Disclaimer: Detective Conan and Magic Kaito are not mine. If they were, there would be tons more yaoi.
"You ready?" A figure in white asked the young child standing next to him.
"Yeah. I think, anyway." The high-pitched childish voice sounded nervous.
"Conan-kun, are you sure you'll be okay?" Ran fussed over the poor child.
"Yes, Ranneechan. I'm just going home." The boy reassured her, distractedly. This may be the last time he ever sees her for a long while.
"But-I mean, America's a long way away. You'll keep in touch, right?" The girl's eyes sparkled with unshed tears.
"Hai. And I'll miss you, Ranneechan."
"I'll miss you too, Conan-kun." Ran engulfed the child in a bear hug. "I'll always be thinking of you. I promise."
"Arigato, Ranneechan. But I'll be fine. 'Kaachan'll be here soon." Conan said, pushing away from her enough to breathe.
"Yes. Let's get ready." The teenager released all but his hand and led him to the door.
"Ran! Doorbell! The brat's parent's are here!" Mouri Kogoro yelled up at them.
"Coming!" She called, racing down the stairs. "Hi." She smiled.
A rather plump woman dressed in black brushed her dark hair away from her large, oval-shaped glasses. "Hello. Thank you for taking care of Conan-chan for so long."
"Oh, it was no trouble at all." Ran smiled wider.
"Conan-chan, are you ready to come home?" The plump woman turned to the short boy beside Ran.
"Hai!" He chirped. He bounced down the rest of the stairs and hugged his mother.
"Good. Let's get your things."
A short while later, Conan and his mother were waving cheerily from a taxicab.
"Thanks for the help, 'Kaachan." The boy said, his voice loosing its childish qualities.
The woman grinned, "It's my pleasure, Shin-chan." They continued the rest of the drive to the airport in silence.
The two people piled out of the cab, hauling their bags behind them. The luggage was checked in easily and they continued inside. At terminal seven, a tall brunette met up with them, sending a grin at the two.
"Well, no turning back now." He said.
"Yup. You take care of everything?"
"Yeah. Mom's takin' care of the last few things at home and she'll be following us on the next flight. Jii's off buying some food, but he'll be along in a sec. How 'bout you?" The teen confirmed.
"Everything's good." Conan said. "Haibara and Agasa should be along presently. Mom's gonna stay behind and accompany Kuroba-san." Just as he finished, two more people joined their group.
"How was Ran-kun when you left, Shinichi-kun?" The old man asked.
Conan shrugged. "She'll be okay. It may take a while, but she'll get over it and move on."
"Good." A small blonde child said.
"Now boarding, Flight 117 to Los Angeles. Now boarding, Flight 117 to Los Angeles."
"That's us." An older man said, coming up behind the brunette.
He nodded. "Let's go."
Five years had passed since Conan-kun departed from her life, but Ran was getting by quite well. She'd decided to pursue a career in News Reporting and her friends were behind her one hundred percent. She was currently studying at To-oh University with quite a few of her friends.
Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha were finally going out and were both well on their way to becoming police officers. Well, actually, Hattori was more interested in becoming a private detective, but he was still open to alternatives. Plus, Kazuha was definitely joining the force.
Studying with her at University, Nakamori Aoko and Hakuba Saguru were also looking to join the police. They'd become good friends with Ran and Suzuki Sonoko, who was schooling in fashion design. Koizumi Akako had also joined their little group, though she seemed to keep switching majors.
Currently, Ran was sitting in her two-bedroom apartment, chatting with Sonoko. They were waiting for their friends who had suddenly been called to the police department.
A loud bang signaled the arrival of the young adults. "This is all so weird." Hattori's voice drifted through the door.
"What happened?" Sonoko demanded.
"We were all called to the Commissioner's office." Hakuba began. "Once we got there, Megure-keibu closed up the office and immediately told us that secrecy was of the utmost importance. They said that a group of representatives from the FBI are coming to work with the police force. Apparently, they're pursuing some top-secret organization and they need police help. For some reason, they requested to work with the most promising rookies and that was supposed to be us."
