Author's Notes: Apologies to everyone on the long wait. School has been getting harder and I've been slammed with homework and tests. But somehow I've managed to find time and inspiration since ending chapters are always the hardest for me to wrap things up. And until school is over in the winter, you may not see any more stories from me for a while so I can focus on school. But in any case, thanks to all my wonderful readers/reviewers and without further ado, enjoy the last chapter of "Heartache's Child."

Chapter 8: Case Closed

Conan awoke several hours later to find himself in a comfortable bed staring at the white tiled ceiling. He jolted up from the bed with a start and glanced around but his eyes only met with a normal, cozy hospital room. He then remembered the events that took place before passing out and relaxed in knowing that he was safe. Although, his head spun slightly from the medications he was put on but considering what he was recently put through, he easily shook it off. Looking to the bedside table, he noticed his glasses were neatly placed within reach and grabbed them.

"Oh yeah, I lost these a while back. I guess since I typically don't wear glasses and with all that's happened I never really noticed," he mused mentally before slipping them on. As he did so his fingers brushed past the feeling of cloth. Feeling his head, he realized a fresh bandage was wrapped around his head and a correctly treated bandage treating his cut ear among other small band-aids and patches on his body that treated the other injuries he acquired from his unpleasant captivity and the car accident. He leaned back against his pillow and let out a sigh before the sound of voices approaching caught his attention before the door opened. A nurse peeked her head in and seeing that he was awake gave a gentle smile.

"Well, it looks like he's already awake," she said to the person or people outside. Before Conan could ask who was there, the door flew open and the Detective Boys rushed past the nurse and entered the room (of course followed by Haibara who leisurely strolled in). At the door were Kogoro, Ran, Hattori who was leaning on a crutch, and the professor all relieved at the sight of the conscious boy. The ecstatic kids immediately rushed to his side.

"Conan-kun!" they exclaimed in joy resisting the urge to pounce on him.

"How are you feeling Conan-kun?" Ran asked approaching the bedside followed by the other adults.

"I'm feeling a lot better Ran-neechan," Conan replied with a little smile.

"That's a relief to hear, especially considering the shape you were brought in," Professor Agasa noted.

"Yeah," Conan nodded in agreement. "By the way, is your leg alright Heiji-niichan?" Conan asked looking to Hattori and his bandaged leg.

"No worries. Compared ta getting' shot in the stomach, this is nothin,'" Hattori assured with a grin.

"The doctors say that the bullet didn't cause any real damage and the wound wasn't too bad thanks to the quick treatment the officers gave him," the nurse explained. "Yeah, though it's gonna be a nightmare ta explain this ta Kazuha," Hattori noted aloud with a hint of dread. Conan smirked at the Osakan detective before Kogoro approached his side rather annoyed.

"And despite all that's happened you still found some way to get yourself into trouble you little…" Kogoro ground out raising a balled fist. Foreseeing the bop on the head he was sure to receive, Conan closed his eyes and braced himself. But instead of the expected impact, he felt the older detective gently place his hand on top of his head. Opening his eyes in confusion Conan looked up to Kogoro who let out a sigh and avoided eye contact before speaking.

"But it's good to see you got through okay, I guess."

"Ojii-san," Conan said taken aback by the sudden gesture of compassion. Before he could say anymore, Kogoro took his hand off the not-child's head and grumbled aloud.

"But don't you ever go and do something like this again, brat," Kogoro said with a frown. Conan just rolled his eyes at the rather expected change in character before something dawned on him.

"So what happened to Madoka-san?" Conan asked. The others exchanged unsure looks before a voice from the doorway answered for them.

"Unfortunately it appears that Madoka-san didn't survive her fall from the cliff." The group turned their heads to meet a very unexpected sight, especially for Conan.

"Mr. Kudo!" Ran exclaimed in surprise. Indeed, standing in the doorway was Conan's or rather Shinichi's father, Kudo Yusaku, and beside him stood a rather portly woman with glasses and black hair, who Conan knew was his mother, Kudo Yukiko, in disguise as "Conan's" mother.

"Oh my baby!" the fat woman, under the alias Edogawa Fumiyo, cried out rushing to his side and hugging him tightly, practically smothering him. "The police informed us about what happened and we rushed here as soon as we could. I was so worried about you!" She practically wept cradling the disgruntled boy.

