A Long Drop to Perdition
by Meimi

Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with Aoyama Gosho or anyone who hold rights to Detective Conan or Magic Kaito. It isn't mine, I'm just playing with it.

This was not exactly what he'd had in mind when he'd meticulously planned out his escape. Now granted, he'd had to replan a bit on the fly thanks to certain unexpected variables. But that happened all the time! If it wasn't Nakamori going along with someone's harebrained scheme that would give him a momentary pause, then it was Hakuba trying to kill him with something or other. And if it wasn't either of them then it was a certain pint sized detective attempting to put him to sleep, or knock his head off, or trip him up, or on some of their more entertaining nights: all of the above. No, none of that even touched upon him immediate predicament. It did involve one of the previously mentioned individuals, but not in any conceivable way that he could have planned for.

Which, of course, was why he, the Kaitou Kid, was hanging off the side of a five story building, one hand holding onto a taut line of silk scarves - those damned knots had better not give out! - and the other locked desperately around the wrist of the little detective who wasn't quite so little tonight. That had been his first surprise.

Truth be known, he hadn't been expecting Edogawa Conan at tonight's heist, much less his true identity: Kudo Shinichi. And judging by his less than thrilled greeting, the detective hadn't been expecting to be present either. It had been quite a surprise on both their parts it seemed. After all, Kaito knew that the Mouris were out of town. He'd gathered that nugget of information during the initial stages of planning for this particular heist. It was very important information. Better to know what his favorite little critic was up to than not. So imagine his delight when he'd turned a corner, snickering under his breath at the state he'd left Hakuba in, only to come face to face with his own face, more or less. He'd freely admit that his interest had been piqued, but he'd refrained from asking any real pointed questions. It hadn't been the right place or the right time for such things.

Kid paused for a brief moment, a curious smile quirking at his lips. He was surprised, perhaps even mildly stumped, at the figure standing at the other end of the hallway. And my my, Kudo did not look pleased to see him in the least. How sad. "And to what do I owe the pleasure of your company at tonight's performance... as yourself, no less?"

Kudo has grimaced sourly, his right hand already instinctively reaching towards his left. Stupid watch! "None of your business."

"Of course not. Silly me for asking." Kid's smile had turned into an outright grin then, the usual maniacal glint returning to its rightful spot. "But don't worry, despite your tragic lack of trust in my sterling self, I'll be sure to make your presence here tonight worth your while."

Kudo had snorted at him. "Don't trouble yourself on my account."

"No trouble at all."

And then the chase had been on. Kudo had kept up with him every step of the way, through every trick and trap that the Kaitou Kid had thrown at him. Not that Kaito had been expecting any less. It was the most challenging and exhilarating night he'd had in awhile. For that alone, he'd say this particular escapade had definitely earned its keep. Still, all good things must come to an end, as they say, and thus their game of cat and mouse had headed towards its inevitable conclusion up on the roof. The officers that had previously been stationed there had easily been tricked into joining their compatriots doing curlicues in the hallways two floors down.

It was a perfect ending to a perfect night.

Kudo had been standing between him and his chosen launch point. As expected. Just a little sleight of the hand would have had him winging away into the night sky courtesy of his glider. Kudo's unexpected look of... something had cost him a few precious seconds, but that had been okay. Honestly, he couldn't recall ever seeing the poor guy look so... happy. It was a surprising enough occurrence to risk a little time on. And then, of course, there had been the bullet whizzing past him. He'd been expecting that. The shots had become something of a typical happenstance of late. What he hadn't been expecting was their actual target this time around.

It all happened so fast. Then again, most everything happened fast on a heist. It just- He was- His hearing just kinda sorta went out there for a moment - shock, he guessed - as he'd watched it hit. And then Kudo had started to fall backwards, too stunned or something to catch his balance, and right off the damned roof - too close to the edge! Yes, it had all happened too fast. Much too fast. Another shot had gone off immediately after he'd launched himself after the detective, though he had no idea of whether it had connected with anything or not. He hoped not. Things were bad enough already.

Kaito bit his bottom lip as he glanced back up at the roof. He could probably get them back up there, but it would take more time than he had to spare and there was no guarantee that the sniper - Snake - wasn't waiting for him to do something like that. On top of that lovely little detail, Nakamori would surely figure things out soon enough and send people back up onto the rooftop. And really, it had been Lady Luck herself that'd had the spotlights trained off on another portion of the building when they'd taken their little nosedive; but he knew that reprieve wouldn't last much longer either. So really, he had no time to waste at all.

