"If you keep looking at him, he'll start to suspect somet'ing." Mercy commented with a grin. Jackie looked away quickly and blushed.

"I'm not…" she faltered, realizing quickly that her sister-in-law wouldn't believe her. Sighing, she concentrated on her pizza. Mercy laughed.

"It's pretty obvious, Jade." She said, using Jackie's codename. It wasn't often any of them used it, but it was the first name Jackie had ever had, so it was dear to the young mutant thief. It has only been a few months since Jackie had joined the New Orleans Thieves Guild, and in that short time, Jackie had become a member of the thief family. She had formed bonds with most of the Guild members, and they considered her to be invaluable much like her older brother Remy.

"It sure is," Zoe agreed, sitting down on the other side of Jackie. "What gives, anyway? I thought you didn't like him."

"I don't!" Jackie said to her pizza. Mercy and Zoe laughed.

"Yeah, right!" They replied in unison.

"Jackie, if you don' like him, den Zoe an' I are blind. Which we aren'." Mercy said.

Jackie looked up, blushing even more furiously. "Okay, okay…so I like him, so what? It's not like I could ever do anyt'ing 'bout it. An' b'sides, he would never like me back, so why are you makin' such a big deal out of it?"

"How do you know that?" Zoe asked, stealing a piece of pepperoni off Jackie's slice of pizza.

"Hey Zoe, can you come here for a second?" Genard asked from the other side of the room. The thieves were having a Friday night pizza party at the LeBeau mansion. "I need your opinion of somet'ing. Theoren here doesn' b'lieve me."

"Okay." Zoe replied, getting up and walking over to where Genard and Theoren were talking.

Jackie started looking over to where her adoptive father, Jean-Luc, was talking with Emil. Every time it seemed that one of them was going to catch her looking at them, she looked away and concentrated on her pizza again. Mercy started laughing.

"I remember when I was younger, b'fore Henri an' I got married, I used to do the same t'ing. He always caught me at it…" she said with a faraway look of remembrance on her face.

"Do you t'ink he knows? I mean…I don' want him to find out…" Jackie was mortified at the idea that Emil might know how she felt about him. She and Emil were friends of a sort, even though they had gotten off to a bit of a rocky start, and she didn't want to jeopardize that friendship.

Mercy looked thoughtful for a moment. "I don' t'ink so," she replied. "An' I'm sure he wouldn' mind if he did. 'Cept for de Guild, he's been alone for half his life."

Jackie frowned. "What d'you mean, alone? What are you talking 'bout, Merce?" she asked, concerned.

Mercy took a bite of pizza before answering. She knew Emil didn't talk about his past much, but seeing as the kid had taken such a liking to him, it couldn't hurt. "Do you know how old Emil is, Jackie?" she asked. Jackie shook her head. "He's thirty-five. A year younger den Genard an' myself. At any rate, when he was seventeen, de Assassins killed his parents an' his little sister."

Jackie's eyes widened and she sneaked a glance over at Emil. "Is dat why he looks sad a lot of de time? An' why he makes jokes all de time?"

"Oui. De members of dis guild are de only fam'ly he has now, de only fam'ly he's had in eighteen years. He was hurt deeply when Henri was killed too, even t'ough he won' admit it."

"Has he ever had a girlfriend or anyt'ing?" Jackie asked, looking back at Mercy, who shook her head.

"Non. Not many people would put up wit' datin' a t'ief. An' dere's a shortage of girls in de guild in case you didn' notice."

Jackie wondered how horrible it could be to live so many years without loving anyone, without being loved. She thought her life had been bad, and it had, but in the past few weeks, since she'd realized how she felt about Emil, she'd been happier, even if he didn't know and probably wouldn't feel the same way about her if he did. She remained silent, looking at him and suddenly not caring if he saw her.

Mercy frowned, but it wasn't a bad frown. "Jackie…" she began. "You're in love with him, aren' you?"

