Sorry I've been so long in updating, but University doesn't really allow all that much time for writing.
I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed and favourited my story and I really hope that you like this chapter.
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It was only a few minutes before Remy was pulling into a parking space at the mall, pausing before he cut the engine, pulling the keys out of the ignition.
Rogue watched him out of the corner of her eye, she knew there was something he wanted to say, but that he wasn't sure whether or not it would be a good idea. "Yah can say what yah want Rems. No need to look so awkward." She told him gently with a smirk.
He looked up, surprised that she had caught him so easily, having thought that he'd been disguising his inner struggle. "Desole Chere." He sighed. "I was jus' t'inkin' bout stuff I shouldn' be." He told her, shaking his head, forcing himself to forget it and smile at her, not about to let her know that his father had told him something of her past.
"Ah know there's more to that, but ah know that yah won't tell me if yah don't want to." She told him, before climbing out of the car, knowing that this was a conversation that could very easily go in a direction she wouldn't want it to.
"Ok, where t' first Chere?" He asked her, locking the car as he fell into step beside her as they walked towards the entrance.
"Ah have no idea Cajun." She stated, pausing in the entrance and looking around, hoping to be struck by some sort of inspiration, glaring slightly at Remy when he chuckled.
"Well, let's tek a petit strole whil' yer decidin non?" He suggested with a smirk, draping an arm around her shoulders.
Meanwhile, in Benson, Louisiana, in a large warehouse on the outskirts of town, there was a meeting in progress.
"For 8 years our plans have been on hold. The one we trained, the one we sculpted, the only one with the power and ability to pull off what we need done escaped, and for 8 years we have been searching for her. To bring her back." The leader announced, rising from his seat at the head of the table.
The other occupants of the table all watched him, not sure where he was going with this. Every meeting started off with the same thing, his rage at how she had managed to elude them for so long. Inevitably, someone ended up getting hurt, and every person at the table was praying for the same thing . . . that it wasn't going to be them.
"Finally, we have good news." He announced, a slight tinge of relief to his frustrated tone as he straightened up, no longer leaning on the table as his left hand beckoned to someone in the corner of the room; someone who had gone unnoticed by all of them as they entered, took their seats and chatted before the meeting.
Now this figure stepped forward. This formidable shadow of a figure, only his bright grey eyes making him recognisable. "Master." He bowed deeply to the figure at the head of the table, and after a slight pause, he was signalled to rise.
"Tell us of your findings." He instructed, sinking into his overly large and decorated chair.
THe grey-eyed man stepped forward, turning slightly so that everyone at the table could see him. "As you are all aware, for the past 2 years I have been searching for Roisin. I took on the duty when my predecessor had failed to turn up anything after 6 years of searching. I confess it has taken me longer than I had expected to find her, but I have. I've found her, and she's right here in Louisiana." He announced, a small smile playing on his lips, pausing when the loud cries of joy and shock errupted from the table.
It took several moments for everyone to quieten down, and the man once again looked to the head of the table for permission to continue. Once he had received his blessing he raised his head, beginning to stroll around the table as he delivered his news. "I expect the reason that she has eluded us for so many years is that she has hidden her past from everyone in her life. She changed her name, twice, and has fallen in with other mutants. Currently in the care of the ever-popular Professor Charles Xavier. She has been living at his 'school' for the past 5 years and before that was in the care of Mystique, the right hand woman of Magneto." He explained, looking everyone in the eye as he walked around the table.
"If she is with the infamous Professor Xaivier, then what is she doing in Louisiana? The school is in New York." The leader asked, narrowing his eyes slightly at the man delivering the news, not trusting him completely until he knew the whole story, well aware that he would be willing to make up a load of rubbish in order to get his hands of his reward and escape the punishment for failure.
"The school is, but the good Professor has recently found a friend from his army days, and in celebration the friend invited them down here for a big party to celebrate their reunion. Roisin came down as part of the group." He straightened as he delivered this news, before smirking. "It is this friend that I find the most pleasing news." He confessed, enjoying the suspense he could feel hanging in the room as they all held their breath waiting to find out who this friend was.
"And this friend is, who exactly?" The leader asked, not appearing amused or excited in any way.
"Well, the friend of the Professors turns out to be Jean-Luc LeBeau, Leader of the Thieves Guild in New Orleans." He announced, pausing once again at the loud cries of shock and surprise that burst from the room. This time even the leader leaned forward in his chair, taken in by this turn of events.
"I'm sure you brought evidence of such findings with you, and I shall view those in a moment, but first I ask if that is all of your findings?" The leader spoke, leaning back in his chair again, sensing that there was something else this man had not told him yet.
"No, it is not everything. There is one other thing I have found. The Guild leaders son, Remy LeBeau. He is very taken with her, and she seems to return his feelings. They are as close to boyfriend and girlfriend as she can get with her powers." He announced, now letting the smirk cover his face, well aware how good this news was to his master.
