Quite a bit of the dialogue in this chapter was taken directly from Gambit #6. I did not mean to infringe on Marvel's copyright, I was merely trying to tell the story of Etienne's tilling with as much accuracy as possible. Please don't sue me, it's just for fun. Thank you.

"Are you up for dis, Remy?" Jean-Luc asked.

Remy nodded. "No one else can do it. You all have to stay here wit' Emil."

"Bon. Okay. Let's go." Jean-Luc said. He was wearing the ceremonial green robes of the Guild patriarch. Remy was in blue. They went to the front of the room, walking between the two rows of thieves, each dressed in black robes with the hoods up. They stood at the front of the room, and Jean-Luc summoned Theoren and Etienne, who were waiting in an adjoining room. Theoren was also dressed in a blue robe, but Etienne was wearing a uniform.

Theoren joined Jean-Luc and Remy, and Etienne kneeled before Jean-Luc.

"De tilling marks your passage into adulthood, Etienne Marceaux." Jean-Luc said. "If you accomplish de tilling harvest you will be formerly inducted into de consecrated Thieves Guild of New Orleans. Fail, an' you will forever be banned from our way of life. As the son of my late brother-in-law, you will always remain a part of Clan LeBeau--a part of my family--but you will never be a thief."

"I understand, Patriarch." Etienne replied, his blue eyes filled with determination and apprehension at the same time.

"Your assignment, nephew. De tilling harvest is given." Jean-Luc continued, handing Etienne a sealed envelope. "My adopted son, Remy, who marked his tilling two years ago--will serve as your registrar, as his brother Henri served him."

That night found fifteen-year-old Remy and nearly-thirteen-year-old Etienne in Granada, Spain. Their task was a dangerous one, as all tilling jobs are. They were to infiltrate the palace of the benefactress of the Guild, Candra the External. However, the job went badly when some soldiers who were hired by an evil villain known as The Pig stopped them. They tried to escape, and it was then that Etienne told Remy he knew about Remy's powers.

"We'll never get away, Remy!" Et exclaimed, holding on for dear life as Remy swung from one building to another. The soldiers fired their guns, but miraculously missed the teenaged boys.

"Yah we will!" Remy replied with as much confidence as he could muster.

"Use your powers!"

Remy almost let go of the cord he was using. "?! You--You know 'bout dem?"

Etienne started wishing he hadn't said anything. "I spied on you--blowin' t'ings up at de waterfront--I know--"

"I-I can'!" Remy exclaimed.

"Why? 'Cause of de rules of de tilling? Dat you only s'posed t'be watchin', not helpin' me? Heck wit' dat--I ain't gon' die for de sake of a Guild ceremony!" Etienne said.

"Non--is more'n jus' dat, Et. I can' control my powers enough yet--I might kill someone--" Remy explained to his cousin as they kept running.

"Hph! So you g'ahead an' spare deir lives--but it'll cost us ours!" Etienne scoffed.

Moments later, they were apprehended by the soldiers and met Candra the External for a few moments before they were taken away to The Pig's headquarters, where he had a concentration camp or a training center of sorts for kids, most of them teenagers. Remy, true to his training in the Guild, memorized everything he saw, every room they went through, until they were eventually left alone when the other kids went away for what was called 'conditioning' in the display area. When they were alone, Remy said,

"Kids're bein' trained as slaves or muscle. 'Display area' means someone's here…t'buy some."

Etienne was amazed. "How'd you figure all dat out?"

"Eyes an' ears open, Et. Only t'ing gon' keep us alive." Remy replied.

"So I can return home a failure?" Etienne scoffed. "Hmph. Least I stole one t'ing on dis trip…" he muttered, shoving a deck of cards up the sleeve of his uniform.

While The Pig was showing off some of the other boys to the lady who was there to buy them, Hydra, Remy decided it was high time he and Etienne got the hell out of there. Using his still developing powers, he blasted the door of the room they had been locked in.

"Stand back, Et--we're getting out!"

As they made a break for it, Etienne couldn't help but comment on Remy's powers. "Dose powers--like what de Assassins Guild has!"

