Author's Note: Le gasp! I got the next chapter done in less than a month? Yeah, this probably won't happen again for the rest of the story, so don't get used to it. The reason why this chapter got done so fast was because of two reasons: one, the amount of content in it was short and two, I was actually debating for the longest time on whether this would be the end of the previous chapter or its own separate chapter, so it was already well-outlined in advance before I got to this point. Everyone stay safe and be careful, okay?
Twilight
In the primary Headquarters of the Japanese branch of the Men in Black based in Tokyo, Rum was sitting at his desk in the office of the Vice Chief with a pen in hand hovering over some papers, but the pen was still and so were his eyes. He wasn't writing and he wasn't reading either. He was lost in thought, and it was no surprise he jumped out of his skin when he heard a sharp tapping sound on the office door. It was open, and the man standing in the entrance way was-
"Lord Karasuma!" Rum exclaimed and hastily began to stand up and bow to his sole superior in the Organization, but Karasuma raised a hand and Rum halted his movements.
"I'd ask you not to interrupt your work on my behalf, but I have my doubts on how much work you've actually gotten done," Karasuma said not unkindly as he walked forward, his every other step paired with a clack from his sphere-pommeled cane.
Rum grimaced and sat back down while Karasuma took a seat in a chair on the opposite side. The room was silent for several minutes while Karasuma surveyed Rum with his sharp, beady black eyes, and Rum waited for Karasuma to speak his mind.
At last, the old man's lips moved, and he said, "You didn't have to come back to work so soon. You haven't given yourself enough time to grieve properly."
Rum's jaw tightened and he ducked his eyes from that penetrating gaze. "I already inconvenienced you by taking one day off. My responsibilities as your Second are too great to take off any more than that."
"And your distraction shows in your subpar work ethic yesterday. You have so far been no better off today and at this rate, you're going to make a serious mistake that may end up proving fatal to someone else," Karasuma said with a slight warning edge to his voice.
Rum's shoulders tensed and he still couldn't look at his boss. "I have no excuses, sir," he said quietly.
Karasuma sighed softly and the wooden chair creaked as he leaned back in it. "You just lost the love of your life, Asaka. I would be shocked if you didn't react this way, but you really are in no fit state to be back at work so soon. It's only been three days, and you only gave yourself one to grieve. Your duties as Vice Chief are those I have given you that I either used to do myself or delegated to other people before I named you my successor. I can manage without you for a while if I need to, and it would be less inconvenient than having you here when you're not functioning at your best."
"Yes, sir," Rum said heavily and finally… slowly… lifted his head. "Has there been any news on…?"
"Vermouth?" Karasuma said coolly, guessing his thoughts, and his black eyes glittered malevolently. "Not yet, but we will. She's an expert, but she can't hide forever. Not with the entire MiB looking for her."
Rum's lips thinned and he nodded grimly, his eyes burning with hatred. Vermouth… that treacherous, conniving bitch was the one responsible for Emma's death and he bitterly recalled Gin's words about a month or so ago when Gin was furious over Vermouth being in charge of the Mystery Train scenario:
"That's easy for you to say, Asaka, but I wonder if you would feel so blasé about this if it was Curaçao that Vermouth's presence threatened instead of Sherry."
Gin's instincts had been right about her from the start, just as his instincts usually were, but they'd ignored his warning because Vermouth was a top-level executive agent and Gin was both emotionally invested in Sherry's safety and had a very negative history with Vermouth. Usually, Gin liked to rub it in Rum's face when they clashed on a subject and he was proven right, but there was no pride to be found in being right this time.
Speaking of which… "Has Gin still not shown up?" Rum asked.
Karasuma shook his head. "No. He's not answering his phone by either call or text and no one's seen him since Vodka's last confirmed sighting that he went to his apartment the night that Curaçao died. As far as anyone knows, he hasn't left his apartment since."
Rum wasn't at all surprised to hear that. As much as he loved Curaçao, there was no possible way that he could have ever replaced the space in her heart that was dedicated to the bond she shared with her twin. In many ways, the trust and love they shared with each other, platonic though it was, was far greater than the romantic love he had ever had the chance to share with her.
"Would you like for me to handle the funeral procedures?" Karasuma asked abruptly, but gently.
