen asleep on him. He doubted she was, but it pleased him that she could feel so at ease around him, even with all of the secrets and stressors she had to put up with in her current life. It wasn't always that way, especially not when he had first started dating her. She'd been too awed and self-conscious to really let herself relax around him back then. She'd come a long way since then, but it also meant she had become more self-reliant which was all too readily apparent last night at dinner with Vodka.

Sherry had spent some time talking about her life secretly masquerading as a kid, but not much and not about the important things that weighed on her mind on a more regular basis. As much as he enjoyed having her back, as temporary as it was, Gin rather suspected even this short stint of normalcy was a much-needed reprieve from her constant need to act and lie to everyone around her. It was needed, but what she was going back to was so much more terrifying. Vermouth was after her. He had not expected that. Like him, she was one of the best and highest-ranking operatives of the Men in Black, and that woman was hunting down his girl and he couldn't do anything to protect her. He had no proof that Vermouth even had the intent to kill Sherry, and he only knew that much because he trusted Sherry's sixth sense for danger. Yes, Sherry was relaxed right now, but it would be foolish of him to think that her future concerns weren't percolating in the deeper recesses of her mind.

"Hey… Gin…?" her voice brought him out of his reverie and her head was turned, glancing up at him from the side with half-lidded eyes.

"Yes, Shiho?"

His use of her real name earned him a brief, delighted smile before it faded back into a more somber expression. "Our work is pretty dangerous, isn't it? As strong, smart, quick, and cautious as you are, one day it just might not be enough and you'll get killed."

Gin frowned slightly, but nodded. "Yes, it's possible, but that's a risk that comes with the territory and I'm willing to take it."

"And you're not afraid that you'll die with regrets?" she pressed.

"Oh, I am," he sighed as he ran his fingers through her hair in a soothing motion. "Mostly that I'll never see you again, but this isn't really about me, is it? What's bothering you, Sherry, truly?"

He suspected; he just wanted to hear her say it.

"Akemi was deeply in love with Akai, but because he failed your last test of loyalty, she never got to tell him the truth of our work and she never got to see him again because of the nature of our cover story. She was good at hiding it, but I could tell that she was still hurting from losing him. She must have had so many regrets when she died and our secrets killed her just as much as that Klythonian did," she said quietly, her voice half-muffled by her elbow. She exhaled deeply and whispered barely audible, "I'm scared, Edward. I don't want to die living a lie with the same regrets my sister did."

Gin's eyebrows arched in surprise. He'd underestimated her fears. Sherry knew he didn't much care for his first name and he'd only told it to her as a symbolic offering of reassurance that he was serious about his relationship with her. She only called him by it when she was feeling particularly vulnerable, like now. He trailed his hand from her hair to her shoulder and squeezed it, carefully turning her over to lay on her back. She let him do so, but then gripped his forearm tightly. Her expression was taut and guarded while her pretty blue eyes were wide and glassy, like something fragile. She looked like she might cry. He exhaled through his nose and leaned down over her, kissing her gently which she returned. Everyone had their breaking points and Sherry seemed to be reaching hers, but such frailty still didn't suit his quippy little spitfire.

"And what is it that you fear regretting, Sherry?" he asked.

She gave a derisive snort. "That I'll die as a child? That I have to lie to everyone around me and keep secrets to cover even more secrets? That I'll be stuck with this mission forever and have to put the rest of my life on hold indefinitely? Take your pick; I've got plenty."

"And you sound like you're giving up," he said. "You won't die as a child. Remember, you were the one who evaluated Kudo's abilities and character traits and determined that he would be a more than suitable match for what we were looking for. My only role was to provide a second opinion and confirm your choice. He has the mind, skills, social connections, and strength of character to do everything in his power to protect you from Vermouth. He won't let her get to you. I can't do anything about the lies and secrets you must keep unfortunately, but this mission won't last forever."

"You don't know that," Sherry insisted stubbornly.

"It can't last forever. We'll find who's after Hiroshi Agasa and you and see to it they're no longer a threat so you can come home. You have to believe that or else you'll just get depressed thinking about how much longer we'll be apart."

"Gin…"

"-No, let me finish," he interrupted. "I've already promised you multiple times before that I will wait for you to come home and won't die before then. Men don't wait for things that aren't worth their time. I love you so much, Sherry, and whatever will happen, I don't want you to have any regrets about us."

"Then can I marry you? Right now while I'm still myself?" she asked.

Gin's jaw fell open as he stared down at her in stunned silence and then he smiled after a beat. "And here I thought you would prefer the more traditional romantic approach to a marriage proposal."

Sherry's eyes widened hopefully. "Then will you...?"

He shook his head, though he felt like a heel when he saw her crushed expression. "No, Sherry, you're too young and you're letting your emotions rule you. It's only your current fatalistic thinking that's making you act so hasty. However, when the time comes that your assignment is over and you permanently return to your normal form, if you still want me then, I promise I'll marry you."

