Years since Rogue's powers returned: 15-16

Chapter 21: Trudy

Gambit mingled with the crowd at Tony Stark's latest charity Christmas party. While he was a little irritated about not being able to vanish from Tony's life, he did welcome the chance to interact with the rich and famous and do a little shopping for future robberies. If he played his cards right, who knew what other parties he might get invited to? And such parties were perfect opportunities for casing places.

Perhaps he should invest in learning how to make himself appear older, if he was going to play socialite long-term. His hypnotic charm could only do so much.

He was in the midst of a fascinating conversation with one of the other members of the board, an older gentleman by the name of Tyrone Brandt, when he spotted a woman about in her thirties backing in their direction with a glass of champagne in her hand. Gambit managed to intercept before she ran into Tyrone.

"Whoops," she said, tripping into his arms while at the same time managing to keep her glass upright. "Sorry, about that. I should probably look where I'm going, huh?"

"Probably," Gambit agreed with a smile as he steadied the attractive woman back on her feet.

She smiled back at him with a flicker of irritation in her eye. "At least I didn't spill my drink, right?"

"Right," Tyrone agreed. "It would be tragic to waste of drop of this vintage."

"Indeed," Gambit said with a nod. "Makes one wonder how much of our donations are going to the charity and how much is covering the food."

Tyrone laughed and then gave his glass a mournful look. "Ah, time to refill, I believe."

Gambit chuckled and turned his attention back to the woman. He held out his hand.

"Allow me to introduce myself," he said. "Remy LeBeau."

Her face brightened a little. "Trudy Wilde," she replied and she smiled as Gambit took her hand and kissed it.

"A pleasure to meet you," he said.

From there they fell into flirtatious small talk while they finished off their respective glasses of champagne, and then Gambit asked her about a dance. Trudy readily agreed. Gambit thoroughly enjoyed dancing with her. It was flirtatious and sensual without being over the top or dirty.

Come the end of the night, Gambit had her phone number and a date lined up.

"I'm a freelance photographer," Trudy said over dinner during their date. "Most of my business is online. I don't make as much as I'd like, but I came into my inheritance a few years back so I don't have to worry about money."

"Hmm," Gambit murmured, picking up his glass. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Oh," Trudy said with a nervous laugh, covering her mouth briefly. "I'm sorry I'm sure that sounds terrible. My parents died when I was really young and everything was held in trust for me. I don't really remember them."

"Ah," Gambit replied with a thoughtful nod. He was about to mention that he had a similar story when he remembered he had attended Tony's party as a member of the board; specifically Remy LeBeau Jr. "Well, I know exactly who my parents are and we don't really see eye to eye very often. They think I gamble too much."

"Oh?" Trudy inquired.

"I'm a professional gambler," he said. "My Dad's a financier, or was. He's at that age... Well, his mind isn't what it used to be, I'm afraid, which is why I've been roped into taking care of his dealings. It's a bit of a drag, really, but I've fortunately got myself a proxy to deal with all the boring board meetings."

Trudy chuckled. "Professional gambler, huh? How does that work?"

"I win at poker a lot," Gambit replied slyly as he prepared his next mouthful of food. "Emphasis on win. Anyone can play. Winning consistently takes skill and a good deal of luck, and I have both in spades."

"Oh? So you're not chewing through your family's money then?" Trudy asked lightly.

"Heh, the day I told my Dad that I was a professional gambler, he told me he'd cut me off if I ever did that," Gambit replied with a smirk. "Has never happened. I keep trying to tell him that playing poker is just like playing the stock market but..."

Gambit let his smile fade as if thinking about what state his 'father' was in. Trudy caught the expression, just as he intended.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Is he that badly off?"

Gambit gave a half shrug and lifted his fork to his lips. "It's really only a matter of time now. But this is not a discussion for a first date. Tell me all about your photography."

Trudy gave him a sympathetic look, but demonstrated her acceptance of his request by chatting about her photography. Gambit listened with genuine interest and asked questions every now and then. Actually listening came with dual benefits: Trudy would be impressed, and he could file away everything she said in case he ever wanted to pose as a photographer in the future.

After dinner, Gambit drove Trudy back to her place and she invited him in for 'coffee'. Gambit readily accepted. He was very pleased with how the evening was going as they seemed to hit it off very well.

The 'coffee' turned out to be spectacular, and Gambit stayed with her until breakfast the next morning.

