I don't really know how I feel about this chapter, but it sets the mood for some things later on, and it really did need to be done. So, here it is, though it isn't much.

Remy didn't waste any time in going to find his bondmate. Using the bond as a guide, he quickly found his Healer in the kitchens searching through the cupboards for something to eat, with Kurt beside him, looking through the fridge. Spencer turned around as Remy leaned against the doorjamb and Remy could feel the man's concern and worry flow over towards him even as Spencer gave him that smile of his that he only ever gave to Remy and that never failed to warm Remy straight down to his toes. How'd it go? His emotions asked for him. Out loud, he said "Hey, Remy."

Folding his arms over his chest, Remy smiled back at him. His body answered Back off while his words said "Hey cher, y' found anyt'ing to eat yet?"

The double conversation continued as Spencer turned to face him. So many things could be said with just body language and emotions, no words needed at all. "No. Why?" Are you okay?

I don't want to talk about it. "Den lets grab y'r coat and head on into town. We can pick y' up somet'ing to eat dere and get some shopping done." A corner of Remy's mouth quirked up in a wry grin. "Being far from here might be a smart plan fo' a while."

"That's fine by me." I'm so sorry. "I'll just run up and grab a jacket."

The apology and guilt in Spencer's eyes was almost Remy's undoing. He couldn't stand there and watch it play over his face and feel it through their bond. The urge to go reassure the man was almost overwhelming and Remy didn't really want to do that right now. He wanted to get the hell out of here and forget, just for a little while, the hurt mixed in with the anger that he'd been able to see in Rogue. Pulling out his keys, he called out "Here" and tossed them over to Spencer, slightly amused by how surprised Spencer looked when he actually caught them. "Grab Remy's extra trench outta his closet while y'r up dere, s'il tu plait? An grab y'rself one of Remy's jackets, too. It's a bit chilly out dere. Remy'll meet y' out in de garage." Without waiting for a response, Remy turned and left the kitchen to head out towards the garage.

Spencer must've practically ran because he joined Remy in the garage rather quickly. Leaning against the hood of his car, Remy watched the man and found that he couldn't help but shake his head and smile a little. Spencer had brought Remy's coat, just as he'd asked, and he'd grabbed a 'coat' for himself. Only, he hadn't chosen one of the regular coats. No, he'd grabbed Remy's Saints zip-up hoodie that was just a bit too big for him. Between that, his young face, and his tousled hair, he looked all of about nineteen or twenty, at most. Remy knew that he looked young for his age, too, just like Spencer did, but like this people were going to look at them and probably end up thinking that Spencer was his younger brother or something like that.

Oblivious to Remy's humorous thoughts, Spencer came right up to him and held out both trench coat and keys. "I made sure to lock things up once I left." He reassured Remy.

"Merci." Remy took the coat and slipped it on. He took his keys next and dropped them into his pocket, startling a little when he felt a bit of weight in there. When he reached his hand down in, he found a fresh deck of cards in there.

Spencer flushed a little and shrugged one shoulder when Remy looked up at him. "I know you don't like going out unarmed."

Well that was nice. Remy battled past his foul mood enough to flash Spencer a halfway normal smile. "Merci, Spencer. Y' ready to go, den?"

"Mm hm."

Going around the car, Remy stopped by the driver's door when he saw that Spencer was still just standing there, only now he was eyeing the car with a look that was far more knowledgeable than Remy had expected to see. Spencer just didn't seem the car type to him. But the way he was looking at the car wasn't just idle. There was appreciation there. Then those big eyes of his lifted and met Remy's. "A '74 or a '75?"

"A '74." Remy answered, even more surprised now.

He watched as Spencer reached out and ran a hand along the edge of the hood, long fingers stroking across the cool black metal, and Remy found himself watching those fingers and shivering just slightly. His attention was so focused on watching Spencer's slow caress that he almost missed the man's next words. "I've always loved Chargers." Spencer said fondly. "I learned about cars working on a Charger with my neighbor. He had a '71. Blue. It was a beautiful car."

Boy, he was just full of surprises today. Remy pulled open his car door and slipped down inside, waiting until Spencer followed him into the car before telling him, "Never would've pegged y' fo' de car type."

Humor danced in Spencer's eyes when he looked over from shutting his door. "Not many do." He grabbed the buckle and brought it down, buckling himself in. "But if you stop to think about it, you'll remember I have a Ph.D. in Engineering, something that quite a few people tend to forget. And engineering is the just the application of scientific, economic, social, and practical knowledge used to invent, design, build, maintain, and improve structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes." Spencer smiled and shrugged one shoulder. "I've always been fascinated by how things work."

