A/N: Though it's proven that Kid knows Conan's identity in the movies, it's still debatable in the manga currently. For the sake of this fic, Kid doesn't know Conan is Shinichi.

Chapter beta'd by Crystia. (Who, might I add, tries to Americanise my spelling just to annoy me (all in the name of fun, of course))

The small, red-white pill clinked in the glass vial.

"This is it, then?" Conan murmured warily, studying the antidote.

He carefully cradled the innocuous-looking vial in the palm of his hand, staring intently at it like it held all the answers to the great mysteries of life. And frankly, the importance of the pill was probably somewhere equivalent, because Conan couldn't find words to express just how significant it was. How long had Conan been stuck as a child? How long had he found himself with no one to confide in but his parents and a small group of friends?

He was tired of being underestimated and written off as unintelligent just because of his apparent age, and this pill would rectify everything.

Haibara dipped her head into a slow nod. "It's the latest antidote. All simulation and experiments conclude the stable restoration of DNA."

It would have been nice if that was all the shrunken scientist had to say, but Conan knew better than that.

"But?" he urged, hearing the silent conjunction Haibara hesitated to give. His hands unconsciously clutched tighter around the new prototype as if afraid the girl would snatch it back from him.

Haibara turned away, walking over to scoop up the files she left out. "But it results in a much lower survival rate than the other prototypes," she murmured, eyes reluctant to meet his.

"How low?"

"Seventy-three percent."

Conan let out a long sibilant sound at the numbers. "That's low."

"Exactly, Kudo-kun," she said, but she made no attempts to retract the pill from the boy's grasp.

Conan finally loosened his hold and rolled the vial in his hands. "So why are you giving it to me?" he asked.

There was something vaguely apologetic in the look the scientist gave him, when Conan glanced over. "Because it's the best I can do," Haibara said with a sigh, sounding equally dejected and frustrated. "Unless you can find more information on the original Apoptoxin, this is the closest antidote I can make. I've already spent several months improving the survival rate from sixty to seventy-three percent."

"If you spend longer-"

"I can't, Kudo," Haibara snapped. "I've exhausted every possibility just to improve it the barest amount. There's not much more I can do."

"Then you're giving up?" Conan demanded.

"No. But I've already pulled all the information I could get from the sparse notes I recovered. Unless a sudden inspiration arises, there's not more I can do."

Conan matched the girl's glare before he sighed and nodded in acknowledgement, slouching into the couch behind him. He knew Haibara was trying her best with what little data they had at their disposal.

Haibara had no obligation to work on the antidote, anyway. Conan realised within the first few months he'd met her that she had no need for the antidote – she didn't have anything left in her original life and was more than content to live on as a child. It was only for Shinichi's sake that she continued to work on it.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and They will conveniently drop a pill for you to study," Conan finally said with a dry laugh.

Haibara's paling face told Conan all he needed to know about her thoughts on that idea. "Relax, Haibara. I know better than to show my face around them."

"Do you?" she retorted.

"Oi, I never search them out on purpose," Conan countered.

And he hadn't. Every time he had a run in with the Organisation, it was only because the opportunity had presented itself. He'd never deliberately sought them out, despite what Haibara thought of his dangerous tendencies.

Conan shook the pills once more, letting the rattling sound catch her attention and draw her thoughts away.

"So why are you giving these to me?" he continued on quickly.

Haibara let out a defeated sigh.

"I predict it will take years longer before I can create an antidote superior to this one. There's only so much you can do to bring Them down as Conan, and the longer we wait, the stronger they'll get," she explained as she pinched the bridge of her nose with a tired sigh.

Conan knew she was right.

At this point, they were aware of most of the Organisation's members, however if they let the peace stretch on, more and more recruits would only appear. Not that they knew the entire workings of the Organisation presently, but who knew how long it would be before undercover agents like Kir were oust? She had already been suspected of treachery once; it wouldn't take much for that to happen again.

Haibara caught Conan's eye. "I'm giving you a choice," she said plainly. "Will you gamble your life in order to take them down?"

Conan shivered as her eyes bore on his, steely and callous, and he knew better than to disappoint. What did he choose? Conan stared at the pills in his hands before looking back up to Haibara. The boy cracked a small smirk.

He had a feeling Haibara knew his answer before she even asked.

Conan's departure was infinitely more organised than his arrival.

His first order of business had been to call Yusaku and Yukiko back home from their inane game of hide-and-seek from Yusaku's editors. Despite Conan's critically vague explanation, fearful of anyone tapping into the international call, the two elder Kudo knew their son well. They knew he wouldn't call them if it wasn't serious, and so their arrival at Agasa-hakase's was the earliest that flight schedules would allow.

Yukiko wasted no time the moment her feet cross the threshold of the professor's house.

"Shin-chan!" Yukiko called out, rushing to pull the boy into her chest.

"Mom," Conan sputtered as Yusaku only looked on, amused and wandering inside at a more sedated pace.

The boy tried to wiggle out of his mother's hold, but it only made the woman hug him tighter. "What's going on now?" Yukiko wailed. "You know I don't like it when you do anything dangerous."

Conan tensed.

"Shinichi?" Yusaku questioned, as he placed a sturdy hand on his wife's shoulder. "It sounded important."

