Chapter 2 - by Paradox Jast

Late Fall, 1992

Jean-Luc flipped through his paper, taking note that overall it had been a rather slow day yesterday in New Orleans. He had creased the corners of several pages, ones that had stories about collector's art pieces, investments, and real estate. Some of those could be followed up on for new 'acquisitions' for the guild. Upon glancing at the first page of the sport section, he carefully folded the paper up and placed it back into his briefcase. Before he closed the briefcase, he double checked to make sure the ruby he was delivering was still there. Better safe than sorry.

Glancing to his left, Remy was currently sleeping with his hands folded across his lap. They bore fresh scars from the past two days since whatever was going on with the boy, he couldn't do anything to control it. Jean-Luc had watched him try down by the pond when Remy was skipping stones - a few smaller ones blew up right in his hands. Remy would run, sometimes screaming, other times just teary-eyed with his mouth set in a firm line to Tante Mattie. She would patch him up, and then he would go right back down there and try again. He was down there for most of the evening waiting for each stone he picked up to glow. Most of them didn't, but it seemed as soon as Remy became frustrated and ready to give up, the next one he picked up would. Two nights prior, he had taken Remy to another acquaintance of his, one who had a reputation of dealing with 'strange' people. His son endured the physical, whining through the whole ordeal, but the man couldn't offer any new insights as to why things would randomly blow up, or why his eyes would change from hazel to a deep crimson and back again. The only thing his acquaintance suggested was that he contact one of his colleagues up north... the man had scribbled down a name and number on a piece of paper. A 'trusted' person who was even better at dealing with the unexplainable than he was.

Jean-Luc reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the piece of paper, examining the name for what must have been the dozenth time since they started on this trip. Charles Xavier. He folded up the paper again and pocketed it once more.

Looking past Remy, out the window, Jean-Luc couldn't really tell where they were since there appeared to be heavy cloud cover. It was going on nearly 4 hours into the trip, so they couldn't be that much further off. The hum of the jet engines in the background was starting to become noticeable since he didn't have anything to occupy himself with. The in-flight movie had something to do with animated talking cars - he had no interest in it, even if the rest of the first class section had been chuckling at random intervals, and flat out laughed a few times. He certainly didn't feel like even cracking a smile right now. Settling back in his chair, he pulled a headset out from the pouch of the seat in front of him. He plugged it in, set the dial to some soft jazz, and gradually nodded off into a nap.

Remy awoke to being shaken lightly, by a firm but gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Remy. Wake up. We're here."

Blinking a few times, he nodded groggily and yawned. It was a nice nap, but for some odd reason he was still feeling a little drained. Nothing a decent sleep in a real bed shouldn't fix. He got to his feet and stepped out into the aisle. Looking into the overhead for his duffel, he noticed it was empty.

"I got y' duffel here." Jean-Luc was a little ahead of him down the aisle, motioning to follow. His father must have waited for most of the section to empty before they disembarked since after scanning the area, they were two of a handful of people still there. "We talked about dis before, I don' need y' touchin' things before we get to our destination."

Remy nodded without reply, and fell into step behind his father. We already talked before, no sense having him repeat anything. I know why he doesn't want me touching anything, and I can't say I blame him. But its gonna be hard, being a thief and all.

They made it through the airport without incident. They were picked up by a cab and headed for downtown Tucson. Most of the trip was quiet, though Remy listened to his father make occasional chitchat with the taxi driver. He enjoyed this part about being in the guild, listening to some of his fathers wonderfully woven stories about what they do. Even though they'd likely never meet this man again, being regaled with tales about an alligator farmers work would bore anyone to tears. This taxicab driver was no different, no more than 10 minutes into the chat, he asked if there was any radio station we'd like to listen to.

Jazz.

