I know, I know, it's been a while and this chapter isn't very long. I'm sorry! I'm caught up in my other storyline. But I haven't forgotten this one I promise!
For Spencer the rest of the day passed rather quickly. He spent most of it with Jean-Luc, getting a crash course on Guild history. Spencer found his initial discomfort at learning about a group of organized thieves fading away as he truly got into the history of them. Knowledge of any kind always fascinated him and it wasn't hard for him to lose himself in the rich and varied history that the Guild held. When Jean-Luc handed him some books, suggesting that he familiarize himself with them, Spencer happily took them back to his room and set up in his bed. Losing himself in them was a welcome distraction from the thoughts that kept trying to plague him and yank him down. So long as he didn't think about certain things—his father, this whole deal, the visions and feelings he'd gotten when he met Remy, his mother, wondering if he'd ever get to see his mother again—he could handle this. He could pretend, in a way, that this wasn't permanent. That his father had just sent him here to learn and study. He would've had to leave home for college, right? This was sort of the same thing. He'd be learning things here even if it wasn't the type of thing he had thought he'd learn.
So far he'd managed to avoid Remy. After their little moment in the bedroom this morning, he hadn't really wanted to talk to the teen. The urge to avoid him had only grown stronger after some of the things Spencer had learned this afternoon. Jean-Luc had openly explained to Spencer just how exactly he was going to be viewed in the eyes of the Guild. It was a lot for a kid to take in. For all intents and purposes, to the eyes of the Guild he was now Remy's property. Remy owned him. A lot of the views the Guilds held on this were dated back to a time when slavery was still considered acceptable. To them, everything that Spencer did, everything he had, was going to be Remy's responsibility and at his whim. He'd be responsible for making sure Spencer was cared for with food, shelter, and other necessities. It also meant that any mistakes that Spencer made, not only could he get in trouble for them, Remy would as well. Anything that Spencer did wrong would reflect on his new 'master'. People in Spencer's position had once been trained in various areas. Either as companions, platonic or sexual, as advisors, as house slaves, or as bodyguards.
Jean-Luc had made sure to reassure Spencer that none of this was going to be expected of him. The training they wanted him to go through was going to be for his own safety, not because they wanted to establish him as any specific role for Remy. They were going to tell people he was simply a companion, a friendly one, for a teen who had few people within his age group, and Jean-Luc assured him that was all they'd ask.
That train of thought helped Spencer to make it through his first day. The night, however, was a different story. He'd outrun his thoughts of Remy through the day, avoiding thinking of the teen or of anything that he'd seen at that first meeting.
He couldn't outrun his dreams.
They came to him that night with the brightness that signaled a Dream instead of a simple dream. Bright flashes of images, moments in time, played one after the other and all out of order, showing him a glimpse of what could be, what might be, and Spencer was powerless to do anything but watch and feel and ache.
The dreams taunted and tortured Spencer through the night until he woke, gasping and nauseous, in the early morning light. He shot straight up in bed with a cry caught in his throat and his whole body slick with sweat. It took a moment and a few gasping breaths before he realized that it hadn't been the dreams that had woken him. It'd been the sound of someone knocking on the bedroom door. He only realized that when the knock came again and then the door opened. Still caught in that place between dreams and waking, the young teen could only watch as the door opened and Mattie came in. The elderly woman looked at Spencer like she wasn't the least bit surprised to find the youth drenched in sweat and shaking in the middle of his bed.
Mattie calmly shut the door behind her before turning and making her way to the bed. Spencer just sat there, frozen, watching while she came up and took a seat right on the edge of his bed like it was perfectly normal. As if she'd done it countless times before. Her eyes, when they locked on him, held the weight of power that he'd noticed when he'd first met her. It reached out to the part of Spencer that was still throbbing from his dreams and he swore he could feel himself breathing just a little bit easier. As if she'd been waiting for that, Mattie nodded. "Y' been Dreaming." She said, her tone clearly putting the capital 'D' on dreaming, leaving no doubt just what kind of dreams she meant.
Was there any point in denying it? This strange woman that he barely knew seemed to reach out to him in ways he hadn't felt from anyone else. That part of Spencer that was still growing insisted to him that she was trustworthy. Someone that deserved both his trust and his respect. So far, that part had never steered him wrong, and right now it was the only part of him that seemed able to function with the Dreams still tugging at him. It had him nodding in answer to her statement.
Her eyes were kind as she nodded back. Folding her hands in her lap, she let him have his space, seeming to recognize that touching wasn't going to be allowed yet. "I know a t'ing or two about dreams, chile. Would y' like to tell ol' Mattie what dey were?"
He knew what these dreams were. Trembling, Spencer wrapped his arms around his waist and held on, holding himself as tightly as possible. The images of his dreams were still so bright and clear in his mind .What he'd seen when he first met Remy had been what could be. Things that could happen, with the right choices made. The dreams last night... "It was Remy." He whispered, looking up at Mattie's compassionate eyes. "All of it was clips of Remy. His life, if I'm not there. If I walk away from him."
"De spirits showed y' de possibilities. Dey showed y' what could be, either way, so y' can make y'r choice." Mattie said sagely.
