Author's Note: Oooh, only 6000+ instead of 16000+ words this time. Gin's been much more active in this story compared to Sherry, so I'm partially convinced that this chapter (and the next two) are demanding to be written to try and balance it out a bit, but they also want to be written to help build some tension. Once again... this chapter and the next three were not in the original outline when I first actually started planning this story out.

Ah, and nothing major, but I went through and made a few spot revisions to all of the chapters prior to Raven Chaser to try and make the writing smoother (more fluid and less clunky). This chapter takes place during episode 557 (I think).

A Dangerous Party of Two

'Try not to let him catch you alone', Gin had said. That was easier said than done, especially since the alien Professor insisted on attending an Inventor's Conference and Haibara was forced to come with him or else remain alone in the house next door to the creepy stalker named Subaru Okiya that could very well end up being her hunter.

And that was why she was now stuck at a bus stop with Dr. Agasa because the Beetle had broken down again and he'd carelessly left his wallet somewhere, so they had no car and no money to get back to Tokyo. Right now, he was on the phone with Kudo to ask if Mr. Mouri could pick them up.

"Eh?!" Dr. Agasa exclaimed and Haibara focused her hearing on the phone call. She could just barely hear Kudo on the other end.

"It isn't that big of a deal, right? Just have her come pick you up in a taxi."

"'Her'?" Dr. Agasa repeated blankly.

Haibara knew who he was talking about even if the Professor didn't and she tapped the older man's elbow to get his attention, then motioned with her hand for him to give her the phone.

"Yeah, isn't she watching your house right now? That evil-eyed yawny girl?"

Haibara deadpanned. "Well excuse me for being an evil-eyed yawny girl," she said acidly.

Kudo coughed and gasped for air like he was choking. "Wha- Why are you there?! Don't you always call the Professor's inventions stupid?!"

"Yeah, I didn't want to come, but I also had no desire to stay alone in the house with that eerie, unknown person living next door."

"Oh, you mean Mr. Subaru Okiya?" Kudo said brightly which only worsened her mood. "Don't worry about him; he seems to be a good person." He only thought that because he knew he was Akai. If he were a complete stranger, he never would have vouchsafed for him with no evidence. "Ah, that's right! Why don't you ask Mr. Subaru to pick you up in his car?"

Haibara might have made a comment about Subaru being a type of car if she had been in the mood. "Look, I don't know how you see this, but I suspect he's a member of what you refer to as the Black Organization."

"Mr. Subaru? Impossible," Kudo said dismissively.

"I felt it!" she insisted. "During that Ikkaku Rock case, I felt that pressure coming from him, like that of those from the Organization."

"It's not like that. If it were, then you and I would already be-"

"-Perhaps you're keeping him in your house so you can monitor him, and you're using me as bait to see whether he makes a move or not?" she snapped.

"Idiot! You think I would do that?" Kudo exclaimed.

He might if he was certain of catching a member of the Organization with no risky consequences attached.

"At any rate, can't you think of an excuse to get him out of your house?" Haibara asked.

She couldn't say it. She couldn't willingly be vulnerable with him the way she could with Gin. He was a smart boy; why couldn't he understand that she didn't feel safe being scrutinized 24/7 by someone she didn't trust? Who may not even be who Kudo thought he was?

"There's a possibility we might be found out: that both I, who betrayed the Black Organization, and you, who was supposed to have died but are still alive, have been exposed. So, to ensure we're killed discreetly, they may already be on the move and their assassins may already be closing in on us-"

Her tangent was abruptly interrupted by two loud car honks and she turned around to stare at the source. A woman with a white wool hat and dark sunglasses leaned out the driver's side and said, "If you guys are in trouble, I could give you a ride. You don't have any money on you, right?"

"Oh, yes! Thank you so much!" Dr. Agasa said gratefully.

"We can only get you to Tokyo; is that okay?" the woman asked.

"Yes, we were actually heading for Tokyo," Dr. Agasa said.

