Victoria Alouette, her long blonde hair pulled into a french braid that went more than half-way down her back, absently played with a loose thread on her beige long-sleeve t-shirt. C.J., smart young man that he was, had raced to get the Guild's resident doctor, Faith O'Neal, before going after Peter, when he realized that his friend was hurt. And now Faith, her white uniform stained with blood, was doing everything she could to stop Jason's head wound from bleeding. She refused to let anyone near if they weren't helping her, and Rory wasn't in much of a state of mind to help. She was worried, both about Jason and about herself.

Rory had been training with Jason, C.J., and Jason's cousin Alex when the accident happened. They were in the training center, going through basic skills and routines, when Jason lost his footing and fell off the gym equipment they were using. He smacked his head on his way to the ground and was knocked unconscious. Rory was scared he was more seriously injured than Faith was letting on, for more reasons than just the fact that he was her boyfriend.

She sighed with relief when C.J. returned with Peter and Dani. Peter went to talk to Faith, standing over his middle son worriedly. C.J., not wanting to intrude, moved over to where Alex was sitting on a bench nearby. And Rory went over to Dani.

"I need to talk to you." She said in a low voice.

Dani raised her eyebrows. "What happened here?"

"He slipped off de equipment. Got a head wound. Dat's all Faith will tell me. Maybe I can get more from Peter later, who knows. But dat's not what I want to talk 'bout. Not really." Rory explained. "C'mere wit' me."

The best friends walked across the room to the far end of the gym. Rory leaned against the wall and Dani faced her, a confused expression on her face. "Why so secret, mon amie?"

Rory smiled nervously. "Dani I have a problem."

"So fix it or somethin'."

"It ain' dat simple. An' if Jason dies it gets more complicated. Not dat it isn' complicated already, mais..." Rory sighed. "Dani, I'm pregnant."

Dani's jaw dropped; if it could have reached the floor it would have hit it with a thud. She blinked her green eyes at her friend in shock, disbelief and behind those, disappointment mingled with elation. It was a strange combination, but it was also how she felt. "You're...what...? Does he know?"

Rory shook her head, her brown eyes glancing over to where Jason lay on the floor. "Non. I jus' found out myself dis mornin'. I stole one of dose home pregnancy tests from de drug store yesterday an' took it dis mornin'. Dat's why I missed breakfast an' dat fight b'tween you an' Devin. I was gon' tell him tonight, after our trainin' was done. Uhm...are you mad at me?"

"Well...I admit I'm disappointed, Rory. I mean...did you guys plan dis?"

"No...but we bot' knew we weren' bein' smart." Rory admitted.

"I'm not mad at you, t'ough I bet Pierre will be. An' I don' even wan' t'ink 'bout what Peter says. But I'm torn b'tween bein' disappointed an' bein' elated. I knew you'd be de first one of de two of us to have a baby, b'cause I don' even have a boyfriend, but I was kinda hopin' you'd marry him first..."

"I'm scared, Dani..." Rory whispered, her brown eyes filling with tears. "What if he dies? What if Peter kicks us out of de Guild? What if Papa sends me back to Nawlins so Tante Mattie can help me raise de baby?"

"Playin' what if jus' makes t'ings worse, Ro." Dani said, impulsively hugging her best friend. "But Jason won' die. He's stronger'n dat. Sure Peter an' Pierre are gon' be mad, but I'm sure dey won' kick you out or send you away. Dat's somethin' Belize would have done, not your father. But dey do have to be told, an' de sooner de better, b'fore you start to show. I jus' got one question...are you plannin' on keepin' it?"

"Of course I am!" Rory exclaimed louder than she would have liked. The others in the room looked in their direction and Rory snapped her mouth shut. Her voice was much quieter when she continued. "I'm twenty-six years old, Dani. Jason's twenty-seven. We're old enough to handle dis. I know it's no walk in de park, but we can do it. I'm ready to do it. You'n me've always wanted to be mommas. Now at least I got my chance."