"I can't change all of it." Where the words came from, he didn't know, but he felt the truth of them. "Even if I'm there, some of it can't be changed."
"Mais some can."
Another shiver ran down Spencer's body. "Why me?" Wide eyes turned pleading. "What's so special about me, Mattie? I'm not anyone important!"
"Y'r absolutely important, Spencer Reid, and don't let me hear y' say ot'erwise." Mattie snapped sharply. Then her tone gentled and she gave him a look that held a note of pity to it. "I don't know why de spirits picked y', petit. Some people, dey're jus' destined fo' t'ings. Y' and Remy are two of dose people. Mais, only if y' choose, petit. Dat's what de spirits are giving y' here. A choice."
"If I choose no?"
"Den when y'r grown an ready, y'll go y'r own way. Y'll still be a part of dis family, t'ough. Dere aint not'ing dat's gonna change dat. We aint gonna turn y' out, Spencer. Y'r ours now."
"And…and if I accept this?"
"Den y'll do what needs to be done."
He thought of the things that he'd seen, both before and last night, and he thought of the differences between the two. The life that Remy lived in either possible future. "I'd need to train. Really, honestly train." He said lowly, the words almost reluctantly pulled from him.
"Oui." Mattie agreed. "Y'll need to stay wit' him, too. Don't let him go off alone. Y'll need to be wit' him, always. What y' saw is what happens if he goes it alone. Dere are gonna be t'ings dat're gonna be different de minute y' cast y'r lot wit' his. Trouble dat y' might not know is coming till it's too late. T'ings dat aint gonna wait years fo' y' to train up proper. Y'll have to work fast."
A cold hand gripped at Spencer's stomach, twisting it in knots. Doubt and fear rolled around in there in a nauseating mix. "I don't know if I can do this, Mattie."
"Y'r stronger dan y' t'ink, chile." She said soothingly. Reaching out, she rested her hand on his arm, rubbing gently. "De spirits, dey wouldn't give y' somet'ing dey didn't t'ink y' could handle. Y'r strong. Y' got a smart mind and a good heart, Spencer."
No one had ever had such faith in him before. No one but his mother had ever believed him strong or capable. He'd always been told what a failure or a freak he was. Yet here Mattie was, telling him that she had faith in him and his strength, that these spirits she believed in did as well. The young teen soaked up the words that he'd so rarely heard before. They gave him the strength to make the only choice that he saw in front of him. "What do I need to do?"
The downstairs was oddly quiet when Mattie made her way into the dining room. She found the LeBeau family all there, just as she'd known they would be. They'd all been there already when she'd announced that she was going to go check on their absent member after Remy had told them of Spencer's seemingly rough night.
Three sets of eyes shot up to her as she entered the room and each one of them carried concern. Seeing that had her wanting to smile. Good. Two nights here and the teen upstairs had already managed to worm his way into the hearts of these men. His story had touched them all right from the start; a boy sold off by his own father, a father who seemed to have very little care for his boy at all. Then he'd come and been so strong, yet so sweet and shy, bearing up underneath an amazing weight, taking on more and more. Now, this. He was burdened underneath the weight of last night's Dreams, but he wasn't broken. Nor would he be.
Mattie ignored Jean-Luc and Henri for the moment. Her eyes found Remy's and held him firmly. "He's awake now." She told him. "An he needs y'."
"Me?" Remy looked surprised by that.
There was a slight limp to Mattie's step when she made her way to the chair. Mornings like this, with just that hint of a nip in the air, always left her hip aching. She rubbed at it as she lowered herself into her chair. "Oui, Remy. Y'. He's y'r partner, aint he? Brought here to be y'r companion." Settling in, she lifted her gaze again and looked to him once more. Her next words were just slightly heavier with the small bit of power that she claimed. Power that was nothing in comparison to the boy upstairs. "He's as much y'r responsibility as y'r his, Remy LeBeau. Dis aint a one sided t'ing. He'll use de Sight to protect y', mais y'll need to protect him in turn. Heavy Dreams like last night take a lot out of de body and de soul. He's gonna be tired an a lil emotional. Dat's when he needs y' de most. De t'ings one sees, de aint always pleasant, an he's got a tender heart. He needs y' to be steady and strong fo' him until he can find his balance again."
Remy nodded solemnly. "Oui, Tante." Out of all the family, he had always been the one to take her words the most seriously. She didn't know what it was, or what he'd encountered in his years on the streets, but something had left him with a healthy respect for those with power and Sight. He would be a good companion for Spencer.
She smiled kindly at him, her expression softening. "Go, den, petit. Take him somet'ing to drink an a lil somet'ing to fill his belly. Try an coax him to eating, if y' can. He was a bit nauseous when I left him."
"Oui, Tante." Remy repeated. He was up on his feet, quickly gathering a plate and putting a few light items on it such as toast and a bit of eggs. With that, he snagged an empty glass, presumably for water. Items in hand he made his way out of the room, pausing only long enough to lightly kiss the top of Mattie's hair, making her smile and swat at him. Laughing, he darted out the door, and Mattie settled back in her chair. For better or worse, things had begun. They were together. Now, their safety was in each other's hands, and in the hands of the spirits.