Two
Fading light tipped with copper illuminated the cobblestone street adding an even more romantic air to the scene. Few tourists made it this deep into the old French Quarter preferring the excitement of Bourbon Street and leaving local treasures like the Eglise Sainte Marie to only a handful of the truly devoted. Its stone walls had witnessed most of New Orleans' colourful history and had outlived even more; it was literally a rock in a sea of never ending change. One pilgrim walked the path to the front door as she had every night since moving to the city at the age of twelve-allowing the Eglise to take the place of the small church she had attended in her native Ireland.
It was the one place Mickey Fitzgerald felt comfortable enough to wear her real face, not the mask she wore everyday. Here she wasn't the daughter of Master bomber Patrick 'Mick' Fitzgerald, one of the youngest blooded assassins in the Guild and heir to her father's legacy as well as his name. This was a place she could simply be herself. Her haven. None of her friends knew that she came here every night after dinner; she was pretty sure they thought she disappeared to biker bars or even just sat at home organizing her weapons. That was a part of the image she liked to display, her mask.
Since she had realized she could change her facial features-even changing her hair and eye colour or rearranging her body mass to alter her shape-Mickey had been hiding herself. The years she spent on the run with her father as he did his bit for Irish nationalism had left a deeply engrained desire to be able to disappear into the throngs at a moment's notice. One never knew when you needed to and Mickey made sure to thank God for her gift everyday-it kept her safe.
Stepping into the Eglise was like sliding into a cool, peaceful river-one ready to wash away all of her sins. Mickey stopped at the dark alcove and picked up a thin taper and faced the shimmering wall of candles. Dropping her donation into the basket Mickey knelt and touched her flame to the wick. Carefully she extinguished the taper and crossed herself while uttering the Pater Noster under her breath, a silent prayer to the mother she couldn't remember. Rising, Mickey dusted her knees and made her way into the church proper, stopping to cross herself again as she neared the alter.
Normally, at this hour the Eglise would be all but deserted while the elderly priest ate his late meal after confession; Mickey had timed it to eliminate the possibility of contact. But there in the second pew, centred for the best view of the gold painting of the Virgin was a young man his blue, black head bowed in prayer. Taking her natural stealth for granted Mickey slipped into the pew on the other side of the aisle and began her own litany. She had barely begun her fifth 'Hail Mary' when she heard a soft cough from beside her.
Mickey turned and looked at the young man expectantly; she supposed Bella would say he was attractive in a skinny, elfin way but unlike her friend Mickey rarely noticed things like that. "Yes?" she lifted an eyebrow in question.
"Sorry to interrupt fraulien," he ducked his head as he spoke with a gentle German accent-she estimated him to be roughly a year younger than her and he didn't look like a physical threat, "I was wondering if you knew when the late confession begins?"
"The priest usually comes back by eight." Mickey answered him narrowing her eyes with interest, "You're not a member of this parish, I know everyone who worships here."
He blushed slightly and sat gingerly next to Mickey, "Ja, I just moved here with my mother and sister. I saw the church on the way to our new home…it…"
"Called to you?" Mickey asked quietly remembering the way she had felt the first time she saw the Eglise when she arrived in the city.
"Ja," he nodded enthusiastically, "That was exactly how it felt. You are not from New Orleans either ja?"
"No," Mickey frowned known her lack of a Southern accent set her apart; but her flat speech was less betraying that her Father's thick brogue, "Not originally. It seems like a big place but the city grows on you."
The boy thrust out his hand awkwardly and offered Mickey a small smile, "I am Kurt W…Darkholme. It is a pleasure to meet you fraulien."
Mickey's eyes narrowed again as she assessed the possible motives the boy had for introducing himself; none of them seemed sinister for the moment so she took his hand and shook lightly, "Michaela Fitzgerald, most people just call me Mickey."
"Why?" Kurt frowned in concentration, "I like Michaela much better-for the archangel Michael."
Suddenly Mickey laughed-it really hit close to her work with the Guild, "The wielder of the fiery sword."
"More like the seeker of truth." Mickey's eyes strayed to the icon before her.
Kurt cocked his head allowing confusion to fill his eyes, "And I thought mein swiester was pessimistic. What makes you search for truth?"
"The everyday lies we tell to keep our souls our own," Mickey shot back tucking a piece of strawberry blonde hair behind her ear, "Sometimes I feel like they're swallowing me. What are you searching for Kurt Darkholme?"
