The Wrath of Heaven

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaitou or any of the characters. All of them belong to Goshou Aoyama. I do, however, own the OCs and plotlines used in this fic.

Chapter 3

It was later that day, after school was out and the two not-children had returned home to Agasa's house before Conan even broached the subject of New York. He had sat down Ai and the professor to explain the situation before requesting their help.

"I'll do whatever I can to help you, Shinichi, you know that," the professor said after processing the information he had just received for a few minutes. "But isn't going to New York just a tad more dangerous than all the other moves you've taken against the Black Organization thus far?"

"This isn't just a tad dangerous," Ai growled out through half-clenched teeth. "If we take Vermouth up on her offer, we might as well march right on up to Gin and tell him about the alternate side-effects APTX4869 and our true identities. Kudo, what is going on in that brain of yours? What reasons could you possible have to think this trip would have even the slightest percent chance of safety?"

"We're still alive," Conan answered her in a serious tone, but his eyes were bright with excitement. The shrunken girl visibly tensed when she saw just how bright they were. That light in his eyes was the one that always shone when the rare opportunity of just maybe making headway in their fight against the Black Organization appeared. She was beginning to become very wary whenever she saw that light in the shrunken detective's eyes.

"Yes, we are," Ai commented with no little amount of trepidation in her voice. Trepidation that Conan either ignored or was too single-minded to hear and comprehend. "What does that prove?"

"Sharon Vineyard knows that Conan Edogawa is the same person as Shinichi Kudo and that Ai Haibara is Shiho Miyano, and we are still alive," Conan's tone burned with pleading, insistence, and persistence simultaneously. "If she wanted us dead, we would've been dead a long time ago. She could have just ordered a hit out on us; she need not have taken the trouble of contacting me through my mother."

"Have you ever stopped to think that her way of contact was not to show that she is on your side but a threat to your family from the organization?" Ai's tone became more harsh, her mouth was narrowed in a very thin line, and her eyes hardened in a frustrated glare. "Why are you always so eager to rush head-first into very possibly lethal situations?"

"Look," Conan began to say as the lights in his eyes began to dim and were replaced by a desperation the not-girl couldn't recognize. "Weighing in the fact that this might be a trap, we cannot afford to not go just because we fear that single possibility. If she truly wishes to help us, we must go secure her status as our ally."

"The potential risks far surpass the potential benefits," Ai responded, her voice rising with every word she spoke. She was almost shouting by the time she was done. "I know you, Kudo. I know you don't like asking this, that you would go alone were it possible. You'd rather I didn't know about this lead at all. And I know you would do your best to escape from our presence to go to this meeting by yourself. So I ask you this, why the hell are so determined to go to New York and to risk your own life?"

"SO NOONE ELSE HAS TO!" the miniature detective, finally losing his cool, shouted this in a voice more than twice as loud as Ai's had been on her last word. His outburst caused Ai to flinch back in wide-eyed surprise. "I'm tired of putting the people I care about in danger. If this really is a threat to my family, that's all the more reason why I can't not go. And as much as I don't like it, if this is a secret meeting, the safest guise to travel to New York in would obviously be with you two, as a family. Since tomorrow is the last day of school, it's the supposedly perfect time to go on a vacation."

"You should have just said so in the first place. We'll go," Haibara said in a gentle tone, giving the not-boy's hand a gentle squeeze. Her glare had softened in a sympathetic gaze before suddenly morphing into a mischievous smirk that scared Conan almost as much the Black Org. itself. "But you're the one who gets to tell the Shounen Tanteidan that we are going to America without them."

"Agh," the annoyed sound ripped from Conan's throat before he could stop it. His sudden expression of melancholy caused a giggle to escape from Ai. "As if it wasn't bad enough telling my mom that she can't come, I still have to convince Kaitou to not do anything as Kid while we're gone. Thanks for the lovely addition of the wrath of three very hyperactive children."

"You're welcome," Ai said with a smile that looked like, to anyone who did not know her, an ordinary, happy, playful little girl smile. Conan knew better, that it was both a knowing smirk and an unexpected apology.

The next morning dawned a beautiful spring day. The sun was shining. Birds were chirping. Flowers were blooming. Clouds were floating slowly across the sky on no particularly predetermined path. Most people were content to enjoy this inevitably pleasant morning except for one certain bespectacled miniature detective. He had woken up with a deep scowl on his face and wandered down to breakfast without bothering to change his expression.

