Betrayal
Part III
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?
Jigen sat there in the helicopter silently fuming. This was not how he expected things to turn out. He'd made plans, and here Fujiko was, back to screw them all up. Well, all he knew was that the bitch was going to pay and he wasn't going to apologize to Lupin about it.
So, they were all back together again. Almost like the old days, Jigen sighed unhappily. After they had landed, they jacked a car and were off again. Fujiko cooed over the injured Lupin while Jigen drove. Jigen ground his teeth in disgust. Lupin was eating the attention up. Fujiko and Lupin took up the backseat of the car. Goemon sat shotgun and stone silent. Jigen wished he knew what was on the samurai's mind. From the look on the younger man's face, whatever the thought was, it wasn't pleasant.
Jigen knew what had to be done, he only hoped that Lupin would forgive him of it.
"We got to decide on how things are going to be from now on, Lupin." Jigen began, his ire making him feel self-righteous.
"Not now, Jigen." Lupin said tiredly. "Can't you give it a rest?"
Jigen gripped the wheel, his irritation spiked. "LUPIN!"
"Jigen, I've been shot, I'm tired, I want to lay down, okay?" Lupin said.
Jigen heard the weariness in his friend's voice. He clamped his jaws shut, grinding his teeth in frustration, but kept quiet--- for the moment. But his silence would not last, and he was certain that Lupin knew it too. He wanted to spit up bile from the noises he heard coming from Fujiko in the back. Yup, just like old times.
He was pissed. Pissed at how easily and willingly Lupin let himself be manipulated by that bitch.
Things would be going okay for a while, then the next thing he'd know, Fujiko would be making off with whatever their booty happened to be at the moment and they would be left taking the heat for it. He found it very hard to trust people and Fujiko made things that much more difficult. He didn't want her back in. He'd make it known to all what his wishes were. He wasn't in this game to make friends, he was in it to make money.
They made it to the hotel room they had rented for the week. Goemon got out the medical kit and began to work on Lupin's arm as the red coated thief sat on the bed. Fujiko went into the restroom and Jigen stood up against the wall near Lupin.
"Well?" Lupin prompted. "I know you're just growing a family of ulcers keepin' quiet about it. Spill."
"Don't want her here." Jigen said as if that was news to all
Lupin snorted. "News flash. You have something on your mind and I wanna know what."
"She's bad news, Lupin. You know it. She's going to play you, play you until you break and then she'll go on to the next one."
"She's got spirit all right."
Jigen growled, "There's nothing admirable about what SHE does, Lupin! She doesn't give a rat's ass about you. It's always about HER!"
The door to the bathroom was flung open and the curvaceous figure of Fujiko stood in the center. Hands on hips and brilliant eyes flashed.
"Care to speak a little louder, Jigen? I was in the next room!" She fumed as she raised her voice to match her new anger. How dare he? He didn't know a damn thing about her! "You don't know anything!"
"I know what I've seen, and I know what I like, and I don't care for either." Jigen confided with equal vehemence.
"Bastard."
"Bitch."
"Guys!" Lupin chimed in. "Whatever happened to forgiveness is divine?"
Jigen and Fujiko each shot him a look that could kill.
"Goemon---" Lupin looked over at the quiet samurai for help.
"Don't look at me. This is your bed, there's no way I'm going to share THIS one with you." Goemon replied firmly. He took his sheathed katana in one hand and the medical kit in the other and moved off, having finished with his quick patchwork.
"Lot of help you are." Lupin sighed.
"Lupin, it's the same old song. It ain't gonna be any different." Jigen said stubbornly.
"Not your call though, Jigen, right?" Fujiko stated flatly. Her eyes migrated over to the notorious man on the bed who haphazardly tried to inspect his bandage while trying to keep focused on the drama in front of him. "Lupin."
His head spun around once more, satisfied that Goemon's patchwork was true. "What?"
"Do I stay or do I go?" Fujiko demanded, her hot eyes boring into him.
"Um." Lupin looked to Jigen, then to Fujiko, then back again, and again. He didn't want to choose. He didn't want to have to make that decision.
"Don't hurt yourself man!" Jigen turned and headed towards the door.
"Wait, Jigen! Where you going?" Lupin stood instantly, worried at his friends sudden departure.
"Out. I need some friggen air. That okay with you?" He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his cigarette pack. He pulled one out and clamped it between his teeth. "I'll be back--- maybe."
"Jigen, come on, don't be an ass-" Lupin started.