When we arrived at our destination, we paused outside for a little bit. This is supposed to be a laboratory? It looked more like a warehouse - no windows, slanted roof, rather large entrance - but like Papa says, 'appearances can be decieving'. According to the briefing I got before this trip, Dr. Essex is a small-time chemist who has an interest in rare materials. That ruby looks like a pretty rare material to me, so I guess thats right. Still... wierd looking lab.

They walked up to the door and Remy watched his father push the button on the intercom. A moment later, there was hissing static, followed by a dull, female voice.

"Welcome to Essex Labs, what can I do for you?"

"I'm here with a special package fo' Dr. Essex. It's a little early fo' delivery, but I'm hopin' he won' mind too much."

Remy raised an eyebrow and looked at his father. The voice on the intercom came back. "Please wait a moment while I inform Dr. Essex."

"How come y' speakin' without most of y' accent, Papa?" Remy inquired.

Jean-Luc looked at his son and tucked a loose strand of his long hair behind his ear. "Business. Y' can understand me easy because y' been livin' with nothin' but Cajuns since y' can remember. But fo' people dat don' hear a Cajun speak dat often, it can be hard t' understand us. I enunciate better so I don' have to repeat m'self. I don' like t' hear m'self talk dat much."

Remy nodded slowly and grinned, thinking about what his father said. Makes sense, I guess. If I end up repeating what I say too often in the future, I guess I'll have to remember this. People outside New Orleans think Cajuns talk funny, well even Cajuns laugh at the way cousin Emil speaks. He's the only boy I know who talks in the third person. Gonna have to break him of that habit... maybe a prank. I'll have to think of one.

Remy's thoughts were interrupted as there was a sound of metal scraping metal, then an even louder noise as the large door was pulled open to the side. A large, rather nondescript man wearing a plain white T-shirt, jeans, and sunglasses stood in the doorway.

"Dr. Essex will see you now. Down the hallway straight ahead, second door on the left."

Remy saw Jean-Luc nod to the man, and walked past the man into the building. He followed swiftly in his fathers footsteps, eyes open and aware of their surroundings. The walls were all a bare white, which came as no suprise. He didn't notice any security cameras, and there weren't even many doors along the wall. To the back of the room they entered, near the hallway they were going to walk down, was a desk and the receptionist they talked to earlier. As the two of them walked past, she didn't even acknowledge them walking past. She had her elbow on her desk, leaning forward with her head resting against her hand and staring at something on the computer screen in front of her.

They approached the second door, and as they got closer Remy noticed that it was ajar. His father cleared his throat, rather loudly, and then placed his hand on the doorknob and opened it enough to peek inside.

"Empty. Dis is de room. We'll wait in here."

They entered the room and Remy looked around. This has to be one of the emptiest rooms I have ever seen. A desk with a chair, and two more chairs. Nothing on the walls, nothing on the floor, the desk is bare, and no exits other than the one door... THAT isn't a good sign. Remy moved and sat down at one of the chairs, while his father remained standing off to the side. Papa told me to always start being aware of my surroundings, too bad there isn't much to be aware of in here. Looking down at his hands in his lap, he started picking at one of the scabs when he could have sworn he 'felt' movement behind him, without anything even touching him.

"Ah, I see my package has arrived. Brought to me by the head of the New Orleans Thieves Guild, in fact. To what do I owe this visit?"

Remy turned around, and noticed two things. First, his father's look of suprise, which was quickly masked. The second thing he noticed was the new arrival, apparently Dr. Essex. Everything about him screamed 'average'. Average height, average weight, even his hair was trimmed to what most Americans would consider an average length for males. Brown hair with brown eyes. Decidedly average.

"I don' know how you knew I was the head of the guild, but I won' ask either. I know you probably wouldn' tell me anyway. The visit is on a more... personal tone."

Essex smiled, though Remy wasn't sure if he wanted to classify it as a smile. It looked too... scary.

