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Published:
2021-10-18
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2021-10-19
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2/2
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Alone in My Shadow

Chapter 2: Rooftop

Notes:


This fic started out as a one-shot, but Remy refused to leave me alone until he got his own chapter. But hey, there are worse things in life than to be hounded by Remy LeBeau, right?

Chapter Text

 

Felt de smoke drift down my throat like a soothin' river flowin' t'rough my system. Bad habit, I'd been told. Didn' much care. Cigarettes helped me t' t'ink. Took de edge off my nerves. Seemed like I needed dem more an' more lately.

Guessed it was about two in de mornin'. An' instead o' gettin' some shuteye down in de house, I was up on de roof starin' at de stars. Habit o' mine whenever I wanted t' clear my head. Went hand in hand wit' de cigarettes. All I needed was some alcohol, a beautiful woman, an' de answers t' all my questions. Den I'd be pretty much set f'r de rest o' my life.

Ironically enough, it was de rest o' my life dat got me up dere in de first place. In less dan twenty-four hours, I would pledge myself t' one woman, Bella Donna Boudreaux. In some ways, it felt like de most natural t'ing t' do. She was my friend, my lover, my fiancée – o' course de next logical step was marriage. But in other ways... Well, can't really say what it was. Somet'in' jus' felt... off.

Not dat I'd ever be able t' figure out what dat was, 'specially considerin' dat I loved Belle. She an' I, we went way back, since we were pups. Dere wasn't a scrape I'd gotten myself inta dat she hadn't experienced right along wit' me. Pickpocketin', shopliftin', prank-pullin'. One time when we were ten, we decided t' hotwire a car an' cruise around de Quarter. We ended up hood-first in a swamp 'bout twenty minutes later. Our poppas would've tanned our hides. 'Specially since we used de mayor's car. Secretive an' stealthy wasn't part o' our vocabulary dat day.

Like most Guild children, we were homeschooled by private tutors. 'Normal' kids had examples like "If Betty had six pencils an' Tim had two, how many did dey have alt'gether?" We, on de other hand, were asked "If Emil stole a wallet containin' eighty-nine dollars an' Etienne lifted a watch worth one hundred an' fifty-six dollars, how much was deir total take dat day?" If you asked me, our way was much more practical. Like dere'd ever be a time in deir lives when Betty an' Tim would be sittin' 'round a table wonderin' how many pencils dey had.

Poppa also made sure I knew de ups an' downs o' bein' a t'ief. I had lessons on lockpickin', electronic security override, hand-t'-hand combat, an' all dose cool stuff dat pups my age only dreamed 'bout learnin'. Did pretty well in all o' dem too, if I do say so myself. Actu'lly, not jus' 'pretty well.' I raised de Guild standards up a couple notches. By de time I was fourteen, I'd broken inta over a hundred high-security buildings, an' was well on my way t' becomin' a master t'ief.

I was not'in' if not self-assured 'bout my t'ievin' skills – as if de LeBeau confidence wasn't obvious. But when it came t' relationships, dat was another t'ing alt'gether. Don' get me wrong; I was de ultimate ladies' man. I'd been charmin' women since before I could walk. But when it came t' commitment, t' settlin' down wit' one woman f'r de rest o' my life, dat was somet'in' diff'rent. Dat was somet'in' dat justified sittin' up on de roof at two in de mornin', workin' on my sixth cigarette.

I was scared. Dere I said it. Dat was de God-honest truth. Way down deep, past all de rationalizations an' self-made shadows, in de   only   corner o' my brain dat held any honest emotion, I was scared. What if dis marriage would be de biggest mistake o' my life? What if forty years inta de future I would look back an' regret bein' talked inta dis situation? Basically, f'r all our similarities in upbringin' an' ev'ryday way o' life, Belle an' I were very diff'rent people.

O' course she was an Assassin an' I was a T'ief, which in itself was a very obvious distinction. But dere were other t'ings aside from dat. She was a compulsive buyer, pickin' up expensive t'ings like dey were candy. I was a li'l thriftier, havin' been raised in a guild where de value o' money was an important t'ing. She hated de fact dat I flirted wit' other women – excessively, she said. Honestly, I didn' mind dat she flirted wit' other men, as long as dey kept deir hands t' demselves.

But de biggest diff'rence between us were my 'devil' eyes. Belle didn' know what it was like t' be a mutant. She didn' know what it was like t' constantly hide behind a pair o' sunglasses 'cause people tended t' panic if you didn't.

Couldn't really help but t'ink dat all o' dis self-analysis was Tante Mattie's fault. I wouldn't have been up here if she hadn't pulled me aside earlier an' given me a 'talk.' Felt more like a lecture but I knew better dan t' argue wit' her. She went on an' on 'bout how marriage was a wondrous an' beautiful t'ing t' be shared between two people who honored an' loved each other. I surprised us both by askin' her what love felt like. She wasn't even shocked by de question. Guessed she figured wit' my hedonistic tendencies, I wouldn't be sure if it was real or not. S'pposed when you got right down t' it, I wanted t' know if what I had wit' Belle was de genuine jewel or de knockoff imitation.

