Gabe stared at the white ceiling of her shared room at the hospital. She surmised the FBI hadn't moved Jodie from the room because she still couldn't hear shit and because they needed to brief her on the cover-story. Well, she didn't actually need to do more than read over the written statement Jodie's boss had provided her with, since she was temporarily deaf. It was convenient for all of them, since it made it easier for the FBI to cover what had actually happened and it made it easier for Gabe to lie through her teeth.

The first thing she'd done was ask for Conan. Once they'd proven he was perfectly alright, she'd told them her side of the story. She'd told them she'd been about to go on one of her late-night skating trips when she'd spotted Jodie taking "Haibara" with her, which she found strange, though stranger yet was Araide showing up for no reason and apparently starting to follow Jodie. She'd spontaneously grabbed hold of the doctor's car and held on all the way to the docs. She hadn't been able to hear much of anything that had been said due to the wind blowing in her ears and stealing away their words, but she'd gathered that Chris Vineyard was actually a criminal of some sort and scarily good at disguises. Gabe hadn't been sure what to do when she realize'd she'd somehow ended up in the middle of some sort of undercover operation by the FBI and had been even more torn when Jodie got shot. She claimed to have gone into "full-tilt" during Conan and Haibara's shenanigans and had only picked up the gun Jodie had shot out of the psycho-bitch's hands at the very beginning after she'd gotten over it. She'd discarded her skates once Akai showed up and had dove over the hood to dodge the other car, not having known Araide's would blow up.

Gabe was glad she was so good at bullshitting and that Jodie trusted her enough not to question her too much. It helped that the woman knew of her strange midnight walk habits and thus could confirm her story to be plausible. It helped she was squeaky clean when it came to her job and overall life, so any background check wouldn't make her look suspicious.

Besides, these were the same agents that took Conan seriously even though he looked 7 years old. They weren't going to doubt her that easily. She wasn't sure if they were smart or just too used to unexplainable things to question Conan's intelligence or her story. Then again, a woman who just wouldn't age was pretty out there, but they knew it was true.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the implications of the entire ordeal hit Gabe full force. They could've died. Conan, Jodie, Haibara, Ran. All of them could have died that night. Gabe started to hyperventilate and tried to sit up, feeling like she was going to puke and trying to get the trashcan so that she wouldn't throw up all over the floor. She wasn't sure who handed it to her in the end, all she could concentrate on was the ringing in her ears and the smell of bile.

Perhaps it hadn't registered before, that these were real people and not characters. That they lived and breathed and bled like real people. Like Mie... Mie was still real even though they were in an anime. Gabe was still real. This world was real and Gabe could not fool around or think everything would be okay just because it was supposed to be an anime-

She threw up again and sobbed. She wasn't sure what Jodie would think of her sudden meltdown and was glad she didn't have to hear the questions whoever else was in the room was probably posing. After she stopped vomiting and dropped the wastebasket she laid on her side, hands buried in her sleeves at the elbows and her face in her crossed arms as she cried. She didn't know what kind of sounds she was making nor did she know how long she'd been crying when a small hand nudged her elbow. She sluggishly lifted her head from her arms and looked into the blue eyes of her protégé and without a second thought she scooped him into her arms and held him close.

"Never again." she choked, not hearing what she sounded like, but knowing she was speaking the two English words with conviction "Never again. Never again. Never again. Never. Again."

If Conan says something, Gabe isn't aware of it, can't be aware of it. And for now, that's fine, as long as she can hold him, knowing he's safe, he's unhurt, she hasn't done something irreversible.

Gabe sighed as she walked down the street, not really focusing on anything. Jodie had "left" already, so Gabe couldn't talk to her, Conan had school and Mie was immersed in her art. Gabe was left alone with her ever-darkening thoughts and she couldn't bear it. She'd boarded the metro and got off at a random stop, wandering around. After a while she came to a stop in front of a very familiar building. Gabe blinked and chuckled wryly. Of course. Not thinking much further, she walked towards the principal's office, the man would probably let her borrow the auditorium if there was nothing scheduled.

