p class="MsoNormal"By the time Rogue got through baggage claim and into a cab, she was sure of two things. One, she was never flying commercial again, and two, she desperately needed coffee. In retrospect, absorbing Logan a few hours before an early morning flight was not a great idea. He hated crowds almost as much as she did. Even Logan's psyche wouldn't have been as much trouble if he was the only one making noise./p
p class="MsoNormal"Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she cursed Remy and Julien mentally. Remy, she had never fully been able to put away like the other psyches. His dislike of locked doors seemed to include mental barriers as well. Most of the time, he sat in the back of her mind enjoying the show that was her life, offering the occasional commentary when he felt like it./p
p class="MsoNormal"On the other hand, Julien had been firmly locked away after her Mardi Gras adventure two years ago./p
p class="MsoNormal"Mistakenly she had unlocked his psyche last night, hoping for useful insight about the Assassin's Guild and how to avoid them. However, she had only gotten a headache and a large amount of Cajun profanity for her efforts./p
p class="MsoNormal"emAw, is your head hurting Chienne?/em Julien taunted./p
p class="MsoNormal"emIgnore him, Cher. We're almost there,/em murmured Remy./p
p class="MsoNormal""Shut up both of you," she muttered under her breath, checking to make sure the driver didn't see her talking to herself. emYa'll said the Quarter is neutral territory. What are the designated boundaries for the Thieves' and Assassins' territories?/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"Both psyches remained quiet at that. Rogue sighed in irritation. The psyches could be helpful at times, but unless she absorbed everything from her victims there were often holes in their information, causing the psyches to suddenly go mute…usually when she needed them most./p
p class="MsoNormal"As the cab pulled up to the curb, Rogue handed the driver the fare plus a tip. Stepping out of the cab, Rogue felt immediately accosted by the weather. It was only mid-morning, and the heat and humidity were climbing. It felt like someone had thrown a wet blanket on her./p
p class="MsoNormal"As the cabbie drove away, she looked at the house before her. The ornated-looking house featured a double porch with Greek columns and ornated wrought-iron fencing. The white façade was offset with black shutters. On one side of the house was a two-story turret. Manicured shrubs and flower beds surrounded the house on all sides, with a vast expanse of lawn on the house's western side. It was all very…proper. A far cry from the one-level home Rogue had grown up in living in Mississippi./p
p class="MsoNormal"Adjusting her luggage, Rogue stepped through the wrought-iron gate and up the brick walkway to the front steps. Fishing the key from her pocket, she let herself into the house. Down the street, Rogue didn't notice a young boy wearing dirty clothes turn around and start running back from the direction he had just come from./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"The interior of the house was as ornate as the exterior. The fourteen-foot ceilings were decorated with plaster moldings and ceiling medallions, while the walls were covered with silk wallpaper. Crystal chandeliers hung in every room./p
p class="MsoNormal"The furnishings were just as old and expensive looking. Dark heavy furniture with silk and velvet upholstery covered with dust covers filled most of the rooms. Oil paintings hung on the walls, which Remy's psyche told her were originals and worth a small fortune alone. Every shelf seemed to be crammed with books and newspapers—an odd choice for a blind woman—or some type of fragile-looking knickknack. It reminded Rogue of a dragon's hoard crossed with a squirrel's nest./p
p class="MsoNormal"After taking her bags to one of the guestrooms, no way in hell she was sleeping in the master bedroom, Rogue came back downstairs, looking at it all again. Where did she even start? With no better plan, she began opening windows to air out the house and looking for cleaning supplies./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Several hours later, the house was back in some semblance of order, or, at least, the books were stacked up, most of the furniture had been wiped down, and the dust covers had been removed./p
p class="MsoNormal"Exhausted, Rogue flopped into a gilded antique chair, knowing she was probably getting dirt all over the velvet upholstery but was too tired to care. She was dirty. She was starving. She…had forgotten to go out and get groceries./p
p class="MsoNormal"Groaning, Rogue headed for the kitchen, opening cabinets and drawers to see what was available in terms of cooking instruments. Opening a drawer, Rogue was pleasantly surprised to find a stack of take-out menus./p
p class="MsoNormal"Flipping through the stack, Rogue came across a brochure for a dine-in, carry-out Po Boy shop just a few blocks away./p
p class="MsoNormal"Snatching her keys, cell phone, and purse, Rogue headed out the door. On the way there, Rogue fished her cell phone out of her pocket and fired off a few messages to Kitty, Kurt, and Logan./p
