"Hey, I need you to do me a favor," Jigen said to Lupin as he stepped out while loading his gun.

"You got another hot date tonight?" Lupin said with a hint of amusement in his tone as he looked up from his newspaper. Jigen gave a tired glance from beneath his fedora and pulled off his tie and set them on the desk. It was when he began to remove his jacket that Lupin stood and removed his glasses.

"Okay, you and Goemon can have your little lovefests, but it takes a lot more than sweet talking to get to me," Lupin said warningly.

"Why you think just because I'm taking care of the guy that it's a gay thing?" asked Jigen with a frown. "Gimme your jacket… I need you to pretend to be me for a little bit while I go out. I've got some things to take care of."

"….Why am I thinking that Tomo's involved? Listen, I've got that under control."

"No, having it under control would mean that you've got Tomo in a box," Jigen answered as he pulled Lupin out of his red jacket and placed it over his own shoulders, which were slightly broader and therefore made the jacket a tighter fit.

"Jigen, sometimes things take time," Lupin explained. "Now c'mon, man, you look stupid in red, anyway. Just go to sleep."

Jigen glowered at Lupin and tilted his head down, "I can't stand to see someone totally destroyed like that, Lupin. He's afraid to be alone, and it used to be that I could barely get within five feet of his dome of personal space! Now he's clinging onto me like I'm his friggin' mother!"

"Well, if you don't mind me going Freudian for a second… I think Goemon's seeing you as a provider, or protector almost."

"Wait, you mean like women do?"

"Erm… That was really sexist, and no, not exactly. Jigen, what year are you living in, man?" Lupin wondered aloud. "N-nevermind. For some reason he just… Just let him be clingy, Jigen. You take care of him, and I'll take care of Tomo Otomo, okay? Okay."

"If you had taken care of him sooner, this wouldn't have happened," said Jigen with a snip in his voice. Lupin gave an outward shudder and looked upward at Jigen.

"After all of the years you've know me… I would've figured that you'd realize exactly how much it killed me to see him like that. There are few things I feel guilty about, but allowing that to happen to one of my best friends is one of them, if not the only thing. Just go take care of him, Jigen, and give me back my jacket. Please."

"Fine," Jigen muttered and tossed the fire-engine red blazer back to Lupin, "but only so things'll finally calm themselves down around here."

Then there was a knock upon the door, and Lupin shuddered and turned about on his heel, "…Early."

"Who's early? Lupin, who's early?" asked Jigen as he followed Lupin to the hotel door. There was another gentle knock, and as Lupin casually opened the rich wooden door, the scent of Chanel quickly filled the air, and Jigen jumped back, as if bitten by a viper. But no, it was only the cobra woman.

"I heard you boys needed some help," Fujiko removed the yellow-tinted sunglasses that she wore at nighttime for reasons unsaid and folded them into their case as she slunk into the hotel room, past both men. "So how's he doing?"

"He's been better," Lupin admitted, sticking his hands in his pockets. "What can I say? How do you… I mean…. Did you get the information we need?"

"Done and done," Fujiko smiled and retrieved a disk from the same purse her sunglasses had disappeared into.

"Great, now leave," Jigen snapped, and took her roughly by one shoulder.

"Ouch! Hey, Jigen! What the hell?" Fujiko moaned as she was forced to the door she had come through.

"We've got enough trouble here already without you adding to it!" Jigen shouted.

"Hey, Jigen, whoa, c'mon," Lupin said gently, and pulled Jigen away from Fujiko. "She's here to help, too. She was just as mad as you were."

"Yeah, but… It's not like she saw him or anything," Jigen muttered.

"Where is he, anyway?" Fujiko peeked over Lupin's shoulder curiously, to see if Goemon was haunting some lone corner of the room, as he usually did.

"He fell asleep," Lupin answered. "Jigen and I were just about to head to bed ourselves. Care to join?"

"Nice to know some things never change… You and Jigen have fun with that," Fujiko gave a roll of the eyes and shoved the information into Lupin's chest. "I've got a date tonight, actually."

"Not named Roxanne, is it?" Jigen asked, scratching the back of his neck as he said this.

"…What in the hell do you take me for?" Fujiko snapped.

"Nothing, I was just curious," Jigen muttered and turned back to his room. "Sleep tight. Don't let the double-crossing-bitches-bite."

"He's a joy to have around as always," Fujiko said with a frown to Lupin when she was sure Jigen had left the room.

