Fic: Illusionist's Ball (6/7)
Title: Illusionist's Ball
Author: Saitaina
Rating: PG-13(chapter)/NC-17 (full story)
Characters: Kid(en), Kaito Kuroba, Conan Edogawa, Saguru Hakuba, Akako Koizumi, Aoko Nakamori, Mika Kuroba (Kaito's Mother), Jii, Ginzo Nakamori
Pairings: Kid/Saguru, Kaito/Saguru, Mika/Jii, Conan/Akako, Akako/Aoko, Kid/Kaito, Aoko/Kaito
Summary: Kid and Kaito now have to live their own lives, while the BO attempts to destroy them both. Mix in Conan, Akako and Saguru in the same house and the pair have a lot more on their hands this dance. Sequel to Magician's Waltz.
Chapter Information:
Title: Bloody Christmas
Summary: The race is on to rescue Mika, while Ginzo finds out just who is behind the monocle, and the BO has an offer Kiden really can't refuse.
Note: I split up the last chapter for astetics.
Chapter Six: Bloody Christmas
Wake up, it's Christmas mourn
Those loved has long since gone
The stockings are hung but who cares
Preserved for those no longer there
Six feet beneath me sleep
-Red water (Type o Negative)
"At noon, there was an attack on French Air flight 45247, the plane exploded before leaving the runway, all on board perished." An officer read from his notes, accepting the coffee from the tray Akako was floating into the room.
"At noon, a bomb destroyed the living quarters and offices of one, Mouri Kogoro. The offices at the time were deserted, and the fire was put out before it reached the coffee shop below." Another officer said, talking over Conan's question about Ran before smiling at the young boy. "Both members of the Mouri family are currently staying at the home of Suzuki Sonoko."
Conan relaxed into Kid's embrace, intending to call Ran the moment he could. He smiled as Kid ruffled his hair, turning his attention to the next officer to make a report.
"At noon today, the former residence of Koizumi Akako, now a museum on witchcraft was burnt, the fire spread out of control before it could be contained, destroying the house and the part of the grounds. Everything inside was lost, though the curator and Koizumi-san's manservant were able to escape to safety."
"At noon today, the Metropolitan Chief of Police was shot as he was leaving a conference in Kyoto. He, along with his junior assistant are currently in the hospital in stable condition. Hakuba-san had surgery half an hour ago and is predicted to recover nicely."
Saguru sunk against the cushions of the chair he was in, relief coursing through him. He smiled as Kaito slid their hands together, squeezing gently.
"At noon today, Inspector Nakamori's home was broken into by two armed men. They attacked Inspector Nakamori and his daughter, but were beaten back as, according to reports given by the Inspector and Nakamori-chan, they were not expecting Nakamori-chan to be there."
Ginzo smiled at his daughter, pulling her close to him, being careful of her arm that was still in a great deal of pain. Aoko smiled at her father, resting her head against his chest, holding him around the waist.
"At noon today," the last officer said softly, not really wanting to give his report. "Three armed men broke into the residence of Konosuke Jii and Kuroba Mika, holding Konosuke-san at gunpoint as they kidnapped Kuroba Mika, leaving in a black car, license plate L5652N. At this time, no information is known about the whereabouts of Kuroba Mika."
Kaito hung his head, leaning against Saguru as the detective ran his fingers through the brown spikes of Kaito's hair. "I...Is there anything yet?"
The officer shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kaito-kun. That's all we know so far, but all calls to the investigators have been re-routed here at Hakuba-san's insistence. The second we know anything, you'll know it."
Kaito nodded before jumping as the phone rang. All the officers in the room started scrambling, some grabbing headphones, some starting to type away at computers, while others gathered around Nakamori whose cellphone had rang.
"Put it on speaker phone," Saguru requested, grabbing a notepad and pen from the table, reading to take notes.
Nakamori nodded and hit the speaker phone button as he answered. "Nakamori Ginzo,"
"Ah, Mr. Nakamori," an American accented voice floated over the line. "A pleasure to speak with you, though I was intending to call Mr. Hakuba."
"I'm here, Mathew." Saguru said, ignoring the look his superior shot him.
"You are as good as they say, then again, I'm not exactly a shadow." Rum said, and you could almost hear the smile in his voice. "Is poor little Kaito there?"
