Present Day
Louisiana
Kitty stepped out into the hot New Orleans sun, nudging sunglasses onto her nose and adjusting the backpack slung over her right shoulder. A handful of clothes, Remy LeBeau's picture and last known address nabbed from Xavier's office, and a neatly banded stack of twenties were bundled inside. She was two days behind Victor, her muscles still sore from her run in with Sinister and half a week in bed.
Escaping the Institute unnoticed had been easier than she'd expected. Popping in a few security codes and setting off an alarm in the Danger Room to draw attention away from herself was all it had taken. Rogue would be furious with her, and she could count on Logan reading her the riot act when he got his hands on her. But she knew their fury paled in comparison to what Victor would have to say if he found her sneaking around New Orleans or worse, missing from the Institute upon his return.
Catching a cab outside the airport entrance she directed the driver to a bustling street two blocks away from the gun shop that's online reputation boasted of lax permit laws and quick service.
"Stop here."
The driver looked around, and back at Kitty, "You're sure?"
Pushing money into his hand Kitty ignored his question and exited the cab. She made her way through the crowd, snagging a city map off a vendor's cart on her way towards the gun shop. She wasn't going to allow Sinister to make her into any kind of victim, powers or no powers. And she certainly had no intention of letting Victor call all the shots when it was her mutation on the line.
The gun shop was a good ten degrees cooler than the outside world. The man behind the counter had a straggly beard and bad attitude until he laid eyes on the cleavage Kitty had expertly hiked up moments before entering his store. Her sweater tucked neatly inside her backpack, leaving her in spaghetti straps, the cool air making the press of each nipple visible through the fabric.
"What can I do for you?"
Ignoring his leer, Kitty leaned an elbow on the glass counter and directed his attention to the semi-automatic handgun she wanted to purchase. Violet eyes widening, and shirtfront straining as she pressed her breasts more fully on display when the word permits came up. The man waved away her concerns, eyes trained on her breasts as he packaged her handgun, and ammunition. She loaded the semi-automatic in the alley beside the gun shop, keeping her back to the main street as she tested the weight and feel of it. Hands shaking as she practiced loading the magazine properly, as her fingers learned the metal crook of the trigger.
The weight of the new purchases added to her backpack made her stomach knot. Relying on any kind of weapon was foreign to her. As an X-man the only weapon she'd every needed to rely on was herself. But Sinister had changed all that. Kitty pushed away all her uncertainties, understanding with perfect clarity: Sinister had forced her hand.
It didn't take her long to track down LeBeau's address. Half expecting to find Victor skulking behind every corner she found herself pressing cautiously to side streets or pushing to the middle of larger crowds. She continuously dabbed the sensitive skin behind her ears and wrists with vanilla perfume she'd impulsively bought at a corner market. If Victor didn't catch a whiff of her scent, she reasoned she'd buy herself more time to find LeBeau and get out before Victor got his hands on her.
LeBeau's small apartment was two stories up and cautiously furnished, giving the appearance of semi-permanent habitation. Kitty picked through his meager belongings, finding a couple loose playing cards, creased take-out menus and an assortment of bar coasters. Taking note of each address listed on the handful of coasters she encountered Kitty left the apartment, map in hand.
The first two bars proved half-empty. The third was closed, and the fourth so jam packed with people Kitty wasn't sure a month was enough time to search every square foot for LeBeau. The final bar on her list was on Crescent Street. It was smushed between a tattoo parlor and a convenience store. The inside was dark and smokey enough to leave her squinting. Taking a seat at the bar Kitty ordered a perfunctory beer and let her gaze slide slowly from one end of the bar to the other. There were a handful of patrons, mostly graying men handling scotch or whiskey.
It took her under thirty seconds to spot LeBeau tucked in a corner booth farthest from the front entrance and closest to the back exit. Picking up her beer Kitty closed the distance between them, keeping her expression neutral as she slid into the chair across from his.
LeBeau had shaggy dark hair and eyes the color of cherry soda. His right eye was ringed in black, a sure sign Victor had gotten his hands on him. Kitty knew it must have been a brief encounter for LeBeau to still be in one piece. He pressed his shoulders against the back of the booth as Kitty sat down, looking at her with a lingering smirk, "What's a little girl like you doing in a place like this, cher."
His gaze drifted downward to rest on the curve of her breasts, his smug expression made Kitty wish she'd opted to replace her sweater. Her already tiny tank top seemed to shrink under his scrutiny, leaving her cheeks pink.
