AN This one is an older story I wrote a couple of years back. It was supposed to be a one-shot, but since it got a bit too long for that, soI decided to cut it into two chapters. Please let me know what you think of it, for it will only help me to be a better writter (well, that and the fact that getting reviews is higly addicting ;P)
Warning: There is a slight talk about incest/rape (nothing specific or graphic though) but if your offended by that, don't read. I'm not familiar with ratings (we don't have these ratings where I come from), but since it's just about two sentences and nothing graphic of any kind, I figured T would be enough.
Chapter 1
"Gambit, could you please drop by at my office?" sounded the professor's voice through the intercom.
Gambit groaned "What did Gambit do this time!" he said quasi desperate.
Scott and Bobby laughed at that. They had been watching a baseball game on television when the sudden request of the professor had sounded over the intercom.
"Awww, come on, he doesn't only call for someone when they're in trouble you know!" Scott tried to lift his spirit. It didn't help much though.
"Well, so much for the baseball game…." Gambit sighed.
Although Gambit had more than enough of a bad record, he'd never liked being called for it.
Five minutes later he knocked at the professor's door with content written all over his face.
"Please come in!" the professor said.
…Hmmm doesn't sound like he's that angry…. Gambit thought before entering the professor's study.
"Please sit down" the Professor suggested.
Gambit instinctively jumped into defence.
"Whatever you may think, Gambit didn't do nothing! He's been a really good boy lately and…" Gambit started.
The professor laughed. …That's Gambit, always immediately into defence…
"Gambit, calm down, I just wanted to talk to you. Sit down…Please?" the professor said kindly.
That threw Gambit a bit off balance, but it immediately triggered his distrust.
…Why did he ask Gambit over, when there was nothing wrong? He never does that…
Although Gambit seemed nonchalant as always, he was on his guard.
"There has been a burglary last week…." the professor started casually, meanwhile trying to read Gambit's reaction.
Gambit's face divulged nothing though and remained nonchalant as always, so the professor quickly continued with his story.
"A highly respected businessman has been robbed from his very own house." the professor continued.
"Too bad for him." Gambit said nonchalant, but uninterested.
…He's good…really good… the professor had to admit to himself with some admiration at seeing Gambit's reaction, or better the reaction Gambit didn't gave.
But it also gave him a somewhat distrusting feeling about Gambit.
…He can lie through his teeth…I wonder what more he's keeping from us… the professor wondered somewhat worried. But he suppressed that thought immediately.
…No, he would never betray us…
"Yes, it sure is. A few very important papers have been stolen, and a very valuable painting. But that isn't all; He himself has been wounded pretty badly." the professor continued.
"Maybe he'd disturbed the burglar, and got hurt in the process?" Gambit opted.
For a second the professor looked at him seemingly thinking Gambit's words over.
"That's what I thought too, but the man keeps insisting that he haven't seen or heard anything. And the police couldn't find any traces of burglary at all." the professor countered Gambit's theory.
Gambit remained unmoving.
"The strangest thing is that the tax authorities started a large in-depth investigation the next morning, and a few hours later he has been arrested for large scale fraud." the professor finished.
Gambit smiled "Ha, shows how those kind of people get their money!" Gambit said light-hearted.
Again the professor looked at him. "The man keeps claiming that he's innocent…" the professor added.
"I'm sure that's what they'll all say!" Gambit added dryly.
For a moment the professor paused. He knew that a lot would depend on what he was about to say, and so he wanted to tell Gambit as tactical as possible.
"I've asked around hear and there, about who could be the possible offender of this theft, and all my sources where unanimous about the fact there could only be one thief who could have pulled this one off without getting caught…" the professor continued cautiously.
For a second he thought he could see a proud look in Gambit's eyes, but before he could make sure Gambit's face was again a mask of nonchalance.
Gambit looked at the professor, eyebrows raised in question when the professor kept quiet.
"According to my sources that person would be 'Le Diable Blanc', a master thief with the eyes of the devil, and the face of an angel…" the professor said suggestive.
Gambit laughed cynically, but didn't seemed all that affected.
"Gambit never lied about his living…" Gambit said calm.
"Maybe not" the professor admitted "but you made us believe that you weren't much more than a pickpocket!" the professor brought up.
Gambit hauled his shoulders. "Gambit never claimed to be a pickpocket. It was your positive believes that Gambit could never be so good at what he does." Gambit insisted.
"Besides, it's not exactly a title he wants to shout from the rooftops, non?" he added matter-of-factly.
"So you did this…'job'? And that great museum robbery a few years back? Or that casino? Or the hacker of the FBI mainframe?" the professor enumerated.
Gambit was surprised that the professor seemingly had found so much information about him, and started to panic a little. Although he knew for sure, there were absolutely no traces leading back to him, he knew for sure that the professor would trough him out of the X-men now he had found out.
On the outside though Gambit seemed as unmoved as always, and as a well trained automatism, he hided his inner agitation behind his cynical humour.
