Author's Note: Phwoo! This is my longest chapter to date for this fic at over 12000 words. This fic already numbers 81 pages on my word document. It's funny; I hit a mental block at one point and had a hard time moving forward with it, but two days ago, I just picked up my 'pen', so to speak and forced myself through it and the rest of the writing just starting flying out like it was no big deal. While this is not necessarily one of my top favorite Black Organization moments, it's certainly a good scenario and writing it all out for this AU was a ton of fun. I'm actually surprisingly pleased with everyone's performance in this chapter.
Takes place during the episode of the same name "Head-to-Head Match With the Black Organization: Two Mysteries of the Night of the Full Moon", episode 345.
Head-to-Head Match With the Black Organization
Vermouth had found her. She knew where she was hiding and knew her secret. Ever since she realized that, every time she had woken up from her cold, Kudo had been there at Dr. Agasa's place the whole time, so she had been unable to contact Gin to let him know what was going on. She was genuinely terrified for her life. Even hearing that woman's name from Kudo's lips reduced her to a state of panicked hysteria. She had been relying on Kudo to keep her secret safe and he'd slowly, steadily failed her. Now that her secret was known, his protection simply wasn't enough and she needed an adult to keep Vermouth away from her. She didn't blame Kudo in the slightest for his failure; he'd done the best he could, but it was proof enough that he was simply no match for an opponent like Vermouth.
"I have to go if I want to deal with them," Kudo said.
A different kind of panic seized her. "No, don't go! Forget it! It's a trap, you'll be killed!" she shrieked before dissolving into a sharp coughing fit.
Her terror for him was genuine and had nothing to do with the cover story for the Organization. This situation wasn't some carefully-crafted farce; this was real. Vermouth was after her and anyone who stood in her way would undoubtedly be eliminated with extreme prejudice.
"Yeah, that's a possibility," Kudo said solemnly.
Haibara's breathing was shallow and pained as she tried to recover the lost air from her coughing. "Then, then why…" she began when a sharp pinprick struck her neck. Her mind just barely managed to register that he'd hit her with a dart from his wristwatch before she fell forward and consciousness gave way to the black haze of sedated sleep.
()()()()()
"Even if I don't get permission to investigate further, it doesn't matter," Gin said darkly while glaring out the front window at the stretch of highway ahead of him. Vermouth was on the move and he had a bad feeling as to what that meant. Sherry… His green eyes narrowed further. "If she does something extremely liberal, I won't let her go easy, even if she is 'that person's' favorite," he swore, because he would rather be damned than let that woman get away with hurting Sherry if he could prevent it.
"So, what are we gonna do?" Vodka asked.
Gin gave him a side-eyed glance. "We aren't going to do anything. You are going to disguise as a monster for this off-season Halloween party of hers and keep me updated on anything unusual that may take place there."
"What?! Why do I have to go?" Vodka exclaimed in protest.
"Because both of us don't need to and it would be much easier for you to disguise than me," he supplied easily. "You just need a face mask and you're set. You don't have to deal with hiding long hair."
"If you thought it was important enough, you'd find a way to make it work and go yourself, regardless," Vodka muttered.
A smile twitched at the corner of Gin's lips. "I'm your superior and I'm ordering you to go in my stead?" he offered.
"So you're pawning me off at this stupid party you don't think is important enough to observe for yourself just so you can literally go driving around the city all night unaccompanied while smoking and burning gas," Vodka said with a deadpan stare in a very dry tone.
Gin shrugged and nodded. "That about sums it up."
Vodka sighed with resignation. "I really hate you sometimes."
"I know."
()()()()()
Haibara heard soft voices speaking from seemingly a long way off and she fought to open her eyelids. Her determination won out and fuzzy-looking, bright light from overhead filtered in. She blinked her eyes a few times and her vision sharpened back into focus. She sat up and coughed, then looked up to where she heard Kudo's voice coming from. By the look of things, she had been moved to her basement lab room and the door was closed, probably locked to keep her in. She felt a twinge of annoyance at him; was she now a prisoner in her own home?
She slid off the couch into her slippers that someone had been kind enough to leave for her and started walking towards the desk when she caught sight of a tray full of medicines sitting next to her computer. Haibara found herself smiling softly in spite of herself. Kudo really did care for her. Even with everything that he'd been through on her behalf, he still kept risking his life and peace of mind to protect her. The bus hijacking incident in particular sprung to mind. She had been paralyzed with fear over Vermouth's presence and so great was her terror for the woman that she had completely given up. At the time, she'd somehow talked herself into believing that it was best for everyone if she died right then, thinking that at least she'd finally be able to see her sister again. Then, like a knight in shining armor, Conan had appeared and dragged her out, launching headfirst out of the bus window just before it exploded and sent them tumbling across the rough asphalt.
Later, Haibara had wondered what the hell had come over her deciding it was okay to let herself get killed like that. She certainly hadn't been thinking of Gin at the time. Even now, she still didn't have the heart to tell him what she'd almost done. If he knew, he'd pull her from the assignment despite her orders from 'that person' and to hell with the consequences. Still, Conan had saved her when she wouldn't save herself. She could understand why Ran loved him so much. If she didn't have Gin and really had been hiding from the Black Organization, she probably would have fallen in love with him too.
Another coughing fit overtook her, and she resumed walking towards the far-right drawer of the desk. She opened it and examined its contents. The things in the drawer were slightly rearranged, so Conan had already searched it for the spare tracking glasses. Haibara closed the drawer and coughed again. He intended to challenge Vermouth, just as he'd promised. A part of her wanted him to go out there and fight Vermouth away from her while she stayed safely locked away inside the basement, and it was a part she was ashamed of. Vermouth wasn't after Kudo, but he was putting himself in unnecessary danger just for her. If he got killed, then it would be all her fault. Her fault for choosing him to be the Apoptoxin's guinea pig and dragging him into this whole convoluted mess in the first place. Kudo may have been somewhat inconsiderate and suffered from a case of overinflated ego when he was evaluated, but he hadn't done anything to deserve this.
Haibara's mind was made up. She went over to the far corner of the room and pulled out a spare coat and stockings. She put them on, occasionally coughing all the while, and it was as she was putting on one of her black stockings that she heard Conan's and Agasa's voices from upstairs stop speaking abruptly. It must have been pre-recorded. She didn't know what their reason for doing so was, but the lack of sound suddenly made her all the more anxious. She had to get out of here now. Haibara quickly finished rolling up her stockings and returned to the couch she'd been sleeping on. She got down on her stomach and stuck her hand underneath it, feeling around for a bit before pulling out the spare tracking glasses that Conan had searched for. She stuck the glasses in her coat pocket and then walked back to the desk. She pulled open a different drawer this time and examined the various tools within. Finding a very thin screwdriver that looked like it might do the job, she approached the basement door and inserted the thin metal point into the lock's opening. Haibara twisted and turned the tool over and around, listening carefully to the clinking metal inside. This would be much easier with proper lock-picking tools, but she didn't have those available to her right now. What she had would have to be enough. It had to.
