Charles turned to the window and stared out at the ocean. It had been four days and he felt he was close to a breakthrough with Warren. He had so much hatred inside his mind for the young Cajun, Remy LeBeau. The boy had nothing at all to do with Warren’s wings but in Warren’s mind he was solely responsible for everything bad that had ever happened to him. He received a message from Scott a couple hours ago that LeBeau suddenly popped onto their sensors. Charles was extremely worried about that. The young Cajun was nearly impossible to find on sensors, if he was suddenly there it could only mean one of two things; either it was a trap or the boy was beyond even Sinisters’ help now. He couldn’t think of any reason the mad man would just let the child go. He wanted to be there to help if he could but Warren needed his help first. He also made a promise to Moira on her deathbed that he would go to Muir and take care of everything until her replacement was settled. Jean would be exhausted by the time he could returned. There was a knock on the door and an elderly nurse escorted in Warren.

“ Warren is ready to talk to you some more Professor Xavier,” she said as she led him in and waited for him to sit down.

“ Thank you Mary. How are you this morning Warren? Would you care for some coffee or tea?”

Warren just looked at the man across the desk. He used to be his friend. Now everyone was turning on him. It was all because of that damn LeBeau.
“ No. Thank you.”

Charles caught the stray thought,
“ Why do you insist on blaming Remy for everything that goes wrong in your life?”

“Because it is his fault! Scott hates me because of him! He actually hit me! Bobby hasn’t said two words to me in months. He’s too busy making nice to the whore. Yes, I found out about his past! It’s not a huge surprise! He killed the Morlocks! He took my wings! Everything was fine until him!”

Charles couldn’t stand it any longer. “ Stop!” He rubbed his temples and silently prayed for strength. “ I want to go into your memories. I want you to relive the day you lost your wings.”
 
“What? No, you can’t mean that!” Warren was shocked.

“ It’s the only way you will be convinced that Remy is innocent.” Charles said calmly. He really didn’t want to do this but he was afraid for the younger man in front of him. If this weren’t addressed now he feared Warren would never heal mentally. Until he faced his anger, saw with his own eyes that Remy was innocent, he would never be able to come back to the team and Charles knew that was something Warren wanted.

Warren blinked slowly. How could his mentor want him to go back to the worst day in his life?  What could that possibly prove?  He stood and walked to the window when suddenly a thought occurred to him; if he did do this it would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was right. They would all finally have to admit he was right!  “ All right Charles. I will let you go into my head and I will relive that day but when it’s over and I am proven right, I want to be the one to throw that worthless thieving whore out of our lives forever!”

Charles wanted to close his eyes and shake his head. How had he not seen that this poor man was this ill? “ All right Warren. We will do this tomorrow. I want you to rest and think about this. I want you to be absolutely sure.”

Warren walked to the door and opened it. “ I can’t wait now that you mention it,” he said with a smile. “Because when I get to throw him out it will be worth any pain remembering could possibly cause!” He was gone after a moment and Charles turned back to look across the ocean wondering how his other injured child was doing.

                                    ***********************************
 

The Blackbird landed a little rougher than usual, Cyclops couldn’t seem to wait until it actually sat down to shut it off and open the hatch. “ Sorry people. Hank I want you with me. Everyone else stay close and watch for signs that this is a trap.” Everyone nodded and Scott and Hank set off in the direction that the sensor indicated.

They had gone three quarters of the way into what appeared to be an old school when Hank stopped. “ In this room.” They entered and gasped. “ Dear God.” Scott bent and Hank shouted, “ Don’t touch him!” He hurried forward and carefully checked for a pulse. “ He may have injuries we cannot see.” He looked around the room. “ Can you remove the legs from that table? I want to make sure his spine and neck are immobilized.”

Scott nodded and tapped the side of his visor easily turning the table into a backboard.

They carefully rolled the young man onto the board and checked him for obvious injuries. “ His broken arm is once again a compound fracture. There are stitches here,” he pointed to his lower abdomen, “ and here.” he indicated a row of stitches just below his collarbone.
“ His pulse is too weak …” he stopped talking and looked at Scott, “ I need him in the lab now.” Scott nodded again and watched Hank cover the boy with a blanket. “ Remy needs a smooth ride home my friend.”

“You got it. Are you ready to move him?” Scott looked at his hands and noticed they were shaking. “ Do you think he’ll be alright?” He had enough experience with the mad man to know what he was capable of.

