"That's how you switch gears. Be careful with that, because it could save your life."
Lorna looked up from the dashboard, her small hands on the wheel. Peter was sitting next to her, his fingers twitching. Some part of him always had to be moving. It often distracted her, mostly because she wondered why he was in such a hurry.
She supposed it had to do with what his mutation did, but she had thought that, maybe, there was somewhere else he was trying to get to. Maybe there was something just beyond his reach that he was trying to grasp, that he felt he could get to if he just ran fast enough.
Whatever it was, it meant that his piggy backs had always been really fun.
"Lorna, hey, eyes forward."
She did so, looking at the various knobs. Lorna knew from reading that she was too young to be learning how to drive a car. Peter and Wanda had talked about it though, and decided that it was necessary. She couldn't run like Peter, and she wasn't as strong as Wanda. She might have to drive them both if they were injured.
Ever since they had left home things had been different. They had left their mother at the house, not going back in for clothes or identification. Lorna had thought of her books, but her siblings had said that they needed to leave immediately. So she had gone, eager not to be left behind.
They had driven for an hour before Wanda had gotten out and done something to the car. She'd seen her sister put her hands on it and, a few minutes later, it was a cherry red. The license plate had been different. Her sister was amazing.
Three hours later they had stopped near a department store. Peter had gone in and come out a few minutes later with a whole bunch of clothes and $100. Wanda had given him a look, but he'd shrugged. They'd driven for thirty minutes before stopping at a gas station for snacks, the bathroom, and a chance to change clothes.
Lorna had fallen asleep after that. They had driven on for the next three days, and Lorna thought that they were heading towards Canada through New England. They had stopped in New York and checked into a hotel. Peter told her it was temporary, and she figured that meant they would be heading to Canada in a few weeks.
Lorna assumed that their mother would join them there. At least, she hoped they would. She had been too scared to ask when they had first left, but she'd known that she had to go with her siblings. Surely her mother would come soon too.
For now, they were in a grass lot not too far from the hotel, her brother trying to teach her how to drive.
"Okay, now you know the basics," Peter said, "Can you reach the gas pedal?"
Lorna slid down a bit. She hated being so short, hated looking so much younger than she was. Her foot rested on the gas pedal and, with some maneuvering, she could still see above the wheel through the windshield.
She pressed down and the car began to creep forward. Lorna turned the wheel, and they slowly navigated the corner of the grass lot.
"You can speed up you know," Peter said, tapping his fingers on the dashboard again.
"You always want everyone to speed up," said Lorna.
"True," Peter agreed, "But you really should go faster. You're never gonna get anywhere at this speed. Just put a little more pressure on the gas pedal."
Lorna tried to, but slipped on the seat. Instead of increasing the pressure by a little bit, she fell and slammed her entire body weight on the pedal. The car jerked forward and Lorna slammed her head against the steering wheel. Her teeth clipped her lip and Lorna saw stars.
She let go of the wheel just as they reached a corner. Peter reached out and jerked the car to the side with one hand. He grabbed Lorna by the scruff of her jacket and pulled her up to her seat with the other hand.
The car slowed and Peter shifted gears, stopping the car.
"You okay?" he asked.
Lorna nodded. She touched her lip and noticed that it was bleeding.
"Aw hell," Peter said.
He grabbed some tissues from the glove compartment and began dabbing her lip.
"Sorry bout that," he said.
Lorna shrugged. She pulled her feet up so that they rested on the driver's seat, her knees up to her chin. Peter glanced at the clock.
"I think the lesson is over for today," he said, "Wanda's gonna be home soon."
She nodded and climbed into the passenger's seat. At the same time, Peter climbed over and sat in the driver's seat. He started the car and headed back to the apartment. Lorna could see that his other hand was tapping the dashboard again. He'd go faster if he could in the car, but Wanda had said that the last thing they needed was speeding tickets.
"You did good," Peter said.
Lorna snorted.
"For your first try," Peter said, "Besides, how many thirteen-year-olds get to drive?"
"I'm thirteen next month," said Lorna.
"I was rounding," Peter said, "But that's even cooler! I woulda loved driving at your age. Bikes were too slow."
He frowned.
"Until I started being able to outrun bullets," he said, "Then everything else became too slow."
He pulled up to the apartment. Lorna saw Wanda walking down the street carrying groceries. She had cut her long hair and Lorna had felt like crying when she'd seen. Her sister had always had such beautiful hair, and now it was gone. Her sister had also done other things to look different, but Lorna hadn't really paid attention to them all. Wanda had insisted that it was necessary. Both her siblings were insisting that a lot of things were necessary now.
Like learning how to drive a car.
"Alright, we beat her by a minute," Peter said.
