Kaito had changed since he vanished. One day he disappeared without a trace. Just vanished, like a phantom. No phone calls, no clues, not a single hint as to where he was. If it was a kidnapping, no ransom notes were sent. He was just… gone. For two months, the police searched, to no avail. Two months may not seem like a long time, but for those who's loved ones have been lost, two months feels like an eternity. The silence of his old classroom was unnerving. The lack of explosions from the Kuroba household just felt wrong. Like something was missing. Something they had never noticed before. Then, one day, he returned. He just limped into class with crutches and a broken leg to go with it. There was a scar on his face where a knife had cut. There were rumors of more on his back, but… no one could say for certain. Kaito always changed last.

"Where were you? What happened?" they asked.

Kaito would look them straight in the eye. And that was where they saw the demons. Shadows lurked in his eyes, telling of horrors no human should see. His eyes, once bright with mischief, were icy cold. In the end, everyone broke eye contact. They couldn't stand to see the nightmares of the magician who had once driven them up the wall with his antics. That, when they finally broke and looked away, was when he said in the darkest voice they had ever heard, "Hell. And you don't want to know."

(Kaitou KID had changed, too. Once, a gun went off and he freaked out, pulling out his own and aiming it with wild eyes. Then he fled, not even grabbing the jewel in his haste to get away.)

Aoko was the first and the last to confront Kaito. A week after his return, she went to his house and knocked on the door. Strangely, the blinds were pulled down and the windows locked. The doves that usually flitted around his rooftop were absent from the skies. Kaito answered, but not before peeking out the window to see who was there. Then he reluctantly let her inside while eyeing the streets for an unknown danger. The standard questions were presented once more, and the usual answers were given. But then Kaito surprised her by saying, "But I suppose you deserve to know." With that, he presented her with a story.

"Once upon a time," he began, "There was a magician. A magician who was also a thief." He told her a story of a thief who was killed, and his son who desired revenge. He told her of chases full of magic and taunts. He told her of guns and wounds and near-death experiences. He told her of a jewel the thief had yet to find, that granted immortality when a comet arrived. He told her of two detectives, one forced into hiding and the other helping a friend. He told her of a plan, to take down this syndicate that had ruined his life. And that was when he would say no more.

He head was bowed, eyes downcast and dark. "I'm sorry," he murmured at the very end. "You probably hate me now… but I had to do it."

Then he felt warm arms wrap around him and refuse to let go. Aoko pressed her face into his neck, resisting his feeble struggles. Eventually, Kaito gave up. His body went limp as he just sat there, listening to her sobs of, "Idiot. You idiot."

Heiji had changed since he left. It had started with a phone call in the morning when on his way to school. Then he had turned to Kazuha, saying, "Kudo's in trouble," before dashing off to his missing friend's aid. His motorcycle went with him. The next time anyone heard from the detective was on the news. It told them of a crime organization that had been brought down with the help of two detectives and a phantom thief. And though no names were given, Kazuha knew one was Heiji.

She saw him a week later. He had been sitting in his house when his parents were gone, complaining loudly to a friend on the phone about no Kendo for two months. Later she would find out this friend was Kaito Kuroba. But the moment he saw Kazuha, Heiji had excused himself and hung up.

Then he gave her a hug that literally knocked the breath out of her. His embrace was tight and desperate, like it would be the last one they shared. Just like that, he was forgiven. Though he wasn't quite of the hook yet…

But Kazuha began noticing things about her friend. He never let her go anywhere alone. Whether it was walking around a crime scene or just going from his house to hers, he was by her side. She let him, for a while. Then he attempted to follow her to a bathroom (he wasn't going to to inside, just wait in the hall) and she drew the line. A quick bout of yelling got her point across: lighten up. I'm not going to die for walking to my next class.

However, that wasn't the end of things. One night, she had gone over to Heiji's to watch a movie. By the end of it, Heiji was fast asleep. As the credits began to roll, the nightmares began.

It started with twitches. His face would scrunch up and his fingers would clench into tight fists. The first whimpers escaped his mouth a few minutes later. Kazuha watched in fear as sweat formed on his brow, the whines escalating into cries of fear as he began to thrash. His head swung back and forth, hands seizing the pillows and nails digging into the cushions like they were his lifelines in the middle of a hurricane. She tried desperately to wake him up, but it was like he was trapped. Held prisoner in whatever horrors haunted his dreams. With no better ideas, she seized a glass of water and threw it in his face.

