"Shallow graves for shallow hearts

For pick-me-ups and fall-aparts

For promises that never started right."

The humidity made everything feel heavier than it actually was. It also made the air around him press down on everything with a force that felt like someone was trying to make everyone choke on so little air. The few moments that the wind was allowed to cross the river nearby felt like a blessing of its own, ghosting cross his and the surrounding crowd's skin.

Yet as Jason watched everyone walk past him as he tried to keep himself from fainting from the heat, they didn't look like the oppressing temperatures were affecting them. It was a little concerning when he was trying to blend in with the crowds to search for his target. While he would have gone for the tourist angle, giving him a excuse for asking questions to hear about the more unsavoury locals, it would have brought out more thieves to him than he would like.

They would have brought out the one side he didn't need discovered when they tried to sneak off with his wallet. Especially if Jason wanted to catch his target.

As he tried to take another breath of the humidity filled air (still feeling like it was trying to choke him), there was a low chuckle that caught his attention. Looking to his left, Jason saw a man standing by an alleyway who looked fully amused at his predicament. He smoked a cigarette, letting the smoke curl into the stuffy air. He even wore a trench coat, looking unbothered by the heat and the oppressing humidity.

All in all, he stood like a local who was getting his kicks at people who weren't use to the humidity at all.

"Ah chère, why are you scowling so much?" The man asked, the Cajun accent so thick nobody could mistake it for anything else. He also let another curl of smoke escape his mouth. "It's a lovely day, even with the slight humidity."

With a low growl, Jason took the few steps between them. He was not about to be picked on by anyone, especially by a man wearing a trenchcoat in this weather. "I think it's a little more than a bit of humidity as I currently feel like I'm being choked by it. And I will not be heckled by a man wearing a trench coat like it was the fall when it's the middle of summer in Louisiana!"

"Ah I always forget that when visiting." The man said coyly. "No matter I guess. The name's Remy LeBeau, mon oiseau. Why don't I whisk you somewhere that won't make you pass out?"

Still Jason scowled, unimpressed by Remy's attitude. Even with the same height between the two of them, he still felt like he was being looked down at. Scoffing, Jason turned his body away. "Not gonna go with you. Have more pressing business to attend to."

Before he could walk away, he felt a hand gripping his wrist. As he was about to yank it away, he heard Remy lowly say "Best if you come with me. Couple of people have been tailing you since they found out your intentions here."

"And how would you know that? You don't even know my name."

"The heat must be getting to your head oiseau. Look over at the cafe there?" Remy said pointing across the street. Subtly looking over, Jason saw that there was a woman sitting at one of the small tables. She was looking at a newspaper, but never actually turning a page anywhere. "They're following you and you've been foolishly letting them do so. If you want to shake them off, follow me."

Then Remy walked past him, his trench coat looking like it was flowing in the wind. For a moment Jason stood where he was, trying to understand what happened. His mind melting sightly from the heat mae thinking harder than it should. Still he started to followed the Cajun when he heard a low chuckle.

They past by many cafes and stores, the bustle of the crowds growing smaller and smaller as they went to another part of the town. Jason also noticed that Remy was leading the both of them closer to the river. This brought a soothing breeze that he had been craving when he earlier when he felt like he was going insane from the heat.

Then Remy lead him down an alleyway and watched as he knocked on a door that looked like it should be in splinters by now. Towards the top of it, a panel side to reveal a pair of eyes that were pure black. A rough voice asked for the password, looking over the both of them with distrust. As Remy spoke a few words in French, Jason knew wherever the Cajun was taking him would be mutant friendly.

Which would make a Remy a mutant.

While Jason had met and befriended a few during his time on the streets of Gotham, he also knew how untrusting they could be towards people who didn't have the gene. He couldn't blame them as he saw a lot of violence towards them, but it meant he didn't know much about them in general or the mutants that were sworn to protect them. So he would have to trust that Remy wouldn't try anything on him.

They were let in and immediately he could feel how cold it was on the inside. He sighed and felt grateful for the other man to get him in here. With a smirk Remy lead him down a hall and a large room filled with mutants that had various physical differences from humans. Many sat in groups, talking or playing a card game of some sort with each other. A few gave Remy a shout of hello as he passed and in return he gave them a half wave.

Then Jason was dragged into a smaller room where there were one or two mutants sitting quietly. Remy lead him towards the back of the room, getting a table that overlooked the whole room and sat down. He looked up at Jason, his sunglasses still on, waiting for him to sit down.

With slight hesitation, he did. He made sure to side to one side of the other so that his back wasn't turned back towards the door. He wanting to have sight of it if anything went south. Remy ony gave him a smile and pulled out a deck of cards. As he shuffled them, Jason wondered why the man brought him here. If he knew who Jason was, why bring him to a place that could become compromised?

Before he could go down that train of thought, a card gently touched his hand. Snapping to attention, he saw that Remy was dealing out cards and was expecting Jason to play along. As he picked up the card, another took its place.

"Don't know what you expect from me after having part of my brain melt from the heat." He said simply, picking up his cards as he received them. He arranged them a bit, trying to see what he would have to get to win this round.

With a huff of laughter Remy placed the deck between them and picked up his cards. "I can expect to swindle a bit of money out of you regardless if your brain has melted or not. Especially since I'm an excellent cardplayer." Remy said.

