All he could do was run and run until his legs seemed to almost give out, not from exhaustion but from the shock of witnessing and being responsible for what happened as sweat dripped from his forehead and leant against the dingy tunnel walls.

Trying to catch his breath Remy could hear the constant pounding of his heart in his ears along with the echoing screams he left behind. Lifting his trembling hand that was soaked with blood he heard another loud scream closing in on him before he jolted out of bed.

Frantically panting, he looked around his rather large room grateful that all it was was a dream nothing else. The alarm next to his bed glared 2 a.m. Swinging his legs off the side of the bed with his sheets covering the lower half off him leaving his chest exposed, he tried to calm his breathing knowing that even though this was just a dream, that after Strykers Island it wasn't doing him any favors to keep having restless nights like this. Especially with the wedding so soon. "I need to talk to Belle."

When his breathing calmed down somewhat, he laid back down staring at the tall ceiling and hoping sleep would eventually welcome him in.

-X-

Daylight had begun to slowly drain away making room for the cold night that was sure to come as three dark figures expertly made their way across the Assassins grounds.

"I still don' understand what we doin' here." Etienne mumbled as he followed the other two behind the bushes before Lapin shoved him down and they barely managed to hide from one of the Assassins walking by.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Lapin immediately shoved Etienne sideways. "Hell, dat was too close for comfort. A second later an' we would've gotten caught fo' sure."

"So what if dey did, Remy 'bout to marry Bella Donna anyhow."

"Dat don' mean they won't kill us de first chance dey get." Lapin whisper yelled keeping a careful eye on Remy next to them who was already scouring the outside of the massive place. "So, what now Remy?"

Thinking it over again for what seemed like the hundredth time, he kept his eyes trained on their surroundings. "I have to talk to Belle an' make her understand. Make her see dat dis ain't de way."

"So…we're here to break up a weddin' dat ain't until tomorrow?" Lapin asked.

"Yup."

"A weddin' dat our whole guild is dependin' on and would surely have our hides if dey find out what we doin'?" Lapin clarified while receiving a silent nod from Remy.

"Ok." Etienne nodded before quizzically looking at his cousin. "Wait, den what are we doin' here?"

"Got me." Remy chuckled before glancing at the two who frowned at him. "Hey now don't look at me like dat. I wasn't de one who made you come with me, now did I?"

"Dats because we won't leave you hangin'. Which is more den I can say fo' you now!" Lapin quietly yelled back.

"Shh!" Etienne urgently hushed them as another Assassin walked by.

"Would you two calm down! You you're more den welcome to leave if you want."

"We not leavin' you Remy." Etienne stubbornly shook his head.

"We family. So we'll come with you even if Bella Donna wants to kill us after." Lapin groaned. "I guess."

"Alright, well if you want to tag along fine, but at least act like de thief's we are." Remy scoffed when he saw them proudly puff out their chests and he couldn't help but smile before returning his attention in search of her.

"Remy over dere!" Lapin gestured to Bella Donna walking around the garden a few feet away with the wind blowing her beautiful blond hair and her immaculate dress that swayed from side to side with every step until she finally settled down on a nearby stone bench. "Dere's your beast to your beauty." He said with a small smile, making Etienne chuckle. Once they saw Remy's unamused expression, they quickly cleared their throats and patiently waited for him to make his move.

"What are you gonna say Rems?" Etienne asked.

"Not sure yet. All I know is dat we 'bout to make a big mistake if we go through with de weddin'."

"Alright so you don't know yet, got it." Lapin suppressed a smile but couldn't stop when he felt Remy shove him. "What did I say?"

"No wonder Emil didn't feel like joinin' us today with you here." Remy shook his head.

"Actually, we we're de one dat told him to stay behind an' keep the others occupied." Etienne proudly grinned.

Parting his mouth Remy stopped what he was about to say next when he saw Lapin's serious expressions as he watched a pair of Assassins inside the mansion.

"I don' like dis. Seems too easy." Lapin quietly whispered while shaking his head. "T'ink dey know we comin'?

"Probably." Remy had that same thought before but there was no time, he had to talk to her before they made a huge mistake. "De minute you see somethin' go sideways, take Etienne and go."