"That museum robbery was the result of a bet Gambit had lost, the owner of the casino was bragging so much about his new 'unbeatable security system' that he was practically asking to be robbed, and the FBI had just been a warm up for a far more important 'job'." Gambit said as if he was summing up his grocery list, instead of the worlds most famous unsolved thefts ever.
The professor looked at him rather surprised.
"What! Gambit isn't a called a master thief for nothing you know! You don't get the title for picking some pockets! Gambit is the best at what he does!" Gambit said with a slight tone of pride in his voice. Something he didn't have much of in his life.
Gambit rose from his chair. He knew for certain that the professor would kick him out, so he decided to spare him the trouble by leaving himself.
"Don't worry; Gambit will be out of here before you know it." Gambit said already heading for the door.
"That won't be necessary…" the professor said calmly.
Gambit didn't understand and was looking plainly distrustfully at the professor.
"You're really not the only x-man with a not so clean past, so I don't see why I should send you away and let the others stay. Provided of course that your other…eh…'activities' won't endanger the school." the professor explained.
"What I will not tolerate though is that innocent people will get hurt, and get falsely accused for tax fraud!" the professor said stern.
The professor sighed "Gambit, according to my sources, you've never before hurt innocent people. Why did you this time?" the professor pressed.
Gambit's face contorted into a bitter smirk "Innocent! Sacre Christe, they should hang him from the highest tree!" Gambit said fierce, something very unlikely to the usual calm Cajun.
Much to his surprise the professor could hear a bitter tone in Gambit's voice. Gambit wasn't the person to display his emotions, and the fact that he had done so now had surprised him.
"Enlighten me." was the only thing the professor said.
Although he felt that there was no excuse at all for hurting innocent people, he still wanted to at least hear Gambit's side of the story. Especially since Gambit usually wasn't the fighting type, let alone one who would hurt unnecessary. Even as an X-man.
Gambit looked at the professor disparately, not knowing whether to trust the professor or not. But since he knew that the professor couldn't touch him in any way since there was no evidence leading back to him, he hesitantly started to talk.
"It was an easy job, but when Gambit had found what he was looking for, he could hear strange noises coming from the room next to it. Although the sounds were muffled Gambit thought he could hear a child cry. When Gambit concentrated on the sounds, he could hear the agony in the child's voice. Since he was already inside the building Gambit figured he might as well see what was going on…" Gambit said. Although his voice had sounded calm, his eyes glowed up deep red with restrained anger.
"Was that when he caught you? Was that why you hurt him?" the professor asked rather impatiently.
Gambit smirked cynically and the look in his eyes turned if possible even colder.
"Hnn, non, the man was far too busy raping his six year old daughter to notice Gambit in the doorway!" Gambit said bitter.
His hands were clenched and were glowing by the force of his powers.
The professor was dumbfounded by Gambit's words. He had expected a lot, but not this. And he could finally understand Gambit's anger. He himself felt sick to the stomach by just hearing the story, but he knew that it had to be even harder for Gambit considering his own past experiences of abuse.
…Considering this, I'm rather surprised that he didn't kill the man… the professor thought.
"He didn't even see the first hit coming, and if his little daughter hadn't begged Gambit to let him live, he'd be dead now!" Gambit added hoarse.
The professor nodded knowingly, and for a while it was quiet in the room.
"But why frame him for fraud?" the professor asked after a few minutes.
"Gambit couldn't possibly hand him over to the police without getting caught himself…" Gambit started "For fraud on this scale he would get locked up for at least eight years. That would be just as long as he would get for child abuse… Besides, this way the petite would be safe the next couple of years…" Gambit added softly.
Now the professor knew all of this he couldn't really blame Gambit for what he had done, and he even admired Gambit for his righteousness.
…Wolverine would have killed the man without a second thought, but our Cajun though gave him the exact same punishment that he would legally be charged with if he had been caught by the police… the professor thought.
"Gambit thinks maybe he should tell his fellow prisoners what he has done to his little daughter. Then the will be sure to give him a warm welcome!" Gambit said thoughtfully.
The professor looked at him rather shocked, for he knew just as well as Gambit what they would do to the man.
"You can't do that, Gambit. Leave it at this, it will be more than enough punishment for him as it is." the professor said.
Gambit looked at him for a second, but finally nodded reluctantly.
"How is the child?" the professor asked.
"Gambit stayed with her 'till he heard her mother coming home. Then he quickly got out. Gambit thinks she'll get over it eventually…" Gambit answered hoarse.
The professor nodded relieved.
"And you? Considering your own experiences, it probably brought back a lot of bad memories…" the professor asked cautiously.
Gambit looked at him before he looked back at his hands "Ah well, Gambit'll live…" he said nonchalant.
"Professor, why did you tell Gambit all this when you didn't have the intention to kick him out?" Gambit asked, cleverly changing the subject.
He had withdrawn behind his usual mask of aloof and nonchalance, and looked at the professor questionably.
The professor shook his head in confusion. After Gambit's story he had forgotten why he had asked Gambit to come over in the first place, and what he had wanted to ask him.
"Ah yes, I almost forgot… I wanted to ask you something Gambit." the professor started hesitatingly.
