TITLE: Portals

AUTHOR: Scorpio

FANDOM: X-Men

PAIRING: Remy/Logan

RATING: PG-15 / Teens+

DISCLAIMER: The X-Men are owned by Stan Lee and Marvel Entertainment Group.

SUMMARY: Gambit gains a few new powers and chaos ensues.

PORTALS

It took a bit for Sinister to get himself a new version of his own body and to stop needing to possess people; however the experience left him changed. No longer interested in the mutant politics that led to his downfall, he focused on his one true obsession; genetics.

One of his favorite, and greatest, experiments was the mutant thief: Gambit.

Arranging for his capture was difficult and time consuming, yet utterly worth it in the end. Realizing that he wouldn't have Gambit in his possession long, Sinister didn't waste any time. He simply drugged the man unconscious, strapped him to a surgical table and got to work.

It was very exciting.

Remy stood on the dock at the lake trying to focus on the katas he was doing. It wasn't working very well. He felt out of sorts and strange. It was as if his own body was an ill-fitting suit and Remy had never really experienced that before.

However, he'd felt this way ever since he'd escaped from Sinister and his never-ending experiments.

Part of his unsettled feeling was from the memories of being strapped down in that lab. He could easily recall dozens of needles and nearly hundreds of tests. More troubling was the numerous blank spots in his memories when he'd gone under anesthesia.

Another part of his unsettled feeling was due to the changes Sinister had made to his powers. His charge was stronger and getting more so little by little. It wasn't up to full strength, but Remy had a feeling that was just a matter of time.

Also, his hypnotic charm had been altered into full blown empathy. Remy didn't like it at all. He'd gotten into enough trouble just manipulating lust; he had no desire to mess around with the rest of the spectrum of human emotions. It didn't help that his control was shaky at best. Because of this, he was constantly being bombarded by his teammates' emotions.

Worst of all, Remy had the sneaking suspicion that there was more. There was nothing he could put his finger on as proof, though. He just felt there was something else just waiting to be unleashed.

Remy was lying in bed wishing he could just fall asleep. He was tired, but the restlessness from earlier had lingered and now it was keeping him awake.

With a soft sigh, Remy rolled over on his bed. Then suddenly without warning, his sheets began to glow a bright yellowish-white.

"De hell?..."

Then Remy fell into the glow. Traveling through the light felt uncomfortably like moving through one of Sinister's tesseracts. He barely had time to panic when Remy exited the glow only to find himself falling out of the ceiling directly over Wolverine's bed.

Logan's eyes snapped open in shock and then he was frantically rolling out of the way as Remy crashed onto his bed with a startled yelp.

After the intruder alarms were turned off and everyone was assured that the detected tesseract activity was not an indication of a Marauder attack, everyone met in the War Room.

"Look, all I know is that one moment I'm asleep in bed and the next, the Cajun's fallin' outta my ceiling."

Logan scowled at Remy with mild accusation. Remy could only shrug back uncertain and apologetic as everyone else turned a questioning look at him.

"Gambit has no clue. I just rolled over in bed. Next t'ing I know, de sheets are glowin' and I'm fallin' t'rough dem t' your room, homme. Den I'm slammin' int' your bed. Splat!"

"Well, look on the bright side," Angel smirked, "You could have come out of his ceiling over the floor instead of the bed. That would've hurt."

Wolverine grunted at that. Remy suppressed a shiver and everyone else seemed to realize that this might just be more of a dangerous problem then simply being annoying.

Scott studied Remy from behind his shades.

"What I want to know is how Sinister opened a tesseract here. And why would he connect it from Gambit's bed to Wolverine's ceiling?"

Thoughtful and confused looks raced around the room.

"I don't think he did."

Everyone looked over at Jean.

"Scans indicate that the tesseract did not originate from an outside source."

Remy paled.

"Well then, where did they originate from?"

Jean shot Remy a sympathetic glance and answered Scott's question.

"From Gambit's bedroom."

All eyes swung back to Remy.

"Wait." Angel tilted his head in confusion. "Gambit created the tesseract?"

Jean nodded.

"I think so."

Everyone looked at Remy again, this time they seemed startled and wary.

Remy shook his head in denial. "…non…"

He refused to believe that. Tesseracts were Sinister's specialty and he was not an Essex. No matter what Sinister or Claudine Renko said, Remy refused to believe that he was that monster's son.

It took two and a half bottles of bourbon, a half carton of cigarettes, and three accidental tesseracts dumping him on top of Logan before Remy was willing to admit that maybe, just maybe, he was the one generating them.

He couldn't help but wonder why his portals always dropped him on Logan, though.

First, he'd fallen through his chair at lunch only to land in Logan's lap. Unfortunately, Logan had been driving his jeep at the time. They'd plowed across a random lawn and taken out somebody's hedgerow before Logan had managed to get the jeep back under control.

Next, he'd been coming down the stairs when a portal shimmered into existence in front of him. He'd walked right through it before he could stop himself and ended up tripping over the coffee table. A brief moment of vertigo followed and then he found himself sprawled across Logan's lap with the tv remote poking him in the ribs.

The last time, he'd just stepped into the shower when he had the sensation of swirling down the drain. He'd emerged from the portal naked, wet, and unarmed to find himself in the Danger Room and inches from being skewered by Wolverine's claws.

Not fun.

Remy stood at one end of the Danger Room and stared at Logan. Scott and Emma stood to one side while Storm and Bishop stood to the other.

"Okay, folks. We have to figure this out before Gambit accidentally kills himself."

Logan snorted. "Or me."