(Warning, this is where Kaito's POV starts, mind you, Kaito still thinks Gabe is a dude, so don't be confused by the use of the male pronoun)

Kuroba Kaito was grumpy. All he wanted to do was go to the auditorium to map out his performance for the festival. Alone. But noooo, of course Aoko had gotten wind of it and dragged Hakuba with her so that they could watch Kaito plan. Don't get him wrong, he knew they wouldn't figure anything out before the performance, but he liked to plan alone. He'd also like it if the smug Brit stayed away with his damn smugness while the magician did his thing.

And for some reason, Akako was there.

Hurk.

So yes, Kaito was in a very bad mood.

"Kaito, are you sure it's alright to go without telling a teacher?"

No offense to Aoko, but Kaito knew the school's schedule, it would be impossible to pull off half the stuff he did if he didn't.

"It's Thursday, Aoko, there's never anything going on in the auditorium on Thursdays." the teen sighed as they rounded the corner.

However, as they neared the doors, they could all hear music coming from behind them.

Hakuba laughed lightly into his fist "You were saying?" he asked in that tone that Kaito hated so badly.

Kaito refused to dignify the detective with an answer and instead threw the doors open.

"It feels like they're coming at me, from all sides

It feels like I've got nowhere to run, nowhere to hide

It feels like I'm never good enough

It feels like I'm always just trying

Sometimes I feel like I should give up

And sometimes I feel like I'm dying"

Inside was a person in worn green jeans, black skater shoes, a camo-jacket and green cap, singing with a powerful voice, not quite dancing on the stage but not staying still either.

"I'm falling to pieces but nobody knows

I'm falling to pieces but won't let it show

I'm hanging from Parasails that are wearing out

I'm crashing down as my dreams fade out

I've been falling to pieces for what feels like forever

Can somebody put me back together?"

The voice was familiar and it took Kaito a moment to place before his mind flashed to the three times he'd seen the person and heard them talk.

"I'm tracing my steps back to before I fell apart

Always knew times would get tough, never thought they'd get this hard

Sometimes I feel like giving up

But sometimes I'm still holding on

To late nights in the car

Staring at the stars with passion in our hearts, but it's gone"

It was the detective with the dog. The one that had a pregnant little sister and was teaching Tantei-kun. As if the kid wasn't scary enough, now he had a teacher? Heists were certainly going to be interesting from now on.

"I'm falling to pieces but nobody knows

I'm falling to pieces but won't let it show

I'm hanging from Parasails that are wearing out

I'm crashing down as my dreams fade out

I've been falling to pieces for what feels like forever

Can somebody put me back together?

Inside of a perfect storm

That's left me with my sails all torn

Refusing any chance to bail

All my lines are frayed and frail

I'm hanging from Parasails

Parasails

Parasails..."

Kaito wondered what the detective, Gabriel or something, was doing there, singing, of all things and sat on one of the isle seats. Not in the actual seat, mind you, but on the backrest. He couldn't be bothered to fold the squeaky chair open and maybe disrupt the free entertainment.

"I'm falling to pieces but nobody knows

I'm falling to pieces but won't let it show...

'Cause I'm falling to pieces but nobody knows

I'm falling to pieces but won't let it show

I'm hanging from Parasails that are wearing out

I'm crashing down as my dreams fade out

I've been falling to pieces for what feels like forever

Can somebody put me back together?"

The other European detective's voice faded out and as the music faded out he seemed to sigh and sag just a little, jumping when Kaito decided to start applauding, Aoko soon following his lead.

"That was amazing!" the Kaito KID task-force leader's daughter exclaimed, stars in her eyes.

Hakuba on the other hand, raised an eyebrow "What are you doing here, Gabe?"

His fellow students turned to look at him "Eh? You know this person, Hakuba-kun?"

Hakuba sighed and gestured vaguely with his hand "We're colleagues, I guess. We met at Sunset Manor during that fake-KID ordeal."

"Except that Kid caught wind of it too and disguised himself as Mouri Kogoro." Gabe said, hopping off the stage "Good times, I got to make fake-blood packets and play dead!"

This last part was said in a much too chipper tone, causing the even mildly sane ones to look at the detective in concern. Akako was not part of this group.

I wonder why.

Speaking of the witch, she decided that sidling up to the blond detective seductively was a great choice of action "Sounds like you had an eventful evening there..."

