Chapter 26

The silence in the car was broken by the sudden ringing of a cellphone. Loki frowned, reaching down to grab his phone. He glanced at the screen but answered anyway. Holding the phone to his ear he drove with one hand on the wheel. Outside the sun had begun to come up. They had stopped briefly for food and something to drink, but no one had really eaten. Victor was the only one who even bothered to eat his fill. Steve had gone to use the bathroom with Logan but nothing else.

"What do you want?" Loki snapped into the phone. After a few seconds he hung up the phone scowling at the road.

"Who was it?" Steve asked from the back. Logan was looking at the demi-god as well wondering who had bothered to call.

"Wrong number." Loki answered just as his phone began to ring again. Without looking he tossed the phone into the back seat. It fell into Steve's lap who glanced down at it as if he had never seen one before.

"Well, answer it." Logan said. Steve hesitated, then picked up the phone and opened it. Putting it on speaker just in case.

"Hello?"

"THAT SON OF A BITCH DID NOT JUST HANG UP ON ME!" Fury's voice yelled over the phone. Logan saw the smirk spread across Loki's face in the mirror. He shook his head secretly congratulating the trickster for angering the man. Such a shame it would be back to bite them in the asses later.

"Indeed he did, sir." Steve said glaring at Loki. Loki shrugged his shoulders, hardly caring in the least as he turned a corner. A few more curses came from the phone before there was the sound of voices. Then another familiar voice spoke up.

"Reindeer games, your boyfriend called." Tony Stark said. There was a click and an electronic buzzed picked up as if the phone were being held close to a speaker. Remy's voice filled the car though, tired and breathless as he spoke.

"A bunch of people are about to die. I can't save them without the Avengers."

"Where? What do you mean they're going to die?" Tony's voice, thick with sleep as if he had just woken up.

"It's dese people, called de Lupines. Dey're ferals, a different breed of human, cher. Look I can't stay on long. Just track dis signal and-"

Howling came from the background. Logan's face turned pale when he heard it. On the phone they heard their Cajun give a sharp gasp.

"Mom, he's here! Let's go! NOW!" Another voice, this one Logan recognized as his son's. Daken was still with Remy?

"Tony, just listen! You have to save dose people! De Lupines are going to….FUCK! Daken, run! RUN!"

There was a rustle and a snap of a branch breaking. Then there was a growl and a snarl over the phone. In the background they all heard a roar and the pounding of feet. Yells came now and again, and Logan swore he heard Remy cursing at whoever had jumped them. Then a loud scream came over the phone. After that, silence. Loki's face had turned completely white as he listened. His hands shook on the wheel despite his efforts to still them.

"Did you boys hear that?" Fury's voice echoed over the phone. Steve licked his lips and spoke up. Loki was too horrified to say anything. He even opened his mouth but no sound came out.

"Yes, Mr. Fury."

"I've had my experts listened to that and no it's not your guy who screamed. We tracked the call out in the middle of fucking nowhere, but we did find a village." There was a slight pause as he took a deep breath.

"No survivors. Now are you going to tell me what the hell is going on? Why are innocent people dying, again? Because all I hear are the names 'Loki and Gambit' together and suddenly all these people are dead. What is this bullshit?"

"Loki didn't do it, sir. He's been with me this entire time." Steve said calmly into the phone. Logan looked at the former soldier in shock then back at the trickster. Loki said nothing, but he glanced over his shoulder at the blond with a grateful look on his face.

"Mr. LeBeau cares about people too, sir. He would never let a bunch of people to fend for themselves if he could do anything to stop them. You have no right to put the blame on him, or anyone else."

"What about your new friend, since you've clearly left the Avengers?"

"Sir, from where I'm standing Loki is doing everything he can to find someone he cares about who was kidnapped. In the process helping out Logan, who I remind you has saved countless people's lives, whom had been taken as well. How is that a crime?"

Logan stared at Steve in complete shock. Loki had calmed down; his eyes focused on the road. Victor said nothing, refraining from adding to the discussion. He quirked a brow when Steve spoke about Loki, but remained silent. Clearly there was something going on between the two no one had noticed before.

"Yeah, well, we didn't find him. We did however find an abandoned campsite several miles away from the village. We searched the area, but there no one there. Whoever had been there is long gone." Fury replied. His voice sounded tired now as he spoke.