"He's been really stressed lately," Lupin admitted. "There's a lot of things coming from this job, and they all seem to connect to Otomo. We think the drugs he's trafficking are to fund a larger hobby."

"Which would be?"

"That's where Mr. Alexis comes in," Lupin said with a smile.

Fujiko gave a few confused blinks, and leaned in the doorway, "Alexis? Now why does that ring a bell?"

"Olympic judo champ… Said to have taught Bruce Lee several fighting techniques… Also said to be the keeper of a treasure about the size of the island of Crete."

"If it's so big then why haven't you found it?"

"Well, urm… I… What I mean to say is…."

"Never mind. I'm late already," Fujiko said with a small smile, and placed her sunglasses back on her untrustworthy eyes.

"So what do I owe you?" Lupin asked with a sigh; he cringed in knowing that information like she had dredged up would cost him greatly.

"Just kill Otomo and get Goemon back to the way he was," Fujiko answered.

"What… You mean you don't want any—"

"Let's just say I'll get some satisfaction in it, anyway," Fujiko replied.

"Hrm, let me guess. Otomo's death would be symbolic of every guy who ever mistreated you, right?"

"I'm not admitting that…. But I also won't deny it," Fujiko backed out of the door and trod down the hall. "Good night, Lupin! Ciao!"

"Yeah… Bon soir," Lupin murmured and shut the door behind him, and stared down at the file a few more moments, not quite believing that Fujiko had actually proven that she indeed did have a less icy side.

The next morning:

'How that?' Goemon asked and looked to his instructor for approval.

'Decent,' Dorian replied, and stood from the bench in the gym. 'But… You're still not quite getting it.'

'But… I land move perfectly.'

'Yes, yes… But… There's something still missing there,' Dorian gave a sigh of exhaustion, which turned into a series of low murmurs as he heard his daughter enter. 'I really, really hope it doesn't come to the point where I have to teach you bloody ballet moves in order to teach you how to use grace.'

'Ballet?' Goemon blinked.

'Yeh. And one of the last things you'll ever want to see is my ancient arse attempting to work myself into a leotard.'

'Guess who brought lunch!' Barbra said cheerily. Goemon's stomach churned at the thought of eating; Jigen was right about feeling sick, and the gunman had been up half the night with Goemon during the numerous purging spells that had overcome him.

'Ah, what'd you bring us this time?' Dorian dropped the long bokken sword he had in his left hand and walked over to the bag, glancing at the plastic containers.

'Gotcha sushi,' Barbra said with a smile as Goemon looked over the contents. 'Hope ya like it…. Looked up the recipe in an old book me Mum had.'

"I can't stand sushi," Dorian admitted to Goemon in Japanese as both men took a container with a small smile.

"I wouldn't talk. The British can't cook worth a damn, from what I've seen," Goemon returned in his native tongue.

'Oh, whatcha guys talkin' about?' Barbra asked excitedly as she seated herself at a table in the dojo while Dorian sat on a bleacher and Goemon on the floor.

'The weather,' Dorian answered as he dove into the sushi and pulled out a squid tentacle. He raised an eyebrow and quickly set this aside, and began to dig through for signs of edible pieces.

Goemon began to zip down his jersey, but became aware of Barbra's presence, and quickly zipped it back up to its full length, which turned it into a kind of turtleneck.

'So modest,' Barbra chuckled and shook her head. 'Mister Ishikawa, is there something wrong with your meal?'

'Er, nothing,' Goemon answered. 'What in the hell is this? It… It can't be sushi… It's staring back at me.'

'Dad, you stopped eating yours…' Barbra said with worry.

'I'm not that hungry, is all, Dear,' Dorian said with a clear of the throat and a setting aside of the chopsticks.

"Chicken," Goemon said to Dorian with a smirk, Barbra oblivious to this.

'How about you get back to work?' Dorian suggested sternly to his pupil as he rose and picked up his wooden sword along the way, making no effort to give the appearance that hitting Goemon on the back of the head with the sword as he passed was mere accident. 'Barbra, you should be studying, you know.'

'Heh, yeah, I know, I know,' she said with a roll of the eyes. 'I think I'm the only one who's flunking my math class.'

'Your mother was excellent at mathematics.'

'But you're the one who taught me, Dad, and you're dreadful!' Barbra laughed and rose. 'What about you, Goemon? You any good with numbers?'

'Barbra, just because he's Asian doesn't mean—'

'Move here,' Goemon pointed in the textbook that Barbra had already pulled out during the beginning of her father's speech. 'Here… Now here…'

'Ohhhh! I gotcha!' Barbra nodded and smiled. 'Thanks!'

