Chapter 4:

Remy grinned down at the pretty woman in front of him. She wore a lovely pearl necklace that he was trying to figure out how to remove without her notice. He carefully slid one hand up her arm to rest on her shoulder as he leaned down to whisper some sort of nonsense into her ear, his fingers toying with the latch. It was just his poor luck that it was one of those twisty ones that required two hands. It would be tricky, but not impossible. At least it would be a challenge. This game was getting old. If it weren't so profitable—and not to mention easy—he would have moved onto something else by now. Besides, Crake needed the money, and Remy liked him. He couldn't bail on his friend at this point.

He reached up to push back some of the hair that blew into his eyes and glanced at his friend. It felt as if there were a storm kicking up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jaleena stalking toward them, her frame held stiffly, her hands clenched. She really did look upset. The others seemed to notice her at the same time, and when she realized they were staring at her, she began sputtering. He frowned. She was normally much more composed than this, but maybe she just needed some practice with this new scenario. When she stopped in front of him instead of throwing her bag, he realized he'd better jump in to help.

"Now darling," he said as he lifted his hands as if to ward her off, "It's really not what you think. Just let me explain!"

To his complete shock, she punched him—hard. He fell back a couple steps, lifting a hand to his lips. When it came away red with blood, he was even more surprised, and just a bit angry. That was taking things a little too far. She knew to be convincing, but she also knew they were just playing. He looked up at her, exclaiming "What the hell, Leena?"

When he met her eyes, they were just as shocked as his own. She stared at him, but it almost felt as if she were staring through him at something else for a moment, then she turned and ran as if she were being chased by the hounds of hell, not even pausing when the strap to her bag ripped and the bag and its contents fell to the ground, books and papers scattering.

Something was wrong. He felt it deep in his stomach. He met Crake's gaze and then took off after Jaleena, leaving his friend to deal with the mess of the two girls who were still standing there in shock.

Remy chased after her, knowing he could catch up with her quickly, but when he saw her terrified face when she saw he was following her, he slowed. There was no use in scaring her even more than she already was. He jogged after her, keeping about a block behind so that she remained in sight. He was a bit impressed with her stamina as she took him through the city center and then out into the poorer outskirts. The buildings were crumbling, and there were signs of neglect and decay everywhere he looked. She tore up cracking stone stairs into a small, dilapidated two-story, slamming the door behind her. His jog slowed to a walk as he went down the narrow alley, then, he went up the stairs, found the door unlocked and went inside. There was a staircase against one wall of a large room, and one girl was standing with a book in her hands. When she met Remy's gaze, she immediately started screaming. He looked past her through a door way and could see an out-dated cooking range, so he figured that meant Jaleena was probably upstairs unless she liked to bake when she was upset. Unlikely. He ignored the screaming girl and took the stairs two at a time. There were only three doors at the top of the stairs, and the second that he opened showed Leena curled up on a sagging mattress, two girls sitting with her.

When he stepped into the room, they all looked up at him in surprise. He took another step toward her and had only managed to say half of her name before one of the girls launched herself at him, knocking him back onto the floor. When he moved to push her off of him, he felt sharp pains in his abdomen and shoulders. She sat on his chest, and he could feel the nails of her feet dig into the flesh of his stomach. He cried out in surprise, and she leaned forward over him, literally growling and tightening her grip on his shoulders. He looked up at her and processed a few things quickly, she was pretty with a spattering of freckles on her face, but her nose and lime green eyes looked more feline than human. Long, light blonde hair hung around her face and she bared sharp teeth at him. He was certain she was going to bite him until he heard Jaleena's voice calling her off.

The girl curled her lip at him one more time before getting up, and Jaleena quickly kneeled down beside him, her face tear-stained. She placed her hands on his chest, "Oh, Remy! I'm so sorry. I just seem to keep getting you hurt today!" She moved her hands over his chest and down to lift his shirt. His stomach muscles tightened when her fingers ran over the cuts on his stomach. He normally would have enjoyed any pretty girl caressing his stomach, but there was something different about Leena doing it. Definitely something more exciting than it should be, especially in a moment like this. He grabbed her hands and held them in his, attributing his discomfort to the fact that there were two strange girls watching them.

He sat up, continuing to hold her hands for safe keeping and glared over his shoulder at his attacker. "Don't worry about it, chere. Da cat just owe me a new shirt."

