Chapter 1: The Fifth Discovery
Author's Notes: AU fic. Any and all differences from the characters you know and love can be attributed to this fact. However, if my version of Bobby Blake really drives you crazy, let me know. My understanding of Iceman is really limited …
* * *
Chicago isn't that different from New York City, Remy LeBeau thought. No one pays attention to anything.
Which was, in Remy's line of work, a good thing. It was almost sundown, but the auburn-haired young man hadn't yet taken off his sunglasses. His hands were buried in the pockets of his oversized brown duster; the shoulders were too wide for him, and it hung off his thin frame. His jeans were well-worn and falling apart at the knees; his black t-shirt was generic and cheap.
The place he'd been staring at all day was hardly in his 'class' – the Antique Mosaic, a 'museum' showing off and putting up for auction a portion of the private collection of priceless antique items owned by Henry Guess. This collection included the Book of Picard, supposedly once owned by the illustrious Mucchini family before it was rudely stolen. The Mucchini's wanted it back in the worst way, and they were willing to pay handsomely for it. Remy smiled slowly to himself.
However, you could only enter the Mosaic after paying a high entrance fee, obviously installed to prevent anyone with an income under two hundred thousand from entering. Clearly Mr. Guess wanted to be sure his possessions stayed in the higher classes.
Remy did not intend to let that stop him, or his 'sister'. This was their first big heist, and they couldn't afford to mess up. It would blemish their reputation as master thieves forever, barring them from 'high-class' heists, where the real money lay.
Remy couldn't let that happen. For Belle's sake.
"We'll pull it off," he whispered to himself, smirking slightly. "We're de best dere is."
He had to be right. He knew he was.
* * *
What Remy didn't know about – couldn't have known about – was the quiet conversation taking place in Mr. Guess' office even as he spoke.
"Are you certain of this?" Henry Guess asked urgently of his guest. "Tonight?"
"Positive. Yes, he'll come tonight – along with his partner," said the guest.
"Well – what do you propose I do?" Guess was slightly frantic. He needed the money from this sale more than he cared to admit. "I can't have anything stolen, it'll look bad!"
"It's all right, Mr. Guess," said the visitor, a smile gracing his lips. "I and my friends will apprehend the thief tonight, if you'll just give me free reign. Do not fear."
Henry Guess nodded, relaxing instinctively. The man was strangely persuasive. "Okay. Whatever you need …" he trailed off.
"All I need is that thief." The guest smiled gently again. "I appreciate your willingness to cooperate."
"Never a doubt," Henry nodded, standing. "Do whatever you need done. Just don't let my collection be hurt …"
"Of course not, Mr. Guess. Of course not."
* * *
Belladonna liked them odds.
"This is painfully easy," she informed her brother in Cajun French as they approached the Antique Mosaic. "The security here is a joke, from what I've heard and seen."
Remy nodded absently. Belladonna suppressed a sigh of frustration at her brother's insistence on wearing sunglasses, even when there was no one around to see him; they made it harder for her to determine what he was thinking about. "Don't take anything for granted," he warned half-heartedly. "We've got to do this perfectly, and I mean perfectly. This is our break into—"
"The big time, I know, I know," Belladonna rolled her eyes at her worried brother. "We'll do fine. Did you eat?" she demanded, poking him in the ribs. He was far too thin for his height, and lately a lot of his ribs showed.
Remy smirked slightly. "Did you?" he shot back.
"Of course. Don't need my stomach growling halfway through."
Remy knew the value of a half-full stomach – not too full to be quick, but not too empty to be painful. His slight smile was proud. "Let's get started."
The Antique Mosaic was surrounded by a wall about seven feet high – a decorative, but effective barrier. Security was a joke, despite what the young thieves' employer believed; two Rent-a-Cops were at the door (dozing, Remy had noted with wry amusement); there was one easily visible security camera at the iron-wrought gate and an intercom; and when Remy and Belladonna had scouted the place out earlier, the only security inside was a series of security cameras, hooked up to a standard computer.
It was almost as if the system had been tailored for an easy break-in by Belladonna LeBeau.
Belladonna LeBeau could speak to computers.
"Watch my back, no?" Belladonna said to Remy. Remy nodded, already looking past her, watching. Belladonna put her fingers against the camera outside the gate and shut her eyes.
15 security cameras sight nothing nothing nothing movement replay movement replay what is that camera 4 two people replay two people no details poor picture too grainy almost black and white replay no details what are they
Camera all set replay double loop last 3 hours no interference irrevocable erase log data entry delete delete delete cache empty
Belladonna pulled her fingers away from the camera and opened her eyes, taking a deep breath. She looked up at Remy. "I saw two people on camera four that weren't there when we did our security assessment," she said softly. "The picture was too grainy to get a better look, even though I replayed the tape a couple of times. And before you ask, yes, I set up the cameras to replay the tapes of the last three hours repeatedly and erased logged data of my interference," she added with a slightly exasperated tone. Remy always asked her if she'd done that, ever since she'd forgotten to erase her computer interference two months before.
Remy was thumbing his chin. "We're gonna have to wing this a bit," he observed. "We can't wait on this theft. We don't have any money left." He was smirking, but Belladonna knew that look. It was the closest her brother ever got to allowing himself to look worried.
"If it's that worrisome, I can wait for a day," Belladonna said, putting her hand on Remy's arm.
"I don't think so," Remy said, jerking his arm away. "We can't have your stomach rumbling halfway through now, can we?" he grinned.
Belladonna smacked his arm, willing to let the subject drop. "Shut up. We've got a Book to steal."
* * *
Bobby Blake rolled his eyes. "Boring."
Scott Summers kept staring straight ahead. "Shut up."
"Boring."
"Shut up."
"Boring!"
