Chapter 8
Shinichi's head felt funny and his mouth tasted weird.
He kept his eyes closed as he tried to figure out what happened. He was at home, waiting for Papa and the other's to come back, when… a man attacked him. His eyes shot open. He was in a car, he realized, a moving one. He was tied in two places, once at his wrists and again around his chest and upper arms. Shinichi began panting through his nose. They'd found him. The bad people had found him, were taking him away from his family again—!
At the sound of Shinichi's sobbing, the kidnapper looked at him through the rearview mirror. His blue eyes widened. "It's okay, little boy," he said in an attempt to sooth him. The car turned into an alley and parked while the man turned around in his chair to look at him. "I'm not going to hurt you."
Shinichi sniffled and sat up, his feet hidden under the front seat. He quietly took off his shoes. "Please let me go, Kidnapper-san," he begged. He had to stall long enough for Papa to find him, so he put his involuntary tears to use. "I just want to go home… Please, I swear I won't tell anyone what you look like. Just please let me go back. I want my family."
The man frowned. "Those people… they aren't your family, kid."
"Yes they are!" Shinichi shouted, impulsively kicking the back of the driver's seat. "They found me, and cared for me, and played with me, and loved me!" The words just flowed out of his mouth, liked they'd always needed to be said. "T-They're my family and I want them back!"
His small body shook with the force of his sobs. Distantly, he felt a hand touch him and reacted instantly. Shinichi bit it as hard as he could.
The kidnapper cried out and pulled his bloody limb away. That's when he acted. Using his toes, Shinichi pulled up the lock on the car door and pulled the handle, opening it. He ran out barefoot into the alley, screaming, "Papa! Papa, I'm here!" Kidnapper-san was close behind him, picking him up and trying to hold a hand over his mouth. "Papa! Daddy! Daddy—!"
A single shot rang out through the air. Kidnapper-san dropped him and held a hand against his shoulder where blood was flowing out. Lupin stepped out of the shadows, a smoking gun in his grip and, as Shinichi looked around, he saw the rest of his family appear too. Tears of relief flowed down his cheeks as he ran to Papa, who sheltered him inside his strong embrace. "You really shouldn't have done that, bastard," Lupin said with a glare as he, Auntie Fujiko, and Uncle Goemon closed in around him. "Now you've upset the little one and we can't have that, can we?"
Kidnapper-san backed away from them, an impassive look on his face. "He isn't even your child. He's not yours to keep!" Shinichi felt his ropes tug before falling free of his body.
"Ah, but he is!" Lupin sneered, leveling his gun to the man's head. "He called for us. He wants us. And we will keep him as long as he wants to be here."
"It's just Stockholm Syndrome. With the right tactics, you could make him—"
"If you say another goddamn word, I'll put a bullet through your pretty head," Lupin finally threatened. The man stayed quiet. "You okay now, kid?"
Shinichi nodded into Papa's shoulder and he shouted, "He just seems shaken. What are you going with him?"
"Take Shinichi away for now. I don't want him to see this—"
"LUPIN!"
Everyone suddenly flinched at the sudden yell. Outside the alley was a man in a tan trench coat, surrounded by police officers. Shinichi clung tighter to Papa, but it seemed as though the men hadn't noticed them yet, despite their frantic searching. That didn't stop the coat man from yelling though. "LUPIN! I KNOW YOU'RE HERE! COME OUT AND SHOW YOURSELF, YOU COWARD!"
"Geeze, Pops, can't you leave me alone for one second?" Shinichi heard Lupin complain. He turned around in Papa's arms to ask what he was talking about, but froze when he saw something far worse than a bunch of police looking for them.
Kidnapper-san was gone.
A/N: THERE'S STILL 45 MINUTES LEFT OF UPDATE DAY; I STILL HAVE TIME TO WRITE THIS. TWO CHAPTERS LEFT.