Author's Note: Julien shows up in this chapter. Also, I've unfortunently never been to Japan much less a stayed in a hotel there so I don't know if there are any major differences. Just assume that Belle picked out a hotel that caters to western tourists and tries to accomidate them in the manner that they are used to because I mentioned quite a few things that are standard in an American hotel.
Room 513
116, 117, 118, 119,…
Wolverine grunted as his chest touched his thighs. He had quickly determined that unless he wanted to remove furniture, he did not have enough room to do his normal training regiment, so he would have to settle for a few early morning calisthenics. Now he was doing sit-ups with one ear trained to the room across the hall and waiting for the kids in it to wake. Clearly, neither of the Cajuns was an early riser. He had risen with the birds almost two hours ago and hadn't heard anything but light snores and deep breathing from their room yet.
134, 135, 136,…
Logan wished, again, that it wasn't too early for room service. He could use some breakfast. He wasn't willing to risk going to a restaurant or café of some sort and missing the teenage felons' departure; at least not when he didn't know their plans for the day and they were in a city where they would be hard to track.
147, 148, 149, 150.
Wolverine popped up off of the ground and started to do jumping jacks. He'd have to stop somewhere today and pick up some non-perishables so that he wouldn't be stuck in this position again. Too bad he really hated cereal. It was too sugary for his palate. He much preferred ham and eggs. By the time he finished his jumping jacks, 20 minutes later, he finally began to hear signs of life from across the hall. One of them, the girl he presumed as he now felt fairly adept at telling the two apart, crawled out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Wolverine dropped to the ground and began doing push-ups.
1, 2, 3, 4,…
Room 514
Belle sighed as she brushed her teeth. Remy's hair had still been damp when she woke and she could almost imagine that the bathroom was still steamy from his shower. She wondered when he had finally gone back to bed. She silently praised the vast hot water tanks of hotels as she entered her own steamy shower. She might as well take her time because she had no intention of waking Remy before he was ready.
New Orleans, Assassin Territory
Julien Boudreaux cursed as he read the email from his sister. Where was that girl, anyway? It had long been a practice that no assassin would give out the details of their assignment to anyone, but he hadn't expected Belle to actually follow that policy. She had told him everything when they were kids but as she got older, she had become more secretive and lately seemed to avoid him as much as possible. He wondered what had suddenly possessed her to take a few extra days to sightsee. He had expected her to rush straight home. This was her fifth kill and her third solo assignment. She was due to receive her ranking upon her return, which would dictate what types of assignments she would receive until her next evaluation. His stomach burned with anger as he thought that she might have met a boy wherever she was. He could not understand how someone as smart as his sister didn't realize that the slobs who swarmed around her only wanted one thing from her. Ever since she turned fourteen, two years before she would be a debutante, her long legs and the golden halo around her head had drawn them to her like moths to a flame. Julien could understand why; she was voluptuous and practically glowed with vitality, but it made him sick to see the way such unsatisfactory individuals flocked to her. And none made him sicker than that mutie thief who continually won her affections. He had been glad when the boy's adoptive father sent him away. Julien was certain that without the creature around to seduce her (even Julien could not deny that the boy was seductive) his sister would come to her senses and they would be able to convince their father, together, to forget this foolish notion of marrying her off to some thief. With that thought, came fear. No one knew where the mutie brat had been sent, but Belle was a force of nature and Julien had no doubts that if she wanted to know something she would find it out. Julien still didn't know where his sister was, but he felt certain of where she was headed, to wherever the thief was. Julien smiled slyly. That silly girl who had a crush on him worked in the part of the Guild that organized their travel arrangements and false identities. He should go pay her a visit, and maybe later he would pay one to his sister as well.
Room 514
Belle shut off her hairdryer as she realized that one of the phones in the room was ringing. She grabbed a comb and hurried to answer it, surprised that it hadn't woken the sleeping thief yet. She hesitated a moment when she realized that it was his phone that was ringing and not hers, but she wanted to make the racket stop and she had heard Remy's ringtone for Jean Luc enough times to know that it wasn't him. Dieu that man had interrupted so many dates. "Bonjour," Belle greeted.
"Belle!?"
"De one 'n only."
"What de hell ya doin' answering Remy's cell?"
