Chapter 4
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"
"Spongebob Squarepants!"
"Absorbent and yellow and porous is he!"
"Spongebob Squarepants!"
"I don't know de next line petite."
"Spongebob Squarepants!"
"You're jus' gonna keep sayin' dat aren'tcha?"
"Spongebob Squarepants!"
The little girl in the kiddie pool collapsed into a fit of giggles. Out in the bright Louisiana sun, wearing a bright pink bathing suit, water wings, flippers and a mask and snorkel, Haley LeBeau blew a razzberry at her favorite Uncle.
"Hey! That wasn't very nice Haley!" Remy laughed and he filled a little plastic watering can with water and poured it over her head.
"Ahhhhh!" She squealed, closing her eyes and pinching her nose shut. The cool water flattened her blonde curls making them look considerably darker than the sunshine color they actually were. The plastic divers' mask on top of her head caught the reflection of the sun and shone directly into Remys sensitive eyes.
"Damn...I mean darn." Quickly remembering his sister-in-laws rule about not swearing in front of her baby. She didn't seem to notice though, busying herself with a rubber duck.
"Alright kiddo, you ready to get out now? It's almost dinner time." After running around the playground down the street, playing hide and seek all over the house, and going on a "treasure hunt" for the "Golden Duck of Rubber", the swimming pool was a winding down to a very busy day. "What ya want for dinner?"
"Hot dogs!" Haley shouted as she climbed out of the little pool, losing one of her flippers in the process. Remy cringed at the idea of hot dogs, she always wanted hot dogs, if fact, she'd had them for lunch, and not in the way that made them good, like bar-b-queing them, oh no, she wanted them boiled, giving them that sickly pinkish gray color and tasting like rubber.
"Ya had dat for lunch petite, maybe you'd like somethin' else?" Please God, anything else.
"Pizza?" She inquired.
"Pizza! Yes, pizza is good! Good girl!" He patted her on the head, looking utterly relieved. Even though he would rather have a real meal, he could handle ordering in for one night.
Giving her uncle a strange look, Haley put her flipper back on at attempted to make her way back to the house, holding Remy's hand so as not to fall over.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"This is nuts, how are we ever going to find him?"
"Kitty, we just got here, have some faith huh?" Jean had been trying to scan the area before the had even landed the jet outside the city, and even though she hadn't been able to find sign of Gambit, she was sure that she would now that they were in the city limits.
"Jean, you're wastin' your time, you won't be able to find him that way." Rogue piped up from the backseat of the X-Van they had brought with them aboard the jet.
"Why not?" Jean asked, turning around from her spot in the passenger seat to look at Rogue.
"He's got mental shields up the yin-yang, makes it impossible to get a lock on him." Rogue replied, not even looking at Jean, rather she was staring out the window, and sifting through the memories she had absorbed form Remy years ago, hoping to find something that would give them a clue as to where he was.
She was also looking through the stream-of-consciousness he had sent her. Most of it was inane psychobabble, as these things tend to be. She hadn't really understood why he had sent her anything, until she came across a nuance of Remys while looking through his thoughts; it was random, and when things were random, they were interesting. That, and it was probably his way of letting her know that he hadn't forgotten about her. She had recalled one time of his where he hadn't seen a good friend in nearly a year and sent the same thing, which they did back. It was like he was letting her into his little circle of people.
"Where did that news report say the 'trail of destruction' was headin'?"
"Says here it was First Street." Scott looked at her in the rearview mirror. "Why?"
"He's at his brothers house."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sitting in the living room, Remy and Haley were waiting for their dinner to arrive. The former, on the couch with a notebook and pen in hand, the latter, on the floor still wearing her flippers and snorkel mask, putting together a puzzle. All the time spent in the water had tired Haley out considerably, so she was content to play quietly and watch a movie. 'Finding Nemo' was tonight's feature presentation.
Remy choose not to pay attention to the talking fish on the TV screen. He had hundreds of thoughts running through his head, and he needed to get them somewhere else. His Tante Mattie had given him the idea of just writing down any and all thoughts as they would come. Apparently the idea was that by doing this, it would help you get to the root of the problem by the end of the stream. It had worked more often than not, and as a way to ceremoniously make the problem go away, he would send them to various friends and family, who never really understood what they were being sent, but liked receiving mail nonetheless. He never included a return address; old habits of a thief to never give away your location.
