The two weeks went by very quickly for everyone…much more quickly that any of them would have thought possible.
Rory and Dani spent as much of that time with Genard and Claude as they could, which was expected. Etienne divided his time between Theoren, Remy and Emil, although it wasn't until the day before he and the girls were to leave that he and Remy discussed the events of ten years ago.
"Hey Et, can you tell me somet'ing?" Remy asked as they sat on the back porch of the Guild safehouse just after supper.
"Sure Rem, what is it?" Etienne replied, vaguely wondering where Emil was. He didn't know that Remy had asked their friend to let them talk in private for awhile.
"What happened in Spain? All I know is I tried to get us out using my powers an' we got separated. Three weeks later, Papa went dere an' came back sayin' dey never found your body. What really happened?"
"Well dat's a loaded question if ever dere was one." Etienne commented with a chuckle. "But it has a fairly simple answer. I woke up sometime after we got separated; I was in a hospital. Awhile later…probably only days but it seemed like forever to me…Jean-Luc showed up an' took me to California to live with Nadine an' Yvonne. I never saw him again."
Remy was quiet for a few moments, digesting what his friend had said. He lit a cigarette then finally replied,
"Did he ever write to you or call you or anyt'ing?"
"Oui. Every Christmas, he sent me a letter, tellin' me how everyone was, t'ings like dat. An' for de first few years he called me on my birthday every year. I didn' get a letter at Christmas dis past one t'ough."
Remy chuckled sadly. "Dat's prob'ly b'cause he didn' want to have to tell you he abandoned de Guild an' left me in charge."
"Have you spoken to him since he left?" Etienne asked.
"Nope." Remy replied shortly.
"Are you angry wit' him for doin' it?"
"A little. I sure as hell didn' ask to be made Guild patriarch, an' I don' care what de prophecies say. Wit' de two Guilds unified now, I can t'ink of two people who are much better suited to be de leader den me. Instead, my dear father went wit' de prophecies an' chose me." Remy sighed.
"But if de prophecies said you were to be de leader…" Etienne began.
"Both your brother an' Bella Donna are better suited to lead de Guild den I am." Remy cut him off sharply. "Et, are you angry wit' my father?" he questioned suddenly, getting the topic back away from himself.
"I resent his decision sometimes, oui. But I also understand dat he did what he t'ought was best for me at de time. I couldn' come back here, Remy. Not den."
"What changed?"
"What do you mean?" Etienne asked, knowing full well but wanting Remy to say it.
"How come you felt you could come back now, but not den?"
"Remy, you know as well as I do dat I failed at de tilling. I couldn' face everyone."
"True, but you also know your failure wasn' your fault. You would've been successful if we hadn' been caught by Candra's goons." Remy commented.
"I'm glad you t'ink dat."
Remy put out his cigarette and looked at his friend. He was very glad Etienne was alive and felt maybe it was time he apologize for his actions. "I'm sorry, Et."
Etienne tilted his head. "What for?"
"For attemptin' to use my powers back den when I knew I shouldn'. Dere hasn' been a day in de past ten years dat I haven' regretted my actions. Now dat I know you didn' die, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted, y'know? But you very easily could've died, an' I'm sorry for riskin' it like I did." Remy replied.
"You're forgettin' dat b'fore dat, when we were tryin' to get away from Candra's people, I was beggin' you to use dose same powers an' you wouldn'." Etienne reminded him. "You don' have to apologize, Remy. It was ten years ago now. I t'ink we can put it b'hind us."
"Speakin' of dat…"
"What?"
"You don' wan' leave tomorrow, do you?" Remy asked.
Etienne was startled by his friends' sudden question, but he had an answer. "Non. Dis is my home. My fam'ly is here, includin' you. Of course I don' wan' go, but do I have much of a choice in de matter?"
"Maybe." Remy said briefly, getting up and going into the house.
Etienne sat there gazing after him for a few moments, wondering what Remy was up to. He was still sitting there when Emil came out and sat beside him, a curious frown furrowing his forehead, his blue eyes questioning.
"What's Remy doin'?" Emil asked. "I was in dere talkin' to Theoren an' he came in an wanted to speak to Theo in private. Any ideas? I mean first he asked me to leave him an' you alone, now him an' Theo. I don' get it."
Etienne chuckled. "Je ne sais pas. He jus' got up an' went in without tellin' me why but I do know it has somet'ing to do wit' my leavin' tomorrow."
"Oh." Emil replied, his frown deepening. He had been trying not to think about Etienne going back to Los Angeles. The idea was just too depressing to contemplate. "Don' want you to go."
"You t'ink I want to, mon ami? I don'. I hate de t'ought." Etienne said.
"So don' go!" Emil exclaimed, his face lighting up at the possibility. "Jus' say here. How hard could it be, anyway?"
Etienne sighed, even though he got a huge kick out of his friends' sudden change of moods. 'Same old Emil. Nice to know some t'ings never change.' He thought with a silent chuckle. To Emil, he said,
"It might not be so easy…"
"Rory, we have a dilemma." Dani said, wishing the two weeks weren't over so soon. She had been dreading this decision ever since she and Etienne had spoken about it on their first night in town.
"What's that?" Rory asked, her attention more on the doorway. Claude and Genard had gone out to rent some movies for them to watch, and Rory was anxious to find out what they got.
