<<Patience is something our little Cockerel is very short of,>>  Andre observed as he looked out the window.

Remy smiled briefly, not even bothering to look up from the papers he had spread over his worktable.  Every now and then, they'd hear the sound of an alarm triggering, followed by a colorful curse.

<<It is something he must learn, if he wants to be a thief.>>

Andre scrutinized the youth at the table.  <<Child, something's bothering you.>>

Remy shot him a startled look.

<<I've known you since you were a pup.  You can't hide from old Andre.>>

Remy muttered under his breath while Andre came in closer and started to massage his shoulders.  The gnarled fingers attacked the hard muscles, melting the knots of tension and stress with his clever manipulation.

<<Maybe found de Cockerel's family.>>

Andre waited patiently.

<<The Cockerel has some ninja training, so I lifted his fingerprints and started a search through the Guild's Japan files.  Wasn't easy but I found some of his family.  Not sure if this is a family he'd want to return to though.>>

<<And?  Remy, I am an old man.  The suspense is not good for my heart.>>

Remy snorted before he continued.  <<He is a son of a traitor, Andre.  Belongs to the Toshnatobe ninja clan.>>

<<Merde!  Remy, send the boy away!>>

<<No, Andre.  I can't do this.  The boy needs protection.  Don't know what his parents did to betray his clan, but he's got no family to protect him.>>

<<Don't you have enough people mad at you, Remy?  You're already banished from New Orleans, the Assassins' Guild are all after your blood.  Now you want to be on the kill list of ninjas too?>>

<<Stop, Andre.  The Cockerel has a good heart and he is alone.  I can't send him away.>>

<<Remy, one day you're going to kill yourself because of your heart.>>  Andre sighed as he turned the youth to face him.  <<Why do you always make trouble for yourself?  Why can't you just take the jobs and be done with them?>>

<<Cause I care, Andre.  I sided with the devil once and it ate into my soul.  I can't do that again.>>

<<And you think you're siding with the devil to send him away?>>

<<He is alone, Andre.  He is a son of a traitor.  Do you think his clan will forgive him for what his parents did?  They may have trained him, but do you think they will believe him, if he claimed he was not trying to betray them by disappearing on them?

<<I found more of his clan in the city, four of them.  Curious folk... One of them looks more Italian than Japanese, the other man has blue eyes, and the woman has Caucasian features...

<<I know various clans in Japan have accepted members of other blood, in recent years, but our files don't specify this as something the Toshnatobe clan practices.  Barring the other contractors, who I know, they are the only ninjas in the city that I can see.  Or at least they move and hide in the shadows like ninjas.>>

<<So, we have tourists again?>>  Andre grinned.

<<Tomita san brought his family.>>  Remy eyes twinkled.  <<He'll try to find some time to come by the Chateau before he leaves.>>

<<Is he gonna try and sneak in again?>>

<<Doesn't he always?  He was all huffy that I found him.  He had hoped to surprise us.  Now he knows we have forewarning.>>  Remy laughed.

<<How old are his twins now?  Fourteen?>>

<<Yeah.>>  Remy stared down at the table again as a wave of melancholy washed over him.  <<The kids show the potential to be as good a ninja as their father.  He's a lucky man...>>

<<Rem-->>

<<I think these strangers *could* give him a run for his money.  They are *good*.  Pity they don't know enough about Marseilles to blend in.>>

<<Don't sell yourself short, Remy.>>  Andre let him get away with the change of subject.  <<These ninjas are probably good enough to hide from the ordinary folk, but you cannot hide much from a *Master* Thief.

<<If they are his clan, bring de Cockerel to them.>>

<<If it is safe, Andre, I will send him back.  For now we know nothing about these ninjas.>>  Remy turned away from the old man and reached for the papers again.  <<Why he's in Marseilles, I'm not sure.  But I'll not deliver the Cockerel to his murderers.  Maybe the Cockerel will get his memories back.  Until then, I will protect him.>>

<<How you ever made yourself a Master Thief with that bleeding heart... Andre will never understand.>>

<<Didn't have this heart when I made Gambit, Andre.>>

Andre didn't say anymore as he looked out the window again.  The alarm sounded again, followed by yet another colorful curse.

In the courtyard, Remy had left the boy to work with a motion detector.  He had earlier shown Jinpei how to deceive and disarm the alarm through patience and controlled movements slow enough that the sensor would not detect him.