Hank moved to the head of the board and on the count of three they lifted their injured teammate and started for the jet. “ I need to get him in the lab and make sure his condition is stable then I can perform the necessary exams. I don’t like his color and I have no idea how long his arm has been like that. I don’t know how I’m going to have room to work on him because Logan will be in the way-” Hank was trying to stay calm but he had a gut feeling that seconds were going to matter in this case. “ Let’s hurry.”

Scott was struck by the panic he could hear in Hank’s voice. They started moving a little faster, careful not to bump or jar the wounded boy they transported. As they approached the jet the team parted and allowed them to enter the hatch.

“ Storm, I know he’s your friend but Hank needs help. Do you think you can handle it?” Scott asked his second in command.

“ I will do it Cyclops. He has saved my life more times than I care to remember. Do not worry I will be strong for my brother. If he wakes it will help if he sees a friendly face.” She tried to smile but the tiny glimpse she caught as they carried him aboard made her shudder.

“ Hank do you need a minute to get him settled or…”

“GO!” he called as the abused body in front of him started to shake with seizures.

                                 *************************************

Logan paced back and forth in the hanger of the mansion. He understood why he had to stay home but didn’t they understand how hard it was? The only thing he knew for sure was that they had Remy, he was alive and that they were coming home with him. He didn’t even know where they finally found him. Jean had stopped suddenly on their walk around the grounds and gasped. He watched as her perfect complexion paled and a tear ran from her eye. “ We have to go back.” was all she would say. Her voice shook and she made him promise to stay away from the med lab until Hank called him. Okay. He wasn’t in the med lab and she never said anything about the hanger.

He heard the roar of the thrusters as the big jet descended through an opening in the roof. He rushed forward as soon as the Bird settled only to be shoved aside by Hank as he ran beside a gurney toward the med lab.  Logan only got a glimpse of his lover before the doctor and Storm disappeared inside.
“ Cyke?”

The younger field leader stopped and looked between him and the door through which the Beast and Storm just entered. “ It’s not good Logan.” was all he said before he jogged toward the door. Logan turned a full circle and found he was standing alone in the giant room. He felt his stomach go cold and ran to follow the others.

Jean stood wrapped in Scott’s arms as he pushed into the lab. “ Logan, it’s going to be a while before we know any thing for sure.” Scott said. “ He was unconscious when we found him. His arm is bad, another compound fracture. There are several rows of stitches that Hank needed to examine. He …he was suffering from seizures all the way home.”

Logan sat down “ It’ll be okay. The kids tough, he can get through this.” He looked toward the closed door where his lover and the doctor were. “ Blue’s the best. He can undo anything the bastard did.” He was talking to no one in particular. He just couldn’t sit there quietly or the silence would suffocate him.

Jean gave Scott a hug and went to sit beside Logan. “ You’re right you know. Remy is tough. He’ll get a kick out of us sitting here worrying about him.”

Logan gave her a tiny smile, a silent thank you for her support. “ Yeah, I won’t hear the end of this for a while especially since he’s gonna be laid up with that arm for another three months. I still think I’d like to sit here and wait.”

                                      **********************************

“Henry, is there anything more we can do?” Storm’s voice was quiet and shaking a bit. She had to watch as her brother was x-rayed and examined. She’d assisted with repairing his broken arm again.  She watched as his body shook with seizures and then was still as death. At one point in the exam Hank asked her to step outside of the curtain. He needed to do a private exam. Storm did as he asked, cringing when Hank gasped and mumbled under his breath. She could hear as instruments were lifted and later replaced on the metal tray. When he asked her to join him again he looked a bit shaken but she refrained from asking why. Remy was still now. Cleaned up and bandaged. His lips still looked blue but the color was improving slowly. He was still wearing a neck brace because of a possible injury to his spine.

 Hank fussed with the blanket then turned to his friend, “ I need to give him blood and fluids but his veins are so bad that I’m afraid to try more than the one I did manage to insert. I am going to watch him closely; if it looks like he’s in trouble again I’ll think of something.” He watched as she leaned over and kissed her brother then they walked toward the hallway. “I am going to get Logan now, he must be beside himself with worry.”