Remy slipped the key into the ignition and brought the car to life, smiling the same as Spencer as they listened to the engine. Then he put the car into gear and pulled out of the garage. With the desperation of someone who wants to avoid one topic at all costs, he threw himself into their current conversation, hoping like crazy that it would effectively distract Spencer from the worry he could still feel coming from the man. "Y' know, y' got an interesting mix of degrees, Spencer. Dey just seem a strange combination. De mathematics and chemistry, oui, dose seem to go together. An de psychology and sociology, oui, dose too. Mais engineering, philosophy? Dose are like wildcards t'rown in dere. An y' put dem all together and dey're a mixed up bunch."

"They all interested me." Shifting a little in his seat, Spencer turned himself so that he was more facing Remy, not even paying any attention to where they were going. "Math was always simple to me. I've never had to really think about numbers to understand them. So it was sort of logical that I'd study it as high as I could at college. The others, well, I just…I found them interesting. Gaining a degree in these, that was just a bonus to me. A side benefit. All I wanted was to learn and the degrees just come with the territory. They weren't my goal, though. I didn't set out saying that I wanted a Ph.D. in this, or a Masters in this, or anything like that. I just studied what I wanted to. If it hadn't been for Gideon approaching me about a job at the Bureau, I would've continued on and earned a few more degrees. I was thinking of studying either forensic anthropology or furthering my study of psychology."

"Forensic anthropology?"

"In basic terms, a forensic physical anthropologist can assist in the identification of deceased individuals whose remains are decomposed, burned, mutilated or otherwise unrecognizable." Spencer answered him easily. Then he drew in a deep breath and continued on his trend of surprising Remy. "Are we really going to discuss forensic anthropology or are we eventually going to address the rather large metaphorical elephant in the car? Because I can bore you with details of something that you probably have no real interest in at all, or we could talk about what happened back there with you and Rogue that has you feeling so hurt and guilty."

"Dere's not'ing to talk about." Remy insisted automatically. His hands clenched down a little on the wheel and he kept his focus firmly on the road. This was the last thing he wanted to talk about right now. The very last thing. He still felt too raw inside, too exposed. Right now he was more likely to get defensive and end up saying something he'd regret.

Spencer wasn't willing to let it go that easily, though. His concern was strong enough to override everything else, as well as another emotion that Remy couldn't quite place. One he didn't really want to take the time to place. "I think there is. What happened out there, Remy?"

"Not'ing y' need to worry bout."

"Of course I'm going to worry." Spencer said calmly. "You're my partner, Remy. I'm always going to worry when something bothers you."

"Contrary to what y' may t'ink, just cause we're bonded don't mean dat y' got de right to know every damn t'ing bout Remy." He snapped before he could stop himself.

Almost as soon as he said the words, he regretted them, especially when he saw Spencer visibly flinch out of the corner of his eye. But he didn't get a chance to apologize for them. Spencer drew in a breath and straightened up and he pushed on. "Maybe not, but seeing as how this concerns me, I think I have the right to ask about it. Your fight with her was over what happened between she and I, wasn't it?"

Remy couldn't keep the low curses from boiling out of him. As always when backed into a corner, he lashed out, using words just as sharp as any knife. "Back off, Spencer! De whole damn world don't revolve around y', so quit t'inking bout just y'rself. Remy don't wanna talk about dis so just back de fuck off."

This time Spencer's flinch was more internal than external. A jolt through his emotions that echoed brightly across their bond. On the outside, his face became a mask, blank and impassive. "Fine." His voice was just as flat and empty as his expression was. "I'm terribly sorry I stepped where I wasn't wanted. I'll leave you to your thoughts. Wake me when we get to town." Spencer gave Remy no chance to say anything; he turned himself towards the window and curled up like he was going to sleep and then he shut down in a way that didn't feel normal. It wasn't like he was asleep, or even the stillness of his meditation. His emotions shut down like they'd been when he was unconscious. When the hell had he learned to shield their bond like that?

Guilt burned bright inside of Remy. Dammit, this was why he hadn't wanted to do this! He knew he got defensive when he felt this way and he knew that his mouth tended to run away from him when he was defensive. It had gotten him into a hell of a lot of trouble over the years. But the last thing he'd wanted to do was hurt Spencer and that was exactly what he'd managed to do. He'd felt the hurt right before Spencer had shut off. "Merde." Blowing out a breath, Remy cast a look over at Spencer. "I didn't mean dat, Spencer. I know y' aint t'inking bout y'rself right now. I stay stupid shit sometimes."

There was no response from his companion. Not even a twitch to his body or a change to his emotions. Nothing.

