Remy and Spencer met when the older Cajun was just 12 years old, newly in Jean-Luc's care for two years, the younger Vegas born genius was merely 9. Their paths crossed during one of Jean-Luc's business trips to Vegas in which he had brought Remy along to help the not relax after having been pulled public school in favour for home-schooling. Taking him on the trip was an attempt to help him calm down and relax after the hard week he had experienced.
They had met when Remy had been wondering the street while Jean-Luc was in a meeting and had come across the 9 year old boy keeping to the shadows and picking pockets. The boy would run back to a man hidden in the shadows of another ally way, where Remy could see he'd give him the wallet and then either look proud or more often dismayed and defeated. Once Remy spotted him, he knew there was no way he could have left them alone.
Remy introduced himself, and after Spencer tried to run and Remy convinced him not to, the rest they say was history.
They stayed friends for years, closer than ever, constantly in contact. Remy even convinced his papa to help Spencer out financially after William left them.
Remy helped Spencer train his power when it came in and the constant energy pulse became too much for him to handle. The ability to manipulate energy forces in the atmosphere and solidify them as well as uses for offensive and defensive opportunities meant that Spencer never ran out of power source. Meaning his powers were almost always out of control when he first came into them. Spending weeks at Remy's during the summer holidays when they came, a few of the Guild's guards looking after his mother.
After Remy's divorce he stayed at Spencer's college apartment with him.
It was about then that the relationship between them stated to shift. By the time Spencer was 18, the two had been together for over a year. Regularly staying together at Spencer's apartment when Remy wasn't out on Jobs.
Yet it was the chance of Spencer's life time that destroyed their unbreakable relationship. When Spencer was offered the chance of his dreams to join the BAU he accepted without a thought to how his usually supportive boyfriend would react. So when the explosive conversation happened between him and his thief partner, things were said that shouldn't have been and loyalties and feelings called into question. Resulting in the older man storming out. His then 18 almost 19 year old lover left devastated as he watched the man leave. Now almost 5 and a half years later they hadn't spoken a single word to each other. Meaning Spencer never told Remy the important news he had found out the week after the man left. When he discovered his second mutation.
Remy smiled to himself as he stepped over the entry way to his childhood home. Or rather the only home he'd had when he was a child. Stepping back into the Lebeau household brought back memories of his first welcome to the family when he was only ten years old. Now almost twenty years later it was good to finally be home. He'd spent weeks on the phone with his ex-wife Bella Donna to try and work out a way to end his exile. Now that she was Guild Mistress of the assassins Guild she had control to life the exile from him and allow him to return home. Now official he could honestly say he was glad to be back. He pulled off his sunglasses, unable to stop the grin on his face as he walked through the entry hallway to the living room where he could hear noise.
The door was open as he approached yet just as he was about to call out to his papa to alert the man he was here, something made him drop his duffle bag.
"Damon Lebeau, y' get y'r petite ass back here." Bella Donna's voice rung out as she was seen chasing after a young boy, no more than five years old. He had a light complexion and startlingly familiar hair colour. Yet it wasn't that which caught Remy's attention. It was the fact that as the boy ran past his eyes had flashed up to show a pair of black sclera with blood red irises.
He didn't get to question it though as another voice perked up from the couch causing Remy to look dumbfounded.
"Honestly Damon, you always have to be such a couillon. I don't understand how our intelligence is at the same rate when you continue to act like a singe." The young girl said, looking around the same age as the little boy- letting Remy assume they were twins. Her hair was a beautifully caramel brown and her eyes complemented her in beautiful sparkling blue colours. Two very obvious fluffy white wins protruding from her back as she rested against them comfortably. Her completion was lighter than the boys giving her an almost glow with the light. Tucked on the couch with a book as she watched Belle and Damon run around. Unable to stop the smile on her lips as she insulted her brother.
"Ferme ta gueule Angele." The boy called back as he dodged Belle who was beginning to look tired at chasing the boy.
