Title: How to Slay a Dragon

By artery_break

artery_break@yahoo.com

Rating: R (Drug use, language)

Disclaimer: Nope, still dont own 'em

Feedback: anytime

Plot: Logan has an addiction, Remy helps.




How to Slay a Dragon
By artery_break

Logan felt like shit, completely hammered shit to be exact. He shook his head to wake himself up and looked around. He had passed out in the room again, he had to quit doin' that. Someone was liable to catch him and that would cause all sorts of bad. No one must know about this, no one.

Breathe it in and breathe it out
And pass it on, it's almost out
We're so creative, so much more
We're high above but on the floor

Remy watched as Logan stumbled out of a back room just beyond the danger room. He looked like shit. Remy flinched as Logan tripped and fell into the wall. Then, he noticed something on Logan's arm. Could that be? No, not Logan. He was too smart for that kind of thing. Still, Remy had learned a long time ago never to put anything past the fierce Canadian.

Shit, he still had the needle in his arm. Damn, getting' sloppier ever fucking time. Luckily nobody was here to see that, just have to be real careful next time. Logan quickly pulled the syringe out of his arm and threw it back into the room. Hopefully Beast wouldn't catch on to the fact that Logan was stealing hypodermic needles from the lab. He didn't like to use the same ones over again. Logan stood for a few seconds until the hall stopped spinning and his gut settled back down. Once, his healing factor caught up with him he steadily walked down the hall.

"Long night, homme?" Logan felt like he was going to shit himself. He whirled around and came face to face with Remy. Remy stood in a doorway, lighting a cigarette. Logan swallowed hard and tried to act as if he didn't feel as fucked up as he looked.

"Cajun. What're you doin' down here?"

"Been here for a while, just wanted to get away." Fucker, he knew. Even through his drug-addled haze, he could smell Remy's hesitation.

"Look Cajun, I aint in tha mood for games right now. I know you saw me. Now listen up, you ain't gonna tell no one about this got it? If you even utter a telepathic whisper to anyone, I'll kill you. It's not your problem. It aint even a problem, I only do it every once in a while, no biggie."

It's not a habit, it's cool, I feel alive
if you don't have it you're on the other side

"Dat's how it always start Logan. Den before you know it, it got you by the short hairs and der aint nutin you can do."

"Not with me Gumbo. I got a handle on it. Now leave me the fuck alone alright?" With that, Logan unceremoniously pushed past Remy. Gambit shook his head he had seen this type of thing before. There was no way he was going to let Logan fight the dragon alone. That was a battle no one won on their own.

Logan sighed and shivered as he felt the rush flood his body. This was where he loved to be. Completely detached from his body, floating high above the ground. No pain, no hate, nothing except a peaceful calm. This was his Eden, euphoric peace nestled in the arms of a life long love. A new love, one that never died. One that never hurt him only loved him. If only for a short while it would give him what he needed. The room began to dance, whirling to a silent beat. Hugging Logan until he was carried off to new heights, cuddled up in a sweet embrace.

The deeper you stick it in your vein
The deeper the thoughts, there's no more pain
I'm in heaven, I'm a god
I'm everywhere, I feel so hot

It's not a habit, it's cool, I feel alive
If you don't have it you're on the other side
I'm not an addict (maybe that's a lie)

Logan was jolted out of sleep, cold sweat flowing down his face. He was surrounded by a red light and he realized, he was still in the room. He groaned and struggled to stand up. Shit, no more drugs after a hard battle. They had faced off with Magneto and had gotten tossed around pretty thoroughly. Logan felt the weariness right down to his bones and he stretched long to work out the kinks.

Then, he looked down to his arms. Well, at least I took the needle out this time. Lately he had to be a lot sneakier. Hank had casually mentioned that some of his syringes were missing and that damn near made Logan fall out of his chair. Then, there was Remy.

Logan growled deep in his throat until a rib-jarring cough was forced out of his lungs. He covered his mouth to muffle the sound. When he pulled his hand back he noticed spatters of red on his palm. Logan looked at them for a few seconds then wiped his hand on his uniform.

Uniform? Fuck me, forgot to take the fuckin' costume off last night. Logan snarled and quickly tore his uniform off. If it ain't one goddamn thing it's another. As quietly as possible, Logan turned the doorknob and stuck his head out the door. He scanned both ways and sniffed. Satisfied that no one was there, he came out of the room.

Logan swiftly padded down the hall to the locker rooms. When he got there, he walked over to his empty locker and placed his uniform inside. He was about to turn around when he smelled a familiar aroma, cigarettes. Logan growled and turned towards Remy who was hiding in the shadows.

"What do ya want Swamp rat? Yer really startin' to wear on my nerves boy." Remy nonchalantly blew out a puff of smoke and said nothing. This got Logan even further irritated and he began stalking toward Remy. He grabbed Remy by the throat and slammed him against the wall.

"I told ya ta stay outta my business, Gumbo. Now get the hell outta here before ya succeed in pissin' me off!" With that he threw Remy across the room and into a wall. Remy hit and landed on the floor with a sick thud.

It's over now, I'm cold, alone
I'm just a person on my own
Nothing means a thing to me
(Nothing means a thing to me)

It's not a habit, it's cool, I feel alive
If you don't have it you're on the other side
I'm not an addict (maybe that's a lie)

"Now!" Remy hollered as loud as he could. Before Logan could even comprehend what was going on, strong arms grabbed him from behind. He howled and began to struggle. Until he found that he couldn't move.

(Relax Logan we are not going to hurt you. We are here to help. ) Charles' soothing voice echoed in Logan's mind but he was too mad to hear the words.

"No good squealer, Cajun! I'm gonna rip yer still beating heart outta yer fuckin' chest! Yer dead you mother fucker!" Hank grunted and hastily plunged a needle into Logan's arm.

