Everone give Hope Hannigan a round of applause for helping me with my French sentences! Without her they would have been waaay too formal and confused. Also, I apparently can't keep my chapters at even lengths, so this one is significantly longer than the others, but I just couldn't quite break it up. This will probably the only post I get out this week. It's going to be very crazy. But I hope you enjoy it! Please, let me know what you think. Feedback is always appreciated. And thanks so much to all of you who have alerted/favorite/reviewed! It's so awesome to know you all are enjoying this! Have a good week!
Layla
Rogue had just finished pulling her makeup and brush out of her bag when a quiet knock sounded against the door. "C'min," she called.
The blonde woman who entered wasn't what Rogue had expected. She smiled warmly at her, her blue eyes welcoming. "It's about time dey let you have a few minutes to freshen up." She shook her head. "Dey may be great thieves, but dey're still men."
Rogue snickered. "It's good to know it's not just the X-men males who are like that."
Mercy grinned. "It's common to all men. Remy said y' might need some clothes. What can I get y'?"
Rogue glanced at her backpack. "Ah wasn't planning on staying overnight. Ah just brought stuff to wash my face and such."
Mercy nodded. "If de Guilds were bein' reasonable, your plan would have worked. But reason's de last t'ing on everyone's mind right now." She walked over to the closet and started going through the hangers. "How do y' feel about yoga pants?" she asked holding out a simple dark grey pair.
Rogue nodded. "They're fine. Thanks."
Mercy stepped back and took in Rogue's dusky grey ballet top and tank top before turning back to her clothes. "Here's a black tank and try this." She held out a short, fitted plum colored hoodie.
Rogue took the offered items, glad to see that none of the clothes were too far from her normal attire. She'd have taken them either way, but it was still nice not have to look too much like someone else. "Thank you. Ah appreciate it."
Mercy smiled at her. "De rein. It's nice to meet a real friend of Remy's." She sat down on the bed. "Jean-Luc made me promise I wouldn't leave you alone up here, but take your time. Don' let me rush you, and feel free to use any of the things in the shower.
Rogue gave Mercy a small smile and slipped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
'Thank you, Lord, for small favors,' she though as she stepped into the shower. The hot water felt wonderful. Nothing made her feel grungier than airplane funk. Taking her time and relishing the few minutes with nothing but water and soap on her skin, she allowed herself a few moments to just relax.
Letting her mind unwind, she replayed the conversations she'd had since arriving at Gambit's home. Given the secrecy required to run something like the Thieves' Guild, she knew that there were a lot of things they weren't telling her. But something had been nagging at her. Everyone seemed unusually tense at her arrival, referencing something involving Gambit. 'Remy', she reminded herself, 'his name is Remy.' Her inner Logan snorted.
She wondered what could possibly be going on that his family would think he'd staged a contract hit on himself for the purpose of bringing her down here. Or maybe they thought he'd used her to deliver the message to make it look real? Either option seemed extreme, even for Gambit. But then Mercy had just said that no one in the Guild was thinking clearly. She knew he wasn't going to tell her anything else, but maybe Mercy would.
She stepped out of the shower and toweled off before slipping into the clothes Mercy had loaned her. At least she'd though to bring a change of underwear with her. Borrowing that would have been mortifying.
She quickly combed out her hair. The Louisiana humidity was already making the curl standout. And without her normal array of hair products she was going to have to live with the crazy curl look. But it was clean. That was what mattered.
Her eye shadow matched the purple of the hoodie almost perfectly. Makeup had always been a sort of battle armor to her, and it was a relief to have it back in place and not half worn away. The sleeves of the sweatshirt were ¾ length, leaving a small gap between the cuff and her gloves, but it wasn't much. And the band of skin at her waist was no more than normal.
She tucked her makeup and brush into her backpack along with her dirty clothes. Taking the time to brush her teeth and then wipe up the water drops on the counter she opened the door and walked back into Mercy's bedroom.
