(Horsemen I) Pestilence 2/??

[koorii]

Fandom: Detective Conan/Magic Kaito
Fic Pairing: Mostly Genfic. Light Kaito/Aoko, Shinichi/Ran, Saguru/Aoko, and Heiji/Kazuha.
Final/Series Pairings: Saguru/Aoko, Heiji/Kazuha, Kaito/Shinichi (more may appear)
Rating: T
Chapter Warnings: Building Collapse, Trapped/Buried characters.
Warnings: Character Death, Violence, Crime
Genre: Friendship/Crime/Drama
Words: 11251
Chapter Summary: Ran and Ai both know something horrible has happened, meanwhile all Conan and Kid can do is wait.




Something was terribly, horribly wrong and Ran knew it. She didn't know what it was, or why it had come again, but that feeling was back. The feeling that was like a tight knot beneath her breast bone. What troubled her the most was that her entire being was swamped with a confusing twist of emotions. Part of her mind shrieked that her worry was for Conan, while a quieter part of her whispered for Shinichi.

Ran turned away from the view of the building, looking back as her nervous gaze flickered across the boisterous crowd. Beside her, Sonoko screamed something that she couldn't make out in the tumult from the other people pressing in around her. Almost automatically her gaze turned downward, looking for her small shadow though she knew that he wasn't there. He'd chosen not to come with her for a change, and when he'd made that decision Ran had felt, inexplicably, as if she'd lost something very precious. It wasn't the first time Conan had chosen to do something without her, but it was the first time she could remember him turning her down when she asked if he wanted to go somewhere with her. Chewing her lower lip, Ran turned back to her friend. Sonoko was still caught up in the thrill of the heist, eyes bright and cheeks flushed with a mixture of cold and excitement.

Silently, Ran slipped her phone from her purse and flipped it open. It took seconds to speed dial Shinichi's number. He was the one away, the one who was in some case that could keep him away for years, the one who was slowly contacting her less and less....

The phone rang for several timeless seconds before carrying over to voice mail. Ran opened her mouth, about to leave a message when, in the next moment, a thunderous explosion rocked the building where the heist was taking place. High above them the windows lining one floor shattered, sending glass flying outward and raining down toward the crowd. The screaming started then, and the panic, as the crowd began to push and shove to get out of the way. The sound of glass hitting concrete and breaking into dust-fine splinters was almost musical. Behind it, the percussion beat of more explosions roared within the building.

Sonoko let out a surprised squeal that quickly turned pained as one of the fleeing people slammed into her and sent her falling to the ground. Ran quickly stepped in front of her to keep her friend from being trampled by the terrified crowd. Through the people she could see another girl trying to push her way forward, face as wild as her hair, as she screamed something Ran couldn't hear.

Ran caught a glimpse of the skyscraper here and there between flailing limbs; a sight that sent something cold through her. Several floors were burning, flames a fiery golden red against the darkness of the building itself. At the base of it people were rushing out the front doors in disorder. Several men f the task force were half carrying their comrades. One man, a man Ran vaguely recognized as the leader of the task force (He was called Nakamori-keibu, right?) paused just outside the doors, one hand holding them open as his gaze scanned the chaos beyond.

The girl Ran had spotted shoving through the crowd moments ago hit the wood blockade, leaning over it with her hand stretched out as she screamed something. The man at the door saw her, and gestured sharply at her before turning and darting back into the building. A man near the girl grabbed her as she nearly scrambled over the barrier, and that was when Ran saw something that made her breath catch.

A skateboard. A familiar looking skateboard. But, that couldn't be right, could it? No, Conan was home, safe and sound. He didn't even know there was a heist. Ran hadn't known until Sonoko had told her....

A hand landed near Ran's shoulder blades, grasping her jacket in a tight fist. Sonoko had managed to scramble back to her feet and was pressed behind Ran's back. The other girl tugged lightly. “Come on, Ran! We need to get out of here!”

“Y-yes,” Ran agreed. She couldn't understand why her heart was telling her she was making a mistake. She realized, moments later, that even if she had wanted to stay she couldn't. The thick crowd was driving them both back and toward the side.

“Excuse me!” A voice yelled, nearing the two as they tried to shove their way out of the surging mass of people. “Ouch! Hey! Watch it!”

They stumbled into a clear area where people were diverting around a girl with pig tails, and large round spectacles on her face. Said glasses had been knocked askew by the crowds jostling. The girl righted them, and blinked at the two in surprise.

“Excuse me, have you seen a girl that...” She paused, squinting at Ran in surprise. “Aoko?”

“No, sorry. I'm Mouri Ran.”

“Ran!” Sonoko hissed. “This isn't the time to be polite!”

“Sonoko!”

The girl broke into the conversation, “Have you seen a girl that looks a lot like you then? She went running toward the building!”

Ran's thoughts immediately flashed to the girl she'd seen earlier, the one who had looked terrified and was trying so desperately to reach the skyscraper. “I saw–”

Another explosion cut off her words, and this time it was followed by the horrifying sound of shattering concrete. The bespectacled girl's head tilted back, eyes widening enormously behind her lenses, her mouth falling open. Ran looked back, even as Sonoko did, and was nearly deafened by her friend's horrified scream.

Men in riot squad gear were running toward them, ushering the stragglers ahead of them. “Get back! Move!”

One of the corners at the top of the building was tearing away, slowly, but giving none the less. Huge slabs of concrete began to rain down, as more glass shattered, and the building began to list and break. It was obvious that, shortly, it wouldn't be standing anymore at all.

More scared than ever, people shoved them forward. No one seemed to care when people stumbled, fell, got stepped on as people pushed to put distance between them and the collapsing skyscraper. It was every man, woman, person for themselves. It didn't take long for Ran to lose sight of Sonoko in the ensuing chaos, and when she finally found herself in a moment of startling peace she had no real idea of where she was.

A massive, horrible sound, like thunder, reached her ears. Glancing back she watched in shocked horror as the large corner of the building finally fell free and dropped down smashing one of the task force's vans beneath it like an insect. Only a few heart beats later the building itself gave up and fell in on itself, flattening like some giant godly hand had just pressed it down.

Ran crouched down with a surprised scream as a cloud of dust and debris raced toward her, her arms clutching around her head. The phone she had somehow managed to keep hold of flew from her grip at last and went skittering across the ground, kicked toward the nearby buildings by running feet. Something metal clanged off the cement a few feet to her right and went rolling away. The sound of rock showering around her was like a hailstorm, and she flinched as a good sized bit hit her back.

The immensity of the silence that followed was almost more terrifying than the noise and confusion of before. Ran trembled as it settled around her, and peeked out from behind her arms. There was a fine layer of gray dust across her jacket sleeves. She could almost feel it in her hair.

