We Are the Men in Black

by Velgamidragon

AU inspired by DragonlordRynn's "Black". The Organization is secretly the Japanese branch of the Men in Black and APTX-4869 was intentionally made to shrink its victim. Kudo was shrunk for his own protection, and Sherry shrunk to protect Dr. Agasa and go into hiding. Vermouth was behaving suspiciously as of late, and Gin was determined to find out and expose her secret agenda.

7. Black Impact

Author's Note: Holy crap, this chapter is long, even by my standards: over 20,000 words and 40 pages on my word document! I'm legitimately shocked. I knew the episode 'Black Impact' was my favorite Black Organization moment and the episode was 2.5 hours (I think?), but I didn't realize it would get this long anyway!

I did something slightly different with this chapter. In all previous chapters, Gin and Sherry have been the only characters from whose perspectives this story has been told so far. For this chapter, since I had too many characters acting independently of one another that could offer some unique perspectives on this AU, I decided to let as many characters as I felt were necessary speak their minds. POV shifts follow all of my standard break symbols: '()()()()()'.

When writing this, I mostly followed the anime episode, but I also used some pieces and staging from the manga (there are only some slight differences). The episode is 425, "Black Impact! The Moment the Organization Reaches Out", and the last couple scenes take place just after "The Super Secret Road to School" (427-428) since they occurred about a week after the last run-in with the Organization.

---

Black Impact

Gin tapped idly against the steering wheel of his Porsche while he read over a bulleted list on a small strip of paper scribbled in his own handwriting. He glared at the last item then put the whole paper in the ash tray and set fire to it with the cigarette he had been smoking previously. He watched the flickering orange flames curl and wrinkle the paper until it was nothing more than ash, then sighed and propped his left arm against the door frame to gaze outside. The promised forecast of a torrential downpour in the evening had been unfortunately accurate and visibility outside was nearly zero. He was not looking forward to driving back home in this, not the least because heavy rain increased the likelihood of some idiot losing control of their car and crashing into his. Unfortunately, he had a meeting with someone tonight and it was important enough that it was not worth rescheduling due to inclement weather.

As a high-ranking operative of the Men in Black, he had an office in the Japanese headquarters, but he was hardly ever there. Excepting his rank, he was a field agent in every sense of the word, out on the frontlines ready to bring in any unruly aliens threatening the safety of humanity and the secrecy of the Organization. His car was more of an office than the empty, sterile room that had his codename on it.

The rain was pounding so heavily on the roof of his car that he almost didn't hear the sound of someone knocking on the opposite window. He glanced over and made out a figure dressed in a bright yellow raincoat that waved at him. Gin unlocked the passenger door and no sooner had he done so that the person in the yellow raincoat opened the door and slid neatly into the seat next to him. As soon as the door shut, the person next to him gasped and pulled back the hood. Long nearly-black hair pulled back into a ponytail shook free of the hood and the sharp-angled clear blue eyes of the Organization's CIA liaison stared at him with the heartfelt relief of a drowning person being saved. She looked like she could have been drowning. Even with the raincoat on, she was still completely soaked.

"Thank you so much," Kir breathed and flopped against the seat with a wet squelch that made him wince. "I couldn't find my umbrella anywhere as I was leaving work today. I think I must have left it at home, so I was glad I at least had the raincoat. Sorry that I'm getting the inside of your car all wet."

"Can't be helped," he grunted. "I need you for an assignment in about a week."

Kir turned her head lazily and glanced at him. "Alright, what kind of assignment?"

"The 'Black Organization' kind."

At this, Kir sat up straighter and her gaze sharpened with alert interest. "Oh? You've been given permission to create a scenario for Shinichi Kudo?"

"Yes, it's been long enough since his encounter with Vermouth that 'that person' agrees now would be a good time to create a situation of our own choosing for him to pursue without risking him interfering in true MiB matters."

"I see, and you want me to assist in this scenario?" she asked.

Gin nodded. "You already live and work in the Tokyo area as a news reporter; it would not be difficult to concoct a situation where he would be forced to interact with you."

"I see. Well then, who else will be involved in this scenario you have in mind?"

"Of the codenamed, myself and Vodka, naturally," he said, counting off members on his fingers. "Chianti, Korn… and Vermouth."

Kir's brow furrowed, but her eyes widened in surprise. "Vermouth? But wasn't she-?"

"-The one who attempted to kill Sherry and forced Calvados to commit suicide all in one night?" Gin interrupted bitterly. "Yeah, she is. I didn't want to, but 'that person' forced me to include her as a back-up plan."

When silence met his words, he glanced at Kir out of the corner of his eye. She looked troubled and he assumed it was about Vermouth's potential involvement. It was almost a wonder that Vermouth had stayed alive as long as she had with so many other women in the Organization disliking her.

"Don't worry," he reassured the CIA agent and squeezed her shoulder. "If she tries to get any more agents killed, I'll put a bullet in her first."

Kir gave him a small smile. "You're supposed to uphold the principles of lawful order and justice, not resort to criminal methods," she scolded lightly.

Gin shrugged and removed his hand. "I uphold the principles of alien lawful order and justice," he retorted. "By their standards, it's not criminal to preemptively eliminate a known fatal threat to that which you cherish."

Kir laughed slightly, "I'm afraid we will still continue to disagree on that score, Gin. You're fortunate 'that person' allows you as much leeway as he does."

"Only because I'm too skilled at what I do for him to be able to afford to get rid of me," Gin said.

"You're still fortunate. The American branch would never accept such behavior regardless," she said firmly.

Gin conceded the point. "Perhaps, but I'd just have to take your word on that, wouldn't I?"

"Indeed," Kir agreed with a smile. "Now what's involved in this plan of yours for Mr. Kudo?"

And so, under the cover of darkness and the pouring rain like thunder over their heads, Gin elaborated on the details of the plan he had concocted for Shinichi Kudo and filled Kir in on her specific role, for she had the difficult job of luring Kudo into their web without him realizing he'd stumbled across another member of the Black Organization on purpose.

By the time he'd finished telling her all the details, Kir's eyes were wide with awe. "Wow, you've really thought of everything for this plan, haven't you? I'm impressed," she said.

Gin gave her a wry smile and shook his head. "You haven't met Shinichi Kudo in-person yet. This level of thorough detail is necessary where he's concerned, otherwise he'll sniff out the weak thread in the yarn and expose us for what we truly are."

"Well, it's certainly a lot to take in. I'll see what I can do about getting Detective Mouri to the TV station. I'm certain that once he's there, I can arrange to meet him and prepare a setup for Mr. Kudo like you envision. Is there anything else you need from me this evening?" she asked.

"No, this will suffice. Remember, your role is the critical setup phase, but the scenario for everyone else begins at 10:00 AM next week on Saturday," Gin warned.

"Yes, I understand, and if it's not too much to ask, would you be able to drive me home since the rain doesn't look like it's going to let up any time soon?"

"Only if you don't complain about me smoking," he warned as he pulled a cigarette out of the pack with his teeth.

She eyed it with distaste while he turned on the car lighter. "As if I'm stupid enough to complain about your poor health choices when the alternative is being tossed out in that," she said with a sweep of her hand to indicate the downpour outside.

"Good enough," he muttered and lit the end of the cigarette. Kir made a face and coughed when he exhaled the smoke, but true to her word, she didn't complain about it.

He dropped her off at her apartment complex and she dashed out into the rain for the shelter of the building, visible as nothing more than a yellow blur. Ordinarily he preferred to wait and make sure people he was dropping off actually enter the place they were supposed to, but the weather made that impossible, so he drove off and started heading back home. Kir knew the most about the scenario because of the nature of her role, but he had not told her everything. There was one aspect of the plan he was playing very close to the vest that not even Vodka knew of. The last time that Kudo had faced off against the 'Black Organization', he'd come away from it exposing Vermouth, gaining contact with the FBI, and learning the tones for 'that person's' email. What they'd received in exchange was the FBI's increased interest in their movements in Japan and the loss of one of their own.

Suicide. Calvados had been present at the scene of Vermouth's dockside showdown with the FBI and Shinichi Kudo and she had completely failed to mention that when he interrogated her. It was only due to Kudo's new tentative connection with the FBI and Sherry's connection with him that they were able to learn what had become of Calvados. He had committed suicide after Vermouth had escaped the docks and blown up the car she'd originally arrived in, and Gin just couldn't stop thinking about it.

If the Organization really was a secret crime syndicate, then it would make perfect sense for him to commit suicide, but they weren't. They weren't a criminal organization and no cover story was worth someone's life to protect. There were so many other options he could have taken. He could have easily wiped the memories of the FBI agents to make them forget he was there before they tried to take him into custody, so why had he decided to kill himself instead? It didn't even fit with what he remembered about the man's personality. Gin hadn't known Calvados all that well, but Chianti and Korn had, and they had flat-out refused to believe Calvados had killed himself when he'd told them what happened to their partner. Chianti had screamed and sworn at him that Calvados would never ever commit suicide, to which Korn had agreed, though much less vocally. They were so adamant, in fact, that they convinced themselves instead that Vermouth had personally killed him herself before making her escape from the FBI.

While Gin was by no means in the same state of denial as Chianti and Korn about their partner's death, he couldn't deny that there was something irrevocably wrong about it, and the more he'd pondered over it, the more he'd wondered if Vermouth was somehow responsible for that wrongness. So along with giving Kudo something to do and testing the FBI's responses to their actions, he had designed another layer of the scenario as a test for Vermouth, because if Gin was forced to be completely honest with himself, Calvados's suicide threw up far more red flags than Vermouth's attempted murder of Sherry.

()()()()()

"Thanks for agreeing to come clothes shopping with me, Yoko. I'm sorry that I didn't give you much notice before springing it upon you," Kir said as she picked out a lavender blouse with a lace lining and held it up against her chest.

"It's fine, it's fine, Rena," the idol said with a laugh. "It's fun getting out and doing normal things like this. Besides, I hardly see you anymore since you switched to the Sunday Evening News, and- Oh!" Yoko's cheerful face had appeared from behind a rack of dresses and alighted on the shirt Kir was still holding up. "Rena, that looks so cute! You should definitely try it on!" she said excitedly.

"Really? You think so?" Kir asked, slightly bemused.

"Yes, definitely! In fact, you should try these on too!" she said, throwing another set of shirts and some skirts at her. "And while you're doing that, I'll try on these cute sundresses!"

Kir took a quick look at the dresses, both with long full skirts down to the knees and with various quantities of pink, and smiled gently at the multi-talented actress and singer. "I'm sure they'll look even more adorable with you wearing them, Yoko," she said sincerely and gestured to the back of the store with her head. "Come on, the changing rooms are this way."

She led the way to the back and they took the clothes they wanted to try on into their respective stalls. Kir set the clothes down on the bench then stood tall and closed her eyes, listening intently to the surrounding noises to determine if she and Yoko were the only ones in the changing room at the moment. She slowly opened her sharp-angled eyes. They were. She reached into the inside pocket of the jacket she wore and withdrew a shiny metal cylinder about 20 centimeters long (8 inches) with a black knob and a red light at the top. She stared at it loosely in her hand for a moment then closed her fingers around the device.

"Yoko, I somehow seem to have gotten my hair caught on one of these shirts and I can't get unstuck, could you come in here and help me out for a quick moment?" Kir called to her friend in the next stall over.

"Yes, absolutely, hold on," Yoko replied immediately.