"How odd." Ran contemplated. "But if it's top-secret, I guess that means I can't use it for the midterm assignment. Darn." She sighed.
Kazuha giggled. "But it really is weird. Why would something like the FBI request rookies? It makes no sense."
"Yeah." Aoko grunted. "But hey, who are we to turn it down? We're only 'the most promising rookies'. Yeah right."
"More like the only promising rookies." Heiji mumbled. "The rest of 'em don't know squat."
"Great to see you have such a high opinion of them, Hattori-kun." Hakuba smirked.
"Heh. Well, we better head out. I'm starvin'! Let's worry about these Bureau guys on Thursday, when they arrive."
Early Thursday morning found the four rookies, Megure-keibu, and Commissioner Matsumoto at the Tokyo Airport, awaiting the FBI representatives. Finally, Takagi-keigi opened the door to the security room and ten people followed him in. The leader, a man with grey hair and beard, stepped forward and began introductions.
"I'm James Black. I'm in charge of this operation. My coworkers: Akai Shuichi," A tall man with black hair bowed. "Jodie Starling," A woman with shoulder-length blonde hair smiled at them. "Andre Camel," Another man, this one with light black hair, bowed. "Christine Johnson," A brunette woman curtsied. "Alice Wilson," A redhead adjusted her glasses and grinned. "Tyler Henry," A young bald guy waved. "Miyano Shiho," An authoritive-looking young woman with strawberry blonde hair gave them a cold stare. "Kudo Shinichi," A young brunette quirked an eyebrow at his partner and nodded to them. "And Kuroba Kaito," The partner snickered quietly, flashing a grin at them. James cleared his throat. "As you can see, many of them are quite young -just out of college- but they are all quite talented."
The police had all gone bug-eyed at the names and people, but the Commissioner spoke up. "Yes, I hope they can get along with our officers. I'm Matsumoto Kiyonaga, Police Commissioner, and this is Megure Juzo and his subordinate, Takagi Wataru. These are the rookies you requested: Hattori Heiji, Hakuba Saguru, Toyama Kazuha, and Nakamori Aoko. All of them were raised by police officers themselves, so they are quite familiar with all procedures."
"Good. We'll need to find a base of operations we can work from. We'd prefer to have as little involvement as possible with the other officers. The organization we're after is quite far reaching and could easily have spies in the force. That's one of the reasons we requested rookies." James explained.
"I see." Matsumoto nodded, "We'll see what we can do to minimize contact. As for room, there are many places we could rent, old warehouses and the like."
"They'll do." The large group headed out of the airport together, many of the still with wide eyes.
The majority of the morning was spent looking for an area to work from, but they'd finally settled with an old storage house on the edge of Beika-cho that was in good condition. Once they all packed in, Megure, Hattori, Hakuba, Aoko, and Kazuha confronted the brunette twins.
"Where have you been? Why'd you leave? FBI?! What the hell is going on?" They demanded.
"Okay, calm down, calm down." Shinichi waved his hands in a pacifying way. "We've been in America, where we joined the FBI. Now chill. We can only answer so many questions at once."
"Chill? Chill?! You show up out of nowhere and tell us to chill?" Hattori glared at Kudo.
"Eh, well…" Shinichi sweat dropped.
"Do you have any idea how worried Neechan's been?" Heiji growled.
"Ran's been totally frantic over you for the last six years!" Kazuha half-shouted.
"Now, now, let's not beat Tantei-kun up too badly now." Kaito threw an arm around his friend. "He has been worried about Mouri-chan, believe it or not."
"Right." Heiji drawled. "I see he's gotten over his little problem, too." Kaito snickered and Shinichi shot them both glares.
"Very funny. And yes, I got the cure about four years ago." Kudo mumbled. Hakuba, Aoko, and Kazuha gave them confused looks.
"What about you, Kaito?" Aoko demanded coldly. "Where have you been and what have you been up to?"
"Ah, nothing much. I came to America with Shinichi and Shiho and we eventually joined the FBI. That's the simple version, anyway."
