(Author's Note: The first scene in this story is taken directly from another story written by me, one of the Thief Chronicles. I did this because I didn't really feel like attempting to recreate an idea for the events surrounding a certain part of Genard's life when I already had it written somewhere else. You'll have to forgive me, but if you think about it, I'm allowed to do this because I'm simply using part of one of my other stories to write this one. Makes sense, I think. The only thing I changed was Genard's age when this happened. In the original story he was 28 years old, in this one he's 23.)

"Okay, guys, de security system is down. Go on in. An' be careful. I'll keep an eye on t'ings at dis end." Emil said into his headset. He was sitting at the computer in his room. Mercy and Genard were standing behind him, watching the screens with him. Yes, screens. Emil had quite the elaborate computer setup, as befitting a trained specialist.

"You know, I'm not sure I like dis…" Mercy said.

Emil swiveled around to look at his friends. "Why not? Dey'll be okay, we'll keep an eye on dem from here, an' dey're always careful."

"I know…I jus' have a weird feelin'." Mercy replied.

"Oh don' get started wit' dose feelings of yours, Merce. Last time you got a weird feelin, de Assassins tried to blow up Tante Mattie's house." Genard laughed.

"Oui, but I really do have a bad feelin'." Mercy told them. "I don' like it at all. Emil, keep an eye on dose screens."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Emil said sarcastically, turning back around to face the monitors again. Mercy didn't catch the fact that he rolled his eyes, but Genard did, and he laughed even harder.

Three members of the Guild, Jean-Luc, Pierre and Theoren were attempting to get crucial Assassin information from the Boudreaux mansion while the Assassins were holding a meeting elsewhere. Emil had hacked into the security system at the mansion and had one monitor of his computer keeping an eye on the outside of the mansion, while the other one was scanning the inside, keeping an eye on what the three thieves were doing.

Things were quiet for five minutes. Then Emil noticed some movement outside the mansion. He hit a few keys on the keyboard and a close-up showed that it was Marius Boudreaux and two members of the Assassins Guild coming back after the meeting.

"Uh-oh…" he muttered, switching on his headset again. "Heads up guys, Marius, Gris-Gris and Fifolet are comin' in t'rough de front door. Get de hell out of dere!"

Genard peered over his best friend's shoulder at the screens. "Looks like you might've been right, Merce. Much as I hate to say it."

"Sorry…but I had the feelin' an' had to say somet'ing…" she apologized. "Are de guys armed?"

"Don' know. Didn' ask." Emil replied, shortly, hitting keys like his life depended on it and screaming into the headset. "What are you doin' Jean-Luc…? I don' care if you're sittin' on top of de damned information, get out of dere, now!"

"You want me to talk to him?" Genard offered. Emil shook his head.

"Non, but if dey don' get dere butts out of dat mansion now I'll kill dem myself when dey get back."

"No you won'." Genard laughed.

"Well, okay, no I won', but I feel like it right now." Like many redheads, Emil had a bit of a temper, and the fact that their partners weren't listening to him was about to put him over the edge. He felt they were putting themselves in an unnecessary risk by staying at the Boudreaux mansion when they were very close to getting caught.

"Um…Emil?" Mercy said, pointing at the screen.

"What?" Emil demanded, looking at where she was pointing. "Oh no…damn."

The three Assassins had figured out somehow that someone other than them was in the mansion. They were standing outside the library and had pulled out guns. The library was where the thieves were. And unless Jean-Luc, Pierre and Theoren had guns in their outfits, they were in big trouble.

"Hey! Dey're…dey've got guns!" Genard exclaimed, eyes wide. He suddenly had a very bad feeling of his own in the pit of his stomach, and started silently praying that nothing would happen to his father. "Emil, do somet'ing!"

Emil threw up his hands. "Like what?! Dey've been warned! I told dem! I can'…I mean…dere's not'ing…GAH! Listen. All we can do right now is sit here, watch an' hope dat not'ing goes wrong."

"An' if it does go wrong…" Genard questioned.

"Den it goes wrong. Dere's not'ing we can do…we'd never get dere in time to stop anyt'ing from happenin'." Emil replied. "Now shhhh…de Assassins are goin' in…please dear Lord…"

For the next ten minutes, the three young thieves sat in Emil's room and watched the scene at the Boudreaux mansion in horror. Jean-Luc, Pierre and Theoren were armed, but they only had knives. And knives don't hold up against guns very well in any kind of situation.

Genard's eyes were glued to his father. Praying like mad, he watched every move Pierre made. He was seriously worried about what was taking place at the mansion and felt helpless because he couldn't do a thing about it.

