Chapter Five
The ride to Vegas is… wonderful. We stop now and then for meh to take pictures of the landscapes and the cities we pass through. Remy doesn't complain, just waits patiently while Ah go back and forth snapping frames. If mah estimations are correct it took us two times as much time as it usually takes to reach Nevada from Louisiana. But no comment was made about it.
Finally we reach the condo Remy has supposedly rented for us. It is rather spacious with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, located in a more or less quiet part of town.
"So when do you like to go on a job interview, chere?" Swamp Rat asks, falling down onto one of the couches in the living room. He doesn't show it, but Ah can see that he is tired and doesn't want to go to any interview in quite some time.
"You didn't tell meh there would be one in the first place," Ah reply, flopping onto the other end of the couch. As far from him as possible. The longer mah ability to touch remains a secret the better.
"It is a casino after all, security issues and everything."
"Ah heard the new workers of a casino must go through a lying detector."
"There is one there too. A bit more natural however."
"Really? A telepath?"
"Nope."
A long pause. "Are you going to tell meh, Swamp Rat, or not?" Ah demand quite disgruntled by his keeping such important information from meh once again.
"Let's eat first."
Unfortunately Ah have to agree, Ah am quite famished mahself. So we get out of our new apartment and head… somewhere where Remy is heading. He seems to know the city pretty well, so Ah have no choice but to follow him.
This is how we end up in front of quite a pricy restaurant despite mah protests. We don't go through the main doors however, we go around the corner to the back door, which Remy enters without preamble.
Ah am about to apologize for the intrusion, but a plump man steps from the row of the ovens and practically crushes Remy in a hug. Ah can only gape at the exchange.
"Remy, mon ami, how long has it been?" the chef greets. "And what a belle mademoiselle is with you!"
"Antony, meet Remy's sister, Marie. Marie, this is Antony, one of Remy's… friends."
Ah finally snap from surprise, acknowledging the fact that Ah have new identity now. "Nice to meet you, Antony."
"Remy is sure your dishes are as marvelous as ever."
"But of course, mon ami!"
The next moment Antony is already busy with the pans and bowls and Remy leads meh to a small table in the corner of the enormous kitchen.
"So now you are stealing food? Nothing is too low for you," Ah whisper with disgust, upon us taking the seats.
"We are stealing nothing. Antony has a promise with Remy."
"And what is that? Feed you whenever you are in town?"
"Pretty much."
"And why is that?" Ah press further, but receiving a decent answer seems rather hopeless.
"Because I owe Remy my life," Antony supplies the answer and two steaming plates of pasta. "Tell me what you think."
Ah have no choice but to dig in, rather ungracefully Ah admit, because Ah am quite hungry. Between mouthfuls Ah notice that Remy eats rather slowly, as if having a degustation.
"A bit of coriander can do it some good," Remy suggests and spaghetti fall from mah mouth, because Ah am gaping again.
"You shouldn't have gone to the Guild, Remy. You should've stayed with me," Antony states unexpectedly, at least for meh.
"Let past be in the past," Remy says in return, but his eye tells meh that his past hasn't gone anywhere, it still haunts him.
Antony signs, the argument must be an old one and always ends with Antony's defeat. "So is it true, you are taking a job in the Coliseum?"
"Oui."
"The bastard must be all giddy from having such luck befallen him," Antony spits with venom for the said bastard.
Tired from being treated like Ah am not there, Ah kick the Cajun under the table, making him choke on his pasta.
"Can you leave us for a bit, uncle?"
"But of course, I do have a restaurant to run."
With that Antony departs to his beloved oven and Ah continue to glare at the Cajun. "What the Hell is going on? What bastard? Whose uncle?" Ah hiss, quite near mah limits of containing mah anger. Ah certainly don't want to make a scene with Antony present, especially after he treated us to such a feast, but if this thief conceals something important again, Ah swear… He'll regret it. Ah'll absorb him good.
"Antony asked Remy to call him uncle when he took him under his wing after Remy run from his real parents. As for the bastard, Antony was talking about-"
"Wait a minute, you ran from home?"
"Didn't we all?" 'All mutants' was left unsaid.
Ah suddenly feel ashamed. Ah didn't consider being in the Institute anything special. Didn't socialize with other mutants. Hated mah very existence while there were mutants who were left alone by their relatives, who had to survive on their own at the same time trying to get control over their power. The X-Men had it all while some had nothing. Ah can't help but feel pity towards those unfortunate mutants. How many of them are there? Mutants Xavier couldn't locate, mutants who don't use their powers but live with them?