"Shiho?"
"Me." The strawberry blonde approached them. "I've been working with Kudo-kun for about six years and we went to America together."
"Really?" Kazuha frowned. "How'd you all meet?"
"Ahem." Shinichi drew their eyes to himself. "If we're going to go into gory details here, there are a few other people I owe an explanation to first. For now, let's just work together, no questions asked. Later, we'll talk." They nodded and Megure, Takagi, and Matsumoto all departed.
"Okay," James began, "we're chasing after a large criminal syndicate with reaches all over the globe. We can't be completely sure what their goal is, though we do have some theories. What we do know is that they're willing to do anything to accomplish it. Murder, blackmail, extortion, embezzlement, you name it."
"We all have some sort of connection with the syndicate, which is why we know it exists." Kaito explained. "See, these guys -in all their fashion-less glory- don't leave loose threads. Connections with victims are eliminated, even if they don't know anything. The only ones kept alive are supposedly considered 'useful', but everyone else," He made a motion of slicing his neck off. "Fortunately, we're not really involving you guys in an operation that could get you killed."
"You're not?" Hakuba raised an eyebrow.
"Nope," Shinichi responded. "You, and a few others, are already in danger."
"We…are?"
Kudo nodded. "You know us. We're wanted by Them, which, in turn, makes everyone around us wanted."
Heiji choked. "Everyone around you?"
"Yup." Kaito nodded. "So this organization has no qualms about killing. But, they do it subtly, so that no one knows of their existence. Usually, they either make it look like an accident or suicide, but sometimes they frame other people. They are actually responsible for, like, sixty percent of the crime in most places, people just don't know it."
Aoko gulped. "What are your theories on their goals?"
Shiho started, "We know for a fact that they are trying to create an untraceable poison and that they're quite close to doing so if they haven't already."
"We also know that they're looking for a mythical jewel that 'cries tears of immortality'. All of their agents, at least in one of the sections, are named after alcoholic beverages. Another section may use animal names, but we're not quite sure. We only know the name of one of their agents in that area, so we can't be sure of anything." Shinichi sighed. "As for theories, one of the members once said, 'we can be both God and the devil because we are attempting to raise the dead against the stream of time.' For what that means…it's impossible to bring back the dead, but they seem to be trying."
"You seem to know a lot about this, but you yourself said that they erase all links. What evidence do you have that they even exist?" Kazuha asked.
"They tried to kill Kudo." Hattori muttered. They all turned to him.
"You knew about this?" Kazuha demanded.
"Well, yeah… Kudo told me. Or, well, I sorta forced it outa him, but yeah…"
"I'm not the only one they've tried to kill. Which, by the way, they don't know they failed, and we'd kinda like to keep it that way as long as possible."
Kaito sighed. "We all have a personal story. The Crows -called so for their tendency to dress in all black- killed my dad and have been gunning for me since I found out six years ago and continued my father's job."
"Wait, Kaito, your dad died in an accident." Aoko whispered.
The magician shook his head. "He was murdered by an agent named Snake. He's the only animal codename we know. And yes, I know this for a fact. He told me himself before he tried to kill me the first time."
"First time?" Hakuba choked.
"Yeah. There's a bit more to that story, but we'll cover that later when we do Tantei-kun's."
"Anyway," Jodie said, "Vermouth is the only agent that we actually know her real identity. However, we can't get our hands on her. She killed my father and burned our house."
"We have an undercover agent in the organization. Well, technically, she's the CIA's mole, but she's working for us as well." Kudo said. "We've had FBI infiltrators, but there are none now."
"I was Rye when I was in the org." Akai stated, emotionlessly. "The mole -Mizunashi Rena- was ordered to kill me as a show of loyalty after we had taken her hostage for a while. They wired her to make sure I died and are still under the impression they succeeded in getting rid of me."
"I was also in the organization, but not because of infiltration." Shiho said, monotonously. "I was born into the org. and was codenamed Sherry. I created the drug that Gin fed Kudo and took it myself after they killed my sister."
"And you survived?"
