AN: I'm very sorry in advance if this chapter makes you hungry or has you craving Mexican and/or Cajun food. Or barbecue.:)
When Remy woke up, he was facing bars and beyond that, two men in red suits and cream colored masks that obscured everything but their eyes. They were in a sophisticated looking room. A Persian rug on the floor, huge bookcases lining the walls. A four foot tall wine rack. It was all dimly lit with only a couple of lights and one table where the men were playing cards. The floor underneath Remy was thankfully carpeted and not cold cement. Remy wasn't tied up, but he had a thick, bulky collar around his neck. More then likely a power dampener. Molly was still asleep on the ground next to him, breathing softly through her mouth, locks of her curly hair were lying over her face.
"Better go tell the boss one of them is awake," One man said. The other man left the room.
"...I don't want ham," Molly talked in her sleep.
"Molly wake up," Remy lightly shook her.
Molly groggily opened her eyes and sat up, moving the hair out of her face and taking in the scenery. She quickly closed her eyes again and let out a loud groan. "Tell me we're not captured. Tell me the car had a gas leak."
"Sorry," Remy frowned.
"This collar is annoying," Molly felt the heavy yellow collar on her own neck. They stood up and walked close to the cell bars. Sitting on the floor-though carpeted-just wasn't a good feeling when you were captured.
"So judging by the decor," Remy said to the guard," I'd guess the Inner Circle has us, but I didn't know they hired...whatever you are."
"Just your keeper for a while, Meathead," The guard walked over and made a fist, going through the wide set bars and aiming for Remys gut. Remy was just about to move thanks to his agility powers, but Molly angled herself sideways between the two men. The guards fist caught her hard in the side, bowling her over so that she landed against Remy with the wind knocked out of her. Mollys ribs could have been broken, but Remy hadn't heard anything crack. Remy cradled Molly against him, slowly laying her on the ground. He took off his coat and quickly put it over her. "I could have dodged that. You didn't have to block it," Remy said softly. Molly just nodded, in too much pain to talk. He knew she knew that. Molly just couldn't stand anyone trying to lay a hand on Remy.
"I'd rather you not damage my captors before I've even had the chance to talk to them," Sebastian Shaw stood in the doorway. He was an imposing man on sight. Almost six-four with broad shoulders and a muscular frame barely concealed beneath a sharp grey business suit. His thick black hair had a touch of grey, so he had experience behind him, but not the ravages of very old age.
"I'll get the girl something for the pain," Sebastian pressed an intercom on the right wall, "I need two doses of painkiller and a glass of water. _Now_."
Barely two seconds later a model-beautiful super speedy female mutant rushed in at several hundred miles per hour. Her long red hair trailed behind her like flame. "Sir?" She asked. Sebastian just pointed over at Molly. In almost no time, Remy was holding two pills and the glass.
"How do I know it's not poison?" Remy asked, "We found out about you getting hired to kill us."
"Why do you think I'm holding you here?" Sebastian said, "Magneto decided it would be fair to talk to you about your surrender. One last chance. You were in the right place at the right time, so you're bait for your friends. Even if I wanted to I couldn't kill you, so don't be too paranoid, Mister LeBeau."
With that, Remy helped Molly sit up to take the pills. They seemed to quickly take effect, as Molly was able to talk again and sit up on her own. "It's just like the old guy to give us one last chance. Very sporting of him," Molly gave off a sarcastic smirk, "So, Mister Shaw, what do you have on us? Probably everything if you could send someone into _our_ house undetected."
"I'd much rather know why you knocked us out to get us here? That's not the Inner Circles' style. Too public," Remy said.
"Ah, that," Sebastian said, "I had to hire a little help to catch you off guard. The direct approach was proving too messy, so now the Friends of Humanity have a very substantial check from a mysterious benefactor for their services."
"What are you, _sick_?!" Molly shrieked, "You probably just gave them enough money to obliterate over half the mutants on the whole east coast alone!"
"Relax, my idiosyncratic little protagonist," Sebastian strolled over and took a seat in plush looking red chair facing them, "When they cash the check, it will bounce because the account is fake. They can't find me, so everyone's hide is safe."
"Except from you and your boys," Remy said.
"That's right. As to how much I know about the X-Men, it was easy enough to pull up anything and everything on you since you're so famous. Right down to dental records. However, Logan and Remy didn't have very much. I was disappointed there, having such a once great thief, I thought I might persuade you into joining us," Sebastian took a sip of wine that the guard had set down for him as the three of them had been talking.
"Oh, what's the word I'm looking for. Let's see...hmm...no!" Remy quipped.
"Well anyway, seeing as how the X-Men will know this is a trap and we're going to be here for a while since they probably won't think anything is wrong until late tonight when we don't come home," Molly said, "Since you're a billionaire, you could probably afford to get us a nice dinner seeing as how you're not going to kill us right away. Just a thought."
Remy resisted the urge to shake his head in amusement. Besides Kurt, Molly would probably be the only one thinking of food and trying to get anything she wanted out of her billionaire captor at a time like this.
"No, of course I'm not going to _feed_ you," Shaw laughed, "Hopefully tonight I can kill you all and get the job done." With that he left the room with a slam of the door.
Tilt stood there frowning. "That isn't right to let you starve. I can get you anything you want, I'm fast enough and I've got more money then I know what to do with, thanks to running errands for the boss."
