Chapter 3

They managed to get him up to his old room without anybody noticing. They heard the subdued voices as they passed the dining room, trying there best not to lumber, trip, or do anything that would alert anyone of their presence. Remy stiffened, his feet slowed. Logan grabbed him by the hand, dragging Remy child-like up the stairs. Entering his room for the first time in two years they both realized two things; that it was icily cold in this room, and that Ororo had never forgotten. Everything was straightened and there was no dust to be found. She had kept the room as though he were coming home that very afternoon. And he had, finally, this day. But the knew Remy didn't appreciate the cold. When he felt it he shivered and tried to back out of the room. Logan wouldn't loosen his grip, but he turned up the thermostat as he passed. Remy started as the radiator rattled to life, blowing out how air before he let go of Logan's hand and stood next to the warmth. Hank closed the door behind them.

"This is going to be a bit more difficult than I realized. We can't keep him locked in here. This isn't a prison." Hank noticed Remy become agitated at that, glancing at them through the corners of his eyes while gripping himself tightly. Hank began to wonder if someone had locked Remy up somewhere. That would explain why he had never contacted them to let them know he was in trouble. Did he think they wouldn't have cared?

"We're the only ones on this hall, he can always go into my room if he feels like it. It's not that bad." Logan dumped the convenience store bag on the bed. He steered Remy over and sat him down, ripping open a bag of M&M's.

"Logan, he needs nutrients, not sugar." Hank told him in a disapproving voice.

"He needs calories." He retorted. He turned Remy's hand over and poured them into his palms. He expected Remy to eat them, but he turned his hand over and watched them fall. They watched him organize them into colors, carefully inspecting each shell before placing it with its mates. Then he started eating them, which made both men happy.

"Do you want to sleep now?" Hank asked. He had not missed the fact that he looked exhausted. He was met with the jerky shake of the head that was becoming all too familiar, the shake people did when they were trying to get water out of their ears. Hank was just glad he had reacted, instead of looking through him, not hearing him.

His eyes began closing involuntarily within a few moments though, for all that he didn't want to sleep. Then all of a sudden his eyes flashed open. He stumbled off the bed, past Hank and on the remembered path to the bathroom. Then he threw up.

"I told you not to give him candy." Hank admonished Logan in a smug tone. Remy's stomach, unused to food has rejected the sudden influx. Remy's eyes were shut and he rested his flushed face against the porcelain, too exhausted to move. Logan picked up his limp, junkie thin body and placed him back on the bed under piles of blankets.

"Shut up. He would have puked from anything." Hank just smirked.

They weren't prepared for the nightmares. Oh, he had had them once in a while when he had lived at the mansion before, Logan had heard him screaming from down the hall. He had gone into the boy's room to wake him up, knowing what it was like to be trapped in a repeating hell, holding him as he panted with remembered pain. But more often than not, he's scream himself awake and stumble up to 'Ro's loft. These were nothing like those nightmares.

Logan and Hank were talking quietly amongst themselves, careful not to wake Remy. The time was almost eight. He had been sleeping since six. They had decided that one of them would stay in the room at all times as they did not know how he's react to waking in a strange place.

Logan paused in mid-sentence, glancing over at Remy. He smelled pain and fear and shame, bitter and overwhelming. But Remy didn't seem as though he were having a nightmare at first glance. Logan stood up to get a better look at him. There were no sounds, no thrashing. He held himself rigidly, fingers digging into his arms, drawing blood. His teeth were clenched tight, the muscle in his jaw twitched.

"Hank," Logan began slowly, unsure of what was going on.

Hank was already across the room. "He's biting his tongue, we've got to wake him up." He gripped Remy's shoulders, shaking him and calling his name. Logan followed. He looked down at Remy for a moment. He was too lost in his own hell, he couldn't hear him. Logan got into the bed and gathered Remy's body into his lap. After a brief moment when the stench of fear became even stronger, Remy began to calm down. He sighed and snuggled down into Logan's arms as his eyelids began to flutter and he woke up. "There ya go, Rem, it's alright. You're fine."

Logan met Hank's quizzical look. "He's had nightmares before. He's usually so far in them that he can't hear you so you've got to touch-"

"Remy, how do you feel?" Hank asked, cutting Logan off to meet Remy's confused gaze. He gestured, at Logan to let go of him and Hank to get out of his face. Shakily he got up and made his way to the bathroom for the second time that night. He leaned over the sink, arms stiff, leaning against the wall, and spat out mouthful after mouthful of blood and saliva.

After a while Hank announced, "I'll be right back." Already out of the door. Logan nodded, Remy ignored him.

Hank made his way down the stairs, past Bobby, Warren, Betsy, and Rogue in the rec room. Jean and Scott looked startled when Hank walked through the door to the kitchen. Scott looked peeved and he knew that he had interrupted an important conversation. Hank began making up plates of leftovers and nuking them, chicken and mashed potatoes and sad looking green beans which he figured none of them would eat but they were good for the sake of appearances. He was a doctor after all.

Jean raised her eyebrows. "Are you going to be eating all of that Hank?" She pointed at the three plates.

"Ah, no. One is for me, two for Logan." Raised eyebrows from the couple. "He is helping me with an...experiment. It may take a while so don't expect to see much of either of us for long periods of time."

"We'll see you at training though, right?" The question came from Scott, of course.

"Maybe Logan, but probably not me." Scott's eyebrows lowered. "It's a rather delicate process and it must be watched at all times." The microwave beeped and Hank placed the plates on a tray.

"I bid you adieu." He said with fake jollity before he left.

As he walked back up the stairs, he just kept wondering; what if they were found out? For Hank and Logan it would not be a big deal, but what if the objected to Remy being at the mansion? Would they really turn him away?

Hank kicked at the door and Logan opened it, about ready to marry the doctor when he saw the food. He dug in, closing the door behind him. Remy was pacing the length of the wall, looking at the floor and appearing to not hear Hank's entrance. He seemed restless.

Logan followed Hank's worried gaze.

"I just wish he's say something, ya know?" Logan said in a candid moment. "It kills me, seeing him like this and knowing it's our fault this happened. And even if we get him talking and doing all the shit he used to do, he'll never be the same. He'll never be right again." Hank nodded in understanding. Logan didn't have to be your best friend to consider you his family, a member of his pack. And he had always felt a bit of kinship with the boy, both being outsiders as they were.

Hank then said something they both knew but didn't want to say aloud. "Even if he would say something, he'd never trust us enough to tell us what happened."

Logan watched the damaged boy as he paced. His eyes were bruised shadows and he hugged himself tightly, like the only kind touch he ever got came from himself. Logan couldn't stand it. He crossed the room, coming up behind Remy and drew him into his arms hugging him tight.

He got a reaction, but not the one he wanted. Remy froze and began to tremble like a dog in a thunderstorm, a low keen coming from the back of his throat.

"Remy...?" He let go of the boy, but he didn't move away from Logan. He didn't move at all. He dropped to his knees and passed out.

Next chapter is going to be from Remy's POV.