MK/DC fic: The Longest Night [WIP]
Title: The Longest Night
Scene Title: Hopes and Speculations
Progress: WIP
There was no news of Kaitou Kid.
The gem that he'd thrown away that night remained under heavy guard, more cautious than usual after Aoko had made her statement. The Taskforce was full of grim features as they kept watcch over the thief's prize. No one came to claim it, but there had been three attempts to get at it in the first week. None of them Kid. All of them either dead or escaped.
Even wose, there was no word from Kaito.
Aoko continued to remember the sight of those men coming down upon Kid, the sound of the fight that was certain to have occurred after...
If those men had captured Kid alive, they would discover who he was, go after those who were close. Nothing happened. Aoko only received calls from Kaito's mother, checking up on her. Of course she would know about Kaito's night life--she had, after all, been married to the original Kaitou Kid. Howw she could continue to be strong when faced with the possibility that her son could hav met the same fate as her husband...
Aoko tried to stay productive. She remembered what Kaito had said about the detectives, warning her that small Conan was more than he seemed and had a target on his back also. If anything were to happen to Ki, the small detective should be alerted since there was no telling what informatin those men could get out of Kaito. But even this was tricky.
There was no news of Kid being found dead.
There was also no sign that showed he'd been caught.
This small hope had Aoko returning again and again to that hideaway, each time expecting an injured thief.
No one showed.
Jii-san did the same with all the other safehouses, but no one was to be found there either.
Two weeks passed in this fashion. Aoko found herself staying with Kaito's mother more than her own fathe, who began chain-smoking and pulling all-nighters thanks to the fifth attempt to get at the gem. Three officers were in the hospital and the suspect ended up biting his own tongue after he's been successfully captured. Tokyo Headquarters was now involved. Megure-keibu and her father were now at each other's wits' end. Mouri Kogoro was called in but Edogawa Conan was conspicuously absent until the third week.
He'd gone straight over to Aoko the first day.
"Aoko-neechan," he began, feigning that childish tone since others were in view and earshot. "Kaitou Kid would have sent out a noticce if he was all right, right?"
Aoko could only shake her head. "He would have to stay quiet for a time, wouldn't he? I'm sure he--he'll turn up," she answered, attempting to smile and finding that it hurt. It hurt so much. Howw was Kaito able to stand that Poker Face?
Conan watched her for a moment before looking away, stating lowly, unable to b overheard by others, "If Kid was dead, they wouldn't try so hard to get at the prize while it's in its current location. Too much risk. They're trying to beat someone from getting to it first."
It suddenly made sense, and Aoko could only look to Conan whose eyes narrowed in a tense manner that was certainly not a look of a young child. It was only after a moment that she realized he was eying an officer who came running up from the back of the station, paper in hand--
Paper?
"Keibu!" the man shouted, waving the paper.
Both Megure and Aoko's father spun to him, faces showing their displeasure at having their attention being taken up by some supposed-flailing idiot. "What is it?" they both asked, one worn out and the other one strained and gruff.
The man only stopped when he was standing before them but then he was panting, beside himself with agitation. All attention was on him when he began to stammer, "K-Ka--g-ge--!"
"Ah? Spit it out already!" Aoko's father said sharply only to snatch the paper from the man's hand when he began to wave it around, spluttering out more "K-K--!" The inspector's eyebrow twiced before he smoothed out the paper and held it taunt between his two hands. He and Megure-keibu both leaned in close, reading the apparent letter--and then they both cried out at the same time in disbelief, "K-KAITOU KID?!"
"Kaitou Kid?" Mouri Kogoro asked before leaning over them both to peer at the letter. "'I have reclaimed the secret that was hidden withing the box never meant to be open. Sincere apologies to those who have taken on this burden while I was otherwise detained. Do not worry, legends of old will be buried and put at rest from now on. Kaitou Kid'... oi, oi, isn't this just more confusion? 'Secret that was hidden'?"
"Pandora, isn't it?" asked Conan, causing everyone to look to him. Aoko even noticed the way the boy seemed more tense than usual, a heavy frown on his young face. "The Greek legend of Pandora--who was given a box of all the evils of man and told not to open it, lest they all escape into the world. Pandora was beside herself in curiosity and ultimately opened the box. So it was that all the evils of man came into the world. Realizing what she had done, Pandora quickly shut the box--and only Hope remained inside it." He clenched his teeth for a moment after thinking this over. "This is bad."