Crap!

Kaito scowled darkly as he looked back down, hiding his concern behind a mask of mild annoyance. "Oi, Kudo," he called out irritably. Were this any other situation, he might have even risked giving the jerk a shake. It would have rattled the detective's nerves at the very least. Then again, if hanging several stories off the ground didn't rattle him, then they'd have to go for something more severe. Not that he was even really considering such a thing. Hell no. He'd be happy if he never had another night like this one ever again. And he'd be more than content at never seeing Kudo Shinichi again for the rest of his life. And people thought he was a trouble magnet.

And none of that really mattered right now because Kudo wasn't answering him. Asides from hanging there in the breeze, as it were, he didn't really seem to be moving any at all. Great. Just great. "Shinichi?" Kaito hazarded, surely a lowly peon such as himself using his given name would get a reaction out of the detective. But no, nothing. Son of a bitch.

Snarling sulfurously under his breath, Kaito whipped his head up and scanned the surrounding area. The spotlights were still doing an interesting dance at the other end of the building. Hey, maybe the Task Force had spotted their sniper? Nah, on second thought, neither of them were that lucky. Okay, so... how the hell was he going to get them both out of this situation without him ending up in jail or either of them ending up as street pizza?

The glider wasn't really designed to carry two grown people, though it might be able to manage a short distance. Might being the operative word here. There was a wooded park about two kilometers to the north. It might make for a workable crash site. Kaito glanced back up and then down again, eyeing the distance critically. One floor to get the thing in working order and possibly two more to hopefully catch some sort of wind current before it was too late and they both went splat on the pavement below. He could do it. He could. And he'd better do it soon, otherwise he risked the possibility of Kudo bleeding to death on him too. That first bullet had definitely hit.

Damnit!

Well, there was no helping for it. Best to just get it over with and hope they both came out of it alive. "Hey Ku-," Kaito stopped short as he gazed down at tonight's unlucky passenger. He'd never admit it to anyone, sometimes not even himself, but he was rather fond of the detective, annoying quirks and all. He didn't want him to die. Well, he didn't want anyone to die, but that wasn't the point. He really didn't want Shinichi to die. And he wouldn't let him die, not on his watch and not while he could do something about it. "Shinichi," he began again, his voice much softer than it had been before, "Don't worry, no matter what happens, I won't drop you. I promise." If- When they hit the ground, they'd be doing it together. Anything else was unacceptable.

Steeling himself for what was to come, Kaito drew in a deep breath, one that was far from calming, eased it back out and let go of his impromptu rope. The wind started up almost immediately, tearing at the both of them and making everything that much more difficult, but he'd been expecting that. Air didn't care for gravity futzing around with it anymore than he did. A floor flashed past - just as he'd surmised - before there was a familiar billow of white silk and a jerk that slowed their descent somewhat. They were still falling, but it was at an angle, a shaky angle.

Kaito grit his teeth. Steering the glider while his hands were otherwise occupied was old hat. He'd gotten used to having to do so a long time ago. Steering it while there was a great big - he wouldn't say dead - weight pulling down on the entire thing and throwing his balance off was something else altogether, and just a tad bit beyond his expertise. He'd do it anyway though. The Kaitou Kid could do anything... except die. He hoped.

There was a wind. Not much of one, but beggars can't be choosers. And regardless of its wimpyness, it provided some lift. It wasn't nearly enough to keep them in the air for any given length of time, but it ought to be enough to get them to safer ground - and cover. Honestly, it would have taken something a hell of a lot stronger and much more dangerous to keep their little act up and flying. But that was okay! He'd take what he could get. A crash in the green that didn't kill him was far and away more preferable than the concrete zooming past below them. Just a little further now.

Kaito vaguely noted when all hell broke loose somewhere behind them. It seemed as if someone in the Task Force had finally spotted them. He did not chance a glance back, he really didn't have the time for it. The grass, and more importantly, the trees were fast approaching and he needed every ounce of control that he could muster to not ram into a tree trunk or get caught in any of the branches. He would like to at least be able to walk away from this situation, if that were even a remote possibility at this point.

