NOTES: Once again I am using Alisa LeBeau, Sister Mary
Rose and Rebecca LeFay with the permission of their
creator, Nicole Wagner. Thanks again Nicole! :)

*****

Storm bent and kissed Alisa on the top of her head," I
have had a wonderful time this morning Alisa. Thank
you for letting me color with you."

Alisa smiled up at her new friend, "I like de picture
wit' de flowers."

" Then you must keep it. May I have one of yours?"

Alisa looked at all the pictures they colored that
afternoon; Remy didn't feel like coloring today. He
looked really tired and Rebecca asked him to go to her
office a long time ago. He sent his friend Ro to spend
time with her while he was gone. Alisa finally decided
on a picture, " dis one."

It was a picture of her and Remy. It was in the usual
dark colors but she added bright red hearts to it.
Ro's smile was bright, " Are you sure sweetheart? This
one is very special."

" Oui, y' Remy's friend."

"I am your friend too I hope."

Alisa gave her a hint of a smile, "Oui, m' friend
too."

Ro gave the pretty young girl a gentle hug and looked
proudly at her new drawing. " I am going to show this
to your brother and see if he is ready for his visit.
Will you be all right?"

" I c'n walk wit' y'."

It was as much a question as a statement and Ro took
hold of her small hand," Yes, you certainly can." They
walked down the hall past a large aquarium filled with
brightly colored fish and dozens of drawings by the
other residents of the hospital to the reception area.
" Thank you Alisa for walking me back. She is a
wonderful helper Sister."

The elderly Sister smiled and walked around the desk
to stand beside the young girl. " Yes she is. Come on
Alisa, I think Miss Munroe and your brother would like
to talk for a minute. Could you show me all the new
pictures you colored today?"

After they walked away Ro went into the lounge and
found Remy sitting stiffly in one of the chairs in the
corner. " Remy, are you all right?"

He looked pale and the smile he tried to flash her
didn't fool his best friend for a minute. " I'm fine
Stormy, jus' a lil' stiff."

" Henry is going to have my head for this, you look
awful." She knelt in front of him and brushed his
cheek. "You feel a little warm, I think we should get
you back home now."

" Non. I'll be okay, I promised 'lisa I'd have dinner
with her t'night and say g'bye t' her in the mornin'."
He couldn't help but wince as another sharp pain
pulsed through his body. Maybe Henri was right. Maybe
he should have waited a little longer.

" You could say good bye tonight instead, Remy
please..."

"Non." He took a deep breath and forced himself to
stand. He was leaning heavily on the crutches and
visibly shaking, " I'm gon' go see m' peanut." He was
moving even slower than usual and Ro was seriously
thinking of calling Henry.

*****

Logan landed the Raven in a small private airport on
the west side of town. The X-Men had connections all
over the country who knew how to hide their jets out
of sight of the average traveler. He sat in the
designated spot for the little jet and turned off the
engine. Now that hew was this close he found he was
fighting a killer case of butterflies in his stomach.
He treated Remy so badly. He said some horrible things
and had probably scared the kid out of a month of
Sundays. He had no idea how to even START the apology
he owed the boy. " Oh Rem, please just give me a
chance...please." He looked down at his hands and saw
that he was gripping the controls so hard that his
knuckles were white. He released them and worked his
hands trying to releave some of the tension that
filled him. He felt almost sick from the fear that he
had gone too far, said too much and that his former
lover would refuse to listen to his lame excuses. He
had been so stupid! Another thought struck him and he
groaned with dread, he was going to have to tell the
kid about Rogue.
SHIT.
It never mattered that the bitch always treated the
boy like scum; he still always defended her actions.
Logan would NEVER understand where the forgiveness
came from, Remy just seemed never to run out. He took
a deep breath and finally exited the little jet. The
walk into town might give him time to find the words
he so desperately needed to find.

*****

Remy spent a couple of hours with his sister before he
finally had to admit that he was overdoing it. He
kissed her sweetly and told her he needed to go to the
hotel to wash up for dinner. He left her with her
teacher and slowly made his way back to Ro. As he
reached the end of the long hallway he felt like he
was walking straight up a mountain, the walls began
closing in and black spots were clouding his vision.
Ro barely reached him in time to keep him from
collapsing where he stood.

" Remy! That is it, I am taking you home to the
infirmary!"