Jigen had the door open, his hand rested on the knob, his back still facing his friends and one that was not. "Don't start with me Lupin. Not today." He strode out and let the door shut firmly.
Lupin was still standing, staring after his friend anxiously. "He'll come to his senses. He'll be back."
"So how far is it to this land of Delusion that you live in, Lupin?" Goemon asked dryly.
"Knock it off, Goemon." Lupin shot his friend an evil look, "Look, it's been a rough day on all of us. He's just gone to blow some steam is all."
"Good riddance." Fujiko breathed quietly.
Lupin was not amused. "And none of that from you, Fujiko. Not after all you've done."
Fujiko placed a hand on her chest indignant, "What I've done? I just saved all of your sorry hides, is what I've done!"
Lupin's look didn't change, "Fuj, you know how I feel about you, but you also know how I feel about the--- incident."
"What incident?" Fujiko demanded.
"The whole thing with Pops." Lupin's frown deepened.
"I would have hoped that you could have forgiven me by now." Fujiko had a sinking feeling. Maybe she shouldn't have come back after all. Even though Lupin had welcomed her with open arms, it was now clear that he was still angry with her over that whole stupid--- thing!
Lupin looked away, "It wasn't how I thought he'd go out. Nothing noble at all about it."
"So, am I staying?" Fujiko ventured.
It took effort to turn back and look at her, but dammit, once his eyes fell on her, she was so easy to look at. It was hard to remain angry when one looked at that face.
"Let's take things day by day, alright?" Lupin finally said.
Fujiko grinned in relief and walked up to the thief. She wrapped her arms around him and he let her hug him. She smelled the remnants of his cologne and sweat. God, she forgot how much she missed that! She moved in to kiss his neck, but he seemed to have sensed her intentions and his head jerked away from her lips.
"Not yet. Sorry, Fuji-cakes." He gently unwrapped her arms from his shoulders and pushed her away from him. He hated the look he saw in her eyes. Part of him wanted to dive in and make them sparkle with joy. But he knew that was just the part of him that didn't give a damn about Zenigata's death. That didn't care about anything but sex with Fujiko. It was the ugly part of him, the part he'd been trying to forget was there.
The next day and they were still missing one of their number. Fujiko had to admit she was relieved that the chain smoking gunman was no where to be seen. Maybe he had made his choice. Well good!
They had a double room suite. Fujiko had ended up in one room and Lupin and Goemon in the other. When Fujiko entered the room that Lupin and Goemon shared through a door that connected the two, she saw Lupin reading the morning newspaper. Room service had already arrived and she helped herself without asking to the bagels and Bloody Mary.
"Well, well, look what's arrived in our neck of the woods." Lupin said with eyes still on the paper.
Fujiko's interest perked, glad to see that even with the absence of Jigen that Lupin was still thinking about business. "What's on your mind, Lupin, Honey?"
"A team of American's just brought a boatload of bullion to the surface. Apparently, these waters have a nasty reputation during the stormy season and there's a veritable graveyard of ships dating all the way back to the early 1600's along the coastline, just waiting to be defrocked. One, apparently had been carrying literally a king's ransom in dabloon's, coins, gold bricks, you name it. It's currently in a holding cell collecting dust, waiting transport to the Spanish museum. What say we polish it off?" Lupin grinned hugely as he looked up at his two companions.
"I just love a good buff!" Fujiko said excitedly.
"What about Jigen?" Goemon wondered.
"We aren't going to leave him a note." Fujiko said shortly, "Just our luck the cleaning service would come in, see it, and alert the authorities."
"We can do this one job without him." Lupin said. "We can't wait around forever for him." He added at Goemon's look. "They're going to relocate the stuff tonight under heavy police surveillance."
"I see. Business as usual." Goemon conceded reluctantly. He gave Fujiko a cool glance.
"Yeah. Business as usual." Lupin said tightly tired of all the trouble in the ranks.
"I take it you already have a plan?" Fujiko asked, ignoring the swordsman artfully.
Lupin grinned, "Of course, my dear. What kind of thief do you take me for?"
Fujiko would rather not say, so she didn't.
"Going to enlighten us or are we supposed to ad lib?" Goemon said stonily.
"Well, thanks to the wonderful world of computers, I found a schematic of the holding area. It's not meant to hold perishables, so no ventilation, no windows, let's face it, it's not much more then a glorified cell." Lupin told them.
Goemon studied the layout, "One way in, one way out. Easy to guard."
"Easy to distract." Lupin said glibly.
"We've gotten into tougher places." Fujiko was unimpressed.
