If Dreams Came True

A look into Haibara's everyday nightmare…

I'd like to note that although most people seem to prefer calling her Ai, I remain using the name Haibara, since only about two people (Agasa and Ran) call her Ai-chan in the series so far. Anyway, I obviously don't own Detective Conan and all that so let's get on with the story, shall we? ^_^

Chapter 1- It Never Goes Away…

Gunshots thundered off in the dark reaches of her memory. It echoed around the girl's head, never stopping, never going away. Forever reminding her of her sister's death…

"Onee-chan…" she remembered whispering. "Why did you have to go? Why…?" The young woman wept silently in the darkness, unaware of the aching of her wrist as it dangled uselessly from a handcuff. "Why couldn't you take me with you?"

Not that it would make much difference anyway: she herself would be joining her sister in the list of assassinated members of the Black Organization. It would come eventually, but not in the way she wanted.

They were separated now, like they were for the majority of their lives. The young woman sat alone, in the dark corner of the laboratory. Always dark, always alone.

Seeking for some shred of hope, she put her free hand in the pocket of her lab coat. It was empty but for one thing. Something no bigger than a coin, but five times as deadly when swallowed.

She held the pill tightly in her fingers. APTX4869: the most important project she'd ever been in. How long had she been working on it now? Ten months? A year? Although it was still it was in its experimental stage, the other members had already used it several times, and it was successful. But there was one exception; one hint that maybe this drug was more than what it was originally made to do. If only she had more time, she could have found out what.

But did it matter now? The young woman stared hard at it through the darkness. She hated it more than anything- a bringer of death to those who still had the will to live. Yet to her, the drug was now a blessing. Why wait for them to come when she could end it all now? End the suffering with one quick swallow? She was going to die anyhow, why not on her own terms?

"I'm coming now, Onee-chan…" With that, she tossed it in her mouth and gulped. At once she knew that it would not be the peaceful death she thought it would be. A violent spasm shook her body. She grew hot, and began to sweat. The pounding of her heart against her ribs was torturous. It felt as if her bones were melting! Through her eyes widened with pain, the young woman could see steam slowly wafting from her skin with a soft hiss…

An hour passed. The young woman sat up from her sprawled position on the floor. The pain had finally stopped, but she was still alive. Exhausted and wet with perspiration, she put her hand against her throbbing head…then gasped. Her right hand, the hand that was handcuffed, was free. Not only that, but the sleeve of her labcoat was two times too large for her arm, and was now slipping down to her elbow. In fact, all of her clothes had grown bigger, as if by magic. But wait…She looked back at the handcuff hanging from the pipe. How…?

A shock of realization passed upon her. Shakily, she put her hand to her chest, and to her horror, felt nothing. "H-how can this be?" she cried. "This is impossible!" But there was no denying it. The young woman had shrunk into a little girl.

Everything had gone wrong. That drug was meant to kill her, not- not this! Why? What was it that made her body react in such a way? The girl collapsed to the floor again in confusion and despair.

The vision from the past faded away in a menacing fog and was soon replaced with something much more terrifying. A figure clothed in black with cold, cruel eyes and a grin that made her blood run cold.

"Sherry…" he called. "Sherry…"

She tried to run, but couldn't move. Her body froze still as stone as the figure approached. He was hiding something under his coat. Slowly, ever so slowly, he pulled it out and pointed it at her.

"Bye-bye, Sherry…"

BANG!!

With a yell, Haibara was jolted out of her uneasy sleep. She gazed up at the ceiling for a few minutes, panting heavily. The few rays of sunlight poured in through the windows, illuminating the room with dawn's first kiss. But it did not comfort her.

Every night she had the dreams: haunting memories of what had been and bone-chilling prophecies of what could be. Every night… "Every…damn…night!" she screamed, and threw her pillow at the wall. Shaking, she lay back down on the bed and laughed, sadly and silently.

The young woman-turned-little girl closed her eyes. She could barely see her sister's face, still smiling back at her as if she hadn't a care in the world. A tear trickled down across Haibara's face onto the bedcover, where it left a damp patch. "Onee-chan…"

Suddenly she opened her eyes again and looked at the other bed beside her. The sheets were kept neatly and hardly a wrinkle grazed its surface. It was empty.