He blinked a few times to clear his vision and said,
"Non. Please Ro, I jus' over did it the last two days.
I jus' gotta pull m'self together and get through the
next few hours. She'll be so disappointed if I'm
late."

Rebecca LeFay, Alisa's private nurse came into the
room and grabbed his wrist checking his pulse. " Remy,
you aren't going to help her by killing yourself
trying to spend time with her! Miss Munroe, would you
please take this stubborn man back to the hotel and
see to it that he stays in bed for at least the next
twelve hours."

" I can do that."

" I am going to tell Alisa that you need to rest Remy,
she will understand I promise."

" I will pull the car to the door. Can you make it
that far or..." Ro's eyes flicked to a wheelchair by
the main entrance.

"I can do it! I ain' a cripple y' know!" He felt
terrible. His back and leg were killing him, his head
was pounding with what felt like the beginning of a
migraine and worst of all he was going to have to
break a promise to his sister. He'd never done that
before and he cursed his weakness now.

He was going to let her down again.

Rebecca stayed with him until Storm returned and they
helped him out to the car. He wasn't in any shape to
argue and by the time they arrived back at the hotel
he was barely conscious. Storm waited until no one was
watching and floated him to the room and into the bed.
Once he was settled she dialed the direct line to the
med lab. " Henry?"

" Ro, is everything all right?"

"No Henry it is not. Remy collapsed today, I am so
worried about him."

" That stubborn fool. Are you coming home?"

Storm looked into the bedroom at her sleeping friend.
" He just wants to say goodbye in the morning." She
paused and asked quietly, "Henry,is Logan on his way?"
Hank smiled, Ro had finally come around about the
older Canadian. He was surprised that it took her this
long. " He left a few hours ago."

" Good. I think he may be the only one who can talk
some sense into him, make him take better care of
himself."

" Just make sure he rests and takes the pain
medication I sent down with him. There is no reason
for him to be in pain it will just wear him down. When
he gets home I will give him a thorough exam to make
sure he hasn't undone any of my hard work during this
little trip."

" Thank you Henry, we will see you late tommorow." She
hung up the phone and walked back into the bedroom.
Remy was out cold. She sat down on the edge of the bed
and brushed through his short hair with a sigh, "
Don't worry brother, your lover will be here soon. He
will know how to get through to you."

*****

Logan paused outside the room in the hotel and stared
at the door. Remy was in there. He raised his hand to
knock and froze, what was he going to say? He let his
hand rest softly on the door then rested his forehead
against it. Tomorrow. He straightened and walked down
the hall to his room and closed the door. Tomorrow he
would find the words that he prayed would make
everything all right.

*****

Remy woke the next morning and slowly opened his eyes.
The door between his room and Ro's was opened and he
quietly called out her name. When she didn't answer he
sighed, he didn't feel any better than he did the day
before or the day before that or any of the days
before that one. His leg and back throbbed and the
headache was still there behind his eyes just waiting
for him to lift his head before it attacked again. He
looked at his clock, 7:23 AM. He had to say goodbye to
Alisa in a couple of hours. His mind returned to his
last visit with his sister, that time Logan was with
him. They were happy back then, together and complete.
" Logan..." the name still caused his heart to ache.
He could hear Ro moving around in her room and wiped
the moisture from his eyes, time to put on the show
again. He sat up as quickly as he could; he hoped to
be up before Ro came in because there was no way he
would be able to hide the pain. He grabbed the hated
crutches and made his way slowly to the bathroom and
shut the door. Finally he was safe.

" Remy?"

" Jus' gettin ready chere, I'll be out in a bit."

" I am going to go down and get us a table for
breakfast...unless you need help with something?"

" Non chere, you go on." He let out a silent breath, a
reprieve. He heard her close her door and sighed as he
took a painkiller and started the slow painful process
of getting dressed.

It shouldn't be this hard to start every day.

*****

Logan saw Ro sitting in a corner booth and started
over to her. He was nervous, he NEVER got nervous! He
forced himself to calm down and walked up to the
table, " Hi Ro."

She looked up swiftly, " Oh Logan, you startled me! I
am so glad to see you."

" Where is he? Is he okay?" His heart was pounding in
his chest now, Remy was no where in sight.

" He will be down in a minute and no, he is not okay.
I am very worried about him. I think you may be the
only one who can help him."

Why, what's wrong?"

