Rem and Sinny belong to... who? Well, nonother then Marvel (can I hear a "Yhhhaaaa"?). Lizzie, Devin, the gient without a name, and pritty much everything else belong to me ::Ginn:: I have to worn you, if you think you can sue me, wellyou'll only be losing money because I have none so there!

The Sun Will Shine Again
by Raven Adams
April 1998

Chapter 10

Lizzie came awake slowly to the feel of a cold cloth being pressed to her forehead. The first thought that ran through her mind was It was all a dream. She thought she must have just passed out, the heat of the bayou could do that sometimes, and now she was at home in her bed, her mother beside her, trying to cool down a temperature.

But as her senses awoke more, she realized that she was laying on the cold floor and not her soft bed, and that the person applying the cloth wasn't her mother.

She opened her eyes quickly and tried to sit up. A hand came to her chest and pushed her back down, as white hot pain flashed through her head. She moaned and the dreamless black sleep slipped over her again.

Deven didn't know how he got here, the last thing he remembered was wanting Chris to cut his hair for him. And then... nothing. He sat up slowly, and shook his head. It was buzzing.

He looked around and was surprised to find he was in a jail cell. But it wasn't a jail. There was computer equipment and other things he could recognize of the other side of the bars.

And he wasn't alone. A huge man was kneeling over the form of a little girl, putting a washcloth on her head. She moaned, and the man's brow frowned.

"W-where am I?" Devin asked uncertainly.

The giant's head turned to look at him, and he smiled. He moved away from the girl and over to Devin. For some reason, Devin wasn't afraid of the man, he felt... comforted somehow by his presents. "Head hurt?" The giant asked him, his voice gruff, but not mean.

"No." Devin said shaking his head. "W-who are you?" The giant just shook his head, and turned back to the girl. Devin crawled over to them. He looked down at the girl and gasped.

"That's me!" He was starring into his own face! Well, his face had he been a girl. She was lovely, prettier even then Chris. "Who is this?" He whispered.

"Lizzie." The giant answered, a smile on his lips, but pain in his eyes.

"Lizzie? That's her name?" Again the giant only nodded. "Is- is she hurt?" The giant shook his head. "I'm Devin, who are you?" Nothing. "What am I doing here, why does that girl look like me, and why won't you answer my questions?" He demanded. But the giant just shook his head.

Devin sighed. This was getting him nowhere. Oviously this man didn't want, or didn't like, to talk, and he wasn't going to get any answers. Maybe this Lizzie knew something.

He moved away from them, and leaned up against the wall. He brought his knees up, and hid his face in them. "I just... want to know where I am." He said softly.

This time the giant answered. "In a bad place."

Gambit clambered up the stairs to his apartment like a drunk man. But, even though he held a half empty bottle of rum in his hand, he was far from being drunk. He didn't know why, but he couldn't get drunk. He couldn't just let it all slip away.

His heart was a puzzle. And every minute that he didn't know where Juliet or his precious Lizzie was, another piece of the puzzle was lost. Another piece of his heart gone.

And the more he drank, the more pieces he lost, because instead of losing them in the bottle, he was remembering things he wished he wasn't.

He saw in his mind Lizzie's first steps, to him, and her first word, papa. The first day she went to school, the first time he took her with him on a theft. She was a good apprentice. Forgetting that he was her father, and knowing him only as master when she was being taught. He saw her at seven, looking up at him with eyes full of happiness, as the first lock she'd ever picked came open in her hands. And she knew he was proud of her. Even though the law of the Thrives Guild was that masters never showed their apprentices if they had done right or not, and Remy had had his best poker face on, she knew he was proud.

She always knew what was going on behind his eyes even when he let out no emotion. She always knew how much he loved her. And she love him back, full force.

What had his poppa told Juliet that had made her take Lizzie and leave? What could he have said that made Lizzie not want to tell him good bye, or leave him something that told him where she might be?

Swearing, he charged the bottle in his hand and threw it. Before it could hit anything, it blew up, covering the stairs with glass and bourbon. He sank down on the first step and put his head into his hands. What had he done to deserve losing his only child?

"I know where they are."

Remy's head snapped up and he looked around. There was nothing to see, and yet...