A little more concerned than before, Remy gave Spencer another quick look, darting his eyes between Spencer and the road. "Spencer? C'mon, cher. Y' gon' give me de cold shoulder now?"

Still nothing.

Concern growing, Remy reached out over their bond next, trying to send emotions down to Spencer and sense his emotions in return. "Y'r scaring me now, Spencer. Say somet'ing, would y'? Curse at me. Somet'ing." His words seemed to have no effect. Remy's fear grew even stronger.

It was the wave of fear that did it. He knew it was going down the bond to his partner, he couldn't stop it, and when his fear grew, a big wave of it bled over to Spencer. In the blink of an eye Remy felt the bond shift and open wide again and Spencer's emotions were right there once more, his concern pouring over Remy in warm, comforting waves, and then the young man was turning quickly in his seat, one hand reaching out to touch Remy's arm, wide brown eyes coming to lock on his face. "What is it? What's going on?"

"Fils de putain." Relief had Remy relaxing his death grip on the steering wheel. He spotted a wide shoulder ahead and didn't hesitate to pull the car over. Once he had them safely on the shoulder, he put the car in park and spun to face his partner who was watching him with wide, worried eyes. "Why don't y' tell me what's going on? What de hell happened dere, Spencer?"

"What are you talking about?" Spencer furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"What…" Remy gaped at him for a moment. "I'm talking bout dat zombie impression y' just did! Y' got pissed and y' just, y' shut down on me. Y' weren't answering me when I was talking, y' weren't moving, and de bond felt as empty as it does when y'r unconscious."

He watched as Spencer's eyes went impossibly wider for a moment and his eyebrows shot up in a look of surprise. "Oh."

"Oh? Dat's all y' got to say? Oh?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize it'd cause such a drastic reaction." Seeing Remy's expression, Spencer turned towards him a little more and hurried to explain, obviously able to tell that Remy was close to the end of his rope here. "I'm sorry, Remy, I don't mean to sound vague. I just, it's not something that I've ever really had to explain before. It's just something that I learned how to do when I was younger and I tend to do it when, well, in certain situations."

"What de hell did y' do? It was like y' knocked y'rself out somehow!"

"I didn't. I just…went inside my head." Biting his bottom lip, Spencer looked like he was trying to find the words he needed. Remy kept quiet and waited. He could see that Spencer was going to explain; he just needed a second to put it together. Sure enough, he drew in a breath after a moment and finally spoke again. "Having an eidetic memory grants me a much stronger sense of recall than the average person. The clarity and detail with which I recall something is very high. If I want to, I can pull up a memory, a thought, and I can sort of, it's like, I lose myself in that moment. Kind of like how a telepath can pull into their own mindscape and separate somewhat from their body. I just, I pull into my memories, or whatever it is I'm focusing on, and I can shut things off around me. I could feel how angry and defensive I was making you and I knew I was only making things worse, not better, so I figured I'd give you the space you needed and I pulled up a memory of one of my favorite books."

Remy couldn't believe it. He sat there and stared for a long comment, trying to process what he'd just heard. "So, wait a second." He said slowly, holding one hand out between them in a bid for silence. "Y'r telling me dat I was over here panicking cause I couldn't feel y' and y' wasn't responding, and y' was over dere reading a book?"

Color stained Spencer's cheeks and his eyes dropped down towards his lap. "It would appear so."

"Mon Dieu."

"I'm really sorry for scaring you, Remy. I didn't know it would feel that way to you. I've never been around anyone with whom it would be an issue before."

The fact that Spencer was sitting there apologizing when Remy knew full well that it wasn't Spencer who'd been the dick was enough to slap him out of his shock and back into the moment. Spencer's little quirks could be talked about later. Bringing both hands up, Remy ran them over his face and wrangled control of his emotions. Only when he was sure they were steady did he lift his eyes to Spencer once more. He also reached out and took Spencer's hands in his. "Y' aint de one dat should be apologizing. I never should've snapped at y'. I'm feelin' a little raw right now, me. Dat's all. Mais, it's no excuse fo' talking to y' dat way. It was rude and I was wrong. Je suis désolé, Spencer."

"I shouldn't have pushed so hard." Spencer countered. He looked up shyly through his bangs. "I just, I don't like to see you hurting, especially not because of me."

Well that was one thing he could set straight right here and right now. Remy gave Spencer's hands a squeeze. "It aint because of y'. No matter what y' t'ink, dis aint y'r fault. Non, cher," He said when it looked like Spencer was going to argue. "It aint. De femme made her choice. Y' did everyt'ing y' could to try and make it easy fo' her and she wouldn't let it go. Dis aint on y'. Don't take dat guilt on y'r shoulders."