"Alright, you can have a seat in the back then…" the woman said and Haibara refocused on her phone call with Kudo.

"It looks like we've found a way to get home. By the time we get back, you better have come up with a reason to kick that person out," Haibara said imperiously and hung up on Kudo's protests. She doubted he would do as she'd asked, but it was worth a shot.

"My, you've sure saved us," Dr. Agasa said. However, just as he was passing the passenger door, he did a sharp double-take and stared in alarm at the passenger.

"Ah, he didn't sleep well last night," the woman said in a hushed voice.

"Oh, okay…"

Curious what had caused the Professor to react so strongly, Haibara sidled up to the door and peered up over the open window at the passenger in question. It was definitely a man because of the dark stubble on his chin and though his hood nearly covered the top half of his face, she could see two vertical scar lines on his cheek just below his left eye. The Professor slid into the back with a heavy oomph and Haibara followed after him, closing the door as she heard the lady apologize for the parcel in the back making the space a little tight. Her eyes zeroed in on two holes in the door that she hadn't noticed when it was open. They looked suspiciously like…

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Haibara directed to the woman driver. "How did you know we didn't have any money?"

"They probably heard me talking on the phone just now. I mentioned losing my wallet, so…" Dr. Agasa started to suggest and Haibara gave him a deadpan stare.

"Do you really think that a person can accurately pick out someone's phone conversation on the side of the road while driving?" she asked, putting only the slightest of emphases on 'person' for his benefit. He'd been on this planet as a human long enough now to be familiar with their abilities and limitations.

She turned back to the woman. "I can understand if you pulled over after you passed us, but you pulled over before you drove past us, didn't you?" she asked rhetorically.

"Ah, I pulled over because I noticed you didn't get on the bus at the bus stop," the woman explained.

Haibara raised one disbelieving eyebrow. "So you're saying you heard the phone conversation when you stopped the car?"

"No, when I stopped, I noticed the marks on the old man's chest," she said, looking back at Dr. Agasa.

Obediently, their eyes followed her stare and, sure enough, there were two brown stains with a clean stripe parting the two halves. "Ah, I spilled some cola there," the Professor exclaimed. Haibara found herself wondering how he hadn't noticed before now.

"About that, you spilled cola while you were wearing your seatbelt, weren't you? There's the clean outline of a strap and it must have happened recently, otherwise you would have changed at home, no?"

Haibara decided it must have occurred right before the engine broke down, so he'd been understandably preoccupied with other things. She listened with growing unease as the woman further explained how she'd deduced the exact nature of their current situation. This strange woman was smart, but also intuitive. It was a powerful combination of traits she didn't like in the wrong kind of people.

"That's exactly right!" Dr. Agasa exclaimed, impressed with the woman's deduction.

"I thought so. Is it alright if we get going then, sweetie?" the woman asked her.

"Yes…" Haibara agreed despite her misgivings.

They didn't really have too many options about how to get home without the Professor's wallet and who knew how long it would be before somebody else came along to offer them a ride. The engine turned over and the car started moving forward. Dr. Agasa seemed right at home, but Haibara couldn't manage to relax. She kept telling herself she was just overthinking things, even as her eyes critically scanned the remaining interior of the car. She wasn't picking up on any blood lust from these guys…

But you know your sixth sense isn't working correctly right now.

… And those holes – including the new one she just spotted on the back of the driver's seat – and intuitive reasoning didn't necessarily mean they were bad guys…

Not even Gin's car has those kinda marks and he's far from innocent.

She shook her head of those thoughts. Gin was also obsessed with his car and would have a conniption if anything bad happened to it. It wouldn't even be because the of the exorbitant repair cost of such a classic model; he was just that in love with it. She still sometimes half-jokingly wondered whether he loved her or the car more. She settled back against the seat and started when her hand felt something odd. It was something crunchy and dusty near the seam line of the seat cover. Curious, she rubbed her finger along the seam line and when she pulled it away, there was a red streak on her skin. Blood? She glanced warily back at the people in the front, moving her gaze from the back of one head to the other. Bullet holes and a blood stain; they were not your normal, average citizens. But… they had offered to give them a ride back to Tokyo and as long as they didn't try and drive off into the middle of the woods to murder them, Haibara saw no real reason to protest… yet… Eventually, they got far enough down the road that they got caught up in the rest of the traffic going into Tokyo.

