The silence of the Med Lab was almost stifling. After having spent the better part of the past week down here, Remy had hoped he wouldn't have to step foot through those doors again for a while. Yet once more he found himself lying in one of the hospital beds curled up against Spencer's side while his partner was so deeply asleep it was more like unconsciousness. At least this time there were no injuries. Or, none that they could see. Hank said it was simple exhaustion. Spencer had blasted almost every single bit of energy that he had.

Remy shivered and pressed himself just a little bit closer to Spencer's cool body. Nothing had ever scared him more than when he'd turned around to see Spencer standing there so full of power. There had been so much in him, his skin had been glowing. Remy had been terrified. He could remember wondering what on earth his lover was doing. Why gather so much power? Sir, Casey, was just one person. Why would he need so much to take him down? Then, when the lightning struck him, Spencer had thrown his head back and screamed, and Remy had understood. All of them had. Power arced out from the genius and then lightning had struck all around, bright bolts of blue, pure electrical energy. They hadn't just struck Casey, though. They'd gone all over the yard, striking down every single person that the team was fighting against. Every one of them, hit by lightning and sent to the ground. In one giant storm of energy, Spencer took out every enemy. That kind of raw power had stunned them all. It had stunned them even more to find that there were only two dead—the one that Spencer had killed before going after Casey, and Casey himself. All the others were knocked out, unconscious and a few of them burned by the energy, but alive.

Some of the team had been assigned in getting them out of there. Remy hadn't cared. He still didn't care. Someone had told him that the bodies were all removed, that Casey's body had been 'taken care of', and that they were safe. None of it mattered. Nothing had mattered since he'd watched Spencer crumple down to the ground out there in the yard. Remy had raced towards him, heedless of everything around him, and he'd gathered Spencer's frighteningly cold body into his arms.

Hank said that Spencer was cold because he'd burned so much energy. They had to keep him under tons of blankets and with the room temperature cranked up high just to keep him stable. Hank had tried heated blankets, just as he'd tried to use a vitals machine to monitor him, only to have all of them fried the instant they touched Spencer's skin. Spencer wasn't awake enough to control his powers as they returned to him. That was why Hank tried to keep everyone back.

It didn't work. Remy hadn't left him once since he'd picked him up in the yard. The furthest he'd gone was the bathroom in the corner of the room. Otherwise, he was in that bed, curled right up against him, offering him all the body heat he could. Only once had someone attempted to try and pry him away. Remy hadn't argued. He hadn't fought, or yelled, or anything like that. He'd simply laid himself down and curled tighter to Spencer's body. Head on his shoulder, one hand on Spencer's heart, a leg thrown over his, he draped himself like a human blanket and ignored Hank telling him that he needed to leave. When that hadn't worked, he'd reached out to touch Remy's arm.

That was when they found out Spencer may have been unconscious, but part of him was awake.

Hank touched Remy's arm and it was like he was Tasered. Spencer had very, very little energy inside his body, but he seemed to have an external shield going on. Hank theorized that Spencer's empathy was still working, reaching out to Remy, and he had responded to Remy's stress the only way his subconscious could.

No one tried to move Remy after that. Not just because they didn't want to get shocked; they didn't want Spencer to use any more energy than he had to. He was dangerously low and he needed to recover before he channeled anything. So Remy stayed. For two days, he stayed with Spencer, watching his lover sleep, waiting anxiously for him to wake up.

Scott, Logan and Jean came and went. None of them could stay down here constantly the way that Remy was and they all respected that Remy wasn't going to leave. But they came down often, either alone or in pairs, or the three of them together. Remy would lay there and either sleep, stay silent, or sometimes talk to them. He never moved away from Spencer's side to do it. He watched these three as they looked at Spencer, spoke to him, as their affection grew. Spencer had made a place in their hearts. Maybe he'd never had a true family before he came here. He was going to have one now. Logan and Scott were his fathers and that meant something to them. That was important. It meant something to Jean, too. She had no animosity that Remy could feel. Just, love. She acted as if Spencer were hers, too. To her, he was. He was the son of her men and that made him hers as well. By extension, it seemed to make Remy theirs as well.

