Chapter 4
Years had passed since Misty had left James’s side. She had picked up a job in a local bar as a barmaid and waitress. It was something to pay the bills and they tipped pretty well if she showed skin. She hadn’t heard a word from anyone from the old crew and even James. Which sent a pang in her heart every time that she thought of him. She would think of the what ifs if she was still with him. But she knew that it was better this way. That he would be safe and so would she.
She walked over to the table with a tray of drinks for a table that had a man playing with a deck of cards. She carefully put the tray down onto the table before grabbing one of the drinks off of it. She put it before him. “There you go, Remy dear.” She said with a small smile looking at him.
“Thank you, cher. You’re the best.” Remy said looking over at her with a smile.
“Oh you’re just flattering me to butter me up sugar.” She mused as she began to walk away from him. She stiffened for a moment smelling some familiar scents. “No, it can’t be James and John…” She looked around and low and behold there they were.
“There's our dude.” Wraith said as he noticed the card trick that the man was doing. “That's cool. I'm gonna go cover the back in case he rabbits.”
“I'm not gonna fight with him.”
“Yeah, right.”
She moved towards them. “You better not be starting any fights here.” She called out.
“Mist is that you? Damn girl you haven’t changed much.” Wraith said winking at her knowing that it was something that he should’ve known would happen.
“Nah and neither have you.” She put her hands on her hips. “Now mind telling me why you’re here?” Her brow raised as she looked at the two of them.
James let out a huff as he looked at the two of them. “What? I get in fights with everybody?”
“Don't dogs kill cats?” Wraith questioned looking at James.
“He has a point.”
James patted Wraith on the shoulder. “Just go cover the back, will you?”
Wraith nodded his head and headed out.
Misty blinked a few times. “You’re not going to explain this to me are you?”
“You’ve been out of this life for a long time, Misty. I wouldn’t want to involve you.” James said softly as he looked at her.
“Well coming into my establishment usually means some sort of trouble.”
James let out a breath. “I’m not going to start a fight, Mist.” He said moving towards the young man that was doing tricks.
Misty pursed her lips together. “James…” She called out softly to him, but she knew that he probably didn’t hear her with the sound of the music that was around them. “You’re asking for a lot more trouble than what you’re expecting.”
“Are you Remy LeBeau?” James questioned as he watched the young man.
The young man stopped his card trick tilting his head to the side, his hat covering his eyes. “Do I owe you money?”
“No.”
“Then Remy LeBeau I am.” He said as he removed his hat looking at James.
Misty moved closer in hopes that there wouldn’t be a fight breaking out. That was the last thing that this place needed. She didn’t want to have to try to clean up another mess that didn’t involve her. She knew that some people still didn’t take kindly to their kind.
“Large blind's 100. Small blind's 50. May I deal you in?”
“What can I get for 17 bucks?”
“Seventeen dollars?” Remy let out a laugh leaning back in his chair. “A cab ride home, perhaps?”
“Remy.” Misty called out, making the younger man turn his attention to her.
“Cher?”
Misty shook her head. “Quit playing the man and deal him in.”
Remy winked at Misty. “You got it Cher.”
James’s shoulders squared up seeing how Remy was with Misty. Did she really move on like he did? But there was something that bothered him the entire time that he was with Kayla. It felt like he was settling with her when the woman that he felt at home with was Misty. She smelled like a home that he loved and he missed that.
“So what brings you to our fair city, sir?” Remy questioned as he began to deal the cards out.
“Victor Creed.”
Misty froze when she heard the name. She hadn’t expected to hear the name of one of the men that they had gotten away from so many years ago. What did Victor do to cause James to be so malice to say his name like that. A shiver went down her spine as she sniffed the air around them. She swallowed the lump in her throat. She could smell a hint of Victor’s scent and that was something that scared her.
“And who's that?” Remy questioned as he went back to dealing with people after freezing at the name for a moment.
“The man I'm gonna kill. He works with a man named Stryker on an island. Just need to know where it is.”
“And why would you think I know that?” He asked to stop once again.
“Well, 'cause I know who you are, Gambit. You're the guy who escaped and you're the guy who's gonna take me back there.”