Jackie looked back at Mercy with a start. "I don' know, Merce," she replied. "I mean, I've never felt like dis b'fore 'bout anyone, but I don' really know what love is, so how can I know for sure?"

"I t'ink you'll know when it hits you," Mercy said, giving her a smile. "For awhile, I didn' know if I was in love wit' Henri, but when I least expected it, I realized I was. You'll know. For now, jus' go wit' it an' be his friend. T'ings have a way of workin' out in de end."

Across the room, Emil was acutely aware that Jackie kept looking at him. At first he brushed it off, thinking there was no way she could be. But as he and Jean-Luc kept talking, it hit him that she was in fact looking at him. And blushing from time to time. It was getting unnerving.

"You seem uncomfortable, Emil." Jean-Luc commented.

"Huh? Uh, oh, no I'm fine, Jean-Luc. Really." Emil stammered in reply.

Jean-Luc shook his head. "Non, you're not. You keep lookin' at Jackie. I don' t'ink she's doin' anyt'ing out of de ordinary…you want to tell me what's goin' on? I didn' t'ink you an' she liked each other all dat much."

Emil's face turned as red as his hair. "I…uh…we don'."

"Den why are you blushin' like dat?" Jean-Luc grinned. "It's getting hard to tell where you forehead ends an' your hair begins."

"No reason! Um, excuse me for a second." Emil replied, beating a hasty retreat out of the room.

Jackie watched him leave with a frown on her face. She got up and walked over to where Jean-Luc was. She was concerned about this…there shouldn't be a reason for Emil to leave the party.

"Jean-Luc, what was dat 'bout?" she asked her father.

"I'm not sure, petite. He kept lookin' at you when you weren' lookin', an' when I asked him 'bout it, he blushed to de roots of his hair an' wouldn' say anyt'ing. You know de rest."

"Oui…" Jackie said vaguely.

"Is somet'ing wrong, petite? You seem distracted." Jean-Luc asked.

"What? Oh, no, it's not'ing, Jean-Luc." Jackie replied, deciding to see where Emil went.

Tante Mattie came over as she walked away, and looked at Jean-Luc. "What's goin' on, Jean-Luc?" she wanted to know.

"I'm not too sure, Mattie, but I t'ink Jackie an' Emil are hidin' somet'ing. From demselves as well as de rest of us."

Mattie smiled. "I t'ink you're right, mon ami. It will be interestin' to see where dis goes."

Emil was standing in the kitchen, looking out the window into the back yard. He didn't notice when Jackie entered the room. She leaned in the doorway for a few moments, just looking at him. In her eyes the red-haired thief was a very handsome and desirous man. He was a study in contrasts, at times joking and at others mournful. The best computer specialist in New Orleans, he was also extremely smart and talented and could do anything with a computer you could think of. Jackie admired him greatly and was attracted to every aspect of him, from the way he carried himself, to the way he stood up against Theoren and Claude when no one else would, to his red hair, to his charming smile.

Emil was lost in thought as he looked out the window, still unaware that Jackie was looking at him. He was trying to figure out when his feelings for Jackie had changed. He remembered how at first, they hadn't liked each other all that much…she resented him just about every time he said anything, and he thought she was difficult and compulsive. For the sake of everyone involved they had put their differences aside and formed a friendship that seemed to get stronger every day. Emil had learned that Jackie was just a lot like Remy, and he realized he wouldn't have it any other way. A few weeks before, something had changed. Emil started looking at Jackie in a different way, although he valiantly tried to hide it from everyone, especially her.

As he stared out the window, Emil was hit with a revelation. "I'm in love wit' her," he said softly to himself, eyes widening in wonder. He wouldn't have spoken aloud if he'd known she could hear every word he said, but he didn't so he kept going. "For de first time in my whole life…wow…but she'd never love me back, I mean look at me. I'm a computer geek an' a t'ief. Not 'xactly de most appealin' guy on de planet. 'Sides, she's young, she'll find some handsome young man…I can' tell her…"

Jackie, in true thief fashion, quietly walked over to him. Her heart was pounding; her stomach was in knots. She took a deep, but quiet breath, and placed a hand on Emil's arm. "You jus' did," she said softly.

