The Gambit's Kin
Summery: After their father's "untimely" death, Remy is unwillingly given custody of his blind younger sister, Tammi. Can the Institute stand having two thieving LeBeaus under its roof? Co-written by Jinxeh!
Note (1): This is written by both Jinxeh and myself (A story written by two fire poker obsessed teens, how will this end?), Jinxeh wrote the prologue and the first chapter.
Note (2): We apologize if we have gotten the accents wrong. We have little or no experience with the Cajun accents, in written form. Eh…it happens. Also, it seems that in many storylines, it is said that Remy was adopted by Jean-Luc LeBeau...but that would make this storyline very difficult to pull off, so we'll just say that the guy is the stupid father, savvy?
Disclaimer: We don't own the X-Men. Now we're sad. We hope you're happy. We're not.
Prologue
It was a quiet night, for once. The entire manor seemed silent, as if every sole occupant was sleeping. Tammi knew that that could not possibly ever be the case, as there were always sentries posted around the entire building at all times, but that was what it felt like.
The outside of the ancient house clearly showed how old the building actually was; moss was growing all over the ancient stone pillars, the bricks were crumbling, many of the window panes were smashed on the lower floor. It was not the nicest place to live, down in the heart of Cajun country, but it wasn't like she had a choice. She was there unwillingly, as well as her older brother, because their father, Jean-Luc LeBeau, insisted upon it.
She hated it there. She was unsure if there was anybody in the wretched place from the thieves' guild who actually did like it there, but she was sure that she hated it. If her mother was there, it was likely that they wouldn't be. But their mother had been gone for a long time. She had just left; had just left her two children with their father, and had never come back. Their mother had not been a cruel woman...just a smart one.
She sighed and stared up at the ceiling of her small room, counting the cracks in the crumbling ceiling tiredly, her red-on-black eyes moving from right to left boredly, almost seeming to glow in the strands of moonlight that sifted through the dirty glass of the window next to her bed. Her dark brown hair had lost its reddish tint in the darkness, the moonlight not quiet reaching that. It was in the sunlight that people could see the resemblance between herself and her brother, but in the darkness she was free to be her own person.
Joy.
She sighed again, this time from sheer boredom, and tilted her head to the side, taking in the sight of the rest of her drab room with distaste. It wasn't much; run down with cracked walls, yellowed linoleum flooring, a moldy wooden dresser by the even moldier closed wooden door.
It is so nice to live in such luxury.
She rolled her eyes at her own sour sarcasm, of which was becoming more and more a habit with her at late, and tilted her head back again so she was staring at the ceiling. It was late; it was probably best for her to get some sleep now. Remy would be charging in there soon enough, waking her up on purpose just for kicks. Joy.
Slowly, she closed her eyes and drifted off into a fitful sleep.
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"Tammi!"
Tammi blinked slightly and groaned, rolling over onto her side as she recognized her brother's voice hissing at her. Was it morning already? It felt like she had just gotten to sleep, and he was already waking her up? Damn him...
"Go away..." she mumbled, closing her eyes tightly as if she thought that would help. It didn't, for the next thing she knew her brother's hand was clamped tightly over her mouth as he forcefully rolled her over to her other side.
"Tammi, wake up!"
She opened her eyes, blinking the sleep away, and glared right into the matching red-on-black eyes as her sixteen-year-old brother crouched by her bed.
"What do you want?" she asked groggily, noting to her surprise that her room was still dark, meaning it was before sunrise. That was typical of him, waking her up just before dawn. Now she would never get back to sleep...
"C'mon, you have to get up!" he said hurridly, grabbing her hand and trying to pull her from the bed. She wrenched her arm from his grip and sat up slightly, propped on her elbows, glaring at him.
"C'est possible pour vous être plus ennuyant ?" she mumbled darkly, causing him to roll his eyes and grab her hand again, pulling her with such force that he actually succeeded in pulling her off of the bed. She landed on the floor with a thump, and she got to her knees, glaring daggers at him now.
"Yes, I is sure dat it is possible for me to be even more annoying, soeur, but now isn't de time to be worrying about dat," he said hurriedly, grabbing her upper arms and hauling her to her feet. "Look outside de window." He said anxiously, his eyes looking around the room frantically. As his sister gave him a strange look and slowly made her way to the dusty window beside her bed, he saw her black trench coat and retractable Bo staff (gifts from him) on top of the dresser. He grabbed them quickly and turned to face his sister, who had wiped a clear spot through the dust on the window, and was looking down towards the lawn with a pale face.
"Oh no..." she whispered, her eyes wide and fearful.
"You're going to need dese." Remy said, tossing her the coat and staff, which she caught easily. In one fluid motion she pulled the long black coat on, but she did not put the small metal staff in her pocket, as she would normally do. She would need it now.
Her brother was already dressed in brown pants tucked into high training boots, a black short-sleeved shirt, and his brown trench coat. His short reddish-brown hair was mussed, and it was apparent that he had just woken up. His Bo staff, already lengthened, was leaning by the door near the dresser where he had left it.
"We're not actually goin' to fight dem, are we?" she asked him skeptically, as he retrieved the staff and held it tightly, then turning to face her grimly. After all, anyone who had just recently looked outside of their own window and seen a good dozen members of the Assassin's Guild fairly much marching across his or her lawn carrying weapons would be grim, would they not?
"I am, but I want you to stay behind me until we reach de tunnels, okay?" he asked acidly. She scowled and shook her head retracting her bo staff until it was at full length, and twirling it swiftly, bringing the very end to a stop a mere inch from his nose.