"So the bastard Antony was talking about?" Ah change the topic for a lighter one.
"The CEO of the Coliseum, the place we are going to work in. He is a mutant with an ability to tell if another person is telling lies. Telling, not thinking. He also cannot detect the truth behind the lie."
"You mean if he asks meh if telekinesis is mah power and Ah say 'yes', he won't know Ah have other powers?"
"Basically."
"Then it is not that difficult."
"Burgess is not a fool, otherwise he wouldn't have been so successful in his business."
"Do Ah need to know anything else about that mysterious work place?"
"Oh, well… Pyro works there too. He makes pyrotechnic performances at night."
"Oh brother."
"Oui, frangine*?"
…..
After our meal Remy shows meh around the town. Ah have to admit Ah am kinda jealous of his knowledge of all the casinos and all the crannies of the amazing city, a world on its own. We walk around and at least every fifteenth person knows him, and not all of them are mutants as far as Ah detect with a quick telepathy check. Ah am jealous of Remy having so many people who are friendly with him. When Ah was helping him rescue his step-father from the Guild of Assassins, we were in more or less familiar waters: everyone who neared us was bad guys so there was only one thing to do – kick their asses. Come to think of it, almost all mutants Ah met outside the Institute were enemies. Thus Ah don't even know how to behave around Remy's… friends as he calls them. There is certainly more to that 'friendship', Ah won't be surprised to find out that all those 'friends' are thieves, cheats and con-men of some kind, but they act just like normal people, at least they don't attack us the moment we step through the door.
"Is something the matter, chere?" mah guide asks after we leave another shop owned by his 'friend'.
At first Ah don't want to answer, but he sounds concerned, so… "Ah am just a little overwhelmed by the number of the new faces."
"Desole, chere, but you have to get used to it. It's what your job description won't contain, but will be the major part of."
"Meaning?"
"Remembering faces of clients, what they do, when, where, how, with whom."
"Sounds like spying," Ah huff with despise.
"It's the only way to provide the best service, and that's what the Coliseum is about. It's far from Heaven, Marie, it can be even called dangerous if you don't play your cards right. But if you do and look behind your shoulder from time to time, you can have a good and comfortable life."
"Don't tell meh the mob is involved!" Ah yell, but not with horror, but anger. Anger that the infamous thief decided to pull meh into his ugly world Ah kept away from at all cost!
"Oh, Marie, and Remy hoped your run from the Institute has finally brought you out of your fairy tales," he states with dismay and even dares to shake his head! Can you believe it? The thieving Cajun is patronizing meh! "We are mutants, we live underground, in secret from the rest of the world, there is no place for us here. The only way for us to survive is to pay for protection to the mob, who doesn't care who we are, just what color our money is."
"But Ah did quite well in the bar, with no mob protection! Is this what you call clean money? You tricked meh once again, Cajun! And Ah am sick of it! Sick of your mess! The moment Ah start trusting you, you flip like a coin and become a bastard once again! What in the bloody Hell is wrong with you?" Good we were in a deserted alley, otherwise Ah would've received quite a lot of annoyed glances for the disturbance of the city life that seemed to be far from peaceful.
"You were not working in that bar, Marie, you were hiding." Ah have to give it to him, he was not fazed by mah outburst in the slightest. "A little world you created for yourself. You didn't use your powers, you made yourself forget who you were, who you are. Remy doesn't blame you. After the Phoenix ordeal, it was the only sane way to go on with your life. Let's go, Remy'll show you something." And after lecturing meh like that, he stretches out his hand for meh to take. Is he totally nuts? Beside the point that we both wear gloves, but they still cover our hands only partly.
"Are you nuts? Ah've just told you Ah don't trust you and you ask meh to go with you to some unknown place? Ah may live in a fairy tale, as you put it, which Ah completely deny, but Ah am not an idiot."
"There is no reason to be afraid, Marie. Remy will never hurt you."
"And why should Ah believe a thief?"
"Because even thieves have honor. Remy won't hurt you."
"Why are you doing this? Why are you so fixated on meh? And don't tell meh because we are alike and other crap. Ah don't believe there is no other motive."
"Because Remy wants you to be happy."
Okay, that was unexpected on 'struck by lightning' scale. Ah could've taken any bullshit, but something like this is hard to classify. Ah measure him up with a heavy glance. It will be much easier just to get into his mind, but Ah am reluctant to go there for some reason. Am Ah afraid of the truth? Of the possibility for him to be as rotten as Ah assume? Ah do want to believe him, but he just makes it so difficult!
"Ah will let you show meh whatever you want to, but you must promise meh you'll tell meh how you saved Antony's life. And it must be the true story."
