Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men!
A/N: So here's the thing... I've trashed Until The Day We Die... In favor of this! I couldn't write the other story, it just wasn't working for me... but then -this- idea came about! I've never read a WWII story about these two... and really i've never WRITTEN a story about it either... so here we go! I'll be hopefully incorporating some ideas from that story into this though, but we'll see... got lots of ideas swirling up here!
I also want to note that I really don't know much about war or the army... just kind of what I've wikipedia'd... and googled... so please bear with me! I just have ideas and I run with them... so if you'd like please run along?
The title of my story comes from the song "Don't Stop Looking For Love" (as I know it by Stephen Gately and Boyzone) ... anyways the line that stuck with me is: "Don't stop looking for love, it can be found in the strangest places.." so that's where I'm coming from!
I'll let you all read now so please as always R&R!
...Don't Stop Looking For Love...
The explosion rocked him back to the present time, Remy's reverie broke as he reluctantly faced the war torn scenery around him
How'd you ever end up here? He thought bitterly, pulling his camaflouge coat tighter to his body in an attempt to shut out the damp winds that howled around him. Dis ain't de life you' meant to live.
Remy ducked his helmeted head against the driving rain and thought back to the events that lead him here to the war front in Germany. How he had come from a privileged life back in Louisiana, his family one of prestige and good fortune, his life clearly headed in the right direction. The best universities were offering him distinguished scholarships, his family living the life amongst the best of the aristocratic class attending all the important events around their community. He lived the life of comfort, nothing a person could want, he was set for anything the world had to offer… anything except for a world war.
The war began in '39, waging a battle far from home, Remy keeping a half hearted ear turned to news that arrived daily of the casualties and the advances of troops, nothing really jarring in his well off lifestyle. He'd attend galas with his father and younger brother Henri, nodding along, as he was expected to, to the stories and news the men shared over their cigars and brandies. But he didn't really care, why should he? It was worlds away in Europe in a world he didn't know, a world he really didn't care to know quite yet. A year later the draft began and boys he had gone to school with were being shipped off to served their country left and right, it was when fear set in his father, Jean-Luc's, heart and he did all that was possible to keep his children from being sent away.
For a time it worked and Remy and Henri were able to remain at home, their lives no longer as carefree as they had known it to be and rather more nights were spent at home around the radio, listening to updates…. Praying for an end to the battle that became more and more violent and casualities mounted by the moment. The day came, to soon for Jean- Luc's liking and both Henri, at the age of 18, and Remy, 22, were pulled into the draft and sent off to the war.
The voices floated hauntingly through Remy's mind as he replayed the last moments he had spent at home with his father and brother. They stood in the army uniforms, that had been sent for them just days before, at the train station Jean- Luc's eyes shone with unshed tears as he hugged each son good bye ferociously not knowing if this would be the last time he saw his sons alive. Henri did the best he could to keep the mood light, teasing Remy of his shoulder length auburn hair.
You t'ink you gonna be able to part wit' your coveted locks dere homme?
You jus' worry 'bout your own pretty hair mon ami, Remy had retorted back, ruffling his younger brothers long locks.
They boarded the train, holding back as long as they could to the life they had so adored. Jean- Luc's figure standing stoically on the platform amongst the other bodies meshed around him calling their own goodbyes to their own soldiers. The look on Jean Luc's face remained with Remy, a look of pain he never wanted again to see on his father's face, which is why he knew he had to survive this war.
Arriving in Germany Remy and Henri were herded along, no better than cattle, thrown a gun and then onto the lines. The war had come to such a time that they didn't care how much training a person received they were here for only one mission and that was to win, experience or not they were there. Remy and Henri had both had basic firearm training as teens and had no trouble fitting in with that aspect but what neither knew of was the death that haunted and lingered in every corner.
The fighting that raged on, bodies filled with lead as machine guns cut their colleagues down, explosions tearing apart the scenery, screaming, blood and pain was a constant in everyday life. Remy came to the point where he no longer learned the names of those he fought next to, what was the point? More times than not a day later they would be dead. Remy's main focus was keeping himself and Henri alive, if not for themselves but for Jean Luc.
So here he was, battered and beaten, his body aching constantly, his soul numbed, the stench of death filled his nostrils with every breath.
How long mus' dis go on for? Remy found himself thinking. How long mus' we beat our foolish heads agains' de wall until someone wins? Dieu, Remy jus' wish someday's dis all be a dream…
Another explosion rocked Remy and he fell forward, bracing himself against the muddy walls, the letter in his hand crumpling.
Dis no good to you anyway homme, he thought sadly, allowing the letter to fall into the puddle at his feet, quickly becoming soggy.
The letter had been from his steady girl back home in Louisiana, Belladonna, they had been together for two years and Remy had hopes of marrying her someday, something his father and hers had long anticipated. Belladonna hadn't gone to see Remy off the day he left for the war, saying it would be to hard to say goodbye and she would rather only say hello when he returned. Embracing one last time in the moonlight outside her fathers estate Belladonna had pressed a small golden chain with a cross she always wore into Remy's strong hands.
"You keep this for me okay handsome?" she had told him with a small smile. "Something to bring you back to this old girl."
