Give Unto Me

Logan sat in the shadows of a pine, watching the figure on the roof, the only witness to the boy’s nightly vigil. Every night the boy would make his way up to the roof of the mansion to sit and stare at the stars and every night Logan would follow him outdoors and take up his spot on the ground below to once again watch the routine.

Remy had his explanations for the rare occasion when someone cared enough to question why he would want to sit outside in the cold, away from everyone else, night after night. He was just going to have a cigarette, he wanted to look at the stars, he was bored…but he rarely had to use them. No one took much notice of him any more and it seemed no one noticed how withdrawn he had become. No one but Logan, that was, but Logan made sure to keep his interest to himself; he knew if he pressed Remy, the boy would just hide behind the mask of good humor again and then Logan would never find out what was changing the boy so profoundly.

Watching Remy up close, it was hard to put a finger on the change in the boy; he was adept at hiding in plain sight and would invariably pretend that he was his normal sunny self if anyone bothered with taking notice of him, but for Logan, watching from a distance, it was painfully obvious that Remy was anything BUT happy.

Logan’s ears pricked up as the sound of soft sobs reached them; the boy was crying again. It was happening more and more often as the boy became more and more withdrawn. Straining to make out the details of the shivering form on the roof, Logan snarled as he noticed that Remy was toying with his boot knife again…he knew what that meant, but he was helpless to stop it.

~~~~~~~

Sighing softly, Remy tossed his boot knife from hand to hand, tears falling down his cheeks in steady streams. Trying to remember the last time he’d been happy…the last time he’d felt anything but pain and feeling his heart clench as he realized he couldn’t remember, he slid his trench coat off and bared pale forearms to the silver moonlight.

“God, give me de strength…” he whispered to the night before bringing the wickedly sharp blade down on one slender wrist, whimpering softly at the sharp ache as he drew it across the tender flesh. Hard enough to bleed heavily, but not hard enough that he couldn’t stop it if he chose to. He wasn’t trying to kill himself, he was too afraid of an afterlife even worse than this one to do that, he was just trying to find some release, something to make him feel…to get his mind off of the pain INSIDE.

Turning his wrist reflectively in the moont, Rt, Remy smiled softly. ‘Guess dere’s some life left in dis ol’ fool after all…’ he thought to himself as he watched the dark red blood spill from the gaping gash to join the puddle forming on the shingles. Flexing his fingers one last time, he sighed and set about fishing out a strip of fabric from his pocket and tying it around the wound, head swimming from the loss of blood. Watching the blossom of blood quickly staining the make-shift bandage, Remy sighed again before getting unsteadily to his feet and attempting to navigate his way back inside.

~~~~~~~

Watching the boy stumble to his feet, Logan growled softly to himself. He could smell the blood from here. It smelled like a God damn slaughterhouse for Christ sake! The boy had toyed with cutting himself before, but never this badly and Logan wasn’t entirely sure the kid hadn’t gone too far this time.

Watching the weaving figure negotiate his way back inside through the window he always left open, Logan sighed and abandoned his hiding place to head back to the mansion himself. He didn’t know why or when the boy had stolen his heart, but it had happened and there was no fighting it. He couldn’t let the boy he loved so completely suffer like this, he’d never be able to forgive himself if he didn’t do something to ease the boy’s pain as Remy had done so many times for him.

Many a time, Remy had willingly taken Logan’s pain on himself without being asked, using his empath mak make the older man’s pain his own. He’d never once complained and had stoically accepted the pain, physical and mental, so that the other man could sleep peacefully. Every time, Logan had vowed to thank the boy for being so selfless and kind, but every time when he had woken fhis his dreamless sleep, the boy had been gone and had never mentioned the incident again. Logan knew just how hard it was on the boy and swore to himself that he would do the same for him if he ever found a way, and that conviction had grown along with his love for the thief.