Rum startled out of his internal musings, saw Karasuma's gaze focused on the desk, and frowned in confusion. He looked down himself and his brown eyes widened in understanding. The paperwork on his desk was the report confirming the transfer of Curaçao's body from the regular morgue to a MiB-sanctioned one. She was one of theirs and they took care of their own even to the bitter end.
His eyes pricked with tears again just staring at the paperwork and he nodded shakily, his throat suddenly very dry. Funerals, cremations, retirement… all of that was under his jurisdiction. He had spoken with and comforted more families that had lost loved ones working for the Organization than he cared to admit, but this time… This one time… He just couldn't do it, not hers. He didn't even think he could talk to Gin right now without irrationally lashing out at him. He blamed Vermouth whole-heartedly, but a part of him also wanted to blame Gin for keeping secret that there was an infiltrator in the Organization… that if he'd been open with him and Karasuma about this, then this situation would never have come to pass and she'd still be alive. And not just her, but maybe their baby too. He'd been a future father for all of two days, but now… No… he couldn't trust himself to speak to Gin right now…
()()()()()
"No, Kudo, I don't recognize him, and I've never seen him before in my life. The new Superintendent just has a scary face and that's why I freaked out, so stop bothering me about it," Haibara said exasperatedly after they left the cake buffet-turned-murder. "Now if you don't mind, the Professor and I need to go home as there's something we forgot to do before heading out today."
Dr. Agasa looked like he was about to open his mouth and voice his confusion, but one stern look from her silenced his protest. She was just trying to get away from Kudo right now.
"O-Oh… yeah, sure…" said Kudo, and that was all the excuse Haibara needed to shove the Professor back into the car after dropping off all the kids, Kudo being the last one.
Coming face-to-face with the man called Hyoe Kuroda reminded her of a different Kuroda that she was very worried about. It'd been three days since she last saw Gin and he'd replied to none of her texts or calls. Not an 'I'm here', an emoji, nothing, and she was getting scared. Three days alone with his thoughts… She didn't think he was one to contemplate suicide, but… it was also his twin sister who'd died.
For the hundredth time, she wished she'd thought to chase after him and not let him out of her sight, just as he had done with her when Akemi had passed, but there… there had been a lot going on and everything had happened so fast:
"Emma! Emma! EMMA! No, god damn it, NO! NO!" Gin screamed in denial as he stared in horror down at the blackened dolphin keychain in his hands.
Haibara briefly saw tears starting to well up at the corners of his eyes before he pressed the keychain to his face and hid his eyes from view. Even Akai and Conan stood by in silent sympathy as they watched this supposed merciless murderer completely break down in anguish.
Vodka stepped closer and gently touched Gin's shoulder, but like a wounded animal, Gin stiffened and whirled on him, snarling dangerously, "Don't touch me!"
Vodka hastily backed up with his hands raised and his brow furrowed in worry, but Gin spun back around and stalked off at a brisk walk with his shoulders hunched and his head bent forward with the keychain clutched protectively to his chest.
"Aniki, wait!" Vodka called, looking uncertainly from his quickly retreating partner to Akai and Conan.
Haibara didn't need to be a mind reader to know what Vodka was thinking and she was just as anxious. Akai and Kudo needed to be neuralyzed to forget all of the alien activity they just witnessed, but if Gin was left alone right now, he might do something drastic or dangerous.
"Damn it!" Vodka swore under his breath as he quickly pulled out the silver neuralyzer and a spare pair of sunglasses. He handed the latter to her and then called to everyone in the vicinity, including the police and medical personnel. "Everyone, may I have your attention! I have some very urgent news to give all of you, so quickly stop what you're doing and come on over here. Gather around and wherever you're standing, make sure you can see the little glowing red dot on this device, and I'll finish my message quickly."
As soon as he saw everyone gathered and looking his direction (and that she was wearing the borrowed sunglasses), he pressed the button and a blinding white flash obscured everyone's vision for a brief moment then faded away just as quickly.