"Shut up!"
"Why do we have to guard a stupid book?" Bobby pointed to the offending item – a thick book with an elaborate, gold-wrought cover. It could have fit into a relatively big pocket, as its cover was no bigger than Summers' hand. "Book of Picard? What kinda name is that? Who cares about it?"
"Iceman. Shut. Up." Summers' voice was laced with suppressed annoyance.
Bobby crossed his arms and pouted. Quietly, trying to slip it by Cyclops, he whispered, "Boring."
"Iceman!"
Their budding argument was interrupted by a mental call to attention. ~Cyclops, Iceman, be alert,~ said Jean Grey's voice in their heads. ~They've come.~
* * *
Jean Grey, telekinetic and weak telepath, firmly imagined herself out of existence as the two thieves – Remy and Belladonna LeBeau – ran past. Remy's eyes brushed over where she stood as he passed, and Jean remembered what the Professor had said about him – he was among the best of all thieves. Even without the petite girl running at his side, he would have easily bypassed the security system and stolen the Book of Picard.
In fact, it was the girl that was his weakness.
Only by strongly projecting the idea that she was not there was Jean able to avoid Remy's gaze. He still did a double take before sweeping by.
They had to capture Remy without making him feel truly trapped; they had to stop him from stealing the Book of Picard while managing to gain his trust.
As she pulled away from the wall and levitated herself towards the roof, she knew their task would not be easy.
* * *
Cyclops couldn't hear the thieves coming, but a quick warning from ShadowCat as she phased through the wall was enough to put him on his toes. Iceman, too, had 'powered up' (he looked like a human icicle) and was watching the door. "Is this why we're guarding a stupid book?" he asked.
Cyclops suppressed a sigh of exasperation. "If you'd pay attention during briefings, you'd know—"
The doorknob jimmied, the lock broke, and the door swung open to reveal—
A prepared pair of thieves.
Scott ducked as two playing cards, glowing strangely, flew by his head. A boom and the sound of collapsing plaster told him they had exploded against the far wall. It was not entirely unexpected; the Professor had warned both Bobby and he about this odd power of Remy LeBeau's to charge objects with kinetic energy to turn them into bombs.
Bobby was making icy spikes out of thin air and tossing them at Remy, frowning with concentration. He was still pretty new to his powers, Scott thought to himself. The thief, on the other hand, was dodging artfully. "Belle! Now!" he called, no sound of stress or worry in his voice. His sunglasses kept Scott from seeing where the thief was looking.
Cyclops spun around, looking for Remy's partner, but while he was prepared for an attack, he wasn't prepared for an abnormally thin blonde to slip by him expertly, snatch the book up, and run for the door. "Let's go!" she called.
Cyclops balked. "ShadowCat!" he shouted. "Runaway!"
Out of the corner of his eye Cyclops saw Remy's head flick towards his voice. It was enough of a distraction; Bobby grinned and cried, "A-ha!", flinging the ice spike that pinned the thief to the wall by his jacket. Iceman then proceeded to do the dance of victory, which involved pumping his arms and shouting, "Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo! I rule!"
Scott ignored all this in favor of turning back, quickly, to the fleeing Belladonna as she looked back to see Remy get pinned to the wall. "Non!" she cried, but before she could do anything, Cyclops' plea was answered; ShadowCat came through the wall behind Belladonna and she wrapped her arms around the girl, immobilizing her. "We don't want to hurt you!" she exclaimed, clearly preparing for the inevitable struggle.
Belladonna LeBeau screamed. "Don' touch me!"
Kitty started, her grip loosening. But rather than running, the thief yanked herself away from ShadowCat and dropped the Book of Picard, wrapping her arms around herself and scrambling into a corner, whimpering.
Scott, Kitty, and Bobby all stared at Belladonna, Remy completely forgotten. Cyclops was vaguely aware of the pinned thief crying out.
"Wh-what's wrong? What happened?" Kitty moaned, holding her hands out in a placating manner and approaching Belladonna. "Did I hurt you?"
Bobby's features were rapidly returning to their normal state, and he reached out to gently touch Belladonna on the arm. "It's okay. We're not here to—"
The girl jerked away from Iceman's touch. "Don' touch me!" she screamed.
"What's happened?" cried Jean's real voice – not her mind voice. Scott looked up with no small relief to see her running down the hall. "I felt a concussive force from her – a mental shield so strong—" she never took her eyes off the whimpering Belladonna as she spoke. "Maybe I can …" she began to move forward.
But it was at that moment that Jean was flung aside by a strong arm, and Bobby was brushed away and Kitty was pushed back. "Don' touch her!" snarled a sharp voice. Remy LeBeau had managed to get himself off the wall, and he protectively pulled Belladonna to his chest as she shivered. His sunglasses were broken; they hung off one ear to reveal his eyes, which were red on black, glowing ever-so-slightly. He glared at them all. "Don' touch her!" he repeated. "Didn't you hear her de firs' time?" He dropped his chin on her head, hugging her, his eyes shut. "Don't cry, ma petite," he crooned gently. "Shh now, shhh. Remy's got you. Dere's nothin' to be scared of. Nothin' …"
Scott raised his eyebrows and looked at Jean, and she returned his gaze with a bewildered shrug. Whether she meant to project her thoughts or not, her mental projection mirrored his own mind:
This may be harder than we thought.
* * *
The man who watched from afar smiled to himself. "Well done, X-Men. Well done."
* * *
Author's Notes: If this is hard to follow, let me know. In some respects, it's supposed to be. You're not supposed to know why some things happen. Some stuff will be explained in the next chapter!
Stay tuned; next time, Remy and Belladonna are enrolled in the Xavier School for the Gifted, and we explore a little bit more of the relationship between these two thieves.
~~Vikki