The girl opened her mouth to retort but was cut off when a large, muscle-clad man stepped into the room, the no-longer-screaming girl close behind him. He was tall and had to be at least thirty. "What in hell is going on?" he asked, his voice thick with a Scottish burr.

The other girl rose from the bed. She had long, multi-colored hair that was swept back into a simple braid. "Maybe we should all go downstairs. There's more room there to talk."

As they all filed down the stairway, the front door opened again, this time admitting Crake who was holding Jaleena's bag. He looked at the group and only raised an eyebrow when he noticed Remy and his torn and bloody shirt. Jaleena headed to the single couch to sit down, the multi-colored haired Laurel and the now-not-screaming Violet sitting on either side of her. Joey sat down on the floor in front of her, leaning back against the couch and patting her calf. She watched as StarFire threw herself into the rickety rocking chair to one side, letting her tail and one leg hang over the arm. She kept her gaze leveled on Remy, and her expression was far from welcoming. Crake sat down in a ripped up arm chair, and Remy just leaned against the wall by the door, his arms crossed over his chest.

Crake gestured, "So I guess you've all met Remy. I figured—"

"THAT is Remy?" Violet squeaked, her eyes wide. She looked him over again, and then narrowed her eyes, glaring at him just as StarFire was. "You'd think such a fantastic man would have better manners than to just barge into someone's house uninvited and cause so much trouble. I really think it would be best if—"

Jaleena set a hand on her friend's arm to quiet her. "It's okay, Violet. It's my fault he came running in there like that. I probably deserved whatever he was going to say to me." She frowned, finally getting a good look at Remy's face and the purpling bruise on his jaw. "Remy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

He grinned at her, the action causing the newly-formed scab to tear and a bead of blood to form on his busted lip. "No problem, chere. It just give me an air of mystery." He wiggled his eyebrows at her. "And da ladies jus' love mystery." When she smiled in response, he wiped at his lip again and sobered a bit. "Besides, I knew sometin was up when you took off like dat. What's going on?"

Crake sifted through Jaleena's bag and pulled out the polariod picture. "That's a good question. The same one I was wondering when I found this on the ground." He tossed it toward the couch, and Joey bent forward to grab it. His brows drew together as he handed it back to the girls on the couch. StarFire left her chair to jump on the back of the couch to peer over Jaleena's shoulder so she could see as well.

When StarFire moved her hand as if to poke at the holes, Jaleena pulled the photograph away and warned, "Be careful with that. I don't know if it's okay to touch it. I think it was from some kind of acid in…" She trailed off when she registered the expressions around her—ranging from curiosity to shock.

"Acid?" Laurel asked, taking the picture from Leena. "Who would be walking around with acid?"

Jaleena nodded, and retold the story—leaving out the specifics of exactly how she, Crake, and Remy had been working together. There was no use letting that cat out of the bag, and Violet hadn't quite figured out exactly who was in the picture since it was at this point, as it was crinkled and dirty with two large holes in it. There was silence in the room for a few minutes after she finished speaking as everyone digested what they'd learned. To her surprise, Remy was the first one to speak. His voice was soft when he asked, "Leena, you okay? Your head still hurt or you feel woozy or anyting like dat?"

She looked at him in surprise. She would have thought he would have been more interested in the other gang. His interest seemed to snap everyone out of their silence as well. Laurel and Violet immediately wanted to check her head, and they fussed at her for a few moments until she assured them she was fine. "I'm most sorry that she took our money. It was our food budget for the whole week!"

As if on cue, Joey's stomach let out a loud growl, causing him to flush. Crake jumped up, pulling out some of what he'd scored that day. From the size of it, Jaleena guessed he hadn't had the time to put anything aside. "Well, we pulled in more than normal since we were in a better part of the city, so I'm sure it will help. In fact, with everything that's happening, why don't we splurge and order a pizza?"

Violet clapped her hands and nodded. "That's a great idea! After all the commotion, a treat would be nice. Would you like that, Leena?"

But Jaleena wasn't paying much attention. She'd noticed that as soon as he'd realized she was okay and the conversation had turned to food, Remy had slipped out the door, closing it quietly behind him. She patted Violet's knee and said, "That'd be great, Vi." She got to her feet and headed out the door while the rest of the group began to debate what kinds of toppings to get.

When she stepped outside, he was just reaching the bottom of the steps. "Remy?" She called softly, causing him to pause and look back up at her. "Where are you going?"