Misty looked over at Remy and knew that when she met him two years ago looking for a place to stay and she took pity on him because he was like her. But she didn’t know the story behind how he came to New Orleans. She didn’t think of asking him why he had come, she just took it in stride knowing that perhaps that was a story that they would get to later.
Remy leaned back in his seat noticing the tags that James wore around his neck. “Those are mighty nice tags you have on there, sir. The men who took me wore tags just like them.”
“Hey, now, bub, you listen to me.”
Remy charged one of his cards, sending it right into James, sending him backwards.
“Remy!” Misty shouted over the noise knowing that this wasn’t a good thing. “Stop!”
Remy charged up the rest of his cards and sent them flying into James again as soon as he was getting back up onto his feet. Causing James to break through the wall and into the alleyway. He moved through the hole in the wall.
Misty groaned and went towards the hole in the wall. She turned slightly seeing Victor leaving and Wraith laying on the ground. Her eyes widened. She hadn’t seen Wraith in years and he was dead. What was happening to the team that they once were and why was Victor hunting them down?
“Two years I rotted in that hellhole and I ain't never going back.” Remy snapped at James knowing that he would never go back to that hellhole again. He refused to do so and no one was going to tell him otherwise. He moved towards James only to get elbowed in the face.
Misty moved towards Remy assessing the damage that was done to his face. “Jesus Remy… You can’t keep your mouth shut.” She said as she shook her head lightly. Misty’s head shot up when she heard a shricking sound. Her eyes went up to see James’s once bone claws were now metal. Her eyes widened. “Holy….”
“Shiny. Tell me something, Jimmy. Do you even know how to kill me?” Victor questioned looking at James.
“I'm gonna cut your goddamn head off. See if that works.”
Misty moved back away from Remy as a fight between brothers started. She grasped her dog tags that were around her neck that Remy didn’t seem to mind her having thinking that she was in the military.
“You're getting slow, old man.”
Misty closed her eyes as the scents around her got stronger. The scent from James was stronger than she ever thought that he would have. Her hand came up near her nose trying to block out the scent of two alphas going at it.
“You son of a bitch. You're gonna die for what you did to her.”
Misty looked up in the air to hear a sound of Remy’s stick twirling around as he came to the ground. “God he’s going to get himself killed like the moron I think he is sometimes.” She muttered to herself as a blast of kinetic energy went through the air. She flew back slightly only to grab a barrel to stop her movement to land hard on the ground.
“Victor!” James shouted as he went to go after him.
“James!” Misty shouted as another blast from Remy’s staff hit the ground. “Remy stop!” She got up to her feet removing the glass that embedded in her side.
James brought his claws out causing Remy to stop. “Well, that's a nice stick.”
Misty watched James handle the situation that he had gotten himself into. She let out a breath as the two of them fought with one another.
James slammed him up against the wall after he landed from the fire escape. “Okay, shithead, here's the deal. See, you're gonna take me to this island, where I can kill Creed, Stryker and pretty much everyone you hate in this world. Do you understand?”
“You're really gonna kill them?”
“As long as you stay out of my way, yeah.”
Misty walked up to the two of them removing the glass from her side in one swift movement. “That’s all well and good, but you’re not leaving me behind on this one James.” Misty said, putting her hands on her hips as her side healed quickly.
James turned his attention to Misty. “You got out of this life…”
“With you James. We did that together. If Victor is killing our old team then I’m in. Our team granted we deserve to die for what we did, but not at the hands of a former teammate.” She shook her head. “You don’t need to protect me James.”
James took a deep breath taking in her sweet smell relaxing as he released Remy from his hold.
“You’re joining Cher… You were one of them?”
“Yes I was a long time ago. That’s no longer my life. But I am willing to rescue others to keep them safe and sound. Getting them out of Stryker’s hands and somewhere safe where they can be themselves.” A small smirk came to her lips. “So shall we gentlemen?”
James let out a breath shaking his head lightly rubbing his mouth softly. He looked at her. “Can’t talk you outta this can I sweetheart?”
Misty shook her head. “My friend is dead James by Victor’s hand. I’m going to help you go after Victor.” She said firmly.
“Alright…”