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Logically, Scott knows that if he’d gotten the information from anyone else, he never would have believed them. Even then, hearing it from Hank - a friend and trusted source - Scott found it difficult, no matter the fact that it was staring him in the face.
“Are you sure?” he asked the school medic. “I mean, have you double checked that this is right?”
“And triple checked,” Hank replied. “The result remains the same.”
Scott stared down at the papers in front of him. “Okay. Thanks Hank.”
He turned and left.
…………………………………..
Scott had been pacing their bedroom for ten full minutes before Jean finally spoke.
“Just go talk to him.”
“Do you think he knows?” Scott asked, continuing his movement and ignoring her comment. “And if he does, why hasn’t he told me?” He huffed, shaking his head as he looked over at Jean and remarked, “Gambit is four years younger than me and I didn’t lose my parents, or at least who I thought were my parents, until I was six.” He finally stopped in front of Jean, turning to face her and placing his hands on his hips. “If he were my brother, I’d know. I’d remember.”
“That’s assuming you were raised together,” Jean pointed out. “But if the two of you only share a father-”
“Sinister isn’t my father.”
“Then there’s a chance that you never would have met, if you have different mothers,” Jean went on, ignoring the interruption.
Scott huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. A few seconds later, he began pacing against.
“Why did Hank even compare our genetics in the first place?” he demanded. “Gambit and I are nothing alike, what could have possibly prompted him to look into that?”
Jean said nothing, remaining silent as her husband continued to stalk back and forth, several moments passing before he finally came to a stop and moved to take a seat on the edge of the bed with her.
“Does Gambit know?” he finally asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Does he know that we’re brothers or that Sinister is his father or...any of it?” Scott sat up and turned to face her. “Did Hank tell him too or just me?”
“You’re asking the wrong person,” Jean gently reminded him. “You need to talk to Gambit.”
Scott sighed. “I know,” he agreed. “Just...what if he doesn’t know? Is he going to believe me or think I’m lying? If he does know, then why hasn’t he come to me? Has he known for awhile or did Hank tell him after he told me? Why didn’t he tell us together-”
Jean silenced him with a kiss. “I understand your concern,” she remarked gently. “But you need to talk to Gambit. No one else can answer your questions.
Scott pressed his lips together, turning away but knowing she had a point. Despite that knowledge, he wanted to argue. Wanted to insist that he and Gambit weren’t brothers, they couldn’t be. They were as different as possible, there was no way they were related in any sense of the word.
…………………………….
Four days later
Four days passed after his conversion with Jean before Scott finally found the courage to seek Gambit out and talk to him about what he’d been told.
He found Gambit outside on a bench in the courtyard, a pack of cards in hand and a cigarette between his lips that he carelessly tossed to the ground and stubbed out beneath his boot when Scott approached and took a seat next to him.
“Jeany said y’were hopin’ t’talk t’Remy,” the southern mutant remarked, tilting his head to the side to flash Scott a grin. “Course, dat was some days ago.”
Scott wasn’t surprised in the slightest that Jean had gone around him and let Remy know to expect Scott coming to talk to him eventually.
Scott hesitated a moment or two, taking a deep breath, before remarking, “Our genetics are a match.”
Remy casually shuffled the deck of cards in his hands. “Oui?”
Scott frowned, unsure if Remy had even been listening or if he’d even understood what Scott had said.
“We’re brothers, at least through our father if not our mother.”
"Oui,” Remy repeated.
Scott stared at him. “Did you know?” he finally demanded.
“Dat we brot’ers or dat Monsieur Sinister is Remy’s pere ?”
That...was a good question, Scott realized. Which question was he really asking? He wanted to know both, but which one should he start with?
“The second one,” he decided. “Did you know Sinister was your father?”
“Oui.”
“Since when?”
Remy hummed. “Only officially since Remy was eighteen, give o’ take,” he replied. “But suspected since sixteen.” The younger mutant tilted his head towards the leader. “How long’ve you known?”
“Four days.”
“ ‘s not so bad,” Remy remarked, shrugging as he began shuffling the deck of cards in hand. “Bein’ his son.”
“Please tell me you don’t take pride in being related to that monster.”
Remy’s hands stilled for a moment before picking the movement back up as he easily replied,
“Remy would rather carve out his own eyes den be happy t’ know his birt’ father.” He glanced over at Scott. “Blood don’ matter. What matters is who raised you. Far as Remy cares, Jean-Luc LeBeau is mon pere and Henri is mon frere.” He shrugged. “Sinister c’n go shove it.”
