Remy woke up to the sound of his cell phone. He was surprised to see Logan still soundly asleep. The older man HAD to hear it.

Remy just kept staring at the muscular, heavily tanned arm that lay across his stomach, connecting to the equally compact body spooning behind him.

Only now did he remember all the things that happened yesterday. He actually felt a little blush to creep up his face at the memory of their “shower”. He never knew Logan could be such a hot, wicked lover. He imagined the older man would be more forward in his desires, blunt maybe, a bit animalistic in his desire to claim his mate. But the words and the complete control that Logan took over him showed him another, much more sophisticated side of his lover.

When he moved a little he FELT the remnants of the previous night. He was sore, but it was a nice feeling. Reminded him of the passion he shared with Logan, the infamous Wolverine.
He pressed back into the warm body behind him and sighed contentedly when Logan instinctively tightened his grip around him.

“Will you take that fucking call?” Snarled Logan from under his pillow. He wasn’t a morning person and wanted to sleep. And that constant “ring, ring” was driving him mad.

Remy felt the irritation coming from his feral lover and rose quickly from the bed, wincing a little at the soreness in his backside. He was sure that if he didn’t answer the phone, Logan would do something harsh and definite.

“Allo?” He asked, heading out of the bedroom not wanting to disturb his lover’s sleep and partially not ready to face him yet.

“Husband?” Asked a cold, controlled voice from the other side of the line.

“Bella?”

“Get out of t’ere.”

“What?”

“Sever escaped Sinister’s labs right after y’ visit. She is after you.”

After that he heard the constant sound meaning Belladonna had disconnected. He stood in the door to the bathroom, naked and stared at the phone.

That surely wasn’t good information. Nor the beginning of the day. He hoped things would get better. Probably being inside the Mansion was his best defense. Its security system would very quickly detect any intruder. So Sever shouldn’t be able to get him here. Anyway he figured he still had few days until she tracked him down.

At least he hoped so…

Remy decided to take a quick shower and go to the Mansion for food. Logan would undoubtedly be hungry when he got up and Remy really wanted to do something nice for the man.

Logan made him feel loved and wanted and he really missed those feelings. They were rare in his past.

He remembered the strong arms that held him while he was spilling his guts about what happened in Sinister’s labs.

Remy felt bad that he didn’t say to Logan that he loved him also but… bust something told him hold back. He just couldn’t. He felt something for to older man, but was it love? He wasn’t sure. He didn’t know if he wanted to expose his heart for more suffering.

* * *

Logan woke up when the kid left. He heard him mutter something about food so he figured that Remy went to the mansion’s kitchen to find something to eat.

Boy, was he hungry!

He got up and dressed in his faded jeans. He smiled remembering how they looked yesterday evening.

Still grinning he left the bathroom and headed for the bedroom, but something caused him to stop. He was sure he could smell something just couldn’t recognize WHAT.

Logan sniffed once more. He could definitely smell something new in the surrounding. Long years of combat training and barely remembered past caused him to act on instinct.

His claws sprung out of its shielding without a sound while he crept slowly and silently towards the bedroom. The scent was stronger here but still, he couldn’t categorize it, didn’t know what he smelled.

The doors were open, just like he left  them, very slowly he entered the room. What he saw stopped him in his tracks.

White, long hair first made him think about Storm but… it wasn’t her. She smelled differently. A young woman stood in the center of the room, her back to him. She didn’t move and Logan thought that she didn’t notice him.

She was dressed in simple jeans and white tee shirt. Her body long and lean, but not as hot as Storm’s or Jean’s. She looked more like a teenager. But what disturbed Logan mostly was her scent. Or lack of thereof. She smelled only of washing powder which was probably used in her clothes, but nothing more. Usually Logan could easily smell other people’s emotions, but she was a mystery.

“Hey!” He called taking an offensive stance.

She didn’t jump or show any other reaction. Finally she turned around to face the half naked man with deadly claws sticking out from his hands. He wasn’t a threat to her.

What surprised Sever was the fact that she reacted to him. Seeing him only half clothed caused something inside her stomach to twitch. Her ADB recognizing the chemical reaction of her body as nerves.

24 hours ago she wouldn’t be able to feel that. Every minute spend outside the lab caused her mind to mutate once more. Minute by minute she was becoming more human, or mutant. She was AWARE of herself not only the machine.

She was also aware of her mission and WHO she was. Only few hours back, she fell asleep and it all came back to her.

Logan sucked a breath in when he saw her face. It was the girl from the tank. He was surprised to see her yellow eyes. Funny, but they reminded him of Remy.

“You are Sever.” He growled low in his throat. Remy was afraid of her, so his duty was to protect the kid.

“He’s not here. Ya won’t get him… not when I’m here.”

Sever cocked her head sensing the lack of logic in the sentence.

“Remy LeBeau is much more powerful than you.” She said in a flat voice, her face expressing slight confusion. “You are no danger to me.”

“Oh yeah? Lets see…” He launched himself on her with speed that always surprised his opponents, but not her.

He was really taken aback by her reaction. She just stood there, not trying even the slightest movement.

Logan raised his hand aiming at her arm. When the claws were millimeters from her flesh, nearly cutting, something happened.

In an instant she was surrounded by a white nimbus of energy and Logan felt incredible pain shoot through his body and he was thrown away with a force that knocked the wind out of his lungs.

“What the hell?!” Growled Logan, when he shook his head to clear his thoughts.

What surprised him the most, was the lack of any sound. There was no explosion, nor any other sign of what have happened.

He stood up and watched as the nimbus surrounding her grew. The energy touched the table that stood on her way and it just… disappeared?! A minute later he heard a loud CRACK when the table collapsed, because one of its legs ceased to exist.