The blonde was still stretched out on the bed, her attention focused on a book. She smiled when Rogue walked in. "Feel better?"
Rogue gave her a small smile. "Yes. Thank you."
Mercy waved it off. "Tante Mattie stopped by. She said if we take your dirty clothes down, she'll make sure they're washed and ready before morning."
Rogue paused, "I guess I'm not going anywhere tonight then." When Mercy shook her head in confirmation, Rogue sighed. "Might as well not have to take your stuff with me when Ah go." Figuring it couldn't hurt to see what Mercy would say she decided to take advantage of being alone with the other woman.
"Mercy, why does everyone think Ah'm trying to help Remy escape from something?" Seeing Mercy's eyebrows raise, she added at the end. "Ah understand if you can't tell me. Ah'm just wondering is all."
Mercy sat up, setting the book down and eyeing her carefully for a long moment, looking for the first time like she belonged with the thieves downstairs. "Y' really don' know." She said softly.
Rogue gave a bewildered and disgruntled look. "Other than what Ah found in that file, Ah don't know anything."
Mercy gestured to the bed, and as Rogue settled, she started to explain. "I gather you know at least a little about the feud between the Thieves' Guild and the Assassins Guild?" At Rogue's nod, she continued. "Well after the damage your family inflicted on the Rippers, Marius and Jean-Luc have been trying to broker a deal. It's getting' mighty expensive to keep up business and be warrin' wit' each other. The agreement was that Remy would marry Bella Donna, since dey're both second children of the Guild heads. Deir marriage would unite the families."
Rogue's confused look made Mercy stop. "What?"
Ignoring her own thoughts on Remy getting married to anyone, she clarified, "Ah thought Bella Donna was Julian's girlfriend. Well, she was the girl Julian wanted as his girlfriend the last time Ah was here."
Mercy looked pained. "Y' sure about dat?"
Rogue nodded and tapped the side of her head. "Ah absorbed Julian twice that night. He's pretty loud up here sometimes. Although he's bein' strangely quiet now."
Now Mercy looked confused. "Y' take thoughts when y' touch people? Remy made it sound like you just knocked dem out." She continued before Rogue could answer. "Actually don' tell me. If Remy don' want us to know, it's better that I don'." She paused before giving a warning. "Truth, don' tell nobody. Safer for y' dat way."
Rogue nodded wearily. Apparently he had been protecting her, but rather than consider that she pushed on the issue of Remy marrying Bella Donna. "So Remy's supposed to marry Bella Donna." It was a flat statement. That was definitely not an option she'd considered. Her attraction to him aside, that just didn't seem to make sense.
Mercy winced again, "Yeah. She's Marius' daughter. Julian's younger sister."
"Oh. Oh! Gross! Ah think Ah need to wash mah mind out with bleach." Rogue's accent thickened in disgust and she reached up and rubbed at her temples. "Ah'm gonna have more nightmares, Ah swear."
"We had our suspicions. But ouias, I agree. Bella Donna don' feel the same way, do she?" Mercy asked the question, wincing, with only one eye open, as though she didn't really want to hear the answer.
Rogue shook her head. "No. At least the last time Ah saw him, she wasn't interested or really even aware of it at all."
"Bon. At least the famille don' have to have to worry about dat." Mercy looked more than a little relieved.
"So if the family thinks he's trying to run, Ah take it Gambit doesn't want to marry her?" Rogue returned the conversation to her original question.
Mercy glanced down and traced a design on her comforter while she considered her answer. "I'm not sure he wants to be here at all. Can' believe he even came back in the first place. And this will forever tie him to the Guild and to Bella Donna."
"He came back to help his father." Rogue murmured, recalling their conversations from that time. How Remy hadn't wanted to return, but hadn't been able to leave his father in the hands of Marius and Julien.