"So, you ready to make an easy buck?" Lupin asked and stood.
"Right now?" Fujiko said wonderingly. Was he serious?
Lupin nodded, "Yeah, why not? No time like the present and all that. The sooner we clean em out, the sooner we'll be divvying up the loot."
"Well, I got nothing else planned." Goemon gripped his sword.
Lupin grinned, "You gotta get a hobby."
"So everyone tells me."
"Enough with the banter," Fujiko was impatient, "You were the one who wanted to do this now, so let's!"
So they marched out and once outside, filed into the truck with Lupin at the wheel. Fujiko noted that Lupin wasn't his usual self during the drive over to the storage unit. She supposed it was due to Jigen's conspicuous absence. It didn't bother her one bit, as long as she didn't have to split any of her earnings up with him.
They drove around the building slow enough to be able to see everything but not so slow as to attract attention.
"Light guard compliment. Guess they aren't expecting any visitors." Lupin noted.
Goemon nodded, "Yes, but you cannot judge a book by its cover."
Lupin agreed, "Right, for all we know the bulk of the guards could be inside the holding cell."
"It looks almost too easy." Fujiko commented after they cased the entire area.
"That's usually when disaster strikes." Lupin said after years of experience.
"So we'll be extra cautious." Fujiko said.
"And that's usually when things go from bad to worse." Lupin replied.
Fujiko scowled at Lupin.
"Are we going to do this today, people?" Goemon said none too happily.
Lupin nodded, "Right. Let's do it."
"I'm not going to be the distraction." Fujiko protested when they began to move out.
A dark cloud of emotion seemed to pass behind Lupin's eyes at the ill-fated mention of how all the trouble had begun. Fujiko saw it and immediately regretted those words.
"Sorry, Lupin." She said and actually meant it.
He heard and nodded, his face turning unreadable. "You keep look out, Fuj. Goemon will take care of the guards and I'll open the door. Then you get the truck Fuj and we'll load it all up together."
The two companions nodded in understanding. Fujiko took point at the most advantageous spot. She had a clear view of the one road and of two sides of the building without herself being seen in return. She could see Lupin waiting under cover for Goemon to make his move. If anyone was going to approach the building from any direction, she was going to see it. She sighed. Being look out was boring!
She watched Goemon approach slowly, his sword half drawn under what cover he could find. The last few yards there was nothing to hide behind and Goemon would have no choice but to confront the five guards. They were armed, but Fujiko had no doubt that Goemon could handle himself against five armed men.
Goemon instantly attracted their attention. The Japanese samurai was set upon. His face held that look that gave nothing away. By the time he had the guards out of commission he wasn't even breathing heavily. Lupin popped out of his hiding place looking very pleased. Goemon slipped his sword back into its wooden sheathe quietly. Just another day at the office.
Fujiko leapt down from her post and ran to get the unmarked delivery truck. She backed it up with care to the front of the door. Conspicuous, but they wouldn't be there for long.
Lupin was working on the door as fast as his nimble hands allowed. The lock was no match for his heightened skills. It was breached with ease.
"Ladies first my love!" Lupin had a hold of the handle and opened the door with a flourish.
Fujiko couldn't wait to get her hands on all that gold! Gold was the one thing in life that she could trust fully. It never lost its value either. Her eyes brightened with anticipation as the door opened to reveal---
She stared in shock. There was no way, no possible way!
"Zenigata?" She found her voice at last.
Upon hearing the name, Lupin peered carefully around the door. His face lit up and broke into a big grin. "POP'S!" He even daringly ran around the door, squeezing in between Fujiko and an amazed Goemon and gave a surprised Inspector a huge hug.
That caught the aged cop off guard and he almost dropped his gun. "OW! Dammit, Lupin, that hurts!"
"I got shot at too, Pop's, but you don't hear me complaining." Lupin had that silly grin on his face and tweaked the cop's cheek.
"Knock it off, Lupin." Zenigata growled.
"That has to be music to my ears!" Lupin said truthfully. How he had missed the old geezer!
"Get off me!" Zenigata ordered and tried to shove the man away. He was used to Lupin stripping away what little dignity he still owned. But it didn't mean he had to like it! "Now, I'm looking for some stolen ruby's and I have a feeling I know just who to take in for it."
Lupin backed up. Same old Pops. Always on the job. Still after those blasted ruby's! "I don't have any ruby's." Anymore, he added silently.
"Don't look at me." Goemon said flatly.
"I got a warrant for a search." Zenigata held up the piece of paper. His eyes flicked over to Fujiko.
