And All These Bad Dreams

Disclaimer: I still don't own X-Men or any of the characters, Marvel does.

Storm sat downstairs in the kitchen making breakfast for herself. She'd waited for a half an hour, reading magazines and watching meaningless morning TV, hoping that her best friend Remy would come down to join her, but he didn't show. She figured that he'd probably slept in and decided to start cooking because she was hungry. If he came down later on, then she'd be happy; and if not, she'd just catch him later in the day. She hadn't seen much of him lately, except the occasional night when he'd come up to sleep with her in her attic apartment. He always said that she had the biggest, most comfortable bed in the whole mansion, and the two enjoyed spending the night together sometimes. Both felt that it was a nice comfort to know that there was always someone in the house who understood you when it seemed like you were all alone. But Storm realized that he hadn't even been up to sleep with her in almost a week. She flipped over her hash browns in the frying pan wondering why that was when all of a sudden he appeared at the doorway. She turned to greet him with a smile but then nearly dropped the spatula in her hand when she saw the deep cuts on his arms. "Morning, Remy." She said quietly.

"Mornin', cheri." He said, brushing his dirty hair back out of his eyes. "Got some breakfast for a friend, too?" He quickly glanced up to see her face and caught her shocked expression. He looked away from her and sat down at the table, glad that everyone else was not in the room to ask him pointed questions.

Ororo finally answered his question. "Sure. I made enough for you and me, just in case you came down. Good thing, huh?" She tried to laugh lightly, but couldn't stop looking at him, searching for his eyes again. He kept them from her. She turned around and finished cooking the hash browns she was making, and grabbed the plate of pancakes she'd been flipping earlier, adding the hash browns to the plate. "Remy," She said softly. He looked up at her briefly. "You want to, um, eat upstairs in the apartment with me?"

Her quiet words pierced Gambit to his inner core, knowing that this time she was asking because she'd seen his fresh scars. "Yes, Stormy. Sounds fine t' me." Without her asking him to, he got the silverware, orange juice and glasses. They'd share the food plate; they always did.

When they ate up in Storm's spacious apartment, both friends were completely silent with each other. Remy was trying to figure out how to explain to Ororo what had happened. He'd told her before about how he used to cut himself, but it had been so long since he'd done it that she'd never experienced it before. And Ororo was trying hard not to stare at the deep flesh wounds that she saw. Purple and red slashes at his wrists, all up his forearms, and even some near his shoulders. She was almost in shock, wondering what could possibly have driven her most trusted friend to do this to himself.

After they were done eating Remy was the first to break the silence. "Dat was great food, Stormy." Storm managed a small smile, but it was directed at her plate, not at him. She didn't want to look up for fear of seeing the cuts again. She thought to herself, Ororo, pull yourself together, girl. You can face battle with extraterrestrial enemies, but not your own best friend's depression? But still she couldn't look at him again.

"'Roro…is you mad at Remy?" He asked quietly.

"No, sweet one." She replied.

"Den…" He trailed off.

"Then what?" She said, pushing her silverware and cup away from her.

"Den why can't you look at him?" He said softer than she'd ever heard him talk before.

Ororo glanced up at her best friend. His dirty hair hung in his eyes as his face was turned down towards his lap. With his hands on his knees he stared at his shoes, wondering if he'd just lost the only real friend he'd ever made. But what could he do? If she couldn't accept the reality of his pain, then maybe he really was alone after all.

After seeing him look so utterly defeated, Storm knew that now Gambit needed her more than ever. She pushed her chair back from the table and walked over to him. "Remy, I don't know what you've been through, but you can tell me if you want." He turned his body towards hers and leaned his head against her stomach as she delicately stroked his hair and caressed the side of his face. "'Roro, dere ain't nothin' more that I've ever wanted to do in all my life." Suddenly the years of pain that he'd been holding back, that he'd never told anyone about, that he'd hidden deep inside of himself came rushing back to his memory all at once and he started to cry. Quietly at first, and then bawling like he would never stop. Ororo dropped to her knees and let him fall onto her. She rocked him back and forth, holding him tightly as his body shook with sobs. As long as he needed, she would cradle him, keeping him safe so that he could cry.