Remy promised he would and a final kiss parted the romantic couple, a kiss that warmed Remy most nights when he needed her most. All those hopes and dreams as shattered now as the world around him. The letter that slowly disintegrated in front of him spoke of Belladonna's love for him, but also of the inability to stay true to a shadow… she had found another man and would be marrying him in just a few short weeks.
The throbbing in Remy's chest as he straightened up in the small trench like shelter that was his new home, he roughly tore the small chain from around his wrist and let it fall into the water next to the letter. A bitter sigh escaping his lips. Tears welled up behind his eyes, tears that were not solely for Belladonna but for what had become his life. Shaking his head he forced them back, he knew that this was not the place for emotion.
"Hey frère," Henri's voice loomed overhead. "Why so sad?"
Remy turned his face upward into the rain, Henri's figure dark against the night sky. The lantern by Remy's head cast a weak light.
"Dis all getting' to me homme," Remy sighed as Henri made himself comfortable next to his brother.
"You and me alike," he agreed.
The fighting now becoming like a white noise as the duo huddled together, both for warmth and the bond that held them as brothers. The next explosion sounded nearer, the bombing never ceasing it seemed, more shouting as both Remy and Henri ducked for cover. The next few moments passed in a daze, slow motion as Remy watched horrifically as shrapnel was flying in their direction, taking cover he heard Henri's agonizing scream. Gathering his bearings Remy saw his brother, lying face down in the mud large pieces of shrapnel embedded into his shoulder.
"Henri!" Remy screamed, pulling his brother out of the mud, his brother unresponsive.
Cursing under his breath Remy pulled Henri's limp body through the network of trenches, becoming part of the others who too tried to get their fallen companions help. The warmth of Henri's blood a new sensation on Remy's cold clammy skin, fear and an unspoken promise to bring both he and his brother home pushed Remy harder as he surged ahead of the others, claiming the last available seat on the vehicle that would take them to the nearest and safest hospital location. Remy cradled his brother to him, trying to drown out the moans around him, Henri's expression ashen, his breath shallow but steady allowed Remy to remain hopefully as the jeep bounced along deeply rutted roads. Each jolt caused a groan from Henri as Remy tried to keep his brother's shoulder from being jounced against anything, not always being successful Remy watched the shrapnel dig a little deeper.
s'il vous plaît mon dieu, nous permettre d'être là bientôt Remy prayed, against the darkened sky, wondering if God would even hear him. The only light now occurring from the flashes of explosions and fires.
The tented hospital appeared in the distance and soon the jeep pulled to as gentle as a stop that was humanly possible as bodies poured off the truck, nurses and aids rushing from inside to help the newly arrived patients. Remy carried his brother to the entrance and as they were assessed he was escorted to another location deep in the confines of the tent.
A new smell invaded Remy's senses, along with the smell of death was the smell of antiseptic. The two mingled together turned his stomach violently, he kept his vision straight ahead as he followed a nurse, trying not to see those suffering around him. The nurse motioned to an empty cot behind a curtain, the cot permanently stained with another's blood made Remy hesitate for a moment before he laid his brother's still figure down.
"We'll take care of him son," The stout nurse assured Remy, pushing him back gently from behind the curtain.
Still dazed by the events that had just occurred Remy allowed himself to be pushed away. Finding a small crate just outside the curtain Remy planted himself on it, through the curtain he could see the outlines of figures as they began surgery to remove the shrapnel. Henri's painful screams blended with others around him, Remy unable to watch buried his head in his hands as he prayed relentlessly for all this to be over, to go home, to be happy, to never know this kind of pain again. Trying to shut out the screams around him, his own brother's piercing his heart, tears slipped silently through his fingers as his spirit finally broke. Henri's voice ceased and Remy's head snapped up, panic clearly written across his face. The figures moved away from Henri, whose figure was totally still, and the curtain parted.
"Son?" the stout nurse appeared, the strain clear on her face. "If you'd like you can come in now."
Jumping to his feet and knocking over the crate Remy moved clumsily to the curtain. Henri's face pale, his now short auburn hair stark against his skin, his shoulder wrapped tightly with gauze, a starched white sheet pulled halfway up his chest.
"Your brother ain't he?" the nurse asked, a warm hand on his arm.
"Oui," Remy breathed, still examining his brother.
"He'll be fine… he's in quite a bit of pain though, the doctor gave him some sedatives but he'll be okay in time… You can sit with him for a bit if you'd like, I'll have Miss. Munroe come check up on him in a bit, and I'll have her look at your arm too."
Confused, Remy looked down at his arm, only then noticing the blood that stained from his bicep down. The nurse noticed his confusion and explained.
"Looks like you took a bit of the shrapnel yourself kid… thankfully you've got a good brother who took the brunt of it… nothing to worry about, Miss. Munroe will have you good and cleaned up in no time." And with a nod she was gone.
Remy looked around for a place to sit, finding none he reacquired the knocked over crate and set up his vigil next to his slumbering brother. Exhaustedly, Remy removed his helmet and brushed back his still long strands from his face, continually amazed that he had escaped the scissors at training time and had kept the hair he had coveted, as Henri had once said. A small smile playing across Remy's lips as he remembered their playful banter just months before.
"Excuse me," a melodic voice floated from behind the curtain. "Sorry to disturb you, but Nurse Flannigan sent me… I'm Ororo Munroe."
s'il vous plaît mon dieu, nous permettre d'être là bientôt please my god let us be there soon