This is my first OFFICIAL foray into the wonderful world of Spencer and Remy. Hopefully everything goes as planned. So much thanks goes out to IntoTheWilds and SpencerRemyLvr, without whom this story would not exist.
Enjoy!
It was a rare Tuesday without a case so the BAU team was using the down time to catch up on some paperwork. Spencer had taken half of Morgan and Prentiss's stacks, as he usually did, because he was always done before them anyhow, and if it made his friends lives easier, he would do what he could. Morgan, bored with paperwork, stood up and stretched, groaning as his back popped. Glancing over at Spencer's desk, he was surprised to see the genius staring off into space rather than bent over papers. Spencer almost never stopped working when he was in the middle of doing something.
"Hey pretty boy, you wanna go get- Pretty boy? You don't look so good." Morgan waved a hand in front of Spencer's face, frowning when the genius didn't even blink. Spencer's face was blank; eyes wide open and focused on nothing. Morgan had never seen him like that before, not even when he was deep in thought in the middle of a case. Spencer always looked like he was taking in a million things at once, eyes darting around a space until he knew that he would be able to recall everything that was there if he needed to. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he glanced away from Spencer long enough to make sure he was dialing the right number before focusing on his friend and lifting the phone to his ear. "Gideon you need to get down here, man. Something is wrong with Reid." Hanging up the phone, he waved his hand in front of Spencer's face again. The genius remained still, barely even breathing. A jolt of fear ran through Morgan as he watched how unresponsive his friend was. "Come on boy genius, you're scaring me."
"How long has he been like this?" Morgan looked away from Spencer, eyes going wide when Gideon didn't even look panicked. If anything, the man looked like he was used to seeing Spencer like this, like it had happened before. That thought had Morgan narrowing his eyes, angry that he had no idea what was going on with his best friend but Gideon did. Gideon pulled Spencer's chair away from his desk and grabbed his wrist to check his pulse. Satisfied that Spencer's heart rate hadn't dropped, he straightened up and met Morgan's gaze. "Go grab his go bag out of the locker room as fast as you can. We only have five minutes, at most."
Morgan looked like he was going to protest the order, but one more glance at Spencer had him running as fast as he could to grab the bag. If Gideon knew what was going on and said that Spencer needed his bag, Morgan would trust him, for now. After they fixed whatever was wrong with Spencer, Morgan was going to be demanding some answers. When he returned, Gideon was checking Spencer's pulse again, his brow furrowed. Morgan handed him the go bag, frowning when Gideon closed Spencer's fingers around it and stepped away.
Almost as soon as Gideon let go of him, Spencer gasped and looked around frantically. When his eyes landed on Gideon, he let out a strangled "Antarctica" and disappeared, leaving behind a calm mentor and a baffled best friend. Gideon placed a hand on Morgan's shoulder, leading the man towards his office.
"Come on and I'll explain what just happened; Spencer isn't going to be back today. There are a few phone calls I have to make, but I'll tell you what I can afterwards." Morgan followed, shooting a concerned glance back at Spencer's empty desk, hoping the other man would be okay, whatever had just happened to him. Gideon knew what was going on, which would have to be good enough for right now. If he didn't explain everything to Morgan's satisfaction though, Spencer would be in for quite the lecture when he was back.
"Remy!" Spencer landed on the ice with a grunt, temporarily losing the ability to move. He doubled over for a moment, catching his breath and making sure that he was solidly on the ground. As soon as Spencer was sure he wouldn't flash away again, he was running towards the figure huddled on the ice. Grabbing the taller mutant by the shoulder, Spencer dropped his go bag, wrapping himself around Remy as much as he could. When Remy still didn't react to him, Spencer started to speak, voice pitched low. "You are not to blame for the massacre, Remy Etienne LeBeau. You were not the one to plan the attack; you were not the one to call the shots. When you assembled the Marauders, you had no idea what Sinister would use them for. It isn't your fault." Spencer ran his hands down Remy's back, frowning at the tremors that had taken over the Cajun's body. Breaking away from the other man for a moment, he pulled a blanket from his go bag and wrapped it around both himself and Remy, hoping to preserve their body heat. Sparing a moment to send a quiet thanks to the Gideon for making sure that he had supplies to survive for a short amount of time in any climate, Spencer huddled down in the blanket, doing his best to keep the biting wind out. He'd never done well with any sort of cold, much less the biting winds of Antarctica. "Sinister is the only one to blame. He orchestrated the attack; he manipulated you to his purposes. You were a victim too, my demon."
