Title: Seeking Solace from the Moonlight

By: EsTeLweNadia

Summary: One-shot. Missing scene in Movie 13 – The Raven Chaser. Unable to sleep again after waking up from a horrifying nightmare, Shinichi found an unexpected solace from the moonlight.

Rating: Angst/Friendship

Disclaimer: Anyone and anything that you recognize from Detective Conan, is/are from Detective Conan.

Author's Note: The intro to the movie was really gripping and tense. And I was actually relieved it was a nightmare. But poor Shinichi was left hanging like that, no closure, and dammit, I want him to have some closure, or at least, some comfort. So here it is!

As always, comments and constructive criticism are immensely appreciated.

Hope you'll enjoy the ride!

On the rooftop of the Mouri Detective Agency, in the cold, lonely night, sat a seemingly young boy with a not-so-young mind, who had his legs drawn up to his chest, arms locked around both appendages, chin resting on his knees. His usually sharp and clear azure eyes were clouded with profound misery. His small body trembled slightly with minute shivers from exposure to the chilly air or maybe something far more sinister, but he seemed not to notice, or even care.

Kudo Shinichi, now publicly known as Edogawa Conan except for some precious few (unfortunately it didn't include his VERY special, precious someone) cursed the brilliance of his mind, the ability to remember things so clearly, down to the very last detail and the ability to imagine and visualize scenarios. They were a blessing, when he was solving a murder case. They were a blessing, when he was decoding some tricky messages left behind by criminals or victims, and of course, the famous Phantom Thief. They were a blessing, when he was trying to unveil the black cloak that surrounded the elusive Black Organization. But now, they were a curse, because he was well and truly trapped in the nightmarish realm of recurring terror that had visited him earlier that night.

Shock.

Gin. Vodka. In the room. With him. Alone. The realization that they knew his identity, the unanswered question of how they knew.

Fear.

Gin's hand clamping around his jaw in a vice-like grip, lifting him bodily in the air. His frantic but useless struggles to get away.

Horror.

Ran's concerned voice echoing from the hallway. Vodka cocking his gun, readying behind the door, aiming to fire. Trying to scream, only managing garbled sounds, muffled by the enormous hand.

Horror.

Gin's coldly whispered words, laced with malicious delight as he drawled out the consequences of involving anyone in his mess.

Horror.

Ran's shadow looming closer, Gin's smirk widening, the knob being turned, Vodka smirking, door opening, Vodka's finger tightening on the trigger, Ran peering inside, his futile warnings, then –

RAN!

"Kuso!" Shinichi grated, burying his head deeper in his arms, trying vainly to ward off the imagery, the very real fear that refused to subside no matter what he did. Get out of my head, get out, get out, get out, get out, get out!

Something settled gently around his quaking shoulders. It took a second to register the thick, warm cloth and the presence of someone very familiar, before he heard a lightly pleasant voice cutting through his despair like a sword slashing through a fog. Kaitou KID.

"Are you alright, Tantei-kun?"

Shinchi gripped the cloth tighter around himself, trying to disappear within the folds, away from anything, anyone. "Go away, KID." His voice was raspy, thick with pain. He glanced away, preferring to look at anywhere else BUT the Kaitou KID clad arrogantly in white, gleaming monocle and a condescending smirk. "Leave me alone."

A soft click of footsteps, moving TOWARDS him, instead of away. A quiet rustle of cloth, a light sigh and soon KID had very much seated himself right in front of the miserable not-child who looked very much like a child at the moment.

"You are having nightmares again, aren't you," KID said flatly. It wasn't a question. Somehow KID knew, and he had known for a long time.

Shinichi didn't even bother replying, just pulled the cloth tighter around him and stubbornly averted his gaze. He feared that if he allowed KID to see his eyes, KID would see right into his soul. Shinichi was pretty much defenseless, vulnerable now. No masks this time, no pretenses, not even false bravadoes. Just a small child frightened witless from nightmares.

