Fragile Lies – Chapter 2

Life had never been the same after being left and despised by those he loved. Sure, he went back to his roots and found refuge in the Thieves Guild. But having to swallow his pride hadn't been an easy task, enduring the sermons of his father and following his orders again. Nevertheless, he was determined to keep living, always keep living, a miserable life, yes, but what mattered is that he was still alive.

Not one single day passed him by without him thinking of the beautiful southern belle. She had stolen his heart forever. Even after the deception, the betrayal, after all he'd suffered, he never stopped loving her.

Bella Donna had unsuccessfully tried to force her way back into his life, but he preferred to be alone. Although he could have used her as a rebound lover, he chose not to. Even though he was grateful for her having taken care of him when he came back battered and broken hearted, that was about all he felt for her, thankfulness. He'd stayed at her place for about two months until he was finally fit to see to his father. Nothing happened between them during that time, despite her advances, all because his heart still belonged to that certain someone else.

On his bedside table, he still kept an old picture frame with a photo of Rogue and him together. That was a whole lifetime ago when they were so very young and happiness used to shine through their eyes. The prospect of a life together seemed so easy, so attainable. How could it all have gone so terribly wrong? How could she have done that to him? Had she never loved him at all?

Countless times that same frame had been violently thrown at the window, at the wall, at the mirror... repeatedly had her smiling face overlooked him having sex with some forgettable girl on his bed. But, most times, he would look at her pretty face, frame on one hand and a bottle of vodka on the other and cry all night long. After drinking his sadness and shattered dreams, he would pass out alone on the floor and the frame would fall to the ground as he lost consciousness.

That picture and his memories were all that he had left of her.

Once, he saw her on TV, it was a quick shot of her, but he was sure it was her. She was with the other X-Men. They were disguised in the middle of a crowd, watching Charles Xavier's speech on a congress about mutants and their interaction with the rest of humanity. She appeared on screen for less than a second, but for him, it seemed like eternity. She looked exactly the same to him. That had been seven years ago, eight years after the last time he'd seen her. He still remembered the last words she said to him: "You're honest with the people you love, Gambit. Otherwise, it's a gamble."

She was right, he gambled and lost everything.

He considered going to the mansion several times, the idea kept haunting him like a little devil nudging him, tempting him into digging the hole he was in even deeper. Actually, he could in fact go there and demand to see her. He had nothing to say to anyone else, he didn't want to fight or ask for forgiveness, he wanted nothing but to see her. See if her lovely green eyes still sparkled when she saw him. But no matter how many times he thought about that, in the end, he would always decide against it.

X X X X

Would she ever be able to forgive herself? Probably not. She had left him to die, the love of her life, the father of her daughter, the only man that had ever wanted to come close to her and be a part of her life when she couldn't touch anyone at all. Had he not proven to be a good man? Had he not been a good team member and a loyal friend? Remorse consumed what was left of her. Why did they all have to go and judge him based solely on a single mistake. Everybody made mistakes in their lives, true, his was huge and it had cost many lives, but who were they to say they had never made a mistake?

Nevertheless, she was paying her fair share of the price for having acted so heartlessly. She had to be cut open so that their daughter could be born, and had to watch someone else feed her baby and she would only care for her wearing those feeling-depriving gloves, because, incompetent as she was, she couldn't touch her. Worse still, she had to endure a lifetime looking at her daughter, the person she loved most in the entire world, and seeing him in her eyes. Her eyes would never allow her to forget. What's more, lately the girl had become obsessed with him. Juliette desperately wanted to meet her father. And that broke her heart into a million pieces because she knew that couldn't be because he was dead.

Of that she was sure for she had looked for him everywhere. She even went to New Orleans after him to no avail. After wondering around the area for two weeks, she gave in and arranged to meet with his wife, or widow, Bella Donna. She knew her from some time ago when she accompanied him to help his brother and Bella Donna herself. Desperate as she was to find Remy, and feeling helpless after not finding him in Antarctica, she felt Bella Donna was the last chance she had to learn what had happened to him.

"You have some nerve to come here, missy."

"I didn't know where else to go. Do you have any news about Remy?"

"Well, I would expect you to know. He hasn't contacted me personally in a very long time and now, I've heard his father is very concerned because he hasn't heard from Remy in about four months. What did you X-Men do to him?"

"I… we… it's a long story, just tell his father I'm sorry. But, I still have hope that Remy will show up here some day. I refuse to believe that… he's… never mind…"

"Was this all you had to say? That you're sorry? Sorry for what? If you don't want to tell me what you did to him, I don't care, that's fine. But, my question is, will you leave New Orleans now? There's nothing here for you to find. Besides, you are being noticed here, you know? I don't think it's safe for you to stay any longer."

"Well, yes, I'll be returning to New York tomorrow."

"Good! It's just that if people put two and two together… I mean, you going around, asking questions about Remy, this is not good for his family business either."

"Oh! I see… well, there's one thing else I'd like to ask you. I'll ask you this as a woman. Please, forget all the animosity there's between us. This is very important. If you ever loved him, please do me a favor in the name of that love."

"What could you possibly want from me?"

