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 1

It was already an hour past midnight, but the party was showing no signs of winding down. Standing in the corner and pretending to be considering what to eat from the banquet table next to him, Shinichi held back a sigh. He didn't want to be here. The ballroom was luxuriant to the point of opulence, and all the guests were just the same. What was worse, the place was noisy and packed to the brim.

He swallowed a sigh.

Much as he disliked being here, being here was still better than the alternative, which was to be back at the base. But he'd completed his assignment, and that meant he'd be going back there soon whether he wanted to or not.

Might as well make the best of the time he had left. Now, how could he do that? The same way he always did when he could.

Drink as much coffee as he could get his hands on. He wasn't allowed any back at the base.

He eyed the crowds as he worked up his nerve. If he kept his hands in his pockets, he should be able to avoid any accidental skin contact even if it would make him look a little strange. Since his job was done, it didn't matter if he stood out as odd or offended anyone.

Nodding to himself, he put his hands in his pockets and headed for the refreshments stands. If only he'd been allowed to bring gloves.

When he got there, he spent some time perusing the vast selection of imported coffees. He'd love to try them all, but he didn't have the time. So he decided to start with the one that everyone else seemed to be getting.

He was jus turning away from the table with his steaming mug in hand when a woman in a sleeveless dress flounced by. Her bare arm brushed his hand before he could move out of the way.

A flood of images and sensations rushed through his head. If it weren't for all the practice he'd had, he might have staggered. As it was, he just held his breath and waited for the flood to pass.

That woman had been furious. She'd just had a huge argument with her boyfriend. She'd caught the man cheating on her. Apparently he'd only been dating her because of her wealthy father. But she had really loved him.

The woman's intense anger and pain made Shinichi's head spin and his stomach twist nauseatingly.

His hands clenched on his coffee mug. He forced himself to breathe in deep, even breaths.

A hand landed on his shoulder.

Shinichi flinched, but he kept enough presence of mind not to jerk away. He didn't need to end up spilling hot coffee all over himself.

"It's okay. It's just me."

He knew that voice. Both relieved and disappointed, he turned to meet a pair of indigo eyes.

"Kaito."

The newcomer, a young man with a mess of dark brown hair who stood slightly taller than Shinichi himself, smiled. "Hey there. You ready to go?"

Shinichi glanced down at his coffee before nodding reluctantly. "Yes."

A knowing smile tugged at the corners of Kaito's lips. "You know, I haven't had dinner yet. Mind waiting while I grab a bite to eat?"

Shinichi brightened. "Of course. I don't mind waiting. But…" He lowered his voice, looking around to make sure no one would hear them. "We'll get in trouble if…"

"Don't worry. I won't let it get to that. We can spare a few minutes. I know you want to finish that coffee."

Blushing, Shinichi ducked his head. "Thank you."

Kaito's smile softened into a more genuine expression. "I told you before, I'll always be watching over you. Now why don't you show me where the desserts are?"

Blush darkening at being on the receiving end of that smile, Shinichi nodded and turned. His heart beat just a little faster when he sensed Kaito walking close behind him.

The desserts occupied an entire banquet table. There were little cakes of every flavor you could think of and pudding cups as well as cream puffs and all kinds of cookies. There were twelve different pies available too, each more delicious than the last.

Shinichi watched in open amazement as Kaito piled his plate with chocolate raspberry pie, chocolate mousse cake, a chocolate pudding cup, marshmallow and chocolate cookie bars, chocolate cream puffs, and one lemon cream bar. The last he offered to Shinichi on a smaller plate with a delicate, silver fork on the side.

Shinichi took the gift with a quiet thank you. It always amazed him what Kaito remembered. Shinichi had only ever told him that he liked lemon-flavored desserts once many years ago, but Kaito had never forgotten.

Then again, Kaito had once told him that he remembered everything Shinichi had ever said to him. Shinichi's stomach flip-flopped in a most disconcerting though not entirely unpleasant way at the memory. Shinichi knew that for as long as he lived, he would remember those words and the soft smile Kaito had been wearing when he had uttered them. At the time, he hadn't really understood what that look in Kaito's eyes or the warmth in his voice had meant. For the longest time, he had assumed it was just Kaito being his usual quirky self. After all, Kaito had been strange from the very first day they'd met.