"Um, I think you're suffocating him," Ran said trying to get her to ease her grasp on the obviously vexed child. Realizing she was right, the woman apologized and released Conan who gathered himself.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Ayumi asked the woman.

"That's right, I guess you kids haven't really met, have you?" Ran said. This is Conan's mother, his real mother."

"Really? You're Conan's mom?" Mitsuhiko asked.

"That's right," she responded with a nod. "Conan's father and I have been overseas because of work. When we received the call from Professor Agasa explaining what happened to our baby, we booked the earliest flight we could to check on him. However, I'm afraid Conan's father was far too busy with work to come along so I asked Uncle Yusaku to come with me instead."

"So that's why you two are here," Haibara said folding her arms across her chest.

"But isn't she kind of old to be you're mom?" Genta asked with a raised brow causing a vein in to throb in anger on Yukiko's or rather Fumiyo's temple. Conan shrank back slightly since calling his mother old is the last thing anyone would want to do. However, she quickly suppressed it and kept in character.

"Oh ho ho ho, what a charming young man," Fumiyo chuckled half-heartedly as Conan could swear he saw a dark aura emanate from his mother.

"Is it me or is Conan-kun's mom kind of scary?" Ayumi whispered.

"You have no idea," Conan deadpanned mentally and sweat dropping.

"Excuse me but I'll be taking my leave," the nurse informed. "If anything comes up, please don't hesitate to inform myself or one of the other nurses."

"Of course, thank you miss," Ran said. The nurse bowed politely and left through the door. Once she was gone, Yusaku cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"As I was saying, Megure-keibu informed me that when he and his officers went to check on the status of Madoka-san, she was found to have fallen to her death from that steep fall from the cliff. Furthermore, when they inspected the house young Conan was held hostage in they found several pieces of incriminating evidence such as Tanabe-san's diary, several illegally prescribed drugs, and much more…dismal pieces of evidence," he explained trying to find the appropriate word.

"Geeze, hard ta believe a crackpot like that's been runnin' around fer as long as she was," Hattori couldn't help but declare.

"I'm just glad we don't have to worry about encountering her again," Ran said. "I know it's an awful thing to say but, as pitiful as she was, she was just far too disturbed and twisted. I mean killing an innocent father and child all the while claiming it was done out of love…" Ran shuttered unwilling to continue.

"In any event," Kogoro started changing the subject. "Since we know the kid's alright, there's nothing more to worry about," he explained heading for the door. "Let's head home Ran."

"But what about Conan-kun?" Ran questioned.

"The doctor said he'll be released by this afternoon, and I don't know about you but I'm not going to stick around here for the next several hours if I have a choice. Besides, I haven't eaten since yesterday and I'm starving!"

"Is your stomach the only thing that matters to you?"

"It's fine Ran-chan," Fumiyo/Yukiko said. "You've been so diligent watching over Conan-chan, go home and rest and Yusaku and I will keep him company."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Fumiyo affirmed. Hesitantly, Ran thought it over, not wanting to leave Conan's side.

"I'll be okay for a few hours Ran-neechan, really," Conan assured.

"Well…alright," Ran gave in. She approached him and gave him a gentle yet firm hug, making his face turn red. "We'll be back later Conan-kun."

"Y-Yeah," Conan uttered. Ran pulled away from the hug and quickly followed her father out of the room.

"Must be nice being so popular," Haibara said rather smugly.

"Oh shut up," Conan muttered as he tried to conceal the lasting effect of his blush.

"We'll keep you company too Conan-kun!" Ayumi declared feeling slightly jealous.

"I'm sorry kids but I'm afraid there are a few things we need to discuss privately with Conan," Yusaku informed. The Detective Boys began to protest but were cut off by the professor.

"Now, now children. Conan-kun and his parents haven't seen each other in a long while and have some catching up to do. Once he's out of the hospital you all can visit him then." The kids unhappily agreed and followed the elderly man and shrunken scientist out after bidding one last goodbye to Conan and the three remaining adults. Yusaku shut the door behind them and turned to his son, wife, and injured Osakan detective who hobbled into a nearby chair.

"No matter how many times I see it, I still can't believe that yer actually Kudo's mum, in disguise no less," Hattori said looking to the strange woman who only giggled childishly before shedding her costume.