Kir moved to stand at the back of the changing room and put on the sunglasses that had been in the same pocket as the cylindrical device. She turned the dial on it to the lowest setting, then held it up so that the red light faced away from her. She waited. As soon as Yoko's face pushed past the curtain and her eyes locked on the object in her hands, Kir pressed the button and a quick flash of bright light filled the changing room. The confused expression that had begun to appear on Yoko's face quickly faded away into a trance-like expression.

Kir took off the sunglasses and spoke to the susceptible Yoko with quiet, but unyielding authority, "I did not ask you to come into my changing room and help me with a shirt getting caught on my hair and you did not leave your own stall the entire time you've been in here. You decided you were only going to buy one of the sundresses you walked into the changing room with and after that, you were going to call Detective Kogoro Mouri to invite him to join you on Yoko Okino's 4 Minute Cooking Show on Morning Live 7 this Friday. I also just told you that I've been dealing with a bell-ringing prank every Saturday for the past two months."

The dazed look didn't leave Yoko's normally excited blue eyes, but she obediently marched back to her changing room without protest and Kir listened as Yoko put on one of the dresses she'd picked to try out. She repocketed the neuralyzer and the sunglasses in her jacket pocket and released a quiet sigh. She hoped it worked; the neuralyzer's primary function was memory erasure and the hypnotic state afterward was only a secondary effect. She would find out soon enough. While she waited for Yoko, she tried on the lavender blouse with the lace that she had originally picked out. It looked good on her, so she decided to buy it. Maybe she would even wear it on Friday when she met Detective Mouri.

She heard Yoko finishing up next door and decided not to try on the other clothes. Kir planned her exit from the changing room at the same time that Yoko left hers. Yoko still seemed a little dazed, but more like herself at least.

"Rena, are you all done too?" she asked.

"Yes, I decided to go with the lavender blouse I found; I thought the other clothes didn't really suit me all that well," she said with an apologetic smile for her friend.

"Aww, that's too bad," Yoko said. "I decided I'm going to buy this dress here!"

Somehow, Kir was not surprised that it was the one with the most pink in it. "I think that's an excellent choice, Yoko," she said.

"Thanks, Rena," Yoko beamed. "Oh, I just had a wonderful idea! Why don't I invite Detective Mouri to join me for my Cooking Show on Morning Live 7 this Friday! I'll call him right now!"

Kir watched in wide-eyed amazement as the pop star pulled out her phone and dialed Detective Mouri's phone number then overheard her invite him on the show for this Friday.

'Incredible!' she thought, 'The neuralyzers can be used to make people act on suggested directives. I wonder if Gin knows about this.'

Yoko snapped the phone shut, ending the conversation, and turned to Kir. "Good news, Rena, Detective Mouri said he could come. Since it's a national holiday, his daughter, Ran, and Conan might also come and I can introduce you to the three of them."

"Oh, Yoko, there's really no need for that," Kir said with a slight wave of her hand.

"No, I insist. Detective Mouri's really quite the gentleman. Besides, it would be the perfect time to ask him about that bell-ringing prank you told me about. I can't believe you didn't tell anyone about it sooner, Rena!" she scolded, though the attempt was rather cute coming from her.

Kir sweat-dropped. She had a feeling she might regret planting that idea into Yoko's brain more than anything else. Yes, someone had been ringing her bell for the past two months, but nothing more had come of it, so she wasn't too worried. Oh well. At least she'd only have to deal with Yoko's kind-natured persistence of the matter until the end of the week.

()()()()()

"Aniki, are you sure about this?" Vodka asked as he followed slightly behind his partner down one of the many darkly-lit hallways in the basement levels of headquarters.

"Of course," Gin replied. "The room was booked by Kinta Chinro. It's an anagram of 'Chianti' and 'Korn' combined. It's the name they use when they don't want anyone to know what they're doing. The other evidence is that they checked out the required equipment under the same name for a time period that overlaps with the time the room is currently unavailable."

"But how did you figure this out? I wouldn't have thought you cared enough about their movements to investigate this deeply."

Gin turned slightly and Vodka was just barely able to make out his partner's smirk in the dark. "I didn't. Sherry told me about it in passing once. For being a loud-mouthed, domineering, vulgar woman, Chianti's surprisingly fond of Sherry and let her in on the secret one day."

"And I guess Chianti didn't tell her to keep it to herself?"

"Nope."

As they approached the balcony-like open platform at the end of the hallway that looked out onto the light interactive virtual reality space, Vodka snickered to himself. "Who'd have ever thought Chianti and Korn would be such huge gaming nerds?"

Gin stuck his hands in his coat pockets and walked out onto the platform. "In hindsight, it's not that surprising," he said, looking up.

Vodka followed his line of sight and saw two raised cranes in the center of the room with two platforms carrying one person wielding a sniper rifle on each. Chianti was picking up her weapon of choice from where it had been resting against the rail and the VR environmental simulation technology instantly created a vast cityscape in full night. There was even a moderately strong, chilly breeze blowing through the VR space. Vodka let out an impressed whistle. This was much more advanced than the moving plastic cutouts and flashing spotlights he'd faced in the Men in Black agent recruitment tests. He looked down and saw that Chianti was aiming her rifle at a suited old man on a fast-moving train. She fired and in a single instant, the virtual bullet pierced the window and struck the target in the head. He slumped forward and even the book he was reading tumbled to the ground from his hands.

"600 yards, clear," Chianti said after raising her weapon and the cityscape instantly vanished. "Alright, Korn, 650 yards is next. Think you can do it?"

"Yes," Korn said and raised his rifle to his eyes.

Once again, the VR tech activated and this time, the VR space was in a stadium complete with blazing white lights and screaming crowds. The giant tuning forks at the ends of the field and the helmeted players with large shoulder pads told Vodka that it was an American football game and he looked around to find the target. He wasn't really sure what kind of game Chianti and Korn were playing, but he guessed they were taking turns shooting the same guy at increasingly-longer distances to see who could shoot him the farthest. Vodka eventually found the same suited old man from before sitting in the top box seats. Those were incredibly expensive and there were even some men in black suits with dark sunglasses nearby. Had they intentionally chosen for their victim to be a high-profile target or had it been randomized? Korn shot, but missed the target by several inches, the bullet leaving a smoking hole in the chair just to the left of his ear.

Korn looked surprised, which probably meant he was flabbergasted if he was showing that much emotion and Chianti laughed loudly. "Too bad. I'll clear it," she said smugly and raised her rifle to take a turn at the target again. "This win's mine."

She took a brief moment to find the target in her scope and he saw her smirk in the brighter lighting. "Heh, I got it," she said and fired.

Her shot went further astray than Korn's. It went even further to the left than Korn's had flown to the right and wasn't even in-line with the target's head. In fact, it flew so low, the bullet caught the popcorn container on the arm of the chair instead. Chianti stared at the spot she'd hit in surprise, much like Korn had, then clicked her tongue in annoyance at the miss. The stadium disappeared and a flat neon screen appeared before them with their respective scores. Chianti appeared to have won that game since she had the most points.

"So how many times did you kill that one man?" Gin suddenly called out to the two of them.

Korn stiffened like a board while Chianti shrieked and whirled around. "You!" she exclaimed, pointing at Gin, "What the fuck- No, why the fuck are you two here?!"

"I could care less about blackmailing you over your gaming hobby, if that's what you're worried about," Gin said wearily, forestalling any preemptive accusations on Chianti's part. "We'll be waiting for you two in the VR generator room. There's work to do."

Gin turned on his heel to walk back out and Vodka followed after him. Once they were back in the dark hallway, Vodka muttered, "There's a separate VR generator room?"

"Of course," Gin said. "The light fixtures have to be present directly in the room to be effective, but the rest of it, the sounds, smells, and weather patterns are all generated from elsewhere."

"Oh. I'm glad you know all this random important stuff, Aniki," he said, smiling at Gin.

"Hmph, the curse of a mind that has a tendency to remember the most random and obscure facts," Gin muttered and they continued walking down the hallway, but turned left into a side passage. The end of that short stretch of hallway led to a staircase.

Like the rest of the hall, the stairwell was incredibly dark, especially with his sunglasses still on. The footlights at the ends of each step were the only reason Vodka didn't misstep and knock into Gin. "Are the lights just not working in this area or did headquarters forget to install the rest of them?" Vodka groused as they descended further and further down.

"Neither. Since this section of headquarters is not a high-traffic area, they only installed a minimal amount of lighting for the people that do come down here," Gin said, his tone annoyed.

"Heh, what do you know; a secret alien immigration headquarters being stingy about saving money on electricity," Vodka muttered in amusement. "If these basement levels don't scream 'perfect illegal alien hiding place', then I don't know what will."

"Well, in the event of an infiltration, the basement levels are supposed to be sealed off so no one can get in or out, but as far as how effective they would be against a true alien infiltration, that hasn't been tested yet," Gin said.

They finally reached the bottom of the stairwell and Gin opened the door which led out into a room so much brighter than the one they'd just been in that Vodka had to squint his eyes, even with the sunglasses on. There were only two directions to go: left or right. The end of the left fork had a door with a sign that said 'Virtual Reality Room' and the door at the end of the right fork had a sign that said 'Virtual Reality Equipment and Generator Room: Authorized Personnel Only'. They turned right and pushed open the door. Chianti and Korn were already sitting in chairs next to each other waiting for them. Chianti had both her arms and legs crossed and Korn had his hands clasped together resting on his knees.

Chianti smirked at them upon arrival. "Hmph, took you two long enough. Did you get lost getting down here or something?"

To no surprise of Vodka's, Gin didn't respond to Chianti's baiting remark and instead took a seat in one of the chair's opposite her and Korn. Vodka dragged a fourth closer and sat down next to his partner.

"I'm recruiting the both of you for a 'Black Organization' mission this Saturday," Gin said to the two sharpshooters without preamble.

That got their interest immediately. "Ooh, sounds exciting!" Chianti said. "Who else are you recruiting? I assume you're orchestrating this and Vodka will also be involved."

Gin nodded once. "Correct. Kir will also be joining us for this mission."

Vodka frowned slightly and glanced at Gin, but his partner didn't seem inclined to say more. He resumed looking at the sniper pair, neither of which seemed to have noticed his distracted lapse in concentration.

Chianti hummed thoughtfully, but surprisingly, it was Korn who spoke first for once. "I like Kir," he said quietly.

"Yeah, I like her too. She does good work. She's a little too gentle for my tastes, but she's got a backbone and isn't a stuck-up bitch, not like that damn Vermouth," Chianti agreed, and a snarl distorted her voice when she said Vermouth's name. "Oh, what about Sherry? She's right there on the scene with this Kudo kid all the time; is she going to be helping us too?"

"No, Sherry may end up being a spectator and will assist with damage control where she can once she knows we're up to something, but she won't have an active role in this mission," Gin said.

"Oh, come on!" Chianti groaned and threw her head back. "I finally get to help with a 'Black Organization' mission and I don't even get to see my girl, Sherry? Ugh, what kind of bullshit is this?"

"This is not the time to play around, and Sherry is on a very important mission assigned to her by 'that person' which takes precedence over all other assignments," Gin said icily.

"Tch, kill joy," Chianti muttered. "So? What are Korn and I going to be doing in this fake mission of yours?"

"You and Korn will be the snipers set in place to eliminate a target that would potentially pose a future 'threat' to the Black Organization. It will be Kir's job to lead the target to the assassination spot, but she will be unsuccessful because Kudo will prevent us from killing the target," Gin explained.

"Well, that doesn't sound so bad," Chianti said with a grin.

