File Fifty: That Demon Called Vermouth

"Need your help.

I want you at my old house in two hours."

Hattori Heiji let out a long sigh, standing in front of the Kudo Household as he gave the text he had received earlier that day one last look, waiting for anyone to let him in.

What's with that brat? he huffed, placing his phone back inside his pocket. Making me take a plane to Tokyo all of sudden...

Sometimes, Heiji wondered why he would let that kid boss him around.

"Ah, Hattori-kun," the detective of the West looked towards the source of that voice, and was shocked to see that it was Professor Agasa opening the gate for him. "Long time no see."

He nodded and muttered a hello at him, before following inside. "Where's the kid?" he asked, a bit confused.

"He's a bit busy," he simply replied, earning a questiongly look. "You will see what I mean in a moment."

He hoped he would, because he couldn't see what he meant with that.

The door was opened and he, of course, walked in, taking in his surroundings for a moment ─ he couldn't remember ever being there, now that he thought about it ─ and was a bit more than impressed about how big this place was. Well, his parents are rich, he reasoned, as he was guided to the living room.

What he saw there prompted him to pause, rub his eyes then look again.

Yet he was still there, sitting on the sofa, hand on his chin, deep in thought.

"K-Kudo?!"

Immediately, a sense of deja vu washed over him causing to him to realize that this had happened before, but he paid no mind, since this time was different ─ instead of puzzlement on Kudo's face, his eyes actually widened slightly in surprise when he saw him there.

"Oh, Hattori," he simply said. "I see, so it was you the one that Conan said he had asked help to."

"More like demanded cooperation from me," Hattori rolled his eyes, moving to sit beside his fellow detective while Agasa left to check on Conan. "If he's like that when asking for help, I don't want to know what would await me if I refused."

Shinichi sighed, and Heiji realized that he must had been the same for him. So he gave him a long look, before crossing his arms behind his head.

An uncomfortable silence followed after that, since none of them had absolutely no idea of what to talk about.

"So, uh," Heiji tried. "Are you okay?"

"Well, yeah. Why?"

"I don't know. All other times I had met you, you had these crazy chest pains and..."

"Ah, right. I have been taking those pills that Ai-chan has created and they seem to be helping a bit."

Hattori was confused. "Ai-chan?" he asked, not remembering hearing that name in his entire life.

Shinichi froze, worrying that he had said something that he wasn't supposed to say. "I thought Conan had told you about..."

"Ah, you mean that Haibara kid?" the teen let out the breath he didn't know he was holding when Hattori spoke. "Sorry. Conan usually refers to her as 'Haibara-san', so I had no idea..." then continued with an afterthought. "So you mean that miniature, cold-hearted scientist actually has the character for 'love' in her name, huh?"

"It's written as 'sorrow'," Hattori jumped at the female voice behind him. "Quite fitting for such cold-hearted individual, right?"

Spinning around, Heiji met with the sight of a certain strawberry blonde girl, who had a facemask covering her mouth. Her eyes were cold as they glared at him, and that alone caused him to shiver.

Kudo Yukiko appeared from behind, followed by Agasa. "Heiji-kun, right?" she smiled, as if the child with her didn't look like strangling him any time soon. "I heard you have been taking care of my younger son. I'm sorry for the trouble."

"It's me who deserves an apology," Haibara muttered under her breath.

And Heiji blinked, not understanding why that little girl was reacting so strongly for that last comment.

"Oh, amazing as always, Mom," said Kudo from his spot beside a confused Hattori. "If Ai-chan was there, I don't think I would be able to tell them apart."

Hattori's eyes flickered towards Shinichi, then back to 'Haibara', who simply rolled her eyes before taking the facemask off.

"Some detective you are," Conan's voice met his ears.

"Eh?! It's you!"

"Of course it's me. What did you expect?"

For the longest moment, Hattori said nothing, just staring at him, before a teasing smirk took place on his face. "My bad, I should've known," he turned back around so he could lean against the sofa. "That girl isn't that short, isn't it?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Conan settled with a low, dangerous tone.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they won't notice it. Not with that girlish face of yours that's almost identical to hers."

"This is a latex mask, Hattori."

"Sure, but your body complexion made Yukiko-san's work easier, right-? Ouch, ouch, ouch, cut it out!"

