Chapter 28

It was rather late when Remy returned home from his forty-third birthday party; just dinner with a small group of friends and family. He parked in the garage and headed inside his house. He reached around for the light switch and flicked it, but nothing happened. He tried it a couple more times, to no avail, and concluded a fuse must have blown. He sighed in irritation and turned back to re-enter the garage.

His hand only just began to pull down the door handle when something went whizzing right by his ear and collided with the wall. Remy had barely a moment to comprehend this and duck in time to avoid the second object to go whizzing through the air at him.

For a moment there was silence and then:

"I missed you, didn't I?" came the lazy drawl of Julien Boudreaux.

Remy felt like his eyes were going to bulge out. Julien? Sure, it was a well known fact that Julien hated him and had been out to get him pretty much from the day they met, but the man hadn't actually tried to kill him even once since he and Bella Donna had married. So, why now?

"I should be embarrassed," Julien went on, took a moment to take in Remy's further silence, and then added: "I know you're there, LeBeau. Probably hiding behind the lounge between me and the garage door like the coward you are."

Remy pursed his lips. Somehow, Julien had been in his house before. What's more, Julien did have rather sharp ears and would know if Remy moved. (Trying to sneak past Julien was something the younger, more foolish apprentices dared to do on occasion, and more than once Bella Donna needed to reprimand him for his knife-throwing). Perhaps if Remy could get Julien talking, he could give himself a chance to move to a more advantageous position.

"What's wrong, Julien? Tired of life?" Remy asked. "We both know that if they discover I've been murdered, you'll be the first they'll blame. Your execution will be inevitable."

Julien laughed, and Remy took advantage to start moving as quietly and carefully as he could away from his known position. He froze when the laughter stopped, and started again when Julien began talking.

"I'm counting on it," Julien said, his smirk evident in his voice. "By the time this is over, you will be dead, I will be dead, that little brat kid of yours will be dead and the United Guilds will be no more."

There were so many things Remy wanted to say to that, but he forced himself to keep silent.

"I don't mind dying if it means Belle will finally be free of the LeBeau curse," Julien went on, paused a moment and continued: "I know what you're doing, Remy."

Remy didn't reply. He was now between the lounge and the doorway leading to the kitchen. If he was right about Julien being in the lounge chair, then there was nothing between them. Julien had clearly disabled the lights to put Remy at a disadvantage—the dark couldn't hinder a blind man—but Julien would lose that advantage when Remy charged something.

As quietly as he could, Remy pulled out a card from his deck, wincing at even the tiniest noise. He held the card away from himself and charged it up. His eyes adjusted instantly to the change in light, and he got then briefest glimpse of Julien when something whizzed towards his hand, knocked his card out of his grip, and both card and knife—Remy assumed it was a throwing knife—exploded behind him.

Julien cackled and Remy scooted away to another position, not planning on becoming a pin cushion today. Had Julien somehow known how to find Remy's cards? Or was it just a lucky throw?

Remy heard Julien stand up, and footsteps as he walked forward.

"Come on, Remy," said Julien. "Come on and face me like a man for the first time in your life. I have been looking forward to this moment for years. The ultimate death match, one of us will not walk away from here alive, and to the victor goes the execution."

While Julien crowed, Remy pulled out another card and charged it. This one was also taken out, and Julien laughed again.

"You think I haven't figured out how to find your charged cards?" Julien asked. "I trained your daughter!"

Now back behind the lounge, Remy pulled out five cards.

"That's interesting, homme," Remy said. "Let's see you try trois at once."

He took hold of the particles on four of the five cards and sent them flying up above the lounge. Only then did he stir up the particles, making them spin and run in all different directions as fast as they could. The four cards flew towards Julien, and each one was taken out by a knife.

"Ha!" Julien gloated. "You think I wouldn't figure out there was a fourth card?"

"How many of them knives do you have?" Remy asked.

"How many cards in a deck?"

Remy swore mentally, but consoled himself with the idea that he wasn't limited to cards, whereas Julien would only be able to carry so many throwing knives on him. Julien was trying to force hand to hand combat—an area in which he excelled—and Remy wasn't looking forward to taking on of the Assassins' best trainers.

Remy took hold of the particles making up the fifth card and guided it up into the air. There was no reaction from Julien, and Remy hoped—but couldn't confirm—that Julien hadn't sensed it.

"Why now, Julien?" Remy asked as he lifted himself up to see over the lounge and sent his card casually floating around the room. The light it gave off was so dim that he had to send it up very close to something before he could see it. "What took you so long, hmm? Was someone too busy having a sulk about losing his eyes?"