Kaito's hand tightened on Saguru's thigh, staring at the phone as if he could see through the line, to see the man on the other end. "I am," he said softly, leaning against Saguru a bit as the blond wrapped an arm around him.
"Kaito?" This time is was a woman's voice, weak and rough.
"Mom?" Kaito whispered, almost lunging at Nakamori as he snatched the phone. "Mom?!"
"Hey," she said, and Kaito clutched the phone tighter. "I'm fine, before you ask. I've been treated quite well for being in the company of a psychotic serial killer."
"MOM!"
"Relax, honey, he left for a moment to go get something in the other room. Honey, I need you to write this down, 58642d3832 .fdw5, got it?"
Saguru nodded to Kaito and Kaito turned his attention back to the phone. "I have it, but what..."
"Don't worry about ti right now, just keep a hold of that message, promise me."
"I promise, mom, but are you..."
"I'm sorry, your mother can't continue her conversation right now, maybe later. Now I have a message that I know you can deliver. At five pm tonight, that's in two hours, I will be waiting at 2-10-1 Yurakujo, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo for Kaitou Kid. If he does not appear by 5:30, I will hand your mother's corpse over to the police."
The phone went dead, and everyone stared at each other, before Kaito suddenly threw the phone against the wall, watching it shatter. Saguru pulled Kaito into his arms, rubbing his back as Nakamori started to converse with the other officers.
"So we have a meeting, and his only request, and no fucking way to fulfill it." Nakamori yelled, turning away from the group, running his good hand through his hair. "If we even wanted to get Kid involved in this, we have no way of contacting him. It's not like we can shine a giant light into the fucking sky to call him."
Kiden looked up at Kaito, who looked at Saguru. Saguru shook his head, then shook it more violently as Kaito's look changed to one of pleading. Nakamori looked between the three before standing. "Something is going on here, and I want to know what it is." He said, moving closer to Kaito and Saguru. "This isn't a joke anymore, people's lives are at stake now, your mother's life is at stake."
Kaito gave Saguru a final look, before running a hand through his hair. "Follow me," he said softly, leaving the room, not looking back behind him.
Nakamori took a look at Saguru, promising they would talk later, before following Kaito out of the room and into Saguru's study.
Saguru sighed, collapsing back into his seat, massaging his head. Kiden set Conan down, crossing over to his lover and curling up in Saguru's lap, resting his head on the blond's shoulder. "He'll be alright," Kid whispered softly, kissing Saguru's jaw.
"He could lose everything tonight," Saguru said, taking Kid's hand. "Nakamori was the one thing that scared him as much as the Black Organization."
"I am aware," Kiden said, smiling before kissing Saguru again. "He'll be fine, I trust Ginzo."
"I don't," Saguru said softly, resting his head against Kiden's.
--
It was a few hours later when Kiden checked on Ginzo and Kaito. He had to smile, looking at the pair on Saguru's sofa, the feeling of peace rolling off of them almost visible. Kaito was curled up Ginzo's lap, half asleep, tears still staining his face. The older man was loosely holding the teen he had come to think of as his own son, his head bowed against Kaito's, still trying to process all that the teen had told him. Ginzo looked up as Kiden entered, nodding to the seat across from the sofa.
Kiden took the offered seat, drawing his legs up to his chest, glancing at his other half before looking up at Ginzo again. "How much did he tell you?"
"Everything," Ginzo said softly, rubbing Kaito's back. "From Kid to...you."
Kiden nodded, chewing on a thumbnail for a moment before straightening out. "So now you know how to contact me," Kid said, tilting his head. "Do you want to?"
"Not really, but what choice do I have? Mika one of my closest and dearest friends, since Kaito and Aoko were five years old, I would do anything, to get her back, even making a deal with the devil."
Kid smiled, swallowing his laughter. "I'm not the devil, Nakamori-san, despite what the papers claim."
Ginzo had to laugh at that, a harsh bark of a sound. He studied the teen across from him, so like the one he held in his arms, and still so different. He had noticed the similarities before, of course. But, like everyone else, he had simply accepted it as part of their family. After all, their small cousin, Edogowa-kun looked and acted quite a bit like the other two as well.
