A/N: Hi, this is a horrifically late update. So, just to warn you, this may not end up being as unusual as I want it to be. I am still having health stuff and it's slowing up the writing (and everything else) a little bit. I hope to stay on schedule but it might not be possible.

That said, I have a vision for this arc of the story. Namely, a completely gen London arc. That's not to say, of course, that there won't be feelings, but none of them are going to spiral outward from a questionable tennis pun.

Warnings in the end-note, as usual!

Chapter 22

Hattori got off the train, still feeling a little disoriented. Somehow, an ordinary day of school had turned into this. It was necessary, he knew it was necessary, doing things like this, but—ugh, it all felt too rushed and crazy.

It was after dark now, in Tokyo, and he was already stiff from a six-hour train trip. Now, it was time to take a dozen-hour trip across the world. His back ached just at the thought.

The platform was unbearably loud—nothing like the train, if there was one thing Heiji liked about bullet trains it was how quiet they were, even if Kazuha glared at him every time he yawned like he was gonna start talking. But the platform was loud, and crowded, so much so that every few seconds found someone brushing past Heiji, touch just light enough to be uncomfortable. The third person who actually bumped into Heiji nearly sent his cap flying, and he started remembering why he didn't like this part of travel.

And then someone shouted, "Hey, Tantei-han!"

Heiji blinked, and saw Kaito standing on a bench on the other side of the crowd, waving with one arm while he used the other to hold a scowling Kudou.

"Geddown!" Heiji shouted, pushing through the crowd. "Ya tryin' ta make a scene?"

"I was trying to find you, but the station was too crowded for less showy methods," Kaito said, unrepentant, as he stepped off the bench. "I think there's a sports game."

"It's soccer," Kudou said. "FC Tokyo has a game, now put me down." He kicked his legs in the air, still frowning.

Heiji was a little impressed that Kudou was actually being careful enough of Kaito's injuries not to kick him, under the circumstances.

"Think ya oughta put him down," he advised.

"Ah, fine," Kaito sighed. "It's just that it's faster if I carry him."

Kudou glowered. "Can I at least ride on someone's shoulders or something?"

Heiji choked on a laugh. "One of us was jus' on a train for more than 6 hours, and the other got shot in the shoulder 'round two months ago. You pick."

Kudou sighed. "Okay, fine. But I hate this entire situation, just for the record."

"At least you get to be tall for the plane ride," Kaito offered.

"Really?" Heiji asked.

"Yeah," Kudou said, a little subdued. "I stopped by the Professor's for the antidote after I packed. Shinichi's got a passport, but Conan doesn't. So getting through security could get interesting if I'm like this."

"Ya haven't taken it yet, though," Heiji observed.

"I'm saving it for England," Kudou said. "Ai says this version's time limit might be harder to predict than usual, so I have to be careful. It should definitely last the plane ride and Customs, unless we get delayed, but I'm not guaranteed anything after that."

Heiji frowned. "She better know what she's doin'."

"She wouldn't be giving it to me to take where she couldn't supervise if she didn't think it was safe," Shinichi said. "Now, let's get going."

"You have a taxi?" Heiji asked.

"Nah, the Professor's waiting outside the station," Kudou said. "He didn't think I could take a taxi this late at night safely, and he's probably right."

Kaito shrugged, jostling Kudou and earning himself a scowl. "You and I may be adults, but we look close enough to kids for someone with bad intentions to get the wrong idea." His grin was wry. "It's not that I don't think we could deal with it, it's that I don't think we want to be in a situation to do so in the first place. You know?"

Heiji nodded. "Makes sense. Any ideas on how to get through the crowd?"

"Unless you want me to change clothing, you're just going to have to deal with pushing through," Kaito said, beckoning for Heiji to follow.

Somehow, they managed to push through to the exit without incident. Sure enough, when they made it to the street, the professor's little yellow Beetle was there, gleaming beneath a streetlight.

"Hey, Professor!" Heiji greeted, as Kaito set Kudou down on the sidewalk.

The professor leaned out of the car with a yawn. "It's good to see you, Hattori-kun. Now, get in, all of you—Ai-chan won't be pleased if I'm late getting home."

"You're letting her set a bedtime for you now?" Kudou asked, incredulous, as he climbed into the car, claiming the middle seat. "Which one of you is the adult again?"

Agasa just laughed nervously.

"Hey, pop the trunk quick, I gotta load my suitcase," Heiji said.

"Need help?" Kaito offered.

Heiji gave him an unamused look. "You and yer shoulder injury can help by gettin' in the car already."

Kaito winced. "It doesn't even hurt most of the time anymore?"

"I've been shot before, too, remember?" Heiji said. "And I didn't even manage to reopen it. If ya still aren't havin' aches I'll eat Conan's shoes."