"Looking for you," she replied. Her voice betraying more confidence than she felt. "You're an easy man to track down."
He shrugged his indifference, "I'm not in the habit of running scared from little girls."
Kitty narrowed her eyes.
"Since Victor Creed showed up on my doorstep yesterday afternoon I've been expecting more company," LeBeau replied, his gaze dipping once again lower than her face. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he added in a low tone, "Though the company is improving."
Kitty had to curb the instinct to look over her shoulder at the sound of Victor's name. Ignoring LeBeau's flirt she replied, "Then you know why I'm here."
"Creed says you've lost your powers."
"Not lost," Kitty replied. "They were taken from me by your boss."
He made a noise of contempt that suggested Remy LeBeau was not a man who considered himself bossed by anyone, which Kitty pointedly ignored.
"I want you to tell me what you know about Mister Sinister's inhibitor cuff."
LeBeau looked her over, expression shifting between incredulous and amused, "And why would I do that, cher?"
"I want my powers back," Kitty replied shortly.
"I'm not the man you're looking for."
"No," she conceded. "But you can point me in the right direction."
LeBeau spread his hands, "I don't know nothing about Sinister, or his cuff."
"And if I said I don't believe you?"
He leaned forward just enough to run the pad of his thumb suggestively along the back of her hand, "Then I'd try my best to convince you otherwise."
The path his finger tracked left her skin tingling, Kitty tried to pull away but he trapped her wrist against the table
Pinning him with a withering glare she demanded, "You'd chance putting your hands on Victor Creed's mate."
LeBeau let out a laugh, "He's the one who made the mistake of letting you out of his sight."
She yanked her hand out from beneath his.
"Unless you'd like the rest of your body to look like your right eye, I'd reconsider," Kitty warned.
"I don't know if you're brave or just stupid," LeBeau shook his head.
"What are you talking about?" Kitty demanded.
"You come to a strange city, to seek out an even stranger man without backup or your powers," he met her gaze, the smirk around his mouth doing nothing to conceal the threat behind his words.
"I'm not defenseless without my mutation."
Kitty stood up, abandoning her half empty beer. LeBeau followed suit, eyes never leaving her face. He was nearly as tall as Victor, his wide shoulders pulling the dark cotton of his t-shirt taunt. When he reached for her arm she took a step backwards, aware of the exit only ten feet behind her.
"Then why are you running out on me?"
"I'm not running anywhere," she snapped.
"Come here," LeBeau reached out again, this time successfully curling a hand around her bicep.
"How did you manage to escape Victor?" Kitty asked, trying to distract him.
LeBeau tucked a stray curl behind her ear before she could jerk away.
"Because I promised to deliver you to his doorstep upon your arrival."
Kitty's expression betrayed her panic.
LeBeau had the audacity to let out a low laugh, "You didn't really think Creed would have let me off with only a black eye, did you?"
"So what? He let you go long enough to trap me," Kitty demanded.
His silence was answer enough.
"Bastard," Kitty muttered.
"Something tells me you're looking at more than just a black eye when Creed gets his hands on you," LeBeau said, something like amusement coloring his tone. Kitty glared up at him as he continued, "Better you than me, cher."
Kitty simultaneously delivered blows to his ribs and instep, easily eluding his hold on her and disappearing out the back door. The alley was a dead end, leaving Crescent Street as her only option. LeBeau appeared at the mouth of the alley, his pace deceptively slow as he closed the distance between them. Kitty's fingers closed over the handgun in her backpack. She waited until he was no more than fifteen feet away to reveal her weapon and aim it directly at his chest.
"Stop."
LeBeau didn't even blink.
"I mean it," Kitty warned.
She counted to three and fired. Her eyes widening as she watched the bullet explode between them, fragments grazing her cheek. Kitty's gaze bounced between LeBeau's arrogant smirk and his glowing fingertips. Stuffing the gun back into her backpack Kitty slid the straps tightly over each of her shoulders.
"You found my address, but didn't think to find out what kind of monster I am?" LeBeau demanded softly. Kitty crouched into a fighting stance, eyes never leaving his face. When he moved to strike she ducked and rolled to the right, foot connecting with the backs of his legs hard enough to send him sprawling. Not wasting a second Kitty headed towards Crescent Street, she pushed through a crowd of people eyes on a lingering taxi just across the road.
