Fade to Darkness

Title: Fade to Darkness
Rating: M
Fandom: Detective Conan
Summary: Reincarnation only existed in fanfiction, yet Michael Leo Field was reborn as Akai Senichi, the younger twin brother of Akai Shuichi. However, his new life takes a dark turn; at the age of ten he is kidnapped and at twelve, he is forced to join the organization. [OC Insert as Akai Sibling] [Family/Angst/Drama/Crime]

Arc IV
Chapter XVI
Mokubaso
Warnings: None

After a couple weeks, Absinthe and Kir were no longer bugged and no longer under surveillance. Since someone like Gin was convinced that Akai was dead, not many agents thought that the Silver Bullet could have somehow escaped death. One of the few exceptions was Bourbon. However, Bourbon's suspicions did not bother Absinthe at all since everything would most likely go according to canon.

One day, Absinthe was approached by Gin who had somehow entered Absinthe's apartment without a key. "Your name is Akai Senichi,"

"Yes?" Absinthe acted like he wasn't surprised. "And you're Brendan Klein? I don't see what's the big deal. We introduced ourselves to each other when we first met," 'Is he still doubting my allegiance?'

"Your name is Akai Senichi," Gin repeated. "Answer me honestly. Are you related to Akai Shuichi?"

'Lying will get me ending up with a bullet to the brain,' "He's my older twin brother," Absinthe admitted. "But make no mistake, Gin. I do not care about my blood relations,"

"And why should I believe those words?"

"Because he obviously never cared about me," Absinthe replied. "Did he recognize me when he joined the organization? No. Granted, my appearance did change since he and I last saw each other, but we have similar facial and body structures so he should've recognized me. If he truly cared about me, then he would've been desperate to get me out and 'free me of the organization's brainwash.' I mean nothing to him and he means nothing to me,"

"Didn't you want to one day reunite with your family?"

"That was long ago, back when we were in Mad Dog Arena," Absinthe pointed out. "Back when I foolishly held the hope that they would find us. Jenever was the one rescued us. The reason you brought this up is because you are suspecting me of betrayal. My loyalty is to the organization. It is the only way I can repay them for removing us from that awful situation, for giving us medical treatment, for providing us food, for training us, for giving up a chance to live once again,"

The two didn't break eye contact for a couple seconds. "I see," Gin finally spoke. "Of course you wouldn't bite the hand that feeds you,"

"I've already proven that I am loyal to the organization rather than my blood family twice already," Absinthe added. "Last year in England, Vermouth had me dress up as my father to lure my mother out. We were successful and Akai Mary was forced to ingest APTX 4869. And now just a few weeks ago, I was the one who fired the killing shot at my own twin. Is that not enough proof of my loyalty?"

XXX

Leo had started renting a secondary apartment at Mokubaso at Beika City, District 3, #23. At his apartment there, he would store his anime and manga stuff as well as use the bedroom as a studio to write and record songs whether it be actual original songs or Detective Conan openings and endings from the Real World. He tended to go there during his days off or whenever he completed his work for the day and wasn't completely exhausted.

Most of the time, he managed to avoid the other residents. He arrived one morning and encountered Okiya Subaru who was watering the plants. The two was silent for the first few moments before Subaru broke the silence. "Hello. I'm Okiya Subaru. You must be the resident that comes here from time to time,"

"Leo Vineyard," He shook the offered hand. "And yes I am. Do you like gardening?"

"I'm not much of a gardener but I noticed that these plants don't get enough water," Subaru replied. "Since I tend to wake up early, I took it upon myself to water them every morning. Would you like to chat over some coffee?"

"That sounds great," Senichiyawned. "I'm quite knackered from staying up last night," 'Oops, my British side is showing a bit,'

Once Subaru finished watering the garden, they headed up to the man's apartment. Subaru set the kettle on the stove and within a few minutes, two cups of coffee were ready. "Would you like any creamer, milk, or sugar?"

"I think I'll go straight black today," Senichitook a sip of the coffee. "Napudot!" He fanned his tongue with his hand.

