Remy Etienne LeBeau

PAST | PRESENT | FUTURE

Born as a result of genetic experimentation by a one Mister Sinister, Gambit is the biological son of an unknown woman, Sinister, and Cyclops, also known as Scott Summers. He was not born in a laboratory, and was instead delivered naturally at a hospital in New Orleans. From there, he was stolen by the Thieves Guild under the influence of the Antiquary due to his glowing red-on-black eyes. The Antiquary intended to keep him as part of his Velvet Ministry, which did exist as part of the Thieves Guild, and still does to some extent. At about the time that the Antiquary was banished from the Guild, a series of events allowed Remy to escape from the Velvet Ministry and he took up residence on the streets.

After gaining his freedom, the young mutant was met with hostility on the streets, earning the name Le diable blanc. He learned to steal in order to survive, using sunglasses to hide his eyes. Eventually, he joined a small time gang of street theives, living and working with them until one day when he attempted to pick a man's pocket only to be discovered by Jean-Luc LeBeau, the leader of the Thieves Guild. He recognised the boy's red eyes and took him in, adopting him as his own son, giving him the name Remy Etienne LeBeau.

Raised alongside Jean-Luc's biological son Henri, Remy was trained in the ways of the Guild. When he was entering puberty, his mutant powers began to develop, resulting in several craters in the back of the LeBeau mannor, caused by items flung hastily out of windows after being accidentally charged. Most notably, Remy's favourite stuffed bear and a priceless Faberge egg were among the casualties. Also around this time, Bella Donna Boudreaux, daughter of the Assasins Guild and therefore the Thieves rival by birth, caught his eye. They'd been friends since they were children, but puberty offered a new outlet for their friendship and they appeared to be interested in one another. Many times he was almost caught in the Boudreaux's mansion, attempting to sneak in to see the blonde beauty he admired so much. One of the most well-known times was when Bella Donna's brother Julien entered her room unnanounced and Remy was forced to jump out of the window. He misjudged his footing and ended up with a broken ankle for his trouble.

Due to Remy and Bella Donna's friendship and apparent romance, the Guilds saw a chance to unite and end their feuding once and for all. When they came of age, they were to be married. Though the heads of both guilds and the two young lovers were in agreement to these terms, there were protests from both sides from several guild members. The one who spoke out the loudest was Julien Boudreaux. Seconds after the couple said their vows and were married, Julien challenged Remy to a fight to the death, and while he was under no true obligation to take the challenge he accepted. For the honour of his Guild and his wife, he faught Julien, and was forced to kill him. Because of this, the Assassins demanded he be banished from New Orleans and in order to keep the peace, Jean-Luc complied.

Remy traveled on his own, doing Guild jobs when he could and working on his own whenever a job arose. One job of note was performed for a woman who was later revealed to be the patroness of the Guilds, holder of the Elixer of life. At the time, though, neither knew the other's true identity, and would not for nearly a decade. At this time he recieved word that Bella Donna had perished, leaving him a widower. (However this point in his history is up for debate, as some sources claim that he was present at her death outside of New Orleans, and she may have even died in his arms.)

At about the age of twenty three, Remy - now almost exclusively going by the name Gambit, a nickname given to him by Jean-Luc - began to have problems controlling his abilities. He was charging more and more items, always seeming to have endless amounts of energy. On several ocassions, he awoke to find that the bed he was laying in was fully charged and ready to explode. Because of his apparent inability to control the changes, he isolated himself from everyone. He fell out of contact with his father, his brother, the Guild, everyone he knew or cared about in any slight way. It was then that a man who identified himself as Nathaniel Essex - also known as Mister Sinister - approached him and offered to help with his problems by performing a surgery on his brain to remove a portion of cells that were causing the abilities to go out of control. Desperate, he agreed to the procedure in exchange for a service to be performed at a later date.

When the surgery proved to be sucessful, Gambit began to work for Mister Sinister, stealing several things for him and working with the Mauraders. Eventually, Sinister proposed that the Cajun lead the Mauraders to where a group of mutants known as the Morlocks were staying. He claimed he wished to help them by performing procedures on them so that they might be able to mix in with the rest of society, instead of being forced to hide. Many of them did have physical deformities, and Remy agreed, wanting to help the mutants he considered to be his friends. Unfortunately, once they arrived, the Mauraders acted out their own orders and proceeded to slaughter and maim the Morlocks. Remy attempted to stop them, and the mutant known as Sabretooth attacked and nearly killed him for his trouble. Partially evicerated, Gambit managed to escape with his life but only barely, and made his way to the nearest civilisation where he was rushed to the hospital. When he regained consciousness, he escaped from the hospital before too many questions could be asked.

Several years passed with Gambit attempting to keep a low profile and avoiding detection by Sinister. He tried to keep busy so he would not be consumed by the guilt he felt for the fate that befell the Morlocks, though he frequently had nightmares in which he would wake up screaming. One of his distractions was to go to bars and drink copious amounts of alcohol, as well as take numerous women home with him. Unfortunately despite his respect for women - and the ocassional man - he earned a reputation as a womanizer that would stick with him for years to come.