p class="MsoNormal"~ Yes, I made it okay. ~/p
p class="MsoNormal"~ Yes, the house is fine. ~/p
p class="MsoNormal"~ No, I haven't seen Gambit. ~/p
p class="MsoNormal"Rogue rolled her eyes at that message before texting Kitty again, asking her to remind Logan to check his texts. Lord knows he barely carried his phone./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Rogue could smell the Po Boy shop before she laid eyes on it. The shop had a covered sidewalk area set up with bistro seating and a walk-up window for orders. People were milling around, sitting at the sidewalk tables, or waiting for their orders at the pickup window. Stepping into line, Rogue perused the painted sign trying to figure out what she wanted. With her mouth watering, Rogue tried to decide if she wanted the fried catfish platter or a shrimp po boy. She vaguely noticed a larger group stepping up behind her and sidestepped to let them get up to the order window while she finished figuring out what she wanted./p
p class="MsoNormal""Rogue! Is dat you, Petite," a low rough voice asked./p
p class="MsoNormal"Rogue whirled around and came face-to-face with Jean-Luc LeBeau, who was grinning like a possum eating sweet potatoes. Behind him, several men in trench coats stood watching the scene unfold with fascination. Blinking once, her mind tried to catch up with the fact that Jean-Luc was standing before her. For God's sake, there were almost three hundred thousand people in this dang city./p
p class="MsoNormal""Jean-Luc! How are you doing, Sir? It's good to see you again." Rogue managed to get out, falling back on well-learned Southern manners./p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh, none of dat now. No need to stand on formalities 'round here," Jean-Luc reached for her hand, kissing the back of her glove before gesturing to a tall man beside him, "Let me introduce you to mon fils, Henri. You didn't get a chance t' meet him last time you were down here, did ya?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""No," replied Rogue taking her hand back. Turning to Henri, she held out her hand again, giving the man a smile, "Nice to meet ya, Henri."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Grinning, Henri kissed the back of her glove as well. "Nice to meet you too, Petite," smiling wider, he continued, "Heard a lot 'bout you. Heard you're good at causin' trouble."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh, I don't go causing trouble," she smiled, "It just has a way of finding me." Henri's booming laugh was cut off by another voice. One she recognized far, far too well./p
p class="MsoNormal""Rogue, Cher? Is dat you?" The voice asked, coming up on her other side. Rogue stiffened and closed her eyes in dread. There was no way her luck was this bad./p
p class="MsoNormal""Voilà," Rogue opened her eyes and gestured to the man behind her. Henri and the rest of the men laughed good and hard at that. Rogue turned to face Gambit standing next to her./p
p class="MsoNormal"Try as she might, Rogue had to admit he looked good. His hair was a little longer, and without his uniform cowl, left to fall loose around his face. Gambit smirked at her like he could read her mind. Rogue scowled and she felt her neck grow hot./p
p class="MsoNormal""So what are you doing in our neck of the woods, Petite?" Jean-Luc asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""My Aunt passed away. She left me a house, so I came down to check it out. I forgot to find a grocery store and was just picking up food for the night," Rogue replied swinging back to Jean-Luc trying to shake off the heat threatening to overtake her face./p
p class="MsoNormal""Désolé, I'm sorry to hear 'bout your Tante. Well, if dat's the case. Why don't you have dinner with us?" Jean-Luc offered./p
p class="MsoNormal"Warning bells started going off in Rogue's head. If Gambit was tricky, his daddy was more so. Glancing at a stone-faced Gambit, she protested, "That's kind of you, Jean-Luc, but I'm a mess from cleaning all day, and I don't want to interrupt your plans."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Nonsense. You're as belle as they come. Please, I insist." Jean-Luc replied, smoothly waving off her protests./p
p class="MsoNormal"Tugging at her gloves, Rogue gave the man a small smile and acquiesce, "Thank you. That's very kind of you to offer."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Truth be told, Rogue knew it wasn't an offer. She also knew enough to know that she wouldn't be able to talk her way out of this in front of the other men, who she was now sure were all part of the Thieves Guild./p
p class="MsoNormal""Well, let's get going then. I take it you like Southern cooking, Petite," at Rogue's nod, Jean-Luc smiled wider. Leading her to a car that was pulled up at the curb and opening the door for her, he continued, "Well then you're in for a treat. We're going to get some of the best Southern cookin' in de state of Louisiana."/p
p class="MsoNormal"It wasn't until she was in the car and realized that they had crossed the Crescent City Connection Bridge that Rogue asked, "Where are we going?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Turning from the front passenger seat, Jean-Luc smiled, "Oh, we're heading for the Guild Hall. Thought you might like some home cookin'…Thieves-Style."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Rogue bit back a groan. She should have just ordered Uber Eats./p