That had been, oh, how many years ago now? Shinichi couldn't say for sure. Years were difficult to keep track of for people like them who only ever saw the outside world when they were sent on assignments. It must have been at least ten years though. Possibly longer.

They had both still been children then, though exactly how old they had been, neither of them really knew. It was that way with all of them really. They had been created after all. They had no parents, and none of them had been born in the natural sense. The first few years of their lives had been inside large incubation pods—glorified test tubes in which the Organization could play at being god. While in those pods, they had developed much faster than human babies were meant to, but once they had emerged, their growth had slowed drastically because they were more useful to their creators if they lasted longer in a physically fit state (though Shinichi had inadvertently learned from some of the scientists when he'd touched their minds that their creators suspected that, when they did pass their prime, they would age much more rapidly than regular, though the scientists had only speculated on when that would be. Privately, Shinichi wondered if they had been designed that way on purpose to make sure that they would disappear as soon as they lost their usefulness. It was a depressing thought—another reminder that their lives were not their own. Though Kaito insisted that they should think of it as a sort of blessing. After all, most regular people would pay a lot to get to remain in their teens and twenties for a few extra decades).

Shinichi's early memories were all a blur. There was the color blue and a soft light, but there was no warmth. He remembered little of his childhood except for the white walls of his room and the white and metal prison that was the lab where he had been taught how to read and write, to do figures and play music, and even a little how to cook. But most importantly, he had learned to use his powers. He took in the emotions and memories of others and, if he so willed it, he had the power to share those memories and emotions with others, though it was not a skill he cared for. Stealing secrets from people's minds already made him feel unclean. To turn around and give what he had found to others, to share secrets that were not his to share… That was even worse.

But that was what they had trained him to do because that was what he had been created for. The perfect mole.

Thinking back, the day his world began to have color was the day he had met Kaito.

Kaito had been older than him, the scientist who had brought the boy to see him had told him. "He's about a year older, but I think you two should get along."

Never having met anyone even remotely close to his age before, Shinichi hadn't known what to think of the boy. He only became more confused when the boy had walked right up to him, smiling, and held out his hand.

"I'm Kaito," he'd said, that bright grin just as charming if a lot less dangerous back then as it would be later. "And you are?"

"Shinichi."

They had been instructed to get acquainted with each other because they would often be working together in the future.

Looking back now, that day had been the first and only blessing in Shinichi's life. It had been the day he met the person who would become his first and best friend—the one person who made him at least a little glad to have been brought into this world. But, at the beginning, he had found Kaito to be confusing and, well, kind of annoying.

Not only had Kaito been loud and way too energetic at all hours, he had also invaded Shinichi's room, which had, up until that day, been the only space in which Shinichi could be blessedly alone and in peace. Okay, so that wasn't Kaito's fault. It was the Organization that had ordained that they begin living together as part of the "getting to know each other" process, but still. Peace and quiet were things Shinichi valued greatly, especially because of his abilities, while Kaito seemed to think that "peace" and "quiet" were both synonymous to "boring".

No one who knew Kaito long ever wanted him to be bored. A bored Kaito was a creative and sneaky Kaito who, considering he had already fully mastered his powers, often found ways to entertain himself by playing pranks on everyone and everything in the lab.

Labs are never places where you want invisible mischief making kids to play pranks in. Ruined experiments are the best that can happen.

So, many large and small mishaps later, Shinichi had been ordered to always do what Kaito wanted. In other words, he had to keep Kaito entertained.

So began Shinichi's daily torment. He found himself learning how to play every kind of card game ever invented and then some. He also had to learn chess, checkers, Go, shogi, and a zillion other board games that caught Kaito's fancy (though these, at least, Shinichi enjoyed more than the card games, which Kaito always won no matter how thoroughly the deck was shuffled). But the little monster wasn't always satisfied with these quiet, intellectual games. He also demanded that Shinichi play hide and seek and tag and other active games that weren't truly suited to the limited space in their bedroom and classroom/recreation area like little children. Of course, they were little children, but Shinichi hadn't felt young since the day he'd emerged from his incubation capsule, and he didn't really appreciate being forced to act like a silly child on a sugar high.