Storm and Emma giggled even as Scott and Bishop snickered. Remy rolled his eyes.

"Told y'. Gambit has no idea why his portals always bring him t' Logan."

In truth, he tried not to analyze what his subconscious might be trying to tell him.

"Okay," Scott nodded towards Logan. "Gambit, I want you to try and open a tesseract…"

"Portal." Gambit interrupted. The word tesseract had…negative connotations.

"Er, fine…open a portal to Wolverine."

Remy reached up and scratched his chin in thought. He had no idea how to do that. His portals just…appeared.

"Hmmmm…"

Squinting his eyes, he tried to imagine the air in front of himself and Logan glowing with yellowish-white power.

Nothing.

Next, he tried to feel the air between them kinetically. Tingles swept up over his body and the air began to shimmer.

"Remy!" Storm's voice was anxious.

The air was starting to glow pink with his charge.

"Merde!"

Quickly, he pulled the charge back into himself even as Bishop began to absorb some of it.

"Oops."

He glanced sheepishly at the glares he was getting.

"Je suis desole. Didn't mean t' charge de air."

Scott took a deep breath, let it out slowly and then nodded.

"That's…okay. Just…try it again, but carefully. No one wants to be blown up today."

Trying not to roll his eyes, Gambit turned back to face Logan. He tried to remember what his portal's had felt like before, but each time he had been distracted. He only knew it was happening because of the light swiftly followed by the sensation of falling through a hole in reality.

Then without warning, something in his mind shifted. It was like flipping a switch and suddenly having light. He could sense every point in the room. And he instinctively knew that by twisting reality just so, he could link one point to another.

Instantly, a glowing yellow-white portal snapped into existence in front of Remy. Its twin opened up in front of Logan. And he could somehow feel how they were connected.

"Oh." Emma breathed softly.

"You did it!" Storm smiled proudly.

"Eh…maybe." Remy said. "Need t' be sure."

Then, without warning, he stepped into the portal closest to him and stepped out in front of Logan. Logan smirked.

"Much better than fallin' outta the sky an' landin' in my lap while I'm drivin'."

Remy blushed and everyone chuckled.

"Only did dat once ol' man an' it was an accident."

"Uh, huh."

Once he made that initial breakthrough, Remy found himself saddled with a very demanding and intensive training schedule. Scott saw great potential in his new abilities; potential for both a great advantage and for great disaster.

He was assigned to Jean for help with containing and controlling his empathy. He was assigned to Bishop for help exploring the new limits of his charge. And both Scott and Logan took turns working with him on his portals.

It was exhausting.

It was worth it, however. Remy's control over his three powers was growing by leaps and bounds. He was learning how to keep his teammates' emotions out of his head and he was no longer in danger of blowing stuff up if he stared at it too long.

Best of all, he was getting much better at deliberately opening portals to a specific location on demand. He could even hold them open long enough for other people to use them, although they closed as soon as he went through them himself.

The only real problem was that he was still opening spontaneous portals directly to Logan whenever he was distracted.

Embarrassing. Very embarrassing.

Thankfully, Logan was being a good sport about it. Well, except for that time Remy spilled his beer, but that was understandable.

"Aaauuugghhhh!"

SPLASH!

Spluttering and choking, Remy clawed his way up to the surface of the lake. When he did, he found himself at the edge of the dock looking up at Logan. He had an expression on his face that was half amusement and half annoyance.

"Hey Logan."

Logan snorted and bent down. He held out a hand and Remy grabbed it so that Logan could pull him out of the lake.

Once on the dock, Remy stood there dripping wet and sheepish as Logan shook his head.

"What happened this time, bub?"

Remy shrugged and gestured to his soaking wet jeans and shirt.

"Was in de garage workin' on m' bike. Just singin' along t' de radio an' den next t'ing I know, I'm fallin' t'rough de floor an' landin' in de lake."

Remy scowled at the water.

"Dropped a wrench, me. Hope it's in de garage an' not at de bottom of de lake."

Logan eyed him warily.

"Was it my wrench?"

Remy shook his head and smirked lightly.

"Naw. Scotty's."

They both chuckled for a moment. Then Logan cleared his throat.

"Ya gotta get a handle on this blindly portalling yarself ta me soon."

Remy nodded.

"I know."

"It's almost ta the point where I'm afraid ta do anything or go anywhere. I don't wanna end up stuck in a room full o' feather pillows just in case ya fall outta the sky at me."

Remy nodded again and sighed.

"Je suis desole, Logan."

Logan nodded and looked out over the lake while Remy tried to wring water out of his hair and shirt.

"Why me, Gumbo?"

"Henh?"

Remy looked up from trying to dry out his shirt.

"Why does yar portals keep on sendin' ya ta me? There's gotta be a reason. I mean, ya ain't droppin' outta the sky on top o' anyone else."

Remy blushed and looked away.

"True."

It was silent for a moment as Remy considered everything. Finally, he sighed softly.

"Jeannie t'inks it's 'cause Remy's empathy likes y'."

"Huh?"

Remy kept looking away and shrugged.

"Y'…calm, Logan. Controlled."

Logan blinked in surprise.

"Me?"

Remy nodded and rolled his eyes.

"Don't know if it's from all de meditation or from years of tryin' t' control de Wolverine, mais…outta everyone here, y' de calmest."

Logan looked faintly amazed.

"Never would'a guessed that. I would'a said Jean or maybe Emma. Possibly Scott."

Remy smirked and shook his head.

"Naw. Controllin' y' thoughts an' psi-shields ain't de same as controllin' y' emotions."

