Bella Donna left Remy's room in a state of disbelief. Remy had just told her some information that had shocked her. She had known, of course, about how Gris-Gris, Fifolet and Questa had attacked Emil and Genard in the kitchen, but she had assumed everything was fine, especially after she had talked to the guys and told them to back off. Finding out that she was wrong was a bit of a blow.
She ran into her good friend and fellow assassin, Singer, in the hallway.
"Dis is insane…" Bel commented. Singer looked at her curiously, tilting her head, almost making the sunglasses she wore almost continuously fall off her face.
"What is?" Singer questioned.
"Remember how I told you 'bout de guys attacking Emil and Genard? Well, I thought everyt'ing was okay, mais, I jus' found out from Remy dat t'ings aren' fine at all."
"Why? What's wrong? I mean Emil an' Genard aren' helpless, ya know?"
Bella Donna sighed. "Yeah, well, dat's true, but I guess all de problems Emil's been havin' wit Gris since de unification have been takin' a toll on Emil."
"So?" Singer replied with a huff. "Like it should matter to de rest of us if he's havin' problems. He's a t'ief, we're assassins. Derefore, it doesn' matter to us what happens to dem."
"It matters to Remy, an' derefore, it matters to me." Bella Donna said sharply. "An' I'm gon' do somet'ing 'bout it."
Bella Donna paused outside Emil's bedroom door. Singer looked at her in disbelief.
"You're gon' talk to him?"
"Oui, I am. An' after dat, I don' know what I'm gon' do." Bel replied.
Bel raised her hand to knock on the door, and stopped midway. She had known Emil for a long time, since they were children, but the two had only one thing in common, and that was Remy. Bel wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to say to him, but she knew she had to say something. She took a deep breath, gave Singer a slight smile, and knocked.
"C'min." Emil's tired-sounding voice came from inside the room.
Bella Donna couldn't back down now. She opened the door and went inside. She wasn't sure what she had expected to see, but Emil was sitting up in his bed with the bedside light on, looking absently at a magazine. Bel had never really paid much attention to Emil in the past, but she saw that he looked more drained and less flamboyant than usual.
Emil raised an eyebrow when he saw Bel. "What's up?" he asked, trying to put some of his old cheerfulness in his voice and not really succeeding.
"Um…" Bella Donna faltered. "I don' really know where to begin…"
"Sure ya do," Emil replied. "De beginnin' is always a good place to start. Why are you here?"
"Why am I here?" Bel repeated. "Well, I'm here b'cause…b'cause I want to apologize to you. Remy told me 'bout what's been goin' on, an' I know dat not'ing I can say will make it better, but I'm sorry."
Emil looked at her and motioned for her to sit on the bed beside him. She did so and waited for him to react to what she had said.
"T'anks, Bel. I know it wasn' easy for you to come in here an' say dat. I wish it could help, but I don' t'ink it can. I…uh…what did Remy tell you?" Emil asked suddenly.
Bella Donna looked at him sharply and suddenly wondered what to say to that. She finally decided on something she didn't say often: the truth. "He said dat all de stuff wit' Gris was takin' a toll on you an' dat he wanted it to stop b'cause he was worried 'bout you. He said dey're all worried…"
"B'cause my emotional an' physical state ain' de greatest right now? Yeah. Doesn' surprise me. I don' really understand it, mais, I can' help it. But it's not your fault." Emil replied.
"You t'ink Gris will listen to Remy? He won'. But he will listen to me, I hope. An' I am gon' get him to back off. For Remy…b'cause he asked me to…an' for you…b'cause you need me to."
Emil blinked a couple of times as what Bel had just said registered in his mind. He was totally taken aback by what she said, and that she, Bella Donna Boudreaux, former leader of the Assassins guild, was actually saying she would help him. There really were first times for everything.
Gris-Gris, Fifolet and Questa were sitting in the living room at the safehouse while Bel was talking to Emil. They were unaware of what she was doing, and would have been furious if they'd known, especially if they had found out she was telling the thief she would help him. The three men sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts, and they were startled when Theoren entered the room, with Claude and Genard behind him.
"Dis crap has to stop, guys." Theoren said. "You have no right to attack us to satisfy your own whim."
Gris glared at Theoren. "You actually t'ink you can jus' waltz in here an' tell us what we can an' can' do, Marceaux? You don' run dis guild."
"Neither do you, but you seem to be takin' a lot of what goes on here into your own hands, with no regard whatsoever for Remy or Bella Donna, both of whom are more important den you are."
"Watch yourself, Marceaux…" Fifolet snarled, getting up and standing right in front of Theoren, challenging him.
"Why should I?" Theoren demanded, not backing down. "You don'. An' I'm getting sick an' tired of de problems b'tween de people in dis guild. I t'ink it has to stop. Now."
"You want us to b'have ourselves? What a shock." Gris chuckled, an evil tone creeping into his voice. I'll have you know, Marceaux, dat no one tells us what to do, especially not you. I know you're upset over what's goin' on wit' Lapin, but he d'serves what he gets, an' dat's it. You can' stop me."
"If you hurt him one more time…" Claude warned, speaking for the first time, his blue eyes flashing in anger.
"What? You'll hurt me? Ha. You can' do a t'ing to me, little man, an' you know it. None of you can. I have power none of you stupid t'ieves can match, an' you'll be wise to let me do as I wish." Gris said dangerously.
"We'll see 'bout dat, Gris. We're not as stupid as you t'ink we are." Genard said. "Sure, Emil an' I got caught de other day, but dat won' happen 'gain, you can bet on it."
"Consider yourself warned, t'ief. We will do whatever we want to, an' if dat includes hurtin' Lapin, den dat's what it includes." Questa said, fingering his knife.
"You can consider yourselves warned as well," Claude said. "We don' plan on lettin' you get 'way wit' anyt'ing. Period."