Understanding that hand-to-hand combat would be of no use, he looked around in search of another weapon. He had a sickening feeling that it would be useless. She was too strong for him. The only chance he could harm her was to get her close enough to his claws to cut. But he couldn’t. That fucking aura of energy seemed to disintegrate anything that was in her way.

He lifted a heavy, old chair and threw it at her. He expected the instinctual reaction – to dodge but it never happened. She still advanced her with her steady walk, behaving as if she never saw the big furniture flying straight at her head.

And it just… disappeared. Wolverine still couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Part of him claimed that it was just impossible. Things could not just disappear. They could be destroyed – then there were always remnants – or they could be relocated. Nothing disappeared in nature. Nothing.

“Stop fighting. I do not wish to kill you.” Her flat, oblivious voice was totally unnerving.

“Fuck off, bitch!” Snarled an enraged Logan. All his senses screamed that he was in danger, that he should back off, but his feral nature just couldn’t let him.

Logan grabbed the nearest furniture and threw at her. If only she focused on it not on him, he would be able to wound her. But no such luck. All he achieved was slight frown on her face.

“You will go with me.” She finally said, turning to the door.

Logan watched the slim figure with disbelief.

Yer crazy! Why would I do that?” He almost laughed. Almost.

For the first time he saw her face change expression. Slight smile curved her lips when she raised her hands.

Her palms started glowing and suddenly the glow separated from her flesh and hovered inches above it. It started growing, forming a large ball. Then it floated higher and separated into maybe a dozen of smaller, identical balls of energy.

They were beautiful. Small and shining, floating lightly. Then one of the balls came closer to Wolverine. He stared at it not sure what it was for. It stopped few inches away from his bare chest and just… hovered there. Then the others moved, circling him. Some of them were moving so fast that he had troubles to see them, some floated leisurely around him. There was no heat coming off of them.

“Come.” Said the girl and he growled once more.

And that was his mistake. Before he had the time to react one of the balls touched his skin. The pain was worse than anything he had ever known. Like he was being eaten alive. Although the wound was shallow, he stared at it with disbelief. There was a shallow hole in his biceps! His body was already healing, patching the skin and muscles together but still… suddenly he realized what those little balls were for.

One prodded him in the back and instinctually he jumped forward, trying to avoid the pain. When he tried to hit the ball, they escaped his arms.

The girl reached the door and looked at him. Logan still refused to go with her so she just turned around and left. In the same moment two balls touched his bare back. He howled in pain and jumped forward.

Growling curses and sheathing his claws, he followed the white haired girl. She left the boathouse and directed straight into the woods. He wondered how she managed to avoid Cerebro. It was, after all the best security system ever! And Jean or Betsy? Why haven’t they detected the intruder?

He remembered what Remy said about Sever. She had no mind.

“Great. What the fuck am I gonna do?” He wondered aloud. He wasn’t sure if the girl heard him or not, because she still walked ahead not turning around. Normally, it would be a very stupid thing to do, but those fucking balls were leading him like he was on leash.

And the pain from the contact was enough to force him not to struggle.

They walked for about an hour and Logan noticed that the girl hadn’t tired or even broken a sweat. Her breathing was even and she still had no scent.

“What do you want?” He asked when they finally reached a large cave. He knew this place from his hunts. It was well hidden and remote from the house.

 She entered the dark cave and instantly was surrounded by a shining nimbus of white energy. She pointed him to one of the corners.

“Stay there. If you will not try to leave the area, the guardian will leave you alone. However, at the first attempt of escape they will aim for your knees. I know about your healing power, so the guardians are programmed to stay in your legs until I call them back.”

Logan shivered when he imagined the pain it must cause. He was almost defenseless against her. When Remy told him that Sever was so powerful, he didn’t believe. Now he regretted that.

“What do you want?” He asked again trying to sound calm.

“Remy LeBeau.” She answered him, sitting on the ground in a meditating position and closing her eyes.

Logan’s hearing stilled. The wave of fear that came over him nearly caused him to loose his breath. He desperately wished that Remy escaped. He was afraid that Sever would kill Remy.

“Why?” He asked once more.

She opened her strange yellow eyes with vertical pupils and watched Logan for a very long time. She enabled her ADB and her built in sensors started checking Logan out. She noted the rapid breathing, adrenaline… blood pressure. He was worried, afraid… and those symptoms occurred only after her mentioning of LeBeau. And she did find him in his bedroom.

“Why are you so worried about Remy LeBeau?” She asked, cocking her head to one side.

Logan snarled and then answered.

“The kid never wronged ya, once ya even saved him. Why do ya want to kill him now?”

“I do not wish to kill him. I just want him here.”

“What for?”

She didn’t answer him. Just closed her eyes and stilled. Sooner or later Remy LeBeau would find this place, and her mission would be over.

* * *

Remy had already filled the bags and was almost ready to head to the Boathouse. All the time he was thinking only about Logan.

The older man had declared his love yesterday and Remy had not. Now, after an hour of turning it over and over in his head he decided that if was foolish. And cruel. Logan deserved to know the truth, know that Remy did FEEL strongly about him. He still wasn’t sure if it was love but it certainly was something. He decided go back to the boathouse and tell Logan everything.

He closed the fridge and turned to leave when his empathy detected a hostile presence.

Warren.

“Look what we got here.” Said Warren mockingly. “ Is it a thief? Is it a whore? Is it a faggot? No! It’s a traitor!”

Remy turned around to look at the elegantly dressed man. His dark blue eyes showed as much hate and derision as he felt. Remy swayed, attacked both ways – verbally and empathically.