"Dammit, Remy! Jus' because I'm on'y twelve, don't mean I'm completely helpless!" she snarled. He responded by sighing and pushing the staff away from his face before turning and jogging to her door, wrenching it open.
"Don't do anything stupid..." he said acidly, running into the hall with her right at his heels. Surprisingly, they were not the only people in the hallway.
"Get down to de main lobby!"
"They're comin' from northwards!"
"Someone check the south tunnels!"
Men were barking orders left and right, running this way and that as they prepared to fight the intruders. No one even noticed the two LeBeaus as they ran between them quickly, their trench coats flapping behind them as they did. No one ever noticed them really, so it didn't come as a surprise.
Even if it sounded like there was a great number of people in the building, part of the Thieves Guild, in reality there were hardly a dozen; a near match to the Assassins that were invading the old decrepit manor. There was a very real chance that they would be overpowered, and then what?
"Why are dey attacking anyways?" Tammi cried as she and her brother bounded down one of the stairways, avoiding running into any rubbing thieves as they did, though once again no one took any notice of them. "I thought de war between de guilds was never actually started, much less pursued!" she said, using a phrase that she had heard her father, and many other thieves, use before.
"Guess de Assassin's thought otherwise!" was her brother's quick reply as they came to a stop at the bottom of the stairway, in the lobby. If they could make a run for the hallway to the left, they could find one of the entrances to the escape tunnels...but unfortunately that way was barred.
"You guessed right, young one!" a man said gleefully, raising the Uzi he held in his hands and aiming right for them.
"Down!" Remy shouted, grabbing Tami by her shirt collar front and pulling her down just as the man fired. As they both instantly went into a crouch, a painting across the room, which had been level with their heads, was shot through, the frame splitting and some of the fake metal frame pieces falling and sliding across the floor.
"I tink he means business!" Tammi shouted, her eyes squinted as though somehow that would block out the sound of the gun.
"So do I!" Remy said with a growl, dropping his staff and grabbing one of the fake metal pieces that had slid across the floor and glaring at the man, who had just aimed the gun at them again.
"Buh-bye." Remy said calmly, the piece in his hands now glowing red and white. The man suddenly gasped at this spectacle and lowered the weapon, but before he could do anything the boy had whipped the piece towards him. Luckily for him he was able to jump out of the way, but the piece struck the wall behind him and exploded with such force that it sent him sprawling forwards. He hit the floor unconscious a few feet away from the kids, his gun sliding away across the floor.
"Grab some of de pieces!" Remy ordered, taking some of the metal frame pieces for himself. Tammi knew better than to argue with him, especially when he was in this kind of mood. Frankly, he rather scared her when he was like this. She folded her staff and tucked it into one of her coat pockets, the grabbing three of the metal pieces and getting to her feet, her red and black eyes wide.
What was she supposed to do with these things? She had the same abilities that her brother had, but she was no good with it! The whole thing was new to her, and she couldn't use those powers to save her own life...which was the situation now!
"Remy, what am I supp-"
"No time!" he said quickly, seeing the dark figures running up the front steps through the glass front doors. "Start chargin' and throwin'!"
"But-"
"Now!" he bellowed, just as the doors banged open, and three of the assassins ran into, weapons drawn. Judging from the sounds she could hear from upstairs, there were already at least some of them already in the building, and fighting the thieves.
She watched with uncertainty as her brother began to charge some of the pieces in his hands, whipping them at the men, who ducked and rolled away as they hit the walls, managing to evade the fate of their already fallen comrade and pointing their guns just as quickly. Obvious they had no regrets to shooting young children.
Spurred on a by a sudden burst of anger, Tammi held one of the pieces in her hand, concentrating on the kinetic energy she knew was inside of it, surprising even herself when it started to glow red and white, though mostly white as opposed to her brother's normally mostly red powers. She hurled it at one of the assassins at the same time her brother threw on at the same man, and both hit the man's gun. He shouted and tossed it away from himself right before it could explode, the force being bigger than usual what with the additional ammunition inside of it.
Before any of them ever had time to get their bearings, both already had another charged piece in their hands, glaring at them. However, Tammi hesitated, seeing a fourth man crawl in through a broken window and land lightly on his feet, his own Uzi drawn. She screamed, ducking and rolling, just as he fired, narrowly avoiding being hit. Her brother, thankfully, had not been in the line of fire.
She lost her footing as she went to flip back to her feet, her vision temporarily hazy because of the dust coming from the shot-up walls, coughing and sputtering, and landing hard on her knees. She did not even notice she still held the charged piece in her hands, and her concentration was most certainly not on that at the moment, giving the energy free reign.
After whipping another piece at the group at random, forcing them all to duck, Remy looked down at his sister quickly, able to just see her through the dust, and the sight made him gasp.
"Tammi! Throw de piece! You can't hold onto it all day long! It'll explode! Let it-"
But he never got to finish his sentence, for the silver-painted metal did indeed explode in her hand, just as Tammi looked at it. That was the last thing she saw; a bright white and red light, and then the fake silver in shards, rushing towards her widened eyes, before everything went into darkness and excruciating pain lanced through her upper face. It was darkness for her now.
And it was in the darkness that she would forever remain.
Well? Watcha'll think of that so far? You can tell us, we can cope with constructive criticism… just. Thanks for reading, stay with us, the next chapter will be up ASAP. So Review Dammit!