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NOTE : in this story you will see a reference to memory ribbons. I give all credit to Valerie Jones here and her story Betrayal which gave me the idea to use a memory ribbon. Valerie if you're reading I hope you don't mind!!
WARNING : there may be scenes in this chapter that you may find disturbing due to the inferences that can be made.
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Jean faced Ororo, trying to hide her shock behind a calm reassuring exterior. She needed to get to Remy, she was worried and had seen the blood on his clothes, but first she had to get past Ororo. Jean telepathically called out to Bishop and Rogue.
Ororo ran over to Remy but kept an eye on the stranger. The stranger was joined shortly by two others. She heard the gasp that came from the woman with the white streak in her hair and saw the anger that filled the big man and made him tense. But she was drawn back to the woman with the red hair.
Jean slowly started to move towards Ororo and Remy." Ororo, it's me Jean."
Ororo looked up at Jean with hostile eyes, "I don't know you, go away."
Jean continued to slowly approach Ororo sending out warm telepathic thoughts to her.
"Ororo, Remy is hurt, he needs help."
"How do you know our names?" Ororo asked mistrustfully.
"I know you both, but you do not remember me, please Ororo trust me, I do not wish to hurt you or Remy, only to help you."
Ororo looked at Remy. It was true that he looked pale beneath the dirt. His skin was so hot to touch and he made strange sounds when he breathed. She pushed him gently.
"Remy wake up," she said to him softly.
Jean had gotten close to Ororo and Remy and she held out her hand in a silent plea for Ororo to take it.
Ororo looked up at the Jean woman. She felt instinctively that she could trust this woman, and that she wasn't like the others. She looked back at Remy, and then back at the Jean woman. She sighed in capitulation and took the Jean woman's hand.
Jean pulled Ororo slowly towards her and then moved to get a better look at Remy. She examined him and hid a gasp of shock when she saw the vicious stab wound in his stomach. If they didn't get him back to Hank, he might not survive.
Ororo relaxed slightly as she saw that the Jean woman was not hurting Remy.
"Ororo," the Jean woman said, "we need to take Remy with us to help him to get better, and we need you to come too, so that he will not be scared when he wakes up."
Ororo looked back at Jean and said solemnly, "Remy does not get scared."
Jean his a small smile, "Will you let us take you and Remy back to our home?"
"You'll help him?" Ororo asked
"Yes I promise," Jean said, and smiled.
Ororo smiled hesitantly back, "Okay" she said.
They flew back to the mansion as fast as they could. Their concern for Remy mounting as his condition appeared to deteriorate.
Ororo sat with Jean, by Remy and watched him in silence.
"He said it was just a scratch," she said finally, and tears began to fall down her cheeks.
Jean thought to herself how little Remy had changed then.
They were nearing the mansion and Bishop called though to the mansion to warn the others to prepare the infirmary and what to expect when they saw them.
On arrival Remy was moved quickly to the infirmary where Hank immediately set to work hooking Remy up to all sorts of monitors in an effort to save his life. Ororo refused to leave Remy's side and the x-men felt it best if she were to remain there.
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The X-men gathered in the war room to discuss the situation.
"Report," the Professor said.
Hank, who had stabilized Remy's condition was first to speak, "Speaking about their immediate physical wellbeing. Ororo will recover quickly all she really needed was a decent meal.
It is Remy whom I am most worried about. He has a severe stab wound which was left unattended for too long, and has now become infected. This explains the fever and weakness, but what makes the situation worse is his malnutrition. His body hasn't enough strength gained from eating to fight off the infection alone and it has taken a strong hold on him. With Shi'ar technology I should be able to counteract the effects of the infection but he will be weak for a while.
About their obvious reduction is size, I cannot expand. It appears to be a transformation exactly like that undertaken by Storm when she was regressed by the Nanny. I can do nothing to transform them back to their adult states."
"Do we know how this happened yet?" the Professor asked.
"I haven't questioned Ororo yet because she is in a very fragile mental state right now. She is already in shock from the whole experience she has endured so far and I feel that to push her into remembering something which may be extremely unpleasant may cause an unwanted mental effect." Jean said.
"Very well, we shall wait then until Remy is recovered and Ororo will talk to us. In the mean time, did you find out who owned the building where you found Storm's communicator?"
"The building is listed as being owned by NE corporations." Scott said.
"Who are they Sugah?" Rogue asked.
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The Nanny moved away from the mansion to plan. It was bad luck that those blasted X-men had gotten to the children first. Very well she would just have to come up with some other way for recovering them, and soon. He would be calling soon, and expecting to have his prize waiting.
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Remy slowly pushed through the heavy layers of unconsciousness, towards the light that called him. His eyes flickered briefly and opened.
The first thing he saw a plain, white, sterile looking ceiling above him. He could hear regular beeping sounds and turned to see where they were coming from. What he saw was a vast array of machines, and next to them all, fast asleep, was Ororo. He smiled. Someone had covered her over with a blanket and she looked so restful.
He became aware of a pain in his side and noticed that he was hooked up to those monitors. He stiffened in shock as the memory of the attack swept over him. He had obviously been taken by the intruder, yet Ororo was still with him and she appeared to be relaxed. He considered this to be very strange. He sat up slowly and the room immediately began to swim. He breathed deeply and sat still until the room had stopped moving.
Then he began to take out all the wires and needles that were attached to him. His only desire was to get out of this place as fast as he could and find out what was going on. A sudden noise alerted him to a change in the monitors. Where before there had been jagged lines there was now one flat line. A commotion at the door had him whipping his head round to see who was approaching. His head began to swim again but settled down a lot more quickly than before.
He exclaimed in shock and surprise to see a big furry man thing leaping into the room. His jaw dropped and he just stared. Then he noticed a large black man with a strange tattoo over his eye follow, and his heart began to pound in fear because this man had authority written all over him. Remy tried to get off the bed to escape.
"Remy, where are you going?" Ororo asked, the commotion had woken her.
"We gotta get out o' here chere, dis place full of monsters and cops."
Remy grabbed her hand and tried to pull her to her feet ignoring the pain in his side.
"But Remy they will not hurt us, this is Doctor Hank and Bishop."
"Hehn?" Remy exclaimed.
"Doctor Hank is the one that made you better after the Jean Lady found us."
Remy had stopped trying to escape and now watched warily as the two X-men stood in front of the door.
"Young Remy, will you please get back into your bed. Your body has suffered an extreme trauma and to excite it in any way could be deleterious to your health," Henry explained patiently to the wary eyed boy.
Remy turned to Storm in confusion, "What he say chere?"
Ororo looked just as confused, "I do not know. Doctor Hank talks like that all the time."
"He meant that you could be sick again if you don't get back into bed," the man Ororo had called Bishop said.
Remy looked mistrustfully at the pair of them, "I don' want to get back into de bed. I be fine now see. I t'ink dat we be going now non?" Remy pulled Ororo to her feet, "Come on chere we take up too much of dese peoples time now. Time to go."
He walked slowly to the door trying to see what the two men would do.
It was not them who stopped him in the end. The tall beautiful red headed lady came into the room. Remy recognized her as the one who had found he and Ororo.
"Now what's going on here young man?" she said looking down at Remy.
"It appears that Master Remy has decided to leave us already," Hank said smiling a toothy grin.
"Now why on earth would you want to do that Remy? Don't you know you're safer here. Until we figure out how to change you and Ororo back to normal. Besides Remy you've just suffered a major trauma and it's better for you to stay in your bed."
Remy watched the strange woman in bemusement, "How come ev'ryone know my name chere?"
Jean laughed, "You mean you don't remember?"
Remy's eyes narrowed, "Remember what?"
Jean sighed, "That you're an x-man and you had a little err accident, but we're going to fix everything, somehow." Jean said, unsure of how much to reveal.