He woke up, coughing and spluttering with his green eyes wide. He stared at her, chest heaving for breath. Kazuha knew that wasn't the end of the nightmares. Often, he'd come to school, always glancing over his shoulder with shadows under his eyes. Soon Kazuha made it a habit to call him around midnight, when his dreams normally began.

Kazuha could not soothe his fears. But she could at least chase them away.

Shinichi had changed since she had last seen him. By that, she didn't mean those brief appearances at the school play or in London. Ran meant the day from two years ago, when he had ran off at Tropical Land. That night, he left, on some strange case that kept him away from home. That night, Conan appeared in his place. For two years, Conan was her saving grace. He was always there to save her from criminals, to wake her from nightmares, to brush away her tears. The bespectacled boy who was far too mature for his age had soon began to fill the hole in her heart that Shinichi had left.

She still remembered the day he left clearly. His friends came running to her, screaming that a man in a black car had kidnapped their friend. Immediately, the entire police force was on his case. Her dad, Megure and his subordinates, even officer Yumi from traffic had joined in the search. Even Hattori had been contacted, though he disappeared the next day. All she had heard after giving him the news was a curse before the line went dead. Despite the efforts of nearly the entire police department, not a single clue was found.

Not until two months after the kidnapping. Though it wasn't Conan she found, it was Shinichi. In a hospital, with a bullet dangerously close to his heart and an oxygen mask over his face, still in the Intensive Care Unit getting surgery. He was in a short coma for several days, slowly recovering from his wounds. She still remembered the first words he said when he woke up. No, it hadn't been something incredibly breathtakingly romantic. It had been a scowl and the slurred words, "Great. More morphine." He hated sedatives. Something about feeling detached from his body and unable to control himself.

And she knew Shinichi would be alright.

The truth of Conan came out only two days later. To be perfectly honest, she hadn't been all that surprised. She had always suspected the two detectives were one and the same. Nevertheless, it was fun to give him a hard time and watch him squirm! The poor guy was incredibly socially awkward after years of being a child. Even when she overdosed on the sarcasm he still didn't seem to get it. Though it could have been the sedatives at work.

Soon he was released from the hospital. And that was when the trouble began.

It started with school. Oh, he was perfectly fine with his work. It turned out he had been sneaking peeks at her homework and textbooks to make sure he was caught up. No, it was the students that was the problem. He had all but had a panic attack when they crowded around him, fawning about his amazing defeat of the evil Syndicate. The yelling from Ran to shoo them away only worsened things. In the end, the detective fled to go hide in an empty classroom. But that wasn't the worst of it.

Sonoko was Ran's best friend. Naturally, she was pissed about all the stress and worry he had put Ran through. So at lunch hour, she went right up to Shinichi and swung her hand out to slap him across the face.

Shinichi freaked. In an instant, he had caught her wrist, spun her around and slammed her against the wall with one hand on the back of her neck and the other gripping her wrist in a position meant for breaking bones. His eyes were narrowed, lips pulled back in something that resembled a snarl, an unfamiliar expression on a human face.

Then, like someone had flicked off a switch, he flinched away from her. Rapid babbles of, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" fell on deaf ears in the students' shock. Soon he found himself in the principal's office with stern reprimands about his "behavioral issues."

Shinichi had changed, a lot. His ego had deflated considerably, paranoia taking its place.

He was caught multiple times sneaking into crime scenes.

He began speaking like a child around police officers, until he caught himself or someone else did.

He had taken to wearing a pair of fake specs Agasa made, for he freaked out without his glasses.

Seeing his own picture on the news incited massive paranoia and days spent glancing over his shoulder.

He growled at Heiji for calling him 'Kudo' in public.

That was only the beginning of things. Shinichi was like a stranger, not just to Ran, but to the world. Even his own parents were bewildered by their son's behavior, so used to seeing 'Conan' act that way, but not 'Shinichi.'

The boys had changed since the Black Org had risen and fallen. They were like veterans from war, with demons they would never share.

But although there would be bumps in the road... They would always have their friends to get them through it.

Created in honor of Veterans' Day. Whether you are a US citizen or not, please take a moment to thank all the people who have sacrificed themselves for you and your country. I'd like to thank my own uncles and grandfather, who fought in the war and to this day will never speak of it. I can never understand what it was like... But I want you to know you're appreciated.

On another note, I save Wreck-it Ralph today. Great movie, I'd strongly advise watching it. It actually has a darker twist at the end and a few moments that had me on the edge of my seat.