"It won't as long as you play your role convincingly," Gin warned. "Kir will be bugged with a microphone and a transmitter from the very beginning of the mission, so Kudo will hear everything we say. He will be suspicious of anything strange that comes out of our mouths, especially if they don't match his preconceived notion of us."

"Just pretend that this mission is another one of your sniper simulation games, and you should be fine," Vodka said with a smirk.

Korn blushed red and Chianti scowled darkly at him. She turned back to Gin with a huff. "Fine, we're in. When is it?"

"This Saturday at 10:00 AM in Haido City in Tokyo. I'll give you the exact meeting location at a later date when I've arranged it. We'll see you both then," Gin said and stood up. Vodka stood up too.

"You got it, boss," Chianti said with a mocking salute to his back.

As soon as they left the VR generator room, Vodka said, "You didn't tell them about Vermouth?"

"I have no choice in the matter about Vermouth, but I need Chianti and Korn for this. There's no point in antagonizing them this early on. Chianti's going to bitch at me about Vermouth's involvement anyway, so I might as well delay it as long as possible," Gin said wearily.

Halfway up the dark stairs, another question sprang to mind. "Aniki, does Chianti have a crush on Sherry?"

Vodka promptly ran into something solid in the darkness and realized a second later that the 'something' was Gin. His partner had stopped mid-stride on the stairs. "Does it matter if she does?" Gin growled through gritted teeth

Vodka couldn't see Gin's face, but he didn't need to in order to imagine the death glare being sent his way right now. "No…" he said slowly.

"Correct," Gin said in that same icy tone. Vodka was certain he wasn't imagining the new heaviness to Gin's step as he finished going up the stairs and walked out onto the landing. Truthfully, Vodka had no idea if Chianti had a crush on Sherry or even liked women in that way, but because so few people in the Men in Black knew Gin and Sherry were in a relationship, it was fun watching Gin try to hide his jealousy over anyone of either sex expressing too much interest in her.

()()()()()

Gin didn't want to do this. He really didn't want to do this. He did not want to have to call Vermouth and tell her to come along on this assignment. He didn't want her coming in the first place and had put off the call for three days already. However, since he had to, he'd rather call her than meet up with her in-person. It was less time that he would have to spend dealing with her and once he hung up, she would be gone. He wouldn't have to try and figure out a way to shake her off and prevent her from following him into his car, because she liked to do stuff like that to annoy him, even before he'd met Sherry. She just got even bolder about throwing herself at him after she'd figured out about his relationship with Sherry.

Resigned to the fact that this phone call would not get any easier the longer he put it off, he snatched up his phone from his car's dashboard before he talked himself out of it again and reluctantly dialed her cell.

"Oh, Gin, this is an unexpected call from you. You don't usually call unless you need something from me," Vermouth said, her voice dipping down into a seductive tone.

Gin's mood worsened in an instant. "'That person' requires you to assist me in a mission that will take place this Saturday at 10:00 AM. He feels it's been long enough since Kudo faced off against you that we can invent a new Black Organization scenario for him to chase," he said sharply.

"All work and no play; it's no wonder you're always so uptight and brooding. A good rough tumble in the sheets would do you some good, but I suppose your girl's too young for that at the moment. Such a shame you're so unwilling to compromise your morals for a little fun on the side," Vermouth said with a remorseful sigh. Gin's eye twitched. "And? What am I expected to do?"

"You will do nothing during Plan A except wait at Haido Park for it to fail, but for Plan B, you will need to disguise as Desankai's Kiriko Busujima."

"Alright, but aren't you at least going to tell me why?" Vermouth asked. Her tone was a little snippier than usual as she said it.

He smirked briefly. "You don't need to know that until we need to put the plan into action. Just know what Kiriko Busujima looks like and that Kir will be bugged with a microphone and transmitter, so Kudo will hear every word we say. You're a famous actress, so pulling off something like this should be no trouble for you."

"Very true," Vermouth agreed unabashedly. "Apart from myself, will this mission just include you, Vodka, and Kir?"

"No, Chianti and Korn will also be present."

"Oh ho, well that should make things interesting!" she said with a laugh. "Of course, I expect you to pick me up to take me to the meeting location on Saturday since I no longer have a car of my own after it exploded."

Gin highly doubted this since it had been too long for her to have not gotten one, but arguing would just keep him on the phone with her longer. Besides, if she was forced to travel in his car with him, he could better control her movements and keep a closer eye on her. "Fine. Remember, 10:00 AM this Saturday," he grunted.

"I'm looking forward to it," she said liltingly and Gin hung up on her before she could say anything else to infuriate him.

With a heavy sigh, he flopped backwards against the seat and stared blankly up at the ceiling through his long bangs. Damn that woman; talking with her always tired him out and he was already automatically reaching for the cigarettes he kept in his coat pocket. Well, this Saturday would hopefully give him more useful information on how to deal with her and figure out what her end game was. Maybe he'd even receive some insight into why Calvados had decided suicide was his best option for escape.

()()()()()

Saturday had arrived bright and early for Kir that morning and though she had not been worried about the doorbell-ringing prank, she was surprised to learn the culprit was a little boy and was impressed by the deductive reasoning of the other little boy: the one who called himself Conan Edogawa. He had an incredibly sharp mind and it very much reminded her of Gin. No wonder he was the designated mastermind of this elaborate ruse and Shinichi's personal enemy. Possibly Bourbon was the only other person capable of a battle of wits with this shrunken teenaged detective. Well, Rum and 'that person' might be able to as well, but she didn't know them well enough and they were far too busy running the Organization to indulge in something so trivial.

She left her apartment, locking the door behind her and started scanning the area. Gin had told her that Shinichi had a combined microphone and transmitter and it was very likely he had used it due to the nature of this case she had Detective Mouri investigate. She had noticed Conan walk back out of her apartment to the front door early yesterday afternoon and she had not seen him hang around long enough to have taken it back. If he had just left the transmitter behind, that would make her job much easier. Her eyes finally alighted upon a small circular white thing on the ground and she stooped down to pick it up. It was sticky, like gum, but gently pulling it apart, she found it: both the microphone and transmitter wrapped inside, just as she'd hoped. She sighed in quiet relief so as not to be overheard, then took off one of her shoes and stuck it to the bottom as if she'd just accidentally stepped on it when leaving her apartment. She put the shoe back on and started the walk to her car in the parking garage.

Everything was falling neatly into place. She was now bugged with Conan's transmitter and she'd noticed some of the FBI agents hanging out near her apartment for the past several days. All that was left to do now was lure Conan to her with both the promise and the threat of the Black Organization. Then the setup would be complete and the true scenario would finally begin.

Once Kir was in the parking garage, she turned on her phone and dialed the number for 'that person's' email to the tone of 'Seven Children'. Gin had also told her Conan knew what those notes meant and he would understand the hint. She sent a quick email to 'that person' informing him that the Black Organization scenario for Shinichi Kudo was about to begin and everything was working according to Gin's master plan so far. She had just finished sending the mail when her phone rang on vibrate. A quick glance at the number told her it was Gin calling. Right on time.

She answered it and brought the phone to her ear. "Yes?"

"I've been trying to get a hold of you for the past five minutes now. You're cutting it close," Gin said reproachfully.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I had a bit of trouble, so I turned off the cellphone," she explained.

"Everything alright?"

"It's fine, it was some ridiculous trouble. I just sent a mail to 'that person' about it," she said.

"Ohh? So everything went off without a hitch regarding the bait for Kudo and the FBI?" he asked with sudden interest.

Kir couldn't help the smirk that crossed her lips. She could understand a little bit of why Gin enjoyed this game of cat and mouse with Shinichi. It was kinda fun pretending to be the bad guy when the other player didn't even know they were playing a game. "Yeah, there's no problem. Let's meet at 10 o'clock as promised… Gin."

()()()()()

"Eh?! Really, is that for real, Shinichi?" Dr. Agasa suddenly exclaimed.

Haibara stopped what she was doing and stared at him. She had been continuing her work on developing an antidote for APTX-4869 when the phone had started ringing and Dr. Agasa had answered. Well, he could be pretty excitable sometimes and controlling the volume output in a highly-emotional situation was not an easy thing to do with a mechanical body. It had nothing to do with her, so she turned back to the screen and continued scanning through the list of elements and chemical reactions that had been useful to her when developing the original drug.

Not a minute later though, the Professor's voice went suddenly quiet and he was whispering on the phone with Kudo. She looked back over at him and frowned slightly. What were he and Kudo discussing? The conversation didn't last much longer than that, to no surprise of hers. Kudo had a horrible habit of hanging up on people as soon as he was done, but before they were finished with him. It was incredibly rude and she'd love to smack him for it sometime.

Dr. Agasa ended the call on his end and she was just about to ask him what Kudo had been talking about when he turned to her and said, "Shinichi found another of the Men in Black in Haido City."

"What? But how?" she blurted out in shock before she could stop herself.

Dr. Agasa shook his head in bewilderment. "He didn't say, only that he found them by 'scary coincidence'. I think he somehow stumbled across them by accident."

Haibara crossed her arms and hummed thoughtfully. "Could be…" she agreed. "Or it could be that this is a scenario planned out for him by the Organization to make him think he accidentally found one of them. Because Kudo is determined to bring them down, there have apparently been a couple times when his interference has nearly gotten in the way of real MiB matters. My lover mentioned to me that they were going to start inventing scenarios for him that were planned to give him a lead to chase and keep him on his toes. They're supposed to make him feel like he's making real progress towards bringing down the Organization and recovering his original form, even if he doesn't actually end up getting anything too important out of them."

"I see. That makes sense," Dr. Agasa said slowly.

Haibara fixed him with a stern look. "Well? What does Kudo want you for?"

"Oh that. Shinichi wants me to pick him up in Haido City so that he can follow the new member he's found. He also told me not to tell you anything about this," he added with a nervous laugh.

Haibara rolled her eyes. "Of course he did. Well, let's go help maintain the Organization's cover and assist that case-happy fool however we can," she said briskly and walked over to the coat stand next to the front door to grab her coat.

"Oi, Ai, wait for me," the Professor said and hurried to follow after her.

()()()()()

This was impossible. It had always been so, but only now, as Kir stood in Haido Park with Mr. Domon surrounded by fans on an overcast day waiting to interview him in order to lead him into a supposed ambush, was she beginning to realize it. Conan was skilled and brilliant, but even she had to admit that he wasn't on par with Gin. His resolution of the bell-ringer prank was well-done, but this scenario was on a whole different level. From the hints they'd given him at the 10 o'clock meeting in the parking garage, he might be able to figure out the location of the fake assassination, but Kir couldn't see how he was supposed to figure out who DJ was or how to stop them in such a way that it wasn't obvious the Organization was thwarted by a person. She feared Gin may have overestimated their young opponent's abilities.

"What's wrong, Kir? Make DJ sit soon," Gin said over the ear piece.

Why? To prove that nothing would happen to him? Kir closed her eyes in frustration. This scenario relied on Conan's actions to move it forward otherwise it came to a standstill, like pausing a video game. The game couldn't continue if the player hadn't reached that stage yet.

"Kir?"

Kir opened her eyes again, staring resolutely ahead. She had to trust Gin. He knew how Shinichi Kudo worked better than anyone else on this mission and he might have some critical piece of information that assured him of Shinichi's presence in the area. He was the game master of this scenario and she was the NPC.

She approached her interviewee. "Mr. Domon, can we start the interview soon?" she asked.