"Bad?" Aoko asked, the relief that Kid had turned up and left the message fading quickly in face of this young detective Kid held in such high regards.
"Kid has the gem," Conan explained, voice sharpening as he turned to look to Aoko. "He got to the gem before those men did--he's made himself a larger target. If they hadn't caught him before, they won't even be trying that now. He'll be killed if he's found."
"How did Kaitou Kid manage to infiltrate our system when we managed to hold back all those different men in the first place?" Aoko's father demanded, beside himself now as he gripped the letter in hand. Whether he was furious that the gem was stolen under his nose or at the idea of Kid being hunted down and killed was something that Aoko couldn't tell. It was all the same, really.
"He's been here all along. That's the only explanation."
Aoko turned to see Hakuba Saguru approaching the group, his own features showing the seriousness of the situation much in the sam way Conan's did. The idea of Kid having been hidden right under her nose for the past three weeks made something within Aoko cry out in indignant pain. Why would Kid do that without letting them know--a sign, a hint? But no, she knew why--just one look at the two detectives showed that this situation was far too serious for Kid's usual games.
Fairness and childish virtues were lost once that gem had shown itself to Kid.
"It's all right," Conan said quietly and it was only a beat later that Aoko realized he was speaking to her."He's still here. In this room. Keeping an eye on all of us." He looked up at her, expression softening a bit with an understanding that made Conan look as though he wish he didn't understand. "All of the people he's close to is in this room, I suspect. What better way to know if those men haven't gone after those people?"
Aoko looked around the room--at all the different detectives and police officers, so many different people. And none of them looked out of place. None giving away if he was Kid. "How can you tell?" she asked, uncertain.
"I can tell," Conan said with a bit of a smirk on his face as he surveyed the room as well. "I've always managed to see through his disguises 100%."
"A better record than mine, I hate to admit," Hakuba spoke up as he moved to stand beside Aoko. "But I agree--Kid is here. There's a trick to all of this and it wouldn't work if he hadn't had a hand in the gem's protection."
The child-detective hunched his shoulders with a derisive laugh. "I knew he was an odd thief to start with, but this is almost too much. What kind of motives he may have..."
-tbc-
... I grew brain-dead at the end. X_x
Scene Title: Hopes and Speculations
Progress: WIP
There was no news of Kaitou Kid.
The gem that he'd thrown away that night remained under heavy guard, more cautious than usual after Aoko had made her statement. The Taskforce was full of grim features as they kept watcch over the thief's prize. No one came to claim it, but there had been three attempts to get at it in the first week. None of them Kid. All of them either dead or escaped.
Even wose, there was no word from Kaito.
Aoko continued to remember the sight of those men coming down upon Kid, the sound of the fight that was certain to have occurred after...
If those men had captured Kid alive, they would discover who he was, go after those who were close. Nothing happened. Aoko only received calls from Kaito's mother, checking up on her. Of course she would know about Kaito's night life--she had, after all, been married to the original Kaitou Kid. Howw she could continue to be strong when faced with the possibility that her son could hav met the same fate as her husband...
Aoko tried to stay productive. She remembered what Kaito had said about the detectives, warning her that small Conan was more than he seemed and had a target on his back also. If anything were to happen to Ki, the small detective should be alerted since there was no telling what informatin those men could get out of Kaito. But even this was tricky.
There was no news of Kid being found dead.
There was also no sign that showed he'd been caught.
This small hope had Aoko returning again and again to that hideaway, each time expecting an injured thief.
No one showed.
Jii-san did the same with all the other safehouses, but no one was to be found there either.
Two weeks passed in this fashion. Aoko found herself staying with Kaito's mother more than her own fathe, who began chain-smoking and pulling all-nighters thanks to the fifth attempt to get at the gem. Three officers were in the hospital and the suspect ended up biting his own tongue after he's been successfully captured. Tokyo Headquarters was now involved. Megure-keibu and her father were now at each other's wits' end. Mouri Kogoro was called in but Edogawa Conan was conspicuously absent until the third week.
He'd gone straight over to Aoko the first day.
"Aoko-neechan," he began, feigning that childish tone since others were in view and earshot. "Kaitou Kid would have sent out a noticce if he was all right, right?"
Aoko could only shake her head. "He would have to stay quiet for a time, wouldn't he? I'm sure he--he'll turn up," she answered, attempting to smile and finding that it hurt. It hurt so much. Howw was Kaito able to stand that Poker Face?
