Chapter 18
The door to Jean-Luc's office opened and Jean-Luc and Henri looked up.
"Where the hell have you been?" Henri demanded the moment he laid eyes on his wayward brother.
"That's a silly question, don't you think, mon frère?" Gambit replied calmly as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "I sent you the address."
"Remy... it's bad enough the tip-off came from us without making an appearance as well," Henri said. "And you of all people should not be visiting the home of Pierre Thomas!"
"Indeed," Jean-Luc agreed. "If you must persist in random acts of charity, don't not involve the Assassins Guild."
"I have to do this, I can't do that," Gambit mocked as he took off his trench coat and sat down. "A fille's life was at stake."
"So was yours," Henri said and gestured to the two holes in Gambit's shirt. "You got shot?"
"Hmm? Oh yeah," Gambit said with a slight shrug. "By the way, I think Pierre Thomas has really let himself go since he retired from the field. He missed me twice and it was practically point blank range. If he was the shooter at the restaurant, it's a wonder he even hit Rogue at all."
"How can you be so..." Henri began in frustration as he reached across and inspected the bullet holes. "Did you get hurt? I can't see any blood..."
"Henri," Gambit said patiently. "You don't really think I would visit the house of a homme whom I knew wanted to kill me without wearing a bullet proof vest did you?"
Henri sat back and shook his head.
"You're so... so cavalier about these things, Remy, I just don't know what to expect," he said.
"I'm a risk taker, don't mean I'm stupid too," Gambit replied. "The only ones who saw me were Avril, Pierre, some femme named Gwen, and two other guys I've never met before. Pierre and Gwen were still alive when I left –"
"Dammit Remy, you didn't kill anyone did you?" Henri exploded.
"Actually no," Gambit replied calmly. "If case you've forgotten, Avril's an Assassin... and a mutant too as things turn out. Some sort of light energy thing; took 'em out good. I got Avril out and told her only to mention me to Bella Donna. Say, I wonder... if Pierre was the shooter at the restaurant, maybe he wasn't aiming for Rogue at all. Maybe he was aiming for me and missed. I should have asked him when I had the chance. Oh well, he probably wouldn't have given me an honest answer anyway."
Eventually Gambit tired of Henri and Jean-Luc scolding him and took off, citing wanting to get out of the bullet proof vest. As the door shut behind Gambit, Henri shook his head and looked at Jean-Luc.
"Are you sure he's ready?" Henri asked.
Jean-Luc was quiet for a moment before answering: "He's older than I was, and he understands the basics. The rest will come with experience."
Henri made a noise like he didn't really believe it and Jean-Luc smiled at him.
"He has you too," Jean-Luc said. "More than what I had."
Avril held her hands out to Bella Donna and shook her head.
"I can't do it," Avril said in frustration. "I couldn't stop doing it before, and now I can't start."
Bella Donna held her daughter's hands sympathetically. She had heard that times of emotional stress could trigger the manifestation of mutant abilities, and Bella Donna could well imagine that the events of the day had been very stressful. It was all she could do to keep up the appearance of being calm even when she finally got Henri's call, telling her that her daughter had been abducted while she was busy deciding the fate of the Thomas clan.
"Don't worry, chére," Bella Donna said. "It'll come and go for a while, but it'll settle down eventually."
There had been a great deal of debate, but after the abduction of her daughter, very little complaint was given when Bella Donna dissolved the Thomas clan later that afternoon. All members had to be adopted by another clan – vouching for their integrity – or they were considered banished from the Guild, no exceptions. Bella Donna imagined it would be some time before final decisions were made. Jean-Bob and Gwen were not given the option for adoption.
"How do you know?" Avril asked sourly.
As for Pierre Thomas, his mental health was currently being assessed by a medical professional under Bella Donna's pay. It seemed that Pierre insisted that Gambit had been there to rescue Avril. Avril denied having seen him, and Gwen hadn't actually seen him after all, as her attention had been on Avril. Obviously this meant that the poor old man was hallucinating, and Bella Donna couldn't think of a better punishment than sending him to live in a dementia ward, (preferably with both his arms broken).
"Oh chére," Bella Donna said as she pulled one of her hands away from Avril's. "Where do you think you got it from?"
Avril stared as a ball of yellow plasma crackled in Bella Donna's hand.