It occurred to Gambit that if he was going to be living in the area more often he should probably invest in a place instead of staying at a hotel all the time. He needed something that would suit him practically, but also maintain his image in the event he had guests over. In the end he settled for a penthouse apartment. He took out some paintings and other artworks from storage, then hired an interior decorator to deal with the tedious task of making the place look like it was worth the amount of money he was paying in rent.

While this was going on, Gambit continued to see Trudy, spent a good time at the casino maintaining his 'professional gambler' image, and looked out for places to rob in the future. He had already met his seven-year quota, so he could afford to take some time off, but he often got itchy fingers and knew he wouldn't be taking that much time off.

"Wow," Trudy said as she looked around the penthouse the first time Gambit brought her home with him. "This is a nice place. You have good taste."

Gambit chuckled. "Nah, I just hired someone with good taste to do all the hard work for me."

Trudy laughed lightly as she took in the gorgeous main living room: comfortable lounges, large floor-to-ceiling windows, wet bar. She loved the bedroom he had converted into a home theatre. She especially loved the main bedroom, and she proceeded to show him just how much she liked it.

A couple of weeks later, he took her out for a night at the casino. She liked the excuse to dress up and Gambit was looking forward to showing off a little. He'd been thoroughly enjoying their whirlwind romance, but he had the impression she didn't really approve of anyone gambling, let alone for a living, not unless they owned the casino. She didn't say so though.

"Ah, Mr LeBeau," said the cardroom host. "Welcome back."

"Thank you," Gambit replied smugly. Best thing about being a high roller was getting the royal treatment; they knew his name and he ended up with all sorts of freebies. "I have a guest with me today who would like to observe."

"Of course. And which tables shall we be signing you up for tonight?"

Gambit put his name down on a few lists while Trudy waited, and then they took a seat to wait while the host assured them there would be an opening soon.

"You have to sign up?" Trudy inquired.

"Oui," Gambit replied as a waitress came by with a couple of glasses of champagne for them. "Can't just walk up to a table and sit down. Different tables offer different games at different kinds of stakes, and depending on the crowd there aren't always seats available immediately."

"I see," Trudy said as she took her glass.

"Now, ma chère, this is very important," Gambit went on. "You may not interfere with us players at all. Not that I think you would, but if your presence annoys the other players at all, you might be asked to leave by security, and I'd hate for you to be embarrassed like that."

"Hmm, so I'm to sit quietly then?" Trudy asked with an amused smile.

"I assure you, you won't be the slightest bit bored," Gambit said, "even if it might sound that way."

Trudy wasn't given the chance to respond, for at that moment the host approached to let Gambit know a seat had opened up. He and Trudy were led to the table and a spare chair was brought out for Trudy to sit on so she could watch comfortably.

Trudy was initially annoyed because she wasn't in a position where she could see Gambit's cards. She hated the mystery of not knowing what her boyfriend had in his hand. However, her annoyance dissolved when she started paying more attention to how the players interacted with each other rather than trying to figure out the cards. It disappeared completely when she saw how the chips continued to pile up in front of Gambit.

"Wow," she said while hanging off his arm sometime later after Gambit was done playing and had cashed in his chips. "You were amazing."

Gambit shrugged modestly with his other shoulder.

"I've had a lot of practice," he replied. "And did you enjoy yourself?"

"I did," Trudy replied, "a lot more than I expected to."

Gambit chuckled.

"You ever play Vegas?" she asked.

"I've played everywhere," Gambit said. "Vegas, New Orleans (of course), Monte Carlo, Brazil, Melbourne, Aruba, Paris, London, Barcelona, Dublin—"

"You certainly travel a lot, don't you?" Trudy said, cutting him off.

"I'm always travelling," Gambit replied as he opened up the car door for her. "In fact I think I'm starting to get itchy feet."

Trudy chuckled as she sat down in the front seat. She waited until Gambit was in the driver's seat before she continued the conversation:

"Itchy feet, huh?" she asked. "This means you're gonna be leaving me?"

Gambit was silent as he started the car.

"It means that sooner or later I'm going to be headed off to gamble elsewhere for a change of scenery," he said. "Whether you and I end at that point, is up to you."

Trudy was quiet for a moment as Gambit drove off.

"Could I come with you?" she asked.

Gambit glanced up at her in surprise. She smiled back at him.

"Beauty of being a freelance photographer," she said, almost shyly. "I don't exactly need to check into an office nine-to-five."