She looked into his eyes trying to judge his intent.
He seemed truly worried about her brother but... " He
is pushing himself well beyond his limits and I am
afraid he will seriously hurt himself. He hasn't been
this depressed since...well, since your visit with him
in the lab. He is very fragile right now Logan." How
could she make him understand?

" I love him so much I can't stand it Ro. I knew I was
hurtin' him that day but Rogue...I WON'T hurt him EVER
again, I SWEAR IT on my LIFE." He looked at her with
pleading eyes, " I don't know what to say to him. I
hurt him so bad so many times... do ya think I stand a
chance?" He took her hand in his and looked deeply
into her eyes. " I will do ANYTHING to fix this."

She relaxed for the first time in days, Logan truly
loved him. " I think he needs to say goodbye to Alisa
before he will be able to deal with seeing you. Come
to the hospital, talk to him there."

Logan nodded and stood to leave, " Thanks Ro, I SWEAR
you won't regret this." He made his way back to his
room, It was almost time to talk to Remy.

*****

" Non! I don' wan' y' t' go!"

Remy's head was pounding so hard he felt sick. " Baby,
I GOTTA go. I don' want t' I swear. Please Alisa, don'
get so upset!"

Alisa's teacher placed a hand on the young girl's
shoulder only to have it shrugged off. " NON! y' said
y' would stay! When y' came wit' Uncle Logan y' said
next time y' would stay!"

Remy sighed and swallowed the lump in his throat,
Alisa was acting her new mental age and it was
breaking his heart. " Pumpkin I know I said that, y'
right but I CAN'T stay right now. I promise-"

" Non, y' always break y' promises! Y' said y'd have
dinner wit' me! Y said y'd stay!"

Remy looked up at her teacher and nurse and shrugged,
he KNEW missing dinner last night was a mistake.
Rebecca sat on her bed and gently rubbed her arms, "
Alisa, Remy was hurt badly before he came here. He
shouldn't have come at all but he did because he loves
you so much.You remember how bad you felt when you
first came here, please calm down and say goodbye."

Alisa was crying and Remy reached out to her, " I'll
stay baby. I'll stay if that's what y' want.I jus'
gotta make a few phone calls. 'lisa? Baby? Please
sweetie, I can' stand t' see y' sad." He winced as he
stood, " I'm gonna go make those calls them we'll do
somethin' special, okay?"

His sister sniffed and nodded, he gave her the best
smile he could dredge up and left the room with
Rebecca right behind him, "This isn't the way to
handle the situation Remy. You need to go home and
finish healing; you are in no condition to deal with
the emotional and physical needs of a mentally
challenged child! She needs to learn she can't and
won't always get her way. I won't let you do this!"

Remy spun incredibly fast for as bad as he looked and
Rebecca LeFay stopped dead in her tracks. The young
Cajun was staring down at her petite 5'3" body with a
fire in his eyes she'd never seen before. He just
stared at her a moment and she swallowed hard and took
a tiny step back as the light in his strange eyes
glowed bright. " Ms. LeFay, don' EVER presume t' tell
me I CAN' take care o' my sister. She's more precious
t' me than m' own life! She's here ONLY because I was
told this was th' BEST school in th' country and
because m' job requires me t' take risks that could
eventually come back an' hurt her if she were too
close. I want her safe, healthy and happy, NOTHIN'
ELSE matters t' me! Now if there's a problem with any
o' that I WILL take her 'way from here faster than y'
can blink an eye." He continued to stare at her. He
knew that his eyes were intimidating and he used it to
his advantage. How DARE this woman say he couldn't
care for his Alisa! She was all he had, Logan was
gone... his family was gone... he felt like he only
had one friend... they would NOT keep him from her!
She NEEDED him, she WANTED him to stay and by God he
would BE THERE for her!

"M-Mr. LeBeau," the frightened nurse started
tenatively, switching back to the more formal name.
" We both want the same thing...and that's what's best
for Alisa. I didn't mean to imply that you were unfit
to care for her. I can tell by your actions that you
love her dearly, I just meant... maybe you should take
care of yourself first. It's obvious that this trip
has been very taxing and caring for a mentally
challenged child is hard and very time consuming." She
swallowed again and straightened a bit, never looking
away from his strange, scary, eyes." She's happy here
and she feels safe, you said that was what you wanted
for her. Let us do our job, let us help her."
 

