Chapter Fifty-Six:


"Let's see den," Emil mused, stroking his goatee thoughtfully. "If Theo is dere, an' Henri is jus' t' his left, den dat leaves Remy vulnerable t' an attack from behind, y' see?"

"Non," Claude shook his head. "Wit' Lucas an' me on eit'er side o' him, it'd be sot t' try an' make a move on him."

"Unless it was from this direction," Lucas observed, pointing at the board spread out on the table in front of them. "If you moved diagonally this way, you would be able to bypass all three of them without any trouble at all."

Remy groaned as Emil grinned happily, moving his piece two spaces ahead, then one to the right, four ahead and three to the left. "I love dis game," Emil declared as his game piece suddenly found itself only two spaces away from the finish.

On the couch, Rogue rolled her eyes. "Ya would think that they'd have better things t' do than play board games all day long," she muttered.

Mercy grinned, bending over to pick up Jacques, who was tugging at her skirt. "Our boys?" she laughed. "Not a chance, chere."

"At least this time with Lucas playing we don't have to worry about them all trying to cheat," Bella commented as she settled down on the couch beside Rogue, a bowl of popcorn in her hands. "None of them are stupid enough to try and get one by him."

"Let's hope not anyway," Jean-Luc replied from the armchair, lifting the television remote to change the channel. "Don' need t' be payin' fo' any mo' damages."

Rogue winced, and Mercy felt a stab of sympathy for her sister-in-law. The fight with the mutant known as the Juggernaut had done a lot of damage to the French Quarter, most of it the result of the powerhouse brawl between Juggernaut and Rogue long before Remy and Lucas showed up to help take the behemoth down. The city was taking care of fixing the streets, and the majority of the stores were covered by insurance, but the hair salon had taken a rather nasty beating, and had insisted that Jean-Luc pay for the damages.

"Ah said Ah was sorry," Rogue groaned. "Besides, that place was in serious need of redecorating, anyhow."

The smile tugging at the corners of Jean-Luc's mouth told Mercy that he wasn't nearly as annoyed as he liked to pretend. In fact, she had a feeling he was actually quite proud of Rogue's actions the week before. "Dat may be," he conceded. "But don' expect Madame Renoir to pick out anyt'ing better dis time around. Dat femme has a history o' bad taste."

Mercy snickered softly, remembering the hideous cotton candy pink and pea soup green wallpaper that had adorned the hair salon when she was a kid. She'd found it cute back then, but as she got older she realized it was actually sort of tacky. The orange paint hadn't been much better, but maybe if they were lucky the woman would go with plain white this time.

"Don' sweat it, chere," Remy called from the table where he and the other boys were absorbed in a game of Risk. "Mon pere's not dat upset, an' b'sides, half de damage was courtesy o' de Juggernaut, an' Lucas an' I both messed de town up a li'l."

"A little?" Tessa scoffed, coming into the room from the kitchen with two glasses of iced tea in hand. "You call blowing up walls a little?"

"O' course," Remy answered with a shrug, moving his game piece ahead a few spaces. "Don' y'?"

Tessa wisely chose not to answer, instead handing one of the glasses to Rogue as she joined them on the couch. "What are we watching?"

"Tryin' t' find somet'ing dat we can all agree on still, p'tite," Jean-Luc replied with a sigh. "As if dat's ever gon' happen."

"Statistically, it is bound to occur at some point," Tessa replied evenly.

"Sûr c'est," Jean-Luc muttered under his breath, changing the channel in a hurry to pass over Lifetime Network. Mercy smirked in amusement, remembering the horrified look on his face when Bella had suggested they watch a Lifetime movie the previous weekend. The assassin had been kidding, but they had conveniently forgotten to tell that to Jean-Luc.

Jacques squirmed off of her lap, plopping down in the empty space between her and Rogue. He climbed to his feet unsteadily, the couch cushions shifting under him, and Mercy moved to grab him only to find that Rogue was already steadying him, her seventh sense having noticed his precarious balance even before Mercy had.

"Careful, sugah," Rogue warned with a smile, and Jacques giggled, reaching for the gold necklace around her neck. It had been an anniversary present from Remy the previous year, and for some reason every time that she wore it, Jacques found it fascinating.

