Part Two

She'd almost made it to the fence when a small explosion went off on her left.

She was thrown sideways, landing on her side. Quickly recovering her senses, she rose lightly to her feet and took a step toward the fence, only to have her way barred by a tall man in a trenchcoat. His hands were glowing softly, and his eyes were red on black. And very angry.

*Merde.* She stopped, and stood very still, not looking at him. *Dis is not de way dis was s'posed to go.* "'Allo, Remy," she whispered.

He grabbed her arms and shook her. "What are you doin here, petite? Hehn? Tryin to get yourself killed? Why not come to de door, enfant?" Keeping a firm grasp of her left arm, he marched her back toward the house, his face grim. "You know Wolverine be fit to kill, non? He's not de kin' takes t'ings like dat in stride, chere."

"You a t'ief, too, LeBeau," she shot back. "Don' tell me you don' miss de t'rill. I jus needed a challenge, hehn?" She jerked her arm free, but didn't try to run. She kept in step with him into the house and they moved toward the study. Her face paled, but she kept her chin up and didn't falter. "'Sides, you protect me, non? T'ieves honor say you gotta. One Guild member to 'nother, non?"

His jaw tightened further, but she had a point and he knew it. He pushed her through the study door, following close behind, to place himself in front of her when Wolverine started toward her. He kept himself between the two, nonchalantly lighting a cigarette. "Wolverine, you jus' sit down, homme, I got de girl in line," he said casually.

"I also think that is a good idea, Wolverine," a tall black woman said softly as she placed a hand on his arm. "She is frightened enough. And I have never known you to threaten children."

He settled back into his chair, grumbling softly. "'Roro, you don't fight fair, darlin'."

The woman moved toward the girl and Gambit again placed himself between them. "Stormy, you let me handle dis one, hehn? She came t' see me, I'll take care of it. Compris?"

"Remy, I have asked you not to call me that," she said with a smile, but she moved back to lean against the desk. "How do you know she came to see you? Wolverine caught her trying to break in."

The girl finally found her voice. It was obvious to her Gambit was going to hold to Guild rules and protect her; but she was not going to jeopardize both of them. "I can speak, non? Dis between me and LeBeau, hehn? Why don' you jus let us get on wit' it?"

The woman raised an eyebrow, but remained silent. Wolverine growled something from his chair, but he was ignored by everyone. Gambit looked down at the girl an inclined his head toward the door. She moved through it, into the hall, waiting.

"You just let her escape, Remy," Storm chided gently.

He smiled at her, all his charm in action. "Trust me, Stormy. She ain' goin' nowhere wit'out me." As he left the room, he called back over his shoulder, "Wolverine, look like you need some extra time in de Danger Room, neh? Little girl get de best of you, you gettin slow, mon ami."

He didn't hear the reply through the closed door, but he guessed it was violent from the amount of noise he heard in the room. *Sounded like de chair went flyin.* Gently he took the girl's face in his hand. "Now, chere, we figure out what to do wit' you, hehn? Why you come lookin for Gambit?"

She shivered. "You know why. Council say go, you go. No choice. I'd jus as soon stayed away from you, homme," she said slowly. "You know first hand what I can do, non? Don' want dat to happen again, homme."

He took her arm and led her down the hall, into the main room. "Sit, petite. No one hurt you here, hehn? You know Gambit protect you. So why Council send you, anyway? I'm not Guild no more, dey banished me long time back. So what dey want wit me now?"

She shivered again, and wouldn't meet his eyes. "Need you to do a job, Remy," she whispered. "One dey say can't be done. Dey know you can pull it off, so dey want you t' do it."

He sat in silence, smoking. She watched him closely, but his face gave nothing away. Finally he spoke, still not looking at her. "You ain't tellin me ever't'in, petite. I can hear it in your voice. So what's de rest?"

She looked around at the room, her eyes finding so many valuable pieces. Anything to keep from looking at him. When she finally spoke, her voice was a tiny whisper. "Got somet'in to do wit' de Assassins.........." She trailed off as his face hardened.

"Merde." One word, only one. But the tone managed to convey a complete and total irritation. "So dey send you after me, hehn? Why you, petite? Dey t'ink you gon' use your power to make me go?"

She shook her head sadly. "No, Remy. Dey t'ink if I don' get you to go, den dey kill me."

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