She noticed a different sound from upstairs now and she stopped momentarily to listen. It sounded like… the front door opening… and then closing. Kudo! Renewed panic set into her. That must have been him who'd walked out just then. He was going to meet Vermouth now! In her haste, the screwdriver slipped from her grasp to the floor, nearly stabbing her in the hand with enough force to bruise. Haibara took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Freaking out would not get her out of the locked room any faster. She stooped down to retrieve the item and resumed her attempt to pick the lock with more care, but no less urgency. It took way too long and she feared she would never get it open, when she finally heard the lock click. She gasped and threw the door open. The dark stairs brightened from the light in the basement and she ran up them straight into the empty circular living space above. A quick glance out the window revealed that even the Professor's yellow Beetle was gone and there was no sign of either Kudo or her alien charge. What did he think he was doing at a crucial time as this? Regardless, Haibara was stuck with no mode of transportation to get to where she needed to be. She chewed on her lower lip in frustration and then set about finding a phonebook; she knew Dr. Agasa kept one somewhere near the landline phone and she only hoped he hadn't moved it somewhere else.
Unlike with the basement lock, luck smiled on her this time and she found the phonebook with ease, so she pulled it up onto the counter and started looking for a taxi company to call to come pick her up and take her to Kudo, wherever he was. She found a number and called them, then hung up afterwards with nothing to do, but wait. While she waited, she found her thoughts tumbling over each other in an anxious loop. She was scared, and scared in a different way from how Vermouth's hunt had been slowly suffocating her. This wasn't anything like the bus hijacking. Then, she had chosen to sit and wait for death to come to her. This time, she was choosing to walk straight to it. Kudo had risked his life to protect her several times already and he was in mortal peril even now for her sake; it was time for her to repay the debt she owed. She could be selfish with Gin, but Kudo was not hers to be selfish with. There were too many people in his life that still loved him for him to throw his life away on someone like her.
She coughed again and hugged her arms tightly. She was sure Gin would hate her for doing this; he had such a fierce will to live and would fight for his life until he breathed his last. She had always admired that about him long before their relationship had even begun when she was still getting to know him. A wave of despair suddenly seized her and she struggled not to let any tears fall. She'd never see him or hear his voice again. All the half-formed hopes and dreams they'd had… the promises they'd made… all of them were swallowed by the darkness of the future looming before her. How long would it take for him to hear about her death? Would it be immediate or would it be a few weeks later? She'd made him promise not to die on her before their true reunion, wrongfully-assuming she would be safer from such fatal threats, but she had made no such promise back.
Haibara feared what would happen to her lover when he finally found out she was killed by Vermouth. There was a very important reason why it was decided that Gin, of all people, would be the one to administer APTX-4869 to Kudo that had nothing to do with his high rank among the Men in Black. He was merciless, especially when his loved ones were threatened, and it was not at all hard to believe in another life, he would have been the kind of criminal Kudo thought he already was. He had hunted down Akemi's killer with single-minded intensity and eliminated them without remorse. She imagined he would probably do the same to Vermouth, even though she was human. In Gin's eyes, there was no difference where his loved ones were concerned. What would become of him then after he'd avenged her, she did not know, but she could only hope that Vodka and his unnamed sister would be able to look after him when she was gone.
She heard a car pull up and she peered out the window again. The taxi had finally arrived. She swallowed nervously and fished the tracking glasses out of her pocket, putting them on her face. This was it; there was no going back now. With resolve in her mind and fear in her heart, Haibara opened the door to the house and stepped outside to the taxi waiting to drive her to the gallows.
()()()()()
"Shinichi Kudo?" Gin repeated, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Back up and clarify: is he there or not?"
"Um… sorta?" Vodka answered over the phone. "It's weird over here, Aniki. First, Kudo, as himself, not Conan Edogawa, revealed himself to the entire cast of people present only to then reveal that he wasn't Kudo, but Heiji Hattori, the high school detective from Osaka."
Gin's green eyes narrowed in thought as he lit up another cigarette. "Odd. What business does Heiji Hattori have disguising himself as Shinichi Kudo at a monster party?"
"He knows Conan is Kudo, right?"
Gin nodded absently. "He does, so he should know better than to disguise himself as somebody who will supposedly be killed if his survival is discovered. The misdirection is such an unnecessary risk to that secret."
"You think Kudo asked him to do it?" Vodka asked.
"Without a doubt, but the big question is 'why'? Why did Kudo feel the need to draw attention to his true identity like that? If it was to create an alibi, then Hattori's reveal afterward completely defeats the purpose, and your description of the spectacle tells me the intended performance was not for the assembled civilians, but rather for Vermouth."
"Speaking of Vermouth…" Vodka said hesitantly. "It seems she blackmailed somebody into actually killing a big-time movie producer here."
Gin's eyes widened. "She what?"
"That's what the culprit said at any rate once he'd confessed to committing the crime. And… I'm not as good at finding her as you are when she's disguised, but I can't find Vermouth anywhere. I honestly don't think she's been on this ship at all tonight."
Gin tapped his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. "Neither Vermouth nor Kudo are on that ship, so the party was just one big distraction, was it?" he growled. "I may actually kill them both at this point and save myself from graying early. When's the boat expected to dock again?"
"Early morning, so it won't be for several hours yet."
"Very well. If I'm not already at the docks waiting for you, call me and I'll come get you," Gin said.
"What are you going to do now?" Vodka asked.
"I'm going to call Sherry and ask her what the hell is going on with that detective brat tonight. If this is another one of his attempts to capture Organization members, then I want to know so I can deal with it properly," he said irritably.
"But aren't you not allowed-?"
Gin didn't hear the rest of Vodka's question because he ended the call. No, by Sherry's rules, he wasn't allowed to contact her, but his nerves had been jumpy all evening for unexplained reasons and this latest piece of information had certainly not done anything to improve his mood. He just wanted to know what was going on; was that too much to ask? Even hearing Sherry berate him for calling her would be worth it if he just understood the situation he was dealing with. He dialed her number and held the phone to his ear, waiting for her to pick up.
The phone rang…
And rang…
And rang…
And went to Sherry's voicemail.
Gin frowned briefly, but hung up and dialed again. Maybe she just hadn't been able to get to the phone in time? He waited a second time and just like the first, it went to her voicemail. He sighed and waited for the beep before recording the message, "Hey Sherry, it's me. I know I'm not supposed to call you, but I need to know what's going on with Kudo tonight. Please get back to me soon. Stay safe, love. Bye."
