X-Men Fan Fiction ❯ The Camping Trip ❯ Ch 11 ( Chapter 11 )

See disclaimers in ch 1

Words between ~ ~ are thoughts or mental speak

CH 11

His name.

Someone was calling him.

It took a moment for his fevered mind to recognize the voice.  Logan was calling his name.  The need to respond was overwhelming.  He began swimming out of the blackness towards consciousness, a difficult endeavor to be sure given the pure exhaustion of his body and soul.

"Remy….Remy…." Logan continued in a pleading tone.  It was all he could do in his immobile state.  His eyes raked over his young lover's face and body, looking for any signs of consciousness. 

There.

A twitch in the boy's right hand. 

Remy was beginning to awaken.  His head turned slightly and he groaned, hand coming up to rub his face.  Finally, Remy opened his eyes and cast a blurry glance towards Logan.  As awareness seeped back in, he realized he must have been out a while because his clothes were no longer soaking wet, although still damp. 

"Remy, thank God.  I've been worried sick about ya.  Ya need to get outta those clothes, boy."  Logan's demanding tone was full of concern as he watched his lover struggle to wake.  "Remy, c'mon.  Wake up.  Ya can't sleep in those wet clothes or ya'll catch double pneumonia.  Strip and put on my shirt and pants."  Logan was still naked with the trench coat draped over him like a blanket.

Remy raised his body up and put his left arm out to prop on, forgetting momentarily that it had been damaged earlier.  Immediately it gave under his weight and he fell back to the floor of the cave with a hiss. 

"What happened to your arm Rems?"

"Not'ing much, cher.  Fell out a tree, s'all."  Were those slurred words actually coming from his mouth?  He didn't know.  It was beyond his keen at the moment.  Things were still a bit hazy for him.  And why was it so damn hot all of the sudden?

"Remy, listen.  You need to get up and get out of those clothes, and get your butt closer to the fire."  Logan was worried about the boy's drawn out response.  He knew Remy was hurting, bad.

Gambit slowly pulled himself up and began removing the damp garments, spreading them out close to the fire.  He slipped into Logan's clothes and shook his head to clear thoughts.  Now that he was awake, he was a little more cognitive and willed himself the strength he needed to get back in the game.  After all, his lover was depending on him. 

He removed the rabbits from his belt and set about cutting them up to cook.  Taking a stick and sharpening one end with his knife, he skewered the meat to lie over the fire.  Once that was setup, he drank the remaining water in the bowl after making sure Logan didn't need any.  He felt a little better now and moved to sit beside the older man, pouring more water into the bowl and setting it to boil.

Logan looked up at the face of his lover searching for signs of coherence. "Ya ok Rems?"

"Oui, cher.  De storm sapped my strength, but I'm feeling better now.  Just needed to rest a bit." Remy lied.

Logan could tell the boy was lying to him, but decided not to pursue it since he did seem better after the short slumber.  Besides, he knew he was in no position to do much about the matter anyway.

Outside, the storm continued to rage.  With each clap of thunder, Remy shivered slightly.  Massaging his left arm, he turned towards the older man.  "You hungry, mon ami?  I caught some rabbits."  He couldn't quite keep the satisfaction out of his tone.

"Ya done good, boy.  I'm proud of ya."  Logan beamed at the lad, displaying his sharp canines.

"Lookey dere.  You got more movement I see."  Turning towards the prone figure, Remy reached down to cup his cheek, running a thumb across the older man's lips.  "Can you move anyt'ing else, cher?"

Logan frowned.  No, he couldn't move anything from the chest down and it frustrated the hell out of him.  Remy smiled at him, assuring him that it will come, just have patience.  After removing the boiling water to cool and taking the meat off the flame, he hand fed the older man a morsel at a time, neglecting his own hunger until his lover was satisfied.  Once they had both eaten their fill, Remy cooked the remaining meat and wrapped it in a clean portion of the much used undershirt scraps. 

"Uh, Remy?"

"Oui, cher?"

Nature was calling to both of them.  Remy helped Logan roll over to use the hollowed log they were accustomed to, a task made more difficult by his now weakened arm.  Once finished, he walked to the cave entrance, fell ungracefully to his knees and stuck his arm out to dump the contents.  He then lowered the trousers and took aim outside the door, attempting to stay as dry as possible against the slanted rain and wind, using the side of the cave entrance as a partial cover.  By the time his bladder was empty, his arms were soaked and the front part of his body was damp……again.  The effort to stand was just too much, so Remy crawled back to his position next to Logan, teeth chattering at the chill in his bones.

