Marvel owns the characters that you recognize, and we are not making one red cent off this story. Jacques Benoit, Therese belong to Missy Red and Kaleidopy. If you use them without our permission, we will send the Assassins after you, and they take no prisoners... Baa Haa Haa (evil Laughter)


Devil Days
Part Four
Missy and Kaleidopy

As the boy sat nervously on the couch waiting for someone to come, he
started to swing one of his legs back and forth. He was so deep in thought
that he didn't notice a figure entering the room.

" 'ello petite."

The man's voice startles the boy so badly that he jumps clear onto the
couch and retreats as far as he can into it. He slowly gets his heart beat back
down to it's normal pace before he could speak. " M'sier LeBeau, I got
not'in' better t' do, does your offer still stand?"

" Oui, boy," Jean-Luc walks over to the couch and sits down carefully so
not to scare the boy. He waits until the boy retreats to the furthest end of
the couch away from him before he picks up one of the trinkets from the nearby
table, examining it, he shows it to the boy. " You brought dese back,
merci."

"You knew I took dem yesterday an' you let me come back?" The boy asks him
before another thought suddenly enters his mind. His face reflects that
thought as his voice begins to quiver. " You goin' t' call de cops, aren'
you!"

"Non," The man quickly puts the boy's mind at ease. "I just needed t' know
if I could trust you boy." He tries to reach out to touch the boy but he
pushes himself out of his reach. "Do you t'ink I would allow you t' stay
'ere in my home if I didn' t'ink I could trust you?"

"De last one who said dat t' me tried t'," The boy's voice begins to quiver
even more as he remembers what happened the last time he thought he had a
new friend. It was too much pain involved in that incident to comprehend.
Tears begin to form in his eyes as he tries to get off the couch and run
for the door.

Jean-Luc jumped to his feet and quickly grabs the boy before he could reach
the door, the second his arms engulfs the boy, he starts screaming. " Easy
petite, nobody is goin' t' hurt you."

"Don' touch me," The boy was screaming hysterical. He begins kicking and
swinging his arms trying to hit anything but air. He begins squirming and
twisting to free himself. Finding himself hopelessly caught, he starts
begging. "Don' hurt me, please, don' hurt me."

"Nobody is goin' t' hurt you chile." Jean-Luc softly pats the boy's back
until he calms down. He waits until the boy's body stops shaking and his
sobs quiets down to a few whimpers before he would speak again, but only in
a soft voice. "Who has hurt you dis bad, boy?"

"You one of dem aren' you?" Was all the boy could manage to say before
breaking down again.

"One of who, boy?"

"Let me have de chile, Jean." A woman's voice comes from behind him. She
quickly takes the boy into her arms and takes him to one of the lazy boy
rocking chairs. As she begins to rock him, she softly sings a lullaby that
she remembers from her own childhood. It takes her two hours before she
gets the child to fall asleep. She slowly gets to her feet and carries him
upstairs to the guest bedroom that the boy had slept in the night before.
Tante puts him in the bed and covers him up before leaving the room with
the door cracked slightly open. Walking downstairs, she angrily crosses her
arms to keep her temper in check. "Someone out dere is scarin' dat chile to
death an' whoever it is must still be after 'em."

"Oui, de boy tries t' act brave, but it is just a front." Jean-Luc shakes
his head as if trying to understand. "De petite has been hurt t' many times
t' trust anyone. He t'inks everyone wants somet'in' if dey try t' be nice
t' 'em." He sits down in the rocker closest to the door, smiling he looks up
at Tante. "De boy seems t' feel relaxed around you, Tante, mebbe you can get
'em t' open up for us."

"Jean, dere's somethin' dat I want to discuss wit' you," Tante takes
another rocking chair and sits down in it. She looks at him, never taking her eyes
off the man as she speaks. "A bunch o' us been talkin' an' someone is
takin' de street children an' de only reason nothin' been done is 'cause it's de
mutant children dat's been taken."

"Us, as in who, Tante?"

"De Assassins an' de Thieves, all o' us!" She angrily answers back. Tante
is shocked by her own actions because she has never raised her voice to the
leader of the Thieves Guild, but when someone threatens or harms a child,
she becomes hostile. Tante considers herself the guardian angel of those
who can not defend themselves and the small one upstairs was quickly becoming
her favorite. "I may just be a nurse maid to you an' de rest o' de guild,
Jean, but even de lil' ones on de street need lookin' after."

"Easy Tante," Jean-Luc gets up and approaches her. He lays his hand on her
shoulder to calm her down. "After last night, I told Henri t' gather a few
o' de boys an' see what is goin' on out dere on de streets." He looks back
up towards the stairs and glares a hole in the balcony wall. "An' if dat
person is found, he better pray de assassins get him first b'fore I get my
hands on 'em."

"You don' fool ol' Tante, Jean." Tante smiles up at him. A huge grin creeps
across her face as she stands up and looks into his eyes. "Dat boy has
stolen yer heart, hasn' he?"

"Oui, dat he has," He admits quickly but suddenly returns her grin. "I say
de boy has stolen de whole house hold as well, yours included, neh Tante?"
He begins to climb the stairs. "Bonsoir, Tante!"

"Bonsoir, Jean."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Looking at the newspaper early the next morning, Jean-Luc hears movement
coming from upstairs. Glancing at the clock on the fireplace mantle, which
reads 7am, he figures it is Therese getting up to start cleaning. Having a
live-in maid came in handy after the secret meeting he had ordered late
last night. Tante's worrying over the boy, as well as his own secret desire to
punish those who may be harming the boy was his number one prerogative.

