Chapter Text
When you're a thief, it's important to follow rules. Rules to ensure you never get caught. Rules that guarantee that once a job is done, there will be no delayed consequences, retaliation, or any risk of blackmail. Rules that guarantee the protection of everyone involved in the transaction, directly or indirectly. Essential rules for a job well done, clean, and efficient.
Some of these rules are common to all thieves. Others are specific to each individual, depending on their personal values. A moral code, one to fall asleep at night with a clean conscience.
One of Remy Lebeau’s basic rule was simple : Children were always off-limits.
Whatever was the rewards, he never messed with children. Seniors with antiques under tons of dust? Sure. Politicians who needed to erase evidence of their adulteries and money laundering? Easy. Laboratories that wanted to copy their competitors’ research? No problem. Rich collectors who coveted rare pieces from a museum? They paid the best.
But at the second a request smelled like child traffic, it was a cold no. Remy even had, multiples times, transmitted pieces of information to secret service of different countries about pedophile networks with which he found himself unwittingly involved.
He wasn't trying to be some sort of stupid hero and didn't want the spotlights, but there was something about child abuse that will always trigger him.
Animals, he could handle. Not always, and he tried to steer clear of requests from labs or anything involving animals fighting. But private disputes over pets, or jobs to recover stolen animals, those were always entertaining. He’d even stolen some stupid fishes once. A pair of idiots going through a breakup. The guy refused to let his girlfriend keep the fishes he claimed he’d bought, and he’d paid Remy a tidy sum to get them back. Remy still remembered catching the little creatures with tiny test tubes in the darkness of the apartment. He’d replaced them with identical ones, leaving both idiots with their own fishes, smugly satisfied at having denied the other's request.
It wasn’t one of his proudest heists, but it made for a good story on particularly boozy nights.
But when it came to anything involving children, he never made exceptions. That was a line he didn’t want to cross. Even parents searching for missing kids, he preferred to steer clear. He didn’t have the clarity, detachment, or skill to handle those kinds of situations. Shouldering that kind of responsibility? Absolutely not. Let someone else deal with it.
For all these reasons, the situation he found himself in now felt, and was, utterly surreal. He was behind the wheel of a recently acquired car, bought second-hand through legitimate means. No tricks, no scams, just a cash payment and a vehicle in his name. He was driving toward his new apartment, with an empty trunk and no baggage. A fresh start of sorts. Part of him wanted to pretend it was exactly that – a way to free himself from all the constraints of his past. But he knew it wasn’t true.
On the contrary, he’d taken on the heaviest burden imaginable, because in the back seat of the car, a little girl was sleeping.
Curled up in her seat, dark straight hair framing a pale face, her chest rose and fell in the rhythm of sleep that seemed surprisingly peaceful given the circumstances.
Her name was Laura. She was seven years old. She had followed Remy without a word, without hesitation or mistrust. She didn’t know him. Remy himself had only learned of her existence less than a month ago, when it all began – when he’d received a message from an unknown number asking for his help.
If he’d known, he wouldn’t have answered.
And yet, if he had to do it over again, he would. Without hesitation.
Even though it was completely insane, and he had no idea how he was going to handle what came next.
Even though he’d broken every rule he’d ever set for himself.
Even though his mind was screaming at him, raising every possible alarm to stop him.
He knew it was the right thing to do. He knew he had to do it, and that in this particular situation, no one else could have taken it on.
He didn’t regret it. And that, perhaps, was the craziest part of the whole day.
He had kidnapped a child, and he knew with absolute certainty that it had been the right thing to do.
* * *
A quick glance in the rearview mirror was enough to confirm that the little girl was awake. Sitting quietly in her seat, she was gazing at the scenery rushing past the window without making a single sound.
"Hey," Remy called out. "Have you been awake for long?"
Two intensely green eyes flickered briefly in his direction before returning to the window, without offering any response.
"We’ve got a few more hours of driving ahead of us. Do you need us to stop anywhere?"
