By Loup-Garou
Part Nine
Jubilee gulped a great big gulp as she took a deep breath to go back into her new home for the time being - the home of Remy LeBeau. The same LeBeau to which she just humiliated and ran away from with Shadowcat and Rogue. To top it all off, Rogue agreed to marry him! Who knows if she'll actually go through with it though? After she did the sign of the cross for good luck, she knocked on the door.
The door opened suddenly and Jubilee was yanked inside. "Whoa!"
"Bring her up to LeBeau," shouted one man.
"Be careful! She's a mutant," said another.
Jubilee's world was in a tumble while the people were carrying her. Scared out of her mind, it didn't even register the people that were carrying her even. I'm going to die!!
Finally they set her down on a chair and tied her to it. Remy came out of the shadows with narrowed eyes. "Mebbe dis time, you'll stay put when I'm talkin' t' y'."
Too scared to speak, she shook her head.
"Because of your indiscretion, dere is someone out dere who knows 'bout de guild an' who could speak. I'm holdin' y' personally responsible Jubilation." Remy intoned like a sentence.
Jubilee's self-righteous nature came surging forward, "She said that she would marry you and she will, even if I have to drag her to the altar myself."
He snorted, "Who would want t' marry someone y' can't touch?"
"Obviously you," she retorted, looking him straight in the eye. "Because you asked her the moment after she absorbed you." She was slapped across the face.
"Enough back talking," someone behind her growled.
"Lapin, if y' do dat again, you are going t' be de one dat gets her punishment." Remy charged a card and began to prepare to throw it at him.
"Oh.... My... God..." Stammered Jubilee, remembering the effect it had on Sinister the last time he had thrown one of those. She began to thrash wildly trying to get away.
"Stop moving, or else you'll hurt yourself." Said Remy softly, letting his words sink in. Then he turned hard again. "If she marries me, you'll get a light punishment. Y' got two weeks t' bring her back here t' me, willin'."
"And I if I can't?" she gulped uncertainly.
His eyes narrowed like sharp glints of hot ice. "We'll test our theory dat a person can still become a master t'ief under years o' humiliation an' torture."
"Although, it may take a little bit longer than two weeks..." she ventured carefully testing the waters.
"Depends on how y' do. I want reports every day on your progress an' if I am satisfied dat you be tryin' t' make progress, your time'll be extended." Said Remy. "Until den, we go on as planned. Y' live here an' I'll teach y' t' become one o' de best t'ieves in de world. As well, y' go t' de X-men an' train dere on specific days in which y' have t' not only meet dere expectations, but mine."
"But... but...
"Jubilee, our Guild punishments are very harsh. Think.... Medieval times." He said matter of factly. "De Guild is worse dan de Catholic Church in changing its ways. Because, it hasn't changed since de Guild was founded."
"Oh?" she whispered faintly.
"F' example, if someone was seen doing a pinch and dey came back here b'fore killin' dem, dey would get de punishment o' de knot."
"What's that?" Unsure she wanted to hear anymore.
"Well, dat's when dey tie your hands behind your back with a long rope. Dey t'row de rope over top o' a long beam and hoist y' up. Den when y' get t' de top, dey let go, only t' catch it again b'fore y' hit de ground pushin' your shoulder blades into your lungs."
"So, I work on her while I'm there..."
"Y' work on bringin' her back t' me." Remy finished her sentence. "As well as train t' fight."
"Okay, I'll do it," Jubilee responded after a moments thought. "Under one condition."
Remy could have laughed at that moment. "Y' be in no position t' be makin' demands here."
"I want you to never hurt Rogue, or pester her about her past."
"Why do y' always call her Rogue?" asked Remy changing the subject slightly. "I t'ink Colette is a pretty name."
"Excuse me?"
"Colette, her name. Why do y' always call her Rogue?"
"How do you know that?"
Remy was puzzled for a moment, "She told me."
"Oh? When?" snorted Jubilee.
"Why don't y' know?" he demanded.
"Because she has never told us her real name. In fact, she has told us almost nothing about her past." Jubilee said suspiciously. "Now you, a stranger, can claim to know her name... no way, I don't think so."
