Disclaimer: Not mine, except for the original characters, which are mine. All mine, I say! (Although personally, I'd rather own Logan. Or at least Hugh Jackman g)
A/N: Hugs and kisses to everyone who reviewed! The people have spoken…
Storm sighed, looking at the mansion. Right. She was going to go in now. Right now.
There was a silent pause.
She finally convinced her stubborn legs to obey her, slowly she walked up the stairs. She was met with a hug from Jean.
"It's so wonderful to see you!"
Ororo smiled, and shrugged.
"I'm an X-Man, Jean. I'll never be anything else."
Logan rushed in, hugged her before she could protest. Oh Goddess, this was going to be so hard.
"Logan." she said gently, pushing him away. "I belong with the X-Men, but I also can't ignore what I have with Remy. I know it's going to be difficult…"
"No, darling." he said bitterly. "I'm going to make it really easy fer ya."
He stomped back up the stairs. Storm sighed and followed him.
Inside his room he was quickly shoving a few items into a bag; he didn't have much to pack.
"Logan."
"There's nothing fer ya to say, 'Ro."
"Please, just…"
He whipped around, pushing her up against the door.
"Look, darling. I love ya. I want ya to be happy. But I can't be around ya right now, and I certainly can't be near the Cajun or I'll gut 'im."
She hugged him, and he dipped his face into the nook of her shoulder, inhaling her scent.
"Be happy, 'Ro."
Ororo nodded, and he slung the bag over his shoulder. Taking one last look at her, he disappeared.
Hearing the roar of the bike, she sighed, then picked up the phone. She had a call to make.
"Hey, Tall, Dark, and Silent." quipped Ink, peering into the distance. "You might want to move."
~Way ahead of you, Ink.~
She grinned, seeing that he'd opened the door, allowing a pissed-off Logan to barrel through the entrance without comment.
"Aw, sometimes I forget. Never try to outguess a telepath."
~Tele-empath~ he replied. She felt the familiar warm glow that meant Tower was working his particular brand of magic, and shook a finger at her lover.
"That's cheating."
~I just asked Switchblade and Panic to cover our shift tonight. They ought to be here in ten minutes~
Her grin widened. "In which case you are forgiven."
They both peered round the entrance to see what Logan was doing. Ink moved her head back just as three claws swiped through the side of the door, as Boss stomped up behind. So she'd finally thrown him out, although he'd retained a bottle of tequila.
Ink took a look at the tall woman they knew only as the Boss, who was looking normal and innocent, and reminded herself again not ever to ask what it was she actually did. Anything that could send Logan away from a bar, his natural habitat…
~Trust me, love. You don't want to know~
"Gutentag, Storm" said Kurt when the phone picked up.
She smiled. It was good to hear his voice again.
"And to you, Kurt. Brightling showing off again?"
Ororo could hear muffled protests in the background.
"Ja, a little." There was a cry of "Liar!" from somewhere on the other end of the phone.
"Don't leave Violet in suspense, fraulein. If she doesn't hear some gossip from you in the next ten seconds she might explode."
"I rang to tell you that I'll be there probably late tonight; tell Darkling to remember not to shut me out."
"You're choosing Remy?"
"Yes, Kurt. Don't question my sanity now."
"Vas? I would never… alright, maybe I would, just a little."
She chuckled. Now in the background there were screams and laughter as the news was obviously spreading. There were the sounds of a scuffle, and then Violet came on the line.
"Oh. My. God. I'm so happy for you. And we've got news too, but now we'll wait till you get here to tell everyone, and – oh, we should have a party; ooh, maybe a barbeque. It's going to do Remy such a world of good; he'll be feeling better in no time and…"
"Violet?" interrupted Storm.
"Yeah?"
"What do you mean 'feeling better in no time'? Is there something wrong with him? Can I talk to him?"
There was a pause.
"Storm." came the calm voice of Shadow, "Remy is sleeping. Since you left…" He sounded tired, resigned almost.
Ororo felt her heart leap into her throat. "What did he do?"