"Of course it's hot," Subaru chuckled.

Senichimanaged to cool down his tongue. "You're lucky that I had a few blank bullets on me,"

"So you recognize me?" Subaru opened his eyes. "Did Kir inform you of the plan?"

"Nope," Senichisaid. "But what did you want me to do? Actually shoot you with real bullets? And of course I recognize you. You're my brother,"

"But I wasn't able to recognize you," Subaru pointed out sadly. "As Leo Vineyard, you were famous yet I didn't recognize you. While in the organization, I sometimes stayed by your side yet I didn't recognize you. But you were able to recognize me at first sight and I'm in full disguise,"

'He's feeling guilty,' Now Senichiwas the one feeling guilty too. 'I recognize him because his identity was revealing in the anime and manga,' "It's not like you could ever imagine me enjoying life as a celebrity while deciding to forget about my family in England," He let out a loud exhale. "I'm sorry about those things I yelled at you back at the hospital,"

"It's fine," Subaru assured him. "You weren't telling your true feelings,"

"I can't allow the Absinthe part of me to have emotions," Senichitold him. "Emotions only distract me and could cost me a mission. I don't want to die,"

"I don't want you to die either," Subaru nodded.

"I'm trying my best to distance myself from everyone so Absinthe could just be a shell that fulfills the organization's orders, just like I was before you infiltrated the organization,"

"Absinthe may be a shell but Leo isn't," Subaru responded. "Leo was friends with Akemi and Shiho. He has emotions. He has compassion and empathy. And Senichi is filled with emotions too. You're just hurting and had no one to turn to in the organization,"

XXX

It was late at night when Leo started smelling smoke. He heard loud banging at the front door and opened it. Sugiura Kaito, the landlord's son, stood there crying. "L-Leo-san! M-My dad won't get up a-and there's a fire!"

'A fire!?' Leo scooped Kaito into his arms and made his way downstairs where Sugiura laid unconscious. Leo shifted Kaito into his left arm and carried the boy's father with his right. He started to careful head to the exit but the flames were spreading fast. As he was making his way to the exit, a large chunk of debris fell. Leo barely had enough time to toss Kaito and Sugiura away as the large chunk of wood collided with Leo's back.

"AHHH!" Leo screamed as he felt the heat of the flames easily eat away at his shirt and start to devour his back.

Fire. He hated fire. Fire was what killed his parents. Fire was what killed him. Fire was what etched J4 into his shoulder. And now, fire was what caused the wooden slab to trap Leo down, surrounded by flames. Fire only brought bad luck to his life. You'd think that after years of being in the organization, he would've gotten over his fear of fire, right? He didn't fear the fires that he started because he had control and could escape easily. But the fire that currently blazed around him had not been started by him.

"Leo-san!" Kaito cried out.

'I can't die…' Leo's muscles grew bigger as he activated his polar bear DNA. His strength increased and he managed to escape from the wooden beam and limped outside where the firefighters and ambulances were just arriving.

XXX

"My, my, to think that you'd play hero," Vermouth mused when she visited Leo in the hospital.

"The kid was the one who approached me," Leo claimed. "It'd look bad if a famous American singer let a kid and his father die just to save my own skin,"

"Heroism runs in your family I suppose," Vermouth commented. "Your parents were MI6 Agents and your twin brother was an FBI Agent,"

"I'm no hero," Leo laughed. "You know that too. Blood doesn't matter to me, not after they abandoned me," 'I hate saying these words over and over again. It makes me fear that it might eventually become true,'

"The police will be coming over in a bit to ask you some questions," Vermouth informed. "I'm sure that the kid and his parents will also stop by to thank you,"

"Did the doctors question any of my scars?" Leo asked worriedly.

"I told them that you were in a car accident when you were younger," Vermouth answered. "I'm sure that's enough to satisfy their questions,"

XXX

"What? You saw Akai Shuichi?"