Before anyone could react, the witch's hands were slapped away and there was a meat wall in the form of Gabe in between her and the Brit "Hands off, you damn succubus, he's very much spoken for."
Aoko and Kaito tilted their heads in confusion "Ha?" the magician let out, wondering if Hakuba was gay.

The green-capped detective turned with a grin, slinging his arm around the other "One thing he forgot to mention," he stated, poking the blond's cheek as he was forced to bend with the arm snaking around his neck "he's also dating my sister."

While Hakuba tried, and failed, to squirm away, Kaito was the first to react "He's what?!"

Gabe laughed and finally released the ruffled Brit who grudgingly started straightening his uniform "You never answered my question."

The elder detective sighed, taking his cap off and running a hand through his hair which was its natural colour for once "It's... complicated..." he let out another sigh as he started twirling his cap with one finger "I recently got my hearing back after a kidnapping attempt gone wrong. I had a panic attack in the hospital due to not being able to confirm for myself that Conan was truly unharmed afterwards and I guess I've been slowly falling apart. The principal here owed me a favour so I decided to use the auditorium for some therapy for myself. Singing like there's no tomorrow really does wonders to release emotions."

There was a shocked silence until the most extroverted of the bunch once again broke it "I'm sorry, but kidnapping attempt?" Kaito asked incredulously.

The eldest of the bunch sighed, now just holding her cap in her hand "It was so messed up, my student, Conan, y'know, that kid that chases KID? Anyway, he and one of his friends kinda got kidnapped and my friend Jodie and I gave chase. It ended up with one of the cars blowing up and pretty much making me deaf for the time-being while one of the kidnappers got away with Conan. Thankfully by then so much had gone wrong that they left him in the middle of nowhere rather than kill him, but it was pretty goddamn scary for everyone involved."

Before Kaito could think things through, he blurted out "As if the flying corpse wasn't bad enough!"

Now everyone was looking at him funny before Gabe snapped his fingers "Oh, now I remember you, you were there when the body fell from the rooftop!"

Hakuba spoke next "You mean the one you claim was the start of your so called 'corpse-magnetism'?"

"Yes. That one."

Kaito tried to keep himself from twitching. One detective was enough, thank you, he didn't want this one claiming he was KID, too. Hakuba would most likely try to convince his girlfriend's over-protective brother of the fact that he was KID.

"Well, I'd love to catch up, but I think I've overstayed my welcome."

Kaito couldn't quite hide the sigh of relief that was soon replaced by dread when Hakuba only smirked and said "I'll walk you out, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

Thinking quickly, Kaito remembered a very important detail about the day "Hey, Aoko, don't you and Akako have cleaning duty?"

Aoko gasped and grabbed the witch by her sleeve, dragging her off to their classroom while Kaito dug out the switch for one of the windows, pressing a button caused the window to open and by his estimates, scatter a bunch of papers around the classroom, ensuring that neither girl would leave while he tried to dissuade Hakuba. Or at the very least ensure Gabe didn't actually believe he was KID.

"I'll come with, you never did tell me who that one magician that you liked was!"

Gabe put his cap back on as he started up the stairs "Huh, oh right. I keep forgetting his name but I do remember he was Japanese and awesome."

Hakuba raised his eyebrow, probably suspecting why Kaito came along but not calling him out on it, most likely sure of himself and his power of persuasion.

"Anyway, fellow Sherlock, what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"I have a hypothesis on the identity of KID."

"Oh, here we go..."

Gabe glanced at him at the bemoaned comment in response to Hakuba's sentence and quirked an eyebrow before turning back to the Brit "Do tell..."

"Based on DNA evidence left behind by the thief, I have come to the conclusion that they are a 17-year-old male with brown hair. Based on much data along with this and taking into account absences or lack of them I am certain they are a student at Ekoda."

Gabe hummed "Is that why you enrolled here, or were you doing that even before?"

"It did affect my enrollment a little, I admit."

Gabe was silent before he sighed and stopped in the middle of the hallway, causing the two classmates to stop too. Gabe looked at his younger colleague before speaking "I don't mean to sound... rude... but have you ever considered the possibility that maybe the hair you collected was planted?"

Silence rang through the hall before Kaito burst out laughing at the new theory and the gobsmacked look on Hakuba's face "What?"