"No," Gambit replied with a smile. "No, I don't suppose you do. Well, ma chère, if you're happy to come with, then I think a little jet-setting is in order."

"I look forward to it."

Much to Gambit's relief, when they did start making travel plans Trudy didn't insist they go to Paris. France was the one place Gambit avoided going at all costs when he had a girlfriend. He wasn't sure how Candra would deal with the "not going to cheat on my girlfriend" thing and he didn't intend to find out the hard way.

He was really very excited about the whole thing. It had been so long since he last made a girlfriend he could actually take travelling with him, he couldn't even remember the last one. Of course, the tricky part here would be pulling off his thefts while still maintaining his professional gambler image. Fortunately, Trudy had her own photography she wanted to pursue and it wasn't like she'd be following him to the casino every single night, so Gambit figured he'd be able to manage.

Rogue grinned at him through his laptop screen.

"Sounds like things are getting pretty serious," she said with a delighted twinkle in her eye. "Does she have a name yet?"

Gambit shrugged. "Hasn't been that long."

"Four months isn't that long?" Rogue asked. "Living together isn't that serious?"

"We're not living together. We're travelling together. It's two completely different things," Gambit insisted.

"Uh huh," Rogue replied with obvious disbelief. "You're working while you're travelling. You're not exactly on vacation here."

"Yeah, but she doesn't know I'm really a thief and not a professional gambler," Gambit pointed out. "I've been lying to her from day one."

Rogue considered that for a moment, then asked: "And just how many of your girlfriends have you been completely honest with?"

Gambit pulled a face at her. "None."

"Right so, maybe it's not the long-distance thing," Rogue teased him. "Maybe they can just smell liar all over you."

"Very funny."

Rogue chuckled. "And where is your girlfriend now anyway?"

"She's doing some shopping," he replied. "How's construction coming?"

He knew Rogue wouldn't be able to tell him much for security reasons, but she could give him a general idea.

"It's on schedule," Rogue said. "And don't change the subject."

"Hey, I happen to be very interested in your wellbeing," Gambit replied loftily. "You making any friends yet, or is everyone still treating you like you're the odd one out?"

"I am the odd one out," Rogue said. "But I think everyone's starting to relax around me more."

"About time. I didn't realise these nerdy types could be so intimidated by your beauty, chère."

Rogue laughed and Gambit glanced up at a noise at the door.

"Ah, sounds like she's back," he said, torn between wanting to continue chatting to Rogue and not being prepared to introduce Trudy to Rogue just yet.

"Well, I need to go anyway," Rogue said, taking the decision out of his hands. "I have some last minute revisions I need to make. Talk to you later."

"I look forward to it," Gambit replied.

He hung up just as Trudy finished coming in through the hotel door, loaded up with bags.

"Have fun?" he asked.

"I did," Trudy replied, flashing him a coy look. "I got a little something for me for our date tonight, and a little something for you as well."

Gambit grinned at her. "You spoil me, chère."

A few hours later, Gambit and Trudy had finished dinner and were slow dancing on the dance floor while a live band played. Gambit thought Trudy looked absolutely stunning in her new dress.

Trudy lifted her hands up around his neck, gazed into his eyes, and said "I love you."

Gambit paused all so briefly. He supposed he should have realised this moment would be coming eventually, and it was a moment he generally dreaded. Saying "I love you" wasn't something that came easily to him. For that matter, he tended to guard his heart fairly tightly so even feeling that kind of love was difficult, as much as he wanted to. Gambit leaned his face in towards her.

"I like you too," he said, making sure to emphasise the L and fade on the K in 'like', and then swooped into kiss her thoroughly before she registered what he actually said. It worked most of the time, and this occasion proved to be no exception.

Trudy ran her fingers up Gambit's bare chest while snuggling up next to him in bed. Gambit's eyes were half closed as he enjoyed the proximity and sensation. He could get used to this.

"Remy?" she said.

"Mmm?"

"You ever think about getting married?"

Gambit opened up the eye closest to Trudy and looked at her.

"Married?" he repeated.

"Yes," Trudy said with a slight smile. "Married."

"Sometimes," he said tentatively. "To the right person."

Trudy's smile turned flirtatious.

"Am I the right person?" she asked, caressing him all the more.

Gambit closed his eye. "Don't know yet."

"Not yet, huh?" Trudy's voice had an edge to it. "And when will you know?"

"I don't know. When I know, I guess," Gambit replied, really wanting to get this conversation over with.