p class="MsoNormal"Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she cursed Remy and Julien mentally. Remy, she had never fully been able to put away like the other psyches. His dislike of locked doors seemed to include mental barriers as well. Most of the time, he sat in the back of her mind enjoying the show that was her life, offering the occasional commentary when he felt like it./p
p class="MsoNormal"On the other hand, Julien had been firmly locked away after her Mardi Gras adventure two years ago./p
p class="MsoNormal"Mistakenly she had unlocked his psyche last night, hoping for useful insight about the Assassin's Guild and how to avoid them. However, she had only gotten a headache and a large amount of Cajun profanity for her efforts./p
p class="MsoNormal"emAw, is your head hurting Chienne?/em Julien taunted./p
p class="MsoNormal"emIgnore him, Cher. We're almost there,/em murmured Remy./p
p class="MsoNormal""Shut up both of you," she muttered under her breath, checking to make sure the driver didn't see her talking to herself. emYa'll said the Quarter is neutral territory. What are the designated boundaries for the Thieves' and Assassins' territories?/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"Both psyches remained quiet at that. Rogue sighed in irritation. The psyches could be helpful at times, but unless she absorbed everything from her victims there were often holes in their information, causing the psyches to suddenly go mute…usually when she needed them most./p
p class="MsoNormal"As the cab pulled up to the curb, Rogue handed the driver the fare plus a tip. Stepping out of the cab, Rogue felt immediately accosted by the weather. It was only mid-morning, and the heat and humidity were climbing. It felt like someone had thrown a wet blanket on her./p
p class="MsoNormal"As the cabbie drove away, she looked at the house before her. The ornated-looking house featured a double porch with Greek columns and ornated wrought-iron fencing. The white façade was offset with black shutters. On one side of the house was a two-story turret. Manicured shrubs and flower beds surrounded the house on all sides, with a vast expanse of lawn on the house's western side. It was all very…proper. A far cry from the one-level home Rogue had grown up in living in Mississippi./p
p class="MsoNormal"Adjusting her luggage, Rogue stepped through the wrought-iron gate and up the brick walkway to the front steps. Fishing the key from her pocket, she let herself into the house. Down the street, Rogue didn't notice a young boy wearing dirty clothes turn around and start running back from the direction he had just come from./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"The interior of the house was as ornate as the exterior. The fourteen-foot ceilings were decorated with plaster moldings and ceiling medallions, while the walls were covered with silk wallpaper. Crystal chandeliers hung in every room./p
p class="MsoNormal"The furnishings were just as old and expensive looking. Dark heavy furniture with silk and velvet upholstery covered with dust covers filled most of the rooms. Oil paintings hung on the walls, which Remy's psyche told her were originals and worth a small fortune alone. Every shelf seemed to be crammed with books and newspapers—an odd choice for a blind woman—or some type of fragile-looking knickknack. It reminded Rogue of a dragon's hoard crossed with a squirrel's nest./p
p class="MsoNormal"After taking her bags to one of the guestrooms, no way in hell she was sleeping in the master bedroom, Rogue came back downstairs, looking at it all again. Where did she even start? With no better plan, she began opening windows to air out the house and looking for cleaning supplies./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Several hours later, the house was back in some semblance of order, or, at least, the books were stacked up, most of the furniture had been wiped down, and the dust covers had been removed./p
p class="MsoNormal"Exhausted, Rogue flopped into a gilded antique chair, knowing she was probably getting dirt all over the velvet upholstery but was too tired to care. She was dirty. She was starving. She…had forgotten to go out and get groceries./p
p class="MsoNormal"Groaning, Rogue headed for the kitchen, opening cabinets and drawers to see what was available in terms of cooking instruments. Opening a drawer, Rogue was pleasantly surprised to find a stack of take-out menus./p
p class="MsoNormal"Flipping through the stack, Rogue came across a brochure for a dine-in, carry-out Po Boy shop just a few blocks away./p
p class="MsoNormal"Snatching her keys, cell phone, and purse, Rogue headed out the door. On the way there, Rogue fished her cell phone out of her pocket and fired off a few messages to Kitty, Kurt, and Logan./p
p class="MsoNormal"~ Yes, I made it okay. ~/p
p class="MsoNormal"~ Yes, the house is fine. ~/p
p class="MsoNormal"~ No, I haven't seen Gambit. ~/p
