Title: Family Ties That Bind

Author: Monica

A/N: Sigh. I'm working on the two stories, but I'd rather work on the other one. My sister whined at me 'cause she likes this one, so I'll be trying to do both. Never done that before. Hope I don't get confused! Let's see, in this chapter -just repercussions from the trip. Kinda short (but it didn't take that long to get out, right?). Dead week at school is next week, and then finals so probably at least two weeks til the next update unless I can work through Thanksgiving. :) Please review, tell me what you think. Reviews inspire me to write more!! Thanks!

        "Hey Scottie, how are ya?" Remy said sheepishly. Scott's smile never left his face as he grabbed Remy by the front of his shirt and slammed him up against a wall.

"I have about thirty minutes of sleep thanks to your disappearing act, father and Victor are searching for your sorry ass, and you just wasted almost five hundred dollars on a plane ride you never took. Now why don't you guess how I am?" The vein above his eyes was twitching. Remy thought it prudent not to say a word. "Marie, grab a cab. Now, I don't suppose you want to tell me what you've been doing all night."

"Not really," Remy said, squirming out of Scott's grasp.

"Try again," Scott said, herding everyone into the cab. "I will make your life miserable."

"You won't have to. I just had to settle some debts before I went home. We took a plane to Louisiana; we just didn't stay very long. I purchased some property. You know, your regular Saturday night." Remy felt Marie's hand snake its way into his.

Don't worry. He's not going to do anything. You just better get ready for the party the Institute is going to throw. Marie seemed surprised to see that she was holding his hand. She dropped it quickly. Remy rolled his eyes.

Scott shook his head. "Well, at least you got something useful done. They know now, by the way." The anger was slowly draining away. A sense of dread settled over him.

"Yeah, I know. It was only a matter of time, anyway."

"I'm still mad at you."

"I know."

How much was she along for?

As little as possible. She didn't see the house. She went with me to the bars, though.

 "You went to the bars?! With her?!"

Remy winced. "Yeah."

"I changed my mind. I am going to kill you." Remy smiled. Everything was going to be okay.

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Jean didn't even look up as Marie entered the room. Now that she knew that Marie was okay, Jean was furious. However, instead of ranting and screaming and getting it out of the way, Jean decided to let her suffer. She deserved it after what the girl had put her through. Just thinking about it made her angry all over again.

"I'm sorry, Jean," Marie said softly, fully braced for the onslaught that was sure to occur. Jean had always had a temper on her. The famous wrath of the redhead.

Jean merely nodded, and flipped a page in the magazine that was open in front of her on the bed. Not that she could concentrate on the page (who cared about 101 ways to look thinner?), but she wanted to give the appearance of calm and normal.

Marie wasn't fooled for a second, but she was glad for the current peace. She didn't get much sleep the night before and wanted some time to get her strength up before dealing with her sister. Plus, she didn't exactly have the time for a long, drawn out fight. She was expected in Professor Xavier's office in five minutes. If she was thrown out of the school, there was going to be a whole new set of problems.

"I have to go to the Professor's office. I'll come straight back here so we can talk, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, Marie fled the room. There was only one person who Marie worried about disappointing. She didn't think she could feel any worse.

She was wrong. The look the professor gave her was enough to make her want the ground to open up and swallow her whole. Remy was slumping in the chair next to her, his long legs sticking out straight in front of him. He didn't look very worried, but somehow that didn't reassure her.

"Marie, Remy explained that he forced you to go along with him yesterday. Unless you have anything you want to add, you are free to go. Just know that you are not allowed to leave the campus for a month." Xavier's voice was grave and his steely blue eyes seemed to bore into her very soul.

"Uh, no, sir." She tried to walk slowly out of the room, but she didn't think she pulled it off. As the door closed, she was sure she saw Remy smirk at her, his devilish eyes gleaming.

"Well, Remy, that was nice of you. Letting the girl off the hook like that. If I weren't sure that she isn't the fleeing type, I don't think I would have allowed her to get away."

"It's jus' easier t' blame the whole t'ing on me. So what does fat'er say t' do wit' me t'is time?" Xavier's eyes narrowed on the young man in front of him. His lack of concern frustrated him to no end.

"We don't need your father's input on how to keep order in this school!" he snapped. Remy rolled his eyes. "You will be under house arrest for the rest of the semester. You will help the kitchen staff after classes, and Logan will take over the rest of your training. Unless you are with him, you will wear this."

Remy's stomach turned at the band of steel that Xavier placed gently on the desk. The triumphant look that Xavier shot at him made anger fire through his head. Still, he pushed the chair back a couple more inches.

Scott started at the bolt of panic that shot through the link with Remy. He was finding it difficult to concentrate on the current conversation, anyway.

"I told you, I didn't know that he was going to run off again." Scott took a deep breath as he tried to keep the exasperation from his voice. Speaking with his father was always troubling.