"Y' two watch y' language or I'll tell y' daddy and grand-pére." She threatened and watched as Damon fell quiet and skidded to a gaily. Much to the amusement of Angele sitting on the couch watching.
"Uh... Bonjour Belle." Remy called finally getting his voice back after the display in front of him.
"Ah Remy, y'r here," Belle said noticing the rival and standing slowly. "Excusez moi enfants," she said softly to the children as she held out her arm for Remy to hook with her so she could guide him further away.
"Belle, what is goin' on? Who be de enfants in dere?" He asked looking over his shoulder unable to get his mind away from the boy with his eyes.
He watched Belle's reaction. Seeing how she shifted uncomfortably.
"Remy, maybe it be best for y' to stay at a hotel for de moment. Dere is someone here dat I don't know if y' want to see." She said leading him to the other living area to speak.
"Who be here? Who de enfants? Belle?" He questioned, quickly becoming confused by the woman's lack of her usual blunt charm.
She took a deep breath readying herself for the next blow she was not sure would be take too well.
"After y' called and we discussed y'r exile being revoked. Once it was official. I got a knock on de door. I didn't know who t' expect. Was Spencer. Hadn't seen the boy in a couple of years, but stayed in touch. He showed up on my door step, said he was on a case with the BAU and wasn't sure he could go back. De boy was shivering, first thought he was cold. Then I saw his eyes, he was in de middle of withdrawals. He couldn't stop shaking and his skin was almost grey. Invited him in, talked to him. He'd been kidnapped, tortured and drugged by some connard. He was addicted and he was scared. So I talked t' him. He went home with de team, and came back a few days later like I asked. Bringing de enfants with him. Your papa, tante and I promised to care for dem while he detoxed. He'd been doing well until one night when he snuck out, shots up again. He's back to de start and khe's not doing well. We are taking care of his fille et fils." She said softly, listening carefully to the room next door. Her head shooting up when she heard the familiar voice of the man they were talking about.
"Daddy, you're supposed to be sleeping. Tante said so." Damon spoke up, alerting Belle to his definite presence and she motioned for Remy to follow her. As they approached the door Remy could see the man he had once loved, and to be honest with himself; never fully stopped loving. He could see his gaunt features, like he wasn't eating enough; the dark circles under his eyes that spoke of sleepless nights; his grey pallor; and the way he was trembling horribly as he sat there.
"I know Damon, but I couldn't sleep, I'm an adult I can do things I've been told not to." He said as the boy came and curled against his side, Angele doing the same on the other side. Smiling at his children as he held them close despite the ways his hands trembled and he felt empty and craving. He wouldn't let his addiction ruin his children. They were still so bright and full of life. He couldn't bring them down.
"Damon, Angele. Y' go help Tante on the kitchen with de cookies. I gotta talk t' y' daddy." Belle said as she stepped in the room, Remy hanging back behind the door frame to witness the events.
Spencer chuckled softly and tapped their backs. "Busted." He smiled, "go on you two, do what aunt Belle says." He said with a sigh. Preparing to face her wrath.
"Spencer, Cher, you're supposed to be resting. Tante said you had a rough night last night and she wanted you to stay in bed all day today." Her voice was surprisingly soft as she approached Spencer but he still bowed his head in shame. His hands clenched in his lap still trembling.
"I know Belle, but everyday is a rough day. I know it'll get better but it's getting worse first. Staying up there, all I have to think about is what I lost, and what I'm craving. I need to be around them. I know it's not right to depend on them. But they are always so happy, they understand so much, they make me feel lighter. They are my reason for being here, I only ever miss seeing them on a case. Being in the same house and being unable to see them is almost agony." He sighed quietly as Belle carefully touched his forehead, determining his physical state before sighing herself.