Gambit looked awaiting, but in the meantime his mind was working overtime.
…It seems as if he's shy…He has never asked anything from Gambit, so why now?..And why Gambit? And what has that got to do with the fact that Gambit is a master thief?...
"I wanted to ask you if you could do a 'job' for me…" the professor asked softly.
For a moment Gambit was stunned at hearing the professor's request, then he started laughing.
The professor was surprised by Gambit's reaction but didn't say anything.
When Gambit had stopped laughing and saw that the professor seemed to have meant it seriously he almost had to laugh again.
"No way professor. Gambit doesn't do any small thefts anymore. He doesn't need those anymore." Gambit said resolute.
"Besides you could never pay Gambit's usual fee, not even with a second mortgage on the mansion!" he continued somewhat more serious.
"But if you want I could recommend you some other eh…'colleagues' who would be more than happy with a small job. Or if you want you could contact the Guild…" Gambit offered.
"But it's not a small job! I'm looking somebody who can infiltrate into the administration of the Pentagon." the professor said quickly, hoping that that would catch Gambit's interest.
"They say that the Pentagon is impossible to infiltrate…" Gambit said unmoved.
The professor could see the glint in his eyes though.
"Bien, Gambit will do your job…" Gambit said, a mischievous grin on his face.
"I would really appreciate that Gambit, but don't take this lightly. It is very important. I would want you to steal some documents there, of course, without any traces which could lead back to the school." the professor explained.
Gambit didn't seemed all that impressed by the professor's warning and the professor started to wonder more and more if Gambit would be able to pull this one off. But then he remembered the respect with which his sources had spoken of the Cajun, and Gambit's own story about his last job.
"Why Gambit?" Gambit asked casual. "Why not the rest of the X-men?"
The professor was a little bit taken aback by his question, and didn't knew exactly how to answer.
"Regardless of how strong the X-men are, I'm rather sure that they would never be able to get in there unseen." the professor answered
Gambit laughed scornful. "That's true, but that's not the only reason, is it, non?" Gambit pressed.
The professor hadn't expected Gambit to see trough him, but it seemed he had underestimated him again.
"And..And I don't think the rest of the team would understand this action…" the professor added slightly guilty.
"And Gambit has less scrupulous…" Gambit finished his sentence.
His voice sounded casual though, as if he couldn't care less what other people thought of him. Something that made the professor feel all the more guilty.
…He's right, although I hate to admit it, that is exactly the reason that I had asked him…
Gambit smirked cynically "You're probably right. Gambit isn't by far as decent as the others."
The professor looked up at him, and again it struck him that Gambit didn't seem to care what others thought of him.
"About you payment…I don't know how much you usually get paid for such a job, but I do have some money in reserve and…" the professor started.
Gambit ignored him though "Gambit works for his usual percentage, but you can pay him when the job is done." Gambit said vaguely.
The professor nodded.
"Everything you have just heard must remain a secret. The information is just too important." the professor said serious.
Gambit just hauled his shoulders.
"How long will you need to prepare yourself?" the professor asked.
Gambit briefly ran trough all the aspects of the job.
"Hmm Gambit thinks probably a week or two, maybe three…" Gambit said casually.
The professor was surprised that he only needed such a short time for such a large and practically impossible job.
"Non wait, Gambit has kitchen duties…" Gambit said dryly.
The professor laughed "I think I can do something about that, for once…" he said smiling.
Gambit smiled contently. "Then Gambit don't see any problems…" he said light-hearted.
He got up and calmly walked to the door. In the doorway he halted though.
"Why do you trust Gambit to keep his end of the bargain?" he asked suddenly serious.
"These documents would yield a lot of money on the black market…" he added warningly.
For a moment the professor paled. "That has crossed my mind, yes. But I trust a friend to do the right thing…" the professor said honest.
Gambit smirked cynically "Never trust a thief, mon professeur..." Gambit advised before walking out the door.
After Gambit had turned a corner, he leaned against the wall and thought about the strange conversation he had just had.
…Who would have ever thought! Gambit sure as hell hadn't!... he thought cheerful.
Part of him was relieved that the professor had found out his true identity, and hadn't even thrown him out for it either! Besides this job meant a real challenge for him, and if there was anything in the world he loved it was a good challenge. And a challenge it sure was…
He knew that no one had ever managed to infiltrate the Pentagon without getting caught before, and he knew pretty sure that he probably was the only one who could actually pull it off. He had very low self-esteem, although he never showed it on the outside, but he knew that as a thief he was the best there was.
He walked further down the hallway, this time feeling a lot better than he did earlier that day. When he turned the next corner he almost bumped into Scott and Bobby.
"And? What did you do this time?" Bobby asked smiling.
Gambit smiled "Nothing yet mon amis… Nothing yet…" Gambit said cryptic before walking down the hallway, leaving behind a very confused Bobby and Scott.
"Wow he looks like a kid who stole the candy!" Bobby said surprised.
"Yeah, I wonder what he meant though…" Scott said circumspect.
AN Just me again begging for all of you to leave a review!