Dani smiled. "Yeah. Dat's why I'm elated. It's excitin' to find out your best friend is havin' a baby. Makes me want my own."

"Hey dat would be cool....!"

"No, Rory. I don't even have a boyfriend. I ain' no Virgin Mary either, so dere will be no immaculate conception." Dani laughed, a twinkle appearing in her green eyes. "You're on your own in dis one, but I'll still be here for moral support an' stuff. No matter what happens."

Rory sighed with relief. "T'ank you. Dat means more to me dan you realize."

"You still have to tell dem." Dani reminded. "I know it's not really de kind of t'ing you tell a man when his son is seriously injured, mais you could at least tell Pierre."

"Oui, I know..." Rory sighed. "We ain' much help here...uhm...would you come wit' me?"

"Of course. We should tell Peter where we're goin', t'ough. Jus' so he don' look over here an' freak out when we ain' here."

The girls walked back over to where Peter was really not being much help to Faith. He suddenly looked a lot older than his fifty-six years; his brown eyes had lost a lot of their natural sparkle in a very short time. He never claimed to play favorites with his three sons, or any of the thieves in the Guild, he cared for them all deeply and if one of them was injured it effected him to the very core of his being.

Dani rested a hand on his slumped shoulder. "Peter?"

"Yes, Dani?" His eyes never left his son, even when speaking to her. Dani didn't find that offensive or rude, she had seen enough in her life to know he didn't mean to be rude at all. He was preoccupied.

"Rory an' I are goin' home...dere's nothin' we can do here. Dat okay?"

"Oh...oh yeah that's fine, girls." He finally dragged his eyes from Jason's still, bleeding form. "I appreciate your thoughtfulness in telling me. Rory, I know this must've shaken you up quite a bit...I'll drop by later and let you know how he's doing, okay?"

"Dat'd be great, Peter, t'anks." Rory said, her voice barely above a whisper. Talking any louder seemed to be a sacrilege, even though they were in a gym and not a church or hospital.

It wasn't a far walk though the underground tunnels to get from the gym area to the section of rooms occupied by the girls' adoptive Guild family, Clan Spencer.

Master thief Zack Spencer and his wife Michelle had been the first to offer their home to Pierre, Rory and Dani when the three arrived in Los Angeles in 1991. They and their three sons, Adrian, Michael and Vincent were the last remaining members of the Clan and they were happy to welcome the new arrivals. In fact, Zack and Michelle had even formally adopted the former New Orleans thieves into Clan Spencer just before Christmas of that year. As a way of thanking them, Pierre and the girls taught them all how to speak French, thus making Clan Spencer the only bilingual Clan in the LA Guild.

When Dani and Rory arrived, Zack and Adrian were going over the plans for the job they were to go on the following night, while Pierre watched, listened and made the odd suggestion or comment As Pierre had been excommunicated from the New Orleans Guild, he was not allowed to be a thief in any Guild, but that never stopped him from being a consultant when needed.

"Hey girls." Zack said with a smile when he saw Dani and Rory walk in. "Dani, I hear you were successful tonight. Bet that was one in the eye for Devin, huh?"

Dani grinned. "Yeah well. Gotta keep him in his place, y'know? Where are Michelle an' de other boys?"

"Sleeping. They got bored listening to Dad and I talking about this job we got." Adrian laughed. Adrian, with his light brown hair and brown eyes was the oldest of the three Spencer boys at age nineteen. He took being a thief very seriously, and was the first to admit he admired both Dani and Rory for everything they accomplished as women in the Guild.

"Cool. I don' s'pose I have to ask if you're ready...?" Dani raised an eyebrow quizzically. She knew they were ready.

"You know us better than that, don't ya Dani?" Zack said.

"Oui. Jus' checkin'." With that, Dani poked Rory in the ribs pointedly.

"Ow! Dani!" Rory glared. "Dere's no need of dat! Uhm...do you two mind if we talk to Papa in private for a few minutes? I have somethin' I need to talk to him 'bout..."