Andre shook his head.  #Ah, Remy.  Y' tryin' t' make a thief outta a kid who'd prefer t' smash an' grab.  Y' too blind t' see y're jus' wastin' y' time.  Y' care too much f' y' own good, homme.#

Lucian David was not a happy man these past two days.  Especially after what this vagabond of a thief had done to his men and his pride.

David was a handsome, if not a pure bred aristocrat of one of the most powerful families in all Corsica.  The Davids didn't get where they were by sheer luck.  They prided themselves on being shrewd businessmen, dapper masters of negotiation and of course... expert killers.

#Expert killers...#  The thought ran through Lucian's mind as he thought about this meeting with the Council of Twelve.  The assassin's council, which by now was extremely enraged by the failure of David's men to make any inroads on their contract, President Cain of the United Nations.

They waited for two days for the heat to die.  Their clients wanted a grand affair to be made of the death.  Something David was a master in creating with his harassment tactics.  But... nearly three days into the arrival of the UN entourage and his men still hadn't accomplished anything.

Cain's undercover agents were good.  In the two days after their first failure, David's men had tried to nail down one of the youths, but they remained hidden to their best efforts.  At least the assassins did not make matters worse by revealing themselves to the undercover agents.  That was David's only consolation.

It was worrying though, that one of his men could almost swear that he saw a bird like creature in the area around the President's residence.  A light chill rippled down Lucian's spine.  If indeed the Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman were about, it would be a further complication and an added level of difficulty to the job.  The deadly skills of this unorthodox commando unit were legendary, as was their loyalty.  'Cut one and the rest bleed.'  This was not a team to anger or to risk invoking an O'merta with.

Lucian had to push these thoughts aside as he walked past the rich ornate walls and furnishings of the grand reception hall.  Through the double doors, a chamber marked where the council sat in near darkness to shroud their heads from view.  The elders of the powerful Corsican Mafia's assassins Guild wasted no time in bearing their teeth and their rage upon David when he came to stand under a white light before them.

<<Well... for the leader of the Guild, you seem to have a lack of focus, David.  Let's see... your contract was to kill President Cane.  Instead, you decided to divert your forces after Gambit.  Would you care to explain yourself?>>

Before David could defend himself, another of the elders spoke.

<<The pride of the Guild is at stake, David.  This thief has made a fool of you...  Stealing art from your home... defeating your so called 'experts and professionals.'  It is a mockery, Lucian.  To us more than to you.>>

A third elder spoke, but his words offered no reprieve to Lucian.  <<Our patience wears thin, Lucian, as does our confidence in your suitability.  You wouldn't want to lose that, would you?>>

David trembled inwardly.  Without the support of the council, he could be stripped of his status.  The position of Guild Leader, which had been his family's since the fall of the Corsican Mafia in the early 21st Century.

<<Well?>> asked one elder at the end of the table.  <<Speak your defense and mark your words carefully.>>

<<Elders, it was my decision to divert my assassins from our contractual obligations.  As was tradition, I assumed Gambit to be a prime target of the Guild's attention.  It was a regretful error and it shall not be repeated.  We will have our mark, I pledge myself to that goal.  I swear to it!>>

<<You have two more nights to make good this vow.>>

<<You have already committed the Guild to eliminating Gambit, Lucian.  And I wonder if that is a wise choice since he has already defeated your 'best' men?>>  An elder asked aloud.

<<As long as the feud between thieves and the assassins exists, Gambit will remain a prime target, Lucian.   But perhaps *you* are just not ready to face a *Master* Thief, especially not one who wears the title of Gambit.>>

David was livid with anger, but he dared not show it in here.  He would keep his thoughts silent for now... till he could deal with Gambit once and for all.

"EEEEEEEEE..."

Remy looked up at the clock.  He had already lost count of the number of times he had heard the alarm go off.  Taking a break from his planning, he looked out the window to check on his student.

Jinpei moved slowly across the yard.  It was pure shinobi iri, the way of silent movement.  Hands open, fingers extended, arms and legs spread wide to reduce the sounds of friction... It all looked good.

Remy only shook his head.  He could already see Jinpei's problem.

"EEEEEEEEE..."

Remy watched Jinpei jump again in frustration.  It was almost comical to see Jinpei's way of dealing with a situation.  He'd walk back to the other side of the courtyard every time and sit.  Just sit and stare at the thing with a smirk on his face before he'd get up and try again.

"Humph.  I'll give de Cockerel credit, he is no quitter." Remy chuckled as he turned to leave the room, walk out of the house and into the yard to watch Jinpei's latest attempt.

"EEEEEEEEE..."