He snorted.

"An' as for Scotty, dat boy's control be only skin deep. Unda dat stone face of his, he's a volcano of emotion."

"Huh."

Logan pulled out a cigar and fiddled with it. Then he bit off the end and stuffed it into his mouth. Remy lit it with a glance and got a nod of thanks.

"So…this is more about gettin' yar empathy under control than it is about controlling yar portals?"

Remy barked out a brief laugh.

"Dat an' findin' a way t' keep m' portals from reactin' t' de empathy on its own. Gotta separate de two of 'em."

While Logan considered that, Remy sat down and pulled off his boots. He poured water out of them and sighed. It would be at least a week until they were dry enough to wear again.

"Ya know…ya might wanna talk ta Storm. Her powers are linked ta her emotions an' she's had ta learn how ta control 'em despite that fact. She might be able ta give ya some pointers."

Remy tilted his head thoughtfully and then nodded.

"Dats a good idea. I will."

It was Hellion being an obnoxious jerk and getting on Remy's last nerve that led him to discovering a new trick with his portals. The kid had managed to insult and aggravate Jubilee, Kitty, and Storm all the while treating Remy like some useless pup.

So, Remy opened a portal under the kid's feet and dropped him in it. Then he connected it to a portal roughly ten feet over top of the first one. Hellion dropped out of the second portal and fell right back into the first one again.

Remy let the kid loop through the portals a dozen or so times while Jubilee and Kitty laughed hysterically and Storm smirked. Then he took pity and let the kid hit the floor with a splat.

Hellion laid there moaning and trying not to puke while Remy just shook his head in amusement.

"You ass!" Hellion groaned. "You could have killed me."

Kitty snorted.

"Uh, I don't think so, bub." Jubilee rolled her eyes. "If Gumbo wanted ya dead, we'd be arranging ya funeral right now."

Hellion grit his teeth and narrowed his eyes. Then, with a yell he shoved himself off of the floor and charged right at Remy. He got all of three steps before he was swallowed up by a portal and disappeared. A long second later, there was a very faint splashing sound.

"Brother…what did you do?"

Remy grinned wickedly at Storm.

"Remy might have dropped de pup int' de lake so he could cool down dat hot head of his."

Kitty and Jubilee doubled over in hysterical laughter again. Storm sighed indulgently and shook her head fondly.

"You are a bad bad man, Remy LeBeau."

The she leaned over and kissed him on his cheek. Remy just beamed a smile at everyone.

"Try Storm." Jean's voice was soft and slightly hypnotic. "Stretch your mind out towards her. Let her emotions wash over you like she is the stream and you are the pebble."

It was an odd sensation to reach out with his empathy. It wasn't like reaching out with his hands to touch; it was more like looking at someone and seeing. Although, that still wasn't right either.

Emotions were ethereal, abstract. And yet they affected people in very real physical ways. They were the product of glandular hormones and thoughts, the spiritual and the physical.

Sensing them was surreal in a way that even his portals couldn't quite match.

"You can do it Remy. Reach out for Storm. You know her…feel her…"

Closing his eyes and trying to settle and calm himself, Remy stretched out with his mind and his newfound empathy and reached for Storm. A soft flutter of foreign emotions washed over him and he braced himself to keep from being influenced by them.

"She's…serene. Happy." He smiled. "Wit' just a touch of possessive protectiveness."

"Oh?"

Remy nodded and allowed Storm's emotions to wash over him softly.

"T'ink she's wit' her plants."

Jean chuckled lightly.

"Yeah. She does love those plants of hers."

After a moment, Jean shifted and Remy knew she'd be sending him to reach for someone else so he began to pull back from Storm's serenity with a soft sigh.

"Okay. Very good. Now, I want you to try and reach for Scott. Stretch your mind towards him and let his emotions wash over you."

Remy frowned. This would be harder to keep himself separate. Scott might seem stiff and controlled on the outside, but he was a wellspring of bubbling emotions underneath.

Carefully and slowly, Remy stretched out his empathy towards Scott. At first, he just felt what he could only compare to heat. A hot rolling boil of emotion. Then the empathic connection firmed up and it was like getting smacked in the heart.

Remy's head snapped back on his neck and he grimaced in discomfort. Storm's emotions had flowed over him gently, but Scott's buffeted against him like a strong wing banging against a tiny shack. Unfortunately, Remy was the tiny shack.

"Remy?" Jean's voice was cautiously curious. He grit his teeth and hung on as he tried to shift through the various emotions to identify them and let them whoosh past him.

"Gambit? Answer me."

Jean was a bit more insistent, so he took a deep breath and concentrated.

"Scotty's…upset."

Remy frowned and curled his hands into fists and he struggled to keep from letting Scott's feelings shift his own emotions.

"Angry. Frustrated."

Each word was gasped, bitten off as it left his mouth. Part of him wanted to plug right into the deep well of anger and just…siphon it off. Drain it. Or perhaps, just lance it like a boil and let the infectious fury bubble out and away.

"Don't know why…but it's strong an' deep."

Sweat started to bead on his forehead and the muscles in his neck stood out with the strain of holding back.

"Okay. That's fine. Pull your mind away from Scott. Don't try to alter his mood, just pull away."

He wasn't sure how she knew that he was tempted to drain Scott's anger. Maybe she'd been tempted to do telepathic alterations to people when she was first learning or maybe he was projecting that desire.

Still, he tried to pull away, to slip free of Scott's emotions and feelings and just let his mind slowly slide back into his own head. Only, that didn't quite happen. The red hot anger and rage was like a gravity well and it was sucking him in even further.