Logan brought Remy things, clothes and books, things to entertain him. Sometimes he just sat with them. Scott would come and play sometimes, or he would sit and read aloud from one of the many books. Jean came down and made sure that Remy had bathroom breaks, a chance to clean up, food to eat, and she would stand guard over Spencer while he did.

They banded together, this little unit, standing guard and keeping watch over their fallen one.

It was four days after the incident that Spencer finally woke.

Of course, it was the middle of the night that he woke up, when everyone was gone and in their beds. Only Remy was there. Just Remy, lying against him, not really sleeping but not really awake, either. He was in that happy little half place between the two and so it didn't quite register on him at first. He thought that maybe he was still asleep when he felt the arm slip around him and pull him just a little closer. Making a happy little sleepy sound, he snuggled in and draped himself more fully over Spencer's body, humming happily when he felt the warm emotions that it earned him. Those warm emotions were what finally drew him out.

His eyes snapped open wide and he found himself staring down into Spencer's white eyes. Somehow, those eyes seemed to convey both exhaustion and amusement. They were pools of white and yet to Remy they had never signified the soullessness that Spencer had always feared. To him, they were like true windows into his soul, showing little flares and flashes of color if one knew how to look, hints to the bright soul and the moods inside. They showed him exhaustion now, yet amusement and an overwhelming love that stole every single word from Remy's lips save one. "Spencer."

"You look as bad as I feel." Spencer murmured dryly.

The sound of his dry throat had Remy trying to move, wanting to get him water. The arm around his waist gave a weak little tug. It was enough to freeze Remy, though. He stopped and met Spencer's eyes once more. Spencer smiled and gave another tiny tug. "Stay."

"I was just gonna get y' some water." Remy said softly. Somehow, he made his voice work again.

"Stay." Spencer repeated. "'S cold."

"Henri says y' burned out all y'r energy wit' dat blast. It'll take a while to get y' back in order." Because he could see the questions on Spencer's face, he hurried to speak, explaining to him what was going on in short terms. He told him about his power strike, about how he'd taken everyone down, and he let him know that the others were alive—except Casey. When he spoke of Casey dying, Spencer's eyes shifted closed for a moment and Remy swore he could actually see some of his tension easing. "Y'r free." Remy told him quietly. "Y'r free, cher."

Smiling, Spencer opened his eyes once more, and they shone so damn brightly. "I'm free."

A shudder ran down Remy and he couldn't help how he tried to burrow in a little closer. Now that Spencer was awake, alert and looking up at him, his fear was finally free to climb up. He'd been terrified that he wouldn't ever see those gorgeous eyes again. Afraid that he was going to lose his partner before he truly had a chance to have him in his life. He wanted to bury his face in Spencer and just breathe him in. He wanted to never look away again. Words poured unbidden past his lips. "I t'ought I'd lost y'."

Spencer gave a soft hum. "'M not going anywhere." His smile turned just a little mischievous, one of Remy's favorite smiles, and he said "I'm ready to have that talk again."

A promise? "What?"

"You said, when we had no more secrets. When I told you the truth."

It took a second for Remy to remember that. It had been so long ago, it felt. But when his mind connected on it, he couldn't help but smile. His husky laugh slid in the air around them. He remembered what Spencer was talking about. 'I won't sleep with someone dat don't trust me, cher. So long as y' insist on keeping dese secrets, y' show y' don't trust me. When y' finally decide y' do, we'll have dis talk again.' That's what he'd told Spencer all those days ago.

Laughing again, Remy finally gave in to what he wanted and he buried his face against Spencer's neck, his body now fully draped over the younger man's. Spencer seemed to enjoy the weight and the warmth. Surrounded by his partner's scent, Remy smiled, pressing a kiss to his skin. "Once y'r outta here, we can talk all y' want, cher."

"Mm. I'm holding you to that." Spencer murmured. He turned his head a little and Remy felt a kiss press against his hair. "I love you, Remy." It was the first time that Spencer had said those words without any sign of anything else except for love in them. There was no stress, no fear, no doubt, just love.

The same love filled Remy's heart until he thought it might burst. "Je t'aime aussi, Spencer.Je t'aime aussi."

There you go, m'dears, the end. :) Merci for sticking through this and I'm so glad I went ahead and posted this. Merci for all the comments and favs and all that! Merci!