Case Closed Fan Fiction ❯ Vindicated ❯ Too Late ( Chapter 9 )

Vindicated

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

 

For the record- I've been busy. I had writer's block. And I'm running out of excuses…

 

-LAST TIME ON VINDICATED-

 

And now he would be completely to blame.

“What are you looking at?”

This illness was making him incredibly emotional.

“Hope you aren't disappointed.”

“…You only have one option left! Unless you rather us all die!”

He was radiating with calm and sureness.

“…I have faith in you, Jimmy. You will come out of this triumphant.”

“The second daughter in the Razianoff line has been missing from her apartment in Westside Avenue since last Wednesday evening…”

He didn't think it could have happened so fast.

“Conan!” Amy cried, her hand helplessly reaching out at his retreating form.

“Hiroshi!” He screamed one last time, kicking out his leg.

Then slowly Conan rose and limped his way into the lion's den.

 

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

 

Chapter Nine: Too Late

 

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

 

People only see what they are prepared to see.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

xxx

 

It was an incredible spring day. Rachel swept out her arms in greeting to the sun. It had been a long time since she had felt its warm embrace. Sighing, Rachel played with the strap of her book bag and continued her trek to Teitan High School.

 

Conan had only left her moments before. She had persuaded him to catch up with classmates but Conan was hesitant to obey. He obviously feared his little girlfriend's wrath, but it had only taken him a small nudge to head off. Rachel thought back on his backhand wave with a smile.

 

But her smile would not remain. In fact, it quickly vanished with Amy tearing around the corner and into her waiting legs. Amy's fellowship skidded to a halt safely behind her, looking guiltily up to the superior they had fallen upon.

 

“Amy!” exclaimed Rachel before kneeling down to help the little eight-year-old that had careened into her.

 

Both of the boys pulled Amy to her feet before Rachel could though. They were all red and hot in the face, possibly from a long run. Rachel looked inquiringly at the little girl who had just carelessly run into her, but Amy refused the gaze. She kept her head bowed.

 

“Amy, what on earth? Where's Conan?” said Rachel sternly.

 

She looked up as if expecting one of the boys to suddenly reveal himself as her little troublemaker. Both boys just shuffled their feet sheepishly at her stare. Mitch was actually muttering apologies under his breath and a number of other things she couldn't quite make out. When Rachel returned her to stare at Amy she was aghast to find tears making silver descents off the little girl's cheeks. The sight made the teenager's worry heighten.

 

“Amy,” Rachel grabbed the girl by her shoulders. She might have been too rough, but her heart was telling her to take charge- not be gentle. “Amy, where's Conan? Tell me!”

 

Amy, slightly shocked at being gripped so tightly, shivered and only managed to make small squeaks through her open mouth. More tears began to pour and Rachel began to feel guilty.

 

“He ran off,” George said suddenly sparing Amy from having to.

 

Rachel looked up at him, but still held onto Amy. He took a deep breath and continued, “He was all worried when he saw the TV-…”

 

“What was on the TV?” asked Rachel. She released Amy at last. The girl tethered uncertainly on the spot- rubbing her arms up and down as if she couldn't get warm.

 

George rubbed his head, a bit put on the spot. Mitch filled in for him, “It was about Tetra Razianoff, that lady reporter looking for Mister Kudo. She's gone missing.”

 

“Missing?” Rachel repeated dully. She wasn't sure why that would make Conan run off, unless he had run to tell her about it. Conan had not seemed to like the reporter much at all.

 

Rachel found a smile forming back on her lips. “Are you kids sure he didn't just forget something? Maybe he ran off to go get it?”

 

“He,” Mitch cast a look at the other detective boys about him, “didn't say anything like that.”

 

“Maybe you misheard him,” Rachel offered helpfully.

 

“But he looked scared!” said Amy fiercely. Her sudden insertion gave her all of their undivided attention. She was a little startled by all their eyes, but kept loyal to her feelings.