"Remember, there was a robbery case at the Teito Bank in Beika District?" Vodka brought up during a car ride. "They were announcing on the news that the trial for the case started yesterday and they showed a video of the case where a man who looked like him appeared in it. But I suppose the resemblance was just a coincidence since we saw his death with our own eyes in Raiha Pass. With a headshot from Absinthe's gun, there's no way he could still be alive,"

"Call Kir," Gin ordered darkly. "First it was Haido City Hotel where Sherry showed up. Then it was at Mouri Detective Agency in Beika District where Akai sniped us. Kir and Absinthe were kept at Haido Central Hospital. And now, a man resembling Akai showed up at a bank in the Beika District…Haido and Beika are but a stone's throw from one another. You really think that's a mere coincidence?"

"It isn't," Absinthe said from the back seat. "Vermouth disguised Awan as Scar Nalabaga and appearing in front of Nalabaga's friends to gage their reaction. Awan doesn't believe that Nalabaga really did die,"

Gin narrowed his eyes. "Did they get permission from that person?"

"Probably, pretty sure they did," Absinthe shrugged. "I mean, the boss is very cautious. Besides, if it were really Nalabaga, why would he go out into the open like that?"

"I'll double check with the boss," Gin said. "But if I find out you're lying…"

"Gin," Absinthe reminded. "My loyalty is to the organization. If he were the real Akai Shuichi, how the fuck does a person survive a bullet to the lung and a bullet to the head and an explosion? Think logically, Gin. You saw him die. You saw Kir and I kill him,"

GabrielRavier:
One of the worst written scenes ? If that's supposed to be the worst, then I can't wait to see the best.
Btw, this looks like it could end up with some interesting discussions, what with the circumstances surrounding the events at Raiha Pass in this fic, especially considering Senichi's involvement with the second shot (I wonder if some people in-universe will just assume he went along with the plan rather than knowing all along, considering he wasn't supposed to know about it, though him detecting that the first shot was fake in the first place might be suspicious).

Skai:
I think the best written scenes is somewhere in the already posted chapters. The quality only goes down if you continue reading this version, hence why I'm working on a rewrite. Just a warning: the final battle is very disappointing. If Gin does find out that Senichi is a traitor, he'd treat him like any other member. I mean, GinSherry is canon in this fic but he was still willing to try to kill her in Reunion with the Black Organization.

Velgamidragon:
Since I saw the warning at the top, I was careful going through this chapter to see if I could figure out which scene you were referring to, but I couldn't. There was some dialogue that felt off though, like when Absinthe was trying to get away from Akai and said that his brother abandoned and gave up on him. My first thought was a very confused "What? When? Why's he saying that?" If it was referring to the Mad Dog Arena, that wasn't Akai's fault; Senichi was freaking kidnapped and Shuichi himself was just a kid. If it was about Shuichi's infiltration into the Organization and then leaving after that, then (I don't remember which you used) either Senichi never told Shuichi who he was or Shuichi did find out beforehand, but Senichi was insistent on staying with the Organization. In either case, Akai still didn't "abandon" him, and there's not enough context in the dialogue for it to be obvious to the reader if Senichi is lying just to try and get away from Akai or if he's being sincere. And if Senichi /is/ being sincere, then the previous established text doesn't currently support this mentality.
Oh, you mentioned it that early on? I completely forgot; I didn't think it was something I needed to remember.
What can I say, I was inspired. :) I've had a few other ideas for snippets inspired by this work, but that one just came together the quickest and most readily.

Skai:
The hospital escape scene was the scene I was warning about. I've written "MC easily escapes hospital without being properly explained how he was able to find normal clothes and walk out without being caught" at least three times: Mitsuharu, Mitsuharu Shorts and What-Ifs, and now Fade to Darkness. That scene stems from the fact that I'm too lazy to write a proper hospital escape and that I don't know how to write one.
The dialogue between Akai and Absinthe is Absinthe wanting to push everyone away but at the same time needing a big hug. Also, it's a slight mental breakdown moment. His mask is breaking and he's trying to repair it.