Disclaimer: I've got a plan – I'll stalk Stan Lee, manage to save his life somehow, and he'll hand over the rights to the X-Men as proof of his undying gratitude. But seeing as said plan hasn't been implemented yet, I still don't own them. :-(
A/N: squeal! Oooh, yet more and more fun reviews! You're all too kind. I swear, reading them all is like some new form of Prozac or something, it makes me SO happy! Maybe I should market it… Hmm… But yeah, more gold stars to all my reviewers! Actually, maybe purple for variety. Advance apologies if I miss anybody!
The Rogue Cajun, Michelle, Miz Lynn, Araya-Michiru, Krys Xanthina, bacon the pig, AJ, Jukebox, just me, & marie lebeau – Thanks! I'm getting such an ego boost from all these compliments, I love it!
Caliente – Not just original, but "HELLA" orginal, eh? Thanks! I wanted to do something a wee bit different from the fics already out there. Plus, plagiarism would be a bad thing.
heartsyhawk – Methinks you should lay off the Tylenol. Hey, don't bash socks, I love socks! Well, pretty ones, that is. Anyhoo, I don't think Belle will be turning into any sort of rodent in this fic. But you can always hope.
tone, Lady Amaya, & the tiny one – I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you. Just keep reading, all your questions will be answered! Eventually.
btch – Sorry if you find the French translations distracting. I was debating in what format to stick them in, and this just seemed the best way. It's a little pet peeve of mine when they're at the bottom, cuz then you've gotta read through the rest of the chapter without knowing what was said and then you forget by the time you're at the bottom, and you've gotta go back and find it, and it's a whole big hassle. Sorry for the rant, that's just my humble opinion. But thanks for the props!
Bluefireburns65 – Ooh, thanks for complimenting my accents! My Word document was full of those damn red lines for misspelled words, it was SO annoying! Anyhoo, to answer your question, I'm pretty much going for a new scenario, however, there WILL be a familiar comic event in later chapters - just tweaked a bit for even more drama. So keep reading and you'll find out what it is!
Krac – I won't tell you who the Shadow is, just like you wouldn't tell me who dies in the Cypher Arc! You'll have to keep reading. And you're asking if there'll be Romy? What kind of a question is that?! I mean, come on! It's ME! So what do you think? It's practically impossible for me to read anything without Romy, I think it'd be a sign of the Apocalypse if I didn't write any. With that said, there better be ridiculous amounts of Romy in your fic, you promised!
SSJ Tokya – Glad you're hooked. But what's this, "screw Romy"?! Sacrilige! You really don't wanna talk like that around me… It might lead to your untimely death. Just so ya know. ;-) And oh, the answer to your question about why Remy doesn't run away is in this chapter. Read on!
Rogue77 – Miss Crack Bunny, eh? Interesting. I'm partial to the Crack Monger, mainly cuz I like saying 'monger'. Or maybe the Crack Mistress, that sounds sexy. Although zoom is quite fun. Words are just great, aren't they?
Rogue4787 – As far as I know, the Shadow/Ghost idea came from my twisted little mind. If it is from the comics, it's a freaky coincidence. cue the Twilight Zone music!
mAd RoGuE – "Mighty Ishandahalf"? I LOVE YOU! Pay attention oh readers of mine, the way to get through to my heart is with praise like this! Thanks! ;-)
Lid'l Rogue – Yes, Valentine's Day IS on Feb. 14th, but I purposely titled it the 15th to show the aftermath of Valentine's, and also it's when Remy's big heist went down (see chapter 1). Make sense?
Cloud of Blood - waves childishly back to you Hi! You're fun, I like waving like an idiot! Not that you're an idiot. I really just shouldn't talk. Or type, for that matter. I'll just shut up now. Anyhoo, thanks for the multiple compliments!
Calliann – Why is everybody doubting that I'll put Rogue in the fic? I'll refer you back to Krac's response for the answer to that. Ahh, stop pouting, you're killing me! But thanks for the Nobel Prize, that's going up on my wall!
Aro – Cajun goodness indeed, Robin! Geezums? I like that. And to answer your question, as of the exact moment I'm writing this, I've written 3430 reviews. Scary, eh? No wonder everybody's seen me around, I think it'd be impossible to miss me. But maybe I should wear those fun reflective vests just in case. Safety first! ;-)
Goldylokz – Wow, you've got great timing! I was just about to post this chapter when your review came through, and since I love you, I decided to stick your response in. Thanks for your compliments! And of course you can have a role in my fic, you put me in yours and I'm eternally grateful! It's quite a tiny role (there really aren't a lot of parts in this fic) and it's in quite a few chapters, so you'll have to wait a while. Oh well, at least that's a good way to make sure you'll keep reading! Bwa ha ha! Oh, I could use a description of what you look like though. Feel free to write me, mayhaps in the next review? Oh yeah, I'm not letting you off the hook now! I'll be waiting for more reviews from you! ;-)
Well, the responses are done. I'm worried that one day they'll end up longer than the chapter! Eep. Well, maybe if we ignore the problem it'll go away. Now it's chapter reading time - ahoy! By the way, I stuck in a tiny little homage to some great fics. See if you can find it!
