Hey! I haven't written anything about Gambit for a while and since I've been sick for a few days with nothing do, I got to writing again! I hope everyone enjoys this!
Gambit wished he hadn't agreed to meet the man in a church. The man was late and he was all alone in the dark sanctuary. Well, not completely alone, the rector was somewhere around but he had been payed to stay out of the way for the night and so Gambit sat alone in the quiet of the church, surrounded by the flickering of votive candles and the little plaster saints that all smiled upwards in devotion.
He didn't like it, at night the church seemed twice it's normal size. He knew it wasn't but the shadows seemed endless and that bothered him. He wished the man would hurry up. The eyes of the saints seemed fixed on him and the giant crucified Christ at the head of the nave was eerie in the dark. He looked up at the Christ before quickly looking away. In the pew in front of him, someone had left their beads but he didn't touch them. He still had enough of that boyhood fear of God not to steal in a church.
The tiny Christ Child sitting on the shoulder of St. Christopher beamed at him, seemingly praising him for doing the right thing. He gave the plaster infant an annoyed look. "Don' know what you're so happy about." He muttered. Truth be told it annoyed him immensely to be surrounded by saints and even more to be in the shadow of that giant cross. He felt like they were all flaunting their divinity at him. Showing him what he could never attain.
God, he wished the man would hurry up. He was getting angry. He didn't go to church anymore, he wasn't even sure if he believed in anything although it was hard to forget the bible stories he had learned when he was a child. He knew the saints and he knew their stories and he knew he stories of the Bible, Old Testament and New. He knew that in the daylight hours the windows would shine through with light and he would see biblical stories illuminated in beautiful colored glass and between the windows would be the stations of the cross and he vaguely remembered the prayers for each station and how long you were supposed to stay at each one.
A loud creaking sound brought him from his memories and he turned to the back of the church to watch as a man entered, he was shaking slightly, shivering. But it wasn't cold outside. He must have been shaking from nerves. Perhaps he had never hired a thief before.
"Monsieur Caldwell?" He asked in a whisper.
The man jumped. "A-are you the thief?" He asked.
Remy couldn't help but smile a little. "I am." He wondered vaguely if that counted as a confession.
Ah, he might be an X-Man and he might be a superhero but nothing gave him a surge of pride like admitting he was a thief. There was something comforting about admitting it. He wasn't hiding it, he wasn't hiding who he was. He couldn't even remember a time in his life when he hadn't been a thief. It was part of him, over the years being an X-Man had become part of him too but nothing could ever rival being a thief.
He leaned back in the pew, he had admitted in the face of God that he was a thief and no one had struck him down. He was almost disappointed. "So, what can I do for you?" He asked.
The man sunk down in the pew in front of him. He started to genuflect but stopped, remembering that there was no service going on and instead lowered himself into the seat awkwardly. "I need help." He said.
Remy inclined his head, that was a given. "And what manner of help may I offer?" He asked.
The man fidgeted. "I need your help." He repeated. "They- they took my daughter."
Warning bells went off in Remy's head like a noon day siren. He wasn't about to get mixed up in a kidnapping. Uh-uh, no way. Not him. That was too much trouble just waiting to happen. He started to rise from his seat and maybe it was the desperation in the man's voice as he cried for Remy to stay or maybe it was the watchfulness of all of the plaster saints, silently chiding him for trying to leave but he sunk back into the pew and crossed his arms. "Who stole your daughter?" He asked.
The man sighed in relief. "I owe money to these men. They took her to force me to pay but I paid and hey still haven't giving her back. They keep asking for more money and I don't have it!"
Remy paused. "Dey say what dey gon' do to her if you don't pay?"
"They said they'd kill her!"
Ah, damn. His heart already felt for the girl. Out of the corner of his eye he spied the cheery faced little Christ Child, eyes up turned to heaven but still managing to make him think he was being watched. "Alright, give me de details. Who took your daughter?"
"Loan sharks! I borrowed money off them to pay my mortgage but when I couldn't pay them back they took my baby! It's been months now and I've given them all I have!"
Remy sighed, oh, he didn't need this in his life. "How old is your girl?"
"Six. She's so young!"
"Do you know where dey keep her?"
They man shook his head. "No, I know where their office is but I don't think she's there."
Remy got to his feet. "Well it's a good place to start. I'll find your fille and get her back to you." he cast once last look at the Christ Child and at his Virgin Mother and shook his head. "I'll find her monsieur"
And then he was out on the street, climbing over his motorcycle and kicking up the kickstand, he had a few hours before daylight and that would be enough time to go through the loan shark's office and hopefully find some information. He had the directions from Mr. Caldwell and it was no trouble finding the place. A squat little office crammed between two much nicer buildings.
Easy enough to pick the lock. Simple really, elementary work. Why he could have done it when he was a child. He slid into the dark office and flash light in hand searched files and folders and every paper he could find but found nothing on either the man or his daughter.