"I found out when she touched me." He said angrily. "I have memories running around in my head an' dey can only be hers, 'cause dey ain't mine."
"You have what???"
"Her memories in my head. Dat's how I know her name."
Jubilee sat there astonished, "You mean, her power acted as a two way street. Cool!!! I can't wait until I tell her!"
"NON! Y' can't tell her. She has t' come back here 'cause she wants t' without knowin' dis."
"Can't I even hint towards it?" Jubilee pestered. It was then that she knew when she had made a mistake. Remy backhanded her across the face.
"Y' heard me Miss Lee. Y' got yourself into de Guild an' now, y' goin' t' have t' follow de rules."
"Fine, fine! When do I go back anyhow?"
"Tomorrow mornin'."
"Oh good, I'm tired." She yawned sleepily.
Remy grinned, "Oh no... it's not time f' bed yet."
"What do you mean?" she asked warily.
"Tonight, we start your trainin'."
"But.... But, I have training in the morning with the X-men!"
"Get used to it," He replied as he spun on his heels. "Go and get dressed. Dere are clothes f' you in your room."
"Um... If you haven't forgotten, I AM tied to the chair." Jubilee stated, clearly not enjoying the position she was in.
"Untie her Lapin."
Lapin, who was standing behind her, untied her.
"Aren't you forgetting about Kitty?" she asked boldly.
"No, I'm not." He grinned mischievously. "I said dat she would be trained by someone else... an' she will. I've already asked someone t' train her an' dey be probably talkin' wit' her right now."
"Um, okay." She mumbled as she headed off to her bedroom to change.
***
So, dis is my new apprentice, the man thought to himself as he broke into the mansion. He had been handed an address by Remy and asked to take on a new apprentice. Even though he had already trained two very good thieves and his duty was now done, but he couldn't resist the challenge of yet another student. And this was not an ordinary student. First off, his new student was a she, Katherine Pryde. There were very few females thieves in the Guild. It came more from traditional values than availability. Second of all, she was a mutant that could phase through matter. Walls of vaults would not be a problem for her and that alone, could boost her rating in the Guild ten fold. Lastly, she knew computers. Computers were the new wave of technology in terms of security and therefore, she would have a double advantage.
He slowly entered her room and sat down on the chair beside her bed. She slept soundly and calmly, until an alarm went off in her room and she bolted awake.
"Whaa?" she grumbled pulling herself swiftly out of bed heading towards the door, without even realizing that there was someone in the room with her.
He made a polite coughing noise. Shadowcat whirled around and immediately threw the first thing that came into contact with her hand, at him. She threw a clock.
Unfazed, the man walked into the light with a cold glint in his eye. "If I'm goin' t' train you, y' are goin' t have t' learn t' sleep lightly. I could o' killed you when y' slept."
Shadowcat gasped, "I.... I didn't know it was you. Remy told me to expect someone, but he didn't tell me when." Then she remembered the alarm was still going. She got up quickly and went to her PC and accessed Cerebro. Quickly, she turned off the alarm and put in a different reason for it going off so that it would look like a computer error. Also, while she was at it, she carefully told Cerebro to always overlook his signature if he entered the mansion.
"Impressive." He said without any change in facial expression. It was hard to guess what he was really thinking.
"Forgive me sir, but you are the one that is going to train me, right?" asked shadowcat uncertainly.
The man looked at his student with renewed interest. Not only did she have the capabilities, but she also had the right attitude! "I t'ink y' an' I are goin' t' get along quite well. We start tomorrow night Kitty. May I call you Kitty?" asked Jean-Luc, King of Thieves.
"By all means." She responded, her head slightly nodding.
"Y' may call me Jean-Luc when we're alone. In de company o' other Guild members, y' must address me as Master an' I y', apprentice."
"Yes Jean-Luc." She kept her eyes lowered to the ground.
"Why do y' not look me in de eyes?"
Remy didn't tell him??? Should I?
She gave a sigh, "Master, these are the rules I live by when dealing with the Guild."
