The Picture, the Promise.. Ch3

Chapter 3: Secret Agent Man
________________________________________
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters or any copyrighted material that I use below. This is simply to entertain readers and have a little bit of fun on my own account in the process.
Hi, me again!
Thank you all for your positive input on the first two chapters, it's really kept me going. I hope that I can only make this story better as I write more of it, and be sure to keep those reviews coming! And it can only get better with your telling me on how I can make it better! Now let's all have a good read with the next chapter!
The Promise, the Picture, and the Protectors
Day Three: Secret Agent Man
'There are places I remember,
All my life,
Though some have changed,'
-The Beatles, In My Life
"Okay, fellas, you know the drill by now. You have to if you don't want to get caught," Lupin said as he drove the car into the parking garage adjoined to the large expo hall. There were large banners everywhere that declared it Living History—A series of artifacts from important points in world history. It was a bevy of priceless artifacts; a buffet to almost any thief. Except for Lupin and his small mob, whom had their eyes set only on the parade car.
"Yeah," Jigen nodded, "But I don't like Yukiko taking part in this."
"I agree. This is much too dangerous for a child, Lupin," Goemon chimed in.
"Guys, don't worry! Have I ever let you down before!" Lupin asked reassuringly.
"Yes," all the adults in the car sans Lupin answered bluntly.
Lupin leaned forward a little in the seat and parked the car in an out of the way space, "Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys…" Lupin muttered as he stepped out of the car. The others followed soon afterwards and made sure their disguises were all well in place before they entered. Fujiko went one direction with Jigen, and then split up. Jigen hid behind a red car while Fujiko began to flirt horribly with the guard. Fujiko led him away, and Jigen knocked the security guard's lights out went they were out of sight behind a vehicle. He and Fujiko came back towards them minutes later, Jigen now dressed as a security guard.
"Come on, Yukiko. Take my hand," said Fujiko. Yukiko nodded and did so, and Jigen led the four past the other guards and the metal detectors to the main showroom.
"Wow…" Lupin gasped in amazement as he looked around the showroom, "Boy, it's like a shopping spree for th—Ur, respected museum curators, such as myself…."
"Smooth move…. Just don't you screw up…." Jigen muttered. He stopped at looked back at them. "I'll leave you guys here. We'll meet up at the car."
"Gotcha," Lupin said, holding a thumb up.
"Yukiko, you remember what I taught you?" asked Jigen, looking down at the young girl.
"Yuh-huh…." Yukiko nodded, "Don't worry about me! We'll get that treasure map!"
"Okay then, guys. Let's get going," Lupin said. They parted ways with Jigen, and soon Goemon left as they continued walking through the crowd. Fujiko, Yukiko, and Lupin came to the car, and Lupin stared at it dreamily.
"Wow… So, that's it, huh?" Fujiko asked him in a whisper.
"Yeah… Let's just hope it's worth all this…." Lupin nodded, "You two ready?" he asked, looking back at them.
"Yeah," Fujiko answered with a nod.
"Good, then. Just remember all the money, Fujicakes," Lupin said to her.
"Don't worry. I haven't had my mind off it!" Fujiko answered.
"That's great," Lupin said with a smile, and then reached back and slapped Fujiko. All looked on in stunned silence as the two began to argue and battle fiercely. Some tried to pull them apart, but Lupin and Fujiko continued to bicker, claw, curse, and throw punches at one another. Yukiko watched them in stunned silence a few moments and then crawled over to the car and removed a wrench from a doll she had brought along.
She found the front right tire, and began to undo the hubcap. The hubcap fell off with a little effort, revealing a small, yellowed piece of paper. She shoved the paper in her skirt pocket, and looked upward at the ceiling.
She heard Fujiko and Lupin still screaming, and she searched the beams of the showroom. She found Goemon perched on one blue metal beam a little to the left of her. She waved upward to him, and he caught this signal and jumped down in between Lupin and Fujiko. He pinned Lupin onto the ground with his sword sheath, and looked back over his shoulder at Fujiko.
"Don't worry, Ma'am!" he said in a stiff acting voice, "I've got this ruffian under control!"
"T-Thank you, Sir!" Fujiko said in a more flexible acting voice. She rose, gave a small bow, adjusted her hair, and ran into the crowd. She found Yukiko up by the car, and carried her out of the building, "Did you get it, Yukiko?" she whispered.
"Yeah," Yukiko nodded.
