Pietro jerked awake, and sat bolt upright, his breath came in ragged pants. The room was dim and he didn't recognise it. His leg throbbed and felt trapped by something, he began to pull away in an attempt to free it but was hit by a bolt of pain.

"Hey…hey-easy..try not to move…." A familiar voice soothed. Pietro felt a cool hand on his shoulder and heard the click of a light switch. The room immediately flooded with bright light. When his eyes adjusted Pietro saw Erik standing over him looking extremely drawn, a look hovering between empathy, exhaustion and relief etched on his face, he was holding his ribs like they pained him.

"Try not to move your leg too much…..it's in a cast" Erik said gently, gesturing to the bandaged limb. The boy's fingers were still gripping the bed sheets tensely as he looked around the room anxiously.

Erik smiled reassuringly and squeezed Pietro's shoulder lightly to get his attention.

" We're back at the mansion…you're safe….We're in the hospital wing…You can lie down….relax…" All the edge was gone from Erik's voice, and it was the softest tone that Pietro could ever remember Erik using with him.

Pietro lay back down and tried to steady his breath, he'd passed out from blood loss and smoke inhalation shortly after they'd arrived back at the mansion. As he lay in bed, images of the fight with Sabretooth and Erik's confession swam back to him. He swallowed. He wanted to ask Erik a million questions….but he remembered Erik saying he should have left… but Erik was still here…for now …. he didn't want Eri- his father to start thinking about leaving again…His eyes drifted back to the man and the deep worry lines on his face.

"Can I get you anything…? Are you hungry" Erik asked.

Pietro shook his head.

"Something to drink then perhaps? Do you want some water?" Erik asked

"Yes please" Pietro croaked. His voice was hoarse from misuse. Erik gave him another smile and filled a cup from the water cooler in the corner. As he set it down on the bedside table, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in" Erik said. Hank and Charles entered.

"Mr Maximoff good to see you awake" Hank greeted as he came through the door.

"Good indeed!" Charles beamed "How are you feeling?"

Pietro gave a small shrug, unsure how to answer. He felt a lot of things, but wasn't sure how to put that into words. Charles smiled sympathetically seeming to understand. He turned to Erik.

"Hank has some news. Shall we take a walk?"

Erik gave a nod and rose to leave, but Pietro felt a stab of panic and automatically reached out to grip the bottom of Erik's turtleneck jumper.

"It's alright…" Erik said covering Pietro's hand in two of his "I won't be long"

"I-I don't want you to leave…" Pietro's grip tightened on Erik's clothing. The boy felt overwhelmed. A part of him hated the way he sounded…the other just didn't want to be left alone in yet another hospital room. He also worried that maybe Erik had just been waiting for him to wake up, and now that he was awake, and Erik partially had his powers back, Erik would leave for good. Pietro sniffed his eyes watering.

Feeling a strong pang of guilt about causing yet more distress to his son, Erik quickly sat back down on the edge of the bed and put an arm around Pietro, pulling the boy close to him. "It's ok ….I don't have to go anywhere" Erik said rubbing Pietro's back.

Pietro wiped his eyes on sleeve. He hated that he was crying like this in front of all the men. He sniffed a couple more times and trying to compose himself.

"We can discuss this later" Charles offered kindly. "There's no rush"

Erik sighed a resigned exhausted sigh "Just tell me now Charles…this affects Pietro too. He may as well hear it"

Charles nodded and looked at Hank who handed the file he was holding to Erik. Personally Hank thought Erik was a pretty poor excuse for a father and not a particularly nice human being. But -for some reason he couldn't fathom- he could see that Raven and the Charles really cared about the man… so he had agreed to help. However he wasn't really sure that what he had to say should be overheard by a child, but then again, Erik had already put the poor boy through so much…this was probably just a drop in the ocean. Hank cleared his throat.

"I went back to the house before they removed the bodies and managed to get a sample of the blood on the walls and tissue sample from the cadavers….turns out they don't match. The blood on the walls isn't even human…it's cow's blood. Also those bodies didn't die in that house, at least not anytime this month…they've been frozen for a while and then thawed.