"I been readin' up--t'ink I'm what's called a mutant." Remy told him.

"Hope dat's enough t'keep us from getting killed!"

"C'mon…how tough can a guy named 'The Pig' be?"

They kept going, Remy blowing up Hydra's jet as a means of distraction, much to Etienne's relief. He remembered the incident with the jet at the air show and was glad Remy hadn't intended on actually trying to fly it.

The Pig, a gigantic monster of a bad guy, trapped Etienne under one of his huge mustard-yellow claws. Et cried out, but Remy tried to encourage him.

"Steady, Et…"

The Pig was furious at Remy and Etienne for making him look bad in front of Hydra. "You're not even a herd number yet, much less a name to me--and still you dare embarrass me in front of a CLIENT?!"

Remy grinned. "Apparently…yah."

The Pig picked Etienne up in his claw and swiped at Remy with the other, knocking the teenager to the floor. Remy was hurting…they both were. Broken bones, bruises. They both knew they couldn't defeat The Pig, but Remy had an idea when he saw the cards fall out of Etienne's uniform. He picked them up and used his powers to charge them, throwing them at the villain and using them to blast a hole in the wall of the compound.

Unfortunately for them the building was on top of a very high cliff. The two boys fell over a hundred feet down to the choppy water, rocks and debris falling with them. When Remy woke up some time later, Etienne was nowhere to be found. A fishing trawler found Remy, and the fishermen took him to a Granada hospital, where he was treated for his injuries. He refused to let the doctors call his father; in fact, he didn't say one word about his family or the Guild. Outsiders couldn't know, they couldn't be told.

When Remy was released from the hospital, he went home to New Orleans and faced the Guild. They were upset over what had happened, over Etienne's failed tilling, but something else bothered them more.

"Where is he? What happened to him?" Theoren asked for the eighteenth time since Remy's return. He was extremely worried about his baby brother. All sorts of images were floating through his mind, and they scared him more than he'd let on.

Remy sighed. "I don' know, Theo. I wish I did. But when I woke up, an' dat fishing boat was dere…I looked, Theoren. I couldn' find him."

"Remy, you'll come to Granada wit' me to see what we can do 'bout findin' Et. Everyone else will stay here." Jean-Luc commanded. Seeing the distress in Theoren's face, he continued. "Oui, Theoren, even you. I'll call when we know anyt'ing."

A week later, Jean-Luc and Remy found themselves in a morgue in Granada, their worst fears confirmed. With a deep sigh, Jean-Luc addressed the morgue worker.

"Oui, dat's him."

Remy couldn't wait in the room any longer. Tears in his eyes, he went out to wait for his father in the hallway. When Jean-Luc joined him, he said,

"It's my fault. If I hadn'…"

Jean-Luc put a hand on his son's shoulder as they walked out of the morgue. "Non, Remy. Technically, it isn'. If it's anyone's fault, it's The Pig's. Not yours."

"But, Papa, if I hadn' tried to use my powers…maybe he'd still be alive…what's Theoren gon' say?"

Jean-Luc sighed again. "Theoren is gon' be devastated. So am I, for dat matter. An' Emil…"

Remy paled. He had forgotten about Emil. Emil was already devastated over the death of his father…how would he take finding out that Etienne was dead too? Et and Emil had been best friends all their lives…Emil was going to be horrified. And Theoren was going to blame Remy…the same way Remy was blaming himself, no matter what his father said.

"Papa…" Remy asked timidly. "Can I tell Emil? I mean…he's gon' be so upset…it might help a little to hear it from me."

"Do you t'ink?" Jean-Luc asked. Remy nodded. Jean-Luc smiled slightly. "Okay den. If you want to. But I t'ink I better be de one to tell Theo…"

"I wasn' volunteerin' for dat…" Remy said hastily. Theoren was going to be so angry, so upset…and Remy didn't want to be near the man when he found out the fate of Etienne.

"Figured as much, mon fils. Don' worry 'bout it."

Chapter Seven: Fond Remembrance