                                      *************************************

They exited the lab and were assaulted by friends. “ Logan, why don’t you go on in, I’ll talk to you after I update the team.” Logan nodded and slowly walked into the private room Hank kept as an ICU. “ Darlin I’m beginning at think ya like it down here.” He looked down on the pale body; listened to the hiss of the oxygen and swallowed hard. He brushed through Remy’s soft hair; a piece of it was stuck in the brace around his neck and pulled slightly. “ What did he do to ya kid?” He wanted to hold his hand but was afraid of hurting the young man. His broken arm was recast and resting on a pillow. His skin had a blue tint to it because he was so pale. A monitor beeped and Hank appeared from nowhere.

 “As soon as he wakes up I’ll try to remove the oxygen mask. He was having difficulty breathing earlier. Logan, I am afraid that may be the least of our worries right now.” He motioned for Logan to take a seat. “ Logan, he’s not responding to any stimuli. He hasn’t moved. Not once, except for the seizures. I’ve done every scan and test I could.” He checked the readings on the monitor that had been attached to Logan just a few short days before. “ I just got the results of his blood work back.” He looked over the chart in front of him. “There are as many as thirty-seven unidentified drugs in his system right now. Any one of them could be the reason for the paralysis; I just don‘t know. I will keep him in the neck brace and keep him immobile until I can speak to him, maybe he will be able to tell me what Sinister did.”  He looked at the boy lying on the bed. “ I can’t risk giving him anything until all of these unknowns have been washed from his system.” He looked apologetically at Logan.

“ Nothing. What if he’s in pain? God Blue.”

“ I’m sorry, Remy reacts strangely to drugs at the best of times. If I give him something that reacts badly to one of these mystery drugs… I’m not sure he’s strong enough for that Logan. It could have disastrous results.”

Logan let his hand rest on his young lovers chest for a moment. “ Okay, I’ll stay close. Try to help him through this until you can help him.” Suddenly his lover tensed and another bout of seizures ran through the young mans body. Logan stood so fast he knocked over the chair he sat on “ Blue?”

He watched the large blue mutant place his hands on his lover’s shoulders to hold him still.
“ One of a hundred mysteries to unravel!” He held on until the shaking passed then went and checked the one IV he managed to get in. “ I can only assume that one of those unknowns is responsible for his frequent seizures. He can’t be left alone until these drugs work their way out of his system. It’s going to be a long hard haul.”

The two men sat on either side of the young man’s bed and watched him sleep. His condition changed without warning from one minute to the next. He would have a raging fever then he would shiver with chills. One seizure didn’t seem to end before the next started. The young Cajun seemed weaker with each passing attack. “ What else is wrong with him?” Logan whispered.
 
“ He needs blood and he’s dehydrated. His arm will be in the cast for a while of course. Sinister removed the original cast from his arm and in doing so caused the simple break to turn into a compound fracture. The stitches… I have no clue what he did, I’m sorry. There is nothing foreign in his body and nothing was removed except perhaps tissue samples. There is a bit of inflammation to the muscles in the areas in question.  We will just have to watch him closely for a while. His vocal chords appear to be paralyzed as well; again it’s probably one of the drugs in his system.  ” Hank stopped a moment to prepare for Logan’s reaction to the next bit of the exam. “ He was penetrated-”

“Raped?”

“No” Hank sighed, “ I don’t know. He had no semen in him, only on him. There was some bleeding, when I examined him I found this embedded inside him.” Hank was quiet, he sounded almost embarrassed as he showed Logan what he found. “ The area will be very tender for a while because there are some deep tears in a few places but most of the bleeding has stopped. I don’t think he will need stitches. I will have to watch for infection, that thing could have been anywhere. ”

Logan looked stunned. It was a long, hooked claw. It was Creed’s claw. He’d know it anywhere. Unlike Logan’s claws, Creed’s claws looked like the talons of a bird of prey. Very appropriate since he was no better than a vulture; feeding on other people’s kills. Remy had not only been dealing with Sinister and his tortures; he had to endure Creed’s abuse too?
 “ Are you telling me he just…hurt him… then jerked off?”

“ I don’t know what the purpose was, all I can tell you is that this was inside him and that there was semen on his skin.” Hank’s heart hurt for Logan. He’d witnessed his tearful confession of love to the young Cajun. He knew hearing all this had to be killing him.

“ Beside the apparent paralysis, the drugs in his system are my greatest concern. I also found contacts in his eyes on board the Blackbird. It‘s hard to tell if there was any purpose for them. I am going to keep the lights as dim as possible until I can check his eyes more completely. I would have done it already but every time I think it‘s safe to try he has another reaction to the drugs in his system.”