'….What a wonderful example of reaffirming stereotypes,' Dorian muttered quietly.

'Ay, Goemon,' Barbra smiled and pointed to her father, 'Limey. My dad's a limey.'

'You're teaching him derogatory names? Christ… What else have you been teaching him behind me back?' Dorian wondered aloud.

'Limey,' Goemon nodded. 'Okay… Dorian… Limey.'

'Yup!' Barbra patted him on the back and picked up her backpack. 'I'm off! Catch you later, Dad!'

'Stay safe,' Dorian reminded her as she hopped toward the exit. She nearly bumped into the suit-wearing man on her way out, and briefly glanced up at him. 'Dad, you've got a visitor here… I think it's one of them Orthodox Jews.'

'Shalom,' Jigen replied as he entered, his hands placed in his pockets.

'I was wondering when you were going to figure out what we was doin' here,' Dorian said with smirk as he thrust once with his wooden sword and then allowed it to hang loose in one of his hands. 'What brings you 'ere, Mr. Jigen?'

'Just wanted to have a few words with a friend of ours.'

'Oh really now?' Dorian gave an ambiguous expression which could have been best discerned as mild amusement, nodded and lifted up his mask from the padded ground and whistled as he made his way toward the exit.

'Where you going?' Goemon wondered aloud.

'Oh, I thought I'd let you all talk amongst yourselves,' Dorian said, closing the doors behind him.

"What was that all about?" a confused Jigen wondered, and gave Goemon a cold stare as he watched the ex-samurai begin to pack his things. "…What'd you say to him?"

"Nothing," Goemon replied, clearing his throat and picking up his sword. "Let's get going."

"Goemon…"

"Mr. Alexis and I were just speaking, and you came up. That's all, I swear it."

"Oh, really? In what sense?"

"It wasn't anything bad, Jigen," Goemon reassured him. "Come, help me with this armor, please."

Jigen gave a nod and removed a cigarette from his stale pack, but refrained from lighting it inside the building, "You… You sure, man? 'Cause a lot of people are talking… Like, you know, saying weird stuff about us."

"Such as?" Goemon lifted up the heavy padding and set it in its bins and then turned back to Jigen.

"Well…. Just… Stuff…" said Jigen hesitantly. "Come on, I'll get you lunch."

"As long as it's not sushi."

"What, did you swear that off, too?"

"No… It's just I don't think I'll be able to eat it for a while," Goemon murmured, and followed Jigen out to their rental car. In the back sat a tall woman wearing an orange raincoat to ward off the typically wet English weather, as well as matching orange rain boots.

'Roxanne, Goemon. Goemon, this is Roxanne,' Jigen murmured and stepped into the driver's side while Goemon stood there a few more moments, taking in the presence of the woman.

'Pleasure,' Roxanne smiled and gave a light bow to Goemon, then looked back at Jigen with a toothy smile, 'Never can say that I've met a real samurai before…'

'Well, Goemon's the best,' Jigen reassured her. 'Come on and buckle up, guys, and let's hope I remember to drive on the right side of the road.'

'You'll actually want to be on the left, dear,' Roxanne answered.

'…You know what I mean!'

'Dear?' Goemon blinked and looked to Roxanne, and then to Jigen, and wondered exactly how well the two were acquainted. It was certainly strange for Goemon to be in the presence of a woman for five minutes without calling her a bitch or anything of the sort, but then again, Roxanne did look slightly intimidating.

'And then a right…'

'Roxanne, I get it. You're a worse backseat driver than Lupin!'

'That's probably why you and I get along so well, isn't it?' Roxanne's hand went on Jigen's knee, and Goemon flushed at the sight of this gesture.

"Jigen, would you like me to allow you to have some alone time with her?" asked Goemon quietly to his partner in Japanese.

"What, are you kidding! You're my reassurance that nothing happens!" Jigen replied, and managed to fend off Roxanne until reaching the hotel.

'I'll see you both later!' Roxanne called to the two on their way out of the car. 'Oh, I almost forgot! Goemon!'

The samurai turned at the sound of his name, and barely deflected the knife that was thrown in his direction, slicing it in two and allowing it to fall onto the ground. Roxanne looked down at the slashed blade, and then up to Goemon with a smile.

'Seems as though you've been practicing,' she set aside the other knife which she still held in her hand, and smiled after starting up the car once more, and then drove off down the winding gray road.

