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Part Six

"'Ere petite, get behind me," Remy said looking grimly at Scott, Xavier and the rest of the X-men. In his left hand, he held three glowing Aces of Spades.

Jubilee looked at Remy and then at the pissed off expressions of her teammates. "No, get behind me!" she exclaimed trying to step in front of him.

Remy sidestepped her and glanced curiously at her. "I can handle dis. I don't want y' to get hurt."

Glaring at him, Jube braced herself and roughly pushed Remy down. "I don't think so. You have no clue to how mad these guys can get."

The X-men watched this with amusement. Xavier and Scott didn't even slow down as they crossed the yard. Scott was puzzled though. Jubilee was usually the first person to run when he was mad.

Meanwhile Kitty was watching all this and trying to figure out some way to save all of their butts. She noticed the look on Scott's face and made up her mind Walking with a purpose, Kitty headed over to where Jubilee and Remy were trying to protect each other. Jubilee and her exchanged nervous smiles as they linked arms in front of Remy who had fallen on his butt behind them.

Remy stood up with a very perplexed look on his face. Who is dis girl? Why is she protectin' me? The rest of the X-men had surrounded him and the girls with Xavier and Scott in the front. He figured he'd better do something quickly before they did. "I just saved all y' asses an' dis is de t'anks I get? Now dat doesn't seem t' be de way t'treat a guest."

Jubilee's jaw dropped. Now he's in for it! Why did I get myself into this mess? She still wanted to find out what this guy had meant by Thieves Guild and what they wanted her for. She sighed, "Scott, back off. Like I told you earlier… he's a family friend." I'm gonna regret that later….

Scott raised an eyebrow over his visor. "Really? Somehow I don't believe that Jubilee."

Kitty glanced at all of the X-men. "Scott, give the guy a break. Even if he wasn't Jubilee's friend he is a guest here and he DID save all your butts from Sinister. If the X-men have changed so much that they aren't kinder to their guests then I don't want to be a part of them." She smiled inwardly knowing from the shocked look on her friends' faces that her words had hit the spot for some of them. Scott and Xavier even backed off slightly.

Jubilee squeezed Kitty's hand in support. "Yeah, you guys are like soooooo rude! I agree with Kitty! Remy's our guest. You can't treat him like this! Give the guy a break!"

Remy was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected both girls to stand up for him. Jubilee was stilled scared of him and Kitty had some loyalty to both him and her friend.

The X-men looked at each other, and at the three people they were preparing to attack. Finally Bishop spoke, "Professor, when I first arrived, you treated me in a similar fashion. Perhaps Mr. Lebeau should not be trusted but you have given every mutant that has come here a chance."

Jubilee grinned as Scott opened his mouth to protest more but was stopped by a stern look from Xavier. "You are right Bishop," Xavier said then looked at Remy. "I would like to apologize for our hasty judgement Mr. Lebeau."

"Dat's alright. So Jube, y' were givin' me a tour o' de house before we were interrupted. Why don't we continue?" Remy said as he uncharged the cards and put them back in an inside pocket of his brown duster.

"Sure!" Jubilee replied with enthusiasm that wasn't there earlier that evening. She walked past the rest of the team with Remy following. She looked at Kitty who was already chatting with Rogue.

The two thieves walked towards the house in awkward silence. As soon as they were out of earshot of the others… especially Logan, Jubilee dropped the ditzy teenage girl act and became all business. "Alright Mr. Lebeau. What is this Thieves' Guild?" she asked suspiciously.

Inwardly Remy sighed. Jubilee was going to be difficult to recruit from what he'd seen. "It's a group o' de world's best t'ieves. We work for clients an' for ourselves but we aren't freelance t'ieves, it's like a big family o' t'ives dat 'elp each ot'er out."

Jubilee had heard of this mythical guild but she didn't believe it. From stories she'd heard this guild trained only family not outsiders like her unless… No! My parents wouldn't have been guild members! Why would dad have told me some of this in my bedtime stories? NO! Jubilee shook her head trying to disprove what her mind was implying.

Slowly the real world faded away and was replaced by a distant, possibly false memory.

Jubilation cuddled her ragged brown teddy bear close as she listened to her father's strong yet gentle voice speak in their native tongue.

