Disclaimer: I borrow them, mould them, fold them, twist them and carefully return them.
Piotr's girl Wanda? That could be an idea, I don't know much about her character, but it's a good idea.
Streetwise Girl This chapter is nice and long, but I'm not sure you'll let it slide...
Serpentine013x No, nothing profound, just me absolutely hating that goatee and killing it because it bugged me. The wonderful rights of an author. ;) Glad you liked 'Shoe polish' too. The sequel to 'if you can't beat them' is slowly forming in my head. You'll have to wait a little while longer.
Willa j. Yeah, indeed the question is 'what did Remy do now?'. You'll find out, right about now. But I'm not sure you're going to like it... :)
Chinxy I'm a relatively fast updater, usually, so here's more.
Star-of-Chaos Your naughty brain cells shall be examined and rehabilitated. Did you say 'just' an apron..........sorry, where was I?
Rogue14 Okay. Here 'tis.
Epona04 Me? Write a book? Wow! Nice to know my writing-skills are appreciated by few if not some. :) I'll be writing more around here.
Ishandahalf It's going to be worse, much worse than mere spontaneous combustion. *evil grin*
Emma Ah, you'll see. Patience is a virtue so I'm told. But you'll see. Right in this chapter everything will be explained.
Dark Elf3 You're going to love this chapter. *tries an angelic smile, fails miserably and settles on an evil grin*
Leann There are many options but I settled for this one. Hope you like it...
Lladred01 I'm skipping dinner, sorry, it just doesn't fit into the story without making it too long. Jambalaya? Sounds tasty, but I can't say I've never eaten it.
Enchantedlight Well, I answered your question already, so all that is left is thanking you for liking and reading this mad story and wishing you good luck with yours!
RoguesHeart Cookies! Flatteries! And a hug! I feel loved. *does stupid little dance that resembles that stupid baby from Ally McBeal way too much*
Shadow Eh…sure. Here you go.
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I skipped a lot of the action once again, sorry. Maybe I should get myself into a 'how do I write a good action scene'-course...
Sorry it took me a bit long, but this had to be perfect. It isn't, but it should have been. Hope it's more or less understandable, though. Do tell me if it isn't.
What's written between these ribbon-like thingies ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ is a recapitulation of what happened in earlier episodes, sometimes with slightly more information than I might have given you at the time.
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A/N You are going to kill me for this.
*******************************************************
The ace of spades
Fissie
'T was a dark and stormy night. Well, it wasn't really stormy and with all the lights coming from the distant city it wasn't very dark either, but Remy was in a broody mood, so dark and stormy the night was.
Dinner had been great. Everyone loved it and burned their tongues with it. Remy had played a friendly poker game with Hank and Logan later that evening and it wasn't until twelve o'clock that they had called it a night. Right now it was two thirty-five and Remy still had not slept yet. Not much point to it now anymore; he had less than an hour left.
Remy sighed. He had started to really like this place in the past few days. He wished he could stay, but he knew that was impossible.
Why did his memory have to come back to him? He would've been fine and blissfully ignorant, but no, he had to go and remember everything.
~De card.~ That stupid card he had flipped at Pyro all those days ago.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
''Okay, so you're not coming with me.'' Pyro said. ''Not a very bright idea if you ask me,'' Remy's glare did not diminish. ''But I see you've made up your mind. Got it. So, what do we do then?''
Remy snorted. ''We? Non. I. I ask de cards.'' He took out a card. His eyes lit up with anger and the ace of spades started glowing. ''Dat answer your question?'' Deep inside, Remy was stunned at his own action. The movement was based completely on instinct and he had no idea why he had done it. But it felt good and threateningly speaking, a burning ace of spades, generally seen as the card of death, was a pretty good one.
Pyro, however, wasn't as startled as Gambit had hoped he would be.
''Yeah.'' He simply nodded and almost...smiled? Of course, for a mad man it might not have been such a weird reaction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was such an impulse movement. He really had thought it to be a death-threat. Remy let out a small bitter laugh. His instincts knew what he had to do even before he himself had remembered it.
The following days, Remy had started remembering more and more of his past. Everything came back to him. Belle, their kiss, their secret meetings, the dance, Julien, the murder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remy lay on the bed, not being able to sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about everything he remembered about the Thieves and Assassins. There was something important missing. The dance, him being kicked out. What was he missing out on?
''Forgive m', chere.'' The pain in his voice was very evident. He knew this was the last time he would sneak into her room.
''I can't.'' Tears filled her eyes.