"See if de game is on, hahn?" Theo suggested.

"Non, dere's a bon movie on HBO dat I wan' see," Henri shook his head. "Turn de channel, Papa."

"Fo'get de movie, de game is 'bout t' start," Claude insisted. "Y' can rent de movie any time, de game's only on t'night, mon ami!"

"If ya'll aren't careful," Rogue warned, shooting them a glare over the back of the couch. "Then we're gonna pop in a Disney movie fo' Jacques instead."

"Ooh, de De Jungle Book?" Emil asked eagerly.

"Geat real, Lapin," Remy replied without even blinking. "If we watch a Disney movie, den we gon' watch De Lion King, dat's jus' how it is."

"Non," Emil scrunched his nose in distate. "Remy, dat movie is lame. Singin' lions is ridiculous!"

"An' dancin' bears is different how?"

"Dat's it," Jean-Luc threw up his hands in exasperation. "We're watchin' de news!"

The boys groaned, making Mercy laugh. She glanced over at Rogue, and they exchanged broad grins, enjoying the misfortune of the male members of the family, as they usually did. It was, Mercy decided, wonderful to have women in the family again. It was hard to remember that only a few years ago, Mercy had been the only female member of the LeBeau household, save for Tante Mattie. Now she had a sister-in-law that she was crazy about, and after Bella and Theo married the two moved into an upscale apartment downtown that was within walking distance of the estate.

Frowning, Mercy glanced around the room. "Where's Bella?"

"In the kitchen," Tessa replied. "I believe she was looking for pickles."

Rogue blinked in surprise. "Ah thought she went in there fo' coffee ice cream."

"She did," Tessa said evenly. "The pickles are to go with the ice cream."

Mercy wrinkled her nose, even as Rogue shuddered in disgust. "Dat's one t'ing dat I sure don' miss 'bout pregnancy," Mercy said. "Does horrid cravin's."

"Oui," Henri said dryly. "An' y' were never de one dat had t' go down t' de store at trois in de mornin' t' pick up chocolat puddin'."

"Quit yo' complainin'," Rogue drawled, her attention fixed on Jacques as she let him play with her necklace. "Ah don' see ya carryin' a child fo' nine months, then goin' through a good nine hours o' labor jus' t' bring the kid in t' the world."

"Remercier Dieu," Henri muttered.

"I second dat," Remy smirked. "No offense, Henri, but y' would make one ugly femme."

"Oh, an' y' would make such an attrayant one," Henri rolled his eyes.

"I'd look better dan y', mon frere," Remy retorted.

"This conversation has gotten very disturbing," Lucas observed, and Remy quickly shifted the attention back to the board game by declaring that Emil had just cheated. The boys began to bicker, but Mercy tuned them out as Bella appeared in the doorway, a bowl of ice cream in hand. Careful not to look directly at the bowl, Mercy flashed Bella a smile.

"What did we decide t' watch?" the blond woman asked as she took her seat in a chair near Jean-Luc, facing the television.

"De news fo' now," Jean-Luc replied as the camera panned from the male anchor back to his female counterpart. "It's fifteen till de hour, so we'll try t' catch de beginnin' o' somet'ing good den."

Bella nodded, taking a spoonful of her ice cream. "Dat sounds good."

"Ice cream," Jacques squealed excitedly. "Mama, want ice cream!"

Bella laughed. "Don' know how much y' would like dis kind, cher, but y' welcome t' try it. C'mon over here an' I'll give y' a taste, oui?"

Mercy smiled as her son slid off the couch, scampering over to Bella's chair eagerly. "This should be interestin'," Rogue murmured with a chuckle. "Remember the time he drank some o' Remy's coffee?"

"He only had a sip an' he was bouncin' off de walls," Mercy sighed. "I t'ink dat-"

"Shh," Tessa said, suddenly, cutting her off, and she gestured for Jean-Luc to turn up the volume on the television. "Quiet!"

"We have some breaking news," the anchor was saying gravely. "It seems the Friends of Humanity, a radical anti-mutant terrorist group, has launched another attack on the mutant population."

