Winter of Our Discontent

Chapter 16


Logan cringed. Of all the people who could have picked up the phone it had to be
Ororo. He looked over at Remy finally asleep on the bed and replied as steadily
as he could. "He’s fine, Ro….We both are." He added the last a little harsher
than he had meant, noting that his well being was not asked about.

Ororo frowned a bit at Logan’s tone, she didn’t mean to exclude Logan in her
inquiry. It was just that the dinner conversation was still bothering her. "My
apologies, Logan. I am, of course, concerned with your well being as well. It
was just, well… I worry when my brother is not where I can keep an eye on him."
She smiled. "Though I know there are no more capable hands than yours for me to
leave him. May I speak with him a moment?"

Logan closed his eyes, guilt filling him. He knew she could not know Remy’s
condition but felt as though she knew exactly what was happening. "He’s
sleeping, Ro. We had a pretty long day and the kid’s exhausted. You want me to
wake him?" He asked knowing the answer.

"No, that is not necessary, Logan." She replied. "It gives me a chance to talk
with you then." Her voice was light; she didn’t guess. Logan let out the breath
he had been holding.

"Talk away, darlin’" he replied trying to keep his voice cheerful.

The conversation was pleasant and Logan was relieved that she did not ask about
them coming home. He figured she understood more than anyone that they were not
planning on coming back. The conversation was coming to an end when Logan asked.
"Ro? You think I could talk with Hank a minute? I got a question for him." Ororo
paused and Logan was sure she was going to ask again about Remy. But instead she
asked him to hold a moment while she got the doctor to the phone.

A few moments passed when a voice spoke on the other end of the line. "Ah, and
how are my two favorite wanderers faring this evening, Logan? Have you decided
on when you are returning? I must tell you, it has been overly quiet without you
two here. I do believe that Scott is beginning to…." Logan cut him off abruptly.

"Hank, I think Remy’s sick and I don’t know what to do to help him." Logan’s
voice broke, his helplessness showing.

Hank, hearing the urgency in Logan’s voice, sat down in his chair and typed
Remy’s name into the computer, bringing up the young man’s file. "Tell me what
his symptoms are and I will do my best to help you, my friend."

Logan took a deep breath and relayed the events to his friend.

*flashback*

Remy was awakened by the sound of moaning. It was faint but he could tell it was
coming from the room. He and Logan had stopped in Winnepeg for the night and
would make their way to Calgary in the morning. Logan was exhausted but would
not relinquish the Jeep to Remy no matter how many times he asked. He finally
convinced Logan to stop for the night at a little motel just inside the city.
They were asleep minutes after their heads hit the pillow and Remy was sure it
was going to be one of the best night sleeps he'd had in a long time.

He was dreaming when he first heard the soft sounds. He was in a cabin, it was
snowing and there was a fire, and Logan had just walked in the door. He was
smiling at the young man, but then dropped to his knees and began to moan and
cry. It was so soft that Remy could barely hear him. He moved closer but the
sound did not get any louder and as Remy reached out to touch the man, he
vanished. It was then that Remy woke and realized that the moaning and crying
was coming from the room, not the dream.

He slowly got out of bed and dropped to the floor. Scanning the dark room, he
saw Logan in the far corner curled up with his back against the wall. He looked
to be asleep but Remy could only guess at that. His eyes were closed, his body
shaking. Remy slowly crawled toward his lover and called out to him as softly as
he could. "Cher? Logan?" He whispered, not wanting to frighten him any further.
"It’s all right, Logan. Y’r here wit me, now. Not’in gonna hurt y’."

He inched closer to the man and reached out his hand to stroke the wild hair he
had come to love running his fingers through. "It’s all right, love. Ain’t no
one gonna hurt y’ ‘gain. I won’t let dem hurt y’, I promise". Remy curled up at
Logan’s head and stroked his hair. He lifted his love’s head and put it on his
lap and began to stroke his face. "No’tin gonna get by me. Logan. Dey ain’t
never gonna hurt y’ Logan, never ‘gain." Remy spoke softly making sure he used
Logan’s name and repeated himself to be sure that he was heard.

Logan began to quiet and the shaking seemed to be slowing down. Remy smiled and
kept up the stroking. He began to sing to his lover. It was the song that Mattie
used to sing to him when he'd get scared or was awakened by a nightmare. He kept
his voice soft and low, repeating the verses again and again until Logan’s
shaking stopped and he was sound asleep. Remy then leaned forward until his
forehead touched the sweaty brow of his lover. He let all the feelings of love
he had for Logan flow from him and into the sleeping man. He let the older man
feel the happiness that Remy had not felt in a long, long time. He felt Logan
relax and his breathing evened, his heart rate slowed.

Remy felt the now familiar tug of the Wolverine. He smiled as he realized that
it didn’t want him gone anymore. He had gotten used to Remy’s presence with
Logan it seemed. "Y’ go t’ sleep too, little beastie, I got my eye on Logan. Y’
jus’ let him be f’ a while. I tol’ him, now I tell y’… I aint’ gonna let no one
hurt y’." Remy felt a stillness in the room. It seemed the Wolverine had
actually listened to him. As he looked down at Logan, Remy saw that he was
sleeping peacefully and that all the signs of the nightmare had vanished. He
leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, the terrible
migraines that accompanied the use of his empathy beginning to form.

Logan woke slowly. He felt relaxed, refreshed even. He opened his eyes and let
his hand drop to his side. It was then he realized he was not on the bed
anymore. He turned his head and found he was lying on the floor. He turned his
head the other way and saw the sleeping form of Remy, curled up against the
wall. He sighed. "God, not again." He sat up slowly and kneeled next to his
sleeping lover. "Rem?" He whispered, reaching out to stroke the young man’s hair
and face. "Ya need ta wake up, Rem."