This time, she didn’t even bother to look at him, ignoring him completely. Fine. He’d take that as a no. That was better, anyway. If they had to stop, he’d prefer to do it in a more touristy area, where they could blend in with other families and go unnoticed.
A few minutes passed in silence, and he had to bite his lip to resist the urge to try and start a conversation again. He knew it was pointless, that she wouldn’t respond. She never did. It was easier to deal with the silence when she was asleep. After a moment’s hesitation, he turned on the radio. He fiddled with the buttons for a bit until he found a station playing songs and glanced back in the mirror.
She hadn’t moved, still in the exact same position. Her eyes were glued to the outside, and there was no sign she’d even noticed he had turned on the music.
"If the noise bothers you or you want me to change it, just let me know, okay?"
The words slipped out automatically. Force of habit. At least it left the door open for her to express herself. Not that she seemed inclined to, as she gave no reaction. None whatsoever. She was locked in her bubble, completely cut off from the world.
Remy sighed and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. The drive was going to be very long.
* * *
"Alright, tout le monde dehors."
He had spotted a family-friendly highway rest area. Dozens of cars were parked there, and a moderate crowd bustled about, taking advantage of the picnic tables, the fast-food, and the small shop. Kids were running around the parking lot, letting off steam after long drives; adults were arguing with their GPS devices, and tired parents were gulping down cups of coffee. It was the perfect place to take a break and stretch their legs. Remy opened the back door, motioning for the little girl to get out.
Sitting in her seat, she stared at him, uncertain.
"You must be tired of sitting, right? Let’s take a walk. Get something to eat. Are you hungry?"
A spark of interest flickered across the girl’s face, but she quickly masked it. It was subtle, but Remy caught it and cracked a smile.
"Thought so. Alright, hop out and follow me. But keep a low profile, okay? We don’t want to draw any attention."
She stared at him a moment longer, then gave a slight nod and jumped out of the car. Remy hesitated briefly, wondering if he was supposed to hold her hand, but decided against it. He didn’t want to risk making her uncomfortable. Instead, he simply adjusted his sunglasses and headed toward the shop in the middle of the rest area. The girl followed him without a word, practically melding into his shadow as she walked behind him.
Once inside the store, he made his way to the snacks. Eating at the fast-food place would take too long, and he didn’t want to linger here. He couldn’t risk them being noticed. Fortunately, Laura looked enough like him physically to pass as his daughter, but if people looked too closely, they might see things that wouldn’t sit right with them. Her wary, almost feral eyes might alarm overly concerned onlookers. Her silence, too, as well as the awkward distance between them. Not to mention, any confrontation would inevitably draw attention to his own eyes, and in this particular situation, nothing good could come of that. He knew it, and he wasn’t about to take the risk of proving himself right.
He scanned the selection of sandwiches in the fridge. Beside him, the girl stood frozen, keeping her distance.
"What do you like?" he asked, turning to her.
She stared at him without answering, and he let out a tired sigh.
"Tuna? Ham? Cheese? Something more adventurous, like curry?"
He frowned at his own words, wondering if curry was appropriate for kids. Could he even give her that safely? And the rest? Did she have allergies? Intolerances? Should he be careful?
Damn it.
"You don’t have any allergies, do you?"
She furrowed her brow, staring at him in confusion. Alright. He was going to assume she didn’t. Refocusing on the sandwiches, he decided to grab several. He’d eat whatever she didn’t want, and they could save the rest for dinner later. With six different sandwiches in his basket, he headed to the candy aisle, the girl trailing quietly behind him. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed her pause for a brief second and the way her gaze lit up with excitement as she realized what surrounded her. A small, satisfied smile crept onto his face at finally seeing her react in a way that felt appropriate for her age. He nodded toward the shelves filled with cookies and sugary treats.
"Pick whatever you want."
She looked at him, frowning again with doubt.
"It’s not a trap."
She took a few more seconds to assess the situation before giving a quick nod – what he was starting to interpret as her version of saying yes. Lips pressed together and eyes curious, she shed her defensive stance to browse the rows of candy. After a few moments of deliberation, she reached for a pack of caramel chocolate bars and turned to him, her expression questioning.