Walking back to his room, Logan paused outside the door to Remy’s room to gauge the situation inside. The smell of blood and tears was still strong, but to judge by the sound of the deep, even breathing, the boy was asleep, and for that Logan was thankful. Praying that this time Remy would sleep through the night without waking up screaming from the nightmares he was notorious for, Logan continued down the hall to his own room, resolved to help the boy in any way he could.

~~~~~~~

The next night, Logan once again watched Remy escape to the roof, with some difficulty as he was favoring his injured wrist, but rather than taking up his usual spot on the lawn below, he gave the boy several minutes head-start before joining him on the roof, clutching an unlit cigar as evidence of his own reason for being there.

Remy jumped slightly when he heard the footsteps behind him, but recovered quickly, snatching the sleeve of his sweater down over his bandaged wrist and quickly lighting the cigarette he’d stashed behind his ear before shoving his hands in the pockets of his trench coat. He wasn’t about to let his unease show and flashed Logan a bright smile as he plunked down on the roof next to him, unlit cigar clamped between his teeth.

“Can I get a light there, Gumbo?” Logan asked, gruff voice sounding overly loud in the quiet of the night.

Rather than puling out his lighter and having to take his hands out of his pockets, Remy leaned over to allow Logan to light his cigar from the half-smoked cigarette dangling from his mouth. Taking the hint that the boy felt threatened with him so close, Logan lit his cigar and scooted slightly further away.

Logan knew he couldn’t bring up the issue of Remy’s nightly routine, or his injured wrist, directly, but he was up there now and wasn’t about to back down now that he’d found the courage. It was just a matter of making the boy slip up and give him a chance to “notice” the bandage around his wrist.

“So what’re you doin’ up here this time of the night, Cajun?” Logan asked after several minutes of quiet contemplation.

“Jus’ bored and wanted a smoke, dat’s all,” Remy mumbled around the cigarette in his mouth, trying to avoid Logan’s gaze.

“Bored, huh? Ya up for a game of poker then? I know ya got some cards somewhere in that coat of yours,” Logan asked, trying to sound unconcerned.

Brightening up a little at the friendly offer, Remy dug into a pocket and pulled out a pack, tossing them to Logan in way of an answer. He was starting to feel a little less threatened now; after all, he’d played poker and smoked with Logan a million times before, this time was no different than any of those, now was it? …Yes, it was. He could feel Logan’s concern under the show of indifference and it worried him; he wasn’t up to dealing with this right now, and especially not with Logan.

Putting aside his nervousness and telling himself to have some fun for a change, he grinned at Logan and scooted around so that he was facing the older man. Logan was already dealing the cards and didn’t seem to be paying Remy any more attention than usual, much to the boy’s relief.

Several games of poker later and a hundred dollars lighter, Logan had yet to see Remy slip up. The kid was on his guard in spite of his relaxed appearance, but it had been steadily wearing down in the last hour or so and Logan had a feeling he was going to get his chance very soon.

“That’s it, I’m out. You’ve got enough of my money for tonight, Gumbo. If I didn’t know you better, I’d swear you were cheating!” he said with a laugh, tossing down his cards and leaning back on his elbows.

“Who? Moi? Never!” Remy laughed and bent forward to scoop up the remaining portion of the pot and letting his sleeves ride up enough to show the bandage on his wrist in the process.

‘Bingo,’ Logan thought, ‘I knew you’d screw up sooner or later.’

“What happened to your wrist, Cajun?” he asked, seemingly amused by the idea of Remy doing something stupid and getting himself hurt.

“Huh? Oh…not’in’…jus’ hurt myself in de Danger Room, dat’s all…” Remy mumbled, breaking Logan’s gaze and busying himself with stuffing his winnings in his pocket.

“You know I caell ell when you’re lyin’ to me, Gumbo. Spill it.” He hoped desperately he wouldn’t’ scare Remy off by being so direct with him, but sometimes it was the only way to get the kid to talk. He’d make up for scaring him later, but right now he needed to get the boy to talk to him.

“Oui, je sais…” Remy said. Logan could tell he was weighing his options and he could also see that the need to keep quiet was losing out to the need for comfort. Logan could see the tearartiarting in his eyes and had to fito kto keep the show of unconcern up. “Jus’ t’ings’ve been so bad lately and I just need to feel something other dan de hurting…”

Tears running down his cheeks, Remy wrapped his arms around himself and sobbed. He was tired of pretending that things were fine and that no one could hurt him; things weren’t okay and he was so tired of the people he once thought of as his friends treating him like the enemy. He’d reached the breaking point and he didn’t know what to do anymore. Sobbing quietly to himself, it took him a minute to realize that Logan had moved around behind him and gathered him up into his arms.

“Pourqoui?” he asked softly, pressing himself tightly into Logan’s embrace in spite of his fear that Logan wouldn’t stand for it. If Logan had hugged him, it had to be okay to respond, didn’t it? Even if Logan did gut him over it, it would be worth it…at least the pain would be over with if he did.

“Because you’re hurting…because I want to make things better…because you deserve to be loved…because I care, Rem,” Logan replied softly, holding the trembling bightightly against his chest as he sobbed.

“Don’ deserve it…” Remy mumbled, burying his face in Logan’s neck, sighing softly and trying to get his tears under control.

“No, that’s where you’re wrong, kiddo. You deserve so much more than this,” Logan replied, stroking Remy’s hair, rocking him back and forth.

“Je ne le crois pas (I don’t believe it),” Remy whispered back. Wishing he could believe it, but unable to comprehend that someone would actually care about him enough to take care of him like this.

“Believe it,” Logan replied, hugging the boy tightly to him.

