Conan had expected a lot from the man who had murdered one of the most cunning women in human history. He had expected skill, expert instinct, and a sort of dark atmosphere that just felt like death was on its way. What he had not expected was for that man to not be so much of a man at all.

"He looks no older than I used to be." Conan observed. "In fact he looks like a little kid."

The teenager tied to the chair looked ready to try and break free with the sole purpose of punching Conan in the face. "So says the miniature drag queen."

Conan had half a mind to toss down his bag and throw a tantrum. But that would make him seem too much like a diva, which was not what he needed right now. Not in his current attire. "I'm surprised you found him."

Jigen smiled smugly. "It wasn't too hard. After I shot at where the bullets were flying from, he was easy to chase after."

'So that was what happened earlier.'

Jigen must have literally taken a shot in the dark when the group had come under fire. In an attempt to fight back with something of proper damage, he shot at the general area where he noticed the bullets were coming from. Obviously he had either hit the shooter, or the shooters weapon. Then he and Goemon had broken off into a run to try and corner the attacker where he stood, hopefully, caught off guard. They had succeeded.

"Did he say anything?"

The gunman shook his head. "He's been absolutely silent. Kid's actually pretty tight lipped."

"I am not a kid!" The captured boy shouted.

It made Lupin roll his eyes at the pure immaturity. Even his mini detective had more self control than this one. This was not the kind of behavior he expected from a group of assassins. "Yeah, and I'm a model citizen."

Goemon silenced the thief with a wave of his hand. "You look young. Too young to be in a group as dangerous as the one we know you're in."

"I'm older than I look."

Conan raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So that was the line the Organization fell for when they hired you? You were 'wise beyond your years,' right?"

That seemed to irritate the teenager. It was not hard to understand why. Conan had the ability to make grown men feel like preschoolers who still needed help in feeding themselves. Spend just ten minutes in his presence and you were left to wonder just what you had gone to school for, or just what you had been doing in your life when a child was about twenty times as smart as you were. He could irritate just about anyone.

"Shut up, brat."

"Ohhh, what a comeback." Conan said sarcastically, smug little smile staring back at the captive. "I'm so scared."

"Careful." Lupin chimed in. "That stare of his might just kill you."

"Well I hope he's better at killing by stare than he is by gun." Jigen added.

As the three had hoped, and expected, the boy in the chair continued to grow increasingly angrier by the second. The human heart was a wondrous thing. From it stemmed pride. Pride in itself was a great object to have on your side, whether it be yours or someone else's. If it was yours, you were likely not to be swayed by anything. If it was someone else's, you could use it to your advantage.

And while teasing a person simply to get a rise out of them was indeed childish, if it worked well enough to get him talking, then the ends would justify the means.

"Watch your damn mouth. I have half a mind to shoot that smile clear off your face."

Conan raised an eyebrow. "So what happened to the other half?"

"It obviously ran off with whatever skill the twerp might have had." Jigen commented dryly.

The group was desperately trying not to laugh as the boy in the chair squirmed yet again. Lupin finally gave into his whims and simply chuckled outright after about five minutes. "You know, we might gain some kind of respect for you if you'd just tell us what we needed to know."

The boy gave him a bland look. "You really expect me to believe that?"

"I honestly didn't expect you to be so sloppy and get caught so easily, but you've proved me wrong before."

Conan noted the incessant twitch in the shooters left eye. A smirk found its way to his face. They were breaking him. A teenagers pride was nothing if not easily accessible and all too ready to be bent to another's own purposes. He was slightly surprised that it was taking nothing more than a little teasing, but he would overlook it for the time being and analyze it later. Right then he had more important things to do.

"Just what were you trying to do anyway?" The mini detective asked. "Make a name for yourself?"

"No need." The captive spat out. "I made a name for myself long ago."

"What was it? Mr. No Can Shoot? Senior Work Hazard?"

Lupin ruffled Conan's hair. "I think it must have been something more spiritual than that. Something like, Runs Without Experience."

The boy began to struggle violently against the ropes that kept him restrained. His eyes were narrowed to enraged slits and his cheeks were flushed in humiliation. The taunts that held no true merit, and the jibes that were baseless at best, were beginning to affect his behavior far more than he probably would have liked. He was agitated, insulted, and just this side of extremely murderous. It wouldn't take too long now.

That was the problem with the youth, regardless of what generation they came from. Their pride was so terribly fragile, so viciously coveted beyond normal common sense, so highly valued, that many tended to do some very stupid things in its name. Things that would, in their minds, prove the contrary to any negative suggestion against it. Including, but not limited to, saying more than they should have in order to make a point.

It would not matter that everybody else in the given vicinity thought they were being absolute idiots. It would not matter that most would think that they were being too rash in their decisions. To the young people of the world with something to prove, society was not the main cause of concern. No, for them it was a matter of honor. It was about the restoration of their delicate mindsets. To those poor naive children, speaking more freely was about showing what they were really worth.

