Hey all, I hope everyone is enjoying everything so far. Please review, let me know what you like, dislike, etc… So without further ado…

Ch. 4

The next night, Goemon and Jigen sat in disguises on a dock, pretending to fish. They had a good view of the main dock in the bay and could see any ship coming in. Jigen recast his pole and then scratched his fake nose.

"Damn it, this sucks," Jigen muttered under his breath.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Goemon said. "But we've got to stay put at least until 2. We don't want to risk leaving early if they come late."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not going to leave early on a stake out. I'd just rather be back in the nice warm house tonight, preferably with Michelle," Jigen complained. Goemon rolled his eyes.

"Have you told her how you felt yet?" the samurai asked.

"Yes. We had a moment, I guess you could say, the other night. And if Lupin hadn't sent us out here I could possibly be experiencing another moment." Jigen smirked.

"Hmm. It was odd the way Lupin told me about what we needed to do tonight. It was as if he just found out about the shipment yesterday. Normally he plans ahead a little better than he did," Goemon stated.

"You're right, but you can never tell when you're dealing with this Eson guy. I am kinda curious as to how he got the information, though," Jigen said. A breeze passed by them and time passed away in silence.

"Damn it! This is boring…"

)(

"But we carry on our backs the burden time always reveals; the lonely light of morning; the wound that would not heal."

Lupin cracked her door open as quietly as he could. Michelle was sound asleep on her bed. The sleeping aid he put in her drink at supper had obviously kicked in. She hadn't even bothered to take off her clothes and get into her pajamas. "This is going to be slightly easier than I thought it would be," Lupin thought. He left her door open and went downstairs. It was 15 minutes till midnight. Jigen and Goemon had been gone for over an hour, and they weren't expected back for several more. It was sad that he was more frightened by his friend than the mob he was selling his sister to, or his sister herself. He went to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of wine. He savored the smell of it as he made his way to the couch in the living room. He sipped at it, watching every minute pass on the clock. As he set down his empty glass, a knock came to the door. Lupin looked through the peep hole and then opened it.

"Right on time," he said.

"Where's the girl?" Estin asked.

"Where's the money?" Lupin asked in return.

"Here. 3 million dollars cash," Estin said as he handed him a suitcase. Lupin held up a hand to stop the man from moving any farther. He opened the case and checked the bills. They were legit.

"Alright. I'll take you to her. She's asleep with a little assistance from some medication. It won't keep her out for too long. I'd suggest keeping quiet and tying her up as soon as you can," Lupin said as he led Estin and his men to her room. The men picked her up gently and carried her out of the room. Estin walked in and picked up a flat rectangular object.

"Thank you Mr. Lupin for making this transaction," Estin said with a grin.

"Hold on a minute! You never asked for the laptop!" Lupin yelled.

"Shh! You never said I couldn't have it either." Estin turned to leave, but then stopped. "I have to ask though," he said, turning around. "How will you live yourself, selling out your sister like this?" Lupin growled.

"How do you even know that she's my sister?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"I do my research, too, Lupin. It makes me wonder who the real villain is here," Estin said with a smirk.

"I'll do my best to live with my decisions," Lupin stated. Estin left the house with the girl and the laptop and Lupin slammed the door behind them. For extra emphasis, he kicked the door as well. "Well…shit."

)(

"All I ever learned from love was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you. It's not a cry you can hear at night, it's not somebody who's seen the light, it's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah"

It was after two in the morning. It was freezing cold. And Jigen was pissed.

The two had waited the whole time and watched for any glimpse of a ship on the horizon. Nothing came. Not even a fishing boat went by. The two walked up to the mansion in disgust. They were going to have a talk with Lupin no matter how late it was.

"Jigen…Maybe he was just misinformed," Goemon said. Jigen shot him a death glare from under his hat. "Don't get me wrong, Jigen, I'm just as angry as you are. But maybe it wasn't Lupin's fault."