Remy was beginning to doubt the sanity of these people and he began to edge towards the door again. He gasped as a sudden pain shot through his side.
Jean had been patient long enough and now she picked Remy up effortlessly.
Remy began to panic, remembering the stabbing, "Non!" he cried, trying to free himself of the woman. He felt another sharp pain and a warm wet sensation.
"Jean, quickly, get him back to the bed, he's bleeding," Hank said, noticing the blood on Remy's pajamas.
Jean carried Remy swiftly over to the bed and gently laid Remy down restraining him when he sought to get up again.
Hank moved in quickly and inspected Remy's wound, "Hmm not as bad as I'd feared," he pronounced, "he has merely torn at the stitches."
Hank gave Remy a sedative to stop his struggles so that he could work more efficiently on repairing the damage.
As Remy slowly quietened and then fell asleep Jean sat beside him. She stroked his hair and looked tenderly at him. In the whole time that she had known Remy this was point where he was most vulnerable. He looked so innocent as he slept and she almost wished that he could stay this way.
Jean looked up and saw Ororo watching helplessly.
"Don't worry she said. I'll take care of you both."
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When Remy awoke again his head felt a lot clearer. He looked around. Ororo had gone. The red haired woman was sleeping in her place. Where was Ororo?
He tried to get out of his bed, but once again he was hooked up to the monitors. He remembered what had happened last time he'd taken them out. How was he going to get out of here and find Ororo without disturbing anyone.
"You shouldn't be going anywhere," a voice said.
It was the red haired woman. She had awoken and was watching him.
"'Ow you know what I be t'inkin?" he asked warily.
Jean smiled, "I'm a telepath."
A spark of curiosity lit Remy's eyes, "What's dat?"
Jean looked at him before speaking, "It's someone who can hear the thoughts of others, and also talk to other people through their minds."
Remy was interested, "Anyone can do dat chere?"
Jean laughed, "No, it is my own gift. Not everybody is born with a gift like mine."
Remy felt a presence approach and his head whipped round just as Doctor Hank entered the room.
"And how is our young patient now. Acting far more sensibly I hope, I would hate to have to keep you in here for longer while your wound heals," he said.
He came over to Remy to inspect the progression of the healing. As his hand came out to touch Remy, Remy jumped back as far as he could.
"Remy what's wrong?" Jean asked concerned.
"Non, don' touch me," Remy said shivering.
"What's wrong Remy?" Jean asked again.
"Is your wound troubling you?" Hank asked.
His hand reached out to Remy again.
Remy tried to scramble back even further, "Leave me alone," he shouted.
"He's becoming severely distressed Jean, can you calm him down?" Hank asked, watching the monitors as they measured Remy's racing heart beat.
Jean tried to enter Remy's mind to calm him down but was forcefully ejected by a psychic blast. It wasn't strong enough to hurt her, it merely left her with the feeling of an approaching headache.
Remy was terrified, when he saw the hand reaching for him it brought back memories of other hands that had also reached for him. Hands that wanted to hurt him. He didn't want anyone to touch him. His mind was so caught up in it's own nightmare that he did not notice Ororo's arrival.
"Remy, my friend, what is wrong?" she asked, a very concerned frown etched on her forehead.
The sound of a familiar voice brought his head up for a second and he became aware of Ororo watching him with tears in her eyes.
He looked at her, his eyes pleading, "Don' let dem touch me."
She moved slowly towards him with her arms stretched out, "I will not let anyone touch you Remy." She moved up alongside him and climbed up onto the bed. She slowly moved closer to him, and he watched her, making no move to escape. She slowly laid a hand on his cheek and he felt comforted by her touch. She was his friend. His only friend. She would not let the others hurt him. He began to calm under her touch and his exhaustion caught up with him. As Ororo pulled him into her arms his eyes drifted shut.
Jean watched the children. Ororo gently holding Remy as he slept. She wondered what had happened to make Remy fear the touch of another human so much. She felt saddened by his reaction because only moments before she felt that he had begun to open up to her.
"We have to be careful with him Hank. He's so delicate," she said.
"Indeed. His reaction indicates a past trauma suffered, but what sort of trauma could be so fear inducing. He is so young."
The two adults sighed, and then Hank looked up at Jean.
"What happened when you tried to enter Remy's mind?"
"I'm not sure. It was a blast, similar to the one the professor experienced I would guess, but without the same power. No doubt about it, I think Remy does have some telepathic ability. I just wonder why he never let any of us know."
"Who knows what our Cajun friend has been hiding from us. It appears that his life has not been conducive to open honesty, and even less warmth. Perhaps we can make up for some of that."
Ororo was worried about Remy. He did not seem to trust these people as she did. She did not know why. Ororo liked these people. Especially the Jean lady. She was especially nice. Maybe Remy was just still feeling unwell. She would show him around this huge house and they could have some fun here too. There was lots to explore and she felt safe here.
"Ororo?" a voice called to her.
She turned to see the man everyone called Professor. He sat in a funny chair that moved without wheels.
She looked at him, "I am here," she replied.
The Professor smiled and glided up to her on his chair. He had heard her thoughts. "I was wondering if you and I could have a little chat?" he asked.
"About what?" she asked curiously.
"Why don't you hop up for a ride on my chair and I will take you somewhere where it is more comfortable to chat."
Ororo's eyes lit up with pleasure at the thought of taking a ride on this funny moving chair. She quickly scrambled up onto the Professor's lap and they moved off together. She grinned all the way to his study.
The Professor smiled to himself at Ororo's thoughts. The pure innocence of her mind made a refreshing change from the minds he normally looked into.
When they reached his study he told Ororo to make herself comfortable on his couch.
"Now Ororo, I need you to tell me about what happened to you, so that I can help you and Remy to get home."
"Will you separate us?" she asked with a tremor in her voice.
The Professor smiled reassuringly, "No of course not. You and Remy will stay together if that is what you both wish."
Ororo thought about this and then nodded.
"I remember being on the streets in Cairo. Then I am not sure what happened next because I remember waking up in a strange house with Remy, that's when we escaped. I do not know how I got there but I remember," Ororo choked back a sob of fear, "I remember the Nanny laughing."
The Professor pulled the crying Ororo up onto his lap to comfort her. Inside his mind he contacted Jean.
*Jean it is true. Ororo has just told me that she remembers the Nanny. I do not know how she came back, we all thought her to be dead, but it appears not to be the case.*
*If that's true then she's going to be looking for them. We need to make security a number one priority*
*Yes you're right. Assemble the X-men in the war room. We must make plans.*
Jean's mind was in turmoil. The Nanny back! Jean moved over to look down at the still sleeping Remy. She bent down and quickly kissed his forehead before leaving to gather the x-men.
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Remy was beginning to get used to waking up. It seemed he was doing a lot of it. He was still in the medical room that he'd found himself in ever since he'd awoken in this place. There was no one else in the room with him. He noticed that he was no longer hooked up to any monitors. Also his head felt clearer and his body didn't hurt so much. He began to wonder just how long he'd been here.
He cautiously pushed back the covers, his senses stretching to warn him of anyone who should approach. He slid off the bed onto the floor and almost yelped aloud in shock. The floor was freezing, and his feet were bare. He padded over to the door. It was shut, but not locked, so he opened it and peered outside. The long corridor was empty so he stepped out into it. He looked around and wondered which way he should go.