''Please.''
''Don', Remy. I can't forgive y'. You know that.''
''Yah. I know where your loyalties gotta be.'' He sounded harsher than he meant to. ''But where is your heart?''
''I...I don't know. Where's yours?''
''Dead.'' He grabbed his duffel and left. Whatever came next was not for him to decide. He left not ever to come back. Fate was not being kind to him...His fate...
~Damn.~ The pieces of his past were starting to fall into place and Remy did not enjoy the places they were falling in to.
He remembered what he had overheard his father and the other Thieves talk about that morning before he had to leave forever. He had heard every single word of their conversation. Hate build up in him as he remembered their little tête-à-tête.
''We owe him.'' Said one voice, very clear and very upset.
''We're sendin' him a mutie. He'll be pleased and leave _us_ be.'' Said another voice that had already made up its mind about what they had to do with Jean-Luc's son.
Remy stood behind the doors, eavesdropping on the conversation. He cringed inwardly; he knew exactly whom the man was that they were talking about.
A man that called himself Magneto had helped and saved the lives of the Thieves in their Guild once, a very long time ago, way before his time. In return for his help, Magneto had requested the Guild to always be prepared to do certain 'jobs' he needed done. Nothing out of the ordinary for the Guild, so far, but Magneto was a dangerous and, frankly, a scary man, which signed the Guild up with insanely difficult and dangerous jobs. Remy knew the Guild was more than eager to get out of the man's debt. Would they really send him away to him?
Behind the doors, the conversation continued.
''Don' call my son dat way.'' Jean-Luc defended. Remy let out a small wry smile. His father would always defend him, no matter what the accusation was.
But the men he was talking to did not agree with him one bit. ''He's not y'r son, Jean-Luc. He's a freak, a street rat y' took in. An' clearly unworthy o' the name LeBeau.'' Remy cringed at the words. Was he truly unworthy? He had killed, he had put his family to shame and he had caused the feud between the Guilds to intensify again. He felt a flash of pain in his chest. He probably was unworthy.
''You are out of your League, Pierre. Do not say that.'' The pain and anger in Jean-Luc's voice was evident. Remy let out a small, relieved sigh. At least his father didn't believe he was unworthy.
''Remy killed Julien.'' The other men said, putting emphasis on every word. ''Y' can' deny dat an' y' know it. De Assassins want blood.''
''Yah. By sendin' Remy away, we solve two problems in one. Bot' de Assassins an' Magneto will be pleased, Jean-Luc. It's a good solution. An' widout bloodshed, which seems t' be so very important t' you.'' Pierre added to convince the stubborn Guild Patriarch.
''Magneto has no conscience. I will not send my son to him.'' Jean-Luc was getting exasperated.
A third man that had not spoken before spoke a few very clear words. ''LeBeau, you have no choice.''
Pierre spoke up again. ''Yah. Dat mad man Magneto has de power t' eradicate us, we've been in his debt too long.''
A silence fell. Remy knew that was not a good sign, it meant Jean-Luc was giving in. ''It almost sounds like you've been searching for a reason to send Remy away.'' His father tried one last time.
One of the men gave a short humorless snort. ''You're delirious.''
''Probably.'' Jean-Luc spat. Remy knew his father was more than right. He had never truly fit in, he was the mutie, after all.
''Eider he leaves, or de feud will rise to levels it had never reached b'fore.''
Remy heard his father sigh.
That was the end of the conversation. His father had no choice. Remy had to go.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And that was how his family had sent him to Magneto. Self-proclaimed Master of Magnetism. The man he was supposed to call Lord and called Maggie whenever he was not around.
But at that point he still hadn't known exactly what to do. The issue with the card still bothered him.
It wasn't until the next day that things became clearer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remy was standing in front of the Heart of the Loire; one of the biggest diamonds in the world. And it was all his. He had charmed his way into the high society. He had dined with the richest people in Paris. He had danced and talked and smoked cigars. He had sneaked out without anyone noticing and this was his prize. He didn't have much time so he had to proceed quickly. All security had been evaded and all that separated him from that diamond was a large think glass cubicle that protected it. Usually he didn't like using his powers, but he had to leave his trench home, he didn't want to risk being caught and he was feeling lazy. So he traced his finger by the glass in a circular movement. The circle of glass exploded slightly and Remy pushed it in. Gingerly he took the jewel and placed it in a small velvet bag. Style was everything. He was such a slimy little rat. He loved it. He had them all fooled, they thought he was part of the establishment and now...they'd never know who did it.
