"What's your name?"

Gambit looked down at the young boy bouncing along beside him and grinned.

"Gambit." He peered over his sunglasses at the child. "What's yours petit?"

The child beamed a smile at him. "Jack."

A brief pause.

"What's petit mean?"

Gambit chuckled. "It means 'little one' in an old language called French."

"Oh."

The group continued walking along the burning sand dunes, the holy man and his boys quiet and listening. Gambit shifted his angle slightly, herding them towards whatever it was he could feel with his kinetic sense off in the distance. They were still too far for him to say what it was; only that something was out there.

"I like your eyes."

Gambit smirked and nodded his head. "Merci beaucoup." He continued even as Jack opened his mouth to speak, "It be French for 'thank y' very much' petit."

The boy smiled and nodded, bounced a few steps and then pointed at Gambit's wrist bracers and then his chest piece.

"Is that body armor? I've never seen armor like that before."

Gambit chuckled and shared an amused glance with the holy man.

"Oui, Gambit wearing body armor. Not surprised it be different t' what y' used t'. It be very old armor." He pointed to the red diamond on the collar that acted as a communicator when he was close enough to other's wearing the same. "Dis be de symbol o' de Marauders. Gambit be a Marauder fo' very long time."

This time it was the holy man that spoke.

"Marauder?" One eyebrow raised up high. "Is that a type of Law Enforcement Officer like Mr. Johns? Or a military one?"

Gambit snorted.

"Johns ain't no Law Officer. He's a merc." Gambit shook his head. "Not even a very good one at dat."

"Merc?" one of the man's boys asked.

Gambit nodded. "Mercenary. A hunter-killer fo' hire. He just happen t' be workin' fo' de government t' hunt criminals, dat's all."

"And you?" the other man was shrewd in a way the children couldn't be and that Paris never would be. Gambit was impressed.

"De Marauders were a team o' hunter-killers fo' hire. Dey disbanded now, so Gambit freelance."

The little boy looked at him with wide fascinated eyes. "You're a killer?"

Gambit grimaced and shrugged. "Can be when I gotta, mais Gambit not assassin." He grinned, "Gambit be information an' acquisition specialist."

The boy looked confused, but the holy man just grunted and shook his head.

"Is that a fancy way of saying you're a thief?"

Chuckling, Gambit turned to the man, crossed one arm over his chest and gave a low but dramatic bow. "Remy LeBeau, Master T'ief at y' service?"

The boy huffed and crossed his arms. "I thought you said your name was Gambit."

Nodding, Gambit reached out and ruffled the boy's hair. "Oui, petit. I's Gambit. Where Gambit's from, y' born t' a name an' den take another if y' develop…" Gambit paused to think about how to explain mutations, "unique skills."

"Like stealing?"

Gambit smiled sadly, his memories of home rising up in him mind. "Naw, Gambit be kinchin-cove."

At the odd looks he got at that term he explained, "It means thief raised." He gave the boy a searching look. "He be 'bout y' age when he first be taught how t' pickpocket."

The child nodded easily, but the holy man sucked in a breath. "You were taught how to steal from people at such an early age?" The question was half appalled and half outraged.

Gambit shrugged and the boy rolled his eyes at the man. "Gots t' eat somehow, heh?"

Gambit shifted his direction again and began to lead them up the side of a tall dune.

"Yes, but…" the holy man was trying to keep the disapproval out of his voice and mostly succeeded, "surely there were other ways to find money to eat?"

Gambit didn't answer, the boy did. The child shrugged and made a vague gesture that could mean everything or nothing. "Better than starving to death or selling your ass to the perverts."

That statement shut the man up and broke what was left of Gambit's heart just a little bit. He took a moment or two to push down some of his own horrific childhood memories. Then and there he decided that if Jack didn't have anyone to go to, he'd take the boy with him to find Logan. It had been too long since his last apprentice, anyway.

They finally reached the top of the dune and all of them stood there for a long moment staring down with a mixture of disbelief and hope.

"Is that a settlement? Or are my eyes deceiving me?"

Grinning, Gambit slapped a friendly hand down on the holy man's shoulder. "Y' seeing right, mon ami. Dat be a human settlement."

With a whoop of joy, the boys started forward at a trotting run. Gambit laughed and started to follow with the holy man just a step behind him.

