The Sins of the Father
Chapter 1: Separation
Finally, home again. Although he had a hard time still calling it a home, with his two best friends gone. The house had become a home with Raven's entrance and ceased to be one with her departure. The loss of his legs, two other important friends so often taken for granted, had been another great blow. A lesser man might have given up. He had wanted to but so many people relied on him and were looking to him for leadership. Without him, Erik, or Magneto as he called himself —such a silly self-inflating name— would be the only option for other lonely mutants out there. That simply would not do. The destiny of mutant- and humankind should not be left to the Magneto's of this world.
In the long sleepless hours of the night, Charles sometimes tried to contact Erik. Erik, not Magneto. You'd think he wouldn't be able to sleep with that helmet on. Perhaps he slept upright in a chair. Or perhaps he couldn't sleep, just like him. It was to no avail and as time progressed, Charles' attitude changed. Why should he try to contact him? He'd brought nothing but anger and despair with him. Let his longing for revenge poison his friends and himself. Theirs had been a toxic relationship, so why continue to seek it? Whoever Erik had been, whatever had bound them together if anything, was buried and gone. Charles was finally resolved to let him go. Let Erik live his life, haunt his dreams, but no longer would he be tempted to reach out himself.
"Charles, Charles." A familiar voice enters his mind. He is looking at the new group of students in his classroom. Is any of them silently reaching out? No, it is from farther away, much farther. With a startle he realizes it must be Erik. But it can't be. It had been months since he tried to contact him. Always with zero response. Something must be wrong. He needs to use Cerebro to get a location on him. "You don't have to," a small inner voice reminds him. "He has let you down, so dreadfully; why jump at his back and call?" "He might be terribly harmed, I need to check," he argues back. "Sure, why not? Always you humor him and look where it has brought you." Charles hesitates. The voice is right. Why should he reply? There's no need, no obligation. Still, it's worth checking out.
Magneto is kept prisoner by some of his own followers. He has a mutiny on his hands. They are discussing the possibilities of handing him over to the government. That would really not be so bad. Charles still has some faith in the powers that be, not an unwavering faith, but an imprisoned Magneto could be the answer to many mutant issues. With violent-minded mutants incarcerated, the other ones might have a chance of finding a place in this world, being accepted and respected by their fellow man. Charles decides to monitor the situation.
He had managed to strike the mutiny down, hard. "No thanks to Charles!" Erik thinks bitterly. He had called out to his former friend in a moment of pure weakness and despair, but he hadn't responded. No help had been provided, neither practically nor mentally. Nothing, he had heard nothing. He is punishing me for leaving him, for harming him. It wasn't like Charles to abandon his friends. But at least now he knew where he stood. Charles could no longer be relied upon, not even in his darkest moments. He has turned his back on me. He doesn't think I'm worth saving anymore. Well, if the benevolent Charles can no longer be bothered to any courtesy for old times' sake, he shouldn't expect anything in return either. Erik knows he is being unfair. Charles had attempted to reach him on numerous occasions but he doesn't care. Their bout of friendship could not weigh against a lifetime of loneliness and distrust.
A few years later, Erik has a child. Magneto had met a remarkable woman named Magda. She got pregnant a bit sooner than expected but they were very happy with the arrival of the twins. A brother and sister. Both of them special in their own way. But one day, tragedy stroke. Magda and the kids were at home, the children toddlers by then, when a spark from the fireplace lit up the house like a petrol can. Magda had become trapped under falling wooden beams from the rooftop and her daughter became stuck in a fiery corner. Only the boy survived. He had been able to run at lightning speed when the house collapsed. The grieving child had been found by Magneto and his Brotherhood some hours later on their return from a meeting with fellow travelers.
"Please Magneto, he'll be safe there. We can't have a toddler with us on the run." Mystique begs him to see sense, to give up his only son. Bring him to the doorstep of his former friend and ally. He can't. It would be devastating to his pride. The spark from the fireplace had not been an accident. It had been a government ploy to 'accidently' execute Magneto and his children. It explained why the fire had moved so fast and the roof had been so quick to drop. On further examination they discovered that the wooden beams had wedge cuts in them on the outer roof side to the point of nearly breaking. The government's intell had been faulty and Magneto had not been present at the fatal moment.
Four weeks later, his resolve falters. The world has grown darker. The government is on his tail and so are other mutant groups. Several groups had formed in the last few years and instead of working together against the homo sapiens, they had turned against each other. A life on the run. It reminds Erik of his own childhood years filled with fear and uncertainty. Does he really want a similar fate for his son? To be hunted from one place to the next and live a nomad existence? He has to make a choice.
"You've led us here on purpose!" "We're so close now, you can do it, Magneto. If your mother would've had a chance like this, she would have taken it, wouldn't she?" "Don't be so manipulative, Raven!" Using her slave name always got a rise out of her. Mystique scowls at him and continues: "I guess I am drawn to this place whenever I sense danger. It was my home for the longest time. I would have loved to grow up at a school like this, surrounded by others like me. Don't you want that for your child? Wouldn't you have wanted it for you?" She is pleading with him and can't help it. It is not merely sentiment that makes her say these things; it is mostly pragmatism. The toddler is quite a handful, making sudden noises and movements. A liability to the group and its cause.
"He'll be turned into one of them! It's the last thing I want." "Magneto, you can get him back as soon as things start to settle. When he's a little older and able to look after himself he will join us. If only out of revenge for his mother and sister. He'll see their peaceful ways for what they really are: fear and adaptation; he is your son! He won't accommodate anyone." "If only I was as sure as you, Mystique."
They are standing at the gate of Xavier's school for gifted youngsters. It's not too late to turn back but the decision has been made. Pietro will be raised here, among others like him. The little bundle of sleeping mutant child is laid at the foot of the gate. A note is slipped inside the improvised cardboard crib. "Goodbye my boy. May you live safely and pleasantly." Quickly they make their departure lest they be seen.