He heard footsteps closing in; he'd have to get out of there fast. Before making an elegant exit through the window and over the rooftops, he placed an ace of spades, his trademark card, where the jewel used to be. He smiled again; it was perfect. The card gave it that little bit extra. It had style, flair, cockiness, a ha-ha-I-tricked-you-all air to it and arrogant certainty that he would not be caught. He wouldn't be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A ha-ha-I tricked-you-all air to it and arrogant certainty that he would not be caught. Well, he was right about that.
Pyro had known about that trademark. They had been on many jobs together and Remy was very strict about leaving that card behind. Pyro knew.
Pyro knew what Remy had meant by showing him that card even before Remy himself did. It wasn't until after he remembered the 'Heart of the Loire'-heist that Remy knew the reason why he flipped the card.
It didn't matter if Magneto left him on the battlefield to die. It didn't matter that the X-men saved him and helped him. He knew what he was to do and there was nothing he could do about it. ~I got no choice.~ He tried to explain to himself in a shameful attempt to justify his actions. The words Magneto had spoken when he had tried to get away from Magneto once or twice still rang through his ears. ~''Might I remind you that choice, my boy, is not a word in your current vocabulary.''~
He had no choice.
He had remembered his conversation with Magneto that same night he remembered the conversation of his father. It replayed in his mind for the umpteenth time that night. ~''Another of those turns and you will suffer the consequences. Be loyal to me and only me and your precious family will live.''
''Dey paid deir debt; I'm here. Dey owe you nothin' more. Leave dem be.'' Remy had spat.
''Their payment was your loyalty.'' Magneto had said in an infuriating calm voice. ''You see to it that you keep it that way. Always.''~
Remy knew where his loyalty had to be, but right now he'd rather find a nice brick wall to smash his head in.
It was three fifteen in the morning right now. The time had come. Remy sighed and pressed a small button on a small device that he had kept hidden in his hand all night.
Instantaneously he heard a small click coming from the roof. He waited until he heard a loud bang coming from the kitchen. Twenty seconds later Scott's voice rang through the mansion.
''ALL X-MEN REPORT! SECURITY BREACH IN SECTOR 7.4!''
Sighing once more, Remy got out of his room fully dressed already and joined Cyclops, Rouge, Beast and Jean to the ruins that had once been sector 7.4 or, as normal people would call it, the kitchen.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
''Oh, hello. Nice of you to join us.'' Pyro gleefully said when the five mutants arrived.
In an instant Cyclops raised a hand to his visor. ''I don't think so mate. One movement and your little friends here are goners.'' Pyro, Colossus and Sabertooth had Evan, Bobby and Kitty more or less captured. One wrong movement and thing could get very ugly. Ororo was struggling to free herself from under some debris, but the claustrophobia made it virtually impossible. Wolverine, with his metal-based skeleton, had been pinned down by Magneto to one of the few walls that were still standing. In the center of the ruins Magneto was holding the Professor.
This situation definitely qualified as a problem.
Magneto and his Acolytes had caught the X-men by total surprise. They had come in without so much as appearing on the security cameras and without causing any of the alarms to go off. They had found and grabbed the professor and it was only when Pyro had blown up the kitchen that the X-men realized something was wrong. But it was too late. The Professor was in danger and the kitchen was in ruins.
''I believe you have something that I would like destroyed.'' Magneto spoke calm and yet furiously. ''I want it back.''
''Forget it, Magneto!'' Cyclops knew he couldn't move, so he called Jean telepathically. If she could just manage to turn on his visor, a careful aim might just be able to hit Magneto and spare Xavier. It was their only choice right now.
But before he could do anything an explosion struck him off and both Cyclops and Jean got smashed into some rubble.
An explosion?
Cyclops looked at the floor beside him and saw the burning remains of...a card? At the same time he heard Rogue scream confused and angrily. ''Remy?!''
''Name's Gambit, chere. Sorry, mes amis, party's over.'' He spoke smiling as he stepped over some bricks to the side of the Acolytes.
''Welcome back, mate!'' Pyro shouted. His friend had returned, just like he promised when he showed that card to him. Remy's way of letting know he was going to trick the X-men and help Magneto recover that device, whatever it was.
Magneto smiled. The look on the X-men's faced proved that they really had no idea that anything had been going on.
In that moment of distraction, Wolverine was able to free himself. That movement surprised everyone and that is how the fight started. Acolytes against X-men.