"That's very vague," she said, moving in even closer to him. "I want to get married. To you. I know you're the right person for me. There's not a single doubt in my mind about that."

"Trudy, chère," Gambit said, rolling onto his side away from her. "There's a ton of things about me that you don't know. Things that are potentially deal breakers. How can you possibly know that—"

Trudy rolled Gambit back on his back and put her finger to his lips.

"That's the thing about love, silly," she said. "It's unconditional. I've never clicked with anyone like I have with you. You're my soulmate. I know it. And there's nothing you can possibly say that will change that."

Gambit sighed, opened his eyes and lifted his hand to her face.

"What if I told you I was a serial killer?" he asked. "Would you still want to marry me then?"

Trudy gave him a startled look, hesitated, and finally asked: "Are you a serial killer?"

"That wasn't the question, chère," he teased her. "You claim you love me unconditionally, but if the idea of me being a serial killer puts you off, then you don't really love me unconditionally, and those are just words."

"Remy—"

Gambit put his finger to her lips. "I'm not. But nonetheless there are things about me that you don't know, that I'm not prepared to share with you just yet. And you can't tell me that there aren't things about you that I don't know."

"What do you want to know?" Trudy asked. "I'm an open book."

"No one's an open book. We all have stuff to hide, and that's okay," Gambit said, rolling onto his side again, this time to face her. "I care about you, Trudy, I do. And these last few months with you have been amazing. But I'm not ready for that yet. And if you really love me unconditionally, then you'll be prepared to wait until I am."

Trudy flashed him an irritated look and sighed loudly. "Fine."

Gambit chuckled and kissed her lips. "If it makes you feel any better, six months is pretty good for me. Usually my girlfriends can't handle me travelling all the time. And yet here we are, six months in and still going strong."

Trudy smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around him. "It does actually."

Gambit and Trudy were headed to the poker room in the latest casino of their world tour when a woman approached them swiftly from the side.

"Remy?" she called.

Gambit turned his head and it took him a minute to remember the name of the woman who was looking back at him. (He had met a lot of different people over the years. It got difficult to remember everyone after awhile).

"Madeline," he greeted warmly as Madeline's face lit up with pleasure that it hadn't just been her imagination and she really had recognised him. "It's wonderful to see you again."

"And you as well," Madeline replied as she lifted her arms to hug him. "How have you been?"

Gambit kissed her cheek, abruptly remembering that they'd only ever spoken to each other in French and hadn't discussed being multilingual. It seemed that Madeline could speak English rather well, albeit with a thick French accent.

"Very well, thank you," he said, and gestured to his companion. "Ah, and before I'm accused of being rude, Madeline, this is my girlfriend, Trudy. Trudy, this is Madeline. She was actually the one who convinced me to take up poker as a profession and not just a hobby."

"Nice to meet you," Trudy said with a polite nod to Madeline, while curling her arm possessively around Gambit's.

"Nice to meet you too," Madeline replied, who very much noticed the gesture and was not impressed. "So you decided to take up professional gambling after all. That's wonderful and dreadful at the same time. You're here for the tournament, then?"

"I am."

They chatted a little longer, but it was quickly evident to Gambit that Madeline and Trudy weren't interested in getting friendly with each other. At all. Madeline soon went on her way with a silent promise between herself and Gambit that they'd catch up properly later.

That evening, back at the hotel, Gambit was subjected to the third degree. Who exactly was Madeline? Why had she never heard of this old poker buddy of his before? Had they ever slept together? Gambit had long lost any sort of patience for this kind of song and dance. It was always the same old thing.

"Why won't you answer me?" Trudy demanded, stamping her foot angrily on the carpeted floor.

"Because you haven't asked me anything worth answering," Gambit replied coolly. "Besides, I never give you the third degree about who your friends are, and you talk to them on the phone often enough."

Trudy scowled at him. "Oh like you're never on the phone. What about that once a week phone call you always make? Is that to Madeline?"

"No."

Trudy stared hard at him. Gambit looked calmly back at her.

"Well?" she demanded. "Who are you calling?"

Gambit turned his head towards the TV and reached for the remote.

"Let me put it this way, ma chère," he said. "If you're reacting like this over Madeline, someone I haven't seen for years, I do not want to tell you about the person I speak to every week."

Trudy didn't like that at all. She demanded some more until Gambit got tired of listening to her and left. He headed down to the hotel bar and he was only there a few minutes before Madeline sat next to him.

