Aiding and Abetting [Chamber, Gambit]

[Gambit]

Timestamp: Approximately 18 months prior to present timeline.

"Ah, c'mon, mon ami. I ain't gon' make you do nothin' you don't want to, an' I need someone t'keep a tight eye on th' time an' th' road for me. There's a fairly hefty pile of cash in it for you."

When he wanted to be persuasive, Remy LeBeau was a particularly dangerous man. His subconscious ability to sway such conversations his way was presently being tightly held down. He did such things for people who weren't his friends.

And Jono Starsmore was his friend. He'd rather his friend agreed of his own volition rather than be coerced.

[chamber]

Chamber crossed his arms. It was the most common trademark of the reluctant anti-hero, a pose he struck whenever he was thinking too much.

Who are you taking it from Remy? I mean what if you're stealing a guy's rent check, and his kids get tossed to the curb? You ever think about that kind of thing?

Jono never lectured his friend on his 'habits'. In fact he didn't care that often. But it was different when Remy asked him to be a part of it. It wasn't that he was a particularly clean-souled individual... quite the opposite.

Jono just knew how guilt could eat to the center of you. And then burst you open from inside.

[Gambit]

"I'll thank you t'remember that I ain't just a bad guy for th' hell of it," said Remy, faintly offended. "An' for what it's worth, I do a lot of checkin' up on th' people I do - shall we say - business with? Ninety-nine point nine-five percent of the time, I'm relievin' the pseudo-rich of objets d'art that weren't theirs t'start with."

He tipped his head on one side. "This particularly establishment is a li'l difficult for me t'manage by myself. Pretty big place. I can cover the south, east an' west sides easily enough, but there's access from all four sides, an' they ain't installed the CCTV for th' north yet. I jus' need you t'look out for me, an' that's it. I swear."

He took a sip of his bourbon (on the rocks, neat) and tipped his head on one side. "This gon' be a real important job for me, mon ami. I pull this one off, I repay a big debt t'someone."

[chamber]

Chamber looked sidelong at him, jealous as hell that he couldn't share in that drink. The stormclouds rolled over his eyes, which meant two things- he wasn't exactly happy about participating in this little adventure... but he was just about to agree to it.

Pushing off the wall with his shoulder, he brushed dust off his jeans.

Alright slick- let's get going.

That trademark straight-man sense of humor returned, he was looking for a place to wait while Remy went to work.

[Gambit]

Remy grinned his widest grin and winked slyly at Chamber. "You th' man, mon ami. You be doin' ol' Gambit a big favour an' you got my personal guarantee I won't be forgettin' it in a hurry." He drained the remainder of his drink and threw a five-dollar bill down on the table. "Let's go."

They weren't far from the large, isolated mansion where Remy had been tasked to perform the theft of a diamond. It wasn't, apparently, anything massively valuable; but an 'object of particular sentimental value' to the man paying Remy to do the job.

He didn't question. What he didn't know couldn't come back to bite him on the ass later.

What he didn't tell Chamber was that this was the first time since Henri's death that he had gone on a job with someone other than himself and it put him into an uncharacteristically thoughtful mood as they headed towards the outer wall.

[chamber]

As they got on the motorcycle to head out, Jono curled his fingers around the bar on the back of the seat. It had been a few years since they'd first met on the steps at Xavier's, and Remy'd finally brought his own bike along for this trip.

It was a good thing too- Jono wasn't sure he'd be able to get away with taking Scott's out of the mansion again.

So should something go down, what -exactly- is the plan? I can't exactly shout you know.

[Gambit]

"I done thought of that, mon ami," said the eternally cheery Cajun, handing a radio from the inside of his pocket to his friend once they parked up. "I got th' other one of these in my ear. Just gimme three keys of radio silence for th' all clear, an' six for trouble, 'k?"

He took out an interesting item from the same pocket. It was a interesting pocket. It seemed to contain just about everything your thief-about-town could ever need to pull off a successful heist. This time, he was withdrawing his collapsible Bo staff. "Always a handy item t'help get me on my way," he said, opening it out to its full length with a practised shake of his hand.