"What a jam," the woman sighed. "There must have been an accident up ahead. You can take a nap until we get there if you'd like."

"Ah, thank you," Dr. Agasa said.

"By the way, where's your house in Tokyo?" she asked.

"Beika City, second block," he answered.

"I see, Beika City, huh? What a coincidence," the woman said, sounding amused.

"'Coincidence'?"

"We happen to be heading there as well; to Beika City, fifth block, the Mouri Detective Agency."

Haibara stiffened in alarm. The Mouri-!

"Oh, is that so? We actually know-"

Haibara quickly nudged the Professor in the ribs to shut him up and pretended to yawn. "I'm getting tired. Grandpa, won't you take a nap with me?"

"Uh… okay…" Dr. Agasa said uncertainly. She could easily see the confusion on his face, but he trusted her and would wait to ask at a better time.

"Please wake us when we arrive," Haibara told the woman driver.

"Sure," she agreed.

With that settled, Haibara leaned against Dr. Agasa, and he leaned down enough to whisper without being overheard. "What's the matter, Ai?"

"These people are suspicious. You saw it, didn't you? The face of the man in the passenger seat?" she murmured under her breath.

"Well, yes… he had a large scar and an eerie look, but to call him suspicious just because of that…"

"You haven't noticed? There's a hole in the back of the driver's seat and two more in the left door here. I'm afraid these are bullet holes," Haibara said, pointing them out for him. "What's more, I see signs of them trying to clean this up, but in the seams of the seat cover, there are still stains of dried blood."

"Wha-What'd you say?!" he exclaimed in alarm before she could stop him.

"Hm? Is something wrong?" the woman up front asked.

"N-No," Dr. Agasa said nervously.

Not good. "It's okay. Grandpa was talking in his sleep," she explained away, and the two of them settled back to resume their so-called nap. "Anyway, for now, we'll pretend to sleep and observe them. We'll figure out who those two are and why they're going to the Mouri Detective Agency," she whispered, and she felt him nod in affirmation.

Having decided to 'sleep', the car became quiet once more. The inside of the car and the Professor's body – synthetic though it was – were quite warm and there were several times when Haibara nearly felt herself drifting off for real.

After some unknown period of stop-and-go movements as traffic inched slowly forward, the man from the passenger side suddenly spoke up and his voice shook Haibara out of her sleepy stupor. "Hey, what's up? The number of people in the car multiplied while I was sleeping."

"I picked them up along the way; they seem to know Detective Mouri," his companion answered.

"Oh, is that right? Well, that's convenient. Now we won't have to blindly search for his place. Speaking of which, what do you think about that brat?"

"What brat?"

"The one who sticks close to Kogoro Mouri, that boy, Conan Edogawa," the man elaborated.

"Well, while I think he has a pretty sharp mind for a kid, why do you ask?" the woman asked.

"I have a feeling he's the one who's really in control of everything."

Oh… she didn't like the sound of that. Most peoples' impressions of Conan were like that of the woman. People who believed there was more to it were generally trouble because they were also the ones who wouldn't rest until they'd solved the mystery, which would uncover his secret.

"He's a fierce monster, that brat. Well, we are bringing him a surprise. If we treat him well, he may happily blurt out everything."

Bribery? On a kid? What on earth did these people want Kudo to do?! Maybe it was illegal? Or shady? Or just in extremely bad taste?

"But do you really think that'll be enough?" the woman asked.

"Yeah, half-kill is enough for now."

One of Haibara's eyes shot open and her entire body tensed. 'Half-kill'…? But that sounded like torture!

"It's a bit too early, isn't it? They need to wait some for my overkill."

