X-Men Fan Fiction ❯ Blood is Thicker ❯ Chapter Four ( Chapter 4 )

Blood is Thicker

A X-Men Fanfiction

Written by RogueMoon and Nicole Wagner

Original Idea and collaboration by Nicole Wagner

Posted with Permission of Nicole Wagner

 

Chapter Four

::: :::

The surgery had gone perfectly. Sinister didn't allow himself to make mistakes. The blood clot found and removed in record time, if Hank's knowledge of such procedures was anywhere at all correct, and it, of course, was. That didn't mean Gambit wouldn't have complications. Only that he wouldn't have as severe issues as he could have had.

Once the operation was over with, Sinister immediately submitted himself to have his blood drawn and the transfusion started. They couldn't wait, Remy had lost too much blood and cutting into his head had only caused more to leave him. The Cajun was blissfully unaware of any of this, Sinister having kept him unconscious and blocking all pain via telepathy.

It disturbed Jean how easily the doctor could slide into Remy's mind. As if the mental static didn't exist for him. But she also knew that it was a blessing for Gambit's survival. It meant Sinister could perform the surgery without injuring himself or his patient. The doctor had become quite possessive of the Cajun.

His operating room, he had called it. His patient, his surgery to perform. His blood to give. All his, his, his. It would have been amusing had it been any other doctor claiming that of the X-Men's medical facilities, as if they could steal it away from Hank. But it wasn't amusing, because Hank didn't argue with the man. Hank deferred to him in his declarations of ownership over it all. Hank acknowledged him as the superior physician, superior surgeon. Did it as easily as breathing.

Jean tried not to dwell on those thoughts as she closed off the blood flow from Sinister's body, pinching the tube before cutting it. The needle was pulled delicately out of the pale man's vein and a small cloth pushed over the hole. His other hand took over applying pressure for a few seconds before removing the square of cheesecloth. The wound healed easily by simply shifting his body to close it off.

Jean turned to Remy and repeated the process with him. Essex stood beside her and applied pressure to the cut while she prepared the bandage. Participating without question, without having to be asked what to do. She offered him a genuine smile of thanks before she thought about what she was doing, thankful a moment later when she realized he hadn't seen it, his attention too focused on Remy.

Scott entered the room, followed by Ororo and Rogue, both of whom rushed to Remy's side, eyes only for him, asking Hank if he was going to be okay in a stream of questions that left no room to give answers. Their hands nervously brushing what was left of the Cajun's hair away from his face, half of it had to be shaved off for the surgery.

Sinister backed off as Jean wrapped a bandage around the small wound in Remy's vein, moving out from between the beds, pushing the second one back a few feet to give himself room. He headed over to the sink, once more washing his hands as Hank joined him in a quiet discussion. The rest of the X-Men were kept outside the door, Logan guarding it on orders from Jean, much to Scott's consternation.

Cyclops watched the two doctors talk as they cleaned their hands and dried them, not at all liking how comfortable Beast was with the scientist. “So you've done your part,” He finally spoke, voice drawing the attention of the room. “You can leave now.”

Sinister raised an eyebrow and frowned at the man, “You are hardly in a position to tell me what to do, Mr. Summers. As Remy's attending physicians, only I and Doctor McCoy can determine when it is safe for me to leave. We still have to wake him and asses the damage the stroke has caused.”

“Didn't the surgery fix that? Thought you were the best in your field?” The man's voice dripped with hate and anger.

Beast removed his glasses and sighed, “Its not that simple, Scott. A stroke causes brain damage. Period. Having removed the blood clot as quickly as we did, we can only hope that the damage is minimal. But that could mean anything from loss of memory to complete bodily paralysis. We won't know until he wakes up and we can examine him throughly. Doctor Essex is correct in his assessment that he should remain until we are both satisfied with our Cajun compatriot's condition. I know you mean well, but if you continue with your hostilities, I will have to ask you to leave once more.”

Scott glared at his friend, crossing his arms and leaning against the far wall, “Fine. But I'm watching you, Sinister. You try anything and you'll be lucky to wipe yourself off the floor three years from now.”

“And you claim I'm melodramatic?” The man in question replied with a chuckle, then turned back to his discussion with Hank, Cyclops forgotten.

The conversation lasted about twenty minutes while the three women fussed over Remy and talked amongst themselves. Eventually, Sinister moved to stand next to Scott, hands clasped behind his back as Hank shooed the women away and made sure he was the only thing in Gambit's line of sight.