"Oh?" His eyebrows came together as he sat down on the chair. Kitty sat down on her bed.
"These rules were given to me when I reached the level of pawlus and was given favor by the Guild."
He regarded her thoughtfully, "How old were y' petit'?"
"It was about a year ago," she admitted. "Until now, my affiliations with your Guild have stood as purely technological. I have a knack with a computer."
"So I've heard," he smiled slightly.
"Actually, learning about the Guild initially concerns what I do best - hacking. I was hacking something and I tumbled onto someone else. They were making little mistakes left and right. I cleaned them up as he went along. The person realized it quickly, got what he wanted and left. But before he was gone, I was able to trace him and get his e-mail address. Then I did the stupid thing. I sent him an e-mail telling him what to work on because I had to clean up his mess."
Jean-Luc gave an inward chuckle. Priceless. She helped a Guild member and improved on him. "Don't y' t'ink dat was dangerous?"
"I had no idea who it was." She admitted. "I was young and a damn good hacker."
"So what 'appened after dat?"
"Well, you have to realize that I know most of the hackers of my caliber and this person was getting up there, but he needed a little help. Not to mention, that it is nice to have other hackers as friends to help you out when you're in trouble. Anyhow, we became e-mail buddies. I learned from him that he was an apprentice to someone named Lapin and he was learning to hack. Behind his back, I was teaching him how to do the things he was supposed to learn because he was having troubles. His name is Claude. But, despite what I knew, I knew nothing of the Guild. I was teaching him as we both hacked from different places. I was living in the UK at the time. Later on, I learned that I was helping him do what he called pinches. I still have no idea what those are."
"Dat means pullin' off de job."
"Oh... okay. That makes sense now."
"But y' haven't said how y' got de status o' pawlus."
"Well, Claude suggested we meet because he was coming to London and he wanted to introduce me to some people. Of course I agreed, because we had been become good friends."
Jean-Luc nodded his head.
"We met for supper and when he said a couple of friends, I thought he meant one or two. Well, I went into the restaurant only to find about 20 people."
Jean-Luc gave a short laugh, "Gave y' a shock?"
"Oh yeah... but the weird thing is that I already knew about five of them. They were all hackers. Although, we had never met I certainly knew of them. These were some of the world's best. You should have seen me with my mouth hanging open."
Jean-Luc sat back in his chair, "I t'ink I can picture it petit."
"He introduced me as my code name shadowcat. I gave a laugh because all these people I have admired and looked up to for their abilities had their mouths hanging open. I was a young girl, while all these other people must have been in their late twenties and thirties. I was introduced and was given praise. Needless to say, I was very flattered. I had given Claude the instruction to get him into the elite. While people began to sit down and eat, a conversation started about the Guild. About a half an hour passed and I found out a lot about your Guild."
"Hmmm, perhaps y' can give me some o' does names?" frowned Jean-Luc.
"No way! They had no way of knowing that I didn't have any clue! Anyhow, Claude realized that I knew nothing and so he watched me all night. At the end, I made a run for it. After I was out of the room, Claude told everyone and they made it a game to look for me."
"Dey did what??"
"They made it a game. I got home and began to cover my tracks. I began erasing e-mail accounts and information that it contained. Web pages went down left and right. After, I went to a friend named Pete and he helped me get a new pad. But, they found me four days later. It took all twenty of those hackers to find me."
"Y' be pretty good." He gave an appreciative snort.
She gave an impish grin, "I'd like to think so. So, I was sleeping, thinking I had got away cleanly, until I felt a slight tap on my shoulder and wham, they knocked me out."
"At least dey did somet'ing properly." He said sourly.
"Yeah, and so that's my story. They offered me pawlus and I got out of dying." She smiled simply.
"I t'ink I'm proud t' have y' not only as an' apprentice, but also affiliated wit' my Guild." He said graciously.
"I'm honored Jean-Luc. Words cannot even describe what I'm feeling." She said quietly.
" 'Member petit, y' can' tell anyone 'bout me - even Jubilee."
"Alright. I won't."
