Note from Jinxeh: The wait for this chapter was all my fault, guys! I've had writer's block for the longest time for this story and so haven't been very inspired of late to do any typing for it. Also, for anyone interested, I myself have begun a new X-Men: Evolution story titled "Haunted", which is on my account. I have a thing for ghosts, if you cannot tell…yeah, I'm pitiful for advertising one of my stories here, I know. Hehe…
Chapter 10: Family Affairs
"This is just great…" Remy muttered under his breath, jogging out of Professor Xavier's office as his mother protested behind him and then turning left, heading towards the girl's section of the dormitories. "Just wonderful…"
There he had been, thinking that perhaps things would start to settle down for him and Tammi now that the technicalities had been taken care of, only to have all of those pleasant thoughts crumble right in front of his very eyes. This wasn't fair, to either of them really.
Tammi was finally trying to use her powers again, after years of trying to forget she was even a mutant, and was even becoming more comfortable with them again. He had seen the ecstatic look on her face after she had managed to hit the target with only minimal guidance from her and it had even made him happy at that time.
It just wasn't fair to Tammi, to have to go through all of this when she was so young. He had to remind himself that he had barely any room to talk, having been involved with the Thieves and Assassins at such a young age himself, but he had seen the mistakes made on his part because of it. The last thing that he wanted to do was get her involved in any of the same situations that he had been forced into.
"Rogue, Kitty!" said Remy as he turned and corner and almost ran into the two of them, that had been coming from the opposite direction. "Have you seen Tammi?"
"Yeah, she ran that way," said Rogue, jerking her thumb over her shoulder to the hallway behind her. "She seemed upset. Somethin' wrong?"
"Remy explain later," said Remy quickly, squeezing between the two and continuing on his way down the hallway at a brisk pace. "Promise!"
"What's up with him?" asked Kitty in surprise as he turned another corner and was out of sight. Rogue shrugged slightly, but she looked a little unsure of herself.
"I dunno…"
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When Remy walked into Tammi's room, he sighed upon seeing her trying to slide the glass bottom of the window beside her bed up so she could get through it.
"What are you doing?" he asked as he came up from behind her and forcibly pried her fingers from the glass. He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to turn around and face him, unmindful of the scowl on her face that she was directing up to where she assumed his face was.
"Tammi gonna go out de window," she said matter-of-factly. "Rogue told me that the pool under dis window like at the old house. If Tammi can do dat once, she can do it again," she said stubbornly. "If I could remember how to get down to de lobby from 'ere, I'd go out the front door!"
"Tammi, you not jumpin' out of de window," said Remy severely, steering her to her bed and making her sit down on the edge. Letting go of her shoulders he crossed his own arms with a sigh and the shake of his head. "Mebe if we jus' don't talk to her, she'll leave."
"Why not?" asked Tammi bitterly. "Dat what's she good at, non?"
If Remy had not been so startled at this sudden remark that his sister had just spouted forwards, he might have been able to come up with a response for it. But as it were, he ended up just looking down at her, surprise written all over his young, and slightly scruffy, face.
In all of the time that he had had to think about it since their mother had left them, he had always assumed that he would have been the one to feel the pain of abandonment the most. He had thought that Tammi had been too young to realize that she had been abandoned by a person that was supposed to always be there for her.
He supposed he had never stopped and actually thought about it from her perspective. When he thought about it now, however, he thought that maybe he should have thought about it in that way before. He, at least, had gotten to know his mother somewhat during his younger years. There had been a short time during the course of his childhood that he had had a mother to look up to, but Tammi had never even had that. The only thing that she ever had was a brother that had accidentally caused her to become blind, and a father that was more concerned about the guild that he was a part of to pay attention to the daughter that needed him.
"Yeah…yeah, mebe," said Remy in an oddly strangled voice. She looked up at him in surprise, quickly noticing the rather sour tone that his voice had so suddenly taken on.
"What's wrong?" she asked, standing up and holding her injured arm gingerly in her other hand. Hank McCoy had done a good job of stitching it up and bandaging it accordingly, but it was still tender and difficult to move without sending a twinge up the rest of her arm.
"Not'ing," Remy lied between his teeth. "Just…just not'ing. Trust, Remy; we'll get through dis easily," he added with a tone of voice that was much too eager and fake for Tammi to even begin to believe it. She sighed.
"Dat's it, Tammi goin' out de window," she said, moving towards the window yet again. Remy sighed and then grabbed onto her arm, pulling her with him as he walked across the room and out into the hallway. Yet again, he almost bumped right into Rogue, who had followed him back after she had seen how distressed he had looked the first time.