Rogue was in the living room, phone to her ear and watching as Olivier played with a set of brightly coloured blocks on the floor.
"Hello, Rogue?" came Kurt's voice over the phone.
"Hi Kurt," Rogue replied. "Umm, how are you doing?"
"I'm well, thank you," Kurt replied. "And yourself?"
"Good, good," Rogue said. "Uhh, well, the reason why I'm calling is... well, I kinda ran into Mystique last week."
"I see."
"And I, umm, absorbed her."
"Okay," Kurt said patiently.
"And well... I kinda found out a few things. About us," Rogue said and then went on quickly: "I found out why she abandoned me, which I really don't want to go into right now, but... well, I also found out what happened to you, and I just... I mean I don't know if you ever got the chance to talk to her at the wedding or if she'll ever tell you if you ask next time you see each other, and I knew you wanted to know... Uhh, would you like me to tell you?"
Rogue felt a little awkward asking the question. She knew Kurt wanted to know - he'd even told her as much - but she also knew there are some things that are better heard from the source, rather than a third party. There was a long silence.
"I... yes," Kurt said finally, sounding a little nervous.
"Okay," Rogue said. "Well, Mystique was married at the time, sort of - she was using a different shape, you know, looking like a normal person? So her husband never knew who she really was. Anyway, when you were born, you were born blue and fuzzy and with a tail, and the doctor and her husband kind of freaked."
"Ahh," Kurt said ruefully. "Used to that reaction."
"Yeah, anyway, the exact sequence of events is a little fuzzy, but everyone figured you were a demon and Mystique ended up running off with you. Except they were chasing her and she was crossing this bridge and... well... you went over the edge. Mystique was able to escape by blending into the crowd, but yeah... She thought you died, which was why she never went after you and it wasn't until you showed up with us that she realised you were even alive."
Kurt nodded thoughtfully. He remembered talking to Mystique and asking her why she didn't just turn into a 'normal' person, and she had responded that they shouldn't have to. All of sudden those words seemed to take on a whole other meaning.
"Thank you," Kurt said, abruptly realising Rogue couldn't see him nod.
Rogue would never - could never - tell Kurt that Mystique had deliberately thrown him off the bridge. Kurt didn't need to know that, and Mystique had felt guilty about it ever since. Though, whether her decision was made out of consideration for Kurt or compassion for the woman she once knew as 'Mama', Rogue wasn't entirely certain.
"There's something else too," Rogue said. "We, ahh, we have a brother."
"Oh?"
"His name's Graydon Creed. He's Sabretooth's son," Rogue said, paused and then asked: "Do you know Sabretooth?"
"Only by reputation."
"Probably better that way," Rogue said dryly. "Anyway, they kinda dumped him once they realised he was human. Baseline human, that is."
"That's disappointing," Kurt said. "That they abandoned him, not that he was born human, I mean."
"Yeah, I feel his pain," Rogue said.
They chatted a little longer, moving to more pleasant topics before they hung up.
At eight and a half months, Olivier was, in Rogue's not-so-humble opinion, the handsomest man at the Guild Christmas party. This included his father, who was dressed in a Santa costume, handing out goodies to the little kids.
And Emil.
"Can I get a pwesent Santy?" asked Emil whilst on his knees. "Pwease? Pwetty, pwetty pwease?"
"I don't know," Gambit replied. "Have you been a good boy this year?"
"Uh huh, I've been very, very good," Emil insisted, putting on puppy dog eyes for good measure.
"Oh yeah? Well, that explains why you dropped off the Top Ten Thieves list completely, doesn't it?" Gambit teased him.
"That's 'cause I wanted to be a good boy this year 'cause I never got a pweasent from Santy in my whole life," Emil replied solemnly.
"Really? Not even one?"
"Nuh-uh."
"You wouldn't be lying to me, would you Emil?"
"We-ell... I got some presents from my parents pretending to be Santa."
"Oui," Gambit replied. "Seeing as how I'm only pretending too."
Emil gasped. "No you can't be! You're the real Santa Claus, I know it!"
Emil then proceeded to wail about how he knew Gambit was the real Santa Claus and that he wanted a present. His wife hissed at him to knock it off, while the two teenagers amongst his four daughters pretended not to know him. It was when Emil wrapped himself around Gambit's leg like a little kid wanting to be dragged along that Gambit finally gave in and handed him a little present. Emil then proceeded to run triumphantly around the room, holding the present high above his head and declaring that he succeeded in conning Santa Claus.