"Now, down t' business. Who is dis Rogue?"
"Excuse me?" she asked startled at the turn of conversation.
"Rogue, who is she?"
"Well... I don't know much about her. She's tall, pretty, and invulnerable, can fly, and hot tempered, from Louisiana..."
"An' she's goin' t' marry my last son." He sighed. "Does he love her?"
"How should I know? One minute he's trying to cut her arm for a blood oath and the next, he is asking her to marry him." She responded perplexed.
All of a sudden, the door opened and someone walked in. Jean-Luc stood there because there was no way he could have jumped somewhere in time to hide.
"Kitty, has Jubilee come back yet?" asked Rogue before she noticed the handsome man in her room. "Oh, sorry Kitty. Ah didn't know y' had company."
"Rogue, come on in!" smiled Kitty. "Let me introduce you to my friend here. Jean-Luc, it is my pleasure to introduce Rogue. Rogue, this is Jean-Luc."
With a friendly smile on her face, Rogue grasped his hand and gave it a warm shake. "Pleased ta meet ya."
"Where y' from?" Jean-Luc asked.
"Well, Ah grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. My parents are dead an' I lived with someone named Raven until I came here." She smiled.
"Nice t' meet such a beautiful woman." He remarked.
"The pleasure is all mine." She smiled. "Anyway, I'd better be getting' back to the movie. Nice meeting ya Jean-Luc." With that, she left.
"Now that was unusual." Remarked Kitty.
"What was unusual?"
"I now know where she grew up." She murmured to herself.
"Tomorrow night, be outside de walls at nine p.m."
"Will do and thank you."
"Don't t'ank me yet." He gave a short snort as he left through the window. "Oh an' if y' have any problems, contact me at dis number."
"Okay, now I'm beginning to get scared." She crawled into bed and fell back asleep.
***
Jubilee ran back into the mansion, albeit very quietly. The first thing she did when she was inside the house was find Kitty.
Kitty woke up with a start when she heard her door opening. She wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. Then she spotted Jubilee, "You're alive!"
"No shit Sherlock and keep your voice down." She hissed quietly sitting on her bed.
"What happened?"
"I got in trouble, what else?" she replied dryly, groaning in the meanwhile. "And man, am I in trouble. I don't know how much more of this I can take. That... that man is a slave driver!"
"Hmm, little Jubilation couldn't talk her way out of this one." Kitty gave a small laugh.
"Don't laugh yet Kitty. You and I have to find a way for Rogue to go back to Remy... willingly!"
Her laughter stopped suddenly, "You're kidding me, right?"
"No kidding. Like I said, I'm in trouble."
"Wait a minute. Aren't you supposed to do this... not me?"
"Kitty, you agreed to become my partner, therefore, it's not I, it's we."
"Fine, fine. We, have a problem."
"In your opinion, do you think she'd do it if we asked her nicely?"
"Not a chance Jube. She is so dead set against it now, that it isn't even funny. But she has been acting funny."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, she is being more free with what she says."
"It's about time!"
"Like she even told us where she lived!"
"Seriously?"
"Totally."
"Hmmm, then somehow, we have to make her feel enough guilt to be able to go back to Remy reluctantly. Reluctantly is still freely." She smiled at Kitty.
"Good point. But, what would do that?" Kitty grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from her desk.
"You do know that we have Danger Room session in the morning... right?"
"Actually, I was able to get Scott to change it for another day."
"All right!!! Great! Good job Kitty!"
She stood up and gave a bow, "It's the least I could do for standing up to the monster, the Loup-Garou... the GAMBIT!"
"Hun? Gambit? Who is that?"
"Why, Remy of course."
"Why Gambit? Why not... charge card man!"
"Charge card man???"
"Yeah!! He has a lot of money and I'd LOVE to get a hold on it! Also, he does that chargy thingy with them... so, Charge Card Man!"
"Gambit is a chess opening in which a player sacrifices a piece or pawn to secure an advantage. It's also a trick or a device, so, he uses what he does to trick them into thinking that he is just a lowly, crummy thief, when for real, he is one of the best."