Glancing up towards the stairs, he was about to greet Therese, but when he
sees that it is the boy coming downstairs, he was a little surprised. "Bon
Matin, petite, you sleep well?"

"Oui, M'sieu LeBeau." The boy answers as he steps down from the bottom
step. He clears his throat trying to decide what to do next.

"Sit down boy and let's you an' me talk, non."

The boy slowly takes a seat on the huge couch keeping his eyes on the man
sitting close by. "What you wanna talk 'bout, M'sieu LeBeau?"

"Maybe it's time we get t' know each ot'er a lil' better," Jean-Luc puts
the newspaper down on the ottoman and turns his full attention to the boy
watching him. "Would you like t' spend de day hangin' around de house an'
y' an' I can keep each ot'er company, how does dat sound t' you, petite?"

"I'm sorry dat I freaked out on you last night," The boy's voice was barely
above a whisper. It was clear to the man that the boy was embarrassed about
the incident and was having trouble apologizing. "Didn' mean t' be any
burden t' you or your family."

"You don' need t' be apologizing f' anyt'ing, chile." Jean-Luc carefully
approaches the boy and sits down beside him. Making sure he doesn't startle
his guest, he slowly places his hand on the boy's shoulder. "You need t'
know dat you can consider dis your home as much as we do."

"Quoi?"

"Y' heard me, boy." The man laughs as the boy's expression of shock slowly
wears off. "Dis is your home as long as you want it t' be." Before the boy
could respond, Jean-Luc waves his hand in front of his face. "Non! B'fore
you ask, dere's no catch. You can come an' go as you please."

"You know I be a mutant, non?" The boy looks up at him almost dreading the
response he was about to get. He has heard all kinds of remarks about his
eyes, and he knows this man's words would be no different than the ones he
has heard before. Nobody cares for mutants, especially mutant homeless
children.

"I wouldn' care if y' had green skin an' a long pointed tail."

"Dey call me Devil Boy on de streets," The boy admits. "Mebbe I grow a tail
when I get older, nuh?"

"Mebbe I play football for de Saints, non?" Jean-Luc laughs. The boy begins
to smile after hearing his attempt at humor. " You see petite, it makes no
difference t' me what you are. I just know I want you t' stay an' so does
de rest of de family. Do we have a deal?"

"Why you care 'bout me, M'sieu LeBeau?" The boy looks up and asks him.
Tears were beginning to form in his eyes. He fights to keep them from forming,
nobody was going to see him cry. "I'm not'in' but street trash, nobody ever
cared if I lived or died just as long as I got outta dere way."

"Can you except de fact for once in your life dat someone really cares,
petite?" He asks as he begins to run his fingers through the boy's matted
hair. "I know dat no one has ever given you a reason t' believe in dem, t'
believe in anyt'ing, all dat's been given t' you is mistrust, hurt and
cruelity." He reaches down and gently touches the boy's chin and lifts it
up. "Just give me a chance, dat's all I ask, Chile. Give me dat one chance
an' I promise you dat I will not throw it back in your face."

The boy's hope of controlling his emotions quickly, like everything else in
his life fails him. Tears begin to fall down his face as he tries to close
his eyes tight to shut them off. Without even realizing it, he starts
crying. All the years of being treated like yesterday's garbage finally
catches up with him mentally. He does not fight as he is lifted into the
man's chest and hugged.

"I promise you dat not'in' is ever goin' t' hurt you again." Jean-Luc holds
him tight in his embrace as the boy continues to cry uncontrollable "I am
'ere as long as you need me." He quickly moves over to the rocking chair
and rocks the boy. A method that he and Tante both figured out quickly how well
it seems to ease the boy.

Therese smiles over at the two before going into the game room. She knew
most of the family's guests liked to hang out in this room because of the
huge screen television set and pool table. Just as she is about to start
dusting, the door bell rings. "I'll get it, Mr. LeBeau." She quickly leaves
the room and answers the door. Recognizing the man, she quickly turns back
to Jean-Luc. "Sir, it is for you, it's Mr. Beniot"

Jean-Luc leans up and sits the boy back down in the rocker. "You stay dere
an' I be back." He walks over to the door and greets his visitor.

Almost ten minutes pass and the boy begins to wonder why it is taking
Jean-Luc so long to come back. He gets out of the chair and walks towards
the door. He notices that the visitor was a man and both he and Jean-Luc
was carrying on a long conversation. It was clear to the boy, that what ever
the conversation was, it was something very important.

Jean-Luc turns around and looks down at the boy, who was by his side. He
quickly gethers the boy into his arms. "Wait 'ere Jacques, I want t' talk
t' de boy first."

"Oui, Jean-Luc," The man named Jacques Benoit answers.

Walking back to the lazy boy rocker, Jean-Luc sits down and places the boy
in his lap. "Sorry petite, but I got some important business t' attend t'
an' it can't wait, you say 'ere wit' Therese until I get back, non?"

The boy shakes his head, looks over at the man standing by the door. He
wanted to ask Jean-Luc who he was and what he wanted but he thought better
of it. He also notices the concern look that was in Jean-Luc's face. "I be
fine."

"I'll be back as soon as I can." He tells the boy while getting to his
feet. Glancing into his eyes, he adds. "Tante will be 'ere as soon as she
finishes her errands." He watches as a hugh smile appears on the boy's face. "Oh, y'
like Tante?"

"Oui!" The boy continues to smile as he is placed back on his feet. He
watches as Jean-Luc leaves with the man. Glancing over at Therese, he
quickly runs over to her. "You need for me t' help you T'erese?"

"This is indeed my day," Therese smiles down at the boy. "You can help me
in the game room, by the time we are finished, Tante should be home to make
you some breakfast."