Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi

Chapter Rating: T

Collection Summary: In an infinite number of universes, they still always manage to find each other. A KaiShin sci-fi collection. (This is the science fiction counterpart to the Different Suns collection)

Chapter Summary: They were created to be weapons and tools without pasts or futures of their own. But it's time for that to change. Together, they're going to grasp their freedom.

Skyline

[Experiment Verse]

Part 2

He couldn't have heard what he thought he had heard. Kaito couldn't have said they weren't going back. Right?

Kaito knew just as well as Shinichi did that all the artificial children like themselves had tracking devices embedded at the base of their skulls along with a terrible little mechanism that could be used to deliver painful electric shocks. Even if they ran away, they would be found sooner rather than later, and the consequences would be painful.

But Kaito's expression was deadly serious as he began to talk. He spoke fast and low like he had been thinking about this for a long time now and was finally getting the chance to share. And the more he talked, the more Shinichi couldn't believe this was happening.

At the same time, Shinichi felt a sudden and terrible hope.

"We—Heiji, the nuisance, and I have been working with Doctor Shiho on this for a while. You remember her, right?"

Shinichi nodded. Doctor Shiho's grandfather had laid the groundwork's for the project that eventually gave birth to Shinichi himself and the others like him. From what he'd heard, the man had thought he was finding ways to help humanity advance in the ever changing environment (which, thanks to pollution and all the other damage humans had wrought, was growing more unbalanced and harmful to everyone and everything by the day). However, he had passed away, and his work—as well as his granddaughter—had fallen into the hands of the Organization (which had been eyeing it for a while and moved in when they saw the chance. Shinichi had wondered if the old man's death too had been orchestrated, but he'd never gotten any proof one way or the other). Shiho was a genius, and she had contributed a great deal to the completion of their projects even though, over time, she had come to see just what kind of people she had gotten involved with. She had no love for the Organization, but by the time she'd realized it, it had been too late for her to leave. She too had nowhere to go and no one to turn to. She was like them in some ways, Shinichi had always thought, though he saw very little of her himself since the Organization preferred to keep him away from people who had knowledge they did not wish for their experiments to have. After all, even the best listening devices and observation cameras couldn't tell them what kind of potentially dangerous information he might have gleaned from someone's mind.

Kaito and the others' plan was actually quite simple because simple plans were less likely to go wrong. The difficult part had been the timing. But tonight, all the pieces they had been waiting for had fallen into place. All five of them had been given assignments outside of direct surveillance areas at the same time—assignments that allowed for a little leeway in terms of time.

"We couldn't tell you because they monitor you more closely than the rest of us. But we're moving out tonight. I'm sorry you had to wait so long."

"Oh. I…I see."

Kaito wasn't sure what kind of reaction he had expected from Shinichi, but he found himself feeling a little disappointed. He had hoped that Shinichi would at least look a little pleased. Maybe smile a little. His Shin-chan smiled so rarely that Kaito was always trying to find ways to make him smile.

He would have thought that the promise of freedom would warrant a smile.

Instead, Shinichi's face was pinched and pale. Solemn. But maybe he should have expected that. Shinichi had always been the serious, thoughtful sort. He had no doubt already thought through the possibilities and realized just how small a chance they had of succeeding in the long run. Kaito knew it too, naturally. They all did. But Kaito had decided that freedom was worth the risk. Still…

"If you don't want to, we can go back," he said quietly, meaning every word. "I won't force you to go through with this. But I really think this is our chance. Still, I promise, no matter what, I'll always be here for you. Wherever we go, we'll go together."

Shinichi looked away for a moment. When he looked back, the uncertainty had left his eyes to be replaced by resolve.

"I want to go."

Kaito grinned, indigo eyes gleaming. "Right. We'll have to move fast then."

Before he'd met Shinichi, Kaito's life had been nothing but white. White rooms, white lab coats, white people with no substance and white words that meant nothing for they had been offered by people without substance.

He'd known he was a tool and he hated that fact, but he'd also known that he had been blessed with powers none of those empty people had, and that was certainly something he could celebrate. But he had had no direction. He cared nothing for the Organizations expectations of him. He certainly wasn't going to define his life according to their designs. But knowing what he didn't want wasn't the same as knowing what he wanted, and without direction, life isn't really life.

Finding Shinichi had given him a sense of purpose.

Shinichi was someone like him. And because they were in the same boat, he was the first person Kaito felt could be an ally, maybe even a friend. He'd realized quickly that Shinichi wasn't nearly as interested in making friends as he was, but Kaito was nothing if not persistent. He wasn't about to let his first potential ally escape.

His first impression of Shinichi had been that he was shy and rather reserved. It didn't take long, however, for him to realize that Shinichi wasn't so much shy as he simply did not feel there was anything to say. He was indeed reserved, but he was extremely observant. He also spent a lot of time thinking—perhaps too much, but he tended to keep those thoughts to himself. He was rather serious, but, when he got excited, he could bounce with the best of them. That last Kaito had learned purely by accident when they stumbled across a mystery novel that one of the lab assistants had accidentally left lying around. His bright, honest excitement that day had been endearing. It had also been the first time Kaito had seen the other boy smile.

He'd liked that smile. So he'd quickly figured out which of the lab assistants liked to read mystery novels, and, next time he'd had the opportunity, he'd stolen one to give to Shinichi in the hopes of seeing that smile again.

Sadly, he'd discovered that Shinichi didn't approve of stealing. On the other hand, Shinichi had cheered up after deciding that they would return the book after they read it. Kaito had demonstrated his skills by returning the book without being noticed. After that, they had agreed that 'borrowing' books was all right as long as they weren't caught. After all, their 'teachers' were pretty strict about the materials they got to read, and both of them were thirsty for more information about the outside world. They had continued the routine even after they'd started being allowed out into the world for missions, partly because they still had to take advantage of any opportunity if they wanted to expand their knowledge but mostly because they had both come to cherish the activity—their own secret game.