Mercy nodded, looking off to the side. "He's a damn good thief, but he's got a real sense of honor. Can' walk away when family needs his help. Fewer of the thieves feel dat way these days, with all de fightin' b'tween de Guilds and de families. I t'ink dat's why Jean-Luc is pushin' so hard for de truce. Tryin' to get some of dat gentlemen's honor back." She looked back up at Rogue. "But no, I don' t'ink Remy wants dis. But he knows what it means if he backs out, so he isn't sayin' anyt'ing."
Rogue nodded, but her thoughts were interrupted by a knocking at the door. At Mercy's bidding, Henri entered, an air of tension coming with him. "Word's gotten back to the Rippers. Dey're here to ensure the negotiations don't fail. You both need to be there." He turned to Rogue. "My apologies now for any insults they send your way, but we need you to not return them."
Rogue nodded, not happy about having to see the Boudreaux men again but wondering if Bella Donna would be there. She was curious about Remy's future wife.
The two women followed Henri downstairs, Mercy slipping her hand into Henri's as they stepped outside into the clearing in front of the house.
Rogue found the setting eerie. Thieves and Assassins were everywhere, standing in a loose circle with Marius and Jean-Luc in the center. Henri led Mercy and Rogue to stand beside Gambit, who was leaning lackadaisically against a tree, his arms crossed carelessly over his chest. His eyes, though, were alert, taking in every detail, looking weary and worn.
Rogue stayed slightly off to the side, trying to avoid associating herself with him any more than she had to. If he planned on staying to help his family, she did not want to get in the way if she could help it.
Marius began speaking as soon as they arrived. He spoke loudly, letting his voice project to all those listening. "We've heard rumors dat young Gambit's tryin' to run from de Guild again. Our peace talks are only good if he stays. What part of these rumors be truth?"
Jean-Luc answered calmly. "Remy ain't runnin' from de Guild or de upcoming marriage." He paused a moment before continuing. "But we have received information dat a former associate of his has hired two professionals to kill him."
Marius' face showed no surprise or emotion in spite of the murmurs that struck up among his assassins. "You do not believe we are a part of this contract?" Marius confirmed.
Jean-Luc shook his head. "Dis matter has nothing to do with your Guild. De two hired to perform de hit work for de man who placed it. Dey are expected to arrive from Paris in the mornin'."
Marius turned, eyeing Rogue as he spoke. "You were able to confirm the fille's information?"
Jean-Luc nodded, but Rogue noticed he was getting tired of demurely answering Marius' questions. "We have. De threat is real, and both hunters are mutants."
Both men were silent for a few moments. "He will have to leave town to avoid attractin' attention." Marius conceded finally. "But perhaps our peace does not have to wait while the situation is dealt wit'." He gestured to someone with his right hand.
A young woman stepped forward, her blonde hair in several braids and knives on her belt at each hip. In the dim light, it was hard to see her face, but she looked serious and calm and beautiful.
Jean-Luc nodded. "Yes, dey shall be married tonight. It will be fast, but after dis situation has been dealt with, we can have a more formal ceremony."
At his father's glance, Remy stepped forward. To Rogue he seemed stiff and edgy, as though his body was moving against his will, but he said nothing and looked only at the young woman.
Jean-Luc moved to place Remy's hand over Bella Donna's, when a half crazed shout tore through the somber proceedings. "No mutant will ever lay a hand on Bella!" A loud, plastic sounding pop filled the air.
Heads jerked to look at Julien, who stood off to one side holding something like a dart gun pointed at Gambit and an enraged expression on his face. "Dat's why de freak is being hunted! Because he's a mutant. For her honor, I contest Gambit's claim to Bella Donna."
Rogue whipped around to face Remy, dread settling in her stomach at the sight of a dart sticking out of the side of his neck. He moved to answer Julien's challenge, only have his knees give out, sending him stumbling to ground.
Henri saw his brother go down and immediately stepped forward to take Gambit's place. "You salaud! You defy de honor of a Guild challenge by drugging Remy! I will fight in his place!"
Rogue glanced at Mercy's pale face as she turned to see Julien's reaction.