"You're correct. I wouldn't tell you. Suffice to say I have an idea as to what this ruby is capable of, and if something were to happen to one of your people while obtaining it, you would want answers from me. If it were just one person sent here to deliver, I doubt it would have been you. Since there are two of you, and one of you is rather young, I can deduce that the person in charge came to see me and the person he was with is rather... important." Essex looked at Remy and smiled again, then broke the contact and casually wandered back to his chair behind the desk.

If his father was suprised at all again, he didn't let it show on his face. Ok, I don't like this man. He's too smart. He might be able to tell me what's going on with my body, but then it's his fault I'm like this in the first place.

Essex sat down. "Now, do you have the ruby?"

Jean-Luc nodded and walked up to the desk. He opened his briefcase, and grabbed the cloth that the ruby was wrapped in. Opening it carefully, he set it on the desk, closed his briefcase, and sat down next to Remy.

"Ah, there it is. I knew you wouldn't let me down, so I already had my secretary transfer the funds to your account. Plus, a little bonus, for the early delivery."

Jean-Luc nodded again. "Pleasure doin' business. I figured you might like it a little early, though I have a seemingly vested interest in it now as well."

Essex didn't reply, he was busy staring at the crystal. He grabbed it with his bare hand - Remy heard his father inhale sharply - and brought it up to his face to examine it closer.

"But... how? When my boy here touched it last, it exploded!"

Essex gave Jean-Luc a look of mild curiousity, then set the ruby back on the desk. "If it 'exploded', then how is it here right now?"

Jean-Luc opened his mouth, then closed it, as if thinking what to say. "As the other operative on the job told me, there was some red lightning that shot out from that ruby into the boy here, throwing him backwards against a wall."

Essex's head snapped over to look at Remy. "Interesting." Remy was sitting like a statue in his chair. Interesting?! It freaking HURT! I'm only keeping my mouth shut now because I was ordered to. Remy watched him lean back in his chair and press his fingertips together, as if he was concocting some scheme.

"First, allow me to explain a rather minor detail. This is no ordinary ruby. It has a name, and it is called the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak. Exactly what Cyttorak is or was, I know, but I see no point in telling you right now. I do know that this Gem has some rather unique properties, alas, I cannot tell you what those properties are. I needed you to steal it for me so I could study it and find out. I've heard rumors, such as it being able to grant people unique abilities, but I have not seen or heard of any proof. I will take a look at it, and let you know if I find anything out."

Jean-Luc stared at Essex with a look of incredulity. "Unique abilities."

Essex shrugged. "Like I said. Rumors. I can offer you no proof."

"Remy, do you think you could... do that thing you do?"

WHAT?! Remy looked at his father. "I don' think so. It usually happens when I don' want it t'."

"Do y' want it to now?"

"Non. It scares me."

Jean-Luc nodded, then grabbed the cloth they had wrapped the gem in. He balled it up and tossed it to Remy, who caught it without a second thought. That is, until it started to glow.

"Papa, wha...?" His eyes widened as he figured out what his father was thinking, then quickly tossed the cloth behind him. He heard it fizzle and let out a light bang. Looking behind him, it had turned to dust. It wasn't charged long enough to explode.

"What did y' do dat fo'!?" Remy was pissed, he was almost yelling.

However, Jean-Luc ignored him, instead turning to Essex, who was staring at the scene, expressionless. "That good enough proof?"

Essex did not smile. "Nearly. I'd like a small blood sample, if I may. To see if I can correlate any findings, figure out what happened. Perhaps there is a way I can fix that, or help the boy control it."

Jean-Luc's eyes narrowed. "I thought you were just a chemist?"

Essex still didn't smile, instead he stood up and headed for the door. "Perhaps." He stopped in the doorway, looking over his shoulder. "I will contact you as soon as I know something more. There is a syringe at the front desk, leave the blood sample there. Have a safe trip back to New Orleans." With that said, he disappeared.

Remy was sitting in his chair, rubbing his hands together. He looked at his father. "So what now?"

Jean-Luc looked at his son, fatigue and worry in his eyes. "We wait."