"It is." The boy hesitated, but eventually pulled a closed, glass vial from the depths of his pockets and set it onto the table. "I have to do this," he said softly when his parents finished studying the pill. Conan glanced up, catching his father's intense gaze in his own determined ones.

If possible, Yukiko's grip tightened even more, fingers digging into Conan's arms. Still, she held her tongue, trusting Yusaku to know what he was doing. If she had things her way, her Shin-chan would never be in danger. But he already was. And now, in matters of crime and justice, these things were Yusaku and Shinichi's forte. The bond between father and son — between detectives — was something she couldn't interfere with.

Yusaku rubbed his chin, eyes narrow and sharp, inferring unsaid words.

"And the consequences?" the man finally asked.

"They're worth it," Conan answered strongly.

Even Yukiko couldn't deny her precious son anything when he sounded so definite and certain. "Will you regret your decision?"

"I'll regret it if I don't."

Yusaku gave an acceptant nod.

"Then there's no way we can change your mind, can we?" he replied. "If you believe it's the right thing to do, then we, as your parents, will support you no matter what."

Behind them, Haibara's silent steps treaded into the room. She'd stepped aside for their privacy when the Kudo family gathered, but she'd clearly heard at least some of the conversation.

"You understand what's going to happen?" she asked, directing her question to the elder Kudos.

Yusaku eyed the pill vial on the table. "I have a fair idea."

"And you also understand what happens if it fails?"

Yusaku closed his eyes to the ominous words.

Haibara allowed the man his silence, walking over to the shrunken detective. "Have you finished your arrangements?"

Conan gave a tight smile.

"Yeah. If – if it fails," he said as Yukiko buried her face in his shoulder, "I have a note for you to take to Hattori, and you know what to say to Ran," he continued, handing over the bowtie with its knobs set to his teenage voice. "They can't know beforehand. I don't need Hattori to worry, and Ran-" he licked his dry lips, "I'd rather Ran think I'm moving on than dead."

"That's not fair to her," Yukiko murmured softly.

"I don't want her to cry over me."

Yukiko shook her head. "She'll still cry."

"What do I have to do to not make her cry?" Conan whispered, but mostly to himself.

"Live," Yusaku answered. "Make it through the antidote and live to see us again." The man's lips slipped into a grim, yet unflinching line. "Is your will to live strong?"

Conan's eyes burned brightly. "Yes."

They were finalising the plans for Conan's immediate departure scheduled for the next morning when his phone rang. The boy pulled out his cell, glancing at the caller ID.

"It's Ran," he uttered, surprise colouring his tone. Pulling up his seven-year-old voice, Conan accepted the call, trying to push out the worry from his tone. "Hello?"

"Conan-kun?" Ran's voice answered. She didn't sound troubled, but Conan couldn't fathom why else she would call. He'd already told her he was sleeping over at the professor's house, and he didn't think he forgot anything. He'd slept over often enough for her to know to let him be.

"Ran-neechan, what's wrong?"

The girl gave an apologetic 'Oh!' on the other side of the speaker. "Sorry Conan-kun. I know you wanted to spend your last day with the professor and Ai-chan before your mom arrives tomorrow, but I thought you might want to do something fun before you head back to America."

"Are we going out for dinner?" Conan asked, confused.

Conan could hear Ran's smile. "If you want afterwards," she said before quickly clarifying, "I think you were too busy packing to pay attention, but there's a Kaitou Kid heist tonight, and I know how much you love attending those."

Conan blinked in surprise. He had been too distracted to pay any attention to Kid's impending heists (and wouldn't he be miffed, that narcissist thief), but it wasn't because of something like packing – he'd been too busy making plans to bring down the Black Organisation.

Conan glanced over at Haibara and his parents; he'd had plans and back-up plans for his departure as Conan (and possible death), but none that had included the thief. He supposed it was only common courtesy to bid Kid farewell, especially after all the times he'd helped him.

"I want to go, Ran-neechan!" he chirped. "I'll tell Agasa-hakase I'm heading over now."

Ran giggled. "Alright. I'll meet you here, Conan-kun."

"Kaitou Kid, huh?" Yusaku said as Conan snapped his phone shut.

"Yeah. You know him?" Conan asked idly, packing away his things.

He zipped up the precious pill into a safe inner pocket of his jacket. He wouldn't put it past his mother to snatch it and hide it away if he left it out. The woman was protective and impulsive; Conan knew she only wanted to keep him safe, but he had to do this.

Yusaku gave a little hum. "His predecessor."

Conan nodded thoughtfully, but he didn't think too much on it. Phantom thieves weren't really his thing; his focus was on murder. Kaitou Kid's heists were just an amusing pastime that didn't involve death. Really, it was perhaps the only place he could walk around without a body suddenly falling dead in front of him.

"I knew he was too young to be the original," Conan contributed from the little he'd instinctively deduced, courtesy of their numerous encounters.

There was a clandestine smile on Yusaku's face. "Well, whatever you decide to tell him..." he murmured to his son's retreating back, pitched so low it was questionable whether or not Conan could even hear him. "Phantom thieves are more trustworthy and loyal than you would believe."