LeBeau's voice shot through the crowd, demanding someone stop that brunette with the backpack. Just as she reached the edge of the sidewalk, one sneaker stretching towards blacktop, a hand came down hard on Kitty's shoulder. Before she had time to shrug the man off, LeBeau was at her side. Sweeping an arm around her waist he hailed the taxi she'd been eyeing and easily dragged her to it.
When Kitty struggled he pressed his mouth to the shell of her ear, "You saw what I did to that bullet in the alley, cher. Don't tempt me to do it again."
Opening the door for her, he kept a fistful of her backpack in one hand, a warning not to make any attempts to scoot across the backseat and out the opposite door.
"Old Gentilly Road," LeBeau directed the cab driver. Kitty shifted as far away from LeBeau as humanly possible.
"How much information did you give Victor?" Kitty asked.
"Enough to keep him interested, and me alive," LeBeau grinned.
The airport whizzed by and Kitty let out an audible groan.
"Lighten up, cher," LeBeau said, arm sliding along the back of the seat between them. When Kitty slapped his hand away from her shoulder he dug his fingers into the curls at the nape of her neck. Tightening his grip enough to draw her attention away from the window and onto him LeBeau continued, "Creed isn't in the habit of killing beautiful women. Especially ones that belong to him."
"Was that supposed to be reassuring?" Kitty demanded.
LeBeau looked her over, "How did a little thing like you get tangled up with Victor Creed."
"Funny," Kitty replied. "I was going to ask the same of you and Sinister."
"Business is business," he shrugged, fingers still entangled in her hair.
"Sinister is a monster."
"A very wealthy one," LeBeau amended. Kitty shot him a look of disgust.
"Let go of me."
He considered her request for a moment. She felt a prickle at the back of her neck, she didn't have to see his fingers to know they were glowing.
"Get that high and mighty look off your face, and I'll think about it," LeBeau replied.
Kitty smoothed her expression into one of complete indifference and his fingers slid from her hair. Pressing her forehead to the window Kitty racked her brain for a solution to her current predicament. Before long the cab was pulling into a mostly deserted parking lot outside a rundown motel. LeBeau dropped bills into the driver's lap and pulled Kitty out of the backseat.
She fought his hold on her arm, "I'm not going to run off."
"With your track record, I wouldn't put it past you."
LeBeau turned from the motel's main doors and Kitty frowned, "Now where are we going?"
"I need a drink."
The bar next to the motel was rundown. The roof slanted dangerously low on the right side and the windows were so fogged with dirt they blended into the rest of the wall. LeBeau bought himself a short glass of bourbon, and Kitty a straight shot of tequila.
"Something tells me you'll need it."
She didn't argue, letting the shot burn down the back of her throat. LeBeau led her to a corner booth, situated just as strategically as he'd been when she'd found him earlier that day, far from the front door but close to the rear exit.
"Where's Victor?"
LeBeau didn't reply, his gaze settling on something over her head. Kitty maintained a neutral expression as she followed LeBeau's gaze over her shoulder to the edge of the bar. Victor sat, nursing a short glass of whiskey. His gaze was trained on Kitty, she could see the fury in his eyes from ten feet away.
LeBeau stood up, "I'll leave you to him, cher."
Kitty's gaze fastened onto the scuffed tabletop as LeBeau moved to the far side of the bar, her heart beating a steady samba against her ribs. She heard Victor growl a room number at him as he passed by.
Within seconds of LeBeau's departure Victor slid into his vacated seat. Kitty could feel his gaze sliding down her body, lingering first on the exposed skin of her neck and shoulders and finally on her breasts straining the thin cotton of her shirt.
"Do you have any fucking idea how much danger you put yourself in coming here alone?" Victor demanded, his voice deceptively quiet.
She didn't reply.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself, Katherine?"
Kitty chanced a look upwards and immediately regretted it. His eyes were black as night, the muscles in his jaw jumping under the pressure of his clenched teeth.
"Did you really think I'd sit at home and wait for you?"
Victor downed the remainder of his whiskey, threw a handful of rumpled bills onto the tabletop and dragged her out of her chair. He was silent as he lead her out of the bar and into the parking lot.
"Where are we going?" Kitty demanded.
Victor didn't say a word, he simply tightened his grip on her bicep and started walking in the direction of the motel.
"What about LeBeau?"
"If I were you," Victor snapped. "I'd keep my mouth shut."
Kitty pressed her lips together, irritating with him, but more irritated in herself for getting caught so quickly.