**Remy:
He kept her on the phone while he waited. They didn't talk about anything important, and she didn't reassure him that everything would be alright. The anger from her voice had disappeared and he realized that it had never been anger it all, but rather it had been desperation. Now that she could no longer control the events that would follow, she no longer spoke harshly.
He continued to lean against the wall as he spoke to her quietly. His eyes were constantly scanning the area surrounding him. He tried not to allow his voice to quiver as he spotted the man, "why didn't you tell me he was coming?" he asked her as the man approached him.
"You would have run," she replied sadly.
"Isn't that what you wanted anyways?" he asked.
"It was too late for that Remy," she informed him.
"Hang up the phone," the man ordered as he reached Remy.
"Goodbye Lilly," he whispered sadly.
"Goodbye Remy," she replied.
He hung up the phone slowly and waited for the man's next order.
"I never thought you'd be dumb enough to come back," he stated.
Remy shrugged.
"Do I need to search you?" he asked as he gestured to the bag.
Remy shook his head, but offered the bag to him anyways.
He nodded without reaching for it. "You gonna talk to me?" he asked.
Remy shook his head.
"Let's go then," he stated, "He's waiting outside."
He followed him for several steps before he realized that he did have questions. "Creed," Remy said his name which forced the man to turn around. "Why'd you help Lilly?"
"I wanted Victoria back," the man answered. So it was never about him Remy realized. He was thankful and sickened by the admission, but now he had an answer for Logan should he ever see the man again.
"Is she really back?" he asked. His conversation with Lilly hadn't completely convinced him; although he had no doubts that she truly believed that Essex had Tori she had not seen her and that made Remy suspicious.
"Yeah," Creed replied before turning back around and continuing to walk outside. Unfortunately Remy wasn't convinced by his answer either. He followed Creed without another word and felt like the child that he hadn't been in many years.
He was surprised that Creed led him outside without incident. No fight, no destruction of the rest stop. No, Creed simply walked in front of him silently and Remy followed obediently. Had he not been the one to call, he would have felt this was a trap.
"Welcome back my boy," Essex greeted him just outside the doors.
He didn't speak because there really was nothing that he could have said to make things better at that moment.
"Your silence is unusual," Essex mocked. "Can you not think of anything clever to say?"
Remy shook his head; there was no reason to fight. He was the one who had called. He was the one who had walked into this trap. Regrettably, now he had doubts about whether the man even had Victoria. He felt sick as the stupidity of the situation hit him. He should have heeded Lilly's warning.
Sinister's smile faded when he failed to speak and the response did not go unnoticed by Remy. "Did you search him?" Sinister asked as he turned to Creed.
"Yeah," the man replied and Remy tried to hide the surprise on his face when he heard the man lie.
"Very well," Essex replied with a nod before opening a tesseract and motioning for Creed to enter it. Remy stood still as he watched the man disappear into the portal. "Are you ready to join me, son?" Essex questioned.
Remy bit his bottom lip for a second before he consciously forced himself to project a more confident image. "Oui," he whispered regretfully without looking at the man.
"Your hesitation has not gone unnoticed," Sinister informed him.
Remy nodded knowing that it didn't truly matter.
"Is there anything you would like to say to me?" Essex asked.
The question startled Remy and he wasn't sure what the purpose of it was. He quickly shook his head because he felt words may betray him at the moment. Now was not the time to fight with Essex, he planned on ensuring Tori's freedom before doing anything else.
"Very well," Sinister repeated his earlier words. "Enter," he encouraged as he pointed to the portal.
Remy stepped through and wasn't surprised to find himself surrounded by Marauders. His heart raced as he realized that Sinister would not go easy on him this time. It didn't matter that he came willingly; the man would make him pay for his escape.
Remy's refusal to step closer to the Marauders forced Essex to walk into him as he exited the portal seconds after Remy. He began to stumble forward before Essex pulled him back against his chest. Remy couldn't suppress the need to fight back and Essex released him without a struggle.
He stood still in the middle of the room and awaited an order. He hated feeling so helpless but knew he had gotten himself into the situation. Logan's words repeated in his head and he worried that the man was right, this was a stupid plan. Why did he think Essex would keep his word? Remy wouldn't have hesitated had Logan asked that question a few hours earlier. Essex had never broken an agreement with him before and Remy had thought this time would be no different. Now he wasn't as confident.
"You must understand that you have no advantage here," Essex spoke loudly and Remy realized it was more for show than anything else.
He nodded his head as he held his head high and gazed at the far wall pointedly ignoring the Marauders. He would give them no mind for now because they had not moved to attack him, but he knew they would if given the order.
"Your continued silence will not help your situation," Sinister informed him. Remy wanted to glance back at the man but had no desire to turn his back on Creed and the Marauders so he stood still, eyes still fixed on the wall.
"Leave us!" Essex shouted angrily and the Marauders immediately left the room. Remy didn't move as he watched them leave. He was unsure what Essex wanted him to do because although he had tried not to anger the man, he obviously had failed. "Look at me boy!" he demanded.
