RECAP:
He felt weak. God knows how long he had been here. He had walked around for as
long as he could,
trying to keep warm, to find food… Then he had to sit down to rest from the
weakness he started to feel,
and he couldn’t find the strength to go up and continue looking for help. There
was no point. He would die.
Cold and alone.
He closed his eyes and started to give in to the darkness, when he noticed
something. He willed himself
to open his eyes, but regretted it immidiately.
”Non…”
 

Part One.

Remy awoke startled from his dream. He sat up, panting heavily, his body was
covered in sweat. He looked around the room, making sure he wasn’t at
Sinister’s lab. He recognized his surroundings as the bedroom in the boathouse,
and he sighed with relief as he layed back onto the bed, still panting.
That nightmare had been so real. Ever since he had escaped from Sinister, he’d
had them, each night they were getting worse, but they had never felt real like
this before.
”Come on, ’s jus’ a bad dream… he can’t reach y’ here…” His breathing calmed
down and he shut his eyes, trying to go back to sleep, but failed.
Frustrated he rose from the bed, put on his silk robe and went to look out of
the window. The full moon was high in the sky, luminating the nearby forest and
lake. He sighed as he leaned his forehead on the glass, closing his eyes.
Sinister had ”saved” him from Antarctica. Remy had tried to fight him off, but
he had been too weak. It was a fool’s luck that he’d managed to escape
Sinister’s hold, after the lunatic scientist had brought him back to his lab.
And when he had met Storm and Shadowcat, he had followed them back to
Westchester for protection from Sinister - the scientist couldn’t get entry to
the mansion nor its grounds. Though Remy’d just told the others another reason
for his return.
So what was he doing alone in the boathouse, then? The others had said their
”welcome back”, said that they were happy that he hadn’t died yet they hadn’t
said it with feeling. Except for Storm and Wolverine. Rogue had said nothing at
all, she had just turned his back on him whenever they happened to be in the
same room. Cyclops had felt the tension over Remy’s arrival as well, and
thought perhaps it would be best if he stayed out of the mansion for awhile.
Well…atleast Sinister couldn’t get his hands on him again, he thought with a
smirk.

**

Ororo Munroe made her way down to the boathouse. The sun was shining, the sky
was clear and the wind brought a welcomed cool into the heat. Her blue eyes lit
up when she saw Remy lay on his back on the dock, letting the warm sun caress
his face, torso and long, lean legs. She was so glad that he was back, she
loved him with all her heart and she had missed him so much. She had gone to
Antarctica to look for him as soon as she found out that he had been left
behind, but she couldn’t even find a corpse to mourn. And now he was back…
She sat down beside her ’brother’, used her arms to lean back on as she looked
into the blue sky.
”Nice day, isn’t it?”
”Oui.”
”You sound tired.”
”Didn’ sleep much las’ night.”
”Another nightmare?” She turned her head to look at him in the eyes. ”They have
gotten worse, haven’t they?” No response. ”Are you sure you don’t want me to
move in here with you, Remy?”
Remy smirked, ”Dey need y’ up in de mansion if dere’s an emergency, petite.”
”That’s not a good enough reason, brother. You know how worried I am about you.”
She sighed, sometimes Remy could be so stubborn. She had tried so many times to
explain that she could move in with him, keep him company, or that he could
move into her room in the attic of the mansion. But he refused. He simply
didn’t want to be around any of the X-Men more than necessary. It was still a
puzzle for her why he had come back here. He didn’t want to be with the X-Men,
yet he couldn’t leave the mansion grounds. What hurt her the most was that he
never told her his reasons why. Any fool could see that Remy was slowly
destroying himself by not sharing what was on his mind. One way or another she
would have him trust her full out. She would never leave him behind in some
wasteland because of some mistake he had done in his past. He was her beloved
brother, after all.
”Jean’s cooking tonight. Will you be at the mansion for dinner?”
”Non.”
”Fine, then I will come down here and have dinner with you.”
Remy groaned, ”Stormy…”
”Don’t call me that.”
”Ma petite.” He sat up and looked into her beautiful face. He could feel that
her love and worry for him was sincere, but… But what? He sighed. ”I jus’ need
t’ be alone f’ awhile, d’accord?”
His heart broke when he saw her sad eyes, but he didn’t show it on his face.
”Alright, Remy. Remember, if you need me you will know where to find me.” She
leaned in and kissed him on his forehead, then stood up to go back to the
mansion. As she left the docks, she turned with a smile. ”I’ll see you at 7,
then? I’ll bring the food.”
Remy layed back down with a huff, ”Sure, petite.”

