The Awakening and a Meeting

The three men stood there staring at their new found gain. No, it wasn't the Hope Diamond, which was sitting casually on the table. It was the unconscious girl that lay on the bed. Goemon stayed silent while the other two mumbled curses under their breath.

"Damn it Lupin, I'm a thief, not a kidnapper," Jigen said while scratching his head. "She must have someone looking for her; she looks a little too young, a little too well taken care of not to."

"I know man, but I wasn't just going to leave her there to friggin' die. There were enough heifers in that room to take down friggin' Samson.

"Lupin, I hate to break up this awkward standing around, but we must finish what we started," Goemon stated. "We have the diamond, but we need to dismantle the evidence at the museum."

"Goemon is right," Jigen resolved, "but we can't just leave her. What if she wakes up or something?"

"Someone has to stay here to watch the chick…NOSE GAME, NOT IT," Lupin shouted out of desperation of not wanting to sit around watching an unconscious girl all night. Both the master thief and the gunman touched their noses and smirked at Goemon who didn't know the rules of the childish game.

"Even when there is loss due to another's dishonor, I will do my duty," Goemon retorted with a sharp glare at Lupin. The other two men left, but not without an unsheathing of Goemon's katana as a warning to Lupin. The mastermind remembered to never play nose game again.

Goemon sat himself in a chair directly facing Jessica. After staring at her for a while, he decided that the most honorable route would be to at least awaken her. Into the kitchen he went and out of it he came with a strong smelling tea…ingredients unknown, but very potent if scent is in indicator. He propped her head up and slowly poured it down her throat. The first sensation of it was enough to make her cough and finally gag – sending her into the full upright position. There was initial shock on both ends, a rare moment for the samurai.

Jessica tried to cough up the terrible tasting liquid, but when she had finished she sat absolutely still and stared at the semi familiar man. She was good at keeping her composure, but this was a situation that warranted what came next.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU AND WHERE AM I!"

"Listen, it is of the utmost importance that you keep yourself calm. I do not want you becoming unconscious again. As to who I am, I am Goemon Ishikawa. You were knocked out when you were trampled in the museum."

"Museum, museum…" Jessica mumbled. She was searching through her memory, she hated when she wasn't in control enough to recall these things. Insight though came to her when she remembered the same man in front of her leaving the room with the Hope Diamond with urgency. "You are the oddly dressed man, I remember you." That's all she could really remember though. "That was a dumb thing to say, I'm sorry…" she added and looked away blushing.

"It's quite fine, my choice of clothing is not what you would call fashionable but, are you feeling alright?" the samurai asked with genuine care.

"Uh, not really. My head aches something fierce and my chest feels like an f-ing rhino ran into it," she said while slowly poking at her rib cage. "F! I think I may have bruised or broken a few ribs…who ran over me, a sumo wrestler?"

Goemon almost cracked a smile at her remarks, but held fast. "If it is your rib cage that is hurting, we will need to bandage it up in order for it to heal properly. If you allow me, I will do it and look away."

Suppressing her initial reaction to laugh at her unknown hero's modesty, Jessica agreed to let him help her. She was going against all good intuition, but for some odd reason, she was unsuspicious for the first time in a long while. There was something genuine in his character. But like all good feelings, they were suddenly swept away when she remembered that she had been separated from here dad. "WAIT! I must call my dad; he must be worried sick about me."

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to do this," the stern samurai exclaimed in a sudden seriousness. "I am unable to let you make contact with the outside world for a while."

It all made sense to her now. Glancing around, she saw the Hope Diamond and realized that these men (she had remembered now the other two) had stolen it and saw her as a casualty to their escapades. "Amazing," she remarked. Jessica couldn't believe that they were capable of being compassionate and thieves. She realized her situation at the point and took herself under control. Letting Goemon dress her wounds, she tried to at least spark some conversation with him.

"Are you really a samurai? I thought they were dead or something. That Tom Cruise movie must be crap."

"Yes, I am a truly samurai."

"Can I touch your sword thingy?"

"No, and it's a katana."

"Not much of a conversationalist, are you?" the brunette said with a smirk.

"No, no I'm not," he retorted and finally allowed one of the corners of his mouth turn up.

From the far end of the room, a small cell phone rang just as Goemon finished bandaging Jessica up. He moved quickly across the room and answered. From it, Jessica ascertained that the other two men were not coming back tonight. She heard something concerning problems with "Pops," but that was about it. Goemon knew she had been listening and merely said, "I will watch over you tonight."

To be honest, Jessica was glad. She didn't know these two other men, but to be truly honest she didn't really know the samurai who sat in front of her. But, nonetheless, she enjoyed his company and his sincerity. On his part, he was presently surprised at her humor and composure. He had only been around woman who were either very loud, very meek, or like that of Lupin's obsession – Fujiko. He watched her as she spoke about things of unimportance, but wasn't annoyed since it wasn't inane. But all at once, she stopped.

"Is something the matter?" the noble swordsman asked.

"How long am I going to be here and what will happen to me?"

He realized that being a in a situation of being abducted by strange men would pose a question to that extent and answered, "You will stay as long as necessary, but do not fear, we won't hurt you."

It was enough for her at the moment. She had become very tired and drowsy. Her head was still aching and her ribs hurt even more. Jessica began looking around and shuffling uncomfortably.

"I will retrieve pajamas for you, stay here."

"How the hell does he know what I'm thinking?" she thought to herself.

He returned and handed her some clean clothes from the other men's luggage since his own attire consisted of things inappropriate for sleeping. He turned around to let her dress, an action to which Jessica again smiled. She slowly crawled into the bed she had been laying on all night and settled into the most comfortable spot her bruised ribs would allow.

"By the way, my name is Jess," she said offhandedly

"Very well then." the samurai remarked and sat down right at the edge of the bed to watch her. He realized she didn't have to tell him her name, but she chose to. Goemon thought her a very odd, but interesting girl. "Good night, Jess." He finally said. That night he stayed at the end of the bed and never fell asleep. He wasn't sure if he was fulfilling honor, or some new feeling.