Chapter 13

The letter

Hi guys! How are you doing? This is going to be a pretty long chapter so please and please comment on it!

The day passed with Gin smirking at Ai which terrified her and made her spend all her time with Conan, which would have delighted him if for any other reason. Ai would never let herself be alone for a second, even when she went to the bathroom. She went with Ayumi. She was nervous the whole day and wasn't herself and even held Conan's hand in the kids' presence. Ayumi thought the stress in Ai's wellbeing was because it was Ai's time of the month, which was only because Ai told her in private to explain her edgy-ness.

When school was over Ai sighed with relief. She walked home with the gang and soon Ai and Conan found themselves in the house. Ai breathed in and out. "We have to call Jodei-Sensei" Conan said as he himself panted. He looked at Ai and saw her hair was slightly ruffled and her veins were showing more than usual, proving that she was really stressed out. Her electric blue eyes showed rapid fear in them. Conan still thought that she was beautiful.

"Is is your time of the month? You looked even more tense then I thought you would be even with Gin there" Conan said. He earned a hand mark on his right cheek, with a death glare which Conan was used to but still slightly frightened him.

"Pervert" Ai muttered loudly. But she then pitied Conan for the hand mark and kissed the cheek. Then she went to her room. Conan smiled to himself. "I should ask her one day if we could push up our relationship" He thought to himself. He walked to his room and called Jodei.

Ai changed into different clothes because of the stress and sweat. She opened her backpack and saw an envelope. She held it. It had no writing on it but a Gin bottle stamp. That was more than enough to say who sent the letter. Ai opened it and took out the note. She then read it slowly:

Dear Sherry

It's been a very high pleasure to see you again. I didn't think you would have fallen in love with one of the enemies and targets of the organization but I should say it brings it to my advantage. With all the times we've shared together, I'm surprised you would be so scared of me. I know you are growling like a wolf at my words and thinking of how sarcastic I am, which I assure you was my true goal in saying that line.

Let's make things short now. I will hurt your "Love" if you don't come to the address enclosed with this letter. You will make the antidote for APTX and return me to my normal age. And then I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that you will meet with an old friend again and work together. The bad news is that we will kill you the first minute I return to my normal age.

Thank you and with all My Love

Gin

"Hello Jodei-Sensei"

"Hello Cool Kid. What's up?"

"Nothing good. Gin and Vodka are in our school in kid ages."

"Oh my God! I will send protection to your house right away! I'll call you back in a while! Oh and please check on your girlfriend. I'm sure she will be in terror."

And Conan hung up. He walked out of the room and down the hallway. Hakase was at a convention so there was no one else but them. Hakase had looked at them mischievously and said "Have fun!" before he left that morning. Ai and Conan had both been blushing deeply and each having dirty thoughts in their head after what Hakase said all the way to school. Conan knocked on Ai's door. She hated it when he just barged in on her. He had once entered without knocking to find her unbuttoning her jeans. She had murdered him after that. His cheek was so sore that he couldn't eat hard to chew foods such as steak for two weeks. He didn't hear a reply. He knocked harder. There was still no reply. He slowly opened the door. He gasped and widened it more.

The room was empty and there was a note and the window was wide open.

Conan ran to the window and saw that Ai was not in eye view. He looked at the note on the bed.

Dear Shinchi

Gin sent me a note saying that he will hurt you if I don't cooperate with him. I have to make the antidote for the drug, though there isn't one as you and I both know. I won't come back, so don't wait for me. Find another girl and always be happy. I will always love you forever and ever

Ai

Conan stared at the small note then called Jodei again.

"yes?"

"Jodei-Sensei! Ai is gone! Gin sent her a note telling her to go to a place to make the antidote or he'll hurt me. This will mean he will kill Ai if I don't save her! Please help me!"

"I have sent the men and I'm driving. Don't panic. I'll see you soon"

Conan was in panic, not heeding to Jodie's words. He felt tears come to his eyes. Ai was willing to die for him. That was how much she loved him. He howled in the air. "Ai! Ai! Ai! I love you! Come back!" He yelled. The tears fell faster than they had ever before. He longed for Ai to return to the safety of his arms.

Ai looked fearfully at Gin who was smiling grimly at her. She successfully hid her emotions and smirked back at him. "I had to come see my old friend. It's wrong to not stop by and say hi to him" She said. She looked at Gin again. "He's in the back, in the lab." Gin said. Ai walked past him to the back of the building. She opened a door and then made a poker face. There was Phantom. He sped toward her and pulled her in his arms. Ai dropped her poker face and hugged him back. She realized that he was crying. "It's alright Evan" Ai whispered.

"No it isn't. You're going to die when we're done and you know it. I can't let that happen. I won't let you die." He whispered back.