Sherry rolled her eyes. "Now, you're making me wait? Isn't there something Chianti says about that? Something along the lines of 'Men who make women wait will be hated'?"

Gin shrugged half-heartedly, but he was smirking. "Didn't know you'd been around Chianti enough to hear her gripe about that. Groan at me all you want, but I can still hear the smile in your tone."

"Ah, you got me." The smile he heard now appeared on her face, and then it inexplicably vanished just as suddenly. She gasped aloud and her eyes widened, her body tensed. This expression… this reaction… It wasn't… No, it couldn't be! Not now! Gin quickly whirled around to read the clock on his nightstand. It hadn't been twenty-four hours yet; there was still an hour left to go.

"Sherry, what's happening? Is the antidote wearing off?"

She gritted her teeth and nodded. Sweat was already starting to appear on her forehead and her breathing was shallower. "I think it's starting to, but it's different than before. With the initial drug and the baijiu, the spasms began more severe and were more frequent. This was a warning; it's not going to be over quickly."

Gin's brow furrowed. "So you're going to suffer the transformation process for longer?" he growled.

Sherry whimpered in pain and clutched the front of her shirt over her heart. "P-probably. Just… just hold me and keep an eye on the clock. I want to know… the exact time this antidote stops working."

He pulled her into his lap and cradled her upper body with his arms while occasionally glancing at the clock, just as she asked. There was nothing else he could do. She was being attacked by the effects of an antidote losing its effectiveness. Time passed at a snail's pace and it was absolute agony. First five minutes then ten, then twenty, and Sherry's condition only worsened. The spasms that wracked her body started coming stronger and more frequently, her brow was soaked with sweat, and her breathing was so fast, she was nearly hyperventilating. And still, the only thing he could do was hold on to her.

At twenty-seven minutes since the first symptom appeared, a high-pitched shriek tore out of her throat and she curled inward automatically. For the second time, he watched her shrink before his very eyes and become swallowed up by the much-larger shirt she was still wearing. She shrunk and convulsed until she let out one final, painful gasp and collapsed against him, falling limp in his arms. Her breathing was still heavy, but not as shallow and she didn't seem to be in any more pain. He guessed the transformation was over now. Belatedly, Gin looked over at the clock on his nightstand. It read thirty-one minutes from the initial start time.

"Sherry? How are you feeling?" he asked after a moment.

She groaned and gazed up at him with half-lidded eyes still hazy with pain. "Like a truck ran me over and poured molten lava into my bones while I was having a heart attack," she grumbled. "Time?"

"Thirty-one minutes," he answered.

She nodded dazedly. "So it probably is a 24-hour antidote with perhaps an hour's worth of time variation in either direction. Antidote onset time is still quick, but antidote reset time is much more delayed compared to the original drug and baijiu. I didn't expect that. Heh, knowing Kudo, he'll probably end up needing the warning when he uses this."

"So, I guess I have to take you back now?" Gin asked.

Sherry looked up at him and though her features were ten years younger once again, it was still the eyes of the woman he loved looking back at him. She stretched one of her tiny hands upward toward his face and laid it upon his cheek. "I guess…" she agreed reluctantly, but made no move to let him get up.

He sighed and lifted her off his lap, setting her down next to him on the bed. "You might want to get dressed in real clothes then," he said heavily as he stood up. "It'll be incredibly awkward and suspicious if Kudo ever stumbles upon your laundry and finds a men's dress shirt in a size none of the current house inhabitants wear."

"If he stumbled across my laundry, I'd kill him first," she grumbled, but hopped off the bed and wandered over to the bag she'd brought with her anyways.

When she started unbuttoning her shirt, he averted his eyes and fixated on both undoing the mess Sherry had made of his hair and acquiring a more casual shirt to wear. Kissing her as a child was uncomfortable enough, but there was just something inherently wrong about watching his lover undressing while she was prepubescent. With his hair long and free once more and a teal turtleneck over his torso, he chanced a glance at Sherry and was relieved to find her dressed as well with her regular clothes now stuffed into the bag instead.

"You ready?" he asked.

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Are you?" she retorted.

He shook his head. "No." There was no point lying to her.

She gave a wry smirk that didn't reach her eyes. "Me neither."

She approached and reached up, wrapping her hand around his fingers. He gave it a gentle squeeze and they walked out of his apartment, their long-term separation imminent once more.

Didn't get around to mentioning it in the last chapter, but I completely made up the name I gave Gin. The idea for the first name came from the songs "Alive" and "Confrontation" in the Jekyll and Hyde musical and how he, more than any other member of the Black Organization, even the Boss, is Conan's personal enemy. Honestly, the idea for his last name comes from Hyoe Kuroda because, yes, it's one of my headcanons that Hyoe is Gin's father and beyond that, it seems like a name that suits him anyway.