Haibara took off the sunglasses and handed them back to Vodka while he spoke to the now dazed onlookers. "None of you saw any aliens and none of you saw any suspicious men dressed in all-black. You're all just trying to do your part to either stay out of the way or do damage control as a result of one of the Ferris wheels rolling away and crashing through the aquarium," he said loudly and then spoke directly to Sherry in a much quieter voice. "Find your friends and stay with the crowd. Don't let yourself get separated and don't leave the house again tonight. We don't know where Vermouth is right now, and she may use the chaos to try and make another surprise attack on you. I'll let Rum and 'that person' know what she did as soon as I get the chance and then she'll have nowhere left to hide."
"But Gin-!" Haibara protested worriedly and Vodka nodded vigorously.
"-I know, I know! I need to call Bourbon first and see how he's doing because I don't know if Aniki did that before we got out of the Ferris wheel, but I won't lose him, Sherry. I'll make sure he gets back home safe," Vodka said hurriedly, and then promptly turned on his heel to dash back the same direction Gin had gone while he pulled out his phone.
Gin did make it safely home. She had gotten a text from Vodka confirming as much that night and there had been no further incidents that she was aware of from the Organization. She could only assume that this meant Vermouth wasn't caught yet, but it had to be only a matter of time before she was found. The entire MiB was looking out for her after all, not just the MiBJ.
That was the only message she had received regarding Gin's well-being though, and Haibara was now desperate as well as hoping she wasn't too late. She couldn't get out of the yellow Beetle and into the house fast enough for her liking as she pulled up one of the contacts in her phone and dialed not Gin's number this time, but Vodka's.
On the third ring, the call connected, and Vodka answered, "Hello? Sherry?"
"Vodka, please tell me that you've seen or spoken to Gin sometime within the last three days since he returned home," Haibara pleaded as she took her call down into the basement to keep it more private and started pacing the room.
"No, I haven't; has he contacted you at all?" Vodka asked and he sounded worried too.
Haibara shook her head sharply. "No, not a peep," she said while biting her lower lip. "You don't think he's-!"
"-I don't think so, but I was just going to check on him right now, even if it means I have to break down the door to get into his apartment and he shoots me in retaliation for invading his living space," Vodka said, and indeed, Haibara could faintly hear the sound of a car engine in the background.
"Wait, before you go, could you pick me up first before heading over?" Haibara asked, an idea suddenly coming to her.
"Eh? Bring you to Gin's? But Sherry-!"
"-He needs us Vodka!" she interrupted shrilly as she walked over to her desk and opened one of the drawers. "He's all alone, and you and I are the only people left alive that he loves. I need to be there; you know I do."
"I know…" Vodka agreed heavily. "Are you at the Professor's right now?"
"I am, but hurry, okay? I didn't see Akai's car at Kudo's house, so he must be out somewhere, but I don't know when he'll be back and it will be much easier to pick me up while he's gone," Haibara said, having idly noted the absence of the red car on the way back home.
"Ah, that's true, but even if he was home, we'd just have to come up with a different meeting location still kind of nearby as long as it was out of his line of sight," he reasoned. "Not a difficult workaround."
"No… that wouldn't be a difficult workaround…" Haibara agreed as she pulled out a rectangular plastic box and opened it to reveal a bunch of different medications.
Some were tablets, some were capsules, and there was one white capsule in its own little square. That was the one she pulled out and held up to eye level, the temporary antidote to the APTX-4869. Ai Haibara leaving the house to go somewhere was one thing. Shiho Miyano was another thing entirely.
()()()()()
Gin felt numb. Staring blankly at the ceiling, he couldn't remember the last time he'd moved. He must have because he was in his bedroom, the bathroom, and the kitchen at some point, and now he was in the living room lying on the couch. What or when was his last meal? He couldn't tell you. He hadn't bathed or shaved once since that night, so he stank and his jaw was covered in scratchy silver stubble. All was quiet now, but his phone had pinged and rung so frequently that the noise had irritated him, and he'd put the phone on silent. Or maybe the battery had just died. He couldn't remember. He didn't care either way. What was the point?
His mother was dead.
Akemi was dead.
Emma was dead.
Everyone he cared for died prematurely, and it was his fault every time. He couldn't even muster the mental fortitude to remind himself that his father wasn't dead, though he was as good as, and that he'd had no involvement whatsoever with the explosion his father been caught in that left him unconscious and burned half his face.
His other thoughts kept repeating on loop in his head non-stop though.