Nightmare. Unbidden, unwanted, the ugly images fought to resurface in his mind, the lurking terror fought to break free from the confines of his heart. He squeezed his eyes tighter, gritting his teeth as he valiantly struggled to push them away, to lock them somewhere deep enough they couldn't reappear ever again. But he was failing, because darkness was their strength, and he was falling, falling, falling…

"Shinichi! Shinichi! Shinichi!"

Someone was hissing his name insistently, shaking his shoulders violently.

"SHINICHI!"

His eyes snapped open, and he found himself staring at the face of a now very alarmed Phantom Thief, Poker Face apparently forgotten.

"KID," he whimpered. How his voice shook, and dammit, there was a strange prickling at his eyes. Tears. Some part of his mind rebel the idea of Kudo Shinichi, the famous Detective of the East, the Savior of the Police, the Modern Sherlock Holmes, the Meitantei, crying, but he didn't care. At that moment, he didn't care. He had been shrunk as a kid, so he was entitled to be a kid. To cry.

"Look at me, Tantei-kun." KID ordered sharply. "Look. At. Me."

Taking deep, shuddering breaths, Shinichi raised his eyes to meet KID's.

KID's eyes were deep blue, pools of molten sapphire that reflected tranquility and silent strength. Within those pools lurked calm confidence and piercing intellect. Sometimes, they would glimmer with mischief, especially if he was pulling a heist or a performance of some sorts. And when things really did go where he wanted them to be, his eyes would shine with maniac smugness.

But now, none of those was present. All Shinichi could see were muted concern, the willingness to help, to listen.

To be a friend, instead of a foe.

Slowly, Shinichi came back to himself, not quite as the fearless, peerless detective, but goddamned close, and it was enough. The haze of paranoia had started to dissipate; the terror had ebbed away, leaving him feeling empty and incredibly weary.

"What are you doing here, Kaitou KID?" was the first thing Shinichi asked as soon as he found his voice. He was glad to hear it coming out stronger, if not still a little hoarse.

The Moonlight Magician blinked, then erupted into an extremely bright grin that rivaled the moonlight. "Why, to check on my favorite little critic, of course!"

"Why?" the question was conveyed flatly, with no hint of interest or wariness or whatsoever. It was so empty of emotions, KID did a double take. Cheerfulness leeching away, KID now looked at the shrunken detective genius in utter seriousness.

"You look like you need it, Tantei-kun," KID said softly. "You are alone in your pain, and in times like this, when help seems so far away; you have no choice but to deal with it on your own."

Shinichi glanced away. KID was right. Every time he bolted up in his bed, sweating and panting from the remnants of the nightmare, he had been alone. Mouri Kogoro was dead asleep on his bed, and Ran… he couldn't go to Ran. Hattori and Agasa-hakase were miles away, and calling them in the middle of the night to tell them he had a nightmare seemed so silly. Besides, reassurances from the other end of the line weren't what he needed. Not when he was still haunted by the nightmares, even in his waking moments.

"I will not deny that I am indeed concerned," KID went on. "You are only eighteen, and normal eighteen-year-olds shouldn't be going through what you are going through. You might be the unmatched Mister Great Detective, but you are not invincible, or invulnerable. You hide your pain very well so others will not worry or fuss over you. Too well, in fact. They have no idea what you are going through, and you want it to stay that way. You want to handle it on your own. But look at what you are doing to yourself."

Shinichi knew. There is only so much your heart and mind can take. You try to cram in some more, they will only backfire and pull you down under, when you are at your most vulnerable. "How long have you know about this?" He had told no one of his nightmares.

KID only tilted his head to stare coolly at the detective, his face betraying nothing.