Ororo went back to the mansion in deep thoughts, she hardly noticed Wolverine
standing on the porch.
”You alright, ’Ro?”
Ororo startled at hearing the voice. She looked up at the porch and smiled a
hello at Logan. ”I am worried about Remy. He is so… withdrawn.” She went to
stand beside her friend and team-mate. She could see the boathouse from here,
and Remy still layed on display in the sun. ”Something is very wrong, Logan.”
”No shit. I take it yer li’l chat with him didn’t give you any more clues ’bout
his problem, then?”
”No, he doesn’t seem to want to talk about it with me.” She glanced at Logan.
”Maybe you should try? You know, a man to man talk.”
Logan smirked as he looked at Ororo’s beautiful figure. Her chocolate-coloured
skin, her long legs, her long white hair, her bright blue eyes. ”Like he’s
gonna tell me somethin’ he doesn’t wanna tell you, darlin’.”
”Can’t you just go and talk with him about something else, then? He needs to
know that I am not the only one here that cares for him, that you are his
friend too. If he feels that he is wanted here, he might open up and tell us
what’s wrong.”
Logan turned his eyes back to where Remy layed. ”Yeah, might do that.”
She smiled at him and put a hand on his shoulder. ”Thanks.” Then she turned to
go inside the mansion.
Logan put a cigarr to his mouth, lited it, and took a deep breath as he turned
his head to watch Remy roll over to get tanned on his back.

**

”Hey, Gumbo.”
Remy sighed as he turned his head to the side and opened one of his eyes to
look at Logan, who stood a few metres away from him. ”Move, sil tu plais? Y’
blockin’ de sun.”
Logan gruffed something in reply, then moved to sit down beside Remy, his eyes
taking in the view. Not the surroundings, but Remy. His handsome face was
hidden in his arms, that held up his head from the ground. His long, auburn
hair, at the moment put up in a pony tail, seemed like strings of the finest
silk. His muscular yet slender body, slightly tanned, looked so soft and he
longed to touch it. His ass was hidden beneath those black Speedos, and Logan
wouldn’t mind rip them open and fuck the Cajun right there and then, but he
controlled himself and simply sighed as he started a conversation, his eyes
following Remy’s legs from thighs to toes.
”Haven’t seen ya around much, kid. Didn’t know you were the loner type.”
”Well, dere’s a lot y’ don’ know ’bout me, homme.”
”Mind sharing?”
Slightly annoyed, Remy pressed his upper body up, then moved to a sitting
position. ”Look, Logan, I’m not really in de mood f’ a chitchat, d’accord? What
y’ want?”
”You really wanna know what I want?”
”Oui!”
Logan leaned closer to the other man, ”I want you to take a flamin’ grip of
yourself and realise that yer hurtin’ ’Ro by not telling her the truth ’bout
you.”
”I have tol’ her everyt’in’ ’bout me.”
”Bullshit. Yer hidin’ somethin’.” He leaned back as he realised that the tone
in his voice became a bit more aggressive than he had meant to. ”You can trust
her. And you can trust me. If somethin’ troubles you, we will help you out.”
Remy raised an elegant eyebrow. Since when had the bad-ass Wolverine become a
worried wuss?
Logan didn’t seem to notice Remy’s expression, as he continued, ”I think
whatever it is yer hidin’ from is the reason you’re still here. You need the
X-Men to protect you. Then we have the damn right to know what we’re protectin’
ya from.”
Remy grimaced and he started to stand, ”I have a headache.”
Logan gripped Remy’s wrist, pulled hard and forced him back down on his knees,
”Don’t change the subject, Gumbo.”
Remy glared at him. ”My problems ain’t y’r business, homme.”
Logan’s grip on Remy’s wrist got harder, and it would leave a bruise for sure.
”Now it is.”
”Fuck y’.”
”You wish.”
Before Logan could react, Remy’s other hand shot out at him, his fist hitting
Logan straight in the eye. Logan growled as he grimaced from the pain. He let
go of Remy’s wrist and stood up as he glared at the younger man.
”Fine.” Logan turned and started to walk away.
Remy looked after him, the angry emotions from Logan hitting him like bricks.
Bricks thrown at him hard from the roof of a twenty story high building. Big
bricks to that. Right on the head. ”Logan, wait.” But he continued to walk
away. ”Please…”
Logan stopped and turned to look at Remy. All of a sudden, the sexy man he had
drooled over a few minutes ago looked as scared and lost as a child. ”What?”
”Je suis desole…f’ punchin’ y’ in de eye.”
”Don’t worry ’bout it. Healing factor, y’know?” Remy smirked, but he still
looked so sad. Well, what could Logan do? He could continue his way back to the
mansion and leave the Cajun alone. Instead, he asked, ”You don’t happen to have
any beer down here, do ya?”
Though Remy’s face looked plain annoyed, his red on black eyes didn’t. He would
never want to admit it, but he was happy that Logan didn’t leave him.
He stood up and walked towards the boathouse, ”’Course I got beer, homme.” As
Remy lead the way inside to the kitchen, Logan got a nice view of Remy’s
Speedo-clad ass.