Room 513
Logan dropped his knees to the ground and sat up. His head tilted to the side, all of his attention focused on hearing the conversation across the hall. He could hear the girl perfectly, but he couldn't quite make out who was on the phone. He hoped that Fury's men were able to tap the connection.
Room 514
"Dieu, Lapin is dat how ya talk to a lady?" Belle noticed Remy stirring and cinched her robe tighter, heading for the door.
"You ain't no lady," Lapin snorted.
"Your awful brave when I'm on de oder side of de planet."
Room 513
Logan leapt to his feet when he realized that she was headed to the hall to talk. He dumped his ice bucket's contents on the floor. He needed an excuse to wander the halls in nothing but a pair of drawstring pants. He made it to his door and managed to open it just as the blonde across from him opened hers.
Hallway
"Look Belle, jus' put Remy on," Lapin said irritated. He was sick of their little game and this was important.
Belle had stopped dead, surprised to see a tall, muscular man wearing loose pants and dripping sweat suddenly appear before her. "Non," she replied, unconsciously licking her lips and hoping Remy hadn't picked up on her response to the stranger, who was now moving down the hall towards the ice machine. She shut the door to her room and leaned against it. She didn't want to move too far away from the device that Remy was using to disrupt any bugs that there may be in the hallway or room. She couldn't remember what he said its radius of effectiveness was, but he carried it in his pocket when they went out so she guessed it couldn't be too large.
"Belle, dis is Remy's phone an' I'm callin' Remy so jus' get Remy so I can talk to him."
"Non, he's still sleepin'," she replied easily.
"Den wake 'im."
Logan filled his ice bucket slowly and tried to make as little noise as possible.
"Non," Belle repeated, "he had one of his nightmares last night and I ain't wakin' him just so ya can jabber on about yo' newest computer game."
Logan turned his attention to the vending machine and began to peruse the selection, regretting that he didn't have any change.
"Merde, Belle. Dis be important."
"Let me decide dat."
"Damn it Belle, I need to talk to Remy," Lapin's frustration was beginning to get the better of him. He never did cope well with nerves. It was the reason he preferred working with electronics and computers to field work. He continued on in agitation, "Ya know, I shouda known you were dere. Anytime Remy gets into trouble you're dere. What are ya doin' dere anyway?"
"Dat's big talk comin' from ya. I don't remember being de one with Remy when ya'll…," she glanced down the hall at the man standing indecisively before a vending machine and lowered her voice, "…hotwired dat airforce bomber and went for a joyride."
Logan blinked. He couldn't have heard that right.
"We were twelve! Why can' anyone let dat go. We know it was stupid."
"Ya crashed in de gulf and I had to borrow Julien's boat to come get ya. You were lucky you had a waterproof cellphone."
"Ya still ain't told me why you're dere, and I wanna talk to Remy."
"Just consider us to be on our honeymoon and I'll let Remy know you called."
"Don' hang up!"
"Ya have 30 seconds."
"It ain't your business, it's his, but it's real important."
"I'm his wife now. Remember, ya attended our wedding? Anyt'ing dat concerns him concerns me, so spill."
"Someone's been hacking into his bank accounts and personal files. You know; adoption records school reports, dings like dat. And it's real subtle too, not'in amateur."
"I'll wake him and have him call ya right back."
"Finally."
"Oh, and do me a favor. Check my school records and see if I've been tapped."
"Hacked, Belle, de term is hacked."
"Whatever."
She shut Remy's phone and glanced down the hall. Logan was careful to keep his attention on the snack selection before him and not pay her any notice. He frowned when he realized that the only thing in the case that even looked edible were the pretzels. Belle moved down the hall to face the vending machine as well and he shifted to give her space. She pursed her lips and dug change out of the pocket of her robe and bought a bag of fruity candy and the last bag of pretzels. She waltzed back down the hall to her room and Logan snorted and followed, only to he realize that he had left the key card inside of it. He swore out loud and the blonde teenager turned to face him.
"Is there a problem?" she asked with much better English than she spoke over the phone.
Logan was about to answer when the door to room 514 opened again and a lanky figure wearing blue pajamas and dark sunglasses appeared. "Belle, what are you doing in the hallway," questioned the accentless voice.
"Food," she replied in the same flavorless English and proffered the bag of candy.