Shinichi blinked, forcing his brain to think, to recall anything out of place around or within the Agency. Listening bugs? None. He had checked every now and then for the discreet devices when no one was looking. Suspicious individuals lurking nearby? He would know. His detective's instincts had never failed him before. So what else…

A dove, Shinichi realized. He had been noticing a white dove outside the Agency since his first run-in with KID, as Conan. And seeing that KID loves doves, he had deduced that KID had been sending it to keep tabs on Mouri Kogorou so the thief could plan his next heist with what he had gathered from the dove about the bumbling detective. He had known this and ignored it, anyway.

"The dove." Shinichi said, mouth quirking slightly. "And if I am not wrong, it's the same one that I'd saved during the Memories Egg heist, right?"

KID whistled, and a dove came fluttering from somewhere nearby to land on the thief's shoulder and nibble happily on its master's unruly hair. "Bingo, Tantei-kun. And his name is Hato. I did not send him to keep tabs on Mouri Kogorou; I sent him to keep tabs on YOU. You are the challenge, after all. Strangely, I did not send him tonight. He flew over here himself, listening device attached and all. He must have missed you."

Shinichi's features softened. "Missed me, huh?" He held out a palm, and Hato flew off KID's shoulder onto his waiting hand. Shinichi stroked the bird's feathers fondly. The dove cooed in delight at the detective's tender touch.

"Thank you, KID," he whispered, pouring every bit of gratitude into the phrase.

KID smiled, relieved now that the chibi Tantei was finally feeling better. "You are very welcome, Tantei-kun. If only we are not on the opposite sides of the law, we might have gotten along."

"In spite of that, we already have," Shinichi smugly corrected the thief's mistake.

And it was true.

"If it makes you feel a lot better," KID cut in, rolling his eyes although the amused grin still stayed in place, "I let you in a little secret; in a month's time, there will be another heist unlike the others before. This time, it will be on MY turf." The amused grin transformed into an outright, blinding smirk.

Shinichi blinked.

He was still thinking about it when KID stood up in one smooth motion. Hato immediately left his lap to be with his master. Shinichi looked up at the thief, who tipped his hat in response. The monocle gleamed sliver in the moonlight.

"Stay safe, Tantei-kun," KID said softly. "And always remember, that you are not alone. Never alone."

Before Shinichi could do anything, the Phantom Thief fell off from the rooftop. By the time he reached the edge to peer at the ground floor, KID and Hato were nowhere to be found.

The shrunken detective sweatdropped. You don't have to leave that way. Baka.

Turning back, Shinichi realized that something was on the floor where KID once stood. He picked it up and frowned.

It was a dreamcatcher; a loose web was woven within a small hoop, with feathers dangling below it. Legends have it that a dreamcatcher is able to change a person's dream; by trapping nightmares in the web and allowing good dreams to pass through and slide down the feathers to the sleeper. The nightmares will then perish in the light of dawn.

A wistful smile graced his weary features. How fitting indeed for his current situation.

The charm was intricately and carefully made. Shinichi wasn't sure whether to feel humiliated or touched by KID's thoughtfulness.

And, he realized, the cloth that KID had put around his shoulders? Was actually his blanket. How KID managed to sneak in and get it out from the room, Shinichi didn't want to know.

Making his way back to his bed, Shinichi paused for awhile at Ran's room, peering at her peacefully sleeping profile. She was safe and sound, snug and warm and within his reach, and that was the most important thing.

He hung the dreamcatcher on Ojisan's bedframe, closest to his head.

Keep the nightmares away from me, he silently commanded the charm. I need to sleep.

Pulling the blanket up to his chin, Shinichi closed his eyes.

Within moments, sleep rose and stole his consciousness away.

And this time, he did not dream.

Rooftops away, KID slowly lowered his binoculars.

Tantei-kun had gone back to sleep, finally, and by the looks of it, the sleep was peaceful and deep.

Sleep well, Tantei-kun. We will meet again.

-The End-

Woohoo! Finally done!

A gift for myself, on my birthday!

Now that Shinichi had found some closure, I have found mine.

Thank you for reading!

*imitating KID* We will meet again!