"Sure thing, Rory. We're about done here anyway." Zack agreed, standing up. Adrian followed him out of the room seconds later as each of them went to bed. They were going to have a long night ahead of them the next day and needed all the rest they could get beforehand. Tired thieves make mistakes, and mistakes couldn't afford to be made.

Rory and Dani joined Pierre sitting around the table. The only light left in the cosy, homey center room was given off by the kerosene lamp standing in the center of the table. It gave off an eerie effect around the room, but none of them minded or noticed. They'd been used to candles back in New Orleans. Kereosene was just one step up.

"What's on your mind, Victoria?" Pierre asked his daughter. He was one of the few people who ever called Rory by her full name; indeed most of the people in the Guild forgot that Rory was short for Victoria.

"Well...uhm...it's like dis...I'm...uhm..." Rory found she couldn't get the words out no matter how hard she tried. Dani kicked her under the table and Rory finally spit it out. "Papa, I'm pregnant."

Pierre sat there in silence for what seemed like a very long time to the two girls. His brown eyes were concerned and thoughtful, but as far as Dani could tell, he didn't seem angry. Just somewhat disappointed, which was quite possibly much worse. Finally, he spoke.

"Is it Jason's?"

"Of course. I might be a thief, but I'm not a cheater, Papa." Rory replied.

"Does he know?"

Rory sighed and stared at the shadow on the table. "Non...I was gon' tell him tonight but he fell durin' our practice an' got hurt real bad...head wound...lots of blood..."

"Head wounds always have lots of blood, didn' Tante Mattie ever tell you dat?" Pierre said softly. Then he answered his own question. "Non, I don' s'pose she would have...you were both still very young when we left. An' I s'pose you haven' told Peter either, since he's prob'ly wrapped up in bein' worried 'bout Jason..."

"Dat's right." Rory agreed.

Pierre sighed. "I wish Mattie were here." He muttered. Then he looked at Rory. "Are you plannin' on keepin' de petit?"

"Oui." Rory said. "I'm jus' scared right now b'cause what if Jason dies?"

"Den you raise de child on your own, wit' de help of your Guild, de same way so many other people have done over de years." Pierre said frankly. "I admit, I'm disappointed in you...I didn' wan' see you go down de same path your mere an' I did, mais what's done is done an' bein' upset ain' gon' solve anythin'. Does Faith know? Did she examine you?"

"Non...I stole a home pregnancy test from de drug store. One of dose ones dat's s'posed to be as accurate as a doctor. I was plannin' on goin' to see Faith after I told Jason an' you and Peter, mais den Jason got hurt an'..."

"Well you will still go see her, I'd jus' wait until she's got Jason's injuries fully taken care of...she doesn' need to be dealin' wit' bot' t'ings at once, compris?" Pierre nodded.

"Oui." Rory's voice trailed off. "Papa I'm sorry..."

"Oh don' be sorry, chere. Y'gone an' done somethin' you prob'ly shouldn' have, mais dere's nothin' we can do 'bout it now. Somehow, given' de circumstances back in Nawlins, I highly doubt your brother has given me a grandchild yet, so I'm plannin' on welcomin' dis child wit' open arms. But now, ma fille, you need your rest."

Rory suddenly yawned. "Oui, I guess I do!" She laughed. "Didn' realize I was so tired. Mais, Papa, Peter said he'd come by an' let me know when he knows anythin' 'bout Jason's condition...will you wake me when he gets here?"

"Only long enough to tell you what he says, unless it's mornin' an' time to get up anyway." Pierre said. "I don' wan' you mistreatin' yourself durin' dis pregnancy. You got de child to t'ink 'bout now too."

"I know, Papa, I know." Rory said with a resigned sigh. Her father was going to make the most of the next few months, she could see it now. She didn't really mind, it just meant she had to figure out how to be more tolerant towards him, something that didn't always come easily.