"As far as we know, we're the only ones. I only created the antidote four years ago, so if it did affect anyone else in the same way, they have no cure."
"Same way?"
"Later."
Andre spoke up. "I blew Akai-san's cover in the org. but I didn't have any prior connection to them."
"They killed my mom and little sister." Christine said, speaking through a Russian accent.
"We also know that the Crows are collecting game designers and scientists. That was why my family was killed, because they refused to join." Tyler explained.
"As for me," Alice sang out, "my older brother was a police captain. He refused bribes from them and was eliminated."
"What we are trying to do," James coughed, "is expose them. Once the public knows, it should be easier to put them behind bars. But, being wanted by them makes it hard to operate. They have people everywhere and are extremely good at what they do. What we need, is to hide until we can get more information."
"And since the best place to hide is in plain sight…" Kaito grinned.
"And most of us are pretty young…" Shinichi smirked.
"Say hello to your new school mates." Alice grinned.
"James, Shuichi, Jodie, and Andre will work on finding convenient jobs as a cover, while the rest of us are happily attending college…again." Tyler sneered.
"We'll have to find a place to stay, though." Christine beamed.
"My house won't fit all of us, plus it's a little far." Kaito pouted.
"Same for mine and Agasa's." Shinichi agreed. "Plus, they'll be coming back soon, so they'll need their own houses to stay in."
"Yeah. But maybe we'd better concentrate on living through the interrogation." Kaito gulped.
Shiho joined Shinichi and Kaito as they followed the four rookies to a college hangout where they would meet Ran and Sonoko.
"Some of you could stay at my house." Hakuba said as they walked. "We've got plenty of room."
"That'd work. And then, whoever doesn't fit could always stay at my place." Kudo nodded.
Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Wait. Hakuba, you said 'we' have plenty of room. Who's 'we'?"
"Aoko-chan and Koizumi-kun are living with me." Hakuba shrugged.
"Koizumi?" Kaito squeaked. Shinichi snickered. "Um… maybe I'd better stay home after all."
"Why, what's wrong with Akako-chan?" Aoko asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Um…Do you believe in magic?" Kaito asked. "If you guys have been living together, then surely you know she's a witch!"
"She turned me into a squirrel. I think I know what she is." Hakuba stated dryly. "She'll be waiting with Mouri-chan and Suzuki-chan at the restaurant."
"Oh yeah? Where we goin', anyway?"
"Sushi bar." Aoko grinned. Kaito 'eep-ed' and she laughed. "Just kidding. We're going to an old Chinese Food place near the campus."
"Ah. Okay."
"Shinichi?" Ran stared at the man in front of her. "It-it's really you?"
"H-hi Ran." He scratched the back of his head. "Um…long time no see?"
Apparently that wasn't the right thing to say. Ran broke down sobbing. "You asshole! How dare you! You just up and leave for six years and that's all you can say?! Phone calls and random appearances for a year and then nothing! What the fuck is wrong with you, you bastard!"
"Um…that's…" He sighed. "Okay, guess I'd better start at the beginning. But, uh… can you not kill me 'til after I'm done?"
"How 'bout not ever?" Kaito suggested. "We kinda need his help. 'Course, if you wanna beat the snot outa him, we could live with that."
"Don't get on yur high horse, Kaito. You've gotta explain your part, too. And your dose is prolly more fatal, too." Shinichi glared. Kaito shut up immediately.
"Well, it all started after we went to Tropical Land together six years ago. I solved that case, but there were these two men in the back that looked suspicious. Afterwards, I saw one of them run off and decided to follow him -stupidest decision in my life, by the way. Anyhow, I saw him blackmailing this company bigwig and started taking pictures. Unfortunately, I didn't notice the other guy sneakin' up behind me. He got me over the head with some sort of heavy pipe." They gasped, but he ignored it. "The blonde –the one who hit me. His name's Gin; the short one was Vodka- thought it was too risky to use guns, what with the police in the area, so they decided to use this untested poison. I was force-fed this little pill and left to die. But it didn't work." He skipped over the description of how painful it was. "Instead, when I woke up, I found out I'd been shrunk. Eventually, I went to Agasa, and he decided it'd be bad if I told anyone what had happened. So, when you came along, Ran, I came up with a new identity and fast. I blurted out 'Edogawa Conan' and presto, Conan's life started."
