*****

Logan stood as Hank exited the small bedroom, “How? -”

Hank rested a large hand on his shoulder, and pushed
just enough to make him fall back into his seat. “ You
found him in time, but you have got to calm down
before you go anywhere near him.” Across the room they
could hear Scott sigh, and Storm whisper a quiet
prayer to her Goddess.

Logan’s eyes kept darting to the small room off of the
kitchen. He had found his young lover shivering on the
ground over an hour ago on the path that led around
the lake to their cottage. He could hear his lover’s
soft anguished voice in there, and that of Jean
Grey-Summers trying to calm him down.

Being an Empath was an overwhelming mutation at times.
Many died young unable to handle the gift. Others were
driven insane by the onslaught of emotions they were
bombarded with every moment of every day.

Remy was no different.

Once in a while, usually after a particularly
difficult mission, he would suffer severe emotional
overload. Unable to handle the emotions around him he
would simply shut down. His impossibly strong mental
shields would grow even stronger. It was almost like a
self-induced coma, but the emotions that were trapped
inside his sheilds had no way to escape. Hank had seen
them last anywhere from a few hours to a few days when
the emotions he was subjected too were especially bad.
He and the rest of the team had learned to recognize
when Remy was in trouble, and with the help of his
lover they could usually avoid that now.

Hank noticed the beginnings of the signs as they
approached the mansion in the Blackbird, and the
thrusters were shifting to touch down. The young man's
usually rock steady hands were shaking as he rubbed
his temples. When Hank questioned Remy he gave Hank a
shaky smile, and said he was okay. He just wanted to
walk back alone to the cottage where Logan was waiting
for him, and he would be fine. He needed some space,
just a little quiet time to let the foreign emotions
bleed out of him. He made it about half way before he
collapsed. He was apparently too sick or too weak or
too confused to get back to his feet or call for help.

*****

For the third time that night a cup of coffee was
forced into Logan’s hand. He growled, and sat it down
with the others in front of him. Whoever came up with
the idea that coffee solved all the problems of the
world was an idiot. He heard Remy moan through the
door, and cursed himself for causing him pain. His
lover was highly sensitive to any negative emotions
when he got like this. “I need all o’ ya to get out o’
here. I need to get in there and see t’ Remy.”

His eyes strayed once again to his bedroom. He needed
to be in there, but he knew he needed to calm down
first, and all these people in their tiny cottage was
making that impossible. His mind kept flashing back to
a couple hours before...

*****

Hank had called an hour after Remy left the hanger to
make sure he made it home all right, and to ask if
they needed anything. When Logan told him he wasn’t
there yet they began a search. Logan found the boy
folded down around himself holding his head. He
instantly knew what was going on, and called Hank on
his Com badge to tell him to meet them at home. He
cleared his mind as best he could, and moved to lift
his lover to his chest. Remy lost his battle with the
nausea that always accompanied these episodes before
he got the chance, and Logan calmly pulled back his
silky hair away from his face. He rubbed gentle
circles on his lover's back, and whispered quiet words
of comfort. He knew his lover wouldn't hear or even
remember any of what he was doing later when he was
feeling better. It was more to comfort him right now.
He sighed, and kissed his lover softly before he
carefully lifted the boy to his chest when the
incoherent babbling started, and carried him home.

*****

Once Hank had a look at Remy, and he cleared the
house of all the rest of the well-meaning team; there
were still a few who tolerated their being together.
He took a deep breath and entered their room. Jean
squeezed his shoulder in comfort as she silently
passed him to return to the mansion with the others.

She recognized that the healing power of Logan's love
was the best thing for the young Cajun right now.

Logan quietly entered their bathroom, and filled the
antique tub with steamy hot water. He added bath salts
that Remy found in a little shop in Maine on their
last trip up to Canada. They smelled of the forest
after a rain, and they always had a calming effect on
the boy. He stripped down and moved to the bed when
the bath was ready.

Remy was still mumbling nonsense, he was still
holding his head trying to ease the pain he felt from
the emotions he couldn't get rid of. Logan carefully
lifted his lover from under the pile of quilts. “ Come
on darlin’, I’m gonna take care o’ you.”

Remy was boneless and Logan could smell the deep
depression he had fallen under, but his eyes cleared a
bit at the sound of his lover's soft voice,
“ Don’ touch me. Not worth carin’ for. Nothin’ but
trouble…”

Logan smiled and kissed his soft hair; he knew that
Remy wasn’t in his right mind at the moment. “ I want
too anyway, I love ya Rem.” He climbed into the tub
still holding his lover and sank down into the hot
water.

He settled up against the tall back of the antique
tub Remy found, and fell in love with on one of there
trips north. It was a huge thing with plenty of room
for both of them. Logan bought it that very day. Now
it was one of their favorite things to do in the
evening, lounge in the tub and talk quietly about the
day. He spread his legs unyil his lover was between
them, and leaning back against his chest. He sat there
silently for a moment just holding his lover, and
letting his own tension bleed away. Holding Remy like
this, wrapped safely in his arms against his chest,
made him feel lighter than air. He could easily see
himself doing this every day for the rest of his life.