"I know Cher, it's difficult for y'. Y've been alone for a long time now, and de enfants help y'. But y' can't force y'self to do thin' y' ain't ready for yet." She sighed and seemed to take a moment. "Dere is someone here. Y' don't have t' see him if y' don't want t'. Days why I'm a skin' first. Y' can probably guess who. D' y' wanna see him?" She asked her voice was soft yet firm. Silently staying her opinion that she thinks he should yet giving him the out of he chose to take it.
Spencer looked at her face, his brain was slow and sluggish - something he was not used to. Yet he could easily pick up on who she meant was here. Who else would show up without first calling. "It's his family home. Not mine. Of course." He said softly, Belle could hear the exhaustion in his voice and had no doubt Remy could too. She stood and kissed his forehead, "I'll be back in a second petite." She said softly. Walking back to the door and turning where she'd left Remy. Finding the man motionless as he leaned against the wall. "He..." He trailed off unable to finish his sentence. Yet Belle just smiled.
"Go talk t' him Cher, y' both have things t' discuss. Be careful wit' him. His powers are on the fritz." She said softly before heading through to where the kids had gone to find Jean-Luc.
Remy approached the room cautiously, watching Spencer's reaction. Yet he was surprised to see the man didn't even look up. In face he didn't even seem aware of the others presence. Strange for a man who was always hyper aware of everything.
"Spencer?" He asked quietly as he sat on the couch facing the man. Leaning his elbows on his knees and taking off his glasses to inspect the man properly. He could feel the depression rolling off the man, the self loathing and yet that glimmer of hope that seemed so small yet so bright.
"Hello Remy. How are you?" The formal tone surprised the Cajun. Unsure how to react to the man he'd spent so long loving and was now like a stranger.
"Ca va bien." He answered softly, "Belle told Remy bout what happened." He said softly unsure how to approach the subject that had the man looking unwell. "How d' y' feel?" He asked quietly. The stunted conversation making him cringe.
"I'm dealing with it, Damon and Angele are really helping me." Spencer answered with a dejected sigh.
"Remy noticed dat Damon... Dat he-" he was cut off by the answer to the question he couldn't ask.
"That he has the same eyes as you, and the same hair." Spencer asked with a grim smiled and let out a breath.
"Spencer, are Damon and Angele, are they...?" He tried, yet once again cut off by the genius who knew what he was struggling to voice.
"They are your children? Yes." He asked but didn't offer anymore. Causing Remy to poke a little forget. Needing to know of this was true, why they were about five and he'd never seen them.
"How? Spencer? How y' have Remy's enfants?" He asked his need to know building as he watched Spencer shrink back from him at the possibility of answers.
He watched the man take a deep breath as if preparing himself for an unwanted reaction.
"When we had that fight, and you walked out. You were so angry. I didn't want to tell you that I'd been sick the last could of days because we'd already been having a rough time. The day after you left I went to the doctors. I have a secondary mutation that provides me with a female reproductive system. I had apparently conceive. At that point I didn't know it was twins. I wanted to tell you, but when you left, you were so mad. So angry at me. You said things and I said things and I didn't want you to be angry at me for this as well. I'd rather have you never know that resent their existence. Because I know you Remy, you would have come back to look after them even if you didn't want me there. It's who you are. You always take too much responsibility. So I kept it a secret. I called Belle and she helped me through the pregnancy. She's their god mother. I delayed the academy until they were 6 months. They are five now. I couldn't have you there with them and me if you didn't love me anymore. I didn't want that resent every day for our children. So I kept them hidden from you, and I brought them up with the help of some friends. Jean-Luc never met them until they were 18 months. I always found it funny. My little devil and my little angel." He said softly looking wistfully towards the door. He let out a sigh and looked up finally at Remy. Making the man flinch at the slightly dead look in his eyes. "I struggled. But we made it. I didn't want you to know, especially not that I joined the FBI anyway. And then definitely not when I came here with them. I didn't want you saying I told you so. You told me I would t stand a chance in the FBI that they'd use my brain and wouldn't protect me. I have a family there. In the BAU. They know about the twins. I'm loved there, what happened with the cabin and the drugs that's no one's fault but my own. I let my guard down when I shouldn't have." He sighed softly. The self loathing grew against Remy's shields making the man wince.