p class="MsoNormal"Rogue rolled her eyes at that message before texting Kitty again, asking her to remind Logan to check his texts. Lord knows he barely carried his phone./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Rogue could smell the Po Boy shop before she laid eyes on it. The shop had a covered sidewalk area set up with bistro seating and a walk-up window for orders. People were milling around, sitting at the sidewalk tables, or waiting for their orders at the pickup window. Stepping into line, Rogue perused the painted sign trying to figure out what she wanted. With her mouth watering, Rogue tried to decide if she wanted the fried catfish platter or a shrimp po boy. She vaguely noticed a larger group stepping up behind her and sidestepped to let them get up to the order window while she finished figuring out what she wanted./p
p class="MsoNormal""Rogue! Is dat you, Petite," a low rough voice asked./p
p class="MsoNormal"Rogue whirled around and came face-to-face with Jean-Luc LeBeau, who was grinning like a possum eating sweet potatoes. Behind him, several men in trench coats stood watching the scene unfold with fascination. Blinking once, her mind tried to catch up with the fact that Jean-Luc was standing before her. For God's sake, there were almost three hundred thousand people in this dang city./p
p class="MsoNormal""Jean-Luc! How are you doing, Sir? It's good to see you again." Rogue managed to get out, falling back on well-learned Southern manners./p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh, none of dat now. No need to stand on formalities 'round here," Jean-Luc reached for her hand, kissing the back of her glove before gesturing to a tall man beside him, "Let me introduce you to mon fils, Henri. You didn't get a chance t' meet him last time you were down here, did ya?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""No," replied Rogue taking her hand back. Turning to Henri, she held out her hand again, giving the man a smile, "Nice to meet ya, Henri."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Grinning, Henri kissed the back of her glove as well. "Nice to meet you too, Petite," smiling wider, he continued, "Heard a lot 'bout you. Heard you're good at causin' trouble."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Oh, I don't go causing trouble," she smiled, "It just has a way of finding me." Henri's booming laugh was cut off by another voice. One she recognized far, far too well./p
p class="MsoNormal""Rogue, Cher? Is dat you?" The voice asked, coming up on her other side. Rogue stiffened and closed her eyes in dread. There was no way her luck was this bad./p
p class="MsoNormal""Voilà," Rogue opened her eyes and gestured to the man behind her. Henri and the rest of the men laughed good and hard at that. Rogue turned to face Gambit standing next to her./p
p class="MsoNormal"Try as she might, Rogue had to admit he looked good. His hair was a little longer, and without his uniform cowl, left to fall loose around his face. Gambit smirked at her like he could read her mind. Rogue scowled and she felt her neck grow hot./p
p class="MsoNormal""So what are you doing in our neck of the woods, Petite?" Jean-Luc asked./p
p class="MsoNormal""My Aunt passed away. She left me a house, so I came down to check it out. I forgot to find a grocery store and was just picking up food for the night," Rogue replied swinging back to Jean-Luc trying to shake off the heat threatening to overtake her face./p
p class="MsoNormal""Désolé, I'm sorry to hear 'bout your Tante. Well, if dat's the case. Why don't you have dinner with us?" Jean-Luc offered./p
p class="MsoNormal"Warning bells started going off in Rogue's head. If Gambit was tricky, his daddy was more so. Glancing at a stone-faced Gambit, she protested, "That's kind of you, Jean-Luc, but I'm a mess from cleaning all day, and I don't want to interrupt your plans."/p
p class="MsoNormal""Nonsense. You're as belle as they come. Please, I insist." Jean-Luc replied, smoothly waving off her protests./p
p class="MsoNormal"Tugging at her gloves, Rogue gave the man a small smile and acquiesce, "Thank you. That's very kind of you to offer."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Truth be told, Rogue knew it wasn't an offer. She also knew enough to know that she wouldn't be able to talk her way out of this in front of the other men, who she was now sure were all part of the Thieves Guild./p
p class="MsoNormal""Well, let's get going then. I take it you like Southern cooking, Petite," at Rogue's nod, Jean-Luc smiled wider. Leading her to a car that was pulled up at the curb and opening the door for her, he continued, "Well then you're in for a treat. We're going to get some of the best Southern cookin' in de state of Louisiana."/p
p class="MsoNormal"It wasn't until she was in the car and realized that they had crossed the Crescent City Connection Bridge that Rogue asked, "Where are we going?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Turning from the front passenger seat, Jean-Luc smiled, "Oh, we're heading for the Guild Hall. Thought you might like some home cookin'…Thieves-Style."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Rogue bit back a groan. She should have just ordered Uber Eats./p