Mercy was closest to the television and VCR, so she was the one who changed the movies when the time came. It made sense to everyone, Mercy included, so she didn't mind doing it. She was just about to put the third movie into the VCR when Remy, Theoren and Etienne entered the living room.
Mercy smiled when she saw them. "You missed de first two movies of de series, but would you like to join us anyway?"
"Hold off on de movie for a second, would ya, Merce?" Theoren asked. "We have somet'ing we'd like to run by everyone."
Mercy left the movie and went back to sit down in her chair. Everyone in the room looked expectantly at the three men in the entryway. Remy spoke next.
"Now, we have to run dis by Bel an' de other assassins too, b'cause dey're part of de Guild as well, but de three of us have been talkin' 'bout dis all night an' well, we'd like your opinions on it." he said. "You all know, I t'ink, dat Etienne doesn' want to leave…."
"I don' want him to either, but I can' speak for de others." Emil interrupted.
"Well," Theoren said. "I don't either. An' Remy an' I have come up wit' a way dat would allow him to stay, if he chooses to."
"Ten years ago, when I was doin' my tilling," Etienne continued. "I had succeeded up until de point when Candra an' the Pig interfered. Dey're de real reason I failed. An' while Jean-Luc decided it would be best if I don' come back here, dese two seem to t'ink it means de tilling was void."
Theoren laughed. "Why am I not surprised?" he turned to Claude and Genard. "What do you two t'ink?"
"Sounds good to me. Dere's no reason why he shouldn' be given a second chance." Genard replied.
Claude nodded. "Agreed. An' I'll even volunteer to be his sponsor. Unless, of course, you wan' do it, Theo."
"Non…I t'ink I'd be jus' a bit too partial." Theoren replied. "You got de job."
Remy looked at Etienne. "Well, looks like you have a decision to make, mon ami."
Etienne couldn't stop looking at the dismal faces on Rory and Dani. "Oui…" he said quietly. "I'll let everyone know in de mornin'."
"What do you think he's going to do?" Rory asked, following Dani into her bedroom that night and sitting on the bed.
Dani sat beside her friend with a sigh. "I don't know. But if he decides to stay, we have to figure out what we're going to do."
"I wish we had never come here." Rory mumbled.
"No you don't. You wish he didn't want to stay." Dani corrected her.
"Yeah, I guess. But can I tell you something?"
"Of course. You can tell me anything."
"I don’t want to stay. I want to go back home. I miss California. I miss the people at work. I miss Mom. Even if he stays, I don't think I'm going to." Rory confided.
"I see…" Dani said softly, her heart sinking. She had felt this would happen and the whole thing scared her.
"What about you?" Rory asked.
"I don’t know, Ro. I think it's going to be one of those decisions I make on the spot, after I find out what Et's going to do."
The girls spoke for a few more minutes and then Rory left to go to bed. If they went home the next day, they would have a big day ahead of them.
Dani remained seated on her bed, staring at the picture on the wall. She was still staring at it when there was a knock on her bedroom door.
"Come in." Dani answered.
Claude poked his head in the door. "Can I?"
"Yes, of course! Have a seat. What's on your mind?"
Claude joined her on the edge of the bed. He looked nervous, Dani noticed, and she wondered what he was thinking. She gave him an encouraging smile and he sighed.
"Um, well, you know earlier when Genard an' I were getting de movies? Well, we were in de hallway for a few minutes b'fore we went in when we came back, an' we heard you an' Rory talkin' an'…"
Dani felt as if her stomach had dropped out of her body. She remembered that she'd been fiddling with her police badge during that conversation, and she was suddenly aware that it was probably a bad thing for her to have taken it out in the first place.
"And…?" she prodded.
"An', um…we know you guys are cops. Etienne as well. I saw your badge. We haven' told any of de others, an' I wasn' gon' mention it to you, but I didn' want to end de first two weeks of our relationship wit' a lie, y'know?"
Dani wasn't sure what to say. She wasn't entirely sure what Claude thought of the whole thing. "Um…well, yeah. The thing is, though, it's just a job, at least for Etienne it is. He's always been a thief through and through…he just did the cop thing because we were doing it. At least that's what he said at the time…"
"If you and Rory stay here…what will you do about that?" Claude asked.
"Well, first of all, no matter what Etienne decides, I don't think Rory's going to stay. I'm still undecided. But if I do stay, I'll find something to do. I won't transfer to the local police force, if that's what you're wondering. That would just be too ironic. It's already too ironic." Dani replied. "Does it upset you, the whole cop thing?"
Claude chuckled. "It's a bit unnerving, but it doesn' really upset me. I mean, like you said, it's ironic. It doesn' change our relationship, but if de others find out an' you do stay, you won' be able to join de Guild…"
"I don't want to join, so even if it does get out, you don't have to worry about it."
"Really?"
"Claude, Mom and Yvonne went to Los Angeles to make sure Rory and I didn't grow up around the Guild. We're as good as it gets. I couldn’t steal something if you paid me to. But I can turn a blind eye and a deaf ear and pretend I don't know anything, if I have to. For you and the others, I would. Maybe not for the assassins, but…" Dani told him.
