The X-Men and Gambit are not owned by me or Whagent. We wish. We write about them for fun, and because we like them lots.

Prologue - by Paradox Jast

Early Fall, 1992

Jean-Luc LeBeau stood there, arms crossed, staring at the medical cot his young adopted son was lying on. He knew the circumstances of what caused the boy to lie here, but how it came about was still a mystery to him. Looking over to his elder biological son, Henri, he raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to ask another question about what happened, but then closed it and went back to looking at Remy instead. Their guild healer, Mattie Baptiste, was currently dabbing Remy's forehead with a cool washcloth.

Henri spoke up. "I still don get it. I've been replayin' what happened at de museum over and over in my head, an' it still don make sense. All he did was touch de ruby. It was de perfect pinch, he pulled it off flawlessly."

Jean-Luc's eyes narrowed slightly, the corners of his lips pulling down in a small frown. "I don' get it either, an' I don' see how speculatin' is gonna do us much good at dis point. I believe everythin' y' be tellin' me, since I have no reason not t'. Because o' dat, I'll agree wit' y' assessment dat Remy passed his initiation and is now an official Journeyman T'ief o' de Guild."

Henri's shoulder's noticeably sagged, and he exhaled loudly. I guess he's relieved, thought Jean-Luc. He kept claiming with confidence that Remy would make it okay through the initiation, he had no doubts. Then this little... incident... happened. I wonder how much of this concern is for Remy, and how much of it is worry that he failed as a sponsor?

--flashback--

"What is it wit' y' and y' incessant need t' pull stupid stunts like dat?!" Henri huffed. "Y' coulda gotten caught, an if y' did, y' woulda failed de initiation!"

His younger brother snorted and chuckled. "Maybe I didn' need to do it, but y' shoulda seen de look on y' face. B'sides, de guard didn't see me moonin' him, so what y' gettin' y' panties all in a bunch fo'?"

Henri just shook his head and pointedly started walking down the hallway towards their target. He knew better than to argue with his little brother over something he did, it wouldn't get him anywhere. Henri wanted to pull this pinch off as quickly as he could, mostly because robbing museums was incredibly boring. Low security, low threat, easy smash and grab job. A client wanted something from here, and was willing to pay exceedingly well for it. It was a perfect job for Remy to perform his initiation pinch. Henri stopped and turned to look back at his brother.

Remy looked up at him. "What we stoppin fo'?"

Henri raised an eyebrow at him. "It's yo' pinch, y' should be leadin'. Not me. Y' memorized the blueprints for dis place, right?"

Remy scoffed. "O' course. I ain' stupid."

"Y' sure? I wonder sometimes..."

Remy scowled at him. "Y' so mean. Why did papa let y' be my sponsor?" He performed a few fake sniffles, but Henri didn't take the bait and crossed his arms over his chest, so Remy walked around Henri without another word and proceeded down the hallway.

Henri just rolled his eyes and fell into step behind him. "So, should I bother timin' y' on how long it takes y' t' crack de security on our item?"

Remy shrugged, not looking back at his brother. "Up t' y'. Don' really care. I jus' wanna get outta here so I can get home in time before de Saturday mornin' cartoons come on."

Henri chuckled. "Alright den."

They entered a small room near the back of the museum. In the center of the room was a display case, with a small ruby sitting in it on black velvet. It didn't much look like any ruby Henri had seen before, it seemed to suck light into it instead of passing through it. Small pillars outlined the room in a circular fashion around the case, each pillar was connected at about waist height by a thick cord, to keep people from standing all about the room... or so guards during the day can get a good vantage point on the crowd.

"Do y' remember where de security..." Henri heard a small clicking noise as Remy walked up to one of the pillars. "...panel is. Never mind."

Remy turned his head slightly, smirked at Henri, then turned his attention back to the panel, opening it and studying the insides.

"I thought y' said dis would be hard?" Remy reached into his pack and pulled out his wire strippers.

Henri shrugged, more to himself than to Remy. "It would be to a normal apprentice t'ief. But as y' have proven on more dan one instance tonight, y' far from normal. I get de impression y' done somethin' like dis before, probably more dan once."