Mr. Domon smiled at her. "Yes, I agree," he said and he led the way to the bench she had indicated earlier right before she had tried to stall for time.

'Gin, if you have a trump card up your sleeve to resolve this situation, now would be a good time to either play it yourself or let me know what it is,' Kir thought desperately as she watched Mr. Domon walk ahead of her.

She was just beginning to wonder if she'd have to end up carrying through with the interview after all when she heard a loud popping sound followed by rushing water and she snapped her head around to find the source. One of the sprinklers was gushing water straight up at least three meters high when she heard the same popping noise and another sprinkler was spouting water in the exact same fashion. She stared bewildered at the two broken sprinklers. One malfunctioning all of a sudden was not unheard of, but two at the same time was too much of a coincidence. No sooner had Kir thought that when she saw a woman with short blond hair and glasses, holding a gun with a silencer attached, dart across the park's path from one stretch of trees to the other.

"Good, the FBI made it," Gin said so suddenly in such a quiet voice, she startled. She'd forgotten she was still wearing the earpiece and he answered her unspoken queries anyway, "That woman is popping open the sprinklers with her gun to make them shoot water into the air. When the water falls back down to the ground, people will think it's raining and put up their umbrellas, which neatly prevents us from being able to carry through with the assassination attempt in the park."

Kir internally sighed with relief and tapped the edge of the camera pin on her chest twice to thank Gin for the explanation without giving herself away to Conan.

Gin's next words were broadcasted to the entire group, "Chianti, Kir, Korn, retreat for now. I'll be waiting at the next place an hour later."

That meant she had an hour to make her excuses to leave the rest of the interview crew behind and then find her way to the meeting location for the next stage of the plan. She opened up her umbrella and turned back to face Mr. Domon.

"It can't be helped," he said, looking up first at the cloudy, overcast sky above, then back at her. "Let's do the interview at the park gazebo?" he suggested.

"Sure," she agreed.

"Well, let's go."

He had barely started walking when one of his supporters came up to him. "Um, can we follow too?" she asked with breathless excitement.

"Yes, of course," he said with a kind smile.

"Then I'll go!" said a young man.

"Me too!" another woman said.

Out of nowhere, Kir found herself surrounded by a swarm of running, excited Domon supporters. In the confusion and chaos, she tripped forward and lost her shoe, the one that had Conan's microphone and transmitter, and it was accidentally kicked further away from her by the running crowd. She tried to retrieve it, but she was fighting against the current and people kept knocking into her shoulders, buffeting her around like a kite in the wind. Far from just needing to get her shoe back to be able to walk around, she needed to reach it before Conan did. She did not need to have Gin's or Bourbon's brilliance to know that he would remove the microphone and transmitter as soon as he got the opportunity to, but she couldn't let him do that yet. There was still another part of the scenario that he needed to participate in. She finally managed to grab her shoe at the same time that another, much smaller hand closed around it. They'd reached for it simultaneously and they both stared at each other in shock. This… this was not part of the plan. Somehow, in all of the prep work she'd done in the preceding week, she had not thought to discuss with Gin what she should do if she met Conan halfway through the scenario.

Kir's mind was racing hard and fast. 'Think Hidemi, you're a CIA agent working as a liaison for the Japanese branch of the Men in Black, and right now pretending to work for a secret crime organization. You should be able to figure out how to handle this situation."

What did she know and what did she need to do? She couldn't blow the Organization's cover and she needed to prevent Conan from removing the microphone and transmitter. He was a very smart kid, and very much like Gin and Bourbon in that respect. Both men had a keen sense of being able to detect when something was wrong and she assumed it was the same with Conan. While that was excellent for problem-solving, it also resulted in one important weakness: distraction. Gin's words from a week ago came back to her regarding Shinichi's ability to find the weak link in a story and unravel the truth, but she wouldn't give him enough information for him to able to learn the truth about the Organization or her job. Either way, she would want to know why Conan was here at the park now. Kir removed the ear piece and fell back on her CIA training.

She brought her hand up to Conan's neck and lightly pressed her fingers against it until she felt his pulse. It was a little faster than normal, undoubtedly because he'd been found by a member of the Black Organization. "Perhaps… you followed me?" she asked.

()()()()()

As soon as they had entered the parking lot, Haibara had wasted no time in locating Gin's car. It wasn't hard because Dr. Agasa had stupidly stopped right behind the black Porsche to let Conan and Jodie out. She'd have thought Kudo would have a bit more care about not drawing the attention of the man who'd supposedly tried to kill him, but she let it slide without comment. He wasn't in any true danger, but she'd grilled Dr. Agasa about it after the door had slammed shut. To make it up to her, he chose a parking spot close enough for her to still see her associate's car.

Her ire appeased, she stared fixedly at the vintage car, her gaze unwavering. Gin was there, conducting this scenario – she was certain that's what it was – with the patience of a chess master. He knew what Dr. Agasa's car looked like, but he was probably too engrossed in directing people and preparing for Kudo's moves to have noticed the Beetle's arrival. She laid her hand palm-flat against the glass.

But he may have noticed. Did he know she was here too? That this was the closest they had physically been to each other since the first and only time she had taken her prototype antidote? Wouldn't he get out of his car, mission be damned, and sweep her into his arms if he knew how close she was? Haibara sighed at this last thought and shook her head. That was just her romantic fantasy talking. Gin would never forsake the success of a mission like that. It was not in his nature, no matter how much he loved her, and she admired that. She could very easily get out of the Beetle herself and walk over to him in his car, but she didn't dare. It was better that he didn't know she was so close by. He loved her, but her presence would distract him and he would not appreciate the loss of focus on such a sensitive operation. She assumed Kudo had managed to thwart Gin's assassination scheme as planned when she heard the engine's distinctive noise start up and she watched it leave the parking lot, thinking longingly of her fair-haired lover and wishing she could have seen him, maybe after having taken the prototype antidote again. It was a nice fantasy for sure.

()()()()()

Kir was not surprised to find that she was the last of the group to arrive at the dark, empty warehouse they had agreed to meet at in order to stage the next part of the operation.

"There she is: the woman of the hour! Well done, Kir!" Chianti said loudly and ran over to her, throwing her arm around her shoulders.

"Chianti, please! I'm still-!"

"It's alright, Gin said we're too far away for the microphone to be able to pick up our voices yet. He reckons we've got about ten minutes before we have to start acting like criminals again," Chianti said reassuringly.

"Is that so?" Kir asked, looking over at the man in question. Gin nodded.

Korn came over too and laid one of his hands on the top of her head. "You did good," he said quietly.

Chianti laughed. "See? There's no higher praise than that from Korn."

Kir felt herself becoming both embarrassed and flustered. They were making such a big deal out of this! "But I didn't do anything all that special," she tried to say.

"Nah, but you managed to lure Kudo to us and enabled him to thwart the first page of the assassination plan without a hitch. I'd take the credit where credit is due, Kir," said Vodka.

"But it didn't go without a hitch!" Kir protested, unable to take the praise she didn't deserve and stepped away from Chianti towards Gin. "After you called off the assassination and turned off the video feed, I lost my shoe with the transmitter and ended up meeting Conan there at the park."

Gin's green eyes sharpened instantly. "What happened?" he demanded.

"By coincidence, we had both grabbed my shoe at the exact same time. I knew he was going to take the gum off and knew I somehow had to stop him from doing so while maintaining the Men in Black's cover and protecting my job. I reasoned that if he's as brilliant as you say he is, then distracting him intellectually would be my best option," she explained.

His eyes narrowed and the corner of his mouth twitched sideways. "And how exactly did you do that?"

"Well, I put my fingers against his neck to feel his pulse, just as I was taught by the CIA…" she showed him on herself. "And I asked him if he followed me. I could feel his pulse change when he lied to me, but I pretended to let it slide and thanked him for picking up my shoe. He didn't try to follow me or get the shoe back, so I think I was successful. I know using that technique from the CIA was risky, but I don't think he'd be able to figure out I'm a CIA agent just from that one instance, so I think it's safe."

"No, that wasn't the first time," he said. "I couldn't say anything about it at the time, but earlier when we were all meeting in the parking garage this morning, you said 'Our contribution will never come to light, but our failure will be noticed immediately'. That's a paraphrase of a CIA saying, is it not?"

"I… Did I say that?" she said uncertainly.

Gin stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned against his Porsche. "If you had only said that, he would never figure it out from that alone, but when you decided to use that lie-testing technique, that phrase will only serve to confirm his theory later if the idea comes into his head that you work for the CIA."

"Wait, so are you saying that this Kudo kid now knows our Kir is a CIA agent?" Chianti demanded. She had moved forward to stand beside her again.

"No, we're safe for now," Gin said with a shake of his head. "Kudo is too preoccupied at the moment with trying to stop the second phase of the assassination plan to spend any extra time puzzling out the origin of Kir's training. However, we should not be surprised in the future if Kudo eventually discovers Kir is a CIA agent."

"I'm sorry, Gin. I didn't mean to give him so much information, I-" she said, trying to apologize, but Gin cut her off with a look and a sharp wave of his hand.

"Don't worry about it, Kir, we'll adapt as we always do. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine for not planning on an unexpected encounter with the kid. You did what you had to to get yourself out of there and you were successful. Even if he does find out you're a CIA agent, he still won't know we're an alien enforcement agency."

"Man, this detective brat is a headache," Chianti groaned and returned to her own car, sitting on the hood of the blue Dodge Viper. "Why couldn't Sherry have picked somebody a little less smart to do this job? He seems to learn something new that we don't want him to every time that he encounters us."

"You can't complain that he's not tenacious," Korn offered and moved forward to join Chianti by the car.

Chianti huffed, unable to disagree with his statement. "Yeah, I guess not. It's frustrating though and we haven't even been involved in this since the beginning like those two." She gestured to Gin and Vodka.

"Hey, where's Vermouth? Is she not with you guys?" Kir asked suddenly once she realized why she felt like their numbers were short.

Chianti scoffed, but Gin answered, "She left to go get prepared for the second phase of the plan. She'll be back shortly. Speaking of which, I have clothes in my car for you to change into that will be more comfortable and more appropriate than what you're wearing now."

Kir raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh? You know how to choose clothes for a woman that will fit her, Gin?"

He offered her a knowing smirk. "You'd be surprised what I know."

"Probably, but where am I going to get changed? There don't appear to be any good hiding places in here," she said, looking around at the bare walls and empty corners.

"You can get changed in my car," he offered.

His words were met with an instant uproar.

"What?! That's really your best suggestion?!" Kir gaped in disbelief.

"The hell she will, you fucking pervert, your windows aren't even tinted!" Chianti screeched. Ironically, she seemed more furious about the idea than Kir herself.

"Aniki, I don't think that's a good idea," Vodka muttered, looking distinctly uncomfortable, though that may have been more because Chianti looked ready to claw someone's eyes out.

Gin showed no reaction to any of the outbursts and faced Kir squarely. "The only light in this warehouse is from the sunlight filtering from outside through the door and some holes in the roof. Tinting of the windows, or lack of, won't make much of a difference in this particular environment. The cars are the only hiding places in this whole empty warehouse and are more comfortable and protected. As for the difference between my car and Chianti's, I don't care which one you choose, but I assure you I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in watching you get changed and Vodka gets too easily embarrassed by women he knows to even dare consider it."

Vodka looked flustered at his partner's blunt words, but didn't make any attempt to deny them. "Fine, I guess it doesn't matter," Kir said with a huff and walked straight towards Gin. She stood in front of him and met his unflinching gaze through those thick blond bangs of his. "However, once I'm in there getting dressed, I expect you and Vodka to be standing in front of the window with your backs turned. No peeking, you promise?"