"Remy-" They were both about to protest but saw the stern look on his face.

Taking one last look around, he quickly and as quietly as he could, made his way out of the bushes and towards the garden with the tail end of his trench coat flapping behind him.

"Belle!"

"Remy!" she whirled her head around and just as quickly embraced him. "What a nice surprise, if I'd known you were dyin' to see me, I would've made sure to wear something fancy."

"Belle, I have to talk to you."

"'Bout what?" she slightly pulled back hearing the hesitation in his voice.

"I came back from one of my meetings with Essex de other day and he told me everythin' was ready."

"Oh Remy dat's wonderful!" she squealed in delight and immediately wrapped her arms around his neck. "An' just in time for our weddin' too!"

"Belle." Lowering her arms, he steadied her with a serious expression and slowly removed his sunglasses and placed them into his pocket to which she automatically looked away. "Why do you do dat?"

"Do what?" she huffed out loud flicking her hair over her shoulder.

"Belle, do you even love me?"

Parting her mouth open, she looked up at him. "Remy what's dis 'bout? Our weddin's tomorrow!"

"I know dat-"

"Of course, I love you!"

"Do you?" he asked again, this time his voice hinted at his disbelief. "Because if you do then we can just forget this conversation ever happened an' we can walk down dat aisle together. But if you don'-"

"No Remy, de better question is do you?" She said, her tone suddenly devoid of any warmth she previously held and instead turned stone cold mirroring her eyes as if they could cut.

Pressing his lips together he stared hard at the stone path surrounding them. He cared about her, always has. That was never a lie yet understood that because of that there was no way he could lie to her when it came to whether he still loved her or not. It already became pretty clear to him that no matter what he tried, he knew it would never be the same. But he owed it to her to tell her the truth and yet would still go through with the wedding if she wanted him to.

After his prolonged silence she took a small step back. "I see."

"Belle if you can still see yourself marryin' someone like me, den I'll do it."

"Not to worry Rems, de weddin' will still go on regardless." she suddenly smiled which had him now moving away, which is when he realized Assassins stepping out of the growing shadows surrounding him. He knew it was a trap the moment he set foot in this place thanks to his thief's instinct but nonetheless decided to still speak with her in one last ditch effort to stop the wedding.

"Do you really t'ink you can walk out on my sister?!"

"Easy now Julien." Bella Donna giggled as her brother went to stand next to her. "Remy knows what's best for everyone. Don't ya darlin'?

"You don't want to do dis …" looking around he saw that he was slowly becoming outnumbers.

"I love you Remy, an' you'll learn to do de same. We will be married an' we will be happy you'll see." Gesturing to some assassins she gave him another once over. "Make sure you take him back to dat sad excuse of de Thieves Guild; we do have a busy day planned tomorrow after all."

"What are dey doin'?!" Etienne whispered desperately trying to see over the bushes.

"Hush Etienne we can't do anythin' dat'll run de risk of any bloodshed." Lapin grits his teeth just as angry. "We are outnumbered an' even Remy knows dat, otherwise he'd already try somethin'."

"Well, we can't just sit here!"

"Now hold on a damn minute." Julien Boudreaux lifted his hand as a few assassins went to grab Remy's arm. "You don' t'ink dat I can just let you walk away now do you, after what you tried to pull on my sweet sister today."

"You an' I both know you never cared for dis weddin'." Remy narrowed his eyes, one hand already reaching for his bow staff inside his trench coat.

"No you right. But now dat I t'ink 'bout it, dis just gave me de chance dat I've been waitin' for."

"Julien!" Bella Donna tried to get his attention again as he pulled out a knife and gun.

"You filthy scum don' deserve someone like my sister!"

"Remy hang on!" Etienne quickly jumped out of the bushes ignoring Lapins shouts from behind.

"Etienne don't!"

Whipping his head around Remy just had enough time to see his cousin run towards him and Julien pointing his gun right at his younger cousin. "NO!"

"Julien!" Bella Donna shrieked right as Remy roughly pushed him aside but not before the bullet met its target and being knocked away.

"ETIENNE!" Desperately trying to keep Julian down, he saw Lapin rush out of the bushes to frantically look over Etienne who was already having a hard time trying to breathe and stay conscious.