"Remy, are ya sure you're okay?" she asked worriedly, looking down at his sister as she did, who had her head bowed as though looking down to the ground.
"Peachy," muttered Remy darkly. "Rogue, did you see a woman leave Professor Xavier's office after we did? Brown hair? Semi-expensive clothing? Expression on her face suggestin' dat suggests she t'inks she's better den she really is?"
"Um…yeah," said Rogue, a little surprised by the bitterness in his voice. "I think Ororo took her downstairs into the rec room or somethin'…what's goin' on? Who is that woman?" she asked as she followed after the two LeBeaus as Remy set off down the hallway. Tammi hardly had a choice in the matter; Remy was holding onto the upper part of her uninjured arm.
"Dat no-good woman is our mother," said Remy between gritted teeth as he pulled Tammi with him down the hall and to the stairway. "But it don't matter, cause she's gonna leave right now."
"Oh…" said Rogue with widened green eyes. "Well…that's a…lovely explanation right there…"
Remy didn't even bother replying; and nor did Tammi. She just settled with sighing and keeping her head bowed as she was pulled along. She wasn't even putting up a fight at all, seeming content to allow herself to be pulled around on this little endeavor. Rogue could just barely make out the sound of Tammi muttering to herself under her breath, counting her steps as they all made their way down the stairs, across the lobby, and into the right hallway that would eventually take them into the rec room.
"What are you going to say to her?" asked Rogue in concern. "You're not just gonna go off on her, are you?"
"I'm gonna tell 'er to leave," said Remy simply. "And then, if she don't listen…mebe I will go off on her," he said sharply. He stopped right before the entrance of the rec room, to find Ororo, his mother, and Logan all talking within.
"All I wanted to do was come here and get my children back," their mother was saying with a sigh, trying her best to sound pitiful. "Or at least my little Tammi. I know that Remy is older now…but he's still my son!"
"If you really cared dat much, you wouldn't a' left in the first place," said Remy, glaring as he pulled Tammi into the rec room with Rogue right in his heels. "And if ya knew what was best, you'd leave dis place too."
"Remy, don't be like that, my son," said his mother weakly, turning around to face him with woeful eyes. "I am sorry for leaving you those years ago…but I had no choice! You saw what it was like with the Guilds! I was afraid!"
"So were we!" Remy spat, as Tammi finally managed to pry his fingers off of her arm and stepped back a couple of feet with a sour expression on her face. "You couldn't take us wit' you? Or Tammi, at least?"
"I'm sorry…" said the woman in the same, weak sort of voice. "But it all turned out all right, non? Just look at you two! You've grown so much!" she added in a slightly pleased voice. Tammi shrugged and looked down again, scuffing the floor with the toe of one of her shoes, muttering something incoherent under her breath.
"Dat's not de point," said Remy harshly as Rogue came up behind him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You coulda saved us a lot a' pain here, especially for her!" he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder to Tammi with an angry scowl.
Tammi still didn't say anything; willing herself not to at the time. If anything, she wanted to bring to her brother's attention that he too had also left her during a time of need, but she didn't. The point still stood that, although he had not always been there for her, he at least had come back.
She wouldn't soon forget that he had risked his own life in order to fly down to New Orleans and save her own. There was no way that she could have survived all on her own in that burning house if he had not come along and gotten her out of her own room. He had done something great for her. Her mother had done absolutely nothing.
"I don't see what the problem is now," said their mother, waving a hand dismissively. "You are fine now, and so is she…what is it that they say again? Oh, yes! No harm, no foul!" she said brightly.
"Oh no…" muttered Logan, running a hand through his hair tiredly as a murderous expression made its way onto Remy's face. "Look, Cajuns," he said, quickly walking up besides the woman and putting a hand between Remy and her carefully. "You need to calm down, especially you, Remy," he said sharply. Remy, however, chose to ignore him.
"Leave," he said darkly, pointing one shaking finger to the exit doorway of the rec room, his deep red-on-black eyes boring holes into her own normal ones coldly. "Right now."
"Remy…" started Tammi tiredly, finally sidling up next to him with an uncertain expression on her face. "Stop yellin', please…"
"You see?" asked the woman with only a little cheeriness. "Tammi doesn't think I should leave!"
"Tammi didn't say dat," replied the young Cajun girl in a mutter, wiping the smirk off of her mother's face. "I jus' don't t'ink dat yellin' is gonna solve anyt'ing here."
