-----------------------Remy Essex Lebeau: The Road to Forgiveness-----------------
Disclaimer: I have no rights to any recognizable characters contained with in this Fiction Produced by me, a Fan. All characters are owned by Marvel Comics. I will not make any money off the story you are about to read.
Summary: This is an Alternate Universe where Remy Lebeau is the son of Nathaniel Essex (Mr. Sinister) and Maria Lebeau (Jean Luc Lebeau's sister). This is the story of his life. Some events taken place in the actual Marvel Universe, but for the most part this is no specific timeframe to place this in.
Now on with the Story…
------------------Chapter Two: Breakfast at Xavier's-----------------------------
***Present day…***
Remy Lebeau sat outside the door of Xavier's School for Higher Learning. He was getting no answer at the gate speaker, so he simply led himself to the door in case the Gate was out of Order. It was simple enough to find one of Sinister's labs, download all the files on the Legacy Virus. He knew this wasn't enough to make up for what he did all those years ago, but it was a start. "Save de World, one day atta time, I guess…" Remy muttered as he pressed the doorbell yet…again. He could hear a voice scream from in the house.
"Ah'm coming, woulda ya'll just calm ya'slef dawn!" A sweet southern voice rang from inside seconds before the door opened. Remy's sunglass hidden eyes stared straight into a pair of bright green emeralds. "Can ah help ya Sugah?"
Remy Lebeau could not help but let his mind wander as he concealed eyes drifted up and down the beautiful woman's body. He forcibly had to remind himself why he came here. It was not to pick up a girl; it was to help the world. If only in a small way as getting some research from one evil geneticist, to a seemingly good one he had seen on T.V.
"Bon Jour chere…" Remy started as he took the young ladies hand that stood in the door, and placed a small kiss upon it. It was gloved, but he did not let this dissuade him, after all, theirs no harm in being polite he thought. "I b' looking f'r Doctor McCoy, would he b' available?" He finally asked as he let go of her hand.
"Ah can check, may ah ask who yah are? What yah need tha good Doctor for, and how yah got past the gate?" The young green-eyed lady asked.
"M' names Remy, I….I uh climbed de gate when no one answered de speaker phone, I figured it must b' broken or something. I saw de Doctor on de news 'bout a week ago. He was talking 'bout de Legacy Virus, and I have some information for him." Remy answered. He hadn't thought about explaining how he got past the gate, it was an impulse, maybe one he should have ignored.
'Professah? Can yah hear meh?' the young lady tried to project her thoughts to Professor Xavier, the Headmaster of the School, and the world's most powerful telepath.
'Yes Rogue, what do you need?' the Professor answered her back with his telepathy in her mind.
'There's a man here, wanting tah talk tah Hank, he says he has some information on tha Legacy Virus, but he was able tha jump the gate, that's kind of suspicious, what should ah do?' Rogue projected back to the Professor.
'He's right the in front of you?' the Professor asked via telepathy.
'Yup, right smack dab in front of meh, at tha door.' Rogue answered.
'I can't sense him…let him in, but keep a close eye upon him. I am going to have Hank meet us up in the foyer.' The Professor replied, and then informed Beast of his visitor.
"Why doncha follow meh, sugar, Ah'll go give Hank a call." Rogue said to Remy, and allowed him to enter the mansion.
"Chere, y' t'ink I could have a name t' call y' by?" Remy asked, he was a little confused by the thirty seconds of silence. But he brushed it off to her debating whether or not to allow him in.
"Rogue, everyone calls meh Rogue." Rogue replied.
"Dat's a beautiful name chere." Remy said as they entered the foyer. Rogue blushed at his comment, than quickly realized that she would have to fake buzz Hank, or their mysterious guest might become a little suspicious. She did so, and moments later, Professor Xavier and Beast entered the foyer.
"Professor, Hank this is Remy." Rogue said to the newly arrived duo.
"Hello sir, I am Dr. McCoy, and this is the headmaster of the school, Professor Xavier. I am told you have some information on the Legacy Virus." Hank said as he extended his hand to Remy.