It made it all worse that Kaito was always so…so cheerful. It was weird and disconcerting. How could anyone in their situation smile so much? Be that happy?

If Kaito had been an idiot, Shinichi would have just assumed he didn't know any better—that he didn't fully comprehend the depressing truth about their situation. They had been created by the Organization to serve it. They had no homes or families, and they weren't allowed to have their own dreams. They were nothing but tools.

But Kaito wasn't a fool. Far from it. He was clearly extremely intelligent and, judging from both his strategies when playing games and his elaborate pranks, extremely devious. So his cheer had to be a lie, Shinichi decided by the end of the first week. Though what his real purposes were, Shinichi didn't know. Maybe he did it to drive everyone nuts as a sort of personal revenge for their situation. Shinichi just wished he'd lay off now and then. It was exhausting being forced to keep up with his boundless energy.

It was about a month later that Shinichi's opinion had been forced to change.

They had been playing tag—a game Shinichi hated because he disliked physical contact even when there was no skin contact but which both Kaito and the scientists approved of (it was a good exercise that honed the reflexes, they said. It was especially true when Kaito was one of the participants). Anyway, Kaito was It at the time. They'd been playing in the rec room when a sudden lunge from Kaito had made Shinichi leap onto a couch to escape. Unfortunately, the unstable footing provided by the cushions had led to Shinichi tumbling right off again, but he'd been saved from hitting his head on the corner of a nearby table by Kaito, who had adjusted his trajectory when he'd noticed the danger. They'd gone down in a tangled heap and ended up bonking foreheads.

In that instant, Kaito's overwhelming cheer and insatiable curiosity crashed over Shinichi like a tsunami along with his relief that he'd saved Shinichi from a potentially dangerous head injury, and Shinichi realized that Kaito really was that cheerful. And he really cared.

Surprised and uncertain, Shinichi had decided that maybe he too should put some effort into trying to be friends.

The problem was that Shinichi wasn't sure he knew what that meant. Being friends. Was it enough to spend time together? Was it enough to play games together? They had been ordered to share a room, so they were almost always together anyway, but he felt that friendship was about more than that.

Sadly, though they were expected to learn a great many things, topics like friendship were not among any of their lessons.

Still, Shinichi began trying to learn to enjoy their games, and he did his best to participate in conversations. Gradually, he'd found himself becoming more comfortable around Kaito to the point where he found himself sharing thoughts that he had never entertained sharing with anyone else—thoughts like his views on their situation and his questions about the purpose of their existence. In turn, he got to see the serious, intelligent being hidden behind Kaito's clownish grin.

Kaito became someone Shinichi knew he trusted, and though he still wasn't entirely sure he knew what it meant to be friends, he felt that Kaito was someone important to him. Even later, when they had been introduced to the other artificially created children, Kaito remained the one person Shinichi felt he could share everything with. The one person he trusted fully. The one person he looked forward to spending time with—that he wanted to return to. That understanding had made life a little easier to bear.

Then they had started being sent out on missions, and the time they got to spend alone together became all the more precious.

Like Shinichi, Kaito was mostly tasked with acquiring information, but his missions were quite different. His mutations had earned him the nickname Poltergeist and for good reason. He could become invisible not only to regular vision but to all forms of detection. He could extend his powers to cover objects he was in contact with so long as they did not have too much mass. He could manage to cloak everything from clothes and weapons to a single adult human being, making him the perfect thief (he would have been the perfect assassin too. So much so that the Organization was very careful never to give him a weapon just in case doing so became the last mistake they ever made).

And so, while Shinichi was sent after the secrets hidden within people's minds, Kaito was generally sent after physical things—everything from blueprints and data to prototypes of new technology and priceless artifacts.

His powers and skills were also the reason why they often worked together. To be more accurate, Kaito was almost always the one the Organization sent to pick Shinichi up from his missions. Kaito was an expert at getting into places and getting people out of those places unnoticed.

