The Accident

When the truck finally came to a stop, Remy opened his eyes and looked around at the underground parking garage. The number on the wall in front of him could only have been Logan's apartment number. He took a breath and looked over at Logan before speaking, he was determined to get out of whatever truth Logan was looking for. "Logan, there is nothing that I can tell you that will get you any farther in your quest to know who I am. I've had nothing to do with these deaths or misfortunes that plague your mind so." His tone hadn't changed from calm and he was far from nervous though, it wasn't his idea of spending an evening.

"You are hiding something, aren't ya?" Logan had already opened his door and slid out of the truck before looking back to Remy. "Look, I'm tired of all this 'cloak and dagger' you keep doin. I could get oil from a water spout before you'd spill. This is looking pretty suspicious from my super's point of view, so I need to come up with something to hand him if you want to keep more people off your case. Now, you want that second cup of coffee here," motioning to the inside of the truck, "or, would you prefer to sit in the comforts of my private apartment? Your choice." Logan stepped back and shut the door, silently telling the man inside that he wasn't about to sit in the garage all night.

Sighing, Remy got out of the truck and closed the door before following Logan to the elevator and stepping inside. As the doors closed, there was a surge of heartbeat that ran through him and made him shudder. When the next surge struck, he had to close his eyes to keep from swaying from the rhythm. The elevator stopped and Remy opened his eyes, his first glance was back to Logan who stood to his left. "I do not think this is a good idea, Logan."

Logan stared at him as they exited the car and had drawn some small conclusions about the youth. He had noted that Remy's accent had deminished but attributed it to what Remy might have deemed professionalism. Leading Remy to the apartment door, he paused before taking out his key and unlocking it. "Ya know kid, I woulda thought you would be some hot-shot fireball somethin that came and left, not stuck around like a sore thumb creatin havoc."

"Havoc?" Calmly, Remy tried to comfort his host as carefully as he could. "Logan, I have not created anything, merely watched. Accidents happen on their own." The door was opened and Remy was pressed through the doorway into the comfortable apartment. Thunder started rolling just outside as lightning flashed and captured Remy's attention, beyond the balcony window. With the lights on, Remy had a chance to look about himself and see another side to the pushy medic.

The medium sized apartment was clean and in very precise order. Pictures on the walls were of scenic views and portraits of Native American Storm Dancers and Samurais. Creme carpeting felt fluffy and comfortable under his shoes. The fullness of the sofas looked very comfortable but, he bet Logan wouldn't ask him to stay the night seeing as Logan was hell-bent on getting answers to things he shouldn't be asking.

The kitchen was to the left and somewhat small but with an open plan to it. To the right was Logan's dark bedroom but it seemed inviting that he would leave the door open with company in the house. The curtains on the windows had all been closed and were a very clean looking creme color with flowing folds that reminded Remy of a time long ago before his present day employment. The ice maker in the refrigerator dropped a tray of ice into the bucket and snapped Remy out of his musings.

He had noticed that Logan had already sat down in the long sofa and was waiting for Remy to join him on the next cushion. Smiling casually, Remy walked over and sat down a good distance from Logan. "Very nice home you have here, Logan." Crossing his right ankle over his left knee, Remy turned to place his right elbow on the back of the sofa and lace his fingers together with his left hand. "Just you dat lives here?" The accent was slowly coming back into his speech as he remembered who he was.

Logan nodded and cleared his throat. As he stood up again, Logan looked back to Remy and asked, "would you like a drink?"

"Ah, yes please. Water is fine, merci." Staring at the curtains and listening to the rain pound on the walls and roof, Remy gave complete confidence in Logan that he would only get water in his glass.

Logan walked to the kitchen and grabbed two small glasses out of the cupboard above the stove before turning around and heading over to the stainless steel refrigerator and grabbing the blue plastic pitcher of water and a beer for himself. "Not a drinker, huh?" Logan poured the water into the glass before tending to his own.

"Non."

Logan raised an eyebrow over at the young man who sat calmly staring back at him from the sofa. "Never touched it, huh?"

Remy bowed his head a bit and then looked back up at him. "When I was younger, I would drink. My line of business prohibits personal pleasure on professional time."

Grabbing the two glasses and walking back over to his guest, Logan voiced his question, "which are you on now?"

"Personal. But, this isn't the time to drink."

As Logan handed his guest the glass of water, he noticed Remy's eyes shifting to the glass of beer in Logan's hand. "So, what 'business' are you in?" Instead of moving back to his place on the sofa, Logan sat on the rectangular glass coffee table, in front of Remy and leaned in.

If Remy was intimidated by the closeness, he didn't show it. Remy simply accepted the glass, smiled and took a sip. He swallowed the sip and blinked back at Logan before answering with what he had to think long and hard about before saying, "life insurance." Placing the glass on his right thigh, Remy listened to Logan as he contained a chuckle. "I'm sorry if that wasn't the answer you were looking for but it is the best I can give you."

Logan nodded and took a good swallow of his beer. "So, why have I seen you everywhere? You been stalkin' me?"

