DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Lupin III characters. Sorry, fellows… Quite a shocker there, I know…

Gutentag!

How does everyone like the story? Anything I should put in, leave out? Be sure to let me know in the review section. Recently saw The Mystery of Mamo—Really good Lupin film. I'd suggest it to anyone. Now if only I could find a copy of Cagliostro that wasn't also a bootleg… They're usually out of copies at the local video stores, which really stinks… Oh, well… Just have to keep hoping. Be sure to keep writing in your reviews, and thanks to people who've been reviewing every single chapter of both stories… Love you guys…

'Once there was a way to get back

homeward,

Once there was a way to get back home,

Sheep pretty darling do not cry,

And I will sing a lullaby,'

--The Beatles, 'Golden Slumbers'

Chapter Eleven

Almost Day Eleven (It's ten right now): Bohemian Rhapsody

"Lupin! Who the hell are we going after!?" Jigen snapped angrily as the three began to walk down the hall of the hotel room.

"Jigen, you drive. I have to get some crap set up in the back of the car," said Lupin as he loaded his gun while walking. Jigen stopped dead for a few moments, and then ran down the hall of the hotel after Lupin and Goemon.

"I—I can't," Jigen explained in a stutter.

"Why the hell not!? Nerves!?" Lupin inquired.

"I can't see a Goddamned thing in front of me at night anymore," Jigen replied quietly.

"What?" Lupin gasped, "Is it that bad now?"

"Goemon, you drive," said Jigen.

"What!? I don't know how to drive, and at night!? On Halloween, when there are children out in the streets!?" Goemon inquired.

"Never a better time to learn," Jigen replied, removing the keys from his pant pocket and throwing them to Goemon. The samurai caught them, and looked worriedly down at the car keys.

Later:

"Brake! Use your Goddamned brake! No, you idiot, that's the gas! What the hell, are you drunk!?" Jigen screamed as he held onto his hat with one hand and the door with the other.

"Shimatta! I can't do this!" Goemon yelled nervously in response.

"Lupin, are you sure you know where this guy is!?" Jigen inquired, looking back at Lupin, although he could only make out shadows of his friends.

"Yeah," Lupin nodded, "If I know him, he'd pick somewhere big, and flashy. It's a theater, I'm telling you. I'd be perfect for his—Jesus Christ, DUCK!" he screamed.

"Huh?" Jigen turned, and was hit in the face with the limb of a low-hanging branch. He fell back into the back seat of the car, and quickly bolted up and moved to the front seat, "Let me at the wheel, you clueless bastard! Just tell me what to do—I can do this…." Jigen muttered. Goemon moved over and Jigen took the wheel.

"Left up here… Now!" Goemon called. Jigen made a sharp left turn, causing the car to nearly flip over.

"Okay, now what!?" Jigen asked.

"I think I'm going to be sick…" Lupin grumbled, putting a hand to his head.

"Straight…. Straight… Turn right up here," Goemon replied. Jigen did so, a little more subtly this time. Goemon breathed a sigh of relief and sat back as they came in sight of the theater. After careful instructions on the parking of the vehicle, the three exited. Jigen first denied any help from Goemon or Lupin, but was forced to accept after falling three times.

"Dammit, I hate this…" Jigen said through gritted teeth as Goemon helped lead him up the stairs, "I'm going to find those bastards who took my daughter and Ming, and I'm going to cut off their—"

"Well, well, well…" the three heard. They turned, and saw Collin sitting upon the railing of the theater, holding a powerful gun, "What do we have here? Goemon, chap, how's it going, Love? That little bitch you refuse to kick to the curb is inside… You want to see her, I suppose? Damn it all… She's no good for you, you know…. No women are…. They always seen to get good men in trouble…." Ravi and Natasha appeared from the shadows, and the three men came to full attention.

"I wouldn't try anything funny…." said Natasha, "One wrong move, and the blind man gets in straight in the head."