After writing for a good half hour, he was now perusing what he had written. Things like 'bored' and 'gotta get out' and 'no control' leapt out at him. Life in New Orleans had been leaving a sour taste in his mouth for nearly a year now. The nightlife was always the same, go out, get drunk, get laid, and go home. It was so unbelievably easy for him to find a girl to go home with, that the novelty was starting to wear thin. The women were always the same; they all fell so quickly that the thrill of the chase was almost gone. So he opted instead to find other ways to occupy his time, he threw himself into his 'work', but that had tapered off the last couple weeks. He was starting to think that the Guild was holding out on him.
"Onca Remy?" Haley was standing right in front of him now.
"What's up petite?" he asked, helping her up on the couch beside him.
"How come you're not married?" her big round blue eyes looking up at him.
"Uh, well, ya see Haley..." Remy had nearly choked when he heard the question. Good lord, he was only 23, he had light years before he had to worry about that stuff. "Why you askin'?"
"'Cause if you got married, den I could have a cousin to play wit'!" Her 4-year-old logic nearly made him burst out laughing.
"Maybe ya should ask your Mama and Papa to give you a little brother or sister instead..." Oh, Mercy was gonna kill him when she heard he had suggested that to her daughter.
"Hmmmm..." Haley paused to give this some thought.
"Tell ya what, pizza should be here any minute, why don't we go get some plates and napkins so we can eat in here and watch your movie?" Remy got up from the couch and turned to his niece.
"Eat in de living room! Really?! Mama doesn't like dat..."
"I won't tell if you don't." Remy smiled and gave her a wink.
Haley giggled at the prospect of having a fun secret with Oncle Remy. She started to make her way to the kitchen when the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" She screamed, trying to run with the flippers still on her feet. She made it to the door without falling over, and reached up to turn the knob.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Are you sure this is a good idea? Just walking up to a strangers home and asking them to turn over their brother?" Piotr was not feeling good about this whole thing. He wanted to know that Remy was alright, but at the same time was unsure how to go about it.
"I don't much like it either big guy, but this is the only lead we got." Rogue was starting to feel a little queasy due to all the butterflies in her stomach. She was worried about what Remys reaction would be to seeing them there. He might get angry and attack for all they knew.
"Well, we're here now, no sense beating around the bush." Cyclops started forward up the steps.
"Um, Comrade? Perhaps it would be best if he saw someone who did not look like they are about to blast him?" Piotr stepped towards his field commander. Cyclops took a second to think about that.
"Alright, Colossus, you go first. Being a former teammate might make him less hostile." He said, stepping aside to let the giant Russian by. Deciding with the direct approach, he rang the doorbell. Inside, he heard a young voice scream, "I'll get it!" and a strange flapping sound. The door opened a small crack, and Piotr could see a small girl peek out, when another voice called out.
"Haley! What are you supposed to do before openin' de door?"
"Whoops!" The child said before shutting the door not too softly. "Who is it?"
"Uh, Piotr Rasputin." Colossus said, not entirely sure how to answer.
"Okay!" The door opened again and they could now see the child more clearly. She had bright blonde hair with huge blue eyes; she was also wearing, along with shorts and a t-shirt, a snorkel and flippers. "Wow, you're really tall." She said of Piotr as she had to lean way back in order to see his face. "Are you a giant?"
Piotr's face softened at the little girls comments. She was so young and innocent; she was very much like Illiyana sister when she was small. He knelt down so she didn't have to lean back so far.
"Hello little one. I am looking for a friend of mine, perhaps you could help?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Remy had made sure to enforce the whole 'be careful around strangers' rule that the family enforced with all the children; one could never be too careful when there were street wars going on, a child could answer the door and receive a bullet meant for one of the adults. So they made sure all the children always asked who was there before answering the door. When he heard Haley about to open the door, he called out to remind her of this. Upon hearing the door shut again, he went back to putting away her puzzle and stopping the movie.