The alarm went off again as Remy reached the porch.  Jinpei held in his frustrations as he turned to glance at Remy, before determinedly walking back to the fence again.

"Well?" Remy walked over to him and placed his hand on Jinpei's shoulder.  "Find my little task tricky?"

Jinpei looked up and Remy, his face was screwed up in frustration.  "Tricky isn't the word, it's driving me crazy!"

"Look... why don' y' stop f' now an' get some rest?  Y' c'n do it again in de--"

"No!" Jinpei pleaded.  "I can do it!  I want you to be proud of me!  Please, Remy?"

Remy smiled, "Is nice dat y' want t' please Remy, Cockerel, but y're losing sight o' what's important... y' target.  Y' wan' t' continue wit' dis... fine, but y' got t' use y' head.  Y' not concentrating on de right target.  Worry 'bout dat first 'fore your vanity."

Remy took Jinpei's shoulders and gave them a quick rub, " Now... very slowly... relax, take y'r time... an' use y' head."

Remy gave Jinpei a slight push and sent him walking again.

#De Cockerel's trying his best t' make me happy.  He knows Andre doesn't want him t' stay with us.  Know I can' keep him wit' me.  But I have t' know more 'bout dis Ninja clan o' his 'fore I figure out what t' do wit' him.#

"EEEEEEEEE..."

Jinpei walked back to the other side of the courtyard again.  He was missing something and he knew it.  Remy had made it look so easy.  Hell, it looked as though he practically strolled towar--

#That's it!  I know how to beat that thing now!#

Jinpei looked towards Remy as Andre came out to stand beside him.  Andre was speaking in French to him again.  He hated that.  He hated having the adults talk without regard to him.  Andre was probably trying to get Remy to leave him at the orphanage again.

Jinpei had to wonder what Remy had uncovered in his research.  He was so sure that he had come to a comfortable understanding with Andre after the test that afternoon.  Something Andre had learnt since then had changed this.

#Probably thinks that I'm a lost cause.  Well I'll show him.  Remy won't have to feel ashamed about me!#

Jinpei turned to face the motion sensor again.  A *motion* sensor.  That's what it was.  It didn't pick up sound, it sensed motion.

~"Y' not concentrating on de right target.  Worry 'bout dat first 'fore your vanity"~

Jinpei flushed slightly as he thought about what he had been thinking when Remy had left him to the device.  Remy was not a ninja and he made no pretenses about it.  Jinpei thought he was being smart in using his ninja training to reach the device.  His focus was wrong from the start.

He started again.  This time he focused his attention not so much on silence, but on moving slowly across the yard.

<<He's been at it the whole-->>

<<Andre, he is not a quitter.  That must count for something in your books?>>

<<Tell that to the judge when he gets hurled up for stealing.  The Cockerel is not a thief, Remy.>>

<<No, he is primarily a ninja of the fighter discipline.  But there are ninjas who specialize in the thieving skills.  And some of these can have superior skills to a Guild thief.>>

<<But they still can't hold a candle to a *Master* Thief.  Gambit-->>

"Arret, Andre.  Look at de Cockerel now." Remy smiled.  Jinpei was actually within arm's reach of the device now.  He was learning.

Sweat poured down Jinpei's face.  He could feel his heart pounding so hard within his ribs he was actually feeling quite giddy.  But he was doing it!  He was focused on movement.  His whole body moving millimeter by millimeter closer to the target.

A smile of triumph touched his lips as he reached out to touch the motion sensor.  #I did it!#

"EEEEEEEEE..."

He was crestfallen as Remy strode towards him.  Remy only chuckled as he tousled his sweat-dampened hair.

"Enough f' de day, Cockerel.  Y' made it t' de device but y' clean forgot everything I told y' 'bout disarming it, didn't y'?"

Jinpei looked at his feet sheepishly.  He couldn't believe how heavily he was breathing, or how sweat soaked he was after just this one motion across the courtyard.

"I show y' again in de morning.  Now go take a shower, get some food in y' and we work wit' de lock picks for a spell, neh?"

Andre didn't say anything as Jinpei staggered past him.  His face was unreadable as Remy approached.

"De boy tries very hard t' please y'."

"He got no wish t' go t' de orphanage, Andre.  Got some o' his records just now, I'll find out more t'night."

"Gonna do a job t'night, Gambit?"

"An important one but also t' research de hits f' t'morrow night." Gambit nodded to him. "And I t'ink I'll pay a visit t' dose ninjas too.  But dey'll not know I'm watching dem."