Kaito frowned, but complied. After Heiji put away his trunk, he joined the other two in the car.

"I take it the other suitcases belong ta you two," he said, as Agasa started the car.

"Yeah," Kaito said. "We're all packed. We even mailed the stuff we didn't think would go through customs to the hotel—Mom's paying for the hotel. Or, well, not paying. Apparently Mom knows someone who knows someone at the Premier Inn in Bankside. If anyone asks, this is our graduation trip and Conan's my cousin."

"That's pretty impressive," Heiji said. "We sure this is a favor and not blackmail?"

"Yeah," Kaito said. "The graduation trip story is mostly because one of the friends is, admittedly, the type to panic if they knew there was a detective within 50 miles of them…"

"Which does make it more likely that they're actually your mother's friend," Kudou said, with an air of defeat.

"Speaking of that sort of thing, I've already impersonated Conan's mother over the phone and told Ran that Agasa was taking him to meet 'me' for a trip," Kaito said. "Eisuke's school got a call from a great-aunt whose late husband wrote him into his will."

"Seriously?" Heiji asked.

"Stole it from a late-night movie I watched after a heist a few months back," Kaito said, grin crooked. "So, unless I miss my guess, you're the last one to make your excuses."

"So, wait, what couldn't ya take on the plane?" Heiji asked, grasping for a change of topic. I'm gonna tell someone I'm leaving the country...as soon as I'm too close to leavin' for anyone ta stop me...

"Most of the gadgets," Kudou said, frustrated. "I've still got the watch, at least—they'll expect that to be metal—"

"And I've got a plastic version of the glider, just in case," Kaito said. "If you think I'm going on a plane with this guy without it, well…"

Heiji swallowed, remembering a frantic, dead-of-night phone call from Kudou about poisoned airline pilots and a runway made of police cars.

"Could ya maybe not bring up that li'l adventure o' yours right before the first time I ride a plane?" he asked, throat tight.

"First time, really?" Kaito asked. "You do at least have a passport, right? Because I really don't have time to—"

"If you're planning to do anything illegal I'm sure you wouldn't be discussing it in my car," Professor Agasa broke in, tone nervous.

"Oh, no, of course not," Kaito said quickly.

"Don't tick him off," Kudou said lowly. "He's exploded so many things by accident, just think of what he could do if anyone ever made him angry enough to do it on purpose."

"I'd rather not," Kaito said, voice all but dripping false smoothness.

"I do have a passport," Heiji said. "And I'm sure you can't have luck like that twice."

An abrupt silence followed his statement.

"Please tell me you're still wearing your omamori," Kudou said, a slight edge to his voice.

"Yep," Heiji said, finally exhaling as he fumbled for the little cloth packet tucked under his shirt.

"I'd still feel better if we could stop at a shrine after that one," Kaito muttered.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Shinichi was screaming like he was dying. Shinichi was probably screaming exactly like he was dying; it had probably sounded like this the first time, too, when it was the poison, and not the antidote, and Kaito needed to be off of this train of thought now.

But the screaming. It was tearing his throat raw, Kaito could hear the damage being done to his voice as it happened, but he didn't stop, because this wasn't voluntary anymore. He was just in too much pain to stop himself from screaming, even if he wanted to—not that he was likely even aware of what his body was doing besides hurting, anymore. F***.

Kaito really did not want to be thinking about this, but there wasn't much else to think about at the moment, with Shinichi's screams echoing around a tiny airport bathroom, with only him and Heiji to hear them. The rest of the bathroom's occupants had fled when the screaming started, at least.

It seemed stupid, to Kaito, to cut things this close. They had roughly 15 minutes to get to the plane, after this, even if they had already checked their baggage. But Shinichi had said that this batch of the antidote had a variable time limit, and that there was some risk of him turning back into Conan in England's customs if he took it too late. So there they were, Heiji and Kaito standing guard outside of an airport bathroom and trying to ignore what was happening inside.

Some guards we are, Kaito thought, suppressing a jerk as Shinichi's screams broke off into a horrible, pained-sounding gasp, then resumed. He swore to himself, trying to remember how many times he'd heard about Shinichi showing up in the past year. It was definitely more than two or three. Did this happen every time? D*** it, would he even be able to walk to the plane, after this?

Next to him, Heiji stood stock-still, eyes fixed on the mirror across from him, but clearly taking in nothing. Kaito could've quick-changed into a disguise of that childhood friend of his in front of him and he probably wouldn't have flinched. As it was, the mirrors were slowly fogging up, the air around them getting just a bit heavier with moisture, and Heiji clearly hadn't noticed.

Kaito wondered if he should be concerned. This would be the worst time for those two to stumble on a murder, which really made it twice as likely. He couldn't think of lethal applications for a trick that involved fogging mirrors—but then again, he was neither a murderer nor a homicide detective.