"I can hear you, you bitch!" Jigen hissed, "I'll still shoot your ass off, vision or not! Anyone who would flirt with Zenigata deserves to be killed!"

"Come on," said Natasha, coming behind them and putting a gun to their backs. Collin and Ravi followed behind the trio of rescuers, and led them into the theater. On stage were Amaya, Fujiko, and Yukiko; all tied and gagged to chairs. Jigen tried to break into a run towards them, but this only met with the butt of Natasha's gun. Jigen fell to the floor, and Lupin and Goemon reached forward and helped him up into a theater seat.

"Good show, lads. Now you two do the same…." Collin said, pointing a gun towards the chairs. Lupin and Goemon begrudgingly seated themselves in the theater seats, and waited.

A Local Hotel:

Ex-INTERPOL inspector Zenigata had just finished packing his luggage when Inspector Remy, the new head of the Lupin investigation, entered the hotel room excitedly. Zenigata looked up at the excited face dully. He, too, had been that enthusiastic before. But it had been many years ago.

"Sir!" Remy said happily, "Guess what!?"

"You don't have to call me 'sir' anymore, Remy… It's just Zenigata…." Zenigata said quietly.

"Your resignation isn't it effect until twelve, and there's a lead on the Lupin investigation! You have two hours to catch him before you're a civilian!" said Remy.

"Dammit, you're right!" Zenigata gasped in realization. He quickly pulled his gun, badge, and handcuffs out of one of his suitcases, and followed Remy out of the hotel, "Lead the way, Inspector Remy!"

"Right-o, Inspector Zenigata!" Remy said, a brief flash in his eyes and a wide smile across his face.

The Theater:

Ravi and Collin had disappeared. Natasha was watching over the six hostages. She looked over at Lupin, who had been giving her strange glances the past twenty minutes that they had been there, "What!?" she snapped.

"Why the hell are you doing this, anyway?" asked Lupin.

"What's it to you!?" Natasha snapped in response.

"Just curious," Lupin shrugged, "I mean, why would someone like you come all the way here to kill a group of harmless, run-of-the-mill thieves, murderers, assassins, etc., etc.?"

"My mother," Natasha looked downward, "She's ill, and some man came and told me if I helped to capture and kill Lupin the Third and his friends, he would take care of my mother's medical needs. We don't exactly have the best forms of health care in the Middle East, Mister Lupin. You do what you can to save the one you love."

"Well, that's understandable. It's why Jigen, Goemon and I are all here…" Lupin answered. Natasha gave a brief look of pity, but soon became as cold as she had been before.

"What'd you do with Ming, you bitch!?" Jigen hissed.

"Ming?" Natasha raised an eyebrow, "Why do you want to know about Ming?"

"Listen, if any of your buddies or you laid a hand on her, I'm going to kick their ass, all right?" Jigen responded in an angry snap.

"Yeah, why the hell do you still care about that witch, Jigen?" Lupin asked in a whisper, "Look, there's a reason she's not up there with Amaya, Fujiko, and Yukiko… Think about it…"

"Listen, she… She wouldn't do that…" Jigen responded hesitantly.

"Are you sure?" Lupin inquired.

Jigen did not have time to answer. The doors of the theaters flung open, and Inspector Zenigata burst in, followed by Inspector Remy. Zenigata had his handcuffs drawn, and smiled as he saw Lupin sitting in one of the theater chairs. But Zenigata's mood began to change, however, when he noticed the young college student from the dance was holding a gun to Goemon, Lupin, and Jigen and Amaya, Fujiko, and Yukiko were all tied up on stage.

"What the hell is going on?" Zenigata muttered as Collin and Ravi appeared from either side of the stage. Zenigata soon felt a swift hit to the head, and fell to the floor. Amaya let out a muffled scream as she watched her father fall, and Lupin, Goemon and Jigen all looked upward, stunned at the sight of Remy holding the butt of his gun over Zenigata.