"Mon ami? What does that mean?"

Gambit smiled. "It be French fo' my friend."

The man gave him another of those shrewd looks. "And are we? Friends, that is?"

Gambit nodded. "I's like t' think so." He shrugged. "Ever'one dat survived de crash has de potential t' be a friend."

He made a face. "Except fo' dat merc, Johns. He a born dipshit if Gambit ever saw one."

The man huffed out a small laugh and nodded.

"Even the murderer, Riddick?"

Gambit pictured the big muscular man with the wild eyes and the feeling of a powerful feral thrumming around him. He felt his pants tighten and licked his lips.

"Gambit like dat one most of all."

They made the journey down the dune in quiet contemplation, following the footprints of the children toward the settlement.

"He could easily kill you, you know."

Gambit shrugged. "And Gambit could easily return de favor."

He thought back through his various relationships; Belladonna, Scalphunter, Rogue, finally in his declining years, Rictor. Then there were all of the different lovers he'd had in between; Sabertooth, Polaris, Mystique, The Courier, The White Queen, and for a brief while, Jubilee. More women then men to be sure, but all of them deadly and beautiful in their own way.

"Don't think Gambit'd be interested if de man was safe t' be around."

The holy man shot him a look that was a bizarre mixture of confusion, amusement, and pity. The conversation was over though as they had arrived at the settlement and there was much to explore.

They spent about an hour digging through everything. The place was abandoned, that much was obvious right from the start. The why, on the other hand, was somewhat mysterious. Gambit just hoped that it wasn't because of the things under the surface of the planet.

Still, they found several buildings, a small emergency space craft, a solar powered land rover, and a well with a working pump. Okay, it hadn't really worked until Gambit channeled a small spark of kinetic energy into the motor. It took a lot of effort to force the charge to power the machine instead of blowing it sky high. In the end it was worth the effort since he was able to fill four fairly large jugs with fresh clean water from deep inside the planet. Everyone took long deep drinks and then he refilled the jugs again and packed them inside the land rover.

"We'll bring de water t' de others. They probably damn thirsty by now, too." He fiddled with the dashboard until he figured out how to start the machine up. "De others will pro'bly want t' come here an' see dis all fo' themselves, anyway."

With the holy man in the seat next to him and the kids and jugs of water piled up in the back, Gambit turned the land rover towards the crash site.

With his trench coat firmly back in place on his body where it belonged, Gambit stepped into the shadows of the busted hull with an oxygen container in one hand and a jug of water in the other. He looked over at Riddick back in his shackles and tsked loudly.

"If y' missed Gambit dat bad, y' shoulda just come t' him. No need t' let dat fool chain y' down again." He leered at the big arm muscles pulled tautly away from the man's body. "Even if y' look damn fine all trussed up like dat."

The man grunted and smirked.

"That so?"

Gambit hummed an agreement and licked his lips. "Make dis po' boy think naughty thoughts."

Turning abruptly, he set the canister of oxygen down and muttered to himself, "Later Gambit. Business first, pleasure second." Then he stood back up and unscrewed the lid off of the jug and walked over to Riddick.

"Drink."

He lifted the jug to the man's face and watched patiently as he leaned forward and sniffed the liquid inside.

"It's clean, mon ami. Gambit checked."

Another deep sniff just to prove he wasn't willing to trust Gambit's word and then Riddick let Gambit pour a steady stream of water into his mouth. When it was empty, Gambit pulled the jug away and set it down.

"Found an abandoned settlement a bit aways." He gestured vaguely towards the southeast. "Empty buildings, land rover, water well."

He picked up the oxygen canister. "Emergency space ship."

Silver eyes darted to his. He nodded.

"Yeah. Everyone's excited 'bout dat, mais I worry where de people went. Think de things under de ground got 'em."

An eyebrow raised up. "You can hear them too?"

"Non," Gambit shook his head. "Can feel their movement under de ground."

Riddick grunted in acknowledgement. Both to Gambit's abilities and the fact that the things below were dangerous killers.

Smirking, Gambit hooked the strap of the oxygen over Riddick's head and then carefully fitted the mask to his face before releasing the valve in a hiss of pressurized air.

"Now, be a good boy an' breath dis in while Gambit work on those nasty shackles."