There was a knock on the bathroom door, and then a man entered—mid-fifties, dressed in a security guard's uniform with calluses and posture to match, so Kaito didn't have to worry about him being a plant at least.

The man winced at Shinichi's screaming, then asked, "We're getting complaints. You got any idea what's goin' on in here?"

Heiji didn't seem to even notice him, so Kaito stepped up to the plate.

"He's having a panic attack," he lied.

Not only was Shinichi not having a panic attack, he didn't even sound like he was. Kaito hadn't had one himself (yet, said a pessimistic bit of his brain) but he'd read about them enough while researching phobias. They involved intense fear and shortness of breath, the latter of which generally did not allow for screaming at Shinichi's current volume and length. But there were times when Japan's longstanding record of abysmal public mental health education efforts came in handy, and this was one of them. If the guard had any idea what a panic attack even was, he'd likely only learned about them from TV dramas.

As expected, the guard looked a little confused, then asked, "Will he, ah, need a doctor?"

Kaito shook his head, just as Shinichi's screams started tapering off. "No, it sounds like it's almost over."

"Good," the guard said, before all but fleeing.

The screaming stopped, there was a dull "thud," and then Shinichi's heavy, labored breathing echoed in the empty restroom for a few moments. Kaito turned toward the door just in time to see Shinichi come out of the stall.

His skin was ashen and shiny with sweat, his hair soaked with it. His eyes were barely focused, and he was just a bit hesitant in his movements, like he hadn't quite reacclimated to his adult body.

But it was his adult body—exactly Kaito's height, though it was an inch or so shorter when it was stooped with exhaustion like it was now.

"Sorry about that," he said, voice breathy, with a slight rasp to it. There was that damage from the screaming. "I really wish there had been an easier way to do it."

Heiji, finally seeming to come back to himself, managed, "The f*** are you apologizing for, Kudou?"

"...You shouldn't have had to listen," Shinichi said, studiously avoiding Heiji's eyes even as the other detective took him by the arm, squinting as if to look him over for injuries.

"Heiji, I'm fine now," Shinichi protested, trying to shrug him off.

Kaito summoned up KID's vocal range. "You'll understand if we find that a bit hard to believe at the moment, no matter what you say."

Shinichi slumped a little more. "If we don't hurry, we'll miss the plane," he said, tone flat, as he turned toward the exit.

"If that's how ya wanna be," Heiji rejoined, following him.

Once both of the detectives had their backs turned, Kaito allowed himself one nice, thorough, full-body shudder before joining them. If he never heard anyone else scream like that, it would be too d*** soon.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Eisuke was certain he'd seen Heathrow in a movie at least once, because this place looked familiar. It was bigger in person, though, it had to be, because it was also huge. Was it bigger than the airport Eisuke had arrived in the US at? He didn't know—he thought so, but he was so stressed from that trip he'd barely had time to take in the airport. He wasn't even sure he remembered which one it had been.

This airport, he didn't have a choice. He was going to be walking for a while anyway, so he pretty much had to look at the architecture. It was pretty, in a daunting sort of way, given the sheer scale.

It wasn't as crowded as Eisuke was expecting, though-there were people around, but it wasn't anywhere approaching congested, which was odd. He'd read reviews about this place, and it was supposedly always a mob scene. Then he caught sight of a clock. At 4:30 a.m., they weren't exactly going to be getting the tourist crowds.

That'll make finding the others easier, he thought, relieved, as he glanced around.

Really, the whole trip had been unexpectedly easy. His apartment was pretty clean-his mother had cleaned professionally, and though she certainly hadn't had time to do for their rooms what she did for the rest of the mansion, she'd shown Eisuke a lot of things. Really, spending a lot of his formative years trailing along behind your mother while she did someone else's chores meant that a lot of household tasks were sort of second nature, by now. So his things had been organized and easy to pack.

He'd expected finding a place for the doves to be a problem, but the same boy in his class who'd helped him find a store to get more food from when his initial supply ran low turned out to have an aunt who was a veterinarian. It turned out that a lot of veterinarians did something called "boarding" where they kept birds for a few days and nights in exchange for a fee; when Eisuke explained his financial situation the aunt had even been willing to take part of the payment after he got back from England. And she'd volunteered someone from her practice to come pick up the birds so that Eisuke could make the plane.

So, at least he didn't have that to worry about. Finding the others was a whole different matter. Kaito's text said they were by a bench…

And there they were. It was strange to think about, but Eisuke had never strictly seen any of these people in person before. He'd met Conan, but never Shinichi, and he'd only ever talked to Heiji and Kaito over the phone, for all that he felt like he knew them better than most of his current classmates.

