Once again, thankies to Cruel Illusion for the beta.
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"So… Hank knows how to fix this, right?" Having pulled away the dark glasses, he was crouched in front of Remy, looking deep into familiar-looking devil-eyes with the disturbing sense that there was no one looking back out. Remy was trying to hide his own discomfort by meeting Logan's gaze. Unfortunately he was missing by a good three inches… above his head.
"He t'inks dey'll get better on deir own."
"Are ya seeing… like shadows or anythin'? Or is it…"
"Black. S'all black mon ami."
"'M sure Hank knows what he's talkin' about. Probably just need ta give it some time." Logan pressed the sunglasses back into Remy's hand, and watched him slide them back on uncomfortably - fighting with his uncooperative hands. He moved so that he was sat alongside him, back pressed up against the wall. The scents of fear and panic were slowly seeping out of the room, and they were both relaxing. "How the hell did ya manage ta escape Hank in this state?" He wondered, half to himself.
"He leaves me 'lone mos' of th' time. Pretty much got m' own treatmen' down pat. He jus' makes sure 'm eatin' righ' and t' change…" He waved the bandaged hand in the air. "this."
"Why ain't that hand healed up as well as the other?"
"Infection." Remy made a face. "Henri bin talkin' about skin grafts. T'ink it might not look so good beneat' all dis."
"And ya managed ta get yerself out of the lab and inta the kitchen with a coffee and a ciggie?"
Remy snorted. "Not Master T'ief fo' not'in', y'know."
"How?"
"Know th' mansion like th' back a' m' hand. 'Leas' what it used t' look like." He smirked. "Could walk it blindfold. So I did. Someone already made th' coffee, an' I had a packet stashed in th' kitchen."
"Why did coming out here spook ya so badly, if ya haven't minded bein' on ya own?"
"Don' know dis place. Wouldn' be able t' find m' way back t' th' mansion. Don' know if I'd even be able t' find th' door. Don' like t' be helpless, Logan. Makes me real…"
"Panicked?" A sigh of resignation.
"Yeah."
Logan shuffled a little closer, so that their arms were touching. "It's all right to be freaked out by this, Remy. This is a scary time, but you're gonna come out the other side stronger for it." Behind the glasses that made the world no darker than it had originally been, Remy blinked slowly, and tried to re-gather his muddled thoughts as an inkling of something not quite right reached him.
"'K, Logan. Y' need t' take m' back t' th' mansion now." He said cagily, suddenly worried.
"I'm not takin' ya back until I'm sure ya shields are back in place."
"I can' do dat wit' you dere. Need y' away from me."
"So I'll…" No, can't leave him alone again, don't leave him alone again! "Pull it together, Gambit. I felt that one."
"I need touch, and y're touchin' me. I need reassurance, and y're sayin' all a' th' t'ings I need t' hear. Could you turn it off?" Logan resisted the urge to stand up and step away the moment he knew he'd been manipulated into moving closer to the Cajun. He hated being manipulated, but Remy needed this.
"OK, kid. We have two options. I know ya don't wanna be left alone in here again, but either ya get those shields up with me here, or ya do it with me outside."
"I end up wit' a link t' you trapped in m' shields if I do it wit' y' here."
"Then I'll…" He was interrupted when Remy's attention jumped away from him and out of the building. He sniffed, searching for some sign of who was approaching. The decision had been taken out of their hands.
"Jeannie."
"Th' shields, she'll know I'm…"
"Do it…"
"But…"
"I trust ya." And a hand on his elbow was pulling him up and pushing him towards an empty room as he began building up shields.
The structure of his old shields was still in place, like a skeleton that needed fleshing out. For now all he could do was throw up paper shields that he could work on strengthening when he was in a less emotionally charged situation. He pushed Logan out as best as he was able before pasting over that hole, and hoped that would be enough to avoid the empathic connection such an action had always created in the past.
Slowing heavy breathing as he completed the thin shields, he slouched down in the chair Logan had pushed him into and hoped they would be enough to hide him from the telepath in the other room. Logan was busy making up some story about having heard something from in the boathouse, but it was quite obvious that Jean had only come over because she had sensed Logan and wanted to welcome him back home. She didn't care why he was out here. After promising to return to the house once he'd done one last check of the boathouse, Jean finally left, and Remy let out a sigh of relief.
"Yer pretty screwed now, kid. No way we're gonna get ya back in the house without 'least Jeannie seein' ya."
"Coulda bin worse. Leas' she ain't one a' th' ones dat was dere."
"Ya still ain't told me what happened back there."
"Ask Betsy, or Ange. Dey know all about it."