While he battled the people that he had enjoyed living with for a short period of time, the thoughts of these past few days replayed in Remy's mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Dat's it.~ Remy knew just what he needed to do. The 'Heart of the Loire'-heist had brought back his memory about the card. He nodded to himself clicked a few times. He took a bite of the banana and glanced at the screen satisfied. ~Oh yes.~ He brought the long drink glass to his mouth and hit the 'enter' button.
At that very point Xavier came in. Remy quickly hit a key and gulped down the glass of vodka. He was able to lie his way out of the situation, helped by the vodka and his strong mental shields.
When they left again, aided by his little bit of charm, his persuasive powers, Remy continued, letting out a mischievous grin. ~Enough play. Let's get t' business: de security system.~
Since he now knew he had to find a way to get the Acolytes inside, he needed to do something about the security system. Xavier's mansion was well guarded and he needed to know every single detail of the system before being able to do anything about it.
After about half an hour of searching and typing and hacking he was certain he knew everything he needed to know. He grinned. Good preparation was half the fun.
He sent an e-mail to Magneto informing him of his advances. The X-men did not suspect a thing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The fight continued and even though Magneto and the Acolytes had the element of surprise, the X-men put up a magnificent fight. However, there was a certain important difference between them: the X-men were fighting for their lives. The Acolytes, on the other hand, were fighting for fun.
For Magneto's recruits, this fight was not to kill the X-men, oh no, not at all, Magneto was too busy fighting another enemy of his. An enemy that had created a device that he needed destroyed. And they would get that device and destroy it, no problem, they had the upper hand in that. This fight with the X-men was just a good way of crushing their moral and was, therefore, worth the fuzz.
Magneto seemed to like this way of work; seeking and destroying. Remy personally preferred the cautious and subtle breaking and entering method, but he wasn't in a place to say anything about it.
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The fight was building up. Remy could see the unbelief and hurt in his enemies' eyes because of his betrayal, but that didn't stop him when he shot a charged card at Rogue, launching her against a wall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rogue's tears stopped after a few minutes but Remy didn't let go. He started mumbling a song. Something French. She didn't understand the words but it sounded nice.
He was starting to hate what he was going to do to these people and especially to this girl. A song played in his mind and he softly sang it to her.
Elle fait ce que bon lui semble
Et ce qui lui chante
Le pouvoir de changer ce qui est mal
Qu'est-ce qu'elle ferait avec moi?
Mais attendez trente secondes
Essaierait-elle de me liberer
Maintenant je sais
Que'll changera le monde,
Que'll changera le monde,
Que'll changera le monde,
Mais elle ne peut pas me changer.
Elle fait naitre la lumiere chaque jour
Elle donne des reves a la nuit
Elle met a nu ses pires cauchemars
Oublie que tu vis avec
Mais attendez trente secondes
Essaierait-elle de me liberer
Maintenant je sais
Que'll changera le monde,
Que'll changera le monde,
Que'll changera le monde,
Mais elle ne peut pas me changer.
Suddenly I can see everything that's wrong, chez moi
But what can I do?
Je suis tout ce que j'ai au monde du tout (* for a more or less accurate translation)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How true that song had been. He couldn't change and not even that girl he admittedly was falling for could do anything about it.
Remy looked at the damage done. Rogue was still breathing and he had to resist all his urges to go to her and comfort her. He couldn't. He was back in business as usual now and not even that girl could change it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rogue wrapped the scarf round his head and mouth and kissed him. ''Good night.''
''Bonne nuit, chere.'' She left.
Remy stared at the window she had left through and tugged almost mindlessly at one of the looser panels of the roof. He recognized the feeling in his stomach and his head. ~'M startin' t' like dat girl too much...~ The panel he had been tugging at came off. ~Oops.~ He said with a smile.
Right underneath the panel Remy could spot the wires to the antenna that monitored the area. It was an important part of the security system.
He examined the situation. He'd have to cut a few to be able to sabotage it. But it had possibilities. He might even be able to make a bit of an ignition mechanism to start the system-failure unnoticed.
He proceeded his sabotage without as much enthusiasm he had had when he first started this whole ordeal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Logan smashed Remy into a tree when he wasn't paying attention with a loud growl. This guy was mad. Raging mad. In fact, Gambit feared that the man was getting feral on him. That was a bad sign.
''You are dead, Cajun!'' How does one stop an unstoppable, raging, feral and highly pissed off mutant?
Luckily for Remy, at that point Sabertooth smashed in on Wolverine. The two continued their fight elsewhere and Remy was left alone and breathing.