It was on one of those retrievals that Shinichi's perception of Kaito had changed again.

Since his assignments demanded that Shinichi spend a lot of time mingling with high society, the Organization had decided to present him to the world as the son of a wealthy but more reclusive family very interested in funding promising entrepreneurial endeavors. Because of that, Shinichi was an oft sought after party guest as all kinds of people with new ideas and plants for great riches sought him out to see if they could impress him enough to be able to get funding from his supposed parents.

Little did they know that it was more than their ideas that they were sharing with him. They were also sharing key theories and components of their work without meaning to and giving him a glimpse into the kinds of people they were, wanted to be, or would be willing to work with, and so, so much more.

The night in question, Shinichi had been dancing with the daughter of a major electronics manufacturer whose parents were currently involved in some under the table deals at the time. He had already gotten all the information he had been told to get from her mind, but the girl had been quite taken with him, it seemed, and refused to let him go. She had insisted he continue to dance with her even when he asked to excuse himself then suggested that he meet her parents.

Shinichi hadn't known how to get away without being rude. He'd already been mentally exhausted from being battered by other people's thoughts and emotions for five hours straight, and it had been all he could do to keep a polite smile on his face.

That was when Kaito had arrived.

"Excuse me, my brother and I have an appointment to get to," Kaito had said, stepping smoothly between Shinichi and the girl from seemingly nowhere. He'd grabbed Shinichi's hand and began towing him away after giving the girl his most charming smile and sincerest apology. Then he had led Shinichi out of the party hall and towards the car waiting outside for them.

But though the entire act was typical for them, there had been one difference that night. Kaito had not been wearing gloves when he took Shinichi's hand. Later, he had told Shinichi that he'd torn one when retrieving his target of the night. Since wearing only one would have been strange, he had opted to take both gloves off.

A blush crept up Shinichi's face at the memory, and he glanced up at the side of Kaito's face from the corner of his eye.

That night, when their bare hands had touched, Shinichi had seen images in Kaito's mind of the two of them dancing in that party—of Kaito pulling him closer as the music changed to something slow and romantic just before Kaito would lean down, breeching that small distance it would take to eliminate the distance between their lips. He'd even gotten a fleeting glimpse of himself and Kaito wrapped up in an intimate embrace.

Swallowing, Shinichi buried his nose deeper in his coffee mug.

That hadn't been the first time he had caught a glimpse of such thoughts in the minds of people he'd met. His assignments were always about collecting intelligence. However, he couldn't just look into people's heads and see what he was looking for. His powers only picked up on emotions and active thoughts. And only from someone he was physically in contact with. Over the years, Shinichi had honed his ability to find answers just by asking a few questions while shaking someone's hand or while squeezed together in a crowd or something else of the sort. But not all questions could be answered so quickly or easily. Sometimes, targets needed to be maneuvered through hoops to get them to think about the right things, and that could take time.

Shinichi cringed. The Organization was good at picking out which people it would be easiest for him to get information from. And so Shinichi suspected it was no coincidence that he had met more than his fair share of perverts.

One of the worst had to have been that unpleasantly memorable incident when he'd had to endure three hours sitting next to that programming genius at a beach concert. The man had put a hand on Shinichi's knee when they started talking and hadn't removed it until the concert had ended. Because of that, Shinichi had learned everything he'd been sent to learn about the security programs that the man had designed (the man had been very eager to brag about his creations, and though he didn't speak of the details, he had thought about them as he boasted). However, Shinichi had also learned that the man had a very large collection of…un-child-friendly toys and a very vivid imagination. Shinichi had definitely not needed all that time seeing himself starring in the man's perverted fantasies.

