AN: So here's one that's sat on my computer for a while, slowly being made. When I wrote "Meet the Team" I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to come after it. So, nerd that I am, I wrote THREE possible sequels. LoL yeah, three. I know, I know, nerd. :P There's one where Spencer's injured and brought to live at the mansion with his brother, there's one that the three of them get into a crash, and then there's this one. None of those three are connected to each other, they're just all potential sequels to MTT. I kind of enjoy this one, as it's something different, something I definitely haven't seen. So I'm hoping it's original enough and enjoyable enough for people to forgive it if it seems a little OOC. Or, a lot OOC. Idk. But it's AU (duh, as I'm combining CM/X-Men) But I hope you guys enjoy my new Remy/Spencer story!

"The Night Before"

What prompted him to leave his room and seek out the hotel bar that night, Spencer wasn't quite sure. It might have been that he was just tired of staring at the walls of his hotel room; or maybe it was just that this last visit with his mother this afternoon hadn't gone anywhere near as well as it should have and he couldn't seem to stop hearing her screams as she'd gone into an absolute panic over a single conversation. Whatever it was, he found himself sitting at the bar, nursing a glass of cognac and watching the news that was playing on the small TV at the corner of the bar. Not that he was really paying attention to what the news was saying.

He took a sip off the cognac and enjoyed the flavor on his tongue. Just recently he'd been given the okay to have alcoholic beverages again. He grimaced as he thought of what had caused that. Memories of that case and everything since then swam to the forefront. So many things had happened over the past few months. That case in Canada that had tested all of their strength; then just back home and on to the next case with Dr. Barton. That was the case that had ended with not only Spencer in the hospital, but Aaron as well.

Absently Spencer rubbed at his knee, not really paying much attention to things around him anymore. Though he was finally off the crutches and done with the cane, there were still days that his knee gave a little extra ache as if to remind him of the gunshot that had once ripped its way through him. He had earned that shot to his leg by protecting a good man from their Unsub and it was a choice he had never once regretted, no matter the consequences of it. His leg had healed, but it had been an extensive recovery. It had taken time before he was even allowed out of the hospital and then even more time before he could move around on his crutches without too much pain. Then more time before his body was considered healed enough for him to start returning to semi regular activity. During that time, his brothers had come to stay with him, helping to take care of him and driving him slowly insane. At least, Alex did. Then again, that was just a part of his and Alex's relationship. Scott joked that they existed to drive one another crazy.

But finally, finally, he had been cleared to return to work and he had been absolutely thrilled by that. Sitting around the apartment was not something he was good at. So, still on crutches but eager to work, he'd gone back to the Bureau. Then had started the months of a whole new kind of horror. Aaron had been hospitalized on the same day as Spencer for entirely different reasons. One horrible, horrendous reason. Foyet. After being attacked in his own home, the Unit Chief had been stabbed repeatedly and then taken to the hospital by Foyet himself. That had started a cascade of events that had ended up changing Aaron's life beyond what any of them had thought they'd see. It had ended in the horror that day at the Hotchner household. Never would Spencer forget the sound of that final phone call between Aaron and Hayley, that tearful goodbye that none of them should have been listening in on, and then that final gunshot that had ripped their Unit Chief's life apart. The only things they all found to be grateful for were that Foyet was dead and Jack was alive.

It had taken time after events for them all to get back to work. But eventually, that was what they had done, Aaron included. They had come together and they had tried to not only heal themselves, but help their leader heal.

When Spencer had finally finished with his cane, when he was finally told that he was completely healed and all his PT was done, he'd requested two weeks' time off from his boss and had gone to Vegas for a week to spend some time with his mother. Tomorrow, he would go home and spend the last week there, taking some time to himself to get his mind and body in order. After all this, one thing right after another, he felt as if he'd been going nonstop for so long now. He just needed a little time to decompress and to find himself underneath all this once more. The emotions from all this, the seemingly never-ending grief he felt coming off of Aaron, was pushing his shields and dragging down his energy. Sometimes, empathy was a true curse. Spencer felt as if he had been grieving right alongside Aaron and, as selfish as it was, he needed this vacation to step away from that grief and find a way to feel happy once more.

Someone sat down beside him, startling him out of his thoughts a little. "Bourbon, s'il vous plait." A man asked the bartender.

The thick Cajun accent made Spencer smile and he turned in his seat. On his first night in Vegas, he'd been here at the bar having a drink by himself when another man had come into the bar and sat down as well, a few seats away. Spencer had admired the man discreetly; he was extremely attractive. Auburn hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. A handsome, striking face, even with the sunglasses on. He'd been dressed in jeans, a long sleeved t-shirt and a trench coat, and somehow managed to make it look better than the people who obviously put a lot of effort into trying to look good.

The man had seemed to sense him looking and he'd said a polite greeting. They'd had a casual conversation, discussing whether they were there for business or pleasure, those kinds of things. Typical things you say with someone you've never met before. Then Spencer had gone to his room and that had been that. But the next night the man had been there again and this time, they'd talked a little more until Spencer found himself moving over to sit closer to better be able to talk to him. It had surprised him, how easily he spoke with a complete stranger. They'd discussed work—currently the man, who introduced himself as Remy LeBeau, said he was unemployed—and Spencer had gotten the usual questions about what a profiler was. But surprisingly, Remy had actually seemed interested in the answer. He hadn't been turned away by Spencer's list of degrees, revealing instead that he had a Masters in Art and Art History.