Lifting his blood-stained hands to his face, Lapin tried to make the bleeding stop all the while Remy watched on in horror.

"ETIENNE!"

"REMY!" Lapin shouted a second before Julien managed to take advantage of Remy's distraction and switched their places with the knife only inches from his face.

"TAKE HIM! GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" Remy shouted while trying to fight Julien off. "GO!

Nodding Lapin quickly tried lifting Etienne with his arm over his shoulder while Ettine continued to shake his head pointing a weak finger at Remy. "Lapin…no…we can't leave R…"

"Hush Etienne I'm going to get you outta here. Just hang on!" Frantically looking around Lapin saw a few Assassins approaching as Etienne's face started to pale and blood slipped past his lips. With one last glance at Remy, he quickly ran in the opposite direction knowing that if he didn't get help now then it would be too late.

"Stupid boy." Julien maliciously grinned as he continued to try and drive the knife into Remys neck. "Serves him right."

Just then something inside him snapped as he harshly shoved Julien away along with the knife. "You're goin' to pay for dat Julien! I swear you will!"

"Remy don't!" Bella Donna cried out as he lunged himself once again at Julien. Anything else that was said just came out muffled to his ears. All he could think about was Juliens feral grin and mocked laughter as tried to fight him off.

His vision began to darken and the only thing that he could focus on was his heavy breathing as they both continued to throw relentless blows after blows until Julien managed to catch one of the knives one of the assassins threw his way when he managed to take a few steps back.

Grinning Julien ran towards him like a man possessed aiming the knife directly at him but not before Remy was able to twist his wrist a second before Julien came crashing down on him.

Panting, Remy lay there for what seemed like eternity but in reality, knew it was only a few seconds as all the surrounding noise slowly came back, but other than the pitter patter of the rain drops that began hitting the ground hard there was nothing else.

Squinting his eyes open once the rain hit his face, he was surprised to hear small whimpers coming from nearby. Upon trying to get up he felt something heavy still laying on him and when he looked down was startled to see Julien's motionless body. "Merde!"

He desperately tried shoving him away, but upon realizing that they both still held a tight grip on the handle of the knife with blood still seeping out of the blond and into Remy's hand, he felt his chest begin to rise and fall in panic while everyone stared on in horror about what they had just witnessed.

"Remy…what have you…what have you done…?" Bella Donna weakly whispered with tears streaming down her face. "You killed him! You killed Julien!"

"I…I didn't…. I didn't mean to…I…" His wild red eyes suddenly grew wider when he felt the familiar sensation of his kinetic power flow out of him. He desperately tried to hold back the energy but felt it increasing and losing control again. He tried to make his hands move but it was as if his body was shock still and wouldn't anything. "No…NO!"

The second he managed to remove his hand was a second too late as his power went haywire and he was barely able to dodge most of the blast.

"NO!" Bella Donna cried out in horror as she was being held back by some of the Assassins. "Let go of me!" Scrambling over, she kneeled down, crying in agony over losing her brother.

Standing on shaky legs Remy saw the Assassins quickly advancing on him once more as he pulled out his bow staff to defend himself. "Belle I-"

"LEAVE!" she roared looking up at him with such murderous hatred that had him stumble back. "Go before I kill you myself."

Taking one last look around he quickly turned and fled.

-X-

The wind howled around the edges of the Lebeau plantation, with the leaves outside rustling and lightning flashing across the gray sky quickly followed by thunder. He took the steps two at a time battling the nausea that threatened to overpower him as he burst open the doors to his home and all eyes turned to him.

"Where is he?! Where's Etienne?!" breathlessly he was already soaked from head to toe.

"Remy…" Emil breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, my poor boy." Tante Mattie was the first to rush over to him followed by Mercy who was inspecting his face to make sure he was ok.

"Where is he? Please Tante you have to tell me." He pleaded helplessly.

"What are you doing here?" Came the firm voice from Jean-Luc as he entered the foyer.

"I need to see him." Remy said back just as serious.

"You have no right to ask anythin' here."

Opening his mouth, Remy stopped when he saw both Lapin and Henri walking out of one of the rooms nearby, both with somber looks.