"… the prince was the richest prince that had ever existed. Most people didn't think of him as royalty but his people loved him fiercely and would never let any harm come to him. He was happy for he didn't age the way others did and he was the best at what he did. One day, this prince fell in love and married a beautiful girl…"

"Was she a princess Daddy?" Jubilee asked, interrupting his story. This was how the routine went.

Her father smiled and shook his head. "No, she was one of his people and she loved him more than anything. When they got married all the prince's people threw a big party that lasted for several days and nights. They knew that she was the right choice for him. Finally after a couple of years, they had a baby girl."

Jubilee looked up at her father with wide eyes, "What did she look like?"

"Well, she had large blue eyes and a pretty smile. The prince and his people were slightly disappointed because there had never been a princess before. One of the prince's closest friends came and comforted him though, and soon this princess grew up and took her father's place…."

The story had ended there because Jubilee had fallen asleep.

A single tear slid down the present day Jubilee's cheek as she remembered her parents. She quickly shook herself out of it.

Remy looked curiously at her. "What's wrong 'tite?" he asked.

She smiled regaining her composure, "Nothing. Why do you want me?"

"Well, we tested several teenagers an' y' were de only one who managed t' get de money. All de others didn't even make it into de room."

"Oh," was all she said as she led the way upstairs. "What would this mean for me?"

"Y’ seem t’ love it 'ere an' I'm not sure y' want t’ explain your hobby to your papa. We could train every weekend at my 'ouse or y’ could come an' live with me in de city," suggested Remy.

"My parents are dead," she said softly as she sat down on the top stair and saw Kitty in the kitchen. She pondered what this man was offering and she thought about what she'd be giving up. Finally, she came up with a solution. "Here's the deal, I'll come live with you as long as Kitty comes too. We live with you but we come back here before, after school, and on weekends to train. If the X-men need us than that takes priority."

"D'accord. Why Kitty?" Remy wondered.

"Because, the Professor will insist on me having a chaperon and Kitty's a good friend of mine."

Remy shrugged. It really didn't matter to him. "Can y’ be ready tomorrow?"

They would have continued this conversation but Kitty was coming up the stairs with Rogue. Jubilee stood up and waited for them to come. "Kitty we like need to talk," she said back in her ditz act.

"Sure." Kitty and Jubilee went into the nearest empty room and left Rogue and Remy alone. "What's up?"

"Well, Remy is a recruiting agent for the Thieves' Guild and wants me to train with him. I refused to go along unless you came too."

"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!" Kitty exclaimed. "This is amazing!" she said more quietly.

"So will you come?"

"Um….sure, what are you going to tell Xavier?"

"I'll figure that out when I get there. Can you be ready to go tomorrow? We'll still come back here to train and everything though." Jubilee said as they left the room.

Remy was sitting patiently on the stairs waiting for the girls to reach a decision. He looked up when he heard them approach. Jubilee nodded, "I'm off to go tell Xavier that we're moving out."

Unknown to Kitty and Remy, Rogue was around the corner listening to this conversation. Ah don't believe Ah was so stupid earlier. Betsy was just flirtin' with him ta make Warren jealous. Ah'm glad they solved that problem an' left Remy for me. Now what does Jube mean by them movin' out?

Back on the stairs, Remy looked at Kitty who had just sat down. "Why are y’ an’' Jubilee so loyal t’ each ot'er?" he asked softly.

"We're teammates. It comes with the job," she replied praying that he wouldn't ask what she knew was coming.

"Dat explains a lot but I still don't understand why you're so loyal t' me."

Kitty shifted awkwardly on the stairs. "What do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"Well I'm usually pretty good at sensing where people's loyalties lie an' y’ seen loyal t' me an' de X-men. Plus 'ow did y’ know my name?" he asked. Remy noticed how her legs seemed to phase in and out of the stair when she was nervous.

Kitty stood up and motioned for Remy to follow her. She led the way into the same empty room where Jubilee and her had recently had their discussion. He followed her and she locked the door behind him. "Alright, I suppose I should get this over with now but I have a feeling I'm going to regret this later. You are Remy Lebeau, Prince of the Thieves' Guild."

"What else do y’ know?" asked Remy distrustfully. He didn't know how in the world this girl could know all this but somehow she did.

Kitty pulled her hair into a bun and pulled down the collar of her turtleneck. On the nape of her neck there was a small symbol tattooed in black ink. "I know what the Guild is and that they give some special privileges to freelance thieves that are deserving in return for favors. They pick only some of the best freelancers like myself and are extremely selective about who they choose."

