X-Men Fan Fiction ❯ The Camping Trip ❯ Ch 7 ( Chapter 7 )

See disclaimers in ch 1

Words between ~ ~ are thoughts or mind speak

CH 7

Numb.

That's all Logan felt.  His brain was running in disjointed slow motion, trying desperately to emerge from a drug induced fog.  The first thing to return to him was his sense of smell.  His nose was detecting spice, telling him that the Cajun thief was very close.  Logan couldn't string together even the most basic of thoughts.  There was nothing; no sensations, no motor control, no response from his body.  But, his mind was not coherent enough to understand the implications of that.  Better to continue drifting for a while, enjoying the scent of his lover and letting it fill him.

Sounds.  Faint, growing louder.

His ears were beginning to respond, but he didn't understand what he heard any more than the smells surrounding him.  There was crackling and hissing to one side.  His brain should recognize what was making that noise, but couldn't.  It was beyond him at this point.  There was a growling roar coming and going to the other side.  First it's there, then it's gone, then it returns.  What was that?  It was vaguely familiar.  But his mind was having trouble with the patterns. 

Concentrate.

As he continued hearing the noises, his thoughts started to clear.  His lover was snoring. 

~ Remy never snores, unless he's thoroughly wiped out.  Why would that be?  Crackling sounds means a fire.  Are we at camp? ~

Images flashed back and forth in his mind's eye.  Men in uniforms, running through brambles, water, all of these things meant something but what?  Remy.  Where was Remy?  Logan didn't understand, his thoughts so displaced.  The primal side of him started fighting, turmoil reigning in his mind causing basic feelings to swirl unrestrained.

Remy was in a dreamless, healing sleep when he felt a disturbance.  His eyes suddenly jerked open as an intense wave of fear overwhelmed him.  He bolted upright onto his knees and leaned over his lover, concern etched on his face.  Logan wasn't moving and his eyes were closed, but Remy could feel the man.  And Logan was terrified.

"Logan, can you hear me?  Everyt'ing alright, mon amour.  You be safe wit' me."  Remy reached down and cupped his face, stroking and brushing hair back.  "Calm down, cher.  Relax."

He felt the older man's fear receding, and Remy sent feelings of calm and love in the hopes that he might appease Logan.  The young man continued stroking arms and face, murmuring warm, soothing sentiments to his lover. 

After Logan calmed, Remy spoke again.   "Can you open your eyes, cher?" 

A few minutes passed with no response from Logan, until another wave of fear flew towards Remy.  "Shhhh….shhhhhh…calm down, mon amour.  Not'ing to worry 'bout.  It gonna take time for your system to clean dat drug out.  Relax." 

Remy held Logan for awhile, whispering endearments and encouragement.  He kept it up until the emotions leveled off.  Gazing towards the cave entrance, the sun was just beginning to rise.  He told the older man that he had to gather more wood for the fire, that they were both safe, and he wouldn't be gone long.  As he quickly dressed, Remy felt apprehension from his lover, but there was little he could do.  They needed wood, they needed water. 

So, off he went, muscles protesting loudly.  Some of the items Remy had lifted from the party of soldiers he bested included a canteen and a couple of small MRE packets (meals ready to eat).  The canteen had been completely drained the previous day during the great effort to haul his lover to safety.  Using the cards again as markers, Gambit made his way back to the river, stopping in a crouch just at the edge of the trees to scope the area and make sure no soldiers were lurking.  Satisfied, he moved quickly to the water's edge and filled the bottle completely.  He wouldn't drink it until he boiled it, recognizing another problem immediately.

"What de hell I'm gonna boil dis in?" Remy remarked in dismay.  Shrugging, he decided to think about that later and move back towards the cave, collecting wood and cards along the way.  He had made it almost all the way back to the cave when his bodily functions awoke, urgently demanding attention.  Remy dropped his armload and moved into some bushes to relieve himself.  No sooner had he finished when a thought crossed his mind. 

"Merde!" he hissed as he hastily zipped his pants.  Quickly grabbing up the wood, he made his way back into the cave, hoping he wasn't too late. 

But, late he was.  Logan's body had also purged itself, completely.  He dropped the wood, silently cursing himself as he felt the extreme agitation and embarrassment flowing off his lover.  "Cher, it be ok.  Remy's stupid.  Didn' t'ink.  It not your fault, mon amour.  I take care of it."

Remy moved over and took the coat off Logan, making a note to take it back to the river and rinse it.  He dragged Logan away from the puddle and the mess, then removed his own undershirt, tearing it in half and using part of it to clean his lover's skin. 

"Tell you Logan.  Never expected to see dis part of de park.  It be beautiful.  Don' rightly know why we ain't come to dis part before."  As he tenderly wiped Logan's thighs and groin, he talked calmly about their situation.  He moved to clean the mess that was left on the floor of the cave, thankful that he had his gloves on. 

After that task was complete, he removed the gloves and put them with the used portion of his undershirt and his coat.  "Gonna put your boxers back on for now, cher." 

As he was redressing the older man, talking the whole time about the cave and the area of woods they were in, Remy looked around the cave for the first time.  He spied several larger rocks strewn about towards the back and an idea came to mind.