"Bon choix," Remy confirmed. "Caramel’s always a winner."
To his surprise, the little girl smiled. Nothing big, but the corners of her mouth lifted just enough to leave no room for doubt.
She clutched the pack of chocolate bars to her chest like it was a stuffed animal.
"Careful, you’ll crush them."
She loosened her grip slightly, then dutifully returned to her spot beside him, ready to follow again like a perfectly trained little soldier.
Remy ran a hand through his hair, regaining his composure and organizing his thoughts. They needed drinks – and maybe a magazine to keep her occupied during the drive. Could she read? He had no idea. Well, she could always look at the pictures.
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, they left the store loaded with supplies. Along with the sandwiches and chocolate bars, Remy had grabbed bottles of water, a soda for the kid, and two cups of iced coffee for himself. He’d also treated himself to a bag of pistachios and, at the last moment, grabbed some protein bars. A quick detour through the book section had led him to a coloring book – with crayons included – and a magazine full of animal pictures. Laura hadn’t shown the slightest interest in either, but he bought them anyway.
Once everything was strategically placed in the car – split between the back seat and the front – Remy motioned for the girl to climb in.
She didn’t.
He raised an eyebrow, surprised.
“We’ve got to get going. There’s still a lot of road ahead of us.”
No response. She just stood there on the parking lot, silent, staring at the ground. Her legs were oddly close together.
Ah.
“You need to pee?”
Her green eyes lifted to meet his, timid and guilty. Ugh. What an idiot. He was used to long stakeouts with no access to facilities and knew how to manage it, but she was just a kid – a tiny kid, with what was probably an equally tiny bladder. How long had she been holding it in without saying anything? This was exactly the kind of thing he needed to be better about anticipating.
He closed the car door and offered her a reassuring smile, hoping to ease the clear worry on her face.
“Good thinking. Bathroom break before we hit the road again! The restrooms should be over there.”
He gestured toward the building housing the fast-food restaurant and locked the car before heading in that direction.
As he’d guessed, the restrooms were there – along with a line of about twenty people waiting to use them.
Remy suppressed a groan and simply guided Laura to the back of the line, positioning himself behind her to keep an eye on both her and their surroundings.
Then, it was just waiting. Endless waiting as people shuffled in and out of the restrooms one by one, inching the line forward. Bored, Remy let his mind wander, planning the next step of their trip. They still had five hours of driving ahead, assuming traffic was smooth. After that, they’d reach the apartment, where he still needed to pick up the keys. By then, it would be dark. With any luck, the girl would fall asleep in the car, making things simpler. Here, they could blend into the crowd, but in front of their future landlord, her closed-off demeanor and silence might raise eyebrows.
It was hard to predict how nosy people could be. He’d found the apartment through word of mouth. Apparently, the guy who owned it had multiple units in the building and wasn’t picky about tenants – meaning he didn’t mind renting to mutants. That was a plus, but it didn’t necessarily mean he wouldn’t poke his nose where it didn’t belong.
“But this is ridiculous – what, is there a dog here or something?” a woman’s voice suddenly exclaimed, snapping Remy out of his thoughts.
He blinked, turning to look at her as she grabbed her daughter’s hand, her eyes scanning the area with alarm.
That’s when he heard it too. A low, rhythmic noise, almost like an animal. An animal that was cornered, growling to ward off danger. Remy tensed, searching for the source of the sound. His eyes widened when he realized it was coming from directly in front of him.
It was Laura.
Laura was standing rigid, head down, growling.
Shit. Double shit. Of course, the first sound she made would be a goddamn growl. Luckily, no one seemed to realize it could be coming from a little girl. People were still glancing around, looking for a dog and clearly uneasy about the potential danger. Remy stayed perfectly calm, acting as though nothing was amiss. Casually, he placed a hand on Laura’s shoulder and pressed down firmly, signaling her to stop.