“You may wake him now, Doctor Essex,” he nodded to the man.

The red diamond flared briefly and then Remy was letting out a moan, eyes fluttering open, trying to focus. Hank smiled at him, “Remy? How are you feeling?”

Gambit shook his head, confusion in his eyes as he looked at the man. His voice was weak, harsh, as if he'd just finished screaming it raw, “What?”

“I asked how you're feeling, Remy,” Hank repeated, slower this time, watching Remy's eyes as they dilated then shrunk, darting around, still trying to focus. His body started to shiver, not much, just a slight shaking, as if he were suddenly chilled.

Doctor McCoy tucked the blanket up around his chest without thinking about it, continuing to speak slowly, “Remy. I need you to talk to me. Tell me how you feel.”

“What?” slight panic was lacing his confusion, his left hand lifted and grabbed Hank's arm, “You makin' no sense, Blue. English, si vous plait.”

Beast looked stricken and his face fell, “I am speaking English, Remy.” He turned and looked at Jean, “Can you touch his mind? See if he understands you there?”

The redhead stepped forward, smiling sadly at Gambit and waved at him. He waved back with his left hand, body still shaking, a bit more noticeably now.

She reached out to him with her mind, //Remy? Can you hear me?//

He nodded, “Oui.”

Her smile was one of relief, //Remy, do you remember what happened?//

Gambit's body began shaking violently and his left hand gripped the thin blanket, “You brought Sinister here.”

She nodded, //Yes. After that, Remy. Do you know what happened?//

He shook his head, “I... it all started hurting...”

//You had a stroke, Remy.//

“Why didn't Blue just say that? Why's he talkin' in tongues?”

Her face fell like Beast's had, //He was speaking plain English, Remy.//

“No. He wasn't. I couldn' understand him.”

“Can you understand me, Remy?” She asked out loud and he gave her a confused look.

“Now you talkin' in tongues, chere. Don' do dis to me,” he pushed the blanket off him with his left hand, looking down at himself in anger, “What ya do ta me? Why can't I move?”

//What can't you move, Remy?//

Beast's attention was split between Gambit and Jean, only hearing half the conversation and hoping that she was asking the right questions.

“My body. My arm, my legs. Why can't I move dem?”

Jean's hands covered her mouth and she choked back a sob, turning and running to bury her face in Scott's shoulder.

Remy's body was shaking violently, uncontrollably, fear contorting his features, “Jean? Blue? What's goin' on?”

Next to Scott and Jean, Sinister stood quiet. Red eyes locked on Remy, unable to look away as the memory of another boy, a smaller boy, lay in bed unable to move. A boy with a malformed spine that died when he was only four. Of a pretty woman named Rebecca sitting next to him, fluffing his pillow and making him comfortable. Another boy he couldn't save.

Remy shouldn't be that way. Sinister had designed his genes from the ground up, spliced his own with Adam's and Scott Summer's to create a near perfect being. Remy should have been standing up, laughing, moving. Understanding what was said. Remy shouldn't look so much like that four year old child.

Jean's sobbing subsided as she felt a depth of grief wash over her that came from none of the minds she was familiar with. Her head lifted from Scott's shoulder and her husband looked up, following her gaze to the man standing so close to them.

Sinister wasn't there. Nathaniel Essex, the man he had been, stood gazing at Remy with an uncontrolled expression of pain. His skin was the darker tan of a man in good health, early forties, hair going gray. His clothes where rumpled and looked like he had just stepped out of a Jules Vern novel.

A single tear rolled down his cheek as his right hand lifted, as if to reach out and touch Remy. A shuttering breath eerily like a sob wracked the all too human frame before he surged forward and pushed Beast away, gathering Gambit into his arms and holding him like he would disappear if he let go.

The room was silent in shock at the man. It was the only reason any of them heard him speak, “I'm sorry. God forgive me, Adam. God forgive me, Remy. I'm so sorry.”

“What did you do to him?” Scott shouted a moment later.

Essex didn't act like he heard him, he pulled away, brushing the hair out of his son's confused face. Took back control of his emotions, became Sinister once more as he wrapped the blankets around Remy's body. His own form shifting back to the more familiar one, arms tucking under Gambit's body to lift him.

Scott pushed away from Jean and raised his hand to his visor, “Put him down and answer me, Sinister!”

