Wanted: Captain Remy LeBeau

Rogue sat on the bed and looked at the floor, figeting with her fingers in her lap. She stared at Storm, who sat down across from her in a chair by the door. "Why does such a handsome young man think he needs such a man like Logan? There are plenty of women who would gladly fall at either's feet but, why do they want each other?" Averting her eyes when the woman looked up from sharpening her sword and evenly stared at her.

"Love is simply love. It has no gender; not masculine or feminine. So, why should we put a gender to it?" She paused and stretched her legs, crossing them at the ankles. "Logan loves Remy, and Remy loves Logan. Simply. Completely." Tilting her head, she looked closer at the girl who had obviously been so sheltered that she couldn't understand just how two men could love each other as Logan and Remy did. "Rest yourself child, men are just as loving as women."

A yawn and a shrug as the young brunette folded her hands in her lap and idly looked about the smaller room. "Do- do you like women...?" She knew it was a bad move to make, and in such wrong quarters with a woman she hardly knew however, Rogue had convinced herself that it was better to understand who she was around. "Ah saw him and you in his mind and--" A look from Storm had silenced her from words but not thoughts.

Agitation growing with every breath Storm took she calmed herself and found herself looking past the ignorance of a young girl to see the misplaced curiosity of a young woman. The revelation hadn't forced her into an answer just yet as Rogue had shied away from the conversation altogether.

"Sorry. Just a simple question."

Storm raised an eyebrow. "You thought that by Remy and I together, his 'condition' would rub off on me."

Rogue nodded, a little embarrassed by the silly notion.

Sitting forward and pointing the sword at an angle, Storm blinked and took a breath before explaining the images of her and Remy. "LeBeau came to port 3 years ago and was on his own mission of vengeance for his father. I had followed his father years before after my parents were slain, and found one person Jean-Luc valued more than himself. Since Jean-Luc was dead, my only act of revenge for my parents was to kill the child. Remy is too crafty to allow his own murder outright but if I got close to him, and cared for him, making love to him while sharpening my knife for his throat then my revenge would be complete. For three years my life had revolved around Remy and each time, I became a little more clearer on how to exact his demise." Storm stared at the floor almost hypnotized by her own words.

"But, you fell in love with him. Right?"

Storm shook out of her trance and looked up at Rogue as if she had been slapped in the face. "I make no claim to Remy if he makes no claim to me. Your father wants him dead for a pathetic reason but mine, my own reason I will carry out in my own time. At the foremost, we will deal with the threat at hand and anyone who gets in the way."

Rogue had only shivered in thought as she watched Storm resume sharpening her sword's blade before polishing it and putting it away. She took in all of what Storm had said but only wondered why she hadn't answered the last question. Yawning, Rogue noticed the pillow to her left and ran a gloved hand over the white top. With a quick glance back to the woman who paid no attention to her, Rogue leaned over and lay her head on the pillow as her legs curled up, under her skirts. She had closed her eyes only to open them a moment later as a heavy wool blanket was draped over her by Storm. Rogue closed them again as Storm began to hum softly and return to her own chair to rest herself.

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The Duke muttered and mumbled in his sleep. Tossing and turning on the bed of linens as he had already thrown off the comforter of silk. "Getawayfromherdamnyou.....LeBeau." He lie on his back and mumbled to the ceiling before tossing first right but rolling onto his left side. "Roguelookouthe's--dangerous. I'llkillyou,nogoodsonovab--" Carlington balled his hands into fists and flinched punches as he rolled back onto his back.

As bright as the stars were outside, he had kept a small candle on stand lit and sitting on the bedside table. The bed was an elegant queensized bed with brilliant white linens with cream satin pillows of most shapes. Both headboard and footboard were carved elaboartely with solid polished oak and designed with child-faced cherubs at play with other cherubs and three mermaids and fairies. A Puck had been carved to sit on the top middle of the headboard and play it's flute for the carvings below it. A canopy of transparent material hung from the ceiling and displayed an array of multi-colored veils streaming down in three layers to conceal it's master as he slept.

A knock at the door and then silence as the young cabin boy waited for the Duke to answer. When no answer came, he knocked again twice and once more until the Duke rudely opened the door and narrowed his eyes at the young lad. "Mas- Master Tatrum has news of the ship, sire. He requests you join him on the forecastle deck." The boy turned to the left and pointed to a man with brown hair and a spyglass in his hand.