Sabretooth wanted you think your daughter's adoptive family were dead, slaughtered… maybe he even wanted to make it look like you did it …but there was way too much planning involved in this for him to have been working solo…besides he doesn't strike me as much of a planner… So anyway.. I did some digging into the name on the mailbox 'Fury'. Remember that little escapade in the desert a while back? The forces that tried to stop Emma's jailbreak of the Brotherhood were under the command of a Captain Nick Fury."

Erik gave a joyless laugh "So Mayra's married to the leader of a special ops division that Emma managed to brass off in my name. Perfect." He got up from the bedside and started pacing "How could I have been stupid enough to tell Mayra my name…." Erik berated himself dragging his hand over his face in frustration.

"It wasn't stupid my friend….you were trying to be honest with her about who you were"

"A mistake I won't make again." Erik said grimly

"Anyway…." Hank continued "My current theory is, upon learning of your visit, Fury somehow faked his own death along with his wife's…likely with some use of government resources - as I don't think he's the type to keep some bodies in his freezer just for special occasions….but I think this is good news as far as the safety of Pietro's sister is concerned-"

"-What could possibly be good about it?"

"Well consider this for a moment, you fall in love with a woman, you adopt her daughter and find yourself with a nice little family. There are a few details like immigration status to take care off, but Fury's well connected and he could easily sort that out discreetly. Then an international fugitive turns up at your door" Erik made a face, but Hank continued unperturbed "It turns out he's personally caused your platoon a lot of grief lately. Not to mention the added complications that come with members of your family being related to mutant mass murderer-"

"-Alledged mass murderer, the desert escapade had nothing to do with me-"

"Fine alleged mass murderer" Hank amended deciding not to bother bringing up rest of the activities that Erik had been involved in, there was child present after all " Faking his death and relocating his family away from what he views a very dangerous person-and possible a dangerous organisation - your Brotherhood.." Erik made another face " then and dispatching the source of the problem or setting them up for murder…well…it might seem like an attractive solution.. it also avoids his family coming under closer scrutiny. The bottom line is I think Fury's desire to uh ..get rid of you… stemmed from an urge to keep his family safe"

"What a pretty fairy tale Hank, painting me as the perfect villain… as always…..things must be so simple in that black and white mind of yours"

Hank glowered at Erik.

"Erik I think Hank's theory is right" Charles piped in "and the good news that Hank neglected to mention is that I'm fairly sure Wanda is quite well and happy living with the Furys somewhere, in fact quite likely oblivious to all this. When I touched his mind in the desert, it was not that of an evil man. I felt honor and a moral backbone to him"

"Honor?! You talk of honor when my son almost died at hands of a madman that Fury sent to kill me?!"

Hank was about to mutter that Sabretooth was Erik's madman before he was anyone else's, but he must have thought that too loudly, because Charles shot him a look.

"Let's focus on the task at hand shall we gentlemen? If we want to find Wanda, we first have to find out where Fury might have moved to. Hank didn't find any clues at the house. Did Mayra mention anything about a second residence when you visited the house last time?"

"No nothing."

"Is there anything else you can tell us that might help?" Charles asked Erik

"I've told you everything there is to tell" Erik replied

Hank stared at Erik with a touch of irritation, he doubted that was true. In all honesty he was absolutely fed up with the man, his half truths and the whirlwind of chaos he pulled around with him. It sucked absolutely everything into it… Charles, Raven, the X-men, himself… and left a trail of destruction in it's wake. To top it all off the man was consistently rude and ungrateful even after all the help they'd given him. That they were STILL giving him…

"Why don't you share your thoughts Dr McCoy, I can tell you'd like to say a few things to me" Erik goaded.

"Maybe you could tell us all a bit about your life in Europe before you met us all." Hank took a notepad out of his pocket with a pen, to record anything useful "There might be something useful there-"

"That's PRIVATE and it has nothing to do with this-"

"I'd say it has EVERYTHING to do with this, since that's where your wife, children and your children's stepmother used to live. For instance, I recently intercepted an American military transmission that mentioned the KGB are after you. Why would that be?"

"Because I'm mutant and the Kremlin sees that as a threat." Erik said poker-faced.