His message done, he hung up again and settled back in the driver's seat, lost in thought. Sherry's phone was on, but it had rung twice and she hadn't answered either time. That suggested she wasn't near enough to hear her phone and that bothered him. A lot. She obviously wouldn't have expected him to call, but where was she that she didn't have her phone within reach? On a spur of the moment decision, he took an exit off the highway and set a course for the Arquillian scientist's residence. He didn't know what he expected to find, but he had nowhere else he could go to find answers.
After several turns down side streets into the slightly more suburban part of the city, Gin found himself once more parked at the end of the street that the Agasa and Kudo houses resided on. He got out of the Porsche and walked down the sidewalk to Dr. Agasa's. Once he reached it, he looked around at the front yard through the barred gateway. The lights were off inside, but he wouldn't have expected them to be on at this time of night either. What was missing from sight anywhere in the vicinity was the yellow Volkswagen Beetle that the Professor drove. Vaguely wondering if he would regret this and equally finding himself not caring, Gin climbed up the metal gate and jumped over the top, landing in the front yard in a full crouch. He briefly touched his front chest coat pocket and felt both the sunglasses and neuralyzer hidden there. He probably wouldn't need them, but at least he had them. He stood up and moved as quietly as a phantom to the front door of the house.
He tried to turn the knob and found it locked, of course. Well, he had ways around that, and ways that would leave no visible trace of the lock having been picked open either. From within one of his coat pockets, he withdrew a palm-sized chrome, cone-like object with a rounded base and a single rotatable blue ring around it. It was called a multi-key and it was another piece of hybrid human-alien tech produced by the MiB's Research and Development team. He placed the point of the object into the key hole until it met resistance, then he turned the blue ring 90 degrees clockwise. The chrome cone immediately began to flatten on the sides and extend outward into the key hole until the blue ring at the base changed to green. Gin turned the ring another 90 degrees in the same direction and it turned red. He turned the newly-created key and heard the lock in the door click open. With a smirk, he pulled the key out and turned the door knob with much greater success. The lack of a chain lock on the door only further confirmed that nobody was present in the house, but where were they?
He scowled and whipped out his phone to dial Sherry's number once more. He put it to his ear briefly to listen for when her phone started ringing and then pulled it away to listen for the sound anywhere in the house. He heard a faint noise coming from the back and pursued it. It cut off before he reached it, but the sound had led him to a set of steps leading downward. The basement? He redialed the number as he started walking down and found himself in a small, surprisingly warm room. He quickly spied her phone laying on the desk next to the computer, so he hung up and returned his phone to his coat pocket. It was as he'd suspected: Sherry had left the house without her phone, but that still didn't tell him where she or Dr. Agasa had gone so late at night. Gin gazed around the room, taking everything in. Cold air was heavier than hot air, so basements were usually colder than the floors above, but this one wasn't and there was a humidifier running as well. There was a pillow and blanket on the couch, both of which looked rumpled, and a folded towel that he found was still damp when he picked it up. Closer examination of the pillow revealed a few familiar reddish-brown hairs that had been shed and only belonged to one person he knew. Sherry had been sleeping here and fairly recently as well if the towel was any indication. His sharp green eyes caught sight of a tray laden with an assortment of bottles and he approached it to determine their contents. A quick glance at the labels told him they were various different medicines, including cough syrup and one for fever.
This, the humidifier, the warm basement, the towel, and the brown hairs were evidence that Sherry was sick and had been resting in this room as recently as that evening. Was that the reason why no one was home? Had her condition worsened so that she had to be taken to the hospital, and it was just coincidence that it happened tonight? It was possible, however… was there a reason a sick person needed to rest in the basement and couldn't do so in the main part of the house? Gin's eyes critically scanned the room once more and fell upon something he had missed in his initial observations. There was something lying on the ground by the door. He walked back over and stooped down to pick it up. It was a thin, very thin, screwdriver and the tip was shiny like it had been scraped against something metallic. Gin clenched his hand into a fist around the screwdriver handle and pulled the door closed to see the basement side of it in better lighting. He knelt down and examined the door knob up close. There were scratches around the keyhole and some metal shavings still stuck inside. The door had definitely been forced open from the inside.
His brow remained furrowed as he stood up and continued staring at the door. His mind was racing, trying to link all the evidence together to recreate the story of what happened and why. Sherry was sick, but she had been locked up down in the basement and later broken out. Why would she need to be locked up in the first place? And if she was sick, then what had motivated her to escape her imprisonment anyway? Just like that, all the pieces fell into place. Gin stood there reeling for but a second before he was on the move again, pulling out both his phone and the multi-key at the same time as he ascended the basement stairs.
He had just finished locking the front door and turning the ring on the base 180 degrees counter-clockwise – which caused the ring to turn blue and the cone to resume its normal shape – when Vodka finally answered him, "Yeah, what's up, Aniki?"
"The party was a distraction," Gin began quickly. "Vermouth attempted to use it to lure Kudo away from Sherry, but it doesn't look like that worked. I just finished checking the house and nobody's home, not even the Arquillian. It seems like Kudo may have instead lured Vermouth away, but Sherry knows where that location is and followed after them."
"She followed them? But how can you tell?" Vodka asked.
Gin clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Give me a moment; I need to climb the gate to get out."
"I can't believe you actually broke into the house…" was all he heard Vodka say before his voice was out of hearing range and the phone was back in his pocket.
Just as before, he climbed the gate without difficulty and landed neatly on the sidewalk outside. His long strides quickly ate up the distance to his Porsche as he pulled his phone back out and resumed conversation with Vodka. "I can tell she followed them because she's sick and was locked in the basement, but she still picked the lock with a screwdriver of all things and broke out anyway. She was determined to get out, no matter what and if Kudo planned to confront Vermouth on his own in Sherry's place-"
"-she wouldn't be able to just stand by and let him take that risk for her!" Vodka finished in sudden understanding.
"Exactly," Gin said. He'd reached his car and gotten into it, turning on the engine before driving off back in the direction of the highway. "Vodka, please tell me that somebody knows where Vermouth is right this minute or that we have some means of tracking her current location."
"I… I'm sorry, Gin. But I… I don't think we can find her until she wants to be found. She's not an alien," Vodka said apologetically.
Gin felt numb. Nothing. There was… nothing he could do to fix this. He couldn't find Vermouth and he couldn't find Sherry. He was powerless; when had he lost so much control over his life? Mortified, he felt the corners of his eyes start to sting. Oh no. No, he was not so far gone that he was going to lose his dignity to tears on top of everything else. He screwed his eyes shut and forced them back.
"Aniki, are you okay? You went really quiet on your end," Vodka said gently.
"I'm… I'm not. There's nothing I can do," Gin admitted heavily.