He was about to give up for the night and was going through the last file cabinet when he found a list of property deeds belonging to the office owners. Bingo. He sat down on the floor and spread them out. Immediately tossing aside the one for the office and another for a residential area. A third was for a warehouse and looked promising. He held it up and memorized the address. It wouldn't be hard to find. He pocketed the deed and put the others away before spying a safe. Well, just to be sure the man would pay him. . . he helped himself. A couple thousand dollars were made right at home in his pockets.
And off he went to find the warehouse and the little girl, what had Caldwell said her name was? Kathy? He had to remember that. He found the warehouse easily, it was mashed up against several other warehouses, all indistinguishable from one another in the dark but he found it none the less.
He scampered up the side of the building and into an upper level. All was dark inside as he crept along. He kept his ears peeled, listening for even the slightest sound that might betray a scared six year old girl or a giant goon creeping up on him. But in the night he heard nothing and he began to wonder if the child was even there. He opened several locked doors and found nothing. But then he stopped. He could hear something up head. It was the sound of low talking. He pressed himself up against the wall and listened.
"You know, I don't know how much longer this can go on. The old man has got to be tapped out by now." A man was saying.
Remy peered around the corner and saw two large men sitting at a folding table playing cards. He weighed his options, listening while the other man spoke.
"Yeah, I just don't wanna be the one to deal with the kid. I'd rather deal with the dad."
Deal? Were they really going to kill the poor man and his daughter once they were out of money. Remy held his breath, he had an idea. He strode forward into the circle of light the men's lantern emitted. "You two can go." He said.
The goons looked up. "Who are you?" One of them asked loudly.
Remy made his gaze as cold as he could. "I'm the one who's gonna deal with the kid."
"The old man run out of money?"
"The old man went to the police. I already took care of him."
The goons looked at each other nervously. "So you're gonna take out the kid?" One of them asked. He nodded. "Oh well, don't hurt her too much. She's a sweet little girl."
Remy remained silent. He had long since learned that the most imposing thing a man could say was nothing.
The two goons got up from their table and made for the exit. "She's in there." One of them said over his shoulder, pointing to a closet door. Remy nodded, still not saying anything.
Once he was sure the men were gone he hurried across the room to the door and picked the lock, opening the closet to see a small bundle asleep on the floor. He reached out a hand and shook the child awake. "Kathy?" He whispered. She shook slightly and looked up at him her eyes wide. "Don' be afraid, I'm here to help. Your pere sent me."
She wrinkled her eyebrows. "My what?" She whispered.
"Your papa. He sent me to find you but we've got to hurry. We don't want dumb and dumber coming back."
She looked at him, her small lips crinkled in worry and her dark eyebrows raised.
"I ain't gonna hurt you, petite but we gotta go now." he noticed she was barefoot and scooped her up in his arms. "Come on, chere." she hung on to his neck with thin arms and he ran for an exit. "If you see one of dem, don' move. Just lie still and keep quiet."
"Like I'm dead." She whispered.
He nodded. "Just like dat." It hurt his heart that one so young understood but at the moment he was grateful. They hurried on and it wasn't until they reached his bike that anything went amiss. The men spotted him and the girl and yelled for him to stop. Kathy lay limp in his arms just like he had told her and he stopped, hoping he could fool them. "What's the problem?" He asked.
"The dad ain't dead!" One of the men said. "And he didn't go to the police. Who the hell are you?!"
Remy gave the girl a squeeze and dropped her. She landed lightly on her feet ad scampered away to hide behind a pile of sheet metal.
"De name is Gambit!" He said with a grin. "And I'm here to rescue the petite princess." Ah, a thief could be a hero too. After all Robin Hood had been a hero, hadn't he? He drew a card and in he dark the goons couldn't make out what he had. All to his advantage. He charged up the card and threw it at the men, it exploded, sending them backwards. "Petite, head for my bike. I'll have you out of here before you know it and safe wit' your pere."
he heard a scuffling noise and knew the child was darting for his bike. He himself began to back away. He saw one of them men rising and tossed another card, causing a second explosion. Riding out the blast he darted backwards and scooped the little girl up, kicking up the stand and turning on the engine in one fluid motion. She made no sound and relaxed into his arms. "It'll all be over soon, mon petite chere." He said.
In the wind her hair blew and in the distance he could see the navy blue of a lightening sky. "I'm gonna take you to de church I met your papa at. He's gonna be mighty happy to see you."
She sat up a little and watched the city whip by as they sped onwards, the spires of the cathedral growing in the distance.
He stopped at the corner, just before they reached he church. He had spyied the flashing lights of police cruzers and cursed silently. "Merde." Kathy looked up at him, and her big blue eyes seemed to know what had happened and they filled with sorrow. He turned the bike around. "I'm sorry petite. You don't get to see your pere today." He noticed a small group of men watching him from an alley and he knew they knew who he was. "Maybe not tomorrow either."
He turned and sped off, coaxing the child to sleep and heading for the interstate. Oh, what had he gotten himself into?
So even though there is an OC, she's not the focus and since she's a little girl there won't really be a pairing, although Rogue and Gambit are my OTP and they might creep in a little!
I hope everyone enjoyed, comments and reviews are all appreciated!
Thank you for reading, the next chapter should be up soon!