She jolted upright, staring in silent alarm at the pair. O-Overkill?! Was that a euphemism for murder?! These people were after Kudo! She couldn't let them get to him, but she didn't have any tools on her person to assist and her body was too small to subdue them physically. What could she do?!

"Oh dear, did we wake you?" the woman said suddenly and Haibara realized with a start that neither she nor Dr. Agasa were pretending to sleep anymore.

"Oh, no…" she answered in negation, her voice still a little shaky.

"Did you overhear our conversation just now?"

"Conversation?" Haibara repeated innocently. "I only woke up because of Grandpa's snoring. Why? Were you talking about something you didn't want others to hear?"

"No, if you didn't overhear us, then forget it about it," the woman said dismissively.

"But what a traffic jam we have here and we're not even in Tokyo yet," the man commented in disbelief.

"Shall we have tea at a drive-in diner?" the woman suggested. "Maybe after a rest, the traffic will have cleared up some. We'd also like to ask about your relationship to Detective Mouri." She directed the last statement to them.

"Uh…" Dr. Agasa said, glancing uncertainly down at her. After hearing them talk about half-kill and overkill, there was no way they were going to tell them they were close acquaintances of the Detective.

"Of course, that's only if you're not in a hurry to get back home," the sunglasses woman said softly. Was it just Haibara's imagination or had she said that in a vaguely threatening manner?

"Hmph, if you want to get home as quickly as possible, get out of the car and fly back yourself," the man said with a derisive snort.

"Fly back? How could we fly?" Dr. Agasa asked bewildered.

Neither of them answered the Professor's query and Haibara's jaw set in a determined grimace. "Understood. Let's rest at the drive-in diner."

The woman nodded and turned to her companion. "Could you take a look at the map then? It's in the glove compartment."

"Okay…"

The angle that Haibara was sitting at meant she had a good view of the glove box. The man's dark-skinned hand opened it up. There was a map in there and also… 'A gun?!' she thought in alarm.

This situation just kept getting worse and worse! Not only was she and Dr. Agasa stuck in a car with a pair of people intent on torturing Kudo and maybe Mr. Mouri for information before killing them, but they also had a gun in their possession within easy reach while she and the Professor were completely defenseless. How had this happened? And why when she was literally less than a meter away from these people was she still not feeling that awful pressure coming from them? It was one thing when she saw the bullet holes and the blood and just thought they were bad guys without an agenda, but they had since discussed a clear intent to cause harm to someone she knew, and she still felt nothing!

While they slowly inched their way to the diner, Haibara wracked her brains trying to come up with a solution to both get her and the Professor safely away and also somehow stop this dangerous couple from reaching the Detective Agency, but nothing came to mind. She simply didn't have the resources or the personnel to manage such an extraction. She needed help and the only person who could help her right now was Kudo. She decided she would call him once they got to the diner and she could get away from the couple without arousing suspicion. She would debrief him on the situation and then… after that… she would see what Kudo had to say. Haibara didn't like the idea of relying on Kudo for a plan, but her options were severely-limited. It would have to be enough.

"So, how do you two know Detective Mouri?" the woman asked them, seeming to direct her query at Dr. Agasa.

"Oh, uh, well…" Dr. Agasa hedged and glanced down at her, begging for help.

"We just asked him to help us find our cat after she went missing a while ago," Haibara supplied in a more childish pitch. "Grandpa didn't think he'd help us because he's such a great detective and finding missing cats is small potatoes, but his assistant convinced him to help us, and he found her so quickly after he started looking! He really is a great detective."

"Is that right?" the woman asked, sounding like she was indulging her.

"Yes," Haibara said emphatically. "We sometimes see him around the city with his family just because we live close by, but we don't know him that well."

"I see…" the woman trailed off, looking left. "Well, it looks like we're here."

"Finally," the man muttered as they turned into the parking lot.