"Great," Fujiko said with a smile as she ran into the parking garage.
"And as for you!" Goemon rose, and took out his sword. All gasped. "You shall taste the swift metallic flavor of vengeance, fiend!"
"You'll never catch me!" Lupin shrieked, rising and taking out a pocketknife from his jacket. The audience jumped back, and some began to scream in fear.
"Lupin!" both turned and saw Zenigata working his way through the packed and intent crowd. "You get back here, you piece of crap! I know you took something! I know it! You took that map! You know how I know! You left a note, you cocky bastard! When I get you, I'm going to kill you, and then arrest you!"
"Run for it!" Lupin yelled to Goemon. Both he and Goemon took off from the showroom and ran to the car in the parking garage, Zenigata hot on their heels.
Jigen started the car as soon as the two jumped in, and they took off, nearly running over Zenigata as he made a sharp edge. Yukiko looked back at Zenigata as they left the parking garage, and stuck her tongue out at him. Zenigata growled, and screamed angrily as he saw them escaping.
"It's that kid! That kid's working with them!" Zenigata screamed in rage, "It's that damned kid!" he ran to his car, and went to put the key in the door, but found it jammed with gum, "Crap crap crap crap CRAP!" he yelled, pounding on the car. "I'm going to get all of you! Just you wait!" Zenigata then went back to work on his rental car, "Damn, I just know this is going to come out of my paycheck…."
"Is he gone?" Jigen asked as he glanced at the rearview mirror. They others were busy removing their masks while he spoke.
"Yep," Lupin answered with a wide smile as he peeled of the last remnants of his mask, and sat back in his seat and began to laugh happily, "You get the map, Yuki?"
"I sure did," Yukiko took the piece of paper out from her dress pocket and passed it to Lupin. He unfolded it, and his smile grew wider as he scanned it over, "Was I a good secret agent, Lupin?"
"You sure as hell were, Yukiko!" Lupin answered, "Jeeze, one of us ought to look into having kids! This is ten times easier than getting you in a dress, Goemon!"
"Let's just say I'm glad we crossed paths with Yukiko so I could avoid such a fate," Goemon answered.
"I loved the plan," Fujiko added.
"Yeah, you know, I'm starting to think you loved it a little too much… You throw a pretty mean right hook…" Lupin admitted as he rubbed his cheek. "I didn't hurt you, did I, sweetheart?"
"Eck… Are you kidding? Yukiko could throw better punches!" Fujiko snorted.
"What!" Lupin shrieked, "I am not weakling, if that's what you mean!"
"Well, you're not Stallone," Fujiko answered as she removed her compact from her purse and began to redo her lipstick. "For what it's worth, though, I think one of my nails got chipped in the process."
"One of your—Unbelievable!" Lupin turned back around in his seat and folded his arms across his chest, "I don't believe you! The least you could do is lie and say I drew blood or something. Just humor me for once, okay?"
"I found you a formidable foe, Lupin," Goemon said to Lupin.
"Really!" Lupin turned back around hopefully.
"Certainly," Goemon responded in a nod.
"Thanks, Pal. It's nice to know who my real friends are!" Lupin replied, sitting back down in his seat. Fujiko's eyes met with Goemon's as if to ask if he were telling the truth, and Goemon swiftly shook his head 'no'. Fujiko smirked and sat back a little in her seat, and enjoyed the fresh air.
"Only eight more days, Lupin!" said Yukiko happily.
"Yep. You're pretty good with your numbers, Yukiko!" Lupin answered, "Seven and a half, technically. But who can be technical when you're this happy, huh?"
"So I guess that means we're going treasure hunting after we play miracle workers?" Jigen inquired.
"Damned right. It's probably going to take me eight days to translate this out of German, anyway!" Lupin replied, scratching his head and looking confusedly at the old map. He shrugged and placed it back in his pocket, and smiled smugly to himself. Pops was probably explaining the gum in the lock to AAA by now, he had the map, and he was going to impress everyone in eight days with his superior sleuthing skills.
"Well, what do we do in between now and then?" Fujiko inquired.
"I dunno…. Anyone up for a trip to the zoo tomorrow?" Lupin asked, looking back at Yukiko.
Yukiko's face lit up, and she clutched onto her doll, "You mean it!"
"Of course I do. I'm a man of my word, you know. Besides, you deserve it, kid, after the performances you've been giving the past couple of days!" Lupin replied with a cheery expression.