Just Him, Remy, and a tub of steamy water in their
quiet little cottage. Alone, and away from the bad
guys, and teammates, and students.

With a sigh he began the healing ritual he'd stumbled
across the last time this happened to his lover. He
tipped Remy’s head back, and kissed his forehead
before he carefully squeezed water from a sponge into
his hair. He massaged shampoo into the long, wet silk.
Then carefully rinsed it out. He closed his eyes and
rubbed his lover’s temples for a few moments just
enjoying the intimate contact.

He talked quietly as he worked, and with tenderness no
one would suspect he possessed he moved a sponge over
his lover’s body. He eased one of Remy’s hands away
from his head and slowly soaped each long finger, then
his arm, and then his shoulder. He smiled as he felt
the boy begin to relax. He was still whispering
nonsense, but the shaking had stopped, and the lines
of pain by his eyes didn't seem as deep. He kissed the
shoulder he just rinsed reverently then moved slowly
to the other arm, washing each long digit then his
arm, then shoulder. He abandoned the sponge and used
his hands to wash his lover’s smooth chest.

Sliding carefully around to straddle his lover’s
long legs he continued to clean him. Remy was quiet
now, but there still wasn’t true recognition in his
gorgeous eyes. He rubbed each long leg, then sat back
on his heels and just looked at his boy. He was a
beautiful creature, funny and sweet. He reached out
slowly, and pushed a stray lock of hair back out of
his eyes before he leaned forward to kiss him one more
time.

When Logan was finished he stepped from the tub, and
dried himself quickly. Then he gathered soft warm
towels, and dried his unresponsive lover. It didn’t
matter; Logan knew the boy had to work through the
alien emotions still swimming in his head.

He carried Remy with infinite care back to the bed,
placed him in the middle, and then curl up around
himwith a sigh. Logan found the easiest way to help
Remy past these episodes was to just… love him. There
was nothing sexual about it, just caresses and soft
words. Logan told him everything that popped into his
head. He told him over and over how much he meant to
him; the man who thought love would never come his
way. He told him of making sweet love to him. Long,
and slow, and gentle, because Remy liked it best that
way. He told him his hopes, and dreams, and plans; and
finally a tear slipped from his lover's suddenly very
sad red eyes.

This was the sign he was waiting for.

Remy’s breath hitched, and Logan pulled him closer. It
was heart wrenching to watch as all the bad, sad,
sick, debilitating emotions finally left the boy. He
just held Remy through the storm, and whispered over
and over the only thing on his mind, “ I love you
Remy, God how I love you…

Half an hour later Remy started to return the soft
touches. His shaky hands moved to run through Logan's
hair. His breathing calmed, and he slowly pushed back
away from his lover just enough to see his eyes, but
never out of his embrace, “ It happened again, didn’
it?”

“ Yeah baby, but I brought you back," Logan whispered
as he pulled him close again, " I'll always be here to
bring you back.” He felt boundless joy to be able to
say that.
 

End (For now...)

Dave Matthews Band - When The World Ends
When the world ends
Collect your things
You're coming with me
When the world ends
You tuck up yourself with me
Watch it as the stars disappear to nothing
The day the world is over
We'll be lyin’ in bed

I'm -a rock you like a baby when the cities fall
We will rise as the building's crumble
Float there and watch it all
Amidst the burnin‘, we'll be churnin’
You know, love will be our wings
The passion rises up from the ashes
When the world ends

When the world ends
You're gonna come with me
We're gonna be crazy
Like a river bends
We're gonna float
Through the criss cross of the mountains
Watch them fade to nothing
When the world ends
You know that's what's happenin’ now
I'm gonna be there with you somehow, oh...

I'm ’onna tie you up like a baby
in a carriage car
Your legs won't work cause you want me so
You just lie spread to the wall
The love you got is surely
All the love that I would ever need
I'm ‘onna take you by my side and love you tall,
‘til the world ends

Oh, but don' you worry ‘bout a thing
No, 'cause I got you here with me
Don't you worry ‘bout it
Just you and me
Floating through the empty, empty
Just you and me
Oh, graces
Oh, grace

Oh, when the world ends
We'll be burnin’ one
When the world ends
We'll be sweet makin' love
Oh, you know when the world ends
I'm gonna take you aside and say
Let's watch it fade away, fade away
And the world's done
Ours just begun
It's done
Ours just begun

We're gonna dive into the emptiness
We'll be swimming
I'm gonna walk you through the pathless roads
I'm gonna take you to the top of the mountain that's
no longer there
I'm gonna take you to bed and love you, I swear
Like the end is here

I'm gonna take you up to
I'm gonna take you down on you
I'm gonna hold you like an angel, angel

I'm gonna love you
I'm gonna love you
When the world ends
I'm gonna hold you
When the world is over
We'll just be beginning...
We be flyin’ high above it all
Oh look at the new moon
Just you and me
Oh when the world ends
It’s happenin’ now
I’m gonna be there with you somehow