It was the nickname that broke Remy from his shock, startling a choking sob from the man as he pulled Spencer in closer. Rather than pull away like he would from anyone else, Spencer drew Remy's head in to rest in the crook of his neck, running his fingers through the tangled auburn hair. He would never deny Remy touch when the other man sought it out, he'd never been able to. Remy continued to sob, broken heaving sounds that tore at Spencer's heart escaping him. He hadn't seen everything that had been said during the trial, but he'd seen enough to draw him a picture that made his blood burn with the desire to protect his friend and punish the people who had hurt him. He'd seen Rogue abandoning Remy in the ice, leaving him at the mercies of Antarctica's harsh climate. Tremors of grief, pain, and anger shook Remy's body, made Spencer tighten the grip he kept on Remy's form. Nonsensical words of comfort left his mouth, allowing Remy to know that he was there, that he wouldn't be leaving. His hands never stopped moving, never stopped stroking Remy's back to help restore some warmth to his body. He couldn't warm Remy up as much as he would like until they were no longer exposed to the elements, but he could do his best. When Remy pulled away, Spencer stared into those beautiful red eyes with love.
"Ange," Remy's voice was rough from the crying and the blistering cold. His usual mask of amusement was long gone, showing the side of him that only Spencer got to see. The broken expression on his face made Spencer want to hide him away from the world, keep all of the people who'd done this far away from Remy. It took so much to break Remy, to see him like this made Spencer hurt. "Y' di'n't have t' come fo' Remy. Would've been fine alone. I know y' don' like de col'."
"Don't be ridiculous, Remy LeBeau. I made you a promise that I would always be there for you. A group of imbecilic morons buying into the lies that man spreads isn't going to change that." He brushed a lock of hair out of Remy's face and smiled softly. They'd had this argument enough times that Remy knew Spencer wouldn't give in. It didn't stop them from having it, of course. They were both far too stubborn to agree to disagree. "I didn't abandon you after you married Bella Donna; I'm not going to abandon you now. You're stuck with me."
"Always knew y' was crazy, me. Don' know a sane person who wants t' stick around w' Remy. Y' bring de trouble on y'rself, keepin' Remy around." Pulling away more, Remy looked around, grimacing at the landscape of ice. If anyone hated the cold more than Spencer, it would be Remy. "Could've picked a better place. Somewhere warmer. We always get de wors' vacation spots. Who d' y' t'ink will come save us dis time?"
"Gideon will probably send Storm. I was in the bullpen when the vision came. He knows where we are, so she should be here soon. You know that Storm will come get us as soon as she can; she would never leave you out in the cold longer than necessary. I've been here for about an hour, so we'll probably have to wait two more hours before she shows up. Even the Blackbird can't get here faster than that. She'll be here though."
"Oui, m' Stormie won' let her Gambit freeze." Remy's small smile grew, a bit of spark returning to his eyes. That small bit of fire made Spencer smile. Remy wasn't made to have dull eyes. He was far too vibrant. "Since y' came t' save me, d' I get t' take y' home fo' a few days an' keep y' close? It's been so long since Remy got t' keep y' t' himself."
"I'll see what I can do. I might have some leave saved up. Not a lot, but enough for a few days. We haven't had a very heavy case load lately." Spencer shivered as a cold wind broke through the blanket that may have been designed to withstand extreme cold but not the extreme cold of Antarctica. They were lucky that it was January. If it had been August they would have already frozen. As it was, they were risking frostbite if they didn't manage to keep warm enough. "We need to see if we can find a way to get out of the wind. The last thing either of us need is frostbite."
Together, the two of them stood, pulling the blanket tight around their shoulders. In a move that spoke of their comfort with each other, Remy wrapped his arm around Spencer's shoulder, pulling the shorter man tight against his body. Spencer didn't even think of pulling away, instead wrapping his own arm around Remy's waist and tucking his hand into the other man's pocket. Sharing a small smile, they started walking towards the nearest outcropping of rocks, their free hands keeping the blanket as tight around them as they could. Even though the situation wasn't ideal, Spencer was glad he could be here with Remy, be here to help his friend in whatever way he could.
"What just happened Gideon? Where the hell did Spencer go?" Morgan stood in the middle of Gideon's office, arms crossed, legs apart in a defensive stance. For someone who had just watched his best friend disappear into thin air, he was surprisingly calm. When Gideon held up a finger and pulled out his phone, Morgan sighed and sat down in the chair in front of the desk. He wasn't going to leave until he had some answers. He wanted to know why Spencer hadn't told him that he was a mutant, among other things. As Gideon started to speak into his phone, Morgan paid close attention, hoping to discern some more about this situation before Gideon's explanation started.
