Remy walked into the kitchen and found Theoren still standing there, holding a forgotten cup of coffee, staring at the door.

"Theo?" Remy asked, waving his hand in front of Theoren's face. "Hello? Anybody home in dere?"

Theoren blinked and shook his head slightly. "God, how long have I been standin' here?" he muttered.

Remy chuckled. "I don' know, mon ami, I jus' got here. What's goin' on?"

Theoren looked at Remy sharply, and tried to figure out what he should tell Remy. His mind raced and he realized that he couldn't avoid telling Remy what was going on with Emil. Remy and Emil were best friends, and Remy had a right to know the details. He sighed.

"Remy, sit down, we have to talk." Theoren said. The two men sat across from each other at the kitchen table and Remy gave Theoren a curious look.

"Okay. What's dis 'bout, Theoren?"

"It's 'bout Emil." Theoren replied, sighing again when he saw the shocked, concerned look on Remy's face.

"Emil? Is he okay?"

"No. He's not okay, Remy. I don' know how long he hasn' been, but he isn'. I'm sorry to say I don' think any of us has been payin' enough attention since de unification, mais if it's not too late, I plan on payin' a lot more attention in de future." Theoren said.

Remy frowned. "Theo, what's goin' on? Why are you sittin' here tellin' me he's not okay? What's wrong wit' him? Why isn' he okay?"

"Remy, he's tired. He's emotionally an' physically exhausted. All dis stuff wit' Gris…he's been pretendin' dat it doesn' bother him, but it does. An' it has to stop." Theoren got up and went over to look out the window, trying to gather his thoughts. "Remy, he's so close to de breakin' point, it's scary. Last night…God, Remy, last night was a huge eye opener. You kind of had to be dere, I guess, but it was unreal. I was wit' him for most of de night. Mercy an' Claude were dere for a lot of it too."

"Is he still in bed now?" Remy asked, getting up and joining Theoren at the window, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Oui. He's in rough shape, Remy. He's gon' need us, an' I don' t'ink he can ask for our help. Gris needs to be stopped. He has to be prevented from ever hurting Emil again, period. Remy…promise me somet'ing, would you?" Theoren asked suddenly, turning and facing his friend.

Remy smiled stiffly. He was very worried about Emil, and it showed in his face. "Anyt'ing, Theo. What is it?"

"I'm so angry at Gris for what he's done…I'm seriously t'inkin' of killin' him. I need you to promise me you won' let me do it."

"Theoren, you don' need me to make dat promise. You already know you won' do it. You might beat de crap outta him, an' can I watch if you do? But you'll stop yourself from killin' him, b'cause while he might d'serve it, killin' people isn' de way we do t'ings. It's not de way you do t'ings. If it makes you feel better, oui, I promise, but I don' t'ink it's necessary."

Theoren started laughing. "I jus' realized why Jean-Luc put you in charge of de Guild. An' yeah, you can watch. Hell, you can help if you want to. I'm gon' go tell Genard an' Zoe what's goin' on. Maybe you should go see Emil. Jus' don' be shocked if he isn' his normal cheerful, upbeat self."

Remy found himself looking at Emil for a few minutes before he actually woke his friend up. Theoren was right, Remy realized. Emil wasn't in good shape. Even though the red-haired young man was asleep, Remy could see the pain, exhaustion and desperation in his face.

'No wonder Theo's so angry…how could we not see dis comin'?' Remy thought, pulling the chair over beside the bed and sitting down. The sound of the chair moving across the floor woke Emil up and he looked at his friend. His blue eyes, which were usually bright and laughing, were dull and listless. He pulled himself into a sitting position in the bed and wrapped his arms around his legs, resting his chin on his knees.

"You were talkin' to Theo, weren' you?"

"Yeah. He's worried 'bout you. Dey all are, an' so am I. Emil, why didn' you tell us all de problems you've been havin' with Gris have been botherin' you?"

Emil straightened up and looked at Remy directly, tears welling up in his eyes and spilling down his cheeks. "B'cause I'm Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky computer genius, an' not'ing's ever s'posed to bother me. Dat's de way it's always been, dat's de way it's s'posed to be an' I'm tired of it. I'm tired of Gris beatin' me up, an' I'm tired of pretending dat it doesn' bother me. I feel like I've got absolutely not'ing goin' for me, I feel like I'm alone an' de only person who can save me is me but I don' know how. I feel like I'm losin' my mind an' you know what?"

