NOTE*
Kensy Echo brought up some very good points in her review of this story, so I would like to answer them here and now for all of you.
I am and always will be, a huge lover of KAITO/HAKUBA. I like Kaishin as well, but for some reason, Hakuba just really intrigues me, so most of my stories will have the two of them as close friends.
Also, this is "Tales of a Kaitou" aka Thief, which means all of the one shots in here will be mainly about Kaito, with the others as side characters. They won't all be whump, but I just really love writing it ;)
One last thing; the dislocation of the fingers to get out of the ropes is something I really heard about! It's not fake and I wasn't being overly dramatic with it. It's real and I figured it would be a good choice plan of escape for a magician of Kaito's caliber, especially considering he is Kaitou Kid.
Anyways, enjoy part two!
Chapter Three:
Tales of a Kaitou:
Three birds in a cage Part 2
It had been several minutes since Kaito was injected and the boys were seeing exactly how strong the poison truly was. Kaito sat huddled in the corner against a desk, his knees pulled up to him and his hands between his legs as he tried to get somewhat warm. His entire body shivered as though he were sitting in the snow rather than a somewhat hot abandoned office in the middle of summer. Hakuba and Conan were highly worried.
"Any thoughts yet?" Conan asked.
"Yeah, one. If they really are watching us on the camera, we need to somehow take that out or cause a distraction."
"You know where it's located?"
"I don't, but he does", Hakuba said pointing at Kaito.
"He's not exactly in the best of shape, besides he isn't even a detective."
"No, but he…he is very good at being a magician."
Conan was getting somewhat suspicious of the two. He could see the deep and meaningful looks Hakuba would send Kaito occasionally and if his hunch was correct on just who Kaito Kuroba was, well… it was going to be interesting to say the least when the time came to act. Still, Shinichi himself had partnered with Kid on multiple occasions and he was not in favor of watching his rival and partial ally die while he did nothing about it.
"Okay look, if we are going to get out of this, we need to be on the up and up", Conan replied, his eyes narrowing, "I know who he is", the boy said gesturing in the general direction of the thief, "I also know you know. That being said, let's not beat around the bush. He can get us out should we need the help, but we can't rely on him considering his current state."
Hakuba too stunned for words, merely nodded in agreement. Edogawa-kun knows Kuroba is…
"A-Alright. What can we do then?"
"I have in my pocket a children's detective badge, if I can get to it, I may be able to use it in order to call for help."
Hakuba frowned.
"A children's badge, but how does…"
"It's not…" wheezed Kaito, "It's not an actual badge. It's a communications device. T-Tantei-kun always has some tricks up his sleeve."
Both detectives worried about the breathlessness the thief was already beginning to show signs of. The poison had only been injected about fifteen minutes ago and seemed to be working fast...too fast. Whatever they did, they couldn't afford to make a mistake.
"So you're admitting to being Kaitou Kid?" asked Hakuba, trying to keep the mood relaxed.
Kaito huffed. "In your dreams… I just… know Conan…"
Hakuba frowned when he noticed the teen had lost consciousness again.
"Is he getting worse", Conan stated, merely a fact more than a question, but Hakuba answered it anyways.
"Yeah… what else do you have besides the badge?"
"I have a watch that allows me to shoot three tranquilizing darts, as well as a belt loaded with a … defense mechanism. I can only use it three times though", he said thinking of the soccer balls. He wasn't sure he wanted to go through the trouble of explaining it to Hakuba.
"I have a knife in my shoe", Hakuba stated with a frown, "I usually wear one in case I am attacked or tied up."
Conan raised an eyebrow but refrained from asking.
"Alright, anything else?"
"My cell phone, but I think those creeps took it when I was knocked unconscious."
"What about him?" Conan asked, gesturing again to Kaito.
"I don't know… Kuroba?"
The thief stirred, his eyes blinking open again. "Hmm…"
"What do you have on you?"
The teen frowned, obviously confused. Conan didn't doubt he was having some trouble focusing.
"What weapons or tools do you have on you to help with the escape?"
"Ah…I have…um…different types of bombs, some lock picks…and I think I have…" he paused, his face turning serous, "I think I have my card gun too."
Neither detective mentioned that he had just fessed up to being Kid. Right now, they would take what they could and weren't about to be picky about where the help came from.
"Alright, do you know where the camera is?"
Kaito sat up, wincing at the movement. His wrists were sore from being rubbed raw and his entire body ached from the poison. He was also beginning to feel a bit cold. He hoped they could leave soon. Forcing himself to focus, he looked around the room. His eyes narrowed in when he noticed in the corner of the room, near the window, a small nearly invisible wire ran along the seal, stopping just beneath the frame.