It was always his fault. The day his mother died, some of his classmates told him about a cool new arcade game that had been installed in the nearest town over and invited him and his sister to come along. Emma had wanted to go back home directly after school to call for help and give emergency first aid to their mama if she had a stroke or a seizure since the caretaker, Miss. Aisa, had to leave early, but Gin had convinced her otherwise. He'd assured her that they wouldn't be gone long, and that Mama would be fine by herself for a little while.
And Akemi… After Akemi discovered he was sleeping with her underage sister, he lost her trust, and their friendship was nowhere near as close as it once was. She didn't talk to him about some of the things she used to anymore and she never forgave him for what he did. It was his fault that their friendship had frayed so badly and if it hadn't, he might have noticed something suspicious before she was killed and could have saved her.
And then there was Emma. God, how could that be anything but his fault? He was the one who'd ordered Chianti to first shoot at his sister while she was running away carrying Sherry, which caused her to be lost in the wreckage, and then to shoot at the gargoyle as it was diving back into the Ferris wheel, which was what caused it to break from the axle and ultimately what ended up killing her.
No tears fell, but his heart constricted painfully, and his left hand tightened around the blackened dolphin keychain he'd hardly let go of since he first picked it up. Who would be the next to die that he cared for?
Vodka?
Sherry?
Maybe both.
Maybe it was better for him to stay here and never leave so that he didn't risk killing either of them too.
A loud bang made him startle and automatically reach for his gun when he remembered he'd left it in his bedroom. The sound came from the door and several more followed which made Gin calm slightly when he realized it was just someone knocking.
Before he could start to wonder who the perpetrator was, he heard a voice shout through it, "Aniki, are you in there? If you are, answer me or open the door or something! I haven't heard from you in three days!"
Gin said nothing as he stared at the door like it was possessed. It was Vodka. Vodka was on the other side of the door right now. Had it really only been three days? It seemed longer than that.
"If you don't, I'll force my way in there even if it means breaking the door down!" Vodka threatened.
Still, Gin neither move nor spoke. He made no acknowledgement of Vodka's presence. Vodka swore softly and Gin heard him starting to fiddle around with the lock. It was no good. The Organization's standard universal multi-key was useless on any MiB-sanctioned equipment, building, and employee home locks. The material that the multi-key was made out of was unable to harden and keep its shape whenever it came in contact with the interior coating of such locks so that no agent could just use their multi-key to barge into places they shouldn't. He saw the deadbolt slowly start to turn and Gin's eyes slowly widened behind his bangs as it did. Was Vodka using regular lockpicking tools to try and get in? However...
"Shit, that actually worked?" Vodka exclaimed, sounding surprised himself. The knob turned and the door started to open. "Aniki…?" The door's movement was abruptly halted and Vodka let out a stunned oof when he ran into it.
... Lockpicking tools wouldn't help him get past the chain lock on the door.
"Son of a…!" Vodka muttered under his breath. "Alright, I'm coming in whether you want me to or not, Gin!"
This time, Gin literally jumped when a huge SLAM hit the door so hard the chain lock snapped and sent the door flying with Vodka tumbling to the ground after it. Vodka quickly got to his feet and glanced around the living room briefly but hadn't even taken three steps forward when he did a double-take and fixed his gaze unwaveringly on Gin. Both men stared dumbfounded for a moment until Vodka looked back at the door and then back at Gin, his brow furrowed with slight annoyance.
"Why'd you make me have to break open the door like that when you were sitting right there and could hear me just fine?" he asked.
Gin shrugged indifferently.
The creases in Vodka's forehead eased and he exhaled heavily before approaching and observing him critically. "You look terrible. When did you last eat or bathe?" he asked.
"Dunno," Gin answered, shrugging again.
"Have you left this apartment at all since you got here?"
Gin shook his head.
Vodka chewed on his lip and then asked hesitantly, "Have you left this room at all?"
"A little," Gin answered, his answer unhelpfully vague.
"Aniki, why haven't you been answering your phone? I've been trying to call you to check in on you for the past three days as has Sherry and who knows who else, but you haven't responded to anything," Vodka said as he sat himself down in the armchair next to the couch.
"Battery's probably dead," Gin muttered.
