Case Closed Fan Fiction ❯ Vindicated ❯ Outlined In Blood ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimers: I do not nor ever will own Conan or Jimmy and co. It’s a cruel sad world, isn’t it?    

I would update Going Down if it weren’t for the fact that I am somewhat at a block on how to start it. So at the moment I am waiting for inspiration to come back to me on that story.

On another note- this story has now gotten into the more exciting portion. Things will start getting more and more intriguing from this point, obviously, now that Tetra has an idea of who Conan really is.

But with great power comes great responsibility, ne?

-LAST TIME ON VINDICATED-

“He fell down the stairs last night.”

She gave him that look.

“I’m not gonna leave you, Conan-kun.”

Photo albums.

“Questions- about me and Jimmy?”

“What did you tell her!?”

We are all still here.

“Tell him that. Tell him- Tell him I just... I just want him to come home.”

“Hm. I hope he remembered his jacket...”

“I’d wait forever.”

“Do I have to come get you?”

She knew. She knew.

But he could never outrun the revealed truth.

“Is that so, Conan-kun.”

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Chapter Six: Outlined In Blood

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“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” -Abraham Lincoln   –--   She stared in trepidation at the receiver; only just hearing its incessant dial tone fill the heavy air around them. It had been done- and she had been the bait. Jimmy had been caught.   But what if Jimmy doesn’t want to be found?!   Rachel fell helpless to her knees, letting the phone hang itself off the drop of her father’s desk. Its cries still remained- a perpetual murmur of stifled sadness.   No. Rachel’s heart cried. This is all my fault.   Tears poured relentlessly down her reddened cheeks, hitting the floor and chilling the silence. Her fists clenched the floor, so hard, unable to find grip to the precipice. She was lost and falling. Falling so far.   Richard draped his arms about the child and held her close. She sobbed quietly and obediently in his arms.   Forgive me, Jimmy. This is all my fault. ---   “No!” Conan screamed thrusting another fist into the unmoving wall. “No! It can’t have happened! I can’t be!”   His fist bled with his tears and falling heart. The rain lamented his woes from Heaven, drenching his skin and soul. No luck. He just had no luck with his lies. And now he would pay for making them.   Still not feeling the blows, he took another punch. But this time there was a crack- and something shot up his arm to the brain stem. Pain. But nothing like the one in his heart. Conan instinctively grabbed his wound and immediatly regretted the action. Pain surged even more, bringing tears to the young detective’s already waterlogged eyes. It had to be broken. The fingers just couldn’t take the abuse his pain pushed them through.   Conan crumbled, down the wall he had hated, and cried. His knees supported Conan’s face, and his hands curled about each other in his lap. Blood stained his shirt, and joined the rain drops.   As if Heaven was bleeding woes for him.   Conan rose his heavy head- weighed down by the rain and wet. He had his time to cry, and now he needed to save Rachel. He couldn’t protect her from the truth- but he could tell her himself. Before Tetra gave her the twisted story of an onlooker.   Maybe they could run away together. Although that was too much to hope for. Rachel would hate him, but she would be safely hidden away with her father. Perhaps she wouldn’t even have to hide. If he confronted the organization himself... maybe...   Conan clenched his wound tighter, thinking the option through. If he handed himself over, they would kill him... or torture him. It didn’t matter much to him now. But the real question would be if they’d leave Rachel and her father alone? And the answer that came to him was yes. They would. If they got what they wanted. If they weren’t lead to believe that Rachel and her father had been hiding him.   They would be safe.   And Conan breathed a sigh of relief.   So the plan would be to tell Rachel and then disappear. For good. It was foolproof- as long as she didn’t try to follow. But if Rachel asked questioned- she would die. So Rachel had to know to be quiet. Just for awhile longer. She would have to know that she wouldn’t be able to bring him back.   She would have to know that Jimmy’s dead.   Conan rose, knowing that he had to do this. It would be his last virtue to the world and the hardest to accomplish.   Rachel please forgive me. I never meant to make you cry.   Conan dashed off. Out of the alleyway and into the torrents of the storm. The streets were slick but bare. No other soul dared to brave the storm like he had. Not at this hour anyway.   Blood trailed his trek, slipping into the gutters of the street unnoticed. And still he ran. Ran back home to the person who he knew would soon know everything wanted and everything unwanted. No trail to follow him to her. He could die in peace.   