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Scott didn’t know his brother very well at all. For as long as he could remember, Alex Summers had been this ghost hanging over his life. Growing up, Scott’s house had always felt empty, like someone was meant to be there, but wasn’t.
Scott only ever saw his older brother a few times a year, if he was lucky. There were no pictures of him around the house, their parents rarely ever spoke of him; it was as if he was dead.
The only thing Scott truly knew about his brother was that he was one of those mutants. His parents had seemed very uncomfortable when they’d told him as such, but it did explain why they had such a tainted relationship with him.
Alex Summers was an outsider and a delinquent according to their parents, so Scott didn’t really mind that he regularly forgot the sound of his own brother’s voice, or that the only remnant of him in the house was the birthday cards he sent Scott every year, always addressed to ‘Scotty’.
Then, one day, everything changed.
Or rather, Scott changed.
He was lying on his bed, eyes covered by a blindfold to ensure that he wouldn’t destroy anything else, or worse, hurt anyone else. How had he gone from minding his own business, taking a few too many notes in class, to blowing up a bathroom in one day?
Scott would never forget the shock in his parent’s voices when he’d told them what had happened. In that moment, he was honestly grateful that he was having to keep his eyes closed because he didn’t have to witness the no-doubt horrified looks on their faces.
Suddenly, there was a gentle knock on the door and the sound of someone entering, followed by a voice, one Scott wasn’t entirely sure if he recognised or not. “Hello, Scott.”
Scott didn’t bother to move at all, just gave a weak, stoic response. “Hello, big brother.” It felt ridiculous to even call him that, he barely knew this man and certainly didn’t like him much. “To what do I owe such an honour?”
He heard a weak sigh, “How are you doing?”
The moment Scott heard this, his mind conjured up an image of Alex. He wasn’t sure how accurate it was, given that it was based on the last time he’d seen him, almost two years ago. Since when did he care about him? It all felt so ridiculous.
“How do you think I’m doing?” He responded bitterly.
Alex sighed and his voice got slightly closer, “Listen, brother, I know how you feel. For this first time, this… you’re scared. You’re worried about who you’re gonna-“
“I’m not worried about anyone.” Scott said defensively. But he was, he was worried about his life changing, worried about giving kids at school ammunition to mess with him, worried about his parents tip-toeing around him like they do Alex.
”Look man,” Scott continued mockingly, “You and I are not the same, okay? We never were.”
Alex’s light chuckle only furthered Scott’s fury, “Yeah, well we’re a lot more alike now, aren’t we?”
Scott didn’t humour him with a response. He didn’t know this man, not really. The only thing they’d ever shared was blood and from what his parents had told him, Alex barely even claimed that.
There was silence for a few moments before Alex spoke again, this time much gentler, “You can’t lay in bed with your eyes closed forever.”
Scott almost wanted to argue that he technically could, but he knew how pathetic that would sound, so he remained quiet and allowed Alex to continue, “I know somebody who can help you control it. The same guy who helped me.”
That was exactly what Scott was scared he would say, “No.” He argued immediately, “No, I’m not going to that place. I’m done with schools.”
Alex’s laugh only furthered Scott’s resolve to argue, “Trust me, this one’s different.”
Scott scoffed again, more outraged than he’d been the entire conversation, “Trust you? I don’t even know you.”
He felt the bed dip slightly as Alex took a seat beside him. He wanted to protest but his brother was already talking again, “Look Scotty, I get it. I didn’t even know you existed until you were six, our- your parents wanted it that way, but I’m the only person who can help you now. So just- just give Xavier a chance, alright? Let’s be honest, you’ve not got much more to lose.”
Scott wanted to argue, but he suddenly found himself at a loss for words, so he gave a weak sigh instead, “Whatever.”
“Well then, no time to waste.” Alex said and Scott could practically hear the proud smirk in his voice.
He felt Alex grip his arm and lift him off the bed, Scott was about to push off his touch and argue that he didn’t need help, but immediately tripped and had to be caught. Alex’s laugh almost made him want to rip off his blindfold and hit him where it would hurt.
“Are these… people expecting me?” Scott asked as Alex led him down the stairs.
Alex laughed and Scott sighed, what the hell was funny now? “I’d be surprised if Charles wasn’t.”
So, his brother was on a first name basis with these people? Scott couldn’t help but feel like he was in the dark, partly because he couldn’t see, but partly because he was stepping into a world he’d previously had no place in, a world his brother had been cast out the family for.
Scott heard his parents muttering as Alex seemingly guided him towards them. His mother spoke first, her voice watery and sad, “Scott, sweetheart, we’re so sorry.”
She wrapped her arms around him and he felt Alex let go and step back. Scott rested his head on his mother’s shoulder and took a deep breath, inhaling her vanilla scent and wondering when he’d smell it again, when he’d hug her again.
His dad spoke next, his voice sounding physically pained, but he didn’t speak to Scott, his words were addressed to his eldest son instead. “Alexander, take care of him. Please.”