At one end of the corridor was a door; it looked big and was made of strong-looking metal. There was a pad with a lot of numbered buttons on it. At the other end of the corridor was what looked to be the door to an elevator. He decided that he would try that way first. He approached cautiously, ready to run at the first sign of anyone approaching, but everything was still. He pressed the button to call the elevator and waited for it to arrive. Once inside he looked at the panel of buttons he could choose. "Which floor?" he thought. "Ground floor of course, that's where the exits are." So he pressed the large button that said 'Ground.' The ride up was swift, and Remy felt as though his stomach had been left back in the basement. When the lift reached its destination, the doors opened with a quiet hiss and Remy stepped out. He was in another corridor, and, like the one he had come from, it appeared to be empty. He could smell something. His nostrils twitched and his stomach rumbled when he recognized the scent off something cooking. He followed the smell to a large, warm, and open kitchen. There was one occupant, the red-haired woman who had sat with him. He quietly padded into the room, but the red-haired woman turned as though she had sensed his approach.
"Hello Remy!" she said, "How are you feeling?"
Remy watched her suspiciously. Why was she being nice to him? What did these people want?
Jean was not fazed by the lack of response and was determined to get the boy to open up to her a little.
"We haven't actually been introduced. I'm Jean. Would you like to sit down? I can get you something to eat."
Remy was unsure of his next move. He was hungry, and this woman did look trustworthy. He slowly moved to the table without uttering a sound. He sat down on the chair closest to the door so that he could make a fast getaway if he had to.
Jean, unperturbed, carried on with her cooking. She hid a smile when she heard Remy's stomach rumble loudly, and then hid her surprise when he spoke for the first time.
"Where's Ororo?" he asked simply.
Jean did not turn around, "She's upstairs with the professor, they're playing in the gym. You can go up to watch if you want, but you can't take part until your wound has healed some more." Jean said this casually, as though she were talking to a friend instead of a nervous and unpredictable child.
Remy stayed silent while he digested this information. They didn't appear to be mistreating them so far, but they still hadn't revealed their purpose for bringing him and Ororo here. Remy knew that it was just a matter of time before they demanded payment; he just worried about what kind of payment it would be.
Jean felt Remy's worry. She tried to skim his surface thoughts but found herself blocked by psychic shields. She wondered how he could developed shields so strong at so young an age. She would have to tell the Professor about this.
When she had finished cooking, she placed a two plates on the table, one for Remy and one for herself. She was careful not to sit too close to him, just in case he decided to flee. She wanted Remy to feel safe. Jean was furious at the people who could have abandoned Remy to a life like this -- a life that lacked the laughter and spontaneity of childhood, instead forcing him to embrace mistrust and wariness in order to survive.
Remy picked up his fork awkwardly. Jean realized that Remy was probably unfamiliar in its use. Living on the streets meant that you did not use social etiquette in the same ways others did. After minutes spent trying to wield the knife, Jean decided to make things easier for him. She put down her own knife and fork, aware that Remy was watching, and began eating with her hands. Remy watched for a minute, then he too began to eat with his hands. Jean felt a little glow of warmth at her progress. When they had finished their meal, Jean rose and slowly carried her plate to the sink. She turned to fetch Remy's plate only to find him standing a meter behind her holding his own plate. She stepped away to allow him to place his own plate there, and then casually moved towards the door.
She turned and said, "Would you like to see Ororo now?"
Remy followed at a safe distance and nodded. Jean hid yet another smile, and led him towards the lift.
When he saw where they were headed, Remy felt a momentary twinge of panic. She expected him to go in the lift with her. The thought of getting that close to someone without an available exit made Remy's nerves jump. He watched as she called the lift and waited, not saying anything. He examined her closely. He noticed everything, from the wedding band on her finger to the laughter lines around her eyes. Her eyes sparkled with warmth, and reluctantly Remy felt himself drawn towards trusting this woman. When the lift arrived Remy stepped into it with her. He was careful to still maintain some distance between them though.
Jean hadn't expected Remy to be so calm about getting into such a confined space with her. She had been prepared for him to refuse and would have taken him down the stairs instead, however now she was glad that she had chosen this route. She sent a mental warning to the professor to tell him of their arrival. She knew they were in the danger room; the Professor told her that they had set up the forest scene so that Ororo would find more challenge in her gymnastic skills. The X-men had discovered that ordinary gym equipment was nothing for Ororo, who had mastered them all instantly. So it had been decided that they would set up the danger room to offer more of a challenge to her skills.
They approached the large metallic doors of the danger room, and Jean keyed in her own personal code to allow her entry inside. The doors opened with a loud hiss that startled Remy. He followed Jean inside and found himself inside a forest. But how could that be? They had just been inside. The doors closed behind him and disappeared. Remy began to feel the first stirrings of panic. He realized he was trapped in here. He heard sounds all around him, the sounds of the forest brought alive by Shi'ar technology. He could hear someone shouting out. Out of the forest, he saw a man in a floating chair approach and almost unconsciously he began to edge closer to Jean.
Jean noticed Remy's movements towards her and felt his panic.
*Professor, be careful. He's beginning to panic.* she told the Professor telepathically.
*Do not worry, Jean. I have called Ororo to come here and greet her friend.*
Out of the trees, Remy watched Ororo run towards him. She was smiling, and Remy wondered how she could be so happy being trapped inside this place.
"Remy, this is the most wonderful thing. The Professor has been letting me play inside this forest. It is beautiful, full of animals and there is so much to do. You should try this, come with me.
"I'm afraid Remy can't swing about with you until he gets a bit better," Jean said with a warm smile.
"Oh!" Ororo said, looking disappointed.
"Never mind, Ororo. It is time to end our session now anyway. Any more playing in here, and we will never be able to get you to come out," the Professor said laughing.
Ororo sighed, "Very well. What shall we do now Professor?"
The Professor laughed again, "Do not worry, Ororo. I'm sure that we can find something for both you and Remy. End danger room sequence!" he called out.
Remy's jaw nearly fell off in shock as the forest disappeared, leaving him inside a large empty room.
His eyes narrowed. "How you do dat?" he asked suspiciously.
Both adults laughed in amusement and led Remy and Ororo out of the danger room.
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The Professor and Jean walked in front of the children. Ororo followed along happily, humming to herself, while Remy followed a little further behind, watching constantly.
*He seems to have taken to you Jean,* the Professor spoke telepathically to her.
Jean gave a mental smile. *It actually wasn't that hard. I think deep down he still wants to trust someone.*
*It is easy to see why Remy has become the man he has, he has had so little in his life to believe in. I would hope that his time spent as an X-men has been a good experience for him,* the Professor replied.
*I know. The thing that makes me angry is the fact that someone could have abandoned him. We know Ororo's parents died, but Remy is such an adorable child. Why would anyone have wanted to abandon him?*
*You forget, Jean. We know nothing of Remy's parents. They too may have died; we just do not know. Perhaps the only person that can tell us is Remy, and even he does not appear to remember. Of course, it is hard to find out much of anything from him because he hides behind his defenses.*
*I almost wish we could keep Remy like this, help him to start his life over. He would never remember his former life and he could grow up the way a child should, with happiness and laughter and people who love him.* She gave a mental sigh.
*Yes. I know what you mean, but we cannot. If we can find a way to return them to their natural state, then we must.*
Remy watched the two adults. Occasionally Jean would smile at nothing, but they both looked distracted. He wondered what is was they were doing.
Ororo was oblivious to the adults' preoccupied state. She was telling Remy about the X-men she had met.
"And there's a blue man with big metal wings too."
Remy stared at her in disbelief, "Dere ain't no such t'ing as blue people wit' wings, chere. Maybe you be wrong, non?" he said, conveniently forgetting his blue furred doctor.
"No it's true! His name is Warren, but some of the others call him R Canjel." Ororo stated solemnly.
Remy's eyes widened, "What kind o' name is dat?"
"I don't know, but I saw him with a woman with purple hair."
Remy shook his head, "Dis place be full o' strange people, chere. Maybe we should t'ink 'bout gettin' back to de streets. Dese people still ain't said what dey want from us."