Logan watched his young lover sleep; blessedly peaceful at the moment, and tried to ignore all the possible problems he would have to face when he finally woke.

                                  *************************************

  It was two a.m. when Hank gently woke Logan, “ Why don’t you go rest on the bed over there, you are still recovering from this ordeal as well.”

 Logan looked around sleepily, then stood and looked down at Remy. “ Is he doin’ okay? Is he any better?”

 Hank shook his head and yawned, “ There’s been no change. He’s still not responding to any stimuli. He is still not conscious. The one IV I was able to get in is just not enough to make a difference.” He turned Remy’s arm over and Logan cringed; there had to be a hundred tiny needle marks on his lover’s arm. It was bruised wrist to elbow. There were even tiny pinpricks on the ends of his fingers and under his nails. “Sinister, for some unknown reason, saw fit to use the young man as his own personal pin cushion and lab rat. The other arm is just as bad.”

Logan bent and kissed his lover gently, “ God kid, I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop him. I’m so sorry I let Wings get to ya.”  He turned to Hank and with the weight of the world on his shoulders confessed “ I fed it to him. He didn’t want to eat. I made him eat the food with the drug in it!” He tried to turn fast enough to hide the tears welling in his eyes. “ If I’d let him just go to sleep like he wanted we’d both be okay now.”

Hank walked around the bed and put a hand on Logan’s shoulder, “ Then he would have tried something else. Warren was insane, Sinister had him brainwashed to believe that if he handed Remy over to him his life would be as it used to be. Warren will never be able to go back to the man he was before the tunnels. He is ill and he may have done something even worse had he not succeeded this time.”

“Worse? What could be worse?”

“ He might have just waited for an opportunity and killed him.”

Logan wanted to say something more but he froze. Hank turned to follow his gaze and for the first time since the rescue he found himself looking into Remy’s blank eyes.

                                   ***********************************
 

Charles gritted his teeth and held tight to the wheelchair he was sitting in as wave after wave of pain, horror, and disbelief washed over him. It had taken six long, excruciating hours to get to this point. Warren was almost smug when they started, wholly believing that he would be proven correct about Gambit. When he finally re- witnessed that day so long ago he wasn’t prepared for the actual truth.

“Oh dear God, it wasn’t him…it wasn’t him…” He was as pale as a sheet when he turned toward Charles but there was sanity in his eyes now. He would finally be able to move forward and heal.

“ That’s right Warren. Remy did play a part in that horrendous event but he had nothing at all to do with the killing or your wings.”

“ What have I done?” he whispered to Charles as tears ran down his cheeks. “ You have to help me! Oh my God, how do I fix what I’ve done?”

Charles maneuvered his wheelchair around and opened his arms. Warren wasted no time falling into the embrace of the man who felt more like his father than even the real one and sobbed. “ You’re going to be all right now son. Mary is going to take you to your room and I want you to sleep. We will talk more tomorrow. I’m very proud of you Warren, you’ve taken a huge step and although there is much work still to do, we are going to get through this.”

After Warren was safely in his room and sleeping Charles took a moment to close his eyes and try to relax. He unexpectedly felt the sting of tears himself. I am their mentor, their leader. This never should have happened! When did fighting for the dream become more important than these children I have doing the fighting! I have much to atone for. I can only pray that it isn’t too late. I nearly lost Warren to insanity, what have I done to Remy?

                                    *********************************

Remy heard familiar voices. Logan! Henri! I‘m home. He struggled to move, to speak but the drugs still held him hostage. He forced his eyes opened; momentarily surprised that it was still dark in the room. The drops had done something horrible to his eyes he knew. As soon as they hit, his eyes started to burn. They felt like they were swelling and about to explode. He felt a warm hand caress his face. Another soft one gently grabbed his wrist, feeling his pulse. Logan was talking, kissing him. Merci Dieu, you’re all right!  Something warm and wet hit his cheek, Cher? You’re cryin? Dieu he wanted to hold his lover! Feel his arms around him! Amour, I’m here! I hear you! Please don’t cry! It’s all gon’ be all right now!  UGHH! Head’s spinnin…I’m fallin… Cher?…

                               ************************************

Logan watched again as his young lovers eyes rolled back and he shook. “ Fuck! Hank?”…

The Beast felt helpless as yet another seizure washed through his young patient. “ I don’t know what to do!” All he could do was stand back and watch as the boy‘s body fought the drugs. He made sure Remy wasn’t in danger of choking and sighed; there wasn’t going to be a magic cure for this. It had to run its course until Remy could tell them what the Monster did to him! Hank wanted to scream in frustration when the tremors finally stopped and the boy panted from exhaustion.