"Don't talk back to me, Scott. I told you to keep an eye on your brother, to keep him in line. It does not reflect well on our family when he flouts the rules. It looks as if when can't control our own." Essex began to feel the first stirrings of anger. His sons were the only ones who could incite any type of emotion within him. Concerning Remy, it was not usually a good thing.

"Yes, father," Scott said through gritted teeth. He hated this man whom he was forced to call father. He hated this man who seemed to regard him as nothing more than genetic material. And he hated feeling guilty for hating him.

"Your brother will be coming home next week. I suggest you break your link before Remy gets home. You will not want to share his experiences." Scott didn't reply. He knew exactly what "experiences" Remy would be enduring. There was a scar below his right shoulder that still hadn't completely healed from his father's last experiment. "I will see you on Sunday."

Scott slammed the phone down and stared at the door. All thought of the previous conversation was wiped from his mind. Remy stood in the doorway, anger, fear, and frustration tinged with a hint of hysteria emanating from him. But Scott barely noticed this. Scott's eyes were drawn to the band of metal encircling Remy's throat.

"How?...Where?..." Words seemed to bubble in his throat and never make to the opening. Remy seemed to understand.

"It was a gift from father." From the tone, it seemed as if anger won out. Remy's voice was cold and hard. He suddenly seemed older than his fifteen years. Scott made sure not to show any sympathy. Remy would try to take his head off.

"God, I hate him," they said together. They seemed to do that a lot. Used to drive their father mad. Remy sighed and rummaged under his bed. When he emerged, a dropped a small black bag onto the desk near Scott and took a seat at his feet. He tilted his head back to give Scott access to the lock.

Kitty knew something wasn't right. She saw the other kids whispering behind their hands and pointing at Remy. She saw how the grown-ups frowned disapprovingly and shook their heads. Kitty rushed to latch on to his hand.

Remy looked down at the little girl and absently smoothed down her straight brown hair. He didn't need his empathy to know that she was agitated. If he had decided to be honest with himself, he would have realized that he was just glad to have someone else's problems to focus on.

"C'mere, petite," he murmured, swinging her up on to his shoulders. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck and lowered her chin to rest on his wild auburn hair. "Let's go find Scottie."

"No!" She tightened her grip, threatening to choke him. Remy smiled at her show of loyalty. He loved the little imp.

"Well, then let's get some ice cream and watch The Little Mermaid." Kitty kissed his forehead and they went off to get the necessary equipment.

Kitty snuggled in Remy's arms and watched the movie. Even though it was her absolute favorite, her eyes kept sliding towards the doorway. Mr. Logan kept peeking into the room. She didn't like Mr. Logan. He was scary and he seemed to yell at Remy a lot.

Remy fell asleep with Kitty on the couch. Jean threw a big quilt over them. As she looked down on him, she was hit by conflicting emotions. Most of the time he seemed like such a cocky bastard, and yet… Jean wasn't used to people she couldn't read. With Remy's shields, she was left in the dark, and she didn't like it. Jean turned off the television and the light and closed the door to the rec room on her way out.

Remy opened his eyes. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

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Jean closed her eyes. Her head hurt from the practice session. Ms. Braddock seemed to be pushing her awfully hard. She went to the nurse station for some aspirin. There was nobody on duty when she first entered the room. Curious, she headed to the back area. Scott was laying on a cot, a blindfold across his eyes. There was a charred hole in the ceiling above the cot.

"The professor said to make sure he stays unconscious until the glasses come in. Remember what happened last time?" Dr. Reyes asked, carefully inserting an IV into his arm.

"What are you doing here?" Dr. McCoy asked, grabbing her arm and ushering her out of the room.

"I needed some aspirin. There was no one in front."

Dr. McCoy tossed her a pill packet and pointed her out of the room.

"Dr. McCoy, get in here now! The drugs don't seem to working!"

Jean followed him back, only to stop short when a laser blast shot out in front of her.

"Get Xavier in here! He needs to calm down!"

"Xavier is downtown!" Jean didn't wait to act.

Scott, please close your eyes. Something happened to your glasses. Scott acted purely from the fear he heard in his head.

Jean? What are you doing in my head? He wasn't angry. Jean sent him images of everything she knew, which wasn't much. Still, Scott lay back quietly.

Don't go. Since they put the damn collar on Remy, he can't talk to me. She realized that the drugs had worked marginally. He was kind of silly and disoriented.

Okay. I'll talk to you. What happened? she asked soothingly.

I don't remember. I think I was in the Danger Room and something hit my head (?) I just don't know. Why is your hair black?

What?

The image of you in my head. You have black hair.

Oh. I was just playing around.

Don't. You're so much prettier. Scott was intense. Jean sighed as she realized that he probably didn't even know what he was saying.

Just relax. It won't be long now.