"Bon Jour Doctor…" Remy then turned his head to the Professor and extended his hand. Professor Xavier took his hand and noticed their guest oozed courtesy and politeness. Even with the young man standing right in front of him, the Professor could barely acknowledge his mind. "And Good Morning Professor. Oui, I do have some research dat I t'ought may help y' on y'r studies. I saw y' on de news, and figured maybe y' could put dis to good use." Remy said as he produced several disks from his trench coat. He handed them to Hank. "Dat's all I came here f'r. I hope it helps." Remy said as he began to turn around.
"Wait Remy, you haven't said to whom the research is from, and who I might confer with on these findings, let alone if this research does lead to a cure or a breakthrough of some kind, who I might credit for it." Hank said, he knew that the Professor wanted to learn a little more about the young man, who was able to shield himself so well. He was also unsure of what he could make of what ever research the young man brought to him.
"Non, de man wouldn't want any credit, and y' better off not knowing him. I got de information from him, cause I knew he didn' care f'r finding a cure. Anyways, it was a long trip here, and I haven't eaten yet, so I t'ink I will bid y' farewell." Remy said very quickly. He didn't want these people involved with Sinister. Hell he wished he had never been involved with Sinister.
"Remy, if you are hungry, maybe I could offer you breakfast. You have brought one of my students something that may help his own research, the least I can do is offer you a meal." The Professor interjected. He was trying anything he could to keep the young man here. But yet he was unsure how to approach the young man about his remarkable mental shields. 'Hank, why don't you go take a look at what our young guest has brought, maybe if you have questions about the research, we might be able to persuade him to give us the name of the geneticist who did that research.' The professor said telepathically to Hank.
"Well Remy, it was a pleasure to meet you, and I thank you for this gracious gift. I surely hope there is something here I will be able to use." Hank said while shaking Remy's hand once again.
"No need to t'ank m' yet. Y' don' know if dere is anyt'ing dere y' can use." Remy said, Hank then proceeded to his lab.
"Remy why don't you follow me to the dining room. Rogue do you think you could cook something up for him." The Professor said.
"Non, dere be no need for de fille t' trouble herself…" Remy started, but was interrupted by Rogue.
"Now sugah, cooking ya'll something tah eat would be mah pleasure." Rogue said very sweetly to Remy. The professor had said something via telepathy about trying to keep him here a little longer, so of course she put on her best southern belle act.
With that said the Professor and Remy proceeded to the dining room, and Rogue took off to the kitchen. She was silently cursing her luck; she had just finished cleaning up from breakfast. Now she would have to dirty even more dishes.
"Do you have a last name Remy?" The professor asked trying to make small talk.
"Oui, de name be Remy Lebeau. Y' have a nice place here, de mansion seems t' be early ninetieth century, but renovated very nicely." Remy said as he took in his surroundings. He now sat back in a very comfortable chair, he had one leg strewn up over the arm of the chair and slouched into it very nicely.
"Why yes it is, do you have a fondness for architecture?" The Professor asked. The Professor also noted that Remy had taken on a more relaxed composure to his surroundings, still very polite and his shields didn't falter one bit, but seemed more at ease. Towards they end of their conversation in the foyer, Xavier had noted that Remy seemed to have tensed up. He also noted that Remy had yet to take off his sunglasses. He wondered why. When he was about to ask, Rogue entered with Remy's breakfast.
"Here yah go sugah, I hope yah enjoy it." Rogue said, she then took a seat down beside the Professor, she knew the suspicions that the Professor and Hank were having about the young man, mainly cause she herself had them.
"Merci Rogue, it smells delicious, I'm sure t' enjoy it." Remy said as he began to eat.
"Sugah, why do yah keep your sunglasses on? Yah know when ah was growing up, mah momma taught me that was rude." Rogue said, she herself was curious, was he trying to hide something? She thought to herself.
"I beg y'r pardon chere, but m' eyes, dey be very sensitive to light." Remy answered. With that question he began to feel very nervous again. Why did he have to stay for breakfast he thought, why didn't he just mail the disks?