"Don't worry, Kir. If they try, I'll just kick their heads in for you," Chianti reassured her before Gin could get a word out.

"That won't be necessary, but it's a reasonable request," Gin said without taking his eyes off her. "Just know that by the time you come out, Kudo will likely be close enough again to overhear us, so don't say anything out of character."

"Understood," she said.

Gin opened the driver's side door for her and Kir slipped into the backseat where she found a bag with a one-piece bike suit. She quickly checked the tag for the size and held it up to her chest to measure the waist and length of the arms. She gave a soft hum of appreciation. It actually did seem like it would fit her. She glanced out the car window and saw both Gin's ash-blond hair and Vodka's large form next to him right in her line of vision, standing in front of the window with their backs to her just as she'd requested, and she couldn't see Chianti or Korn. Without another moment's hesitation, she started stripping off her interview clothes to get dressed for the next phase of the plan.

()()()()()

Vodka unfolded a local map of the area on top of Chianti's car and Gin brought the two snipers over to look at it from around his shoulder. "Korn will be here and Chianti will be positioned here," he said, tapping two different locations on the paper. "But if you want to switch, I'll leave that up to you two."

"We're counting on you two!" Vodka said far too cheerfully.

Chianti and Korn seemed to immediately engage in a shockingly silent argument over who would have which location, but Gin was only half paying attention to it. His main focus had instead wandered to the two women standing just behind his car, namely the secretive blond one that now had a major role to play in this plan.

"Where's my bike?" Kir asked Vermouth.

"Ah, it's behind that container," Vermouth answered, gesturing to the location with her thumb.

"Thanks, let's meet up again at Bein B," said Kir and she started walking in that direction to retrieve it.

"Hey, Kir…" Vermouth said suddenly and rather quietly. Kir turned to face her and Gin remained still. "You're not…" She knocked twice on the motorcycle's speedometer. "This, right?"

Gin's eyes widened in shock for a moment and then he glared at Vermouth out of the corner of his eye. What the hell was she doing asking that and within the microphone's hearing range too? Kir too, seemed stunned by the question. "Don't be stupid, of course not," she said flatly and resumed walking back to the container to retrieve her motorcycle for the mission.

Vermouth watched her and then turned back to the front, but Gin didn't let her catch him staring angrily at her. If calling her out right now wouldn't land him in even more of a tangled mess than he already was, he'd do so in a heartbeat. Kir had slipped up in the initial meeting and then been forced to act according to how she saw fit when she ran into Kudo an hour ago, but it had not been her intention to give the young detective hints that she was a CIA agent. It was not necessary for him to know, but there was nothing they could do if he figured it out from the two clues Kir had given him. Vermouth's completely unnecessary question was like a big billboard in flashing neon lights declaring 'Hey, there's something strange about Kir! Please pay attention to her and figure out what it means!' Fucking hell, it wasn't even a cleverly-disguised way of asking if Kir was a NOC, just a play on words! He swore, if Kudo found out Kir was a CIA agent because of Vermouth's stupid question, he was going to strangle her, and he was at least 75% serious about following through with it.

Vermouth revved up the engine of her motorcycle and straightened out to leave the warehouse. "Well, I'll go on ahead," she called. "If something happens, try to give me some good support coverage, okay? Something about this assassination plot feels wrong."

Screw it, he was going to strangle her now and silence that wicked tongue of hers before she could continue spouting off more nonsense.

Chianti stepped up to the plate and responded perfectly. "Heh, leave it to me. If things go wrong and you get caught, then I'll definitely put my bullet through you," she said with a vicious smile, and Gin was sure she meant it too.

Vermouth appeared unfazed by the implied threat. "Sure. If it comes to that, would you please aim for my face? If the public finds out that I was a part of this assassination, things will turn out bad, right?"

Gin couldn't hold back his silence any longer. Vermouth kept verbally hinting that something might interfere with this assignment, and it was something that Gin literally couldn't ignore as both the secret assassin he was pretending to be, and the scheming strategist he actually was.

"Is something bothering you, Vermouth?" he asked.

"No, I just have a feeling. Don't worry about it," she said cryptically and roared out of the warehouse on her motorcycle, leaving them all behind.

Silence echoed all around them after she left. Chianti flipped up both her middle fingers where Vermouth had just been and Korn didn't try and put them back down.

Kir came out from behind the container with her own motorcycle. "Vermouth went on ahead?" she asked.

"Yeah, and we should all be leaving too if we want to get there in time," Gin said with a more pronounced growl in his voice than usual. Vermouth was acting very suspiciously and he was convinced now more than ever of the need to activate the secret plan. He would get to the bottom of this.

()()()()()

Kir was on her way to the 'assassination' spot when the radio crackled in her ear and Chianti's voice came through, "Okay, I have an unobstructed view. How about you, Korn?"

"I can see well," he replied.

"Yeah, I'm already in position." That was Vermouth.

"Good, we just have to wait for Kir, then," Vodka said, though it was difficult to hear him through the static on his end. If that's what Gin had heard on her end that morning, no wonder he'd played at being suspicious.

"Hey, Vodka, I've been hearing noise from your side for a while now," Vermouth said.

"Huh?"

"Uh, nothing," she said shortly.

Well, that was just odd. Why wasn't she elaborating on the noise and just letting it slide like that? They all knew that the noise was coming from the microphone and transmitter interfering with the signals, so why was she pretending like it wasn't there? Speaking of odd things, she wasn't 100%, but she was almost certain that there were two cars that had been following behind her for a while now.

"I see, it may be a few minutes until I arrive," she informed everyone over the radio.

"Tell me when you get there, Kir," Gin said.

"Yes sir," she answered.

The light blue car that had been following her finally pulled out ahead and dropped back into her lane after it had passed her, but then slowed way down. She tried to drop back and give it space, but found a dark blue car blocking her exit that way just as a silver car came along the right and prevented her from going around that way. She was boxed in and there was no way this was unintentional. This was a trap meant to catch her as a member of the Black Organization.

The driver of the silver car rolled down his window. "Excuse me," he said in English, but then the rest of his sentence was in Japanese. "I have a question for you."

Kir didn't recognize the old man, but she did recognize the blonde woman in the passenger seat next to him pointing her gun at her. The FBI. "Do you mind stopping your motorcycle?" the blonde asked.

As a matter of fact, she did mind. With a mighty heave, an acceleration, and a shift of her body weight, she had the motorcycle jump onto the back of the car in front of her and climbed to the roof. Just as she was about to jump off the top of the car and make her escape from the box, she saw a soccer ball fly out into the middle of the road and a small boy ran out after it.

Raw terror struck her. They weren't going to stop in time! She saw her little brother's face flash before her eyes. Oh god!

The car she was riding on gave an almighty lurch and spun into a violent 90 degree stop, but she continued flying forward. She spun sideways in midair and fell off the motorcycle. She struck the ground with bone-breaking force and her momentum forced her to roll over and over, hitting the asphalt repeatedly. She was barely conscious when her helmet flew off, but after that, everything went dark. Her last thought was at least the boy hadn't been hit.

()()()()()

Something wasn't right. Kir has been radio silent for too long and she should have reached her destination by now.

"Hey, is she there yet?" Chianti complained over the radio. "Men who make women wait will be hated!"

"Don't rush, Chianti," Gin warned her. "Kir hasn't contacted me yet and DJ's car is not on the bridge yet."

"Hey, it's probably not important or anything, but I can't hear your voice well; there's some serious noise on your end," she pointed out.

Finally, someone mentioned the noise! He could have kissed Chianti if it wouldn't have gotten him killed by Sherry. Vermouth had briefly touched upon it, but then backed off quickly. Honestly, the way she was acting, it was like she wanted Kudo to learn as much about them as he could and really bring down the Organization. Ire surged through him anew and firmed his resolve to carry through with the secret plan against Vermouth. He had planned for the cue to be when somebody mentioned the noise and Vermouth's lack of it, on top of everything else she'd said today, was reason enough to move forward with this test. Gin turned around in his seat and started rummaging in the bag behind him for Kir's shoe with the transmitter on it.

He eventually found it and a feral grin stole across his features. Now, the fun could begin. He would finally have answers about Vermouth's motive and loyalty, and he would make that detective brat squirm in terror with the fear of his identity being discovered and his loved ones being eliminated one by one. It was the price he was required to pay for his carelessness and for underestimating him once more. How many more times did that boy have to rush recklessly after him only to suddenly backtrack, or have Sherry browbeat him with constant reminders of how dangerous the Organization was before it finally stuck and he took heed?

Gin peeled the gum off the shoe and peeled it apart to reveal the wireless and tap and transmitter. He observed them briefly and, just like last time, crushed the transmitter, but he left the microphone untouched this time. He wrapped his handkerchief around the microphone and stuffed it into his coat with a sense of giddy excitement. How nervous Kudo must be now that the transmitter had stopped sending a signal.

He pulled out his phone and texted a quick message to 'that person': Everything is happening right on schedule, just as planned. – Gin

Once that was done, he replaced his phone in his coat and grabbed the radio speaker again. "Everyone pull out. The mission is cancelled."

"Huh? Cancelled?" Chianti echoed back in confusion. "Are you telling me to quit after coming all the way here?"

"Yeah, I just told 'that person' about it as well. We're changing the target," Gin said without explaining. He was the only one who knew this part of the plan.

"Changing…?" Korn repeated curiously.

"Changing the target?" That was Vermouth. "So? Where is the next target?"

"The place is Beika City, District 5…" he paused for effect, savoring this moment. "The Mouri Detective Agency."

He heard Vermouth's startled gasp over the radio and he relished the sound. The closest he'd gotten to throwing her off her game was when he'd had his gun to her temple in his car the night she'd tried to kill Sherry, but it was nothing like this. Nothing at all like this. He was going to enjoy it while he could.

()()()()()

Haibara and Dr. Agasa had just finished making enough tea for everyone and setting the two cakes on the trays – one of which she planned to offer to Ran and the other was for herself – and walked into the living room where the TV was, only to fine just one person sitting there.

"Eh? Ran's playing this game? Where's Mouri?" Dr. Agasa asked.

"Oh, Dad said it was almost time for the main horse race to begin, so he went home just a few minutes ago," Ran said.

Haibara gasped and looked at the Professor. He had the exact same stunned look on his face. This wasn't how it was supposed to go! After they'd left Kudo behind with the FBI, Haibara had filled in the Professor on what she suspected of the scenario based on what she knew of both Kudo and Gin. Despite her warning to him before they'd parted ways, she knew Kudo wouldn't be able to stop himself from prioritizing the second assassination attempt over the retrieval of the transmitter and microphone and Gin would take advantage of that. He would find them, suspect Detective Kogoro Mouri had planted the device on Rena Mizunashi's shoe, and take appropriate action to eliminate the threat to the Black Organization's secrecy. It was her self-assigned job to make sure there was nobody home when Gin arrived. Mr. Mouri wasn't supposed to be there! How was Gin going to be able to deal with this in a way that would not actually result in anyone getting killed, but still protect the Organization's secret from the FBI?

Agasa bent down and whispered in her ear, "Ai, what do we do?"

Haibara bit her lower lip and then whispered back, "Even if I called them right now, I think they're too busy to answer the phone or read a text. I could try, but they would get it too late to be helpful now. We don't have a good way to warn them. Kudo will probably end up calling soon, so you can tell him about Detective Mouri's return to the house. He may unwittingly be the key to helping them get out of this mess: we'll have to trust Kudo's belief in the Organization's deadliness."

