Hello, this is the re-launch of the story Murphy's Law that I had started three or four years ago. I'd like to formally apologize for dropping it for so long, but life got in the way. So, here we go again.

Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan

Chiba hadn't taken part in the chase itself, but he'd been called to assist with the cleanup and analyzing the scene of Sato's standoff with the perp. He took his car as far as it could go, and continued the rest of the way on foot. As he was walking through the park he heard a crash from inside an equipment shed. He knew that it was probably a raccoon or something similar, but it was his job t investigate the scene, and that was what he was going to do.

The shed was unlocked, but once the door was open all that the detective could see was sports equipment and gardening tools creating a labyrinth that would've been hell for a full grown man to crawl through. He was able to conclude that the fall of all the supplies was what caused the noise, but he couldn't figure out what caused the fall, not until he heard a groan coming from the back of the shed.

"Hello?" He flicked on his flashlight and scanned the floor "Is somebody back there?"

Another sound echoed from the back allowing him to locate the source quicker than if the culprit had stayed silent. The source turned out to be a small child, no older than Conan-kun, sitting on the floor and practically swimming in a vaguely familiar suit.

"Hey, kid!" Chiba shouted to get his attention, "Little boy, are you okay?"

The child jumped slightly at the noise, but he soon locked onto the detective with very familiar brown eyes. "Chiba?" he spoke as if he was absolutely certain that he knew the man in front of him, and that he should recognize him as well.

"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" He began moving the supplies out of the way, trying to reach the child as fast as possible. The situation was already confusing and maybe getting out of the equipment shed would help with answering a few of the questions that were forming in the detective's mind.

"Chiba? It's me." He tried to stand up but ended up hitting his head on the handle of a lawn mower and falling right back down to the ground. "What the-" The young boy started looking around and truly taking stock of his surroundings, "I don't under-" He caught sight of his reflection in the mirror of a bicycle. "What happened to me!"

Chiba drew his eyebrows together. This child looked like he didn't recognize his own reflection, the way he kept poking and prodding his face, and what he'd just shouted. Why did he just jump to the conclusion that there was something wrong with him?

"Chiba! This is going to sound crazy, but I need you to believe me." A serious expression marred the boy's young features as he met the detective's eyes, his intensity causing him to just nod without any further questioning. The child fished through the pockets of his suit until he pulled out a worn leather wallet. He flipped it open and was able to shock Chiba even before he said a word, "It's me, Takagi."

This wasn't a time to jump to conclusions, so the detective took a deep breath and sorted through all the odd occurrences of the past few minutes. Most of them could be explained by what the boy had just said, but he still wanted to make sure that he was telling the truth before he put his faith in the absurd statement. "Alright, Takagi, can you get out of there?"

The other man sighed and tried to crawl around the fallen objects, but his baggy clothes kept getting stuck or tripping him, "Not if I want to keep my dignity."

In the end, Chiba was able to get him back to his car with minimal damage to his friend's body and pride, and after a short drive to the station, they commandeered an interrogation room and did a fingerprint analysis to prove the kid's story. They were a perfect match.

"You really are Takashi aren't you?"

The boy-man nodded frantically "Yes, and you have to help me fix this. I don't even know how this happened! I mean, the last thing that I remember is that I was pushed into that shed by the partner of the guy Sato and I were chasing. My head must've hit something on the way down."

"I'm just as clueless as you are…I think you probably need more help than just me." He shrugged staring across the interrogation room table. "I think we should tell the Inspector."

For a moment, fear flashed across Takashi's youthful complexion. It was okay for him to be nervous about telling others, the poor guy was probably embarrassed by the whole situation, but he still had the mind of a young adult, so he recognized the sense in Chiba's suggestion. "Alright…but bring the prints, he's gonna need evidence before he actual listens to me."

"Chiba, you do realize that this doesn't make any sense?"

"Yes, Sir."

Inspector Megure looked over at two of his best detectives. They didn't look like much on a good day, but now that one of them couldn't even see over the front of his desk without a step stool, they looked about as threatening as two wet kittens, but they both were whip smart and had good instincts, which might have been the only reason he found himself believing them. "Alright, tell me exactly what happened, don't spare any details."

They wove an interesting tale, one that probably belonged in a manga and not reality, but they had evidence and his trust, so he had no choice but to treat it as though it was a real case. "Do you have any puncture wounds?" he directed the question to the child that was playing with the tie that hung around his shoulders

"I haven't had time to really examine myself." He attempted to push up his sleeves to examine his arms, but there was too much material. With a frustrated groan the young detective opted for just taking his jacket off and unbuttoning his shirt enough to pull his arms out.

The slight chuckle that the Inspector had been fighting died when he saw the child's chest. He'd known that over the years Takagi hadn't stayed injury free, but seeing the myriad of scars on a young boy, it was enough to make any man's blood run cold.

"I have a small prick on my right arm." He said after thoroughly examining his arms and neck. "I'm pretty sure that's where I was injected, since I haven't had blood work done in months." It was a strange sentence to come out of a child's mouth, but Megure took it in stride.

"Alright, so they probably tried to kill you with some kind of lethal injection and it backfired and reverted your body back about twenty years…would you place your current age around six or seven?"

The detective seemed to consider this for a moment, "Yes, definitely-"

Whatever he was going to say next was cut off by Sato throwing open the door, her eyes wide with fear and panic. "Inspector Megure, Takagi's missing."

All three of the room's occupants were ready to scream at the other two, how could they be so careless to forget about how Sato would react to her partner and boyfriend's disappearance?