Logan growled before his head dropped and he was unconscious.

"Thank the stars we were able to get to him so soon. Test results show that he had a dangerous amount of heroin in his blood. If he weren't Logan, he would be dead by now. How long has this been going on?" Remy watched Logan's motionless body on the med table and shook his head.

"Don' know. Found out a few days ago. Dat was when Remy tol' you and de Professor. Didn't want to go against de Wolverine alone."

"And we are extremely thankful you did come to us." Charles said. "Heaven only knows what Wolverine might have done to you. I have rarely seen him as volatile as when he is on drugs. There is no preamble to his actions. No remorse in his eyes or comprehension in his mind. It is Wolverine a hundred times over, utterly frightening." Hank nodded his agreement as he filled a syringe with liquid.

"This should help. It is a medication used to induce with drawls and will treat him overnight. Now, he is going to be bad off for the first few hours but there is no need for alarm." Hank then thrust the needle into Logan's vein and pushed the plunger down.

Logan convulsed violently and began to spit out vomit. Hank rushed to his bed and turned him on his side. His skin was on fire and he was soaked with sweat. He convulsed again and began to cough up blood. Remy turned his head away. Charles placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"It looks awful Remy but it's for his own good. He would have never been able to break the habit alone." Remy nodded his head but still refused to turn around. He couldn't watch Logan go through so much pain and not be able to help.

Free me, leave me
Watch me as I'm going down
Free me, see me
Look at me, I'm falling and I'm falling.

It is not a habit, it is cool I feel alive I feel...
It is not a habit, it is cool I feel alive

Logan's entire body shook and lurched. He was dry heaving now. Hank felt his head his temperature had seemed to jump even higher. His claws sheathed and unsheathed involuntarily, reacting to the internal pain.

It's not a habit, it's cool, I feel alive
If you don't have it you're on the other side
I'm not an addict (maybe that's a lie)
I'm not an addict...

Logan awoke to a world of hurt. He felt like he had gone ten rounds with Sabertooth with his hands tied behind him. Every fiber of his being hurt and his head felt like it was encased in a suction machine. He tried to moan but his throat was bone dry. His lips cracked as he opened his mouth to speak and discovered he had a tube jammed down his throat. He fought his gag reflex as he brought his hand to his mouth and slowly pulled the tube out of his mouth. Once that was accomplished Logan let his hand fall back down. Just that little task left him exhausted. He struggled to keep his eyes open as he did a quick scan of the room. Hank was at his desk asleep.

Over in a corner, Charles was in his chair, his head nodding. Logan looked to his immediate right and saw a sea of auburn hair on the sheets. Remy was asleep right next to him and Logan felt a surge of anger course through his body. It was Remy's fault he felt like this. Damned traitor had ratted him out to the professor and Hank.

With a newfound strength, Logan raised his hand and unsheathed his claws. It hurt like hell but Logan didn't care. His hand shook as he brought it high above where he guessed the Cajun's neck was.

Then, he went to bring his hand down but couldn't. It stayed frozen in mid-air as he gazed down at Remy's sleeping form. So unafraid, so innocent, so concerned. All Remy had wanted to do was help him.

Logan realized that now. He vaguely remembered the events from earlier and shuddered. He had thrown Remy against the wall brutally, just because the kid was in the room. Before he knew anyone else was there.

In fact, anytime he was high he was violent. He used just before they were called out to battle and killed anyone who got in his way. No repentance, no guilt, just raw hate running through his mind. He had almost skewered Cyclops but stopped himself instinctively. Logan swallowed and dropped his hand to his side. The movement shook the bed and startled Remy awake. He yawned and glanced at Logan with sleepy eyes. Then his eyes shot open as he realized Logan was awake.

"Logan, mon dieu, how you feel?"

"Like shit, Cajun. Like week old, run over, trampled on shit. Thanks." Remy gave a Logan a bemused look.

"For what?"

"For not listenin' ta me. For not leavin' me ta fight this on my own. I loved the feelin' but hated what I had ta do ta get it. I was weak Gumbo. Weak and damned stupid to think it wouldn't get ta me." Logan looked at Remy with eyes filled with old pain and guilt.

Years of foolish mistakes hiding in the shadows of his mind suddenly brought themselves to the forefront. Remy felt his chest tighten as he gazed into Logan's eyes. So much pain, so much regret, Logan didn't deserve any of it.

"You welcome homme. Remy just wish he would have seen sooner. You shouldn't have gone t'rough any of dat mon ami. I'm sorry you had to." Remy swallowed hard as he fought with himself to say what he knew was coming.

"I love you Logan. Don't wanna see you hurtin'. When Remy saw you dat night, it scared de hell outta him. You look like you was near death." Remy looked at Logan, hoping he didn't help renew Logan's earlier efforts to kill him. Instead of anger, Remy found sorrow and pain on Logan's face and he felt his heart plummet. What had he said wrong? Duh, he knew what he had said wrong, how could he have been so stupid? Logan had come close to digging his own grave and Remy uses this as a platform to profess his undying love? Remy mentally kicked himself, hard.

"No, look, Remy should apologize. Didn't mean to scare you or notin' homme." Logan put his hand up before Remy could say anymore.

"Don't worry about it Remy. I know exactly how ya meant that. I'm sorry, it's just that…I ain't used to people actually givin' a damn. Everyone just leaves me ta my own ways, not botherin' to question the pain. But you did, you saw my pain and you did something about it. That's something I ain't ready to forget just yet."

With that, Logan leaned over the bed and kissed Remy. It was a quick, soft brush of the lips and Remy felt its energy stream throughout his body. "And for what it's worth, I love ya too."



END