"Ororo, it's Gideon." Moving to face the window, Gideon rubbed at his temple with his left hand. The stress lines on his cheeks increased as he spoke, the only physical sign that Spencer's disappearance bothered him. "I need you to do me a favor. Spencer flashed away." He winced at the reply and ran his hand down his jawline. This was the most emotion Morgan had ever seen from him in one setting and it had the man on edge, thinking the worst. Gideon had seemed to know exactly what was going on earlier, but now Morgan wasn't as sure as he'd been. "I know he's never flashed at work before. It freaked me out too. It must have been an emergency to have him breaking his control like that. I need you to go get him." He turned and walked over to his chair, leaning back. A quiet breath of air escaped him as he shook his head in a silent reply to the person on the other line. "He couldn't tell me more than the location, but judging by the emotions I felt, I'd say Remy is involved. Now, I can't be sure but I know what Spencer feels when Remy is in trouble versus other people. Yeah, it's going to be a long flight for you. Take Jean too. They might need medical care. You know that Spencer won't let anyone else near Remy if it's really bad. Spencer said Antarctica. Bring them back safe. Thank you." Hanging up the phone, Gideon looked at Morgan. For a moment, it struck him exactly how long Gideon had been doing this job, exactly how old the man was. "What I'm about to tell you stays in this room. It could be incredibly dangerous for Spencer if word got out."
"What the hell does that mean?" Morgan's eyes flashed with anger at the thought of his pretty boy in danger. If Spencer was involved in something that was endangering his life, Morgan needed to know what it was so that he could protect the other man. Spencer wasn't exactly known for his self-preservation instincts. "What is Spencer mixed up in? Is he in some sort of trouble?"
"Spencer will be fine." Gideon sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. Whatever he was about to say must be something difficult for him to talk about. In all the times Morgan had talked to him, he'd never seen the senior agent visibly take time to collect himself. "I met Spencer on one of my recruitment trips. I'd been sent around the school to find potential agents for a new program that the higher ups wanted to introduce to the Bureau. My goal was to find mutants who had gifts that I believed would be beneficial to the BAU. Spencer was one of the mutants I talked to. His power isn't one that can be easily controlled, nor is it predictable, but I felt that he would make an excellent fit with our team, that his power would be exactly what we needed at the right time."
"What exactly is Spencer's power?"
"Spencer has two; precognition and teleportation. He can't control the precognition, but he can usually control the teleportation. When I met Spencer, I wasn't expecting it." Gideon smiled as the memory played through his mind. "I was at Stanford, getting ready to leave and drive down to Caltech when this kid walks up to me and tells me that he's interested in the BAU and that he's a mutant." Gideon snorted as he recalled the expression on Spencer's face. He'd looked like he expected to be laughed at, to be pushed aside. He'd been baffled when Gideon had offered him lunch instead. The kid had seemed rather coltish back then, ready to sprint away at any second. Getting him to calm down long enough to talk to him had been a challenge. "We headed to a campus coffee shop so that we could talk. While we were talking, Spencer told me that he'd had a vision of me being in a car accident and not making it to Caltech and that as soon as the vision was over, he'd teleported to Stanford, right out of his afternoon class. He saved my life that day. So I helped him get into the Bureau."
"Spencer has precognition? We're talking about the kid who just managed to get stuck in an emergency room with a homicidal ER nurse a few months ago? If he has precognition, why hasn't he used it to avoid getting himself into dangerous situations? Hell, why didn't he teleport himself and Hotch out of there? Why can't he teleport back from Antarctica now?" Leaning forward, Morgan shook his head. "I want to believe you, man, but it seems a bit far-fetched to me. This is Spencer we're talking about."
"There's a lot you don't know about the kid, Morgan. Spencer Reid has done a lot of things that you wouldn't believe if he told you about them. As for why he didn't know that he and Hotch would get trapped with Dowd, Spencer can't see visions about himself. He's never been able to. Usually, he'll see something traumatic that just happened or is about to happen and once he gets a location, he'll 'flash' there and stop it, or help the victim however he can. Since he's joined, Spencer has saved half a dozen lives, you just haven't known about it until now. The mutant initiative isn't exactly public knowledge."
"There are other mutants in the Bureau?" At Gideon's nod, Morgan stood up, pacing the small office. "How did you manage to keep this a secret, man? With all the issues going on with mutants lately, I'd think that the Bureau would want to be as separate from mutants as they could be."
"The mutant program isn't something most people in the Bureau know about. The mutants chosen are people who don't show physical signs of their mutations. Most of us are telepaths, empaths, there are a few technopaths in there too. The idea of recruiting mutants to the BAU was posed a few years before you joined. Mutations like Spencer's can be helpful in stopping killers. If he's familiar enough with a case, he can sometimes see who the next victim is before anything happens. Like I said, he's saved half a dozen lives on cases we've worked, not to mention other people he's saved because of his visions. The kid is useful."
"It's going to take some time to wrap my head around this, Gideon. I never expected Spencer to keep something like that a secret." Stopping his pacing, he faced the other man again. "You said 'us'. You're a mutant too?"