"….Boy did I pick up one scary bitch," said Jigen after an awkward silence, and Goemon only sheathed his sword, glancing at the knife once more before turning in to the hotel with Jigen.

"I see you're getting back to our old self, Goemon!" Lupin's voice beamed with confidence as he turned from the window and smiled, a cigarette between his teeth. "Here, want a smoke? On me…."

"No, thanks… I don't do those sorts of things," Goemon answered, holding up a hand to Lupin.

"Well?" Lupin smirked and then moved the pack over to Jigen. "What do you say, Pal?"

"Urm… Tryin' to cut back," Jigen answered as he looked over to Goemon, who had now resided himself into his bedroom, and was working upon polishing his sword.

"So who plays babysitter while we go out?" Jigen asked Lupin after a few moments' worth of quiet. "He's terrified of being alone anymore, and I don't exactly wanna take him to a stake out for fear he might lunge at Tomo and end up getting his ass kicked…"

"Well, there's always your little Amazonian love-muffin."

"Hey, man, what happened between us is—"

"Yeah, yeah, wild and something I wish I'd been in on," Lupin waved this off and then thought for a moment. "Well, Fujiko said she'd help out any way she could…"

"You… You think that's smart?"

"Why wouldn't it be? She's a big girl who knows who loves her," Lupin chuckled, and slapped Jigen on the back. "And she knows Goemon would be the first to kill her out of any one of us if she screwed us over!"

"Heh, funny, I was always under the impression that it'd be me," Jigen turned from Lupin, and headed to the full bar, making himself a straight whiskey on the rocks and then seating himself on the cherry wood seat, leaning forward onto the black countertop. "I just… I don't want him to do something he'd regret."

"Come on, it's Goemon! What could he possibly do to harm her! I always thought he had a little bit of a thing for her, myself!"

"Exactly, and that might get him in trouble. You and I both damn well know that that ain't the same Goemon Ishikawa we both know," Jigen spoke in a low tone, and began to sip his whiskey. "I just… If he hurt her, he'd probably want to off himself even more."

"Hurt her? You mean like… But, Goemon?"

"Hey, I wasn't expecting to get tackled, either, but if I hadn't punched him when I had who knows that the hell you could've walked in on," Jigen said solemnly.

"Fujiko can take care of herself, and maybe she could talk him down a little from this," Lupin said coolly. "And if it does get to be too much, she's familiar with the one move that'll stop every man dead in his tracks."

"Yeah, she's sure as hell done it to you, enough, over the years."

"Isn't it that time of the hour where Roxanne should have you on your back?" Lupin chuckled and Jigen only gave a grumble to this, and tugged down upon his fedora.

The following night:

"Wow, is this all?" Fujiko held up the long list of do's and don't, and then glanced back to Jigen and Lupin.

"Eh, no, one more thing," Jigen turned to the table in the dining area, and tossed Fujiko the portable radio. "He likes listening to that thing, for some reason… A lot of J-Pop."

"Scary thing is, he was like that before," Lupin said with a smirk as he loaded his gun, and then turned to Fujiko. "Now if you need anything, or if you get lonely, Fuijcakes, just picture my smiling face."

"Yeah, if I start choking on my dinner thinking of you oughta make it come right out," Fujiko answered plainly, and glanced to the radio.

"Think you're so funny," Lupin said with annoyance, and placed his gun in its holster. "Well, we're out!"

"And Fujiko…" Jigen looked above his fedora sternly to her. "If he goes to try anything, I'm not condoning harming him, but do what you need to."

Fujiko was left to quietly ponder this as the two men stepped out, and glanced to the radio, and then walked into the bedroom, where Goemon lay asleep on the bed. She hovered over him a moment and sighed, "You can make perfect cuts through stone but you can't even manage a decent haircut. Ugh, better take care of that before it ignores me all night."

She walked into the bathroom and then, after retrieving a pair of scissors, she brushed aside some of his thick bangs, and looked over the remnants of a black eye, "Poor bastard… What'd he do to you, anyway?"

After the first clip, she felt a strong hand clamping upon her wrist tightly, and a blade to her neck. Goemon had taken the scissors with lighting speed and now held them up to her throat. He dropped these before she was able to let out a scream, and also let go of her wrists. Goemon glanced at the fresh red mark he had inflicted upon her, and then recoiled in the horror of his own actions.