But when he heard a deep voice that he didn't recognize, what with it being muffled by the door, he got up and made his way to the veranda, grabbing a few piece of the puzzle to use as a weapon just in case. Before he could hear what was said by his niece and the man at the door, he stopped and realized how ridiculous he was being. It was probably just the pizza guy, waiting to be paid so he could be on his way.
Grabbing his wallet he pulled out enough to cover the food and include a large tip, then made his way to where Haley stood. Pulling the door opened further, he was about to hand out the money when he saw his former Acolyte teammate, along with several people he couldn't forget if he tried. The X-Men.
"Oh shit."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
AN: Yeah, can this be considered a cliffhanger? I was originally gonna end this chapter with Haley turning the doorknob, but decided to go longer. Ain't I nice? Anyhoo, the gang's all there now, sorta, so it'll be fun to see how everyone reacts. Now onto the shout outs
Ishandahalf: Well, they didn't meet this chapter, but there will defiantly be some interaction between Rogue and Remy next time. Hopefully on friendly terms, but with the way Remy reacted at the end here, who can say for sure? Well, I could, but I won't. ;)
PomegranateQueen: Why thank you, I try my best, I really do. And don't worry about correct grammar, it's just a review. :) Yeah, Romy fluff....gonna work on that. Ya know what I wouldn't mind? A million dollars to just fall out of the sky...yep, wouldn't mind that at all. ;)
Peace215: Ah, my most loyal reviewer. :p Well, it's actually his niece, but whatever. Yeah, Scott is a jackass, can't stand him, in any of his incarnations. I'll try not to be too mean to him, just so I don't seem completely biased though. Well, here's your update, hope you manage to get 2 hands on the cliff this time though, wouldn't want anyone to fall to their doom anytime soon. =0)
Nessie6: The Brotherhood, or Freedom Force, or whatever I decide to call them will be showing up eventually. Pyro for certain, then there can be an Acolyte reunion! Or maybe not.
Alrighty then, that's all for now, until next time, leave a review and I may update faster...*hint hint"
~Leishy
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"
"Spongebob Squarepants!"
"Absorbent and yellow and porous is he!"
"Spongebob Squarepants!"
"I don't know de next line petite."
"Spongebob Squarepants!"
"You're jus' gonna keep sayin' dat aren'tcha?"
"Spongebob Squarepants!"
The little girl in the kiddie pool collapsed into a fit of giggles. Out in the bright Louisiana sun, wearing a bright pink bathing suit, water wings, flippers and a mask and snorkel, Haley LeBeau blew a razzberry at her favorite Uncle.
"Hey! That wasn't very nice Haley!" Remy laughed and he filled a little plastic watering can with water and poured it over her head.
"Ahhhhh!" She squealed, closing her eyes and pinching her nose shut. The cool water flattened her blonde curls making them look considerably darker than the sunshine color they actually were. The plastic divers' mask on top of her head caught the reflection of the sun and shone directly into Remys sensitive eyes.
"Damn...I mean darn." Quickly remembering his sister-in-laws rule about not swearing in front of her baby. She didn't seem to notice though, busying herself with a rubber duck.
"Alright kiddo, you ready to get out now? It's almost dinner time." After running around the playground down the street, playing hide and seek all over the house, and going on a "treasure hunt" for the "Golden Duck of Rubber", the swimming pool was a winding down to a very busy day. "What ya want for dinner?"
"Hot dogs!" Haley shouted as she climbed out of the little pool, losing one of her flippers in the process. Remy cringed at the idea of hot dogs, she always wanted hot dogs, if fact, she'd had them for lunch, and not in the way that made them good, like bar-b-queing them, oh no, she wanted them boiled, giving them that sickly pinkish gray color and tasting like rubber.
"Ya had dat for lunch petite, maybe you'd like somethin' else?" Please God, anything else.
"Pizza?" She inquired.
"Pizza! Yes, pizza is good! Good girl!" He patted her on the head, looking utterly relieved. Even though he would rather have a real meal, he could handle ordering in for one night.