Emil jumped slightly when she touched him. He took a breath as he turned around to face her, panic in his stomach. 'Dis didn' jus' happen…' he thought.

Jackie smiled at him when he turned around, her purple-on-black eyes filled with emotion. "I'm sorry for listenin', but I was watchin' you an' couldn' help it when you started talkin'."

Emil's blue eyes had a mixture of relief and uncertainty in them. Jackie couldn't blame him; she was feeling the same way. "I…uh…you weren' s'posed to hear dat…" he stammered, looking away.

"I know. Is it true?" Jackie decided to just ask and get it over with. It was better than beating around the bush.

"Yeah…I guess it's been true for awhile…I don' know when t'ings changed, but I do know dat I love you. I've never felt dis way 'bout anyone or anyt'ing b'fore. An' dat scares de hell out of me…I'm de one who's sorry…jus' forget 'bout it, okay? It doesn' matter." Emil replied, turning away, closing his eyes, and willing the pain to go away.

"It does matter, Emil. It matters a lot." Jackie said, grabbing his arm and turning him back to face her. "T'ings changed for me too. I'm jus' as scared as you. You t'ink dis is somet'ing I'm used to?"

"What?" Emil demanded. He had not expected this. "What're you sayin'?"

"I'm in love wit' you too. I have been for awhile, but I didn' want anyone to know…I was worried you wouldn' feel de same way. I've never felt like dis, I don' really know what to expect…." It was Jackie's turn to look away and try to escape, but like with Emil, it didn't work for her either. He grabbed her arm this time, and stopped her.

"Guess dat makes a pair of us," he grinned. "Neither one of us knows what to expect."

"I know…what do we do now?"

Emil looked thoughtful. "Well, I don' know 'bout you, but I know what I want to do," he said, moving closer to her.

"What's dat?" Jackie asked, acutely aware of his closeness. Her heart started pounding even harder than it was before. Her breath was coming in quick bursts, but Emil didn't notice. Or if he did, he didn't say anything.

"Jus' dis." Emil replied with a grin, pulling her into his arms and leaning over. He brushed his lips over hers in a soft kiss. Her eyes opened wide for a second and she stiffened, not sure how to react, then she just gave in and, closing her eyes, she returned the kiss, melting into his embrace.

Seconds or hours later, they broke the kiss, which had grown deeper as the time passed, releasing the feelings they'd each kept hidden for so long. Breathing heavily, they stared at each other, eyes wide in wonder.

"I t'ink maybe we should go wit' de flow, non?" Emil said softly.

Jackie smiled and leaned up. She kissed him lightly and said, "Oui, I t'ink dat's a good idea."

"I love you, Jacqueline LeBeau." Emil said, returning the smile and then the kiss.

"I love you too, Emil Lapin."

Jean-Luc and Tante Mattie stepped back into the hallway, glad they had not been seen by Emil and Jackie. If they had, they would have had a lot of explaining to do. They had followed Jackie and witnessed the entire exchange between the two young people. They smiled at each other in contentment.

"So dat's what dis was all about," Jean-Luc commented. "I hope dey'll be happy."

"Dey will," Mattie assured him. "I know it. We'll jus' have to make sure Theoren and Claude don' give dem a hard time…"

"If dey do…" Jean-Luc replied in a slightly threatening voice. Jackie was his daughter, even it if wasn't totally official, and he had always loved Emil like a son. "You know, I'm glad 'bout dis. Dey both deserve to be happy after everyt'ing dey've gone t'rough in de past."

"An' dat's de truth. Let's go rejoin de party. Dey should have some privacy for awhile." Mattie told him. He nodded and followed her back into the living room.