A Thief in the Night

"Back off, Gumbo." Logan growled at Gambit. "We're not here to bond."


“Know you an Rogue is close, jus wan to clear de air.” He prodded again. “Nightcrawler wasn’t too happy when he found out. When did she tell you?”


“She didn’t have to.” He replied. “I could smell you on the scarf she wore. The one I gave her as a gift.”


“De red one?”


“Yeah.”


“I like dat one.” Remy said. “You got good taste, Mon ami. Looks good on her.” He paused. “But you already know dat.”


“That supposed to mean somethin’, Gumbo?” Logan’s voice got a little rougher and he tensed. “’Cause I’d just as soon you spill your guts right now.” A single claw shot out from his fist. “Or I could help you with it.”


“No need to get upset. Just thought mebbe you wan to talk ‘bout tings.” He shrugged. “Gambit know, betta den most, when a man is jealous ova unne femme.” The car swerved sharply and the Cajun grabbed the dashboard and jerked himself upright. Then he fastened his seatbelt and gave Logan a dirty look. “Don gotta kill Gambit. Jus an observation.”


“Well, you’re wrong.”


“No’m not.” He regarded the older man carefully. Logan didn’t make eye contact and his lips were thinned in a tight line.


“It ain't the way you think, anyway.”


Any more discussion was halted by their arrival. Logan parked the car two blocks from the building where they were headed. As soon as they got out of the car, a few shadows moved in the alleys, shifting impatiently. Car thieves, no doubt. Gambit absentlckedcked up a small stone from the cold ground and tossed it, glowing brightly, at the mouth of the alley. When it exploded with a soft ‘Pop’ it illuminated three shabbily dressed men who jumped back in surprise.


“Ain’t nobody gonna be messin' wit yo car, Mon Ami.” Gambit said loudly. “Dey not dat stupid round here. Mebbe dey stupid down town, but dese men smarter dan dat, Non?” Logan stepped under a streetlight and unsheathed his claws, turning them back and forth, as if admiring them.


“Nope, I heard the folks in these parts were a little smarter than the ones downtown are…or were.”
Their discussion had the desired effect. It was, however, unnecessary. Hank McCoy had designed a theft deterrent system that did not bother with something as trivial as an alarm, he’d put an electromagnetic field around the car so that if a window was broken or a door opened with the alarm still in place, it would deliver an electric shock. Not enough to harm, but painful enough to deter al but the most determined thief.


Gambit and Logan walked quickly to the building where Pietro had visited. They entered with little difficulty, and Remy took the lead. He slowed when they reached the floor where Pietro’s scientist lived. A few steps into the hallway, Logan caught the scent of death.


“Don’t think anyone’s moved the body yet.” He said, wrinkling his nose. “Definitely been a few days.” Remy had them inside the apartment in a heartbeat. The place was messy, but there was little sign of a struggle other than the corpse that lay sprawled behind a desk. The man, Jonesey, as Pietro had called him, did not appear to have any physical injuries that they could see.


“Didn’ move de body, just foun him an get ova to Rogue’s place.” Logan nodded and approached the body. He looked him over carefully and prodded him with a gloved hand.


“If I had to guess, I’d say he has a broken neck.” He said, reaching under the man’s head. “Only a little swelling along the vertebrae, so he died quick.”


“Notin’ disturbed dat he was workin’ on, so he was taken by surprise.” Remy added, looking over the desk where Jonesy had had been sitting. Logan went to the man’s laptop and unplugged it. Then he made a quick search of the workspace and was disappointed to find no discs lying around.


“Check the other rooms, look for anything that may be important enough for Pietro to kill for.”


“You tink it him, den?”


“I can smell his cologne.” Logan replied. “Little pansy runs around smelling like a French whorehouse.” Remy chuckled and went into the bedroom; he looked under the mattress, and behind the posters that hung on the walls. As a thief, he knew the most popular places to hide items of value.