"Good. Ready my weapons for when I return." Carlington shoved passed the boy and made his way to the First Mate while primming his hair and straightening his shirt from the rustle of slumber. "Mister Tatrum, what news do you have to roust me from sleep?" Carlington called at ten paces away.

Tatrum removed the spylgass from his eye and turned to greet his friend. "I trust you slept well, Captain?" He smirked playfully at his friend before almost immediately turning back to serious. "The Gambler's Spice is within range of 6 hours at moderate speed. With one crippled and delirious captain and the other a step away from being in chains on the same ship, we should catch up to them rather quickly, I imagine."

"Tristan Loomis is First Mate to that ship, Tatrum. He won't let us catch up too easily." Carlington rocked forward on the balls of his feet and bounced there a bit before slamming them down to tap on the deck floor. With his hands behind his back and his attention claimed by the ship ahead of them, he had barely caught his Mate turn in shock at Tristan's name. "Get me there before dawn. If the sun is up and we haven't captured them, another day is lost and the next advantage won't come as easily."

"Aye sir." Tatrum looked back out at the tiny vessel in wonder, a small sigh inward as he plotted meeting Tristan again.

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Remy lay snuggled against Logan's chest as the two dozed underneath the thick covers. Each inhale brought Logan's scent closer to being tangible to him. The hair on Logan's chest tickled his nose and forced a smile to tug at the corners of his mouth as he tried not to laugh. He faced Logan as he had rolled onto his left side, and Logan had rolled onto his right and wrapped his arms about the lanky Cajun.

"What are you smilin at?"

Remy gave out a laugh he could not keep quiet. "Nose tickles. All dat fuzz on your chest makes my nose tickle and Remy smiles."

Logan smiled and raised a hand to soothe back a few strands of auburn before their lips met in a deep, tender kiss. "I'm glad yer back, kid. You had me really scared."

"Mm, me too. Had strange dreams an' bad nightmares dat momma died all over again, an' poppa was a ghost. Den, dere was you. You were killed by dat damned Duke! De snakes-" Remy's ramblings were cut short as Logan's mouth claimed his and he was rolled back onto his back. His hands grasped the muscular biceps of the man atop him as the kiss continued, fingers pressed into the skin and released as he moaned in pleasure.

The kisses continued as Logan felt hands moving his shirt up his chest until he stopped and sat up to pull it off, over his head. Letting it drop to the floor beside the bed, he quickly leaned over and resumed his activity in caressing Remy's lips with his. Kiss after kiss brought more feelings of the soft hands on his skin as this time they worked at the tie on his pants. Pushing back a moment, he whispered. "Are you sure you want this, now?"

Remy stared coolly at him and softly nodded. Casually pushing the material down and away from the older man's hips to his knees, he answered. "Oui."

Logan inhaled Remy's scent and found it quite invigorating as it always had been, only this was a bit shakey than before. Reaching up to the side of the bed to a small cupboard, he opened the wooden door and found a small flask of oil and proceeded to sit himself between Remy's spread legs as he poured a few drops into his left palm. As he readied himself, he kept an eye on the young man on the bed. Easing himself down and gently kissing Remy again, he massaged the tip against the tight ring of muscle and carefully pressed in.

Heartbeat started to climb and even breaths became short and panicky. He wanted this but the way the entry felt was like feeling the slimey serpants enter him all over again. Remy whimpered and began to numbly push on Logan's chest. The panic climbed as Remy's eyes wrenched shut as pushing Logan away hadn't exactly made it clear, Remy started backpeddling and found himself plastered against the wall at the head of the bed. His eyes wide and staring at Logan in desperate confusion, wondering how things managed to get so out of hand.

Logan stopped and sat back. "Okay, okay. Too soon.... it's okay." He held his hands up to show retreat and slowly leaned to the right to pick up his shirt from the floor. "I won't hurt ya. It's okay. Just me, kid. It's Logan." Slipping his shirt back on, he carefully lowered himself to the side of Remy and reached a hand up for the young man to take and lay down beside him again.

Cautiously, Remy accepted the hand offered and sank back down onto the bed to lie back to front with Logan again. Closing his eyes, he whimpered a low whisper. "Desole, Logan."

"I know kid, shh." Logan listened to Remy's cool even breathing and swore to himself that Carlington would pay, slowly, for what he had done to Remy.