"I didn't exactly help when I yelled at her or pushed her." Spencer pointed out.

"Dat weren't no call to send y' flying into a wall. An it aint no excuse fo' de way she been treating y' all de rest of de time neither. I'm serious, Spencer. She made her choice. She couldn't see past her jealousy. So I made my choice, and I'd make de same one again. Can y' understand dat?"

"I can try."

"Good." Remy gave Spencer's hands one final squeeze before letting them go. "Den let's go to town and leave all dis bullshit behind us fo' a while. Y' need a bunch of new shit and I need to do some serious therapy shopping. De rest of it'll be waiting when we get home."

Spencer hadn't had any idea what it was he was getting himself into by agreeing to shop with Remy. He learned his lesson soon enough. First things first the two of them went to the mall where Remy proceeded to drag him from store to store. This truly seemed to be 'therapy shopping' as Remy had claimed in the car. All his problems were pushed aside, everything forgotten, underneath a good humor that grew the more that they shopped. The Cajun not only bought things here and there for himself, he also kept grabbing things for others that he thought they might like, Spencer included. All the while he made a point to make sure that he took Spencer to places where he could start to replenish his clothing supply. He surprised Spencer even more by not once questioning the type of clothes that Spencer chose for himself or even teasing him about them. If anything, he helped Spencer find them, and he even helped pick out some new slacks that were made of a better material and were infinitely more comfortable to wear than his usual ones were. The only thing that he insisted on that Spencer hadn't thought of was clothes to wear in the Danger Room.

"Y' need something to work out in, cher." Remy told him as he sifted through the pants in front of him. "Some pants, some shirts, an better shoes."

Spencer looked down at his feet and back up to Remy. "What's wrong with my shoes?"

"Aint not'ing wrong wit' dem, Dey just aint gonna be comfortable fo' practicing in. Y' need somet'ing comfortable dat y' can move easily in. Y' trust me. Scotty and Stormy, dey're gonna work y' hard. Y' wanna take all de precautions y' can to be comfortable."

"How very reassuring." Spencer said dryly. Remy just laughed.

That was how Spencer found himself with not only one, but two new pairs of shoes, a pack of basic white undershirt tanks, five plain t-shirts, and five pairs of exercise pants, all of which were personally picked out by Remy. The only real input that Spencer gave was material. There were just some things he couldn't stand having touch his skin for long periods of time. When they started to make their way to the register, Spencer looked down at the stack in his arms and then slanted a look to Remy. "Are you sure I really need all this?"

"Oui. It's always better to have a good set of comfy clothes to work out in."

"I haven't worked out since my days in the academy." And those days were enough to make Spencer shudder a little. They had not been his best moments.

Remy picked up on his unease and put an arm around his shoulder as they stood up at the register and Spencer set his things down. He smiled at Spencer and ruffled his hair, laughing when Spencer mock-scowled at him and swatted his hand away. "Quit worrying so much about dis, Spencer. Y'r gonna be fine. It aint like we're demanding y' run in a marathon or not'ing. Just a bit of self-defense and such, dat's all."

"Just a bit of self-defense." Spencer said mockingly. He shook his head at Remy. "You have no idea. There's a reason I didn't chase down Unsubs. I was perfectly content to protect myself with my gun and my mind."

"Y'r mouth, y' mean." Remy teased.

The clerk behind the counter chuckled a little at their banter while he rang up some of Spencer's things. "Starting a new training program?" He asked in a friendly voice.

Remy beamed at the guy and nodded. "Oui. He's just a being paranoid bout it."

"Paranoid?" Spencer froze in the act of pulling out his wallet and turned his head to gape at Remy. "I am not being paranoid! You just wait and see. When I end up accidentally knocking you unconscious with my gracelessness, you can't say I didn't warn you."

"If y' manage to knock me out, den I'm losin' m' touch." Remy countered.

Rolling his eyes, Spencer ran his card through the machine in front of him and input his code. He watched the receipt print and then the clerk was putting it into one of the bags and handing the bags over to them, smiling good-naturedly at them. "Best of luck to you."

"Thanks. I'll need all the luck I can get." Spencer said.