Twin silver eyes rolled at him, but Riddick was smart enough to accept the oxygen in this thin atmosphere. He watched with sharp attention as Gambit pulled out his picks once more and unclasped the case. A quick visual assessment of the locks and a swift brush of two gentle fingertips was all it took to allow Gambit to choose the correct tool for the job.

There wasn't any noise, just a shifting of Riddick's eyes, but that was enough. Palming his tools, Gambit turned and looked. His eyes easily picked out Jack in the shadows. He grinned.

"Boy! Come on over here. Something t' show y'."

There was a brief hesitation and then Jack slinked out of the shadows and over to the two dangerous men. Gambit shifted his case back into the light and let Jack see. He pulled them back out of reach when the boy stretched out a hand.

"Lesson de first. Pay attention an' learn what Gambit show y' an' dere be more t' come, heh?"

The boy looked up into his eyes and Gambit knew what it was the child was searching for. Eventually he found it because he beamed a smile and bounced on his toes once.

"Shit yeah! Cool." Head bobbed in a quick nod. "What's first?"

Gambit smirked. "Need de right tool fo' de job. If y' get good enough, y' can improvise on de sly, but t' start, learn de right way."

And from there the conversation evolved into a somewhat technical explanation of locks, picks, and the techniques of choosing which pick for what type of lock. Riddick listened and watched with amusement as Gambit easily opened the first shackle and then slowly walked the boy through opening the second.

Free once more, Riddick pulled off the oxygen and handed it over to the boy who calmly turned off the valve and hooked it over his head and shoulder to carry while Gambit cleaned his tool and tucked it away again.

Riddick looked him over for a long minute and then smirked.

"I don't scare you at all, do I?"

Gambit blinked and then grinned. "Y' remind me of a mix of one of my best friends an' an ex-lover. Despite de fact dat Wolverine an' Sabertooth hated each other, I think dat they'd both like y'." Gambit shrugged. "Fo' de same reason, too."

Jack tilted his head and asked, "Were they Marauder's too."

Gambit shook his head. "Sabertooth be a Marauder. Wolverine was part of de X-Men. De Marauder's were a hunter-killer team fo' hire. X-Men be freedom fighter group. Gambit bounced between de two fo' long time as member of both groups." He grinned, "Well, when he not doing jobs fo' de Thieves Guild dat is."

Riddick gave him another once over and reassessed him.

"And what did you do for these groups?"

It was Jack that answered, "He was an information and askewee…"

"acquisitions" Gambit injected.

"…and acquisitions expert."

Riddick smirked. "A thief, huh?"

Gambit nodded. "With a secondary specialty in battlefield combat." He sent a questioning look at Riddick. "An' you?"

Riddick snorted, "Didn't you hear? I'm a murderer."

Gambit rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Oh please. Spare me de dramatics. I'm a professional, not some timid civie hiding from de closet monster."

A brief pause, and then "Front line battlefield combat expert with a secondary specialty in piloting."

Gambit nodded and then looked over to Jack.

"Lesson de second kiddo; never take vague disclaimers of danger as de full story. Ever'ones got skills an' talents beneath de surface. And ever'one's got a story t' tell. It'd be up t' y' t' shift through de bullshit t' find de truth."

Wary confusion swimming in his eyes, Riddick stared at Gambit. "What do you want from me?"

Gambit didn't hesitate. "A blissfully cool shower, a filling hot meal, an' den a long hard night in de sack." He smirked, "In dat exact order, too."

A brief pause and then Riddick tipped back his head and barked out a laugh.

"You're insane."

Gambit tipped his head slightly to the side. "An' y' ain't de first t' say dat, either."

Jack just rolled his eyes and stepped out of the remains of the ship and into the sunlight, "I think you're both nuts."

Riddick snorted, "Outta the mouths of babes."

Chuckling, the two followed the boy only to be met with a snarling Johns.

"Who the hell let you loose?"

Gambit stepped smoothly in front of him and tipped down his sunglasses to stare at the man with his burning red eyes. Johns hissed and backed up a step.

"Dat would be moi."

Johns hesitated and then pulled himself together enough to rally. "On whose authority?"

Riddick snorted and shook his head. "Are you really that dumb, Johns? There is no authority here since the ship Captain is dead."

Carolyn Fry stepped over and pointed to Johns. "He's a cop."