All four of them got out of the car and Haibara found herself surprised when the man pulled out a long metal cane with arm braces and used it to start walking towards the diner with hobbled steps. His left leg was lame? No, it was more likely a tool to both lower his opponents' guards and strike them down. He probably had full use of both legs, but nobody would expect someone with a disability to be coming after them, no matter if they were heavily-scarred or not.

"Woah, it sure is crowded in here!" Dr. Agasa exclaimed as soon as they entered the establishment.

"I guess others had the same idea we did," the woman said. "Let's find a place to sit."

"There's a table over there," the scarred man said, pointing off to the left.

Now was her chance. Haibara grabbed Dr. Agasa's hand to get his attention. "Grandpa, I have to go to the bathroom first. Can you get me some orange juice?" she asked with a desperate, pleading expression.

"Ah, sure Ai," he said and Haibara smiled brightly up at him.

"Thank you, Grandpa!" she exclaimed and ran off towards the bathrooms. Once she was around the corner and out of sight of the three adults, she quickly pulled out her phone and dialed Kudo's cellphone.

"Hello?"

Haibara sighed in relief. "Kudo, thank goodness you answered."

"Haibara?" Kudo said, bewildered. "What's going on? Didn't you and Dr. Agasa already work out how you were getting home?"

"We did. Someone heading into Tokyo offered to give us a ride, but I'm afraid there's been a complication," she said.

"What kind of complication?" he asked, sounding cautious but curious too.

"I think they're criminals."

"What?!"

"Yeah, there's two of them, a man and a woman. It seems like they want to question you and Detective Mouri about something," she explained.

"Are they from the Black Organization?!"

It was a natural question for him to ask given his circumstances, but… "I don't know… They didn't emit the scent like the others, but they have a gun," she said.

And they hadn't recognized her either, but maybe like with the Rainbow Dazzleflies, they just couldn't recognize her as Sherry while she was still a child.

"Are you still with them right now?"

"Yeah, we stopped at a drive-in diner on the way into Tokyo and the Professor is having a friendly chat with them right now while I pretended to go to the bathroom so I could contact you," she said, peering carefully around the corner to watch the table without the couple noticing.

Usually, Dr. Agasa wasn't good at relaxing under pressure, but he genuinely seemed to be enjoying himself, despite the danger. She wondered if the couple had somehow gotten him to talk about his inventions. That would do it.

"Is the Professor alright?"

"Don't worry, we were sure to say we only got to know you and Detective Mouri through a case about our missing cat-" she said, still watching Dr. Agasa's animated face.

"-That's not what I meant! If those guys are so dangerous, then you should escape as soon as possible!"

"Idiot!" she exclaimed, finally turning away from the Professor to focus on the call." Those people said they want to half-kill you. They're heading to your place! We can't just leave them like that!"

"Half-kill?" he said quizzically.

"The man said, and I quote 'Half-killed is enough. It's still too early for overkill'," she explained.

"Overkill?!"

She continued as if uninterrupted. "In other words, they'll first keep you barely alive so they can probe you for information. After that, they'll proceed to slaughter you."

"Hey, are you sure they really aren't from the Black Organization?!" Kudo said worriedly.

"I. don't. know," she repeated with emphasis. "If their goal was to find my whereabouts – as the one who betrayed the Organization – it would make sense."

This wasn't good. Her suppressed panic over a genuine threat was causing her to nearly forget her cover regarding a nonexistent threat. Wasn't childhood supposed to be simpler, not more complicated?

"In any case, I'm rushing to that drive-in diner on my skateboard. I'll be there in less than thirty minutes. Until I arrive, try to stall them as long as you can!" Kudo said, and she heard the whirring of the skateboard as it powered up.

"Stall them! How?!"

"Just say you happened to meet a friend who's going back to Tokyo from Chiba and you decided to go home in their car instead," he said smoothly.

"Chiba?!" she exclaimed in whispered outrage. "We're at the drive-in diner between Yamanashi and Tokyo! Chiba's in the exact opposite direction; a lie like that would be uncovered in no time!"