Slowly she uncurled from the fetal position she'd taken up. Ran found herself in a world of sepia and gray. The dust was still settling, and she choked before breaking into a coughing fit on the first inhale. As the dust eased slightly she could see the glow of her cell phone's screen several feet away. Dropping to her hands and knees Ran crawled over to the device and scooped it up before snapping it closed.

The shivers wracking her body still hadn't ceased and, in fact, seemed to be getting worse. Ran bit hard on her lip, fighting back the tears that wanted to slide down her cheeks in the wake of the event. She couldn't go to pieces yet! She was strong, she was fine. She'd stood up to things just as awful as this before!

Setting her jaw stubbornly Ran pushed herself back to her feet. The dust was starting to clear away now, and she could hear other people nearby.

“Nakamori-chan, please!” a hoarse male voice said.

Homing in on the sound of another person Ran headed in that direction. She hoped she would find Sonoko soon. Her fingers tightened on her phone until the plastic creaked plaintively. The nagging pit of cold worry in her stomach urged her to call Conan. He had to be fine! She soothed herself with the fact that there was no reason for him to have been here. Ahead of her, in the clogged air, she could see dark shadows, and as she drew closer, Ran could hear the sound of ragged sobbing. When she could finally see who she was approaching, she recognized the girl she'd seen standing with one of the task force men. The girl had slid to the ground, distraught, as sobs shook her body.

“Ran!”

Sonoko's voice made her turn, and Ran inhaled to reply only to cough and sputter. Finally she choked out a rasping, “Sonoko! Over here!” Two more shadows darted through the lessening dust toward her. Ran was sure she'd never been more relieved to see Sonoko in her life.

“Ran!” Sonoko breathed. “There you are! Are you okay? My cloths certainly aren't....”

Ran couldn't help but laugh weakly at her friend's audacity, and when Sonoko winked at her it made her smile widen. The other girl, the one with glasses, rushed past the two of them with a strangled sound of distress. Ran turned to watch her run to the crying girl's side. For a moment she stood there, torn in indecision between going and offering the stranger some comfort as well and seeing to what she knew she had to.

She was just putting it off.

Numbly, Ran lifted her phone again, and this time she dialed Conan's number. Pressing the device to her ear she waited. She didn't have to wait long as the response she got was that the phone was either off, or out of range. It took everything she had not to start freaking out. There was still a chance that Conan had gone to bed, or was at Agasa's... That thought in mind, Ran quickly called the professor. Her mind clinging frantically to the ideal that everything was fine.

The phone picked up, and before the professor could even say a word Ran felt her question leave her in a rush, “Is Conan-kun there?”

But, even before Agasa replied, as the man paused and a heavy silence came over the line, Ran knew. She reached out blindly to grab hold of Sonoko's arm, sagging slightly as she paled. She just knew that something horrible had happened. Just like with Shinichi....

“Ran? What's the matter?!”

Sonoko's voice sounded distorted and distant, never really penetrating her mind. Ran couldn't help but wonder if every time she would be doomed to failure in helping the people close to her. Tears slipped slowly down her grime covered cheeks.

“Ran!”

Please be okay...

–

The first thing Conan knew as he swam up from the parasitic depths of unconsciousness was that something was very, very wrong. There was an oppressiveness all around him that pushed down on him, bore down on his chest, pressed until he felt like he couldn't breathe. The second thing he realized was that, even when he opened his eyes, he still couldn't see. Where ever he was it was pitch black. It was the truest form of darkness: Complete, absolute, utter absence of light. By that point the panic was already starting to make his rib cage tighten, and his breath come short in his straining lungs.

He was hyperventilating, and he couldn't seem to stop.

The third thing, a small part of his mind that was completely detached from the rest noted, was he wasn't alone. Conan found he was engulfed in heat. A stagnant, unmitigated warmth that embraced him from all sides, but particularly pressed down on him from above. He wasn't stupid. He could tell that there was a body above him. A warm, breathing, lithely muscled body covered in fabric. Had he not been too busy panicking over his apparent blindness he might have been embarrassed.

The man, obviously so from the lack of cleavage smothering him, was crouched over him with his forearms braced against the ground a bit above Conan's head and his knees either side of the small detective's hips. Conan's own knees were bent, his feet flat against the ground and his toes jammed rather uncomfortably against what felt like solid stone. Something smooth and hard tickled the Conan's temple.

Slowly a voice was beginning to penetrate the haze of hysteria laying like a thin veil over Conan's normally focused mind.

“Tantei-kun.”

He knew that voice! There was only one person who called him that, but there was something off...

“Tantei-kun!”

They sounded urgent, and Conan figured he should probably get himself under control. This probably wasn't the best time to be having a fit... He had the feeling something serious was going on...

“Tantei-kun! Listen to me; you have got to stop panicking! Calm down, focus...”

Conan groaned softly. The small, hard thing tapped against his forehead again, and he asked, “Kid?”

There was a rusty chuckle scant inches above him from the thief. “That's good. How are you doing, Tantei-kun?”

He felt confused, Conan thought, but he answered, “I can't see...”

Another rough sounding laugh was his answer. He wondered what was wrong with Kid's voice, “Neither can I, Tantei-kun.” There was a long, drawn out pause, and then, “What do you remember?”

Remember...? What did he remember? What was he supposed to remember?

The air tasted stale, unmoving, and his cheeks were flushed, tight, and stinging from the heat. Sweat was making his fringe and cloths stick to his face and body, and above that, his mouth felt of dust and congealing saliva. Unpleasant was the best way to describe the situation he was in.

Mind reeling as it jumped from topic to topic, sifting and searching for the elusive little drawer titled 'Short Term Memory', Conan focused on what his other senses were telling him.

He was in a small space, and Kid was directly above him. Kid who was so close he could feel the thieves every breath stirring his sweat soaked hair, feel every tensing and twitch of muscle beneath the white suit and pinpoint the locations of Kid's current batch of tricks.

There wasn't a blindfold over his eyes, it was just dark.

Small, dark, enclosed, warm...

Kid shifted and Conan could hear the rasp of fabric against something rough, like stone. Soft fabric tickled against the back of his hand. Twisting his hand around slightly, he recognized the fabric of Kid's cape against his fingertips. A thicker, heavier fabric than what one normally felt. It was almost like some sort of canvas, but not the same texture or weight.

What did he remember...?

It came back in a rush and he gasped. Kid twitched above him again and a trickle of dust slid from the too close ceiling. It pattered against Conan's glasses. His heart constricted in understanding and sheer terror. He gripped his calm, and kept it close. Conan had felt this kind of fear before and he hadn't let it control him then, and wouldn't now.

