Betrayal

Part II

A Lupin Fanfic

Brenna "Snakelady" Dawkins

Rating: R

Disclaimer: Owned by Kato, Takahashi, and Monkey Punch, I make no profit from this fic, so try to sue me, I dare ya, I have nothing!

Summary: A bad spur of the moment idea costs Fujiko much more then what she might be willing to give up. Will Lupin be able to forgive her this time? And she actually feels--- gulity?

"You think she's gonna come back, Boss?" Jigen asked while lighting his cigarette.

Lupin was leaning up against the wall staring off into space. "She always comes back. Of that I have no doubt."

Jigen inhaled deeply then tossed the match into a standing puddle of water on the asphalt outside the gas station. "Don't you go feelin' any kind of sorry for that bitch!" The gunman said hotly. "She's ice!"

Lupin sighed heavily, hating how much he missed her, hating how angry he was at her. "That's just her safety net. She has been hurt many times in the past."

Jigen snorted, "I can't believe you're defending her! You really are hopeless, you know that? Think of everything she's done to us! You forgetting this entire past week, Lupin? No matter how you look at it, everything has changed! There's no more trust left in the world! Good riddance to her, I say!"

"I just can't, Jigen." Lupin admitted.

"Shit! Lupin!" Jigen growled then angrily puffed away at his cigarette in silence.

Goemon approached them, noticing the change in mood. "Dwelling on the past does not allow one to live into the future."

"Then how are you supposed to learn from your mistakes?" Lupin asked slightly ticked, mostly at Jigen, but because Goemon was the one talking, his anger was directed at the samurai.

"The past is a trap. Dwell long enough to learn and move on, if you do not, you lie in the arms of guilt."

Lupin sighed, "Yeah, whatever. Are we ready to go now?" He nearly whined.

"Let's get the hell out of here." Jigen began to walk towards the car stiffly.

"We aren't being followed, as much as I can tell." Goemon informed Lupin who was walking slowly after the ex-mobster.

"We lost them?" Lupin wondered aloud worriedly.

"Looks that way." Goemon said unemotionally.

Lupin sighed, "We're too good at that. How will she be able to find us if we lose our tail?"

"I don't understand why you want that woman around still, after all she's done." Goemon still said 'that woman' as if it was a bad taste in his mouth.

Lupin shrugged. "I don't know. I still love her, after all is said and done, call me crazy---"

"I've done that before and it STILL hasn't done any good." Goemon said stoically.

The young thief shrugged tiredly. "Ha ha, Goemon. You need to stick to being the straight man around here and leave all the jokes to me. You stink."

Goemon looked at Lupin through his overhanging bangs but said nothing. After all the years following Lupin around, there was much he knew about the thief, and yet, much more he could barely even begin to fathom. Ironic. It was true, the old saying, the more you know, the more you know you don't know. They all got into the car and drove off, not quite at the crazy pace they had started off with.

Lupin was munching on some jerky they had purchased at the gas station as he drove. Everyone in the car was quiet. He was certain Jigen was pissed at him. No doubt of that. And Goemon, well, Goemon was probably in one of his weird 'modes' of tolerance or indifference. It was kind of hard for Lupin to tell which was which with the introverted samurai. The man never wore his emotions on his sleeve like he did. Which made him sad that he never taught Goemon the art of poker. Goemon would have the best poker face of anyone he knew.

He knew he was trying his best not to think about the real problem. It hurt him to think about what he'd done. He'd shot Pop's. Saw the old cop wilt to the ground and stay there, unmoving. The sudden fury that had grasped his heart had been replaced with cold terror. He'd stood there, paralyzed, staring at the crumpled heap that was the Inspector. He barely remembered Jigen and Goemon forcibly dragging him away. He'd wanted to go to see if Zenigata was okay, against better judgement. Thank God for Jigen and Goemon! They kept him from going to pieces. They kept him just on this side of sane. If he thought too much about what he'd done, he was sure he'd go over the brink.

And even after all was said and done, after the heat of the moment had passed, a day later, he wanted Fujiko back. She was like an addiction. Hot and heavy and impossible to get rid of. It'd been a week and she still hadn't come calling, despite his wishes. When had she ever listened to him? Why did she have to start now? He wondered morosely.

Jigen had at one time asked if he had some sort of masochist thing going on with Fujiko, and Lupin had to finally agree. Fujiko brought out the best and worst in him. She was the one challenge that he'd give everything up for. He wasn't sure when he'd decided this, it--- just--- happened.

"There is someone behind us." Goemon said quietly.

"Who?" Lupin asked, roused from his reverie.

"Cops."

"Anyone else?" Lupin couldn't help but blurt.

Goemon gave him a cool, silent gaze.