"Remy you're alright!" Henri didn't stop until he gave his little brother a bone crushing hug.

Quickly pulling away Remy walked up to Lapin with the same panicked expression he gave him back at the Assassins guild's mansion.

"I'm fine Remy…" Lapin quietly said averting his eyes.

"Now dat you're both here, care to explain to me why de son of de Assassins Guild is dead?"

"Jean-Luc dis is not the time-" Tante Mattie started.

"What happened?!" Jean-Luc raised his voice in a commanding tone that echoed through the house demanding to be answered.

Opening and closing his mouth Remy clenched his trembling blood-stained hands on each side of him.

"Answer me!"

"It was my fault. Etienne an' Lapin had nothin' to do with it-"

"Remy no-" Lapin took a few steps forward in protest but was stopped when Remy continued.

"-I wanted to talk to Belle about de upcomin' weddin' an' dragged them along even though dey didn't want to."

"Is dat so?" Jean-Luc bitterly nodded. "Even after I specifically told you not to!"

"Jean-Luc-"

"You broke de truce Remy! The agreement we've had!"

"Do you honestly t'ink that dat'll fix centuries of war between the two guilds!" he finally snapped. "Dat everythin' will be fine once Belle an' I married?! Dat dey would hold onto their end of de deal?!"

"I couldn't care less what dem Assassins do as long as we keep to our word! Yes Remy we may be thieves, but at least we have some honor an' we never break our contracts. If de Assassins were to plan somethin' den we would handle it. But you didn't even give de guilds dat chance to try and unite!" Jean-Luc shouted, and Remy could honestly say that that was the first time he'd ever seen him this worked up. The man was the leader of the whole Thieves Guild, and it was for a reason. The man held power and respect.

"Jean-Luc let me talk to Marius." Tante Mattie tried to calm him.

"There's no reasoning with the man." Jean-Luc shook his head. "All because of your selfishness Remy we have no weddin' and Marius lost his only son!"

"I know." Remy flinched once his father's voice raised once again. "An' I take full responsibility."

"Yes, you damn will boy!" Jean-Luc nodded eyes as piercing as knives, but when Remy looked up, he saw sadness hidden within those eyes, as well as in the eyes of those around them. "Dey want your head Remy...dey want you dead."

Swallowing down hard he knew that it was only fair. Even if it was only in self-defense, he knew that the moment he fought back that his life was sealed and that there was no coming back from it. And if it somehow helped his family get through this then he would have to accept anything that was coming his way.

Once he saw his youngest son nodding, Jean-Luc had to stop himself from showing any sort of emotion. He couldn't show weakness, he wouldn't crumple, and he most certainly couldn't show favoritism to anyone… even if it was his son. He had to show the same treatment as he would with anyone of their Thieves members.

Glancing over at his father, Henri could already see the man barely hanging on at his next words.

"But dat ain't happening.'

Snapping his head up, Remy was expecting to see the same hope and confusion in everyone's eyes. But once again was met with the same sad expression.

"An eye for an eye dey call it. But since dat's already happenin', I was able to convince dem dat right now dere was no need fo' further bloodshed. Since enough of dat has been spilled dis night. On both ends…"

As the realization dawned on him, he stared at his father with shock tear-filled eyes. "Etienne…?"

"Remy…" Lapin's voice quietly came from his left.

"Because of your decisions, dat boy is barely hanging onto life." Jean-Luc's tone took on one of pure disgust. "Both guilds agreed dat you're no longer welcomed here."

Gasping Tante Mattie and Mercy both watched on in horror as Jean-Luc continued.

"Remy Etienne LeBeau you're herby exiled from ever returnin' home under penalty of death. Say your goodbyes to dat boy, den pack your things an' get out."

Keeping his head down Remy could hear his father's retreating footsteps along with some of the other members until only a few remained. This was worst then death. Leaving everything and everyone he ever cared about. To live with the horrible choices, he had made. And who was he to even deserve to live anymore, when…

"Etienne." Turning to his left, he didn't have time for self-pity, not when his youngest cousin needed him.

"Remy-" Henri placed a comforting hand on his shoulder to which he just shrugged off before moving over to where Lapin was already waiting for him to follow.