They'd spent many long, enjoyable hours discussing the tales they read and dreaming of what they would be if they could. Through those conversations, Kaito had discovered that Shinichi had quite a sharp sense of humor, not to mention a strong belief in right and wrong that Kaito was pretty sure their creators hadn't intended for him to have.

Kaito hadn't really shared Shinichi's scruples, but he had adhered to them because he didn't want to upset his friend. Over time though, as they grew and learned, he had come to appreciate that part of Shinichi too. They had been taught that being good meant obeying orders and supporting the Organization. Needless to say, Kaito had felt that being good was overrated. Shinichi had agreed that the definitions they had been given were probably flawed, but where Kaito had decided to then measure everything according to his own preferences, Shinichi had looked further. His search for the truth behind right and wrong had sparked many a heated debate between them.

A smile tugged at the corners of Kaito's lips at the memories.

His Shin-chan was an idealist. While Kaito was of the opinion that such idealism was a little naïve, he admired Shinichi's determination to adhere to it as best he could.

"We're here." The car pulled into a garage attached to a mall. Being after hours, the place was mostly empty but for half a dozen cars. Some belonged to mall staff and security, the rest were not so mundane. The largest of those was a white van. A young woman was already there, opening the back.

"Go," Kaito told Shinichi. "Shiho should have removed Heiji and the nuisance's trackers by now. You should go next. Hurry."

Shinichi didn't bother with asking questions. They all knew that time was of the essence. So he climbed into the medical van and lay down on the operation table he found already prepared for him there.

Shiho picked up a syringe. "Give me your arm."

He did as he was told, and the world faded away.

Parking his car, Kaito hopped out and moved to check the other vehicles nearby. When he was done, he returned to the medical van to see that Shinichi was already being helped off the operating table by a blond man with an expressionless face.

Kaito felt his irritation spike, but he forced it down and kept a pleasant smile on his face. He'd never liked Saguru, but they were allies for the time being.

He and Shinichi had met Heiji and Saguru around when they had started taking on missions. The other two artificial children were mainly handled by a different lab, but the Organization had seen fit for the two labs to exchange ideas and suggestions every now and then on the progress of their projects.

In Kaito's books, that had meant that he and Shinichi would be given access to new allies.

Of the two new children, Heiji was the loud one and easy to read. He seemed to have no idea when to keep his mouth shut and when not to. He got angry easily but cooled off quickly too, and he seemed to assume from the start that they were all going to be friends.

Kaito had decided early on that Heiji would be easy to use. Whether they could be friends, however, Kaito felt would depend on if the boy could learn some tact. Otherwise, he would be a hindrance to Kaito's plans for escape.

Fortunately, Heiji proved to be the sort who never forgot a friend or let a debt go unpaid. He was honest and strong (Shinichi's words, not Kaito's), and that made him a dependable ally and trustworthy friend (still Shinichi's words, but Kaito put a lot of store in Shinichi's opinions).

Saguru on the other hand was Heiji's exact opposite. Where Heiji wore his emotions on his sleeve, the blond wasn't simply deadpan, he had no emotions at all. He based all his thoughts and actions on logic and reason alone and viewed all emotionally driven actions as foolish and pointless. That was why, the first time he had seen Shinichi reading one of the books Kaito had stolen for him (a.k.a. unapproved reading material), he reported it to the scientists. Subsequently, Shinichi and Kaito had been punished. Shinichi had forgiven him. Kaito had not.

"It's not his fault he was designed without the ability to feel things," Shinichi had reasoned. "Can you imagine what that must be like?"

Kaito had said quite frankly that he didn't care one bit and pointed out that someone without emotions wouldn't care about not having said emotions either because caring required the ability to feel in the first place. But Shinichi had taken it upon himself anyway to try and teach the blond tattletale why they all needed to learn more than just what they were actively taught by their creators. And Shinichi had succeeded, which, Kaito had to admit, was why they could all work together now for a common goal. But while it was clear even to him that they had to work together to succeed, he didn't like the blond any better now than he had when they'd first met.

He told himself it was because the blond was the most likely to betray them. But, if he was totally honest with himself, he knew that that was only part of the reason. The other part was that he didn't like how much time and effort Shinichi had put into befriending him (if someone so bland could be called a friend anyway).

The first time he'd seen Shinichi smile at the blond, Kaito had had to suppress a sudden and almost overpowering urge to stab Saguru through the eye with the pen he'd been holding. He had refrained because he knew Shinichi wouldn't approve.

Maybe he should have been surprised by the strength of his own reaction, but he hadn't been. He'd already known that Shinichi was more to him than just a close friend. Shinichi was the one person Kaito would do anything to protect. The one thing in the world he refused to lose. He wanted to make Shinichi smile—to show him all the wonders they had ever dreamed of seeing and wiping away all his worries.

He knew that he wanted Shinichi in other, less innocent ways too. He wanted to hold Shinichi close and kiss him—to feel Shinichi's supple body arching under his own.

Shaking away those thoughts, he hopped onto the table and held his arm out to Shiho. When he came to, it was to find Shinichi waiting next to him, watching him with warm, anxious eyes. Shinichi gave him a hand up, and they both watched as Heiji disappeared out of the van with a small cage in his hands. Two white mice were just shaking themselves awake inside the catch, small, white collars nearly invisible against their coats. Sewn to the insides of those collars were certain chips.

Everything was going as planned.

Standing, he drew in a deep breath then let it out. A razor sharp grin spread across his face.

"Come on. Let's go pick a car. We'll head out the moment Heiji gets back from releasing those mice."

-To Be Continued-