"Okay, okay. Looks like they re-found us. Took them long enough." Lupin sighed and didn't say aloud what else he'd been thinking, hoping for. He knew the gang knew what he was hoping to see--- a certain female on a bike tailing the cops tailing them. It would have been the easiest way to find them. Just follow Interpol.

"Make it look good, but don't lose them." Jigen reminded Lupin, knowing what was on Lupin's mind.

Lupin nodded grimly and made a wild turn, ripping through a wooden fence and careening into an open field. The cop car sirens flipped on and they predictably followed.

The grass was damp from the rain the previous night and the wheels found it hard to grip hold of much. So at every slight turn of the wheel, they ended up fishtailing, sometimes violently, depending on how sharply Lupin had jerked at the steering wheel. They bumped and slid over hill and dale with the cops hot on their tail and having just as much trouble. The pursuit was a familiar thing to Lupin, but something was missing. It wasn't until he heard the lowing of disturbed cattle that he realized what it was. Every chase had been choreographed by Pop's. This time there was no one hollering after them pointlessly. A sharp pain of guilt stabbed Lupin in the heart, but he only hunched over the steering wheel and stepped a little heavier on the gas. No, he couldn't dwell on that at the moment!

The large pasture had a bit of forest stretching across it and some water, too large to be a lake, too small to be a pond.

"It's not too thick in there." Lupin angled the car into the direction of the forest.

Jigen leaned forward, taking in the forest with disbelief, "You ARE crazy!"

"Let's hope the cops aren't." Lupin replied.

"Or desperate." Goemon responded from the backseat.

Lupin shook his head and the car hurtled into the forest.

"I thought the whole idea was NOT to lose them?" Jigen asked as they narrowly missed spearing themselves on a broken log.

"But I have to make it look good, don't I? I have a rep to uphold!" Lupin jerked the wheel every which way. He thought he had a good idea of how it would have felt to be in the speederbike chase in Return of the Jedi at that moment. He hoped he wouldn't rip the oil pan or break an axle on anything. "Still back there?"

"They are." Goemon told him.

"Good."

So they spun their way through the tiny forest. Branches broke before them, giving the cops a slightly easier path to follow. The forest ended before Lupin was prepared for it to be. There was a road just ahead running perpendicular to the edge of the forest and just beyond that, a cliff.

They slid back onto the road.

"I hear a helicopter." Lupin mumbled and tried to quickly glance at the sky to see if he could see it too.

"Six o'clock." Goemon said.

"Shit!" The cops never sent a helicopter after him before. They sped along the ribbon of road with the cops behind them. He only wanted to be followed so that Fujiko could find them again, not captured! "Pedal's to the floor. This is all this jalopy's got."

"Wish we still had the Fiat." Jigen grumbled and turned to view the helicopter that was nearly upon them. "This can't turn out good."

The helicopter kept coming lower and closer to them. Jigen noticed a ladder rope swinging in the wind from the 'copter. Were the cops planning on boarding them? He grabbed up his gun tensely. Then the 'copter tilted a bit, and Jigen got a good view of the pilot. He snorted.

"Friggen Fujiko!"

Lupin's face lit up. "See? No problem!"

Jigen swore to himself and hoisted himself up through the open sunroof of the vehicle and grabbed hold of the ladder. He had to dodge the wild fire from the cop car behind as he climbed up and Goemon soon after. Lupin grabbed a tire iron and positioned it so that the gas pedal would stay down as he was leaving the car. He used his feet to try to steer as he stood. The fairly straight part of the road was nearly over. Major curves were ahead. He had to get out of the car now! Once he had a hold of one of the rungs, he pulled himself up and the car veered wildly. Lupin hadn't fully gotten his body out of the car yet and almost lost his grip on the rung when the car threatened to pull him away. But Lupin's adrenaline helped keep his grip on the ladder and as his car careened over the cliff, he scrambled up the ladder. A biting pain pierced the thief's arm and weirdly, it instantly went numb. Lupin knew he'd been shot, but didn't pause long enough to ponder over it.

Jigen and Goemon helped pull him into the helicopter, putting themselves back into the line of fire. With great effort, they hauled Lupin into the 'copter and fell to the floor with a sigh of relief.

"You're shot." Jigen observed and took a hold of Lupin's arm.

The pain came back from the act of touching, "AH! Idiot!" Lupin smacked Jigen away.

"Get us out of here, Fujiko!" Jigen ordered and if Lupin didn't know any better, the gunman sat there cross-legged on the floor of the helicopter and pouted.

Fujiko took the helicopter away from the chase and asked, "Where are we going?"

Lupin leaned up against the wall of the helicopter and closed his eyes. "There's a little abandoned airport thirty miles from here to the south. We go there."

Fujiko nodded and turned south.

To Be Continued---