"I do not think that they want anything Remy, they haven't asked me, and everyone's been really nice."
Remy looked skeptical, "Jus' cos dey ain't asked don' mean dey won' chere."
Their conversation had been observed by the two adults, who looked at each other with a sorrowful expression.
*He can't accept that people would want to help him out of the goodness of their hearts.* Jean said to the Professor.
*I don't suppose there are too many good hearts around to help in Remy's world.* The Professor replied.
They arrived outside. Ororo and Remy both gaped at the vastness of the estate.
"It is beautiful," Ororo stated.
The Professor looked at her, "Ororo, could I ask you to do a favor for me?"
"What is it Professor?" she asked.
"There is a friend of mine who takes care of the gardens here. She has had to go away for a while, and I was wondering if you would like to help me take care of the gardens?" The Professor asked, smiling.
Ororo grinned in pure pleasure, "I would love to help you, Professor! Where shall we start?"
The Professor took the enthusiastic Ororo off with him to get some gardening tools, leaving Remy and Jean alone.
"So Remy, what would like to do?" Jean asked smiling at him.
Remy didn't answer; he was too busy taking in the scene around him. He had never, in his whole life, seen so much open space and beauty. He felt awed by it all.
"Remy?" Jean asked again.
Remy was startled from his reverie, "Hehn?"
Jean laughed, "I said, what would you like to do now?"
Remy shrugged.
"How about we take a walk around the gardens?" she asked him.
Remy thought about this for a moment and then nodded.
They walked off towards some trees in the distance. Jean said nothing, and Remy was quite happy to trail along behind her and just look at everything that caught his eye.
They walked around the edge of the trees until they came upon a large, beautiful lake. It had a rocky shore at the end nearest to them, and at the other end was a sandy shore.
Remy's eyes widened in awe.
"What dis be, chere?" he asked finally.
"It's a lake," Jean smiled. "Would you like to walk across the rocks?"
Remy nodded, and they set off to reach the shore. The rocks were of different shapes and sizes. Remy had seen nothing like this before. He had certainly never seen so much water in one place.
He clambered up onto the nearest rock like a goat, and he grinned. Jean had never seen such an innocent expression of joy on Remy's face, ever. His whole face was transformed, his eyes sparkled and the wariness was banished. She climbed up onto the rocks after him, still careful to keep her distance. Remy raced along the rocks with a joy unlike any he had ever known. Such freedom, he thought. A thought entered his mind -- when he left this place, he would probably never experience anything like it again. He quickly pushed the thought away, concentrating on the here and now.
Jean followed after him at a much slower pace. She was content to just watch as Remy raced along the rocks. He was racing closer to the edge of the rocks now, near to where the water hit them below. It wasn't a long drop, but it was treacherous because of the rocks beneath. Jean's heart almost stopped when she saw Remy lose his footing and fall down towards the water. She acted automatically. Too far away to catch him physically, she engaged her telekinetic powers to catch him and lift him to safety.
Remy had not been watching his footing as he raced along the rocks and had been too slow to save himself as he began to fall. He saw the water coming towards him and had almost hit, when he suddenly felt himself floating. He appeared to be surrounded by a bubble of some kind that supported his weight and floated him back up onto the rocks. He saw Jean running carefully towards him; she seemed to be concentrating hard on something. When she reached him, the bubble lowered him down gently onto the rocks and disappeared.
"My God, Remy don't you ever do anything like that again. You scared the life out of me." Jean said.
Her heart was still pounding noisily, and, without thinking, she gathered him up into a hug and pulled him tightly against her.
Remy was too shocked to resist. She had just told him off. He felt her grab him and pull him close. He was squeezed tightly into a hug that threatened to break his ribs, and still Remy was too shocked to protest.
Jean finally calmed down and realized what she had done. She let Remy go and stepped back. She put on her sternest face and scolded him again.
"Young man do you realize you could have been hurt or even killed. Didn't you watch your footing? Come on we're going back to the mansion now to check you over, make sure you didn't do yourself any damage."
She turned and started walking back towards the mansion. He followed her like an obedient puppy, too bemused to do anything. All the time they were walking back, one thought kept going through Remy's mind. The fact that, aside from Ororo, no one had ever cared about what happened to him the way Jean just had. Deep inside his soul, in a dark empty place, a small light shone.
**********************************************************
Jean had taken him back to the mansion and back down to the infirmary, checking him over to make sure he hadn't hurt himself in spite of her protective bubble.
He suffered the examination with impatient sighs and lots of fidgeting, until she'd told him off again. This was a new experience for Remy, being mothered. He decided while Jean was carrying out the examination that he could probably get used to it. "But not too used to it," he thought to himself. "If you lose your edge here you'll die out on the streets, that or something worse than dying will happen to you." He remembered the men that had attacked Ororo and himself, and others like them from his past. He shuddered as he felt icy tendrils of fear make their way down his spine.
Jean finally let him go after concluding that he was perfectly fine, and Remy wondered whether she had children of her own. She seemed to be a very natural mother to him.
They were walking back towards the kitchen when Remy felt a number of presences. Jean, however, did not seem to be alarmed. "Perhaps she can't sense them like I can," he thought.
"Jean," he said hesitantly.
"Yes, Remy?" Jean asked looking down at him.
"Dere be a lot of people in de house."
Jean stopped for a moment, and then she smiled, "There is no need to worry, Remy. These people live here. Come on, you can help me make the dinner," she said and carried on towards the kitchen.
Remy followed after her, feeling only slightly reassured.
The kitchen was still empty when they arrived. Jean set out the ingredients to prepare the nights meal, Remy helping her. However, the kitchen did not stay empty for long; the smell of cooking food drew the some of the X-men towards them.
"Hey Red!" Logan said, sniffing appreciatively as he came into the kitchen.
"`Evening, Logan. How did it go?" she asked.
"Stupid FOH trying to start a riot again. But we managed to contain them, for now anyways." Logan stopped as he sighted the small boy sitting at the table, chopping vegetables. "Well, what have we here?" Logan said, grinning.
Remy watched warily as the funny-looking man approached the place where he sat.
"Want some help kid? I'm real good at slicing." Logan extended one of his claws, winking with a conspiratorial grin.
Remy shot out of his seat in alarm, his eyes wide and his mouth gaping as he watched the claw extend from the strange man's hand. He began edging towards the door.
"Logan!" Jean cried in shock, "Look what you've done now; you've frightened Remy!"
Logan got up from the table and moved towards the trembling Remy, intending to apologize and coax him back to the table. But Remy bolted towards the door only to find his way blocked by a big black man with a strange tattoo over his eye. He backed away nervously, but was blocked in by Logan's approach from behind. He saw hands reaching for him, and blind panic made him cry out in fear.
Jean sighed in displeasure and advanced on them all. She pushed Logan out of the way and told Bishop to move away from Remy. Then she crouched down in front of the little boy and grabbed his hands in her own.
Remy was muttering to himself, "Non, non, non, non," over and over again.
He registered the closeness of another person and instinctively tried to fend them off, but these hands grabbed his own. He tried to free himself desperately, but his kicking and struggling would not detach this person.
Jean lifted Remy's kicking, screaming body and enfolded him in a hug, trying not to wince when Remy's foot connected painfully with her knee.
Slowly, Remy became aware of a smell under his nose, and he felt himself wrapped in a tight hug. The smell was very familiar; he'd been hugged by this person before. Awareness returned as Remy realized that it was Jean who held him, not some unknown assailant from the streets of New Orleans. He slowly stopped his struggles, and his small body relaxed.
Jean smiled as she sensed his returning awareness and recognition of her. She moved over to a chair, still carrying him, and sat down with him on her lap. Logan and Bishop had stayed in the kitchen in case Jean had needed their assistance, and they now took seats at the opposite end of the table so that they didn't alarm Remy again.