"That's what's going on, you egomaniac pig bastard…" Remy hissed. He smirked as he saw Lupin, and leaned on the back of the thief's seat, "Arsene, dear friend…. How long has it been? Four, five years?"

"I'm not your friend," Lupin replied.

"No, you'll be what I want you to. I have your little wench of a girlfriend up there, and I've got four friends who are willing to kill them on a dime," Remy hissed.

Zenigata sat up on the floor and rubbed the back of his head, "What the hell happened? Who did that!?" But no one seemed to notice Zenigata at that moment. They were all a little too busy concentrating on Lupin and Remy.

"Why the hell are you doing this, Remy? Why now?" asked Lupin.

"Because…" Remy stood upward, "I've killed everyone else… All five of them… You're the only one who's getting in my way now, the only one I can't seem to kill… That title should've been mine, you little bastard. Why do so many admire you? I've known potatoes with higher I.Q.'s!"

"Thanks…." Lupin mumbled, "But at least I got the looks in the family…"

"Huh?" Jigen, Goemon and Zenigata all shot their heads in Lupin and Remy's direction.

"You never told them about Remy, you ungrateful little son of a bitch?" Remy inquired with a wry smirk, "Some group you've got here…. A seven-year-old with the mouth of a sailor… An over-zealous hypocritical samurai… A little kung-fu fighting whore whose bust size is higher than her level of intelligence… A computer-hacker who has serious domestic problems to work out… And a repressed gunman who's slowing losing his vision…. Mister Jigen, have fun today? I hope you did…. Little Ming's a good little sport, isn't she?"

"What the hell did you do with her!?" Jigen demanded angrily, rising from his seat. Remy smiled and pushed Jigen back.

"Sounds like someone's fallen… Pity, too…." Remy said, "You remember that little shootout at your sad excuse for a villa? The one organized by the Dragon and Phoenix? It was actually put together by it's current leader, and my current fiancée… Why don't you come on out, Dear?" Jigen watched in horror as Ming came out of the shadows of the theater and took her place next to Remy, "I can't blame you, really….You have quite exquisite tastes…. But a twenty-year-old girl? You're a dirty old man, aren't you? I certainly wouldn't leave you alone with a young girl too long…. It's a genetic thing though, isn't it? How old was your mother when your father knocked her up? Fourteen? Yes, that's about right…."

"You bastard!" Jigen stood and drew his gun, but Remy quickly drew his own gun, and pointed it towards Yukiko.

Jigen stopped dead and glared at Remy coldly, "Sit down, Mr. Jigen," ordered Remy. Jigen did so reluctantly, "Good boy…. You know, it was quite entertaining, watching the two of you… You honestly thought this was the one, didn't you? My goodness—We're quite the idealist under that gruff exterior…" Jigen leered at Ming, and Ming turned her face away from him. Remy saw this, and frowned in discontent, "What's wrong with you, Dear? What, did you fall for him, as well? You did, didn't you?" Remy growled and slapped Ming across the face, sending her falling to the floor.

"Don't you touch her!" Jigen screamed.

"Still carry a torch? Apparently you've been spending too much time with Little Brother… His relentless following of a single woman is rubbing off of you…" Remy smirked.

"Little…." Goemon trailed off, and looked over at the stern Lupin.

"I knew there was a reason I didn't like you!" Zenigata yelled.

"God it was terrific… Perfect—Worthy of your own, Arsene…. I must tell it to you—I'm a narcissist myself, you see…. That's one of the few things we have in common…" Remy said, "I joined up with Inspector Zenigata so I could figure out where the hell you were… The Inspector was a good little puppet, I admit…"

"I'm not a Goddamned puppet!" Zenigata yelled.