His gift allowed him to feel other people emotions no mater how well he was shielded. That was why he recently avoided other inhabitants of the mansion. His mental shields weren’t strong enough to protect him from such an onslaught of hatred.

“Oh Gambit is shocked! Such an imagination… is dat all you can come up with by yourself? He spat out through his thickening accent.

Angel’s eyes narrowed when he realized the thief had managed to affront him.

“You should keep your mouth closed thief, as I am concerned you should have stayed where we left you. No one wants  a traitor in this house. Believe me, we all wished you dead!”

Remy shivered. The hatred and… belief… in Warren’s voice cutting him deep, hurting him more.

“Well… none of y’ is perfect… Death.” Remy called him the name he was using as a horseman of Apocalypse. And the shot was good. With bitter satisfaction Remy watched the winged mutant take a step back.

“But  I didn’t lead a band of killers to slaughter innocent children and women, defenseless… Rouge should have MADE sure you were really dead when she left you in Antarctica!” Shouted Warren when he regained his balance.

“Speak for yourself.” A cool, controlled voice cut it.

Storm approached from the corridor. Her eyes pale silver, just an inch from becoming completely white with rage.

“None of us wanted you dead.” She said softly turning to Remy. “And you Warren, stop blaming Remy for things that didn’t concern him.”

“Because of him, I lost my wings!”

“No. You were captured by Marauders and tortured by them, but your wings could have been saved if it wasn’t for your so called friend. It wasn’t Remy’s fault.”

Remy watched wide eyed as Storm protected him from Warren with a passion that she rarely showed.

“He gathered that band of killers!”

“Sinister would have done it with or without Remy’s help. I advise you to be more careful about judging others.” The threat in her voice was clear. “Or there may come times when the team may decide that YOU also aren’t worth saving.”

There was a long, deafening silence.

“I should have figured out that you would defend that stray you dragged here.” He spat out and dashed from the kitchen, slamming door behind him.

Remy stared at the white haired goddess in front of him and tried to understand what happened.

“Why…?” He asked finally.

Storm averted her eyes.

“Yesterday… the things I said, way I said it was unforgivable. I shouldn’t have ever behaved like that. I really believe you are a good person Remy, it is just… I cannot understand how you EVER could work for Sinister. You are such a loving person and he… he is a monster.”

“He saved Gambit’s life Chere… Remy never knew. Can you forgive me?”

She looked briefly at him.

“I have forgiven you already. But I am not sure if I could ever forget.” She said quietly.

Remy felt stinging in his eyes. He never thought he would get so much from her. After yesterday, he was convinced there was nothing to be saved between them anymore.

“What Remy said yesterday… y’ still Gambit’s friend?” He asked, his voice a little shy. God knows how much he loved his little Stormy.

“Yes Remy. We are still friends. We just need time for things to settle down.”

He only nodded, his heart filled with hope one more time. Things seemed to look better this morning.

“Now go back to Logan, he might get jealous.”

As far as he was concerned, he couldn’t remember the last time he had blushed so furiously.

“ Uh… how…?” He never, EVER was shy of his relationships, so why couldn’t he utter a word? Where had his famous wit disappeared to?

“I had the security duty last night. I saw you come from that… ride.”

Remy finally smiled, his face transforming so utterly, that Storm lost her breath for a moment. Only now did she realize how SAD Remy had been lately. He hardly ever smiled and never so openly and honestly.

“Ah… dat ride!” Then he sobered. “Are you alright  with it, Cher?”

“Of course I am. But I should warn you about Scott’s reaction.”

“Is de Fearless Leader homophobic?” Asked a surprised Remy. This was so NOT like the ideal, poster boy Scott.

“His reaction may come from his past experiences. He had…a… difficult childhood.  A large part of it, he spent in the orphanage. Don’t take it personally if he doesn’t approve.”

“Don’ worry Stormy. Dis ol’ thief listens to no one beside himself.” The unspoken ANYMORE hung heavily.

“Remy should go.”

“Take care Remy.”

He smiled at her again and left still smiling.

He entered the Boathouse and left the supplies on the kitchen counter. He decided to wake Logan up and tell him what he was feeling. Although he didn’t REALLY believe that Logan loved him, he still wanted a chance.

His mind knew that everything LOGAN did was a proof of his love but inside his heart he was still uncertain.

Still smiling he entered the bedroom and his smile faded.

The room was a complete mess. Furniture was broken. And the feeling that came off of it.
Remy’s empathy allowed him to feel traces of strong emotions in rooms or places. Here he felt anger and… fear.

He swallowed hard when he realized it was LOGAN’S fear. What happened to the older man that scared him? He was one of the bravest, almost crazy people he knew. But that wasn’t the only thing he saw.

He was an energy converter. His ability to charge objects was affecting him in other ways also. He was able to see traces of strong energy – like fingerprints. And what he saw made his skin crawl.

Sever.

She had captured Logan… hopefully had not  killed him. He prayed to every god he knew that his lover was safe.

Merde! How could he be so stupid, so careless to think that Sever wouldn’t find him. How could he rely on some security system?

How stupid of him! He didn’t notice his shaking hands when he entered the room in search of some clues. He really didn’t know what he was looking for. When he saw little traces of blood, his heart sank.

Sever must have injured Logan. But how badly? Had the feral mutant healed?

Remy didn’t know what to do? Should he go to the mansion and ask for help? He knew that if it concerned only him they could refuse, but Logan? Surely they would help… but not before he gave them some answers. No doubt they will blame him for the events. It was he who brought the threat to them.