Yukiko giggled a bit, while Shinichi simply blinked at the sight of Conan pinching the back of Hattori's neck, twisting his hold so to have a painful result. His smile was sadistic as the detective apologized, desperately trying to get out of his grasp.

Then he saw Heiji finally breaking free, turning around and leaning over to raise the child into the air, before throwing him to his side so he could teach him a lesson. Yukiko didn't even try to stop them, just smiled amusedly. Agasa panicked a tiny bit, but stood back a safe distance away from the duo.

Shinichi just stared. He had known that Conan and the Great Detective of the West were close but...

He had never imagined they would look like that.

Kudo Shinichi's lips pressed into a thin line, yet nobody noticed, far too focused on the two boys.

Because, just then, Shinichi realized it.

They look just like brothers.

The pier was full of monsters.

Well, technically, there were no monsters, but people disguised as terrifying creatures. Unsurprisingly, because Great Detective, Mouri Kogoro had been invited to a Halloween party, that just happened to be in March ─ that was why it said 'off-season', his daughter had pointed out before telling him there was no way she was accompanying him to such a scary place.

"I'm so excited!" that's why he was stuck with her best friend instead, Suzuki Sonoko, who was wearing a witch costume.

Which he honestly wondered if it counted as a monster disguise, but not that he cared that much about it.

Some weird, grunting noises caused Kogoro to turn around. He and Sonoko stared at the zombie motioning with his head for them to move forward into the line, and they obliged without much resistance.

"Geez," he complained. "Why doesn't he just tell us with his mouth?"

"That's because he's too into his role," the woman behind them pointed out.

Kogoro was more than happy to see a woman, covering her head with a hat, standing right behind them. "Wow, a beautiful witch!"

Wrong. She was Medusa, she proved it by taking her hat off, letting him see snakes coming out of her hair, startling him badly. Not that he had much time to appreciate them, because they were next on the line.

Without much hassle, he signed his name and he entered the ship, Sonoko in tow.

Medusa was next, so she walked forward. It wasn't her who had been invited, however, as she wasn't the one to sign her name in the paper. It was the young man beside her, face covered in bandages, that handed them his invitation.

At the sight of the name they read, the woman in the reception desk was about to squeal, only for him to put a finger in front of his lips, asking her to keep quiet. She did.

The man with the woman smiled before passing him the notebook. Both workers then simply watched, in awe, as the bandaged man wrote his name:

"Kudo Shinichi"

Night had fallen by the time Haibara Ai had woken up. Deciding that there was nothing else to do but to lie around in bed, she had decided to get up and read a magazine.

Conan and Agasa's voices still resounded in the background when the phone started ringing.

"Sorry to call so late," it was Araide's voice the one to met her ears when she picked up. "Is Agasa-san home?"

"He isn't."

"But I hear his voice..."

"That's not his voice. It's a recording in a tape," she simply replied, turning the recording off. It was getting annoying at that point. "So, what is it?"

"Ah, I actually wanted to talk with you. Didn't you say your cold never healed? I wanted to take you to a fully-equipped, larger hospital for an examination."

Blue eyes narrowed, but still kept quiet as the doctor continued explaining his plans to her.

"Although is a sudden request, is it okay if I picked you up now?"

Haibara would have been lying if she said she didn't feel her skin crawling at his voice.

"I hope you are aware that if you take a minor out of their home without their guardian's permission it will be considered child abduction."

"Don't worry, I'll contact Agasa-san about it. If you're not comfortable, it's okay."

... I'm definitely not comfortable.

"It's fine. They left me here alone anyways and it's pretty boring being alone."

Araide agreed and told her he would pass by in an hour to pick her up before she ended the call. Once then, the room fell into silence again, and she picked her magazine up once more.

Haibara gave it a long look, before sighing loudly. I feel stupid, she thought, realizing that she couldn't read. Not when the letters were far too blurry for her eyes to distinguish.

Shaking her head, her gaze focused on the stairs that went down to the basement, and frowned.

... Just a bit more.

Her surprise was big, however, when she met with the sight of Jodie's smiling face upon opening the door, an hour later. She claimed that Araide hadn't been able to make it, so she was going to take her to the hospital herself.