"We have to stop meeting like this," she said teasingly in French.

Gambit grinned at her and replied in the same language: "I don't know, I think I like it."

"Where's your girlfriend?" Madeline asked, her fingers curled around her glass.

"Upstairs. Sulking probably," Gambit replied with a shrug. "Apparently it's shocking that I might have a female friend. Nevermind the fact that half the world's population is female."

"Well, we did have a fling," Madeline pointed out.

"So? She doesn't know that."

"You didn't tell her?"

"Are you kidding?" Gambit asked, lifting his glass to his lips. "If she's acting like this just meeting a female friend of mine I don't even want to know how she's going to carry on if she knows we've slept together."

Madeline considered that as Gambit drank. "How long have you been together?"

Gambit frowned as he drank and then set his glass back on the counter. "About nine months, actually."

"Really? Has she ever done this before?"

"Done what?"

"Get upset about meeting any of your friends?"

"Actually, this is the first time she met any of them," Gambit said thoughtfully.

"Aha, that's your problem then," Madeline said, giving him a friendly jab in the arm. "Meeting friends and family is all part of the whole dating thing. Especially if you're getting serious about each other.

Gambit looked down at his drink.

"I know," he said quietly.

Sometimes things just weren't that easy. He was a thief, as was his entire family and most of his closest friends. He didn't just have telling her the truth about his profession to deal with, he also had to deal with the fact that he lied to her not only about his profession but also about his family situation and his life growing up.

"So?" Madeline prompted.

"Some things are easier said than done," Gambit replied, and decided a change of subject was in order. "So, what have you been up to since Monte Carlo?"

When Gambit returned to the hotel room a couple of hours later, he discovered Trudy sitting at the desk with his laptop and a guilty expression on her face. Knowing that his computer had been off when he'd left it, Gambit offered Trudy a smirk.

"You guess the password yet?" he asked.

"Uh..."

"If you ever do, you deserve to get into my stuff," Gambit replied with a grin.

Trudy stared at him as he shed some of his excess clothing.

"You're not going to go off at me for trying to get into your computer?" she asked with disbelief.

Gambit shrugged. He supposed he could see why most people might be angry about their significant others going through their stuff, but he was always going through people's things. He went though life just assuming that someone would want to go through his private affairs and took precautions.

"Have you been going through my things?" Trudy demanded when Gambit didn't reply to her satisfaction.

"You're going to ask me that after you've been going through my stuff, chère?" Gambit asked slyly.

"I..." she began, then changed tact: "And just where have you been anyway? Off with that Madeline woman, I suppose!"

Gambit sighed irritably. Best to get this out of the way, he supposed.

"Yeah, we had drinks at the bar," he said after he pulled off his shirt. "And I'm probably going to be seeing quite a lot of her while we're here since we're both going to be competing in the tournament. Competing, Trudy, not sleeping together. You have nothing to worry about."

Trudy pursed her lips. "And if I don't believe you?"

Gambit shrugged as he headed to the bathroom for his shower. "Then I guess we're through."

Trudy didn't respond as Gambit shut the bathroom door behind him. He had conflicting feelings about the whole thing. One the one hand, he really wanted one of his relationships to work out for once. On the other, whenever one of his relationships starting getting serious it made him nervous. The one thing he did know was that he wasn't going to deal with someone suspecting him of cheating all the time.

About halfway through his shower, the bathroom door opened and Gambit glanced over to see Trudy, naked, and closing the door behind her.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked, with a hand on the wall by the shower.

Gambit smiled. "Not at all."

"Wow," Rogue said, looking at Gambit through the screen in his home theatre, back in his new penthouse in California. "One year, huh?"

"Yeah, one year," Gambit replied, nodding slowly. "And now we're living together."

Rogue laughed.

"Gave her the key yesterday," Gambit went on.

"Oooh," Rogue said teasingly. "Okay, seriously, this woman's got to have a name by now, right?"

Gambit covered up his hesitation by reaching for his drink and taking a sip. He liked Trudy a lot, though he wasn't at all prepared to say he loved her or anything. He wanted to, but somehow the words eluded him. Things felt like they were going a little fast too, even for him. He supposed that he was thrown off by the fact that this definitely wasn't a long-distance relationship.

"Trudy," he said finally.

Rogue clapped. "She has a name! It's a miracle."

"Very funny," Gambit said, throwing her a Look.