Frowning, he put more force in his pull and tried to disengage. He could feel his empathy stretching thinner and thinner the more he tugged on it. But it wasn't letting go of Scott.

Then suddenly, like a rubber band snapping, his mind was flung out and away from Scott with a quick powerful force. His empathy went spinning out of his control and whizzing across the mansion.

"Oh merde! I'm loosin' it, girl."

He'd barely gotten the words out when his empathy latched onto Logan like a lifeline and wrapped itself around his calm controlled mind. Then as soon as it was anchored, a portal spontaneously opened up under him and dropped him into it.

"Aaaaaaa-"

A flash of light blinded him.

"-aaaahhhhh!"

He slammed onto the pool table hard enough to shatter one of the legs. It toppled over in a huge crash with balls rolling everywhere. Logan stood on one side with a pool stick in his hands and Angel stood on the other, also with a pool stick. Both men looked shocked.

Jubilee, Kitty, and Chamber looked up from the other side of the room, comical surprise widening all of their eyes as they peered over the couch they had been sitting on.

Scott and Emma came running in from the hallway in a near panic.

"What the hell was that noise?"

Angel simply pointed at Remy and pouted. "And I was winning, too."

Logan snorted even as he crouched down to look at Remy in the debris that used to be their pool table.

"Ya okay, kid?"

Remy just groaned.

"Remy!" Jean's voice was in a panic over the Comm. System. "Where'd you go? Are you okay?"

Logan carefully helped Remy up and he swayed on his feet unsteadily.

"Desole, mes amis. Mais…dis sucks."

"Gambit! Answer me!"

Kitty pushed herself up from the couch and walked over to the Comm. System and hit a button.

"He's in the rec room, Jean. He's…uh, fine I think. He landed on the pool table."

Logan walked into the War Room looking for Scott.

He found him. Him and Remy.

The top of the War Room's table had a glowing portal on it and as he watched, Remy dropped what appeared to be a marble through it. On the large wall sized screen behind them, Logan watched in real time as that marble fell out of a different portal and exploded on the roof of some building out in the wilderness. He could even see the tiny forms of men running everywhere in a panic.

Scott and Remy snickered in amusement.

"Do it again, but put a bigger charge on it this time."

"Okay, homme."

Remy picked up another marble and held it for a moment until it was glowing bright pink. Then he dropped it into the portal. Once again, Logan could see in real time the effects that charged marble had when it hit a corner of the building and blew shingles and timber everywhere.

"What're ya boys up ta?"

Scott had the grace to look faintly guilty. Remy just looked up at him with a wicked grin of dark joy and his eyes glowing with power.

"Tormentin' de FOH. Wanna help?"

Logan couldn't help but quirk up a small smile at them.

"Huh? Wha'cha talkin' about, bub?"

Scott gestured to the screen. It looked like a military training compound out in the woods.

"That's the FOH facility that's been training the goon squads."

Logan's smile disappeared in an instant. The so-called goon squads were mostly thugs and toughs that were given a sort of quasi-military ops training so that they could form teams to go after the less powerful mutants and mutant communities. They'd been hearing goon squad horror stories about slaughtered families or girls and women getting raped for a while now.

"Ya sure about the intel?"

Solemnly, Scott nodded and gestured to the live action on the screen.

"Got satellite feed for confirmation."

Remy dropped a handful of charged marbles into the portal in a circular pattern. On screen, the marbles flew out of the portal to hit the facility in a wide flying arc and detonated in a small series of mini explosions.

"Hey Cyke?"

Remy chuckled and gestured to the portal.

"Why don't y' take a quick peek in dere."

Scott got really still.

"Are you sure?"

Remy nodded and gestured to the screen.

"I's got de other portal aimed at de corner of de building, not people."

He grinned.

"Give it a shot, non?"

Scott looked over at Logan uncertain and after a moment's thought he nodded in approval. Once. Then Scott flashed him a grin that was half goofy excitement and half nasty payback.

"Okay."

Leaning over the table, Scott looked down into the portal. Then, he shifted his glasses out of the way and opened his eyes. His optic beam shot out of his eyes and into the portal where it disappeared.

Remy and Logan watched on screen as the satellite feed showed in real time as the optic beam exited the second portal and slammed full power into the building. The support structure on that side simply disintegrated. Scott closed his eyes and the beam cut off.

Scott slid on his glasses and opened his eyes in time to see Logan pointing at the screen.

Looking up, all three of them watched as the building slowly fell over on itself. The image showed tiny men running about as they fled the area.

"Damn…that was fun."

Remy grinned widely even as he nodded in agreement and slowly let the portals close and disappear.

Logan snorted and shook his head.

"You boys are a menace."

Scott and Remy both beamed proud smiles at him.

"Wait, wait…"

He turned around, frowning in mild confusion.

"Let Remy see if'n he's got dis right."

Remy glared down at the pleading and excited expressions on Kitty and Jubilee's faces.

"Y' want t' take Remy int' de city…t' de bay t' be exact. So dat he can open up a portal in de bottom of one of dose big trash barges?"

The girls both nodded at him eagerly.

"Den, y' want him t' link dat portal t' one floatin' over Senator Creed's personal residence?"

Both girls nodded again, their grins turning wicked.

"An' all dis, knowin' dat doin' so will drop nearly five metric tons of stinkin' trash ont' his mansion?"

Kitty and Jubilee each grabbed one of his arms and looked up at him with big pleading eyes and full pouty lips.