He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and tried to clear his mind. It was no time to be panicking. He needed to find and help Logan, his secrets didn’t mater here. Even if he had to leave the Mansion afterwards, he COULDN’T  let Logan get hurt.

Despite his best attempts, his hands were shaking so badly he had problems with keeping something in them. Deep inside his chest, fear was suffocating him. Fear and anger. Why, he asked himself. Why did this happen? Did he really deserve so much suffering? When finally he found his chance on happiness, everything went wrong.

Now, he also wished that he told Logan that he loved him, yesterday. Because it was the truth. Now, watching the trashed room and thinking about the feral mutant dead, he realized the depth of his feeling. And it was too late. Logan was either kidnapped or killed by Sever and he never knew that Remy DID love him.

When he made up his mind and turned to leave the bedroom something caused the hair on his neck to stand up. Slowly, very carefully he turned around to check the room once more.

No further than a foot from him hovered a small ball of energy. It was no bigger than his nail and was glowing softly with white, warm light. It didn’t seem threatening, but Remy knew better than that.

The energy felt like Sever herself.

He watched the sphere warily when it moved. Slowly, it floated past him and into the corridor. It didn’t take a genius to understand that it was leading him somewhere. Probably into a trap, but what did he have to loose?

He followed the ball outside the Boathouse and cast a glance at the Mansion. If he could only let somebody know. Storm maybe. She was Logan’s friend and would help… but he had no time. The ball was already disappearing into the line of trees and if he spent one more second pondering his actions he would never be able to find it again.

He couldn’t afford to lose Logan.

* * *

Logan closed his eyes trying hard NOT to notice the constantly floating, circling balls of energy. His head was spinning and he was getting more and more angry by the minute. He tried to force his feral side inside. It wouldn’t do him any good right now. He had no chance with that damned energy. It was time to think, not use his muscles.

He only wished Remy wouldn’t come here. Because he knew Sever must have done something to leave him a clue. She was obviously waiting for something.

Her heartbeat was very slow and regular as if she was asleep, but it was the same when they fought in the Boathouse.

Her lack of reaction was unnerving, but Logan decided to outwait her. He was a hunter and sitting in the woods for hours waiting for his prey wasn’t anything new to him. Eventually, he would have his chance.

First he heard her heart go faster, beat harder. The sudden reaction was followed by the opening of her strange golden eyes with vertical pupils, now dilating slightly.

Then he smelled him.

His heart sank when the smell of his worried lover reached him. Then he heard soft footsteps outside the cave.

Well that answered one of his questions. Sever had senses even better than his.

Soon, through the entrance to the cave floated one, tiny ball of energy and hovered in front of Sever. The young, white haired woman stood up and reached out a hand. She was still surrounded by a nimbus of white energy and she seemed to absorb the ball back inside her.

Now he knew how she managed to lead Remy here.

Sever backed off to the nearest wall. It took Logan a moment to understand her plans. In such situation the first thing Remy would see entering the cave will be Logan. And he wasn’t looking good. Although his wounds had healed, the dried blood on his naked chest looked awful.

* * *
Remy sensed Logan – his concern, anger and impatience. He also sensed something very strange, unnatural even. He knew it was Sever, although she felt little different then the last time he “read” her.

The first thing he saw was Logan.

Sitting in the corner of the cave, surrounded by little balls of energy floating around him, he looked terrible.

Half naked, clad only in his jeans he hadn’t had even his shoes on. But the worst part was his chest. All covered in dried blood. With terror, Remy watched the brown-red paths that indicated where the blood came from – the middle of his chest - down through his stomach matting the hair together and under the belt of his jeans.

“Logan!” He shouted when he saw him and dashed in his direction.

“Don’t touch the balls!” Shouted Logan in his most demanding voice, causing Remy to stop abruptly.

Logan could smell the fear and worry on the younger man and tried to sooth him. His voice became low and gentle.

“Easy kid. I’m fine. It just looks bad but I’m OK. Healing factor, remember?”

Remy calmed a little and made few steps in his direction. His red on black eyes blazing in anger and throwing a strange, red shadow on his razor sharp cheekbones. He looked like an angel of revenge.

“What have you done to him?!” He whirled around, a pair of cards appearing in his hands seemingly from nowhere. He looked Sever straight in the eye and refused to feel any fear. He was so angry, that he couldn’t think about anything but Logan’s wounds.

Sever, as usual, didn’t react to his angry words or aggressive stance. He couldn’t harm her.

“I have waited for you.” She said in a, strange for her, soft voice.

Remy realized that she was… different from the last time he saw her.

He charged his cards instinctively when she started approaching him.

“Fighting me has no sense. You know you can not win. Besides…” She trailed of and moved her eyes to Logan.

One of the balls stopped and hovered in front of Logan. “Not again!” He thought, angered and growled both at the ball and the woman. There was more anger than fear in him. The physical pain wasn’t something that could stop him. He was more afraid of the effect it might have on the rather unstable Cajun.

Remy also understood what it meant and slowly drew the charge back.

“What do you want?” Asked a deceptively calm Remy.

Logan snarled at the fruitless attempt. He had asked the same question many times before and the girl didn’t answer.

“I want you to spend eight hours here. I mean you no harm. However, if you will not agree to my suggestion, your friend will pay for it.”

The ball hovered an inch closer to Logan’s heaving chest and his curly hair disappeared at the contact. Logan snarled loudly to make sure everyone knew how unhappy he was.

Remy once again shut down his emotions, his face an expressionless mask.

“Gambit understands.” He said putting the cards away. “Let him go, and Gambit will do anything y’ want.”