Jean felt a warm wetness permeate her clothing and realized Remy was crying silently. She lifted his head gently and turned him to face her. He looked so very vulnerable, and she hugged him a bit tighter.
"Would you like to tell me what that was about?" she asked gently.
Remy shook his head and turned his face away.
Jean gently took hold of chin and turned him back to face her.
"No one will tell you off, you know. We just want to help you. You don't even have to talk to me, anyone here would listen to you and nobody else would know unless you wanted them too. Would you prefer to talk in private?"
Remy shook his head again, "Don' wanna talk 'bout it."
Jean sighed, "It's okay, Remy. You don't have to talk. It's just that sometimes talking helps. Maybe later. You know that, if you need to talk, I will always listen." Jean smiled warmly at Remy, "Now, lets get you cleaned up."
Gently, she put Remy back down and walked over to the sink. He hurried after her, warily watching the two men who had remained silent. Jean got a face towel and wet it, then proceeded to gently wipe Remy's face. He suffered her ministrations silently, preferring to stay close to her rather than face the two men.
When she had finished she faced him again, "Do you still want to help me here in the kitchen, or would you prefer to go to your room?" she asked him.
Remy thought about this, "You mean back to dat hospital place?" he asked.
Jean laughed, "Good heavens, no! There's no need to keep you there anymore, because you're much better. Actually, you can have your own room here at the mansion if you would like." A thought struck her and she smiled, ignoring a voice in her head that said Scott wouldn't like the idea. "Or if you would prefer, you and Ororo can stay at my house near the lake."
She watched as Remy processed this information. "I can stay wit' you?" he asked.
Jean nodded, "Yes. If you want, you can go there now, or you could stay and help me with the dinner. It would mean you would probably meet the other people who live here, but I promise you no one is going to hurt you."
Remy sighed, "Okay. I stay and 'elp you non?"
Jean grinned, "That's wonderful! Now, I think you had some chopping to finish off for me, but we're a little behind, so would you mind if I asked Logan and Bishop to help you?"
Jean noticed the surprised faces of the two men and hid a smile. She thought that it would be good for Remy to feel comfortable around more than one person in the house.
Remy turned around and looked at the two men carefully. Jean seemed to like these two men. Slowly, he moved away from Jean, back towards the table and the vegetables he had been chopping. Still watching the two men, he sat down and picked up his knife.
Jean smiled, then she got another two knives from the drawer. She walked casually over to the table and handed them to both men.
Logan slowly reached over to grab a handful of vegetables to chop. Remy stilled momentarily and his wary eyes became fixed on Logan hand, as though he expected a claw to shoot straight out at him. Logan had to hide a smile. The kid was jumpier than a cat on a hot tin roof. Wasn't much different from the adult Remy, just that as an adult Remy had learned to hide his fears better. However he couldn't disguise the smell.
"So, Red," he said, "How d'ya want these veggies chopped?"
Jean smiled; she knew that Logan knew how to chop vegetables as easily as she did.
"Why don't you get Remy to show you?" she said.
Remy jumped, startled as attention was suddenly focused on himself. He could feel the eyes of both Logan and Bishop on him, so he slowly looked up.
Bishop had always wondered if Remy's eyes were black on red since he was a child; now he knew. They were actually a beautiful crystalline blue right now. They obviously changed when he had gained his mutant powers. Right now, they were warily watching every movement he made. He seemed to be considering whether or not to run or to stay and show the men how to chop vegetables.
In the end, Remy slowly stopped what he was doing and looked over at Jean, who smiled back reassuringly.
He sighed. "You got to cut dem into little squares and den put dem into de pot."
He watched as both men slowly got their vegetables and started chopping.
Logan was easily chopping away, but Remy still kept an eye on those hands. He wondered how the man had gotten claws inside there. Then he looked over at Bishop.
"Non," he said.
The room suddenly fell silent as all action ceased.
"You cutting dem too big," Remy said to a startled Bishop.
Jean and Logan began to laugh, and Bishop pulled a face.
Remy's guard relaxed slightly.
**********************************************************
Remy wasn't sure how they knew, but all the X-men seemed to come at once as soon as dinner was ready. Ororo came down first with the Professor, and Remy ran over to her side.
"Remy, I have had the most marvelous time! I planted some seeds and watered some flowers and I sang to them too, because the Professor said that that is what his friend does to them." Ororo paused to take a breath. "What have you been doing Remy?" she asked.
Remy looked at Jean and then back at Ororo, "I went for a walk wit' Jean but I fell down so we came back 'ere and I helped to make de dinner."
The Professor looked up with alarm at Jean when he heard of Remy's accident, but Jean just smiled reassuringly.
*Don't worry Professor, he's fine, I caught him in a telekinetic bubble before he could hurt himself.* she said telepathically.
"Okay. You two get yourselves washed up and then come and sit at the table. You'll want to get yourselves sat down before the others come in," she said aloud.
Remy and Ororo both went over to the sink to wash and then sat down together. Logan and Bishop also washed up and sat opposite the two children. Jean put the dinner out and had just sat down at one end of the table in between Remy and Logan when everyone else came in.
Remy and Ororo watched wide-eyed at the assortment of mutants. Remy marveled when he saw the blue man with wings and the woman with purple hair. He also recognized his blue-furred doctor. There was a woman with a white streak in her hair that looked at him a little too intensely; she was starting to make Remy feel uncomfortable. What he found strange was that amongst this assortment of multicolored mutants were also some very ordinary looking people, like Jean and the Professor.
A young man came in and sat down close to their end of the table. He froze his dinner while Remy and Ororo watched with mouths open wide.
He looked up and saw them watching. He still wasn't sure that he trusted Remy after what had happened before the transformation, but there was something innocent about him now that made Bobby forget about the adult Remy and his dislike of him.
"Hi, I'm Bobby, but you can call me Iceman," he said with one of his mischievous grins.
Remy and Ororo looked at each other and then back at Bobby.
"Mr Niceman," Ororo said, "how did you do that?"
The entire room began to laugh, as did Bobby. Ororo and Remy looked at each other in confusion.
Jean took pity on the pair, "Just call him Bobby--he's not at all nice."
"Hey, Jean, you're ruining my reputation in front of these two," Bobby pouted irrepressibly.
The table hummed with conversation through out the meal, but Ororo and Remy were silent. Although feeling more relaxed, they were both still on their guard. Lessons of the streets ran through their minds. You never know when you may need to exit quickly so always be aware of your surroundings. Never relax your guard with strangers.
When dinner had finished, the X-men left as quickly as they had entered, except for Sam who was on washing up detail.
Scott had not been at dinner with them; he was still out on an information mission, so Jean took the children back to the boathouse with her. She could see they were both very tired--after all, they'd had a relatively busy and exciting day, and they were both still so young.
She left them watching television while she made up their beds. Then she found them something to wear in bed.
"Right, you two! Come on, bed time," she called.
They made no arguments, so Jean guessed that they were probably very tired. She ushered them upstairs and allowed them the privacy of the bathroom to get changed. Then she checked Remy's stitches to make sure the day's excitement hadn't loosened them.
She tucked them both in and walked to the door.
"Okay, now. If you two need anything, I'll be just downstairs for now, and you know my room is at the end of the hall."
They both nodded solemnly. Jean turned out the light and closed the door softly.
"Remy," Ororo called out into the darkness.
"Oui chere?"
"Do you like it here?"
"I don' know, chere. I like Jean; she be real nice. But de others, I don't know 'bout dem. Dey scare me."
"I know. Goodnight, Remy." Ororo said yawning.
"G'night, chere," Remy answered, and they both drifted off quickly to sleep.