"D'accord." And he sticks out his hand again.
So Ah take the hand just to get on with it and he pulls meh to the fire-ladder and gives meh a lift so Ah can reach the first step. It reminds meh of the times we did the same on our little operations for securing the mutant families. Back then Ah trusted him enough to cover mah back, but it seems kinda different now. Strange, how it is easier to trust someone to keep you alive than to live with this someone during peaceful times.
So we get onto the roof and Ah gasp from the beauty of the view. There are colorful lights everywhere. The city seems to be so full of life, which it actually is because Las Vegas never sleeps, but still… Just the thought that Ah can be a part of that beauty… is quite overwhelming.
"Look there, chere. Do you see that dome?"
Ah look at the direction the Swamp Rat is pointing and gasp once again. In the distance, there is a huge white dome surrounded by numerous additional buildings and covered with golden lights, on the very top of it shines the name of the establishment – The Coliseum.
"Mah Gud, it's beautiful," Ah breathe out, unable to stop mahself.
"Half of it is an ordinary hotel and casino for humans, since it must have a front. The other half is made for mutants. All mutants, no matter the origin. It's a place for entertainment and leisure. Can you imagine how many bribes are needed to cover something that large? For the mutants to relax without worrying of being exposed or attacked by the anti-mutant gangs? Burgess is a money-greedy bastard, but he does everything to protect the Coliseum and make it save for its clients. He must be laundering money for the mob and bribes government officials, but the Coliseum is not much different from Xavier's."
"But that Burgess still does it for money, he doesn't do anything to give mutants equal rights with humans. He doesn't fight for ideals only for his own gain. As Ah see it, he is not better than Magneto."
"Why must we fight? Why can't we just live?"
Ah don't want to admit it, but those questions make meh think. Think about where mah life was and is going. Why am Ah doing what Ah am doing. Why did Ah agree to come here with that lying Swamp Rat? To change something? To change for the better? Just to see other mutants? Somebody like meh? Somebody who understands meh and mah pain?
Ah steal a glance at mah companion. He stares into the distance, looking beyond the dome and the city border. Why did he come here? Just to spite meh and win our bet? Hardly. Ran from his former employers? Possibly, but too petite for starting a completely new life on the other end of the country. Or maybe it is quite a usual set of circumstances for the thieving Cajun?
"Okay, Ah agree that in some circumstances… unconventional actions are required, but Ah don't want to be a part of them. Ah understand that you are used to all kinds of shady business, but Ah am different. You can laugh or whatever, but Ah have principles and Ah am not about to throw them out of the window just to get quick cash or fun."
"But you can't be sure Remy is keeping his part of the bargain if you don't see him on his official job."
"Forget that stupid bet."
"You are not the only one who has principles, chere." The deadly serious tone he uses makes meh look at the man, standing beside meh on the roof. Really look at him. Is it because Gambit is a real gambler, he doesn't want to back off from a bet or because of something else? And what can it be? "The arrangements are made. Everybody knows Remy LeBeau will be a dealer in the Coliseum. Remy's reputation is on the line, he can't just pack the bags and ride elsewhere."
"But if you want so desperately to win our bet then you could've picked a more quiet… more legal place. Why an enormous casino in Vegas with 'danger' written all over it?"
"You still take all the fun out of life, Marie," Remy remarks with the usual smirk of his, reminding meh of the moment he said those words the last time – just before Ah absorbed him and left for dead. Okay, leaving wasn't done by meh, but that's not the point. The point is that the life of Remy LeBeau will never be quiet and moderate. It is his nature, so Ah can't do anything about it, apart from not messing into it, which is rather… difficult, since it is so tempting. What is the point of meh returning to that small bar in the middle of basically nowhere? Ah throw another glance at the arrogantly smirking Cajun, he must know what Ah am thinking about. Damn him.
"Ah'll stay. And Ah'll go to that blasted job interview tomorrow. And Ah'll work mah ass to provide a good service, as you put it, but Ah won't take part in anything even slightly illegal. And you still own meh a story." Yes, that is a pretty nice declaration. Clear and to the point. He won't be able to overthrow it no matter what.
"D'accord, but let's go home first, it's getting chilly out here."
That's it? Nothing to contradict mah statement? Nothing to prove meh wrong? And how could he dare to wrap his coat over mah shoulders? Ah'll never understand this Cajun.
A/N: Frangine – little sister in French. This will be the way Remy will address Rogue from time to time. Burgess's name comes from the clan of Borgia and everything connected to it. I just couldn't help myself.