"Sugar!" the boy grinned and snatched it from her, than seemed to notice Logan staring at them for the first time, "can we help you with something?"
"Just locked myself out of my room," Logan replied gruffly, "got any suggestions?" He half hoped one of the two would pick the lock right in front of him, but he knew it wouldn't be that easy.
The boy arched an eyebrow and gestured grandly towards the couple's hotel room, "Come on in. You can use the phone to call the front desk."
Remy was careful not to display his unease with allowing the rough looking man into his and Belle's room. He had woken to feel an intense focus radiating from someone in the hallway, and he had sensed that it was directed at Belle. He was relieved to feel no lust within it but that just confirmed that she was being watched for other reasons. He wouldn't be surprised to learn that a plain cloths officer of some sort had been stationed in the hotel near them and suspected that that was what this man was. It was the first time that one of SHIELD's men had not looked like a Japanese business man, but perhaps they felt the American (Canadian?) dialing the front desk was more believable as a tourist. He wasn't likely to be local law enforcement. Still, there was nothing in the room for him to find and a show of trust might do more good than anything at the moment.
Logan glanced around the room before finishing his call. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It really did look like the hotel room of two vacationing students, except a bit neater maybe. He nodded his thanks towards the couple, "They're sending somebody up." Then he strode out of the room to wait.
New Orleans, Assassin Territory
Julien smiled as the slender woman he had pressed against the door of her office wound one of her legs around his calf. Her mousy brown hair had come untucked from the loose knot it had been in at the base of her neck and was now messily disarrayed. Julien didn't care much for brunettes but it hardly mattered. He wasn't thinking about the woman whose neck he pressed kisses against; he was thinking about his sister. He knew where to find her now. She was in Japan and had not left the city of her assignment. He took a small measure of comfort in the fact that she was making the thief come to her, rather than going to him. At least she still had her dignity. And if he had his say in the matter the thief wouldn't get her virtue either. As far as Julien was concerned the thief had been responsible for all of the problems with Belle. He was her first secret and Julien suspected the reason behind all of her secrets since. He was the reason for her first defiance of their father, her first rebellion. She would not give up her pet street rat when he joined the ranks of their enemies. Because of him she had been caught stealing. Because of him she had told lies. Because of him she had no time for… anything else. Because of him she was ambitious. She had been incensed when he reached master status in his guild at the tender age of fourteen; the youngest to do so in the history of the Thieves guild. After that she had pushed herself beyond endurance and reached master status within her own guild just after her seventeenth birthday. She was the youngest master in the history of the assassins guild. Julien himself hadn't reached master status until he was nearly twenty-two. The thief was the reason she came home with bruises from sparring, as if she should ever have to lower herself enough to get in a fight. He could only hope that she gave better than she got. What she did was an art form, striking with deadly grace before her victims knew what was coming. Julien had no intention of allowing the mutie brat to drag her any further into the gutter than he already had. Julien was going to Japan. He was collecting his sister, bringing her home, and knocking some sense into her; even if he had to tie her up and beat her to do it. He took a deep breath as his mouth broke into a predatory smile and the young woman with him gasped as he withdrew from their embrace.
Kyoto
Remy crouched on a shadowy ledge of Fukui Technologies. The vice-president, Gorou Hashimoto, was there, working late. Belle had informed Remy that Hashimoto was the man who contracted her guild to kill Ichiro Sakamoto. Remy intended to pay him a visit and find out how well he had covered his tracks. During their sightseeing that day, Remy and Belle had managed a few errands. They had stopped at one bank while they were sure they had lost their tail and by the time their tail was on their trail again the couple was three blocks from the bank, shopping in an outdoor market and looking at some paintings done by a local artist. The woman was hardly an undiscovered talent, but Remy had taken pity on her and bought one. She had looked like she needed the money. They had stopped at another bank later, in full sight of their tail, and Remy had 'snuck off' for a bit then come back. He hadn't actually been up to anything in that bank, but there was nothing like pointing suspicious eyes in the wrong direction. The first bank had been another matter entirely. It was risky infiltrating a bank in the middle of a day but they couldn't afford to waste time. Remy had been quick about it. He had gotten in, installed a device into their more secure computer system and gotten out. The device would allow Lapin to hack their files from New Orleans. Remy wasn't sure how it worked but couldn't help being amazed anew at how brilliant his cousin was. Theo had actually been given credit for its creation but Lapin had done nearly all of the work, fixing a faulty concept and working from Theo's hastily done sketch on a napkin. He had abandoned it, believing the idea impossible and Lapin had picked up and started playing with the idea, eventually getting it to work. So now Lapin was working on making sure there were no sloppy monetary transactions and Remy was going directly to the source to make sure they wouldn't be caught due to anyone else's carelessness.