"Sherry's a tough little cookie. She's pretty good at managing to wiggle out of tight spots; she'll make it out of this one too," Vodka reassured him.
Gin huffed. "I hope you're right, Vodka."
()()()()()
"There, that's the place, where those two cars are," Haibara said to the taxi driver. "You can drop me off right behind that white one."
"Okay, but, listen, are you sure this is the right place? It doesn't look safe for a little girl," the driver said.
"It's fine, sir. My aunt's there and she knows I'm coming," she lied smoothly. She was surprised her voice still sounded so calm given how her heart was trying to leap out of her throat in terror.
"Well, I guess if your aunt's expecting you, it's okay," the taxi driver said a little uncertainly and did as she instructed, pulling right up behind the white car. "Okay, your total is-"
"-Here," Haibara said and shoved a stack of bills into his hand. "You can count the change towards your tip."
He quickly counted the bills and gave a low whistle. "Thank you very much for your patronage, young miss," he said with a tip of his hat to her. "Make sure you stay safe."
Haibara gave him a wide, childish smile that felt even more fake than the lie she'd just spouted about her aunt. "Thank you, mister," she said brightly and got out of the car.
She took a few steps back and stayed to watch it turn around and leave. All the while, she repeated the same mantra she'd told herself the whole car ride from Dr. Agasa's to here. No turning back. No turning back. No turning back. Haibara turned to face the direction of the cars. Everybody was over by the farther black one. There was a person lying on the ground against the car that she couldn't make out and there was Conan standing in front of that person and facing another, facing Vermouth. The tall American woman turned around and Haibara froze when their eyes met. This freezing, biting pressure… this killing intensity… there was no doubt this was Vermouth after weeks spent living in hiding, fearful of being found by her. And now she had.
No turning back.
She clenched her trembling hands into fists and willed her feet to move forward first at a walk, then at a run, bringing herself closer to her fated end.
"Don't get near! Don't come any closer! Go back, you idiot!" Conan yelled at her, his voice hysterical, but she wasn't going to listen to him. He had no idea what she had done to him, but he still looked out for her and treated her as a friend. She didn't deserve his kindness and she didn't deserve his protection, just as he didn't deserve to be entangled in her mess.
'No, Kudo,' she thought. 'Let me do what I must. This has nothing to do with you, so you can't die. You musn't die!'
Haibara was forced to stop running before she reached him because her body was still weak from her illness. Each breath she drew was labored and painful, but still she kept moving forward, not taking her eyes off Conan's panic-stricken face while the tracking glasses beeped incessantly into her ear.
No turning back.
She finally stopped just in front of the black car about three meters away, still breathing heavily, a stitch in her side that she refused to pay attention to.
"Run Haibara! Quickly!" Kudo yelled.
She would not. She'd been running for too long. She wasn't going to run away from this.
He continued to shout at her. "What are you doing?! Run Haibara! Leave this place! Hurry!"
Vermouth struck like a viper. In one swift movement, she grabbed Conan's wrist, turned the watch around, and fired the sleeping dart right back at him. Haibara gasped as he succumbed to the powerful sedative, falling limply forward with only Vermouth's support of his arms keeping him upright.
'Please no! Please don't kill him! I'm here, you've got me, and I'll even let you kill me, just don't kill him!' Haibara begged desperately of Vermouth in her mind, but couldn't find the voice to say the words out loud.
Vermouth did not seem inclined to finish him off right at that moment though. She set Kudo down on the ground and leaned him gently against the side of the car with more gentleness than Haibara would have expected of the Woman of a Thousand Faces.
"Goodnight, baby," Vermouth said quietly to Conan in English, then her light blue eyes flicked in her direction. "And…"
Haibara gulped fearfully, but did not look away from that woman's face. Vermouth lifted the hem of her right pants leg and withdrew a small handgun that had been set in a holster around her calf. She stood up to her full height and pointed the gun directly at her in the center of her forehead.
"Welcome, Sherry," Vermouth said, still in English, with a smirk of vicious triumph on her face. "You're a stupid woman," she continued, switching back to Japanese. "You not only ruined this poor boy's plans, but also came to get killed."
Haibara closed her eyes, trying to find the strength to do what she knew she must. "I did not just come here to die," she said at last as she removed the glasses and stuffed them into her jacket pocket. "I came to end this."
With the glasses gone and nobody else shielding her, it was just her and Vermouth standing here. Conan was out cold, but there was still someone, another woman, who was conscious and leaning against the car able to hear every word she and Vermouth said, so she would not be able to speak as candidly as she would have liked. For what she needed to say though, a woman as smart and secretive as Vermouth would have no trouble understanding the subtext.
"Even if you are arrested," and for killing her, Haibara had no doubt that she would. "As long as I live, the Organization's hunt for me will continue." The perpetual lie to disguise the true context of the conversation. "If I sacrifice my life, do you agree to not harm anyone, but me?"
Vermouth's eyes narrowed and her cruel smirk widened like that of a cat who toyed with its cornered prey.
"No one," Haibara insisted. That included Gin and Vodka too. They would be devastated enough about her death without Vermouth toying with their emotions. "Promise?"
Her eyes seemed to relent. "Okay, other than this FBI woman that is," Vermouth agreed. Haibara couldn't tell whether Vermouth had said that to keep cover or if she would really kill the woman, but she didn't have anything more to bargain for her life as well. "But you have to go first, Sherry. Don't hate me, but rather your stupid parents who started this experiment."
Haibara found herself thrown off by Vermouth's words, but she didn't let it show. What did she mean? Was it just a nonsense phrase tossed at her for the sake of the story or was there an actual reason behind it? If there was, then what experiment was Vermouth referring to? What had her parents started? Was there possibly another reason that Vermouth hated her that had nothing to do with her relationship with Gin? She had so many questions now, but she would never get answers to them. She had dug her grave and now it was time for her to lay in it.
Unexpectedly, the black car's trunk opened up and Haibara stared in shock as Ran's face appeared from around the edge. Vermouth turned and stared just as dumbfounded as she was, not even making an attempt to raise the gun and shoot her. Hers was the only one though; gunshots still fired at Ran from somewhere much higher and farther away than Vermouth. Ran wasn't even trying to dodge the bullets, she was just jumping on top of the car and sliding forward as fast as she could. It was pure luck that all the shots missed her.
"Wait, Calvados!" Vermouth shouted in the direction the shots were coming from, but still the bullets kept flying.
Calvados? What was Calvados doing here and why was he helping Vermouth try to kill her? She'd only interacted with him a handful of times, in the company of Chianti and Korn, and she had no grudge with him, nor him with her as far as she knew! But even if he did, why was he shooting at Ran?!
"Hold your fire, Calvados!" Vermouth screamed again, her voice more panicked than before.