Edogawa Conan was well accustomed to the fear that rode hand in hand with knowing you could die at any second.

Swallowing hard, he tried to choke down a mixture of saliva and concrete dust. It merely settled in his throat and refused to move. Finally, he croaked, “I remember... an explosion.”

Intense heat swam up ahead of a billowing cloud of sound, light, and industrial rage. The sound hit him next in an unintelligent roar that blasted from everywhere at once. Next came the blast itself. He was pulled and tugged as fire and debris raged around him. Something white flickered in his vision, and he could hear the groaning of a structure losing to gravity before everything began to fade away...

“That's right.” Kid agreed, his voice strained and tight.

Then they were...

“We didn't make it out did we?”

“I'm afraid not Tantei-kun.”

For a long time Conan remained quiet as several questions swirled around in his mind. The heist had taken place in one of the many sky scrapers scattered around the city, and he'd been chasing Kid up, and up, and up... They'd been pretty high in the floor numbers when it had happened...

“Do you know what happened?” Kid almost always monitored the police conversations.

“The task force found several bombs throughout the entire building, just a bit too late,” the thief said sardonically. He sounded really peeved off about something. “All the main support structures, and on several of the middle floors, like the one we were on, so it would collapse faster, I suppose...”

Mind racing Conan's eyes flickered back and forth over points of interest he couldn't even see. “But who would...?”

“There are many people who'd want to see me dead. Or maybe just fools who want to terrorize innocent people.”

“But...” Conan pointed out, “You think there's a reason behind this, don't you?”

Kid was silent for a long moment, and, as he shifted with the sound of fabric rubbing against stone again, it occurred to Conan that there was something weird about the tense way Kid was holding himself. He couldn't be afraid that Conan would find out who he was, was he? It was, after all, darker than the bottom of a well in here...

“Yes, yes I do.”

And, of course, Kid was annoyed that so many people were probably hurt or dead because of this. Most particularly innocent bystanders and his own task force. But, right then, deducing the way Kid's suspicions went, and the way his mind worked wasn't what was on Conan's mind.

“Kid? What's wrong?”

“Other than having an entire building fall down around me?” the thief asked blithely.

Conan snorted and would have laughed if he thought it wise. “Yes, other than that.”

“Having an entire building on my back.”

As sticky as cement dust and coagulated saliva, Conan's breath caught in his throat. “You don't mean...” The words left him as some twisted version of a squeak and a croak that was lost almost as soon as it emerged.

Slowly, carefully, tentatively, Conan pulled his arms out from under the thief and brought them up by his head. He reached out, his fingers brushing past tousled hair and the hard knobs of Kid's glider cape. It was there, right there. The ceiling of their tiny space was pressing down tightly against the thief. The only thing between them and certain, crushing death... The only thing there was the thief himself, and whatever faulty support the debris around them was providing.

Conan could almost feel the pressure of thousands of tons of concrete, glass, furniture, and steel pressing down on them. It was unforgiving, and hostile, and inert. It was...

“Don't freak out on me now, Tantei-kun... There's no room for hysterics.”

Eyes unbelievably wide, and suddenly feeling horribly cold in a way he usually only experienced when the Black Organization was, involved Conan breathed in noisily. “Kid...”

“I'm fine, but...”

They both knew it: their chances of surviving were so very slim at this point. It was then that Conan recalled his watch, and felt a flush creeping over his cheeks at his own, rather foolish, panic. “Hold on,” he murmured. Then, remembering the precarious nature of Kid's identity he whispered, “I.. I may have a light.”

The pause now, was long, strained, and drawn out until it felt like it was going to break. He could feel every breath Kid took, his chest swelling and pressing down against him. Kid's exhales stirred his sweaty fringe. When Kid finally spoke it was with a great sense of delicacy, as if he were placing his very life in Conan's hands, and, Conan supposed, he was. “Go ahead. It would be helpful if we could have a look at our situation, I suppose.”

Conan wasn't fooled in the least by the lackadaisical wording. He could tell how tense Kid was.

Slowly, carefully, he brought his hands back down and reached for his wrist. His fingers slipped over the plastic, damp with sweat, and he noticed, faintly, that all that remained of the cross hairs was a broken bit of plastic. Finally he found the button for the flashlight, and pressed it. No light flared. He tried again, and got the same results. Letting out a breath that tasted faintly of annoyance, and, oddly, relief he quietly informed the thief, “It's broken.”

The thief said nothing. Conan wondered what he must be thinking. Was he relieved that his identity was safe for the moment? Perturbed that they would remain trapped here in darkness? Or was he thinking about whatever life he led beyond the confines of the heists? Conan let his arms fall to the sides, resting against Kid's. He could feel the tense strain of muscles bunched and taught beneath the slick, overly warm cloth of the thief's white suit coat.

“Either...” Conan began, then was forced to stop and swallow. He could barely speak past the grime clogging his trachea, and his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth. For once he thought, with faint wistfulness, on those annoying child juice boxes Ran was always giving him to drink. Conan rather wanted one right now... “Either you're going to fail, slip or give out... something...” Kid made a disgusted noise here, and Conan couldn't help but cough out a chuckle. “The building will shift because they're trying to dig us out the wrong way... Or we'll run out of air.”

“Thank you for that wonderfully morbid and pessimistic disclaimer, Tantei-kun,” Kid drawled dryly. Conan wasn't sure if it was because his mouth and throat were as dry as his, or if it was just the thief's inflection. He settled on both and left it at that.

“An' if we're really lucky,” Conan burbled, mustering up his little boy act as best he could. “There'll be a methane leak an' the remains of the fires will catch an' we'll go up in a big ball of flames! Whoosh!”

“....Don't ever do that again,” Kid murmured pleasantly. “That was downright disturbing.”

Conan hacked and wheezed his way through a fit of laughter.

From somewhere too close for real comfort there came the sound of stone grinding on stone. Another trickle of dust fell against Conan's glasses, and he tightened his grip on the thief's sleeves. Kid made a little 'umph' sound as the concrete settled lower, pressing him closer to the boy caged beneath him. Conan could hear him grinding his teeth together.

It took a moment, but everything seemed to stabilize again, and some of the tension in Kid's arms eased away. The thief let out a long, slow breath that ruffled the matted hair near Conan's ear. He twitched faintly, trying to shift his cramping legs. His knees knocked lightly against Kid's thighs and he froze up.

“Kid...?”

“I'm fine,” the answer was even more strained this time, and Conan could tell that Kid wasn't fine at all.