He found little of interest other than a few girly magazines, but knowing how lonely the occupant, he didn’t touch them.


"So how is it wit da Femme?" Remy asked when they were back in the car. "If it diff'rent den what I tink." Logan didn't answer at first. He used a digital phone and called the police to report the murder, anonymously, telling the operator that he'd just stopped by on business and found the body. He kept his eyes on the road when he finally answered Gambit.


"Ain't none of your business." He said, finally. "My private thoughts are my own and I don't intend to share them with you."


"Jus wan to know dat you can be trusted to be around her when you alone." Remy's rich voice was soft and calm. He used this tone when he was really trying to get someone to talk. "If you gonna feel tempted wit my Rogue."


"She ain't your anything." Logan snapped. "And I've been trusted with her on more than one occasion, Gumbo. And that was when trust really counted."


"Trust you wit her life, Mon Ami, dat ain't what I'm askin' an you know it."


"It's not like that with us." He said again. "Not really, I mean." He shook his shaggy head. "I didn't think about her like that consciously till I smelled you on the scarf I gave her."


"How dat make you feel?"


"She had a little crush on me for awhile." He admitted. "I knew it, but she and I had a bond. She hadn't really bonded with any of the others real wellfirsfirst, so I didn't discourage her. I figured it was pretty harmless, but then you came along."


"Den you see her as a woman, Non?"


"Not till recently. She couldn't be close to anyone. Never showed much interest in it, at least outwardly. She let herself be closer to me because of my healing factor. I got used to being the close one to her. And I didn't intend to have feelings like that. She's so young."


"You never thought about getting around her mutation?"


"Sure I did." Logan snorted. "I can think of a dozen good ways to-" He stopped. He was talking too much and the tricky Cajun had pulled more out of him than he'd intended to tell. "I guess I didn't think she was ready for anything like that. Maybe I was waiting, maybe not." He spoke more to himself than to his passenger. "I'm not usually into younger girls."


"She's special, Gambit understand dat."


"You understand the consequences if you hurt her, right?" Logan didn't sprout claws, but the threat was there. Gambit nodded without speaking. No words were necessary anymore. They pulled back into the parking garage and Logan tucked the laptop under arm arm and carried it back to the apartment.


When a knock sounded at the door, Kitty went to answer it.


"Who is it?" She asked.


"The big bad Wolverine, Honey." Came the gruff reply. "Now open the door so I can ditch Gumbo, here."


"Sure." Kitty said, opening the to to admit the two men. "The professor called. He's got nothing new on Lance and Pietro. It's like their mutant signatures just dropped of the face of the planet. He said it would have been different if they'd died unless they were vaporized or something just as unlikely."


"No idea what could cause something like that to occur?" Logan asked. She shook her head in reply.


"Dr. McCoy has a few theories, but he'll know more if he gets a look at the computer files." She reached out for the laptop. I'll see if there's anything for him to find. She took it to a corner and plugged it in. After booting up the computer, she took a brief look at the hard drive. It appeared to have been wiped clean and dumped. Sightight be good at computers, but it would take someone more adept than she to get the information out with no tools. Warren showed up looking refreshed after his nap, and she asked him to fly the computer to the mansion. He complied and when he was gone, the rest of them decided on a sleep schedule. Kurt, Kitty, and Logan would take the first watch.


Logan would remain downstairs in the lobby, and make rounds in the rest of the building, keeping a communicator with him in case he heard or smelled anything. Rogue was a little relieved to be sleeping first. She was emotionally overwrought and physically tired. When she put on her pajamas and got into bed, she wasn't surprised to hear a knock at her door. Gambit's handsome head poked around the edge of her door.


"You decent, Chere?" He asked with a gleam in his red eyes. Rogue smiled and nodded. He entered and removed his coat. "You jus get some rest, Gambit gonna be close tonight." Rogue nodded, comforted by his presence. He sat in one of her chairs and crossed his ankles. His face was the last thing she saw before drifting off to sleep.