Wolverine sniffed the air discreetly and looked around. The kid should be right around here somewhere. He kept his thoughts as quiet and closed in as possible. Somehow the brats kept losing him, and Wolverine was beginning to suspect that the boy was a telepath. The kid had slipped from his hotel room silently and presumably believed that he had left unnoticed, but there was no way for him to have accounted for the feral's heightened senses. He grinned when he saw a shadow pass over the window of the building. He knew where the kid was and Fury would be glad to have starting place to look for his dire conspiracy plot. Wolverine turned and headed back towards the hotel. He couldn't get in without making his presence known. It wasn't that he completely lacked stealth, but he had never bothered to learn how to cover his trail because usually after he was gone he didn't care who knew that he had been there.
Room 514
Remy slipped into his hotel room that evening to find his wife already in bed. She looked pale amongst the dark covers and her hair glistened in the moonlight as she sat up, momentarily giving her an ethereal quality.
"How did it go?"
"All'right. Dat was probably de most paranoid man dis Cajun's ever met. Dere won' be any loose ends on his side so long as he don' talk."
"Den maybe we should silence him," Belle easily replied.
Remy fought a shiver at the callous tone of his wife's voice. "Don' t'ink dat'll be necessary," he finally managed, "he won' talk and even iffin he did he can' give anyone any'ting dat would lead directly back to ya. Most people don' believe de Guilds exist, let alone give serious credence to any'ting dey hear 'bout dem. 'Sides de Guilds are real careful in how dey do business and Lapin an me made sure dere weren't no evidence to be found. It'd be his word 'gainst yours and talkin' would mean dat he'd have to admit his role in dis mess."
"Did he see ya?"
"Non. Spoke my best Japanese too. Even if he knows I ain't a native he couldn't have figured out where I'm from from my accent."
Room 513
Logan paused as he typed his report to Fury. He finally had conformation that not only did the girl do it, but she was Guild. They did exist.
Room 514
"You're sure Hashimoto won' be a problem?"
"I'm sure, Belle an' I'm goin' to take a shower now, so go back to sleep."
"Remy dis be serious! If he talks…"
"He ain't gonna and even if he did dere ain't any evidence, cherie. You're safe."
"Mais, if he talks mon pere will know dat I screwed up!"
"Dat what you be worried about!" Remy's voice finally left soothing completely and moved on to tight and strained, "Belle, dat really what ya worried 'bout? Dat your papa might be disappointed in ya? Ya made a mistake and ya fixed it, cherie. It's over. No one knows. Calm down and get some sleep."
"Mais…"
"Jus' get some sleep chere. We kin talk in de mornin'," Remy interrupted her as he closed the bathroom door behind him.
Room 513
Wolverine hesitated before sending his report to Fury. He wasn't certain that any of the couple's fight was important, beyond the name Hashimoto, so he decided against mentioning it and stuck to the facts. He sent the report in and asked what Nick wanted him to do about the girl now that they knew she was guilty. Then he settled back to wait for an answer.
Room 514
Remy froze as realized that he sensed a presence in his room other than his wife, who was radiating fear. He slipped out of the shower without turning it off and pulled his boxers back on. He slid back into the bedroom without even the slightest whisper of noise and extended his bo-staff as he approached the figure looming over his wife's bed. She had clearly gone for her gun but it lay discarded on the floor and she was pinned down by the man from across the hall, who seemed to have claws protruding from his knuckles. Remy charged his staff and swiftly brought it to rest against the man's throat. "I think you better step away from the pretty blonde," he stated in his most threatening voice, eyes glowing with anger.
A/N II: I tried to make Julien creepy without going overboard so you'll have to let me know how I did.
And I've finally thought of a catastrophe. I don't know how logical it is and I'm sure that it isn't scientifically sound but it ties into movieverse canon! That's somewhat redeeming, right?