"Non." A short reply from behind another sip of water.

Lightning flashed once more before another crash of thunder roared overtop of the building, shaking its structure and causing the light to flash off and back on after a second. In that second the lights were off, another sliver of golden light flashed and lit up the face of the young man sitting calmly across from Logan. Suddenly, the young man didn't look like a man but more of a skeleton, in a suit, with glowing red eyes. When the lights came back on, Logan tilted his head as Remy stared back at him with an eerie smile.

Taking a deep breath and fully looking at Remy and the way he was sitting, Logan took another sip and set his glass down, knowing that Remy was watching him. "Tell me about yourself. Girlfriend? Wife? Family? What brings you here?" He turned back to look at Remy for a long moment but not pass judgement so soon. As if habit, Logan reached for another drink and held the glass is readiness for it while he waited for an answer.

Remy only shook his head at each question. "No family. It's just me. As I have told you before, I am here on business."

Since Logan had been staring into Remy's brown eyes, he paused as another flash of lightening changed Remy's eyes. His guest's eyes went from brown on white to red on black for an instant and then back again, causing Remy to grasp what he saw and close his eyes to him.

"You know what I saw, don't you?" Slamming his glass down on the table, Logan waited for Remy to open his eyes, and when that didn't work, Logan grabbed the young man's thin arms and shook him. "Answer me! Who the Hell are you? What are you?"

Remy turned his head as he felt Logan's hot breath on his left cheek. "I'm sorry, Logan. I cannot tell you." Clearing his throat, Remy sifted out of Logan's grasp and stood up. "I should go." He moved past Logan and carried his glass over to the kitchen and placed it on the counter but paused as Logan walked over to stand behind him. "Thank you for inviting me in, Logan."

"Know what I smell on you?"

Remy stood frozen with his back to Logan. He stared at the front door and hoped he didn't hear the word that would crumble everything to cinders. "What?" The calmness of his whisper hiding the fear and shakes inside him.

"You know damn well what it is. The cold, loneliness of despair. The agonizing rise of your insides in your throat as you don't want to get close to anyone who might know who you are."

Turning around to face his accuser, Remy hardened his expression. "And what am I, Logan?" He felt sick and weak, and was rethinking the drink of beer that had been offered to him.

"Scared." Logan turned away and started back to the sofa, not seeing the blazing red fire that pulsed from Remy's black eyes. Thunder crashed outside once more. "Yer so scared you don't even know yourself anymore." Logan had known what he smelled on the youth. It was ancient and very cold. The smell he often woke up in the middle of the night to. It was a dangerous plain on a man so young but Remy had really carried it with ease. There was no telling what the youth might do if he had spoken the word outright.

Remy stood between feelings. The door was now behind him, yet there was a warm body of a man who had taken the time to see him and see through him to break him down to what he had tried so hard to conceal. His eyes softened as a twinge of mortality ran through him. "How do you force another mask over the one you wish to wear? How is it you know so much about people yet, you choose to live alone, Logan? Why do you waste your time to save strangers' lives when you are dying inside?" Remy stopped himself. He had spoken too much and the look on Logan's face as he turned around from reaching for his glass on the coffee table, was more than his silence request.

"So, now you are the talkative one." Logan folded his arms in front of his chest and cleared his throat. He hadn't worried about answering Remy's questions but rather continued to pry as much information out of him as Remy would allow. "Is that why it's like pulling teeth with you? And why you're always watching me and what I do? You think this is easy?"

Remy fumbled over what to say and how to say it. He stepped forward and came to stand a foot away from Logan. "As you said, it's a very lonely life I live. Mine has no happy ending. But you, you make sure you do not live as others do. You love, yes. However, you do not want anyone who can see inside you." Remy lowered his head and stared at Logan's shoes. "That is my punishment, as well. I cannot have a real life or love. Instead, I look in from the outside. And when I see you, I see me." Remy looked up and caught Logan's eyes. "Understand?"

Logan wasn't sure what Remy was saying until Remy stepped forward and cupped his face in thin hands before kissing Logan gently on the lips.

When the gesture wasn't returned, Remy backed away and put his head down. "I'm sorry. It's been so long since I've done something like that, I just forget where I am sometimes." Wiping his mouth with his right hand, Remy turned around and headed quickly for the door. "Thanks for the drink. I'll-- see ya, Logan." Not looking back to see if Logan even cared, Remy had the door open and was running down the hall for the elevator.

Just as the button was pushed on the elevator, the electricity in the building went out. A sigh exited Remy's lungs as he turned and felt another person's presence beside him. "Don't worry, I'm leaving."

"Well, I think the power won't be on for awhile, kid. So, yer gonna have a long wait. C'mon back inside, and uh, let's talk about this?" Eventhough he couldn't see Remy, he could smell him. Logan's nose told him things about Remy that he wasn't sure he really wanted to know in the dark. "Better than standin out here, in a dark hallway."

Remy nodded, "okay."

---------

Logan closed the door and opened a drawer in the kitchen that housed a few tap lights. Pushing them on and then setting them in various places in the living room, he noticed Remy sat still on the sofa and stared at the floor in front of him. "You wanna tell me why you kissed me?"