Scott scoffed, much as he tried not to react. “Have you tried telling him that?”
Remy grinned. “Oh oui, several times.”
Scott’s eyes went wide. “I don’t imagine he took that well.”
“Non non, dat man have more patience den you t’ink,” Remy told him, sitting more upright and putting on an air of authority as he mocked, “ ‘Y’gonna come t’love me like a fat’er someday, Remy.’ ”
Scott shook his head. “I can definitely hear him saying that.”
Remy slumped back down on the bench, grinning. “Da first time he called moi ‘Remy Essex’, I punched ‘im in da face.”
"How old were you?"
“When I met ‘im o’ punched ‘im?”
“Both.”
“Punched ‘im when I was seventeen,” Remy replied. “Met ‘im when I was ten.”
Scott hadn’t realized that Remy had known him that long. “Really?”
“He was Remy’s primary docteur down in N’orleans. Only person mon pere could find who knew anythin’ ‘bout mutants and actually considered dem people.” Remy shrugged. “Course, we didn’ know who’n’what ‘e was til it’was too late.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’ be.” Remy smiled at him. “Much as Remy hates him, I know I owe ‘im.”
“For what?”
“He helped Remy control his power,” Remy replied, something in his eyes that told Scott that even though there was more to the story, Remy wasn’t going to be sharing any time soon. At least not with Scott himself. “If not f’ him, Remy be hurtin’ a lotta people.”
“I know the feeling.” Scott shifted. “All these years I’ve wondered how he knew I was going to become a mutant. I met him after my parents disappeared. He took me in. I knew him as Dr. Nathaniel Essex and I thought I could trust him.” Scott shook his head. “He showed his true colors pretty quickly though, when I started getting hints of my powers.” He shrugged. “Before they got too bad, anyway.”
“He gets excited,” Remy remarked. “Finds some’ne who’s young’n’gullible. Scared. Takes advantage and pr’tends t’ help, so long as you pay him back.”
“Pay him back how?”
Remy didn’t reply and Scott knew he’d never get an answer to his question, so he let it drop. For the next few moments, they sat in companionable silence before Scott remarked,
“When Jean and I were talking the other day, after I found out, she suggested to me that maybe you and I just share Sinister as a father. That maybe we have different mothers and that’s why we just never knew about each other.” He glanced over at the younger mutant. “Would that make sense to you?”
Remy only shrugged. “My mutation was evident from da start,” he replied. “Whoever my mere was, she abandoned me at da hospital when I was born.” He shrugged. “So Remy’s got no guesses.”
“Oh.”
They were quiet for a few moments before Remy shifted and asked, “What bot’ers you da most about dis? Da fact dat Sinister’s y’pere or da fact dat you and Remy are blood brot’ers?”
That...was another good question. “I don’t know,” Scott finally replied.
“If y’like, we c’n jus’ pr’tend we never knew,” Remy suggested. “Let da team know dat Sinister’s y’pere, if y’want, and Remy gets t’stay in da dark.”
“Why don’t you want them to know?”
Remy leveled him an unimpressed look. “Most of dem still don’ like or trust Remy.” Scott nodded, Warren being the first on the team to come to mind. “You t’ink knowin’ dat Monsieur Sinister is Remy’s pere is gonna do him any favors?”
“Fair enough,” Scott reluctantly agreed. They sat in an odd silence for a bit, Scott taking the time to truly process everything he’d come to learn and Remy...Scott wasn’t going to try and guess what Remy was thinking about.
“Did you know?” Scott asked suddenly, looking over at Remy. “That I was your brother. Before I ever came out here and told you. Did you know?”
Remy shifted. “Oui.”
“For how long?”
Remy sighed. “Knew y’name since about sixteen years old,” Remy replied, casting the other mutant a lazy look. “Knew y’were mon frere since ‘bout da same time.”
“And you never bothered to say anything?”
Remy raised an eyebrow at Scott’s irritation. “Did y’like Remy when y’first met’im?”
Scott shifted. “No,” he reluctantly replied.
Remy nodded, turning his gaze back out over the courtyard. “D’accord den.”
It took Scott a moment before understanding struck. Oh. Remy never told him because Scott hadn’t liked him. Of course he wouldn’t want to admit any familial relations, especially with someone who didn’t trust a word out of his mouth.
In the beginning, Scott would have thought he was lying.
“It’ll take some getting used to and...I still definitely have a lot to wrap my head around,” Scott began. “But...I think I could, eventually, see you as a brother.”
Remy smiled. “ Moi aussi.”