"Yeah", he whispered, a slight hint of the usual Kid confidence coming back into his tone, "I found it."
"Think you can disable it from here?"
Kid frowned. He honestly wasn't sure. Normally yeah, if he could get his card gun and a smoke bomb out, he would be able to, but as shaky as he felt right now, he wasn't sure he could hold the gun straight let alone aim it just right enough to cut the wire.
"I don't know", he admitted, just as a shiver ran through him.
Hakuba and Shinichi noticed the movement, but didn't say anything. They both knew right now, there was very little they could do to help the thief.
"We will have to try", Hakuba stated with a frown, "I don't see any other way."
"They won't believe easily that smoke came randomly into the room, unless…" Conan stopped, eyes narrowing.
"What?" Hakuba asked.
"What if we start a fire?"
Both teens turned to him, blinking.
"What?" Hakuba asked again.
"Think about it, if we 'accidentally' start a fire and Kid throws one of his smoke bombs, we can hide the card gun from sight and cut the camera, possibly even making it look like the room had some sort of explosion."
"So use it to our advantage and make them think we died?"
"Well, maybe to buy us some time, but it might at least give us a head start out of the building."
"W-What about the antidote?" Kaito asked, another shiver racking his thin frame, "I mean… I am all for g-getting out of here, but I don't really f-feel like dying."
"We will get it, don't worry", Hakuba promised, "Right Edogawa-kun?"
Conan nodded, his eyes staring into the thief's, trying to show he was serious. Kaito sighed, nodding.
"I can try", he stated.
The two nodded.
"That's all we ask", Hakuba stated as he turned to Shinichi. "So, how do we start this fire?"
"Will this work?" Kaito asked, lifting up a Taser with his bound hands. Neither detective knew where it came from or why he hadn't mentioned it before, but they didn't question it as Conan considered the item seriously.
"I think it might. We need to find some sort of cloth and paper. We need something to start a flame… maybe you could make something to blow up too?"
Kaito nodded, wincing as he began searching his pockets for a flash grenade.
"Here", Hakuba stated pulling an old discarded piece of cardboard towards him, "try setting this on fire."
"This might work", nodded Conan as he inched a bit behind the desk, trying to hide from the camera. His height may just be the saving grace they needed as he was much short than the other two and therefore out of the range of the camera lens.
"You ready kid?"
Kaito nodded, a flashbang in his hands, "L-Let's go."
Just as Shinichi shocked the cardboard, causing it to catch on fire in front of the camera, Kaito threw the bomb, all of them simultaneously closing their eyes. The flash went off and they blinked as they took in the smoky surroundings as Kid threw out his other smoke bomb. Aiming, Kid closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he used both hands to direct the card gun towards the wire. The light will have shorted out the camera, but not for long and once it came back up, the smoke would give him slightly more time to prepare himself.
"Here goes nothing", he whispered; his hands shaking, and fired.
DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC
Hakuba half dragged, half carried Kaito as they made their way down the hall, smoke swirling around their feet as they walk. He knew the kidnappers would be down here soon and he knew if they wanted a chance at survival, they needed to hurry before they were found out.
"Wait", Conan whispered, backing into a corner. Hakuba followed his lead. The three were silent as two of the kidnappers rushed by towards the room they had been kept in.
"Come on", Conan urged as they started out once more.
"We need to get the antidote", Hakuba stated, glancing in concern at the quiet and extremely pale thief he held in his arms, "his skin is burning."
Conan nodded, thinking hard about how best to go about doing that.
"We don't know where the doctor is and… I don't know if we can find it easily with him slowing us down."
Hakuba knew Conan was right, but he didn't want to let his friend out of his sight. What if it was the last time he saw him?
"Hakuba", Kaito whispered, "Leave me. I can…I can handle myself. Go, please… find it."
Saguru hesitated only a moment before giving in, lowering his friend to the floor.
"I will be back, stay quiet."
Kaito nodded as he watched his friends take off around the corner. Struggling to his feet, he knew the dangers that came with taking on the kidnappers alone, but he also knew if they allowed those looking for them to roam free, they had a higher possibility of being capture again and this time… Kaito doubted the doctor would be kind enough to give them a time limit, but rather, he would more than likely just kill them then and there; one of them if not all.
Taking a deep breath, Kaito placed his greatest poker face on and grinned as he walked almost normally down the hall, a confident look in his eye as the two kidnappers exited the room just as he walked up.
"Say, did you happen to see where my friends went?" he asked them.
The two whipped their heads to stare at him, before they began to move in closer. Kaito merely smiled as he grabbed a couple bombs from his pockets.
"Come on fellows, I merely asked a question", he commented.