To anyone using those foolish tendencies to their advantage, it was just a more convenient way to gather information and gauge ability without doing any of the real dirty work. Bragging was, after all, a most lethal poison that people unknowingly consumed themselves.

He growled out, tone every bit as petulant as he looked at the moment, "I'm in no way unfit to be in the organization."

And just like that they had confirmation of where this man had come from, even though the question of who he was exactly was still in the air. It was a start.

Goemon could not help but look on in a sort of tired disbelief. He felt as though he was dealing with a small toddler throwing an irrational tantrum. "Forgive me if I have a hard time believing that high school drop outs have the criteria to become members of a very dangerous group of professional madmen."

This time the teenager tried to force his way out of his bonds by thrashing against them. "Don't talk about things you know nothing about!"

Lupin chuckled. "Excuse me, but, Pot, Kettle, black?"

"Shut up about your damn silverware!"

Conan raised an eyebrow. "You can't exactly blame us for doubting your story. You don't look the part of a careful assassin."

"I don't look like this by choice, princess."

The detective felt a sharp chill run down his spine. He should have been annoyed with a comment so obviously insulting in nature, but the underlying truth behind it made him sick to his stomach. "What do you mean?"

The others jaw clenched and the boy ground his teeth before finally answering after a frustrated sigh. "Isn't it obvious? This entire fiasco is the result of some unfortunate accident that I shouldn't have been a part of."

Lupin looked down to Conan, who was fixated on the figure sitting in front of him. "So how'd it end up happening?"

The teen kept his eyes on Conan. His gaze was so focused it was actually somewhat concerning.

The sight of such a murderous focus suddenly aimed towards the child detective made the thief uneasy. "Answer."

Still, those eyes did not waver from Conan. He did eventually give some kind of answer though. "What makes you think I would tell you anything?"

Two guns cocking, accompanied by the sound of a sword unsheathing, was enough to turn the teenager's attention away from the boy he had been gazing at so intently. He looked up in time to see two, presumably, loaded firearms being pointed at his head and the area surrounding his heart. To his short lived relief, the sword had not been entirely taken from its scabbard, but it was uncovered just enough to pose a very real threat, as well as prove a deadly point.

"So...I talk or I die?"

Lupin tried to smile menacingly. "Smart kid."

At the word 'kid' the teenager immediately brought his attention back to Conan. The detective had meanwhile never let his eyes leave their captive. That set of gazes was so focused, so intent, that not even the threat of oncoming death would have been enough to make them stray. Oddly enough, they were both trying to uncover answers they desperately needed. But whereas the teenager seemed to have found his, Conan was quick to realize he could not. For the first time in a long while he could not form deductions based on what he was given, even though he knew that all the pieces were right in front of him.

It scared him. If he could deduce, he couldn't know for certain. If he couldn't know, he couldn't hide. If he couldn't hide, he couldn't stop anyone from revealing his most guarded secrets. And it seemed as though, a few minutes later, his opponent had done just that.

And that teenager laughed. Of all the things that a captive staring down a grade school child could have done, he laughed.

Conan narrowed his eyes. There was a feeling in his gut he couldn't stand to name, and it was slowly getting worse. "What's so funny?"

The teen's eyes danced in a twisted glee. "All this time I've been rattling my brain, beating myself up, trying to figure out just who the heck it is you are. I know I've seen you somewhere before. I just couldn't for the life of me figure out where."

"Did you come to any valuable conclusion?"

The other nodded happily. "There's a bulky little folder about you down at HQ. Granted, most of it is dedicated to your taller, older version, but a good portion of it has your puny half in it too."

Conan tried to hide the fear, tried to hide the anxiety the other's accusation had caused. "Is there? Don't I feel special.

"You shouldn't." Suddenly the mirth was gone, replaced by an angry, bitter tone. "It's because of you that I'm in this mess."

Lupin scoffed. "How do you figure that?"

The captive's eyes narrowed at Conan. "How old do you think I am?"

It was the thief who answered. "17."

The boy smirked. "A 17 year old boy with access to a high class high caliber weapon and the means to hide his crimes with said weapon? I don't think so." He was met with silence. "Cat got your tongues?"

No one spoke.

"Okay, I'll be nice and let you all in on the secret. My name is Bourbon, and up until a short while ago, I was a relatively valuable sniper for the critically acclaimed Black Organization."

Goemon was still unconvinced. Something still didn't make sense. "Why up until a while ago? And why, despite your claim, don't you look the part?"

"Because a certain teenage detective and I share the same unfortunate set of circumstances." All who were in the room suddenly found it difficult to breathe. "Just as he became a pint sized version of himself named Conan Edogawa, I became a younger version of Bourbon."

Conan couldn't stop the tightening of his throat. Nor could he stop his eyes from widening, or the tears prickling at their edges.

And all the son of a gun did was smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Shinichi Kudo, Detective of the East."

Authors Note: Sorry to post and run, but there's about three people trying to post a bunch of things from this computer at one time to about three different sites, so I'll have to wish you all a happy holiday season and be off.

Vocaloid Song of the Day: Rolling Girl by Hatsune Miku.