I wonder what your guy's faces were when you saw the notification saying this fic has been updated... It's been too long... Sorry about that. Things came up and I had to move this fic to the back burner, but guess what? This fic is now top priority. Rejoyce.

Disclaimer: Nah

Chapter 4

-Jin

Kaito, admittedly, was pouting. Well, on the inside he was. On the outside, he was pretending to sleep, and he was going to continue to do so until the dumb mole face stopped staring at him.

Chances of that were slim.

But just because Link wouldn't leave Kaito alone, didn't mean he wanted to give away his awake state because Kaito was sure the guy would bombard him with accusations and questions the moment he sensed Kaito's faked deep breathing pattern falter.

He'd rather lay still than have to deal with mister bowl hair cut.

But he honestly didn't mind pretending to sleep all too much. It gave him a chance to scheme. He loved that word. Scheme.

Anyway, he had already memorized every detail of the cells and only needed to imagine the place in his mind to make some escape plans. Which was surprisingly hard to do. Just one look at the locks on the doors and he knew they were ancient. Even though he luckily still had some lock picks hidden in the hems of his pants, it would be impossible to use them quickly, effectively, and quietly. They weird thing was that even though the model of the locks were without a doubt a hundred or so years old, they looked new, not a smidge of rust on any of the hinges.

His cell was interesting too. There was a vent cover across from where he was sitting in his cell. It was huge and whenever the air turned on, it rattled and screeched. It was baffling that whoever designed the holding cells allowed vents to be in the cells. Although, he wasn't an idiot. He wasn't going to sneak over to the vents, unscrew the bolts, and just crawl in. That would be both stupid and dangerous to do. Plus, even though the locks looked new, the vent certainly didn't. Any move on the thing would announce his escape attempt to his prison mates if not the guards and Zelda- ahem- Link. Excuse his mistake.

So his next option would be the barred gap between the floor and the rest of the glass walls. It was a big enough gap for multiple hands to reach through and try to grab any passerbys—he only knew that because some person that looked like a drag queen in one of those weird costumes tried to make a grab for the Allen kid after he said he'd go and call some Komui dude—so if he waited for security to calm down and for all the prisoners to go to sleep, he should be able to corrode through the bars.

Honestly. The prison security must be ancient to not have confiscated all of Kaito's clothing. None of his secret pockets in this dress pants were even touched. Just by touch he knew he had five lockpicks, one smoke bomb, and a vial of a weak acid that wouldn't completely eat through metal, but would at least weaken it. He also had a couple dozen handkerchiefs.

He wasn't too worried about escaping. It would only take extreme care and a bit more time that what he was comfortable with. He just had to wait till night.

The only thing that worried him was Ani, one of his show doves. He brought her along on his previous heist so she could give him a literal birds-eye-view of the museum with the camera attached to her leg. After he stole the ruby (where did that go anyway?) Ani returned to the inside pocket of his jacket. She was nowhere to be seen. He could only hope she flew home before these strange people who insist he's in France and that Japan is destroyed took him.

And speaking of people who are missing, Jii is nowhere to be seen either. He desperately hoped that the man escaped safely. That he didn't go after Snake and his men. That he's not sitting in handcuffs in some jail cell.

Conan was gone too. But he wasn't too worried about the pipsqueak. Even though the kid couldn't be older than seven, he knew how to take care of himself. If anything, the little detective was probably laughing his guts out at Kaito's predicament. It was probably all his idea too. The demon brat was more shifty and sadistic than he let on. If the soccer ball shaped bruises he constantly found himself with were anything to go by.

His heart clenched and his stomach suddenly felt uncomfortable. Be wanted to shift and release whatever nervous energy filled his body at the thought of Tantei-kun. He really hoped this was all just a joke. That the kid was alright. That there wasn't anything more crazy and weird going on.

The sound of footsteps met his ears and he found himself grateful for the sudden distraction. If his internal clocks was right, he still had at least an hour before people started to get tired. Another hour to pretend to sleep. Another hour to go over and over and over again on his limited escape plans.

Kaito was sure that wherever Hakuba was, the jerk was laughing.

-o-o-o-o-

Allen held the phone lightly against his ear. His hand hovered just a millimeter from numbers that he would have to press to call the Black Order. He found himself deep in thought, and not quite sure how to sort through what he was thinking.