February Fifteenth
Chapter Three – Hope
Hope is a funny thing. When you have it, it's a wonderful thing that you put all of your faith into; but it can end up disappointing you. Much the same happened to Remy LeBeau over the past few weeks. After the Guild meeting where it was decided that they would call for the help of the mysterious thief (whatever his name may be), Remy gained some hope. As small as it was, it was still there; just the fact that somebody might exist that could get him out of his predicament got Remy through each day. But day after day of still no word from the thief once again robbed him of it. Maybe hope was a better thief than even Remy could be…
It was February twelfth. Only two days until the wedding, and Remy was well aware of every second that passed by, for it was one second closer to his fate. 'My doom is mo' like it,' he bitterly thought. His faith that L'ombre would show up had now disappeared. 'Hell, right now Remy don' care if de Easter Bunny shows up, if he can just stop de weddin'.'
Remy didn't know what to do. He just couldn't go through with this, tying himself to a woman he didn't love. But he couldn't back out of the wedding either; if he did, the animosity between the Guilds would continue, and he would be signing his family's death warrant. Actually, that was being rather optimistic. If he backed out of the wedding he probably wouldn't even live to see his family assassinated, because his lovely bride would most likely kill him first.
Ahh, Belladonna. The bane of his existence. He was sitting in his room, trying to write his wedding vows to her, but didn't seem able to scratch even one word onto the paper. She had already read her vows to him, full of undying and unwavering love and commitment. Truth be told, they had almost made him laugh. 'Even mo' clichés.'
He had never once told Belle that he loved her. Sure, she told it to him all the time. He always replied with a cocky "How could y' not?" or an "I know", complete with his trademark smirk. For more serious scenarios he answered with a "Me too", but Remy took great care never to speak the L-word. He wouldn't, and he couldn't. He knew love was a serious thing, and would treat it as such. As irrational as it was, he was afraid to say it to Belle; afraid it would give her false hope, afraid it would create something that wasn't there between them, but most of all, afraid that it might come true. He would say he loved somebody when he found them.
'Dere lies de problem. Find y' girl, but y' can' do anyt'in' 'bout it cause y' gettin' married. Get married, but den y' can' find y' girl. Stuck b'tween a rock an' a hard place, Remy. Nice goin'.'
These self-pitying thoughts weren't doing him any good; he had wedding vows to write. Remy sat and stared at the paper for another half an hour, but still couldn't write anything.
'Damn, Remy, y' be de King o' Hearts, and y' can' even bullshit any damn romantic lines? Y' losin' y' touch,' he chastised himself. He knew why though; he had hoped his wedding vows would be from the heart, to a woman he actually loved. He couldn't bring himself to write down fake ones.
'If y' can' even write de fake vows, how y' expect t' say dem at de weddin'?' he asked himself. 'Too bad y' can' get someone else t' do it fo' y'.' Slowly his words began to sink in, and Remy got an idea.
Getting up, he left his room and moved down the hall toward his sister-in-law's bedroom. Silently sneaking in, he made his way over to her bookshelf. If Mercy caught him in here she would kill him, but he wasn't known as the Gambit for nothing. His eyes skimmed over the books, but didn't find what he was looking for. Where were they? They had to be here… Wait. One section of books had less dust in front of it than the others. Maybe…
Reaching for one of the them, he found that the book didn't budge. Knocking on it, Remy heard a slight echo. Smirking, he slid the section out, revealing it to be nothing but a hollow shell that hid quite precious contents. 'Jackpot.'
Romance novels. Remy couldn't believe that Mercy of all women would read them, but here they were, a rather large collection too. Chuckling, he began to skim through them. Well, he could understand why she went to such lengths to hide them, because he would definitely tease her endlessly about this. Finally, he found one that looked promising, by some author named St. John Allerdyce. Sticking it in his trench coat, he replaced the façade of books and went back to his room.
Back at his desk, he flipped through the pages and wrote down various romantic lines the hero spewed out. His vows were done in record time. 'Dis John fellow must be crazy t' write dis crap, but Remy definitely owe him one.'
Walking back to replace the book, Mercy surprised him by leaving her bedroom right before he was about to turn the doorknob. Narrowing her eyes suspiciously at him, she asked, "Can I help y' wit' somet'in?"
"No, Remy jus' lookin' fo' Henri, seein' if he was in de room, dat's all," Remy quickly lied, hoping for once that Mercy would buy it. She seemed to be immune to his charms and smiles, and it unnerved him to no end.