"Ugh…" Jigen shuddered at the thought of going to the zoo. He had never been a big fan of zoos. You actually paid to see monkeys throw feces at one another—You paid good money to see chimps throw their crap at one another.
"You okay, Jigen?" Lupin asked.
"Got something in my throat," Jigen replied, clearing his throat once more and looking over at Lupin with a plastic smile.
"Eeeh… Don't smile so much, it's scary," Lupin cringed. Jigen frowned, glared at Lupin, and went back to concentrating on the road ahead of him. They arrived back to the hotel half an hour later, most looking bored, with the exception of Yukiko. She bounced around happily at the thought of going to the zoo tomorrow.
"Boys, I'm going to borrow the Lupinmobile," said Fujiko, swiping the keys from Jigen's hand as he stepped out, "Yukiko, you want to go shopping with me again?"
"Sure!" Yukiko said happily, jumping back into the car.
"Fine, then," Fujiko climbed back into the car and drove off without a single word from any of the male thieves.
"I don't get women…" Jigen muttered, storming into the hotel.
"I don't think I do anymore, either…" Lupin muttered in mild surprised. How long exactly had Fujiko liked kids? It hadn't always been that way. She used to despise the little monsters, or so he had thought. The three climbed up the stairs of the hotel and into their room, where Goemon immediately climbed out the window and up to the roof of the building.
"Say, what's up with you two?" Lupin asked as he sat back on his bed and watched Jigen anxiously tug at his hat, which now lay in his lap, "All three of you guys…. I don't get what's going on with you all! You're being nice, Goemon's showing an emotion other than pissed off, Fujiko's being nice—Hell, I'm even being nice! I guess the most important question is what's happening to us!"
Jigen took in a deep breath, and turned away from Lupin, "I guess I'm just starting to wonder if it's all worth it."
"All worth it!" Lupin shrieked and nearly fell out of his bed, "What do you mean by that! Are you going through your mid-life crisis this soon! Jesus, you aren't going to buy a sportscar and start dressing in bright colors, are you!"
"That's you you're confusing me with, Lupin," Jigen answered, "You have any idea how friggin' old I am, and what I have to show for it?"
"I don't have a clue how friggin' old you are, but I know what you have to show for it!" Lupin rose from his bed and pulled out wanted posters for each member of his gang from the dresser and laid them on the bureau. "Look! We're gods among thieves, Jigen!"
"I know…." Jigen rose, put his hat on his head, and opened the bedroom door, "Dammit, I know…. But that isn't enough…."
"What'd he mean by that?" Lupin asked himself, "Would someone please start making some sense around here! I feel like I'm in a nut house, and I'm the only sane one here!"
"You'd make sense to yourself if you quit being so blind," Lupin heard, and turned to see Goemon at the balcony. He jumped in surprise, and remained quiet as Goemon hopped down and stepped into the room, "You probably conjured up a series of memories he had wished to forget. You did it by bringing him back to a place he did not want to venture to."
"But why not?" Lupin inquired, "Why does he hate this place?"
"Who knows with him," Goemon shrugged and sat down on his mat, "I hope Fujiko is taking good care of Yukiko. If that woman gets her into trouble, I—" Goemon stopped, and went to meditating.
"You'll what?" Lupin asked, stepping over to Goemon coyly. "Goemon? You'll what?"
"Let's just say you will be able to fit Fujiko through a fine sieve after I'm done with her if anything happens to Yukiko while they are out," Goemon answered, his eyes closed in meditation.
"I don't believe this," said Lupin with a laugh and a shake of his head, "You're so Goddamned cute… This is funny, it really is…"
"What's so funny?" Goemon inquired irritably, opening one eye and looking over at Lupin.
"You've finally fallen for a girl, and it's a seven-year-old kid!" Lupin said with a hearty laugh, "I don't mean fallen in the creepy kind of Michael Jackson—Home Alone kid way, but as a protector! This is hilarious! This is absolutely rich!"
"I'm trying to meditate," Goemon snapped.
"Okay, okay," Lupin took a few steps back, "But, this is just like that one manga. You know, the samurai and the little kid he takes care of."
"Lone Wolf and Cub," Goemon responded.
"Yeah, but just don't forget who 'Wolf' is, okay? That's my nickname, and it's taken," Lupin nodded, "Boy, I don't believe it. That's probably what's wrong with Jigen and Fujiko, too! You all actually like a kid! Don't the names Jotaru and Alice ring any bells in your brain, or is it too saturated from all the miso soup!" Lupin asked.