"Take 'em off and get over here under this coat."  Logan commanded, the frustration evident in the tone.  Remy complied as quickly as possible and slipped under the makeshift cover next to the heater that was his lover's body.  He instantly sighed at the warmth that enveloped him.

"S'funny, cher.  In all de stranded, trapped, castaway movies I've seen, I don' t'ink I ever recall dem addressin' de whole bat'room issue."

Logan snorted.  "Yeh, well, I can understand.  It's not exactly entertaining."  They both continued listening to the squall outside for a while, until Logan finally broke the silence.

"Can we talk about why ya don't want ta tell anyone about us? 

Remy closed his eyes for a moment, just too exhausted to put up much of an argument .  "I tol' you why, Logan.  I don' want dem to start t'inking bad 'bout you.  It would tear up my heart if dey hurt your feelings cause of me."

"Ya know, it don't bother me for everyone to know.  I don't give a damn what they think.  I'm proud of us.  Hell, boy, I'd shout it to the world if ya let me.  It hurts more when ya make me keep it secret, like ya're ashamed of us."

Remy blinked.  He hadn't really thought of it that way before.  Resigned, he decided his reasons didn't mean so much anymore if they were causing his lover pain.  "Non, cher.  I don' feel shame 'bout us a t'all.  If you really want everyone to know, den I won't stop you.  If you really proud to be wit' me and want to share it wit' de world, I'll stand by you and support you no matter what dey say.  I love you, cher."

Logan smiled and felt the kid's arm tighten around his chest.  He couldn't hold his boy back, but at least he could feel.  "I love ya too, Remy."

Another silent period followed.  Logan wasn't ready to sleep, he'd been doing that too much.  He also wasn't ready for Remy to drift off just yet.  He smelled the pain earlier, and he could feel the younger man's body heat above the normal temperature it usually emitted.  That could only mean one thing, Remy was developing a fever. 

"Remy?"

"Mmm?"

"Tell me about those scars on your lower belly and inside your thighs."

Gambit's eyes flew open and his body tensed.  He lifted up on his right elbow and stared down into Logan's eyes.  "Why you want to know about dem, cher?" he asked cautiously.

"Thought I'd continue that twenty questions game ya started a few nights ago.  Besides, some of those patterns look familiar to me."  Logan tried to be calm as he patiently waited for the answer he feared.

Gambit swallowed hard as he forced himself in a sitting position.  "I'm not sure you gonna like de answer, mon ami."  He looked over at the older man's eyes and saw understanding, acceptance, and expectation.  "You remember de trial?  'bout how I gathered de Marauders and dey massacred de Morlocks?  Well, more happened in dat tunnel dan I ever tol' anyone."  He turned his head away, not wanting to see his lover's face as he warily told his tale.  Sabertooth was the feral's greatest enemy, and he wasn't sure how Logan would feel about it.  Worst of all, he was afraid that the older man would no longer want him after finding out.

Pure, unadulterated anger.  No mistaking that emotion coming from Logan.  Remy had been on the receiving end of it too often.  His mind was nearly crushed with the vast amount of rage flowing from the wild man, though Logan said nothing.  Physically and mentally shattered as he was, Remy just couldn't stop the raw fury that battered against his mind.  He flinched at the feelings, raising his hands to pull his hair and pressing both palms in a vice-like grip against his temples, cursing his inability to raise shields.  It was too much, overwhelming, enough to break him.

"I'm sorry, Logan.  I couldn't stop him.  I couldn't stop any of dem."  Remy sobbed as the tears rolled down his cheeks.  "I unnerstand if you don't want me no more."  He started scooting away from Logan, reaching for his soggy clothes - anything to escape the feelings. 

"WAIT….please, Rems….wait."  Logan called to him desperately, taking a deep breath to rein in his emotions.  He wanted to reach out to the young man and hold him tight, but his damn arms betrayed him.  Remy stopped, wiping his eyes with the back of his hands, and turned back to face his lover with a lost look.  "I'm not mad at ya, darlin'.  I'm mad at that sonuvabitch for what he did to ya.  I told ya, boy, I love ya.  That's not gonna change because some bastard took advantage of ya when ya couldn't defend yourself."

Remy closed the slight distance he had created and leaned down, staring levelly into Logan's eyes as if he were searching for any contradiction to the words the older man had uttered.  Satisfied with the sincerity he found, Remy pressed his lips to Logan's and gave the man a powerful, passionate kiss that left them both panting. 

Frustrated at his body's lack of response, Logan growled and rolled his eyes towards the ceiling.  Looking back at the smirk on his boy's face, he couldn't help but grin.  "Hold that thought 'til this drug's outta my system.  Then, I'll take ya up on that promise." 

Remy settled back down on Logan's side and they both finally drifted off to sleep.

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