It was obvious to Mickey that her question had caught the young man off guard-he hadn't really expected such a blunt and honest answer. For a second she didn't think Kurt would answer her then he let out the breath neither had noticed him holding, "I think I am looking for answers."
"Aren't we all?"
"Nein," Kurt looked up at the Virgin then down at the watch on his wrist –sadness flowing from his every pore, "I want to know why He turns a blind eye and lets the bad things happen."
"Because God may be omnipotent but he isn't a superhero," Mickey shrugged-she had wondered the same thing herself.
A rueful smile lifted Kurt's lips, "Too bad huh? Could you imagine Him in tights?"
"Or the Blessed Virgin in spandex?" Mickey smirked with an eye roll.
Kurt tried to smother his laughter in deference to their surroundings when Mickey's cell phone began to chime softly. Pulling it from her pocket Mickey frowned as the phone number of Julien Boudreaux scrolled across the screen. Ignoring Kurt's curiosity she answered the call, "Yes?"
"You're needed, Fantôme." Julien's cold voice rasped in her ear.
"Give me ten minutes to get there." Mickey disconnected and offered her companion a regretful smile, "I'm afraid I have to go…family problem."
"No problem," she could see disappointment in Kurt's dark eyes but it was soon replaced by expectation, "Perhaps I will see you at Mass on Sunday?"
Standing Mickey slid out of the pew and crossed herself one last time. Glancing back her eyes caught the painting of the Virgin-her smile seemed even more serene than normal. "I would like that."
Without turning around Mickey left the cool asylum of Eglise Sainte Marie and returned to the chaotic sea that was her life.
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"Where have you been Elf? I thought you were gonna help me unpack?" Kurt jumped as his sister's voice greeted him as he teleported into the safety of his bedroom from the tree outside his window.
The lights flared to life and he stood blinking helplessly as Rogue set her hands on her hips and tapped her foot while waiting for an answer. "Well…" He pressed the button on his image inducer and shut off the holographic image of a skinny, dark haired young man; "I went to the Church we passed."
"You never spend two hours in confession," Rogue's eyes narrowed reminding Kurt of his new friend, "You couldn't possibly have that much to confess."
Blushing Kurt walked to his bed and sat down trying not to blush even under his blue fur; he had sat in the peace of the Church long after Mickey had left. There was something about her honesty that kept her at the fore of the young man's mind, "I met a girl…"
"Oh lord!" Rogue threw up her hands a smile twitching
her lips upward, "Not again. Did you
guys make out in the confessional?"
"ROGUE!" Kurt blushed furiously wondering just why his sister's mind so often frequented the gutter-was her imagination more active because she had no outlet for any of it? "We talked, she left and I prayed. But she was a very nice girl."
Shifting a hand through her two toned hair Rogue shrugged apologetically, "I'm sure she is Kurt. You gonna see her again?"
"She goes to Mass every Sunday."
This time Rogue smirked at Kurt's blatant refusal to rise to her bait, "Lucky for you."
"Was Mother looking for me?" Kurt quickly steered the subject away from his recent exploration of the city.
"No," Rogue rolled her eyes and moved the door of Kurt's new bedroom; after twenty hours awake it was time for her to get some sleep, "And I won't tell her about your little trip. Get some sleep we start school tomorrow-seven thirty comes plenty early."
Kurt smiled glad that she wasn't going to pry any further into his mysterious new friend. "Thanks Rogue. Night."
"Night Elf."
The lights turned out and Kurt stretched out on his bed fully dressed, visions of serious blue eyes hidden behind a curtain of strawberry blonde hair floating through his head.
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Her wide strides ate up the parquet floor that stood between the front door of the Boudreaux Mansion and the room used by Marius the Patriarch of the Assassin's Guild for important meetings. Stopping just short of the door Mickey moulded her mask into place, blinking as the long fringe of purple hair fell into her eyes once more. One deep breath later she swung the double doors wide and glared at the tanned, blonde form of Julien Boudreaux, "This had better be good."
"Now, now Mickey," he purred icily as he sat back in Marius' heavy red leather chair placed at the head of a large rectangular table all traces of his Creole accent wiped clear by years of practice, "Would I call you in if you weren't needed?"
"Yes," Mickey growled and pulled out her customary seat down two spots on the left, "It wouldn't be the first time."