"Non," he stated smugly, arms crossed over his chest. "The challenge was issued first. He must fight." Arrogant malice glittered in his eyes.
Marius looked furiously at his son, ""Imbécile! Sais-tu ce que tu as fait?" (You fool! Do you know what you've done?)
Julien grinned. "Never will Bella Donna be bound to that mutant trash!"
The group stood still and deathly silent for a moment, dread obvious on the faces of the thieves. Rogue tried to follow the conversation and silence the manically laughing Julien inside her head. He must fight. As de one challenged to fight, he must. Drugs and all," mental Julien hissed in glee.
"What is the penalty for losing?" Rogue asked the psyche.
"Death." It was followed by more wicked laughter.
Seeing Gambit laying on his back, unmoving save for his eyes, which glowed with rage and no small amount of fear, Rogue waited to see if any of the Thieves would intervene.
Bella Donna ran toward Julien, grabbing one arm and trying to pull him away. "Tu seras bani pour ceci! Tu dois t'enfuir maintenant! Si tu le tues, les voleurs te tueront!" ("You will be banished for this! You must run now. If you kill him, the thieves will kill you!" )
Using Bella Donna's movement as a distraction, Rogue ripped off her right glove and covered the two steps to Remy's side and knelt. She'd come too far to let him die like this. And like hell she'd let Julien be the one who did it.
Remy's red eyes blazed with determination as she brushed her hand against his cheek. The burst of energy was nearly instantaneous, but she felt a slight shift and his personality began streaming into her mind. She could hear Julien all but toss Bella Donna away from him. She held on for another moment, ensuring she pulled not just his power but enough of his personality to know the rules of Guild duels. In a blink Remy's psyche settled in her mind, and she let it stay near the front, allowing him to strongly influence her reactions and help her control his powers.
She kept her face tipped to the ground, carefully reaching into his coat and palming a deck of cards and wrapping her left hand around his collapsed bo staff, all with Remy's thieving grace.
Julien stopped a few feet away. "Move it, putain. I'll deal wit' you later. It's time for Gambit to fight."
"If you want to fight Gambit," she snarled, her accent thick as molasses, "then fight Gambit!"
She saw him pale as she faced him with Gambit's trade mark eyes. She smirked Remy's smirk and in her right hand flipped up two cards. She charged them enough for everyone to see the magenta glow before tossing them at Julien. They landed on either side of the man, their small explosions enough to convince everyone that she truly possessed Gambit's power. "Let's dance, homme," she drawled in Remy's distinctive Cajun accent.
A vicious grimace mangling his features Julien pulled his own bo staff. "Fine. I'll deal wit' his petite whore, and den I'll kill Gambit." He charged forward swinging his staff at her knees.
Rogue jumped, surprised at how Remy's natural agility augmented her own. She used her staff as a pivot, rotating above Julien's swing, and using her momentum to twist around and drive her feet into his side.
Julien rolled with her kick, coming back to his feet, but holding his ribs on the side she'd hit.
Rogue could feel her eyes glow as she feinted left, forcing Julien to stretch his wounded ribs, before she brought her staff up, slamming it into his shoulder.
Startled when Remy took control of her body, Rogue was thrown to the ground, the dagger Julien threw at her just grazing the side of her neck before embedding itself in the tree immediately behind where she'd been standing.
With a grimace she launched herself forward, using the staff for leverage, hurtling her body at Julien. She slammed into his knees at an angle, driving him painfully to the ground. Remy had her moving almost immediately, standing to slap the end of her bo down on the medallion tied at his throat.
His grin gracing her features, she charged the medallion, but maintained contact with it, pushing hard enough to make breathing possible but uncomfortable. "Bang," she drawled, "You're dead." She assumed the words came from Remy given his psyche's smug sense of victory.
When Julien tried to swing his legs around to knock her over, she kicked him in his wounded ribs.
Henri and one of the other thieves came up on either side, holding Julien in place as she removed the charge from his necklace. They wrestled the assassin to his knees, his arms pinned behind his back and the four faced Marius and Jean-Luc.