"What's the matter, Shinichi-kun?" Agasa asked, genuine concern etched in his own expression.

"Nothing for him to be so sulky about and grumpy about," Ai answered with a wide smirk before Conan could even begin to open his mouth. With a shrug, he sat down and began eating. "He's just pouting, because I told him he has to tell Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta about our trip to New York. After all of our shared camping trips, they're not going to be very happy about not being able to come, especially since we're leaving the country."

"Well of course they can't come!" Agasa pointed out. "It's far too dangerous, and this is supposed to look like a family vacation. Besides, I could never afford to take the three of them as well."

"Actually we could afford to take them," Conan replied. "Because my parents are the ones paying for everything, but that's not the problem. I'm worried about my upcoming conversation with Kaitou."

"Why…?" Haibara started to ask, but she was interrupted by the sound of a ringing doorbell.

Heaving a sigh, Conan grabbed the piece of toast off his plate and got up to answer the door. Plastering a fake smile onto his face, the shrunken detective opened the door to see Genta, Ayumi, and Mitsuhiko waiting rather impatiently behind Agasa's front gate. Picking up his backpack, Conan strolled into the outside world, knowing that Ai wasn't far behind him.

After school as the five elementary school students were walking home, Ayumi excitedly asked the dreaded question when they were mere blocks from Agasa's house, "What's everyone doing during the next few weeks?"

"We're going to the beach!" Mitsuhiko exclaimed proudly, though why he was proud of this fact Conan could not fathom.

"I bet you and your family will have lots of fun," the shrunken detective replied, fishing for information he already knew he would not want.

"What are you talking about?" the science-lover asked. "By we, I of course meant us, the Shounen Tanteidan. I've got it all planned out. My older sister is going there with her boyfriend, and it just so happens that his mini-van sits seven people. So, while they're busy with their boring, adult, mushy stuff, we can have fun!" Mitsuhiko's face (and Ayumi's and Genta's) was glowing with excitement, and because of this, Conan couldn't help but let out a groan. A few feet away from him, Ai was valiantly (and unsuccessfully) trying to hold in her laughter.

"What's wrong Conan-kun?" Ayumi asked. "Beaches are really fun. You can swim in the water, make sand castles, play beach ball…"

"We're not going to the beach," the bespectacled boy interrupted her before she could go any further.

"Why not?" Ayumi asked in confusion stopping, now that they were in front of the gate, and cocking her head to the side. "Is there somewhere else you wanted to go?"

"Ai and I are going to America," Conan answered, and before the three children's faces could become alight with even more excitement, he quickly added, "Without you."

"But why?" Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi asked simultaneously, fake tears welling up in their eyes. Yes, all three of them had become quite adept at crying on command. Holding up his hands as some semblance of a barrier, the shrunken boy began backing away from them slowly, not liking their tears even when he knew they were fake.

"Yes, why?" Kaitou asked appearing in a puff of pink smoke, startling everyone but his new boyfriend. "Besides the obvious reason of how extremely expensive it would be."

"Because this is supposed to be a family trip," Conan stated with a tone of finality that no one would be able to argue with. Then, he added just an ounce of sadness to his voice as he continued, "Agasa-hakase thought it would be a good idea to go to help keep my mind off…you know things. Anyway, Ai and I need to pack, we're leaving tomorrow morning."

"Oh," Ayumi was the first to find her voice after a long period of silence. "We'll just see you when you get back then. Bye." Without hesitation, she grabbed both Genta's and Mitsuhiko's arms and dragged them away.

"Since when did you call me Ai?" the shrunken brown-haired girl asked with a smirk once the three children were out of sight.

"Shut up," Conan growled as he copied a certain little girl by grabbing Kaitou's hand and dragging him toward the Kudo mansion. Looking back to see Ai opening the gate, he continued, "I'll see you in a while."

"Have fun," Ai replied in her annoying singsong voice.

Once inside the Kudo mansion, Kaitou shut the door behind him, having taken the initiative to hold Conan in his arms once again. With a smile on his face, he trapezed over to the nearest couch and sat down. Using the Kid version of a playful, teasing tone, the phantom thief asked, "So, Tantei-kun, what's the reason for all this secluded privacy? Were you planning to take advantage of me?"