Vodka opened his mouth, but then closed it and shook his head, then tried again, "Aniki, we're worried about you and want to help. When you didn't answer the door, I thought… I feared that I was going to find you dead in here."
"Sorry," he said. He felt a small prickling feeling start in the back of his head and it was irritating.
"Well… at least you're not, and that's the important thing," Vodka said with an assuring nod to himself and stood up again. "Are you hungry at all? I can try to make something or if you don't have anything I can use, there's always the box of crackers I keep in the car for emergency snacks."
"I'm not hungry, thank you," Gin said. The prickling feeling got a little bigger.
"But… it's been so long that you last ate that you don't even remember. You need to eat something to keep up your strength, otherwise you'll waste away," Vodka reasoned, his brow furrowed worriedly.
"I'll eat later," Gin assured him, but he had to stop himself from tapping his fingers on his knees in irritation as his brain buzzed. Go away…
"You need to eat now. I'm not sure I can trust that you'll actually eat later if I leave," Vodka said a little more sternly.
One of Gin's eyes twitched slightly, hidden as they were beneath his bangs. He didn't want food, he wanted to be left alone. "You can't make me," Gin said stubbornly.
"You can't starve yourself either," Vodka countered, his voice still firm, but sympathetic. "We care about you, Aniki, and Curaçao wouldn't-"
"-Shut up!" Gin snapped, his teeth bared and his fists clenched as he suddenly shot up to his feet in a towering fury. "Don't you dare try and tell me what my own twin would or wouldn't want because Emma's dead by my hands, and she can't say a damn thing unless you've suddenly learned the power to be able to talk to spirits in the afterlife," he said with a mocking sneer. "Can you do that, Vodka? Can you now ask my sister directly how she feels about what whatever I decide to do or not do? Who do you even think you are, anyway? All of your siblings and your mother are still alive and well, so you can't even begin to imagine how I feel right now!"
Gin was still breathing heavily after he finished yelling and Vodka remained still, fixed in place with an expression that was equal parts alarm and hurt. Silently, he reached up with one hand and removed his sunglasses, revealing large, bright blue orbs that seemed comically out-of-place on the face of a broad, beefy, tough-looking man like Vodka. He didn't like to remove his sunglasses for exactly that reason, because people liked to make fun of him for them. The fact that he willingly did so spoke volumes as blue eyes gazed directly into green for once.
"Yes, Gin. I am very lucky that my Ma, older brother, and younger sisters are all still alive and well, and that the only member of my family that I even knew who's dead is my abusive, deadbeat, alcoholic old man. That being said, I can imagine exactly how it would feel if I lost even one of them. And even though I have never actually experienced what you're going through right now, she has," Vodka said and pointed back at the front door.
Gin followed his finger and his breath hitched in his throat. Standing there hesitantly on the threshold was Sherry. Grown, beautiful Sherry wearing the same white and dark gray-striped long sleeve shirt and khaki capris that she wore the last time he saw her adult-sized.
"Sherry…!" he breathed, hardly able to believe his eyes.
The keychain slipped through his slackened grip and clattered to the floor, but he didn't even notice as he first took one step, then another, and then she darted forward and her smaller body collided with his. His arms instantly snapped around her, embracing her like a lifeline, and she held him tightly back. Her fingers were gentle, stroking calmly through his hair while he nuzzled her and murmured her name under his breath in a soft, desperate chant.
"How long do you have?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper in her ear.
He felt the negative shake of her head before she spoke. "I don't know. I've taken the temporary Apoptoxin antidote so many times now, I can't make an accurate guess of how long it will be, but I'm not leaving you, Gin. Not this time, not even if I shrink back."
"Maybe you should," he muttered bitterly even as his arms tightened subconsciously around her. "I killed my own sister. It's only a matter of time before my nature or position kills you too."
Her fingers suddenly gripped the back of his turtleneck in tight fists. "Gin, if it's anyone's fault that your sister is dead, it's mine."
"No, Sherry, no. It's not your fault."
"But it is!" she insisted in a choked voice. "I knew that something was going on at the aquarium! You warned me away from the place during our last phone call and I had absolutely no business being there, but I went anyway. I followed after Kudo with some vague notion of either helping or protecting him, but I completely failed at that and ended up being Curaçao's hostage instead. You… You wouldn't have had to order Chianti to shoot at her if it weren't for me. Please… Please forgive me."