**********************************************************
Remy's eyes opened. Something had awakened him. Fully alert, he got out of his bed and moved to the door. He opened it quietly and stepped out into the upstairs hallway. He could hear voices coming from downstairs.
One of them was Jean's; the other he did not recognize. He made his way to the top of the stairs and slowly moved down them, looking through the railings. He could see Jean hugging a man. The man had strange red glasses on. He could just make out what they were saying.
"You're sure?" Jean was asking.
"Yes, my source is reliable. You know that. If he says that Sinister is up to something, then we can take his word for it. I just wish I knew what."
Remy didn't hear any more of the conversation. His mind was working furiously to connect the name Sinister to a memory. Suddenly a light shone, and he saw a picture in his mind's eye. An evil-looking man with metallic looking skin and strange red eyes, with a diamond in the middle of his forehead.
He heard a strangled moan of terror and didn't realize that it came from his throat. His mind became locked in past memories.
Jean and Scott heard the moan and immediately raced to see who had made the sound. They found Remy sitting on the stairs, a look of pure terror on his face. He did not appear to see them there.
"What's he doing here?" Scott asked his wife.
"We'll talk about it later, Scott. Right now we've got to help Remy."
"What's wrong with him?"
Jean lightly probed Remy telepathically, fully expecting a psychic ejection. But what she found instead was an image that was fixed in Remy's mind, the image of Sinister.
**********************************************************
Scott felt Jean's shock through their link. He didn't know what had caused it though. *Jean, what is it?* he asked.
*It's Remy. He's thinking of Sinister.*
*How can that be? When Storm was transformed last time she had no knowledge of her past with us. And why would he be thinking of Sinister?*
*I don't know. Right now, though, we need to calm him down and get him back to bed. We can talk to him about it tomorrow.*
A noise from the landing startled them. Ororo stood there clad only in a long white nightie. She was looking at them all with concern.
"What is wrong with Remy?" she asked fearfully. "Is he sick again?"
*Scott, I need you to take care of Ororo while I calm Remy down. Okay?*
Scott sighed *Okay*
Aloud, he said to Ororo, "No, Honey. He's fine; he just had a nightmare, that's all. How about you and me go and make him some warm milk to help him get back to sleep?"
Ororo thought about that and considered it a good idea.
"Okay!" she said simply and came down to Scott. She put her small hand in his and they both went down to the kitchen.
Jean was still holding Remy's trembling body. He seemed to be trapped in his nightmare. She wondered how it was possible for Remy to be remembering Sinister, but pushed the thought away in impatience. Remy needed her attention now.
She picked him and carried him back up to the bedroom. She was surprised at how light he was, and then mentally kicked herself. "Of course he's light you idiot! he's been living on the streets; did you expect him to be the size of a horse?"
She got to the bedroom and sat on the bed, holding Remy tightly to her chest. Ordinarily, she would have lightly probed the his mind to bring him back to awareness, but she didn't want to be hit with a psychic blast. So she began to rock him and soft sing him an old lullaby.
**********************************************************
Remy was trapped. The man with red eyes was coming closer and closer, and he couldn't get away. He crouched into a defensive position, looking for any way to escape. But escape was impossible, and still the strange man advanced. Suddenly, in this world of shadow, a light shone. Remy looked up towards the light. He could see a faint shadow standing there and a soft music came from the glow. He looked back at the strange man, who had now begun to fade back into the shadows. Remy stepped closer to the light; he was entranced, pulled towards its warmth. The music was getting louder; it was a lullaby. The shadow in the light was becoming clearer. It was a warm, safe figure, and, upon recognizing it, he ran towards it.
Jean smiled to herself as she felt Remy fall naturally into sleep. His young, innocent face relaxed in slumber. She placed him under the covers and carefully tucked him in, trying not to disturb him.
A noise outside alerted her to the fact that Scott and Ororo were about to return.
"Shhhhhhh," she told them as they came into the bedroom.
Ororo quickly quietened as she saw her friend asleep again. She smiled, and was quickly ushered into her own bed by Scott.
Scott watched his wife as she gently stroked Remy's hair. She looked so natural and so beautiful with that tender expression on her face. His own stern expression softened. Maybe having these two kids here wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.
Jean rose and joined her husband at the door. The children were both asleep now, and she went back to her own bedroom with Scott.
"Jean?"
"Yes, Scott?" she replied.
"Maybe it's time we started our own family." he said.
Jean smiled to herself and to the tiny new life growing inside.
**********************************************************
Jean had brought Remy and Ororo up to mansion for breakfast with the other X-men. She had not spoken to Remy yet about his nightmare, but she had told the Professor. They had agreed they should talk to Remy to find out what was going on.
Breakfast, like every other meal in the mansion, was loud. There was also a lot of bad tempers on display, mostly due to an early morning practice session that had meant they all needed to get up earlier than usual. Even Beast was not in the best of moods this morning. However, being the trained professionals that they were, they ate quickly and went to change into their uniforms.
Jean had been excused from the practice session by the Professor so they could sort out Remy's problem. They also decided to let Ororo stay with him too, at least at the beginning, so he would be surrounded by familiar faces.
After the empty plates and dishes had been put into the sink to be washed, Jean told Remy and Ororo to follow her. She led them to the Professor's study.
The Professor smiled as they entered the room.
"Good morning, Jean, Ororo, Remy."
"Good morning, Professor," Jean said returning his smile.
"Morning 'Fessor," Ororo said.
"Mornin'," Remy mumbled quietly.
"Ororo, would you like to sit on my big chair? You can play with the toys over there if you want," the Professor suggested, smiling.
Ororo grinned and ran over to the chair, the leather squeaking as she climbed on it.
"Remy, would you sit on the couch over there with Jean, please?" The Professor turned his attention to the wary young boy standing close to Jean.
Jean tugged Remy's hand, and he followed her quickly over to the couch, sitting as close as he could without actually sitting on her lap. The Professor glided over in his wheelchair, and nodded imperceptibly at Jean.
"Remy, do you remember what happened last night?" Jean asked him gently.
Remy looked confused, "Y'mean when we went to your house?"
Jean smiled, "No after that. Do you remember what happened after I put you to bed?"
Remy shook his head, "I went to sleep."
Jean looked at the Professor who nodded again.
"Do you remember coming downstairs, Remy, and seeing me and Scott?"
"Non. I 'member only when I wake up in de mornin'," he said.
"Well, last night you had a nightmare." Remy's eyes widened. "When I looked at your dream to see what was scaring you, I saw the face of a man we call Sinister."
Remy was still looking confused. "I don't 'member, Jean," he said.
"That's okay, Remy, but what the Professor and I would like to do is take a look inside your mind to see why you had the nightmare. Would that be okay with you?" Jean asked him softly.
"You want to cut open my head to see inside?" Remy asked, beginning to get alarmed.
Jean and the Professor laughed. "No of course not, Remy. What Jean means is that we have special powers that allows us to see what's in your head without having to cut it open." The Professor tried to explain the concept of telepathy as best he could to someone so young.
"Will it hurt?" Remy asked, still troubled.
Jean took hold of his hand and began stroking it gently, "Do you trust me, Remy? You know that I wouldn't hurt you, don't you?"
Remy frowned, "I guess."
"So will you let me have a look to see why you were having a nightmare?"
Remy considered what he was being asked and finally nodded his head, "Okay."
Jean released the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Good. Okay. Now, you know that Ororo is here if you need her, and I'm here and so is the Professor. Nothing here is going to hurt you, okay?"
Remy nodded.
"All right, then. Now, close your eyes, Remy, and listen to my voice. I want you to lay back on the couch now, and think about somewhere warm and safe, anywhere that is warm and safe....stay there for me okay? Keep listening to my voice. As you feel safe, you start to feel tired. Very sleepy. Your eyes are becoming heavy, and you want to sleep, Remy. Close your eyes and sleep."