~~~~~~~

“Breathe in…and out…slowly…” Logan said softly, sitting behind Remy. “Relax, Rem. You’ve got to relax for this to work.”

“Tryin’, cher, but it’s hard…” Remy replied, sitting cross-legged on the ground in the lightly wooded area outside the boathouse, attempting to meditate.

“Yeah, I know, but you’ve got to put everything else outta your mind. Here, use your empathy, you just feel what I feel, okay?”

“’Kay,” Remy replied, clearing his mind and searching out Logan’s. As soon as he made the link with Logan’s mind, Remy knew the older man had been right. Logan was so calm and relaxed that it was impossible to resist following his lead. Sighing softly, tight muscles relaxing, Remy him himself be calmed by Logan’s tranquility.

Chuckling softly to himself as he saw the boy relax, Logan was amazed at the difference the forced calm had made in the boy. Normally Remy looked like he was either so tense that there was no give in his muscles or he was so hyper that he couldn’t sit still. It was a rare sight to see the boy sitting quietly, shoulders slightly slumped, so relaxed he was almost asleep.

“Alright, now you just do what I do, alright?” Logan asked, giving the boy’s short ponytail a quick tug to be sure he was paying attention.

“Mmm-hmm…” Remy replied drowsily.

“Good, now breathe with me. In…and out…slowly. Clear your mind.”

Remy was surprised when it came easily this time. Normally he was either too wound up or too tormented by his inner demons to be able to meditate, but this was wonderful. It was the fitimetime in ages he had been able to clear his mind of all the troubling thoughts he’d been having, and it was because Logan had let him use his empathy on him to share his calm.

Normally, Remy only used his empathy on friends when they were hurting. He couldn’t stand to see the people he loved in pain and so would unthinkingly create a link with their mind, taking their pain on himself, in spite of the fact that it hurt like hell and made him sick. It was the best thing he could do for someone he cared about when they were hurting and he wouldn’t dream of letting thefferffer. But when it came to positive emotions, he wouldn’t dream of leeching off of them without permission. Granted, he always picked up some of their emotions whether he intended to or not, since his shields weren’t impervious, but he wouldn’t purposely open his mind to them without permission. It would be an invasion of privacy and Remy knew how important it was to have privacy inside your own mind.

But this…this was wonderful. He hadn’t been this calm in years, and he certainly hadn’t felt even a shred of calm since he’d returned from…that place. He still couldn’t bring himself to think about that frozen hell or what he’d gone through there. Shivering in remembrance, he tried to push the errant thought from his mind.

“Rem, what did I say about clng yng your mind? Come on now, calm down and feel.” Logan’s voice in his ear made Remy jump, he’d been so caught up that he’d forgotten about where he was. Pushing aside the negative thoughts, he refocused on Logan’s calm and allowed himself to relax again.