"One of the best... does that mean he isn't the best?" she grinned.
"Well, his teacher would have to be better than him or else how could he be as good as he is?"
Jubilee thought that one over, "Very good point... I never thought of it that way before."
"Anyway, back to the task at hand. We need a way to get Rogue to go to Remy and quicker the better."
"I'll say... he said that he'd be testing the theory that a person can still become a master thief under years of humiliation and torture if I couldn't get Rogue to go back."
"Jube,"
"And you know how I hate pain!!"
"Jube,"
"Pain is my worse enemy! It's worse than Sinister, because even though Sinister can cause pain, pain is there and hurts!!"
"JUBE!"
"Did you say something Kitty?'
"Rogue's not going to go there by just asking. We need someway to dupe her into going."
"Yeah so... put that computer brain of yours to work Kitty. You can think your way out of anything!"
"Oh thanks," she responded wryly. "But, I so have a plan."
Jubilee shot up, "You do? WOW! That was quick!"
"Aren't you glad you have me for a partner?"
"But of course, dahling." She said with a flimsy, fake accent. "So, what iz dis ingenious plan you have?"
"Were going to get you arrested." She smiled.
"Okay, Kitty, I take back all that I've said. What do you mean, getting me arrested????!!"
"Calm down," laughed Kitty. "Not for real, just pretend! We will get a fake FBI agent to arrest you."
"Oh yeah, and what will he arrest me for hun? Being too small? Or perhaps blowing up another game machine in the arcade." Laughed Jubilee.
"I'm going to give an anonymous tip that you are going to meet a Guild member there. You are going to be muttering about the Guild to yourself while playing a video game there and he will arrest you." Smiled Kitty.
Jubilee looked at her as if she was mad, "You know... it just might work. Tell me more."
"Rogue will be there with me and she will see you get arrested. I will conveniently disappear back to the mansion. She won't be able to find you or me and then she'll panic. The only person she will be able to turn to is Remy!"
"You're forgetting the professor." Jubilee reminded Kitty.
"She won't go to the X-men because she doesn't want to get you or me in trouble. Not to mention that the professor will have to question her about the Guild and I think by now, she knows the consequences of doing that..."
"Perfect! You, my friend, are a genius."
"I know, I know... So, when do you want to pull this off?"
"Sooner the better. Tomorrow afternoon?"
"Perfect!"
Jubilee got up to go back to bed, "Tomorrow, at the arcade at Salem shopping center, at 2:00 p.m."
Kitty thought about the time that she had to meet Jean-Luc. She would have plenty time to get back in time for this. "Sure, tomorrow then. I'll get it set up, you start talking and voila, we'll have one Rogue in Remy's clutches."
"Colette,"
"Colette? Who is Colette?"
"Colette is Rogue's name," Jubilee said as she closed Kitty's bedroom door. She slunk off the bed, her feet dragging behind her. Tomorrow, I get arrested. Sigh, what is the world coming to?
***
Kitty pulled out the card Jean-Luc had given her. She'd had it only a couple of hours but she was already going to use it. She quietly picked up the phone and dialed the number.
"Allo, Jean-Luc ici.""Hi, it's Katherine."
"Y' have a problem petit?"
"Um, yeah. You see this is how it is. Jubilee needs to get Rogue to go to Remy and we came up with the perfect plan to get her to go to him. She'll go to him if she knows that one of us is in trouble. So, we need to get some fake FBI agent, to like, arrest her at 2 p.m. tomorrow. She's going to be mumbling about the Guild - softly mind you. You wouldn't know any actors that I could hire to pull this off, would you?"
There was a silence at the end of the line. "You're serious."
"Very."
It started out softly and became louder and louder, until laughter filled the receiver. "An' who came up wit' dis crazy scheme?"
"I did."
"Really? Den, I'll just 'ave t' do my bit an' hire dat actor f' y'. But under one condition."
"That would be...?"
"Y' can't be there when it happens. If' y' want Rogue dere, y' tell her to pick something up dere for y'."
"Sounds good."
