Ch. 7

The helicopter hovered over Eson's building in Paris, France. It was 2 in the morning and the streets were quiet, except for the occasional car and the sounds of the blades of the helicopter spinning. Lupin prepared to throw down the ladder so they could get down.

"Are you sure you two are going to be ok without us going in with you?" Jigen asked, trying to keep the helicopter steady. Michelle gave him a peck on the cheek.

"We'll be fine. You just try to stay in the area and don't attract too much attention," she told him.

"Yeah, well what if something goes wrong? You've got no way of contacting us."

"We'll get out if it gets bad. Like I said, just stay close and keep an eye out for us," Michelle said.

"Goemon, you ready to get us in?" Lupin asked; tossing the ladder down the side as Jigen lowered the helicopter. Goemon nodded silently. Michelle, Lupin, and Goemon climbed down the ladder and onto the roof. Goemon cut a circle into it and Lupin attached a hook and a different rope so that he and his sister could climb inside. Goemon climbed back up the ladder and into the helicopter, then it disappeared into the night as the thief and the spy disappeared into the building. Once they both had their feet on the ground, Lupin turned to his sister and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"As ready as ever," Michelle replied. "You know the drill, right?"

"Yeah. Don't worry. I'll find him and keep him occupied. You just need to make sure you get the information as fast as possible and let me know when you get it. If things run smoothly, we meet back here in no later than an hour. If you're not here when I get back or on the roof, I'm going to search for you," Lupin said.

"No. If things go bad, you get out. Don't wait on me or put yourself in any more danger. If I get caught I'll be able to get myself out. If I can't get out…well…regroup and then figure something out," Michelle said with a smile. Lupin sighed.

"A Lupin till the end, huh?"

"Hell yeah."

"Be careful, Michelle," Lupin warned and then hugged her. "I'll see you soon."

"You too," she answered, and then they ran off in different directions.

)(

Michelle wandered through the hallways, staying close to the walls and trying to stay in the shadows. Every time she took a step, she was careful not make a sound. She listened for other people's footsteps, hoping not to run into anyone. As she walked, she wondered why it was so quiet and so convenient. Something had to be wrong. She turned and walked down another hallway. Still, there was no one around. Michelle tried to figure out what was going on. Yes, they had planned to come in the odd hours of the morning, hoping there would be less people here. "But surely Eson would have SOME people here to keep an eye on things…" Michelle thought.

She finally found the door she was looking for. The flash drive of information she stole the last time had told her that what she sought was behind this door. Michelle was after all of Eson's account information. She and Lupin were going to clean out all of his bank accounts and get into his security systems so they can get into his smuggling bases and steal everything the man had. She took a deep breath and opened the door. The room was empty except for a very nice desk and a nice looking computer. Michelle sat down in front of the computer and plugged in her flash drive with the hack for the system. Once she got into his files, she began copying everything to her drive, and then she began going through drawers. Anything that seemed important she stuffed into her backpack she had brought with her. Finally, once all the files were copied, she put everything back the way it looked before she came in, and went to the door to leave the room. She opened the door and a man with a gun stood before her.

Michelle ducked just as the gun fired. She kicked her leg out and tripped him as he tried to step toward her. She smacked his hand as he fell and took his gun from him. Michelle ran while he tried to regain his composure. "About damn time I ran into someone," she thought while she ran. She looked at her watch and realized that it had been well over half an hour since she left her brother. Michelle raced toward the place where she last saw Lupin. When she reached the spot, he still had not arrived. She glanced up through the hole in the roof and noticed that the helicopter was not in sight, even though she could still hear the soft hum of the blades. Michelle looked at her watch again. Lupin had 5 minutes to return. "I've got a bad feeling about this," she thought. She ran down the hallway in the same direction that Lupin took at the beginning of the mission.

)(

Lupin walked down the hallway, spinning his gun around on his finger. He had no idea how to find Eson, so he figured he would let Eson find him. He opened a door and walked inside. The room was like a warehouse- spacious, with boxes upon boxes on the floor. Lupin went to the staircase near the door and walked up them. He tried to keep as close to the wall as possible, since there was no rail to keep one from falling to the ground. Once he got upstairs, he noticed the wall went back to create a room that overlooked the entire warehouse floor. Lupin held up his .38 as he walked around the room. Once he believed that the room was empty, he turned around to look at the warehouse. While he was lost in thought about what was inside of the boxes, he didn't hear someone walk up behind him. A gun shot rang out and Lupin grasped his hand in pain, effectively dropping his gun. He turned around and noticed Eson standing before him, walking towards him.