Everyone turned to the man at the head of the table, watching as he laughed gleefully, quickly calming himself, but the evil smile remained. "Well, well, well. That is interesting." He mused, rising and climbing down from his seat and moving to one side of the room where a large chest was stood on a table. "You have done well Carlo. You shall have your reward." He stated, beckoning the grey-eyed man closer to him.
Carlo moved closer, excited about getting his hands on so much gold. This was one group of people who never dealt with cash. If they ever offered to pay cash, it usually meant that you would be killed off when you completed to job. As he reached the mans side, he once agian bowed respectfully, and waited to be signalled to rise.
"Thank you. Now, if you present me with your evidence I shall give you your payment." He stated, holding his hand out for the pictures he was expected to have taken.
"Of course." He nodded, pulling a handful of photos from his inner pocket and handing them to the leader.
"There are less than I would have liked." He commented, before looking through them, smiling slightly when he saw her there, her hair and features slightly different, more mature than when he had last seen her. She seemed happy as she danced and laughed with Remy LeBeau, and the other members of the institute. 'Foolish girl, I know we taught you better than that.' He thought to himself as he gazed at her for a long moment.
Once he had composed himself, he turned to Carlo, nodded to let him know that these were satisfactory. "50 pounds was the agreed weight, was it not?" He asked, knowing that it was, but measureing how trustworthy this spy was.
"It was master." Carlo assured him, knowing exactly what was going on and not about to fall into the trap, no matter how tempting it was when he saw the contents of the chest. He knew that the penalty for such was death, and he had no intention of getting himself killed at the hands of these men.
"Good." He nodded, before weighing out 50 pounds on the scales next to the chest, before bagging it up and passing it to Carlo. "You did well. You may hear from us in the future." He told him with a nod, before clicking his fingers and ordering the guard that entered to show him out.
There was a long silence as they waited for the pair to be well out of earshot before the leader walked back to the head of the table. "Well gentleman, we have good news at last." He commented, smiling at them all, enjoying the way he sent shivers down their spines. "Anyone up for a little road trip?" He asked.
x x x x
Rogue was looking around the glassware of the large department store they had found at the end of the mall, but didn't really like anything that she saw. Remy assured her that any old glass would do, having gotten bored of looking at so many different glasses for the past hour, but Rogue wanted it to be special. She knew what she was looking for, she was just having a hard time finding it. Sighing, she turned to Remy. "Aren't there any smaller, vintage type shops around here?" She asked him eventually.
"Sure Chere, but I t'ought ya wanted de mall?" He asked her, feeling slightly more cheerful at the thought of getting out of the shop they had been walking round for the past hour.
"Great, lets try there." She nodded, following him out of the shop and back into the mall parking lot. She was just about to climb into the car when something caught her eye. She followed the little spot of colour she had seen and realised it was a shop front. "Wait, what's that over there?" She asked, closing tha car door and walking away towards the shop.
Sighing, Remy slammed the car door and locked the car before jogging after Rogue to catch up with her. "Chere, aren' we s'posed ta be leavin' de mall?" He asked her, frustrated that he wasn't getting anywhere with her at the moment.
"Ah know, but this shop has glassware, so weh might as well try there before we leave." She stated, glancing over at him and smiling at the dejected look on his face. "No need to look so sad cajun, as soon as ah've got this glass, we can go grab somethin' to eat or whatever." She told him, nudging him slightly with a smile, laughing at the way his face perked straight up.
"Right den Chere, what we waitin' for." He told her, grabbing hold of her hand and running towards the store, smiking at the little scream that escaped her as she ran to keep from being dragged along the ground.
As soon as they walked in the shop Rogue smiled. 'This is it. This is what I've been looking for.' She thought to herself, smiling at all the different types and colours of glass that she saw before her. "Wow." She breathed, before leading Remy over to the side of the store with coloured glass. She quickly found the red and blue glasses, and examined all the different designs, before picking out 6 that she thought Tante would like. There were 3 red glasses and 3 blue glasses and all of them had playing cards and fireworks on them. She didn't know the story behind the glasses, but she knew that the way they had been painted made them look as though the sparks of the fireworks were coming from the cards. 'Perfect' she reaslised, smiling as she carried them the the counter where the assistant removed the pricetags and giftwrapped them for her.
"Finally, we done wit' de glass!" Remy cried, raising his hands in praise as the left the store and made their way back to the car. He ducked as Rogue made to slap him, being careful not to drop the glasses she was carrying as she did so. "So, now Remy get ta choose de acticity non?" He asked, wriggling his eyebrows and making her laugh as he draped and arm around her shoulders.
"That would depend on what it is." She stated firmly. "Ah'm not about to let yah lead me up some country lane so that yah cna try yah luck Swamp Rat." She told him, giving him a look that let him know that was not an option, or any of the other make out opportunities that he had in mind, smirking at the caught expression on his face.