Remy reached out and traced the symbol. It was real. "You're dat good? But you're so young. We usually only grant dese privileges t’ older t'ieves."

"I know but I've been doing this for a while and I'm told that I'm a quick learner," Kitty grinned nervously.

"I see. So why did Miss Lee want y' to come with 'er?" Remy wondered.

Kitty stepped away from Remy and breathed a sigh of relief. From stories, she'd heard he could have easily killed her but he didn't. "Probably because I'm the only one here who knows what she does and because we were going to become partners."

Remy smiled charmingly. "Don't worry. Y’ can still be partners," he paused for a moment to contemplate something. "How do y’ feel about becoming an actual guild member?"

"You mean… you'd let me?" Kitty couldn't hide her surprise. "I thought you only made family actual members… why me?"

"You've obviously got skill an' I t'ink dat you'd make a good member… besides dere are exceptions t’ every rule," he replied laughing at her shock.

Kitty nodded mutely and the two of them left the room.

Meanwhile, Jubilee had the task of facing the Professor. She was absolutely fine until she reached the solid oak door to his study. Oh shit! What am I going to tell him? she thought. Just as she lifted her hand to knock Xavier called her in.

"Did you wish to speak with me child?" Xavier asked her, his back to the door.

Jubilee entered slowly. "Um… yeah professor. We need to talk."

Xavier turned to face her. "Come sit down. What is troubling you?" he asked her in his calm manner.

Jubilee made her way over to the roaring fire where Xavier was. Hesitantly she sat down in the chair opposite of him. "Well… um…er… oh boy…" she mumbled. Why did I want to do this?

"Why did you want to do what child?" Xavier asked having heard her thought. "You do not have to fear me. What is on your mind?"

Drawing a big gulp of air Jubilee squared her shoulders and looked at the man who had practically… o.k. HAD raised her since she was 13. "Kitty and I wish to move out of the X-manor."

Xavier simply nodded and waited for her to explain more.

"Remy has invited us to live with him in Manhattan and we agreed," said Jubilee as she brushed a lock of black hair off her face.

"I can not stop either of you child. You are 17 and almost an adult; you would do what you wanted no matter what I said. Nor could I stop Kitty who is an adult and fully capable of making decisions on her own. I just hope that both of you fully consider what you are doing," the Professor said.

Jube's heart broke and tears started streaming down her face. "Professor I have to tell you something else. I don't want you to hate me after this please!"

Xavier wheeled his old fashioned chair over to the sobbing girl and wrapped her in his arms. "Child, no matter what happens or what you do, I could never hate you."

She took a deep breath, while wipping off the tears, "Professor, I'm an amateur thief."

"I know," replied Xavier softly. "I've known since you began to lie about why you've been breaking curfew. I am disappointed in you but I can understand. You grew up on the streets and that may have been how you survived. I just wish that you had trusted me enough to have told me or asked me when you need money."

Jubilee looked at him sorrowfully. "I'm sorry. I never needed the money; you always made sure all of us had lots of spending cash… it was something I picked up on the streets that I've kept doing. I don't steal very often but when I do it's more for the challenge than anything. I've never stolen anything from you or the other X-men I swear!"

Xavier simply nodded. Jubilee went on. "I never meet Remy before but he knows so much about me from when I was little. Maybe he knew my parents… I don't know but this is something I'm going to find out. I don't remember much from back then, I was so little. I thought Kitty could come and act as a chaperone for me and a check on Remy…you know, to keep him from doing anything that we might think he might do. I trust him almost instinctively but it couldn't hurt to have a friend along just in case."

"I agree, I would also like to send Rogue with you both. She needs to get out of the manor; I believe that this would be a perfect opportunity for her to do so. She has already spoken to me about renting an apartment but I believe this would be better," Xavier said taking everything pretty calmly.

"So that's why her room is full of packed boxes?" Jubilee asked and Xavier nodded. "We'd still come back here to train and everything. It's summer now so I'd have a chance to register at a normal school yet. The X-men would take priority over anything else."

Xavier smiled slightly. "I am happy to hear that you and the others are still that loyal to the team even if you are leaving the manor."

Jubilee stood up and gave Xavier a big hug. "Thanks Professor." She left him sitting there with his thoughts and she went to find the others.

ONTO THE SECOND HALF OF PART SIX