A man, dressed in an expensive suit, stepped out of the shadows of a doorway. "Who are you?" Remy asked getting to his feet. He didn't like what he was feeling.

"I am the man who knows where your lover and daughter is. Would you care for me to tell you?" He sneered, attempting to step back in the shadows. "I am the man who knows just how lovely your little girl can be when her eyes shine brightly with fear, and how passionate your lover can be... with the right persuasion."

With a cry, Remy threw himself at the man, pushing him up against a wall. "Where are dey?" He growled.

The man just smiled, reveling sharp teeth that were almost as white as his face. His red eyes burned brightly, and suddenly, Remy felt dirty being this close to him. He let go of the nice suit, and the man straightened.

"Well, now that that is out of your system, I have a proposition to make with you." He wiped down his suit, straightening the wrinkles Remy's hands had made.

"Proposition? Wha' kind?"

That smile again. "I wish for some... unsightly people to be disposed of. I need people to do it for me."

"If you t'ink I'm goin' to murder someone f' y-"

"No, no, Mr. LeBeau. I merely want you to find some people to do it for me, and who said anything about murder? I simply... want them to leave my property so to speak."

Remy looked at the man closely, wondering why he felt slimy by looking at him. "Why I do des f' you, eh? Wha' you do f' me?"

Again with the smile. "Why, I will give you your loved ones back. Is that not what you want?"

Remy's eyes narrowed. "'Ow I know you know where dey are?"

The man pulled something from out of his pocket and handed it to Remy. "My name is Essex. Nathaniel Essex. Remember it, Mr. LeBeau, for it is the name that will haunt your dreams forever." He said as he walked down the stairs, leaving Remy behind.

But if Remy heard him, he gave no sign. Instead he was looking at the picture. Lizzie, his Lizzie, eyes gray in terror, starred back at him, blood all over her hands.

Lizzie moaned softly, and opened her eyes. This time there was no flash of pain to rip through her head. No bright light. Just a face with the sadist pair of eyes she had ever seen.

"W-water." She whispered, her throat dry. The giant nodded, and helped her to sit. Then he was out of the cell, going to get to water she asked for.

She took a deep breath, feeling that IT was gone. Maybe IT would stay away, or maybe that look of friendship she saw in the giants eyes were something she should use. Maybe she could convince him to help her leave. But, he was a prisoner just like herself. He could leave no more then she could.

She heard something move, and she turned her head. Facing her was her own image, on a boy!

Devin turned his head slightly as he studied her face. He watched with interest as her eyes changed color from green-gray to brown. She reached out, tentively, and touched his face, just to see if it was real.

Devin jumped back, and Lizzie gave a low shriek, as she disappeared from view.

Devin's mouth dropped open, then a small smile played on his lips. "You're a mutant." He whispered, wishing he knew where she was.

"Go away." Came her voice. It was still right in front of him where she had been. He reached out, but his hand passed through the air, not finding her.

"I can't. I'm trapped here." He said, waving his hand where she had been. Suddenly she was back, right where she had been before, and Devin's hand hit her. "How do you do that?" He asked incredibly. "Can I learn?"

Lizzie remembered asking her poppa the same thing the first time she'd seen him using his mutant powers. So she gave the same answer. "'Ow does your heart beat? It jus' does. I jus' c'n, an' no you can'."

"Boy, you talk funny."

"Non I don'!" She said, her eyes had swirls of red in them.

"Hi," He said, putting out his hand, "I'm Devin. How did we get here?"

She looked at his hand, the shook it. "Lizzie." She said. "IT brought me here. Maybe it did de same f' you?"

"It?"

"The bad thing. IT... IT k-k-" Her voice broke and her face was a mask of pain. She brought her hands to her face and started to cry.

Devin, not knowing what else to do, moved over closer to her, and wrapped his arms around her. She threw her arms around his neck, and cried until she couldn't cry anymore.

It was in this, two children comforting each other, that a bond was made. A bond that went far beyond the one a husband makes to his wife, and one that almost came close to touching the bond that a prophet has with God. One that would being them together and unite them as one, and would bring them strength for the pains that lie ahead.

Continued in Chapter 11

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