The girl’s body tensed instantly, and the sound ceased. He gave her shoulder another, gentler squeeze – an attempt to convey gratitude – but this time, she didn’t react, remaining stiff as a board, on high alert. Remy frowned and removed his hand, but her tense posture didn’t change.
He pinched his lips together, realizing that whatever small progress they’d made had just evaporated. His intention hadn’t been to scare or intimidate her, but that’s clearly how she’d taken it. He stifled a sigh. At least she’d stopped growling, allowing them to remain inconspicuous and safe. That was the most important thing.
The rest of the wait passed without incident, and it was finally their turn to use the restroom. Standing at the door to the stalls, Remy hesitated.
“You know how to go by yourself, right? You don’t need me to… come with you?”
He tried to keep his tone casual, but the sheer awkwardness of the question made his anxiety bleed through. The idea of accompanying a seven-year-old girl to the restroom – or even entering one filled with other little girls – wasn’t appealing in the slightest.
Laura looked at him for a moment, her brow furrowed as though annoyed, then shrugged and walked into the restroom on her own, determined and independent. Remy let out an amused smile. The kid had spunk. He liked that.
* * *
His concerns about the sandwiches turned out to be unfounded as the girl devoured an entire egg sandwich and half of another ham sandwich. Honestly, Remy was impressed by her appetite. And a little worried. She was so thin, and while the outline of muscles was visible, she didn’t seem to have an ounce of fat on her body.
They drove in silence for a while, the only sounds in the car coming from their chewing. Remy ate a tuna sandwich while driving and snacked on a few pistachios. He regretted not grabbing some chips or maybe some jerky. In the back seat, Laura had gone straight for the chocolate bars, eating two in just a few minutes.
Still silent, she eventually began flipping through the animal magazine, turning the pages one by one and running her fingers over the pictures. Remy let her be, content that she had something to keep her occupied as the seemingly endless road stretched on ahead of them.
“Hey petite,” he said after a long while.
She had finished flipping through the magazine several minutes ago and had returned to staring out the window, watching the scenery. Like earlier, she didn’t react, but he pressed on.
“I’m sorry if I scared you earlier. At the restrooms. I didn’t mean to… you can’t growl like that in public – it could attract attention. Do you understand?”
No response. Maybe she wasn’t even listening, lost in her silent thoughts.
“It’s going to take some time for us to figure out how to communicate, you and me. It’d obviously be easier if you talked, but you know what? I like silence too. And I talk enough for the both of us anyway. We’ll just… we’ll adapt. I’m pretty good at that. And I think you are too.”
He took a breath, pushing away memories of the files, the videos, and everything he’d uncovered about the lab. About Project X-23.
“You’re a fighter, Laura,” he said with conviction. “Je le sais. And I want you to know that I’m not your enemy. I’m not going to hurt you. Not like they did. You’re safe now.”
Silence settled back into the car once he finished. Laura hadn’t moved a muscle in the back seat. She remained perfectly still, her eyes fixed on the horizon. Remy sighed. He had tried.
A short while later, they hit a small traffic jam. Probably someone had broken down. Forced to crawl along at a pace far too slow for his liking, Remy’s mind began to wander again. It was hard to predict how the lab would react to the disappearance of their prized project. Were they already being tracked? Most likely. The lab couldn’t use legal channels – what they were doing was clearly illegal. That made their escape trickier, though, because Remy wasn’t entirely sure what, or who, they were running from.
Movement in the back seat pulled him out of his thoughts. It took him a second to realize that Laura was kicking at his seat. She was trying to get his attention. He glanced back briefly and saw her pointing at the radio, her expression commanding.
“Oh, you want me to put the music back on?” he asked with a grin.
She gave a small nod, her now-familiar subtle gesture of agreement, and he complied. It took him a few minutes to find a station playing music, and he glanced in the rearview mirror again. Laura was sitting upright in her seat, her eyes fixed on the radio, a faint smile playing on her lips. Remy smiled back and unconsciously puffed out his chest, feeling a surge of confidence.
The road was still long, but they would get there eventually.