Mercy noticed that he was nervous and put a hand on his arm. "Are you okay, Genard?"

Genard shook his head, causing his glasses to slide down his nose. Shoving them back up, he replied, " Non. I won' be okay until dis is over an' my father is safely away from dat house."

Unfortunately, Genard did not get what he wanted. He watched in silent horror as Fifolet, one of the Assassins, tossed his gun aside when he ran out of bullets, and pulled out a knife. Up until that point, the thieves had been lucky, able to dodge bullets with ease. However, Fifolet was good with a knife, and within minutes, he had stabbed Pierre in the chest.

When Genard saw that scene unfold, he gasped and closed his eyes in despair. He turned away, clenching his eyes shut as tightly as he could and trying to breathe properly. "Is he…?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Jean-Luc?" Emil said into the headset. "Is Pierre…?" When he heard Jean-Luc's answer, he sighed and took the headset off. Then he got up and went over to where his friend was standing.

"I'm sorry, mon ami," he said sadly, putting a hand on Genard's shoulder as his friend broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

Mercy put her hand on Genard's other shoulder and looked at Emil helplessly. Neither one of them really knew what to do. They knew how close Genard and his father had been…aside from the Guild, they were all they had. As far as most of them knew, anyway.

"Help…" Genard whispered, tears flowing down his cheeks even though his eyes were closed.

Mercy and Emil both squeezed his shoulders. "We're here…an' de others will be too, you know dat." Mercy said.

Genard opened his eyes and turned to his two friends. "I know," he told them with a sad smile. "I jus' don' know if dat's enough…"

"Part of me wants to jus' tell dem, Jean-Luc." The healer said candidly. "I wish I hadn' made dat promise to Jacques an' Yvonne. I know I can' go 'gainst dat promise, an' I won', but now dat Pierre is gone..."

"Dey each t'ink dey have no one left, when we bot' know dat's not true." Jean-Luc finished with a wry smile. "I know. Twenty-three years ago, four people made a decision to not tell de truth an' dey asked us to go along wit' dat decision. Pierre is de last of dat foursome an' it's hard to see Mercy an' Genard feelin' so alone when dey don' have to be."

"Is dat wrong?"

"I should be askin' you dat, not de other way around, Mattie." Jean-Luc laughed. "I don' t'ink it's wrong, non. I t'ink it's only natural, given de information we have an' knowin' how dey feel. But we can' break de promise, we can' tell dem. No matter how much we might want to."

"Exactly what I was t'inkin'." Mattie smiled. "Dat letter Yvonne an' Jacques wrote is hidden in a safe enough place at any rate, I don' t'ink dey'll find it even if dey ain' lookin' for it."

"Well dat's good. Even better is dey won' be lookin' for it b'cause dey don' have any reason to suspect anythin' of de sort even exists."

"What are you talkin' 'bout?" A voice said from the doorway, startling the two friends. They turned, shocked, to see Jean-Luc's adopted son, Remy standing there with a questioning look on his fine features. His unique red-on-black eyes darted from his father to Mattie and back again as he tried to piece together the missing pieces of the puzzle.

"Remy, how long were you standin' dere, Chil'?" Mattie demanded quietly.

The sixteen-year-old Remy shook his head. "Not long, Tante. I promise. But what are you talkin' 'bout? I know it's got somethin' to do wit' Mercy an' Genard 'cause you mentioned Mercy's father an' Genard's mother an' somethin' 'bout a letter, but what does dat have to do wit' anythin'?"

Jean-Luc and Mattie looked at each other with raised eyebrows. The question put to them now was whether or not they should trust Remy to keep the secret from Genard and Mercy. Jean-Luc cleared his throat.

"It's really none of your business, Remy. I'm sorry. I t'ink it would be best for everyone involved if as few people as possible know what we're talkin' 'bout. Okay?"

Remy raised his own eyebrows and gave his father a skeptical look. "As few people as possible meanin' you an' Tante, right? Okay, I gotcha, but you might wan' let Mercy an' Genard in on de whole t'ing if it concerns dem. Don' dey got a right to know de truth too?"

"When de time is right, Remy." Jean-Luc replied. "When de time is right, dey'll find out de truth. Dat much we can tell you. But it's not up to us to decide when dat time is."

"Okay, okay. Jus' don' be surprised if dey get mad or somethin', y'know?"

"Remy, why don' you go see what Emil's up to?" Mattie suggested. "Maybe de two of you can go to a movie or somethin'. Get you out of de house for awhile."