He parked and got out, waving to Wanda. She looked tired, but waved back at him. Lorna waved too, and Wanda frowned as she got closer.
"What happened to your lip?" she asked.
Peter coughed.
"I hit my head on the steering wheel," Lorna shrugged.
Wanda rolled her eyes at Peter. She gave Lorna a long look before looking around. Lorna looked around too. There was no one there.
"I think I can fix that," Wanda said.
"Really?" Lorna asked.
Her sister was so cool.
"I think I fixed a burn earlier today," she said, "Same thing. Kind of."
"What are the limitations on your powers again?" Peter asked.
"When I start feeling like I'm going to throw up my liver, that's when I stop," said Wanda.
"Yuck."
"Grow up."
She walked over to Lorna and put her finger on Lorna's lip. Lorna felt a warm tingly sensation, then something warm and sharp running down her nose. It dripped onto her dress, and Lorna realized that her nose was bleeding.
"Holy shit!" Peter said.
Wanda quickly grabbed some napkins out of her pocket to stem the flow. Peter came over with the tissues from earlier. Between the two of them trying to stem the flow, Lorna felt like she was being suffocated.
She grabbed the napkins Wanda gave her and pinched her nose, tilting her head down to get some air. It worked, and she found herself breathing more comfortably.
"I'm so sorry," Wanda said, "That wasn't supposed to happen."
Lorna held the napkins under nose and tried to shrug. She wondered why they were so worried. It was just a nosebleed. When it stopped Wanda and Peter took her inside, shielding her from the view of the hotel's other patrons. Wanda helped wash the blood out of her shirt, still looking guilty.
"I'm sorry," she said again.
Lorna shrugged again. It wasn't like she was in pain or anything. Still, she kept pressure on her nose as she went upstairs. Wanda and Peter insisted she go upstairs and wash her face and change her clothes. Lorna figured people at the hotel would ask questions if she had blood all over her clothes.
Again, necessity.
"Did you feel like you were going to throw up your liver when you did that?" Peter asked.
"Shut up," Wanda said angrily.
She stormed past him and began scrubbing her hands at the sink in the bathroom. Peter put his hands in his pockets.
"It's no big deal," he said, "You saw her face: she wasn't bothered."
"Well I was," Wanda snapped.
She rested her hands on the sink and bowed her head.
"I don't want this thing to hurt anyone," she said.
"Hey, it's no big deal," Peter said.
Wanda looked over her shoulder at him. She hesitated before speaking.
"Do you think we made the right choice with her?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" Peter frowned.
Wanda let go of the sink and pressed her back to it.
"She's really young Peter," she said, "And what we're doing...Peter, it's dangerous."
"She helped fight those suits too," Peter said, "She'd get into trouble if she went back."
"They wouldn't have known it was her necessarily," said Wanda, "They might have just thought it was me."
"What were we supposed to do?" Peter snorted, "Leave her with mom?"
"You make it sound like she would have thrown her out on the street!"
He crossed his arms.
"I don't know what mom would've done," he said, "But my point is, I wasn't gonna leave her behind, okay? And let's be honest, neither were you."
Wanda bit her lip.
"We all stick together," Peter said.
"We should have found somewhere safe for her."
There was that word again, 'safe.' Wanda might have been better at knowing what he was feeling than anyone he'd ever met, but sometimes she could be just as dense as any other idiot they walked by on the street.
"I don't want us to be safe Wanda," he said, "I want us to live. We've had this discussion. It's why we're going to New York."
"How do you even know he's in New York?" snapped Wanda.
"Snatches of conversation. New York kept coming up when they thought I wasn't listening," Peter said, "Those guys he was with, they were slick. Well-financed. Not the greatest thinkers, but they had their own plane."
"Rich people don't just come from New York," sighed Wanda.
He rolled his eyes. Why did she have to keep coming back to this? It wasn't as though Magneto handed out flyers saying where he was.
"Even if he isn't in NYC, then he'll show up eventually," Peter said, "And when he does, we'll just go and find him."
He snapped his fingers.
"In the meantime, NYC's supposed to be big right?" he asked, "Looks huge on the TV. We can lose ourselves there for awhile. We just need to lie low for a day or two more here, make it look like we're interested in settling somewhere before we go on. Throw the Feds off our trail."
Looking down Wanda left her position by the sink.
"Peter, does he even accept children?" she said.
A slight doubt crept across his mind, one he'd had frequently when he thought of whether or not Magneto would accept them.
"They have to," Peter said, "It's not like they'd be using Lorna for missions for crissakes. I don't think they have babysitters or anything, but she can stay by herself for a few hours. And she's a mutant. They'll accept her."
"And if they don't?" said Wanda.
Peter dug his nails into his arms.
"Don't worry," Peter said, "They will."