"Oh, Sherry…" Gin murmured, one hand now cradling the back of her head. "How can I when there's nothing you need forgiving for?"
Sherry released a shuddering breath. "I'm more at fault for your sister's death than you are, and if you can't blame me, then you can't blame yourself either."
"I…"
"Please just talk to me, Edward," she pleaded. "You can't simply lock your feelings away, it doesn't help. When Akemi died, I tried to do exactly that, but you wouldn't let me, so don't try and do it to me now because I won't let you. You're not going to feel any less disconnected if you choose to shut me out. Do you remember those words? They're your own and you told me that in the first conversation we had after the Haido City Hotel incident."
Sherry released her tight grip on his clothes and leaned back. She didn't try to escape his hold, but there was enough distance between them now that he could see her face. She cupped his cheeks between her hands and her thumbs idly caressed his skin as she peered up at him.
"Don't shut me out… don't bottle it up… just let it out. All of it. I'll listen and I'll still be here with you when all is said and done. I won't run away," she assured him.
Gin forced his jaw shut and closed his eyes. He released a weary sigh and rested his forehead lightly against Sherry's while her hands slid down his neck to rest upon his shoulders. "I couldn't save her… I tried, but she… that damn drug made her run away and she would have hurt you if I didn't… it didn't want to let her be saved, and- damn it, she was pregnant, Sherry."
Sherry stiffened and Vodka gasped. Right. He hadn't known either.
"She was pregnant, even if it was with Rum's bastard, but now they're both gone and one never even had the chance to live."
"I'm sorry, Gin," Sherry murmured sympathetically.
He nodded, but continued as if she hadn't spoken. "We lost her, we completely lost her in there, but then why-" he choked and swallowed heavily as hot tears pricked his eyes. "Why did she get in that crane? She'd gotten out, right? She had to have to get the crane, so why…? Why did she come back?"
"You know why. She was trying to save human lives, even if it meant sacrificing her own to do so. She… She died the way she wanted to. She had to have because the mind control serum wouldn't let her risk her life like that, so that can only mean she was able to fully fight off the drug's effects in the end. She wasn't a puppet fighting for someone else's cause when she died, she was herself. She was free…" Sherry answered, her voice trembling slightly as she spoke.
Sherry was right. He did know why, and deep down, there was a part of him that wished she hadn't broken free if it meant that she was still alive now, regardless of how many people would have died in her stead.
"The Organization hasn't found Vermouth yet, but it can't be too much longer until she's caught now, not with the whole MiB on the lookout for her, no matter how experienced she is at disguising herself and escaping sticky situations," Sherry said.
Gin frowned and opened his eyes, then pulled back puzzled. "Vermouth? Why is the- No…!" He remembered now… He'd been so consumed with grief that he'd completely forgotten Vermouth's role in all of this. She was the one who'd injected Emma with the mind control serum and made her both steal the NOC list and kidnap Sherry under its influence.
White hot fury suddenly coursed through his veins and a savage growl tore from his lips and bared teeth. "No… I will find her, and I will kill her. Nothing short of her death at my hands will be enough to avenge my sister."
Sherry's face contorted. "No! You promised me, remember? The night I shrank? You promised you wouldn't die before I came back home!"
Her sea blue eyes were wide and her pupils were contracted. Her breathing was quicker and shallower than normal. He could practically feel the anxious tension humming throughout her body. Gin unclenched his jaw and forced his shoulders to relax as the raging inferno slowly dimmed from his eyes.
"I remember," he confirmed. "And I have no intention of breaking my promise to you now or ever. I will live. I guarantee it."
"Then let me see it," Sherry said. Her lips were a thin grim line and her eyes sparked with determination while her hands, small and slender, combed through his hair down to his waist where she grabbed the hem of his shirt. "Show me how much your word is worth."
With those words, Sherry yanked his turtleneck up and over his head, and then while he extracted his arms from the sleeves to toss it aside, she caught the back of his neck and brought him down for a heady kiss. His arms came around to hold her again and he distantly heard Vodka leaving in the form of hurried footsteps and the front door closing when Gin started rolling her own shirt up her stomach and Sherry in turn grabbed the waistline of his pants.