Remy moved from the chair to the bed, sitting beside Emil and putting his arm around his friend's shoulders. "What?" he asked quietly.

"I'm scared." Emil admitted, sniffling. "Of Gris, of bein' alone, of so many t'ings…de only t'ings I can actually depend on are you, Theoren an' de others. Dat's it. Gris has pushed me so far an' so hard an' I put up wit' it for de sake of everyt'ing else, but last night, somet'ing snapped, an' I t'ink it might've been my sanity. I can' take it anymore."

The two young thieves sat in silence for a few minutes, both thinking about what Emil had just said. Just as Remy opened his mouth to speak, the door opened and the rest of the thieves joined them.

"Emil, are you okay?" Zoe asked, her voice laden with concern.

Emil actually smiled at the young Japanese woman and gave a somewhat characteristic reply. "Well, dat depends on your definition of okay. Personally, I t'ink I'm doin' crappy, but hey, what de hell do I know, anyway? I'm jus' de one who's losin' his mind."

"You sound better den you did last night, anyway." Claude commented.

"Funny, I don' feel any better…" Emil replied. "Do you know somet'ing I don', Claude?"

Claude shook his head and looked at Theoren, who said,

"I have a confession to make. I t'ink I might have made de situation wit' Gris worse a little while ago."

Emil raised an eyebrow. "Please don' start imitatin' me…it'll only get you in trouble…"

"I wasn'. We only need one you in dis guild. But I got angry wit' him an' I told him to leave you alone, an' all it did was piss him off…."

It was Remy's turn to raise his eyebrows. He wasn't sure he liked where this was going. With Emil in such a fragile state, they didn't need Gris gunning for him, trying to hurt him more than he already was hurt. "So…?"

Theoren sighed. "So…he said dat if Emil ever said another obnoxious t'ing to him…repeat of yesterday, probably worse."

"Oh yay for me!" Emil exclaimed. "I'm jus' so lucky…not!"

Mercy was worried. "Emil, we are not gon' let him hurt you, ever again. We promised you dat last night an' we have ever intention of stickin' to it. But," she looked at Remy and Theoren. "how are we gon' do it?"

"I know! I know!" Emil exclaimed, waving his hand around and bouncing on his bed, causing Remy to fall on the floor, which in turn caused Emil to crack up laughing. "Don' let us in de same room together ever again, forever."

"Are you up for an Academy Award or somet'ing?" Genard chuckled, helping Remy up off the floor.

"Non, but you can nominate me if you want to." Emil said, settling down and sighing. He really wasn't feeling better, he just felt like being silly. He knew his friends understood, because they were all giving him looks that said they knew it was all an act. "I don' feel like getting up…do you guys mind if I jus' stay here?" he asked, sounding tired again.

Mercy ruffled his hair. "Of course not. If you need any of us, you know where to find us. We're never far away."

As the thieves filed out of the room, Emil lay down and watched them, thinking that he was very lucky to have a family like them. Theoren was the last one to go, and as he reached the door, Emil said,

"Theo wait."

Theoren paused at the door and looked back at Emil, who motioned for him to come back. He did so, sitting on the bed beside Emil, who sat back up.

"What is it, Emil?" Theoren asked.

"T'anks. For stayin' wit' me last night, an' for getting mad at Gris. I wish I'd been awake to see it." Emil replied with a faint smile.

Theoren chuckled. "De look on his face was somet'ing else, dat's for sure. Listen kid, it's not easy for me to express myself, but you, Remy an' Zoe, an' even Genard sometimes, you guys are like de kids I never had, especially since Jean-Luc left, an' I'll be damned if I'm gon' let anyone get away wit' hurtin' you. An' I know Mercy an' Claude feel de exact same way."

Emil sighed. "I'm not good at askin' for help from you guys…"

"I know." Theoren replied. "An' dat's okay, b'cause whether you ask for it or not, you're getting it. You don' have a say in de matter, not since last night. We said we'd take care of you an' we will."

Emil closed his eyes and leaned his head on Theoren's shoulder. Theoren was suddenly struck with the realization of just how helpless and fragile Emil looked and felt as his friend whispered,

"I jus' hope we're all strong enough to pull t'rough dis…"