Still the sniper's bullets kept flying and Ran didn't stop running. She jumped off the car and ran towards her with a determined expression. Haibara could only stand and stare, part of her still shocked to see her and another part blankly wondered what she was so determined to reach.
"Stop!"
With a start, Haibara realized Ran wasn't simply running towards her, she was running straight at her! Ran was trying get to her!
"Didn't I tell you to stop?!" Vermouth shouted and fired her gun once, but in which direction, Haibara had no idea.
She could not take her eyes off the young woman pelting towards her as fast as she could and miraculously avoiding every bullet that came her way. Ran leapt towards her and caught her, holding her tightly in her arms as they hit the ground. Ran bore the brunt of the force on her arms and half-cushioned her own fall with her body as they skidded to a halt. Haibara abruptly realized that silence had fallen. The hail of gunfire had stopped.
"Let go of the brown-haired girl," Vermouth ordered, her voice sharp and irritated.
The command snapped Haibara back to her senses and she desperately tried to push Ran off her. With the way Ran was holding her, her body was shielded from Vermouth's view just enough that there was no way for Vermouth to shoot her without shooting Ran. This wasn't supposed to happen! Why was she even here?! She didn't want Ran to die for her any more than she wanted Kudo to!
"If you don't want to die, hurry!" Vermouth snapped.
"No! Don't move!" Ran screamed and pinned her to the ground completely underneath her. Haibara literally couldn't move her now and she couldn't even see Vermouth from this new vantage point. Despair welled up in her. This was exactly what she'd come here to try and prevent and she'd still failed. Vermouth was going to kill Ran just to get to her.
"Hurry! Move!" Vermouth yelled at Ran and her gun fired twice.
The bullets struck the ground a foot from them on either side. Warning shots. The next ones would undoubtedly be fatal. Haibara renewed her struggle against Ran's firm grip. She couldn't let Ran die here!
"No!" Ran cried with frightened tears in her eyes. Whether it was directed towards Vermouth or to her, Haibara couldn't tell.
Two more shots, both only inches from their heads. Vermouth was losing patience and still Ran was holding her down and hiding her from view!
"I already contacted the police, just endure it a bit longer, please!" Ran told her in a frantic whisper.
Another bullet struck the ground near them and Ran gasped, but buried Haibara's head into her shoulder. Ran's own shoulders were shaking badly. She was deathly afraid, but her hold on her remained strong and she would not let her go. It came to Haibara then… this kind of gentle, devoted, unwavering protection… it was just like…
'Sister…' Haibara thought as she rather subconsciously gripped the fabric of Ran's jacket and memories of her sister came to her.
It was incredible the thoughts one could have right before they were about to be killed. Haibara finally understood something that she had not before now. For the longest time, she had been distant with Ran, even unkind in her purposeful neglect to associate with her, and she had not understood why she treated such a good, sweet, loving person so. Now she knew. Without even realizing it, she had recognized the many similarities between her and Akemi. After having so recently lost her sister, she had not wanted to get close to someone who resembled her so strongly and constantly reminded her of what she'd lost. On some level, she'd feared that Ran would somehow try and replace Akemi. Was it foolish of her to think that? Probably, but not... it wasn't unreasonable, was it? Inexplicably, despite everything going on around her and the very real possibility she still might die, Haibara felt herself drifting away. She supposed... the extra stress she'd placed on her body and mind tonight while she was still sick... was probably the cause...
"Let go of her!" Vermouth screeched once more and then… then she defaulted back to English and said something very strange, "Move it, Angel!"
There was another gunshot, but she didn't hear it land anywhere near them this time. Haibara wondered drowsily if it was someone besides Vermouth or Calvados that had fired. It was a nice thought… that someone might come and save all of them, but… not very… realistic… And so, she found herself drifting off to thoughts of being safely held in her sister's protective embrace.
()()()()()
Morning light finally broke through the darkness and put an end to the night's battles, but while some conflicts were resolved, others still remained and the consequences of those still remained to be seen. Gin watched with detached interest as the ghost ship slowly pulled into the harbor and then finally allowed its passengers to disembark. He didn't bother looking for Vodka yet; there were a lot of police cars waiting due to the murder that had taken place aboard the ship. Vodka would come to him as soon as he was able. That was one of the advantages of having such a distinctly-recognizable car. It took a while, but Vodka finally managed to separate himself from the crowd and walked towards the car. Once he was inside, the first thing he did was tear off the mask and Gin had a brief look at his unbelievably wide, innocent-looking eyes before they were hidden by sunglasses once again. Vodka looked at him after they were on and Gin handed him his hat without asking.
He put that on too and tilted his head back against the seat with a heavy exhale. "Alright, how much money did you waste last night?" Vodka asked.
Gin huffed and started up the car to leave the harbor. "A full tank of gas and an entire pack of cigarettes," he grumbled.
Vodka startled and sat upright. "An entire pack in one night- Aniki, that's a lot, even for you!" he exclaimed, looking aghast.
"Oh. And was your woman at some unknown location in a dangerous confrontation last night leaving you with no idea if she's even still alive right now?" Gin snarled.
Vodka snapped his mouth shut and Gin was glad he did. Now was really not the time to criticize him about his bad habits. "I guess Vermouth still hasn't revealed herself yet?" Vodka said tentatively.
Gin only shook his head, not trusting himself to speak again. Vodka didn't deserve his vitriol. Coincidentally, his phone started ringing right at that moment. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the number on Caller ID. He didn't recognize it, but he answered anyway.
"Yes, who is it?" he demanded.
"Ah, Gin, good that I was able to get a hold of you so quickly. It's Vermouth."
Gin's eyes widened and then narrowed as his lips widened into an evil grin. Well speak of the fucking devil, and she shall appear. He saw Vodka's confused expression out of the corner of his eye and mouthed 'Vermouth' at him. His partner's eyes widened too, but he remained quiet, ready to listen to the one-sided conversation.
"Vermouth?" he repeated lazily. "You seem to have been rather busy tonight and yet no one knows where you've been."
She started to laugh, but then gasped and hissed in pain. "Sorry, Gin, but a secret makes a woman, a woman," she said.
Gin's eyes narrowed to angry slits. "Then is it too much to ask why you're calling me from a public phone and sound like you can't breathe?" he demanded.
Vermouth chuckled, "Ever the perceptive one, you are. I ended up getting into a firefight with the FBI last night and I just barely managed to get away. Shuichi Akai was there – I'm sure you remember him – and he broke three of my ribs."
He quirked an eyebrow upward. "I remember Akai, but what were you doing that put the FBI on your tail and caused you to end up in a firefight that you weren't prepared for?"