"Pleeeeaase, Remy?" Kitty cajoled.

"Yeah, it'll be soooo much fun!" Jubilee enthused.

Remy considered it; the delicate logistics, the difficulty of opening such a large portal over such a huge distance, the severe consequences of getting caught.

"Sure. Okay."

Both girls jumped up and down in delight.

"Yay!"

A bright flash of light.

"Aaaauuuugggghhhhh!"

The door slammed open and Remy dashed out into the hallway, pale faced and eyes wide with dread. Then he slammed the door shut behind him and took off down the hall at a dead run. He skidded around the corner and nearly plowed into Storm.

"Remy! What? Why are you running through the house? Whatever is the matter?"

Remy moaned with near animal terror.

"Oh Stormy, Logan's gonna kill dis boy!"

She blinked at him in shock.

"What? Why would he do such a thing?"

Remy swallowed. Hard.

"Remy accidentally portalled t' Logan again."

Storm arched up one eyebrow imperiously, silently demanding clarification as to why this mattered after all that had happened so far with his spontaneous portals.

"Chere…Logan was on de can!"

Storm's eyes went wide.

Suddenly, the loud banging of a door being thrown open echoed through the house.

"Gambit!" Logan bellowed. "Ya can run, but ya can't hide!"

Face paling even further, Remy moaned and took off running again.

Remy walked into the library and looked around. He saw Jean over at the corner research table by the back window and smiled. Walking over he let his eyes roam over the psychology texts, notebooks and her laptop.

He couldn't help but smile. She really had been going the distance to help him sort out his control over the empathy, especially considering the link between it and his portals. Even after a few short months, he felt much better and had a deeper understanding of his empathy. It no longer overwhelmed him from out of the blue and left him drowning in waves of foreign emotions.

"Mornin' Jeannie."

She looked up and smiled at him before gesturing to the chair across from her.

"Good morning, Remy. Have a seat. I've been doing a lot of research, so we've got a lot to discuss."

He nodded and pulled the chair away from the table before flopping into it in a seemingly boneless sprawl. He pushed his sunglasses up on top of his head and grinned at her.

"So…what we doin' t'day for trainin'?"

"Mostly, I just wanted to talk so that I can explain about the research and then we can decide together where we want to go with your empathy training. You're doing so well and making such great strides, but…"

Her smile faded away slowly and he nodded in understanding. They had hit a wall in his training that they just couldn't seem to hurdle. Remy suspected that it was because Jean was giving him the type of training that a telepath would get. Only, telepathy and empathy were very different in a lot of basic ways, so telepathic training only helped so much.

Then there were the spontaneous portals he kept generating. They were a huge problem because it could be so risky to both himself and Logan depending upon when and where they popped up. Unfortunately, they were triggered by his empathy without his conscious awareness or control. That was dangerous.

"Several weeks or so ago, I managed to get in touch with the Professor. I explained what was happening and what we were doing about it. He promised that he would look into things and get back to me when he had an answer of sorts."

Remy glanced at her laptop and quirked a grin.

"I guess he wrote back, den?"

She nodded, her eyes suddenly sad.

"He admitted that it was difficult to do research on empaths because there's so few of them out there. When he realized that, he suggested that I do a scan of various mental institutions for them. Telepaths are often misdiagnosed as schizophrenic, so he thought that maybe empaths might end up misdiagnosed with a mental disorder as well."

Remy nodded thoughtfully. He knew that both Jean and Emma had been put into treatment for schizophrenia before it had been found that they were truly telepathic. So, it did make a strange sort of sense that empaths would suffer that same kind of problem.

"I found one. A beta level empath. The Professor is making arrangements to get in to see her in the hopes that he can help her build up some psi-shields."

Remy smiled and tried to ignore the growing pit of ice in his stomach. He knew this conversation was going to take a turn for the worse, but he was willing to put it off for a while. He just…didn't think he was ready to hear it all.

"Well, dats good den. Even at beta level, I bet all dose alien emotions is overwhelming. Especially if'n y' don't know where or why dey comin' at y' like dat."

Jean nodded.

"Yes. Learning the truth is both a huge comfort and a huge hurdle to jump. On the one hand, you find out there is a way to control it all and that you really aren't crazy. However, on the other, you find out there is no hope for a cure because you aren't crazy…you're a mutant."

Remy paused and then nodded.

He didn't know of any mutant that didn't both love and hate what they were. At times it was the best thing in the world…and at others it was the worst.

"Anyway, we eventually realized that the reason there's so few empaths is a very dark one."

Her eyes were sympathetic and slightly haunted as she looked at him.

"Most empaths of any real power end up either going insane from the overload of emotions or they…suicide."

That ball of ice in the pit of his stomach suddenly turned to acid and he felt like he was going to throw up. Something of his inner turmoil must have flashed across his face because Jean reached out and took his hand in hers. She squeezed it gently and waited.

"Well…" He wasn't sure what to say.

Jean nodded in understanding.

"However, the Professor did find something that's encouraging and I think it explains your spontaneous portals to Logan as well."

He looked up, a ray of hope in his heart.

"Oh?"

"Yes, the more powerful empaths that are successful all seem to have one attribute in common. They formed an…empathic link to another person. This, er…bondmate, acts as a sort of emotional filter for their empathy."

Remy's mind sort of went a little blank at that idea. To link his mind…no, his emotions to another? To be so dependant and reliant on another? He shivered a bit.

Jean squeezed his hand again in support.

"As you know, psi-shields can block out about ninety percent of the greater population's emotions and about fifty percent of those physically close to you."