“I ain’t leavin ya here kid. So stop this bullshit!” Logan cut in harshly.

Sever watched them with interest. A few hours ago she couldn’t understand the true meaning of what she was seeing but now… now things were different. And even the knowledge that she will forget almost everything  until the end of the day, didn’t change her opinion. She was… happy. Glad to be able to complete her mission.

“There is no need to argue. I will not let either of you go.” Said Sever calmly.

“Why?” Remy couldn’t understand.

“It would be strategically illogical. It would cause only troubles. I need you here for 8 hours, then you will be free and never hear from me again.”

“But why?”

She didn’t answer, just kept staring at Remy’s face. It was so strange to see him young and healthy. The face she remembered was covered in scars with one red eye surgically removed…

 A sudden flash of memory caught her completely off guard.

Flashback

“‘M hungry papa…” She was so young. Maybe seven years old, maybe less but she knew hunger and fear like no other. In the dark, terrifying world she had to live, she had only one good thing.

Caring, big, gentle hands coming on her red hair and stroking her head gently.

“Shush petite… we ‘ave to wait.” Said a deep, beautiful voice that filled her heart with hope and love. She turned around in strong arms holding her and reached her small, dirty hand to the face she knew was there. In the dark she could only see one glowing, red spot.

Suddenly a broken street lamp flickered, revealing face she knew and loved so much. Completely grey hair gathered into a short ponytail, one red on black eye looking at her with such love and care and sorrow. She reached her hand to touch his cheek. Sharp cheekbones now sharper than ever from pain, lack of sleep and constant hunger.

The strange, alien texture of scars on his skin. Scars so deep and so many that he hardly had any feeling left in it. The other eye – or what used to be it –was covered with piece of black cloth.

He closed his healthy eye and leaned into the touch. He so desperately wished to be able to gather enough food to feed his daughter. But it was nearly impossible to only stay alive.

He had only 38 years and looked like 50. Many wounds that were never healed caused him pain, and he would have probably ended that pitiful excuse for life if it wasn’t for that little angel in his arms.

Hiding his feelings from her was useless. She was an empath and strongest energy converter that this world had ever seen. She was seven years old and was dying.

“Je t’aime mon couer.”

“Je aussi.” She whispered back.

The sound of gunshots tore through the night like thunder. They both knew that the military patrol had found and killed another mutant. He looked into the golden on black eyes and wished he could change the past. Wished that little angel in his arms was never born to witness such cruelty and pain.

Flashback

Now Sever stared at the unharmed flesh of Remy’s face and couldn’t shake off the memories.

Not thinking about her actions she moved closer to the young man and reached out a hand.

She didn’t hear the shout that Logan gave out. Nor did Remy whose empathy suddenly picked up a rush of emotions emanating from Sever. He never felt ANYTHING  from her and what shocked him even more was that the emotions were strongly tied to him!

In complete terror, Logan watched the softly glowing hand approach his lover’s face. He knew how much pain that light could cause and howled in frustration, because he couldn’t do anything.

To his utter surprise nothing happened. She just touched him and the nimbus of energy seemed to be nothing more than a simple light.

The feel of soft, warm skin under her fingertip was so strange… the meaning of it caused her eyes to sting. She never noticed the single tear flowing down her cheek when she traced the lines of non-existent scars.

Logan smelled the salt and watched in bewilderment the scene in front of him.

Remy felt the pain and happiness in her. Strangely his shields didn’t seem to be able to block out her feelings. He felt them so deep and so achingly strong. Not thinking he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. His natural reaction was to lessen the pain, to take the suffering away.

“So much pain…” He whispered and reached out with his empathy. He never was able to stand and watch as somebody was hurting. And in her case… it was something inside him that screamed for action.

And then suddenly he FELT her mind. So confused, filled in pain, hope and… calm desperation. In that moment he knew, that whatever was her target, she would do absolutely ANYTHING to achieve it.

He felt her emotions, fear and… personality. Her mind was still strange but nowhere near the black hole that she was when he tried to read her the last time.

“Who are you? You are not Sever… What do you want from me?” He asked softly.

Sever felt his empathy, her memories allowing her to recognize the feeling of smoothness and calm. HE used to cheer her up that way, made that to lessen her pain.

“I am here to save you… Remy.” She said softly, backing off a little and trying to recompose herself. Remembering her past caused her to experience emotions with all the inner turmoil it caused.

At her one thought the little “guardian” balls left Logan and directed to the entrance of the cave.

Logan in an instant was on his lover side checking him for injuries. He could SMELL tears and pain coming off of BOTH of Remy and Sever and couldn’t understand what the hell  was happening.

He tried to dry off the wet cheeks of his lover and held him close while his body shook with pain he absorbed.

“What have you done to him?” He shouted feeling completely helpless to stop it! “ He is hurting!”

“ ‘s OK, Cher.” Whispered Remy squeezing his arm lightly.  “Not her fault. It is she who hurts… Remy just FEELS her pain. And…”

He pushed past Logan’s protective embrace and stared at the young  woman in front of him. Her vertical pupils so dilated that there was almost no gold around it.

“And what?” Asked Logan.

“Love?” Whispered Remy. Now he was sure. Under the pain was deep, sweet love. The kind that lasted through everything. But the shade of the feeling took him aback. It wasn’t passionate or friendly. It was so utter and… pure… that he just couldn’t place it.

“LOVE?!” Shouted Logan. “What the hell is going on here?!”

Sever gave them a weak smile. The feelings were overwhelming and she had little time.

“I will tell you everything, but you MUST stay here.” Sever said.

“Why?” Remy was more confused than angry.