"Oh, just some stupid stuff," she said with a dismissive air. "One of their little kittens was pursuing a vendetta against me for something she believes I did to her twenty years ago. I was dealing with a shakedown involving a Class II criminal and its flunkies with incredibly well-done human disguises. Unfortunately, they were resistant to my first set of persuasion tactics, so I had to move on to the second set and that was when the FBI ambushed me, thinking I was threatening innocent civilians."
Gin had to admit: Vermouth was an excellent liar, but he'd sell his Porsche if he believed a single word of what she said was true. However… "So, it looks like the FBI is back onto us again, with Akai at the forefront no less," Gin said with a sigh. "This may end up making things more difficult for us in the near future. At least you were able to escape successfully."
"Yes, I was lucky in that regard," she said with a breathless laugh. "Anyways, I'm in a phone booth on the side of Interstate 20. Can you come get me? I have a problem and can't really move right now."
"Yeah, I can get you. It'll be a while though, so you'll have to sit tight and wait for a bit," he said.
"Don't you worry about me. I'm not going anywhere fast any time soon," she said.
"Gotcha," Gin said and hung up on her, letting a feral grin steal over his features. "I can hardly wait," he murmured to himself.
"Aniki, why didn't you ask her about Sherry? You know that whatever she told you was probably a lie."
"Oh, I know that very well, Vodka," Gin reassured him. "But she can't so easily lie to my face without suffering some very unpleasant consequences. Vodka, whatever I do to that woman, you better not try and stop me. This has been a long time coming."
Vodka looked uncomfortable, but nodded slowly. "Just try not to kill her, no matter what she tells you. She is still a human being."
Gin grimaced and rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll try to restrain myself if it comes to that. You'll have to drive though since I'll have to interrogate her in the car. It's getting too light out to do it in a place as public as a phone booth."
"We'll switch when we reach her?"
He nodded. "That will be easiest."
Silence fell between them once more as they drove along the city streets. Vodka kept fidgeting with the mask still in his hands while Gin considered his approach to dealing with Vermouth. Sherry's whereabouts and well-being were of course his biggest concern, but getting Vermouth to admit she'd done anything to his woman might prove challenging, especially if she thought he wouldn't do anything to her that would risk getting blood in his car. He honestly hoped he wouldn't have to, but if it was necessary to get the truth of Sherry's welfare out of her, he would do it. He also wondered what had happened to Vermouth that she wasn't able to move well at the moment.
The American woman hadn't said where she was along Interstate 20, so once they were on it, he and Vodka both had to keep a lookout for telephone booths. Despite their awareness, they still almost missed her. Only Vodka's frantic shout and pointing alerted him in time to pull over to the curb and stop. When she said she was in a phone booth, he thought she'd be standing, not lying down. Both men in black got out of the car and Vodka moved to the other side while Gin crossed the road to the phone booth Vermouth was sitting in. She smiled and waved when she saw him, but didn't make any move to stand. He understood why once he was standing just outside the booth. On top of the three broken ribs she'd mentioned over the phone, she was bleeding from a wound in her right thigh. It didn't look serious enough to prevent her from walking a little, but she obviously wasn't originally shot here either, so she'd exhausted her energy reserves to get away from the site of the shooting and reach a phone. What had happened to hers?
"You're quite a sight for sore eyes, but as you've likely already deduced, I don't have the strength to walk anywhere under my own power, so would you be a dear and help carry me to your car?" she said sweetly.
Gin narrowed his eyes but said nothing and moved into the telephone booth with her. He grabbed one of her arms and threw it over his shoulder, then hoisted the injured woman off the ground to let her lean against him. It looked like he was going to get blood in his car anyway. They slowly made their way across the street back to the idling Porsche and Gin helped Vermouth into the back seat of his car then followed after her, much to her surprise.
He slammed the door behind him and said, "Vodka, drive."
"Where?"
"Somewhere without witnesses."
Vodka nodded and pulled back onto the Interstate. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Vermouth give him an arched look and rest her chin on her hand, her arm propped up on her uninjured leg. "Oh? Now Gin, you're not planning on abducting me to make martini, are you? How scandalous! What would your dear kitten say if she found out?"
"Where is she?" Gin said sharply as if she hadn't spoken at all.
"Who?"
"Sherry. Where is Sherry?" he repeated in the same brisk tone. His lips barely moved and it was taking everything he had not to lose his self-control.
"How should I know where that little kitten of yours is? She's in hiding for her own protection, is she not? Don't tell me you actually managed to lose track of her!" Vermouth replied easily with a slight laugh in her voice.
The remaining threads of his fraying patience snapped.
His gun was out and pointed straight at her head in less than a second. He briefly registered the shock on her face, but he couldn't even enjoy it. "Don't you dare fucking lie to me, Vermouth," he growled low in his throat. "Your blood's already staining the inside of my car and I won't hesitate to spill even more of it if I have to."
The shock had disappeared from Vermouth's eyes and she was now back to wearing her normal poker face, but for once, she remained silent.
"I know exactly where Sherry wasn't this evening. She was not at Dr. Agasa's house. Nobody was. Her phone was on, but not on her person. I found it in the basement which showed plenty of evidence that Sherry was both sick and had been resting in that room earlier that day. I also found evidence that the basement door had been locked and she'd picked the lock open to get out. There is only one reason why Sherry had been locked in the basement and then broken out even though she's sick: to prevent her from seeking out Shinichi Kudo to prevent him from being killed for protecting her from you."
Vermouth laughed. "That's quite an imagination you have there, Gin, but do you have any proof that I was anywhere near Shinichi Kudo or Sherry, much less intended to kill one or the other?"
His right hand lashed out and grabbed her by the throat, choking off her cruel laugh and he slammed her against the inside wall of his car. A choked gasp of pain escaped her and he moved forward, pinning her with his body to the interior wall with his gun pressing directly into her temple. Their noses were only inches apart and their breathing was heavy, hers from pain and his from fury.
"Do not mistake me for those FBI dogs you stupidly allowed to catch our scent again," Gin said in a deadly whisper with perfect articulation. "I have no fear of risking the wrath of 'that person' for killing his favorite without any evidence of foul play. I called Sherry's phone four times last night and even left her a message. If she's alive, then I will find out directly from her exactly what happened. I will find out what happened to her last night, one way or another. It's entirely up to you whether I preemptively kill you now on the chance that you did kill her, or whether you tell me the truth of what I want to know and maybe you won't die."
Vermouth clawed at his fingers on her throat, trying to speak, and he eased the tension in his fingers just a smidge. She drew a loud, audible breath of air and glared hatefully up at him. "So if the truth turns out to be that I did kill your precious Sherry, you'll still kill me? Is that it?" she spat.
Gin gave her his best, worst grin. It was a rare treat to get under Vermouth's skin like this. "More or less, but I quite enjoy this side of you, Vermouth. That expression suits you."