"I don't care whose fault it was, someone is in for a long night thanks to this. He better have just gotten back from watching that damn Eson or else he's going to have a black eye for the next few weeks," Jigen grumbled as he opened the door. Lupin sat on the couch before him staring at the wall. "WHAT THE HELL, LUPIN?" Jigen yelled as he picked his friend up by the collar. "Not a single damn boat came in through that bay!" he yelled as he shook Lupin. Goemon leaned against the wall and watched the commotion.

"Look, man, I think I just got some bad info," Lupin said, trying to get Jigen to put him down. "I spent all night at Eson's and he wasn't even there. I waited to see when he'd show up, but since he didn't come after 1:30, I came back here!" Jigen finally set him back down.

"Well that's just friggen' fantastic. Maybe you should check your sources better next time! Maybe if you'd get over your damn problem with Michelle, she'd help you out!" Jigen yelled. Lupin felt a lump in his throat. Jigen stormed his way up the stairs.

"Here it comes," Lupin thought, wincing at what he knew would happen. Goemon raised an eyebrow.

"Is something wrong, Lupin?" he asked.

"I'm sure you'll find out in a minute."

"LUPIN, WHERE IS SHE?" Jigen yelled from the top of the stairs.

"Jigen, I have no control over where she goes. She's an adult. Maybe she just went out for a walk, like someone I know!" Lupin called up to him, crossing his arms. Jigen appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Well she took her laptop with her! She never takes her laptop with her unless she's leaving or in danger!" Jigen argued. "You said something to her, didn't you? You made her leave!" he pointed down at his friend.

"Jigen…man…you need to get some sleep. You're getting cranky," Lupin said, jokingly.

"Don't mess with me tonight, Lupin, what did you tell her?" Jigen asked; anger still in his voice.

"I was at Eson's all night. When I got back, she was gone." Lupin waited for a response, but instead Jigen disappeared to his room.

"This is not going to be good," Goemon stated as he began to make his way up to his room.

"I know…" Lupin said, and he also retired to his room.

Inside his room, Jigen sat on his bed staring at the wall. Too many images plagued his mind. The memories of Michelle saying she loved him, kissing him, holding him taunted him. The memory of Lupin telling him that she would leave him one day haunted him. He couldn't give up on her. Not yet. He'd give her a day or two to come home. If she didn't, then he'd get upset. "I don't have to worry," he thought. "She WILL come back to me. I know it. She's different than the others."

)(

Michelle slowly began to open her eyes. She had a killer migraine and her vision was blurry. She tried to move, but she noticed her hands were cuffed to the wall. She tried to take in her surroundings. She was in some sort of a holding cell in a hideout she recognized. She laughed.

"Mr. Estin, where are you? There seems to be some mix up here," she said with a chuckle. She pulled against the chains a little bit.

"Ah, Michelle Lupin. You're finally starting to wake up," Estin said as he walked into her view. "I thought you'd be asleep longer than you were."

"Sorry to disappoint. I don't recall having done anything to you during my current trip to France. What's the deal?" Michelle asked.

"Payback; in many forms apparently. You screwed me over years ago, now I'm going to screw you up," he said.

"As I recall, you basically handed me the information."

"As you should also recall, my security system wasn't quite up to date. The ones responsible were dealt with soon after." Estin walked over to where two men where hunched over an object. "But don't worry; we're trying to recover our information as we speak."

"Um boss, we can't get into it. It's pretty secure!" one of the henchmen whispered to him. Michelle laughed.

"You can forget trying to get in there. Don't worry, Estin, I'm already impressed with the fact that you got me here and my laptop too. Now come on and unchain me so you can begin your well planned out torture you wish to inflict on me," Michelle told him with a grin.

"Am I really that predictable?" Estin asked.

"Afraid so," she said as Estin motioned for one of his men to unlock her. "I'll spice things up for you if need me to," she told him. As soon as the man had both cuffs unlocked, she punched him in the face, knocking him over. She began taking out henchmen right and left; swiping a gun from one and her laptop from another. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, Estin!" she said as she made a grand exit.

"WHAT THE HELL! Stop her! I paid 3,000,000 for her!" Estin yelled as his men chased after her. Michelle whistled in the distance.