Logan rested his forehead against his lovers and panted with him. He was so scared right now. He felt like he had when he was watching Remy in the cabin and accidentally scared the boy during a daydream. He had been so afraid he was losing Remy that he started ranting about how he loved him. It had been a painfully honest confession but thankfully Remy had eventually loved him in return. He felt like he was losing him all over again and that was a loss he would never survive. “ Remy? Darlin? Please be okay? Remy, yer safe now, please wake up again? Blue?”…

 Hank let his stethoscope drop to his chest. “ I’m sorry Logan, I don’t know what the maniac did to the boy!” He re-checked the IV and the monitor feeds. “ I’m going to try to push the IV. Try to get this junk out of him.” He was furious and ready to take it out on anyone in his way. He suddenly stopped what he was doing and looked down at the floor.

“ Somethin wrong Blue?”

“ I can’t do this Logan. I would be putting Remy in danger. We are just going to have to wait.”

Logan felt like he was missing something but he wasn’t sure what. “ Blue?”

“ I am so angry.” Hank said quietly. “ I want to hurt Sinister. All life is sacred; it’s not to be played with in this way! I almost took it out on Remy. I need to get away for just a moment, maybe get some fresh coffee?”

Logan understood the anger. “ Sure Hank. You’ve been at it for nearly forty-eight hours now. Go blow off some steam. I’ll stay with the kid.” He was absently stroking Remy’s pale skin as he talked. “Maybe you could send Jeannie down in case something, you know…medical comes up?”

“ Yes, that is a good idea. Jean is rested and would probably be more understanding.” He checked the young man once more before going back to his office to call Jean.

                                ************************************

I feel ya Cher. I want to wake up now. I want this nightmare to end! I don’t feel good Cher, I want ya t’ hold me. Make this all go away. Oh Cher… it’s happenin again…

                                ************************************

“Oh darlin… what do I do?” Logan watched as Remy suffered another attack. He didn’t even realize he was crying until Jean came up from behind him and wiped the tears from his face.

“ They probably look a lot worse than they are,” she said quietly. “ His readings are all still in or close to the normal range.”

He looked at her hopefully, “ They aren’t hurting him?”

“I don’t think so. It’s just his body’s way of reacting to all the chemicals in his body. Has Hank re-run the blood work recently?”

“ I don’t think so. He keeps sayin Remy needs blood, that he needs more fluids to flush his system but he can’t get a line in. It’s bad Jeannie,” he looked down at his lover. “ He can’t move. He hasn’t made a sound, not one…even his eyes are dead when he manages to open them.”
 
Jean hugged her friend and felt the turmoil in his mind. “ Talk to him. Even patients in deep comas can still hear. He’s probably scared to death. Keep telling him it will be all right. Touch him, kiss him, make him listen to you and come back.”

“ What if he can’t?” Logan whispered, “ What if he’s already trying but something Sinister or Tooth did hurt him so bad that he’s trapped like this?”

Jean looked at Remy and stroked back his bangs. “ Then we deal with it. He’s here Logan and he’s alive. Right now it’s all we’ve got. Do you love him less?”

Logan’s eyes grew wide, “NO!” He thought about the words she said. He tried to imagine loving Remy less. “  No. Jeannie your right.”

 He bent and kissed his lover’s brow, “ I love ya darlin. No matter what happens. Bottom line is that I love ya and I always will no matter what.”
He wiped away the tear that fell from Remy’s closed eye some how sensing that it meant Remy heard every word.

                                    ************************************

Remy was so weak. He just wanted it to be over. He wanted peace. Every time another seizure tore through his body he was sure it would be the last he could stand.  Then he felt warm hands and lips on his skin again. He listened to his lover say, no; tell him, that he loved him no matter what. His tears were his only means of telling Logan that he was trying as hard as he could; that he loved Logan too. When Logan wiped the tear away Remy knew he understood.

                                 *************************************
                                                               TBC

Next: Warren is forced to face the consequences of his actions…and Logan.