"Where did you find the campsite?" Loki asked from the front seat. If Fury was surprised to hear the voice of the demi-god his voice didn't betray it.

"Somewhere out in the Canadian wilderness, an isolated spot. I'll send you the coordinates on your phone." There was a beep as the location was sent. After a moment they heard silence once again, then a click.

Fury had hung up.

Steve closed the phone and held it out to the trickster. Loki took it putting it on the dashboard for easy access. Victor muttered to him, pointing down a dirt road. Without a word Loki stepped on the gas and went down the road. They didn't drive long before it ended abruptly several miles down. In front of them looked to be an abandoned vehicle.

All four men got out, staring at the car warily. Logan went forward to inspect the situation, wondering if some teenager had driven out there for a quickie. When he peered inside he saw a body on the back seat. Blank eyes stared out of a sunken face, a flap of skin with crusted blood staining it. His mouth pressed into a thin line he shook his head as he looked at the group.

"Guys dead, but it ain't Rims. Must have been dead a couple of days. His skin is gray." Logan informed them.

Loki nodded his head as he glanced down at his phone. Steve's eyes flickered as he glanced at the car nervously. He had retrieved his shield from the back. His shield shimmered in the sunlight, glinting as it aimed the light at the trees. After a few minutes Loki sighed putting the phone away in his pocket as he glanced at Steve.

"You can go back home if you like. You were never supposed to come this far. I don't know how I'll repay you after all this." Loki said to the soldier. Logan stared as the trickster spoke. He had never heard Loki show any kind of emotions towards any of the Avengers except hatred. Only with Remy did he ever show his other side, the one he kept hidden. To Steve he spoke gently, his eyes glinting as he thanked him in not so many words for helping him. It was surreal.

"When we find Mr. LeBeau, we can discuss that. Right now, though, I'm sure it would be best if we kept going." Steve said gently. Victor coughed, drawing their attention towards him. Logan felt his heart quicken but mentally shook himself. After all this Victor was going to be killed. He had to be. Even if he… If he…

"The Cajun's scent is faint, but it's here. SHIELD is probably still in the area, but I doubt they'll mess with us. How long ago did he get that message?"

"Less than twenty-four hours ago." Steve answered.

"Alright, that means he's probably with them. Bet you ten bucks him and the whelp tried to escape. Didn't manage to get far seems like so they were captured. He's still alive." Victor said. He said nothing about Daken as he sniffed the air. After a moment, he took off in one direction.

Logan followed after him with Loki and Steve behind him. They lapsed back into silence as they walked; no one bothering to ask where they were headed. Logan clenched his fists, feeling the prick of his claws on the inside of his knuckles. A part of him hated Victor, but at the same time he did not want to see the feral killed. He was at a complete loss with his own emotions.

Should he not want Victor's head as much as Loki did? The blond feral had, after all, tormented and tortured his Cajun for months. Kept him prisoner at the behest of Magneto in the dark for months on end. Remy had never truly recovered from his ordeal. There were still nights where the younger man would wake up screaming and clawing at the blankets as he fought an unseen adversary. Trying to escape the grasp of an unknown tormentor…

And yet Logan had enjoyed the other man's company. He had gladly shared Victor's bed and home without questioning why the other man was at his side. With him, Victor hardly seemed interested in the outside world. They had stuck to each other's side. Just them against the world. Secure in their knowledge neither would die within a few years leaving the other all alone.

His memories of Remy continued to be hazy, however. As if he could not fully grasp them. Just an ache in his chest whenever he thought of him. Maybe it would better if he went off alone after all this. His Cajun didn't deserve all this. Maybe he should have urged him to stay with Loki. Loki was powerful, a king in fact. Hell, he was still considered a prince of Asgard. Odin had never denied him that. Hadn't the trickster himself said Remy also was considered a prince?

That option had always been open to the Cajun. Why had he never taken Loki up on it? After all was said and done, maybe he should tell Loki to go ahead and sneak Remy away. Spirit him to Asgard where he could feast every night until the day he died. Be spoiled by servants and waited on hand and foot in splendor. Why pass over such a life to be pampered and loved for a single, grizzled old man who could hardly remember what day it was? Whose hands were stained with the blood of past lovers and innocents? Even if those deaths were not his fault, the blood was still there. The guilt.

Maybe love didn't conquer all. Maybe it was just all a fairytale.