"Shut up, you old has-been. I'm trying to tell a story…" Remy replied, slapping Zenigata harshly. He turned his attention back to Lupin, "So we had that part in place… But we needed someone who knew your exact position at any time; someone you would learn to trust…. But you were already engaged, and faithful, as your little liaison with Natasha demonstrated… And Samurai Jack was certainly out of the question… But who better than an untrusting, hardened straight shooter? You fell quite quickly, Mr. Jigen. I was quite surprised."

"You bitch!" Jigen yelled to Ming, "How could you do that to me!? I finally started to trust you!"

"Dear, why don't you get everything in place…. We want this to be a grand spectacle…" Remy whispered. Ming nodded briefly, and grabbed onto Jigen's arm. Collin went up to the stage while Ravi took hold of Goemon, Natasha lifted Zenigata up and Remy drug Lupin towards the stage.

"Jigen, I'm sorry," Ming whispered.

"Save it, you little whore," Jigen replied venomously.

"I want to help," Ming continued, "Please, just listen to me… I know your pride's telling you not to hear me out, but think about Yukiko for a second… Now I've got a plan, okay?" Jigen slowly nodded, "Okay, good…"

"I still hate you," Jigen whispered as Ming set him down on a chair on the stage.

"I know," Ming answered as she began to tie him to the chair. After Zenigata and Goemon had been tied up as well, Ming, Natasha, and Ravi took their place next to Collin and Remy. Lupin stood helplessly at Remy's side, investigating the theater wildly, looking for a chance to escape.

"I know what you're doing, Lupin… It isn't going to work…. There's no chance of escape…" Remy said. He pushed Lupin over to Ravi, and walked over to the group, "Now… Which one first…. The best friend, the little girl, the fiancée? How about those two little bastards she's got inside of her, huh?" Remy removed a gun, and pointed it at Fujiko's stomach. The brunette let out a wild scream, and Lupin jumped forward towards Remy. A shot was fired, and Lupin fell to the ground.

"Jesus Christ! Remy, you sick son of a bitch, when I get out of this I'm going to get your ass!" Zenigata yelled.

"Oh, save it, you old windbag…" Remy grumbled, looking downward at Lupin, "I only shot the imbecile in the arm… Lord, you would've thought I killed your daughter—Which isn't sounding like such a bad idea right now…." Remy smiled and walked over to Amaya, and pointed the gun at her head.

"No!" Goemon shouted, leaning forward in his chair.

"Oh, what the hell is this?" Remy rolled his eyes, "You really expect me to spare her life, after all the ones your blade has ended? I always disliked how very two-sided you were, Goemon… Honor… You find honor in stealing, when you know there is no honor in such a thing…. There is honor in death, however…"

Ming smiled, and put her arms around Remy's waist, "Dear, would you mind if I do something?"

"No problem, Li Yan… Be my guest…" replied Remy. Ming nodded, and walked over to Jigen, and took his fedora. She smacked him across the face with it, and put it on her own head.

She better be right, because that hurt like a bitch, thought Jigen angrily as he glared at Ming. Ming walked over to Remy, and put a hand on his shoulder, "All done, Dear?" asked Remy.

"Not quite, Hon…" Ming said, pulling a gun from out of the fedora and holding it to Remy's temple, "Lupin!" she turned to the thief quickly. Lupin took the incentive, rose and kicked Remy down just as Natasha pushed Ming to the floor.

"You little traitor!" Natasha yelled, holding Ming to the floor with her heel. Ming grabbed onto Natasha's foot and threw her to the floor.

"That's the pot calling the kettle black!" Ming yelled, rising and taking Jigen's gun from the floor. She pointed it at Collin, but was attacked from behind by Ravi. Ming fell to the floor with a loud 'thud!' once more, this time out cold. By this time, Lupin had untied Amaya and was now working on untying Fujiko from the chair.

"You've been shot…" Fujiko said in mild disbelief.

"Oh, so that's why my arm hurts so much? I thought it was a bug bite..." Lupin replied with a smirk as he finished loosening her ropes, "Amaya, you got this?" he inquired as he stood.