"I'm very happy for you, sugar," Rogue said, grinning back at him. "And Trudy too."

"Thanks, chère."

Rogue frowned. "Are you okay?"

Gambit shrugged. "She doesn't know I'm really a thief. She doesn't know a lot of things. And she's been hinting about us getting married lately."

"Well, maybe the time is coming where you're either going to have to spill the beans or end things," Rogue said, having some rather mixed feelings about Gambit being in a serious relationship herself. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you that until you let her in on the truth on a few things, you guys aren't going to get any further. Or you will, and you'll get married, and your marriage will be one big lie."

Gambit let out a long slow breath.

"Yeah, I know," he said. "Sometimes I think I need to hear it out loud though."

Rogue smiled sympathetically. "Just remember, whatever happens, I will always be here for you."

"And I you."

Telling Trudy that he was a thief would be a far bigger deal than usual, seeing as how he'd been stealing the entire time they'd been travelling together. That on top of the fact that Trudy believed the fiction about his "father" he had previously told Tony Stark, Gambit wasn't feeling overly confident about how it would all go down. If she freaked and started blabbing it could cause him problems. Best case scenario he'd done a pretty good job of covering up and no one would take her seriously. Worst case scenario he'd have to ditch his Remy LeBeau Jr identity. Aside from the financial irritation that would cause (something he was certain he'd be able to recover from), that scenario would mean he'd have to cut off contact with Rogue.

Gambit was not inclined to choose Trudy over Rogue.

He decided to start out small. Thus it was that Trudy came home from a day shooting pictures to find Gambit in the dining room with another woman and a couple of laptops in front of them.

"Remy?" she inquired.

"Ah, good you're back," Gambit said, meeting her eyes with a smile. "I forgot to tell you before you left that I was having a meeting with my financial manager today. Diana, this is Trudy. Trudy, this is Diana. She's also my proxy on the Stark Industries board of directors."

Trudy stood frozen for a moment while she took it in.

"Hi," Diana said.

"Hi," Trudy replied finally. "Oh, umm, I'm sorry. It's a pleasure to meet you. Like Remy said, I wasn't expecting company today."

"Désolé, ma chère," Gambit said apologetically.

"It's okay, I just need to unload here," Trudy said, looking at her bags.

"Of course. I was actually about to make coffee. You want some?"

"Please."

Gambit and Diana had set their laptops aside and were chatting when Trudy emerged from the bedroom after putting her work things away and changing into something more comfortable. A cup of coffee was waiting for her on the table.

"So," she said as she joined them. "Finance manager, huh?"

"Oui," Gambit replied. "I've got investments all over the place, not to mention all the annoying niggly bills I really couldn't be bothered taking care of myself. It would be a full time job. Which is why I have Diana."

Diana chuckled and Gambit grinned at her. He missed Lydia, who had finally retired, but he knew Diana was quite capable of taking care of his financial affairs, amongst other things. He entrusted her with everything except for the moneys belonging to his fake identities, which was both for security reasons and for Diana's own protection. Should the authorities ever cotton onto one of his fake identities (which, unfortunately, had happened to himself and to all the other Thieves at least once in the past—they were good but not infallible), Gambit didn't want Diana getting in trouble.

The two women fell into conversation and Gambit was pleased to see that Trudy was dealing with Diana a lot better than she had with Madeline. In fact, Trudy seemed genuinely interested in Diana's work and asked many questions, which Diana was quite happy to answer as long as they weren't breaching client confidentiality. When Diana left, Gambit was feeling much happier about their relationship and Trudy had Diana's business card.

"I've got another commission for you, Remy," Henri said over the video-call after they'd exchanged pleasantries. "I've sent you the details so you should have them soon if you don't already."

"Alright," Gambit replied while checking his email.

"Industrial. Custom designed security system. Can't get any schematics for it, but it's designed by McCarthy so that's to be expected," Henri went on.

"Oooh, McCarthy," Gambit said with a note of delight as he opened up the email from Henri. "This should be fun."

"And this is why we're giving this job to you, Remy," Henri said cynically. "Because any sane thief would be dreading this."

"Any sane thief has no spirit of adventure then," Gambit replied with a grin.

"We have a spirit of adventure—"

"It's just shared between you?"

"—we just don't like having to deal with dodging laser beams while the floor is moving and the walls are closing in," Henri said. "I swear, McCarthy is way too influenced by Hollywood."

"And yet, he has so many thieves running scared whenever they find out he designed the system," Gambit said slyly.