Conan watched her for a moment before looking away, stating lowly, unable to b overheard by others, "If Kid was dead, they wouldn't try so hard to get at the prize while it's in its current location. Too much risk. They're trying to beat someone from getting to it first."
It suddenly made sense, and Aoko could only look to Conan whose eyes narrowed in a tense manner that was certainly not a look of a young child. It was only after a moment that she realized he was eying an officer who came running up from the back of the station, paper in hand--
Paper?
"Keibu!" the man shouted, waving the paper.
Both Megure and Aoko's father spun to him, faces showing their displeasure at having their attention being taken up by some supposed-flailing idiot. "What is it?" they both asked, one worn out and the other one strained and gruff.
The man only stopped when he was standing before them but then he was panting, beside himself with agitation. All attention was on him when he began to stammer, "K-Ka--g-ge--!"
"Ah? Spit it out already!" Aoko's father said sharply only to snatch the paper from the man's hand when he began to wave it around, spluttering out more "K-K--!" The inspector's eyebrow twiced before he smoothed out the paper and held it taunt between his two hands. He and Megure-keibu both leaned in close, reading the apparent letter--and then they both cried out at the same time in disbelief, "K-KAITOU KID?!"
"Kaitou Kid?" Mouri Kogoro asked before leaning over them both to peer at the letter. "'I have reclaimed the secret that was hidden withing the box never meant to be open. Sincere apologies to those who have taken on this burden while I was otherwise detained. Do not worry, legends of old will be buried and put at rest from now on. Kaitou Kid'... oi, oi, isn't this just more confusion? 'Secret that was hidden'?"
"Pandora, isn't it?" asked Conan, causing everyone to look to him. Aoko even noticed the way the boy seemed more tense than usual, a heavy frown on his young face. "The Greek legend of Pandora--who was given a box of all the evils of man and told not to open it, lest they all escape into the world. Pandora was beside herself in curiosity and ultimately opened the box. So it was that all the evils of man came into the world. Realizing what she had done, Pandora quickly shut the box--and only Hope remained inside it." He clenched his teeth for a moment after thinking this over. "This is bad."
"Bad?" Aoko asked, the relief that Kid had turned up and left the message fading quickly in face of this young detective Kid held in such high regards.
"Kid has the gem," Conan explained, voice sharpening as he turned to look to Aoko. "He got to the gem before those men did--he's made himself a larger target. If they hadn't caught him before, they won't even be trying that now. He'll be killed if he's found."
"How did Kaitou Kid manage to infiltrate our system when we managed to hold back all those different men in the first place?" Aoko's father demanded, beside himself now as he gripped the letter in hand. Whether he was furious that the gem was stolen under his nose or at the idea of Kid being hunted down and killed was something that Aoko couldn't tell. It was all the same, really.
"He's been here all along. That's the only explanation."
Aoko turned to see Hakuba Saguru approaching the group, his own features showing the seriousness of the situation much in the sam way Conan's did. The idea of Kid having been hidden right under her nose for the past three weeks made something within Aoko cry out in indignant pain. Why would Kid do that without letting them know--a sign, a hint? But no, she knew why--just one look at the two detectives showed that this situation was far too serious for Kid's usual games.
Fairness and childish virtues were lost once that gem had shown itself to Kid.
"It's all right," Conan said quietly and it was only a beat later that Aoko realized he was speaking to her."He's still here. In this room. Keeping an eye on all of us." He looked up at her, expression softening a bit with an understanding that made Conan look as though he wish he didn't understand. "All of the people he's close to is in this room, I suspect. What better way to know if those men haven't gone after those people?"
Aoko looked around the room--at all the different detectives and police officers, so many different people. And none of them looked out of place. None giving away if he was Kid. "How can you tell?" she asked, uncertain.
"I can tell," Conan said with a bit of a smirk on his face as he surveyed the room as well. "I've always managed to see through his disguises 100%."
"A better record than mine, I hate to admit," Hakuba spoke up as he moved to stand beside Aoko. "But I agree--Kid is here. There's a trick to all of this and it wouldn't work if he hadn't had a hand in the gem's protection."
The child-detective hunched his shoulders with a derisive laugh. "I knew he was an odd thief to start with, but this is almost too much. What kind of motives he may have..."
-tbc-
... I grew brain-dead at the end. X_x