"You bet," Amaya replied as she removed her sword from her hilt and cut through Yukiko's ropes. Yukiko jumped off the chair, but soon found herself pursued by an angry Collin.

"C'mere, you little git… Uncle Collin only wants to play…" Collin hissed as Yukiko began to climb up a black metal ladder. Yukiko looked downward at Collin, and kicked him square in the jaw. Collin growled and sped up the pace of his pursuit.

As soon as Amaya freed Goemon, the samurai joined in the chase. Yukiko was now on the catwalk of the theater, Collin hot on her heels.

"Yukiko!" Jigen yelled as he looked upward in horror.

"I've got it!" Goemon replied as he climbed on the catwalk. He ran forward, and drew his sword. He threw the sword, and it landed in front of Collin. The British man tripped over the sword, but not before grabbing onto Yukiko's ankle. Yukiko fell off of the ladder, and Goemon could not reach her in time.

"I GOT HER!!" Yukiko landed in the arms of Zenigata, and both fell to the stage.

"Pops!" Lupin yelled in surprise, "You—You—"

"Save it for when I arrest your ass!" Zenigata replied as he set Yukiko down on the ground, "Oh, my friggin' back…" Zenigata murmured as he held onto his back.

Jigen jumped onto the chair as Ravi swung for him once more, this time barely missing him. Jigen took out his gun, but Ravi swung too quickly. Jigen lost his balance and fell off of the chair. Ravi had already hit him, but now loomed over Jigen, prepared to strike again. But quickly, Goemon jumped from the catwalk and used his balled fists to strike Ravi to the ground.

"What the hell…" Remy muttered, holding onto his head as he looked out at the fight scene. He looked over at Ming, and grabbed onto her arm gruffly, "You little bitch! How could you do this!? I'm going to blow your Goddamned head off!" Just as Remy finished, a shot was fired at his feet. Remy looked downward, and traced the bullet's path back to Jigen's smoking gun.

"Not before I blow yours off…" Jigen replied coolly.

Remy looked downward at Ming, and held her in front of him as some form of shield. He gripped onto his gun's trigger, and all stopped their fighting. Collin had finished climbing down the ladder, and hopped onto the stage, "Remy, what the hell are you doing!? She's working for you—You're paying her to kill Lupin, you bleeding idiot!"

"What's going on, Remy?" asked Natasha.

"What the hell does it look like, you two-bit whore!?" Remy yelled, "What are you waiting for, kill this stupid jerk!" he said, pointing to Lupin. Lupin jerked back a little, but soon became serious once more.

"Remy, this was it all along, wasn't it? After you killed everyone I loved and killed me, you were going to kill them…" Lupin said with a smile.

Remy's eyes widened in horror, and he glared at Lupin and began to step back as Lupin walked towards him, "Don't you take another step, or I'll splatter her brains all over the stage!"

"Go ahead and do it, then…" Lupin smirked.

"Lupin!" Jigen yelled in horror.

"Jigen, calm down…" Lupin hissed. He turned back to Remy, and smiled, "Hey, Remy… I got a question…"

"Sure… What?" asked Remy with a smirk.

"What has three swords, seven guns, and a pair of handcuffs?" Lupin inquired.

"I don't know… What?" Remy asked with a smile.

"A mob that's really pissed off at you!" Lupin replied with a wide smile. Remy noticed only now that Ravi, Collin, and Natasha had pointed their weapons towards him instead of Lupin, "Hey, Zenigata, lemme borrow these a second…" Lupin said, walking over to Zenigata and taking a pair of handcuffs from the inspector's trench coat pocket. Lupin walked back over to Remy, and swung the handcuffs in the air, "Okay, Remy… Game's up… Let's get going now, like a good boy…"

"Do not tell me what to do!" Remy screamed, "Okay, you ready to die, girl?" A shot was fired, and the gun flew out of Remy's hand. Jigen smirked as Lupin tackled Remy and cuffed him.