"Empath. It's been useful a time or two." Gideon shrugged and stood up, gesturing towards the door. "I don't know about you, but I could use some lunch. Come on. I'm buying. Spencer will call when he's back in the states."
After two hours of sitting on the frozen ground Spencer was more than ready to get back to DC, to be in his warm apartment. Once they'd found a spot that was out of the wind, Remy had sat on the ice, pulling Spencer down in front of him and wrapping the blanket around them both. They hadn't spoken- Remy too caught up in his thoughts and Spencer doing his best to stay warm- but they'd melted into each other, each seeking the physical comfort he knew was there. At times like these, Spencer wished he were an empath like Gideon, or that he possessed a small bit of charm like Remy. He was, as a rule, fairly clueless about the emotions running through other people. Over the years he'd learned to read Remy's tells, to know when the Cajun needed his comfort, but his system was far from infallible. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to know what emotions were coursing through his friend, what was on Remy's mind. The repercussions of this trial terrified Spencer. Seeing Remy hurting and suffering was something Spencer hated. Remy had always been the strong one of the two of them. Anything that could break the Cajun was terrifying.
"Y're t'inkin' too hard, cher." Spencer glanced up into crimson eyes that sparkled with laughter even as sadness loomed behind. That look was one reserved for Spencer and Ororo, the only people Remy trusted enough to show his true emotions to. Just seeing it had Spencer's heart warming. "Can almost hear y'r t'oughts in m' own head. Tell Remy what's floatin' 'round in dat big ol' brain o' y'rs."
Licking his lips, Spencer spoke slowly, afraid to trigger more hurt or set off Remy's infamous temper. "Rogue." Spencer could feel Remy's sharp intake of breath and he reached out to stroke the Cajun's arm. "Of all the people involved in the 'trial,' Rogue should have been the most understanding. She's been used as a chess piece in a nefarious plot before. I don't understand why she abandoned you after she saw that it wasn't your fault."
"Oh ange," Remy drew Spencer closer and tightened his grip around the other man's waist. Spencer leaned in to the embrace, tucking his head neatly under Remy's chin like he had hundreds of times before. "Y' spend ev'ry day analyzin' de behavior o' humans but Remy ain't ev'r met someone as clueless as y', 'specially 'bout women. Rogue saw Remy's memories, oui, mais what Remy did an' what happened t' Rogue weren't de same t'ing. Remy could've fought back, could've refused t' even go. Rogue di'n't have dat option."
"If you hadn't done what Sinister wanted, so many more people would have died. You were thinking of more than just yourself. How could she not have seen that in your memories? I just don't understand." Spencer wanted to know why Rogue, who had seemed so dedicated to Remy, had so easily abandoned him when the man needed her most. Rogue hadn't been there for the worst parts of Remy's life, that much was true, but Spencer had thought that they were close to each other.
"De femme is young, mon cher," Remy pressed his lips to Spencer's messy hair as he spoke. "Rogue, she ain't seen as much o' de worl' as Remy an' Spencer have. She sees de world different den we do. It ain't her fault she don' understand what Remy did."
"That doesn't make abandoning you in Antarctica right. As soon as they realized it was Magneto running that trial, she should have saved you too. She left you behind to die." Spencer grabbed on to Remy's arm, holding him close. Losing Remy wasn't something Spencer ever wanted to think about. "They all abandoned you, Remy. Not a single one of them tried to save your life."
"Ange, Remy ain't goin' nowhere. Remy ain't dead. Y' came an' saved me. Y' always save me when I need y'. Y've always been m' guardian angel. Remy knew y'd be here t' save him. It don' matter dat dey left me. Y' came. Stormie's on her way. Remy knows 'o his friends are. Don' t'ink 'bout what could've happened. T'ink 'bout what did. Y' came an' saved me. Dat's all dat matters t' Remy."
"You're the biggest sap I've ever known, Remy LeBeau." Smiling, Spencer turned to hide his face in Remy's neck. "I'm afraid one day I won't see it. I won't have a vision that can save you. I won't get to you in time. I'm afraid of losing you, Remy."
"Y' ain't gonna lose dis Cajun. I can handle m'self cher. Y' don' have t' worry 'bout me. I ain't goin' nowhere an' I'll keep tellin' y' dat 'til y' believe me."
Spencer's reply was drowned out by the sound of the Blackbird landing nearby. Both men stood up as quickly as they could, wincing as blood returned to their legs. Once they were sure they could walk without their legs collapsing under them, they jogged to the plane, eager to get out of the cold and back to Spencer's apartment. Spencer shoved this discussion to the back of his mind for now. After he was sure that there was no lasting damage from the cold, he'd continue questioning the other man, but right now there were more pressing matters to attend to.