"What are your plans?" Ginzo asked, still rubbing Kaito's back.
"I will meet with Rum, as requested. "I'm assuming you and your men will be there as well?"
"Of course, my men are already setting up at the meeting place, it's a tourist information center."
Kiden nodded, running his hands through his hair. "Makes sense for an American to choose. It'll take me some time to prepare, I have no idea what he wants from me...well, except to kill me."
"You're not..."
"No, I'm not willing to die, I still have a job to do. If you'll excuse me, I need to plan."
Ginzo nodded, turning his attention back to the sleeping teen in his arms, wondering what to do now. He sighed, gently setting Kaito next to him on the couch, allowing the boy's head to slide into his lap as he ran his fingers through Kaito's hair.
--
Stake outs, as a rule, were generally boring. Yous stood around for an indeterminate period of time, all but twiddling your thumbs as one of the officers or negotiators talked over a bullhorn with the guy (or girl) inside the house, trying to find a peaceful way out of the situation.
Of course, there were moments of intense action, when the special forces teams made an advance, throwing flash bombs and smoke grenades, attempting to lure out the captive. However, those were few and far between in a normal stake out, and even more so in this one, as they had to be careful what they used, since the hostage was pregnant.
Saguru tilting his head slightly, focusing on the bug in his ear before pulling Kaito along with him, moving over to Nakamori who was sitting in the special forces van, watching a TV as the building grew larger on the screen.
"You called?"
"Yes, I thought you boys might like to see this. It's the camera that's going to be thrown into the building so we can get a better look."
Saguru and Kaito moved behind Nakamori's chair, watching over the older man's shoulder as the triangle shaped camera was thrown through a window, landing on the floor, rolling a bit on it's rounded base before steading out, giving a 360 degree view of the room it landed in. The room was empty, and the officer controlling the camera adjusted a few knobs, lowering the three wheels that allowed the camera to move about, picking a random direction and slowly moving the robotic camera.
As the small camera turned a corner, they finally saw what they had been hoping for. Mika was tied to a chair, her face slightly bruised, blood dried at her temple, but beyond that, she looked as normal as she had when Kaito last saw her, if a bit un-comfortable, having been tied to the chair she was on most of the day.
She was looking to her left, and the camera panned in that direction, revealing Rum for the first time. The madman was slouched against the wall, riffle held loosely in his arms as he tried to light a cigarette, muttering something that made Mika roll her eyes.
"Do we have sound on this damned thing?" Nakamori asked the camera's operator who shook his head.
"Not on this model, and HQ won't spring for the upgrade."
Nakamori cursed and turned his attention back to the screen, watching as Rum took a deep drag from his cigarette, before checking his watch. Nakamori glanced at the clock at the front of the van, eying the time himself before turning his attention to the second screen that was showcasing the roof and sky above the building.
"Come on, Kid." he muttered under his breath.
--
"Five more minutes," Rum said, shifting his stance, raising the riffle slightly.
"He'll come," Mika said confidently, rotating her sore shoulders, wincing as pain shot down her arms and back.
"And how can you be so sure?" Rum questioned, tilting his head. "He's not your son."
"Because I know him."
Rum snorted, leaning back against the wall, crossing one leg over the other, glancing at his watch again.
--
"He's here, sir."
Nakamori's head jerked up and he leapt out of his chair before wincing in pain. Saguru grabbed his arm before the man could fall over and with Kaito's help, got the Inspector seated again. All three turned their attention to the screen that showed the rooftop, watching the white figure that was slowly gliding into view.
Kid retracted the glider and landed lightly on the roof, staring at the empty space before straightening, raising his hand to his ear. "Can you hear me, Inspector?" Kid's voice flowed through the speakers in the van, as crisp and clear as if he had been standing with them.
"Affirmative. Be careful." Nakamori replied and the threesome could see his grin over the monitor's.
"Am I ever?" he called cheerily, before heading for the rooftop door which had been left open in invitation.
--
Rum's head turned as he heard soft, almost silent footsteps approaching. He grinned around his cigarette, checking his watch again. "One minute to spare, punctual."
"I do try," Kid said as he slipped into the room, crossing to stand near Mika, looking down at her, re-assured by what he saw in her face before turning to look at Rum. "And now that I'm here, perhaps you can explain your invitation?"