Gabe had the audacity to roll his eyes as he explained "I've done my research, I know for a fact that the shorter girl back there was Nakamori Aoko, daughter of Inspector Nakamori Ginzo. I also know for a fact, which you'd probably find out if you dug around enough, that Kaito KID taunted the inspector by disguising himself as:" he brught his hand up and ticked off his fingers as he listed "His daughter's classmate, the Inspector himself, several police officers under the Inspector and the Inspector's daughter. This means our dear Lupin has had close enough contact with all of them to be able to mimic them perfectly. What makes you think he wouldn't have been able to snag a few of their hairs?"

Now both teenagers were looking at the older detective strangely "Wait, what, how did you come to that conclusion?" Hakuba asked, not as put together as he usually was.

Gabe sighed "By the way the two of you are acting, it's obvious the student you suspect of being KID is this kid right here," he said, jerking his thumb at Kaito "since he is a 17-year old male brunette who is also friends with Nakamori Aoko."

Kaito had to interject at this point "How- how does your mind work?"

"In very random patterns, I assure you." was Gabe's quip back "Anyway, you picked up some DNA that shouldn't be there, after a Kaito KID heist, and assumed it was genuine. How the hell can you be certain it was not planted just in case. We're talking about a guy that put on a mask to mess with the Inspector, just in case his face was seen. Honestly, Hakuba, get all your facts straight before you start swanning off with your deducing."

Hakuba gaped at him, then huffed and started walking towards the exit, the other two soon following.

Once outside, Hakuba had had time to collect himself and commented "Well, I am still certain that my hypothesis is correct and Kuroba only wants people to follow along your train of thought."

Gabe sighed while Kaito stuck out his tongue at the Brit "Well, you have your theory and I have mine, but take this food for thought," the second detective said, spinning around to face the two of them as he took a step back "What if you catch him, and you're right?"

This gave Hakuba a pause, looking at Gabe in askance. Before he could speak, Gabe continued "Or, worse, what if you catch him, and you're wrong? What if they are not 17, but under?"

Hakuba did not have a proper response for that, and instead vacated the premises. The remaining two knew this wasn't the end of this particular debate, the Brit would recover soon from this shock.

"Don't get me wrong,"

Kaito turned back to the other European, who was in the process of shrugging as he spoke "I do respect him as a detective, but sometimes his world-view is... a little too black and white for my tastes. All he does is ask who KID is and pays no attention to why KID is or does."

Kaito tilted his head "And you do?"

Gabe shrugged again, raising his right arm in a stretch "Well, I've got a few theories, point is, Hakuba really sucks the fun out of it sometimes, but so long as he doesn't hurt my sister, we're good. He's not a bad guy, I just can't work with him that well. We rub each other wrong all the time."

Kaito couldn't argue with that and started to turn to go back inside with a wave, when Gabe's voice stopped him "Kuroba..."

Kaito turned back "Hm?"

Gabe had a pensive look on his face "He called you Kuroba, right?"

Kaito shrugged "Yeah? I'm pretty sure I introduced myself to you the last time we met."

Gabe shook his head "I'm bad at names, but now that I think about it, it sounds familiar..."

Kaito raised his brow befroe starting to walk away "See ya!"

"Tooichi."

Kaito stopped dead.

The teenage magician turned to face the detective, who'd turned away, his hands in his pockets.

"That magician I couldn't recall the name of? It was Kuroba Tooichi. I can't recall a magician I was ever more in awe of. Kaito KID is and was a great performer and escape artist, but Kuroba Tooichi had this presence you just couldn't beat. I have all performances that were aired in Finland on tape. I should probably transfer them to DVD's, they're quite worn by now."

Kaito stayed silent, not having heard someone speak about his dad like this before.

"Y'know, I always wanted to become a magician when I was little, then reality hit and I started studying Seafaring. That didn't work out either, so here I am, 127 cases later and I still have no idea what I'm doing."

He seemed to shake himself out of his stupor and threw a smile at Kaito "Ah, don't mind my rambling, I'm not quite myself yet, still in shock, y'know?" shrugging, the elder of the two turned and started walking away, throwing one last thing over his shoulder as he left "Do us both a favour, kid, and never make the same career-choice as me! Stick to magic if that's what you're good at!"

Kaito was left to ponder the strange phenomenon known as Gabrielle Ojanen.

Oh well, he still had a performance to prepare and plan for.