"She is right," said Ororo, stepping into the conversation quickly. "This can all be settled with anyone having to raise their voices."
"It can be settled right now if she just leaves," said Remy, glaring at his mother once more. "She don't even know what any a' us had to go through after she left, so she ain't got no room to be talkin' to us."
"That's not true," said his mother evenly. "I know what goes on in the Guilds; I was a part of it once too, remember? I won't pretend like you haven't had it bad…but you're better now. Livin' in dis place here, getting' an education…"
"You don't know nothin'," said Remy between gritted teeth. "Remy hasn't been here long; neither has Tammi. She 'asn't even been here for a week yet. Ws livin' with our father dearest," he said darkly.
"Oh!" said the woman in surprise. It was obvious that she really was surprised by this as well. "You…Tammi, you were in that house to?" she asked, aghast. "I read 'bout it in de newspaper…s'why I'm here. The one dat caught fire and burned down?"
"Oui," replied Tammi quietly, still keeping her gaze directed down to the floor. "Dat would be de one…"
"Tammi, take off your glasses," said Remy suddenly, gripping her arm once more rather tightly. She looked up to him like she assumed he had gone completely insane…which she actually did.
"No!" she said quickly, her eyes widened behind the oversized sunglasses that she wore. "Remy, why?"
"Show 'er what 'appened to you!" said Remy with a nod, looking between the girl and her mother with another scowl.
"What happened to her?" asked their mother, instantly a little worried. She had known that there was something strange going on as soon as she had seen the sunglasses that her daughter was wearing, but had dismissed it as the child just being strange. Tammi had certainly been a strange girl during her younger days, always hiding away into cupboards and other crawlspaces with picture books and the few little toys that she had had in her possession. "Tammi, what happened?" she asked again, looking down at her daughter for an answer this time.
"Not'ing happened," said Tammi quickly, her mouth then set into a firm frown. "Remy, stop it."
"You wanna know what 'appened to her?" asked Remy angrily. "She's blind now, dat's what 'appened!" he shouted, ignoring the suddenly shocked look upon her face before continuing as though he had said nothing at all out of the ordinary. "Dat's right! If you woulda taken us wit' you, then none a' that woulda happened!"
"Remy, don't blame dat on her," said Tammi in nothing but a mumble. "It's not worth it. Wasn't even her fault, and you know it…"
"I…I had no idea…" said the woman weakly, one hand over her heart. She looked to be close to tears, but Remy wasn't going to let that affect him. He knew her too well to believe that at all. It wasn't like she had been a completely horrible mother when she had been around…but she hadn't really been the best one either. She lied through her teeth most of the time, and so he really had no reason to expect that she was telling the truth now. "Tammi…you're blind?"
"Oui…" replied Tammi again with a sigh, removing her sunglasses and looking up at her. She wished she could have seen the expression on her mother's face when she, Tammi, looked at her with blank white eyes, outlined firmly and ringed with scars and discolored skin.
"How did this happen?" her mother demanded, actually sounding angry now. She glared at Remy with strong vehemence as she did, as though to blame him for the whole thing.
"She 'ad to use 'er powers," replied Remy angrily. "The house was attacked, an' I told 'er to use her powers. She held onto somethin' too long, and it exploded an' took her sight. If you just woulda taken us with you when you left, then neither of us woulda had to of been there for that!"
"That's not my fault!" replied the woman, now glaring once more. "You don't understand the situation I was in! I was frightened!"
"So where we…" mumbled Tammi under her breath, so that no one else could hear here. That was not a statement that could have been taken to be true to the situation; she really had been too young to remember much about her mother. But she had grown up with her father among the Thieves' Guild, and she had known the fear well enough then. And to think, she could have grown up in a different way if her mother had not left her there to rot…
"Dat's no excuse," said Remy angrily. "You're disgusting! Why are you even here? Is it because da' is dead? You've got nothing to fear now, is dat it?"
"I came for my children!" she said, almost crying by this time. "Or Tammi, at least! For goodness sake, Remy; you can't raise a child! Especially not one that is blind! Please, just let me take her with me again and-"
"No."
The word was said so quickly and so firmly, that it stopped the woman in mid-sentence. Her eyes went wide in disbelief and the blatant disapproval of his statement, and she found herself moving her lips as though to speak, though not a word came out. But Remy was unyielding; he was unmoving and firm.
"No," he said again forcefully. "You aren't taking her anywhere. Tammi's gonna stay right here, with me. Remy be getting' guardianship of her now, and so you can't take her," he said, his eyes boring holes into her own. Distantly, he was aware of his sister slipping one of her thin hands into one of his and giving it a reassuring squeeze at his words, which he returned.