Rum straightened, his body almost un-naturally stiff as he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "As a representative of the Organization, I am required to present this offer to you, on orders of the Boss. This is a one time offer, to be retracted within twenty-four hours."
"I'm listening," Kid said cautiously, leaning slightly against Mika's chair, slipping a knife from the holster on his forearm.
"We are willing to offer amnesty to one, Saguru Hakuba, one, Kaito Kuroba, one Shinichi Kudo aka Conan Edogowa, one, Akako Koizumi and one Aoko Nakamori, in exchange for your death, effective tomorrow night, provided that the aforementioned Kaito Kuroba ceases and desists in all attempts at finding Pandora and/or acting under the name Kaitou Kid aka Kaitou 1412, as well as putting a halt to all investigations into the Black Organization not connected with Mr. Hakuba's work."
"Are you serious ?" Kid asked, disbelief etched across his face, poker mask vanishing at the absurdity of the request.
"Quite." Rum said, folding up the paper. "The Boss is tired of spending a wasteful amount of time in this matter. If you agree, your little toys get to live their lives happily ever after. If not, we'll kill you all and wash our hands of this matter."
Kid stared at him, trying not to blink in utter confusion as he turned the entire matter over in his head. It was...insane. He had no idea why the group would even ask of it, without just killing him and everyone connected to him.
Though, that was the heart of it really. While the group was no stranger to a slash and burn operation, they had always preferred smaller, more discreet ways of dealing with their opponents. Poison, assassination, kidnapping. Big events tended to be noticed, such as bombings, mass murder or mass attacks, just like this morning's incidents, but small, silent murders, accidents...they weren't as well noticed.
"You have twenty-four hours to decide, starting..." Rum glanced at his watch, waiting for the second hand to hit the number twelve before looking back at Kid. "Now."
As he said the word, the room exploded in a cloud of dust and rubble. Kid threw himself over Mika, knocking them both to the floor, covering her mouth with his gloved hand as he buried his face in her shoulder, doing his best to block the dust from their lungs.
As the world settled around him, he cautiously raised his head, noticing Rum had vanished before hissing as Mika hit him. He climbed off of her and cut the ropes binding her to the chair helping her stand and move towards the door.
Mika clung to him tightly, wincing in pain. Her hand tightened on her arm as they cleared the room and could breath fresher air coming in from the open front door. She pulled on Kid's arm and when he leaned down she grimaced. "I need an ambulance," she whispered.
Kid looked at her, and then noticed something he hadn't earlier, mind too consumed with protection and escape. The front of of Mika's clothing were stained with fluids and blood, and Mika's breathing was irregular as she tried to work through the pain centering from her stomach, where Kid had inadvertently struck her when he pushed her down.
Kid swallowed, quickening his steps as he lead Mika over to a couch in what would have been the lobby of the visitor's center, getting her to lay down. "Inspector!" he all but yelled over his ear piece, panicking. Nothing as Kaito's other half and as Kid had prepared him for a pregnant woman being injured.
"We have medics on their way in with a detachment of special forces, keep her calm and awake."
--
Kaito sat in a cold orange plastic chair in the emergency room lobby, his head between his legs, trying to keep himself calm as his mind kept flashing on all the things that could be wrong with his mother and baby sister. He was desperate for news, as he had been for the past four hours, but without Jii here and the doctors too busy trying to fix his mother, there was nothing coming.
Saguru stood next to him, leaning against the wall, talking quietly into his cellphone, ignoring the nurse glaring at him as he tried to coordinate information between the hospital, the scene where clean-up was still occurring, the the group's house where most of the situation command had retired of coffee and to plan their next course of action. Conan had gone home with Kid to change and try to calm the thief down who was convinced he had caused Mika to miscarry her daughter.
Jii had come to the hospital as soon as he had been called, and was now back behind the intimidating metal doors, finding out what he could about his wife's condition. It was he who came out now, his face grim, looking older then Kaito had ever seen him. He took a seat next to Kaito, running a hand through his hair before placing a hand on Kaito's back.
"Mika's gone into labor." he said softly, and Kaito's world vanished as Christmas carols played over the hospital speakers, announcing the holiday.