Well, actually, without a doubt the biggest thought on his mind was a teenage boy who laid inside an empty cell. Kudo Shinichi. The boy who appeared from out of nowhere with a flash of green light.

After it was discovered that Kudo was from Japan, Link almost had an aneurysm. The only way to calm him down was to let the guy completely interrogate Kudo. At first, Kudo acted shocked and answered the questions with a slight, almost hidden wobble in his voice. But those kind of answers only lasted a few minutes. As the interrogation went on, Kudo slowly started to take control of his voice and expressions. The answers became vague and irritating, filled with so many double meanings and hidden messages it hurt Allen's head to try to decipher.

There was one thing that really bothered Allen: the Poker Face™.

Allen was an expert gambler. He knew how to spot and tear apart someone's hidden expressions. It was childsplay. It was second nature to look at the hidden emotions.

But it was impossible to do with Kudo. A Poker Face™ usually has one or two hidden layers of emotions. Three if your an expert like Allen. But Kudo? The guy was constantly building more and more layers to the point not even Allen could tell what he was thinking. It both terrified and fascinated Allen, because there was only one other person whom Allen couldn't read the real emotions of.

He doesn't have to say the name of said person…

Anyway, halfway through Links interrogation Kudo stretched with his good arm and released a huge yawn like he'd been holding it back for hours. His eyes went droopy and his answers were starting to get mumbly or he'd space out. Allen didn't believe for a second that the guy was actually as tired as he was letting on, but Allen was getting bored of the questions Link was asking. They were getting bland. Questions like "what do you last remember?" were turning into "how do I know you're not lying?".

In fact, by the time Allen convinced Link to let Kudo "sleep", questions had gotten so pointless that the only kind of interrogation was a staring contest between an angry man in a military uniform and an uninterested teenager in nothing but a mixture of bandages and dress pants.

Allen was pretty sure he was more relieved to leave than Kudo was to see them go.

Right after that, Link pulled up and chair to watch Kudo like a hawk. Allen barely suppressed an eye roll, but he had different things to think about.

He took a deep breath, as if it would erase the clouds in his brain. It didn't. Yet it's not like he could just sit for hours and ponder the mystery named Kudo Shinichi.

He dialed a familiar number. It ringed for a few minutes, then he was told by a monotonous voice that the owner of the number was not available and blah blah blah. He rolled his eyes, called again.

This time, it rung only twice before it was picked up.

"Why hello~" said a happy voice.

Allen couldn't help but smile. Anyone who worked with the Black Order and would dare to call Komui's desk would know to call twice, because the first phone call allowed the Head Officer time to find the phone which is usually buried under more paper that what should be possible. And probably somehow thrown across the room.

Allen is willing to bet (without any cheating even) that is wasn't even Komui that found the phone. It was probably Johnny. Or even more possibly: Reever.

"Hello, Komui," Allen said, smiling.

-o-o-o-o-

Conan never actually got a chance to think over an escape plan. Why? Here's why: just because he had the brains of a teenager, didn't mean his body was a teenager as well.

He missed those days when he could stay up all night, running only on coffee, and be just a tad bit loopy the next day.

Curse his small body that can't handle staying up past midnight.

And curse Marie's cooking also. The guy was an amazing cook. His dinner was rich and warmed his whole body and almost immediately made Conan's body leave the world of the awake.

One second his head was dropping as he tried to stuff another bite of dinner in his mouth, the next he found himself half awake, curled up on the couch. It was no longer bright-ish outside. The whole room was doused in darkness.

It took him a minute to become fully awake, but when he did, he mentally slapped himself. He waisted precious hours planning an escape to go find KID by sleeping away. Granted, he knew his body needed the sleep. The main problem with turning into a child was getting rid of teenager habits, and lack of sleep was a definite habit. Shinichi could go on for days, Conan couldn't. Conan would shut down.

It was a fact of his deaged body, and he hated it.

He pushed himself to his hands and knees, trying to ignore the ache on the inside of his elbows or his suddenly full bladder (thankfully Conan had never accidentally wet the bed) as he sat in the "frog" position on the couch. He knew it was bad for the knees and that parents shouldn't let their children sit with their legs formed in a W like Conan was doing, but at that moment he didn't really care. His mind was wide awake but his body was so tired.