"Like you're one to talk," Julien sneered, and Remy felt more footsteps as Julien approached him.

Remy pulled out some more cards, and as before, unleashed all but one of the cards at Julien. Julien took out each card, but Remy now had two dimly lit cards floating around the room.

"Well?" Remy asked, making sure to keep his distance, and his cards by Julien's throwing arm. "You said you'd been waiting for this for years. Why is now the right time to strike?"

"I'm so glad you asked," Julien replied, his voice diabolically wicked. "You and Belle retired."

It took Remy a moment to put the pieces together, and when he did, he could have kicked himself for not figuring it out earlier.

"Because Jackie's the one who'll have to order your execution, not Bella Donna," Remy said.

"'Don't make me have to execute you, Julien', she always said to me. So, I'm not," Julien said, sounding quite smug. "And the best part is, if by some miracle you actually kill me, Jackie will have to order the execution of her own father."

Julien's laughter made Remy feel sick to the stomach. And that wasn't even counting Remy's discomfort at seeing Julien make his way through Remy's living room with a little too much confidence for a blind man in what should have been a strange place.

"Jackie won't execute me or any other Guild member for defending themselves," Remy said, pulling out more cards.

"First you have to prove that you were defending yourself," Julien said smugly.

Remy threw the cards, moving them with his mind to the desired spot first and then charging them up.

"And as far as certain friends of mine know," Julien said, unerringly throwing knives through each of the cards, causing significant damage to the room and furniture, "you invited me."

Remy let loose another couple of cards and then dodged hard to the side, escaping the flurry of throwing knives. He mentally swore. Although he knew his house was under surveillance, complete with sound recording, Julien had obviously been to his house before. Remy had to assume that his cameras had been compromised, and if that was so, it would likely come to a "his word against theirs" scenario. He did not want to put Jackie in that position at all, and the only way he could think of to avoid that was by trying to disable Julien without killing him.

Remy kept the cards coming. By creating debris he could render Julien's knowledge of the layout of the room all but completely useless, and increase the chances of Julien tripping up. Of course, Remy was disadvantaged in a similar manner, and had to keep one of his light granting cards by his feet.

Julien quickly figured out what Remy was up to, and after a stumble, launched himself towards Remy. Remy just dodged the full force of the attack in time, although Julien's dagger (which appeared in his hand mid-lunge) slit the sleeve of his trench coat. Remy lost his hold on his two light granting cards and kicked out at Julien. Julien was undeterred and came at Remy again, just as Remy pulled out his staff and extended it.

Remy charged up his staff and used that to see, the light from it much brighter than the low light he'd been forced to apply to his cards. His staff clashed with Julien's dagger, but Remy was forced to duck when Julien came at him with a knife in his other hand.

While Julien concentrated on trying to stab Remy, Remy focused on trying to disarm Julien. They fell and tripped over broken and fallen furniture in the process. Julien seemed to realise that Remy wasn't fighting to kill, and began to taunt him.

"Typical cowardly thief, going on the defensive," Julien sneered at him. "You're not worthy of ma sœur. You were never worthy of her."

Remy's only reply was a grunt. He rather suspected that Julien didn't think anyone was worthy of Bella Donna.

"You're nothing but a gutless, worthless piece of street trash."

Remy ignored him, trying to focus more on blocking Julien's attacks. Then, despite his advantage of light, Remy stumbled backwards over a piece of debris and fell into the lounge chair, which had felt enough of exploding cards to collapse beneath him. Too late, Remy realised why Julien was able to keep his footing so well on questionable ground: Julien knew Remy could see if he charged something, so all Julien had to do was step where Remy stepped.

There was no way that Julien could have missed Remy's fall, and Remy also realised that the charged staff told Julien more or less exactly where he was (how Remy had no idea, but then he hadn't been blind for over twenty years and forced to rely on his other senses). Through the magenta glow, Remy could see Julien coming down on him with his dagger. Remy threw his staff at Julien and let it explode.

Staff chunks went everywhere, but fortunately none hit Remy. Judging from Julien's grunt, he wasn't so lucky. Remy didn't charge anything; he wouldn't give Julien any further advantage by charging anything. He pulled himself out of the rubble that was his chair and moved away, trying to quiet his breathing after the exertion of the fight. He listened, knowing he was effectively just as blind as Julien right now. He could hear him, not far off, breathing hard (probably about as hard as he was himself).

"You signed her death warrant, you know," Julien said.

Remy didn't reply. He figured Julien would continue talking anyway, and he saw no reason to give him any kind of advantage by engaging him in conversation. Besides, he was busy contemplating how he was going to disable Julien without using a weapon. Julien knew how to fight against staves and knifes, and unarmed opponents. If he was going to win this, he needed to surprise him.