He nodded. It was true. No matter how thick and strong his shields were, emotions bled through them.

"And dey don't block any if'n Remy touches someone."

He jiggled their hands in emphasis. Jean gave a soft gasp and tried to let go, but Remy held on tight and smiled.

"Ain't hurtin' me girl. Feels good. Y' care for an' genuinely like me."

Jean smiled and grasped his hand a bit tighter.

"All the research shows that an empathic link to another person would…change that. It would allow the empath to block a full one-hundred percent of the foreign emotions around them. Well, except for the bondmate itself."

Remy nodded, still very uncomfortable with the idea of linking to another.

"What's dat got t' do wit' de portals? Y' said y' t'ink deres a link between de empathy an' my portallin' myself all over creation t' wherever Logan be."

Jean nodded and her smile quirked a bit on one side.

"I think that even though you weren't aware of this danger intellectually, that some part of you realized it on an instinctual level. Whenever you are in empathic stress, even subconsciously, you instinctually portal yourself to Logan because you are aware on an empathic level that he would be the best choice for you to…er, link to."

Remy gaped at her in shock at the suggestion. He could practically visualize the little hamster inside his brain come to a dead stop on its little mental exercise wheel and keel over in a faint.

Jean's eyes went wide and she bit her bottom lip. Remy was fairly sure that he had accidentally projected that mental image at her, but he ignored that in favor of being stunned. Finally, he found his voice.

"I…I don't t'ink y' realizin' just what y' askin' me t' do, chere."

Jean squeezed his hand softly and sighed.

"Yes. I do."

He pulled back his hand and crossed his arms over his chest, scowling fiercely.

"Non!"

He radiated angry disapproval and Jean flinched back. Sighing, he took a deep breath and clamped down on his empathy, reeling it back in.

"Desole, Jeannie."

She offered up a faint wobbly smile.

"No problem, Remy."

He sighed and reached up to run a hand through his hair.

"It's just…an empathic link. Dat'd be like…like…"

Jean's smile dimmed.

"Marriage. It'd be like a sort of empathic marriage."

He looked up at her sharply and then sighed and nodded.

"Yeah."

Remy had opted to ignore Jean's advice about the empathic link and focus on strengthening his psi-shields and working on his control. He put a lot of time and effort into it. However, despite Remy's control over his powers improving greatly, things just got worse with his spontaneous portals to Logan. They were coming much more frequently and it was a bit frustrating.

Or embarrassing.

Like the time he'd been in the shower and had somehow portalled himself into Logan's bedroom. He'd ended up standing there, eyes tightly clenched shut as he dripped water and soapsuds onto Logan's floor. He didn't need anyone to tell him where he'd ended up.

"Got a towel, mon ami?"

Logan snorted.

"I don't know, think maybe I should make ya stand there a bit. If I'm gonna have ta clean up the damn floor anyway, I might as well get a chance ta enjoy the view."

Remy sighed.

"Ha. Ha. It is to laugh."

Logan snorted again and this time Remy heard him get up out of bed and walk over to his ensuite and grab a towel. It was flung at him and Remy grabbed it from the air, wiped off his face and then wrapped it around his waist.

"Well…dis was de kind of fun dat's not."

Logan chuckled.

"Well, maybe not from your end of it. I got an eyeful though, so that's different."

Ignoring the fact that he was blushing from his bellybutton to the roots of his hair, Remy turned around and walked back out of Logan's bedroom. He had a shower to finish.

The very next night Remy fell through another spontaneously generated portal. He'd fallen through the chair in the Security Room and landed perfectly on the barstool next to Logan at Harry's. Both Remy and Logan had been impressed with that little trick and the fact that Remy hadn't fallen over backwards onto his head.

Unfortunately he'd also scared half the locals there and Harry had to specifically ban him from portalling in anymore just to calm them all down.

The next day it happened again.

Only this time it was much less cool and a whole lot more dangerous. Remy had been in the kitchen and arguing with Jean over how much pepper in the stew was too much when he fell through the floor. He was sadly used to that by now.

The problem was at the other end of things.

Logan was on his bike and speeding down the highway at the time. Remy fell out of his portal and only had seconds to realize that he had just landed in front of oncoming traffic. Swearing viciously, he'd launched himself sideways through the air and into the ditch along the side of the road.

Logan had instantly slammed on his brakes and skidded to a stop amidst a blaring of horns and flashing lights. Then he was climbing down into the ditch and kneeling next to a terrified Remy and trying not to panic himself.

"Ya alright, Gumbo?"

Wide red eyes had looked up to him with slowly receding panic and blinked once, twice.

"I managed t' not shit m'self. Does dat count as okay?"

Logan snorted, half amused and half relieved.

"Depends. Anything broke?"

Slowly, Remy shook his head.

"Okay. Let's get you home, kid."

So…yeah. That was a bad one.

The day after that he'd done it again, but thankfully Logan wasn't doing anything more dangerous than sitting in front of the tv and watching the game. Remy had simply fallen through the ceiling and landed in his lap.

Thankfully, he hadn't spilled any beer that time.

That very night, things reached the peak of strangeness and aggravation. It was late and most of the X-Men were either in bed or getting ready to go there. Remy had been in his bathroom brushing his teeth and basically getting ready to crawl into bed himself. Finally finished, he dried his face with his towel, turned off the lights and walked through the door.

Only to find the door into his bedroom had become a portal into Logan's bedroom.

He took one look around and sighed deeply.

"Sorry 'bout dat Logan."

Logan sighed back.

"No problem, kid."