"Got me an idea, mon amour.  Gonna try and make a bowl from one of dem rocks.  Never used my powers to just blow up part of a t'ing.  Not sure how it gonna work."  Remy smiled.  "But don' no one know how Gambit love a challenge, except maybe you cher." 

There were three larger stones that Remy found and transported outside the cave.  "Not gon' far, Logan.  Just outside de cave.  You send a feeling to me if you need me, oui?" 

He set the stones down and analyzed the shapes, determining where to place the charge.  "Here goes not'ing" he muttered to himself. 

Laying a single finger on the top left corner of the stone, he sent a charge into the rock and then backed away.  With a loud boom, rock and dust spewed everywhere, leaving several smaller chunks of stone where the one had been. 

"Dat's strike one." Remy sighed. 

Moving the second stone into place, he studied some more.  This time, he placed his finger on the upper right side of the rock, focusing on a smaller charge.  The stone made a cracking sound and split in two, neither piece suitable for holding liquid. 

"Strike two" he groaned. 

Maneuvering the final stone in place, Remy closed his eyes.  He lightly touched the very top of the stone and strained to hold back his powers to a bare minimum.  Sweat broke out above his brow as he clenched his teeth in concentration.  Releasing and stepping back, he held his breath as a small pop sent dust flying.  Slowly opening his eyes to survey the damage, he exhaled and smirked. 

"T'ird times de charm."  Before him lay a hollowed out fairly bowl-shaped rock that would make an early caveman proud. 

Remy wiped his brow with the back of his sleeve and took his masterpiece back to the cave.  "I did it, cher!" he exclaimed excitedly. 

He built up the small rocks around the fire to form an elevated wall around the blaze.  Gathering two of the thicker branches, he laid them across the rock wall and placed the bowl on top to keep it above the flames.  Remy poured the contents of the canteen into his home made pot and waited for it to boil.  He moved to sit next to his lover and opened one of the MRE packets.  He devoured it with a disgusted sneer while absently stroking his lover's soft black hair.  Logan had not yet opened his eyes and Remy was slightly worried at the length of time it was taking for his healing factor to kick in.

"Dis taste terrible!  You not missing a t'ing, Logan.  What I wouldn't give for a meat pie or some boudin right 'bout now."  He felt a warm sensation coming from the older man, feelings of humor.  "You t'ink dis funny, mon ami?  Just you wait.  I'm gonna save dis here ot'er one for you.  Den you see." 

Logan's thoughts were more ordered.  He felt himself coming around by degrees, but still couldn't make any of his body respond to commands.  The sense of smell had returned earlier, along with his hearing.  But, his eyes would not open and the voice box remained frozen, let alone the ability to even move his mouth.  The only thing keeping him sane and fighting was the calm reassurances coming from Remy.  He began stringing words together in his head.

Remy watched the water begin to boil and mentally calculated how long to let it stay on the fire before he felt it would be safe to drink. "I sure wish I had a smoke, cher."  Remy had searched the pockets of his coat earlier and found that some of his possessions had indeed been claimed by the river.  "You know, Logan, Cyke always be dogging me on dem cigs.  He say it gonna kill me.  I try to argue dat he don' say not'ing to you 'bout dose cubans.  He say you got de healing factor.  But dere somet'ing I never told him.  Never told you eit'er.  My powers protect me from de smoke.  It burn up in my lungs before it cause damage.  Don' know de scientific part of it, but Henry do.  He try to explain it to me once, mais I didn' really listen." 

~ Ya never listen, Cajun ~ Logan thought.  If only Remy was a telepath instead of an empath, this would be so much easier.

Remy chuckled.  "You know how Henry gets.  When he talk, my eyes glaze over.  I t'ink he can tell too cause de color dulls, but he just keep going and going.  He like de energizer bunny, dat one."  The hand playing with Logan's hair came up to comb through long auburn locks, shifting the strands behind his ear. 

~ Please don't stop touching me Remy ~

Enough time had passed he believed and he decided to retrieve the bowl from the fire.  Using the unsoiled half of the torn undershirt as a holder, he swiftly moved the stone off the flame onto the floor beside him and let it cool for a while.  "You should see dis t'ing I created, Logan.  Had to really concentrate hard to keep from blowing it to pieces." 

~ I knew ya could do it, Gumbo.  I have faith in ya.  I wish ya had faith in yourself. ~

Once the water and bowl had cooled sufficiently, Remy took a long, thirst quenching drink.  He propped up Logan's head on his knee and used his fingers to force Logan's jaw open.  Using his hands to cup a little at a time, Remy dribbled some water into his mouth and coaxed it down by rubbing Logan's throat.  He painstakingly did this over and over until he felt irritation flooding off the man, taking that as queue to stop.

~ Ya're trying to drown me, swamp rat ~

"Mon ami, I have to make another trip to de river.  I need to rinse de coat, my gloves and dis shirt, and get some more water."  Again he felt the apprehension and a twinge of fear in the feral. 

 ~ Don't go Remy.  Stay. ~

"Cher, you know I be right back.  Don' worry none."  Remy leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Logan's lips.  He wasn't sure if Logan could feel it or not, so he closed his eyes and sent a wave of love to the older man.  With that, he stood, gathering the items he needed, and headed out.

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