"If Remy ever comes back here, would you tell him that… I… I… - a tear escaped her – I'm expecting… I'm expecting his child."

"But… you… you couldn't touch. How far along are you?"

"Well, long story short, I had temporarily lost my powers, so… I've just realized I'm pregnant, I've been too blind to see things straight. I guess I must be three months pregnant because it's been three months since, you know... Would tell him that?"

"Definitely, of course I will, if I have the chance. This is something important, I'm sure he'd kill me if I hid something like that from him. You may go at peace and trust me, I'll tell him if he ever comes by."

"Thank you."

"Goodbye, Rogue and… good luck with your baby."

"Thanks."

As he never came looking for her or their daughter, she was certain that he either never came back to New Orleans in fifteen years which she found extremely improbable or he was dead. Knowing about a pregnancy, there was surely no way he wouldn't come back, even if it was just to see the child.

Determined not to maintain false hopes and suffer even more because of that, heart-wrenching as it was, she simply chose to believe he was dead.

X X X X

Naively, first thing she did was look his last name up in the phone listings. Silly her! Obviously he and all of his family were not listed there. Secondly, she tried hacking into the cerebro files but failed to find anything about him there. Finally, she googled his name. Nothing. How odd! Maybe he was dead indeed. She tried his last name only which proved to be a good idea as it showed some results, all of them referring to a so-called Thieves Guild. She gasped in surprise.

"My God! Can it be that my father is a thief? Well, maybe he really is a bad person."

The stories she found on a website about the Guild were either referred to as rumors or the website claimed a citation was needed to back that information presented as true. Even so, two names caught her attention, Jean-Luc Le Beau and Mercy Le Beau. They had to know their father, right?

But it all rang a bell when she remembered what Storm had told her earlier, her father was a Cajun. The Thieves Guild was supposedly active in New Orleans. And she knew Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in Louisiana. New Orleans being Louisiana's largest city, this had to be it. The pieces of the puzzle were finally being put together.

She got a duffle bag from her wardrobe and started filling it up with all things she thought she would need. Silently she got into her mother's room, opened her wardrobe and got a blouse, a pair of nice black shoes and black pants. She would need them to look older as her teen clothes wouldn't help her a lot with that and she could not afford to be stopped by the police on her way to New Orleans. Not being able to present a valid driving license could ultimately eliminate all her chances of ever getting there. Her mother was about the same size as her, she was confident it would do the trick.

Now all she had to do was to wait. Wait until the mansion was quiet and everyone was asleep. She had waited her whole life for that moment, the moment she finally took matters into her hands and did something to see her father, a couple of hours wouldn't kill her.

Finally, at about half past midnight, she descended the stairs, wearing her mother's clothes and some make up. After stealing Scott's car keys, she headed to the garage. A long long drive was ahead of her.

X X X X

Most of the mansion residents were gathered around the table when they heard a distinctive cry from upstairs. A minute later, Rogue showed up, holding a piece of paper in her trembling hands, she cried uncontrollably, hardly able to speak, she said between sobs.

"She's gone. My baby is gone. She said she's going to look for him…"

"Oh My God!" Storm gasped and let the mug she was holding drop to the floor. The smashing sound added graveness and despair to that moment. "This is all my fault. I gave in to her insistence and told her about him yesterday."

"What? What did you tell her, Ororo? How could you do this?" Rogue asked accusingly.

"Calm down, Rogue." Scott said. "Storm, did you say anything like where he was from? Or where he got… lost?"

"I did say where he was stranded, and also that he was a Cajun."

"Ok, so she knows about Antarctica. If she's a clever girl, and I know she is, she wouldn't go to Antarctica expecting to find him there after all this time, of course. She'd go to Louisiana, probably to New Orleans. We can still do some damage control and intercept her. She must be still on her way." Scott suggested.

"I say we let the girl do what she gotta do. She wants to find herself by finding her father. I know the girl, she will be so mad if we prevent her from doing the one thing she decided and needed to do on her own. She might even rebel against us all." Logan said.

"I agree with Logan. Besides, her powers have already kicked in and with the training she's received since she was eleven, I'm sure she can take good care of herself." Hank was referring to the ability she had with kinetic energy. Like her father, she uses the bio-kinetic energy her body produces. However, the way she liberates the energy is different from his. Kinetic energy emanates from the palm of her hands as she wishes and she can use it against an opponent, attacking him from a distance with a beam of energy.

"I do not believe you are actually considering the possibility of sitting here and waiting until she hurts herself or someone else. We have to go after her." Storm intervened.

By now, Rogue was having a nervous breakdown. Kitty tried to comfort her. All of a sudden, she regained focus.

Standing up, she said: "I will go after her. And I don't want anyone to follow me. This is my responsibility and no one else's. I'll deal with it on my own."

The note she was holding fell to the floor.

*

Mom,

I love you very much. I hope you will forgive me for that one day, but I have to look for my father. I think that he's alive, in my heart, I feel he's alive.

No matter what happens, I have to see him. And something tells me, I will find him.

Don't be afraid, mom. Trust me and don't forget, I love you… but I also love him.

*