"Y' coulda told Remy, Cher. Wanted to come back, me. Mais y' was so sure and Remy didn't think he could watch y'. Den joined de X-men and realized was doing just what told y' not t'. Den couldn't come back 'cause Remy felt like a hypocrite." He whispered softly watching the way the man looked up at him. That shimmer of hope growing. "Can Remy met dem?" He asked, aware this would still be careful territory for the man. There wasn't a day when Remy didn't look back over his shoulder, expecting to still see Spencer there in the way the man had always shadowed him. Yet the absence and the lonely breeze he got made him shiver. He felt alone without Spencer. He wouldn't lie and say he never tried to fill the voice. He did try, plenty of times, one night stands or even his on-off relationship with Rogue. Their off period being partially the reason he was at the house during this week. Every year on the day he left him, Remy would tell himself that this year was going to be the year he's go back, see how he was going, just apologize and maybe regain even some of the friendship he's given up. Yet every year he talked himself out of it, deciding is Spencer hadn't tracked him down he obviously didn't care. No matter how much the logical side of his mind told him that he had been practically untraceable.
He was so lost in his own thoughts he missed Spencer calling into the Children, and soon enough Damon and Angele were standing in front of him. Smiling impishly and kindly respective.
"Bonjour notre père, comment cava?" Angele spoke first, shocking Remy with her fluent French and perfect accent. Startling a laugh out of him.
"Bonjour ma fille, ma fils. Je vais bien et toi?" He spoke back, quizzing them at the same time as he was delighted to see his children could speak fluently in a language he knew. He looked to Spencer with surprise on his face and saw the soft, fond smile the man held watching his children as they took seats on the couch beside him.
He grinned even brighter at his newly discovered children when it was Damon who answered, "Nous sommes bons aussi. Enfin vous rencontrer, papa a dit beaucoup sur vous." He answered just as fluently and perfectly as his sister.
"Y' two have bien French." He smiled at them, "Remy is glad t' meet y' both." He answered and watched them with a wide grin and curious gaze, trying to make up for the years he missed, see what he had missed.
"I had Belle teach them, then they had private tutoring. They're both privately schooled for obvious reasons. They both are extremely intelligent. Measuring with an IQ of above 180 approximately. We won't know exactly until they are older." He smiled and hugged the two.
"Dad, you're shaking again, Tante Mattie and Belle said you should be sleeping." Angele spoke up, looking to her father.
He sighed and nodded, "I know sweetie, but I needed to dee you and your brother. I love you both and it had been so long." He teased watching as the two laughed and relaxed into him.
"Daddy, it had barely been a day." Angele spoke,
"Yeah, only 19 hours, 25 minutes, 13 seconds." Damon spoke up with a grin at him.
Remy couldn't help the smile as he watched the family in front of him. The family in which he was apparently, biologically apart of. Yet, he was not officially apart of. Something he really did want to be.
He watched silently as they interacted, before Tante Mattie arrived from where ever she had been. Greeting Remy briefly before turning her infamous demanding temper on Spencer.
"Y' get t' bed gosse. Belle will d' y'r enfants schoolin'." She demanded, watching as Spencer's head dropped dutifully as he began to raise. Unable to lift the children like he normally did, but he kissed them both on the heads and told them to be safe and behave.
Tante turned to Remy as soon as Spencer was out of the room, "y' go wit' him. Make up, he still loves y'. De spirits want y' two together, dat's why y're here." She told him sternly and he nodded. Standing and kissing her cheek Remy followed her orders and making his way to join Spencer.
He stood nervously outside the door to his old bedroom. He knocked carefully, three sharp knocks, his outward sign of nerves.