"You're not her parent," said their mother in a very shaky voice. "You can't do that."
"Yes I can," said Remy acidly. "And it's legal to. Remy over eighteen, so dere's no problem dere. There's nothin' more you can do here, so just leave."
"I don't want to leave without my daughter," said the woman in a somewhat stronger voice. "No…I won't leave without her."
"You don't got no choice in de matter," said Remy surely. "Sides, you getting' off easy wit' dis," he added as a rather bitter afterthought. He was thinking about all that was going on at the moment as he said this. As far as his dislike for his mother went, that did not exactly mean that he wanted her dead, of all things. And with everything that had happened with Tammi, what with her killing that mob crony and the chance that that could come back to haunt her, it could have gotten dangerous for Tammi and anyone around her if it did.
"I…I…" she started, before shaking her head and grabbing her back from the sofa to where it had been deposited. "You know what? This is just fine," she snapped, instantly losing her faked woe-begotten expression and voice and exposing herself for what she was really like most of the time. "I'll leave, but I will be back. I'm comin' back for my child," she added in a breaking voice before pushing aside Rogue and Remy and walking out of the rec room huffily.
"I'll make sure she actually leaves," sighed Logan, sidling past the lot of them and walking out after her calmly.
"Tammi think she want to throw up now…" said Tammi weakly, letting go of Remy's hand and moving forwards with her hands outstretched until she nudged the sofa with her foot and took a seat shakily.
"I'll second that," said Rogue, making a face. "Remy, you're mother is one bitter woman, you know that? That was so fake…"
"You telling me," Remy sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I jus' hope dat woman don't keep to her word 'bout comin' back…"
"She never came back before; why would she now?" asked Tammi sourly, making Ororo raise an eyebrow in surprise.
"I do not understand…why did she leave in the first place?" she asked, looking to Remy for an answer. He shrugged.
"She said she was scared," he replied simply. "Stupid answer…we were all scared…dat didn't mean she had to leave us…"
"This isn't over," Tammi mumbled under her breath. "She say she gonna come back…then she gonna come back. This ain't like it was last time. Now she'd just come back to take me and spite you. Oi…being under eighteen sucks…"
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Julianne LeBeau shuddered and crossed her arms protectively, glancing around the dingy alley that she stood in with an expression of contempt written all over her now slightly pale face. Right in front of her stood two burly men, both clad in expensive-looking black suits and with matching crew cuts, their hands held behind their backs and their legs held firmly apart from one another, steadying them there like rocks. As imposing as they were however, it was not them that the woman was worrying about.
"Mrs. LeBeau," said a pleasant, and yet bone-chilling voice from behind her, making her shudder again and turn tentatively to face the man that stood in the alley. He was also flanked by two gorilla-like men on either side and just behind him, but she tried not to act like this was disturbing her at all. "How lovely to see you. I trust your visit with your children went well?"
"Please Mr. Kirsch," she said weakly. "I…I tried my best, I promise you that…but my son, he wasn't going to change his mind. Please…I don't want to have to do this," she whimpered, beginning to cry.
"We made a deal," said Kirsch severely, stepping forwards and grasping her chin in his hand. Firmly, he forced her to look up at him with shining eyes. "You give us the girl, and you don't have to die. We both agreed that that was the more…pleasant…option, didn't we?"
"But she's still my daughter!" Julianne sobbed as he took his hand away again. "I…I…this feels so wrong!"
"That little brat you call a daughter killed my son, Mrs. LeBeau," said Kirsch, suddenly losing his fake warm façade and becoming cold. "We know this for a fact. Bruno over there was the one that found his body in her room, at the house before it burned down. We know she killed him. It's a fair trade, isn't it? I lost my son…you give up a daughter that you never even wanted."
"But…I can't…" said the woman feebly, sniffing deeply. "I can't even get to her…"
"Don't you worry about that, Mrs. LeBeau," said the man with a sudden and deep smile. "I have many…connections in these parts, you know. I can have something drawn up to transfer legal guardianship to you easily enough. All you have to do is take her away from this Institute that she lives in so we can keep to our part of the deal. Unless…you don't want to keep to our deal?" he suddenly asked with a cold glare, making Julianne take an involuntary step back, shaking her head quickly.
"N-no!" she said hastily. "No…I can do this…I swear I can…" she said in a feeble voice. "J-just get the p-papers and I can do it…"