"After they realize it's a lie, they'll surely be on guard and try to find you, right?"

"I see… so before that, we're supposed to hide somewhere in the diner?" Haibara asked, not really understanding how putting dangerous people on their guard was a good thing, but willing to put her faith in Kudo for the time being. "But if they don't see through our lie-"

"-If they aren't that smart, then there's no need to worry. I'll call Detective Takagi to setup an ambush at the Detective Agency. I'll tell him that they're dangerous people with a gun," Kudo said and he hung up.

Haibara snapped her phone shut and exhaled through her nose. She didn't like this plan one bit. It wasn't even really a plan, just sitting tight and waiting for Kudo to come rescue them which a part of her resented. Apart from that, how was she supposed to stall these people for half an hour, even with telling them that a fake friend from Chiba would be taking them home? Did Conan expect these people to be searching for them the whole time? The diner wasn't that big. She ducked into the bathroom for real to wash her hands for the purpose of wasting time. She wouldn't be able to stay in the bathroom indefinitely, but she would squeeze every second she could out of this before going back to the table.

When Haibara decided she'd been in the bathroom as long as she could, she finally left, her brain still thinking fast to figure out how to stall for even more time. As soon as she turned the corner, an idea came to her. She made an exaggerated start and then made a big show of peering interestedly outside before starting to make her way towards the diner's entrance.

"Ai, where are you going?"

Haibara halted in her tracks and glanced over her shoulder. All three adults were watching her and the only one whose eyes she could see were those of the Professor's. She couldn't read the other two at all.

"I thought I saw something out in the parking lot and I wanted to go take a closer look. I know to watch out for cars and I'll be careful, so you don't need to worry about me," Haibara answered vaguely.

"Well, alright then," Dr. Agasa said, leaving her free to exit the diner and head for the center of the parking lot.

She really hadn't seen anything out here worth being interested in, but it would buy her and Dr. Agasa some extra time and serve as an excellent setup for her to introduce the lie of 'their friend from Chiba' picking them up. She wandered aimlessly around the parking lot for a while, occasionally checking the time on her phone to make sure she didn't stay outside too long. Fifteen minutes after Kudo had called, Haibara went back inside.

"Grandpa, you'll never believe who I just saw!" Haibara exclaimed excitedly as she ran over to the adults and grabbed Dr. Agasa's arm. "It was your old friend from university, Mr. Hirota!"

She saw the Professor's eyes widen and she smiled slightly. Good, he'd caught on. Masami Hirota was the alias the imposter Akemi had used when he had tried to track down his fellow thieves of the one billion yen, but it was also the name of one of the real Akemi's university professors. She'd hoped Dr. Agasa would recognize it because that man was murdered the same night she revealed herself to Conan Edogawa and set the stage to become a new fixture in his life.

"Oh, Hirota, he's here?"

Haibara nodded emphatically. "Yes, I told him our situation and he said he can take us back home from Chiba."

Dr. Agasa's brows furrowed and he made to protest, but she shook her head by the smallest of margins. He closed his mouth and turned back to their companions. "Well, you heard her. It looks like a friend of mine will be able to take us back home the rest of the way."

"That's lucky," the woman said. "It's been a pleasure meeting you."

"Yes, thank you for giving us a ride up until now. Bye," Dr. Agasa said and Haibara grabbed his hand, leading him away from the table and feeling the couple's eyes on their retreating backs. Once they were out of sight, Dr. Agasa whispered, "Ai, what's going on?"

"I called Kudo when I left to go to the bathroom and told him our situation," she whispered back. "He'll be here soon, maybe in ten or fifteen minutes now, and he told me to stall by first telling them a friend from Chiba was going to take us back to Tokyo, and then hiding somewhere in the diner afterward."

"Um, why?"

"I don't know, but we don't have any other option but to trust that Kudo knows what he's doing," she hissed, looking around frantically. Where could they hide? She wished she'd had time to scout the place out first. At this rate, they'd be found in mere seconds and then they'd be in real trouble.