If only he could do this more often. Not for the first time, he found himself wishing he had someone like himself who could take his pain away…just for a little while, he just needed a little while to get his head on straight.

~~~~~~~

“Logan?” Remy asked, lying on his back on the roof looking at the twinkling stars. For once he really was out on the roof to watch the stars and was actually enjoying himself for perhaps the first time in months.

“Hmm?”

“Why d’ you let me use my empathy on you?” He had to know. It was too much to hope for that Logan really cared about him. Most likely it was just because Logan felt like he owed it to him for all the times he had eased the other man’s suffering.

“Because I love ya, Gumbo, that’s why,” Logan answered, holding his breath as he waited for Remy’s reaction. He wasn’t sure how well the boy would take it, especially with it being out of the blue like that. Remy was exceptionally affectionate and loved to be loved, but Logan wasn’t sure if he would react well to hearing it from…well, from him.

Remy sat up with a look of such stunned disbelief that Logan had to laugh. If it weren’t for the fact that Logan knew Remy would probably take it the wrong way, he would have been laughing so hard it hurt, but as it was, he calmed himself and focused on projecting his sincerity, knowing that Remy would feel it.

“Quoi?!” Remy asked as soon as he could find his voice. There was no way that Logan was telling the truth, he had to be messing with him…but Logan FELT like he was telling the truth, and Remy had no reason to distrust his empathy.

“I said it’s because I love ya, kiddo…ya ain’t deaf, I know ya heard me,” Logan half chided.

“But I…you…”

Chuckling, Logan waved a hand in front of Remy’s eyes. “Ya in there, Gumbo?”

“You…I…”

“I think ya already said that, Rem,” Logan said with a smile. The boy wasn’t angry, just shocked, and that was a good sign.

“Je t’aime, aussi,” Remy finally whispered moments later once his addled brain had processed what had just happened.

~~~~~~~

“I don’t know why we let ya back, sugah! Ya ain’t nothin’ but a God damn traitor, ya ain’t got no place in this house!” Rogue spat, eyes blazing in anger.

“I got as much place here as anyone! Ain’t no one arounde pee perfect!” Remy shot back, trying desperately not to fall apart in front of her. He had to get out of there, just had to, he couldn’t take any more…turning his back on the woman he had once loved, he set off down the hall towards the window that led to the roof.

“No, ya don’t! If we had any sense, we’d throw you out on your thievin’ ass!” Rogue yelled after him, picking up a vase from a handy table and throwing it, barely missing Remy’s head as he retreated down the hallway.

Scrambling out the window and onto the roof, still hearing Rogue’s muffled shouts and curses, Remy sat down heavily on the shingles and shut his eyes tightly, trying to ignore her anger. She was projecting so strongly that it was practically impossible to tune out and he could feel the hot tears running down his cheeks as he fought against the hateful feelings.

He couldn’t take much more…he had to get his mind off of her anger. Fishing desperately for his bootknife, he whispered a short prayer for forgiveness before slashing it across one barely healed wrist, crying out in pain. Sobbing, he switched hands, grasping the knife as best he could in his left hand and dragging it across his other wrist, before letting it drop from his fingers into the quickly growing pool of blood at his feet. Dimly noting, but not caring, that he had cut far too deep this time, he watched the blood pouring from his slashed wrists, tears running down his cheeks.

~~~~~~~

Logan had heard the argument and rushed up as fast as he could, but by the time he had gotten there, only Rogue and a shattered vase were left. “Where’d he go, girl?”

“Out on the roof, if you must know. Stupid coward wouldn’t even stay and fight like a man!” Rogue snapped, glaring.

Ignoring her, Logan rushed down the hallway and scrambled onto the roof as fast as he could. He had a bad idea of what Remy was most likely doing up there and he knew he had to be quick. “Shit!” he muttered, as he noticed that while Remy was still conscious enough to be sitting up, there was a growing puddle of blood below tha that was being fed by the blood running from both his wrists.

Rushing over, Logan grabbed up both thin wrists in one hand, applying as much pressure as he could while he searched for something to tie around them. “Kid, you got anything in those pockets of yours I can use to bandage these?” Logan asked, shaking Remy to get his attention.

Looking at Logan with unfocused eyes, Remy nodded and then motioned with his head in the general direction of the pocket he usually kept his cards in. The boy was losing a lot of blood and Logan knew he had to act fast if he was going to get the bleeding stopped before it was too late. Finding the strips of cloth, Logan reluctantly abandoned his grip on one wrist so he could bandage the other, tying it off as quickly as possible and cursing as he saw that the puddle of blood was growing and that the boy was pale and quickly losing consciousness. Grabbing up the other thin wrist, he tied it off as quickly as possible before scooping the now unconscious boy up and heading for the open window.

