25
A lot of the thieves had been summoned to the gym around dinner time. No one really knew why they were there, just that it was urgent. Remy stood, leaning against a wall, not bothering with anyone else who was in the room. Henri entered the gym, having had one of the younger thiefs in training knock on his door and inform him of the meeting happening. Spotting Remy, Henri went to stand beside his brother.
"So, why de meetin'?" Henri asked him while glancing around.
Henri could see that Etienne was on the completely opposite side of the gym to Remy. He looked irritated and was shooting daggers from a far.
Remy's resting smirk grew.
"Y'll see. Hope y' brough popcorn frére," Remy replied.
Henri folded his arms, half intrigued and half amused by his brother. He turned to eye the last person to entered the gym, seeing it was Rogue.
Henri turned on Remy instantly, his glare speaking volumes.
"Y' better not be gettin' her in any trouble," he warned.
"Just watch," Remy said, unmoved.
Rogue had returned to her room and made sure to change into her second gym wear. When she entered, she didn't look at any one of them. Simply walked straight to the center of the gym while messing with her gloves. Once she was in the middle of the gym she turned to face all the thieves who were eyeing her up.
"Ah'm guessin' y'all are wonderin' why ya here?" Rogue called out.
"Rogue set up dis meetin'?" Henri questioned his brother.
Remy simply held a finger up to his lips, and placed all his attention on Rogue. Rogue was forcing a smile on her face that looked way too sweet. It just made things all the more amusing for him.
"Well, ah actually asked y'all ta be here 'cause ah wanted ta say a little somethin'. Clear the air an' make sure mah feelin's were bein' heard loud an' clear." Rogue began to pace the little spot she had made for herself, making sure that all eyes were on her as she walked. "Now, ah'm guessin' y'all know that ah've lost all mah memories an' the reason ah'm here is 'cause Remy knows meh an' he's tryna help bring back those memories ah've lost."
Rogue searched for Remy then, finding him in a corner with Henri. Remy sent her a friendly wave by saluting her. Rogue's smile grew as doing this was a little bit terrifitying. She returned her attention back to the circle of thieves surrounding her.
"He's been doin' a great job in supportin' meh an' so have Henri an' Merci," Rogue continued.
Henri was touched by the anouchment Rogue made, but he couldn't help his concern.
"What y' put her up t'?" Henri questioned Remy.
"Dis be all her idea," Remy defended.
Henri sighed to himself, wondering how he'd ended up with a female version of Remy prancing around in front of him. He really didn't have the best of luck sometimes. But he watched how everything unfolded none-the-less.
"But, ah've come ta realise that there's others out there who've been keepin' their eye on meh in their own way. All of ya in this room have. An', like ah said, ah just wanna make it clear how ah feel. Now, Eti, Emil, can you two come join meh a second?" Rogue asked.
Rogue had spotted where Etienne and Emil were in the crowd and had been sure to keep her eye on them. She saw them looking unsure and glancing around as if suspious of something. Each of them eyed Remy at one point before moving. After they were sure Remy wasn't going to do anything, they approached Rogue, joining her in the center of the gym.
Rogue touched each of their shoulders, positioning them on either side of her. After she did that, she turned her attention back on to the main group of thieves crowded around.
"Now, Eti, Emil, both of ya's set somethin' up for meh last night which ah wasn't expectin'. It was Remy's idea, but you two just gave it that extra humph last night. Made meh meet everyone an' get ta hear some interestin' things," Rogue said, keeping her hands on their shoulders to stop them from moving.
"Ah wanna thank ya's for doin' that for meh. Even though neither of ya's asked if ah was ok with that, ah actually did have a good time last night. All of ya's made it interestin' for meh. Really was a group effort an' it was really sweet ta see ya's all comin' together like that just for poor, little meh," Rogue said.
A few of the thieves began to mutter amoung themselves, but Rogue just kept a firm smile on her face.
"But thankin' y'all ain't only why ah brought ya's all here today," Rogue said.
And before either Emil or Etienne knew it, Rogue had hit them both in the gut, knocking the air out of their lungs and slammed their faced down into the mat. When Rogue stood up, her smile was gone and her anger was clear all over her face and body.
"Ah brought y'all here ta warn ya that, if any of ya, an' ah mean any of ya's" Rogue yelled. "try usin' meh, settin' meh up again just for a stupid bet y'all have goin', ah'll make sure ta come straight on after all of ya an' break ya gawd damn teeth! Ah ain't no one's dancin' monkey ta be played with or ta put a bet on! What's goin' on with meh right now dun't concern any of ya! An' mah relationship with Remy is certainly none'a ya business! If y'all wanna mess with meh, then ah'm warnin' ya's right now, y'll live ta regreat it!"
The room was completely silent with only Remy and Henri wearing smirks. This was not exactly how Remy would have handled it, Henri thought. But it was close too it. The only difference was, Rogue was much more upfront with her warning and a lot more aggressive. Henri thought she could almost put Merci or Tante's tempers to shame.