A half-strangled chuckle escaped her and her glare changed to a similar evil smirk. "You're looking quite hot, yourself, right now," she said. "You're as ruthless as you've always been, Jynnan Tonnyx. Does Sherry know just how awful a person you truly are? That stupid girl's affections are wasted on someone like you."
He pressed the Beretta even harder into her temple and gave her throat a warning squeeze. "Last chance, Vermouth," he said darkly. "If the next words out of your mouth aren't the true explanation of what occurred last night and what happened to Sherry, then you better pray there's an afterlife that will accept you, because my car's about to be painted red with your blood."
Her light blue eyes gazed intently into his green ones with a shrewd, calculating expression. He kept his finger tensed on the trigger and met her stare unflinchingly. She was weighing her options, testing his resolve...
She finally smirked. "Your jailbait's still alive, though not for lack of trying. I called her out of the house disguised as one Dr. Araide, but she instead got into the car of that FBI woman I mentioned to you earlier, the one who apparently has a twenty-year-old vendetta against me, Jodie Starling. I followed them out to the shipping containers by the docks and incapacitated that woman. She had arranged a trap for me, but I was aware of the FBI tailing me and foiled that plan of hers in advance before I even made the call to Dr. Agasa's. However, the little girl who had been in the car with Ms. Starling wasn't Sherry, but Shinichi disguised as her."
Amusement filtered into her eyes and she chuckled quietly. "I hadn't expected that, for I'd also been keeping tabs on what was taking place on the ship and he seemed to be there working to solve the case as I had intended. He had me in a bind for a moment there and as I was trying to figure out what to do next, your lady love arrived on the scene. I rather think she thought I'd kill her precious Conan for standing in my way. If she was locked up as you said, then she must have been quite desperate to escape, perhaps couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to him?"
She was goading him, trying to make him jealous, but Gin refused to play her game. Still, it took every ounce of self-control he possessed not to pull the trigger just to make her shut up.
Vermouth continued relentlessly, "Shinichi was flabbergasted and her appearance was enough of a distraction for me to put him to sleep with his own wristwatch. You should be proud, Gin. Your little girl was so brave facing me in such a pathetic state with no means to defend herself. She did not beg or plead or cry, but stood tall with a woman's dignity and offered me a deal: her life in exchange for not harming anyone else. Such a sweet, stupid girl. She was my only target and I had no intention of hurting anyone else, not even her beloved Conan whom she risked her life to protect, so naturally, I accepted her deal. Sherry would have died right then and there were it not for another unexpected turn of events. Miss. Ran Mouri jumped out of Starling's trunk and ran to Sherry. She threw herself at her and pinned her to the ground using her own body as a shield to protect her. I could not kill Sherry without hurting Ran and I had no intention of doing so. That woman is the only reason that yours is still alive right now. The situation only spiraled even further out of control after that. Starling had gotten her second wind and Shuichi Akai arrived on the scene as well. I only escaped arrest without more serious injuries because I used Conan as a hostage and blew up the other car. I got away, but I'm afraid I underestimated Conan yet again and accidentally gave away the tones for the Boss's phone number while he was conscious. I knocked him out with sleeping gas, shot myself in the leg to remain awake, and managed to make my way to the phone booth you picked me up from. Now… does that explanation satisfy you, Gin?"
Gin glared at her silently, but lowered his gun from her temple and released his grip on her neck. He didn't doubt that there was more to the story that she hadn't bothered to mention, but this one had the ring of authenticity this time. "For now," he said slowly and holstered his gun in the shoulder harness hidden beneath his coat, "but you tried to kill Sherry. I will never forget nor forgive you for that."
Without a word to either of the two occupants in the car, Gin climbed between the seats back into the front and pulled out a cigarette from a newly-opened pack. He slotted it between his teeth and lit it with the car lighter. He inhaled deeply, letting the familiar burn and the chemical pleasure seep into his system before exhaling a thick cloud of smoke. It dissipated from view, but the smell still lingered, just as the night's events were finally over, but the consequences of them still remained in effect.
()()()()()
Haibara, along with Ran and Miss. Jodie, had been admitted to the hospital first thing in the morning. She and Ran were only checked over to make sure they had not suffered any serious injuries, but Miss. Jodie was in surgery to remove the bullet lodged in her gut and repair any other internal injuries she may have suffered as a result of the penetration. However, the doctors had reassured them that Miss. Jodie would be fine, and though there was some concern for Haibara's persistent fever, the doctors told her it was nothing that couldn't be cured with bed rest and they were sent home before noon. A quick phone call with Dr. Agasa revealed that Kudo was alive and safe and it was decided that he would drop Conan off at the Mouri residence if the Mouris could drop her off at his place. Haibara had heard Conan protest this over the phone, saying he wanted to stay with the Professor a little longer, but she and Ran had both been in agreement over the arrangements. Haibara was sure that after the scare of last night, Ran didn't want him out of her sight for longer than he had to. Haibara's reason was equally-selfish for a whole different reason. She knew perfectly well how Kudo felt about suicides and although he had been asleep for that part of the conflict, he would have easily figured out by now what she had tried to do. She did not need to hear him lecturing her right now about how stupid she was for trying to throw her life away.
So it was one uneventful car ride with the Mouris and Sonoko later that Haibara found herself back at Dr. Agasa's house like she hadn't left that evening thinking she would never come back to it. She silently opened the front gate and walked up the path to the door, which she unlocked and let herself in. After everything that happened and staring death in the face, it seemed… so surreal. Everything still looked the same as before, but at the same time, it didn't. Or was it only her perception of it that was different? She had nearly died last night- would have died were it not for Ran's completely unexpected appearance. Shouldn't everything have changed?
She shook her head free of those thoughts and coughed again. It would probably take even longer to recover from her cold now. With a heavy sigh, she descended back down to the basement. She'd left the door open when she left, so she doubted it would be a better place to recuperate than anywhere else in the house, but at least the humidifier would be more effective in a small, enclosed space. The door was still open and the light still on, just as she left it. She had just entered the room when her right foot kicked something. Looking down, she saw it was the screwdriver she had used to force her way out. Haibara frowned slightly as she picked it up and examined it curiously. She had been so worried about getting out and reaching Kudo that she couldn't remember what she'd done with the tool after she'd gotten the door open, but had she really left it in the middle of the walkway?
