Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one

Credit (blame) for this story goes to Dissenter who is writing an awesome fic where Aoko and Kaito are in it together on AO3. It is called One for Sorrow Two for Joy , go read it.

Denouement

Good things, Kaito had often reminded himself on hard nights, come to those who wait. But now, finally, the waiting was over. Victory was theirs at last, and it was sweet. This moment made it all worth it; every sleepless night, the lies, the fear, the pain. The magician squeezed Aoko's gloved hand where it was held in his. They had done it.

Though it seemed that Snake, slippery bastard that he was, might slip away into the night. Well not on their watch. The two best friends shared a look of complete accord, Aoko shimmying up a nearby pipe to take to the rooftops. As for Kaito, he dropped the dozen feet to the ground, landing lightly before setting off on the other's trail. It seemed the hunter had become the prey. He took no care to avoid being seen. He wanted the officers to follow.

A fierce grin stole across Kaito's features as his partner stepped into Snake's path, Kid's white cape billowing behind her as she stared coolly down the barrel of her card gun. "Going somewhere Snake?" she asked lightly.

The killer skidded to a halt before backpedaling. He knew better than the think the thief would provide him with such a tempting target without having something up his sleeve. He turned only to be confronted with a second, identical figure. For a moment, Snake's gun wavered between the two before settling on the figure behind him.

Kaito laughed. Seemingly unconcerned that he was being held at gunpoint. "He thinks you are one of our tricks."

The first figure smirked in response. "I suppose I am at that." The pair were perfect reflections of each other; same outfit, same face. Same voice, same laugh; they even tilted their heads the same way. It was, to be honest, a little creepy.

By this time Inspector Nakamori and a squad of the task force had caught up with their long time prey and were examining the scene from cover, having left Section One in the dust. Nothing against their colleagues, the others were simply unaccustomed the speed and stamina that was a requirement for chasing phantom thieves. All of the officers were armed, and they all wore full body armor. Their main adversary may have been non-violent, but they were still cops. Though to be honest Kid, both of them, looked far from harmless right now.

"Did you really think that after everything, we would simply let you walk away?" Kid questioned. The mist seemed to emerge from everywhere and nowhere all at once, the two white clad figures vanishing like the phantoms they were sometimes called.

"We made a vow."

"We promised."

"We swore on his grave," the two spoke together.

Snake was looking more and more unnerved, spinning first one way, then the other as he searched for a target. It was impossible to tell where the voices were coming from. Even Nakamori felt a bead of sweat run down his neck, and he wasn't even the focus of the thieves' ire.

"He was our teacher."

"Our mentor," came the unnerving echo.

"We loved him."

"You killed him," hissed the other.

"MURDERER!" It was as if all of Snake's victims had called out at once.

It was then that Snake lost it, blindly firing in all directions. Nakamori yelped as one bullet impacted a wall not far from his head. "Down!" he ordered grabbing his nearest subordinate and hitting the ground. The rest of the squad was quick to follow. Risking a quick glance upwards, the inspector grimaced. The mist was now impenetrable. Then, the shooting stopped. It was dead silent.

"Keibu," one officer hissed after few moments. "Nakamori-keibu, look." The mist was clearing. The shooter lay sprawled on the pavement. Gun a few feet from his outstretched hand, a steel playing card embedded in the barrel. Snake was not moving, not at all.

Ginzo felt a wave of cold, more mental than physical. He had publically stated, more than once, that the only thing the thief (thieves?) would never steal was a life. But, the Inspector grimly replayed the conversation he had just heard. Everyone had a breaking point. Slowly, Nakamori approached, vigilantly examining the scene for any possible threat to him and his men. Taking a deep breath, he reached down to check the shooter's pulse.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

The air left the inspector's lungs explosively, knees going temporarily weak in relief. Thank the kami. Removing his cuffs from his belt, he secured the prisoner before professionally patting him down; removing three knives, a small holdout pistol and a ridiculous amount of ammunition.

Ginzo knew; a part of him had always known that his old rival was dead. And it hurt to know he didn't even know the other's true name. That he couldn't even visit his grave. But, the Inspector's dark gaze strayed back to the figure at his feet. Being able to take this piece of garbage to jail helped a little. Not a lot, but some.

Curtly, Nakamori ordered a couple of his men to haul the prisoner off the ground as their backup came screeching around the corner, sirens blaring. It was instinct, more than anything, which caused the Inspector to look up as Snake was loaded into the back of one of the cars. And there they were, standing on the edge of a building four stories up.

For a single instant, the world seemed to disappear. It was just them. Then, as one, the Kid(s) bowed deeply. There was no pink smoke, no dramatic swirl of the cape. One moment they were there, the next they were gone.

Never to be seen again? Ginzo wondered as he imagined a world without the Kaitou Kid in it. Then he smiled, reaching out to pluck a spiraling card from midair. Not hardly.

FoGFoGFoGFoG

Thank you for reading and please review

Also, to any fans of Hidden Claws. I swear I am working on it. It is like 85% done. Then I just need to type it up and edit. If only I could stop getting distracted by other stuff.