Last Shot at Love

Author's Notes: Hiya. I know everyone hates me for previously disappearing off the face of the earth with my two other fics. I know.... leave me alone. I just didn't feel like writing any more. Deal with it XD

This fic will probably be the same, too. Especially considering highschool is under two weeks away and I think the medication they're giving me for my ear infection is what's giving me the oomf to write this.

This is my first Case Closed/Detective Conan fic (obviously) so no flaming. I haven't been watching the show from the beginning and will get my first Detective Conan manga tomorrow. Please be polite when correcting my mistakes in your reviews. I am also aware that the backbone of my plot is beyond cliche, and again, deal with it. If my fic is too fluffy in parts for your liking, don't read it. Don't flame me. My fic will be quite original, so just be patient. Thanks a bunch in advance!

Your lovely, manipulative anthy,

-Bunny

P.S. Hush. I know I'm using the American names. Too bad...I'm far too lazy to use my knowledge of the Japanese language to make this fic seem more...real.

Disclaimer: No. I don't own Case Closed, Detective Conan, or any of the characters besides the ones I've obviously made up (I.E. "Lover boy", etc) . But I will. Mark my words. I WILL.

Last Shot at Love, File 1

It was a nippy day in early March. You knew Spring was just around the corner, but it was still cold enough to rival the temperatures in the middle of the winter. It was on this particular day that Rachael had decided to bring Conan along to her karate lesson. She thought he would find it interesting, as it was the practice before a tournament the following day, so it would be particularly vigorous. She smiled, humming a tuneless song, the gloves that Jimmy had given her for Christmas keeping her hands nice and toasty. The girl periodically stopped, tightening Conan's scarf and adjusting his hat...she had really take her job as his temporary "mother" quite seriously. "Now Conan... you need to stay out of the way. The last thing I need is for you to get hit... That would be a trip to the hospital for sure." she reminded. For the umpteenth time. In all honesty, Conan was literally having to bite his tongue to keep from snapping out a comment along the lines of, ' I know, Rachael! I'm not stupid!!' Honestly. Treating him like a child... Of course, that's when he realized he WAS a child and she was really only doing it for his own good. They reached her school building, pushing the doors open. The warm air was a welcome feeling on their now pink faces.

Conan smiled, looking around. It was nice to be back in his old highschool. It still had the old smell to it, too. Some things never changed. Rachael led him upstairs, placing him firmly on a bench and informing him not to move, returning shortly after clad in her uniform. There were a series of other students in the room, most familiar to Conan from his Jimmy days. NORMAL days, he reminded himself. He swung his feet absently, watching group warm up with mild interest, before something caught his eye. Someone he'd never seen before. And he was talking to Rachael. Jealousy bubbled up in the pit of his stomach, his eyes narrowing dangerously. He didn't know why he suddenly felt such resentment...maybe it was because he was in this particular body and had no way of telling this older boy to keep his hands off Rachael. His blushed furiously. He was going to have to square with his crush on her one of these days...just not today. The two laughed and he felt even more hate fill him...Time to put this body to use... The boy jumped up, walking carefully to the mat and falling over a foot from someone who had been kicking. Instantly he began to wail.

His plan worked, and his caretaker walked over with a concerned look. "Conan! I told you to stay on the bench!!" The 'cause' of Conan's crying was also scolding and cooing 'awww's to him.("I didn't even feel my foot touch him!" she proclaimed to Rachael in an apologetic way.) The teen stayed with her charge until class started. He smirked to himself, feeling emense pride in the fact that he had pulled off his stunt. He resumed watching with a small ammount of interest, mentally commentating to himself for entertainment. Soon enough, the class had ended, and Rachael took to bundling Conan back up, wrapping herself in various layers of clothing as well. That's when, as Conan dubbed him as of that moment, "Loverboy" showed up.

"Hey Rache!" He said in a smooth voice. (Hey!! How come HE calls her "Rache"?! I'm the only one who ever calls her that!! were Conan's current thoughts.) "Want a ride home? It's cold out there. Wouldn't want you and the kid here to get frostbite." He wasn't ugly; far from it. He had dark brown hair, and chocolate eyes. His skin wasn't quite tan, but wasn't pale, and his build reminded Conan distinctly of his own when he was normal. Overall handsome. Not quite up to Serena's standards of "hot", but he could definatly pose as a threat to Jimmy.