Goemon began to chant to himself in Japanese in an attempt to ignore Lupin, and Lupin decided to leave the hotel room and take a small stroll around the area of the bed and breakfast. Goemon made sure that Lupin was gone before he rose and began to search around the room, "Where is that…." He then took a step back, shook his head, and resumed his chanting, "If it will be, it will be."
The Local Mall:
Fujiko occasionally glanced up from her book at Yukiko as she watched the young girl play on the plastic playground among the other children. After an hour or so of shopping, Fujiko had decided she needed a small rest from the rambunctious child. The talking of several proud mothers caught her attention, and she closed her book and looked over at then.
"Which one is yours?" asked one of the women to Fujiko as she noticed the brunette glancing at the small group of mothers.
Fujiko sputtered in surprise for some time until finally she regained her composure and choked out, "The, uh, one in the blue dress."
"She's an adorable one!" said the mother to Fujiko, "And looks so much like her mother, too! The same eyes!"
"Um, thanks…." Fujiko answered slowly and glanced downward at her watch and back up at the woman. "Which one is yours?"
"Which five are mine, you mean!" the woman laughed in response, "The ones in the red shirts. I have to color code them so I can find them! Is she your only one?"
"Yes," Fujiko nodded and laid her book down at her side, "She's enough though, believe me…. You know, I never really thought about having kids, though… And then came Yukiko, and…."
"Don't I know it!" another woman chimed in, "I never thought about it, either while I was a model! Then I realized I couldn't always live off my good looks! And, look, even after having my kids, I haven't lost my figure at all!" Fujiko's eyes went wide as she realized this woman looked about fifty, and she wondered what this woman modeled for. Probably posters against drug use, she thought, "What's left after all the boys are gone, you know!"
"Uh… Sure…." Fujiko looked back at Yukiko. She was playing in the ball pit with the children in the red shirts, "What'd your husband think?"
"We never really talked about it," the second women answered, "Michiko, my oldest, was our little surprise, though, so he didn't really have much of a choice. It was either the baby and me or neither. A package deal, I told him!"
"So he stayed?" Fujiko asked with a hopeful smile.
"Heck, no! Lives in Miami now," the woman replied, "But your husband stayed around, didn't he?"
"Yes. Through thick and thin," Fujiko replied in a nod. God, why how did I even get in this conversation, she thought. The idea also occurred to her that if they started talking about childbirth, she would quickly leave.
"Sounds like a keeper," one of the women muttered to the other, who nodded.
Yukiko came down from the playground to Fujiko, "Hi! I'm all done!"
"Are you sure, Yukiko?" Fujiko asked.
"Yep!" said Yukiko happily, pulling Fujiko up and leading her out.
"Bye!" said Fujiko, waving good-bye to the two women, who waved back, "Yukiko, thanks a million…" she murmured.
"Why?" asked Yukiko.
"No reason. Now let's get back to Uncle Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon. We have more things to plan out, you know. Plus Zenigata's probably still hanging around somewhere… Boy does he get on my nerves!"
"He doesn't seem so bad. He reminds me of this puppy I had… He kept banging his head into this wall, over and over. He thought he could get through the wall! Silly, huh? Well, anyway, one day he did it too many times."
"What happened?" asked Fujiko.
"He cracked his skull open and died," Yukiko answered bluntly, leaving a stunned Fujiko speechless, "It's all right, though. My mommy told me someday we'd get a new puppy."
"Well, maybe your father likes dogs," said Fujiko with a smile, opening the door for the two of them and walking out to the car with her.
Across the mall, Zenigata, in his new car, was sitting back in the driver's seat, trying to rest with his hat over his head. He overheard what sounded like Fujiko, and he bolted up in his chair, but then sighed as he realized he was probably dreaming, "Probably just that sushi I had… Damned takeout…." He murmured and huddled back down in his seat, silently cursing to himself that his bosses did not cover hotel fees in his travel this time, and he was stuck sleeping in a mall parking lot.
"Come on, Yukiko, let's get going," said Fujiko as she helped a small girl into the car. She looked upward briefly, and thought she heard Zenigata. She then shrugged it off and sat down in the car, and put the keys in the ignition. She adjusted the rearview mirror, and pulled out onto the road, and could not shake off the feeling that Zenigata was somewhere near.
________________________________________