"Ah was wondering, tha gate is pretty high up, how were ya'll able to climb it?" Rogue asked, this particular bit of information was really annoying her. The Professor also wondered this, if the young man had meant them harm, why would he be so obvious about it by scaling their gates? And what were with the young man's mental shields, close to a half an hour now he had been examining them.
"Remy grew up in de bayou, trees dere much taller den de gates y' got out front; I'm very sorry if m' climbin' dem upset y', but I wanted t' make sure Dr. McCoy got de disks." Remy said, he mentally kicked himself again. What had come over him this morning?
"No harm Remy, you didn't steel anything, and I well make a note of it to have the Gate Speaker checked out." The Professor answered him, he once again could see the tenseness take over the young man's body, especially at the mention of stealing. He didn't want to scare him off before Beast had had a chance to look over some of those disks.
"Tha Bayou, den dat accent's Cajun?" Rogue asked, she had decided to be a little less interrogative, and maybe try some friendly small talk. She also could sense his tenseness. She could see in the way he was holding himself that he was nervous. She didn't want to be the reason, if he decided to bolt.
"Oui, born and raised in Nawlins. And y'r accent, I detect something from de south, non?" Remy asked raising an eyebrow at her, and casting her his awards winning, charm spreading smile. He noticed Rogue blushed at his wink, 'he still had it' he thought, and 'all de femmes fall f'r m' smile.'
"Yah, born just off the river in Mississippi…" Rogue started to respond but was interrupted by Remy who had place a very cute smirk onto his face. She fought her blushing down again. 'This man's a stranger, I shouldn't be checking him out…until I know a little more about him...'
"Huh, I knew y' be a cute lil Mississippi River Rat." Remy said as he finished the breakfast that Rogue had prepared. "I was right, dat was a delicious breakfast. Merci."
"No problem, Ah'm glad yah enjoyed it." Rogue said with a smile and stood to collect the dirty dishes.
'Professor, after looking at some of the information contained on these disks, I am quite excited, but yet quite confused.' Hank McCoy projected towards Professor Xavier. He was thankful that the Professor always kept his mind open to his projections. It always made for quick communication.
'How so Hank?' the Professor asked back in telepathy.
'Well, so far, I have a complete diagnostic on the Legacy Virus in it's pure form. I mean, that's what it's labeled as, and as far as I can tell this is how it's pure form should look. But what confuses me, and scares me even, is in the notes under this diagnostic; it lists Stryfe as the person who this sample was received from. Whoever this young man got these disks from, has had contact with Stryfe before his death, also this geneticist knew who Stryfe was, I keep thinking back to Remy saying this Doctor didn't care about finding a cure. I think it's imperative we find out whose research this is!' Hank said to the Professor rather quickly.
The Professor nodded to himself, Remy had just started to stand once the Professor finished his telepathic conversation with Hank, he knew he would have to come straight out and ask, this young man may have had contact with Stryfe himself, one of the X-Men's mostly deadly enemies. He felt he needed to notify Remy of what kind of danger he may be in, associating with people such as this.
"Y' t'ink I could use de bathroom Professor?" Remy asked before the professor could say anything.
***The X-Mansion Hangar***
The Blackbird had just landed in the hangar and several X-men exited it. First came Phoenix and Cyclops, they looked haggard and tired. Followed closely by Archangel and Psycloke also looking quite tired. Iceman trailed after them, closely, they all turned around to face the Blackbird's exit ramp. Sabretooth stumbled down the ramp, his hands locked in full metal cuffs that covered his deadly claws.
"Watch it Runt! I can walk on my own you know!" Sabretooth growled back to Wolverine who had shoved him down the ramp.
"Shut Up Tooth, you think you can terrorize a small town, and I ain't gonna come bust ya up. Doubtful old man." Wolverine growled back. Sabretooth whipped around to face him as Wolverine went to poke him in the back. Sabretooth caught Wolverine's arm in his own and wrapped his cuffed hands around it, before the other X-Men could react, Sabretooth had used his own body weight to throw Wolverine at Iceman, Archangel and Psycloke, who conveniently stood very close together.