For a second he considered retreating, but he composed himself and proceeded to help Colossus fight the Twinkie-brothers, Bobby and Evan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
''It's settled den.'' He walked to the door that led to the corridor and opened it. ''Out.'' He said with a wide smile on his face.
''What?'' Evan asked confused.
''Out.'' Remy repeated, while motioning everyone out. '''M gonna cook, get out o' de kitchen. Now.'' The smile didn't disappear from his face, but his voice didn't sound like he was joking.
''Geez.'' Bobby nagged disappointed.
''Out.'' He laughed but meant every word he said, very seriously. ''Cookin' is serious business. Don' wan' no one messin' it up.''
Bobby and Evan left first followed by Hank. Xavier was the last to leave. ''If you need anything...''
''Y'll be de first to hear. Out.''
They left, leaving Remy in charge of making the spiciest dinner he could come up with.
When the kids had left, Remy started to cook in record time, putting everything he could find in the big pot. This left him with enough time to be able to sabotage the main power circuit, which lay directly under the kitchen.
Sure, he could've done this at night. But then he would have to be concerned with the fact of the security cameras, now no one was monitoring his moves. Besides this was the perfect way not to raise suspicion.
It was the final part of his plan. Tonight he'd send all the information to Magneto. They probably would be able to strike tomorrow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The entire house was in ruins. Magneto had retrieved the device he was so intent on destroying and summoned everyone to leave, leaving the house to rest in pieces and the people beaten.
Their job was done; they could leave. This time Magneto was not intent on killing them. The destruction of the device was his main priority. Beating the X-men was a nice second.
--------
As he walked towards Magneto, Gambit passed the fallen Xavier who in one movement grabbed the youngster's leg.
''Why...you, still...work for Mag...Magneto...Why?'' Xavier tried to speak, but it was hard since he was slipping away into unconsciousness.
A wicked grin played on Remy's face that he in now way felt like having. ''Just your three basic F's, cher. Fun, Friendship, and Finance.''
''We saved you...'' Xavier voice was hoarse.
''So? What did you expect, homme? You brought an enemy t' y'r house. Pretty naive 'f y' ask me.'' His voice was cold as he ripped away from the old man's grip.
Before slipping away completely Xavier chided to himself. Why hadn't they seen it coming? Why hadn't _he_ seen it coming?
-------
Before leaving the scene Remy cast one last look over the battlefield; they'd live. They were beaten pretty badly, but they'd live. His gaze traveled to Rogue but he couldn't do anything for her. Silently he turned around and walked away.
He had had no choice. His loyalties lay where he could not help them.
Loyalty.
Oh, yeah, he was going to hate himself in the morning.
-END-
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A/N Yup, this is the end. Indeed, Remy's betrayed the X-men. Thought it would be a nice change from my other story. Don't hurt me. :) Didn't I ever mention I don't like happy endings?
I just read my first review for this chapter and I feel I need to explain myself. Remy is not purposefully evil. Magneto has given him no choice, if he betrays him, Magneto will kill his family. He is apparently able to do so. With 'his family' I mean the Thieves. He quit with Belle and doesn't love her anymore. And lastly, Remy is not happy with betraying the X-men, he hates himself for it. I thought it was clear but maybe it wasn't all that. (Hope that explains it. Thanks for your review, Caliente. :) )
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If you insist that Remy should be the good guy and come back or something, just review and let me know. I'll see what I can do. No promises, though, I really like the way this ended.
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*) For those of you intrigued why the song fits in so wonderfully in that scene and this story and don't master the French language, here is the translation.
Now, the French version is slightly different from the English version, but the general idea is the same. Also note that the French version has some serious grammatical mistakes. Chris Cornell (You might know him as the singer from small bands like Soundgarden and Audioslave ;) ) is definitely not French.
Can't change me
By Chris Cornell
She can do anything at all
Have anything she pleases
The power to change what she thinks is wrong
So what could she want with me
But wait just one minute here (in the French version he sings 'but wait thirty seconds', don't ask why)
I can see that she's trying to read me
Suddenly I know
She's ging to change the world
She's going to change the world
She's going to change the world
But she can't change me
She has the daylight at her command
She gives the night its dreams
She can uncover your darkest fear
And make you forget you feel it
But wait just one minute here
I can see that she's trying to read me
Suddenly I know
She's going to change the world
She's going to change the world
She's going to change the world
But she can't change me
Suddenly I can see everything that's wrong, with me
But what can I do?
I'm the only thing I really have at all