“Because in the next eight hours Sinister will attack the Mansion. His only target will be… capturing you, Remy.”

“What for?” That was unclear for Remy.

“Because he has another plan for creating the perfect, strongest mutant. First, he thought about Scott and Jean’s offspring but when they became too difficult he found another solution. You are an energy converter. He wants to clone you.”

“But de man can’t. He tried already.” Remy dissagreed.

Sever moved a few feet away and then started talking in voice that forced Logan and Remy to stand still and listen.

“He will kill Wolverine, badly injure Iceman and kidnap you.”

“Wha…?”

“He will take you to his most secret base and there he will proceed with experiments and research to understand the nature of your mutation.  In the first year of your captivity he will remove surgically your left eye to have it as a gene bank.”

“You are bullshitting! The X-Men would search for him, supposing what you said is true.” Logan snapped at Sever sharply.

She looked at them sadly.

“It is the truth. It is your future Remy. You ask who I am. Right now I am a person that came from the future. I live in Sever’s body and mind but only for today. When the day ends, I will forget my past and become Sever again. I tell you the truth. The X-Men won’t look for you because they will be all dead three months from now . They and other X-Teams. No one will survive. The first to die will be Professor Xavier, then Scott and Jean, Iceman, Beast… They will all die.”

“But… but…” Stumbled Remy. “How?”

“Sever. When Sinister comes back with you to the lab he will wake Sever and order her to kill the X-Men. And she will do it without any problems. The government will see her power and soon declare all mutants a danger to the country. They will be hunted and exterminated. You will spend seven years in the laboratory. Your face and large parts of body will be covered in scars and injuries that never quite heal. Part of them will be a result from constant experiments, part because Victor Creed will be your main guardian during that time. Sinister would be concerned only about your genes, nothing more. After seven years, he finally will develop a way to clone you and you will be useless for him.”

“How will he do dat?” There was a curiousity in Gambit’s voice.

“You see, Sever, me… she is an energy converter like you. With the difference that you use the energy from within yourself and I from the outside world, draining it from my surroundings. He will use genes from both bodies to create an embryo.”

“A chile…” said the Cajun.

“Yes. A child. Sever is only a machine, she never refuses an order but this was one of the two times she did. She broke the tank where the embryo was growing, knowing somehow that it would survive and handed it to you helping you escape. You managed to keep the child safe for seven years. The child got sick. It occurred to you that Sinister had built in a kind of self destruction program. If he wasn’t able to constantly check on his experiments, the genes started to fall apart. The child was dying slow and painful death. There was no chance of salvation.”

“What happened next?” the thief asked.

“Sever, after discovering it, fought the program and killed Sinister.”

“Good.” Growled Logan.

“Along with 80 million people and caused a major ecologic catastrophe.”

“What?”

“She used her full power and turned herself into a kind of living black hole. She destroyed the half of the North America. The climate changed suddenly. All around the world mutants were cursed and beat to death by scared and angry people. The Earth was rapidly dying and there was no way of stopping the inevitable. Sever caused people to become… extinct.”

“And the child? What happened with…” Remy trailed off, staring at the young woman in front of him.

“Yes.” She said simply.

“Mon Dieu! It’s you… but how…?”

“I was dying, Papa. I was a mutant designed in a laboratory and my powers manifested very early. I used both yours and my energy to relocate my mind in time. The easiest object to find was Sever. He body was fully functional and her mind didn’t possess awareness, so I wasn’t forced to fight with her. But changing her objectives was much harder than I imagined, and it took me ten years to finally wake up. If I stop Sinister from kidnapping you, I’ll change the future.”

Remy could only stand and stare at her. So much information… and the implications! If everything she said is true, that would mean she was his daughter. Was it the reason for his empathy to pick up her emotions with such strength?

“You said that Sinister will attack… Remy can’t stand and jus’ watch. De Iceman… he Remy’s friend…” Whispered Remy as realization dawned on him. Just two days ago he gained new friend and now was he supposed to stand aside and watch? “You said dat Iceman… he will be hurt. Will he survive?” Remy pleaded,

Sever opened her mouth but didn’t say a word. The truth was, Bobby died because of major internal bleeding that Hank just wasn’t able to stop.

“He died.” Answered Logan.

* * *

Scott ran to the war room panting slightly. All the alarms in the mansion went off.

~ Jean! ~ He screamed inside his mind.

~ I hear you. ~ came the telepathic answer.

~ Call everyone to the war room. Sinister opened a tesseract in the middle of our grounds. He has his mercenaries with him. It would be a tough fight.~

~ Beast is already in war room, Storm is on her way. Angel also. I am too.~

When Scott entered the room he met four pairs of eyes watching him expectantly.

“Wolverine? Gambit? Iceman? Where are they?”

Jean closed her eyes and opened them suddenly, worry on her face.

“Logan and Remy are on the grounds… I can feel them in the west woods but…”

“But what?”

“There is somebody with them. I don’t know who but that person is obviously keeping them in place.”

“Can you read them?”

“Gambit’s shields are too strong, Logan… I pick up confusion, anger… and distress. I can’t understand what may have caused it. But there is no aggression in him. I think. He is so hard to read.”

“And the intruder?”

Jean closed her eyes and licked her suddenly dry lips.

“I know it may sound strange… but it has no mind.”

“And Bobby?”

She closed her eyes once more, concentrating on the young man’s mind and cried out when she picked up his thoughts.

“He was in the woods when Sinister landed. He’s fighting his mercenaries all alone!”

“Stars and Garters!” Exclaimed Hank, he knew the boy had no chances only by himself. None of them had. – He would die!

“Storm, Jean, Angel you will fly. Hank and I are going to…”

* * *

Sever looked away.

