When Pietro woke up he was pleasantly surprised to find a tray of food in front of him. It was the same stacks from earlier, the ones Hank had called peanut butter.
After he devoured the first peanut butter he realized the older people were staring at him.
With a sinking feeling he remembered his dream. He remembered Erik and Charles digging through his memories, and Charles granting him access into his mind. But one look at the people surrounding his bed assured him it hadn't been just a dream.
They were all watching him, looks of pity hidden with varying levels of success.
The realization of everything finally hit him. He was...free?
He hadn't even known there was a world outside of the facility until recently. And now the facility was gone... and he was with people that actually cared about him... that didn't want to hurt him...
It's a trick, part of Pietro's mind insisted. It's a trick, and they work for the scientists.
He quickly pushed away these thoughts. For once in his life, he wanted to be able to trust someone. For someone to say his name, and not call him Subject 3z1.
Besides, if they are with the scientists, I'm already screwed. So what's the worst that could happen?
In the time it had taken these thoughts to fly though his head he had finished the tray of peanut butters with astonishing speed.
The man called Hank approached him with the same oddly shaped container filled with water as earlier. Smiling, he handed Pietro the open bottle.
As the boy chugged it faster than should be possible, Hank leaned down to whisper in Erik's ear, who was sitting by Pietro's bed.
"I put a slight sedative in it to help him relax," he said as Pietro drank. "It shouldn't knock him out, but if he looks tired, let him sleep. He needs it."
Pietro put down the bottle, and Erik realized he hadn't even stopped for a breath before he continued shoving sandwiches in his mouth.
"Slow down," Erik said, afraid his son would choke. Pietro merely shook his head.
When his mouth was only half full instead of completely, Pietro asked, "What is this?"
Erik tried not to look sad as he realized how much his son would have to learn.
"It's a sandwich," he said kindly. Pietro gave him a confused look as he swallowed more food.
"Then why did that one call it peanut butter?" He asked, nodding his head towards Hank.
"That's what's between the bread," Erik explained kindly. "The sticky brown stuff."
He nodded and kept eating, stopping for more water after his fifth sandwich.
As Charles watched the two he couldn't help but notice the resemblance. Pietro had Erik's dark brown eyes and a jaw bone that would become more prominent with age.
He could tell it was eating Erik up inside not to tell Pietro that he's his father, but they had decided it would be best to wait. The boy was frightened and confused enough without adding that factor in.
"Alex, can you hand me those books?" Hank asked, pointing to a small stack by Alex. He did, glancing at the covers, but none of them were in English.
Hank walked up to Pietro and crouched down, but the boy barely seemed to notice. He was too engrossed in the sandwiches.
He set the books softly in Pietro's lap.
"Here. With your increased mental processing you should be fluent in only a few days," he said as Erik translated.
Alex realized they were Romani to English teaching books.
He'll get bored really fast due to his speed, Hank mentally told Charles. If we're lucky, this will keep him distracted for a few days.
A.N: Hey look, another plot hole! If Pietro grew up in that facility he shouldn't know how to read, but we're going to ignore that little tidbit for shits and giggles.
I've uploaded like 9 chapters in the past week and that's gonna change real soon cause I'm lazy and school's about to kick my ass. But I'll still try to update once a week for the whole one and a half people who read this (the one being me).