----------

Dawn was an hour away and Carlington smiled, pleased at the speed they had done to catch up in such short time. Brushing past the young man, he hurried over to where the First Mate now stood with spyglass poised in the direction of the target. They stood on the main deck, starboard side and watched the back of the Gambler's Spice sail into the graying morning. "Good. Get us closer but not too close. Make ready a few men to board the Gambler's Spice but don't send them just yet. When we get close enough, I want the first canon on the starboard side to fire at the same time we send a boat over to invade their ship."

"Aye sir." Mister Tatrum smiled and recognized the sly sparkle in his friend's eye that suggested a close to the whole "Remy LeBeau" dilemma. Turning his head and shouting the order to load the fore canon on the starboard side, he turned back to see his friend and captain smiling maliciously at the ship ahead of them. The smile faded as a thought of being on the verge of too far, snapped in front of him as he witnessed Carlington's obsessive expression. "You're serious about destroying Alyzabith's son, Captain?"

His expression hardened and his eyes narrowed at the far away ship as if trying to see the young Acadian captain without the spyglass. Inhaling a breath of air in a timid manner, he dispised explaining his plans of attack to people other than those who needed to know such things. "The boy is a pirate, Master Tatrum. I am merely bringing him to justice." Carlington didn't turn around or remove his gaze from the distanced target. Looking to the left, where Tatrum stood, he gave one last order before withdrawing and returning to his cabin to ready himself. "Give the men orders to watch for my daughter. If she is so much as tousled, the entire crew of that damned ship will pay!" He turned promptly and stormed back to his cabin without another word to anyone but mumblings to himself.

The cabin boy stood before the bed and waited. Behind him lay Carlington's weapons in a row, also waiting for their master to put them on. He was a small boy of 10 with blond hair and hazel eyes, and stood no taller than 5 feet. Turning and reaching for the scabbard where a gold handled cutlass lay sheathed next to an English Muzzleloader and additional shots. He was careful as he helped the Duke ready himself, and listened to endless babblings of the Gambler's Spice and said terrible pirates that were aboard her.

"One more to place." Carlington seemed to be talking to himself but pointed to a drawer in the vanity and ordered the boy to fetch what was in it. "A pistol to hide, just in case." What he had wanted fetched and what was brought to him was a silver Tap Action pistol that he cleverly concealed within the side of his boot. Standing up, he glanced at the young boy and sighed at his decision. "Get below and stay well hidden. If any of that crew come aboard, you will not be so easily found."

The boy nodded and hurried out of the room. A safe place to hide was with the weapons, and he knew exactly how to make himself invisible amongst artillary.

-------

Logan sniffed the air as he curled more snuggly around Remy. Something in his nose registered what the faint scent was as his ears perked with a high pitched sound coming closer. Springing to sit up, he knew what was about to happen. "Shit." Scooting to the end of the bed and slipping on his pants, Logan eyed the waking Cajun. "Stay here."

"What's de matter?" Remy half sat up and watched Logan sit back down to pull his boots on.

"Canon fire." He stopped as he pulled the last boot on but didn't turn around. "Carlington wants his daughter back,.... and your head." When he stood up, he turned to see the fear in Remy's eyes before making a lucid move to kiss Remy's lips and finish his thought. "Gonna bring her here, with you. I don't think he'll try anythin' while his daughter is watchin." The ball had struck the port side of the ship without much damage but shook them so badly that as Logan leaned over to kiss Remy, he was pushed into the young man's arms.

Remy tried to deepen the kiss and not let Logan stand up to go but was edged away and told not to worry. "Be careful, mon cher." Holding onto Logan's hand as they separated, Remy sighed and perked his ears to the commotion outside on deck.

Turning back from reaching the door, Logan pointed at Remy on the bed. "Stay put, I'll be right back with the girl." He opened the door and slipped out as another canonball was aimed for but missed the mainsail. "Tristan!" He called out to several bodies on deck that were scurrying about to return fire. "Tristan!"

"Logan!" Running up from the below decks, the First Mate spotted the man calling his name and waved to him. "Is the captain safe?" He had meant to ask several more questions about other various people but his main concern was Remy. Tristan looked as though he had just been jostled out of bed by the first canonball as well, and hadn't bothered to properly dress himself with his weapons. Carrying his sword in scabbard in hand, he stopped in front of Logan and yawned.