Jean watched as Remy slowly drifted off. She smiled and brushed back his hair. This was becoming a frequent habit and she wondered what the adult Remy would think about it. Of course, she knew that she would probably never have gotten this close to the adult Remy.
"Okay, Jean. He's under. Let us begin," the Professor said and together they slipped into Remy's mind.
**********************************************************
Remy only twitched slightly as his mind was entered, then he lay still. To Ororo, it looked as though he had fallen asleep. She put down the toy she was playing with and walked over to Remy. She took his hand and held it, sitting beside him.
Jean and The Professor slipped as unobtrusively as possible into Remy's mind. He had shields surrounding his mind, and they probed gently to see if they could get past.
*Amazing, Jean. These walls are unlike anything I've ever seen. When you press against them, they resist, but not in the way our own shields would. Remy's shields are like a mirror, reflecting our probes. Our own shields are like walls, stiff and unyielding. No wonder Remy is hard to trace telepathically; anything we send out to find him is sent back to us.*
*I wonder why his shields are this way though, Professor. Was he born with this ability, or did his mind just learn on its own? But how could his mind have learned...unless it came into contact with something that would make it want to shield itself? Most children Remy's age, even non- mutant adults, have no shields simply because they have never needed them.*
*It is a fascinating question. Perhaps we will find out if we get past these shields. Try calling out to him, see if he will come out to us,* the Professor suggested.
*Remy?* Jean called out softly.
There was a flicker in the shield.
*Try again, Jean. I think he responded.*
*Remy? Will you come out to me?* Jean asked.
Again the shield flickered, and this time a portal opened in the shield. Standing in the portal was Remy, or at least the astral version of Remy. He was dressed in clothes that had seen much better days, and they hung off his thin frame like sacks. His face was smudged with dirt, and his hair hung in rat tails. It had obviously not been washed or combed in a long time.
*Remy, do you know who I am?* Jean asked him.
Remy nodded, *Oui*
*Will you let us come in?* The Professor asked.
Remy nodded again and stood back, allowing them entry to his mind.
Together Jean and the Professor stepped forward into the portal. Immediately, the landscape changed. The wall behind them disappeared from view. Remy had also disappeared. Before them flowed a long ribbon.
*Remy's memories* the Professor said, identifying them.
*Look there, though, Professor. That part looks damaged, fraying at the edges,* Jean pointed out.
*Let us investigate closer.*
They moved towards the damaged part of the memory ribbon. When they reached it, they both touched the ribbon and were transported into the memory itself.
They were on a street. It was dark and cold.
*It must be winter here,* Jean said to the Professor.
They saw a small boy hunched, shivering in an alley.
*It's Remy* Jean said. *But he only looks a few years younger than he does now. Is this where he started living on the streets?*
*That may be the case. He looks to be still well fed. I wonder why he left his home.*
They became silent and watched as a man approached Remy. The man was old, and had a kind expression, although it was obvious that he too was a street dweller.
"Hey, boy," the man said.
Remy was startled and looked up quickly.
"Whatcha doin' out here by yo'self? Don' you know it dangerous to be out 'ere on de streets? Where your parents, chile?" the man asked.
Tears formed in Remy's eyes. "My parents are gone. I don't have anywhere to go."
The old man sat down beside Remy, "Well, you sure can' stay here, chile. It's cold, and dere are dangerous people who'd jus' love to get dere filt'y hands on a sweet chile like you. You come wit' ole Jacques, and he take care o' you, d'accord?"
"What does that mean?" Remy asked wide-eyed.
Jacques laughed, "It mean okay? Okay?"
Remy smiled hesitantly, "D'accord."
The two wandered off together.
*That man seemed nice enough* Jean said.
*It appears that someone took pity on Remy and took him under his wing,* the Professor replied.
*Did you notice that Remy didn't have a Cajun accent?*
*Hmmm. Interesting.*
The landscape changed once again. This time it was a different part of town. It also felt warmer.
They saw a young boy weaving in and out of the crowds. His red hair marked him out. Jean and the Professor followed, and saw him leave the crowd and wander into an alley. At the end of the alley stood the old man they had seen earlier.
"Jacques. I got some more money dis time. We go and get some o' dat warm gumbo from Tante Maria's, non?"
"Dat's right, Remy. Come on. You a growing boy-chile; you need plen'y of food in your stomach."
The pair moved towards the entrance of the alley. They were stopped by the appearance of a gang of vicious-looking young men.
"What you want, Pierre?" Jacques called out, pushing Remy behind him.
"Why only dat sweet l'il boy you got dere, Jacques. Not fair o' you to keep him all to yo'self. He fetch a nice price down on de streets, non? I even cut you in on some of de profit," Pierre said, grinning.
The other youths with him laughed.
"Non, Remy not for de likes o' you. You leave him alone."
"Or what, ole man? What you gon' do 'bout it?"
The youths laughed again and followed closely as Pierre started moving up the alley towards Jacques and Remy.
Jacques began to back away, Remy still behind him.
"No where fo' you to go, old man. Jus' hand de chile over and you won' get hurt, non?"
"You not take de boy, Pierre. He a good kid."
Jacques stopped; he could back away no further. He watched warily as the youths continued to approach. They had now gotten close, and the gang spread out in a semi circle formation, effectively cutting them off.
Jacques saw that he had no choice. He grabbed Remy from behind and moved him towards Pierre. Pierre smiled, expecting Jacques to hand over the boy. He was unprepared when Jacques pushed him out of the way and shoved Remy past him.
"Run, Boy!" Jacques called.
He had no chance to say more. One of the youths slit his throat. Another of the teens chased after Remy. Remy had almost reached the freedom of the end of the alley when he looked back and saw Jacques' murder. He faltered, and the youth caught him. He struggled viciously, trying frantically to free himself.
The youth that had caught him carried him back to Pierre.
"Now, boy. Time to meet your new master."
"Non!" Remy screamed.
"Let's see if you worth de effort I made to get you, chile."
Hands grabbed at Remy, tearing at his clothes, pushing him down. He twisted, kicked, bit, and tried to scream but was gagged. He felt the weight of many hands holding him down, and his mind rebelled.
A psychic scream blasted through the minds of the men holding Remy captive. They died instantly. Remy lay unconscious on the ground.
*My God! Professor, they almost...* Jean could not finish the sentence.
*I know, Jean. I understand now why he fears people touching him. Something like that would scar him mentally for life. But we must move on. We have still not found Sinister in Remy's memories. Perhaps the Nanny failed to regress Remy fully and he has retained adult memories. If that is the case then we need to move forward in time.*
Jean was still trying to get over the shock of what she had just seen, but she agreed with the Professor. It was in Remy's best interests to find out what was causing him to have nightmares.
*Remy?* she called.
She was startled when Remy stepped out of the shadows. He had been with them all along.
*Remy, take us to Sinister please,* she said to him.
She saw the look of fear on his face, but he nodded anyway.
The landscape changed once more. This time they were in a lab and Sinister was there. It was an older version of Sinister's lab but to either side were his test subjects in their cubicles. Sinister approached one of the cells.
"Remy!" he shouted. A figure stirred in the corner of the room. "Go and fetch your father."
The figure moved into the light and made for the doorway.
"Yes, Uncle."
Jean exclaimed in shock *Remy's uncle?*
The Professor was also shocked. *Jean, Remy was still a boy here.*
**********************************************************
Jean and the Professor could do nothing but wait as the scene unfolded itself from Remy's memories. They watched as Sinister took his current test subject and strapped him to the bed. The door that Remy had exited opened again and a tall man entered. He was perhaps in his late thirties, pale, with blond hair and watery blue eyes. He looked haggard and tired. Sinister turned to face him.