“Don’t worry, Chris.” Alex replied, his voice stiff and emotionless, nothing like it had been when the two brothers were alone. “Your son is safe with me.”
Scott felt his heart drop at these words, at the way Alex renounced his own role in the family, at the way neither of their parents made any attempt to reassure him of his place. He squeezed his mother a little tighter as he heard her release a muffled sob at Alex’s reply. He hated to think of her ever drifting from him in this way.
Alex cleared his throat, “We better get going, Scotty.” He placed a hand on Scott’s shoulder and gently pried him from their mother’s arms.
Scott took a few steps forwards before he felt a hand fall on his other shoulder and his father’s rough voice speak up, “This doesn’t change anything son, we still love you.”
Scott smiled and sighed in pure relief when he heard this, majority of his fears being put to rest for the time being. But, he still couldn’t ignore how Alex’s grip on his shoulder tightened, almost protectively, in a way that made Scott’s stomach twist uncomfortably.
“I’ll see you soon.” Scott told them, though it somehow felt like wishful thinking, like he was lying through his teeth.
“Goodbye, Kathy. Chris.” Alex’s farewell certainly sounded final, like he never planned on seeing them again. Scott felt almost offended by this.
Alex continued to guide him until he heard a car door open and was gently pushed in. In no time, the car started and Scott was being driven towards what almost felt like his doom.
They drove in silence for a few minutes, Scott resting his head against the window in defeat. It turns out, not being able to open your eyes made your thoughts a lot easier to get lost in, which wouldn’t have been a problem if it weren’t for the emotional turmoil Scott was currently facing.
Eventually, after at least twenty minutes, Alex let out a loud sigh, “Will you cut it out with the whole angsty teenager act? I get it, I lived it, but you don’t have to be all quiet and broody about it.”
Scott lifted his head from against the window and leaned back so that it was leaning on the headrest instead. “Sorry for acting my age. How old are you again, grandpa?”
Alex laughed and Scott hated his traitorous heart for how it swelled with pride at having impressed his older brother. “Damn, harsh! It’s not my fault your parents decided to wait so long before replacing me.”
Scott felt strangely defensive and uncomfortable at this choice of words. Was he merely a replacement? Is that what his existence amounted to?
“You’ve got to stop thinking so hard, Scotty. Xavier will have a field day.” Alex’s tone was lighthearted, almost nostalgic, but the idea shot fear through Scott.
“Can he really read minds?” He asked, trying not to sound as nervous as he felt. Scott had heard stories about this Xavier man and his ‘school’ but he’d never imagined that he would end up as one of the strange children enrolled.
“Big time, you’ve got no idea.” Scott could still hear the smile in his brother’s voice, “He can also control them and talk to you in there, it’s unsettling but also kind of awesome.”
Scott had to admit that it did sound impressive, if still absolutely freaky. “And he uses that skill to house a bunch of orphan muties?”
Suddenly, the exact moment Scott finished his sentence, Alex slammed down on the breaks and sent Scott’s head slamming into the dashboard.
“What the fu-“
“Don’t say that!” Alex exclaimed sternly in a way not unlike their father that made Scott’s heart race with fear and his stomach churn with mortification for a moment before he remembered who he was with and went back to being perpetually irritated.
“What? Fuck? I can swear y’know, you’re not my dad.” He spluttered in utter bewilderment.
He heard a loud sigh and what he assumed was Alex falling back against the headrest. “No.” Alex said, his voice gentle but still strict, almost like a teacher, “That word, ‘mutie’ it’s fucked up, okay?”
Scott frowned in surprise and puzzlement, he’d never heard anyone object to the phrase, it was informal sure, but he’d never known it to be harmful. He felt a slight trickle of shame spread down his body and took a deep breath. “Sorry, I didn’t realise. I wasn’t trying to offend you or them or-“
“You’re one of them, Scotty.” Alex said suddenly with a certainty that shocked Scott right to the core and rendered him speechless, “They’re our people. It’s our community. What hurts them, hurts you. We’re not only brothers now, we’re mutant brothers. Don’t forget that.”
Scott suddenly felt majority of shame or dread about being a mutant leave him and be replaced by a strange sense of duty or perhaps responsibility. At the very least, part of him became willing to take a chance on this school, even if it wasn’t his ideal life.
“You’re lucky, y’know?” Alex said after a few minutes of silence in which he began driving again, “that you only blew up a bathroom, I mean.”
Scott couldn’t help the small laugh that erupted from him in that moment, “Lucky? How is that lucky?”
Alex matched his laugh and Scott was fleetingly surprised by how eerily similar they sounded, “Hey, man, when I first manifested, I blew up a whole building. I’m pretty sure an old lady ended up in the hospital.”
Scott was extremely shocked to hear this and it dawned on him just how little information his parents had divulged about Alex’s specific mutation. “Wait so, we have the same one?”