"Come in Remy," the voice called out, sounding just a bit weaker and more exhausted. Showing just how much of a mask he had on when surrounded by his children. Remy took a steading breathe before he stepped inside, his eyes immediately going to the figure propped up in the bed with a book sitting beside him. Obvious having just got comfortable and ready to start reading.
"Je suis Desole, Spencer." He said softly as he approached the bed, he placed on knee on the mattress and sunk down in a graceful pose. Perched just on the side of the bed, yet able to move should Spencer request him to.
"Why are you apologizing?" Spencer asked, his body was trembling all over now and Remy lifted the blankets to wrap them around him. Watching as the younger man barely reacted to the movements.
"'cause Remy didn't trust y'. Didn't believe y' could join de BAU. T'ought y' was t' fragile. T' faible." He whispered, "was wrong, me. Y' did join de BAU, y' did it while raising children. Dieu, never expected dis." He sighed as she moved to sit further at his side. "Was very wrong. Y' did it all, and y' are strong enough t' recover from dis." He mumbled. Looking at the man who was shaking in the bed, watching his eyes as they darted around taking in every part of Remy, who happily let himself be examined with a skill he knew Spencer always pertained, but would have been strengthened by his time as a profiler.
"I understand why you didn't think I could do it. I didn't at one point either. I had two children at home, I barely slept at night between them and you weren't there. I made myself do it, It was everything I could ever want in one opportunity. I got to do what I always wanted. I got to help save people Remy. That's all I've ever wanted to do. I wasn't in the best family growing up, and I know what would have happened if my dad hadn't left when he had. I'm not stupid. To be able to save others from that fate. Keep my children in a world that was just a little bit safer. Our children Remy. They may never have met you, but they know everything about you. I've seen the news reports, the X-men. I would recognise your trench coat anywhere, and you throwing cards was a giveaway. I sat them down and I told them what we used to get up to, the stories about you and I told them that what you are doing now. It's important, it's not terrorism. They adore you and they've never met you. I was weak when you left, but I grew and I learnt how to stand up for myself. I have my own gun now, I'm a field agent. The man who did this to me? When I was taken to the cabin for two days, I killed him. Yet, there isn't a day that goes by when I wish I had saved him instead." He rambled, caught up in his own words, proving to Remy that he had a life that he had done what the man thought he couldn't do. Needing to show that he had grown, he was stringer, he wasn't the same boy that he had been when Remy had met him.
"Je sais cher," he answered with a sigh, "Remy was a couillon f' doubtin' y'. Was scared, me. je vous aimais tellement, still do love y'." He said, his head bowed low in recompense. "wanna be in y' life again, wanna be in mon enfants lives. Tried t' move on, tried t' forget y'. Leave it in de past. Mais, seein' y', it's not in de past, it never was. Y' is my past, present an' future cher. I wanna be a famille." He said quietly watching the way Spencer's eyes lit up at the admission.
Spencer let out a soft sigh of relief, Remy wasn't just planning to leave again, Spencer didn't think he could see the man in person and survive him leaving him once more. "We both said things wrong, we are both to blame, and it wasn't just you at fault here. I know I said some hurtful things back at you and I am sorry. I never meant any of it I was just angry and hurt. But I would love you to be a part of the family again, I want them to know you really. Know who you are." He whispered, it was becoming obvious to Remy just how much Belle had been right about Spencer needing to rest.
"Y' rest mon bijou, we can talk more after y' have slept." He said, speaking up before the man could protest, doing moves in which he had become familiar to get Spencer to sleep while he had been studying for his many degrees. Taking the book from his side and holding the blankets up to help him get settled, kissing his forehead when he was laying down and tucking him in. He watched for a moment as Spencer drifted off into a healing sleep, if not entirely peaceful before he stood slowly. Stroking a hand down the man's face, "Je t'aime mon Coeur," he said softly, pressing another kiss to his hair and watching with a swell of happiness how Spencer shifted towards him slightly. Before Remy stood and headed downstairs, it was time to meet his children properly.