"Is that all?"

"That's the only reason they need"

"And when you went to Fury's house the other day did you threaten them?"

"No! Of course not." Erik snapped. Then spoke again after a pause "Well…I wouldn't quite say threaten"

"Oh Erik…." Charles exclaimed.

"It's not what you think Charles, Mayra was hysterical, she came at me with a knife. I may have said some things that perhaps scared her….but she eventually calmed down and we left on amicable terms….Wanda witnessed none of it."

Pietro winced gripping the covers again.

"Well there's the Magneto I remember." Hank said folding his arms.

"Don't even pretend that you know the slightest thing about me McCoy"

"I may not know much about you Lensherr, but I do know that you're arrogant and selfish and have a streak of ruthlessness about you, when you want something you just take it, and no one else's feelings matter to you!" Hank said cuttingly before sweeping out of the room

Erik's upper lip curled into a snarl and he glared at the door that Hank had walked out of.

"You didn't hurt her did you?" Pietro asked in a small fearful voice.

"No! I just disarmed her and told her sternly that it would be foolish to try to attack me again. And TRULY what else could I do? I could hardly let her stab me…" Erik implored "I would never use violence so casually against a woman that was no match for me"

"And you're sure she was HAPPY for you to come back to the house?" Charles asked

"YES Charles" another pause "Well looking back she might have been described as apprehensive more than happy…but she wanted me to return"

"Erik…." Charles groaned in frustration squeezing his eyes shut and massaging his forehead

"Charles do not twist my words on this! She wanted to see Pietro, she WANTED me to bring him to the house for Wanda's birthday. On my parents' graves the woman said as much! Perhaps not in as many words but her meaning was clear! Magda told her some things about me that were in part ridiculous, and in part out of context…so she was WARY of me…but I did NOT terrorise or torture the woman in her home and will have neither you nor Hank imply that I did! "

"What things could your wife possibly have told her? To make her WARY of you?"

Pietro frowned remembering the tale about his past that Erik had told him when they first met back in the Omega cell.

"My mother was very religious…" Pietro said quietly. He felt an urge to defend Erik. He twisted bedsheets in his hands nervously. Not looking up at either adult. "S-She and my stepmother both are…" Pietro trailed off as though that made everything clear. Erik reached over patted his hand. Trying to let the boy know that it was alright.

"What does that mean?" Charles asked perplexed.

"That she thought I was possessed by demons, and that's where my powers came from" Erik summarised.

"This is my fault..I shouldn't have asked you to find Wanda" Pietro said fretting with the sheets again.

"No!" Both adults chorused together.

"Pietro listen to me, none of this trouble has anything to do with you. You must promise me you won't start blaming yourself for any of it…In any case it appears that no one was hurt apart from us …and Sabretooth…so must put all your thoughts into getting well again. Alright?"

Pietro sat staring at sheets but didn't answer. Erik's frown deepened.

"I think I should let Pietro get some rest" Charles said in a compassionate voice. "I'll tell the kitchen to send some dinner down. Pietro you must be starving...Erik I'll let you know if Hank finds anything" Erik nodded and Charles excused himself from the room. A little while after Charles had gone Erik turned back to Pietro.

"Hey you still didn't answer my question…You're not allowed to blame yourself for any of this understand?" Erik said in what he hoped was a light tone but he could feel the concern cutting into this voice. Pietro swallowed and didn't look up

"I -I'm really tired… do you think it would be ok if I went to sleep for a bit..?" Pietro asked trying to change the subject.

"Of course" Erik replied, as Pietro closed his eyes Erik decided not to press him on the matter.

Pietro spent the next week drifting in and out of fitful sleep. Unpleasant dreams about the Omega's laboratories plagued him more than they had in months and a new terror of Sabretooth was now mixed in with them. Despite the best efforts of the adults to decorate the room in a cheery manner, hospitals and laboratories still felt far two close together in Pietro's mind to allow him to relax fully. The medical centre was also in the basement with no windows, which didn't help with the feeling of being trapped.