Tipping this way and that way, they zigzagged a good distance over the treetops before easing down in between them. A hundred meters zipped by, and then another. More. Assuming he survived this hellish flight, Kaito definitely wanted to have a nice, big lead on the continuing chase that would no doubt resume any minute now. Nakamori wouldn't give him much time to catch his breath - or put himself back together.

Kaito's arms burned, muscles screaming in protest as he held on for all he was worth to his, uh, extra baggage. Pity Ku- Shinichi was dea- ...unconscious, otherwise he'd be having a lot of fun at the detective's expense. New and hilarious ways to refer to his sparkling self being one of the many, many things that came to mind.

Shadows began to stretch over the area as they sunk lower into the trees. The branches may obscure the moonlight and make it difficult to see, but that would work in his favor. Well, as much as Kaito disliked the concept, it was about time he scouted out a decent place to deposit Shinichi at. If he didn't do it soon he risked dragging the detective along on the ground and forcing him into a nice little neck breaking experience when the glider would, undoubtedly, protest such a course of action. He was actually starting to feel a little thread of smug exultation at how smooth it was all going despite certain upsets; which is, of course, exactly when everything went straight to hell.

He didn't see the little protrusion of skeletal branches peeking out of the tree just up ahead, but that was okay, they saw him just fine. A web of fire slashed across his cheek as he flew past. His monocle and hat were ripped off of his head, and then there was a sick sound of tearing fabric. Oh hell! Kaito abruptly let go of his death grip on the detective. It was better to drop him at this point rather than risk landing on him and making his injuries even worse - much less make new ones.

This is really going to hurt. He thought morosely as the ground rose up to meet him - or at least it seemed that way. Any further thoughts fled his mind as he slammed into it, the glider's frame cracking and bending behind him in unpleasant ways. That was going to be a real pain to repair. For a moment there was nothing and then: Ow. Which didn't quite cover what he was feeling, but he didn't think he had the capacity to think of a better word that fit right now.

Ow.

Everything hurt. It wasn't exactly a new sensation, and he was really starting to get tired of it. Why the hell couldn't his own rule apply to him too? No one gets hurt, except the stupid thief who apparently didn't know when to quit. "I hate my life," Kaito muttered wretchedly as he slowly levered himself up off of the ground. Oh, ow. Yeah, that didn't feel right. Wincing, he gingerly felt along his side, gritting his teeth and swallowing bile when something, that really shouldn't have, moved beneath his fingertips. Oh, how wonderful. This night just kept getting better and better.

"I hope you're happy," Kaito grumbled after several long moments spent fighting down the almost overpowering nausea that was sweeping through his body. He was not going to throw up! He wasn't! "I think I broke something thanks to you." Several somethings by the feel of it. Damn. Broken ribs were the absolute pits and nearly impossible to hide. If he was lucky, it might actually take Hakuba an hour or so to figure out something was wrong with them. And then there would be pain and constant heckling. Yep, life really sucked.

There was no answer from his present peanut gallery, not that he'd really been expecting one. It would have been nice though. Sighing, and then instantly cringing at the severe pain it caused, Kaito teetered up onto his feet and limped his way back to the Kudo drop point. He didn't like what he was seeing. Shinichi lay a short distance from the base of the evil tree that had forced them out of the sky, crumpled up on his side, his back to the thoroughly displeased phantom thief. Kaito might have waxed poetic at the scene, but digging metaphors up out of his brain would have just pissed him off more at this point.

"You'd better not be dead, Shinichi," Kaito said flatly as he dropped to his knees beside the fallen detective, "Otherwise, I swear I'll kill you myself." His declaration didn't make a lick of sense, but he really didn't give a damn. Catching himself before he made the mistake of sighing again, the thief hesitantly reached forward and rolled Kudo towards him. His breath caught in a suddenly dry throat at the sight he beheld.

Shinichi was bloody. Kaito had been expecting that. His shoulder was a nice little expanse of liquid black shadows, but thankfully, only that. The bullet there hadn't hit an artery at least. It was his face that was swiftly shattering what little composure the thief had left in him. Streaks of blood ran down in rivulets from a wound set high on his forehead. All in all, it set a thoroughly macabre picture and he was not going to throw up!