Tante Mattie had leaned in real close an' whispered, "When y' find de one dat makes ya heart smile, dat's love." She didn' say anyt'in' else. Jus' hugged me, kissed me on de forehead an' den left.

Six hours later, I was on de roof. Her answer was s'pposed t' help me, not confuse me even more. De one dat made my heart smile? Merde, what did dat mean? A lot o' t'ings made me smile – a good batch o' Mercy's gumbo, t'ievin' wit' de boys, de craziness durin' Mardi Gras, de sound o' Belle's laughter – but someone who made my heart smile?

I frowned at de t'ought. Tried t' figure out if Belle had dat kind o' power over me. Shook me up but good t' realize dat I didn' know. I loved her, we had fun t'gether, but I didn' know if   she   was de one makin' me happy, or if it was de t'ought o' unitin' our fam'lies inta one guild.

I never told anyone dis before but a couple o' months ago, I was watchin' Belle sleep. Not'in' out o' de ordinary 'cause dat was my usual cure f'r insomnia. A few minutes o' watchin' her dreamin' in peace normally had me out like a light, but f'r some reason dat night was diff'rent. She was curled up facin' me, an' I was followin' de steady rise an' fall o' her breathin'. I lifted my eyes t' her face, an' I swear t' all de saints in Heaven, f'r a split second she wasn't Belle. She was someone else... someone I never seen before.

Dat spooked de hell outta me. Didn' sleep f'r de rest o' de night an' nearly got my ass kicked while sparin' wit' Lapin de next mornin'. If you'd ever seen my cousin fight, you'd understand what a shockin' t'ing dat was.

If dat woman was not'in' else, she was... beautiful. I mean, Belle was beautiful, but dis femme... Dere was somet'in' about her... Don' even remember her face all dat well. All I remember were de waves an' waves o' cinnamon curls overflowin' on de pillow. But dere was somet'in' unique about dem... somet'in' you didn' see ev'ry day. F'r de life o' me, I couldn't remember what dat was.

What did dat say 'bout me den? I was lyin' in bed next t' my fiancée, but picturin' another woman in her place. Was dat gon' continue on even after we were married? Ev'ry once in a while, I'd be seein' a diff'rent woman sleepin' next t' me? De first one was a brunette. Would de next be a redhead? Raven hair? Or maybe a blonde like Belle?

Felt de wind pick up, brushin' across my face like Mother Nature was tryin' t' clean my troubles away. It was comin' from de north, prob'ly somewhere in Mississippi. Had done one or two jobs in a few o' dose small-time towns over dere. You wouldn't believe how many rich folk set up residence along de river. Easy pickin', if you'd ask me. Jus' beggin' t' be robbed.

Actu'lly used de money from one o' dose jobs t' buy Belle's engagement ring. Dat was another story I wouldn't ever share wit' anybody – 'cept Mercy 'cause she was wit' me in de store. Belle loved diamonds, which is why she wanted a classic diamond engagement ring. Now I've never been one t' follow tradition t' de letter, so I was havin' other ideas 'bout dat ring. While Mercy was busy 'oohing' an' 'awwing' at de customary selection, my eyes kept wanderin' over t' dis exquisite pear-shaped emerald. De cut was almost as breathtakin' as de color. It was de deepest, purest shade o' green I ever saw. I was ten seconds away from buyin' dat t'ing. If Mercy hadn't reminded me dat Belle wanted a diamond, I would've been one emerald ring richer.

An' jus' a couple o' weeks ago, Belle an' I went back t' dat same store. Dis time t' pick out weddin' bands. De emerald was still dere, twinklin' like crazy at me. If I weren't a sane t'ief, I'd've sworn it was callin' my name. Needless t' say, I walked out o' dere once again emerald-less.

After snuffin' out my last cigarette, I dusted my hands an' stood. Had t' slip back inta de house an' try t' sleep. If Mercy or Tante Mattie caught me out here at dis time o' night, I would never hear de end o' it. God forbid if dey both found out. Den Belle would be marryin' a corpse.

Felt a li'l better 'bout my troubles. De more I t'ought about it, de more it sounded like pre-weddin' jitters. Ev'ry man felt like dat de day before losin' his bachelorhood, n'est-ce pas?

As I was droppin' down t' my balcony, de north wind started blowin' again, slightly stronger dan before. A noise caught my attention an' I whipped around quickly.

Not'in'. Jus' de wind. Could've sworn I heard... Shook my head an' walked back inta my bedroom.

Could've sworn I heard someone callin' out t' my soul.