He grinned his normal cocky grin. "Home. It almost dinner time, and everyting seems to be all right here, so I'll be on my way. You got your family takin' care of you, so everyting's back to normal."

Jaleena frowned and stepped to the top of the steps, picking at the chipping stone on the railing. She looked at him again, and suddenly felt awkward. "What about you? Do you have a family waiting?" She asked. "I mean, your face is busted up. Who will take care of you?"

He seemed surprised for a second that she would ask, his cocky mask slipping for just a few seconds before his big grin was back. "I take care of myself, chere. It's less messy dat way. 'Sides, can you imagine how dat would cramp my style?"

She tried to smile back, but even to her it felt forced. For just one moment, she'd seen the loneliness and the longing in his eyes. She ignored his response and referred back to his initial comments. " You are right, they are my family—even if I haven't known all of them for very long. I didn't always have them, you know. I bounced around a lot of foster homes before I met Joey and Laurel, and then the others. It took a while, but we've figured out how to make it work. I can't imagine my life without even one of them in it. I know how lucky I am to have them." She paused, staring down at the cracked railing she was still picking at. "Haven't you ever had a family?" She held her breath in the few moments that passed before he answered. She didn't dare look up at him, knowing that asking a question like that was crossing the line of their casual friendship.

"Yeah," He said softly, resting his hand on the newel post at the bottom of the stairs. "I had a family back in Louisiana." He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "If dey miss me it only be for one reason, and it not anyting sentimental." As he spoke, Jaleena blinked a few times as the top of the post began to glow until it seemed to pulse with energy.

"Remy?" She pointed, "What-?"

"Get back," he said, jumping back himself as the top of the post exploded, sending shards of stone flying. Jaleena raised her arms to her face to shield it from stray pieces. When she slowly raised her arms after, she found him staring at her warily.

She swallowed hard, ignoring the stinging pain on her forearms from where she'd been hit by debris. She tossed her head back as if it were just an everyday occurrence for parts of her front porch to blow up. As she moved down the stairs, she kept her gaze locked with his, feeling a deep sadness when she saw the trepidation in his eyes. Was this why he'd left his family? Because of what he could do? When she stood in front of him, looking up at him, she smiled. In her best attempt at a flirtatious tone, she said, "Well, I guess if you've showed me yours, I better show you mine, right?"

When he blinked in surprise, she wrapped her arms around his waist and closed her eyes, resting her head against his chest. He stood stiffly for a moment, probably not sure why she was suddenly cuddling up to him. She concentrated as hard as she could until she felt the air shifting around them. She felt her body sway and was relieved when he wrapped his arms around her to hold her steady. Working her powers at any time was difficult, but she found she could most easily access her abilities when she felt safe and calm. When she opened her eyes to look up at him, his were wide in amazement, and he was laughing out loud in pure pleasure as he looked around him. They stood in the eye of a small tornado, garbage, dust, and rocks flying around them.

When the air slowed and eventually returned to normal, he squeezed her in his arms, still laughing. "Dat was amazing! Completely invigorating! How you do dat?"

She smiled back up at him, enjoying the physical contact too much to release him and step back. Besides, it had been a long time since she'd felt like she'd been in a perfect moment, and right now, with his smiling red eyes looking down at her, it felt pretty close to perfect. "I don't know!" She exclaimed. "I didn't even know I could do that! I mean, I didn't expect it to be that big!"

His grin widened. "So you like me den? Dat's pretty cool!"

She giggled and nodded, the adrenaline still rushing through her system. "I'm not very good at it, and I can only do it every once and a while. I guess I need to practice."

He nodded, "Me , too. Den maybe we help each other wit dat."

She smiled and nodded in response, and they just looked at each other for a moment, grinning. They realized that they were still standing in the alley holding each other at roughly the same time, causing them both to step back awkwardly. Remy lifted a hand to rub at the back of his neck, and Jaleena turned away as if to try to smooth her wind-blown hair, hiding her suddenly flushed cheeks.

He cleared his throat and looked down the alley as if he were getting ready to make an excuse and walk away. Jaleena lifted a hand to rub her arm and said, "Well, we'd better hurry." When he looked at her curiously, she started up the stairs, pausing halfway to look back at him. "You know if we don't get in there and weigh in, we'll be eating sardine and pineapple pizza, right? Hurry up, or I'm going to blame it on you, and trust me, I'll complain about it all night."

Remy grinned, and after a moment's hesitation, he followed her up the stairs and into the house where he was finally introduced to the rest of the family.