Without sparing it another thought, she carried it back to the desk where she had retrieved it and spotted her phone lying there on the edge. Right, she'd left it behind in her haste to get out. She placed the screwdriver back in the drawer and picked up her phone to stuff it in her pocket when she paused and stared at the phone cover screen in confusion. Four missed calls and a voicemail after she left? Who had tried calling her so late last night? She flipped open the phone and gasped. All four calls were from the same person and the number was Gin's. Bewilderment surged through her. What had happened? Why had he called? Gin knew not to call her and had obeyed that request the entire time that she had been Ai Haibara! Quickly, she opened her voicemail and played the message he'd left her:
/Hey Sherry, it's me. I know I'm not supposed to call you, but I need to know what's going on with Kudo tonight. Please get back to me soon. Stay safe, love. Bye./
The message ended and Haibara stared blankly ahead with a growing sense of horror. He knew. Gin had somehow found out that something was going on last night and suspected Vermouth was involved. Nothing else would have made him desperate enough to disobey her request for him to not call her. Without a second's hesitation, she redialed his cell and chewed on her lower lip as she waited for him to pick up.
A click. "Sherry? Is that you?" Gin's voice asked.
"Yes! Yes, it's me!" she said with a relieved laugh. "I'm sorry I didn't answer earlier. I didn't have my phone on me. I only just got home and saw that you had called and left a message."
"My god, you're alive," he said and his voice sounded weak with relief.
Haibara's brow furrowed slightly. "Yes, I'm alive. Why would you…?" she faltered as a thought came to her unbidden. No. No, he couldn't possibly know that much, could he? "Why would you say something like that?" she finished uncertainly.
"I had a bad feeling about last night. Vermouth was on the move and I was suspicious, so I sent Vodka to keep tabs on this off-season Halloween party that took place last night, as I'm sure you're aware. Vermouth wasn't there and neither was Kudo. I called you on the slight chance that you would know if Kudo was setting a trap for the Organization or if there was something more serious afoot, but you didn't answer," his voice dropped to subzero. "I was there, Sherry. I was there, at your house, and you weren't. I broke in and found your phone. I saw you had been locked in that basement and I saw that you had broken out of it. Do you think I couldn't figure out what that meant?"
Haibara gulped, but didn't answer him. She had feared what he would do when he found out she was killed, but after her incredible survival, she'd hoped that meant he wouldn't even hear of her near-brush with death. The very lecture she'd hoped to avoid from Kudo, she was getting from Gin instead and it was worse, so much worse.
"Sherry… did you, or did you not, try to sacrifice your life to Vermouth to prevent her from hurting anyone else?" Gin demanded, his voice trembling with icy anger.
Haibara's eyes widened in shock. "How did you-?"
"-Vermouth was too injured from the fight that ensued to do anything more than escape and call for me to come get her," he snapped. "I did so and interrogated her on what happened last night under pain of death and she confessed what seemed to be the truth for once. Your reaction confirms that what she said was true. Damn it, Sherry, what the hell were you thinking?!"
Her temper flared up in an instant. "I was thinking I was trying to save Kudo from being killed by Vermouth!" she retorted. "Because unlike some people, I have issues with letting innocent people get killed on my behalf!" As soon as the words left her mouth, she instantly regretted them and she heard the line go dead quiet on the other end. "I'm sorry…" she whispered.
"Oh, are you?" Gin said coldly.
Desperation clawed at her insides. "Gin, I didn't mean it!"
"It didn't sound like it."
"Damn it, Gin, please!" she begged. "I'm sick, I'm emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted, I have a headache, and I nearly died last night! I'm not in my right mind and I just can't deal with this kind of thing right now."
Gin remained silent for several beats, but then he finally spoke and she heard the resigned weariness in his tone. "You don't get to make me promise to not get killed only to throw your own life away like it's nothing. You were Vermouth's only target last night. She had no intention of hurting anyone else, so your attempt to protect Kudo was a wasted effort."
The same shame she had felt last night coursed through her once more and she unhappily curled up around herself with the phone still pressed against her ear. Gin was upset with her and she had nearly died for nothing.
"Why don't you tell me what happened last night from your perspective?" Gin offered kindly after a moment's silence. "That way I can corroborate what Vermouth told me with the truth and start filling in the pieces of the story I'm sure she purposefully left out."
Haibara nodded weakly. "Okay," she said quietly and began to recount the events of last night that she had been witness to, including her escape from the basement and arriving at the scene by taxi. When she got to the part where Ran appeared out of the trunk and Calvados started shooting at her, he stopped her abruptly.
"Calvados? Calvados was there? For how long?"
"Uh, yes, he was there. I guess he was probably there from the very beginning, but I wasn't aware of him until Ran appeared," Haibara said.
"And you're sure he was shooting at Miss. Mouri and not something else?" he questioned.
She wanted to make a snippy comment along the lines of knowing how to tell what a shooter's intended target was, but she was too tired to follow through and the intensity of which Gin was asking her about Calvados was more worrying. "No, he was definitely aiming for Ran. Did Vermouth say he was shooting at something else instead?"
"Vermouth didn't even mention he was present," Gin said in a low voice.
An icy shiver ran down her spine. "What does that mean?" she asked.
"I'm not quite sure yet, but oftentimes what Vermouth doesn't say has far more significance than what she does."
"You're not aware of Calvados having any grudges against me, are you?"
"No, I think he was fairly indifferent to you, though he liked your spunk. I heard him jokingly comment once that if we weren't careful, you'd end up just like Chianti. I'll have to look into this matter. Please continue."
There wasn't much more left to tell after that, but she finished the rest of the story as she knew it anyway. She could tell Gin was thinking over everything she'd said. Calvados's involvement and his absence from Vermouth's retelling really bothered him.
"I might have more information later about what happened whenever I see Kudo again," she piped up. "He won't be able to tell me what happened at the very end when we were both unconscious, but he'll undoubtedly give me the details of what happened on his end because he'll want to know what happened on mine, and his new contact with one of the FBI agents may be able to help with the final piece of the fight that forced Vermouth to finally flee."
"Alright, I'll see if I can find out what's going on with Calvados and how he's involved in this mess."
"Just make sure you don't let slip that I'm your girlfriend," Haibara warned.
"I know better, don't worry about that. I suppose I'll be hearing from you sooner than usual then," he said.
"Yes, probably tomorrow if I have my way," she agreed.
"Oh, and one more thing. Vermouth mentioned that Kudo now knows the tones for 'that person's' phone number, but he doesn't know the significance of that connection yet, so don't be too surprised if he mentions it to you when you see him. Take care, Sherry."
"Take care, Gin, and… thank you for looking out for me," Haibara said softly.
"… I only wish I could do more. Goodbye," he said wearily and hung up.
"Bye..." she sighed and closed her phone with a loud snap.
What exactly is the significance of Calvados's involvement in the plot to kill Sherry? That will be revealed in the next chapter featuring the episode "Black Impact".
Also, I have no idea what Haibara actually used to unlock the basement door since I couldn't get a good look at the tool, so I just chose a screwdriver at random. Let's pretend that would actually work. :P