The tray of cakes still in her hands, Haibara walked up to Ran and sat down next to her on one of the pillows. "Would you like some cake, Ran? The Professor made tea as well."

Ran beamed down at her and took a slice from her. "Why thank you, Ai. You didn't have to go to all that trouble for me."

Haibara couldn't help a small smile from making its way onto her face. "It was no trouble at all, I wanted to."

She hadn't planned on it and she hadn't expected she would spend time with Ran today, but she was glad she was here. Chronologically speaking, she was Ran's agemate, even technically a year older than her. Being with her like this though, it was almost like having Akemi back again, and she was going to enjoy it while she could.

()()()()()

Vermouth pulled up alongside his car and Gin was very pleased to see her looking so annoyed. "Gin, what's the meaning of this? Why are we going after the Mouri Detective Agency as if we really are part of a crime syndicate," she demanded.

He sneered at her and got out of the car. "I'll tell you once you get in. I'd say 'ladies first', but I don't see any."

"How courteous of you," she said with a fake smile, but climbed into the back seat anyway, leaving the Harley motorcycle behind.

Gin got in after her and Vodka started the drive back to Beika. He brought the radio back toward his mouth and spoke into it, "Chianti, I've got Vermouth and we're heading towards Beika. What's your status?"

"I picked up Korn and… actually, I think I see you up ahead."

Gin quickly looked in the rearview mirror and, sure enough, it was still a way back, but that was definitely Chianti's Viper. "Good, keep close. I don't need you getting picked off by the FBI too."

"Is that why Kir hasn't gotten back to us yet?" she said worriedly.

"I think so, but we'll have to deal with that later. Right now, we have a more pressing situation on our hands and it would be foolish not to take advantage of this opportunity."

"Okay, but what exactly are we going to do? We're going to the Mouri Detective Agency and then what?"

"It'll depend on what's waiting for us," he said. "I have no doubt that Kudo told Sherry what's going on and that she would have acted accordingly to move the Mouris out of harm's way, but nonetheless, we should be prepared for the Mouris to still be there and to continue playing the roles we've been assigned."

"How exciting! I'm looking forward to it!" Chianti crowed over the radio and silence fell on her end.

"And just how far are you willing to go to play the role of an assassin?" Vermouth said coldly. "It'd be one thing if the Mouris aren't home, but if they are, are you going to have Chianti and Korn shoot them in the head like you did with Pisco just to maintain the Organization's cover?"

"You know perfectly well that the Pisco I shot was an alien impersonator that had already killed the real Pisco several days previously," Gin retorted, just as cold.

Vermouth raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Oh, that actually makes a difference with you? I was under the impression you didn't care what they were if they threatened the very small, select group of people you deign to care about."

"Indeed, and the Mouris don't fit under the classification of 'threat', now do they? In fact, as you so kindly informed me a while ago, Ran Mouri saved Sherry's life. I have no reason to wish that family harm." He turned to glance back at Vermouth out of the corner of his eye. "Kudo would put his own life on the line to protect them; he will definitely come to stop us and I'm counting on it. You should have a bit more faith in your favorite detective."

Vermouth stared stonily back at him for a few more seconds before averting her gaze. Gin would count that as another victory against her and settled back in his seat to watch the road ahead. She was an excellent actress, but her mask was slipping. He nearly had her, he just needed to keep pushing her buttons, and apparently, the threat of harm to the Mouris or Shinichi Kudo was something as intolerable to her as any threat made to Sherry, Vodka, or Curaçao was to him. Gin was certain she had not always had this weakness, but he would take full advantage of it. He did not know the next time he would be presented with such a unique opportunity to attack Vermouth's impenetrable armor.

"Ah, Aniki, there it is!" Vodka exclaimed after a while and pointing at a building with the words 'Mouri Detective Agency' written on the glass panels of the second floor.

"Excellent. Pull over into that side alley on the opposite side of the Agency. It'll make the cars a little less obvious and enable us to make a quick getaway if something unexpected happens."

Vodka did as he was told and Gin watched the mirrors to make sure Chianti saw and followed. They parked the cars and all five of them got out.

"Okay, Gin, what's the plan?" Chianti asked as soon as she saw him.

Her jerked his thumb at the building they were next to that stood directly across from the Mouri Detective Agency. "This one looks empty, so we'll go to the rooftop and scout out the situation from there. As I said, what we end up doing all depends on if anyone's home or not. Be sure to bring the sniper rifles. We might end up needing them."

"You got it, boss," she said happily and dragged Korn with her to pull the weapons out of the trunk.

Gin started walking without them and made his way over to the outdoor fire escape. He hadn't planned it, but it was convenient that they had parked in the alley where the fire escape was. They wouldn't have to worry about being exposed if things got hairy. Vodka and Vermouth followed silently behind him up the stairs all the way to the rooftop. It was an excellent vantage point to see down into the street and the glass panes enabled anyone up here to look right into the Agency's main office. It was too easy for someone to try and shoot the family from up here, especially with the desk right up against the window like that. Speaking of which, it looked like they had company. Detective Mouri was sitting at the desk watching something playing on the TV. He didn't see the daughter though. Maybe she'd gone out to run errands or spend time with a friend.

"Ack, Aniki, it looks like the detective is here," Vodka said with a grimace.

"So it would seem," Gin agreed, thinking.

"Nothing has to happen here. We can just leave right now, and nobody will know that we observed the situation, determined it unsafe, and left it alone," Vermouth said with a snappish tone.

"No, it's too late for that. Before I informed you all of the change in the plan, I had already destroyed the transmitter to get the boy's attention. He knows I found it and as reckless as he is, he knows the first person I would suspect of planting the transmitter would be Kogoro Mouri. He expects me to act. To not make a play here now would only be more suspicious," he countered, still not taking his eyes off of Mouri's back.

The sound of two pairs of feet on the fire escape was steadily getting louder until at last, Chianti's head poked into view and she waved merrily at him. "Yo, Gin, we got the rifles. How's it look up here?"

"One of you might end up getting to shoot today. Kogoro Mouri is here waiting for us."

Chianti pumped her fist into the air. "Finally!" she exclaimed. She turned to Korn who'd sidled up next to her. "You've won the last two contests for shooting preferences, I want to be the one to make the shot this time."

Korn inclined his head stiffly. "Alright," he agreed.

"Perfect! Let's get set up then!"

While they made sure the rifles were ready, Vodka approached him with uneasy expression on his face. "What is it, Vodka?" he asked quietly.

His broad-shouldered partner hesitated then brought his hand up and whispered, "Aniki, are you sure about this? I'm sure you had a good reason for not telling me about this part of the plan, but I guess this is about Vermouth somehow, judging by the way she's acting."

Gin smiled proudly down at him. Sure, Vodka was no Holmes, but his brain wasn't a box of rocks either and it infuriated him that so many agents treated him so. He was always happy to see the stunned looks on their faces when Vodka proved them wrong. They deserved to underestimate him. "You're right, Vodka. I'm using this as a means of testing Vermouth. She's been saying odd things that she shouldn't while within range of the microphone, knowing that it's active, and it seems odd to me that Calvados chose to commit suicide. I have a feeling she's somehow responsible for it, but I need to force her into a corner first, and this is the only thing that seems to be working. I've nearly got her, I just need to push her a bit more."

"But Vermouth's right! What if Kudo doesn't show up in time? Are you really going to risk killing an innocent human if it means Vermouth finally cracks? Her secrets aren't worth that much!" Vodka said sternly.

The smile faded from Gin's face and he turned away from Vodka. He stared down at Detective Mouri once more and spoke with detached conviction, "Vermouth brought Calvados with her that night and left him behind to get caught by the FBI, but he shouldn't have died. She knew he was there, but she kept his involvement a secret. She also tried her damnedest to kill Sherry. Vermouth's secrets have a tendency of getting good people killed and I can't allow that to continue. I know I'm not a good person, but I owe it to the Organization that offered a job and a purpose to two homeless, starving, penniless semi-orphaned teenagers ten years ago. I will get what I'm after and nobody is going to die today for me to get it."

Vodka looked like he wanted to argue, but then decided to drop it without saying anything.

"Good news, Gin, Korn and I are all ready," Chianti called over to him.

"Good, then let's get started. Set yourselves up along the roof railing and one of you take out his TV antennae. We should at least give him a chance to be suspicious of foul play."

"Well, Korn, do you want the antenna?" Chianti asked her partner.

His expression didn't change at all as he said, "No, you do it."

She snickered and punched him playfully in the shoulder. "What? Too boring a target for you? Okay, I'll take it, but this doesn't count as my shot, got that?" She raised the sniper rifle to her eye level and a second later, the TV antenna was snapped in half.

"Got it," Korn said. He took up his position right next to her and he too raised the weapon, viewing Detective Mouri through the scope.

From his place standing behind them, Gin watched Mouri hit the TV in frustration and then reach over to unplug the phone. Interesting, had he received a call? Probably a warning call from Kudo. Oh well, he wouldn't receive it now. Mouri put something in his ear, an earphone probably, then sat back down with his back to the window again, holding a newspaper in his hands. Well, that was a completely underwhelming response.

"Alright, show time. Chianti, whatever happens, you will shoot on my mark. I'm unwrapping the microphone now, so don't say anything unusual from here on out," Gin warned everyone and removed the handkerchief from around the microphone. "Can you hear me, Kogoro Mouri? Don't move, I have your back in my sight."

A quick glance down into the street revealed Kudo was still nowhere in sight. An idea for how to stall came to him in an instant. "I have something to ask you before your suit gets some new holes. It's about your relationship to Sherry. The microphone and the transmitter you planted are similar to the ones she used. You can't say it's a coincidence."

Yes, let Kudo think on that for a bit. His memory was good and long as much as Sherry liked to tease him otherwise. "I'll give you ten seconds," he continued saying into the microphone. "If you feel like answering, then take your left hand away from the earphone and raise it into the air."

Vodka tapped him hard on the shoulder and pointed down into the street. Gin followed his finger and saw a silver car racing towards them. It was moving way too fast for a residential area like this, which meant it was either some punk who thought they were hot stuff or it was their little protagonist to the rescue. Gin smirked at Vodka and nodded, motioning for him to point out the speeding car to Chianti and Korn as well. While Vodka did so, Gin started the countdown from ten, carefully watching the car and gauging how quickly he needed to speak. He needed to finish at just the right moment for Kudo's soccer ball to intercept Chianti's bullet.

"… Five… four…" The silver car's roof retracted and Gin could clearly see the three occupants inside: two adults, both FBI agents, and one child. "Three… two… one… fire."

Chianti fired just as the soccer ball soared upward at an alarming speed and flew right into the bullet's path. The resulting force from the bullet slammed the ball so hard, the entire window pane cracked and bent inward, though miraculously didn't break. The two snipers gasped in unison and watched the ball plummet back down to the ground.

"A… soccer ball?" Chianti murmured in stunned disbelief, not familiar with Kudo's gadgets.

Mouri threw open one of the unbroken windows with a loud slam and bellowed angrily, "Hey, who did that?!"

"Sorry, I think I kicked it a bit too hard!" Kudo yelled in a childish, apologetic tone to the old man he was currently living with. "By the way, how did the horse race go? You were listening to it through that earphone, right?"

"Horse race?" Vodka repeated blankly.

So that's what Mouri had been listening to on the earphone.