”Mine comes out my chest. Kathy and Chris never mentioned this? I literally went to prison for it.” Alex sounded genuinely outraged at this news and Scott felt a weird sense of understanding as it dawned on him for the first time that he wasn’t the only one affected by the erasure of Alexander Summers.
“You went to prison?” Scott asked in pure shock, his parents had mentioned Alex being ‘troubled’ but he hadn’t expected anything of that degree.
Alex chuckled humourlessly, “Yeah, for like two years. I specifically asked for solitary confinement ‘cause I was scared to blow up my cell mate or something. Your parents never even visited me, so it was just me and my mutation for a while, before Xavier and Lensherr came and got me.”
Scott’s mind stopped in its tracks, “Wait? Lensherr? Like the evil mutant guy from the news?”
He heard Alex curse under his breath, like he hadn’t meant to let that slip, “Yeah- yeah, I knew him. Before he was an asshole… actually he was kinda always an asshole, but before he was a terrorist.”
Scott’s mind was racing with questions, he never could have imagined that his brother was that interesting, yet with every question swirling around his brain, the first one he ended up asking was, “When was this?”
“1962.” Alex replied simply.
Scott nearly choked on his own saliva, “God, you are old.”
Alex huffed out a laugh, “Thanks Scotty, I appreciate that. But y’know, I’m only 41.”
Scott felt like his mind was going to explode, “You were born in 1942?”
“You make me sound like I’m from the Stone Age. Yes I was born in 1942. Yes, Kathy and Chris were 17 and 18 when they had me. Yes, we have a whopping 23 year age gap.” Alex explained everything very slowly, like he was talking to a child. Ordinarily, Scott would take offence to this, however the information before him left him feeling so young that he accepted this.
“So, 41 and no kids?” Scott found himself asking, then immediately bit his lip in regret. When had he become so insatiably curious about his brother?
Alex gave yet another hearty laugh, this one lasting the longest and turning nearly hysterical after a few seconds which made Scott’s face heat up in embarrassment.
Eventually, Alex calmed down then spoke again, “God, you’re blunt. I guess you never learn proper manners when you’re the golden child, huh? Well, I never really felt like that was my thing and they don’t exactly let people like me have kids anyways.”
Scott frowned, “Mutants can’t have kids?”
“Of course they can, don’t worry.” Alex replied quickly, but Scott could sense an odd hint of apprehension in his voice, “I meant… y’know, queer people.”
Scott actually did choke on his saliva this time, leading him to cough and splutter for a few moments, trying to catch his breath amidst his rapid thoughts. “You’re…?”
He heard Alex curse under his breath again, “Look, Scotty… I thought Chris would’ve told you that much, at least.”
Scott was at a loss for words.
His older brother was a queer, mutant criminal.
What the hell was he supposed to do with that?
Alex sighed and pulled the car over to a stop. Scott heard him shift in his seat, he assumed to face him.
“Look, Scotty, we’re gonna be arriving at the school in like twenty minutes, okay?” His voice was the gentlest and most emotional that Scott had ever heard it and it made him feel, for the first time ever, like a little brother, “I just need to you to promise me that whatever bullshit prejudice Chris and Kathy have drilled into you will be forgotten. That you’ll go in with the most open mind that you can and just not be a total asshole for like five minutes when you meet Charles Xavier. Can you do that, for me?”
Scott felt sick with shame and nerves, this was the first day of his new life. He sighed, “I’ll try, but no promises, being an asshole is kind of my natural state and this blindfold is hardly putting me in a sunny mood.”
Alex chuckled weakly, “You sound like me when I first went there. I should’ve known you were gonna be all ‘Scott’ about this.”
Scott suddenly felt slightly defensive again, “How would you know what’s Scott-like?”
He felt guilt immediately when he heard Alex’s disappointed sigh, “I know we haven’t exactly been the perfect brothers your whole life and I’m sorry about that, really, I am. After Chris and Kathy disowned me, I never planned to go back to that house ever again, so imagine my surprise when I showed in ‘71, wanting to reconcile and saw that they’d replaced me. I wanted to be your brother so bad, but you represented every problem they’d ever had with me, I was a mutant, I was queer, I was ‘troubled’, everything they didn’t want for you. It fucking stung, Scotty.”
Scott was suddenly very grateful for his blindfold as it was now hiding the tears threatening to spill out of his still closed eyes. “I didn’t know, not really.”
“It’s not either of our faults, kid. It’s not your- our parents’ fault, we just live in a fucked up world.” Alex said bitterly, “That’s what Xavier is fighting against and I promise that he can help you, Scotty.”
Scott nodded, no longer having the energy to argue with his big brother, “Do you trust him?”
“With my life.” Alex responded instantaneously, the confidence in his voice not wavering for a second, “The question is: do you trust me?”
Scott surprised himself with how quickly he replied, “Yes.”
Alex gave him a pat on the shoulder then began driving again. Scott found himself facing the window to hide the smile spreading across his face.
For the first time in his life, Scott had a brother and it felt good, even if he was now a mutant and an outcast.
At least they were outcasts together.