Remy's psyche told her to kneel on one knee, bo staff held out the side. It's a formality, chérie, he said, when she resisted. Let them acknowledge you as the winner.
You keep bowing to them, Bub, and they aren't gonna let you go. Logan's mental self stated.
Mentally she could imagine Remy shaking his head. Trust me on this, Rogue. End it formally. And then whatever happens with the peace accord can't be blamed on you.
With a mental grumble both she and Logan gave in. With her head just slightly bowed, she dropped to one knee before Jean-Luc and stayed silent.
The king of thieves was far from amused as he addressed Marius. "Y' either sent your son to kill mine, or he has betrayed y' in front of witnesses. Which is it?" he demanded.
Rogue could see Marius' hand clench before he spoke. Mentally Remy whispered in her ear. If he says Julien acted against the Guild, Julien will have to be killed for his treachery and Marius 'll lose face with some of his own people for not defending his son. If he says it was sanctioned, the peace between the Guilds is dead in the water. He's screwed either way.
When Marius spoke he sounded as though he'd choked and couldn't breathe. "Julien acted alone." Julien snarled in outrage at his father's words, but Marius continued as though he hadn't heard it. "De war between de Guilds has nearly paralyzed bot' our businesses. We want this peace. Bella Donna agreed to dis marriage willin'ly. As did your boy. While I find de interference of de girl an insult to Guild rule, it was no more than de one Julien inflicted."
Sounding less smug than she had expected, Jean-Luc clarified Marius' decision. "You declare Bella Donna to be de heir to the Rippers' rule of de Assassin's Guild?"
"I do." Marius paused, and Rogue could hear him swallow even over her pounding heart and elevated breathing from the fight. "We will have to find another way to unite de Guilds. It will not do to have our heir marry a second prince. De marriage would be unequal."
"Perhaps business instead of blood," Jean-Luc proposed. "Clearly we both have internal matters to see to tonight. Send a message when you are ready to continue negotiations."
It was obviously a dismissal, but Marius took it without comment.
Still keeping her eyes on the ground at Jean-Luc's feet, Rogue saw two sets of male legs step up and take over holding a half crazed Julien. They dragged him away, shouting insults at Rogue and Remy.
It was not until the clearing in front of the Thieves' mansion was silent that Jean-Luc addressed Rogue. His voice a mixture of irritation and vague amusement he asked, "Am I talkin's to my son or to the Rogue?"
"Both," she answered honestly still able to feel Remy's power at her finger tips and his mind blending with her own and not mostly separate like her other psyches.
"Stand up," he directed. When she'd complied, he looked her in the eye, barely holding in a wince at seeing Remy's glowing eyes staring back from her face. "It seems we owe you a second time for pullin' dis family out of de gator's mouth." His eyes hardened. "What it is you want in exchange?"
A flash of annoyance that was all Rogue pushed Remy's psyche a little farther back. Her fisted hand landing on one hip she glared, her accent thicker than they'd heard before, she snarked back. "For the last time, Ah don't want nothing from any of you! Ah just came to tell Remy that Essex was tryin' to have him killed. End of story. And now that Ah've done that, Ah'll be on my way."
Jean-Luc watched her carefully for a long moment before his eyes flicked over to Gambit's prone form. "How long will he be unconscious?"
Rogue gave an uncomfortable shrug. "Ah don't know exactly. Several hours."
With an appraising look, he gestured to Henri and the other man who'd been holding Julien. The two moved to pick up Remy and carry him into the house. Turning to go inside himself, Jean-Luc tossed a final comment to her. "You'll stay until Remy wakes up."
French words not already explained in the text
Putain: whore (Julien isn't very nice at all!)
Ouias: Yeah
Salaud: bastard
So... Remy's not getting married anymore. Julien is supposed to die. And Rogue can't leave until Remy wakes up. What will happen when Gambit wakes up? Stay tuned to find out!