Author: Saitaina
Rating: PG-13(chapter)/NC-17 (full story)
Characters: Kid(en), Kaito Kuroba, Conan Edogawa, Saguru Hakuba, Akako Koizumi, Aoko Nakamori, Mika Kuroba (Kaito's Mother), Jii, Ginzo Nakamori
Pairings: Kid/Saguru, Kaito/Saguru, Mika/Jii, Conan/Akako, Akako/Aoko, Kid/Kaito, Aoko/Kaito
Summary: Kid and Kaito now have to live their own lives, while the BO attempts to destroy them both. Mix in Conan, Akako and Saguru in the same house and the pair have a lot more on their hands this dance. Sequel to Magician's Waltz.
Chapter Information:
Title: Bloody Christmas
Summary: The race is on to rescue Mika, while Ginzo finds out just who is behind the monocle, and the BO has an offer Kiden really can't refuse.
Note: I split up the last chapter for astetics.
Chapter Six: Bloody Christmas
Wake up, it's Christmas mourn
Those loved has long since gone
The stockings are hung but who cares
Preserved for those no longer there
Six feet beneath me sleep
-Red water (Type o Negative)
"At noon, there was an attack on French Air flight 45247, the plane exploded before leaving the runway, all on board perished." An officer read from his notes, accepting the coffee from the tray Akako was floating into the room.
"At noon, a bomb destroyed the living quarters and offices of one, Mouri Kogoro. The offices at the time were deserted, and the fire was put out before it reached the coffee shop below." Another officer said, talking over Conan's question about Ran before smiling at the young boy. "Both members of the Mouri family are currently staying at the home of Suzuki Sonoko."
Conan relaxed into Kid's embrace, intending to call Ran the moment he could. He smiled as Kid ruffled his hair, turning his attention to the next officer to make a report.
"At noon today, the former residence of Koizumi Akako, now a museum on witchcraft was burnt, the fire spread out of control before it could be contained, destroying the house and the part of the grounds. Everything inside was lost, though the curator and Koizumi-san's manservant were able to escape to safety."
"At noon today, the Metropolitan Chief of Police was shot as he was leaving a conference in Kyoto. He, along with his junior assistant are currently in the hospital in stable condition. Hakuba-san had surgery half an hour ago and is predicted to recover nicely."
Saguru sunk against the cushions of the chair he was in, relief coursing through him. He smiled as Kaito slid their hands together, squeezing gently.
"At noon today, Inspector Nakamori's home was broken into by two armed men. They attacked Inspector Nakamori and his daughter, but were beaten back as, according to reports given by the Inspector and Nakamori-chan, they were not expecting Nakamori-chan to be there."
Ginzo smiled at his daughter, pulling her close to him, being careful of her arm that was still in a great deal of pain. Aoko smiled at her father, resting her head against his chest, holding him around the waist.
"At noon today," the last officer said softly, not really wanting to give his report. "Three armed men broke into the residence of Konosuke Jii and Kuroba Mika, holding Konosuke-san at gunpoint as they kidnapped Kuroba Mika, leaving in a black car, license plate L5652N. At this time, no information is known about the whereabouts of Kuroba Mika."
Kaito hung his head, leaning against Saguru as the detective ran his fingers through the brown spikes of Kaito's hair. "I...Is there anything yet?"
The officer shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kaito-kun. That's all we know so far, but all calls to the investigators have been re-routed here at Hakuba-san's insistence. The second we know anything, you'll know it."
Kaito nodded before jumping as the phone rang. All the officers in the room started scrambling, some grabbing headphones, some starting to type away at computers, while others gathered around Nakamori whose cellphone had rang.
"Put it on speaker phone," Saguru requested, grabbing a notepad and pen from the table, reading to take notes.
Nakamori nodded and hit the speaker phone button as he answered. "Nakamori Ginzo,"
"Ah, Mr. Nakamori," an American accented voice floated over the line. "A pleasure to speak with you, though I was intending to call Mr. Hakuba."
"I'm here, Mathew." Saguru said, ignoring the look his superior shot him.
"You are as good as they say, then again, I'm not exactly a shadow." Rum said, and you could almost hear the smile in his voice. "Is poor little Kaito there?"