"Hey, Zenigata… You want the honor?" Lupin asked, turning back to the dazed inspector.

"Lupin, you're under arrest!" Zenigata yelled victoriously, pointing at Remy.

Later, the theater:

"I just don't feel right about this…." Zenigata muttered as all sat down on the stage. Amaya was typing away at her laptop while Lupin and Jigen had their wounds tended to.

"Pops, what's to be sad about? You caught Lupin. He's being extradited to France and then to Japan for trial as we speak!" said Lupin with a smile as he rolled the sleeve of his shirt down, "Thanks, Fujicakes," he added as he rose and walked over to Amaya, who sat typing furiously at her computer, "Almost done, Amaya?"

"All done…" Amaya said with a smile as she sat back from the computer, "Your fingerprints, Arsene Lupin, have now been replaced with Remy Lupin's…."

"See, I told you, Pops… You caught Lupin," Lupin smiled.

Meanwhile, in a corner of the stage, Ming finished tying a cloth strip she had found lying around the stage around Jigen's shoulder, where Ravi had hit him. She put a hand on top of Jigen's, but Jigen shrugged her away. Ming sat back, a look of disappointment on her face.

"I'm really sorry…" Ming said in a low voice, "But, I just want you to know… I wasn't lying about what I said before, or what I did…. I meant that, I really did… I just… I had to—He was my boyfriend! But, he's not anymore…I… I wondered if you'd like to… I'd like to, I mean…"

"Save it…" Jigen snapped in response coldly, "You got me to trust you, you got everyone to trust you, and then it turns out that you were only being nice to me to spy on us… God damn, we… You let me do that to you, all so you could kill us…"

"I let you do that because I wanted you to," Ming replied, lifting his fedora upward and smiling hopefully, "I'm sorry, Daisuke… I really like you… And, if you never want to see me again, you might as well have this back…" she reached back and began to unfasten the necklace, but Jigen stopped her.

"You earned it, remember?" Jigen gave a brief smirk, and rose. Ming watched as he walked over to Yukiko, who had busied herself by playing with a set of Zenigata's hancuffs. Yukiko rose, walked over to Lupin, and cuffed him when he was not looking.

"Huh?" Lupin looked downward at the cuffs in surprise, "Okay… Ha, ha—Really funny, now give me the key…"

"Key?" Yukiko inquired, looking upward at Lupin.

Lupin glanced at Zenigata, and the inspector shrugged, "The keys are in France…."

"Holy crap!" Lupin yelled as he began to undo try to undo the cuffs, but found they did not break open, "Fujiko, get your nail file!"

"Hey, I'm going," said Jigen, putting his hands in his pockets.

"That's good… When are you coming back?" Lupin asked as Fujiko began to file through the handcuffs.

"I'm not…." Jigen answered. All stopped dead, and looked at Jigen in shock.

"What?" Lupin gasped.

Jigen walked over to Goemon, who had been talking with Ravi on methods of swordplay, "I want you to take care of Yukiko for me…" Jigen replied, his eyes lowered to the ground, "You—You'd be ten times better a father than I could ever be… You and the kid get along, and she's really crazy about you…"

"Jigen…" Goemon trailed off.

"Daddy! No!" Yukiko shrieked as Jigen began to walk off of the stage. She grabbed onto the back of his coat, "I'm not letting you leave me, too! You told me you wouldn't leave me!" Jigen looked downward, and saw she had began to cry. He kneeled downward, and embraced her.

"I'm not leaving you, Yuki…. As cliché as it sounds, I'm always going be with you… But I can't take care of you… There's a lot going on right now; a lot you wouldn't understand… Goemon will do a good job, I promise. He's a good guy, even if he's a little creepy."

"No," Yukiko shook her head, "You can't go! You can't!"