"Oh don't worry", one answered with a smirk, "We will be sure to reunite you."
"In that case, here is a gift", Kaito cheered as he threw down a flash and knockout gas, bodies hitting the floor with a loud thump as he hid his mouth and nose behind the edge of his t-shirt.
"Too easy", he muttered, before a cough filled his throat.
Choking, his eyes widened when he took the piece of his shirt away and noticed the red splatter coloring its edges.
'Better hurry Hakuba' he thought to himself as he slid to the floor beside the two he had knocked out, 'seems the good doctor may have lied about the time limit. I am just going to…sit here and…rest for a moment.'
Kaito closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.
DCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDCDC
Hakuba and Conan rushed through the halls, careful not to cause too much noise as they kept their eyes open for a sign of the doctor or his daughter.
A scream echoed through the halls and they rushed towards it, wondering what had occurred.
"How dare you kill daddy!" the woman shouted.
"Yeah and now I am going to kill you", the deep voice laughed.
Hakuba and Conan blinked as they took in the scene before them. The thug from before, Azlen, stood standing over the doctor, a bloody dagger in his hands as he stared smirking at the young woman in front of him, staring in horror at the man above her. She clutched her father to her, but the two boys could clearly see the old man was dead.
"I got this", Conan stated as he let loose one of his soccer balls and sent it sailing at the thug just as he was ready to strike the frightened lady. The ball slammed into his face, knocking him out cold as he fell to the floor.
Rushing inside, the woman stared at them in surprise before turning her attention back to her father.
"He's…dead."
"Yeah and our friend will join him if you don't tell me where the antidote is", Hakuba stated, looking around them room for a sign of where the injection might lay.
"He never…accomplished his goal", she whispered distraught.
"Look!" Hakuba yelled, grabbing the woman by the sleeve and yanking her up to look him in the face, "my friend, an innocent, is going to die if you don't tell me right now where the antidote is located. Do you really want to be responsible for murder, when you already have a kidnapping on your hands?"
The girl blinked, tears running from her eyes as she shook her head numbly.
"It's… I don't… only father knew where it is."
Conan's eyes narrowed as he knelt beside the old man and began checking his pockets. When he came across a silver key, he knew he had most likely found it.
"Where is his safe?"
"Behind the wall", she answered, pointing to the large portrait that hung in the center of the room.
Conan and Hakuba rushed to it as Kudo quickly began trying to the key in the slot.
"It requires a code as well. Do you know it?" he asked her.
She shook her head.
"We need Kid", Conan whispered, "Safe cracking is not my specialty."
"I will go get him", Hakuba said as he quickly ran down the hall towards where he left Kaito. When he slid to a stop, his heart dropped when he saw his friend was not there.
"Kaito!" he shouted, not caring if he drew attention to their location; he had to find his friend.
Running down the hall in the direction they had originally come from, he felt relief when he noticed his friend sitting against the wall, two men unconscious beside him, bound and gagged.
"Kaito", he stated, kneeling by the teen who blinked in confusion.
"Dad?" he whispered.
Hakuba frowned.
"No, it's Saguru Hakuba. Remember, the blonde jerk from school?"
Kaito blinked again and Hakuba felt his heart constrict when he noticed the blood on his shirt. Grabbing the cloth, he pulled it up, but so no injury beneath it.
"Are you hurt?"
"Hurt?" Kaito repeated, clearly disoriented.
"Come on, we need your help", he stated, but Hakuba was beginning to wonder if Kaito would even be able to open a door, let alone a safe, in his current condition. Helping lift the teen, an arm draped over his shoulders, he hoped that once they made it to the room, Kaito might be a little more awake.
"Dad…how are you here?" Kaito whispered towards him.
Hakuba sighed. Should he play along and maybe get through to the thief?
"I was worried about you", he decided to say.
"Worried…about me. You're dead. Why would…"
"Because I am", he answered.
"Huh", Kaito hummed, "I'm sorry Dad."
Hakuba paused in his movements, confused.
"Why are you sorry?"
"I haven't…been able…to avenge your death yet. I try and I try, but… I keep failing. Dad… I'm so s-sorry."
Hakubra frowned. Avenge? What did Kaito mean? His cause for concern upped when Kaito began coughing, blood being spat from his lips onto the ground below.
"Hang on Kaito", he urged, "Hang on."
AUTHORS NOTE*
Okay, there will be one more part of this story, part three and it will be the conclusion of this "mini-arc". I enjoy trying different ideas as to how Kaito's secret identity might be discovered, but I promise that chapter five will be much more fun and yes, it will have Heiji in it, for all you Hattori lovers!
Until next chapter guys!