And at the crosswalk, Conan didn’t bother to look for a sign to pass. His heart was with Rachel. And his mind was on all the things he had to destroy so she could not be harmed. His life and his love for her.   Instinctively, Conan reached down his shirt.   The medallion.   Conan froze, halfway to safety and halfway to hell, thinking of the object. Where is it? Where did I put it?   He remembered all too late where it was. And before he could pick up his journey again- he was in the flood lights of an oncoming car.   And then, there was nothing. ---   “Yes. Alright. We’ll let you know,” were the last pieces of conversation Doctor Agasa heard when shaking his umbrella and removing his shoes at the entryway.   Ai came around the corner, handheld in hand, looking grim. It was as if she expected someone to be with him.   “What’s up, Ai-chan?” Agasa grinned his usual welcome.   “That was Rachel-oneechan. She was calling to see if we had seen Conan-kun. Apparently he lied about coming to visit us.” Ai said in her usual monotone.   Agasa let off a chuckle, “Typical of him. You should have said he was here. Conan will be in trouble later. Probably just went to give Rachel a call-.”   “There’s more,” Ai interrupted. Her voice, if possible, had become even more grave. “She was calling to see if Jimmy-san had been here too.”   “What?” Agasa gasped right on cue.   “Yeah,” Ai continued wearily. “She said that they have reason to believe Miss Tet-whose-it tapped it. Jimmy-san called tonight... She said they lost phone connection after several seconds of silence. Silence in which she believed that Jimmy-san went hiding or running-   “Where are you going?” Ai muttered as Agasa quickly slipped back on his sopping shoes.   “Out. I have a bad feeling...” Agasa glanced back her way, looking more serious than she could ever remember seeing him. “If Rachel calls about anything more- call my cell. If Jimmy calls- chew his ear off for giving an old man worries.”   “Will do.” Ai saluted as the professor bounded out the doorway again.   I hope I’m wrong. Ai’s mind whispered darkly watching the doctor’s shadow disappear under the curtain of rain. I hope the end hasn’t come upon us.   ---   Richard fiddled with the moon half of the medallion- weaving it in between his fingers indifferently as Rachel paced behind him.   “Yes. Thank you. Let us know.” Rachel hung up, tears forming in her eyes again.   Richard looked up,“No word?”   “No. I can’t find Conan-kun anywhere. And no one’s seen Jimmy,” Rachel’s voice faltered to a small whisper. “Oh dad. I’m so worried. What could have happened to those two?”   Richard pulled himself off the couch, still twiddling with the medallion in his hand.   “I wouldn’t worry about Conan. He’s probably off playing somewhere. He’s a kid- but a tough kid. And as for Jimmy-san,” Richard paused his twirling for a thought. “I’m sure he’s just fine.”   Rachel swallowed her tears and focused on the object in her father’s possession.   “Otousan? Where did you get that?”   “Oh this?” Richard answered, looking at it as if realizing it was there for the first time. “I found it on the coffee table. Is it yours?”   “N-no,” Rachel shook her head. “It’s Conan’s... He wore it everywhere- why is it here?”   “Got me.” Richard shrugged. “It’s a pretty little trinket, aint it?”   Rachel watched as her father continued to twirl it. Her eyes watched it cut the air- and her heart. Oh Conan. Now I’m even more worried...   ---     The pain had been incredible.   He had felt himself flip and roll. He had even seen his feet above his head. And then there was nothing. Not even pain.   So... That’s what the sky looks like?   The rain was no longer pelting on his face. He felt cold. Jimmy slowly opened his eyes focusing on the downside of an umbrella. Someone- some person was standing over him, looking concerned.   “Damn. You’re one lucky kid.”   The man was rough shaven, and his eyes were dark. The clothes that hung off his body were tough and scary looking. He was used to this weather- a homeless person perhaps? But then why was he on the floor and the man over him? What happened? He just- just couldn’t remember... Rachel. Where was Rachel?   “Where... Wh-where’s Rachel?” Jimmy relayed his thoughts to the stranger.   The man didn’t answer, looking him over solemnly. He was muttering things to himself while examining him. Things Jimmy couldn’t hear but knew were meant for adult ears.   Jimmy tried to be a bit louder, “Where’s Rachel?”   The man squinted down at him, “Rachel? Boy, there aint no Rachel here. You got hit by a car. You’re lucky to be alive right now.”   Boy? What boy? And suddenly he remembered. That night and this night. The reason he had stopped and the reason he had run. He was Conan, and a kid. He had been found out- and... and how long had he been unconscious?!   Conan tried to pull himself upright but the pain was too great and he fell. Conan tried again- catching the attention of his keeper.   “Dammit!” The man spat roughly pushing him back to the ground again. “You were hit by a car? What part of that don’t you understand?”   “I need to get home,” Conan groaned. “If I don’t- She’ll beat me.”   “Beat you?” The stranger answered incredibly, “Damn kid. You’ve got more issues than I thought.”   “Not that kind of beating.” Conan cringed, “I mean, this la-lady, she’ll beat me home. I’ve gotta go s-save Rachel. She can’t know yet.”    There was a kindness that opened up in the man’s eyes. Conan couldn’t quite conceive where it was from or what triggered it. But the man held out a hand and pulled Conan to his shaking legs.   They felt like spaghetti, wobbling this way and that. Conan didn’t know how he’d walk but he knew he had to try.   “Th-thank you.” Conan sputtered, drenched once more in the rain.   “Hm,” The man smiled softly. “And I’m sorry. Make sure you get home fast kid. You’re bleeding all over the place.”   Conan held up his good hand to his face where the pain was ebbing away at his skull. The skin there was sensitive to touch. When he pulled back a puddle of blood slipped through the cracks of his fingers.   When Conan looked up again, the man had already turned the corner. There was no car for the car had run. He was hit and left on the sidewalk- Conan forgot to ask the time.   Home. I have to get home.   And dizzily, Conan made his slow trek back to the Detective Agency. ---   The clock ticked its mocking way from the wall. One step. One step. One step. All the steps that she should have been taking. There had been no call. And her worry was just escalating.   “That’s it.” Rachel stated suddenly rising from her chair, “I’ve waited long enough. I’m going out to find Conan-kun.”   “Where do you presume to start?” Richard inquired slowly from his usual armchair. “Both you and I know you don’t have the faintest idea where to start.”   “Well, I have to start somewhere, otousan!” Rachel snapped. “I can just wait here for someone to call and tell me he’s hurt or worse! I just can’t wait... knowing I could have helped in some way... I need to look for him, Dad! Can’t you understand?”   Richard met his daughter’s upset eyes with his own. Slowly he rose from his own seat, “Alright. I’m going with you then.”   Rachel smiled softly in response, the trail of dried tears still eminent on her face. Her gratitude to her father’s understanding went without words. And Richard knew that, which is why he didn’t question it.   But just as the elder detective reached her side, the door knob moved. Breathless, the two watched as it wiggled weakly back and forth until finally letting the entity behind it come through.   A boy stumbled through, his blood staining the floor as he stumbled strait to his prize. And Rachel wasted not a breath to catch him before he fell.   “Conan! Oh my gawd!”   “I’ll call the hospital.” Richard snapped from somewhere behind her. “Don’t let him pass out, Rachel.”   She heard her father run off- but nothing else. Too focused on Conan’s fading heartbeat.   The blood fell all over her shirt, from his forehead, when he leaned it against her chest. His breath wheezing out in short spurts. There were scraps all over Conan’s tiny body and one of his hands looked broken. His skin was cold when she embraced it- and his body felt heavier than usual. Rachel took all of this in, only in the second when she caught him in her arms.   “Conan-kun? What happened?” Rachel cried softly while pushing back wet hair from the boy’s damaged face. “What happened to you?”   And he looked up at her- his usually buoyant eyes dull and lifeless. Rachel’s heart cried at the stare.   “Rachel?” The boy said with a weak smile of recognition. It would be short lived. “I’m sorry. So sorry.”   “Don’t be sorry, Conan-kun. It’s alright. You’re safe now.” Rachel whispered urgently, “Just stay with me, Conan. Stay with me.”   “It’s my fault...” Conan muttered his smile dying away. “It’s all my fault. I’m so sorry, Rachel. I never meant to. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”   He held up his broken hand, outlined in blood. Rachel pushed it back to his lap, afraid he might hurt it more.   “Conan-kun. Please,” She whispered. “I do forgive you. I was never mad with you. Just stay with me, Conan-kun!”   Rachel held him closer. His head fell against her shoulder and in her ear she heard him hoarsely whisper, “I’m sorry for everything.”   “Conan-kun?”   He fell limp and heavy against her body. Rachel’s arms numbed. She couldn’t bear to look- to see his shut eyes.   “Conan-kun?! No! Wake up! Wake up, Conan-kun!”   But he didn’t respond thus adding to the tears already spilt.   Please R & R! To Be Continued...   Epagg! That was a nasty chapter. :bewildered look: I am so sorry to the people that dropped dead at the end of this. Don’t worry! It twill only get worse before it gets better. Muhahahaha!   Yeah. So I hoped you all enjoyed the newest file of Vindicated. Please review and remember- With a keen eye for detail, one truth prevails!                   &n bsp;