He tried to clear all the gunk out of the corners of his eyes so he could open them fully. He noted quickly that his glasses were suddenly gone. He wondered who took them off and where they put them.

He looked around the hotel room with squinting eyes. It was dark, but the light of the moon made it a bit easier to see. From where he was sleeping, he could see the kitchen and and the front door. He didn't need to look to know that behind him was the door to the single bedroom and it's connecting bathroom (which he would definitely need to use pronto), but he did so anyway, because in the silence of the night it was pretty easy to hear a voice.

It was deep and calm like an ocean's wave. Conan recognized the voice belonged Marie.

"Yes, he fell asleep a little bit of an hour ago..." Marie said quietly. "We were actually planning on heading over… yes… Komui said that? Yes…"

Conan thought for a moment that Marie was talking to Kanda, but as the conversation continued Conan realized that Marie was talking to someone on the phone.

He wanted to get closer and figure out who Marie was talking to, bur he knew that if he made too sudden or loud of a noise, Marie would instantly hear him. Conan guessed it has to do with the "innocence" the two men had mentioned.

"What are you doing up, Brat?"

Conan almost fell off the couch—he would not admit he almost wet himself too, he really needed to get to the bathroom. He completely forgot that he had to look out for Kanda too. He slowly turned around in his position and looked and the grumpy Kanda. The man was sitting at the kitchen table. Conan wondered how he missed him but chalked it up to the darkness of the room and the darkness of the man's clothes, hair, and maybe even personality.

"I woke up!" Conan said.

Kanda gave a 'no crap you woke up' kind of look. Conan inwardly cringed. He could only hope he'd get a chance to be alone so he didn't have to act like an over excited seven year old. He missed being a teenager. Once he returns to being Shinichi, he would never complain about teenager responsibilities like homework, part time jobs, and worrying about taxes ever again.

"What are you doing up, Kanda-niichan?"

You know, before now, Conan always thought Haibara had the most intense of glares. He wondered what would happen and Kanda and Haibara met. The world, both his and whatever the heck this one was, would probably combust. The electricity flying from both of their narrowed eyes and the heavy atmosphere rising from their annoyed posture were so similar that Conan could hardly suppress the shiver that traveled down his spine and into his toes.

Kanda opened his mouth to say something, probably 'you don't need to know,' or 'stop asking questions small, annoying child' but before Kanda could really say anything, Marie opened the bedroom door.

Both heads turned towards the man in unison. Marie 'looked' up at Conan with a small smile. "What are you doing awake?"

Conan tried not to sigh. Tried. It kind of slipped out, so he disguised it with a yawn. "I woke up," he repeated.

Conan could practically feel Kanda's eyeroll. "He woke up…" he grumbled like it was the most idiotic sentence to ever be spoken.

Marie hummed happily. Conan had no clue how Marie dealt with Kanda's constant foul mood. "We still have a few hours before we can go-"

"Go?" Conan asked. "Go where?"

He didn't know why, but he never expected to be taken anywhere. He just kind of assumed they'd stay at the hotel, at least for a few days. He didn't know what he'd do if he was suddenly moved to a different area. He needed to plan an escape. He couldn't be even more separated from KID.

Kanda seemed to be surprised by the sudden transfer as well. If his ever so widened eyes said anything.

"To the police station. That's where your… uh…"

Conan said the first thing that popped in his head. "Brother."

"Really?"

Murder me. "Yeah!"

Marie lifted a confused eyebrow. "But you have different last names…"

The world froze. KID… told them his real name?

This wasn't the way to find out his real identity. Conan was supposed to rip off that dumb top hat, throw the monocle across the room and recognize KID's face and eyes. He was supposed to catch KID messing up, find a fingerprint or a missed hair. But even then, he never expected—or wanted—the chase to end so quickly. He wanted it to be like his father. Where he and the first Kaitou KID were well into their adulthood. They were equal rivals. Conan even suspected that they never wanted to defeat each other. They understood each other.

Conan could only sputter.

Kanda rolled his eyes again. "Different last names?" He asked for clarification.