Conan pressed his fingers into the wiry muscles of the thief's arms, muscles that were so tight they were more like the stone around them than anything else. He could feel the ridge of veins and tendons even through the thick material of Kid's cloths. Silently, he encouraged the thief to hang on. The muscles twitched and jumped under his fingers and, though it was probably an involuntary reaction to the strain, Conan hoped that maybe Kid understood.

Quietly, the boy detective asked, “Do you have anyone you can contact on the outside? Any way to contact them?”

A small piece of rock fell free, bounced off one of the knobs of Kid's shoulders and came to rest next to Conan's ear like a fly tickling at it. They both held their breath for several agonizing seconds. When nothing else moved, or gave, Kid murmured, “Ah, yeah... I have an earpiece and a microphone, but... I think they got damaged when I tackled you during the explosion. I'm not even getting static.”

Conan muttered something uncomplimentary.

Kid tsked, “Such language for your age...”

“Blame it on Nakamori-keibu.”

Kid's responding chuckle was cut off when, somewhere in the distance, a loud sound came through the debris around them. A crunching, grinding, roaring sound that made Conan's hair stand on end and, it seemed, made his heart cease to beat. Something that sounded like metal groaned even closer in.

That decided Conan on it, and the shrunken detective freed up one hand and slid it down, patting around his cloths in search of the badge he knew was on him.

“What are you doing?”

“I know I have it here... Ah ha!” Conan grinned in the darkness as he brought the badge up, carefully fumbling the button as he held it near his face. The warm metal brushed his lips. “Hello? Ayumi-chan? Genta-kun? Mitsuhiko-kun? Haibara?”

The Shounen Tantei badge crackled and spat once in his hands and, for a moment, he thought he might have reached someone... but, after that, there was only silence.

“Guys?” he asked again. Nothing. “The concrete is probably blocking the signal.” He could only hope that....but, was it worth hoping? He'd keep it to himself for now and hope. At least, that way, one of them wasn't disappointed.

The air was starting to get stickier, and each inhale felt like he was swallowing a gallon of honey. Each time his chest expanded it felt like someone was sitting on him. Which, he supposed, was true in a way.

“Tantei-kun?” Kid's voice was wispy and even hoarser. A droplet of sweat landed on Conan's forehead, but he didn't protest. “Talk to me.”

Conan frowned at that... Such a strange request! Hadn't they been talking all this time? Then it hit him... If his small body was starting to have trouble breathing then... Kid was definitely in trouble. He had to keep the thief awake or they were both doomed. Paradoxically, if they talked then they'd use up more oxygen. But at least, he thought rather morbidly, hopefully if things went south they'd both be unconscious when it happened.

Mind racing for a topic that would engage the brilliant criminal's mind, Conan said the first thing that came to him: “I'm not Edogawa Conan. That person doesn't exist.” He'd never been sure if Kid had known or not. Sometimes it seemed like he did, sometimes it seemed like he didn't.

For several seconds Kid was quiet then, at length, he asked, “Who do I have the pleasure to make the acquaintance of, then?”

Conan snickered. “Kudou Shinichi, Detective. Pleasure to meet you again, Kaitou Kid-san.”

“The guy who cornered me at the clock tower, huh? That was a good one.”

“Thank you.” And, Conan noted wryly, that didn't reveal whether or not Kid had known, or suspected, the truth. Sneaky bastard.

“May I ask why you're like this?”

For a moment Conan pondered on what he should say, and he could remember telling Takagi in a similar-but-not incident with the mercury bomb that he'd tell him on the other side, but...

“I'm supposed to be dead,” he said airily. “Instead I just regressed ten years, and am now hiding out with my childhood best friend and her incompetent detective father while I try and track down the men in black who poisoned me.”

“Ah,” said Kid. “It seems we have something in common. I'm supposed to be dead as well, you know.”

“No,” Conan disagreed. “The Kid before you is dead, isn't he?”

Kid was silent, and Conan wondered if he should have kept his mouth shut. The thief's head shifted and the hard, smooth thing bumped against Conan's face again. It occurred to him that it was probably the charm on Kid's monocle. Drawing his hands up, Conan absently ran his fingers across the silent Kaitou's face and over his skull. His fingers touched the lens of the monocle and flitted away again.

The thief never flinched away from his exploration. Instead he spoke, and Conan's fingers were resting upon his lips as he did, “Yeah. They killed him. Killed my dad.”

“The Black Organization?”

“I don't know. Some criminal group who were hunting for a specific jewel. So, I'll get it before them, and if I can get them caught while I do it...” Conan figured that, had he been able to and if it would have mattered, the thief would have given a philosophical shrug just then. “So much the better.”

Conan wondered if Kid realized that he was practically unmasked. When... if they were found he wouldn't be able to conceal his identity. The thief wasn't in disguise. Conan could tell.

“Seems we have a lot in common,” the former high school detective noted absently. Kid smiled against his fingers.

“Seems like it. What are your friends like, Tantei-kun?”

“As Kudou Shinichi, or as Conan?”

“Both.”

“As Shinichi I had a lot of fans but... My only really close friend was Ran.” Conan paused, then added sardonically, “I'm sure you remember her.”

“Of course. A gentleman such as myself never forgets such a charming young lady.”

Conan snorted, but decided to ignore it and went on instead. “As Conan? I have this group of six year old kids who follow me around wanting to be detectives. I guess... I... They really aren't that bad. I think I'd even miss them if... if you know I managed to get back to myself.”

“Why choose one or the other? Must you give up something to achieve your goal?”

Conan blinked. Kid's expression beneath his fingertips was serious, and almost rueful. He wondered if Kid was asking Conan, or asking himself.

“There's always a sacrifice...” Conan whispered. “No matter how hard you try...”

“You're always going to lose something you cherish in the end,” Kid finished.

“Yeah...”

In the small space, beneath thousands of tons of metal, concrete, and debris the two rivals came to an understanding in that moment. Completely, and utterly set at peace in a moment between life and death, a moment of uncertainty. There was nothing more compelling, more changing, than finding a perfectly kindred soul after all.

“What about you?” Conan asked softly.

“Kuroba Kaito.”

“What?”

“That's my name.” The thief's voice was almost cheerful, but had a taught edge to it that scared Conan just a little bit. “And I've been best friends with Nakamori Aoko for as long as I can remember. I think I might be friends with Hakuba as well, but I can never tell.”

Conan choked on his own tongue, then commented dryly, “You really do like to live on the edge.”

“It's a living.”

It was then that Conan realized the thief was starting to sound a little giddy.

“Kid? ...Kid!”

….

“KAITO!”

“You didn't need to yell in my ear, Tantei-kun.”

“Don't scare me like that.”

Was his own voice beginning to sound a bit slurred...? He couldn't tell... His mind was starting to get cottony around the edges.

“Sorry. I think I'm having trouble focusing.”