"You don't really think Silvia's drug overdose was an accident, did you?" Julien taunted.

Remy froze, his mind putting the pieces together even as Julien continued to speak:

"She used to let me in, you know, first thing in the morning, while you were still in bed," Julien said smugly. "Of course, she outlived her usefulness once you broke up with her so—"

"You son of a bitch!"

Remy was already mid air, launching himself towards Julien's voice when he realised his mistake. He couldn't stop his momentum, but he could lean to the side. It was just enough to evade Julien's knife. His landing was off, but he managed to keep his feet.

Unfortunately, Julien was still able to turn Remy's moment of anger to his advantage. There was a flurry of movement, and Remy found himself caught with his back to Julien's front, his legs trapped and his arms pulled back. Julien held a knife to Remy's throat; it was smaller, and Remy took it for one of Julien's throwing knives, rather than his dagger. Remy knew if he moved Julien wouldn't hesitate to slice his throat open. Gambling that Julien wanted to get in one final taunt before he made the final blow, Remy grabbed at the air particles next to his throat.

"When Jackie orders my execution, she's going to sign her own death warrant too," Julien said nastily into his ear.

Remy had never really thought about exactly how it was he was able to shield his throat and lungs from cigarette smoke, but now that he was, he realised how he was doing it: he was taking air particles and making them move in unison, making them flow tightly together like waves at the beach.

"I left a little parting gift in my Will; a letter that'll be sent to the FBI telling them all about the new Leader of the United Guilds, and all the lovely jobs she's pulled over the years."

Of course, a knife wasn't gas or liquid; it was a solid object. Remy packed as many air particles as he could grab, as tightly together as he could and hoped it would be enough when the inevitable blow came.

"With any luck, they won't even try to arrest her, they'll just shoot on sight, and that'll be the end of Jacqueline Armelle Boudreaux-LeBeau, the biggest embarrassment of the Boudreaux clan. Au revoir, LeBeau."

Julien pulled his knife across Remy's neck and released his victim as he fell forward. Julien chuckled with satisfaction, then ran his fingers lightly over the blade of his knife. The first thing he noticed was that the blade was dry; he couldn't feel the sticky, warm blood he'd expected. What he did feel was the knife abruptly begin to tingle, the smell and sound of an object being charged to explode. He had no time to question how Remy could do such a thing without touching it (Remy couldn't do time delayed charges, could he?), and no time to throw it away before it exploded, and exploded big in his hands.

Remy lay on the floor panting and holding his neck, feeling the skin to make sure it was actually still intact. When he took hold of the air particles, he was also able to connect with the particles in Julien's knife, just by virtue of the fact that part of the grip had been touching his skin. Remy had been able to hold the particles in Julien's knife, but he didn't move them, not until he was on the floor, and then and only then did Remy send the particles running in all directions as fast as he could. It was harder doing it at distance, rather than keeping hold of it, but judging from Julien's cry of pain it was sufficient.

Slowly, Remy reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He dialled Bella Donna's number.

"What the hell, Remy," was Bella Donna's less than pleased answering of the phone. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Sure I do," Remy replied, his voice coming out a little breathless and shaky. "It's 'get the doctor and bring him to Remy's place so that he can attend Julien' time."

There was a pause and then: "Merde. Be right there."

Bella Donna hung up, and Remy dialled Jackie's number. While he figured that Julien would have heard him and realised he was still alive, he didn't realise the rage this knowledge had put him in. He had no idea that although the explosion should have been enough to take out Julien's hands permanently, that he was still capable of picking up a knife.

"You forget something, Papa?" Jackie asked.

"I think you should come over to my place," Remy said. "Your oncle just tried to kill me. I already called Bella—urk!"


Bella Donna pulled up at Remy's house next to Jackie's car in the driveway, and she and the doctor got out. The front door was ajar and there was no light coming from inside. Bella Donna pulled out her torch as she approached, but just as she stepped into the doorway, the lights came on.

The living room was completely trashed. Not a single piece of furniture was still whole. There were holes, scorch marks and a couple of throwing knives in the walls. The widescreen television was cracked in multiple places and leaking. The stereo system had a big gaping chunk blown out of it. There were pieces of broken furniture and ornamental pieces everywhere, as well as what looked like the pieces of throwing blades. Julien's favourite dagger was embedded in the three-seater lounge.

Julien was lying on the coffee table, which now had two legs instead of four. His clothes were cut and scorched, particularly his sleeves. The fingers and thumb from his left hand were missing. His right hand was gone. His head was bleeding.