"Uh, gosh. Thanks, but we'd hate to impose," Molly said, except her stomach growled.
"I don't mind. It won't take very long," Tilt said, "I'm just the secretary, anyway. I had to read your files. Uh, sorry."
"We couldn't possibly..." Molly protested, but her stomach kept on making its own protest.
Remy frowned. His own stomach _was_ feeling pretty empty and it pained him to see Molly go hungry.
"Cherie, she just wants to help. You get cranky when you're hungry anyway."
"Fine. What do you want to eat, Remy?" Molly said with a defeated sigh.
"I've been craving this place in New Orleans this whole week. Tate's Grill. Good stuff, but that really _would_ be putting you out,"
"No way! I can go like four hundred MPH! I can so get that. What do you want, Molly?" Tilt smiled.
"Uh, just Taco Hut I guess. I can't ever seem to get sick of that place," Molly was almost drooling. They told Tilt exactly what they wanted and within the hour they were eating a small feast. "Mmmmnnggghhhh," Remy groaned, tossing his head back as he savored the sausage and ribs, "It's so good. The stuff around here is drek in comparison to Tate's Grill." It had been Remy's favorite eatery growing up. Food like that reminded him of home and it tasted nothing short of culinary perfection. "You're sure you don't want to break creed and try the sausage? Or the ribs? or the prawns?" Remy said to Molly.
"Ick, no thanks! I didn't even like ribs or prawns when I ate meat," Molly wrinkled her nose, "Sausage was good, but I only liked skin off. Uh, you enjoy yourself."
Remy raised his eyebrows, biting into another rib. He stopped chewing long enough to swallow and talk. "...You _used to_ eat meat? And you stopped? Willingly?" He couldn't remember if Molly ever informed him of this before, because it was coming as a surprise now. Especially with the texture of grilled succulence-made-tangible still doing a forbidden dance on his tongue.
"Yeah. I thought I told you at some point. I guess it never came up between the flirting and all the times we were running for our lives and whatever," Molly started eating another taco.
Their conversation was interrupted by Tilt coming in. "Is everything alright? Can I get you anything else?"
"A coffin. Because this is so good it's killing me," Remy wiped the barbecue sauce from his face, "So, Tilt, are you allowed to chat with the prisoners?"
"I'm not busy now. I can talk if you guys want a little company," Tilt sat down in the red chair.
Remy had informed Molly of his plan to chat the girl up when they'd had a minute alone. She didn't like it, but Molly also knew they didn't have a ton of options. While Tilt and Remy talked, Molly pretended to fall asleep so Remy could say anything without being suspicious.
"What's a nice girl like you doing working for a creep like Shaw anyway?" Remy asked.
"I can't talk about it," Tilt crossed her legs, fiddling with her hair, "What's a guy like you doing with the X-Men? Handy thief, outgoing, charismatic...handsome. You could be doing anything with your life and you're being a vigilante. It can't be very rewarding."
"It's got it's ups and downs," Remy said, "You probably get told all the time how gorgeous you are."
"Not really. Mostly I just get the sleazy gaurds trying to grope me around here. Uh, wait, aren't you two together?" Tilt looked confused, raising her eyebrows and pouting out her lower lip a little.
"Yeah, but it's not like we're married, and she can be a nag, so sometimes it's like we might as well be," Remy laughed. Tilt laughed too. Not nervously, but like she was enjoying herself. Bingo.
"Um, so why'd you pick a name like 'Tilt'?" Remy asked.
"Oh, it's short for Full Tilt since I move so fast," She answered.
"Well if I had to pick a name for you, it would be Devine, because you look like an angel," Remy showed his flirtatious face, "So maybe you could at least take off our collars? It would help."
"I wish I could, but I really can't. I'd get into so much trouble with the boss," Tilt started fidgeting.
"You're certain? G ant statuaire ange?" Remy winked, not surprised he still had very capable flirting abilities.
Tilts eyes darted to Molly's 'sleeping' form, back to Remy. "I just can't, but if there's anything I can do to make you more comfortable..."
"Maybe some blankets and pillows? I think we're going to be here a while," Remy said. Their curfew was at ten and if they weren't back by then, the X-Men would know something was wrong and start looking for them. Hopefully they could be found since they couldn't use their powers.
"Sure," Tilt sped out of the room and came back with several pillows and some thick blankets. "I'd better let you get some rest," Tilt said. She left the room again.
Molly sat up and moved closer to Remy. "Layed it on a little thick there, didn't you?" Molly whispered as she shot him an accusatory look.
"Just trying to play the part of a guy wanting out of a relationship," He said.
"Of course a guy would throw out pretty French words if he was trying to flirt his way out of a holding cell," Molly rolled her eyes.
Remy smiled, "I said she was a _giant_. A giant statuesque angel, but I don't think any girl wants to be called that."
"Uhh no," Molly agreed, "I wouldn't mind it if you still flirted with me once in a while. Sometimes I miss it."
Remy pulled a blanket around Molly, then started stroking at her face as she cuddled up against him by resting her chin on his chest, looking into his eyes. "Maybe I called her a statuesque angel, but you're radiance, beauty and absolute seductiveness incarnate."
Molly chortled, "Now you're not just laying it on thick, you're hamming it up."
"You wanted me to flirt with you," Remy smiled.
"Yes, flirt with me, not go and call me radiant and whatever," Molly smiled.
"Sorry, Petite, but you bring out all the best in me," Remy said.