A Thief's Stolen Heart

A thief's stolen heart

By, Logan's beta & Yokus

 

(*) denotes thoughts   (" ") denotes speech



Prologue

~*~*~*~*



It was just another classic night in New Orleans. The bayous were full

of fireflies and all sorts of other bugs, there were some people out and

about but most of them were cozy and in their beds. All were asleep

except for one particular individual that is. The dark-haired beauty was

currently scaling a wall in a well off mansion to get the rest of her

loot safely out the window to a basket she had outside. She had been

casing the place for some time since she had heard from so many others

that it was impossible to break into. Finally the owners had left just

when she had been about to give up. This was her chance to show them

all. She had trained so long and and worked her way silently up to this

without ever recording her exploits. She had remained an unknown.



*Just a little farther* The female thief thought to herself as her brown

eyes caught sight of the window ledge.



Her heart was racing, she had done it. She had pulled it off. The heist

that everyone else said was impossible. Just a few more feet and...



That's when she heard the clapping from below. Her heart jumped to her

throat and dropped as she hung there on the wall.



"I must say hon ya really are talented! Ya stuck wit it. Ever'one else

said it couldn' be done but ya proved 'em wrong." The voice of a local

man reached her ears as she hung there in defeat, "Now, now. Ya don'

need ta worry cherie. 'm the Patriarch of this here guild."



*Patriarch?* The thief thought to herself, *But who...*



"Names Gambit." The man called, "What is your's mademoiselle? "



The thief tensed but then she heard words that rang stranger still to

her from the man below her, "Well p'tite I know ya'll tensed up 'n

scared but ya done good."



Reluctantly she climbed back down but her fear got the better of her and

she slipped and fell. Below her as she felt the sense of weightlessness

for an instant, she heard the sound of boots on the floor. Closing her

eyes the thief prepared to lose everything but instead of a sudden shock

and darkness she felt strong arms catch her and lift her back up.

Opening her eyes she saw a man with strangely red eyes grinning at her.

He must have been the most handsome man she had ever seen.



"Well now p'tite we can' have ya fallin down 'n dyin on us now can we?"

He spoke in his suave N'Orleans accent.



The thief just stared at the man calling himself Gambit and took him in,

"I'm Claudia."



"Well nice ta meet'cha Claudia. I must say ya had quite a fall there."

Gambit grinned, "Ya shouldn' be so careless ya know. A belle like you

ought ta take care of 'erself."



Gambit smiled and carried her to a couch where he gently set her down

and spoke, "Now just rest here 'n close those pretty brown eyes of yours

so I can get th' lights."



An instant of terror flashed through Claudia's mind but was relieved when

Gambit smiled and kissed her on the cheek, "Un moment ma p'tite."



Heading off into the dark confidently, Gambit found the lights and

somehow knew to wait. Claudia finally closed her eyes and a full minute or

so later Gambit flipped the switch. Stranger still Claudia realized she

had a cool washcloth over her eyes. Where that had come from or when it

had gotten there she wasn't sure. Gambit walked back over and sat down

casually across from her. As Claudia tried to get up he practically shot

out of his chair and placed his hand on her shoulder.



"Now, now mademoiselle ya need ta rest." He spoke in that alluring

accent.



With that Claudia fell asleep with thoughts of this Gambit fellow crossing

her mind. With a smile she passed into the dreamworld with his watchful

eyes on her.



*She cert'nly is an int'restin one this Claudia* he thought to himself as

he looked her over, *It won' do no good fo' her ta catch a cold.*



He stood up and took off his brown overcoat easily and then covered the

beautiful girl with it. Pulling up a chair and spinning it around Gambit

sat down resting his arms and chin on the back of it. He had been

watching the beautiful and exotic thief for some time when he had

discovered that she was trying to pull off the heist of this mansion.

Everyone had said that succeeding in this mansion heist was impossible

and that was, well mostly, true after all no one knew this mansion

better than himself. He did own it after all and just hired random

families to live in it most of the time. Who would deny such a generous

offer especially from a man as friendly as Remy LeBeau.



*She sure has guts this p'tite, she sure does.* Gambit thought.



Outside everything fell into quiet as the night finally descended

completed on N'Orleans and her bayous. The crickets and frogs started up

their nightly symphony whilst all else slept. He listened to the music

as he sat and took in the vision sleeping before him. When morning came

he would have to see to any wounds she may have gotten during the heist

or during her fall which he hadn't fully expected but thought might

happen.



TBC.........