"You're not dead." Kaito whispered desperately as he leaned down and frantically felt along the bloody gash. "You can't be dead. I won't let you be dead!" Head wounds always bled ridiculously, right? This wasn't any different. It was just a graze. It had to be! "I'll hate you forever if you're dead."

Maybe something was listening for once, because it did seem to be just that: a graze. It was a pretty bad one though. There was a very obvious dent in the bone from the feel of it, probably some cracks thanks to it too. It appeared as if Shinichi's life was going to be even more miserable for a good long while, but at least he'd be alive to suffer through it. Kaito chuckled lightly in relief and winced almost immediately as it occurred to him - and his ribs - that such an action wasn't the smartest thing to do.

That was it then. The fun and games were drawing to their inevitable - and more than welcome - conclusion. Thank god. All the players were still alive, if not exactly well - or intact, but that could be fixed... eventually. He could hear Nakamori's yelling quite clearly now, which was not a good sign. Granted, the man could probably be heard on the far side of Tokyo when he really got going, but that didn't mean he wasn't getting dangerously close to their location. And, of course, his Task Force would be right on the Inspector's heels. It was long past time for the Kaitou Kid to get the hell out of Dodge.

Catching himself before he made the mistake of sighing again - such a bad habit -, Kaito clambered to his feet and teetered his way over to the veritable spawn of Satan. Glowering up at the evil tree, which was holding both his monocle and top hat hostage, Kaito reared back and kicked the damn thing. "Gimme!"

The branches swayed, but his monocle and hat stayed right where they were. "Oh come on," Kaito whined petulantly as he kicked it again, ignoring the agony that speared him in the side as he continued to keep on kicking it. "I so do not need this." Finally, when he just couldn't take it anymore, he allowed himself to droop pathetically against the obscenely intact bark. Kicking aside, which had been a rather dumb idea now that he could feel the results of that little tantrum, he supposed he could try shooting them down with his cardgun. Though, all things considered, he'd probably pass out if he tried to stretch his arms up to the angle necessary for aiming properly, much less hold them there long enough to get the shot off. "Maybe they won't find them. Eh, who am I kidding? Of course they'll find them."

Sighing, and totally not caring that it hurt like a bitch or was a bad habit, Kaito stepped away from the demon tree and hung his head. A wind tugged at his hair, and then a moment later something hard bounced off his skull, then immediately afterwards his hat settled serenely atop his head. "How appropriately infuriating," Kaito ground out as he stooped over and yanked his monocle up off of the ground. His ribs protested the movement, but he didn't really care anymore.

"You'll probably hate me for this, Shinichi," Kaito muttered darkly as he jammed his damned monocle back into place and grimaced sourly at the fresh smear of blood it produced on his gloved hand. How he could tell it was new, he wasn't sure, but it didn't quite match the deep red stain that belonged to the detective. "But I think it's best that I leave you for Nakamori and company to find. I'm sure they can supply much better medical attention than I could manage."

"Just hold on a bit longer," he smiled humorlessly as he glanced over at Shinichi, "I'm sure they'll be... here... soon." What the hell? His eyes were playing tricks on him, that was the only logical explanation. There was absolutely no way that a person... steamed, for lack of a better word. Kaito stared blankly at the wisps of steam- smoke- whatever rising off of the detective. He blinked, hard, but the image refused to change back to planet reality.

"Holy shit!" Kaito yelped before he dove and skidded onto his knees beside the prone form. Shinichi's clothes were crinkling up, almost as if the detective housed in them was vanishing... or shrinking! "Is this what happens? You boil away? Doesn't look like much fun," he mumbled lamely as he raked his gaze across the impossible. Kudo Shinichi was shrinking and... there was no way in hell that he could leave him here like this now. If the police found him in this condition, then it would all be over for him and probably everyone he cared about.

This was the perfect ending to a perfectly bad night indeed.

Cursing viciously under his breath, Kaito scooped the considerably lighter - and still getting smaller and lighter - detective up, took a long, precious moment to determine his exact position - hooray for astronomy - and then darted off in the best possible direction to lose their swiftly approaching pursuit. The last curtain call was fast approaching, time for the Kaitou Kid to do what he did best: disappear.

Kaito blinked owlishly at the slip of paper that had just been placed in his hand, then glanced up at the person who had given it to him. "What's this?"

Jii beamed down at his young master and simply said, "An address."