He turned and continued walking up to a confused
Storm, " Ro, I'm gonna be stayin' here a few more
days. You tell Henri I'll see him then. I gotta find
another room."

" Remy, you need-"

"What I need" his voice was getting a little loud so
he stopped and took a deep breath, " what I need is a
lil' space. Please go home Ro." He was visibly shaking
again and there were deep lines of pain beside his
tired eyes. He looked like he was about to crash. The
nurse and his best friend looked at him then each
other and stepped away from him giving him the space
he requested. He sat down heavily with a hiss and a
curse, God what he wouldn't give to be pain free for
just a little while...

From another room across the hall striking blue eyes
watched every move he made, heard every word he said,
felt every pain he felt, smelled the tears of pain and
frustration he was trying so hard to hide. It was time
to step in and make his prescence known...

*****

Ro made sure Remy wasn't watching and returned to
Logan, " You see! He is on the verge of collapse again
but he won't listen to reason! Please, can you help
him Logan?"

He placed his hands on both her shoulders, " Go tell
the kid yer leavin'. If he asks you to stay you'll
know it was just too much goin' on at once and that he
still needs ya. If not, I'll be right here and I won't
let him out of my sight for a second. Okay?"

She nodded; glad to have someone else close that
obviously loved Remy as much as she did. She made her
way back across the hall to the room where Remy sat
back in a chair eyes closed rubbing his temples.
"Brother?"

He opened his eyes but didn't move, " I gotta stay
Stormy, she needs me and it's all my fault..."

She knelt in front of him and placed her hands on his
knees, " No, it is not but I understand. Are you sure
you want me to leave?"

He reached out with a wince and pulled her hand to his
lips, " I need t' be alone. I need t' get m' head back
on straight. Alisa NEEDS me t' stay..." He looked at
her and blinked back a tear, " an' SOMEHOW I gotta
find a way t' finally let him go."

The tears refused to stay in his eyes any longer and
she gently wiped them away. " It will be all right
Remy, the Goddess will take care of you."

"Then why she let 'lisa get hurt? Why she let me love
Logan only t' lose him? Why she only let m' remember
the love not whatever I did t' drive him 'way? I still
wan' him SO bad Ro. Everything's such a mess...."

Another tear made a path down his face and it took all
her will to stand and move away from him. " I do not
know that brother but I do believe there is a reason."

He wiped his eyes and gave her a tiny smile, " You go
make it so M. Bete don' want t' kill Remy?"

She returned his smile, " I don't know if that will be
possible but I will try." She bent and kissed his
cheek, " please be careful Remy." She walked away from
him and clouds gathered in the sky. Once outside she
dialed the med lab number once again.
" Henry? No Remy is staying." she held the phone away
from her ear as Hank lectured her on Remy's condition.
As soon as he stopped to breathe she broke in, "
Henry! It will be all right. Logan has promised to
watch over him."

*****

Remy was ready to swallow the whole bottle of pills to
escape the pain that corsed through his body. Alisa
had finally calmed down and they were sitting at the
table in her room trying to read a story. It was her
favorite,it was about a shining knight who showed up
just in time to save the day. Logan's face was planted
firmly in Remy's mind as he helped her sound out the
words.

" Y' read de las' line f' me Remy?"

He was about to open his mouth to speak when from the
doorway they heard, " Let me guess, and they lived
happily ever after."

" Uncle Logan! Y' came!"

He hugged the girl and swung her around. " O' course I
came pumpkin. You get any prettier and we're gonna
have to find you an all girl school!" He kept one eye
on a very pale Remy as he sat her on the bed and
handed her a present, " Can y' open this while I say
hello to yer brother?" He turned to face the stunned
Cajun and added, " I've missed him so much it hurts."
Without another word he walked to the shocked young
man and knelt down so they were eye to eye. "I missed
y' darlin," he whispered and kissed him as if his very
life depended on it. He swallowed Remy's sob and
caught him as he fell forward into his strong arms. He
was crying too hard to properly kiss the older man
back.

Rebecca smiled and looked at the bright hair ribbons
Logan gave the young girl. " Come on sweetie, I'll
help you put them in your hair. They look like they
need a minute alone to me, how about you?"

" Dey always do dat, dey be in love." It was the
innocent obsevation of a child and she smiled at them
as she let her friend lead her past them to the common
rec room.

*****

TBC