"Wait a minute." Hakuba interrupted. "People don't just shrink. It's impossible."
"Yeah well, tell that to the drug. It's happened to two of us, so there. Besides, Kid's breakin' the rules of physics all the time. Anyway, it was decided that I'd live with Mouri Kogoro 'cause he might come across the B.O. in a case." He conveniently skipped the part about the 'Amazing Sleeping Kogoro'. "Haibara came in about 4 months after I shrunk."
"I created the drug that shrunk Kudo." Shiho picked up the story. "I was raised in the Organization. My parents were killed when I was young and I was often separated from my sister. When she kept trying to get me out of the org, Gin killed her. When they wouldn't tell me why, I refused to continue working for them. They locked me in a gas chamber and I waited to die. I didn't want to go through the torture that was sure to come, so I ingested my own poison, the Apotoxin 4869. However, instead of killing me, it shrunk me and I fled. I ran to Kudo's house where Agasa found me and took me in. Since then, I worked to create an antidote for APTX 4869. Four years ago, I succeeded." Shinichi then proceeded to speak of cases that happened in that one year.
"Meanwhile, a little before Tantei-kun was shrunk," Kaito started, "I ran into my own trouble. I discovered a hidden room in my house, one that told me who my father was."
"But you knew who your father was." Aoko said. "Kuroba Toichi, a famous magician."
"By day, yes. However, come night, and he'd put on the mask of Kaitou KID." Collective gasps issued. "Incidentally, it was Shinichi's dad who named Kid. But anyway, I found out and I took on the mantle of Kaitou Kid."
"You're telling us?" Hakuba choked. "Just like that? What if we arrest you?"
"You can't." Kaito waved airily. "Aside from the fact that I could –and would- escape, I'm under FBI protection, and as such, cannot be harmed. At least not without a war or something, and, quite frankly, that'd be a waste of time. As I was saying, I became Kaitou Kid in order to draw out my father killers. It worked, too. After a couple of heists, I was attacked by Snake. He thought I was Dad and confessed everything. He shot me, but I was lucky. The bullet bounced off the jewel and I managed to survive the fall from the roof. Then, I found out what they were looking for, the reason they killed Dad. Apparently, there's this jewel that 'cries tears of immortality'. Whether it really does or not, who cares, but they're willing to kill for it. So, I'm looking for Pandora and I won't stop until I either die or destroy the damn thing. Only problem is, no one knows where it is or what it looks like. All we know is that it glows red under the full moon.
"I discovered Tantei-kun's identity after we faced off a few times, but I never knew how it happened. At least, not until after we left. We all got together and talked and decided it would be best to leave. Mom, Jii, and I gathered everything Kid would need and met these guys at the airport."
Shinichi told his tale. "Mom came from America and disguised as Conan's mom again. We left and met the Kurobas, Agasa, and Haibara. We went to Los Angeles and stayed for a while, but when Vermouth showed up in a Broadway play, I decided to contact the FBI again. We tried to capture her, but failed. Afterwards, we began working with them on a regular basis. When Haibara got the antidote, we finished college –well, Kaito and I did. Shiho had already done so years before- and joined the Bureau. We've been working ever since to take down the Crows and bring them to justice."
When he finished, silence fell for a long while. "Um," Ran said, breaking the quiet. "That-that's some story. I guess I get why you didn't tell us. It was stupid, but I get it."
Shinichi sighed in relief.
"I guess I forgive you." Aoko said, grudgingly. "You're a complete idiot, but we already knew that, so… I forgive you." Kaito made a show of melting into a puddle and turning into a giant rose before reverting back to human likeness.
"So… what now?" Akako asked.
"Well, you police peoples are gonna be working with us and we'll be going to college with you. Until we get a lead, that's it."
"In that case, Welcome Back."
"Thanks. It's good to be back."