Giving her uncle a strange look, Haley put her flipper back on at attempted to make her way back to the house, holding Remy's hand so as not to fall over.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"This is nuts, how are we ever going to find him?"
"Kitty, we just got here, have some faith huh?" Jean had been trying to scan the area before the had even landed the jet outside the city, and even though she hadn't been able to find sign of Gambit, she was sure that she would now that they were in the city limits.
"Jean, you're wastin' your time, you won't be able to find him that way." Rogue piped up from the backseat of the X-Van they had brought with them aboard the jet.
"Why not?" Jean asked, turning around from her spot in the passenger seat to look at Rogue.
"He's got mental shields up the yin-yang, makes it impossible to get a lock on him." Rogue replied, not even looking at Jean, rather she was staring out the window, and sifting through the memories she had absorbed form Remy years ago, hoping to find something that would give them a clue as to where he was.
She was also looking through the stream-of-consciousness he had sent her. Most of it was inane psychobabble, as these things tend to be. She hadn't really understood why he had sent her anything, until she came across a nuance of Remys while looking through his thoughts; it was random, and when things were random, they were interesting. That, and it was probably his way of letting her know that he hadn't forgotten about her. She had recalled one time of his where he hadn't seen a good friend in nearly a year and sent the same thing, which they did back. It was like he was letting her into his little circle of people.
"Where did that news report say the 'trail of destruction' was headin'?"
"Says here it was First Street." Scott looked at her in the rearview mirror. "Why?"
"He's at his brothers house."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sitting in the living room, Remy and Haley were waiting for their dinner to arrive. The former, on the couch with a notebook and pen in hand, the latter, on the floor still wearing her flippers and snorkel mask, putting together a puzzle. All the time spent in the water had tired Haley out considerably, so she was content to play quietly and watch a movie. 'Finding Nemo' was tonight's feature presentation.
Remy choose not to pay attention to the talking fish on the TV screen. He had hundreds of thoughts running through his head, and he needed to get them somewhere else. His Tante Mattie had given him the idea of just writing down any and all thoughts as they would come. Apparently the idea was that by doing this, it would help you get to the root of the problem by the end of the stream. It had worked more often than not, and as a way to ceremoniously make the problem go away, he would send them to various friends and family, who never really understood what they were being sent, but liked receiving mail nonetheless. He never included a return address; old habits of a thief to never give away your location.
After writing for a good half hour, he was now perusing what he had written. Things like 'bored' and 'gotta get out' and 'no control' leapt out at him. Life in New Orleans had been leaving a sour taste in his mouth for nearly a year now. The nightlife was always the same, go out, get drunk, get laid, and go home. It was so unbelievably easy for him to find a girl to go home with, that the novelty was starting to wear thin. The women were always the same; they all fell so quickly that the thrill of the chase was almost gone. So he opted instead to find other ways to occupy his time, he threw himself into his 'work', but that had tapered off the last couple weeks. He was starting to think that the Guild was holding out on him.
"Onca Remy?" Haley was standing right in front of him now.
"What's up petite?" he asked, helping her up on the couch beside him.
"How come you're not married?" her big round blue eyes looking up at him.
"Uh, well, ya see Haley..." Remy had nearly choked when he heard the question. Good lord, he was only 23, he had light years before he had to worry about that stuff. "Why you askin'?"
"'Cause if you got married, den I could have a cousin to play wit'!" Her 4-year-old logic nearly made him burst out laughing.
"Maybe ya should ask your Mama and Papa to give you a little brother or sister instead..." Oh, Mercy was gonna kill him when she heard he had suggested that to her daughter.
"Hmmmm..." Haley paused to give this some thought.
"Tell ya what, pizza should be here any minute, why don't we go get some plates and napkins so we can eat in here and watch your movie?" Remy got up from the couch and turned to his niece.
"Eat in de living room! Really?! Mama doesn't like dat..."
"I won't tell if you don't." Remy smiled and gave her a wink.
Haley giggled at the prospect of having a fun secret with Oncle Remy. She started to make her way to the kitchen when the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" She screamed, trying to run with the flippers still on her feet. She made it to the door without falling over, and reached up to turn the knob.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Are you sure this is a good idea? Just walking up to a strangers home and asking them to turn over their brother?" Piotr was not feeling good about this whole thing. He wanted to know that Remy was alright, but at the same time was unsure how to go about it.