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"Remy? Oh my God, you're alive!"
Remy was enveloped in a hug before he had a chance to step fully through the mansion's door, and Logan's hand on his back - that had been guiding him back from the boathouse - slipped away as Jean dragged him inside. He felt the panicked rush of adrenaline, and had to fight against the urge to pull away from the woman who was hanging around his shoulders. Remy tried to return the greeting, assure her he was alright, but he couldn't get anything out through the fear that was making just breathing difficult. He stumbled gracelessly as she pulled away, keeping one hand on his wrist as if to drag him somewhere. His heart hit his mouth as she released him, leaving him hanging in the middle of the room, lost and alone with people less than an arm's reach away. He didn't see the confused look that flashed across Jean's face, but he felt the flicker of concern that could only have been Logan's as a solid hand grasped his elbow and pulled him towards the door.
"Let's take ya back ta the doc., kid." He mumbled.
"Wait, Logan! The others…" Jean called out. Logan turned back to her, keeping hold of Remy this time, keeping him grounded.
"He don't owe any of yer anythin'." He growled, pointing accusingly at Jean. "By the sounds of it, y'all owe him one hell of an apology."
"Logan, what…" Scott's voice from the doorway stuttered to a stop as he took in the scene. The supposedly dead Gambit, clinging desperately to the supposedly missing Wolverine, who was gesturing angrily at his wife, who was looking quite upset. "What the hell is going on here?"
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With Remy delivered back into the Beast's care, Logan marched back up the stairs and took a seat in the kitchen where Scott and Jean were waiting for him.
"Tell me what you know."
"Remy was involved in an attempted genocide, and his deception was revealed to some of the X-men. Rogue tried to kill him, and lied to the others about what had happened." Scott's tone was neutral. "When we found out the Professor sent her away from the mansion for her own good. But it seems that was unnecessary, and he's survived."
"Unnecessary? So, you sent her away because she tried to kill a team mate, but since she failed what she did was perfectly acceptable." The residual effects of Remy's emotional bombardment were making Logan edgy, pushing him to anger.
"You didn't hear what he did. I can't help wonder if he didn't…" Scott hesitated, his attention drawn to the figure that had just appeared in the door.
"Deserve it? I never thought I'd hear an X-man ever encourage the death of another. And definitely not from you, Scott Summers!" Ororo stood in the doorway, face full of rage. "What has come over this team? Warren and Betsy sit and talk about his death as though it was some kind of success!"
"We found out that someone we trusted was keeping something from us. Something unforgivable!" Scott answered levelly as the weather witch joined them in the kitchen. She walked to Logan's side, giving him a brief hug as he stood. He was spared the checking-over any other team member would have received, simply because his healing factor meant that none of his trials showed on his body. Instead she examined his eyes.
"He is gone, Logan. Forgive me for not protecting him well enough." Logan ignored that cryptic comment.
"He isn't, 'Ro. Gotta give him more credit than that."
"How could he survive that… And with his heart so terribly broken?"
"Go see Hank." Shock and surprise flickered across her face as his meaning became clear. Logan turned back to Scott as Ororo fled towards the stairwell.
"When did execution become the answer to betrayal?"
"She didn't tell them what she planned to do. Rogue took the decision out of their hands."
"She planned to kill him?"
"Oh yes." It was Jean that answered this time, her voice bitter. "She saved him from a potentially quick and relatively painless death, and left him to die of hypothermia in the snows of the Antarctic. It was quite cold and heartless."
"Just like the gal then?" He sneered. Jean snorted helplessly.
"You're unbelievable. Neither of you seem to be taking Remy's transgressions seriously. He massacred the Morlocks!"
Wolverine was no longer grinning, his eyes fixed on Scott, gaze serious. "Massacred is a serious accusation. He did this single-handedly?"
"No, but…"
"So he had others around him?"
"Yes, and…"
"'S not like the Cajun ta kill. Bet he didn't even kill anyone."
"Well no, but…"
"Bet he even managed to save one."
"Sarah…"
"And then Creed mauled him…"
"You knew about this! You knew we were harboring a guilty man, and you didn't say anything?"
"Creed told me first time he saw the kid fightin' fer our side. Tryin' ta turn us against him. But listen ta yerself, Slim. Ya just proved him innocent, who cares how he ended up there, the kid didn't lay a finger on anyone, and has been repenting ever since." His word spoken, Logan got up and went to find Gambit, leaving Scott gaping over the tirade.
"If I were you, Scott, I'd give them both a wide berth for a while." Sensitive ears caught Jean's comment as he left the room, and he was glad to have at least done something for the kid.