A/N: The next chapter to Faded is here! Thanks for all the reviews, and to those who answered the question about that episode.. I'm watching it in class. :O Does anyone think I'm starting to speed it along a little too fast? That's what I thought as I went through the last two chapters but no one seemed to bring it up, so...

Song: Suspense Kikikan

Faded

Episode 19: Deeper Into The Darkness

A black porsche 365A was driving around Tokyo. Beika Street to be more exact. Two men sat in the front seats. One was tall with long, silver hair, dressed in black so you couldn't see how he looked otherwise. The one beside him, his partner, was a bit smallier and chubbier than him.

These two men, codenames Gin and Vodka, were searching for something… or someone. Three pictures rested in Vodka's, the chubbier one's lap, and Gin glanced down at them every now and then.

The first one, was of a young boy, around seventeen years old, with short brown hair tied up into a small ponytail at the top of his head, blue eyes, wearing Teitan High's school uniform. The next picture was of a smaller boy, very similar in appearance, aside from the glasses and bowtie he now wore. The third picture was of a girl, with short, curly brown hair, possibly twenty or so. She was dressed in a lab coat.

"We'll find them, partner," said Vodka.

Gin smoked on his cigaratte, smirking. "We will. No doubt Sherry has run to Kudo for help, after she realized the effect of the drug she took."

"You don't think it…?"

"Shrunk her too? Oh, yes, I'm sure of it."

.

Being the disguise artists that they were, Vivian and Booker disguised themselves as two totally different people. It took a bit of time to convince Richard and Eva. All they had told them was that Rachel was in hiding with both Conan and Vi, but they wouldn't explain it more until later, no matter how much Richard demanded they do. Agasa went with them, also in disguise.

Meanwhile, Rachel, Conan, and Vi had been running around Tokyo. No sign of the black porsche just yet, so they were thankful for that. But Vi was worried. She had a feeling they were close by.

Rachel hadn't let go of Jimmy the entire time, running with him in her arms. Vi was surprised, she'd never quite seen a love like this before, and wondered where they could hide where the the three of them could be safe. But there weren't too many places to hide around here.

They had been running for so long without stopping that they only just now realized they were coming to a nearly abandoned part of the town. Vi decided it would be a good place to hide.

Looking around and spotting an old house. It didn't look like anybody was living it right now, so they took their chances and ran for it. Rachel opened the door and once inside she shut it behind them.

It was pitch dark in the house, but they couldn't turn on a light even if they worked. As the three searched and inspected the house, they found it was alright. Two bedrooms upstairs and a bahtroom, kitchen, small dining room and living room downstairs.

Jimmy knew why they were hiding. The men in black were close to finding them. But didn't they wanted them taken down, arrested or something? They couldn't just keep running away!

They'd spent most of the night silent. Rachel had her cellphone on, fully charged, so she had been expecting at least one call over night, maybe even from Harley.

Nothing.

Vi took ne room, Rachel and Conan took the other. She didn't thik she'd be able to sleep much in a house like this. But if Jimmy was with her then maybe...

The bed was still rather comfortable, and looked like whoever had been here last hadn't slept in it. Rachel lay on her side, Conan resting in the warmth of her arms. It was cold in this house, she didn't want him to get sick.

"Jimmy…?" Rachel whispered quietly after a moment, holding him tighter to her.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we'll ever be safe again? Do you think one day our lives will be normal?"

"I'm sure of that, Rach," he said, resting his head on her chest. "Everything will be fine soon, you'll see."

.

In the early morning, before the sun rose, Jimmy woke up only to see that Rachel was gone and instantly went into a panic, sitting upright in bed. Where was she?! Were the men in black here?!

He ran out the room, looking around. Rachel wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"No…no…" Conan mumbled to himself as he ran down the stairs. This woke Vi from her slumber, and she opened the door a little.

"Kudo?"

"Rachel's gone."

Vi went pale, pausing in the middle of rubbing her eyes. She was about to follow him down, when suddenly she heard a sigh of relief.

"Don't scare me like that!"

"S-Sorry, Jimmy… I just wanted to see if anything had changed since we got here."

Vi sighed. She was still here. Good.

"You should've seen him," Vi teased with a light smirk as she stood on the final stair. "He was having a panic attack when he saw you weren't with him in the bed."

"I-I wasn't-" His face flushed, and Rachel giggled, picking him up and kissing his cheek. Vi just smirked. "Aww, was Jimmy worried about me?"

"I-I…did you see anything out of the ordinary?"

She sweatdropped. "No, everything's fine."

For now.

.

Earlier, during the night…

"The Kudo mansion is empty," said Vodka after they did a complete search of the house. "Maybe that means he's…"

"No," Gin didn't buy it. "People've said they have seen the famous actress Vivian Kudo back in town with her husband. She's been in America all these years, why would they suddenly come back?"

"They learned of his death?"

"Idiot… the body was never discovered and they don't exactly seem like grieving parents."

"So now what?"

"…We keep searching."

Slightly longer chapter than last time, yay! Enjoy! And I'm contemplating on whether or not I should kill anyone off... it'll still have a happy ending, mostly. You'll see what I mean. Opinions on that are appreciated, while I think about it myself.