Conan nodded, and it made his brain rattle around its case. His hands dropped back to the floor, one resting on Kid's arm with a death grip in the fabric. “We're almost out of time.”

“You died once, right?” Kid asked. “What's it like?”

“Hurt 'lot. Like... burnin' fr'm t'inside out... 'n' bein' compress'd.”

“Oh. That doesn't sound pleasant.”

“Wasn't.”

And, Conan realized belatedly, that the darkness he saw was starting to spin and swirl like he was going down a drain. It was really disturbing and he wished it would stop.

Distantly, he thought he could hear Kid calling to him.

“Tantei-kun?”

“Tantei-kun?!”

“Shinichi!”

–

The keys clattered quickly beneath Ai's fingertips as she typed intently, her entire being focused on the formulas and equations scrolling across the program before her. Now and then she would pause, if only long enough to reach out and click over to another screen with the mouse. A cup of tea sat nearby, cooling and forgotten, alongside a half eaten plate of food. Somewhere behind her, Ai could hear the professor fiddling with some new invention his strangely brilliant mind had dreamed up.

A minute scowl lit the girl scientist's face, and Ai tapped the back space key impatiently. Poised to resume typing, her eyes scanned what she'd already written in an attempt to regain her train of thought on the formula. Then, without so much as a pause, she deleted the last couple of paragraphs worth of theory.

Whatever she'd been thinking, it was obvious her calculations were wrong here. Sighing heavily, she reached for her tea absently. While Ai wouldn't admit it to Kudou, she was really starting to wonder if she could pull this off. She had done the impossible once, why couldn't she do it again? Was she doomed to have her greatest shame be her greatest achievement forevermore?

The taste of cool tea made her lips thin, and Ai pushed against the desk to make her chair swivel to the side before hopping down off of it. Without a word she made her way out of the room and headed off in the hopes that the pot of tea would still be warm. As she passed through the main room Ai paused, frowning. The professor had left the TV on again. Sighing she made a mental note to shut it off on her way back.

Wandering into the kitchen, Ai made a beeline for the stool set aside for her, and shoved it over to the sink so she could dump out the tea in her cup before she nudged it back toward where the teapot sat on the counter. Climbing up onto it, she set the cup down and reached for the pot.

It was hard, having to make adjustments like this when it came to everyday living, but after so much time it was almost automatic. Muscle memory and routine were truly amazing things. It had been undeniably embarrassing at first, and she could only imagine what it had done to Kudou. He was a very proud person now, and Ai could only fathom how much further that pride had risen before he'd experienced this sudden shift. He had probably needed to be taken down a peg anyway. Not that she didn't regret it; she did, a lot. Who wouldn't? But, no one could deny that Kudou was a brat. Still was, truth be told, though his time spent as a child had had a marked effect in mellowing him out. It amused her sometimes, and, if she were honest with herself, Kudou amused her. Ai couldn't think of many people she'd known who were so much fun to annoy. A small smirk curved her lips at the thought.

One had to gauge very carefully the right time to lay out their attack on him if one wanted a proper response, and Ai liked to think she had become something of an expert at pushing his buttons. She wondered, a little ironically, if that could be put on a resume. Shaking her head in quiet amusement, Ai realized she'd been spending far too much time with the kids.

She would simply have to inflict something particularly painful on Kudou tomorrow for it. Somehow, she was sure, this was his fault.

Stepping down more carefully, so as not to spill her tea, Ai carried the cup toward the front room. She couldn't help but silently enjoy the feeling of the warm liquid through the sides of the cup. The remote lay on the coffee table alongside Ai's backpack, her homework already completed with the usual absurd ease and tucked neatly away. Beside that lay her Shounen Tantei badge. Freeing one hand Ai reached out and picked up the remote, however as she leveled it at the TV the images playing on the screen caught her attention.

It was news coverage of a Kid heist occurring in Beika, except...

Images of explosions, terror, static running in grainy lines across wildly moving cameras as people turned and ran. Scenes that blanked out, and were changed up for others as the in studio reporter relayed information on what had happened. A bombing at the Kaitou Kid heist, the building had collapsed.

Ai very nearly jumped out of her skin as the faint sound of spitting static came from below her line of sight. Looking down she stared in confusion at the small badge sitting there. Another crackle was followed by what sounded faintly like words, “...n...ta-ku....suhi...ra?”

Snatching up the small device Ai frowned at it as if it would give up all of its secrets and reveal to her the meaning behind the odd transmission. One of the kid's had better not be trying to play a prank on her, but, then she doubted they would. Ayumi was too sweet, and the other two were clearly intimidated by her even now. That left Kudou, but.... Ai was pretty sure he wouldn't bother. No, if Kudou was going to get back at her or pester her it would be perfectly calculated to affect. This just didn't fit the bill.

Just then, Agasa came up, hand cupped over his cellphone so the person on the other end of the line wouldn't hear him. He looked decidedly nervous, “Ai-kun? It's Ran-kun wanting to know about Conan... Do you think I should tell her he's here?”

Ai opened her mouth to respond that he should probably cover for the idiot, and then they should find him, but, like a sinister creeping plant, it slithered into her mind. Ran wouldn't be contacting them if she could get a hold of Conan. Ai's gaze fell back to the silent badge she held in her fingers, face going deathly pale as her eyes flickered up to land on the TV screen again.

The cup of tea fell from her suddenly nerveless hands, hitting the floor with a clatter and sending a cascade of liquid everywhere, as the obvious answer came to her.

“Hakase,” She whispered, turning her head on a tense neck to stare at him with wide eyes. “Do you still have an extra pair of Edogawa-kun's glasses?”

For a moment, Agasa looked confused then, he too, noticed the scenes playing over and over again on the television. His phone dropped, unheeded, to the floor to join her teacup.

“Yes, of course, they're in the drawer by the computer.”

Ai was off and running before it had even occurred to her to move. Her small fist clutched, white knuckled, around the badge in her hand. It seemed like the edges digging into the soft flesh of her palm was the only thing keeping her calm.

I've put too much time and effort into you, Kudou! Don't you die on me now.

Surely, if they lost him, all was lost. Ai couldn't allow that, and Ran would be sad too. Ran who was kind and wonderful and reminded her of Akemi so much... Sliding to a halt Ai ripped the drawer open, the contents bouncing around, and began to riffle through the junk inside. The back of her mind, the one that had yet to catch up with the panic coursing through the rest of her, made a quiet note to organize things when she next had the chance. One never knew when they would need an item for an emergency (like now) and be unable to find it.

Finally her small, childish fingers closed around the plastic frames and she jerked them out, knuckle smacking painfully against the edge of the desk. She ignored it, shoved the drawer half closed and left it there as she fled the room just as quickly as she'd come. Agasa was waiting for her, his jacket on, and assuring Ran that they'd be there soon.