"That's not the point," Henri replied, and then threw Gambit a look as his brother chuckled wickedly. "So, how things with... Trudy? You are still seeing her right?"

Gambit nodded. "Yeah. Actually things are getting serious."

"Oh?"

"I'm planning on telling her I'm a thief."

Henri raised his eyebrows. He knew what a big deal this was for Gambit. It was very unusual for any of his "honest" girlfriends to find out he was a thief, and half the time when they did it was one of those unavoidable things.

"Wow," he said. "You're that serious, hein?"

Gambit nodded. "Yeah."

"Huh." Henri was quiet for a moment, then asked: "What was her background check like?"

"I didn't do one," Gambit replied with a frown as he sat back in the lounge in his home theatre.

"Seriously?" Henri asked. "You're just taking her at her word? What if she turns out to be a cop or something?"

Gambit rolled his eyes. "She's not a cop, Henri. She's a photographer."

"Sure," Henri replied. "A photographer with enough disposable income to go globe trotting with you."

"Well..."

"Ah, you've been paying for most of it, haven't you?"

Gambit shrugged. "It's nice having a girlfriend who can actually come with me for a change. Long distance relationships suck."

Henri shook his head. "All the more reason why you should have done a background check, little brother."

Gambit scowled. "Henri—"

"Two words: gold digger," Henri said.

"She's not a mooch, Henri—"

"Remy, I know you," Henri said. "She doesn't have to hint at anything. You're a little too generous with the women sometimes. Money won't buy you love, you know."

Gambit's scowl deepened. If money could buy love, he would have been able to tell Trudy he loved her months ago.

"Yeah," he said tersely. "I know."

And without another word or waiting for a response, Gambit hung up.

As it happened, the commission Gambit received would take him to Nevada, and farbeit for Gambit to go that far and not visit Las Vegas for a little gambling. He couldn't take Trudy with him on his job, so he instead took off on his own, but left a surprise behind for Trudy in the form of a plane ticket and hotel reservations.

Since getting actual schematics of the security system was all but impossible, Gambit didn't have any real preparation to do for his job beyond arrival, escape, and transporting the merchandise. He found the site easily, did some cursory casing, and then jumped right in. Gambit was quite familiar with McCarthy's favourite tricks and traps, but there were just enough new features to keep him on his toes, which was just how he liked it.

Henri met up with him for the transfer.

"I cannot believe you actually enjoyed that," Henri said disgustedly after hearing Gambit's gleeful spiel on the latest feature while he secured the package in the back of his car.

"All those split-second decisions make life worth living," Gambit replied with a grin.

"Either that or they shave a few years off," Henri answered.

"Like we really have to worry about that," Gambit said. "More concerned with turning out like Candra: bored with life."

Henri grunted, closed the back of his car, and cleared his throat uncomfortably. Gambit narrowed his eyes, recognising the sign of bad news coming.

"If Candra's trying to book me for a job—" Gambit began suspiciously.

Henri held up his hand, silencing him.

"It's not that," he said. "It's about Trudy. I did a background check on her."

"Henri—"

"Hey, you're one of the major breadwinners for the Guild, Remy," Henri cut in. "You handle McCarthy's designs like a child's playground. You have contacts in Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. You're all lined up to go to the damn moon. Merde, Remy, it's in the Guild's best interests here. And Trudy? She's a black widow."

"You're joking, right?" Gambit said, his face and voice bland.

"No joke," Henri replied firmly. "She's had two husbands die already from 'natural causes'."

"Uh huh."

The two men looked at each other in silence.

"I'm serious, Remy," Henri said. "She's not just a gold digger, she's out to get you."

"Yeah," Gambit said slowly. "Lots of people have been out to get me. You know what else is in the Guild's best interest? Keeping me single so you can keep throwing me at Candra."

Henri scowled.

"This ain't about Candra," Henri insisted irritably. "This is about you. You want to get married, I'll do whatever it takes to get Candra off your back. All I ask is that you don't marry a black widow!"

"The woman doesn't know I'm a thief yet, Henri. Marriage isn't even on the table," Gambit replied.

"She married her high school sweetheart and then killed him for the insurance money. Her second husband was forty years her senior, loaded, and had a heart attack four months after they married," Henri said, his eyes blazing. "You don't believe me? You do your own background check then!"

"Yeah, that's exactly it, Henri," Gambit said as he backed away. "I don't believe you."