They let go slowly. Ai hated seeing Evan sad. She didn't like the look of a frown on his face. When he smiled he looked attractive. (But never near Shinchi of course and differently like brotherly and sisterly)And when he frowned he looked so sad he could make people cry. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. He was younger then Ai in two years and had a sparkle is his eyes that meant hope. He still had hope that he would one day live normally. And Ai had always loved that about him. The truth was she adored him. But their relationship was sister brother love. And that was never going to change.

"Let's start working. I started the first 20% and the general structure. Now we can continue it together. But of course we will stall as much as possible" He said. Ai put on her lab coat and walked to the computer desk and read what he accomplished these days on APTX.

They worked for a few hours until Vermouth came along with sandwiches. She looked bitter. But she didn't stay long and left as quickly as she came. Ai worked hard and stayed up all night. Vermouth came once again that night with coffee and some doughnuts to keep them up. The next day Vermouth came along with breakfast and coffee. She left faster than ever. Ai knew that Vermouth was hiding something, but she had no time to think about it. She was in much too deep water to help others out of it, because she was drowning herself.

That evening they finished.

"We're finally done" Ai said, her eyes watering. "Yup that's right. I wish we worked slower then that" Evan said. Ai looked sad as she suddenly saw the sparkle disappear in his eyes. His hope was gone. He gave up. And Ai hated seeing Evan like that.

The tears started to fall. And Evan hugged her tightly. Vermouth entered at that moment. Her eyes were red and puffy which meant she had been crying. Ai looked at Vermouth with a look of confusion. "Are you done?" She asked emotionlessly. "Yup we're done here" Evan said bitterly. Vermouth went over to a laundry chute. She then opened it. It was very old and rusty but she managed to open it. She looked at Ai.

"What are you doing?" Ai asked.

"Helping you escape. Phantom. Go to the bathroom and act like you've been there the whole time. I will leave the moment you get in there." Vermouth said.

Ai looked at her then tears began to fall even more. "Vermouth… Thank you" She whispered.

"Go now" Vermouth said and then smiled – for the very first time kindly. Ai quickly hugged Evan and then slowly entered the laundry chute. She slipped and fell in. She bit her lip so she wouldn't scream. She then thought of Vermouth and knew somehow that they were very alike. Both of them were trying to discover their true personality, which was always hidden by a mask. Ai would have loved to have that conversation with Vermouth but she knew that there was no going back. She was going to Hakase's house and then make Conan and Hakase get their stuff ready and they will leave. They would travel to some different country, perhaps America and live there for a while. Ai was exhausted so she didn't try to push her mind more than it was. She sighed as she got out of the laundry chute. She was in a back yard that was very unkept. She walked away from it then ran and ran, away from the building as possible. She ran building past building, hoping to reach her home soon. Her mind was turning off and on and she felt that she might even sleep while running. But she kept running and never stopped. She then heard a distant scream and increased her speed. It was a man's scream. Gin. She moved into the next neighborhood and thought of everything she would do when she went home and felt restless and exhausted. She sighed and panted as she entered the next neighborhood.

She looked past the houses and thought of Conan. She increased speed and neared the neighborhood she lived at. She moved faster and faster. She entered the neighborhood and was immediately stopped by two men.

"Who are you?" One of them asked.

"Ai Haibara. I live with Agase Hiroshi" Ai replied. They immediately stepped aside. Ai ran toward the house. She opened the door and saw Jodei in her face, aiming her gun at the door. She lowered it. "You came back…" She said in shock. Ai panted and nodded tiredly. She then saw Conan get up to see who it was and forgot that she was tired and ran into his arms. Conan yelled out and hugged her so tight he could have squeezed her to death but neither one of them cared. "Oh I love you Shinchi!" Ai yelled. "I love you too Shiho!" He answered before slamming his lips to hers and Ai knew that she was safe –for a while. That she could finally rest in his arms. Her eyes closed and she felt comfortable in his arms. He lifted her off her feet and she then fell to sleep.

Conan set Ai down on the couch and kissed her cheek. "You know that you may really have to join the Witness Protection program, in order to protect her" Jodei said in a low voice. "I know. Tomorrow I will answer your question to that. Tonight however, I want to sleep next to her if you don't mind" He said.

"No It's alright I was going to leave anyway. There will be three men guarding the house and ten guarding the neighborhood and use the package I gave you!" Jodei said before leaving.

Conan sighed and looked at the small girl sleeping next to him. He lied himself down beside her and carried her in his arms, then he too fell to sleep.

Thanks guys for following me and commenting! Please comment more please! I will try to update next week with a bigger chapter. Thanks for reading everyone!