“I am sorry Papa, but there is no way you could help him. Sinister will attack not only using his mercenaries but also personally. You never stood a chance against him.”

“Remy is not so weak chere… he can fight jus’ fine.” said  Remy sharply.

“I know about the mental shields. The plan of Sinister's attack will base on disarming you in the first place by crushing your shields.”

Logan noticed how his lover paled suddenly and put a hand to the small of his back, massaging lightly to reassure him.

“In your future, Sever was on Sinister’s side. Now you are on ours. You could help us fight.” Said Logan. “With your power you could take him out easily.”

“Haven’t you heard what I said? Sever… I… fought Sinister and it caused the reaction that led to death of billions of people. I can not risk that. It would destroy my plans. I want to save you, Remy not kill.”

Remy, who was silent for the past few moments finally spoke.

“If your plan succeeds, you will never be born…, right?”

Sever once again remembered the love and sorrow her father used to feel looking at her and nodded.

“It will be better that way. This world… it is not ready for such a power. Sever was designed using alien technology. She is too strong for the balance to be maintained. Your powers, when they went haywire were also terrible. You are far beyond omega class. Now only the implant dampens your powers. Imagine how strong, how deadly I was? I had all your powers in their full strength AND Sever’s. And had none of your weaknesses.”

“What implant?” Logan interrupted.

Everyone went silent.

“Those three days… after the… lab, you took me away for three days. You implanted it.”

“I am sorry but it was necessary. And I promised.”

“Promised? Whom?”  Asked Remy.

“You. You asked me to dampen your powers. In the future it caused you so much pain and suffering that you hated it with all your heart. You often lost control over it. When I was around I could just draw the charge inside myself, but different… people died and you hated yourself for it even more.”

Remy shivered and leaned closer to Logan.

“Remy believe you…” Said Remy softly. “But I won’t stay here and wait like a coward. I never was one and don’t intend to became one now.” He never noticed that his accent had vanished. It happened sometimes when he wanted to say something important.

“I am sorry. But I cannot let you go.”

“You must.” Stated Remy slowly.

“Why?” Surely none of them was able to FORCE her.

“Because I would never forgive myself. You said you wanted to save me from pain and hurt. This way you will just replace one kind of pain with other.”

* * *

“Eat this!” Shouted Bobby in his Ice form and shot a large bolt of ice right in the chest of mutant with long, stretching arms, approaching him.

He knew that this kind of fight would end badly. There was just too many of them!

~ Hold on! ~ Came telepathic call from Jean. ~ We are coming.~

 The other mercenary, who was apparently able to control electricity, shot a bolt at him. Bobby managed to dodge it and slide away but he was quickly pushed to defense. He thought about the X-Men rule – don’t kill- and decided it was time to break it. Fighting like this he was on the straightaway to hell.

Changing into his new Ice form, covered in the special Ice he has shown to Hank, he made twenty feet high columns of ice that shot him high into the air and turned around. With one thought the mutant able to control electricity was encased in the solid block of ice.

Suddenly the column broke and he started falling. The other attacker had shot a hole through the column, but Bobby managed to form another ice slide and avoided falling.

However, he wasn’t fast enough. The sharp pain in his side caused him to slip and land on hard ground with a loud thud. His head was spinning and he changed into his human form again. He looked down at his side and saw a large, quickly growing, pool of blood.

“Oh fuck! Drake you are in trouble!”

“Yer can say that again, ice boy!” Came the gruff reply from behind him. Suddenly he felt hands gripping the back of his shirt and hauling him into the air. He was tossed at the nearest tree.

When he looked up he realized he was staring into black, maniacal eyes. Victor Creed.

* * *
Suddenly Sever sighed loudly and raised her hand to her nose. The moment she felt thick, hot blood on her fingers she knew.

“It has begun.”

“How do you know?” Asked Logan.

“I am losing my memories.”

“Please Sever…” Remy urged her, knowing that if they didn’t convince her, there would be no way to leave the cave. “Please.”

She looked at him pondering her options. The safest way was to keep Remy here but she KNEW him well enough to understand his need for action. He would NEVER forgive himself, even if it wasn’t his fault.

The pain in her head was increasing. Soon, she would forget who she was. Sighing softly, she reached out a hand.

“Charge me.” Sever asked

“What?!” cried out Remy.

“I need more energy to open the tesseract. If you want to help your friend, you have to deliver the energy. Charge me.”

Remy didn’t hesitate. Although he wasn’t sure it was safe he thought he could always draw the charge back.

Logan growled when he neared the young woman, but otherwise didn’t try to stop him. He was just making sure everyone knew how he felt about things.

Slowly, tentatively Remy touched her fingers. White skin was warm and very soft. Without any calluses, like a hand of a child. He felt something, his empathy picking up on her emotions, feelings towards him and his eyes started to water. He never felt such a pure love. She was sacrificing herself to save him.

Slowly he let just a bit of his charge leak out to make sure he would not hurt her. Nothing happened so he let the energy increase. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. He watched worriedly the blood that was slowly dripping from her nose to the white tee shirt.

Soon he was charging her with full his force. Short hair on Logan’s back stood up as he could almost feel the energy in the air.

Suddenly, she broke the contact and looked into red on black eyes with something akin to a smile in her golden ones. Behind her with silent  /whoosh/  she opened a tesseract.

The strange moment was broken and they stepped into the tesseract without further delay.

The first thing they noticed was Sabertooth attempting to slash Bobby’s chest. In a matter of    a heartbeat, cards were in Remy’s hands and were flying towards Creed. The explosion didn’t kill him, but was at least thrown away from the wounded Iceman.