"This is why we had to separate Emil and Etienne and send, erm, I mean encourage Etienne to go to France," Henri said as he sidled up to Gambit. "They were bad enough when we were teenagers."
"Heh," Gambit said with a smirk. "Remember that time they decided to crash Mercy's slumber party?"
Henri snickered.
"I'm convinced that's why he's never gotten a son," Henri said, grinning. "Penance."
Gambit laughed.
In Zoe's arms across the hall, Olivier started fussing and crying.
"Aww," said Zoe. "What's wrong, Oli?"
"It's late," Rogue said, reaching out for him. "Mr Crankypants is cranky."
Zoe laughed as she handed him over.
"Hey, is it just me," Zoe said. "Or does he have some white hair?"
"What?" Rogue asked, frowning.
"Just there," Zoe said, pointing to a few strands of white hair near Olivier's forehead. He'd only just started to grow hair.
"Huh," Rogue said upon inspection. "I wonder if it's just the light, or if it really is white. My streak shouldn't be hereditary."
Zoe shrugged. Olivier continued to wail.
"I'd better get him to bed," Rogue said with a sigh. "Congratulations again."
"Thanks."
Zoe had succeeded in making position three on the Top Ten list. Stephane was excited about finally getting off position ten and making position eight. Andre and Brad were at positions nine and ten respectively.
Claude, much to his disappointment, didn't make the Top Ten list at all. He hid it well though, at least from the people who didn't know him best.
Henri knocked gently on Claude's door, but didn't wait for him to say he could come in. Claude was sitting on the edge of his bed, his elbows on his knees, and staring at the floor.
"Claude?" he inquired. "You alright?"
"Fine," Claude replied sourly.
"Uh huh," Henri said, sitting down beside him. "Doesn't look like it to me."
For a minute, neither said anything.
"I'm sorry you didn't make the Top Ten," Henri said.
"Whatever," Claude replied sullenly.
"I know you really wanted to break the record for youngest person ever to make the list," Henri said, ignoring his attitude. "Do you want to know how close you were?"
"Oui - non. Non," Claude said. "If I was close, it'll suck. If I was far away, it'll feel like I did all that work for nothing."
"It's not an easy record to beat," Henri said. "You have a time limit and you're disadvantaged by lack of experience. And you're not the only one who's tried to break that record, Claude. And sometimes these new Master Thieves get a little overconfident and get caught. I'm glad to see you're not one of them."
Claude didn't know what to say, and so silence fell once more for a minute or so.
"I just... I really wanted to get it," Claude said woefully.
"I know. Don't let it get you down, Claude," Henri said patiently. "There are other records you can set or break, if you really want to. But holding a record doesn't automatically make you a good thief."
"Oncle Remy's set lots of records," Claude pointed out. "Grandpère's set records too. You've never set any and everyone knows Oncle Remy's a better thief than you."
"Hmph," Henri snorted. "Do you want to know why your Oncle Remy is a great thief?"
"Sure."
"His life depended on it."
Claude frowned.
"I'm quite serious," Henri went on. "All his life, his very survival has hinged on his skills as a thief. From the very beginning, as soon as he was capable, he was picking pockets –"
"I know he grew up on the streets," Claude said irritably.
"Non," Henri replied firmly. "You are aware that he grew up on the streets. You don't know. Neither of us have any idea what it's like. We've always had good food, comfortable beds to sleep in, a roof over our heads, someone to take care of us when we're sick. We've never had to steal because the alternative was death. We've never had to eat refuse because the alternate was to starve. We've never slept in dumpsters or had to bandage wounds with dirty rags. If we even had rags. Have you ever tried to pick a pocket when you had the flu?"
"No..."
"Well, your oncle has. And it didn't stop after we adopted him either, Claude. He's been abducted, experimented on, had bounties put on his head, and every single time it was his skills as a thief that got him out," Henri said, paused and then added: "Well, except for that time he paid off Deadpool, but I guess you could argue that his skills as a thief was what got him the money to pay him off with. My point is, you and I learned to be thieves because it was family tradition and we wanted to. Remy's a thief because he needs to be. Need trumps want, I'm afraid, Claude. I'm not saying that you can't be a great thief too, someday, but you have to understand that what motivates you to improve is not the same thing that motivates Remy. And quite frankly, Claude, I hope it never is the same. I love mon frère, but sometimes I think it's a miracle he's even still alive."