Almost on instinct, Iceman iced up and went to blast Sabretooth, Sabretooth leaped out of the way and the ice blast hit Phoenix. Wolverine collided with Archangel, Psycloke and Iceman seconds latter, dazing the three of them and knocking Wolverine unconscious. Cyclops shot one of his eye beams at Sabretooth; Sabretooth spun and raised his cuffs into the beam. This shattered his cuffs and freed his claws. Knowing full well if he stayed to fight again he would be surely captured. He made a full sprint for the door marked mansion.
Iceman was the first of the other four up, he was thrown clear of Wolverine, Archangel and Psycloke, and he glanced over at his teammates. It seemed Wolverine had been temporarily knocked out, pinning Archangel and Psycloke to the ground underneath his heavy body, which contained an adamantium laced skeleton. Cyclops was busy trying to free his wife Phoenix from Iceman's misaimed ice prison. Iceman ice slided his way to the door just before Sabretooth got there. In an attempt to stop the vicious monster, he blocked the way and was bout to ice the door, but Sabretooth slashed Iceman's side, shattering it. Iceman fell to the ground clutching his side. Even though he was in his ice form, it still hurt. Sabretooth bounded through the now unguarded door.
***Back in the Mansion's Dining Room***
Rogue had returned to the dining room just after Xavier had told Remy where the restroom was. She was sitting next to Xavier, eagerly anticipating Remy's return. He was a mystery and wanted to know more. Then a strong psychic cry could be heard from Betsy Braddock a.k.a. Psycloke.
"Beast! Rogue! Prof. X! Sabretooth is loose in the mansion. Wolverine is unconscious, Bobby's side is shattered, he's trapped in ice form, and Jean is de-thawing. Cyclops and Archangel our en route behind him, but I'm afraid my leg is broke from when Logan landed on me. Be ready!"
Rogue got up and readied for battle, the Professor started to back his chair away from the door closest to the Hangar, but before either of them could react, Sabretooth leapt through the door and grabbed the Professor before he landed. Beast, Cyclops and Archangel all came charging in and stopped abruptly next to the spot that Rogue was floating above. They all were poised ready for battle at the sight of Sabretooth holding their mentor up in the air by the back of his throat.
"Not one step X-men, or the Prof dies!" Sabretooth growled with the sound of bloodlust in his voice.
"Sabretooth, if you do anything to him, there will be a hole in your chest courtesy of my eyebeams!" Cyclops threatened.
"Come on kitty-cat, why donchya take on someone more ya'll league." Rogue shouted from the spot where she floated.
'Professor! Can't you shut his mind down!' Hank projected towards the Professor.
'I can't…it's gone feral, theirs nothing I can do!' the Professor replied through his telepathy sounding so helpless.
Sabretooth's nose rose to the air as a scent he had not smelled in a long time wafted upon his nostrils. Than his ears perked up at the sound of something off to his left, he turned his head slowly making sure not to take his eyes of the X-Men. He caught glimpse of the person the scent belonged to. It belonged to a certain Cajun that he had wanted to gut for a long time. "Lebeau! Well, isn't this my lucky day!" he growled almost happily.
"I take it dis ain't no ordinary school, hehn Professor?" Remy said as he glared through his glasses at Sabretooth. Rogue, Professor Xavier and Beast all wondered where this was going, as the other two X-Men that were in the room wondered who this young man was. "Been long time Tooth, non?" He said as he casually leaned against the doorframe.
"Yeah pup it has! Almost three years, you have no idea how good it is to see your ugly face. Now lose those damn glasses and look me in the eyes for once!" Sabretooth said whilst his mouth salivated.
"Good t' see m'? Den I guess de pleasure b' all y'rs…" Remy said as he brought his hands up to his sunglasses and removed then. His eerie crimson red on black velvet eyes glowed slightly in the room. Gasps could be heard from the direction of the X-Men. "Why don' y' let de old man go, and we can dance, eh Tooth?"