On a job, he happened to run into a young girl who was being attacked by what appeared to be some form of manipulated human. He abandoned the loot he could have gained from the job and rescued the young girl, who was later revealed to be a de-aged Ororo Munroe, better known as Storm from the X-men. When she regained her age and her memories, he joined her and the X-Men. Several of them did not trust him, as he was not very forth-coming about personal information. The Professor gave him the benefit of a doubt, but some - such as Scott Summers - continued to treat Gambit with a certain air of disdain and do not to this day trust him, no matter how often he saves their lives.

CLOSER INSPECTION

THE SAMPLE

"Hello, Remy."

Broad shoulders stiffened and hands froze over the motorcycle they'd been attending. The man was taken entirely by surprise, the intruder's footsteps completely silent as they had been when she slipped past his security. Admittedly, it wans't the most advanced security system he'd ever used, but it still should have tripped someone up.

Maybe if that someone weren't your wife.

Wiping his grease-covered hands on his sweatpants, he pushed his hair from his face and sat back on his heels. "Bonjour, ma Belle." The man turned slowly, his flashing crimson eyes colliding with the deep blue depths of the woman who stood behind him, just inside the doorway. She appeared to just be watching for now, her hand poised as if she meant to touch his shoulder, but had recoiled before she could approach him, before she had the chance. And, oh! she was just as he remembered.

Her blond hair fell in ringlets over her shoulders, catching the dim light he used to illuminate his garage. Her skin was unblemished, tanned from all the time he knew she spent swimming and enjoying the light, and it looked so very soft. Remy's fingers itched to reach out and touch her, though he did not know if he should. This was the first time he'd seen his wife since his banishment, and there was a part of him that ached for her, to take her into his arms and just hold her for as long as he could. Of course it would not last. Soon she would need to leave, as well he knew. Why was she even there to begin with?

"What y' doin' here?" He asked, standing slowly and facing her, hands resting on his hips. She was dressed in the uniform of her Guild, perfect in every way, and he stood in tattered sweats with grease on his hands, chest, and face. His hair was falling loose from the band he'd used to simply keep it out of the way, and he was fairly certain he looked like he belonged more in line for a soup kitchen than one of the more wealthy neighbourhoods in Georgia.

The lady before him shrugged, hand clenching and falling down at her side. "Can't a woman see her husband, Remy?" She drawled, voice lightly drifting through the air. Her full lips formed a somewhat sad smile as she closed the gap between them, embracing him and letting her cheek rest against his chest. She didn't care in the least that he was dirty and had grime smeared on him. All she cared about was that he was there and she could touch him once again.

The crimson eyed man hesitated for a moment before his arms enveloped her and he held her as close as he could, crushing her against his body. "Bella Donna... Remy missed y', chere." He said softly, nose burried in her yellow hair, inhaling the scent of her shampoo and the little things that made up her. "Y' takin' a big risk bein' here..."

"Don' lecture me, boy." She mumbled, smiling as she looked up into his eyes, thinking about the day they took their vows. He was thinking of it too, but did not speak as he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Their kiss was chaste, but it held promise. As he pulled away, his brow furrowed and he opened his mouth to speak, to say so many things to her that he thought about those nights he spent alone in his bed. How many conversations had he played out in his mind? How many times had he dreamt of her face, her eyes, her hair? How many times had he prayed that she would be this close to him again?

"Ma belle, I--"

Something zipped through the air, coming to rest on Bella Donna's neck. Her eyes widened, her mouth opened, and she fell limp in his arms eyes rolling back into her head. "Bella Donna!" Remy cried out, eyes searching rapidly for the source of the dart, arms wrapped tight around his wife's barely breathing body.

There! In the rafters! The Cajun reached for his wrench and let the energy flow from his fingers into the metal and letting it fly. The subsequent explosion was lost on him as he scooped up the prone body in his arms, rushing her to the main part of the house. He placed her on the bed and removed the dart from her neck, meeting her still conscious, but very dull eyes. "'S gonna be okay, chere. Remy promise. Jus' hold on." He begged her, the Gods, anyone that would listen, to let her hold on, but she was slipping away fast. He called for an ambulance, he tried to perform CPR, he tried cursing and bargaining and offering his soul up to anyone that would take it, but she was gone before the ambulance arrived.

Remy Etienne LeBeau sobbed over Bella Donna's corpse, the ring he kept on his finger felt heavier than the weight of a thousand suns. It took three EMTs and a police officer to separate the grief stricken man from the shell of his wife, and by the time they took her to the hospital and returned to come collect him for him to identify the body, he was already gone, the house cleared out with only a small piece of paper with hastily scrawled contact information remained beneath the band of gold, now as cold as her skin.