Remy kept his arm around Spencer's shoulders as the two of them made their way back out into the main part of the mall. With his other hand, he carried the few bags that they still had with them. A few stores back Remy had popped outside for a moment to take the things they'd already bought and put them in the car. They'd only made a few purchases since then so they thankfully didn't have much to carry with them. Judging by the way Remy was trying to steer them, they were going to have more to carry soon. The man looked like he was moving over towards another store and Spencer knew he had to cut him off before he got too close or who knew how long they'd be in there. There as one quick way to stop him and Spencer didn't hesitate to use it. After making sure no one was close enough to run into them, Spencer firmly planted his feet and stopped right in the middle of the walkway. It worked perfectly. Remy stopped the instant he did, barely even pulling on him before he realized that Spencer had stopped.

He didn't give Remy any time to say anything. The minute the man turned to look at him, Spencer was talking. "I am not going into another store yet. I seem to recall being promised food before we set out here and that promise has been sadly unfulfilled thus far. I'm heading over to the food court. Whether you want to come with me or test our distance and stay here and go to this store, that's up to you. But I'm ready for something to eat."

Amusement danced over their bond and it tugged at Remy's lips. Spencer knew that he would see it in Remy's eyes if those damn sunglasses weren't in the way. Remy gave his shoulders a squeeze and turned them in the direction of the food court. "How could I fo'get? Let's go feed y', den, b'fore y' starve on me here."

"Good. I was beginning to waste away over here." Spencer said impishly.

That drew a laugh from Remy that warmed Spencer inside. "We can't have dat happening. How about dat Thai place right up dere? Or do y' wanna satisfy dat junk food kick y' got and go eat over at de McDonald's over dere?"

Spencer shifted his bags enough that he could reach out and smack his hand against Remy's stomach. "Quit picking on my eating habits. I'm not that bad. And Thai works fine by me."

"Not dat bad?" Remy steered them through the crowd and over to the line outside of the Thai food place. "Cher, y' eat like y'r a teenager. I don't know how de hell y'r still so damn skinny."

"I have an extremely fast metabolism and a high percentage of lean muscle tissue."

"Yeah, yeah." Remy held up his hand and made the 'talk' gesture at Spencer. "Basically, y'r one of dem lil shits dat can eat all dey want and not worry about it."

Spencer laughed at that and turned towards Remy a little more. This time he patted Remy's stomach instead of smacking it. "You act like you have to worry about weight, Remy. You're not exactly overweight here by any definition of the word."

"Non, mais I work out constantly and dat keeps me in shape. Y' aint gotta do a damn t'ing. Y'r just free to eat how y' want."

Because he couldn't deny it, Spencer smiled. "If I'm free to eat how I want, then I want a number 7." He leaned in without really thinking about it and let his head drop down to rest against Remy's shoulder while his arm slipped around Remy's waist. Neither man thought anything of it as they stood there together, looking for all the world like any other couple in the mall.

In no time at all the two had their food and had made their way over to a table. When they settled in, Spencer set himself to his food with a single-mindedness that surprised the man across from him. Remy watched Spencer's face for a moment and unashamedly read him through their bond. What he found had him wincing slightly with guilt. Dammit, he hadn't stopped to think at all when they left about the fact that Spencer was still recovering. Sure, he'd slept a hell of a long time and he'd recovered quite a bit from what he'd done, but his body still needed a way to replenish the energy it had put out, and food was the most logical way to do that. Coming to a mall and wandering around for hours through large groups of people had probably been the stupidest thing to do. Not only should he have kept Spencer home and resting, he should've kept him away from people until he was sure his shields would hold up against it. But all he'd been thinking of earlier was getting as far away from the Mansion as possible. Or, as far away from Rogue as possible, before she tried anything. He'd known her temper was up and he hadn't wanted either him or Spencer to end up on the receiving end of it.

"Remy?" Spencer's hesitant voice brought Remy out of his thoughts. Concern was on Spencer's face as he watched his friend carefully. "Is everything okay?"

Remy realized that he'd just been sitting there staring at him, not talking, not eating. He picked up his fork and tried to push away his darker thoughts. "Mais oui, cher. Just t'inking too hard, dat's all."

It took effort, but Spencer bit his tongue and kept his words behind his teeth. He wanted to press the issue, to ask Remy what he was thinking about that had made him look so sad. Was he thinking about Rogue? He hadn't yet come out and said how that conversation had gone but Spencer could take a pretty good guess. Guilt gnawed at his stomach and stole away a bit of his appetite. Dropping his eyes, he watched as he pushed bits of food around his tray. What had happened to the good mood they'd had when he'd woken up? He wanted to go back to that. Back to lying there in bed, playing around and laughing, just enjoying one another's company without something coming in to taint it all. Instead they were here with this thing sitting between them, a thing that he couldn't even talk about, and he had no idea how to make it better or to make it go away. Silence fell over the table as the two men slid down into their own thoughts, the good mood they'd built slowly fading away.