Ai didn't bother to get her jacket, just snagged her shoes, and instead preceded the man to the garage. She stood, waiting impatiently as he unlocked the doors before scrambling in. The professor snapped the phone closed before climbing behind the wheel.

She didn't think she could recall a time when Agasa had driven so fast.

Street lights flashed by, casting illumination into the car at intervals. Ai's hands rested, clenched around the pair of glasses and the badge, on her knees. The seat belt dug into her shoulder painfully. She was so tense she felt as if she would snap.

They were used to facing down the danger of living day to day, the fear of discovery. They had looked viciousness in the eye several times in the form of crazed criminals, and even withstood the all-consuming fear that came with the Black Organization even as the slimy bastards continued to ooze around the corners out of sight and unconquerable.

This... Ai hated when things like this happened. Uncontrollable, and out of left field; an unwanted, unaccounted surprise that hadn't been in her calculations. Kudou always had to do that, upset her carefully calculated hypothesis of the current danger level they faced. Damn him for attracting trouble! She didn't think she'd ever met someone quite so danger prone as he was.

“Always in the wrong place at the wrong time aren't you, Kudou?” She whispered, head tilting forward so that the clingy shadows inside the vehicle seemed to center on her face.

Streets passed in a blur, people going nowhere and heading somewhere. Small clusters of the populace that were out at this hour could be seen hovering in front of a few windows that displayed televisions. The scene of the collapsing building played over, and over, and over, duplicated like a fly's eye view of the world.

Ai's stomach clenched, twisted, churned, and ached. This wasn't the heavy pressure of terror she felt when she was confronted by a member of the Black Organization. This was something altogether different, and so cold that it made her want to scream like her appendix had ruptured. On the outside, but for a few tell tale signs, she looked as perfectly calm as ever. Inside, she didn't know if she would ever stop screaming again.

“Ai-kun,” Agasa's voice broke through to her, and Ai jerked her head up like she'd been shot. “We'll have to go on foot from here.”

The words were spoken to empty air. As soon as the girl had realized they weren't moving anymore Ai had fumbled her seat belt off, and flown out the door, leaving it open in her wake.

She ran, darting by confused people that hovered on the sidewalks, clustered around officials in riot gear and paramedics that sifted through the crowds looking for the injured. Further ahead they congregated more thickly. Fire trucks, police cars, ambulances.... They all sat together around a pile of rubble that now occupied the space where, a short while ago, a skyscraper had stood.

The cold didn't even seem to register as she ran, the child-sized lab coat she wore flapping around her as she pushed her small body to go as fast as it could, no, faster.

“Haibara-chan!”

Ai ignored Ran's voice as she ran by her, already shoving Kudou's extra pair of glasses on. Her finger found the button to activate the tracking screen, and, almost immediately she could see the faint signal pulsing on the screen. Relief flooded her, made her skin tingle from head to toe until she realized she still had to find him. He was still trapped.

Somewhere behind her she could hear Agasa calling her name, even as the old professor panted to a halt beside Ran.

The police tape they had put up was too high for her to even bother ducking under, and it was easy enough to evade the snatches the workers made at her. Ai didn't bother to think how insane it was that she was scrambling up over huge chunks of concrete, and how there was fire still smoldering here and there. Smoke wafted around her like vicious plumes being released from chimneys, or volcanic vents. It was certainly hot enough to feel like a volcano.

Panting raggedly she heaved herself over another hug block. Her knees and palms stung as they were scraped raw. Jagged bits of metal caught and tore at her cloths, and she could hear pursuit as well as the yells of panic as they tried to catch her. All of it faded away into the background, unimportant, pointless noise.

Kudou had better live, because she was going to kill him herself after they'd dug him out.

The little dot was starting to flash more rapidly now. She was getting close. Then, to Ai's horror, it vanished completely. She sat, kneeling, on a piece of sharp stone, panting raggedly. The sound of her own blood rushing through her veins was loud in her ears.

Please...

It had to come back, she had to find him...

The dot came back, and Ai shoved forward just before a pair of hands could grab her. She slid down the slope of the concrete, the soles of her shoes scraping loudly, and hit another in a way that caused her to stumble forward. Reaching out, her hand caught on a rough bit of stone. The skin tore open and blood smeared on the dull gray surface.

It never seemed like it was going to end. Just a jungle of concrete block after stone block interspersed with shards of metal, glass, and wood. Then, the dot was blinking as quick as a bird's heart, and if she stepped either direction she found she was leaving it behind. She'd found him. He was there, buried under tons of debris.

Arms grabbed her, pulling her away and Ai screamed, dignity be damned. “No! He's there! You have to get him out!”

The fireman holding her faltered. Then began to shush her like an upset child. “It's okay; we're going to rescue everyone we can. Where are your parents?”

“No! You don't understand!” Ai seethed. Whipping her head around, she glared fiercely into the man's startled face. “Look!”

Secrecy be damned too! Pulling the glasses off her face she shoved them onto his, heedless of helmet and equipment. The man blinked in dumbfounded confusion.

“Edogawa Conan's down there! He has a tracking device on him,” Ai waved the badge she still clutched impatiently before his face. “You need to dig there! Get him out!”

And, for once, despite the ludicrous nature of her claims, an adult was smart enough to listen to a child.

Ai allowed herself to be passed back over the barrier into Mouri Ran's waiting arms, the glasses once more clutched in her hands. Agasa was looking at her in worried curiosity, but Ai simply shook her head and didn't argue when Ran carried her to a nearby ambulance while fussing over her scrapes, cuts, and bruises.

Ran set her down on the edge of the ambulance's open back end, beside a girl who clutched a blanket tightly around her shoulders, tears streaming silently down her face as she stared toward the pile of shattered debris. Without looking at her the teenage girl asked, “Someone you care about is in there too?”

Ai nodded silently.

“My father's in there. He went back in.”

Turning her head Ai looked up at the girl and, after a moment, reached out to curl her childish fingers around the limp hand resting in the girl's lap. The girl's fingers closed around Ai's smaller hand and, together, they watched as the digging began with renewed effort where Ai had told them to look. Ran joined them shortly, sitting on Ai's other side while Sonoko, a second unknown girl, and Agasa stood close by.

All that was left was to wait, and hope.

–

A monster called worry was gibbering like a baboon on acid in the back of his mind. Kaito realized faintly that he'd finally lost whatever vestiges of his Kid induced calm that had remained. Poker Face was only hanging on by cracks and chips by this point too. Conan wasn't making any responses. Apparently his small body had given up the fight to retain consciousness in their oxygen deprived environment. Kaito had expected it to be him first, but... Oh, who was he kidding; he didn't have a clue, couldn't even think straight.