"I'll kill you, Cajun don't you realize it yet?" Sabretooth said as his face twisted into an evil smile.
"Oui, maybe…but if I kill y' den justice be served, if y' kill m', justice still b'ing served." Remy said nonchalantly.
"You still hung up on those tunnels boy. You know he was irate after he returned from Seattle." Sabretooth said with a hint of joy in his voice.
"Y' still working f'r de mad man? Tell m' Creed…y' still his lackey?" Remy asked in a crude way.
"Tell me Lebeau, where you been the past three years? Your father's been worried." Creed asked with a vicious laugh.
"Dat man isn't m' father, and y' murder dem! We murdered dem! De tunnels haunt m' t' dis day. Y' gonna pay now Creed!" Remy spun around quickly loosing his trench coat in the process, unleashing three flaming cards aimed at the floor beneath his feet and extending a six foot adamantium bo staff in the process.
The cards struck the floor before Sabretooth, this through Sabretooth back, who in turned released his grip on the Professor. Rogue flew quickly and caught him; she brought him back behind the X-Men. Sabretooth stood to stare at Remy, who now stood offensively with one hand holding his adamantium staff slanted behind his back, and his other hand holding three more flaming cards.
The X-men were surprised by the sudden turn of events, quickly trying to figure out what was happening. What tunnels were they referring to? Was this some kind of set up, and how should we defuse the situation?
Sabretooth snarled at Remy. "Pup, your gonna bleed for that! I'm gonna gut you long and hard then send your carcass back to Sinister."
"Y' t'ink y'r ready to play wit Gambit, mon ami? Cuz Gambit definitely ready t' play wit y'!" Gambit said with a tone that could be considered as deadly serious, but with a hint of suaveness.
To Be Continued…
A/N: Thanks for all those who reviewed. I was going to update my X-Men Evolution Fic: Redeeming Myself, but I decided in updating this one today, mainly because of the amount of reviews I got in such a short time. I hope that this chapter didn't let anyone down. It wasn't as long as the last one, that's just the way chapters come out sometimes. If you like this fic, then I encourage you to read the one I mentioned above, and review there to. In the next Chapter, you can look forward to a slam down fight between Sabretooth and Gambit, I just love these two fighting. I've got at least the next two chapters planned out, and after that I guess we'll have to see how everyone liked it, if I extend it past there. Thanks for the reviews in advance on this chapter.
Now for those that reviewed Chapter One:
Trepidatio, Taurus, !!!!, Shawnee: Thanks for the positive comments. It was much appreciated.
Bronny: I'm glad you caught on that I was working towards a point in the future, I've had that idea in my head for awhile, I hoped that if people caught on to what I was doing, they'd enjoy the back story of Remy Essex Lebeau a little more. The point of the story is pretty much in the title; this is Gambit's story, and his journey towards forgiveness. I'll leave you with one thought though; whose forgiveness lies at the end of this road?
Dark Elf: This chapter wasn't as long as the last, and this is probably what the length of the remaining chapters will be. Well he met Rogue, Professor, and Beast in this chapter, but they wasn't that much drama their, this chapter was mainly a lead in to the next.
Ishandahalf: I'm not sure how much into the romance part I am going to go for the first part of this story, but I'll have you know, I never would or could write anything but Remy/Rogue. If you could see my wall, you'd see the comic X-Treme X-men X-Pose #2 in a nice little comic frame. It has a cover of Gambit and Rogue almost kissing if you don't know. That's the copy I specifically bought to display. It replaced Uncanny X-men #385 alt cover, which was a Rogue/Gambit cover, and that one replaced Gambit #16, which held Gambit and Rogue kissing, (btw I hate that issue, its where Rogue and Gambit broke up) And that one replaced X-Men #24, the first classic Rogue/Gambit cover in my opinion. But you just wait for Chapter Nine of Redeeming Myself which should be up late Wednesday night if I get ambitious, but definitely Thursday night if you want Rogue/Remy moments to make your heart swell.