"Yeah, Allen said he introduced himself as-"

Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh oh no Conan wasn't prepared for this. He almost covered his ears because he didn't want to hear it, but his curiosity won out. He listened to the next two words, barely even realizing he wasn't breathing.

"Kudo Shinichi."

Oh.

Conan was going to murder him. He was going to murder him and hide his body in a volcano.

"Well, anyway," Marie said, "he's a little worse for wares but they said the wound should heal quickly. Allen said Lavi and Krory would be on their way to pick them both up and take them to the Head Quarters."

Conan listened quietly. He could work with this. They were going to take Conan to KID in just a matter of minutes. Priority number one was to meet with KID and only probably kill him a little for stealing Shinichi's name so they can plan a way to get back. The thief couldn't help Conan get back to their world if he's dead.

For now, to meet up with KID, sticking with Kanda and Marie would be the best plan.

-o-o-o-o-

Finally, Kaito thought. It must have been way past midnight. A chorus of snores met his ears, which was proof enough that most of the inmates have fallen asleep. He didn't need to open his eyes to know that much.

But he opened his eyes anyways. Slowly, and as he pretended to shift in his sleep. He quickly glanced across the cell and through the glass walls. It was almost impossible to resist a grin.

Zelda was distracted.

It seemed Link had given up on watching Kaito as he "slept" and went to talk with some guy—a man who was radiating something major that reminded Kaito of Nakamori—about something. Kaito felt the risk to fully open his eyes was low enough, so he did so. It allowed him to study the room a bit more. Or more specifically, the bars separating the glass wall from the floor.

It was about a foot and a half tall. The gaps between the bars were a few inches wide. But what he really needed to look at were the screws. If he squinted, he could see some bolts that held the bars in place. He almost had to double take when he saw the bolts. He couldn't help but wonder why the bars weren't wielded to the ground.

Although, he wasn't about to complain about it. If anything, unscrewing the bolts would be easier than corroding the iron bars. All he needed was something thin and strong, like a penny.

And a distraction.

Which, just as he thought of it, it happened.

Zelda was in the middle with talking to the cop guy when another officer ran up looking out of breath. "Inspector Galmar!"

The man—of course he was an inspector—who was talking with Zelda turned away from the conversation and gave an intense glare at the officer who had interrupted whatever he was talking about. "Don't tell me-"

"Another, sir!" Yelled the officer. He held out something in his hands. A paper in the shape of a G.

Murmurs broke out in the whole room. Inmates who were sleeping opened their eyes and joined in on the increasingly uncomfortable felt confused of what the big deal of the paper was about, but he continued to pretended to sleep. He heard many whispers among the prisoners and cops alike. Something about a Phantom Thief.

Kaito mentally chuckled. That's why the guy reminded him of Nakamori. He had to deal with a Phantom Thief too. He was willing to bet the guy was a single father of an amazing woman as well.

He wanted to figure out who the thief was. Maybe the thief had something to do with the traffic light impersonators in the other cells. Alas, this was the perfect opportunity to escape. All off the inmates were awake now, but they were all talking amongst each other with such focus, as if whoever "G" was, he would be the key to their freedom. They were completely ignoring Kaito.

And so was Zelda. The guy was talking with Allen (who had just ran into the room, news really does travel fast), and was not even looking in the direction of the cells. The small amount of officers were whispering to each other and taking orders from the Inspector.

No one was paying attention to the poor, insignificant boy who's collar bone was broken and who seemed to be asleep.

This was easy. A cat burglar escaped in the dead of night when not even the rodents were awake. But a Phantom Thief? They escaped during the chaos in impossible ways.

They didn't notice until it was five minutes after the officer had came in with the heist note that Kaito was gone.

-o-o-o-o-

I hope you guys both noticed and enjoyed the writing style change. I think I've improved a lot. *Bows*

Anyway, thanks so much for the reviews and the follows and faves and all of that. I love this fic, and I'm glad you guys do too.

A lot has changed. I have replanned so much for this series. It's going to be a long one. This is just at "Arc One", where things are just starting off. Some fun things happen this Arc but it will mostly be switching between Kairo and Conan's perspective. I have huge plans. I hope you guys are as excited as I am.

Anyway, thank you for all the understang and support. I missed this fic and I almost can't wait to see where this goes.