 

“Conan looked really scared,” She tried to empathize how scared but her vocabulary was too limited to accurately portray her fears. “I've never seen Conan that way before. It scared me.”

 

The tears came again but she fought them off with fresh determination. “He didn't run back to his house.”

 

This clicked with Rachel. Her frown returned with new deepness. “Did he say anything about where he was going- anything at all?”

 

The boys shrugged, unable to recall anything. Amy, on the other hand, remembered something. “He asked where Haibara was.”

 

“Oh yeah. We didn't know,” George muttered suddenly recalling it. “We hadn't seen her yet.”

 

“Then he said a naughty word!” added Mitch, eager to chime in.

 

“Tattle tale,” George snapped before smacking the boy upside the head.

 

“No, no. It's alright,” Rachel waved a bit too late. Mitch cast a disheveling glare to George, who just ignored him.

 

The information was little, but plenty enough to determine where Conan had gone next. Rachel could easily deduce that Conan had gone to Agasa's- but she still couldn't understand what caused the boy such trepidation. Why had he felt such a need? What was bothering him? What was going through that head of his?

 

“Thank you very much, kids,” Rachel said sounding vaguely like she really didn't care. “Don't worry. Go to school. I'll find Conan.”

 

She didn't give them time to respond nor did she try to make sure they wouldn't follow. Rachel left them not much unlike how Conan had left them a few hours before. They watched her go and Amy suppressed her coming tears.

 

“Something's wrong. I just know something's wrong…”

xxx

 

If the outside fires scared Conan, the ones the raged inside were unspeakable. They poured inhuman amounts of smoke and sparks through the air making it impossible to tell which way to head. The first floor had not yet caved in upon itself but Conan only gave that a few moments time.

 

He made the mistake of opening his mouth to shout. Now plagued with coughing fits, Conan lost his ability to shout again. Pulling himself close to the floor, Conan crawled through the rooms. He came upon bits of furniture torn apart in his path- evidence of a struggle. Conan swallowed the bile fear that was rising in his throat and continued onward.

 

It felt like forever and a day before he reached the basement door. The couch beside it was gone- but it didn't surprise Conan. He thought he saw pieces of it back by the front entrance.

 

Conan quickly rose and pried the door open. The handle was melted and warped by the hot flames but the door seemed to have obtained a fair amount of holes before the fire. Pulling on a fist-sized hole by the lock, Conan managed to wrench it open. He made a point to scream down to Haibara, whom he thought might be below, but was greeted by an explosion of glass and flames.

The miniature detective was hurled across the room and into the opposite wall. The wall groaned but didn't not cave- much to Conan's relief. He felt his glasses fall off when he flew backwards but decided they were no loss. He pulled himself up weakly finding deeps cuts and gashes up and down his arms.

 

Pain burned from his face and legs too- but Conan did not take the time to care. He took a few more sharp breaths, the air getting thinner by the second, and dragged his way back towards the entrance. The space was empty shining with sunlit sky- a beacon of heaven in the horror drenched hell he was in.

 

But his heart fell short of the entrance.

 

Lying quietly in the square frame of sunlight let in by a window, still in tact, lay an upturned hand. In the shadows, attached to the hand was a haggard form.

 

And Conan's world spun, stopped, and swirled again. Moving closer, in fear of what might meet his large and still childishly optimistic eyes, Conan crept. He saw the body first- mangled and bloody. The logical part of his mind whispered the points of injury- the right shoulder and the left thigh.

 

His mind reeled with explanations. The playacting took place again in his imagination just as it had on any other crime scene he had visited. He could see where his best friend had gotten up from reading- could see how he answered the door and quickly found himself looking down the barrel of a gun. The old man had reacted quickly, much faster than his attacker had assumed. The bullet just nicked him in the shoulder. Agasa had grabbed the vase that he stored their umbrellas in and hurled it at his attacker.

 

Thick blue shards glistened on the floor around Conan's feet, sprinkled with crimson stains.