"You know our Cajun. He likes… dramatic gestures. It was nothing that Violet couldn't heal…"
"Oh Goddess. I'm going to be there sooner than soon. I'll leave right now…"
"That would be good." replied Shadow. "You might want to be prepared; he hasn't been eating well…"
There was another scuffle.
"Oh for Gods sake." said Darkling. "Storm, he looks like hell warmed over, he's been acting like an idiot for eight months, so what do you expect? Come here and fix him, because when he's better I'll finally be able to give him the beating he deserves for scaring us all."
Despite herself, Storm smiled at his rant. "I'll be there very soon, Darkling."
"Good. Now shut up, and go pack."
There were hugs when she got there, but they were slightly subdued. (Other than Violet, who couldn't have been subdued if she tried.)
Bearing a bowl of chicken soup (a gift from Kurt, who'd apparently expanded his cooking repertoire since she'd left), and accompanied by Shadow, she walked up to the room that used to be hers.
She didn't know what to say, when she saw him. He wore only jeans, and his ribs were perfectly visible; the thin white lines across each wrist were testament to Violets still-imperfect healing techniques.
Ororo sat down on the bed, pulling him up so his head rested on her lap – he seemed to weigh nothing.
Shadow just touched one finger to Remy's forehead, then nodded at Ororo and left, concern still shadowing his eyes.
A few seconds after the door closed behind Shadow, his eyes fluttered open.
Remy awoke a little confused, his sight still fuzzy. Slowly, he brought one hand to feel the other wrist, grimacing at the feel of the light scar. Violet. Couldn't they leave well enough alone?
Then he realized someone was holding him, looked up, and forced himself to focus. Tears came and blurred his vision once more.
Wasn't it enough that he thought of her every waking second of every day, that he dreamt of her almost every night? Did he have to hallucinate as well?
"Remy?" the apparition whispered, brushing away the tears that threatened to become a flood. God, it even felt real.
"Non." he murmured, trying to get away.
"You're not Remy?" replied his love.
"Y' aint Stormy. Dis aint real." he said, closing his eyes resignedly.
Suddenly he was flat on his back, and she was straddling him, pinning both wrists above his head with one hand.
He gasped, remembering that night. It had taken forever to get all the mud off, but he hadn't cared…
Remy yelped as she tweaked his nipple with her free hand.
"See? Real. And don't call me Stormy!"
And then she kissed him.
At some point his wrists had been released – perhaps she'd realized that he couldn't move, even if he'd wanted to. The kiss was gentle – almost too gentle, as if she was afraid she'd hurt him – and over far too soon.
He protested, but she pulled him up into a sitting position, poking his ribs.
"You're skin and bones, Remy. When was the last time you ate?"
He shrugged. "Violet made Remy eat somet'ing couple days ago." He examined his wrists again. "It - it didn't stay down."
She handed him a bowl of soup. "Well you can eat this."
One look at her face told him that there would be no arguing this time. And once he started on it, he realized he was actually quite hungry. Starving, even.
Storm smiled a bright smiled when he finished the bowl.
"D' Remy get a prize? He finish it all."
She grinned, and nodded, then swiftly relieved him of the empty bowl and spoon.
Downstairs, Darkling and Brightling both smiled widely.
~So what happened to respect for others privacy, Sister?~
~Oh shut up. I'm trying to listen!~
There was a polite cough, and Shadow fixed them both with a stare and one raised eyebrow.
"Just checking to make sure they were okay?" suggested Darkling.
There was a muffled snort from the couch containing Sword and Violet.
"And are they?" asked Shadow.
"Yeah." he replied, turning his attention back to the movie – not half as interesting as what was going on upstairs, but oh well.
"They're going to be just fine."
A/N: Nope, not over yet! Coming up: more Ororo/Remy cuteness, Sword and Violet's big news, Logan's running around Canada and oh dear, just when Kurt and Rogue were doing so well… Reviews – better than chocolate (well, better than American chocolate, at least g).