They nodded at each other, resigned. Then Remy gave a halfhearted wave and walked across Logan's bedroom and to his door. Remy stepped through the door into the hallway…only, a portal sprang into being and he found himself walking back into Logan's bedroom.

Remy wobbled slightly as he realized he was back where he'd started from and gave Logan a startled look.

"Whoa! Deja vous."

Logan sat up in bed and tilted his head to the side like a curious canine and grinned slightly.

"Problem, Rem?"

"Don't know. I try it again, oui?"

So, Remy walked across Logan's room to the door. He paused a moment and studied the door frame. There was no portal. Good.

Then he stepped forward and the portal sprang up into existence around him and deposited him back in Logan's room. He took one look around, scowled and then let loose with a string of nasty swear words in broken English and French Creole. Once he finally ran out of steam and cuss words, Logan grinned up at him from the bed, slightly impressed.

"That's one heck o' a pottymouth ya got on ya, Cajun."

Remy sent him a flat look of annoyance.

"Well, merci beaucoup Logan."

"Yar welcome."

Remy rolled his eyes. Then, he turned and stomped over to Logan's bedroom window. He didn't even ask, he just undid the latch and flung the sash up. Then, he bent down and crawled through. Logan gaped as a portal sprung up into existence and he had the surreal experience of watching Remy hanging halfway out his window on one wall and halfway into his bedroom through a portal on another wall.

When he'd pulled himself all the way through, Remy stood up and looked around. Realizing he was still in Logan's bedroom, he sighed and seemed as if he was about to burst into tears of frustration.

Logan decided to take pity on the poor kid. He got up out of his bed, shut his window and then grabbed Remy by the hand.

"Come on, Rem. I'm tired and you're about ta loose it. Let's hit the hay an' get some sleep."

Then he dragged Remy behind him over to the bed and climbed back in. He held up the edge of the blanket and waited. Remy stared at him for a moment, then looked over at the door that wouldn't let him leave and sighed.

"Desole Logan. Remy didn't mean t' ruin y' sleep like dis."

"Ya ain't gonna ruin anything unless ya plan ta stand there yappin' all night."

Sighing again, Remy nodded and climbed into the bed next to Logan. He lay down and tried to get comfy as Logan draped the blankets over them both.

"Merci, Logan. For puttin' up wit' dis Cajun an' his crazy portals."

One of Logan's big hands reached out in the dark and patted Remy on the shoulder gently.

"Its okay, Rem. I know ya can't help it. We'll figure it out. Just…just get some sleep an' things'll seem better in the morning."

Remy nodded and snuggled down even though he couldn't see how things would ever get better. Then he slowly drifted off to sleep to the soft and comforting sensation of Logan petting his hair.

Remy was in the gym adjusting the weight limits on the bench press when he caught movement out of the corner of his eyes. Turning to look, he watched as Logan stepped into the doorway, glanced across the room and pause when he spotted Remy. Then Logan took a deep breath and strode across the gym towards him.

"There ya are. Ya can be a hard man ta find, bub."

Remy quirked a grin and shook his head.

"All y' had t' do was ask Cerebro, homme."

Logan smirked at him and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but what fun is that?"

Remy chuckled.

"Don't know why y' bother goin' Cajun huntin', mon ami. If'n y' just waited long enough a portal would'a dropped him on y' head."

Logan snorted in amusement and nodded slightly.

"True enough."

Then he looked away, an awkward and uncomfortable expression on his face. Remy could feel the waves of uncertainty battling a fierce determination inside Logan, but said nothing. Instead he just finished fiddling with the weights until he had them adjusted perfectly for him.

"Spot for m'?"

"Sure, kid."

Logan nodded and stepped around into position, his hands out ready to catch the weight if Remy should falter. Silently, Remy went through his normal routine, pressing out the reps in a slow steady cadence as Logan stood there patiently and counted them off. It was soothing and meditative in that odd way weight lifting could be and Remy could feel Logan's emotions calm down even as his own arms and shoulders began to tire out.

Finally, he reached the end of his set and carefully placed the weight bar on the rest hooks. Then he sat up and breathed out deeply as he swung his arms back and forth to work out some of the tension he'd just built up.

Grinning, Logan threw him a towel, and Remy nodded his thanks and mopped the sweat from his brow and behind his neck. Pulling the towel away, Remy looked up and got caught in the intense expression in Logan's eyes as he stared at him.

"Quoi?"

For a long moment, Logan just stared and Remy could feel a buildup of emotion welling behind Logan's eyes. Determination, affection, and…desire. He blinked at the unexpectedness of it all.

"I, uh…"

Logan quirked a small smile even as he blushed lightly.

"I talked ta Jean the other day."

Suddenly, Remy's heart was hammering in his chest and from the way Logan's eyebrow rose up; he knew the other man heard his reaction. For his part, Remy didn't know exactly where this conversation was headed, but he could guess.

"We were chattin' about yar empathy an' yar portals."

Remy swallowed. Hard.

"She said a lot o' stuff. Most o' it was psychobabble that didn't make much sense. But I think I got the gist o' it."

Remy tried for casual mild curiosity despite the fact that he was a ball of nerves inside while silently flinging mental curse words at Jean from across the mansion grounds.

"Oh?"

Logan snorted and stepped up close into Remy's personal space. Remy couldn't back up since he was sitting on the bench press and he tried very hard to ignore the fact that Logan's crotch was now in touching distance and at eye level.

"She seems ta think that ya could do with a good hard fuckin', Cajun. You know that?"

His eyes went wide and he nodded jerkily in agreement.