Remy gave no voice but shook his head.

Placing the last light on the coffee table, Logan stood across from the youth, with the table between them. "What made you think I went for guys?"

"It's been a long time since I knew what to do. Don't expect you to understand."

"Understand?" Logan placed a foot on the table's edge and leaned forward, resting his left arm across his thigh. "What don't you think I understand? Tell me. This whole conversation is pointless if we're just gonna go round in circles."

The next vibe Remy felt from his host was something he had been searching for for so long. Lifting his head up and looking into Logan's eyes, Remy took a deep breath and asked, "You do, don't you? You know why I did it. You wanted me to, Logan." Standing up and looking over the small light's beam, Remy found a spark that he knew Logan would latch on to. "I am old, Logan. Old beyond your comprehension. I am drawn to you because you feel it too, don't you?"

"How old?"

Remy shook his head. What was he doing telling Logan this? "Let's just say, it wasn't so noisy out dere." Remy felt confined and found it hard to breathe so close to the man he had wanted for so long, so he walked around the living room, thinking of what to say next. When he was close to the bedroom, Remy found himself being aggressively pressed with his back against the wall next to the open bedroom door.

"You like guys, don't ya?"

A calm nod.

"You got funny ways of checkin people out, Cajun."

There was no response as Remy was released and simply stared at.

This time Logan was the first to make motion to the awkward moment by reaching out a hand and placing it on Remy's chest. He felt a surge of energy run through Remy's body. Inhaling the luscious scent, Logan stepped closer and blinked as the young, smooth face became more clearer. With another thunder clap and heavier rain pounding on the windows, Logan let his hand slip down and clasp around Remy's. As if both knew what was happening next, Logan slowly walked Remy around the corner and into his bedroom.

Sitting down on the end of the bed and letting his hands run through the soft blue fuzz of the blanket, Remy inhaled and let Logan peel off the suit jacket and unbutton the black cotton shirt. Laying himself back, on the blanket, Remy watched as Logan began to strip away his own clothing and then move to retrieve something in the top drawer of his dresser. While Logan was busy with the small square package, Remy took the initiative and removed his pants. His eyes watched the man closely for any sign of falsehood but found there was none.

By the next lightning flash, Logan was ontop of the young Cajun. Mouth close to Remy's ear, shushing him and whispering soft nothing's to him as Logan's next movement captured all of Remy's attention and forced him to meet Logan's eyes as a hypnotic rhythm started. The soft kisses against Remy's neck and cheeks forced Logan to move himself faster and with more feeling. As the wetness hit his hand as he ran his fingers through the soft ginger color, Logan paused long enough to look at Remy and find the tears that fell from his eyes.

"What's the matter? Hurtin' ya?"

Remy shook his head and let his hands slither along Logan's sides and over his back. "Please. Continue."

As the passion mounted between them and fiery flames of lust and love crashed around them, Remy had started to whisper a mumbled version of words that didn't sound english, or any language Logan had ever heard. It wasn't until Logan came that the words became louder and gritted by lust. The tears flowed more freely as Remy lost himself and wrenched his eyes closed as he spilled more strange syllables and prayers out into the darkness of Logan's bedroom. Finally, before either knew it, sleep had claimed them beneath the fuzzy soft blue blanket with an ancient Aztec design on it.

Remy felt so warm and safe in Logan's arms but it took only the sense of sleep to crumble that feeling into nothingness. His dreams were that of his younger years, living years.

He stood in the middle of a grassy field with several other men in dark cloaks and hoods while holding lanterns. Remy had been dressed a long white gown while his auburn hair blew frantically in the wind. The cold was choking him as his bare feet walked him down a long gravel path, into the center of a great stone structure. Looking around and only finding faceless hoods closing on him and forcing him down, against a stone in the middle, he found himself frozen with fear. Chills wracked his body as the blade of a ritualistic dagger was being pressed tip first along the thin material, stripping it away and exposing his lithe body to the elements.

Hands held by the wrists and ankles being held by same, Remy again felt the tip of the blade and marked the words the men now chanted to the darkness with. N'a chentra ar t'uug. By the words being spoken, he could feel the dagger blade biting into him and tearing away his manhood. The pain was immense yet Remy couldn't speak or scream his pain. The next was a carving the dagger scraped into his chest before repeating the chant and cheering when the form appeared.

The form had spoken to Remy in his tongue and explained to him what was to happen. With his arms and legs now free, the dark being helped Remy to stand and then placed a finger to the young man's forehead. Remy felt his eyes close and the world spin and grow noisy before slipping silent as he fell back to sleep on the green grass. Hours passed and Remy awoke to find himself alone with only a scroll laying on the very spot of the stone he was stolen to.

Remy sat up from his dream and glanced at himself under the blanket and then back to Logan's sleeping form. A curse to himself as he had broken the rule of his penance. Slipping from the bed and gathering his clothes, Remy dressed and slid from the apartment without a word of goodbye.


Continued.