Gambit didn't even look at her. "He ain't no cop, lady. He's a two-bit merc who better pull his fool head outta his own ass before it gets him kill't."

Eyes shifted to Johns in both curiosity and disappointed anger over the lie.

"Dis a barren desert planet wit' limited water an' a bunch a' alien things livin' under de surface hungering fo' our blood. We all need t' pull t'gether an' dis fool be stirring up ever'one's fears an' lockin' down our strongest back jus' so he can feel like de big man. It ends now."

Johns pulled his gun and Gambit blurred into motion. In the space of two heartbeats the gun was ripped out of Johns' hands and flying through the air towards Riddick and Johns was lying on the ground nursing a bloody nose and two cracked ribs.

"Pull a weapon on me or anyone else again an' Gambit'll feed y' corpse t' de monsters in de ground."

Gambit stepped away from the man and wrapped one arm around Jack's shoulders.

"Come on petit, lets get ever'thing packed into de land rover fo' de trip back t' de settlement."

The child twisted slightly to look over his shoulder.

"Riddick's gonna kill that man."

Gambit shrugged. "Dat's Riddick's business if he wants t' kill him. He's got more issues wit' de man then Gambit does."

It didn't take everyone long to pack up all of their remaining things, the extra oxygen canisters, and the first aid kit into the land rover. This time Shazza was driving with Paris, Fry and the kids inside. The rest of them jogged alongside the vehicle as Gambit lead the way to the settlement. Tensions were high around Riddick, but no one but Johns thought that he should be abandoned chained down in the wrecked ship. Of course, it was possible that Johns only really felt that way because he'd had his false authority publicly ripped from him before he was physically beat down. Humiliation did strange things to people.

It was also fairly obvious that even though Gambit's fearless flirtation both intrigued and confused Riddick, he enjoyed the fear he instilled in the others. Fry would be just as happy if he died but wasn't willing to get her hands any bloodier in order to do it. Perhaps the blood already staining them was too much, or perhaps it was easier to kill people that didn't realize they were dying and couldn't fight back.

Shazza and Zeke seemed to side with Fry on the Riddick issue, while Paris tried to avoid him if at all possible and showed evidence of barely contained terror when he couldn't. The holy man, who asked to be called Imam, seemed to regard Riddick and Gambit with a sort of wary respect. He seemed to instinctively understand that if you didn't poke the big mean dog with the sharp stick, that it would be less inclined to bite you in the ass.

The oldest two boys with Imam simply followed his lead and offered exquisitely polite manners to anyone and everyone equally. The youngest was more like Jack in that his curiosity and open friendliness made him a likeable little fellow.

Still, despite the amusement factor of Riddick freaking everyone out and the distraction caused by the two young ones babbling question after question, the journey to the settlement was long and hot. Gambit felt like he was baking in his armor, even with his trench coat packed away in the land rover with the supplies.

By the time they got there everyone was a bit wilted from the heat, exhausted from a hard day, and extremely thirsty. Gambit got to work filling the jugs back up with water and everyone indulged in long drinks. He feared that food was going to be a problem until the oldest boy found a few bags of freeze-dried stew in one of the buildings. It wasn't a lot, but it would help. Gambit pulled up some more water out of the pump for it, and Shazza and Zeke set about cooking it up.

While this was going on, Fry and Johns were investigating the emergency ship to see if it was flight worthy. It was only a short distance planet hopper, but the theory was that if they could make it to the main shipping lanes, they could send out a distress signal for pickup. There were no cryo-chambers to put anyone into suspended animation, so food and water would be an issue, but that was the case here too.

About an hour after everyone had eaten and plans were being made about what to do with the ship, Imam noticed that his youngest boy was missing. Almost no one worried too much about it and only gave a half hearted search despite both Imam's upset and Gambit's worry and feeling of dread. At least, not until the boy's death scream echoed across the desert from one of the locked buildings.

By the time they got there it was too late, the boy was dead with the meat nearly stripped from his bones. There was a cloud of small creatures that Gambit swore looked like dragon hatchlings. An impromptu investigation showed that the creatures were photosensitive, lived underground as Gambit and Riddick had been saying, and that the mining colony had been abandoned during the last eclipse. That there was another eclipse scheduled to begin in a few hours time was also discovered to everyone's horror.

Panic quickly ensued.