Kaito was...really, exactly as he'd expected. He was more-or-less perched atop a collection of suitcases too large to be just his own, with a subtle balance to his posture that suggested he was ready to move at a moment's notice if circumstances required it. His hair was even more flyaway than usual, in a way that said he'd slept on the plane and forgotten to so much as pat it down afterward. His normal smile was still firmly in place, even though his eyelids kept drooping and there was a certain care to the way he held his injured shoulder.

Shinichi, on the other hand, was an interesting contrast with Conan. Visually, he was a perfect match for that photo Ran had shown him all those months ago. Still, Eisuke might have expected some sort of sign of relief or happiness in the detective's posture, now that he was at his proper size, but that clearly not the case. Or...maybe it was, but in the oddest possible way. Shinchi was standing, back to the wall, behind Kaito and his pile of suitcases, a blue-and-white baseball cap almost pulled low enough over his face to hide the suspicious glare he was directing at the crowd milling around them. His shoulders were hunched, his arms were crossed over his chest, and he couldn't have been more obviously uncomfortable. Which was maybe the point. As Conan...he'd need an explanation for that kind of discomfort. As Shinichi—well, he was in more danger, as someone who They needed to think They'd killed, but he also didn't need to pretend that his paranoia was sulking. Maybe showing his actual emotions was as close to relief as Eisuke was going to see from Shinichi, at least in public and after a long flight.

At least he's doing better at that than Kaito, he thought with a sigh, glancing at the grinning magician, who Eisuke knew was worried out of his mind.

Heiji was really tall. Somehow, seeing him over the phone, seated, hadn't given Eisuke a proper sense of scale, because he was at least 8 centimeters taller than Shinichi. Not counting the hat. Heiji looked exhausted, his eyes underlined in dark circles, but he was moving around regardless, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and tapping his hand against his thigh. He kept glancing around the airport restlessly, clearly looking for something, and only stopped when his eyes met Eisuke's.

"Hey!"

Eisuke waved and made a beeline for them, only nearly tripping over someone headed in a different direction twice.

Heiji, meanwhile, was glaring at Shiniichi. "Ya never told me how short he was," he huffed.

Shinichi raised an eyebrow. "Think about it, Hattori. He wasn't exactly short-looking from my perspective, at the time."

"Ah, yeah, right," Hattori said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

Eisuke was used enough to Heiji by now not to be offended. "How was your flight?"

"No one died," Shinichi said, almost brightly.

"The pilot was conscious the entire time," Kaito reported, in a tone that suggested this was newsworthy rather than expected.

"No one warned me that yer ears poppin' felt like that, plus I got ta be seatmates with the Paranoia Twins," Heiji said, rubbing his ear and scowling. "They slept in shifts and kept lookin' at the other passengers an' mutterin'."

"Look, given our history with planes-" Kaito started.

"Hondou-kun don't need to hear about that," Heiji interrupted. "That's right, I told you to shut up."

Kaito stood, and rocked on his toes for a second before bouncing off of the pile of suitcases and all but skipping up to Eisuke. "He might hate us a little now," he whispered merrily, cupping a hand over his mouth and using a sort of exaggerated stage-whisper.

It was so very much like something that Kiyoshi would do that Eisuke couldn't help a pang of nostalgia. Especially the way he moved. Actually, that was weirdly similar.

As Heiji's expression darkened and he aimed a mock-punch at Kaito, who promptly dodged it with an effortless-looking little leap, Eisuke kept noticing similarities.

One more thing that was weird about Hakuba, then. Seriously, who based an adult female disguise on their teenage male classmate?

He made a mental note to tell the others once they'd calmed down a bit. Which...might take a while.

"Am I the only one who slept well on the plane?" he asked aloud.

None of the others even had to answer aloud. They just looked at him, as though he was insane, and it was enough.

Eisuke sighed. "At least tell me you haven't been waiting here long?"

"It hasn't been long at all!" Kaito chirped.

Heiji looked ready to protest; Shinichi glared. Heiji glared back.

"Let's just...get to the hotel," Eisuke said weakly.

Really, had he been expecting this to go smoothly? Because if so, that had been extremely foolish of him.

A/N: Warning for a pretty deliberately unpleasant outsider POV description of Conan turning into Shinichi, also some frank and kind of dismissive discussion of Kaito and Shinichi's paranoia issues (which, while insensitive of Heiji, is also in-character and a little understandable after a 14-or-so-hour flight).

Heiji, in the scene where Shinichi transforms, is getting very close to having some sort of overload-type reaction to the loudness and awfulness of what's happening, and knows it (even if he wouldn't think of calling it "overload"), so he seems zoned out to Kaito because he's trying very hard not to focus on his actual surroundings. After some discussion, my beta and I determined he was probably going through kendo kata in his head.

I really treasure reviews. Especially now that the plot's starting to move again, and I'm starting to poke at things that are closer to canon (Shinichi transforming, people going to London…) I'd love to know what you guys think!