"Do ah make maself clear?" Rogue demanded to know.
When no one answered her but instead, began to look around at each other, Rogue repeated herself only louder.
"Am ah clear?" she questioned.
When Rogue didn't receive an immidiant response, Remy lifted his eyes and brough the card he had twirling around his fingers to a halt. Both his eyes and his card glowed dangerously for all the thieves to see.
The room began to fill with "Yes ma'am"s and "Oui"s.
"Good," Rogue said in response. "Now get the hell out an' stay outta mah way!"
Slowly, the thieves did as she said, none of them looking happy at being sconed and commanded by a girl who only arrived two days ago. When most of the thieves had left, Rogue bent down to be closer to Etienne and Emil who were both moaning.
"Did you boys get all that?" Rogue asked them.
"Oui," Emil muttered out.
Etienne growned, holding his head. He looked pissed as he bared his teeth.
"You god damn bitch!" Etienne cursed out.
Rogue looked at Etienne as if he was a piece of dirt on her shoe.
"Next time ya wanna go incertin' yaself on a girl ya know nothin' about, make sure your willin' ta pay the price," Rogue said, before standing up and walking towards Remy and Henri.
All the anger she had about the situation had now faded and she was actually feeling pretty shy under their gazes. She moved to hold her arm and stroke it for reassurance.
"Think any of em took meh seriously?" Rogue questioned.
"Petite, I be scared t' death of y' right now an' I didn't even make une mise!" Henri said, hiding his hands up in surrender.
Rogue glanced down at her feet, feeling slightly bad about what she just did.
"Y' did fine chérie," Remy said, straightening up.
Her eyes rose to meet his. He was glancing down at her looking quite proud.
"If y' hadn't a said anyt'in', then trust moi, they all would'a been sufferin' for weeks. Still might," Remy added.
At seeing Remy's proud eyes, a little smile graced Rogue's face. She looked away, bashful.
"If only tante been here t' see dat. She be t'inkin' she lookin' at a younger version of herself, only, tougher," Henri said, still finding everything amusing.
At hearing tante's name meantioned, Rogue became painiced.
"Ah ain't gonna get in trouble for this, am ah? Ah mean, is Jean-Luc or Tante gonna be mad at meh for what ah did?" Rogue asked the pair of them.
"Don't y' worry 'bout either'a em," Remy said, taking Rogue's shoulder. "They might say y' shoulda gone t' em, but their warnin's would'a fallen on deaf ears."
"Sadly, it be true," Henri confirmed. "As much as des idiots listen t' de pair of em, they can't stop their gamblin'. In de thieves' nature. Y' puttin' de message across fort et clair. Might not be de end of it, but they been warned they messin' wit' fire."
Hearing Henri and Remy agree on something was somewhat comforting and somewhat terrifying all at the same time.
"Okay," Rogue said, huffing out a breath.
Rogue turned around, seeing that Emil and Etienne were starting to get up off the floor.
"What should we do 'bout them?" Rogue asked.
"Leave em," Remy said, draping an arm around Rogue's shoudlers.
Rogue felt heat rising up in her belly again and she knew there was no alcohol in her system right now bring on that tingling feeling. It made her a bit more terrified about what was actually happening.
"They'll pick themselves up. Right now, time t' enjoy y' afternoon," Remy said, moving her to the gym exit. Henri followed after.
When they were out of the gym, the three stopped with Rogue turning around to face Remy slightly.
"Okay," she said, still taking in what had happened. "Well, now we know that none of the others are gonna interfier, do ya wanna talk? Like ya said we would?"
Rogue had no idea why she felt so nervious about asking Remy that, but it felt as if she was wearing her heart on her sleeve. She watched Remy's resting smirk drop.
"Sorry chérie, but 'fraid there be t'ings I got t' see to. Sure Merci or Henri'll keep y' company while I'm gone," Remy said, glancing at Henri.
Henri didn't look too impressed with his brother, but wasn't surprised.
Rogue, on the other hand, felt as if she was sinking.
"Oh, okay," she said, taking in what Remy was saying. As the rejection hit home and she could no longer look in to his eyes, she became irritated. "Finah," she finally muttered out, spinning on her heel and making a quick break for it. "See ya whenever ya decide ta show your face!" she spat out bitterly.
Remy sighed inwardly as he turned his attention onto his brother.
"Can't win with dat femme," he said.
"Can y' blame her?" Henri asked, raising his eyebrow at his brother.
"Y' can keep her outta trouble till I'm back, non?" Remy asked.
Henri still seemed disappointed, but Remy didn't wait around for an answer as he turned on his own heel and took off in the other direction.
xxxxx
French Translations
Frére - Brother
Oui - Yes
Petite -Small One
Une Mise - A Bet
Fort et clair - Loud and Clear
Chérie -Darling
Femme - Woman
Non - No