The girl smiled. "Sure. Let me finish wrapping Conan up... I don't want him to catch a cold." Conan's stare was so cold he was suprised that the boy's nose didn't fall off. Loverboy lead them to his car, opening the door for Rachael and situating Conan in the backseat for her before driving them off. It was an old car, for sure, but it ran smootly enough. Conan frowned and scowled the whole way home, staring at the driver's constant glancing at Rachael whenever they came to a stop. He has no chance. Rachael wouldn't date anyone like him, he thought bitterly. On a slightly more concerned note the thought of, Or would she?! took it's predisesor's place. They reached the Moore household , and Loverboy (who was apparently named "Joey") waved them off, beaming. Rachael smiled broadly, inserting her housekey into the door, humming the same tuneless song from earlier. It seemed as if Conan's worst fears were soon to be realized; Rachael had taken a love interest in this clown.

Richard was inside, craning over some papers on his desk, massaging his temples. Apparently he'd come to yet another "wall" in a case. Rachael went to make Conan something to eat and he took to staring over Detective Moore's shoulder. Something about the cause of death of some 7-year-old. The child smirked. It was simple. She clearly was strangled to death before being beaten for good measure. That's why there wasn't that much blood clotted over her cuts and the bruises weren't darker. He'd give that information descreetly to Richard later, though. He had bigger fish to fry. Namely figureing out if those two were just friends or if Rachael really was interested. Not to mention if it was the latter of the two, he needed to figure out how to douse that little spark before anything happened. He left the room, taking his thinking to the couch. He felt sort of bad about being this determined to get this Joey character away from Rachael. But he just wouldn't be able to stand it if they started dating. Although he did want Rachael happy. He heard her cry sometimes at night, and he could only guess it was because she was feeling lonely. After all, her best friend of nearly twelve years just dissapeared one day to work on some mystery without so much as a goodbye. At least, that was what she thought, and Conan had no intentions of making her think differently, although at times he was sorely tempted to tell her everything.

Especially when she cried.

He HATED it when she cried.

Rachael interupted his thoughts by pestering him into the kitchen for tomato soup and grilled cheese. As he nibbled and sipped at his meal, he continued to think. Maybe rather than trying to come between them, he should encourage it. He had no clue as to when his body would be back to normal, if it would EVER be the same, and if he saw Rachael cry again, he swore he'd break down too. Of course, then he wouuld be miserable. It was a tough desicion, for sure. He wished he had his body back more than anything. Then this problem wouldn't exist, because no one ever messed with Rache when he was around.

His thoughts were interupted again, this time by the phone ringing. Rachael picked up. "Moore Detective Agency. Yes. Yes. Conan....it's for you." she handed the phone to him, staring for a moment, before leaving the room to do something or another. It was soon obvious why she'd stared. Doctor Agasa's voice came from the other end.

"Conan?"

"Oh. It's you. What is it?"

"We have a break. From a blood sample I took a few months ago, I may have a cure."

The boy couldn't hold in the surge of pure joy that emerged from this statement. He jumped up and gave a huge whoop of happiness. " Yes!! When can we try it?!"

"Tomorrow... I'll leave it on the doorstep for you, because I have a previous engagement. But Conan, you SHOULD know--"

"Gotta go... Rachael is nagging me to eat. Bye!!!" click. What Conan should have known would be a mystery until the next day for the child. His head swam as he all but inhaled his food. He'd forge a phone call from his parents to Moore, leave, and show up at Rachael's karate competition tomorrow. He grinned to himself. His problems were SOLVED.

Don't worry, Rache. I'm coming home... you don't have to cry anymore...

MORE Author's Notes : Well. That's fairly long for me... I'm proud of it. This fic, for the record, will be in 3 "Files", aka chapters. Sort of like a beginning, middle, and end. Yeah. Er... review. I feed off of your reviews and they make me write and stuff o.o; Also, if I get enough good feedback, I'll get off my bum and make you all...ILLUSTRATIONS... (-insert gasps here-). Yeah. Later gators. I've got pocky to consume, ear infections to complain about.

MWAH!

-Bunny