Circle Of Fear

Remy LeBeau sighed as he paced. He was restless, and that irked him. He idly played with a deck in his hands, shuffling them. He had been sitting in the kitchen, but was banned once Jean said his fidgeting was getting on his nerves.

He couldn't blame her, but had grumbled once he left. Now he was wandering the mansion. What Remy needed, he decided, was someone to BOTHER. He strolled on down towards the Danger Room and the Med Bay. Maybe Hank would be willing to teach him to play some more chess.

“No!” he heard her scream before he saw her. The panic in her voice, the way she sounded so frightened made his heart stop in his chest. Remy peeked into the Med Bay.

“Collette,” the Professor was trying to make his voice as pacifying as possible. “Hank won't hurt you.”

“He has a NEEDLE!” she cried. The girl was curled into a corner, her knees up to her chest. Her face was pale and sweaty, and her hair, black and thick, was clinging to her face. He could see the tear stains on her face.

“But it isn't like the needles you've had before.”

“Like I haven't heard that one! I'm crazy, not stupid!” the girl cried. Her body trembled violently, and Remy wondered at the hospital gown she was wearing. It was much too chilly for her to be only in that.

“What's goin' on?” he stepped in. Hank looked at him helplessly.

“The Professor found her and she won't get her blood drawn.”

“I see,” Remy crossed the room and dropped to his knees a few feet away from the girl. She whimpered and seemed to curl into herself tighter, regarding him with wary green eyes.
“Remy not hurt you.” he said soothingly.

“I've heard that too...” but she wasn't trembling so violently, and she seemed to uncurl herself a little bit.

“Where you find dis one?” he asked, extending a hand to brush her hair out of her face. She flinched, but allowed the caress.

“State Asylum,” Xavier said grimly. Remy turned to look at him in disbelief.

“She a bebe! Who put a bebe in dere?”

“Not very intelligent people.” Hank remarked dryly.

“Well, I wouldn't want a needle either.” he eased himself closer to the girl. “C'mere, cherie. Remy not hurt you.”

It was all the girl needed to scoot over to him and melt into his body. He cradled her tightly against his chest, rocking her back and forth. The poor thing, he thought. He'd be terrified too. One glance at her arms told you how many needles she'd had, and some very recently.

“What your name?” he murmured. Hank opened his mouth, but the Professor shook his head. Best to let the Cajun coax her as best he could, really.

“Collette Mihserie,”

“Misery? Your maman name you after misery?”

“Yes,” Collette's arms reached up to wind around his neck. Her little fingers tangled in his auburn hair. “Mommy named me after misery.”

“More like cursed her with misery.” Xavier sighed. Remy stood up, still holding the girl. He hopped up on the examination table and nodded to Hank.

“You gonna be a good girl and let Hank do his job, non?”

“But--,” she began.

“Cherie, Remy promise. It's not like before. We good people here.” he rubbed her back. Collette pressed her face into his neck as Hank approached.
“Let you in on a little secret. Remy not like needles so good either.”

“Were you there too? State Asylum?”

“Non, non.” Hank pricked her skin and drew out two vials of blood and set up an IV before she could notice. You had to hand it to him, he worked quick. The girl looked at her arm curiously.

From the look on her face, everyone half expected an apology, but instead, she eased back into Remy. From her position in his arms, she allowed her temperature to be taken, her blood pressure measured, and her heartbeat listened to.

“We need to keep her in here for a night or two. I just want to make sure she gets off the meds okay.” Hank was jotting something down on her chart.

“Collette, darling, won't you be scared?” Xavier looked at the girl who shrugged and shook her head.

“It's no worse than my cell. Besides, they won't scream all night here, will they? Not out loud, anyway.”

“No, of course not.” the girl slipped off Remy's lap and followed Hank obediently towards the observation room. She laid down on the bed, smiling at the feeling of the pillow under her head.

They watched as Hank offered her a pill. She looked at the white pill, at the blue mutant, and then through the glass into the exam room. Remy nodded and she took the pill, swallowed it try with a practiced air that made the Cajun's heart ache. She opened her mouth, lifted her tongue for Hank.

“I trust you,” they heard him say.

“Maybe you shouldn't. I'm crazy, remember?”

“You aren't, Collette.”

“Sure. Right,” she snuggled down under the blankets. “Not at all.”

**

“State Asylum?” Remy hissed as he and the Professor quietly left Med Bay. “Who in their right mind...?”

“You know, Remy, that there are some people who don't know as much about mutations as others. There are some that keep themselves ignorant to protect themselves and maybe the ones they love.”

“Oui,”

“Collette's parents happened to be some of those people. The poor girl can hear thoughts, most particularly harmful ones. And of course she didn't know about it. She said she thought people were going to hurt her. Well, if you go around talking about voices in your head, people are apt to think there's something the matter with you.”

“Dey thought she was CRAZY?”

“Ignorance, Remy, ignorance.” the Professor repeated. “She was exhibiting classic symptoms of schizophrenia. The medication didn't help, and so her parents, quite at their wits end when she began to wake up every night screaming, sent her to another psychiatrist, who promised she would do quite fine in State Asylum.”

“How long she been dere?”

“Six months,”

“Six....” Remy trailed off. It must have been like a lifetime to her. She was amazingly calm for someone who just came out of there. He wondered about her lips.

“She bit them to keep from screaming. The harmful thoughts only got worse there.” Xavier said quietly. Remy hadn't realized he had been touching his own mouth. He sighed.

“She was just rotting?”

“Away to nothing.”

“Merde,” Remy rubbed the back of his neck. “Is dere hope for the bebe?”

“There's always hope. She's just going to have to dig a little bit deeper to find hers than the rest of us.”

***

“Oh please,” I moaned, curling into a ball on the cot. “No please,”

“Cherie,” his voice again. I cracked my eyes open, saw him there. He had eyes like I've never seen before. Like what they told me the Devil's would be, red on black.
“Cherie...”

“They're in my head,” I whimpered, clutching his wrists. I didn't think to ask why he was there, why wasn't the blue man there. I didn't care. “Get them OUT of my head!”

“Hush, bebe,” he presented me with another white pill. “Dis will help you sleep. And in de morning, we will talk, non?”

“They're going to HURT me,” I could feel the sweat covering my body.

“Nooooon,” he drew out the word as he put the pill on my tongue, pressing down like Communion. I swallowed and felt my body shiver.

“Do you hear them? Have you heard them? Could you make them go away?”

“Quiet, cherie. Quiet,” he sat on the cot, leaned against the wall and pulled me towards him.

“You don't understand,” I felt the tears of frustration burn my eyes again.

“I do, I do.” he assured me in his gentle voice. “Rest now. It can wait until mornin' comes.”