The boy didn’t stir causing worry in Logan. Again he reached out and gently
shook the kid’s shoulders, but there was no response. Logan began to panic at
the lack of response. Scrambling to his knees directly in front of the youth,
Logan began to lightly slap Remy’s face. "Remy, wake up. Remy!"

A soft moan escaped the boy’s lips and his eyes twitched. He was coming around,
albeit slowly, and the sense of relief that washed through Logan was enough to
make him slump.

*end flashback*

"And that’s not all, Blue. When he finally came round, he couldn’t even stand up
on his own. He kept bumping into things and moving real slow, like he was drunk
or something." Logan took a breath and wiped his hand down his face. "I tell ya,
Hank, it scared the shit outta me."

Hank remained quiet on his end as he processed all that Logan had told him. "Has
anything else happened?"

Taking a moment to think back over the past few days, Logan continued. "Yeh, as
a matter of fact. The other night, I woke up and he was singing. Only, it wasn’t
anything that could be understood. It was gibberish and made no sense. And he
didn’t recognize me at first. It was like he was off in his own little world,
but he wasn’t really awake."

A sigh on the other end of the phone was not what Logan had expected. His
sensitive hearing picked up the doctor typing away on his keyboard. "And what
about you, my friend. How have you been holding up?"

Taken aback by the shift in subjects, Logan’s heart warmed at the heartfelt
question of concern. He truly believed that none of the X-men cared about his
well being. "I’m….I’m happy, Blue. Can’t remember ever being so happy before.
And, I’m…well, I’m at peace."

"Why do I hear a ‘but’ in there?"

"I’ve been having nightmares, but not the usual ones. I keep waking up on the
floor with Remy holding me tight. And I can’t remember how I come to be there or
what the nightmare was about, except that I feel a sense of loss, like nothing
is real and it’s all gonna be taken away from me."

Again there was a sigh from McCoy. "Listen to me very carefully Logan. I have
seen this happen to Remy once before. Are you aware that Remy is an empath?"

Logan gasped in shock. He was sure that Remy had kept that little tidbit secret
from their former teammates. "Yeh, he told me. How…how’d ya know?"

"He let it slip one time while he was under sedation. I don’t think he is aware
that I know. But I have not shared the knowledge with anyone except the
Professor…until now." The sound of uncertainty in the doctor’s voice was enough
to indicate he was unsure about telling Logan. "I believe he has overtaxed
himself. I have no doubt that you are happy of your own accord, but I think he
may be using it on you as well to keep you from having the nightmares you
normally have, perhaps to keep you from depression in general."

Logan couldn’t help the growl, angered suddenly at the thought of being
manipulated by the only person he believed he could trust. But, Hank quickly
interjected to assure the feral. "Logan, don’t be angry. He may not even be
aware he’s doing it. In fact, from what I know of him, I’m almost sure the only
time he consciously uses his power is to express his true feelings when words
are not enough. Remy has never been one to force emotions on someone against
their will. I’m not even sure if his empathy is powerful enough to grant that."
This seemed to appease Logan somewhat. Thinking back on everything they had
shared recently, he too felt that it wasn’t in the boy’s nature.

"Odd." Hank mused causing Logan’s attention to return to the blue furred doctor.
"According to my records, the last time this happened there was a catalyst."

"What do ya mean a catalyst? When did this happen before?"

The pause on the other end seemed to last forever. Logan was just about to
demand answers when McCoy began to speak. "It was one time when you were away on
a….special mission. We were engaged in battle, but there were a number of
innocent civilians in harm’s way. All of them were panicking. We had Remy on
crowd control. He used his charm to express calm towards the crowd so that he
could evacuate them in an orderly fashion without anyone getting hurt. The
battle lasted throughout the night. When it was over, he was nearly unconscious
from the migraine caused by him unleashing his power. Everyone else thought he
had been wounded somehow by the powerful mutants we were fighting, but the
Professor and I knew differently. He was in my medical ward for a few days,
during which time he exhibited some of the strange behavior you indicated. I, of
course, was quite concerned as well and ran all kinds of tests on him." Hank
took a deep breath. "When he finally came back to himself, I tried to
discuss this with him. Of course, he was more concerned with fleeing my medlab
as quickly as possible. I did manage to get him to speak with the Professor.
Apparently, there were a couple of homeless mutant children in the group of
bystanders. They were obviously street children who had seen suffering. I think
I don’t need to go into detail with you?"

Logan grunted his acknowledgement of what the doctor was indicating. "Yes, well,
they seemed to have struck a chord with our young Acadian. I speculate it
triggered some unpleasant memories which, along with overextending his power,
caused him to….escape, if you will, into his mind." There was another pause
before Hank continued. "Logan, has anything happened recently that might have
triggered such memories?"

Logan closed his eyes. He understood what the doctor was saying to him, and he
feared for Remy. Clearing his throat, he opened his eyes to look at the sleeping
figure of his lover on the bed. "Yeh, Blue. We came across something the other
day that may have done it."

"Might I inquire what?" Logan could hear the doctor tapping away again on the
keyboard.

"Ask the prick in charge about the package he had Remy get for him the other
day." The anger in Logan’s tone was unmistakable.

Hank rubbed his eyes before speaking again. "I’ll see what I can do. But, you
need to get Remy to talk about his past. It may be important to discovering what
is behind this latest episode. And by all means, talk to him about curbing the
use of his powers. His mind needs the rest."

It was exactly what Logan had already planned to do and it was a long time
coming in his opinion. He thanked the doctor before disconnecting, then curled
around the sleeping form on the bed, concentrating on his own shields as he did.
It was time to save the boy who had done so much for him.