"Aah! I completely missed it because of you!" Mouri shouted back at the boy who'd apparently just broken his window.

Vermouth chuckled happily to herself. "It seems he's not related," she said.

It was clever of Kudo to have figured out Kogoro Mouri was listening to the horse races just from his own brief mention of the earphone and then informed them in such a way as to not be suspicious. However…

His eyes took on the glint of hardened steel. "Kill him, along with the kid," he ordered, his voice devoid of emotion or mercy.

It was the voice of a ruthless killer who got results. It was the one he used when he went hunting… when he was serious about taking out a threat… when somebody was definitely going to be killed by his hands. It was the voice of Jynnan Tonnyx.

It was a testament to Chianti's and Korn's trust in him that their only response was a willing 'Yes, sir' from Chianti and a readjustment of their sights on their targets. Even Vodka, with his doubts, believed in him enough to play along, "Taking out anything doubtful at its early stage, Aniki?"

But Vermouth… "Hey, wait!" she protested. "He has deep ties with the police! If you kill him without any proof-"

He'd been waiting for something like this. Gin whipped out his gun and pointed it straight at her neck, cutting off her words with a slight gasp of surprise. "You're talkative, Vermouth," he said darkly.

Her surprise disappeared behind her poker face and he glared at her. Unnecessary. Everything she'd said was unnecessary, but continuing to threaten Mouri and Kudo had been his last ploy and Vermouth had snapped. This was exactly who they were supposed to pretend to be, but she had instead been treating Kudo like she was his ally on the inside, like they, the Organization, were her true enemy.

"Is there something between you and that detective?" he said in a low voice. He didn't need to ask her which detective he was referring to.

"Well, what are you going to do if there is?" she challenged.

Her armor was already back up. He wouldn't get any more out of her today, but for the briefest moment, he had seen it: her true face.

"Hmph, no matter…" he said and holstered his Beretta, bringing the microphone back under his observation once more. "Whoever set this up was careless and left their fingerprints behind. After we kill that guy over there, if we go through the people around him, we'll be able to figure out who did this immediately."

On the heels of his words, not even half a second after he'd finished speaking, the gum and microphone disappeared right before his eyes with a metallic 'clink'. He gaped at the now-empty air between his fingers and a louder 'clang' immediately followed coming from the railing next to Korn's left arm.

Korn turned at once, his posture crouched and alert as his eyes fixed on some far distant point. "Behind at 8 o'clock," he said and all of four of them startled. A sniper? Now? Who and how?

Chianti brought her rifle to bear and peered through the scope at the direction Korn had indicated. "It's from that building," she declared. Her rifle was pointing at the tallest one in that direction.

"Impossible! That's over 700 yards away!" Vodka exclaimed.

"Gimme that!" Gin snapped at Korn and swiped the rifle out of his hands.

He didn't care how 'impossible' it was; somebody had shot a two-centimeter-long microphone cleanly out from between his fingers at that distance and he needed to know who it was. He peered through the scope at the top of the building that Chianti had indicated and his eyes widened with shock.

"Shuichi Akai…!" he murmured.

Through the scope, he saw the FBI agent's rifle fire. As if in slow motion, he could see the bullet growing larger and larger in his scope. With a jolt of realization, time sped up and he moved. He had barely managed to move his eye out of the line of the scope's view when the glass shattered in his face and a searing hot burn sliced across his left cheek. He barely registered the shocked gasps from his comrades. That was… way too close… If he'd moved a second later… He'd literally been an inch away from losing an eye, and… considering where the brain was in relation to the eyes, probably his life.

Chianti fired on Akai's position, but she couldn't touch him. She just couldn't hit a target as accurately at that distance. Very few people could and, unfortunately, as the warm stinging in his face from the glass and the bullet could testify, Akai was one of them. Two more bullets struck him in the chest and he stumbled back with a pained grunt. They were caught by the bullet-proof vest he was wearing under his shirt, but the left one had penetrated farther than it should and hit something important. He could recognize the familiar iron taste of blood welling up in his mouth and dripping out the corner. He gripped the left spot tightly, unable to check if blood was actually flowing out, but not willing to risk if it was either. He hadn't counted on Akai's appearance and there was nothing they could do to counterattack against him. They were good and cornered and the only thing they could do was escape with their lives while they were still able.

"A-Aniki," Vodka said worriedly, but Gin ignored him.

"Get out of this place," he ordered, his voice hoarse with pain.

"But… the detective and the kid…?" Chianti trailed off uncertainly.

"Forget about them! Hurry!" he barked.

Nobody needed to be told a third time. They pelted down the fire escape and jumped into the cars waiting for them below. Gin has just barely managed to shut the door behind him when Vodka slammed his foot down on the accelerator and sped out of the side alley as fast as he dared.

Chianti followed them out just as fast and close and he felt some of the tension seep out. Chianti wasn't the only one who would be following them though. Gin gritted his teeth and turned to Vodka. "The FBI's going to set a tail on us, so you're going to have to shake them off fast and perform evasive maneuvers until we're in the clear. Don't worry about Chianti; she's staying close and can react fast to whatever you decide to do. I'm not losing anyone else to them today."

"Okay, but Aniki, who shot you from that roof?" Vodka asked anxiously.

"That was Shuichi Akai," he answered stiffly. "I didn't think he was even involved in this, but he somehow knew we were going to find out about the microphone and transmitter then head on over to the Mouri Detective Agency, and he planned accordingly. He knew long before we even started heading in that direction, otherwise being at the top of that building in the time available cannot be done."

Vermouth laughed quietly. "He sure got the jump on you, though. It sure was kind of him to let you live considering you had no way to defend yourself from his attack and he must have found out by now that you killed his woman."

He could literally hear the accusation dripping in her tone. He snarled and was this close to reaching back and punching her in the face when Vodka abruptly inserted himself in the conversation. "B-But what about Kir?" he said, changing the subject at once. "Doesn't this mean she was definitely captured by the FBI?"

Gin pondered for a moment whether he would allow the topic change or whether he would still try and make Vermouth pay for her insinuation that he'd killed his oldest friend. The sharp pain in the left side of his chest made the decision for him and he let it slide. He was in no fit state to make Vermouth eat her words and Vodka had a valid point.

"Yes, it does," he sighed and reached for the cigarettes in his coat. He really wanted a smoke. "Well, I don't think she'll talk so easily, but I'll definitely find her by whatever means necessary."

He had just pulled out the pack of cigarettes when Vodka smacked his hand and snatched the pack away. Gin stared at him, unable to comprehend what just happened, until Vodka said, "You're not allowed to have any of these until after you get checked out by the medical ward."

Gin's mouth fell open in stunned disbelief. "Are you trying to make me miserable?!" he demanded.

"You're wearing the bullet-proof vest, but that shot to the left side of your chest is causing you a lot more pain than it should be. If you end up needing to go under for surgery or need any kind of sedation, you don't need any other chemicals in your system screwing with the drugs and causing medical complications," Vodka said, sounding surprisingly stern.

He could hardly deny that what Vodka was saying made sense, but it didn't make him any happier to hear it or make his addicted cravings any more bearable while Vodka drove to both lose their American government pursuers and, apparently, take him to the medical ward. He may have finally beaten Vermouth, but he'd had the upper hand and he still felt like they'd lost this round.

()()()()()

"I'm home," Haibara sighed heavily once she finally arrived.

She dropped her backpack next to the coffee table by the couch and plopped herself on it with her legs hanging unlady-like over the couch arms. What a headache. She had not expected she would be helping Kudo try to solve a potential kidnapping case that might have involved the Organization so soon after the big showdown on Saturday nearly a week ago. Of course, it wouldn't have been the actual Organization members, as Kudo feared, but it could have easily been alien abduction or even just a regular kidnapping. Fortunately, it had turned out to be something far less serious. Really though, what was she doing running around like this without a care in the world? She had enemies out there who wanted to get her, and that's why she was hiding as a first-grade student, even if those enemies weren't the Black Organization.

Belatedly, she realized the house was quiet and sat up to listen. It seemed the Professor had gone out somewhere. He would probably be back soon, but that meant she finally had the perfect opportunity to call Gin. She hadn't done so after the events of last Saturday, but with the scare she'd just had today, he was back on her mind. Haibara pulled out her phone and fell back against the couch again, her brown hair laying askew about her head. She punched in the digits for Gin's cell and brought the phone to her ear.

She was so completely relaxed lying sprawled on the couch that she felt she might fall asleep until the phone stopped ringing and the voice on the other end wasn't Gin's deep, rhythmic tones. "Hello, this is Gin's phone. He's not available at the moment, but I can take a message for him if you'd like."

It wasn't Gin, but she recognized it all the same. "V-Vodka! It's Sherry, what are you doing with Gin's phone? Where is he?" she spluttered, suddenly wide awake and not the least bit sleepy.

"Sherry!" he exclaimed brightly. "It's great to hear from you again, I only wish it were under better circumstances."

Haibara sat bolt upright and held the phone tightly with both hands. "What do you mean 'better circumstances'? What's happened?"

"Hey, don't be like that," Vodka said soothingly. "Nothing's wrong, it's just that your timing's bad. Aniki just went into the medical ward a few min-"

"GIN WENT INTO THE MEDICAL WARD?!" she exploded, one horrible scenario after another flashing before her mind's eye like a never-ending video reel.

"Yowch! Sherry, Sherry, listen to me! Calm down, he's okay! Gin's fine, okay? I promise I wouldn't lie to you about that. Do you believe me, Sherry?"

Haibara had to take several deep, calming breaths before she managed to speak again. "Yes… Yes, I believe you, Vodka… I'm sorry… I had a bit of a stressful day today and I just assumed the worst. So… what happened?"

She imagined Vodka was smiling on the other end. "It's alright, Sherry. I know how much he means to you. Anyway, as I was trying to say, Aniki just went into the medical ward a few minutes ago to get his bandages changed. Before you ask, he was shot by Akai twice with a sniper rifle on Saturday. He was wearing the bullet-proof vest, but one of the bullets hit him weird and ended up piercing his lung anyway. The doctors were able to get it out and seal his lung back up no problem, but Aniki's been in a rotten mood all week because he's not allowed to smoke until his lung has healed and he's been acting like a big baby about getting his bandages changed. It's probably a good thing that you don't have to put up with your pain-in-the-ass fiancé right now, eh Sherry?"

Haibara's face blushed deep red. "F-f-f-fiancé?! What in the world are you talking about?" she stammered in a high-pitched voice that did absolutely nothing to convince Vodka she was genuinely clueless.

"Aniki didn't embarrass you by telling me any of the details of your little love fest after I left you guys for the night," Vodka began in a teasing voice that made her blush deepen. "But the first thing he told me after he dropped you off at home was that you had proposed to him. Granted, he said you'd probably only asked him in the heat of the moment, but I could tell… he was really happy, Sherry."

Haibara wasn't sure how she wasn't already dead from embarrassment, and yet, there was a small part of her singing with pleasure to hear that Gin was happy she had proposed to him and happy enough that he had told his best friend and partner the first chance he got.

"Thank you, Vodka," she murmured quietly and then shook herself into business mode. "Anyway, I had another reason for calling besides catching up with Gin, so I guess I can tell you and you can tell him for me. Are you guys still searching for Kir?"

"Yes, we are. We know the FBI captured her, but we haven't figured out where she is yet. We also haven't started making a strong, concerted effort either since Aniki's been recovering from his injury. He keeps trying to start hunting for her behind my back when he thinks I'm not looking, but I won't let him until he's better. If I could trust him to take it easy, I'd let him do a little bit, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what 'taking it easy' even means, so that limits what he's allowed to do."