Kaito's hand tightened on Saguru's thigh, staring at the phone as if he could see through the line, to see the man on the other end. "I am," he said softly, leaning against Saguru a bit as the blond wrapped an arm around him.
"Kaito?" This time is was a woman's voice, weak and rough.
"Mom?" Kaito whispered, almost lunging at Nakamori as he snatched the phone. "Mom?!"
"Hey," she said, and Kaito clutched the phone tighter. "I'm fine, before you ask. I've been treated quite well for being in the company of a psychotic serial killer."
"MOM!"
"Relax, honey, he left for a moment to go get something in the other room. Honey, I need you to write this down, 58642d3832 .fdw5, got it?"
Saguru nodded to Kaito and Kaito turned his attention back to the phone. "I have it, but what..."
"Don't worry about ti right now, just keep a hold of that message, promise me."
"I promise, mom, but are you..."
"I'm sorry, your mother can't continue her conversation right now, maybe later. Now I have a message that I know you can deliver. At five pm tonight, that's in two hours, I will be waiting at 2-10-1 Yurakujo, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo for Kaitou Kid. If he does not appear by 5:30, I will hand your mother's corpse over to the police."
The phone went dead, and everyone stared at each other, before Kaito suddenly threw the phone against the wall, watching it shatter. Saguru pulled Kaito into his arms, rubbing his back as Nakamori started to converse with the other officers.
"So we have a meeting, and his only request, and no fucking way to fulfill it." Nakamori yelled, turning away from the group, running his good hand through his hair. "If we even wanted to get Kid involved in this, we have no way of contacting him. It's not like we can shine a giant light into the fucking sky to call him."
Kiden looked up at Kaito, who looked at Saguru. Saguru shook his head, then shook it more violently as Kaito's look changed to one of pleading. Nakamori looked between the three before standing. "Something is going on here, and I want to know what it is." He said, moving closer to Kaito and Saguru. "This isn't a joke anymore, people's lives are at stake now, your mother's life is at stake."
Kaito gave Saguru a final look, before running a hand through his hair. "Follow me," he said softly, leaving the room, not looking back behind him.
Nakamori took a look at Saguru, promising they would talk later, before following Kaito out of the room and into Saguru's study.
Saguru sighed, collapsing back into his seat, massaging his head. Kiden set Conan down, crossing over to his lover and curling up in Saguru's lap, resting his head on the blond's shoulder. "He'll be alright," Kid whispered softly, kissing Saguru's jaw.
"He could lose everything tonight," Saguru said, taking Kid's hand. "Nakamori was the one thing that scared him as much as the Black Organization."
"I am aware," Kiden said, smiling before kissing Saguru again. "He'll be fine, I trust Ginzo."
"I don't," Saguru said softly, resting his head against Kiden's.
--
It was a few hours later when Kiden checked on Ginzo and Kaito. He had to smile, looking at the pair on Saguru's sofa, the feeling of peace rolling off of them almost visible. Kaito was curled up Ginzo's lap, half asleep, tears still staining his face. The older man was loosely holding the teen he had come to think of as his own son, his head bowed against Kaito's, still trying to process all that the teen had told him. Ginzo looked up as Kiden entered, nodding to the seat across from the sofa.
Kiden took the offered seat, drawing his legs up to his chest, glancing at his other half before looking up at Ginzo again. "How much did he tell you?"
"Everything," Ginzo said softly, rubbing Kaito's back. "From Kid to...you."
Kiden nodded, chewing on a thumbnail for a moment before straightening out. "So now you know how to contact me," Kid said, tilting his head. "Do you want to?"
"Not really, but what choice do I have? Mika one of my closest and dearest friends, since Kaito and Aoko were five years old, I would do anything, to get her back, even making a deal with the devil."
Kid smiled, swallowing his laughter. "I'm not the devil, Nakamori-san, despite what the papers claim."
Ginzo had to laugh at that, a harsh bark of a sound. He studied the teen across from him, so like the one he held in his arms, and still so different. He had noticed the similarities before, of course. But, like everyone else, he had simply accepted it as part of their family. After all, their small cousin, Edogowa-kun looked and acted quite a bit like the other two as well.