Remy was laying face first on the three-seater lounge. His clothes had more holes than Julien's, but less scorch marks. His back was bloody and one of Julien's throwing knives was sticking out.

Bella Donna had barely a chance to comprehend this when the doctor was shoved past her, phone to his ear already asking for backup and checking the two men. The door leading to the garage opened and Jackie stepped through, having just repaired the sabotaged fuse box. Her eyes widened at the sight.

"Papa!" she exclaimed in horror.

She started to rush to Remy's side, but Bella Donna caught her.

"Let the doctor do his work," Bella Donna said, her voice tight. "He'll let us know if he needs our assistance."

"What happened?" Jackie asked. "Do you know what happened?"

Bella Donna shook her head, not taking her eyes off Julien. "I got a call from Remy to come here and bring the doctor with me to look at Julien."

"Then he called me and said he'd just called you," Jackie said. "He got cut off in the middle of talking to me. I guess that was when he got...he got stabbed."

Jackie swallowed hard.

"And then I got here," Jackie went on, "and the lights wouldn't come on, so I figured, hey, if I was Oncle Julien and planning on ambushing someone, the first thing I would do is kill the lights, so I checked the fuse box and fixed it. Although how on earth Oncle Julien knew which fuse to cut I have no idea. Even if Papa had ever had him over, he'd never show him something like that."

"Remy's not the only one who's very resourceful," Bella Donna said. "You should call Henri."


The Guild private hospital was a carry over from the Assassins Guild. Although Henri preferred not to think about all the ways the Assassins found it useful to have their own hospital, the main benefit was that the staff (the ones who weren't already Guild members), were paid not to report certain cases to the police.

"How is he?" Henri asked as he approached Jackie's figure sitting on a chair by the wall.

"He's in surgery," Jackie replied, not looking at him. "That's all I know."

Henri nodded and sat down beside her.

"And, uhh, Julien?" he asked tentatively.

"He's lost his hands, concussion and a broken nose," Jackie said. "Maman's with him now."

"Lost his hands?"

"I'm guessing Papa blew them up somehow."

Henri nodded and there was silence for a moment.

"Why didn't Papa just kill him?" Jackie asked abruptly. "Seriously, Oncle Julien was obviously out to get him. Papa clearly had the opportunity if he was able to call Maman and I before he got stabbed in the back. Why? Does Papa hate killing that much?"

"I'm sure Remy had his reasons for not killing Julien when he had the chance," Henri replied patiently. "Your papa has killed before, but only ever when he has to."

"What's so wrong about killing?" Jackie demanded, glaring at Henri. "What is it about killing that you Thieves hate so much?"

Henri paused, trying to decide how best to explain it to someone who was raised to think that killing was okay. The solution came to him almost immediately.

"Jackie," he said softly. "What if Julien had succeeded in killing Remy tonight?"

"He might have. He's still in surgery, remember?" Jackie said bitterly.

"Exactly. You love your papa, oui? He's important to you, and you think he deserves to live, and to die when it is his time, and not when someone else decides it's his time," Henri said. "When you kill someone, you don't just kill the person who physically dies, you also hurt their family, their friends, and a little piece of yourself."

Jackie made a rude noise at that last part. Henri nodded.

"You wouldn't see it, of course, but I do," Henri said. "Taking that first life changes different people in different ways. Sometimes even just feeling like you're responsible for a death is enough to do it."

Jackie frowned. "Like Papa and Etienne?"

"You know about that?" Henri asked.

"Maman told me."

"Ahh. Mais, oui, Remy took Etienne's death very hard. He wasn't the same after that," Henri said and looked at his niece seriously. "You watch, Jackie. You pay attention in these years ahead of you. Assassins play it off like there's nothing serious about taking a life, but trust me, it's very serious and it will change you, for better or worse. You watch your Assassin apprentices before and after their first kill, and Masters after many kills. One day you'll know exactly what I mean."


"How's he doing?"

Bella Donna looked up from Julien's bedside to see one of her oldest friends, Gris Gris just inside the doorway.

"He's sleeping," Bella Donna replied. "They think he'll be okay."

Gris Gris nodded as he walked over. "Good to know. I, uhh, assume we don't know what happened yet?"

Bella Donna just shook her head. This was not something she wanted to talk about. Despite her failed marriage, she loved Remy as much as she loved Julien, and having the two men in hospital after trying to kill each other was her worst nightmare come to life.

Gris Gris put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I know it's soon, but would you like me to take care of the investigation?" he asked.

"It's Jackie you should be asking, not me," Bella Donna replied, her eyes firmly set on Julien.

"Belle—"

"She's the Guild Leader now, Gris Gris. I don't care if you approve, it is what it is," she interrupted shortly.