~~~~~~~

Remy whimpered softly in his sleep and pressed himself tighter against Logan’s side, nuzzling his neck with a whimper of pleasure. He had been asleep since Logan had brought him back upstairs after Hank had sutured and bandaged the boy’s wrists and had spent much of the time crying in his sleep.

Smiling to himself, Logan let the boy cuddle close and wrapped his arm tighter around him. It felt wonderful to snuggle up with the boy like this, and Logan could almost forget about the reason that Remy was currently in bed with him if he tried…almost. Vowing silently to himself that this would be the last time Remy did anything like this, Logan kissed the top of the boy’s head and sighed contentedly as he felt the boy nuzzling his neck.

Remy groaned softly as he woke up. His head was killing him and his wrists were throbbing, but at least that meant he hadn’t managed to kill himself, and he was warm and...in bed with someone? Logan, he was in bed with Logan, and it felt wonderful. Snuggling closer to into Logan’s warm, protective embrace, Remy kissed Logan’s neck softly, smiling to himself at the quiet gasp from his bed partner.

Pulling away enough to look up with tired eyes, Remy met Logan’s gaze and gave him a tired smile. “Je suis désolé, Logan. Didn’t mean t’…” he started, silenced by Logan’s lips being pressed against his own. Moaning softly, he responded eagerly to the tender kiss, allowing himself to be shushed.

Carefully deepening the kiss when Remy responded, Logan tangled one hand in the boy’s tousled cinnamon hair and, on impulse, pulled the boy on top of him. Moaning eagerly into Logan’s mouth, Remy relaxed happily into Logan’s strong embrace. While he hadn’t expected any of this, he certainly wasn’t going to complain…it felt so good to be treated with such tenderness.

Tentatively, Remy reached out with his mind, asking for permission to link his mind with Logan’s. Taking Logan’s encouraging moan as an assent, he opened his mind to Logan and gasped at the flood of feeling that hit him. Logan wanted him so badly, but more than that, there was an overwhelming feeling of love. Logan loved him. The realization was enough to bring tears to his eyes at the same time as the lust he was feeling made him moan and press harder against the bigger man, eager for more sensation.

Carefully, Logan grabbed hold of Remy’s hips and flipped him over on his back, careful not to hurt his bandaged wrists. Pressing himself against the boy’s lean body, Logan nudged at Remy’s jaw until he tipped his chin up and allowed Logan to nip and kiss at his neck, moaning softly in encouragement. Normally he liked being treated roughly, but Logan’s tenderness was surprisingly arousing and Remy found himself wondering what it would be like to be made love to with such tenderness.

Gasping quietly as Logan tugged the hem of his shirt up so that he could get at his chest, Remy arched up into Logan’s touch as the older man moved to suck softly at his hardened nipples. “Oui, cher…se sent bon (feels good)…” moaning softly in pleasure as Logan continued his gentle torment. This was so different than what he was used to experiencing and yet it was wonderful.

“Rem, can I…make love to ya?” Logan asked softly, not wanting to push the boy even though he could feel Remy’s desire. He wasn’t about to force the boy into doing something he didn’t want to do, even if he did want the kid so bad it hurt.

“Oui, cher, s’il vous plaît,” Remy replied with a soft moan of pleasure, eyes glowing a fiery red in the dim light of the bedroom.

Groaning softly he bhe boy’s assent, Logan sat back on the bed to give the boy room. “Sit up,” he said, softly.

Quickly complying, wincing at the pain in his wrists as he levered himself into a sitting position, Remy whimpered quietly at the rush of lust he was feeling from Logan. Strangely, the care Logan was taking to make sure that he wouldn’t be too rough with him was turning out to be a major turn on, something he normally wouldn’t have imagined possible.