"I'm sorry Mr. Lupin, I can't talk to you while you're holding a gun," Eson said, pointing his gun at the thief.

"You bastard!" Lupin muttered as Eson kicked his gun off the edge. Lupin glared at him.

"What? Do you miss your gun already?" Eson snickered. "Join it." Eson punched him in the face, knocking him off the edge as well and into the middle of the boxes. He felt himself flip over at least once before he hit the ground.

Lupin tried to push himself up onto his legs, but his right leg would not hear of it. The pain screaming inside of him made it obvious it was broken. He couldn't believe he made such a rookie mistake of landing the wrong way. Thanks to Eson, he was now gun-less and crippled. He thought about what his chances of survival were. Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko could only help once they got outside, since he and Michelle had decided on going in alone. But would Michelle leave him to die in here? Would she come and find him? Lupin couldn't help but remember that she did try to kill him once, and she probably wouldn't forget that he sold her to her enemy. Lupin also couldn't forget that she had told him to go and regroup if she was in danger. He wondered if she would do the same if he was in trouble. He struggled with his leg once more, testing himself to see if he could tolerate the pain. If only he had someone to lean against, he could put all of his weight onto his other leg. In his struggle, he failed to notice Eson approaching him.

"Ah look, a little sitting French duck. What an easy target!" Eson said as he cocked his gun. "I wish it had been this easy all those years ago. I hate that your sister lost me one of my best assassins. But this time, I'll make sure the job gets done." He aimed the gun at Lupin.

"You might shoot me here and now, but Michelle will get out of here. You won't get her!" Lupin announced.

"Really? How do you know I didn't find her and shoot her during your dramatic fall? It took you long enough…" Eson laughed. "She couldn't even shoot you at point blank. How can she stand up against me?" There was a loud bang. Eson clutched at his chest and collapsed.

"Bastard…" Michelle said as she put up her gun.

"Michelle! Boy, am I glad to see you!" Lupin said with a grin.

"No problem. I walked in right before Eson punched you. So are we good now?" she asked.

"We were good before hand," Lupin told her.

"Just making sure," Michelle said as she helped Lupin up onto his other leg. "By the way, you dropped this earlier…" she said as she pulled out Lupin's Walter P-38. Lupin smiled and took it back from her.

"Thanks. I'm kinda glad the gang's got you around to help us out," Lupin told her.

"No problem. But we better get back to the group before they start getting worried…" Michelle commented. The siblings made their way to their rendezvous spot, slowly but surely. Once there, Michelle climbed up onto the roof and flagged Jigen and the rest of the gang down. Goemon and Fujiko got out of the helicopter and helped her get Lupin into the helicopter.

"So I take it the mission was a success?" Jigen asked, once the gang was inside and they began to take off.

"Yep. Eson is dead and we have all the information we need to get all of his money," Michelle answered him.

"Lupin, are you ok?" Fujiko asked, as she tried to help wrap up his leg.

"I'll be alright. I think I've had worse injuries in the past. That bastard Eson snuck up on me, and then he knocked me off an edge, causing me to land on my leg the wrong way. It's nice to see that you care so much," Lupin added with a dopey grin.

"Of course I care. How are we supposed to be able to do anything if you can't walk on two feet?" Fujiko asked with a smirk. Lupin sighed.

"I knew it was too good to be true…"

"She does have a point though," Goemon stated. "We can't do much while Lupin is recovering."

"That's where I come in," Michelle said with a grin.

"Oh come on! I break my leg and I'm already being replaced?" Lupin complained.

"Not at all, Lupin!" Michelle told him. "I just happen to have all the information we need to get what's left of Eson's money without needing to leave the house. I say that me, Jigen, and Goemon go retrieve Eson's jewelry collection within the next day or two, then we get back to France so you can recover. Sound good to everyone?"

"Well what am I supposed to do?" Fujiko asked, crossing her arms.

"Somebody has to keep my brother company and make sure he doesn't do more damage to himself before he recovers," Michelle said. "Everybody else ok with the plan?"

"Sounds good to me," Jigen said with a smirk. Goemon nodded his head in agreement.

"I can't think of anything better," Lupin said.

"Then let's get to it."