{Author's Note: Short chapter…because…life and stuff. :/ }

RAVEN POV

Much to Raven's chagrin, their little science experiment worked. They ended up on the streets of D.C. exactly as planned. Alex must've decided not to drop them right into the horde of people, however, because there wasn't really anyone around, just a few passersby who fortunately didn't seem to have noticed how the odd trio had appeared out of thin air. But Raven didn't have to strain her ears very hard to hear the sounds of shouting and sirens in the not so far-off distance.

After making sure there was no immediate threat, Raven looked over at Kurt, who was stumbling around a bit and looked like he was on the verge of collapsing.

"Are you okay?" asked Raven, trying to keep the emotion in her voice limited. She was just as concerned as a teacher would be for any student. Nothing more than that.

"Oh, ves. I…I think I just better…" Kurt replied before promptly falling back on his rear-end onto the pavement.

Raven winced, and bent down to help the boy lean back against the side of a brick building they had landed in front of.

"Are you still okay?" Raven repeated, she was all too aware of the fact that too much concern had slipped into her voice this time.

Kurt was still conscious and the abrupt fall didn't seem to have hurt him that much, but his blue skin looked a tinge lighter than normal.

"I'll ve fine…But that was…rather exhausting."

"I bet." Said Raven because yea she had expected as much. At least he hadn't passed out. "I don't think you'll be teleporting us back."

"But—"

Raven gave him one of her signature sharp looks.

"I 'spose not…" Kurt admitted in defeat.

"Just rest." Said Raven placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You did good."

At that, Kurt brightened significantly, and Raven tried not to think about how much his smile pulled at her heart strings. Instead she stood back up and turned her attention to Alex, who seemed to be getting his bearings, trying to orient himself to their surroundings.

Raven opened her mouth to speak but her words were cut off by what sounded like a car back firing multiple times, but she knew—and she knew that Alex knew—that no car had made that sound.

A moment later, the screaming started.

Raven and Alex locked eyes, communicating all they needed to without saying anything at all—he had to go, while she stayed behind with Kurt. But even though words weren't needed, Raven urged Alex on anyway.

"Go. Find them."

Alex didn't need to be told twice, taking off in a sprint toward the source of the screaming.

"Don't be stupid!" She shouted after him.

Don't die. She thought to herself.

ERIK POV

Erik didn't know what had transpired between Pietro and the three spectators that were sitting behind them, when he had gone for concessions, but Erik knew that it couldn't have been anything good.

Erik had been glancing back at Pietro periodically in the few minutes he was away just to reassure himself that his son was still there. In his glances, he hadn't noticed anything nefarious happening. He had seen that at one point Pietro's hat had fallen from his head to his lap, but he hadn't thought anything of it other than that Pietro had gotten tired of wearing it. It was only when he glanced over to see Pietro standing up looking at the three men behind him with a pained expression on his face that Erik became concerned—and perhaps slightly murderous— abandoning the queue for hotdogs to quickly return to his son's side.

Upon returning, Erik had no doubt that one or all of the men had done something to upset Pietro, and he longed to make the responsible party pay, but he didn't want to upset Pietro further and as evident by his pleas, murdering them (or even something a little less extreme)—Erik did have some self-control—would undoubtedly do just that. And he couldn't very well let Pietro go off on his own because clearly leaving him for just a few minutes had been a mistake. So Erik had followed his son right at his heels, but not before he had made the presumed perpetrators' conveniently metal beverage choices erupt all over the three men. He wasn't about to let them go completely unscathed. They should count themselves luck that his son was so forgiving…and good…because Erik certainly wasn't either of those things.

But making sure his son was okay was more important than exacting revenge, so if Pietro wanted to leave, that was what they would do.

Erik didn't bother to pick up his son's hat. It was soaked in beer, and Erik doubted washing it would do much good. Pietro could have his hat. At least that once one thing Erik could fix.

Fortunately, Pietro was walking at a relatively normal pace, so Erik was able to keep up with him without too much difficulty, but it was only once they were in the parking lot that the noise emanating from the stadium died away enough to allow them to have a decent conversation.

"Pietro, do you want to tell me what really happened back there now? I promise I won't…" Erik thought for a moment "do anything that would draw attention." There. That seemed like a fair promise. "We can even sit somewhere else. I don't want you to miss out on the rest of the game. You were so excited for today."

"I already told you." Said Pietro coolly. "I wasn't lying. Compared to what I've already been through, it was nothing. Just jerks being jerks. It happens."

Erik put a hand on Pietro's shoulder forcing him to stop and look at his father. "Pietro. Just because you've been through worse, doesn't mean whatever they did was nothing. If they did something to hurt you—physically or otherwise—that's not okay."

"Whatever." Said Pietro.

"Pietro—"

"It's PETER! How many times do I have to tell you that ERIK! Can you let nothing go?! If I say it was nothing. Than it was nothing! I'm fine! So just forget it and let's—"

Pietro stopped mid-rant with a gasp, clutching his stomach with both arms and staggering backward. That was all the notice Erik had before Pietro fell. Erik barely managed to keep him from smacking his head against the concrete.

"Piet—Peter! What is it!? What's wrong!? Are you hurt!? Talk to me!" Erik nearly shouted. Desperately clutching his son in his arms. It was so reminiscent of the day of Pietro's rescue from the facility that Erik was close to losing it.

"I—I—" Pietro tried to say something but no words were coming out. His eyes were glazed over, not meeting Erik's own, and his face was paler than Erik had ever seen it.

"Peter! What is it!?"

Oh god. Was he even breathing? Any sense of calm Erik had managed to retain up to that point was gone. What was happening?! There was no blood; there was no one around. What the hell was happening to his son! "PIETRO!"

Just then, Pietro took a resounding gasp of air and his eyes widened to an impossible size before he whispered a single word:

"Wanda."

Then Pietro was gone in a rush of wind, and Erik was left alone with tears trailing down his face, kneeling in the stadium parking lot, grasping at the space where his son had been a moment before, panic now rising in his heart for not one, but two, of his children.

{Author's note: Cliffhangers—hate to read them, love to write them.

Also, has anyone seen the new Dark Phoenix trailer? I swear, if there's zero Erik and Peter interaction, I'm going to be soooo disappointed. }