"So, where are we going to hide?" he asked nervously.

Haibara frowned. "We'll have to hide in the bathroom and hope it'll be sufficient long enough for Kudo to get here," she said and started dragging Dr. Agasa in that direction while staying out of sight of the danger couple.

When they reached the men's room, Dr. Agasa protested, "Ai, you can't go in there!"

She gave him a fixed stare. "We're not separating and you can't go in the women's bathroom, so I'm going in. Check to see if there's anyone already in there first, and I'll come in when the coast is clear. Hurry!" she said with an added shove and he stumbled through.

She waited until he gave her an 'all-good' sign and she entered, joining him in one of the empty stalls. Haibara kept opening the door a smidge to peer through the crack and see if anything was happening. Sure enough, it wasn't long before she saw the couple wandering around beyond the bathroom entrance, moving as if searching for something. It was time to call Kudo, so she pulled out her phone and dialed his number, keeping one eye to the door the whole time.

"Hello? Haibara is that you?" he answered promptly.

"Yes, it's just like you said. The two of them saw through us immediately and are looking for us now," she said.

"Okay, where are you guys?"

"We're hiding in the bathroom for now. It's only a matter of time before they find us."

"Perhaps they have a grudge against the old man because of some case he's solved before. Describe them to me," he said.

Haibara pulled back from the door and closed it as she recalled their appearances for Kudo. "The woman's wearing a knit cap and sunglasses. Her bangs fall on both sides of her face. The man is dark-skinned, has stubble, and has a huge scar across his left eye."

"A huge scar on his left eye?"

"Yes, and I can say for sure that they aren't normal, innocent people either. They have a gun, there are three bullet holes inside the car, and there were traces of blood they tried to wipe off," she listed off on her fingers.

"What else have you noticed?" he asked.

"Nothing else…"

"Oh yeah, they spoke in a weird way!" Dr. Agasa said abruptly right into the phone.

"A weird way?"

Haibara silently handed the phone to Dr. Agasa and he started to explain. "Yes, like telling us to bear with it because it was a bit 'tight', and saying that if we wanted to leave early, we could 'fly' or something. Could it be some kind of code?"

"Not sure yet, but I'll be there in five minutes! Stay quiet until I get there!"

A loud voice and banging suddenly broke the silence, "Hey! Are you in there, old man? Answer me if you are!"

It was the man with the scarred face.

"Looks like we don't have that privilege. The man's knocking on the bathroom doors one by one. What should we do?" Haibara whispered as she took the phone back from the Professor. She waited, but it was quiet on the other end. "Hey, Kudo?" Still silence. "Kudo!"

The stall door banged and she jumped. "Hey!" The man had reached their stall. "What's wrong? Aren't you gonna answer me?!" he yelled.

"Kudo…!" she whispered desperately.

"It's alright, Haibara," Kudo said calmly. "Just use an adult-like voice and scream that the stall's still in use. He should back off then, right? He'll be distracted from searching for you guys if he finds out there's a woman inside."

"Th-that's true…" she said shakily, staring at the shuddering stall door.

"Hey!"

Haibara took a deep breath… and screamed, "HOW RUDE! CAN'T YOU TELL I'M USING THIS?! YOU FREAKING PERVERT!"

Her scream echoed off the bathroom walls and she breathed heavily. The Professor was staring at her stunned and the man outside the stall had fallen silent too.

"Ah, excuse me, my bad…" he said apologetically and she listened to the tapping sound of his cane on the tiles as he left the bathroom.

Haibara gave a sudden start. "Wa-wait a minute! This is the men's room, you know!" she directed to Kudo still on the phone.

"I figured. The Professor couldn't possibly enter the ladies' room," Kudo said, still sounding unflappably calm.

"You figured?! Wouldn't he realize it was us by my voice?!" she exclaimed. Had he hit his head sometime during the conversation and completely forgotten her situation?! What was the point of hiding if they now exactly knew where they were?!

