Chapter 9

Jigen mentally cursed as he and the other's hid in the shadows, away from Zenigata's prying eyes. Shinichi tightened his arms around his neck. How the hell did he find them!? Swallowing, Jigen whispered to Shinichi, "I need both of my hands for a bit, boy-o. Mind if I put you down?" Shinichi nodded once, giving him a small smile, so Jigen replaced his child with his gun.

"LUPIN!" Zenigata continued to yell. "I know you're here! The tracking device on your clothes tells me so!" Lupin grimaced and frantically pawed at his clothes, looking for the tracker. "We have the area surrounded, Lupin! You might as well give up now!"

"What's the plan, Lupin?" Jigen whispered, fingers tightening around his gun.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking—Shinichi!"

Jigen was about to snap that no, they weren't using his son as bait for the old man, when he realized that Shinichi was no longer by his side. The boy had snuck out of the alley, hiding behind a car even though the police were turned away. Then Shinichi walked into the center of the street… and started wailing.

He jerked back into the shadows as Interpol turned at the sound. He could only watch as Zenigata approached Shinichi, Lupin's hand on his shoulder the only thing keeping him still. "Uh…" The old man seemed nervous and confused. He reached down to lightly touch Shinichi's head. "Little boy… what are you doing here."

Shinichi sniffled and shifted just enough so that Zenigata wasn't facing the alley they were hiding in. Jigen almost took aim at the old man, but Lupin whispered in his ear, "The kid's giving us the time to make a plan! Let him work."

Jigen glanced away for a second to eye the car the kidnapper left. "Use the van. Do we have any smoke bombs?"

"Yeah."

Shinichi's wavering voice rang out from the street. "A-A bad man tried to kidnap me!" Shinichi cried. Crocodile tears flowed down the manipulative brat's cheeks. "H-He said he as going to… to sell me! I-I want my Daddy…"

"Jigen, we're ready."

"Alright. You get him and I'll drive." Lupin raised an eyebrow, so Jigen elaborated. "You did say you wanted to see the look on Pops face when he found out that you spawned."

Lupin cracked a grin and threw the smoke grenade into the middle of the group of Interpol officers surrounding Shinichi. When the smoke cleared, Lupin was clear across the street, Shinichi safely within his arms. Zenigata opened his mouth—most likely for another yell—but Shinichi didn't give him the time to speak. "Daddy!"

Lupin had been right; that face was worth its weight in gold. Eyes bulging out of his skull, Zenigata struggled to speak. "What—How—!"

"Hey Pops!" Lupin called out cheerfully, waving. "I see you've met Junior! Thanks for trying to help, but I think I'll take it from here!"

Zenigata, having regained his voice, shouted at his men, "What are you waiting for! Go capture them!"

"Oops, that's my cue to leave," Lupin said as he backed away from the officers closing in. "Say goodbye to Gramps, Arsene!"

"Bye-bye, grandpa!"

Now. Jigen cranked the car and threw it into drive. The van, while not made for high speeds, shot towards the center of the Interpol officers. They dove out of the way, leaving Jigen free to pull up beside the two. Seconds later, the van bolted through the police barriers, its 5 passengers safe with Zenigata screaming behind them.

Lupin smirked at him. "Well, that was an exciting little adventure!"

"Yeah," Jigen snorted. "Sure it was. Shall I mark that down in between the giant laser incident and when the world's tallest skyscraper collapsed on top of us?" Something nudged his side and Jigen glanced down to see Shinichi cuddling up against him. "Hey kid. You alright?"

"Mm-hmm." Shinichi nodded sleepily. "Thank you, Papa."

Chuckling, Jigen ruffled Shinichi's hair. "No problem boy-o."

"Hey, Shin-chan! Doesn't Daddy deserve a cuddle too?"

"No."