"Mais…is more complicated than that. De empathy…"

He shrugged. He didn't know how to explain it without sounding weak and needy or a danger to be around.

Logan tilted his head and looked down at him. He took a slow deep breath, his nostrils flaring wide.

"Ya sayin' ya don't need a long hard ride, Rem? 'Cause from where I'm standin', yar practically gaggin' for it."

Logan chuckled, a deep rumbling sound that was half purr.

"An' ya want it from me. That's why them portals o' yars keeps droppin' ya outta the sky an' onta my lap."

Hearing that hidden truth coming from Logan was like getting smacked in the back of the head. Jerking back away from Logan, Remy swung his legs up and over the bench and jumped off of it, stepping back to put some space between them. His emotions flared up and rattled his empathy as he was torn between desperate need and deep fear.

"God Logan!"

He turned to look at Logan and growled out his frustration.

"Y' t'ink I don't know dat? Dat I don't know m' own mind?" He threw his hands up into the air, snarling. "It ain't dat simple!"

Logan frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, a tiny spark of anger swirling through him.

"Then explain it ta me, bub. An' don't use none o' that damn psychobabble that Jean's fond o' using."

Remy sighed and his anger fled, leaving him feeling a bit like a deflated balloon.

"I'm an alpha level empath, Logan. Dat is practically a guarantee dat I'm gonna go insane. Which is a scary thought, 'cause I also have omega level tesseracts at m' fingertips an' my charge is nearly at omega level as well. I figure in anot'er t'ree months, it'll be there too."

There was silence between them for a long moment as Logan absorbed what Remy said. A welter of emotions rolled around in Logan, appearing and disappearing too fast for Remy to really track. It all boiled down to the fact that Logan was upset. Remy wasn't sure if it was the idea of someone with his power and skill running around insane and at the control of foreign emotions bombarding him from everywhere. Or if it was just the mere idea that empathy could drive its users insane, regardless of what other powers or skills they had.

Finally, Logan cleared his throat softly.

"Then why did Jean seem to think that us having sex would cure ya?"

Remy swallowed and looked away for a moment as he tried to figure out if he should just admit the truth. Sighing, he figured that if anyone had the right to know, it was Logan. Especially as Remy's subconscious had already dragged the man into this mess.

"Jeannie t'inks dat if we sex each ot'er up den Remy will instinctively create an empathic link t' ya durin' orgasm."

Logan's head tilted far to the side, an animal expression of pure curiosity.

"What? Why?"

Remy sighed, that deflated balloon sensation rushing back in.

"Dat's de only known way t' prevent a powerful empath from goin' off de rails. Dey create a strong, permanent link ta another person an' den use dat person's own emotions as a…er, a sort of shield between de empath an' de rest of de world."

Logan frowned thoughtfully.

"Sorta like how a strong telepath will create a link ta a weaker one or ta someone that just came inta their power ta show 'em how ta build psi-shields an' stuff?"

Remy nodded and made a vague gesture with one hand.

"Oui. Just like dat. Only…de link wouldn't be a light trainin' one. It'd be a strong and permanent one."

Logan nodded. Then, he looked up at Remy, his eyes once again that intense blue of fierce concentration.

"Why me? It sounds like anyone could do such a thing. Why's she tryin' ta set up me?"

Remy sighed and shook his head.

"Honestly? Dat's Remy's fault. My empathy keeps tryin' t' link wit' y' on its own. I keep pullin' it back, mais…"

He shrugged apologetically and Logan nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"So Jean thinks that since ya obviously want it, and ya do honestly need it, might as well go ahead an' do it?"

Remy nodded and grimaced.

"Yeah. Only…it don't matter what I want. Y' opinion count too an' I'm not gonna do dat t' y'. It wouldn't be fair t' tie y' t' me forever just 'cause m' empathy likes y'."

Logan looked at him for a long moment and then sighed deeply.

"Aw hell, kid."

He shook his head and then walked over to Remy. He reached out and cuffed him on the back of the head gently and then gave him a light push towards the doors at the back of the room.

"Go'wan an' get showered. I'm gonna head up ta my room an' meditate a bit. When yar done, come on up. We gotta lot o' stuff ta talk through."

Remy paused as if to argue and then thought better of it. He simply nodded and went to gather up his towel.

"Then afterwards, if things go like I think they will, I'm gonna fuck ya through the bed until ya can't walk no more."

Remy's head snapped up and around to stare at Logan. The older man just nodded towards the locker room doors and smirked.

"Go'wan. I'll see ya in my room. Later."

Then he turned and walked off.

Remy lay half sprawled across Logan's chest panting for breath. Sweat ran down his body in rivulets and his muscles burned in the most delicious way. His ass was wide open and throbbing, but it was the kind of ache he enjoyed most. A rumbling vibration in Logan's chest that sounded suspiciously like what a purring lion might sound like teased his ears and he couldn't stop the silly smile from stretching from ear to ear if someone held a gun to his head.

Best of all, there was a deep strong psi-link connecting his mind to Logan's. It was empathic in nature so he couldn't hear any thoughts or see any pictures through it, but it fairly hummed and purred in its own way as pleasure, affection and sleepy contentment rolled back and forth across it from one mind to the other.

Suddenly, Remy knew with complete certainty that he'd no longer have to worry about spontaneously portalling to Logan. That particular situation was fixed, as was the impending feeling of doom as he constantly battled back the overwhelming tide of foreign emotions.

All he could feel was Logan.

Under him, in him, surrounding him, shielding him…forever a part of him.

It was…perfect.

THE END