Haibara agreed, even if her heart wouldn't stop pounding against her chest the moment she got inside the teacher's car.

It will be okay, she tried to reassure herself, as she pressed the little, almost unnoticeable earphone close to her ear. I'm not alone.

"Are you okay? We're on our way to the doctor now," clearly sensing the little girl's uncomfortability, the English teacher asked, her kind smile still on place. "He's a very nice man. He can cure colds and such in a flash. Then you won't be in so much pain."

Haibara didn't reply, just gave the teacher a long, long look, before fixing her eyes in the rear mirror. A car was tailing them, and a face that she knew very well was driving it. Doctor Araide.

"I didn't know," the little girl then conceded. "That Death was a man, and a doctor on top of that."

"Eh?" Jodie definitely did not expect that, her smile faltering before it returned to its place, as if it had never left. "What are you talking about?"

She said nothing in reply.

"Don't worry, the place I'm taking you is a safe one. There's no need to be afraid."

"I know, I meant the man that is trailing us... Or is he really a man?" Haibara pointed out, shocking the teacher beyond belief. "You're most likely going to put me in the Witness Protection Program... Or should I say, put Haibara-san in it?"

Jodie's eyes went wide at that, and turned to look at the child sitting right beside her. "Who...?" she managed. "Who are you?"

She could almost see the smirk drawing itself in 'Haibara's' face.

"Edogawa Conan, detective."

"... C-Cool Kid?"

"Yeah," Haibara ─ Conan ─ nodded. "I have a favor to ask, FBI agent, Jodie-sensei."

"Seems like no one saw you," said Kogoro to the shocked mummy. "So that means your alibi is not valid."

What should have been a party, had ended as a bloody murder. Just before he could give them the first clue for the game they were going to play, the host had been shot by a crossbow, a card from the team Devil stuck in place with the arrow.

"But, how...?" the mummy tried to argue. "This must be someone's scheme to frame me!"

"That's what all criminals without alibis say," Kogoro scoffed. "The culprit of this case should be card-less, alibi-less Mummy-san. You're guilty!"

"Perhaps you're wrong, Detective Mouri. The truth is still in the shadows."

Everyone started to look around, completely stunned by the voice that boomed across the room, unable to believe their ears. Because that voice just now belonged to no other than the host, the person that was supposed to be dead and whose murderer they were trying to look for.

"The voice is coming from the microphone Ghost Captain's mask!" one of them suddenly realized, looking up at the speakers over their heads.

Without wasting another second, Mouri took off running towards the deck, followed suit by Sonoko and every single person in the ship. Of course, he was the first one to arrive.

And with that, the first one to see the person standing there. "You already have all the pieces needed for this case," right in the crow's nest someone was there, holding the captain's mask close to his mouth and covering their face. "But it's really unfortunate."

"Who are you?" Kogoro demanded to know. "If you keep talking nonsense I'll come get you!"

The person laughed. "Have you forgotten me? It's me, Detective Mouri," then moved the mask aside, so they could see.

It was the Invisible Man.

"I know the real murderer who killed the Ghost Captain, Captain Kin," Mouri's eyes widened when he heard the Invisible Man's voice, for the first time and decided that, indeed, it was not the first time he had heard it. "Who movie producer Fukura Senzou-san really is," he took off his hat and bowed slightly. "And how the murder was committed."

He let go of the hat, allowing it to be taken away by the strong, sea breeze. Gone it was the nextsecomd, completely unnoticed. Then, he started to take all those bandages that covered his face.

Sonoko gasped, probably a bit louder than needed.

"Shining in the darkness," because there, under the gentle, silver glimmer of the full moon, stood someone that she knew very well. With his ever present arrogant smirk, with his piercing, all-knowing blue eyes..."Under this bright moonlight."

There he stood.

"Y-You are the detective brat, Kudo Shinichi?!" Kogoro exclaimed, completely taken aback.

His smirk simply widened in response.

Everyone was beyond shocked.

Just like that zombie in the background, that had just stood back until then, unnoticed by the rest of the guests of that terrifying party.

T-That's impossible! Vodka was frozen by shock. That brat should've been killed by Aniki's poison more than a year ago. We even got rid of his body!

... That detective brat... Singani should be dead by now.

What's going on?