"Paying the big bucks aren't we? I should've known that you couldn't get me yourself!" After that was said, she disappeared. Outside, the sun was already setting. She had been held captive for almost a whole day. Michelle sighed, frustrated that she didn't get to spend any time with Jigen, and started to head back to Lupin's house.

)(

"Since you've been gone, I've been lost without a trace. I dream at night, I can only see your face. I look around but it's you I can't replace. I feel so cold and I long for your embrace."

The next morning, Jigen woke up with a migraine. He had been tossing and turning all night, unable to sleep. All he could do was think of Michelle. He stood up, got dressed and walked out of his room. He went to Michelle's room and opened the door. She still wasn't back. He went downstairs and found Lupin and Goemon in the kitchen, both of them eating. Lupin looked up from his bowl of cereal.

"Jigen…you look like shit," he said, in an almost cheery mood. Jigen grimaced. He poured himself a cup of coffee and took a seat next to his friends. "Seriously, man, are you ok?" Lupin asked.

"Where could she be? Why would she just up and leave out of the blue?" Jigen asked. Goemon and Lupin glanced at each other, wondering if Jigen was talking to himself or to them.

"Perhaps she had business elsewhere?" Goemon suggested.

"But I thought she would at least warn me before she left, or at least she could've said goodbye."

"Maybe it was something urgent. Something she had to leave right away to get to," Lupin commented. He picked up the paper he had previously read and turned to a marked page. "This might cheer you up though. There's going to be a huge showcase of some of the rarest pieces of antique jewelry in San Francisco. We're going to have to leave this afternoon if we're going to make it on time, though," Lupin told him, handing him the paper. Jigen waved it away.

"How will Michelle find us if we're in fricken' San Francisco?" he asked.

"She's a good little spy. She can find us if she wants to," Lupin said with a glare. He set the paper down on the table. The last few words stung Jigen. If she wants to. "So are you in or what, Jigen?"

"I'll go with you to San Fran, but I can't guarantee I'll help with the heist. I might have to sit this one out," Jigen told him. Lupin sighed and stood up.

"If that's what you want. We'd better get packing then. We've got a plane to catch."

A few hours later, they sat on a plane heading overseas, and Jigen was more depressed than ever.

)(

"She wants to go home, but nobody's home. That's where she lies, broken inside."

"Hello? Jigen? Goemon? Lupin?" Michelle asked as she opened the door. She should have known something was up when she had to pick the lock to get inside. Everything was dark. "Fujiko?" she called out as she flipped on the light switch. She ran up to Jigen's room and opened the door. Then she noticed it. Not only were they gone, but their personal possessions were gone too. Michelle stepped out and went to her own bedroom. All of her stuff sat there, just as it had when she fell asleep the night before. She grabbed her backpack and stuffed her laptop back into it, and then she began searching the house for clues to where they went. "Surely someone would leave me a note or some sort of an explanation," she thought. She checked both Goemon and Lupin's rooms, but found nothing at all. Michelle made her way downstairs and looked around the living room and the kitchen. She found nothing that helped her.

Michelle pulled out her laptop. She closed her eyes, trying to come up with reasons why they would desert her and not help her while she waited on the operating system to load. She could understand why Lupin wouldn't help, but why didn't Jigen come after her? "Surely he would have noticed me missing…" Michelle thought. She pulled up her map of the world and looked about on it. She clicked on the dot that marked Eson's hideout. Several other dots changed color around the world. She looked through the different locations. Michelle wanted somewhere far away from Paris. Somewhere that she could forget about Lupin and Jigen and she could go back to being the way she used to be. One dot caught her attention. "San Francisco, huh?" she thought as she double clicked on it. She hadn't hit that location in a long time and it was plenty far away. "What could possibly be there to remind me of them?" she thought as she closed her laptop. "There's no need to leave now. I might as well sleep here tonight and leave tomorrow morning…" Michelle went up to her bedroom. She took a cigarette break on the hidden porch and then came inside and fell asleep.

Songs:

"Fallen" by Sarah McLachlan

"Hallelujah" by Rufus Wainright

"Every Breath You Take" by The Police

"Nobody's Home" by Avril Lavigne