"It all comes with being an actress," Yukiko said giddily.

"Former actress," Conan corrected nonchalantly resting his head in his hand.

"Same thing," Hattori shrugged. "Anyway, I take it the 'private matters' ya wanna discuss, has ta do with Kudo's little secret, eh?"

"More or less," Yusaku responded before turning his attention to his shrunken son. "It seems you have more of a knack for getting into trouble than I did at your age."

"Very funny," Conan said wryly with an annoyed twitch of an eye. Ignoring his son's comment he continued.

"It's just a good thing that Professor Agasa informed us on the situation so that we could take care on recovering any pieces of evidence that might expose your true identity to anyone, especially the Organization that shrunk you."

"How the heck you'd manage to recover evidence without the police noticing?" Hattori inquired.

"Dad's got some friends in high places," Conan explained. "Including a few contacts way up in the government and even in the Interpol."

"Damn, an' I thought my old man had some influence," Hattori couldn't help but gawk. Dismissing the comment, Yusaku's face hardened slightly before looking Conan straight in the eye.

"What's more, you were incredibly reckless and are very lucky that situation didn't turn out any worse than it did!" Yusaku scolded.

"It's not like I was hoping to get into that kind of situation!" Conan protested defensively. "And if you think that I'm happy with how it turned out, the truth is I'm not!" He muttered. Yusaku's face softened.

"Kudo, that woman was badshit insane. I know it's not a pleasant thing to say, but maybe it was a good thing she kicked the bucket. So stop mopin' and blamin' yerself," Hattori said.

"Barou! How do you think I can be fine with just that? Do you even know how it feels when you've let another person die, criminal, victim, or otherwise?" Conan demanded thinking back to the previous times he could do nothing to save someone from death such as one of his first cases as Conan involving the suicide of Asou Seiji (look to episode 11) or the death of Haibara's older sister. He looked away pensively deep in thought.

"Shin-chan…" Yukiko uttered worried at her son's unease. Everyone was silent for a while until Hattori let out a disgruntled grunt and limped over to his shrunken rival. Conan looked back to him curiously only to be met with a swift but, not too hard, blow to the head.

"AHOU!" the Osakan detective barked.

"Hattori-san!" Yukiko started but was stopped by Yusaku. Conan winced and nursed his head.

"What the hell was that for?" Conan demanded still holding his injured cranium.

"For you ta wake up!" Hattori yelled. "Ya really think it would've been better ta sacrifice yerself and leave behind everyone else? How do ya think Nee-chan (Ran) would've felt if ya did that?" Conan's expression sobered at the thought of seeing Ran upset if that were to become a reality. Seeing he got his point across, Hattori's voice softened. "Look, its understandable that ya may feel somewhat responsible but there was nothin' you or anyone else coulda done."

"He's right son," Yusaku agreed causing Conan to turn his attention from Hattori to his father. "Even if Madoka-san had survived the fall, she still would've died. If not from suicide for realizing the hard truth, from the death penalty she would've gotten for murder and being a danger to society." Conan remained silent until his mother approached him and knelt down to his level and placed her hands on hi shoulders.

"Shinichi, no one is perfect. Not you, not me, and not even your father. You can't take on the task of thinking you can protect everybody," Yukiko added. Conan was silent for a moment longer before he let out a soft sigh.

"…I get it…I don't like it but I get it," Conan finally responded. "…But that doesn't mean I'm going to let it happen again!" He muttered under his breath. Hattori smirked at his rival/friend's stubbornness until the sound of ringing interrupted the brief silence. It took a minute to realize the ringing was coming from Hattori's cell phone that was in his pocket.

"Err, sorry guess I fergot I had my phone on," Hattori apologized sheepishly.

"Well it's a good thing we're in the recovery wing away from the main surgical wing, otherwise you wouldn't be able to even have your cell phone on you," Yusaku said. Hattori agreed as he reached into his pocket and pulled it out before flipping it open.

"Hello?"

"HEIJI YOU AHOU!" A loud female voice with an Osakan accent shouted loud enough for everyone in the room to hear and causing Hattori to yank the phone away from his ear in pain.

"K-Kazuha?" Hattori stuttered trying to ease the ringing in his ear.