"I have to," Jigen stood, and kissed her on the forehead, "I'll see you around, kid, okay? Keep practicing with that gun of yours, and maybe someday you'll be good as me…" He turned to leave once more, but found Goemon with his sword drawn, "Put the sword down, Goemon…"

"I won't let you leave her," said Goemon sternly.

"Listen, I won't be any good to the kid!" Jigen yelled, "I need to get some crap done; some crap that's no one's concern! Just leave me alone!" he jumped out of the way of Goemon, and exited the theater.

"What the…." Lupin stood there, shocked. Had Jigen just abandoned them? He watched as Goemon went to comfort a weeping Yukiko, and he looked back at the swinging doors. He broke into a run, the handcuffs still on him. He ran out, and soon found Jigen outside of the theater, using a cane to find his way through the night.

"I can hear you, Lupin…" Jigen said as Lupin ran next to him.

"Good, so you'll be able to hear me call you a complete jerk!" Lupin screamed, "What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

"I'm no use to you or anyone anymore," Jigen stopped, but did not face Lupin, "I can't even see at night, anymore! And if I don't get help, it's only going to get worse! Three more months, and I totally lose my vision. I need to go and get the surgery done, but I can't have a little kid with the burden of helping me. And it'd be asking too much of you guys…."

"Jigen, you can never ask too much! You're my best friend!" Lupin responded, "I don't care if you're blind forever! Right now Yukiko needs you! And do you know how unfair you're being to Goemon; just dropping the kid on him like a ton of bricks!?"

"Bye, Lupin the Third. It was great doing business with you," Jigen said with a small smirk. He vanished into a crowd of trick-or-treaters, and soon was gone. Lupin tilted his head downward, and then turned to walk back. Fujiko, Goemon, Yukiko, Amaya and Zenigata were all behind him.

"Is he gone?" Amaya asked. Lupin nodded solemnly, "But we aren't letting him get away, guys… Don't worry about it—I'm thinking of a plan as we speak…"

A nearby clock struck, and Zenigata looked upward. Midnight, "Well, there goes my last chance to catch you, Lupin…" Zenigata muttered as he put his hat back on his head, "Now the question is, 'what am I going to do with the rest of my life'?"

"Why don't you travel around for fun for once in your life, Zenigata?" Lupin inquired, "Do whatever it is the hell you like…."

"I guess. Amaya, I'll see you at the wedding," Zenigata waved goodbye to the group, and began to walk down the now empty Chicago street. He heard someone running behind him, and stopped and turned.

"Hey! Wait!" Natasha yelled, and stopped in front of Zenigata, "Lupin told me that my mother's going to be taken to Switzerland and looked over by his family's doctor, so now I don't have much else to do except maybe focus on coin collecting. You know, I don't know everything there is about coins, and it'd be great to have someone who knew a lot more traveling along with me."

Zenigata wore a look of great disbelief as this registered, "Sure… I suppose… You know, I don't know it all, either… Perhaps there's still some tricks you can teach an old dog…"

"I'd count on it," Natasha said with a small chuckle as she and Zenigata began to walk down the street once more.

"How sickeningly sweet…" Collin muttered as he and Ravi sat on the theater building. He looked up at Ravi, "So, your family's coming to the U.S. thanks to the enemy. Does that mean you're going to become a surgeon again?"

"I suppose," Ravi answered, "What are you going to do? You were only in this for fun in the first place…"

"Oh, I dunno…" Collin removed a cigarette from his jacket and a match from a book. He struck the match against the bottom of his boot and lit the cigarette, "There's this small medical business that this Indian bastard is opening in the States… I figure I could help out with the funding…."

Ravi looked downward at him, "Oh, is this the beginnings of a sense of compassion, Collin?"

"Don't bloody count on it, Love…" Collin replied, flicking a few of the cigarette ashes off the end of the Marlboro and then putting it back in his mouth, "Poor Ming… You think she really fell for that mob hit man?"

"Most undoubtedly," Ravi answered as he looked out at the city, "Most undoubtedly she'll try to find him again…"