Beside her, Rogue stiffened, and Mercy didn't need to turn around to know that the board game behind them had stopped. She glanced over at Tessa, but the telepath's expression was, as always, unreadable.

"Four young mutants were found dead on the front lawn of Senator Riley this evening. As you know, Senator Riley has been one of the most determined pro-mutant voices in the Senate, arguing for mutant rights, which has earned him quite a few enemies among the anti-mutant crowd."

A vague picture popped up on screen, of a mansion roped off with yellow crime scene tape, and the grounds swarming with police investigators.

"The Friends of Humanity had already claimed responsibility for this hideous crime, saying that it is their mission from God to purge the world of the mutant abominations," the anchor continued. "The FBI has not said whether or not they have solid evidence to link the organization to the crime."

"Mon Dieu," Emil breathed in horror.

"Police officials say that the bodies were found by Senator Riley's housekeeper late this afternoon when she came outside to get the mail," the reporter continued. "The four teenagers were badly mangled, and at first she wasn't even sure they were human-"

A crunching sound startled Mercy out of her horrified fascination, and she turned her head to look at Rogue, who was staring at the television screen with a hollow expression, her face paler than usual and her eyes as cold as ice.

The glass that she'd been drinking from was shattered in her hand, pieces having showered down on the carpet at her feet. She didn't seem to notice, nor did she seem aware that she had squeezed the glass so hard that a shard had actually penetrated her skin in the center of her palm. Blood trickled down her fingers, her wrist, and Mercy had to look away.

"Marie," Remy said softly, suddenly there in front of them, crouching in front of his wife, his hands resting gently over hers. When Rogue didn't so much as blink, he spoke her name again, louder this time. "Marie, look at me, chere."

Slowly, Rogue tore her gaze away from the television, eyes dim and bleak, haunted with ghosts the likes of which Mercy couldn't understand, and hoped she never did.

"Let's go get y' cleaned up, hahn?" Remy suggested softly, even as his thumb gently caressed her knuckles. "M' tired, an' it'd be nice t' have yo' company while I sleep."

When Rogue didn't respond, Remy pushed himself to his feet, gently tugging her up by her hands. Mercy bit her lip, her eyes stinging, and looked to Henri, who was watching Rogue and Remy with sad, grim eyes. The others were all sitting quiet and still, and she could practically sense their worry for her sister-in-law. Rogue was normally so composed, so strong... it was scary to see her break like this.

"Emil?" Remy asked, sparing his cousin a glance. "Could y' go on upstairs an' start runnin' de bath fo' me, s'il vous plaît?"

"Oui," Emil nodded, and he was gone from the room without hesitation, with Remy on his heels.

For a long moment there was silence in the room, with only the television making any noise. "Turn dat t'ing off," Jean-Luc muttered, and Theo was quick to comply, lifting the remote and hitting the power button.

"Mama?" Jacques said softly, and Mercy looked down at him with a forced smile.

"What is it, miel?" she asked.

"Why is Tante Marie sad?"

Mercy and Henri exchanged a worried glance, and Henri opened his mouth to tell Jacques to let Rogue be for now, but to their surprise Rogue answered.

"She's sad because dere are some very mean people in de world, Jacques," Jean-Luc said quietly. "An' they don' like people like yo' Tante Marie an' Oncle Remy very much."

Jacques frowned for a moment, confused. "Why?"

"Because we are different from them," Tessa explained evenly. "And sometimes people are afraid of differences."

"Dat's silly," Jacques scoffed with a scowl.

"Yes," Tessa agreed with a faint, sad smile. "It really is."


Translations:

sot- stupid
Sûr c'est- sure it is
trois- three
chocolat- chocolate
Remercier Dieu- Thank God
attrayant- attractive
s'il vous plaît- please
miel- honey


A/N: Wow, that was kind of depressing, huh? He he. Don't worry, I know it was kind of sad to read, but it plays a very important role in the upcoming plot twist, so it had to be done :) I am currently overseas in Italy on vacation, but I've got my laptop, so I am attempting to find time to keep updating. Hopefully I will have another post up for you sometime soon if all goes well.