At least one comfort was that Erik had not left his side. Oftentimes when Pietro awoke Erik was reading, he seemed to be constantly surrounded by a stack of ever changing books. Whenever Erik noticed that Pietro had opened his eyes, he immediately put his book down and gave Pietro his full attention, always asking if Pietro wanted or needed anything. Which was unlike the Erik he knew before, who was generally nice to him, but dismissive. Erik was stalwart about finishing whatever he was doing before bothering to pay attention to the thing or person who had interrupted him. Old Erik would have finished the paragraph he was reading before acknowledging Pietro, but not now.

For his own part Erik felt awful. Another one of this children had almost died because of him. Now he felt constantly tense like he was waiting to receive a blow. Waiting to hear Pietro's torrent of questions and well-deserved admonishments of him as a father, but so far Pietro had said nothing on the subject. The boy must have questions for him…so why didn't ask them…? It wasn't like Pietro to be so quiet…but then boy hadn't been himself since his birthday and Erik could hardly blame him. Even getting him to eat had been challenging. Pietro usually ate whatever was put in front of him, but for the first couple of days after waking he'd said he wasn't hungry. Then when Moria had tried to make him eat some soup, he'd promptly vomited it back up all over the bed sheets. Dr Reyes said it was a classic symptom of anxiety, Erik couldn't really fault Pietro for that…their escapade had been enough to turn most adults into nervous wreaks.

The only thing Erik could currently coax Pietro into eating was ice cream. Erik hated how unhealthy that was...and it was something he never usually would have allowed, but it was better than his son eating nothing at all.

It had of course occurred to Erik that he could broach the topic of paternity himself, but he was ashamed to admit an extreme cowardice to do so on his part. He wasn't in the least sure how to even begin to explain the litany of bad choices he'd made regarding fatherhood…let alone how to excuse them, so he said nothing on the topic either.

Realising he'd been on the same paragraph for the last half hour, Erik snapped shut the current book he was reading and tossed it on the table next to him. His mind had been running in circles of guilt and failing to absorb anything on the page. Pietro shifted at the noise and his eyes flickered open

"Sorry little lion, I didn't mean to wake you." Erik said apologetically. "Do you want some more ice cream?" Perhaps I can slip some fruit into it this time to make sure you at least get some vitamins Erik thought.

"What day is it?"

"Friday"

"Friday is hamburger day in the cafeteria…" Pietro mused "Do you think they have any left?"

Erik smiled, pleased that at least Pietro was moving on to something that resembled a normal meal. "I'm sure we can find some, I'll call on the intercom and ask someone to bring something down."

"How long have I been down here?" Pietro asked after Erik had put the phone down

"Two weeks"

Pietro seemed surprised

"How come I haven't seen you eat anything down here?"

Erik chuckled. "I take my meals when you sleep. You do that a lot you know."

Pietro looked down at the stack of books at Erik's feet.

"How many of those do you read a day?"

"Oh I don't know….six to ten I suppose…"

"That seems like a lot…. is that what most adults read?"

"Do you know dear boy, I actually have no idea"

Erik really didn't know what the average American adult did with his or her leisure time each day.

"NOBODY reads that amount of books in a day - not even Charles - Erik you are DEFINITELY a freak." Raven teased as she entered the room carrying a tray with a burger and fries. She set the food down on the bed table and ruffled Pietro's hair. "How's the wounded soldier?"

Pietro gave her a small smile "Ok I guess"

"Felicia and Illyana asked me to give these to you." She dropped two candy bars, a get well card and magazine entitled "Braids for Girls" on the bedside table. Pietro went slightly red.

"Uh thanks… but I don't know why they'd give me such a sissy magazine…" Pietro said but sneaked a second look out of the corner of his eye "Tell them thanks for the candy though"

Erik smirked despite himself , he was glad to see a ghost of Pietro's old self as the boy tucked into the meal. He fell asleep soon after and only awoke again early the next morning. As usual Erik was still in the same spot but Raven had gone. Erik was concentrating on a needle he was levitating a few feet in front of him and had not noticed Pietro stir. He rotated the needle in mid air bending the metal this way and that, then flicked his hand quickly and sent the needle shooting across the room and embedded it in the wall.

"You can move bigger things now…" Pietro stated, Erik looked around surprised to see him awake.