"I don't much like it either big guy, but this is the only lead we got." Rogue was starting to feel a little queasy due to all the butterflies in her stomach. She was worried about what Remys reaction would be to seeing them there. He might get angry and attack for all they knew.
"Well, we're here now, no sense beating around the bush." Cyclops started forward up the steps.
"Um, Comrade? Perhaps it would be best if he saw someone who did not look like they are about to blast him?" Piotr stepped towards his field commander. Cyclops took a second to think about that.
"Alright, Colossus, you go first. Being a former teammate might make him less hostile." He said, stepping aside to let the giant Russian by. Deciding with the direct approach, he rang the doorbell. Inside, he heard a young voice scream, "I'll get it!" and a strange flapping sound. The door opened a small crack, and Piotr could see a small girl peek out, when another voice called out.
"Haley! What are you supposed to do before openin' de door?"
"Whoops!" The child said before shutting the door not too softly. "Who is it?"
"Uh, Piotr Rasputin." Colossus said, not entirely sure how to answer.
"Okay!" The door opened again and they could now see the child more clearly. She had bright blonde hair with huge blue eyes; she was also wearing, along with shorts and a t-shirt, a snorkel and flippers. "Wow, you're really tall." She said of Piotr as she had to lean way back in order to see his face. "Are you a giant?"
Piotr's face softened at the little girls comments. She was so young and innocent; she was very much like Illiyana sister when she was small. He knelt down so she didn't have to lean back so far.
"Hello little one. I am looking for a friend of mine, perhaps you could help?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Remy had made sure to enforce the whole 'be careful around strangers' rule that the family enforced with all the children; one could never be too careful when there were street wars going on, a child could answer the door and receive a bullet meant for one of the adults. So they made sure all the children always asked who was there before answering the door. When he heard Haley about to open the door, he called out to remind her of this. Upon hearing the door shut again, he went back to putting away her puzzle and stopping the movie.
But when he heard a deep voice that he didn't recognize, what with it being muffled by the door, he got up and made his way to the veranda, grabbing a few piece of the puzzle to use as a weapon just in case. Before he could hear what was said by his niece and the man at the door, he stopped and realized how ridiculous he was being. It was probably just the pizza guy, waiting to be paid so he could be on his way.
Grabbing his wallet he pulled out enough to cover the food and include a large tip, then made his way to where Haley stood. Pulling the door opened further, he was about to hand out the money when he saw his former Acolyte teammate, along with several people he couldn't forget if he tried. The X-Men.
"Oh shit."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
AN: Yeah, can this be considered a cliffhanger? I was originally gonna end this chapter with Haley turning the doorknob, but decided to go longer. Ain't I nice? Anyhoo, the gang's all there now, sorta, so it'll be fun to see how everyone reacts. Now onto the shout outs
Ishandahalf: Well, they didn't meet this chapter, but there will defiantly be some interaction between Rogue and Remy next time. Hopefully on friendly terms, but with the way Remy reacted at the end here, who can say for sure? Well, I could, but I won't. ;)
PomegranateQueen: Why thank you, I try my best, I really do. And don't worry about correct grammar, it's just a review. :) Yeah, Romy fluff....gonna work on that. Ya know what I wouldn't mind? A million dollars to just fall out of the sky...yep, wouldn't mind that at all. ;)
Peace215: Ah, my most loyal reviewer. :p Well, it's actually his niece, but whatever. Yeah, Scott is a jackass, can't stand him, in any of his incarnations. I'll try not to be too mean to him, just so I don't seem completely biased though. Well, here's your update, hope you manage to get 2 hands on the cliff this time though, wouldn't want anyone to fall to their doom anytime soon. =0)
Nessie6: The Brotherhood, or Freedom Force, or whatever I decide to call them will be showing up eventually. Pyro for certain, then there can be an Acolyte reunion! Or maybe not.
Alrighty then, that's all for now, until next time, leave a review and I may update faster...*hint hint"
~Leishy