Haibara smirked. "So that's the reason for Gin's awful temper? Withdrawal and boredom? It's a wonder he doesn't hate you."

"Oh, he does, but it's okay," Vodka snickered. "He was very serious about promising to eviscerate me and feed my entrails to the mutant rainbow piranhas of the Himalayan cookie cutter factory when he was still doped up on the anesthesia."

She burst into a fit of laughter so hard, no sound came out save for short, gasping intakes of breath. And every time she started calming down, imagining her straight-laced, very serious lover saying such utter nonsense just sent her right back into a giggle fit. It continued on like that for at least five minutes before she really managed to get a hold of herself again.

"Thank you for that, Vodka," she said breathlessly. "My sides hurt from laughing too hard, but that was definitely worth it. Have you told him he said that?"

"I did, but he doesn't believe me, even with the video evidence to prove otherwise. Anyway, I'm sure you know where Kir is being held, but I don't want you to tell us, and I'm sure Gin doesn't either," Vodka said.

"Huh? But why? She's one of us! Shouldn't I help too since I know-?"

"-Is she being tortured or hurt in any way?" he interrupted.

"Er… well, no, but-"

"-Then you can't tell us, Sherry," he said heavily. "I know you want to help, but think about it from Kudo's and the FBI's perspective. They know who they're dealing with and they'll have taken precautions to prevent us from finding Kir easily. The fact that the TV station she works at hasn't reported her missing is evidence enough. If only a week after Kir was captured by the FBI, the Black Organization, out of the blue, suddenly knew exactly where she was and came to get her, both the FBI and Kudo would rightfully suspect an inside source to have leaked the information to us. The number of people who knows where she is cannot be a large population, and it would be one that includes you. Don't forget, two of the people this population includes are Shinichi Kudo and Shuichi Akai. They'd eventually either find out something that would cause them to be suspicious of you or would systematically eliminate everyone else who could have done it until you're the only one left. It's just not worth the risk, Sherry. Stay safe and stay hidden. Don't draw attention to yourself."

Haibara groaned and flopped back against the couch. "It's just so frustrating that I can't do anything while I'm stuck in this place," she moaned.

"Heh, Aniki's been complaining like that all week," Vodka said with a slight laugh. "I know it's hard and you want to help, but please hold on a little longer. You won't stay like this forever."

"You sound like Gin," she grumbled.

"Well, he's right, so listen to him! Kir will be fine until we can find her and once Aniki's fully recovered, he won't rest until he's gotten her back from the FBI. Aniki has his faults, but his loyalty to the Organization isn't one of them."

"Hmm, that's true," Haibara hummed in agreement, staring blankly up at the ceiling far above her. "Well, telling you guys about Kir was the main reason why I called, but since you all seem to have everything well in hand and don't need me, I guess I'll just hang up then. Oh, and when you see Gin, you can tell him from me that there's a boy in my class who has a huge crush on me."

"Hey, Sherry, don't be like that…" Vodka groaned, but she ignored him.

"He just about confessed that he likes me in a bit of a roundabout way and he's pretty cute for a seven-year-old," she continued on in the same dry, casual tone. "He's not the tallest in the class, but he's on the taller end for our age group. He has a light dusting of freckles on his cheeks and his hair is brown, cut short, and his bangs seem long, but are evenly parted so they don't hide his eyes. He's quite the gentleman too, well-dressed, very respectful of everyone, and has even solved a few somewhat serious cases that even Kudo didn't pick up on."

"Sherry, I'm not telling Aniki all of this-!"

"Oh no, look at the time. If I don't hang up right this instant, I won't get all of my very difficult and mentally-stimulating homework finished and then I'll have to go to bed without supper. How awful. Goodbye," she said and hung up before Vodka could get another word in edgewise.

She tossed the phone above her head to the far side of the couch and laid her arm over her eyes with a great sigh. She knew she had been unfair to Vodka and he didn't deserve her vitriol, especially not if Gin was also being an asshole, but she was tired. Tired of being cautious and careful. Tired of being small and weak. Tired of lying. Tired of being cut off from the world she still belonged to. And most of all, tired of being unable to do anything to help anyone. She just wanted to be useful; was that too much to ask? Apparently so, and the only way she could be useful was as a resource about the Black Organization and by creating an antidote to the shrinking effect of APTX-4869. It wasn't until Dr. Agasa returned home that Haibara managed to rouse herself enough to sit up and quickly get her tediously boring homework done with before she helped the Professor with making dinner. Or maybe she'd let him splurge and they'd go out for dinner tonight. She didn't care either way.

()()()()()

Meanwhile, back at the Organization's medical ward, Vodka stared dumbstruck at the phone in his hands that was now beeping as a result of the disconnected call. He was so confused. One minute, everything seemed normal and they were getting along fine and the next, Sherry was going on about some boy that was crushing on her and hung up without warning. He pressed the End Call button to stop the beeping. Gin hadn't been allowed to take his phone with him when he was getting x-rays of his chest taken to see if his lungs were healing alright.

Vodka was still holding it with the screen flipped open when the door to the medical ward slammed open and he jumped. Gin was standing in the doorway only half-dressed and missing the bandages on his chest. He looked both as haggard as a zombie and 100% completely murderous. In short, he was pissed and it was a small miracle he hadn't actually killed anyone yet. Vodka wasn't sure if he'd be at the bottom of Gin's hit list because he was one of Gin's few living friends, or if he'd be at the top because he was the main one preventing him from doing things that needed to be done. Gin's green eyes focused on him and zeroed in on his phone in his hands.

He stalked over to him, the murderous aura as intense as ever, and snatched it out of his hands. "They're done with the x-rays," he growled by way of explanation, then narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him. "What were you doing with my phone?"

"Sherry called, so I answered it for you," he replied.

At the mere mention of Sherry, it was like watching sunshine breaking through dark storm clouds. Light seemed to come back to those dark green eyes and the furious intensity faded down into a quiet simmer. He still looked miserable and it was incredibly disheartening seeing him like this, but at least Gin no longer looked like he was going to kill someone for mentioning it. "Sherry called? What did she say? What did she want? Is she okay?" Gin asked, rattling off one question after another.

"Yeah, just a few minutes ago. She freaked out when I mentioned you were in the medical ward, but I explained that you were fine and were just getting bandages changed." Vodka grimaced, "Actually, I also mentioned that you've been in a bad mood all week because you've been suffering from withdrawal and I won't let you run yourself into the ground to look for Kir yet."

Gin looked mildly annoyed at the reminder, but didn't bite his head off this time. Slight improvement. "And? What about Sherry? Why did she call this time?"

"Honestly, she called to tell us where the FBI is hiding Kir," he answered.

Immediately, Gin's eyes shot wide open and he lashed out, gripping his shoulders fiercely. His eyes were wild and he looked quite deranged. "Vodka, you didn't-!" Gin began.

"-No, I stopped her before she could tell me!" he reassured him quickly. "I even explained to her that with both Shinichi Kudo and Shuichi Akai working together on the same team and in-the-know about Kir's whereabouts, the risk of her being found out for revealing the location would be too great. She…" Here, Vodka hesitated. "She didn't seem to like hearing that. Her tone became all dry and cold and insincere – you know, the one she uses when she wants to be cruel? And she went off about this boy in class who's apparently crushing on her? I don't know if it's true or not, but the way she was talking about him, I think she either wanted to hurt you or make you jealous or both. She hung up right after that."

The light that had appeared briefly in Gin's eyes seemed to have gone out, but the rage monster hadn't returned. In fact, there didn't seem to be any tension left. Even his face was slack and Vodka found himself more terrified of this new Gin than he had been of the angry one. Gin in an unreasonable temper was something that came with the territory when you worked night and day with the man and had been working with him long enough to see him drunk off his ass several times. An angry Gin was nothing that Vodka couldn't handle, but he didn't recognize the Gin standing before him now. He looked… defeated… if that was even a word he could use to describe his partner.

Without warning, Gin sank into the chair next to him and clasped his head in his hands. His hair fell like a curtain around his face and he gripped his ash-blond hair by the roots. He said nothing and Vodka found himself at a loss for what to do. Tentatively wondering if he would regret this move, he slowly reached out with one hand and lightly touched Gin's shoulder. When Gin didn't shrug him off, Vodka let his palm cover the other's bare shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze.

"Aniki, after we get Kir back, I think we need to make getting Sherry back our next priority," he said gently.

"We can't. Her life's in danger here and she has to stay to protect the scientist," Gin said tonelessly, his voice muffled by his long hair. The words sounded rehearsed.

"Then we find out who's after Sherry and the scientist, we stop them, and Sherry can come home," he countered.

"It's not… that simple…" Gin muttered.

Vodka raised an eyebrow. "Why not? Hunting down aliens is what we do for a living. What makes this any different because Sherry's involved?"

Gin didn't have an answer for him and that was proof that the tall man wasn't in his right mind.

"You've been in contact with her more than I have since she went into hiding, but just now when I was talking to her, she sounded like she was really hurting. I think Sherry feels useless being stuck where she is. She can't do anything to get out of the situation she's been forced into, so we have to help her. You're not doing her or yourself any favors by letting her stay in an isolated bubble, thinking it will protect her. You didn't fall in love with Sherry because she was a pretty, dutiful young girl that obeyed your directions without question and willingly sat on the sidelines of the action so that you could protect her."

Gin's shoulder twitched and Vodka wondered if he'd gone too far when he saw Gin's pale right hand reach up and cover his. He gave it a brief squeeze, a thank you, and then raised his head straight up. Gin still looked gaunt and woebegone, but there was a spark of life back in his eyes and he looked more like his normal self than he had all week.

"You're right, Vodka," he said simply and stood tall, still staring straight ahead. "Sherry needs us. We're the only hope she has of getting out of her current situation and it's not fair to her to let her stagnate in isolation because of my own fears. Vodka!"

Vodka jumped at being addressed so suddenly and sharply. "Yes?"

"I will find Kir and get her back from the FBI. Then after I do, I will do whatever it takes to bring Sherry back home," he vowed, his voice overflowing with strength and determination.

Vodka smiled and stood up with him. "And I'll do whatever I can to help you make that happen," he promised right back then smirked briefly and pointed at the medical ward door. "Which means you have to go back in there to get bandages back on so you can heal quickly."

In an instant, Gin's fierce lion-like loyalty and pride vanished and he was back to scowling like a petulant toddler. "There's hardly anything there, what's even the goddamned point of…" he muttered darkly nonstop under his breath as he stomped back to the medical ward, threw the door open, and tromped inside. Vodka did not envy the doctors one bit.

---

I think... I may have ended up making Chianti either a lesbian or bisexual. I can't tell which, but I kinda like it.

I was actually really excited to write Kir this chapter because she's one of my favorites and it saddens me somewhat that her character seems to be shelved as of late. She was the first NOC we found out about that's still in the Organization and yet, Bourbon seems to have taken her place as the important NOC of interest, just as Akai seems to have replaced Jodie as the important FBI agent of interest. Those women were first and doing some pretty smart, badass, dangerous stuff; you don't have to ignore them just because they don't have the same overly-brilliant detective mindset as Conan. Okay, mini-rant over.

I haven't decided yet if the next chapter will be filler fluff to give a break from all of the intense stuff that's been happening or if I'm going to jump right into the "Clash of Red and Black" set of episodes.