"Isn't there a window or something you can use to get out of the bathroom?" Kudo asked, changing the subject and completely disregarding her question.

She opened the stall door and looked around the bathroom. "Y-Yeah, there is…" she answered slowly. Her heart was still beating way too rapidly in her chest.

"You and the Professor should escape through there."

Haibara had no clue how in the world this was going to help, but she motioned for the Professor to follow her and opened the bathroom window with one hand. She grabbed onto the window ledge with her free arm, choosing not to remove the phone from her ear, and hoisted herself up onto the frame with ease. She dropped down to the ground in a full crouch and Dr. Agasa tumbled clumsily after her.

"Okay, we're out. Now what?!" Haibara demanded breathlessly.

"Let's see… If you look around, I think…"

A shocked gasp escaped her. The woman with the sunglasses stood directly before her, staring down at them with her own cellphone to her ear.

"… that lady will be waiting and soon…"

Tap… Tap… A horrible sense of dread filled her body as she turned her head and saw the hooded, scarred man with the cane come around the corner of the building with a cellphone to his own ear.

"… the man should also appear."

They were there, both of them, and she was cornered with no way to escape. Her panic was so great, she could hardly breathe. Kudo was supposed to protect her and instead he had led her right into a trap!

"Just give up and surrender," his voice said mockingly over the phone.

"Give up?!" she screamed hysterically into the device, unable to think, unable to move, and feeling utterly betrayed.

"Don't worry!" this time his voice didn't come from the phone, but from around the other corner near the woman. Conan Edogawa skidded to a stop on his skateboard and smiled at her. "These two are police officers!"

"P-Police…?!" Haibara stammered in breathless confusion, her brain unable to reconcile what he'd just said with the bone-deep terror she still felt pounding in her veins.

()()()()()

Haibara was glad that Kudo was going away to Nagano, far away from her, because the very last thing she wanted to see right now was his stupid face. It was bad enough that she'd mistaken police officers for potential criminals because they were talking about stupid, stupid botamochi with words like half-kill, but then he'd gone and made her look like a complete moron and scared her literally half-to-death all because he wanted to be dramatic with the reveal. Then he had the freaking nerve to smile proudly at his work. She was relieved, furious, humiliated, and she wanted nothing more than to slap him into next week for that stupid stunt.

"Now Ai, there's no need to continue to be so mad at Shinichi," Dr. Agasa said placatingly as they entered the front gate and walked up the drive to the house.

"I'm not mad. Did I say I was?" she said archly.

"Well, no, but-"

"-Then stop," she cut him off as they reached the front door and the Professor started fishing around in his pockets for his house keys. "I don't want to talk about him for the rest of the day."

As soon as the door was unlocked, Haibara stepped through the entry way and headed directly for the basement with the intent of shutting herself up in there for the rest of the afternoon. She slammed the door shut and leaned against it. Hot tears pricked at the corners of her eyes and she wiped them away furiously. She was mad. Very mad at Kudo. She had trusted him and put her faith in his protection as she had done before. However, once he had determined she and the Professor weren't in danger, not only had he not bothered to tell her so, but then he had tricked her into being surrounded by them and told her to give up. Because it was okay.When Vermouth was at large, Kudo had promised to protect her if she didn't run away and even went so far as to stay at Dr. Agasa's house with her while she was sick in order to keep Vermouth at bay. Where had that boy been today?

Haibara felt miserable and drained. She needed to be able to rely on Kudo and trust him, especially with her sixth sense acting up, but how could she when he wouldn't tell her things regarding her own safety? He still hadn't told her about Akai (who was still living next door, damn it), nor had he told her until the last minute about the true identities of the people she and the Professor had hitchhiked with. She decided to take a nap, hoping she would feel better afterward, though she strongly doubted it would help in any way that mattered.

Next time on We Are the Men in Black! Chapter 15: The Secret Order From London! Not sure when it'll be up. I have the outline already made, but it probably won't be done before the end of the year. So, in case this is my last chance to talk to my readers, Happy Winter Holidays everyone!