"What are your plans?" Ginzo asked, still rubbing Kaito's back.
"I will meet with Rum, as requested. "I'm assuming you and your men will be there as well?"
"Of course, my men are already setting up at the meeting place, it's a tourist information center."
Kiden nodded, running his hands through his hair. "Makes sense for an American to choose. It'll take me some time to prepare, I have no idea what he wants from me...well, except to kill me."
"You're not..."
"No, I'm not willing to die, I still have a job to do. If you'll excuse me, I need to plan."
Ginzo nodded, turning his attention back to the sleeping teen in his arms, wondering what to do now. He sighed, gently setting Kaito next to him on the couch, allowing the boy's head to slide into his lap as he ran his fingers through Kaito's hair.
--
Stake outs, as a rule, were generally boring. Yous stood around for an indeterminate period of time, all but twiddling your thumbs as one of the officers or negotiators talked over a bullhorn with the guy (or girl) inside the house, trying to find a peaceful way out of the situation.
Of course, there were moments of intense action, when the special forces teams made an advance, throwing flash bombs and smoke grenades, attempting to lure out the captive. However, those were few and far between in a normal stake out, and even more so in this one, as they had to be careful what they used, since the hostage was pregnant.
Saguru tilting his head slightly, focusing on the bug in his ear before pulling Kaito along with him, moving over to Nakamori who was sitting in the special forces van, watching a TV as the building grew larger on the screen.
"You called?"
"Yes, I thought you boys might like to see this. It's the camera that's going to be thrown into the building so we can get a better look."
Saguru and Kaito moved behind Nakamori's chair, watching over the older man's shoulder as the triangle shaped camera was thrown through a window, landing on the floor, rolling a bit on it's rounded base before steading out, giving a 360 degree view of the room it landed in. The room was empty, and the officer controlling the camera adjusted a few knobs, lowering the three wheels that allowed the camera to move about, picking a random direction and slowly moving the robotic camera.
As the small camera turned a corner, they finally saw what they had been hoping for. Mika was tied to a chair, her face slightly bruised, blood dried at her temple, but beyond that, she looked as normal as she had when Kaito last saw her, if a bit un-comfortable, having been tied to the chair she was on most of the day.
She was looking to her left, and the camera panned in that direction, revealing Rum for the first time. The madman was slouched against the wall, riffle held loosely in his arms as he tried to light a cigarette, muttering something that made Mika roll her eyes.
"Do we have sound on this damned thing?" Nakamori asked the camera's operator who shook his head.
"Not on this model, and HQ won't spring for the upgrade."
Nakamori cursed and turned his attention back to the screen, watching as Rum took a deep drag from his cigarette, before checking his watch. Nakamori glanced at the clock at the front of the van, eying the time himself before turning his attention to the second screen that was showcasing the roof and sky above the building.
"Come on, Kid." he muttered under his breath.
--
"Five more minutes," Rum said, shifting his stance, raising the riffle slightly.
"He'll come," Mika said confidently, rotating her sore shoulders, wincing as pain shot down her arms and back.
"And how can you be so sure?" Rum questioned, tilting his head. "He's not your son."
"Because I know him."
Rum snorted, leaning back against the wall, crossing one leg over the other, glancing at his watch again.
--
"He's here, sir."
Nakamori's head jerked up and he leapt out of his chair before wincing in pain. Saguru grabbed his arm before the man could fall over and with Kaito's help, got the Inspector seated again. All three turned their attention to the screen that showed the rooftop, watching the white figure that was slowly gliding into view.
Kid retracted the glider and landed lightly on the roof, staring at the empty space before straightening, raising his hand to his ear. "Can you hear me, Inspector?" Kid's voice flowed through the speakers in the van, as crisp and clear as if he had been standing with them.
"Affirmative. Be careful." Nakamori replied and the threesome could see his grin over the monitor's.
"Am I ever?" he called cheerily, before heading for the rooftop door which had been left open in invitation.
--
Rum's head turned as he heard soft, almost silent footsteps approaching. He grinned around his cigarette, checking his watch again. "One minute to spare, punctual."
"I do try," Kid said as he slipped into the room, crossing to stand near Mika, looking down at her, re-assured by what he saw in her face before turning to look at Rum. "And now that I'm here, perhaps you can explain your invitation?"