"And you trust your skills in actually playing the game or cheating your way through it?" Jason looked over his cards to watch the man arrange his cards as well. He couldn't get a read either way for the hand that Remy was dealt, but it didn't bother him as much as it should. He was in the town that the infamous Gambit had played and swingled around in. It would make sense that there would be others like him.

"Ah so you've played this before mon oiseau!" Remy said cheerfully.

"One of the few ways to earn money when I was younger. Kids picked up the rules better and could fool adults into lowering their guard." Was his reply. Picked up a card from the deck. Remy did the same after a few moments

"Oui, that is true. Especially for the ones that can easily count the cards to use it to their advantage." He said, placing a card face down on the table. "But even children can't earn money just from that. That's where the stealing comes it, non?"

Reluctantly, Jason smiled at the statement. Whatever Remy was trying to say to him, he wouldn't be able to solve it without a few more clues. "That does happen. Best thing to steal in the city is tires. Can sell them for a higher price than just stealing food or clothing."

He heard the man snort at this as another card was placed down. " Ah petit oiseau. Down here they steal wallets and other things to make it. Guess they should take a few notes from you."

"Then they should learn from you as well. The hints you're dropping me make it seem like you've had a life as a thief." Jason placed one of his cards down, looking over them. He was getting somewhere and could hopefully have the better hand than Remy.

"You're dropping hints as well. Nobody, but thieves from Gotham and other surrounding cities steals tires to survive. While most would say it's the seedy nature of the cities that create such thieves, I can say that you lot are more willing to what is needed to get by." Remy picked up another card as he spoke. The sunglasses continued to cover his eyes, but there were other ways of seeing the mutant's state of mind.

Mostly the way his hands would twitch slightly when he found what Jason was saying was interesting. "Well better than getting into any of the drug cartels or trafficking of any sort. Too much violence for anyone to have something permanent."

"Before you reveal any more details about yourself oiseau, how about we show each other what we've gotten?" Remy said with a smirk. Still Jason didn't give away anything to the other man that would indicate what he had in his hands.

Both of them laid down their cards on the table to see what they got. Silence gripped the both of them as they studied the other set of cards that weren't their own. When seeing what Remy got, Jason couldn't do anything, but bitterly smile to himself.

"Guess you got the better deal out this. What do I have to give you?"

"You still did good mon petit oiseau. Considering your brain being half melted from today." Remy said, still smirking. "But I won't ask for much."

"What is it?" He asked. His body started to prepare for a fight, on edge by the tone of the other man.

"Just a question. That's all." With that Remy leaned closer to Jason, still wearing a smirk on his face. That also changed with a more serious look taking over his face. "Why are you after Gambit? I know what you do Red Hood and I don't fit the criteria of criminal that you go after."

For a few moments Jason was confused. While he did know what Gambit looked like and had prepared himself for the mutant's fighting style, he didn't expect that the mutant would be walking around like any other person. He expected to find him somewhere, swindling people and tourists out of their money.

But he guessed that a thief like Remy would let people make assumptions about him to quickly get what he needed from them. It was smart really.

"Following a lead from a case. Information says you may know something about a mutant trafficking ring near Gotham and I needed to see you to confirm it." Jason said carefully. He also knew that if pissed off that Gambit would use one of his cards to attack him.

"That isn't your place oiseau even if your heart is in the right place. Non, I won't give you anything about that." Remy stated, his whole body going tense.

"I am well equipped to take that trafficking ring, probably more so than the X-Men. They can't get close because of Batman, right?" When Remy nodded yes, Jason continued. "Then it would be better to have the information about them so I can deal with them accordingly. The mutants don't need to suffer any longer than they should because one of the X-Men is stubborn."

For a few moments Remy was silent. Then with a sigh, he pulled his sunglasses off and revealed his eyes to him. While many would suggest that he was a demon with the red and black colouring, Jason knew that demons came in many forms and were often more normal looking than people would expect.

It was disheartening really that a man like Remy would be pushed away for being slightly different.

"What would you like to know mon oiseau?"

"Stop calling me your birdy for one. Two what powers do the ring leaders have that I can counter against?" Jason could see the soft smile on Remy's face as he told him details about the trafficking ring. Even if he wished for better meeting circumstances, at least Jason was finally meeting the infamous thief at last.

This was a fun little thing while I take a break from my other fics. Especially since I want to do more with these two. If I ever get done with my other fics and I don't suddenly get caught up in another cool idea, there'll be more of these two in a multi-chapter fic. :D

But it was fun to have these two bounce off each other, especially about their past. While Jason gave up being a thief when Batman took him in, I doubt he would forget the tricks he would use when living on he streets of Gotham. And Remy could relate to that since he spent a lot of his childhood doing the same until he was adopted by Jean-Luc around age 10. Also having Remy call Jason his bird/birdy was extremely fun lol. Figured Remy would know about Jason being a past Robin. (He was part of Guild of Thieves and the X-Men. He would have to know stuff like that when going near places like Gotham. Just makes it easier to not get caught by Batman.)

And I also used lyrics from the song by No Place Like Home by Marianas Trench. Felt like it fit the two of them. Plus I've been wanting to use lyrics from that band for a long time :) (Should give that song a listen to. It's really good.)

Anyway, hopefully it was a good read! :D