I can see that just fine on my own. Kaito thought grumpily. "An address to what?"

"An old acquaintance of your father," Jii answered vaguely.

"My dad?" Kaito blinked again in curiosity. That was a little different. But why bring it up now? "Okay, so why are you giving me their address now?"

"I don't think I need to point out to you that matters have gotten a tad bit out of hand as of late, Young Master," Jii explained, "But should anything untoward happen, god forbid, then please make your way to that address. He will take excellent care of you."

Oh. Jii was worried about all the bullets he'd been dodging lately. Well, if that was the case then this person must be some sort of doctor. His father had needed a doctor?! Surely not. Then again, Kaito had already been blown up and suffered other numerous - and ridiculous - wounds in his still somewhat short career as a phantom thief. It stood to reason that his father might have run into the same sort of trouble every now and then. He'd never really thought much about it, but he supposed that they might share more in common than he'd ever realized. That was heartening. "So," he began hesitantly, "Dad trusted this guy?"

"Implicitly," Jii answered smugly, something almost akin to hero worship flashing in his eyes. "He is the epitome of a professional."

Kaito couldn't help but smirk knowingly at Jii's antics. Some things never changed. "A professional what?"

"A professional secret keeper, of course." If Jii could emit sparkles at will, that's exactly what he'd be doing at that very moment.

Kaito shook his head and chuckled. "Have you been reading those English novels again?"

"English novels, Young Master?" If Jii could come up with a more guilty looking innocent face, Kaito wasn't sure he ever wanted to see it. As it stood, he was having a hard enough time to keep from laughing at this one.

"You know," Kaito supplied helpfully, "Those children's books about that wizard kid. The one with the glasses." He illustrated his statement by making half moons with his fingers around his eyes.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Young Master," Jii huffed and straightened up haughtily.

"Of course not. What was I thinking?" Kaito smiled indulgently as he pocketed the tiny slip of paper. He'd memorize the address later and then burn the paper it had been written on. The only evidence he ever hoped to leave behind were the many, many piles of litter junking up his head space.

Kaito worried at his bottom lip as he briefly recalled the conversation which had led him to his present location. The address apparently belonged to a nondescript house in a nondescript area. Really, it looked like the perfect setup for a murder mystery. How apropos. Shinichi, or rather Conan now, seemed to be back to his not normal size. His wounds had crusted up sometime during their journey - and hopefully shrunk right along with him -, but they were still wounds. They needed to be treated by someone who knew what the hell they were doing. And unfortunately, he lacked such knowledge. It was time for him to see if Jii had been correct about trusting this guy. Whoever he was.

Nodding once to himself, Kaito hopped down off his perch on the high fence that surrounded the nondescript house's nondescript yard. If this place somehow managed to look even more normal than it already did, he'd probably crawl right out of his skin. Stuff that appeared too normal always set off a multitude of alarms in his brain, because they were always hiding something. And usually it was something really unpleasant that he didn't want to have anything to do with.

The too normal looking yard earned itself one more suspicious look before Kaito began to make his way towards the too normal looking house. This was creeping him out big time! He had only managed a few steps when a light was abruptly turned on inside. It startled him more than he liked. He hadn't realized just how shot his nerves were. And haha, nice little phrasing there. If he ever met the person who had coined it, he was going to deck them.

Kaito briefly entertained the thought of just getting the hell out of there. Sadly, that choice was not an option, no matter how much he might wish otherwise. He wasn't the one who needed help the most. And since everything was entirely his fault anyway, he was just going to have to suck it up and deal. Being relegated to the responsible role by default really blew.

The central door soundlessly slid open, revealing an elderly gentleman who quirked a bushy eyebrow at the phantom thief standing in the middle of his yard. "Well now, it has been quite some time since a magician of your caliber darkened my doorstep." There was a deep, gravelly quality to the man's voice, one that sounded almost familiar, and for some reason it settled Kaito's nerves better than anything else. At least he didn't sound like a psycho. Not that that really counted for much in the long run.

"Ah, but I see that now is not the time for pleasantries," the old man said glumly as his gaze fell upon the burden Kaito held securely in his arms. "Come." The old man crooked his fingers, beckoning Kaito to follow even as he turned and shuffled back into the creepy house. "Let us see what we can do for you and your little friend there."

To Be Continued...