Gris Gris stifled a sigh and gave Bella Donna's shoulder a gentle squeeze before leaving the room. He didn't think Jackie was ready or even the right person for this investigation—she was too close and too new to the job. Still, he didn't care to argue with Bella Dona right now.

He spotted Jackie sitting on the seat by the wall, as she had been when he came in, and stood before her. Slowly, Jackie lifted her head.

"Would you like me to take care of the investigation?" Gris Gris asked her.

"What's there to investigate?" Jackie asked blandly. "Oncle Julien tried to kill mon père. He may have succeeded. Papa's in recovery. They don't know if he'll make it."

"It's not that clear cut, petite," Gris Gris said. "Julien told myself, Questa and Fifolet that Remy invited him over."

"That's stupid," Jackie said. "Why would Papa do something like that?"

Gris Gris didn't answer. Jackie narrowed her eyes at him.

"Papa wouldn't plot to kill someone," she said. "And even if he would, he wouldn't be that obvious about it."

"Oh really?" asked Gris Gris. "Let's put something in perspective, shall we? No one would expect Remy to try and kill Julien. Do you still think this scenario is out of the question?"

"Oui," Jackie replied tersely. "But I take your point. Fine, we shall investigate together."

"Jackie," Gris Gris said, "you are a little, ahem, close to the people involved, and I know you're not exactly Julien's biggest fan."

"Oh? You're suggesting my investigation might be a bit biased?" Jackie demanded, standing up. "What about your investigation? You're Oncle Julien's best friend."

"I'm friends with Remy too," Gris Gris said.

"Uh huh, so if you had to choose between them, who would you pick?"

"Fine," Gris Gris said irritably. "We'll investigate together."

"And Theoren," Jackie said. "He hates Papa and Oncle Julien, so that makes him the closest thing to a neutral party we have."

Gris Gris looked at her for a moment, then chuckled lightly.

"Good plan," he said.

"Okay, umm...what's the time?" Jackie said, then checked the clock on her phone. "I'll call Theoren in an hour or so, and we can meet at Papa's place at about eleven, is that okay with you?"

"Oui, that'll be fine."


At two minutes after eleven that morning, Jackie unlocked Remy's front door and pushed it open. Gris Gris and Theoren stepped inside and Theoren gave a low whistle at the sight of the mess.

"Must be been one hell of a fight," said Gris Gris as he looked at what was left of the living room. "Kind of wished I'd seen it."

"We can," Jackie replied. "Papa set up his own security surveillance."

"He did?" Gris Gris asked.

"Makes sense," Theoren said. "I'd expect it of him."

"Yeah, well, you guys don't get to see the vault," said Jackie as she walked purposely towards the kitchen. "I go in the vault, I get last nights footage. When I get the footage, we can watch it on my laptop. You guys can stay out here and do... whatever you feel like doing as part of your investigation."

Theoren and Gris Gris agreed (Gris Gris reluctantly), and Jackie headed to the vault. Her hands were shaking as she went through the door to the vault and accessed the computer. She did not want to be here, doing this. She wanted to be with her papa.

Jackie found the footage she was after for the living room, the garage and the front of the house. She copied the files to her computer, then headed back out. By this time, Theoren and Gris Gris had gotten rather bored, and were chatting in the kitchen. Jackie didn't say a word to them, she only set up her laptop, grabbed a chair and put it between them to sit down on.

"Okay," Jackie said, tapping away at the computer. "This is the front of the house from last night."

She put the footage on fast forward, slowing it down to normal speed when something of interest happened. They noted Remy's time of departure for his party, Julien's arrival in a taxi, and then Remy's return later on. Jackie switched to the living room footage, starting at Julien's arrival. They watched as Julien walked unerringly to the garage door, and then Jackie switched to the garage camera to see what he did there. All watched with concern as Julien located the fuse box and cut the one fuse he needed to in order to kill the lights in the house.

"None of those fuses are labelled with Braille are they?" Theoren asked.

"Nope," Jackie replied.

"I think it's safe to say that Julien's been here before," Theoren said seriously.

Gris Gris nodded gravely. "I don't recall him mentioning any invitations prior to now, either."

"That's because Papa has better taste in his company," Jackie said evenly, and switch the footage back to the living room.

They watched as Julien made himself at home in the lounge chair, and then Jackie fast forwarded until the time Remy would have returned home.

"Colour is pretty good," said Theoren, watching while Remy entered the living room and flicked the switch, knowing that Remy should be in the dark.

"Cameras were apparently state of the art when Papa stole 'em," Jackie replied.

"I do like cameras that can see in the dark," Theoren said, then watched as Julien threw two throwing knives at Remy, each one missing.