The scientist turned with Remy held against his chest protectively, cape tassels writhing dangerously around him, keeping the others in the room at bay. His eyes blazed like the fires of hell as a tesseract appeared behind him, “You have failed to care for my son properly, Mr. Summers. I will no longer indulge his desire to stay in the care of such incompetents. Pray we don't find ourselves opposed any time soon, for I will not hesitate to take out my anger on any of you.”

He stepped backwards through the portal and left those watching focusing on only one thing. And that one thing explained so very much.

::: :::

Beast slammed the door shut in Scott's face, no longer able to look at the man. After Sinister left with Remy it all went to hell. Warren declared that everything made sense now, that it was so obvious. Remy had been trying so hard to get back on the team so he could spy for his father. Spy for Sinister like he must have been since joining.

Scott's hatred of Essex blinded him and he agreed with Angel, condemning their former teammate. Forgetting how poorly Sinister had treated his own son all the other times they had met. How Remy had thrown himself into battle, risked his life time and again for them all.

Betsy backed up both of them. She had seen into Remy's mind, seen his guilt over the Marauder's. But he hadn't felt any guilt over Sinister. He must have been a willing spy and she hoped he never recovered.

Bobby joined the doom train of those condemning the Cajun, never having liked the fact that Rogue fell for him. That when push came to shove, she was on his side, no matter how badly he had treated anyone, how much he had lied.

Jean was in the corner of Hank's office sobbing into Ororo's shoulder, Rogue rubbing her back. The women comforting their friend, so torn up inside as Scott closed himself off, wouldn't listen to reason. Pushed her away. The man she loved, her husband, pushing her away because he hated Sinister so much than he loved her.

Logan paced the room, claws popping in and out, protectively eying the door. He looked like a wolf waiting for its prey to appear, wanting to gut the next person who dared speak out against Gambit. The kid had been dealt a bad hand, it wasn't his fault. And he certainly wasn't a traitor.

Rogue had done a complete one eighty on her feelings over the man. She understood now, what he had been hiding. If a monster like Sinister were her blood relation, she'd want to hide it too. She hated herself for what she put Remy through. Wanted to do right by him now. Wanted to find him and help him.

And Hank? Hank knew now that the team was too fractured to continue as it was. Warren, Bobby and Scott blinded by their hate. Betsy blinded by her sense of self-worth. The X-Men were tearing at each other's throats.

Beast cleared his throat, tried to get the attention of the room. When he finally had it, he took a deep breath, somewhat loathe to suggest what he was about to, “I think we need to change the Mansion's security to lock Cyclops, Angel, Psylocke and Iceman out.”

Logan raised an eyebrow and the women shared a collective gasp, Jean adding another sob at the very idea.

“They have each demonstrated a complete lack of regard and sensibility towards this issue. It is obvious they are being driven by their most basic emotions without attempting to control themselves. If they continue to have access to Cerebro and the Mansion's facilities, they are more than likely to attempt to locate Gambit and find a way to kill him. I have already erased all data on Sinister and Remy that we have ever collected and had Kitty wipe it completely from the database. There is no trace of it left. Except for here.” He held up a memory stick. “Frankly, being with Doctor Essex is probably the safest thing for him at the moment.”

The rest of the room nodded in agreement, Jean still sobbing into Ororo's arms. They understood the necessity of it, but that didn't make it any less painful.

::: :::

Not even a full two days later, Warren and Betsy had left, taking all their things with them. No longer X-Men. No longer supporting the institute financially. No longer willing to deal with them in any way.

Scott delivered an ultimatum to Jean. Him or the traitor. She no longer recognized the man she had married as she told Cyclops that the only traitors left in the house were him and Bobby. The first X-Man left with Iceman and told her to expect the divorce papers.

Logan was there for her as she broke down. Hank was there for her as she wailed into the night, begging for this to all be a sick joke. Rogue was there with three pints of chocolate chip cookie dough when the papers arrived. Ororo held her hand as she signed them.

Kitty, Kurt and Piotr stayed long enough to help reset Cerebro for the new team roster. To help with the legal paperwork associated with transferring ownership of the School into Jean's name alone. To help with balancing the new, severely reduced, budget. Then they were gone, joining Excalibur once more, taking Collossus with them.

Three months of heartache and chaos passed before they decided to try and contact Sinister and check on Remy, hoping that his anger had died enough to give them some information on their friend.

::: :::

End Chapter