“Lift your arms,” Logan said softly, as he tugged on the hem of Remy’s t-shirt.

Lifting his arms, Remy allowed Logan to pull his shirt over his head and toss it on the floor by the bed. Wincing at the pain the movement caused in his wrists, Remy sighed hay asy as Logan caught the flicker of pain and pressed a gentle kiss to each wrist in turn before moving down to unbutton his jeans and slide them off of his hips along with his boxers.

Moaning eagerly at the sightthe the boy naked and waiting for him, Logan quickly stripped off his own shirt and jeans, breath catching at the sound of Remy’s eager moan as he stood naked in front of him, cock rock hard and dripping in anticipation. Sitting back down on the edge of the bed, Logan tangled his hand in Remy’s hair again and pulled him into a gentle, hungry kiss.

“Ya ready, Darlin’?” Logan asked, not wanting to rush things, but unable to wait much longer to claim the boy as his.

“Oui, cher,” Remy replied, shivering in anticipation as he felt the desperation building in Logan.

Growling softly, Logan stroked his aching cock, slicking it with precum before settling between Remy’s legs and kissing the boy deeply. Hands on Remy’s hips, he entered the boy as gently as possible, fighting for self-composure. It felt incredible, but the last thing he wanted was to hurt the boy; he’d already been hurt enough for one day. Seeing nothing but pleasure on Remy’s face, Logan set up a slow, steady rhythm.

Logan could tell by the rising pitch and urgency of Remy’s moans that the boy was close to climaxing and thrust harder, loving the way the boy met his every thrust with an equal hunger. Groaning raggedly, Logan moved to suck feverishly at one of the boy’s hardened nipples, thrusting faster and harder as he felt the boy’s orgasm building.

Close, he was so close…just a little more…Remy screamed eagerly as he was driven over the edge into screaming orgasm, crying out and shooting all over his chest and stomach in hot, sticky torrents.

Logan groaned as he felt the boy’s muscles clenching his aching cock and then howled ecstatically as Remy’s empathy drove the boy’s orgasm into his mind, driving him over the edge harder than he would have imagined possible.