"I missed you, didn't I?"

Jackie resisted the urge to smirk and say 'See? I told you Papa wouldn't plot to kill anyone'.

"I should be embarrassed," Julien said as he pulled out another couple of throwing knives.

More silence.

"I know you're there, LeBeau. Probably hiding behind the lounge between me and the garage door like the coward you are."

"What's wrong, Julien? Tired of life?" Remy asked. "We both know that if they discover I've been murdered, you'll be the first they'll blame. Your execution will be inevitable."

The three looked at each other as Julien laughed and Remy started crawling all so quietly behind the furniture.

"I'm counting on it. By the time this is over, you will be dead, I will be dead, that little brat kid of yours will be dead and the United Guilds will be no more. I don't mind dying if it means Belle will finally be free of the LeBeau curse."

"What does he mean by that?" Theoren asked, frowning.

They saw Remy pull out a playing card from the gap between the three seater lounge and the doorway to the dining room. No sooner than he charged it, but Julien threw one of his throwing knives at the cards. He pulled out a replacement knife as he stood up.

"Come on, Remy," said Julien. "Come on and face me like a man for the first time in your life. I have been looking forward to this moment for years. The ultimate death match, one of us will not walk away from here alive, and to the victor goes the execution."

They watched as Remy charged up a second card and Julien threw another knife at it. Jackie felt sick watching it.

"You think I haven't figured out how to find your charged cards?" Julien asked. "I trained your daughter!"

Remy scooted back behind the lounge and pulled out five more cards.

"That's interesting, homme," Remy said. "Let's see you try trois at once."

They watched as four of the five cards floated up above the lounge and fly towards Julien. Quick as lighting, Julien threw his knives and pulled out replacements, taking out the four of them.

"Ha!" Julien gloated. "You think I wouldn't figure out there was a fourth card?"

"How many of them knives do you have?" Remy asked.

"How many cards in a deck?"

"We did find a lot of throwing knives on him," Jackie said.

"Well, that's not really unusual," Gris Gris replied wryly.

"What's he doing there?" Theoren asked, pointing to the fifth card, which was now floating around the room, aimlessly it seemed.

"Light," Jackie said. "He's using it to see. Remember, even though we can see what's happening because of the cameras, Papa can't."

"Why now, Julien?" Remy asked as he lifted himself up to see over the lounge. "What took you so long, hmm? Was someone too busy having a sulk about losing his eyes?"

"Like you're one to talk," Julien sneered, walking towards him.

Remy pulled out some more cards, and as before, unleashed all but one of the cards at Julien, which he sent floating around the room as a second light source. Julien's knives took out the others.

"Well?" Remy asked, backing away from Julien. "You said you'd been waiting for this for years. Why is now the right time to strike?"

"I'm so glad you asked," Julien replied, his voice diabolically wicked. "You and Belle retired."

"Because Jackie's the one who'll have to order your execution, not Bella Donna," Remy said.

"'Don't make me have to execute you, Julien', she always said to me. So, I'm not," Julien said, sounding quite smug. "And the best part is, if by some miracle you actually kill me, Jackie will have to order the execution of her own father."

"Merde," Gris Gris muttered.

"Jackie won't execute me or any other Guild member for defending themselves," Remy said.

"First you have to prove that you were defending yourself," Julien said smugly.

They watched as Remy charged up additional cards, but lightly like the two that were floating around. It was only when the cards moved well away from Remy's body that they flared up in magenta glow.

"And as far as certain friends of mine know," Julien said, unerringly throwing knives through each of the cards, causing significant damage to the room and furniture, "you invited me."

"Hmm," Jackie said blandly. "I wonder which friends he was talking about."

"It was well played," said Theoren before Gris Gris could say anything. "He got us asking questions, and if it wasn't for this footage, we may have been stalemated."

They watched and listened as the fight continued, and Remy's lounge room quickly became a mess.

"Thinks he's going to get one through?" Theoren asked.

"No," said Gris Gris. "He's deliberately wrecking his own room. He's trying to get Julien to trip."

As if on cue, Julien tripped, recovered, then launched himself into Remy's general direction, taking out his dagger in the process. Remy's two light cards drifted harmlessly to the floor. Remy kicked Julien, and pulled out and charged up his staff. Julien pulled out a second knife, this one hilted and longer than his throwing knives.

"He holds up pretty good," said Gris Gris, a note of admiration in his voice. "There aren't too many who can hold up a staff against Julien's knives."

"He's missing openings though," said Jackie.

"Deliberately," Theoren said. "I'd say Remy's figured out that the best way to beat Julien is if they both live."