"Wow." Claude replied. "So you're still unsure about whether you're going to stay or not?"
"Yeah. I think Rory's pretty much decided, but I don't know. I'm all torn up about it. I'll decide tomorrow, after I find out what Et's doing."
Claude traced the pattern of the bedspread with a finger. "What do you t'ink he should do? I mean, you've known him for de past ten years, you know what he's like as an adult, de rest of us only knew him as a kid."
Dani sighed. "Much as it pains me to say this, especially if I decide to go home with Rory, I think he should stay. His heart's always been here, even if he wasn't. This is his home. He shouldn't be forced to stay away from it if he doesn't have to."
"Yeah…"
"Well? What'd Bel say?" Theoren asked when Remy came out of Bella Donna's bedroom.
"She says dat b'cause it's t'ief business, she'll support whatever we decide. Even if de other four assassins don', we still outvote dem, so it won' matter." Remy told him. "Do you t'ink he'll stay or go?"
Theoren sighed as the two walked down the hallway. "I don' know. He's bein' pretty tight-lipped about it. I t'ink de opinions of dose two girls will weigh a lot on his final decision."
"Oui, I was getting dat impression myself."
Etienne lay on his bed with his head pillowed in his hands, staring at the ceiling. He sighed for the seventh time since retiring to his room after he, Remy and Theoren had ran the idea of him joining the Guild past the others. He honestly didn't know what he should do.
Part of him wanted to stay where he was more than anything. He had always wanted a second chance at the tilling, and here he was, being offered that chance. But was that chance worth giving up his life in Los Angeles, and more importantly, was it worth possibly losing his two of his best friends?
"You could always flip a coin." A voice said from the doorway.
Etienne looked over at the door, startled. "Why haven' you changed any in de past ten years? You're de exact same person you were when I left."
Emil chuckled and sat down on the edge of the bed. He shrugged. "Well, none of us have really changed, 'cept for Remy. We're all de same people. An' you could flip a coin, y'know."
"I don' t'ink it would help."
"Non, prob'ly not." Emil agreed. "But it is a solution. Anyway, look, I know I'm not de best person to give advice…I mean, dis is me we're talkin' bout…but when you get right down to it, it doesn' matter what anyone else t'inks 'cept for you. Don' worry 'bout what de rest of us t'ink or feel, an' do what your heart tells you to do."
"Why does dat sound like somet'ing Tante Mattie would say?" Etienne questioned.
"B'cause she would say it. She prob'ly has said it sometime…"
Etienne sighed again. "I wish I knew what my heart was tellin' me to do. It's talkin' a language I can' understand."
"So why don' you sleep on it an' see what language your heart's talkin' in de mornin'?" Emil suggested.
"You're right." Etienne agreed.
"I am?!"
"Oui. It's a good idea."
"Really? Whoa…Last time I had a good idea, or what I t'ought was a good idea…it almost landed me in de slammer…"
"What'd you do?" Etienne was curious. Emil was always getting in trouble when they were kids…it had been his idea for them to steal the plane after all, when he and Remy were twelve and Etienne was ten. That had ended badly too. Because none of them had known how to fly a plane, they crashed it. Needless to say, Jean-Luc, Theoren and Emil's father had yelled at them for hours over that stunt. Remy and Etienne had been grounded for two weeks; Emil had been grounded for four, because it had been his idea.
"Genard an' I were at dis bar, jus' a small-town place, a ways outside Nawlins. I tried to pick up dis girl only to find out she was workin' for de cops. Dey were tryin' to catch dis guy who was slippin' drugs into girls' drinks an' den rapin' dem. 'course I didn' know dat 'til later, but it didn' matter. Had to talk to de blasted cop, too. I t'ink he might've recognized either me or Genard, but he didn' get a chance to find out who we were, 'cause we beat it out of dere pretty quick de second his head was turned." Emil explained.
Etienne slapped his friend's arm. "You imbecile!"
Emil rubbed his arm and grinned. "Yeah, well. Y'know dat nice little reputation I got as a kid for getting into trouble? It jus' keeps getting worse…I can' shake it."
"You wouldn' be de same Emil we all know an' love if you did shake it." Etienne assured him.
The next morning, the thieves, Dani and Rory assembled in the living room at the safehouse. Tante Mattie, who was glad to be included in this meeting, joined them. They made light talk as they waited for the man who called the meeting, Etienne. The time had come for them to find out his decision.
Etienne paused outside the living room to collect his thoughts. He had, in spite of Emil's advice, lie awake for over half the night, agonizing and thinking over his decision, but he had finally made up his mind. He was going to do what his heart told him to do, and nothing else.
He walked into the room and the quiet chatter died down almost instantly. Etienne chuckled nervously, thinking of how students in a classroom had the same reaction when their teacher walked in.
"You all know why I've asked you to come here," he began. "After much thinking and rethinking and feeling like I was going out of my mind, I have made my decision."