"Remy I'm sorry."

"Not your fault Lapin, it was mine." Remy kept his eyes on Etienne who lay on one of the guest beds desperately trying to breath in air.

"Poor fool kept askin' 'bout you, wantin' to make sure you were alright." Lapin wiped his eye, just as Theoren saw Remy step inside and made a furious bee line towards him.

"You! Dis is all your fault!"

"Hey now Theoren, let's take it easy." Henri quickly got in between them. "Dis ain't the time for dis."

"You can't protect your brother forever Henri." Theoren bit back before he saw Tante Matties stern expression. "My brother is lying here because of you!

"It's alright Henri. Theoren's right." Remy moved his brother out of the way. "It's my fault. So, blame me all you want, but whether you like it or not I'm goin' to see him right now."

Shaking his head in disgust, Theoren reluctantly stepped aside.

"I've done all I can for him." Tante Mattie said from beside him as Remy kneeled down next to the bed. "He don't have much time left."

Nodding Remy saw how pale the young boy already looked, as his eyes grew faint.

"R-Remy?" Etienne wheezed out, barely opening his eyes.

"Yeah Etienne I'm here." Remy quietly said, watching him weakly lift his hand which he clutched the way he would a little brother. "I'm right here."

"You're alright…" he gave a weak smile which just made everyone around cover their mouths as they silently sobbed. "I knew you'd make it…. always knew."

Taking a shaky breath Remy glanced up at the ceiling to try and keep the flow of tears at bay. After everything, how could Etienne still think about someone else instead of himself. Remy wasn't as important as Etienne ever was in his eyes.

"How about you stop worryin' 'bout me, hein? You're all dat matters Etienne. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even be here."

"'bout time…I try an'…save…you instead of you…always savin me huh…" Etienne tried to lighten the mood, but his breathing became harder as he clutched Remy hand tighter. "won't lie an' say I'm not scared…"

"Etienne just hang on…" Remy encouraged. "You have to!"

Smiling, Etienne gave a faint nod. "It's alright…it's alright…I'll be…I…"

"Etienne…?" Lapin frightenedly asked once he saw his breathing stop and eyes fall shut.

The room became eerily quiet with Remy's blurry eyes staring at the lifeless body of Etienne Marceaux still clutching onto his hand. With trembling lips, he shook his head as sobs filled the air.

How could he have let this happen?

Everyone was right. This was all his fault always was. He never listened to anyone but himself, and now he was paying the long overdue consequences and dragged the people he cared for down with him.

With one last tight squeeze of his hand, Remy abruptly stood and walked out the door. Not halting in his steps even when he heard his name being called out.

"Remy! Remy wait!"

"Where are you going child?!" Tante worriedly called out with tear filled eyes.

"I can't stay here." Was all he said before swinging the doors open, glancing up at the pouring rain and stepping out of the only place he's ever called home for the last time.

-X-

"Essex!"

Grinning Nathaniel Essex patiently looked up from his microscope once he heard the doors slam open and was unsurprised to see Remy stomping inside dripping wet. "Ah Gambit, you're a little early." He looked down at his wristwatch.

"Don't care." He glared at the man. "I need dis fixed now!"

"My my aren't we a little inpatient." Essex's grin only widens. "May I inquire as to why?"

"My powers they…they malfunctioned again." He panted, he paced back and forth as his heart rate began to pick up once more and panic set in.

"Ah yes, Julien Boudreaux. So, I've heard." Essex intriguingly watched Remy struggling with air as he leaned against one of the desks. "Quite fascinating. But Accidents do happen-"

"Just fix it!" Remy coldly cut him off, closing his eyes and doing his best to calm himself down.

"Here, lay down." Essex led him to what he guessed was a small medical bed. "I'll have my nurse check on you right now, then after we make sure everything's alright well go on ahead and proceed as planned.

Nodding, Remy watched him with wary eyes as Essex went to talk to one of the nurses before coming back. "Don't worry Mr. LeBeau, before you know it, your powers will be under your complete control once more, and then you'll be able to provide me with your services once more, yes?"

"Anythin' you want doc, as long as I can get dis under control."