"Sorry, Ran! Go on ahead of me! I'll catch up with you right away!" Shinichi said, running off towards what seemed to all the world to be a deserted alley in between attractions.

As she watched him go, a feeling crept over here. A very bad feeling. 'Shinichi...'

Without another thought, she took off after him. She watched him watch the two men making the obviously illegal deal before she saw the other man from the roller coaster sneaking up on him, something long and dangerous looking in his hands. Vaguely, even as she raced forward to stop the man from hitting her friend, she noticed he wore no gloves. He would leave behind fingerprints when he dropped his weapon, which he would. One does not carry and long, bloodied pipe around with them, the black trench coats were bad enough as it was. But those types of thoughts were in the very back of her mind as she intercepted the long haired man, blocking his blow with the side of her arm.

"Shinichi, police! I'll hold them off!" she yelled as her friend turned around, startled. To his credit, he only hesitated a second before breaking off into a run towards the coaster, where the police would still be lurking after the earlier crime scene. The blonde man grunted, withdrawing the pipe and preparing to strike again. With a swift kick, Ran knocked it out of his hands and it went flying somewhere behind her.

The man grinned before pulling his gun out of his jacket and pointing it at her. "Don't move, little girl." He said coldly and she froze, though she kept her venomous gaze locked on him. Suddenly, she felt something collide with her head and she fell, stunned and pained.

"....kill her?"

"...poison.....organization.....no signs.....humans....guinea pig..." Something forced it's way down her throat and she swallowed, instantly regretting it as a burning sensation filled her body. She heard them run away and she lay there, bleeding and hurting and dying. 'Shinichi...I'm sorry....I love you....'

----

Shinichi ran back towards the scene of the crime, angry with himself and with the police. They were gone, all of them, having just let minutes before! If only his deduction hadn't been so clear, they'd still be around investigating! He ran back, hoping against hope that Ran would still be there, smiling broadly with the two men at her feet.

"You didn't really think a couple of guys like these could hurt me, did you?" Dream-Ran asked amusedly.

But instead, upon returning, all he saw was an empty patch of grass and a pile of slightly steaming clothes which he approached warily. But that skirt...it was Ran's, wasn't it? If they had her and her clothes were here...! Shinichi stormed over to the pile in a rage, picking them up all at once. But they were too heavy....

He peered inside and a tiny baby, not older than a couple of months at best, looked out at him. Then she began to cry. Panicking, Shinichi did the only thing he could think of. He ran home.

He opened the door and set the baby on the sofa where it continued to cry pitifully, it's head slightly bloody. It was naked under his friend's clothes and it had her eyes....There is only one truth, but this seemed far too strange.

Gently, he lifted the baby, whose cries lessened slightly at the adult presence. He examined the wound on its head gingerly and discovered it looked worse than it was. He cleaned it off and wrapped it very lightly with some gauze before leaving it along. Next he took a dish cloth and fastened a diaper out of it, wrapping it around the baby girl's hips and securing it with a clothespin. Finally, he grabbed a soft blanket and wrapped it around her as well before holding the babe against his chest and bouncing slightly like his mother had taught him to long ago when he was forced to help her baby sit a friend's child.

'That's right, Shinichi, hold her close a support the head and back. Be very gentle, she's a human like you, but she breaks a lot easier and she needs you to do things for her.' His mother's voice floated back on a memory and he followed the instructions just the same. The baby stopped crying.

After a moment, Shinichi gathered his wits about him. "Ran? Ran-chan, is that you?" he said hesitantly but the babe gave no reaction other than blinking heavily and relaxing even more thoroughly in his arms. "Right. Baby, got it. Well, how about Hana-chan then, until I know for sure? That's not so bad."

The babe snuggled closer to his chest and he hummed a lullaby as he sat on the couch. "Hana-chan it is then."