Julien's fake smile widened as he sat up to lean
closer to Mickey, "Or the last. Why
don't you like me Michaela? What did I ever do to you?"
"Nothing yet," Mickey's words were precise and clipped as she tried to suppress the accent that always reared its ugly head whenever she got especially mad, "But I anxiously await the knife in the back that you always seem to use when you're tired of playing your games."
He pushed his chair back and sauntered towards Mickey with a barely contained animalistic air, "I would never play games with you chère Michaela…"
"Cut the bullshit Julien and just tell me what you want." Mickey crossed her arms over her chest and watched him approach her seat with contained wariness.
"Shhhh…." Slowly he reached out a hand and grasped her pointed chin between two of his fingers, lifting it so that her bangs shifted leaving her face bare, "I thought you'd like to know the negotiations have concluded."
It took all of Mickey's self control not to flinch
away from his touch-no matter how much she tried Julien still freaked her
out. However her inherent dislike for
the Heir to the Assassin's Guild was out weighted by the importance of the
information he possessed, "And what was the Elder's decision?"
"I don't think I'll tell you," Julien twisted her face in his hands so that the light kissed Mickey's pale skin, "You obviously don't appreciate what I went through to be able to share this timbit with you."
Mickey ripped away from Julien and shot out of her chair, in the twinkling of an eye she had the knife she carried in a wrist sheath out and pressed to his throat. Using the element of surprise Mickey pushed Julien onto the table, "Don't play games with me-I'm not in the mood."
Striking like a snake Julien seized a hold of Mickey's hand and twisted it behind her back forcing her to drop the knife but she refused to cry out in pain. Julien pulled Mickey close to his body breathing onto her neck softly, "Naughty kitten, do I have to declaw you?"
"If you think you're man enough." Mickey spat forcing her body to still-to wait for any opening before breaking away from the unwanted embrace.
Julien's laughter was harsh as he pushed her back towards the table and away from him, "Oh I'm man enough for you. At least the Elders think so; after all they chose you as my bride. They thought it was a fitting way to join our Guild with the Dublin Assassins."
"Do I get a say in this?" Mickey righted herself and narrowed her eyes wishing she could rip Julien's eyes out with her bare hands-she knew how to, it would be easy.
This time Julien's smile was gloating and full of malice, "Yes, you get to say 'I do'."
A shiver of fear ran up Mickey's spine and this time she didn't try to hide her shudder of revulsion, she wanted the world to know just how much the idea of getting close to Julien Boudreaux made her want to vomit. Not for the first time in her life Mickey found herself wish she was dead.
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Okay guys I know…no Remy and Rogue meeting…next chapter I promise. I just really wanted to develop Mickey a bit and give Kurt some attention. Hope no one minds.
Translations
Eglise – Church
mein swiester – My sister
And now the responses….
Star of Chaos – Is there anything I write that you don't look forward to? It really looks like the fans and my muse won't let me stop.
Aro – Evil FF.net not letting you login. Burn them! Burn them all! Sorry…Ummm yeah…as Ish and my other followers can tell you I'm a speedy updater…no worries.
Caliente – Hella tight…not just tight? Wow…that's means a lot coming from you I mean I love 'The Flirt and the Rogue' and the Xavier Diaries are coming along wonderfully. Oooh…I uber impressed you! Yippie!
Ima Super Mute Ant – I'm going as fast as my fingers can type.
writerchik1 – Yeah, Mystique and the kiddies have an interesting relationship. I'm really looking forward to developing our favourite dysfunctional terrorist family.
Mari – Glad you like it…and yes I have the Ishandahalf goldstar for uber evilness.
Yumiko – You could try to steal it…but then I'd let loose my army of crack gerbils and you'd be mine! Muahahahahaha.
Ish - So far I've decided to alternate chapters…the next I put out will be for 'Shame' I promise…and there will be jealous Remy. You still like Mickey??
Roguewanderer – No anything but the NSFURWRFTNGCO! I promise to keep posting. And hey I liked 'Pyro's Installation Instructions' it made me giggle.
Pixie Flyer – I'm thrilled you like this one…it's a bit of a break for you guys from the evil, depressingness that it the Cypher Arc…maybe this one will even have a happy ending?
And thanks to Quazzee, Animee Addicted, Arin Ross, () and all those who read the last chapter. Yay…Praise is the only form of payment I accept…though I'm not opposed to flames.