"Kaitou, we need to talk," Conan sa in a weary tone with a heavy sigh, and in an instant, all the color drained out of the taller boy's face; his entire body tensed up. For a moment, Kaitou seemed to be gasping, as though he was having trouble breathing. His eyes began to look a little watery but seemed oddly blank. Panic and alarm were the only emotions portrayed in his expression. Years spent perfecting his poker face was the only thing keeping fear, anxiety, worry, and desperation from showing on his facial features. Because those four words were the worst four words Kaitou had ever heard in his entire life. Even worse than the four he had heard at the young, tender age of eight, "Your father is dead."

"Don't say it," his voice was barely above a whisper. He squeezed the small not-boy in his arms as tight as possible. "Please, don't say it. I just got you back from her. Don't take yourself away from me again. I love you, Shinichi."

"You idiot," Conan said, shaking his little head and reaching a small hand up to pat Kaitou's larger head. His other arm wrapped itself around Kaitou's neck as he placed a small kiss on Kaitou's cheek, which caused all the tension to mystically evaporate from the thief's body. "Despite all logic, I love you too. What I wanted to talk to you about was the trip to New York."

"Oh," Kaitou asked, having the grace to look at least a little bit sheepish. "What about it?"

"While I'm gone, I want you to promise me," Conan took a deep breath and paused. He was hesitating, not because he was worried about Kaitou's reaction but because he was asking Kaitou to give up a lot. After a minute of silence, he continued on. "I want you to promise me that you won't send out any notices or do any Kaitou Kid heists."

"Why?" the phantom thief asked in a serious tone, devoid of anything resemebling agreement or declination.

"Beyond the fact that I'll be beyond worried about you at a heist while I'm not there, I just have really bad feeling is all," Conan answered, pure honesty resonating in his pitch. The taller boy was silent for several minutes as he seemingly mulled over the request when in all actuality he had already known what the answer was the second Conan had asked to be promised something.

"Okay," Kaitou responded, watching as the bespectacled detective let out a giant sigh of relief. "I promise you that I won't act as Kaitou Kid at all until you return from your trip."

"Thank you," Conan replied fervent gratitude apparent in his voice.

"I always aim to keep my audience pleased."

The next day was hectic as Agasa and his two adopted children prepared to leave on a trip that was planned no more than two days in advanced. They almost missed their first flight that left at six in the morning and had to make a mad dash through LAX at one of the busiest times of day, not getting a chance to eat a decent meal after they had refused to partake of horrible airplane food. After landing in New York City, they were finally able to slow down a bit. It was eight o'clock at night, and since the hotel they had reservations had a clerk on desk 24/7, a decent dinner was the first order of business.

Ai, Conan, and the professor spent the next six days doing touristy, family things. They rode around New York in a rented car, visited famous, museums, restaurants, etc, and most importantly, went to see a play at a different theatre every other day. However, when Saturday, March 13 finally rolled around, they took their first rip to the theatre that was showing its yearly memorial performance of the Golden Apple. Not sure what else to do, the three of them bought tickets and went into watch the show. A few very uneventful hours later, they left all sharing the mutual feeling of disappointed exasperation. Walking to the nearest trash can intent on throwing away his ticket, the shrunken detective almost made the worst mistake of his second childhood life just before noticing there was writing on the back of his ticket. Curious, he pulled away from the garbage bin, held the ticket in his hands much more firmly, and began to read.

A tisket, a tasket

My green and yellow basket

Follow the Lady

Find the theme

Bathed in one

Holding the other

The crown is the key

right 16 Below

A/N: And so we come to the end of yet another marvelous chapter of The Wrath of Heaven. This one being chapter 3. Well, as always, I hope you enjoyed this doozy of a chapter. 2630 words! This latest fit of inspiration kept me up until 2 AM on a school night / morning. But I've been missing my muse for far too long, and I decided to make use of her while she was still here. Anyway, Kudos to you if you can figure out the note. I think it's kind of obvious, but oh well. And, as always…

I love reviewers, but I do have a request. I would really love for someone to seriously critique my work. It doesn't have to stop at constructive criticism. I'd love for someone to really pick apart my work and tell me every little thing they hated, what needs to be improved, and what parts of my writing they liked best. Believe me when I say I love all reviews, and it's really nice to know people appreciate my work. However, I'm a far cry from being perfect, and there's always room to improve. Also, if I can get better, I can give better fan fiction to my readers. Anyway, thanks again for reading this fan fiction and hopefully you seriously considered my request.