At least those disturbing visions had given him ample warning so that he knew better than to go anywhere alone with the man. Granted, it hadn't been easy. The man had taken a real fancy to Shinichi, much to Shinichi's chagrin, and he'd been persistent. It didn't help at all that Shinichi had been ordered to maintain peaceable relations with the programmer in case the Organization needed more information from him in the future. Indeed, Shinichi had had to endure the man's company four more times since then, all at concerts as his cover for his interactions with the man was that they were both fans of a certain popular band. The music was actually very good, but that didn't make the meetings any less unpleasant, especially since, in every encounter, Shinichi had to learn of all the new additions the man had made to his collection with Shinichi in mind whether he wanted to or not (which he very much did not. The programmer's fantasies got progressively more vivid and elaborate every time they met. His interest in Shinichi had clearly evolved rather quickly into an obsession. Shinichi had been very careful not to eat or drink anything the man offered him from their second meeting onward, and after the difficulty he had at the end of their third meeting with getting out of letting the man give him a ride back to his hotel, he always made sure to have some good escape excuses prepared).

Every encounter with the pervert had left Shinichi feeling disgusted and more than a little paranoid for days afterward.

But the time he had caught those thoughts from Kaito, the experience had been different. Kaito's thoughts had come with a warmth and intensity that Shinichi realized (after long contemplations) was love. It wasn't just the lust those others had had in their heads. It was the genuine desire to hold and cherish and protect someone precious. To be with them forever.

And so, rather than being repulsed, Shinichi had found himself wishing that the visions could be real. He'd wanted to feel Kaito's arms around him.

Shinichi had struggled with that realization for a long time, wondering if he was just reacting to Kaito's feelings or if he really felt that way about Kaito. Then he'd thought about what it meant for them if they really were in love. After all, they had no real future. If they did try to establish such a relationship, Shinichi knew it would only be used against them. So, in the end, it didn't really matter how they felt.

Of course, it was when he realized that that he finally admitted to himself that he really did love Kaito. Or at least he knew he couldn't bear the thought of life without Kaito, and he secretly wished that Kaito would kiss him even though he still found the thought of physical contact to be frightening. If it would make Kaito happy, Shinichi thought he just might be okay with being touched. Just so long as it was Kaito touching him.

His stomach did another funny little flip flop at the thought, and he took another gulp of coffee only to discover that his mug was already empty. He frowned into the mug with dismay.

As if on cue, Kaito offered him a hand. "Shall we be on our way then?"

Regretfully, Shinichi set his empty mug on one of the trays held by a passing waiter and took Kaito's hand. His heart skipped a beat as the taller boy's gloved fingers twined with his own.

Outside, the night air was crisp but not quite cold. It was a refreshing change from the overly warm and noisy atmosphere of the party. Kaito led Shinichi around to the hotel's parking lot. He was taking the long way, but neither of them was in a hurry. It was nice to just walk together through the tranquility of the night.

They passed the hotel's large swimming pool. Its waters were glowing faintly blue with the lights beneath its glassy surface. Then they passed dark lawns dotted with little lamps and a fountain before they finally stepped out amidst silent rows of parked cars. When they reached the black BMW the Organization had assigned them for the mission, Kaito opened the passenger door for Shinichi and swept into a bow, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips.

Shinichi rolled his eyes at the gesture, though he found himself smiling too as he took his seat. Kaito slid into the driver's seat a moment later, and the engine hummed to life.

They pulled out of the parking lot. A small sigh escaped Shinichi's lips as he watched the city lights drifting by outside the window. Soon, they would be back at the Organization's local headquarters. A familiar dread settled in the pit of his stomach. He would have to give his information to Gin the moment he got back. Unfortunately, that information included the fact that one of the men the Organization had been dealing with had sold blueprints on one of their inventions to a startup company that was shooting into the public eye. That meant someone was going to die.

The thought made Shinichi feel sick. He hated it—being responsible, however indirectly, for someone's murder.

If only he could make time stand still.

Lost in guilty thoughts of what his information was going to bring about, he almost didn't notice that Kaito had turned down the wrong street.

"Kaito?" he asked, startled.

"What is it?"

"You missed the turn."

"No I didn't."

"You did," Shinichi insisted, not sure why Kaito was denying it.

Kaito was silent for a long moment. He made no move to turn the car around. When he finally did speak, Shinichi's entire world changed.

"We're not going back."

Shinichi stared at him. "…What?"

-To Be Continued-

Notes: I considered putting this in the Different Suns collection, but that one's already pretty long. And this story just felt more science fiction than fantasy. So I'm making a sister collection.