"Den what's dat y' holdin' behind y' back?" she questioned, crossing her arms.
Remy gulped, but gave the most charming grin he could muster. "Nothin'."
She just raised a doubting eyebrow and placed her hand out in front of him.
Sighing, Remy handed over the romance novel. "Remy found it in de livin' room, figured it mus' be yours," he tried as a desperate last resort, knowing she probably wouldn't believe him.
To his surprise, she laughed. "Oh Remy, y' don' have t' lie t' me!"
"Remy don'?" he asked cautiously, unsure of what creature might have possessed Mercy and caused her not to severely maim him.
"Y' don' have t' be ashamed o' readin' dese! I always t'ought y' did, I knew y' couldn' come up wit' all dose cheesy lines yo'self, but I never t'ought I'd catch y'!"
"Quoi?! (What?!)" Remy didn't know whether to be insulted or embarrassed. "Mercy, really, Remy don' read dose, he just need it fo' somet'in', now he's returnin' it."
"Oh, hush up. It's nice t' see a man finally embracin' his feminine side. Y' brother jus' makes fun o' me fo' readin' dem, y' know dat? Can y' believe it?" she rambled as she caught his arm and dragged him over to the bookshelf.
"Remy don' have a feminine side! He's all man!"
Getting out her collection, she excitedly started recommending her favourites to Remy. "Read dis one, it's my favourite, set in medieval times, o' dis one's good too, 'bout a couple o' small town friends who realize dey have feelin's fo' each other but den de girl goes missin', it's a real sad one, oh, y'd prob'ly like dis one, 'bout two kids dat try t' rekindle de spark dat happened when dey first met in a bus station years earlier…"
Remy had already tuned her out, internally groaning. 'What Remy do t' deserve dis?'
Luckily, Henri chose that moment to run in. "Remy! We finally got word - de t'ief's on his way."
Hope is a funny thing. Even if it fades away, it can always be replenished, which is exactly what Henri's words caused to happen in Remy. He stood still for a moment, not able to process the words. Then the hope that he thought had gone began to resurge through him, and he ran past Henri towards the meeting room. As his brother followed him, he couldn't resist yelling, "I told y' he existed!"
Bursting in through the door, Remy managed to stop himself before running into the table. "What happened?" he asked his father, already sitting down surrounded by the elders.
"We got word from' de t'ief, mon fils (my son)," replied Jean-Luc.
"Oui, Remy already know dat, qu'est-ce qu'il a dit? (what did he say?)" Remy demanded impatiently.
"Patience, Remy. We don' know much, jus' dat he'll be here tonight. All we can do it sit an' wait."
Waiting. Remy had done enough of that lately, patience was not his strong suit. But this was definitely something worth waiting for, so he took a seat. As he looked around, he noticed that the assembly seemed very tense, with a few members missing.
"What's goin' on?" he inquired. "Why everyone look so worried? Where's Lapin? T'ought he'd wanna rub in de fact dat he was right, maybe ask de t'ief his real name…"
"Lapin's gettin' looked after by Tante Mattie, he was found unconscious in an alley. He'll be fine. Looks like de Assassins be gettin' some kicks while dey still can. De others are out front, waitin' fo' de t'ief. Dey'll escort him in when he gets here."
With that said, the waiting began. Dusk fell, but Remy was too stressed to even think about being bored; he kept wondering if the thief really would be able to help him. He hoped so; this was his last chance, it was really down to the wire now. He had never been overly religious, but he sent out a silent prayer anyway, hoping someone or something out there would hear him.
'Please, let some good come o' dis… Remy really be needin' a miracle right 'bout now.'
Hours passed. Finally one of the elders slammed his hand down on the table and shouted, "He ain't gonna show! We been duped!"
Jean-Luc frowned. "We keep waitin'. He'll be here."
Remy opened his mouth to agree his father, but a flicker of movement in the shadows by the door caught his attention. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him, or maybe he was just seeing what he wanted to see, but he could have sworn that there was somebody there.
"Remy don' t'ink we need t' do dat," he told the Guild Master. Then turning towards the doorway, he spoke. "Y' can come out now, mon ami (my friend)."
At his call a figure stepped out from the darkness, causing Remy to nearly fall out of his chair in shock. 'Merde...'
Bwa ha ha ha ha! How's that for a cliffhanger? Wow, that was fun, I'm definitely gonna be doing that more often.
You wanna find out who the thief is? Do ya? Really? Well, come back for the next chapter! Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel! Well, not really…
So. Hoped you liked it! This was a fun chapter to write, especially the parts between Remy and Mercy. And yeah, I just had to mention St. John in my fic – I love him and since I don't have a place for him anywhere else, I just thought I'd give him a little cameo. Tee hee hee.
The next chapter should be up in a few days, so I'll hope to see you back here!
Kisses,
ish