"The kid's safe and fine, but I need ya to stay here and watch the door while I go get the girl and Storm." Pointing with his thumb, over his right shoulder, to the Captain's quarters, Logan said loudly over the noise. "What better move than to have the kid watch her during all o' this. He ain't in any kind of shape to be playin hero out here, not just yet."

Tristan nodded and smiled. "Smart move."

Logan patted the man's shoulder and headed down to the crew's quarters to retrieve Storm and Rogue. Pounding on doors as he moved about the corridor, he stopped at a room that held the faint scent of rose soap and candlewax still burning. "Storm!" He pounded several times on the door and called her name again. "Storm, wake up!"

The door opened and the beautiful ebony woman stood with her hand on her sword hilt, ready for battle. "I heard the canonball hit the ship. Is the Captain all right?" A tone of a mix of slightly worried and more or less angered at lack of sleep, broke the momentary silence.

"The kid's fine. Tristan needs you in deck while the girl goes back to Remy's quarters. She'll be safe there." Logan brushed passed her and threw a look over at the bed where Rogue sat up.

Rogue avoided being caught by Logan's firm grip. "Ah refuse to be your leverage." Her arm was grabbed anyway by the man as he pulled her out of bed and towards the door. "Let go o' me!"

Logan stopped, growled and turned back to sneer at her. "Listen little girl, yer daddy is gonna throw canonballs at every other piece of this ship except where he knows the Captain is. The safest place for you, is with the boy yer daddy is tryin to kill. Got it?" Getting nose to nose with the frightened girl, he waited for her to nod before turning to continue back upstairs.

She hadn't minded going back to stay with Remy, or knowing that her father would soon be aboard the ship to rescue her but she hated being dragged like a ragdoll by the brawny man. "What do ya want me ta do with him? Ah'm not a pirate!"

"You'll do just fine with stayin with him and watchin him. The kid don't need protectin, trust me." Logan hadn't faltered as he answered her. He led her up onto the deck, past the several crewmen loading two canons and readying the wicks, and into Remy's cabin. Tossing her into the room, Logan cast a look over at Remy who sat up again to stare at the girl. "Keep her safe, kid, and lock the door after I leave. Barricade yerselves in, if need be. If anyone comes through that door, and it ain't of your crew,--" He paused to pick up the sword that leaned against the chair and tossed it to Remy. "kill 'em." He stood in the doorway and glanced back at Rogue, hearing her breath catch. "Lock this door."

Rogue took a step forward as the door swung shut with Logan's exit. "But what about you?" Her question went unanswered. She sighed and locked the door before turning to look at Remy on the bed.

Smirking, Remy held the sword in scabbard and twitched under the covers. "Don't worry 'bout him, cherie. Logan can take care o' himself." Motioning for the girl to retrieve a strip of cord from a window held together, Remy slipped out of bed and dizzily walked up to the double doors. Taking it from her hands, he wrapped the cord around handles several times and tied them tightly before making his way back to the bed to lie down.

The noise outside was becoming unbearably loud and frantic. She could hear Logan's voice and Tristan's voice as they screamed orders at the men. With a loud boom, Rogue jumped but remained standing in the middle of the room. She twitched and tensed at the sounds and on the next canonfire, she yipped and jumped into Remy's arms, burying her face in his shirt.

Remy smiled and patted her back. "S'okay cherie, dey know what dey're doin."

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As the Prestige gained ground on the Gambler's Spice, Elijah Tatrum stood on deck and watched the commotion with a look that hinted at sorrow and shame. He sighed and kept his eye on a figure that darted back and forth aboard the enemy ship. Consciousness creeping up on his senses, he turned and barked orders to load another ship to send through the fog and board for personal attack.

"I hope you know, LeBeau, you've brought this upon yourself." A raspy and thirsty voice startled him as he hadn't realized it was his own that spoke out to the graying morning. His sight refocused on the figure he had been watching, it was more clearer now and thier features were becoming more sharp as the speed continued. "The Duke may have the boy, but I want you; Tristan." Muttering to himself and drawing his sword to hold the blade in front of him, he smiled as the figure on the other ship caught sight of the gesture and returned with the same notion.

Lowering his sword and turning just in time to duck from a low-flying canonball, Tatrum watched as the foreboom was shattered and sent flying across the deck, taking out several unsuspecting men in its wake. Shooting upright, he glanced back across the gap and glared at the now visibly smirking man on the other ship. "Damn you, Tristan!" He shouted in enraged anger before replacing his sword in sheath and turning to help the straggling crew with the masts.

Continued.......