"See y' tomorrow petit."
"'Night!"
***
Jube was nervous as she slowly walked into the arcade at 2 p.m. the next afternoon. I can't believe I'm going to do this! Man, the things I do to avoid pain.
She looked around the arcade. There was no one there that looked suspicious. A man sat with his wife and two children in the eatery off at the back and there were kids playing the games. The coin master, who exchanged bills for coins while walking around and smiling, was doing his usual job. Of course there was other people around doing stuff, but everything seemed so... normal! This was hardly a scene where a young girl was going to be arrested! She gave a sigh and walked towards her favorite arcade game, Ninja Turtles.
"Come on Leonardo!!" she grinned as she began to get into the game. "Use that sword to your advantage! Let's kick some butt!"
"I guess this Thieves Guild thing is okay. I mean, come on Jubilee, look at the benefits! You'll never go hungry again. You'll belong somewhere and you won't be shipped foster home to foster home." Jubilee began mumbling to herself, while at the same time trying to get this guy's or girl's attention, she was trying to sort it out through her head as well. "You get to learn a trade, even though it is kinda barbaric in its methods. Not to mention, that I'll never be in the dark again. I'll know what is going on in world politics and such..."
In flash of commotion, shouts were heard all over the room, "Freeze! Stand where you are! Don't move. You are under arrest!"
Jubilee didn't even have time to bolt before the coin master pushed her up against the machine. "You have the right to remain silent. Whatever you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
Things were going so fast and as things happened, she was forced to keep to her powers in check as they tried to surge forward to free her. Handcuffed, she was marched outside. In the corner of her eye, she noticed Rogue looked at her in dismay and in tears. Maybe this wasn't the right thing to do.
Carefully, they tucked her into a black vehicle and drove away.
***
"Oh my God," gasped Rogue after everyone was gone. She grabbed the purse Kitty had left there earlier this morning and slumped down in a chair at the food court. Her can of Pepsi was the only thing that was keeping her up and conscious.
"Ah can't go to the Professor, he'd get her in trouble an' not ta mention me too foah not tellin' him in the beginning. I might even be thrown off the team!" Rogue gave a big sigh. Silently, she finished her pop and left the mall.
***
"Rogue, what's the matter?" asked Kitty. Rogue had herded her into her room after supper.
"Something terrible has happened, Kitty. Jubilee was caught by the FBI!" Cried Rogue in dismay.
"Well, why don't you tell the Professor?" reasoned Kitty.
"Not only would Jubilee get in trouble, but me an' you. We'd have ta tell him 'bout the Guild and that would get us both killed!"
"Well, I don't know what else we can do, unless you want to go after Jubilee yourself?"
Rogue thought that one over, "I'd never be able ta find her by myself."
Kitty gave a sigh, "Anyway, Rogue, I have to be somewhere in five minutes, so, I'll leave you to think. Whatever you decide, I'll be with you 100 percent."
"Thanks," she grumbled as Kitty left her room.
"That leaves me with only one option left..."
***
Rogue gulped at the forbidding house. It wasn't because the house was scary looking; no- it wasn't that at all. It was the person inside it. She melted the first time she saw Remy LeBeau stroll into the restaurant she and Jube were eating in. When he came strolling up to their table, it had been like a dream come true. It was when she found out that Remy was not all he seemed to be. Although, she couldn't be sure if he was more or less than what she thought. He had an aura of seductive mystery and not only did it excite her, it also scared her. Above all, this uneasy feeling that held her captive was the fact that she had agreed to marry him. Not one inch of her regretted it. She was scared that she would lose herself again to her senses. After that touch, she knew more about Remy LeBeau than most people did. Somehow, her powers had become a two way street. She felt her memories go into Remy. Whether he retained them or not was still a mystery. She was scared to go through his memories and yet, she drew the courage to do so at the mansion. Now, she knew the proper procedure to approach the Guild. But even through her careful searches, she couldn't find the reason why he wanted to marry her. There was only one way to find out. Not to mention, there was only one way to get Jubilee back.
With a deep breath, she pushed the doorbell.
Or