Despite it all, there was nothing he could do at the moment. He couldn't eliminate Singani with all those people around, watching.

Vodka decided to wait. He would deal with him later.

Preferably when he figured out what was going on.

Two cars parked, one right in front of the other, at the pier. And for a moment, none of the drivers, nor the child, dared to move, just stared at each other through the windshields, until the door of Jodie's car opened.

The English teacher stepped out, smile on place, waiting for Araide to do the same. "Jodie-sensei!" he did right away.

"Oh, Araide-sensei, what's up?" she exclaimed, cheerfully.

Conan did not make any attempt to move.

"That's what I wanted to ask you. What do you plan to do with that kid?"

"No, no! I only brought her out for a little ride," Jodie leaned against the hood of the car. "Unlike you, I have lots and lots of time."

"Time?"

"Doctor Araide, isn't it almost time for the trial of that murder? You better be a truthful witness."

Waiting there was just like sleeping in the lion's den, Conan decided, and he didn't like it one bit. But there was nothing he could do but to watch Jodie speaking with such a dangerous and possibly deadly individual. Even if his hands were shaking.

"Conan," the male voice ran through the earphone, causing him to give a small jump due to the surprise. "You heart rate is abnormally high."

The child in question would have rolled his eyes, if he wasn't in such a tight situation. "Did you expect me to simply sit here, relaxing until it's my time to act?" he spat at him. "Of course I'm a bit nervous."

The person on the other side did not argue. Scratch 'nervous', Conan was clearly scared, maybe terrified.

"You don't have to push yourself," the voice continued, with a soothing tone that was far from relaxing right now. "If you feel like you're in imminent danger, run away. There's nothing wrong with that."

"As if there was a escape route in an enclosed car..."

"There is," the voice was serious. "If you want to get out of there, just say the word and you will be out of there the next second."

His eyes slid to the side, focusing on the person on the other side of the line, before they went back to the two adults in front of him.

"Does this escape plan includes you taking any kind of risk?"

"... Possibly."

The child fell silent all of sudden, trying to pay attention at the conversation developing in front of him. Jodie had said something like Hikaru, Araide's maid, had 'pulled the trigger', and that had confused Araide, because his father had been electrocuted instead of shot. He voiced his confusion.

And Jodie laughed at that, loudly so.

"When I said 'trigger' I meant a light trigger, not a gun trigger!"

Araide remained silent, frowning at the teacher.

"The murderer of that case set a trap, so the actual murderer was Hikaru-san. In order not to harm her, your stepmother and the police agreed to fake the report, saying that another method was used to kill your father."

"Eh?!" the doctor was more than surprised.

"And of course you didn't know! Because the police records you stole did not say any of these things."

"W-Who are you?"

The blonde, American woman held a finger in front of her mouth and, with a wink, she pronounced those words, in English:

"A secret makes a woman, woman."

Immediately, Araide's expressive became smooth and devoid of any emotion.

"Do you remember? These words were your last to me. In order not to forget them, I always said them... The words said by my father's murderer. Right, Chris Vinyard?"

Conan tensed, his senses becoming more alert, waiting for whatever might happen right now.

Far from being scared, Chris Vineyard let out a cold, almost sinister smirk.

"Or, should I say..."

Her hand went to her face, and she started to pull the mask of that allowed her to be Doctor Araide.

"... Vermouth?"

Silver Bullet.

That was the final clue to solve the mystery, as the werewolf had been seen drinking that, despite that doing that would mean a definite way out of the movie casting that had taken place. The reason that had happened was because the true werewolf had put his mask over the mummy's head, and who then had proceeded to follow the Captain's orders.

He was the true human among all monsters, after all. No monster on their right mind would drink wine that was supposedly meant to drive away evil.

Not to mention that there had to be, without any doubt, traces of broken glass, belonging to the mirror the werewolf had shattered before, so they wouldn't see him coming out the bathroom without his disguise.

"No..." the werewolf said, voice desperate, when Kogoro crouched so he could check the soles of his shoes. "It's not me... I didn't do it! It's all that demon's fault! Blame that demon...

"Eh?" Kogoro raised an eyebrow.

"That demon called Vermouth!"

Everything, every single thing had happened the same way Conan had predicted it.