"Should be gone fifteen, twenty minutes at most if th' plans of this place are accurate," he said, squinting at the wall and judging the run-up he'd need to get up and over. "If you hear screamin', I suggest drivin' very fast." He tossed the bike keys to Chamber and winked again. "Au revoir," he said.

Then, with an easy, practised and athletically impressive move, he took a run towards the wall, vaulting it with ease with the aid of his staff.

[chamber]

Nodding a farewell to his friend, he found a place to sit where he could see and not be snuck up on. The keys were stashed in his pocket, and he put his feet up on a nearby rock.

It was always interesting, travelling with Remy. They were never in need of funds and Jonothan never found himself spinning into a black funk the way he tended to when he was alone.

The lack of action bothered him. He wasn't good at sitting still and he kept feeling as if at any moment men with guns were going to pop out of the bushes. Jono wasn't very good with surprises.

But he was good at being there for a friend, and had even begun to enjoy the illicit nature of Remy's schemes.

Turning a quarter over and over in his fingers, he waited.

[Gambit]

Time dragged past.

A few clouds scudded along in the sky: the wind was getting up tonight. The leaves on the tree that overhung the outer wall of the mansion shook furiously, angry at this treatment by Mother Nature. The rising wind lifted Jono's hair from his face.

There was a very distant sound of tinkling glass; an almost unheard sound that carried on the wind. Then the radio piece in Jono's ear came to life.

"Suggest you fire up th' li'l lady, mon ami. We gon' need t'get outta here like, real fast. If I ain't outta here in two minutes, go without me. Gambit out."

A minute passed.

A minute and a half.

A little shy of two minutes, there was the sound of running feet - not just one pair from the shouting that accompanied it, and Remy vaulted easily over the wall. He landed poorly on the other side and lay there for a couple of seconds, stunned, before grabbing his Bo staff and getting onto the back of the Harley.

"Go, go, go," he said, and there was more than a passing hint of anxiety in his voice.

[chamber]

As if cinematically in sync, Jonothan had just turned the key before Gambit hopped on. Kicking back the kick stand with a bootheel, he would have laughed as they took off like a rocket back onto the road.

HA! You made it after all! Thought I was gonna lose you there for a second. Hold on!

Both of them the relatively fearless sort, their ride away from their crime was executed at easily ninety miles an hour or more. They twisted around the backroads until they thought they were out of sight.

[Gambit]

Remy hollered in sheer adrenaline-fuelled delight at the speed of their escape. He clung onto the back bar of the bike with practised expertise. He knew there was a reason why he and Jono were firm friends, and this was just one of them.

"We need to get a good few miles 'tween them an' us," he shouted over the throaty roar of the engine. "Don't think it'll be pretty if they get their hands on us." No more details were forthcoming. They didn't need to be.

As Jono pulled out of the back road onto the main highway, there were already three cars moving to block their passage.

"Merde," was all that Remy said and he clung to the back bar waiting to see what Jono's move would be. There wasn't time enough at this speed to plan ahead.

[chamber]

Remy could feel his friend tense in front of him.

Hang on.

Tearing the wrapping over his chin down, he let out a blast of energy that blitzed into the cars, disintegrating them at their center and igniting the rest, gasoline exploding in fiery bursts.

Oh hell.

The result was a bit more powerful than he'd intended. Gripping the handlebars he managed to keep the motorcycle upright as they slide neatly between the cars, only a few sparks showering over them before they put the chaos behind them once more.

Now what kind of people are you stealing from if they have these kinds of heavies?

It was hard to tell if the man was amused or irritated.

[Gambit]

"What kind of people. Now THERE'S th' million dollar question, an' one which I probably ain't ever gon' know the answer to," said Remy, when his body had kickstarted his heart back into beating again. He blew out a sigh of relief. "Don't think they gon' be followin' us any time soon, though."

Indeed, they got several miles away before Remy indicated Jono should pull over. "Dieu, but that smarts," he complained, twitching his overcoat aside and revealing a knife slash in his side. "This top was one of my favourites, too. Those guys ain't got NO shame." The wound was superficial: most likely Remy had dodged and ducked out of the way before any major damage had been done.

"But I got th' diamond," he added, his grin returning. "We in th' money, mon ami."