Only bits and pieces are known about the time after he left New Orleans and before he found Storm and then later joined the X-Men. It is known that he became one of the best thieves in the world and that he accumulated a small fortune and made some major purchases, such as a home in the New Orleans' French Quarter, and built up a fairly large amount of money hidden away in foreign bank accounts.
There are hints he spent time all over the world and had a number of aliases as well as run-ins with the Silver Samurai and Clan Yashida, Yukio, the Acolyte Cargill and the External Candra, who can all be found in the Allies and Enemies section. He also romanced a now-dead British police woman named Alexandra Davies and spent time in Paris.
It was at this time he gained some type of "wanted" status with Interpol, although it would seem that he is very low on their priority list and that they don't want to talk to him too badly. He also spent time at the Princess Bar in Madripoor and had interactions with the bounty hunters Spat and Grovel, where during a mission Spat took a shot meant for Remy and as a result of which kept on getting younger. He furthermore spent some time in Millstone, Arizona with a waitress named Clare De Luc and a Native American named Grey Crow. He was even shown in a prison in South America, although it appeared he could, and did, leave at anytime he wanted since he was able to remove his wrist cuffs and chains with very little effort.
At some unspecified time during Remy's roaming, his mutant ability to charge matter became so powerful that he was unable to control it, leading to some sort of tragedy in the Essex theatre in Seattle. Its thought that his old friend Grey Crow probably introduced him to Sinister at this point, suggesting that the scientist could help him. Sinister was successful in getting Remy's powers under control through brain surgery, removing a small portion of his brain which then allowed Remy better control over his powers, however he demanded a high price in return for his services.
Initially it seemed that Remy just stole for Sinister, at that point in his life not caring if he lived or died, or who he worked for, and looking to repay the debt that he owed the scientist. However he was then ordered to gather together a group of mercenaries, who later became known as the Marauders, including Sabretooth and Grey Crow, better known as Scalphunter.
Upon completion of this Remy felt that his debt was paid, and when drawing the Ace of Spades as a decider, determined that this was he last job for Sinister and the last job that he would take that would eat away at him. To indicate that the debt was repaid, Sinister gave him a small silver vial, which contained the grey matter that he had removed from Remy to dampen his powers.
Remy was leaving, believing in the card that he had drawn and telling Sinister that the scientist could no longer afford his services, when he was asked to do one more job, Sinister saying that he knew what Remy's price to do it would be, although this ‘price’ has never been revealed.
Sinister seems to have offered him something that he couldn’t refuse as Remy agreed to do the job, despite his serious misgivings about it. The job was to lead the Marauders into the Morlock tunnels, although it is unclear from where Remy lead them as it had originally been shown that they followed the Morlock, Tommy, to New York and into the Morlock tunnels.
Remy didn’t know why exactly why Sinister wanted the Morlocks but believed that it was to kidnap them and study them, to figure out why mutants tick, however he never suspected the resulting massacre of men, women, and children. Once again his naivety and his ignorance cost him dearly.
When he found out what was happening he tried to stop the Marauders, which resulted in Sabretooth attacking him, almost gutting him and leaving him for dead. This could show that despite Sinister’s interest in Remy, and admiration for his skills, he was considered expendable now, quite probably because he had told Sinister he wanted to leave his employ. However Scalphunter, not as deeply tied to Sinister at this point, did not consider him expendable and allowed him to escape with the Morlock child Sarah, telling him to get out while he still could.
Remy was sickened, both physically and mentally, by what he had brought about inadvertently and after that it seems that he spent much of his time trying to make up for this mistake. He also considers that his debt to Sinister has been paid in full although the scientist still hints that Remy will always be tied to him.
Sometime after the Massacre he came to the rescue of Storm, who had at the time been de-aged back to her pre-teens by Nanny and, not remembering anything about her time with the X-Men, had slipped back into her old thieving ways. He found her being chased by the Shadow King and his hounds and, having some suspicions about who she might be, he came to her rescue.
Together they escaped the Shadow King, using Storm’s barely realised mutant powers, and they became partners in crime, settling in New Orleans and into a routine of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor like modern day Robin Hoods. Eventually Nanny found Storm again and the ensuing battle allowed Storm to regain her lost memories. She then decided to find the scattered X-Men, and an intrigued Remy chose to follow her, having come to love her like a sister and still feeling like he should protect her.
When they reached the Xavier estate in Westchester, and upon finding the mansion in ruins, Storm explained to Remy that it had been blown up by one of the X-Men’s worst enemies, Mr. Sinister. Remy sarcastically remarked ‘like the name’ as if he never heard of the man before. They were met by Banshee and Forge, who had been searching for the missing X-Men, and soon the whole team was reunited during a crisis in Genosha.
Remy's life changed when he somewhat unofficially joined the X-Men, trying to forget his past and atone for it by working with them. He later referred to himself as an X-Man by ‘default not desire’ and fought alongside them, learning as much as he could about them without revealing any details of his own past, not even his real name.
Only Wolverine had his doubts about Remy at this time, which led to a Danger Room duel between them that Remy easily won. This was helped by the fact that Wolverine wasn’t at full fitness and the fact that Remy rigged the session to provide a distraction in the form of Lady Deathstrike.
When the original five X-Men rejoined and they were all divided into two squads, Gambit became part of the Blue team under Cyclops’ leadership. During this time Remy fought and risked his life with the X-Men against numerous foes including the Kree, the Shadow King, Magneto, Omega Red, the Brood, Mojo, Strife, Sabretooth, the Phalanx, and Legion.
It was also during this time that he fell deeply in love with his team mate, Rogue, despite the fact that he was unable to touch her due to her uncontrollable mutation which allowed her to absorb a person’s psyche, memories and life force or mutant power on skin-to-skin contact. This attraction, although initially rejected by Rogue, later became mutual.
Soon after joining the X-Men Remy’s first name was revealed to them by Sabretooth, who questioned what Remy was doing working on the ‘side of the angels’, although nothing more of his past was revealed at this time and the X-Men seemed not to question how the villain knew him, seeming to trust him to a certain extent.
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