Vermouth had taken the identity of Doctor Araide, who had barely avoided death by entering the Witness Protection Program. Apparently, the FBI had faked his death in front of her eyes, saving his life in the process.

"The real Araide is currently living a peaceful life elsewhere. Then, you did as I thought you would. You went into the Araide Hospital and began to investigate the case. I went in your room, and it was clear."

Vermouth's expression remained unchanged, though.

"Pierced by a dart was dark haired elementary school girl. You wanted to find her and kill her, right?" Jodie frowned, glancing at Conan, who sat still as a rock in her car. "Why do you want to kill this girl, whose face strongly resembles the one of the picture?"

The boy in the car could feel a chill running down his back, as he watched Vermouth's gelid smirk widen, as if amused about something he had no idea about.

"And what do the words written on the other three pictures, 'Cool Kid', 'Angel', and 'Silver Bullet' mean?"

... Silver Bullet? Conan couldn't help but think. Does that mean that... that fourth photo actually...?

He strained his ears to hear. The voice on the other line of the transmitter did not say anything.

"That kid named Conan. Why won't you kill this girl unless that boy is not around? Also, on the hijacked bus, why did you protect him?"

Of course, Vermouth did not grace her with an answer, just took out a gun out of her jacket. Jodie did the same thing and made a couple of well aimed shots.

Vermouth's gun fell a safe distance away from its owner.

"Okay, okay," Vermouth's smile did never waver, even as she raised her hands. "Such a dangerous object you have there. Did you get the Japanese police's permission to use it?"

"Of course, I'm ready for the consequences for using this," her grip on the gun tightened. "But before then, I must ask you something. Why... Why do you never age?"

Conan's eyes widened, in horror.

"What did she say?" he said, in a whisper. "What does that mean?"

He got no answer.

There was no time to press further for one because a loud sound, that Conan didn't particularly like, resounded through his ears and he saw blood, red, flesh blood splattering in the window right beside him.

And Jodie slumping against it, sliding until she sat on the ground, holding a hand to her stomach.

Looking up, he saw the silhouette of a person. A snipper.

"Thank you, Calvados."

... Calvados.

Kudo Shinichi's looked down at the murderer that had been apprehended not that long ago. By this time, Kogoro was tying him down, as to avoid to let him jump off to the sea in an attempt to escape or something as stupid as that.

"But to be able to solve the crime in such a short time..."

"As expected from Kudo Shinichi!"

"Such perfect deductions!"

The high school detective smiled, when every single living person in that ship ─ except, of course, for a grumbling Kogoro and a groaning Sonoko ─ started to clap and cheer, complimenting his amazing deduction abilities. "It's nothing," he said, even if humility did not suit him at all. "Actually, I could solve it so quickly because I used the same method as the murderer."

Kogoro and Sonoko blinked. "What?"

"I used the same method as Mr. Werewolf."

"The same method as Mr. Werewolf?" Sonoko did not understand.

"Well, he made Mr. Mummy wear a mask on top of his disguise..." Kogoro pondered. "Weren't you only wrapped in bandages?"

Shinichi closed his eyes, taking his time to make this big reveal and to build up the suspense. "This is what I mean," his hand rose to his face, and teared the mask apart.

To the shock of everyone, under the moonlight, stood none other than Hattori Heiji.

"Let's end this twenty-year reunion," her ice cold laugh resounded on his ears, as she pressed the barrel of Jodie's gun against her forehead. "It's time to say goodbye."

Conan's eyes widened, in horror, as he gazed into Vermouth's eyes, coming into the dreadful realization that, yes, she was going to kill her.

"Conan?" the voice on his earphones asked again, with a panicky tone. "What's going on?"

"... Jodie-sensei," he managed around his dry throat. "Jodie-sensei is about to get killed."

There was a sharp intake of air, but he paid no mind at that, as he watched the Organization member pressing the gun even more against her.

Taking a deep breath, the little boy reached for his shoes.

"Conan, stay where you are. I'm going to go get you."

"If I wait any longer, she'll die."

"Don't be so unreasonable!" the person was getting more and more anxious. "I'm telling you to stay there and-"

"Oniichan."

The soft tone of his voice caused Shinichi to actually pause, eyes wide as he waited for his little brother to reply. And for a moment, time seemed to stop as well as he listened to the boy taking yet another deep breath, as if to calm himself down, before continuing.