"No… I… Goemon," Fujiko leaned forward, and then seated herself on the edge of the bed, noting the far off, bewildered look in the samurai's eyes. "Jigen and Lupin had to step out for a little while, but they wanted me to stay around here and look after the place while they were out."

"You mean stand watch in case I try to kill myself, correct?"

"Well, I…" Fujiko placed her hands on the sides of his face, not allowing him to pull back as he had before. She leaned inward and gently kissed him, and Goemon was caught off guard by this, and looked her over, speechless, "Damn…. Lupin usually snaps out of a mood with that. Guess you're going to have to take a little more effort, huh?" she giggled at his expression, and leaned against the headboard. "The last thing you want to do is talk about it, probably, but I've got qualities just as good as my chest or my shooting skill, and that's my listening skills." Fujiko took his silence as the answer to her offer, and rose, "Well, if you need anything…."

Goemon quickly took her by the hand once again, this time minus the gruffness, and glanced upward to her, "He instructed the man to leave the room… The one who was his assistant."

Fujiko remained unblinking through the details of the event, wile on the other side of town, Lupin crept onto a beam, Jigen trailing not too far behind, as both watched Tomo Otomo pace about the numerous crates in the warehouse.

"What do you mean you didn't find it!" Otomo growled, spinning about to face his lackey. "Isn't that what I do, pay you to find things!"

"Sir, we…" the lackey sputtered, his clipboard in one hand. "We couldn't find anything!"

"Wonderful! We finally get Lupin off of our backs for five minutes and now we can't even find what we came here for! Find me that treasure, or your head will roll!"

Tomo stormed off, and Lupin glanced briefly to Jigen, doing a double-take as he now noted Jigen gripping the trigger of his magnum, "No, not yet…."

"I've got a clean shot. One bullet to the skull, and it'll all be over!"

"Jigen, Otomo's got people all over this place. One shot and we'll be just as dead, and then Goemon'll probably guilt trip over that, too!"

"Lupin… He's the bastard who…"

"I know, I know…. Let's go, I have what I need," Lupin patted Jigen on the arm and then crept out of the warehouse, hopping into the SSK with Jigen by his side. "When the time comes, we'll let Goemon have his way with the guy, it's only fair."

"You think he'd be able to go up against him?"

"Why do you think he's training so hard now? If we had killed Tomo, there would've gone Goemon's last purpose for living down the toilet."

"I hope he roughs up that son of a bitch good, too," Jigen muttered and sunk low in his seat, Lupin glancing to the gunman with a smirk.

They arrived back at the hotel in the dead of night, noting only the lamp in Goemon's room shining through the otherwise darkened hotel windows. Lupin and Jigen exited the vehicle, then quietly entered the hotel. It was hard for Lupin to keep him composure as he looked in the bedroom and saw Fujiko laid upon the bed, Goemon beside her with his head laid upon her lap.

"….Hey, man, don't even think it," Jigen said warningly as he noted Lupin reaching for his Walther. "It's nothing, trust me. They probably just fell asleep like that."

"Yeah, and you wear that beard because it's in fashion!" Lupin shot back angrily, loud enough for Fujiko to bat her eyes open and see the two men squabbling in the living room of the hotel.

After replacing her lap with a pillow and shutting the door behind her, she stepped in between the two, and looked over to Lupin with a frown, "Don't tell me you're that petty, that you're acting jealous over Goemon!"

"What, like you wouldn't in my situation!" Lupin snapped, and pointed to Jigen. "What if you had come in and found my all cozy with him!"

"Hey, keep me out of this!" Jigen growled, taking a step back from the two.

"Probably would have explained a few things," Fujiko answered, folding her arms. "You said yourself what happened to him was traumatic!"

"How do you know he wasn't just using that to get close to you?"

There was the sound of a loud smack, and blood trailed across Lupin's face from where Fujiko's nails had dug in and across, "Talk to me again when you don't feel like acting like an asshole!"

"W-wait, Fujiko!" Lupin gripped onto the bleeding wounds across the bridge of his nose, and ran to catch her, but proved too slow, and was only left to kick the door in anger. "Oh, come on, nothing to be added from Mr. Gunman?"

"Only that I think for the first time I can say I agree with her on something," Jigen answered coolly, and walked into his and Goemon's bedroom.

"Damn it!" Lupin shouted, and stormed into the bathroom to clean the cuts he had suffered.

Jigen first removed his jacket and tie, and then kicked off his shoes, and laid back on the mattress, closing his eyes. He would have given anything to go back to a month ago, anything. And he only could begin to imagine what the other body in the room thought.