"There's a good chance Etienne won't be coming with us tomorrow." Dani replied, watching her friend sharply for the reaction she knew would come. When her words sunk in, the reaction came.
"What?" Rory demanded, ignoring the door and looking at Dani.
"He doesn' want to leave. And if he can find a way to avoid going back to LA, he will. He's happy here, this is his home, it always has been." Dani explained.
Rory was silent for a moment. "But what about us?" She asked quietly. "The three of us are a team..."
"I know. That's our problem, Ro. What are you and I going to do if he decides to stay and they allow it? Where is it going to leave us?"
"Do you want to stay, Dani?" Rory asked.
"Claude's here, of course I do! Two weeks is not enough time to make up twenty-four years." Dani replied. "Do you?"
"I don't know." Rory admitted. "I mean, I agree with you entirely, but, well, our mothers are in California…"
Dani sighed. "I know. And they'll be upset and hurt if we decide to stay here."
"Exactly." Rory agreed. "Besides that, our jobs are there, too. If Et stays here, it will be bad enough, him leaving Captain Garner high and dry with no warning, but it'd be a huge blow if we all did."
The girls continued talking, trying to figure out a solution, unaware that Claude and Genard had returned from the video store and were in the hallway outside the living room, listening. This was the first time in the two weeks either of them had heard anything about any jobs the girls had, and they were curious.
"Who's Captain Garner?" Genard whispered, so quietly he almost didn't say the words at all. Near-silent whispering was part of thief training. They had to be able to communicate without anyone else knowing.
Claude shrugged. "I don' know." He whispered back. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he watched Dani pull a shiny gold badge out of her pocket and absently fiddle with it in her fingers. "Oh mon dieu…dey're cops!" he hissed.
"Wha--?" Genard began to exclaim, forgetting to whisper. He was abruptly stopped when Claude clamped a hand over his mouth and glared at him.
"Would you shut up?" Claude demanded.
Genard nodded and Claude took his hand away.
"Dey're cops? How do you know?" Genard whispered.
"Dani's got a badge." Claude replied. "Man, dis changes t'ings. 'Specially if de others find out."
"How?" Genard asked. "Dey're cops. So what? It didn' effect de past two weeks."
"Dat's not de point." Claude sighed, suddenly wondering if they should tell the girls they knew the truth.
Inside the living room, Dani, still fiddling with her badge, commented,
"I guess it's going to depend on what means more to us, staying and learning about our true family heritage, or going back to the people who kept most of that knowledge from us."
Rory considered that before replying. "Not to mention who means more to us, our moms and the people at work, or our brothers, Etienne and the others here."
"Yep. Do you think we should talk to Claude and Genard about it?"
"No, I think we should talk to Tante Mattie about it. She seems to be the best one to get an objective opinion from, I'd say." Rory replied.
"Good idea." Dani agreed. "Hey, I wonder where those brothers of ours are with those movies. They've been gone a long time."
Out in the hallway, Genard poked Claude in the ribs. Claude nearly yelped but managed not to. He glared questioningly at his friend.
Genard gestured at the living room. "We gotta go in!" He whispered.
"But…but…" Claude protested. "Dani's still holdin' de badge!"
Sighing, Genard rolled his eyes at Claude. "So?" he whispered. Then he plastered a bright smile on his face and went into the living room.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find movies dat all four of us will want to watch?" he asked the girls as Claude followed him. Both men saw Dani hastily hiding the badge, but they pretended not to.
"Ooh!" Rory exclaimed, pouncing on her brother and grabbing the movies out of his hands. "What'd you get?"
"We settled on an old staple." Claude replied, trying to sound normal and almost succeeding.
"Indiana Jones! Cool!" Rory said, happily bouncing over to the television. "We haven't seen these in ages!"
Dani laughed at her friends' antics as Claude and Genard joined her on the couch while Rory put the first movie in the VCR. "Does she remind you guys of a certain orange-and-black character from the hundred acre wood?"
"Hey! Tigger's cool!" Rory objected as she sat beside Genard, who snickered.
"Yeah, he is, but actin' like him isn', really." He commented. Dani and Claude nodded in agreement, but Rory pouted and smacked him on the arm.
"Ow!" Genard yelped.
"That's for saying I'm not cool." His sister replied, still pouting.
"I didn' mean…" Genard faltered, wondering what he could say to make things better. He still wasn't used to having a kid sister. "Ro, I t'ink you're cool! I really do!"
"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Rory replied. She wasn't really upset with him, it was just a joke. She was getting a kick out of how worried he was about it.
"Rory…"
"Guys, c'mon, de movie's startin'!" Claude said, sounding annoyed. Genard shut his mouth, pushed his glasses up on his nose and began to watch the movie, casting sideways glances at Rory every once in so long.
Finally, Rory poked his arm. When he looked at her fully, she winked at him. "I was only kidding." she whispered. Upon hearing that, Genard smiled with relief and the two settled back with their friends.
The group was interrupted briefly when Emil, Mercy and Zoe walked in.
"Hey! Indy!" Emil exclaimed. "Can we watch too? Remy, Theoren an' Etienne won' let us in on de meetin' dey're havin'."
"Red, shut up an' sit down!" Claude commanded.
Emil did as he was told and claimed one of the two plushy armchairs. Mercy got the other one, and Zoe stretched out as best she could on the loveseat. Together, the seven friends watched the rest of the first two Indiana Jones movies without further interruption.