"You have my back, remember?"

Shinichi swore he saw Conan giving him an unusual sweet, tender smile.

Before he heard the sounds of shattering glass.

"CONAN!"

The desperate yell of the older Kudo fell into deaf ears as the soccer ball knocked off the dangerous weapon away from Vermouth's grasp, and the door of Jodie's car opened to reveal what it seemed to be a small, strawberry blonde girl. The facemask was completely gone now, though.

"You..." Vermouth was shocked. "You are..."

With a smirk, the child began to tear the mask away. "Yeah," the voice didn't seem to belong to that girl.

The disguise was now gone. There, in front of Vermouth, stood a small little boy instead.

"Edogawa Conan, detective."

Though Shinichi sounded like he was a moment away from a panic attack, his brother paid no mind.

"Don't move," Conan just flipped his wristwatch open, and aimed to that dangerous, terror inducing woman. "Your body is blocking us from the sniper's rifle."

Nobody dared to move.

"Get in the car after Jodie-sensei," he demanded, making his best not to let any of his fear show in his voice. "We'll have to ask you to drive to the police station."

Vermouth's expression remained impassive, as the child urged the teacher to get inside. It turned out, however, that she couldn't move due to the pain. Come on, there should be a way out of this...

He focused back on the criminal's ice cold eyes, only to notice they had shifted somewhere else. Looking at the same direction, he noticed a car getting closer and closer to them. Before long, he noticed it was a taxi.

His hair stood into an end when he spotted a very familiar face stepping out, and his blood chilled on his veins when he saw her facing them, a determined, if scared, expression plastered in her face.

And he felt his stomach sinking into his knees when he noticed she had begun to head their way, walking slowly.

Haibara-san... he went pale. I knew it. You had the tracking glasses after all.

Vermouth smirked, as if she could recognize the child everywhere.

Haibara looked at her, then at Conan, who was screaming something she paid no attention to, and curled her hands into fists.

And like so, ignoring all her fear, all instincts and each single inch of her entire being that was pleading, screaming at her to get away from there, from that dangerous woman, to run away, she ran towards them.

"Don't get near!" even Conan was shouting, desperation tinting his voice and his every expression. "Go back, you idiot!"

No, Kudo-kun, the girl did not stop, not even for a single moment. Let me do what I must.

This has nothing to do with you.

That's why... That's why...!

You can't die. You must not die!

"Conan! Conan, say something!" Shinichi's voice was blaring on his ear. "What's going on there?! Hey!"

But Conan couldn't answer.

He could only watch as Haibara Ai, Vermouth's target, stopped running, panting heavily after her sprint and because of the fever that had definitely spiked up, and stood there, in front of him and her.

"Run away, Haibara-san! Quickly!" he couldn't pay attention to anything else. "What are you doing?! Leave this place! Hurry!"

So, of course he didn't notice Vermouth moving closer to him until she had gotten hold of his two arms. With a surprised yelp, Conan desperately tried to break free from her iron-like grasp, but no avail.

She was a grown up adult. He was only a child. The result was more than evident.

His fruitless struggle grew more evident when she turned the stun-gun so it would be pointing at him instead. It wasn't long until he felt the prick.

The effect was instant, Conan realized with a shuddering breath as he felt his limbs becoming like lead the next second. It was so strong that he didn't even have the chance to fight the sedative, his eyelids drooping on their own accord before he could do anything else but to stare into Vermouth's cold gaze.

For a moment, however, Conan thought he saw something. He figured it was the drug messing with him.

Because he wouldn't have seen a trace of something akin to remorse otherwise, right?

"I'm really sorry, Conan-kun."

Then, just before all strength left his body, before his mind lost grip on clarity, Conan's tired eyes flickered towards Haibara, who just stood there, horror written all over her face.

He didn't know what kind of dots his drugged, almost delirious brain connected, but one thought, one simple, yet very disturbing thought crossed his mind before everything around him vanished...

Ha... Hana-chan...?

A/N:

ajjr12: Thanks for the idea. I will think about it.

Bry: I would probably be lying to you if I told you I know, considering that when I first started this I, naively, believed that this story could somehow be finished in fifty chapters. That's quite self-explanatory, I believe XD