Endless moments later, Logan regained his wits enough to pull out and gather the exhausted boy to his chest, both of them drained from the intensity of their shared climaxes. Settling the boy against his chest, Logan chuckled as he realized that Remy was already fast asleep.

~~~~~~~

“Non, ne me laissez pas ici (don’t leave me here)…s’il vous plaît…”

Logan was awoken hours later by the sound of Remy’s soft sobbing. The boy was curled into a tight ball by his side, crying and shaking, having a nightmare. Reaching out tentatively, Logan laid a hand on Remy’s shoulder and swore softly as the boy flinched away from him, reflexively trying to make himself smaller.

“Rem, it’s Logan, wake up,” Logan whispered, trying not to startle the frightened boy. Remy hadn’t gotten to the point where he’d wake himself up and Logan wasn’t sure how to go about doing it without scaring him.

His French was rusty at best, but he knew what the boy was dreaming about…the same thing he always seemed to be having nightmares about anymore. Being left behind in Antarctica without so much as the shirt on his back. Feeling his heart clench at the thought of what the boy must have gone through, Logan tentatively reached out and stroked his fingers through Remy’s bangs, relieved that this time the boy didn’t flinch away.

“Come on, Rem…wake up…it’s just a dream, you’re safe,” Logan whispered, brushing his fingers across one knife-sharp cheekbone, relieved to see Remy’s eyes flutter open slightly at the touch.

Remy sighed and turned his face into Logan’s touch. While this was a big improvement over waking himself up screaming, he still would have given anything to be sound asleep in Logan’s arms rather than awake, trying to shake off another nightmare. His heart was still pounding and he doubted he’d be able to get to sleep again soon, not even with Logan there to cuddle him.

“Rem, will you do something for me?” Logan asked softly, feeling the boy’s lingering terror through the lingering empathic link they shared.

“Anythin’, cher,” Remy replied, snuggling close to Logan again.

“Good. Then what I want you to do is let me do for you what you’ve always done for me when I’m hurting. I know your empathy works in reverse too, so I want you to push all that pain and fear my way,” Logan said quietly. Smelling Remy’s growing fear, he added, “I know it’ll hurt, Darlin’, but it’s alright, I got a healin’ factor and a lot of will power. I know what I’m getting into here, don’t you worry yourself about that.”

“I can’t do dat, cher…” Remy started, not sure how to explain to Logan that he couldn’t do that…he wouldn’t wish that sort of pain on his worst enemy, let alone someone he loved. He couldn’t imagine subjecting Logan to that sort of torment, even if it did mean that he’d get the first good night’s sleep he’d had in months.

“Yeah, you can, Darlin’,” Logan insisted, “I know you can. You just don’t want to because you don’t think it’s fair.”

“Mais…”

“Please Rem, I want you to do …for…for me.”

Remy knew Logan meant every word he was saying, and that the older man could handle it, but it would mean purposely hurting someone he loved, and he couldn’t even conceive of doing such a thing. But at the same time, he knew that Logan was offering him the only solace he knew how to offer, and Remy felt that he should trust Logan enough to do this if it was what the other man wanted.

“Give me your hand, cher,” Remy said softly after several long moments, taking Logan’s hand in his own and closing his eyes. “Alright, relax. You ready?”

Logan braced himself for the initial rush of sensation, “I’m ready, Darlin’. Go ahead.”

In spite of his attempts at preparation, the rush of pain, both physical and mental, hit him hard enough to knock the air out of Logan’s lungs. Forcing himself to breathe slowly and to calm himself, he allowed his healing factor to eliminate the empathic pain in his wrists. Gritting his teeth as he forced himself to get his emotions, Remy’s emotions, under control, he opened his eyes to get a look at the boy’s condition.

Logan had thought the change in the boy they’d achieved through meditation was incredible, but he had to admit, looking at him now, this change was so much more drastic that it was impossible to even compare the two. Remy’s eyes were still closed, and his shoulders had relaxedng wng with the rest of his posture. He looked somehow younger and more beautiful than , an, and it made every painful emotion Logan was feeling worth it to see such a change wrought in the boy.

As soon as Logan had himself under control enough to be able to function, he squeezed Remy’s hand and smiled gently as the boy slowly opened his eyes, looking drowsy and unmistakably unburdened. “Feel better, Darlin’?” Logan whispered, giving the boy’s hand aer ger gentle squeeze.

Yawning and blinking drowsily, Remy managed a nod. Relieved te the that Logan appeared to be doing alright, Remy allowed himself to give in to his newfound relaxation. “That’s my boy,” Logan replied softly, “Now go on to sleep, Darlin’. Okay?” Nodding unsteadily, Remy let his eyes drift closed, giving into the wonderful drowsiness and warmth he was feeling.

Smiling to himself, Logan watched the boy sleep. All the tension was gone from his face and he looked both impossibly young and inhumanly beautiful. He’d never realized before just how much tension the boy was constantly carrying around, but seeing him for the first time without it, Logan was amazed at the boy’s strength and courage.

“I love you, kiddo. I’d do anything for you…this is just the beginning, Darlin’, just you wait and see,” Logan whispered, brushing a stray clump of hair from in front of his sleeping lover’s eyes.

END

“Give Unto Me”

I've been watching you from a distance
The distance sees through your disguise
All I want from you is your hurting
I wao heo heal you
I want to save you from the dark

Give unto me your troubles
I'll endure your suffering
Place onto me your burden
I'll drink your deadly poison

Why should I care if they hurt you
Somehow it matters more to me
Than if I were hurting myself
Save you (save you)
I'll save you

Give unto me your troubles
I'll endure your suffering
Place onto me your burden
I'll drink your deadly poison

Fear not the flame of my love's candle
Let it be the sun in your world of darkness
Give unto me all that frightens you
I'll have your nightmares for you
If you sleep soundly

Give unto me your troubles
I'll endure your suffering
Place onto me your burden
I'll drink your deadly poison

Fear not the flame of ove\ove's candle
Let it be the sun in your world of darkness
Give unto me all that frightens you
I'll have your nightmares for you
If you sleep soundly