Again, Claude didn't know what to say. He'd heard stories of course, but Gambit had been exiled for most of his life, so Claude had always seen his uncle as sort of a legend.
"'Sides," Henri said slyly, breaking the drawn out silence. "Just because your grandpère and your oncle are the King and the Crown Prince, doesn't mean they run the Guild."
Claude blinked and finally looked up to meet his father's eyes.
"But, Grandpère's the Patriarch," Claude said, confused. "He has to run the Guild."
"Non, he just gets the credit – and the blame – for running the Guild," Henri replied smugly.
"He makes all the decisions!" Claude insisted.
"And who do you think he comes to for about advice on those decisions?" Henri challenged him.
Claude paused. "You?"
"Oui," Henri said with a smirk. "No one knows what goes on in this Guild better than moi. Your grandpère and Oncle Remy wouldn't know what to do without me. Trust me, mon fils, if anyone's running this Guild, it's moi. And the best part about it? I will never get any glory for it."
"How is that the best part?" asked Claude.
"The sign of a truly awesome thief, Claude," Henri said, grinning with mischief, "is when the mark never knows he's been robbed."
Jean-Luc was tired.
He was in the council room. One son was on either side of his desk, and in front of him were the clan leaders, department heads, ministers and everyone else who could get in. Mercy and Rogue were off to the side with Claude and Lucian. Olivier was the only LeBeau not there, under the care of Tante Mattie.
It was two days after the Guild Christmas party, and a good day to make announcements as everyone would be over their hangovers but no one would have left yet. The Christmas season was generally a pretty good season for stealing, however, and a lot of them would be departing soon.
Henri knew what was coming, of course. Henri always knew what was coming. They hadn't told Gambit anything, but he was hardly stupid; Jean-Luc suspected he knew what was in the wind the moment he found out that there was to be a big announcement today.
Jean-Luc gave Henri a slight nod, and Henri called for everyone's attention. The room fell silent and Jean-Luc slowly stood to his feet.
"Mes filles et fils," he said. "I have been the leader of this Guild for a long time. Perhaps... longer than I should have."
Rogue caught her breath.
"I have called you all here today, because you're ma famille," Jean-Luc went on, "and I want you all to be the first to know that I'm retiring."
Jean-Luc smiled as the murmuring began and he was amused by the number of glances towards Gambit.
"Retiring, today."
Gambit shot Jean-Luc a startled look, and Jean-Luc was rather pleased with his reaction.
"Henri, if you wouldn't mind..." Jean-Luc said, but he needn't have; Henri was already there with the necessary papers.
Papers which Gambit eyed with a look of panic on his face.
Jean-Luc took one step to the side – still behind the desk – and then gestured to Gambit to join him. Gambit took a deep breath and his expression turned into one of composure. Jean-Luc knew Gambit was still freaking out on the inside, however.
Henri led his father and brother through the handing over ceremony. Claude had a silly grin on his face that Mercy couldn't quite read, but she decided she'd figure it out later. Rogue found the ceremony reminiscent of the one she went through with Bella Donna almost two years ago.
Then Jean-Luc stepped away from the desk, leaving Gambit on his own behind it. Jean-Luc was more than happy to sit down again while Henri swore Gambit into his new position. Since his back was to everyone, Henri was free to offer 'encouragement' in the form of silly grins and winks.
Finally the council members all walked past the papers, verifying in their own way the signatures on the papers.
"We are satisfied?" Henri asked the councillors, waited a moment and then went on when there was no negative reply: "Then may I present to you, Remy 'Gambit' LeBeau, Patriarch of the Guild of Thieves."
"Long live the king!" Emil yelled over the applause that followed.
Gambit laughed despite himself.
AN: Just the epilogue to go.
Also, I meant to mention this earlier, but Gambit really did pay off Deadpool in the comics. #17 and #18 of "Gambit" series 3. Actually if you can find the back issues, I recommend "Gambit" series 3 in general for any big Gambit fans. It does all the prophecy and uniting the Guild stuff, and Gambit with his full powers (and not being able to control them). It's very cool. I got a lot of my comic canon material for this story from that series.