"What?" She demanded hotly when she noticed the Inspector's interest in her. "Jigen took all of my ruby's long ago!"
"That a fact? Then you won't mind if I search your pockets if you have nothing to hide?" Zenigata said in his professional cop voice.
Fujiko glowered at the cop but threw her hands up, submitting herself to being searched. Zenigata approached her cautiously. He remembered what happened between them the last time they met like it was yesterday--- as if he could ever forget!
"Don't get any cute ideas either! Your hands stay up there!" Pops ordered trying not to look at her mouth--- that luscious mouth that had taken him in fully--- God! He shouldn't be going there right then! He shook his head to clear it and then slipped his hands into each of her pockets. His left came out empty, but the right---
"Shit!" Fujiko gasped as she saw what Pops now held in his hand. They sparkled brilliantly, drawing her attention like a magnet. "Those aren't mine! I swear to you! It's a frame-up!"
Grinning harshly, Zenigata wasn't buying her line, "If I've a dollar for every time you told me that out and out lie, I'd be a millionaire." The cuffs came out in a wink of the eye and Fujiko suddenly found herself attached to the old cop.
She pulled against her restraint, "You can't be serious! Those aren't mine!" She shouted at him.
Zenigata pocketed the stolen ruby's, her rant falling on deaf ears.
"Um," Lupin and Goemon were standing there watching the whole thing in awe. "What about us?"
Pop's looked up, "I didn't find any ruby's on you, now, did I?"
Lupin and Goemon shook their heads, jaws slightly agape.
"You're--- you're going to let me and Goemon go?" Lupin dared to ask.
Zenigata shrugged, "Got only one pair of handcuffs. Unless you want to tag along, I see no reason to detain you for now."
Lupin looked past the old cop into the vault where the gold was. Then he stared into the cops eyes. An understanding passed between them, no hard feelings. Zenigata had gotten what he had been after. The gold trip would never have happened in his write up. At least, not so that he and Goemon would be mentioned.
"Lupin!" Fujiko protested.
"Well, Fuj," Lupin waved at her, "I guess it wasn't meant to be. Come on, Goemon."
"Maybe some jail time will give her some time to reflect on where her loyalties lie." Goemon said as he turned his back and began to stroll away.
"IT'S NOT GOING TO BE WITH EITHER OF YOU!" She screamed impotently at their backs. Hopeless! Lupin had betrayed her to his old enemy! She would be sure to get out of jail soon so she could enact her revenge! No one did that to her!
From a safe distance, Lupin and Goemon watched as Zenigata put Fujiko into his car and drive off to the police station. By the time that happened, a contingent of soldiers arrived to guard the door to the holding unit. Lupin knew it was time to move on.
"Now it's down to just two." Lupin said rather glumly, regretting that Fujiko had to be served her just desserts just a little. After all was said and done, no matter how rotten to him she was, he still loved her.
"I wouldn't say that." A deep and familiar voice was suddenly behind them.
"Jigen!" Lupin turned around, his face instantly turned happy. "I knew you couldn't stay away for long!"
"Jigen." Goemon nodded a mellow hello at the man.
The gunman nodded in return. "Just had to take care of some things."
A light dawned in Lupin's head, "You planted the ruby's in Fuj's pocket back at the hotel, you also found Pops and led him here!"
"How did you know we would be here?" Goemon wanted to know.
"Come on, I know Lupin. This is the only action around these parts worth any notice. On my constitutional, I ran into Pops and we struck up a deal." Jigen said simply.
Lupin shook his head, "You are the devious one, aren't you?"
"Bitch got what she deserves." Jigen said around his cigarette.
Goemon added, "Zenigata also gets a collar that'll look good on his record."
"I guess so." Lupin sighed unhappily, still wishing that there could have been a way to keep Fujiko out of jail. But after all that happened, after finding out that good ol' Pops was alive and back to his usual self, he knew it was what had to be done. But it didn't mean he still wished for a different outcome.
"Stop moping, Lupin." Jigen commented and pat him on his back. "You'll see her again soon enough."
"In about ten years or so." Goemon said quietly.
Lupin sighed again, knowing that when she DID get out, he'd have to watch his step. Fujiko had been right. She HAD been betrayed. He had wondered about how Fujiko had gotten a hold of the ruby's. Oh well. What was done was done.
"No gold, no girl---" Lupin began.
"No jail." Jigen finished for his friend.
"Sounds good to me." Goemon began to walk off.
The others followed silently, each very glad that freedom was still very much a part of their lives.
The End