"YOU LEAVE FOR ALMOST A WHOLE WEEK TO HANDLE SOME CASE WITHOUT TELLIN' ME AND THEN YOU DECIDE TO GET INVOLVED IN ANOTHER CASE AND END UP GETTIN' SHOT! ARE YOU TRYIN' TA GIVE US ALL A HEART ATTACK?"

"Wait, how'd ya find out about all that?" Hattori asked putting his ear to the phone once more.

"I called Ran-chan to see if she knew where the heck ya were an' she told me what happened," Kazuha explained. "You're gonna get it when ya get back home!" Kazuha continued to rant and rave over the phone causing Hattori to reluctantly take the verbal abuse. This time it was Conan's turn to smirk at his friend/rival. Hattori mumbled into his phone for a while before finally flipping his phone closed and letting out an exasperated sigh.

"Don' say a word Kudo!" Hattori ground out threateningly catching the smug grin on his face. "If ya need me, I'll be in my room packin' fer the train ride home," Hattori declared hobbling towards the door on his crutch.

"Alright Hattori-san," Yukiko replied.

"We'll be sure to make up for the trouble and come up with an excuse for your parents, " Yusaku assured. Hattori nodded gratefully before shutting the door behind him.

"It's awfully funny how Hattori-kun and his little girlfriend are so similar to you and Ran-chan," Yukiko teased her son.

"Oi oi!" Conan exclaimed in an irked manner and narrowed eyes. Yukiko chuckled at her son's vexation. Eventually an hour or so passed of Conan/Shinichi catching up with his parents before the vibrating sound of Yusaku's pager went off. Checking his pager, Yusaku let out a sigh.

"Looks like my editors are getting on my case for the new 'Night Baron' series manuscript," he reported. "Sorry son, but I'm afraid we'll have to take off a bit early."

"I understand," Conan replied with a shrug. Yukiko (who was once again in her Edogawa Fumiyo disguise) leaned forward and kissed Conan on the forehead.

"Get plenty of rest Shin-chan. Ran-chan and Kogoro-san will pick you up in a couple of hours."

"I know Mom, I'll be just fine until then," he assured. With one last hug, the two bid their son good-bye before exiting the hospital room. Sighing and leaning back once more against his pillow, Conan decided to preoccupy himself by watching a little television. He grabbed the remote from the bedside table and flipped it on as he waited for Ran and Kogoro to pick him up.

Some time passed before Conan could consider things to be normal again. The recovery he underwent wasn't nearly as bad as the hounding from the press once word got out about the incident. But thanks to police interference and of course the angry threats of Conan's karate-wielding guardian, they soon got the message and moved on. Eventually, the public forgot the incident altogether. However, the same couldn't exactly be said for the others, especially for Conan. A week after the incident, Conan, Haibara and the other Detective Boys were walking home from school as usual. However, Conan was more stoic than usual, not even speaking to Haibara as the other children were talking about the newest Kamen Yaiba episode. Of course the shrunken scientist took notice that something was off.

"You're still thinking about back then, aren't you?" Conan gave her a surprised glance but relaxed.

"That obvious?" Conan asked resulting in an all knowing, raised brow from Haibara. Conan sighed. "Fine, I was thinking back to the time of my captivity in Tanabe-san's old home; when I stumbled across the evidence of what really happened to Ryota-san and Tanabe-san. From what was in Tanabe-san's diary, the police couldn't help him and his son and based on what the Hokkaido police discovered about the bodies, dating them has been difficult so we don't know for sure how long they've been dead. However based on the autopsies of the bodies, the ways that they died were pretty awful."

"It couldn't be helped; there was nothing anyone could have done," Haibara simply stated.

"That's the problem!" Conan snapped. "It shouldn't have ended the way it did. Criminals should live and atone for their crimes, not die and escape their punishment."

"That's pretty superficial thinking," Haibara objected. "More importantly, don't forget that 'they' are still out there and doing something foolish will only get yourself and everyone else killed. Besides, not everything is flat out black and white."

"Maybe so," Conan admitted before continuing. "But that doesn't mean I'll just give up without a fight. There's always one truth, and as a detective I'll uncover it, whether it's black or white…or blood red."

"…Stubborn and reckless as always," Haibara muttered with a smirk as the two shrunken teens followed the jabbering Detective Boys down the street into whatever case they were in store for next.

The End