Remy fell back on the lounge chair, which collapsed beneath him, and then threw his charged staff at Julien. Julien reacted immediately, tossing the staff off him, but the explosion went off a little too soon for him and his dagger and knife where blown right out of his hands. The television screen shattered.

They watched Remy get up out of out of the rubble, and Julien steady himself and get out a throwing knife.

"You signed her death warrant, you know," Julien said, a pause and then: "You don't really think Silvia's drug overdose was an accident, did you? She used to let me in, you know, first thing in the morning, while you were still in bed. Of course, she outlived her usefulness once you broke up with her so—"

"You son of a bitch!"

They watched as Remy launched himself towards Julien and his knife. For a moment—despite the fact that Jackie knew Remy had no stab wounds in the front—she thought he was going to be run through. Somehow, Remy missed the knife, but landed awkwardly. There was a flurry of activity, and then Remy was pinned against Julien, with his knife at his throat.

"When Jackie orders my execution, she's going to sign her own death warrant too," Julien said, his voice only just audible on the tape. "I left a little parting gift in my Will; a letter that'll be sent to the FBI telling them all about the new Leader of the United Guilds, and all the lovely jobs she's pulled. With any luck, they won't even try to arrest her, they'll just shoot on sight, and that'll be the end of Jacqueline Armelle Boudreaux-LeBeau, the biggest embarrassment of the Boudreaux clan. Au revoir, LeBeau."

Jackie touched her throat as she watched Julien run his knife across Remy's, and then pushed him to the ground.

"How—" Gris Gris began, but was distracted by Julien's glowing knife.

The biggest explosion of the night went off. Julien cried out, and when the magenta glow cleared he was without his hands.

"Merde," Theoren muttered.

Remy took his phone from his pocket. While he called Bella Donna; Gris Gris, Theoren and Jackie watched Julien take out another throwing knife with his mouth from some kind of pocket near his mouth. Remy hung up, then called Jackie. Julien readied himself, then threw himself at Remy's back, Remy gasped as the knife sunk in, and lurched over the lounge, dropping the phone. Julien reefed the knife out, then rammed it in again. Remy, supporting himself barely with one arm, kicked out at Julien, and kept kicking. He managed to kick his legs out from under him, then his arms, causing Julien to cry out in agony, and finally managed to kick Julien repeatedly in the head.

The two men collapsed, now both beyond any chance of inflicting further damage on each other.

Gris Gris, Theoren and Jackie continued watching until they saw Jackie's arrival and turned the tape off. For a moment there was silence.

"How long does Remy keep his footage for?" Theoren asked Jackie. "Would there be some of Silvia?"

"Yeah," Jackie replied quietly.

"Find it. I'll check Julien's Will and see if I can find this letter," said Theoren. "We should make sure there actually is a letter, and it's not just Julien taunting Remy."

"Agreed," said Gris Gris, sounding most grave indeed. "And let's not tell Bella Donna just yet. She'll find out soon enough and when she does it'll break her heart."


Bella Donna walked into Remy's private room and tried to ignore all the paraphernalia attached to him: IVs, tubes attached to containers on the floor, a bag at the foot of the bed, monitors and an oxygen mask. She walked to his side and tentatively touched his shoulder. His eyes opened lazily and he looked at her. Bella Donna gave him the best smile she had to offer.

"Hey," she said. "They said you were awake."

Remy didn't—perhaps couldn't—acknowledge her, but she knew he had heard.

"You're going to be okay," she said. "I know you don't like hospitals, but at least you know you're going to be leaving alive, right?"

There was a long pause while Remy took a couple of breaths.

"Julien," he said, his voice so low and raspy that Bella Donna had a hard time making it out.

"He's going to be okay too," she said. "In a manner of speaking. He's lost his hands."

Remy shook his head all so slightly, and a moment later said "Will." Bella Donna frowned.

"Who's Will?" she asked.

Remy toyed with the idea of saying Julien's name again, but this talking business was hard work. Instead then next word he forced out was "Jackie" which was followed by "danger" when he could get the breath to say it.

Bella Donna waited patiently for Remy to say something more, but he only looked at her expectantly. She frowned as she put the four words together.

"Julien. Will. Jackie. Danger," she said thoughtfully. "There's something in Julien's Will which puts Jackie in danger?"

Remy gave a slight nod.

"But why would Julien want to hurt Jackie? She's his niece!" she objected.

Remy just looked at her sadly. Bella Donna swallowed hard.

"I'll look into it," she said.

Remy gave her a slight nod. Bella Donna stayed with him until he fell asleep again (which really didn't take all that long), and then left. She had planned on going back to Julien again, but Remy's words were plaguing her and instead she left the hospital for the solicitor's office.


