Summary: Pietro hurts his ankle. Magneto is there to help (aka "Dadneto to the rescue!"). Set around/between season 2/3. Title is also the name of a song from "Slayers Try."
Stand Up
It's not like he means to do it; he's not even really doing anything more reckless than usual, but lo, one tiny spot of rough-housing while using his powers, and suddenly he's curled, wheezing, on the hard concrete floor of Magneto's latest in a slew of remote bases, clutching at his ankle and crying out pitifully.
"I ... I think it might be broken," he shivers, and Gambit and Pyro both stare at him. Unwittingly, Pietro bites his lip, waiting for the worst of it to be over, but still, the pain persists. After what seems like an eternity, he watches Gambit turn to Pyro.
"Go get the boss, would ya', chum? There's a good man." Warily, Pietro watches as Gambit strides over to him, crouching and reaching for his ankle. Reflexively, Pietro pulls away, gasping, his expression laced with fear. "Well, wait 'til Magneto gets here," Gambit shrugs, and Pietro nods numbly.
To his credit, it doesn't take long for Pyro to return, Magneto closely in tow. He takes one look at his son, sprawled on the ground, moaning a little, and his face darkens. "What happened?" he intones, and Gambit clears his throat.
"Kid was just foolin' around. Nothing too serious. Probably needs some ice, though."
"Well, go and get some." Gambit nods and leaves, and then Magneto is taking his place at Pietro's side. He frowns at the boy, and Pietro purses his lips. "Is that it, then? You were being foolish, and now your ankle is hurt?"
Pietro sniffs. "Something like that," he mumbles. In truth, he had been trying to work up increasing inertia while running around and around, faster and faster, in a small, crowded room with several natural obstacles to speed. It had seemed, at the time, to be a skill that could prove useful. That he'd misstepped in the midst of a self-created wind tunnel and ended up wrapping his leg around a chair that was now lying toppled over in the corner of the room had been an unfortunate interruption. "I didn't mean to," Pietro complains piteously, and his father sighs.
"Let me see it, then." He reaches out to gingerly grasp the boy's hurt leg, and Pietro gasps instinctively, balling his fists. However, Magneto refuses to let him pull away, though his ministrations are gentle, even soothing. "Does this hurt?" he asks, flexing the boy's tendons a little, cupping the limb with large, gloved hands. Pietro shakes his head. "It looks swollen," Magneto concludes, "but ultimately not broken. Perhaps a sprain." He glances up briefly, and Pietro is surprised to hear the older man's laughing tone: "So I don't think we'll need to cut it off, after all," he says, and Pietro blinks and smiles.
Gambit returns soon afterwards, carrying not only ice, but an ace bandage and assorted medical supplies. He proffers them to Magneto, who starts unraveling the bandage, and then rewrapping it with gentle firmness around Pietro's leg. "See, ol' dad's getting you nice and fixed up there," Gambit comments, and Pietro nods, his head down.
"Can you stand?" Magneto asks him once the bandage is in place. Pietro nods, and rises gingerly, and then stumbles a little when a burst of pain shoots through his leg. Fortunately, Magneto is there to catch him, the older man all smooth reflexes and damnable charm. "Easy," his father tells him, and Pietro grits his teeth in frustration. "Always so impatient," Magneto admonishes, and Pietro leans a little into his touch, Magneto holding him up carefully as Pietro continues trying to put more pressure on his hurt limb. "I remember when you were very young," Magneto comments idly, and Pietro's ears perk up at the rare reminiscing, "I used to read to you and your sister before bed. Do you remember that?"
In spite of himself, Pietro smiles ruefully. "Wanda always used to fall asleep after the first couple of minutes," he recalls, and Magneto smiles and ruffles his hair.
"But you always stayed stubbornly awake. Not only that, you were very persistent in asking me to tell you how each tale ended. That was always the most important thing: What happened next; how to get from one point to the next with as many shortcuts as possible. I suppose some things never change, do they?" He rubs the back of Pietro's neck a little, and then claps him lightly on the shoulder, and moves away slightly. "Try to walk on it now," he suggests, and Pietro does. "Does it still hurt?" Magneto asks, and Pietro shrugs, a little embarrassed over the fawning, now.
"I'll live."
Magneto smiles. "Well, good," he says softly, and the implication of it stays with Pietro long after his father has patted his cheek briefly and made his way back to whatever he was doing before Pietro distracted him. Behind him, he hears Pyro snicker. "Gonna go cry to Daddy again?" the Australian brays, and then Pietro sees Gambit out of the corner of his eye, glaring severely at the flame-retardant mutant.
"Boy's dad really cares 'bout him. Ain't nothin' wrong with that." As he hears Pyro's flustered compensation for his previous words, Pietro turns away completely and smiles to himself, his heart thumping tentatively with the notion that he is loved.