It brings out the worst in me

When you're not around

I miss the sound of your voice

The silence seems so loud

'Cause there's no one else

Since I found you

-"If I Die Tomorrow", Motley Crue

John stormed around the base, decidedly ill-tempered. He had snapped at everyone, including Jamie, which shocked everyone, as the two were almost as close as John and Remy. In training today, the fire mutant had been particularly vicious. Sabretooth was nursing a nasty burn on his left hand and Mystique had narrowly avoided getting burned to a crisp. It would be an understatement to say that John was not a happy person today.

He was sitting slumped at the kitchen table when the door opened and Jamie walked in.

"What's got you down, John?" He asked, pulling the refrigerator door open. He studied the contents and grabbed an apple from the top shelf.

"Nothing." John growled, chin resting on his folded arms. Jamie turned his attention to him, after taking a bite of the fruit.

"Doesn't look like nothing to me." He said lightly, taking a seat across from him.

"Okay, let me put it this way. Nothing that has anything to do with you." He glared at him, willing him to take the bait and either go away, or start a fight with him, because he wanted to burn, to let out some of his anger and Jamie was as good a target as any. Even if he was one of the few besides Remy that tolerated his temper.

He did neither, and merely sat, still munching on his apple and watching John.

"I miss him, okay?" John finally burst out, not looking at Jamie.

He nodded, knowing who 'he' was. "When's he suppose to be back?" Jamie asked.

"Not for another few days, maybe longer." John answered miserably.

Jamie smiled at him gently. "I know it sucks now, Zippo,but Remy will be back before you know it." Jamie stood and walked out of the kitchen, patting John's arm on his way out.

"Yeah, I guess..." John sighed to the empty room, head cradled once again in his arms.

That night, John was curled up in bed, a nightmare tormenting his sleep. His thrashing had twisted the covers around his body and some were falling off the bed. He was moaning and whimpering.

Remy slipped into the room, shutting the door silently behind him. A loud whimper from John broke the silence and made the other mutant spin around.

He crept closer to the bed, hand reaching out, intending to wake John from his uneasy sleep. John mumbled something, which caused Remy to pull his hand back and lean forward a little more to hear what he was saying.

"No, please. Don't. Please. Don't leave me. Please don't go! Remy!" John had increased in volume and desperation as the dream went on.

That last part made Remy frown. He'd never leave John and he thought that John knew that.

"John, wake up." He said softly, shaking his shoulder. John gasped and his eyes flew open. He sat up in bed and looked around frantically, trying to figure out where he was. He calmed as he discovered he was in his own room. He turned his eyes back to Remy and gasped again.

"Remy! You're back!" He threw his arms around the Cajun and buried his face in his neck. Remy laughed and hugged him tightly.

"Of course, mon feu, you know I'd never leave you alone for too long." He kissed John slowly and lovingly.

"I missed you." John confessed, looking down at the messed up bedding, his cheeks stained a bright red.

Remy smiled at him fondly. "And I missed you."

"I thought you weren't going to get back for another few days?" John asked, looking back up into the red eyes he loved so much.

"Turns out the mission wasn't as hard as Magneto thought it would be. Not for me at least." Remy couldn't help bragging a little. He was a Master Thief and all.

"Well, I'm glad you're back anyway." John said, releasing the Cajun, so he could strip down to his boxers and curl up in bed with him.

"Mon feu, I have a question." Remy's arms were wrapped around John's waist.

"Hmm?" John mumbled sleepily. The warmth that Remy radiated was so comforting that John had been almost asleep again, feeling safe and loved after that horrid dream.

"What were you dreaming about before I woke you up? It looked like it made you very upset." Remy didn't mention that John had been talking in his sleep too.

John tensed up, fully awake again. "It was just a dream. Did I say anything?"

"You said my name and 'please' and 'don't'. You also asked me not to leave you." Remy told him.

"It was just a dream." John repeated more to himself than to Remy.

"Tell me about it. Maybe it will help you feel better." Remy nuzzled his nose into the back of John's neck.

John was silent for a long moment. Then he took a deep breath and began to talk.

"In the dream, we're at the Institute, I don't know why, but we are. Anyway, we're walking around the grounds and then you walk away from me. You go over to talk to some of the others that are there. I don't know who they are and I can't really make them out all that well. You come back over to me, holding someone else's hand and you tell me that you don't love me and you never did and you've found someone better than me, so you're leaving me. For good." John's voice caught on the last words, his breath hitching slightly.

Remy tightened his grip on the smaller mutant. "Mon feu, you know that I'd never leave you for someone else. I love you and no one can change that."

"I know, but that dream felt so real that I believed it. I know I shouldn't have, but I did. It was just that you'd been gone for a while and I missed you and everything. I just got stressed about it, I guess. I'm sorry." John rolled over to look at Remy.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, mon feu. Nothing at all." Remy kissed John again before pulling him closer.

"Now, let's get some sleep, oui? Remy said, settling in with John's head tucked under his chin.

"I love you." John whispered.

"I love you too, mon feu, and I'll never leave you. Never." Remy promised.

They fell asleep, curled around each other and neither dreamed again that night.