"Ah, David, there you are. I have need of your expertise for this next experiment," Sinister said to the man.
"Of course, Nathaniel. Remy, perhaps you should go and join your mother," Remy's father suggested.
Remy looked over at Sinister, who smiled gently back at him, "Yes. Run along; your father and I have a lot of work to do," Sinister said to the boy.
Remy grinned and ran out of the door. David turned to face Sinister.
"So, what are we doing today?"
"A simple experiment really, I want to test the gene potential of this specimen."
A look of anticipation crossed over David's face, and he sighed in expectation of the pleasure this experiment would bring.
"How did your test on Remy go?" Sinister asked.
A look of anger and displeasure came over David's face. "Normal. No sign at all of the X-Factor in the boy, but I have had some ideas for changing that."
"Oh yes?" Sinister queried.
David smiled a secret smile, "Ah, Nathaniel my friend. You will just have to wait and see."
Jean turned to the Professor with a look of horror on her face. *Dear Lord, Professor. Remy's father is a monster!*
*Worse than Sinister, it appears* the Professor thought to Jean.
The scene changed around them. David was there, as was Remy, and so was a woman. She was tall and willowy, with thick long red hair. Her eyes were the same shade of crystalline blue as Remy's. At the moment it appeared that the adults were fighting over Remy.
"No, David. Don't. Leave him alone, please!" The woman was crying and trying desperately to maintain her grip on Remy, who was whimpering in fear.
"He's my son, Sorrel. I will do with him as I please." David viciously slapped Sorrel, a blow which sent her flying backwards into the wall. She sank to the floor dazed, unable to help when her screaming son was dragged off by his father.
Remy was taken to one of the labs and strapped onto a table.
"Shut up, boy. Don't you understand? I'm trying to improve you! Make you a better son!" David was telling the frightened little boy on the table.
Jean and the Professor watched as David began giving Remy a series of injections, trying not to flinch at the sound of Remy's pain-filled screams. Finally, to their relief, he lost consciousness, taken to a world away from the pain.
Once again, the scene changed. Sorrel was cradling a semi-conscious Remy, who appeared to be delirious and racked with shivers. He moaned softly as pain overtook him and he lost consciousness once again.
Again the scene changed. This time Remy was standing next to his father, who was grinning proudly at Sinister. Remy was subdued and pale, and every now and then a tremor racked his small body. But he bit his lip to hold back cries of pain.
"You see, Nathaniel? I did it! I combined genes from mutant test subjects and integrated them with Remy's DNA; he now has the potential for multiple mutant powers. I'm currently working on a plan to develop those abilities and hone them while he is still young. Just think of what this means. The culmination of all our work into one perfectly healthy, living specimen."
Remy flinched when his father termed him as a specimen.
Sinister smiled, "Wonderful. Would you mind if I ran a few tests of my own to look at the changes in Remy's DNA?"
David grinned, "Of course not. Remy won't mind...will you son?"
David did not wait for an answer before thrusting Remy towards Sinister and leaving the room, his mind already on his next test.
"Come here, Remy," Sinister said holding out his hand.
Remy ran towards Sinister who gathered him into a hug, "It hurts, Uncle Nathaniel," he said, tears escaping from his closed eyes.
"I know, I know. Here. I have something that will take the pain away." Sinister reached for a small container and handed Remy a small pill to swallow. "Come, Remy. You are tired. Let's get you back to your mother so that you can rest." Sinister gently gathered Remy up into his large arms and carried him out of the lab.
The scene changed once again. This time Jean and the Professor could see Sorrel. Her face was swollen and bruised. She was hurriedly packing a bag. She sent frantic looks, towards Remy who was sleeping on a cot and towards the door. Finally, when she was satisfied that she had everything she needed, she quickly woke Remy, telling him to be quiet. Remy did as his mother asked and followed her out of the room. They quickly made their way thorough twisting corridors, Sorrel constantly gazing behind her to see if anyone was following.
Again the scene changed. This time they were out on the streets, walking quickly.
"Would de lady like to buy a nice l'il trinket for de petit?" a street vendor called out.
Sorrel ignored him.
*They're in New Orleans* the Professor commented.
Suddenly, they heard shouting. "Sorrel, stop! You won't get away with this!" a voice shouted from behind.
A look of fear passed across Sorrel's face and she began to run, dragging Remy along with her. Sorrel saw a bus about to leave it's terminal and hurriedly jumped on with Remy, paying her fare and rushing to find a seat. She looked out of the window and saw David trying to catch up with the bus, but the bus had already started on its journey. She sighed, a small sigh of relief before turning towards her son.
"Remy, I'm going to get off the bus in a moment, but I want you to stay on it okay? I want you to stay on until you reach the end and the driver asks you to get off, and then I want you to wait there for me to come okay?" Sorrel said urgently to her son.
Remy nodded solemnly. "Where are you going mama?" he asked.
"That doesn't matter. Just know that I love you," she kissed his head, "Now remember what I said. Okay?"
Remy nodded again, and watched as Sorrel got up and left the bus. He watched her run through the streets. He sat quietly and patiently as the bus continued on its journey and continued to wait at the terminal. But his mother never came back. So he decided to go look for her on his own. He wandered the streets calling for his mother, and for his uncle Nathaniel, but no one answered. It began to get dark, and he began to feel the cold through the thin sweater he was wearing so he found an alley and huddled down. He was alone.
The scene changed and Jean and the Professor found themselves back on the astral plane by the memory ribbon. Remy was gone.
*It's time to leave I think* the Professor said.
Jean nodded in agreement, and they left Remy's mind.
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Jean and the Professor slid back into their own bodies. They saw Ororo sitting with Remy, holding his hand. Remy had not awakened. Ororo turned to the two adults.
"What is wrong with him? Why won't he wake up?" she asked.
"It's okay," Jean said. "He's just asleep. We'll let him sleep here, and I'll stay with him until he wakes up. Is that alright?"
Ororo bit her lip but nodded.
"Ororo," the Professor asked, "Would you like to come with me? I have some more plants that need to be taken care of for my friend. Will you help me?"
Ororo smiled, "Yes, Professor. Where in the garden are they though?"
The Professor laughed. "They are not outside. They in my friends loft."
"What is a loft?" Ororo asked with child-like innocence.
"It is a room underneath the roof. Come and I will show you." The Professor took Ororo with him, nodding to Jean before leaving the room.
Jean sat quietly, stroking Remy's hair as he slept. When he finally began to stir, she sat back, waiting for him to become aware of his surroundings.
His eyes opened slowly and the first thing he said was, "Mama?" in a hopeful tone.
Jean swallowed back tears. "I'm sorry, Remy. Your Mama isn't here."
Tears flooded Remy's eyes, and she held him as he cried softly. When he had finished he pulled himself away and looked up at her.
"I 'member Jean. I 'member ev'rytin'"
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After admitting to her that he remembered, Remy had refused to talk about his memories. So Jean had taken him up to the Professor and Ororo. He had seemed himself, albeit a bit quieter, but that was to be expected really. She decided that the children needed something new to do, and she thought for the first time about their lack of clothes.
"Right, you two, come on. We're going into town, and we're going to get you some new clothes," Jean said, smiling.
The children seemed excited enough about going out, and she bundled them into one of the cars at the mansion before setting off into town. It wasn't until they were a few miles down the road that disaster struck.
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The Nanny had been waiting impatiently for this chance, and she was not going to screw it up. Not when He would be the one to hand out the punishment. She had decided to use the same trick that she had used to catch the children in the first place.
Jean saw the old lady by the car, and being the kind soul that she was, pulled over to offer assistance. She was not aware, until it was too late, of the dart that struck her shoulder; she was already unconscious when she hit the ground.
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end of part 2