Part Fifteen
written by Soar and most expertly edited by Jeanne Kalvar
email ksg3@le.ac.uk
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 realised 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.
end of part 14
Part Fifteen