“Shin...ichhiii,” he slurred, wishing he could shake the boy. “Wake... up.”

Oh, gods above. He hurt all over! It felt like he was slowly being crushed to death, which he was, come to think of it. Kaito swallowed a hysterical snicker. None of that, now! They were going to make it out of this alive, and if he kept believing that then everything would be fine.

He swallowed several times, trying to stop the gray haze that was invading the blackness clogging his vision. It receded, trailing reluctant fingers that wanted nothing more than to wrap him up and never let go. If he lost consciousness now... It was a thought better left untouched in the immediate future.

Something was shifting and changing above him. He could hear the trickle, scrape, and grind of moving stone as well as feel it. It transferred right through the concrete pressing down on him and into his bones. Kaito ground his teeth, letting his head fall forward to rest alongside the Conan's. His nose scraped against rough stone, but it didn't really hurt in the face of everything else.

Kaito could admit that he was scared, so very scared, and really, it wasn't for himself at all. He was more worried about the pint-sized detective at this point. What if Tantei-kun had had a concussion? It hadn't seemed like it, he'd been talking pretty well after all. Still, he was a child, at least in body, he was a lot more fragile that he was. Then there was the revelation to consider, but he could think of that when (if) they got out of here.

Though, in the short of things, Kaito really wasn't surprised. Tantei-kun had always been a little on the weird side. At least things made more sense now, and if he was honest with himself he was pleased. After all, he may very well come out of this with a new ally... if they lived.

With a gravelly hiss a cascade of rock slithered down nearby and Kaito wanted to scream, but he couldn't get enough air into his lungs nor expand them enough to do so. The pressure sitting on his spine shifted, changed, leaned more toward one side and the wall of solid rock on the other suddenly gave out and tumbled away. He couldn't see it, but he certainly felt it. A pocket of air that made the spots creeping back into his vision clear away for the moment.

The blessing, he knew, was also a curse. Without the stability provided on both sides the rock pressing down on him was getting heavier. If he didn't do something, they were both going to be dead in a matter of moments. Mind spinning he didn't realize he was already acting for some seconds.

Lowering on one side he pressed the shoulder near the clear side up against the stone above him. The sound of rock grinding against rock nearly made him stop, but he couldn't, wouldn't allow himself. Kaito knew he could do this, because he wouldn't allow himself to believe otherwise. The cloth of his sleeve scraped against the concrete as he continued to push up until the stone refused to budge. Another shower of dust and small rocks clattered around them.

For a several heart beats he remained still, and his muscles gave a painful spasm as he forced them to change positions after so long. His lower arm he dragged over until he could slide it beneath the small detective's back. Luckily, here, Conan's unconsciousness proved a boon as the boy was completely malleable. Pulling Conan as close to him as he could, Kaito took a deep breath, prayed, and used his mostly numb legs and free arm to shove himself to the side toward the clear space.

It only occurred to him as he did so that he had no idea what was over there, and as he rolled onto is back scrambling madly to get out from under the grinding press of collapsing stone, he hoped that there wasn't some sort of sheer drop. That's all they needed, but at least he'd cushion Tantei-kun's fall.

Lucky for the both of them the ground seemed to all be one chunk, and he made it out just in time, just before the large slab of concrete slid into the space they'd just been occupying, and trapped his cape with it. Panting raggedly Kaito squirmed, got his aching arm up, and quickly undid the knobs keep the cape in place. Once he was free he wriggled around, setting his back to a more stable feeling area of their new prison, and then set around rearranging Conan so he could sit more comfortably.

It was simple enough to heft the unmoving boy up, and slide his legs to rest either side of Kaito's hips, then let him rest against his chest. Sweat damp hair tickled his cheek, jawline, and chin, but Kaito paid it no heed. Drawing his knees up he leaned forward, one hand gripping Conan so the boy wouldn't flop about like a rag doll, and reached down. Tugging up his pant leg Kaito slid his fingers beneath the edge of his sock and pulled out the small cylindrical object he'd stored there. Sticking the object between his teeth he gripped Conan with his other hand, and repeated the process to get another from his other sock.

Holding them both in his hands, arms looped around the boy resting against him, he cracked them. A pale, eerie green light filled the small space revealing it to his gaze for the first time. Even that low light made his eyes sting after the absolute darkness of before.

Fumbling slightly Kaito set one of the glow sticks on a small ledge of rock before using one hand to settle Conan back against his raised knees. The way the boy's head sagged limply to the side made that gibbering worry start chattering in the dregs of his mind again. Kaito shushed it impatiently and reached out to gently cup the boy's chin. Tilting his head this way and that, he squinted in the low light. He used the second stick to shed more illumination on Conan as he checked for any obvious head injuries.

Once he was sure there was nothing there he went on, scanning the boy over for anything serious, but as far as he could tell there was nothing but some scrapes and bruises. A breath of relief puffed out from his lips, still...

Bringing his hand up he grasped the tip one of his glove's fingers between his teeth and tugged sharply to pull it off, while the other hand rested on Conan's shoulder to keep the boy stable. A quick flick of his head was used to toss it aside, then Kaito reached out and touched his fingers to the pulse point beneath the edge of the boy's jaw.

It was slightly fast, but that was probably due to lack of oxygen, but it wasn't thready.

Another grinding scrape came from somewhere above them, and more debris filtered down through the cracks and gaps in the rubble. It was louder, closer, than it had been before.

“That's either a good thing, or a bad thing, eh Tantei-kun?” Kaito murmured, just a bit deliriously. He was exhausted, and he hurt, and he really would like to pass out now too, but he couldn't. If they were to find them...

Kaito set the glow stick in his hand on the ledge beside its twin and reached down to unbutton his suit coat, fingers fumbling sluggishly. Once he had the suit jacket unbuttoned he pulled Conan toward him again, letting the boy drape against his chest as he shrugged the jacket off.

Next came the shoes, just toe them off, snag the back of the heels with his fingers... Reaching out a fumbling hand Kaito located the glove he'd discarded moments ago, then tugged off its companion. He stuffed them into one shoe, and quickly pulled his tie free. It went in the other shoe. That done, he bundled the lot up in his suit jacket, and shoved the bundle into a corner and prayed no one would notice it.

It was easy enough to unbutton the top few buttons of his shirt to give it a more casual Kaito flare. His hands hesitated as he reached up to feel the smooth edges of his monocle. Truth be told, he didn't really want to get rid of it down here if he could avoid it. Kaito palmed it, then slid it into one of Conan's jacket pockets.

That was about all he could do. The rest was just to hoping they didn't notice anything suspicious.