Hours had gone by as they'd talked and drank and laughed. It had been…amazing. Spencer found himself relaxing in a way he never had with a stranger before. For the next few nights, they'd met up in the bar and continued their conversations, talking about everything from books they liked to read to different periods in history. They'd talked about places they wanted to travel to and sights they wanted to see one day. Things they'd never learned that they wanted to one day—Remy wanted to learn to speak Russian while Spencer wanted to learn an instrument—and even a little about their families. Amazingly enough, he'd even found himself telling Remy about visiting his mother in the sanitarium.

Spencer deliberately left off the names of his brothers, not wanting to bring them into the conversation. Somewhere along the second day he'd caught a glimpse of Remy's eyes behind his sunglasses and had seen the red iris and black sclera and knew that the man was a mutant. The last thing Spencer wanted was to bring them up and have this man know them and start seeing him as Scott and Alex's brother instead of Spencer. But he did tell him about being adopted out when he was little and how his brothers had stayed with his dad, but he'd grown with his mom's relatives. In turn, Remy had admitted that he'd lived on the streets as a kid and had been adopted when he was ten.
They'd even eventually talked about their mutations; discreetly, of course.

Never before had Spencer grown this close to anyone this quickly. So much so that the idea of leaving Vegas and never seeing this man again was almost painful. Never before had someone ever really showed interest in him. Maybe Remy was just going to turn out to be a fantastic friend, there was no knowing, but Spencer knew he couldn't leave without at least finding a way to keep in contact with him. For almost a week now they'd been meeting and visiting nightly in this bar. What he'd gained here, the friend he'd found, Spencer didn't want to lose.

Remy turned and smiled at him as he picked up the bourbon the bartender brought him. "Evening, mon ami. Y'r looking almost glum over here tonight. Not having a good day?"

"Just a long visit with Mom. She had a bit of a…bad day." He looked a little closer at Remy's face and saw just a hint of tightness at the edges of his eyes, barely visible behind his glasses. There were a few lines on his handsome face as well that weren't usually there. "What about you? You look as if you haven't slept since I saw you last night."

Remy snorted and a corner of his mouth quirked. "Aint y' just de charmer, cher."

The teasing words had Spencer flushing a little. Before he even had a chance to try to apologize, Remy was waving a hand in front of him and laughing. "Non, don't y' worry about it. I wasn't serious, mon ami. Just teasing y', me." Chuckling at Spencer's little glare, Remy took another drink from his glass. "Honestly, I aint really slept much since I saw y' last. M' brain seems to be working overtime, tu sais? Just t'ink I need a distraction, me." Suddenly Remy's face lit up and Spencer felt the good humor in him. "Y' know what we need, mec? We need to go out and cut loose a little. Get our lazy asses off dese stools and go have some fun. We're in Vegas! We should be able to find something fun to do. A club, maybe. Go dancing!"

Dancing? The very idea of it had Spencer taking a big drink off his cognac. "I don't know…" Embarrassed, he flushed a little and looked down at his glass. "I don't really, you know, dance, Remy. I'm sort of lacking in the grace department."

"It's all in de leading." Remy insisted. His grin grew a little. "Y' trust Remy; we get out dere, y'r gonna have a ball. S'il tu plait?"

How on earth was he supposed to resist that? To his surprise, Spencer found the idea not as horrible as he might have thought. It would not only allow him more time with the attractive Cajun, he would get to get that much closer to him. That alone was enough to have him considering agreeing. Granted, he'd have to attempt to dance. But with Remy 'leading' him, they would probably get to be very, very close and that idea appealed to Spencer immensely. He bit his lip and looked at his new friend and he felt a little devil on his shoulder, urging him to just say yes. To, for once in his life, push aside his shyness and reach for what was in front of him. To do something impulsive and so unlike him. Something…fun. "Why not." He found himself saying before he could change his mind.

Remy lit up and he lifted his drink, downing it in one gulp before rising and taking hold of Spencer's hand. "Come on, den, cher. Let's hit de town! Dis gonna be a fun time, y'll see."

Laughter tickled Spencer's throat. The last drink of cognac went down smooth and he set the glass down with a tip for the bartender before allowing Remy to almost pull him out of the hotel bar. "Remy! Slow down. Don't we need to, I don't know…go put on something a little more club suited?" He glanced down at his slacks, button down shirt and his vest. Not exactly stylish club wear; not that he really owned much else.

Pausing, Remy turned to look him over from head to toe before flashing him yet another grin. He looped his arm through Spencer's. "T'ink y' look beau, me. Aint no one out dere we're looking to impress, Spencer. We aint gonna see any of dese people after tonight, so what does it matter what dey t'ink? Tonight is about us and escaping de troubles of de world fo' a lil bit. Y' up fo' dis?"

They stepped out the front doors and Spencer found himself smiling when he turned his head to look at Remy. "Bring it on, my friend."

With a laugh, the two took off down the streets.