Remy spoke while messing with the wires behind the panel, not bothering to look at his brother while talking. "What do y' think me an Emil do all day, play tag?" He snorted. "I been in here before. I take stuff and return it t' dem in de mail. Genard won' buy nothin' from me without papa's permission."

Henri's mouth formed into a grim line. "Y' know y' gotta be eighteen before de Harvest Disseminator can take anythin' off y' hands. Guild law."

"I know, I know. Man, de guild is no fun sometimes."

"De guild isn' about fun. It's about following de rules to make sure you don' get caught an live t' see another day."

Remy just shook his head. If he had anything to say as a retort, he didn't bother, instead commenting on his work in front of him.

"An' de laser security grid..." There was a snipping noise of a wire being cut; Henri saw a brief flash of red near the case. "... it go bye-bye. Now, for de case lock mechanism... " Again, Henri watched Remy's nimble fingers go to work, and saw a brief spark as two wires crossed. Part of the glass on the case pulled back, exposing the ruby to the stale museum air. "... it open for moi."

Henri nodded in approval. "Not bad. Thirty seconds? Papa gon' be impressed."

Remy turned and gave Henri his best smile. "Papa's always impressed wit' me."

A snort. "Looks like de only thing we gonna have to work on now is dat ego of y's."

Remy stuck his tongue out briefly, then casually strolled over to where the ruby lie. He looked at it for a moment, then reached to grab it. That's when things started to get strange. As soon as Remy touched it with his fingers, the ruby made a noise like static electricity being discharged, then glowed a dull crimson. Something looking like red lightning shot out from the crystal, hitting Remy square in the chest, and threw him backward rather forcefully into a pillar behind him. Henri watched in stunned silence as Remy hit the pillar with a loud yelp, then slumped to the floor, apparently unconcious.

"Remy?! Remy!? Can y' hear me?" Henri ran over and started shaking his brother lightly, but getting no response. "Merde!"

Swearing, Henri ran over to the ruby, pulling a cloth from his pack. He threw the cloth over the ruby so he wouldn't have to touch it, and closed the cloth over it. Tieing up the corners of the cloth into a small but sturdy knot, he tossed it into his pack, and went to retrieve his little brother.

Muttering a string of curses under his breath, he grabbed Remy under his shoulder, hoisted him up, and lifted his legs up with his other arm. "It's good dat y' be so light." Henri knew getting out of the museum wasn't going to be easy carrying his brother, but he could get it done.

--end flashback--

Henri was replaying the events over in his mind for what seemed like the millionth time as he walked with his father to Jean-Luc's office nearby. When they got there, Jean-Luc asked to see the ruby for himself. Henri pulled it out of his pack, carefully untied the cloth, and gently set it down on his fathers desk.

"Dat is de strangest looking ruby I have ever seen."

Henri nodded. "I was thinkin' de same thing. Doesn' look like any light passes through 't. Just gets sucked in."

Jean-Luc leaned forward, elbows on his desk, chin resting on his hands. "When Remy wakes up, I'm gonna bring him wit' me to see de client. Maybe he knows something about dis ruby. He was willing t' pay quite a lot for it."

Henri looked suprised. "But de Harvest Master..."

Jean-Luc waved a hand, cutting him off. "De Harvest Master still answers 't me. He may be on de council, but I am de Patriarch. I'm gonna visit de client --wit' Remy-- regardless if he agrees to it o' not. If somethin' happened t' my son because of dis..." He gestured at the ruby, "... thing, I want t' know what might happen."

Nodding, Henri clenched his fists, then released them. He took a large breath and exhaled. "Well den... I guess I'll go keep an eye on de little demon t' see when he wakes up. How long 'till y' go for dat visit?"

"Couple days. Need t' tell de council, an' make some arrangements. Den book de flight t' Arizona."

Henri paused, his hand on the doorknob. "Arizona? We ever had a client from Arizona before?"

Jean-Luc shrugged, and shook his head. "Don' know. Don' think so. I thought it was unusual t'. I'll figure out why de client is dere after I get an explanation from him about de ruby."

Henri nodded to his father and left the room, closing the door lightly behind him. This is getting strange. I better keep an eye on that kid, who knows what that thing might have done to him. Henri walked down the hall back to where his brother was lying, the sound of his boots echoing in the long empty hallway.