Kaito pulled Conan in closer as more strange structural groaning and shifting sounds rustled all around them, one arm wrapping around the boy's lower back while the other cupped the back of his head. He cradled Tantei-kun to himself, drawing his knees in more to make them as small as possible. Sweat and dirt matted hair prickled against his palm. Kaito leaned his head forward, forehead resting against a narrow shoulder.

They would make it. He was sure of it, because he wouldn't give up hope. He believed they could make it. Besides, he hadn't finished things yet. Kaito still had to find Pandora, and see Snake brought to justice for what he'd done to his father.

“You won't let us die, will you Oyaji?” he mumbled tiredly. “I've still got to complete your, my... our task...And Tantei-kun...”

Tantei-kun obviously had something he had to finish too.

Seconds, minutes, hours, days... Kaito had no idea how long he sat there, clutching the unresisting boy and drifting in and out of awareness. His mind had shut down, blanked out, left him behind. All he knew was that the pallid light was starting to fade into a sticky gray-tinted green like the undersides of particularly vicious storm clouds.

The spots and haze was starting to creep into his vision again. Kaito shifted slightly, sliding his chin over Conan's shoulder to tuck the boy's head into the crook of his neck. His hand on Conan's head slid down, gripping around his neck for a brief moment before Kaito's fingers sought a pulse point. Still much too fast to be any good, and starting to get a little erratic.

“Hang on, Shinichi,” he whispered, voice cracked and hoarse. “We're going to make it out of this. Promise.”

Kaito couldn't help but wonder, groggily, if Tantei-kun would have laughed at him had he been awake. After all, what good was the promise of a thief? He grinned, because he could almost hear the dry sardonic tone asking that very question. His lips ached just like the rest of him. Kaito tried to wet them with a tongue that was sticky, and just as dry.

Something cool fluttered along the heated planes of his face, and it took far longer than it ought to have for Kaito to realize it was cool air. Peeling his gummy eyes open, he blinked in confusion at a thin ribbon of bright light streaming into the space.

Something in the structure moaned, and Kaito forced his mouth open to croak out, “We're down here!”

The sounds leaking in from above, muffled still, and disjointed, paused for a second before renewing with increased vigor. A voice called back, “Hang on! We're going to get you out of there. Are you alone?”

Exultation was rising from the pit of his stomach like a golden firework that burst in his lungs and hearts. “No. I've got...” he paused, swallowed, tried again. “I've got a kid with me. Edogawa Conan. Please, hurry....”

He could have sobbed with relief, but he was far too dehydrated for his body to waste precious liquid on tears, and far too exhausted to waste the energy. Above them, voices of men shouted back to one another in an effort to be as careful, but quick as possible. Dirt, bits of rock, and other debris slid down the walls and trickled through cracks, but that horrible pressing sensation seemed all but gone.

Rock scraped and a flood of light shown down on him making his pupils contract too fast for comfort. Kaito blinked up at it despite the ache that was finally forcing a few tears from his eyes. The air hit him, so cold after the heat under the rubble, that he started to shiver automatically. Dark figures stood stark against a glowing halo, and he stared at them, his mind felt numb and uncomprehending.

One of them crouched down on the rim of the hole they were in and asked, “Can you hand him up here to us?”

Kaito blinked laconically at that question. Could he manage to hand Tantei-kun to them? He was exhausted, ready to just fall over, and his limbs had gone from numb, to painful, to jelly, to numb again... “Yeah.” He'd do it, because he was going to make sure Conan was safe if it was the last thing he did. Kaito shifted his arm down and slid it beneath Conan's legs, hoping gravity would keep the boy there. Using his other hand he levered himself up, stumbling as his brain failed to register the existence of his legs. Immediately his hand came forward to steady Conan, and he stepped forward. It was probably one of the oddest sensations he'd ever felt. Much stranger than walking with one numb leg. Kaito winced as feeling began to return in a cascade of prickling nerves.

He shifted Conan around again, then lifted the boy up. Biting back a hiss of pain as the muscles of his shoulder and back worked, Kaito would bet that he was black and blue all over back there. He didn't have to wait long as one of the men above him reached down and scooped Conan from his outstretched hands, then cradled the boy to his own chest, legs dangling over one arm and head sagging to the side.

The magician hadn't even noticed two other men catching hold of his arms until he felt them starting to pull him up, and got enough cognizant thought to get a foot hold and help them. It hurt, like being pulled apart, even though they weren't tugging all that hard. His muscles were beyond spent, his forearms aching with a bruising that felt bone deep, as did his chest and back, and shoulders. As soon as one knee hit the rim he wavered and fell forward, arms immediately caught him around the stomach, and Kaito found himself hauled gently to his feet.

“Take it easy. We've got you,” someone murmured soothingly. “Just stay with us a bit longer. Think you can do that?”

His arm was pulled up and around someone's neck, and another person gripped his bicep on the other side. It didn't seem as if they'd realized he was Kid, unless they were just being nice at the moment. Kaito dearly hoped he didn't wake up in a cell tomorrow.

“Yeah,” Kaito breathed. The air was fresh and sharp with the cold, but it was one of the best things he'd ever tasted, even as tainted as it was with the smell of smoke and concrete dust.

As they lead him through the labyrinth of debris, and crested a rise of rubble, he could hear the remnants of the crowd cheering, screaming, and clapping for their saviors. Kaito let his head fall back, taking in the dark sky. The stars weren't really visible due to the city glow, but it was still the sky. A small, white speck drifted down slowly, swirling in a lazy curlicue pattern until it alighted on his nose. Cold, the snowflake quickly melted against the warmth of his skin.

His vision, it seemed, had finally adjusted, and now he could see the start of the first snow of the season drifting lazily down all around them in the unusually cold night. Kaito turned his head toward where he knew the man carrying Conan was, and blinked, slightly startled, to see hazy blue eyes peering back at him from beneath heavy eyelids. Kaito's lips quirked up in a slight smile, and he thought one might have answered him from the boy's face, but then Conan's eyes fluttered shut again.

Paramedics were waiting for them, and swept them up as soon as they stepped off the rubble. Kaito was see-sawing between consciousness and falling into the abyss yawning before him. He swayed like a hapless drunkard, stumbling the last step to be caught by one of the medics. He couldn't really remember being lead toward an ambulance, thought he might have heard his name, was sure he heard terrified calls of Tantei-kun's. By the time they got him to an ambulance he was sinking into darkness just as surely as Conan had, and he couldn't stop it from swallowing him whole. Truthfully, he didn't think he would have if he could.

Unconsciousness was blissfully devoid of the pain singing through his nerves.





Chapter List, Chapter 01, Chapter 03