Rum straightened, his body almost un-naturally stiff as he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "As a representative of the Organization, I am required to present this offer to you, on orders of the Boss. This is a one time offer, to be retracted within twenty-four hours."
"I'm listening," Kid said cautiously, leaning slightly against Mika's chair, slipping a knife from the holster on his forearm.
"We are willing to offer amnesty to one, Saguru Hakuba, one, Kaito Kuroba, one Shinichi Kudo aka Conan Edogowa, one, Akako Koizumi and one Aoko Nakamori, in exchange for your death, effective tomorrow night, provided that the aforementioned Kaito Kuroba ceases and desists in all attempts at finding Pandora and/or acting under the name Kaitou Kid aka Kaitou 1412, as well as putting a halt to all investigations into the Black Organization not connected with Mr. Hakuba's work."
"Are you serious ?" Kid asked, disbelief etched across his face, poker mask vanishing at the absurdity of the request.
"Quite." Rum said, folding up the paper. "The Boss is tired of spending a wasteful amount of time in this matter. If you agree, your little toys get to live their lives happily ever after. If not, we'll kill you all and wash our hands of this matter."
Kid stared at him, trying not to blink in utter confusion as he turned the entire matter over in his head. It was...insane. He had no idea why the group would even ask of it, without just killing him and everyone connected to him.
Though, that was the heart of it really. While the group was no stranger to a slash and burn operation, they had always preferred smaller, more discreet ways of dealing with their opponents. Poison, assassination, kidnapping. Big events tended to be noticed, such as bombings, mass murder or mass attacks, just like this morning's incidents, but small, silent murders, accidents...they weren't as well noticed.
"You have twenty-four hours to decide, starting..." Rum glanced at his watch, waiting for the second hand to hit the number twelve before looking back at Kid. "Now."
As he said the word, the room exploded in a cloud of dust and rubble. Kid threw himself over Mika, knocking them both to the floor, covering her mouth with his gloved hand as he buried his face in her shoulder, doing his best to block the dust from their lungs.
As the world settled around him, he cautiously raised his head, noticing Rum had vanished before hissing as Mika hit him. He climbed off of her and cut the ropes binding her to the chair helping her stand and move towards the door.
Mika clung to him tightly, wincing in pain. Her hand tightened on her arm as they cleared the room and could breath fresher air coming in from the open front door. She pulled on Kid's arm and when he leaned down she grimaced. "I need an ambulance," she whispered.
Kid looked at her, and then noticed something he hadn't earlier, mind too consumed with protection and escape. The front of of Mika's clothing were stained with fluids and blood, and Mika's breathing was irregular as she tried to work through the pain centering from her stomach, where Kid had inadvertently struck her when he pushed her down.
Kid swallowed, quickening his steps as he lead Mika over to a couch in what would have been the lobby of the visitor's center, getting her to lay down. "Inspector!" he all but yelled over his ear piece, panicking. Nothing as Kaito's other half and as Kid had prepared him for a pregnant woman being injured.
"We have medics on their way in with a detachment of special forces, keep her calm and awake."
--
Kaito sat in a cold orange plastic chair in the emergency room lobby, his head between his legs, trying to keep himself calm as his mind kept flashing on all the things that could be wrong with his mother and baby sister. He was desperate for news, as he had been for the past four hours, but without Jii here and the doctors too busy trying to fix his mother, there was nothing coming.
Saguru stood next to him, leaning against the wall, talking quietly into his cellphone, ignoring the nurse glaring at him as he tried to coordinate information between the hospital, the scene where clean-up was still occurring, the the group's house where most of the situation command had retired of coffee and to plan their next course of action. Conan had gone home with Kid to change and try to calm the thief down who was convinced he had caused Mika to miscarry her daughter.
Jii had come to the hospital as soon as he had been called, and was now back behind the intimidating metal doors, finding out what he could about his wife's condition. It was he who came out now, his face grim, looking older then Kaito had ever seen him. He took a seat next to Kaito, running a hand through his hair before placing a hand on Kaito's back.
"Mika's gone into labor." he said softly, and Kaito's world vanished as Christmas carols played over the hospital speakers, announcing the holiday.