Usual: Characters? NOT MINE. Money? NONE BEING MADE. Sheesh. This is going to be written (assuming I continue it) in short Noir style installments. I know, different from my usual angstfic over in comicverse, but I need a change. My first attempt at Movieverse. Gotta love the liberty one can take with ages. :) It's an implied Jubilee/Remy pairing, if you don't like it, buzz off.

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Dealing in Hellfire
a Jeanne M. production





The street is dark

It's not particularly important that the street is dark, it is no more or less menacing than any other street. However, the fact remains that the street is dark, and so we shall begin our story that way.

Wind chases leaves around streetlights and under cars, an almost electrical charge is in the air. Something is.......wrong. Very wrong. And then he sees her.

A small girl, no older than fourteen or fifteen, lying on the pavement. Half under a car, silver earing gleaming in the dim light. Blood pooling to trickle down into the gutter grate. Short dark hair fanning out behind her like a fashion shoot. Slender. Asian. Very dead. One slash mark down the side of her face....this is not a coincidence. She was placed here. He dips one finger in the blood. Fresh. The bastard is close, probably watching.

"Heh. A little young to be Jubilee. Getting sentimental in your old age? Where is she, Creed?" His voice is soft, he knows the man will hear it. "She hasn't been gone that long, where did you take her? How did you take her?" He caresses the hair of the dead girl. Eyes under lowered lashes survey the surrounding area. "Why is it you take Remy's girl, eh Creed?"

"I told him to." The woman under the light is tall, black hair cascading down her back. She was not there before. "Mr LeBeau, an honor."

"Where's the p'tite?" The card slides from hand to hand, fingers caressing the edges. "Forgive my lack of manners, but dis boy is a bit distracted." A second card joins the first. "And, well, we don't want me to get distracted an' lose control, oui?"

"Direct. Good. May I say I....regret....how my employer decided to go about getting your attention, but it was felt to be the only way you would accept. I represent a very powerful group of people, Mr LeBeau. And whatever they want, they get. They would like you to do a little job for them. They decided that the girl would be the best bargaining tool since your unfortunate enrollment at Xavier's. We also run a similar school for the gifted, and we had intended upon approaching both you and Jubilation. I assure you, Ms. Lee is unharmed."

"Der be better ways of getting my attention, mademoiselle.....?"

"Selene. You may call me Selene, Mr LeBeau."

"Mademoiselle Selene. An' enough wit de Mr LeBeau. That be my poppa. De name is Gambit."

"Very well, Gambit." The amusement in her voice makes him grit his teeth. "Please come with me." A limo silently glides out of the darkness, pulling to a stop right next to her.

"Gambit will follow. He has his own ride."

The woman shrugs. "Suit yourself." She watches him start the motorcycle, the same small smirk on her face. As he pulls alongside the car, she slides into the backseat, driver shutting the door behind her. Her window rolls down just enough to see her eyes mocking him from the black interior. "Now don't get lost, Gambit. This is not a city for children to wander around in alone. You never know what might happen." The car surges foward, and Remy allows himself a few choice words he learned from his uncles.

"Stay cool, p'tite. Remy be on his way." He grins humorlessly at his PDA, a gift from Jubilee. The screen glows for a moment before showing the tracer readings from the limo. "Mademoiselle Selene isn't as smart as she thinks, non?" He taps the keys to send the tracer map and a note to Westchester. "Remy be coming, p'tite. But he no like the odds, so he's bringing backup."