“You think it is enough to stop me Cajun?” Shouted Creed mockingly, his wounds already healed.

“No, but let’s try this!” Logan cut in and launched himself on Creed. All the things Remy confessed about Creed hurting him, the scars and what Sever said about Creed torturing Remy further played in Logan’s mind, clouding his brain with a red fog of hatred. He wanted to rip that stinking heart out and force it into his throat.

He moved so quickly, and used the element of surprise, that his claws were buried deep in the Sabertooth’s chest, before the other had the time to think.

They both growled and snarled at each other when Logan, smiling ferally, jerked his arms outwards slashing Creeds chest apart. He felt the ribcage surrendering to his adamantium claws and bared his teeth. He wasn’t sure if Creed would be able to heal from that but he wanted to make sure.

Right then he got distracted by a terrible wind and crashing of thunder. The rest of the X-Men were there. They started to fight the mercenaries. Now, no longer surprised, they were winning. But Sinister himself wasn’t fighting.

Everything turned to hell when Sinister decided to take the mater into his own hands. He surrounded himself with powerful energy shield and started firing his blasts from a strange ruby stone on his forehead.

Jean tried to shield everyone but they were too scattered. Storm flew high into the air and Angel also sought cover. Jean shielded Scott who was nearest and Bobby, who finally regained consciousness to build a thick wall of ice in front of himself and Hank, who was desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

Frustrated and angry Sinister looked for more available targets. The first person he spotted was Logan so he hit him hard in the chest with his laser.

“Logan!” Shouted Remy and dashed to his wounded lover. The fear and shock made him forget about Logan’s healing power.

Sever didn’t notice any of it. She couldn’t remember how she got there. What was she doing? Fighting? And why did her head hurt so much”

The blood started flowing faster from her nose and she dropped to her knees, clutching her head.

Remy started charging his cards and throwing them at Sinister in a flurry of explosions. However none of them hurt the damn scientist. Scott’s blast also couldn’t penetrate the shield. They were quickly being thrown to the defensive.

“LeBeau! You are going to pay for all the troubles you caused me!”

Remy looked around desperately, but he was on a clearing. He had no place to hide from the beam. He watched in terror as the red light neared him.

Sever heard Sinister and looked up. The pain was so great she couldn’t possibly stand on her own, but she still heard him. There was something deep inside her, outside the program that forced her to pay attention. To DO something. Remy… LeBeau… - thinking was just so hard right now – objectives… protect…

She reached out her hand, having problems with controlling their power and sent one tiny ball of energy.

Everyone watched in silent awe as the tiny, little ball of energy crossed the path of the beam and forced the energy to flare around it. The laser turned, twisted and glowed until it was completely assimilated by the now big sphere of glowing, white energy.

Slowly, in complete silence the ball started divide itself. First in two, then in four and so forth. Soon there were few dozens of small, golf ball sized spheres. They started floating, moving slowly, and glowing with soft light. Their movement became faster as they started to make bigger circles. First it looked nice, small and glowing balls floating around, but when they started moving faster and farther they encountered obstacles and cut through them. Everyone watched in complete awe as the small things cut through trees, rocks, and earth.

When the first ball reached Sinister’s shield, there was a loud  /poof/  and it cut right through it. Then Sinister howled in pain as the same ball buried itself into his knee. The pain was unbearable.

Soon after, the other balls followed the first one. They watched in silence as the seemingly invulnerable mutant writhed in pain, his body shred into parts by small, innocent looking balls.

Remy looked at the young woman now lying on the ground with her eyes shut and face covered in blood. Her skin looked pale and tight. She was in obvious pain. He couldn’t leave her like that.

He started approaching her still body.

“No Remy!” Shouted Logan trying to get up, his wound almost gone. “Don’t touch her! You remember what she said? Once Sinister was defeated she will no longer be your daughter. She will become Sever again.”

“Remy knows.. Cher… mais… Remy can’t leave her like this. She… she saved us.”

“I know Rems, I know…” whispered Logan softly, coming to Remy and, not bothering about others watching them, he grabbed the back of Remy’s head and kissed him passionately.

“Remy want to take care of her.” He was pleading Logan with his eyes to understand and to agree. Maybe she wasn’t his daughter now but… she was before.

“WE will take care of her.”

Remy smiled at the feral man, feeling his heart swell with pride and love.

“Je t’aime, Logan.”

“I love ya too, Remy. With all my heart.”

They both approached the still figure not even noticing the shocked expressions of their teammates.

“Wait.” Said Logan when Remy leaned over the girl. “ Let me try. Remember that nimbus of hers? I will heal, ya won’t.”

He tentatively reached out a hand and jerked away with a hiss, sucking on his partially non existent tip of his finger.

He growled matter- of- factly.

Remy nodded and knelt beside the young woman.

“Sever? Chere, you hear Remy?” He asked softly, allowing his empathy and his charm to work on her, sensing the pain she was in and trying to soothe it.
It took him some time but eventually she opened her eyes and looked at him. Her golden eyes clouded with pain and confusion.

“Let Remy help y’.” He slowly reached out and touched her.

Nothing happened so he moved closer so he could take her into his arms.

“Let Remy take y’ somewhere safe, OK?”

“Remy…” She whispered weakly when he lifted her. “LeBeau…”

“Oui.”

Remy stood up, careful of the surprisingly heavy girl in his arms and sighed feeling the warm, callused hand touching the small of his back.

“Let’s go home kid. We got a lot to tell the others.”

Remy nodded and started walking, his heart lighter than ever before when he watched the sun come down. He was going home. Finally

The end.