Upstairs in their rooms in the safehouse, Mercy and Henri were watching television and absently talking about the funeral and Genard.

"I remember when Papa died...I felt so alone..." Mercy commented. "I mean, I was lucky enough dat Mama was still alive, an' I had you an' Jean-Luc an' everybody, but Pierre was de last livin' relative Genard had. I know he's tryin' his best to hide his pain, but he's gotta be goin' t'rough hell right now."

Henri nodded. "I was still pretty young when my own mother died...younger den Genard was when Yvonne died. I barely remember what she was like, you know? When Yvonne died, I could relate to Genard, sort of, because I'd been dere myself. Dis time...I don' have a clue how he feels. Are you gon' help him?"

"Yeah...he an' I have always been close...I t'ink I can help him, or at least do what I can to be dere for him."

"You're prob'ly de best person for de job, bot' now an' in de long run. He trusts you." Henri said, wrapping his arms around his wife and giving her a hug.

"T'anks." Mercy replied, returning the hug with a smile.

NEW ORLEANS, 1997

Genard knocked quietly on Mercy's bedroom door and waited for her to answer. Mercy, not looking any older than she did when Genard was born, sat up on her bed and wiped the tears off her face. She really didn't want any visitors, but somehow she knew who was outside her door and she couldn't turn him away. They had been through far too much together for them to stop leaning on each other now.

"Come in Genard."

Shoving his glasses up on his nose, Genard pushed open the door and closed it behind him after he entered. He pulled Mercy's desk chair around and sat in it facing her with a concerned look on his face. "You'll be okay, Merce."

Mercy raised her eyebrows, her green eyes still shining with tears. "Why do you sound so sure of yourself?"

"B'cause I know it's true. Someone very wise kept insistin' dat same t'ing to me over an' over again all my life an' after awhile I started belivin' her b'cause she was never wrong. It might take awhile, an' it might seem like you'll never make it, but you will." Genard said.

"Genard..."

"Oh come on, Mercy. I had a good teacher. You. You've been dere for me t'rough t'ick an' t'in for as long as I can remember, an' I'll never forget dat. Now it's my turn. I'm a big boy, Merce. You been takin' care of me for years...can I take care of you now? Jus' dis once?"

Mercy nodded, crying openly again. Genard sighed softly and moved over, sitting beside her on the bed. He gave her a supportive hug. Mercy, looking more fragile than Genard had ever seen her, leaned on his shoulder. "I can' b'lieve dey did dis...all he was doin' was gettin' Remy for de tithin'...an' dey jus' killed him wit'out even havin' a real reason..."

"I know, Merce. I know. I also know dat it's okay to be mad at dem, it's okay to even hate dem, as long as you don' let it get de best of you. You know who taught me dat?"

Mercy sniffled and chuckled through her tears. "I did."

"Dat's right." Genard confirmed. "Mercy, you're one of de smartest, strongest women I've ever known. Henri didn' marry you jus' b'cause you're beautiful, you know. He loved your strength, your fearless way of sayin' what you t'ink an' your determination to be de best you could be at what we do. You went 'gainst all odds an' won. Dat's amazin'. He admired you, an' so do I. So does everyone else 'round here. Okay, so de assassins followed Henri an' killed him. Do you know what you do now?"

"Non, but I'm sure I tol' you at some point..." Mercy commented.

Genard grinned. "Yeah. I learned pretty early on to remember de t'ings you tol' me. You have a habit of bein' right 'bout dese t'ings. An' now, my dear Mercy, you take whatever time you need to grieve for Henri. De rest of us will be here for you when you need us to be, I can promise you dat. When de time comes you keep movin' forward wit' your life. It won' be easy, but you can do it. You're a survivor, like everyone in dis fam'ly an' you'll be fine."

"T'anks Genard. Deep down I know you're right, an' dat gives me hope. I jus' need time."

Meanwhile, up in the safehouse attic, Emil was on a mission for Tante Mattie. She had asked him if he could find the extension cords. She and Jean-Luc wanted to get the Christmas decorations ready, and in order to do that, they needed both the outside and inside extension cords for the lights. Mattie had forgotten that there was a box in the attic which contained the letter for Mercy and Genard. Emil was randomly pulling boxes out and looking through them, trying to find the extension cords, when he accidentally found the box with the letter in it. Tilting his head to one side, sat down on a crate and took the envelope out of the box and turned it over. Seeing Mercy's and Genard's names written on the envelope, Emil raised his eyebrows.

"What de heck is dis?"

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