Remy turned slowly and looked at him; he tried to keep the defiance that he felt unnoticeable. "I don't know what you want from me," Remy admitted.
**Logan:
"What do you believe I should know?" Xavier asked instead, completely avoiding his question.
"I think it's none of the team's business," Logan replied.
Xavier looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before speaking. "That is not what I asked," he informed Logan.
"What do you want to know?" Logan asked. He tried to convince himself that Remy knew he would have to explain things to Professor Xavier.
"Where is he?" Professor Xavier questioned.
"I gotta explain some stuff before I answer that," he insisted. Telling Xavier that Remy just ran back to Sinister wouldn't go over very well if he didn't explain why first.
"Alright," Xavier said expectantly.
"I promised the kid that we'd help him," Logan admitted. "I ain't sayin a word if there's a chance you won't help him."
"Of course we will help him Logan. It is insulting that you would think otherwise," Xavier condemned. Logan nodded in acceptance, he had hoped for such a reaction. "Now please explain where he is," Xavier asked calmly.
"He told me that he lost control of his powers when he was a teen." He hesitated momentarily before admitting the next part of the story. "His pops threw him out after he killed his brother," Logan was about to continue when Xavier interrupted.
"He killed his own brother?" the man questioned shocked.
"He said it was an accident and I believe him," Logan replied. Logan had no doubts that it had in fact been an accident.
"He gave no other emergency contact," Xavier defended. "I had no idea that he no longer had a relationship with Jean-Luc."
"You ain't gonna like what happened next," Logan warned. Xavier nodded his head and Logan continued, "his pops found him a Doc." Logan paused. "He ended up with Essex," he forced the words out with disgust. His hatred of Jean-Luc LeBeau, a man who he had never met, intensified as he was forced to say the words.
"He was a teenager," Xavier repeated in disbelief.
"I don't want anyone else knowing," Logan reinforced.
"I think that's best," Xavier agreed. "So it is likely that he was forced to participate in the Morlock Massacre," he spoke his thought aloud.
"I thought we were past that," Logan growled.
"Of course Logan, I hold no ill will towards Remy, but he should have told us years ago." The man's voice was soft as he struggled to justify his admission.
"I told him that too," Logan admitted as he thought back to his conversation with Remy. "Even back then he thought we'd kill him for admitting something like that."
"We would never," Xavier said forcefully only stopping when Logan raised his hand to suggest he pause.
"We almost did," Logan said quietly. He watched as Xavier closed his eyes in realization and shook it very slightly before bringing a hand up to rub his forehead. The exhaustion in his features was starkly evident in that moment and Logan felt that maybe he shouldn't continue.
The silence lasted longer than Logan was comfortable with, but he refused to break it. Instead he continued to sit staring at the wall behind the Professor. His thoughts were random and all revolved around the kid who he had earlier allowed to walk right into a trap. Briefly he thought that maybe locking Remy up while they made up a logical plan would have been a better idea, but the memory of seeing him huddled in the corner of the cell in Sinister's lab dismissed the idea just as quickly. There was nothing else he could have done.
"Logan," the Professor said his name forcing Logan away from his thoughts. He moved his eyes to look at the Professor and waited for the man to continue. "Did Remy return to him?" He questioned.
Logan hadn't expected him to come to the realization so quickly, but knew he eventually would have admitted it anyways. "Yeah, but there's more to it," he defended.
"Of course there is," Xavier replied with a nod.
"The kid's married," he admitted. He was still unsure if he would tell Xavier exactly who Remy was married to, but he knew the girl was vital to his explanation.
Xavier shook his head in disbelief. "He never trusted us at all," the man said sadly and Logan wasn't sure that he realized he had spoken aloud.
"He admitted as much," Logan informed him.
"Sinister knows of her existence?" Xavier questioned.
Logan thought about being vague, but admitted the truth instead. "He was with Sinister when he met her."
"Do we know her?"
Logan couldn't bring himself to meet the man's eyes, "I rather not say."
"Is she a Marauder?"
Logan thought about his options and realized if he said no then it might be a lie. She was not currently a Marauder, but she had been. Where was the line between truth and lie drawn on this particular answer? "Who she is don't matter," he replied.
"I'm unsure I can agree with that statement," Xavier admitted.
Logan shrugged, "it's all I'm tellin ya."
Xavier sat back in acceptance, "did she ask him to return?"
"Naw," Logan replied. "The kid made a deal with Sinister," he began, "don't know a lot about it. He said she'd be safe if he turned himself in. So that's what he's doing."
"I must admit, I am surprised you allowed him to leave," Xavier told him.
"I gave him my emergency tracker," Logan explained.
Xavier smiled. "Now we must wait for him to activate it," he stated hopeful.
"You still okay with helping him?" Logan questioned needing reassurance that explaining things to Xavier wouldn't change anything.
"Of course," Xavier said forcefully.
Logan was relieved to hear the words.
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed -Callie