 

The assaulter was wounded but only slightly. He aimed again as Agasa ran. The bullet hit his thigh and the old man went down. Agasa had tried to keep going- he had dragged himself along, leaving a trail of crimson in his wake. His fingers trembled and wrote something beside him in his blood. BO- the man smeared it out with his foot.

 

Conan moved his foot over the stain on the tiled floor in the motion of the smear.

 

The attacker had shot again, a last time. This time the bullet imbedded in the old man's chest. That ended it.

 

Conan knelt beside the body, his fists trembling and head bowed. He timidly reached his hand towards the good doctor's throat.

 

He nearly screamed when Agasa suddenly grabbed his hand.

 

“J-Jimmy,” Agasa shouted in a garbled voice. Blood dripped down his chin as he spoke.

 

“Doctor Agasa…” Conan began softly. He felt tears poking through the corner of his eyes when watching the old man struggle just to breathe.

 

“Jimmy…” Agasa said again, his voice growing weaker.

 

Conan encased the old man grip with his other hand and gently pulled him off his wrist. He held the old hand in his two unnaturally young ones, tears falling without consent now.

 

“Stay with me, Agasa. Please,” Conan pulled the hand close pressing it against his forehead. The fingertips were freezing cold.

 

“I c-can't-”

 

“Yes, you can!” sobbed Conan. “Please keep talking to me. Don't- don't leave me alone…”

 

Conan drew in a long shuttering breath- he was shaking so hard now. His body was going numb and cold.

 

Agasa's eyes fell on Jimmy, and he smiled. The smile caused shivers to run up and down the young boy's spine.

 

“I c-can't hear you,” said Agasa, his voice surprisingly strong. He reached up a hand to brush back the tears on one of Conan's cheeks. Conan closed his eyes at the touch. He held his breath and Agasa continued to smile. “But… I'm listening.”

 

The hand started to fall but Conan caught it and looked on as Agasa slowly fell asleep.

 

“Don't,” Conan began. His face faded in and out of Agasa's vision- until finally he was gone.

xxx

 

When Rachel reached the house she quickly abandoned all usual precautions and ran in. She could hear the sirens as she reached the courtyard. The door was gone and from it bellowed unforgiving smoke.

 

Waving her hands about pointlessly, Rachel ran in. Flames bit at her cruelly from all sides. She ignored their searing fingers and peered through the dense smoke for a sign of life. Something stirred a few feet from the entrance.

 

Rachel recognized it immediately as Conan.

 

“Conan, I'm so glad,” said Rachel. But as she reached over to take him by the hand, his eyes, free from their usual spectacles fell upon her.

 

They were empty, dull, and practically lifeless. The sight of them almost made her shriek, but she muffled her gasp with her free hand. Conan did not acknowledge her. Instead he continued what he was doing before she interrupted. Blanket in hand, he carefully threw it overtop of the body behind him and blinked.

 

“I was… too late,” Conan muttered, and then promptly fell over, rendered unconscious from smoke exhaustion, into her arms.

 

To Be Continued…

Please R & R!

 

Okay. Don't kill me. It had to be done.

 

And so all Doctor Agasa lovers stopped reading Vindicated. Whooo… I'm so mean.

 

I really liked the death scene in this chapter. I've never done it this way before, and I quite like the turnout. It was different.

 

I've done a fair number of death scenes, sadly, so I know what I'm talking about. -insert evil laughter-

 

Good news is my cousin woke up. -insert happy face- See. Life does have happy endings!

 

The next chapter will be my favorite yet to write. So it might come faster than this one did.

 

Well, all review responses will be at my livejournal. You can reach the page by going to my profile and clicking the link entitled memories. From there click on the link RRVindicated8. Those that reviewed last time were: StormBlazer, chelsea, Mysticalflame, HotPinkPenguin, Fyliwion, AntiSora, Inumaru12, Crysania Fay, Candyland, Teya Yashitoda, The Bimp Alchemist, and YumeTakato.

 

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Please review and remember,

With a keen eye for detail, one truth prevails.