By the time Bella Donna got to the solicitors, she was tired, angry, upset and in no mood to deal with the secretary who insisted she needed to have an appointment.

"This is my appointment," Bella Donna informed her coldly, and stabbed a knife into the counter top.

The secretary's eyes went wide and she immediately called for the solicitor. Although initially annoyed, when he realised who his impatient client was, he quickly ushered her in and made sure his secretary didn't try to call the police.

"Julien's Will," she said the moment they were in private. "Where is it?"

"Ahem, with all due respect Madame Boudreaux—"

"I really don't care about your client confidentiality agreements," Bella Donna cut in. "Mon frère is in hospital at the moment, and I have reason to believe he may have left something in his Will that may harm my daughter. Hand it over. Now."

There was another moment's hesitation, but not valuing Julien's privacy over his own life, he agreed and located the Will.

"He doesn't mention your daughter at all," he told her as he glanced through the main document.

Bella Donna ignored him as she went through the other things in the pile. Remy seemed to think there was something in here that would hurt Jackie, and Bella Donna knew that Remy would never say such a thing unless he honestly believed it was true.

"What's this?" Bella Donna asked, picking up an A4 sized envelope.

"It appears to be a letter," he replied.

Bella Donna practically shoved it in his face. "And who is it addressed to?"

"Uhh...the FBI," he said nervously, reading off the address.

"You tell me, why would an assassin leave a letter to be sent to the FBI on his death?" she demanded.

"I would assume revenge for something," he replied. "I just make sure everything's, ahem, legal. Everything else is the client's business."

"Uh huh."

Bella Donna ripped open the envelope and pulled out a thick pile of paper. The colour drained from her face when she realised what she was reading. Jackie's entire life was in those pages; all the jobs she'd ever been on, her home and work addresses, her powers, the name of the college she'd attended. The only item of note that wasn't on there was Bella Donna's own name. She put the paper back into the envelope and concentrated very hard on not crying. She would confront the fact that her brother had tried to turn her daughter into a wanted fugitive later.

Without a word to the solicitor, Bella Donna went through the rest of Julien's things. She found nothing else important (or at least, nothing else relevant to her current concerns).

"Okay," she said, standing up and taking hold of the envelope and its contents. "I found what I was looking for. Thank you for your time."

The solicitor breathed a sigh of relief as she departed, glad to have gotten out of the encounter unharmed.


"Did you get Oncle Julien's Will?" Jackie asked Theoren over the phone the next morning.

"Oui and non," Theoren replied. "I have it now, but Bella Donna beat me to the solicitor. Remy woke up yesterday and tipped her off."

"Oh, Maman actually got to see Papa when he was awake?" Jackie asked. "Well, at least one of us did. How'd Maman take the news?"

"Gris Gris was the one she spoke to. You'll have to ask him."

"I'll do that," Jackie said, hesitated, and then asked: "Just how bad is it?"

"They would have surprised you at home or work, and—if they were smart—put a bullet in your head the moment they saw magenta," Theoren replied matter-of-factly. "Actually if they were smart they would have shot you on sight, but you know these types, they have to try and arrest you first. Contrary to Julien's opinion though, I don't think that the United Guilds would have split just because you were dead. We've all worked hard to keep the peace and keep our Guilds together. You're not the only Assassin and Thief any more either. Not sure how we would have worked out the Guild leader issue, but we would have figured something out."

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear that," Jackie said. "I'm sure Maman and Papa would be pleased to hear that too."

"They fought just as hard as we did—probably harder—to keep the Guilds together," Theoren said. "To split would dishonour them, amongst other things. None of this is any excuse for you to get away with not providing an heir, young lady."

Jackie laughed. "No fear! I wouldn't dream of burdening you with such a problem. Just look at all the problems it's potentially causing us now."

"Indeed."

"The one thing I can't figure out though," said Jackie. "Why didn't Oncle Julien just send it straight to the FBI instead of relying on it being sent after he was dead? That's what I would have done. You know, if I'd been in his shoes."

"I'm not sure I'm really the one to ask for a definitive view on Julien," Theoren said. "But if I were to guess, I'd say it was because there's enough information in this report to implicate a whole lot of people. Bella Donna's name isn't mentioned anywhere, but I'd say the FBI wouldn't have any problems figuring out who your mère was and by extension, your relationship to him. There's enough in here to send the Guild into hiding for years. Besides, going on what he said to Remy on the tape, he probably liked the idea of you signing your own death warrant by having him executed."

"Probably," Jackie said and sighed. "Thanks very much for your assistance, Theoren. I appreciate it."