"Not as big as before…but even small things can do a lot of damage…." Erik mused with a slight grin. "What's the matter? You look worried…." Erik looked at the needle in the wall "It's alright, I still have a good aim, no danger of it hitting you"

Pietro nodded. That wasn't what was bothering him…he still wondered if Erik was going to leave when his powers reached a hundred percent. He still hadn't said anything about his plans…

"I have some news that will cheer you up, Dr Reyes says that you can leave the ward today. She's happy with your progress, of course your cast will have stay on, but I thought you'd appreciate the change of scenery. You can spend the rest of your recovery at the cottage. I brought your things over from your old dorm room in the main house…..There are two spare rooms I've given you the largest….of course you can swap if you wish….I bought some other things for you too…to make it more comfortable…Not that you have to move there at all of course…if you prefer to stay in the main house with the other children I understand…." Erik felt himself rambling, it would be nice if Pietro wanted to live with him, but he would understand if he didn't.

"No! I'd like to move-to the cottage with you I mean, I hate sharing with Scotty…he's such a pain."

Erik smiled, relived.

—-

Later that day Erik helped Pietro over to the Guest Cottage. He offered the boy a wheelchair but Pietro was insistent that wanted crutches instead. He supposed the boy was desperate to stretch his one good leg now he was out of bed.

Pietro was shocked so see how many new clothes and toys Erik had bought him. The piece de resistance sat in the center of the room with a blue bow on it. It was the bicycle that Pietro had been admiring on the visit to the toy shop.

"Wow…I've never had so much stuff before"

"I thought it might give you something to look forward to when your leg heals up. If you don't like anything, I can change it"

Pietro couldn't fathom how any kid wouldn't like this stuff.

"Come I have something to show you" Erik said leaving the bedroom and walking down the corridor to his own room. Pietro had never been in Erik's bedroom before or indeed even on the upper floor of the cottage. Erik had been very strict about that during his reading lessons. Now Erik waved his hand in front of the door and released what sounded like a complicated series of locks.

"I suppose I can leave this unlocked when we're both here, but if you have any of the other children here to visit then make sure my bedroom door is locked again. I'd hate to have one of the little angels accidentally blow their brains out with one of my guns. Here you can have the key, I can always open it unaided." Erik levitated the key Pietro, he took it, surprised that Erik was trusting him so much. "By the way I never asked, do know how to use a gun safely?"

"Uh depends what you mean by safely…"

"I suppose they don't teach that in American schools….and Charles never liked guns"

"Uh no…"

"Remind me to show you sometime" Erik said holding the door open for Pietro to hobble in.

"Woah you got half the library in here…!"

The room only had a few pieces of furniture in it, but there were books everywhere and drawings of various inventions and maps covering the walls along with notes in about five different languages. The handwriting on all the notes was the neat tidy script that you'd expect from Erik. On the mirror Erik had written some indecipherable equation in marker pen. One corner of Erik's desk had what looked like a homemade chemistry kit and three of his handguns. All in all it looked like office of a mad genius.

"Don't touch those, they're loaded" Erik said gesturing to guns before pulling out his suitcase from under the bed"

"What are all these…?" Pietro asked looking around at the jumble of elaborate ideas surrounding him.

"Plans…" Erik said distractedly searching in his case "For the future….our future…all of us I mean …mutants"

Pietro's eyes settled on a map of the Indian ocean, a small island was circled, the word "Genosha" was written above it. The rest of the notes around it were written in German…which Pietro could not read…there were also several architectural drawings.

"These are your grandparents…and your aunt…" Erik said. Pietro looked round to see Erik had sat down on the bed and laid out several old photographs beside him. "…and your older sister Anya…"

Pietro shuffled over and took a seat next to him. He picked up a photo which showed a teenage girl and a boy of about ten with their parents. The family was well dressed and looked affluent. In the photo young Erik's smile held a sense of openness that he'd never shown in his adult years.

"Our family name was Eisenhardt, and when I was born my parents called me Max….but after the Nazis took over Germany and we were trying to escape their clutches, we had to change our names many times over. My uncle was called Erich, so -after the Nazis killed him- I took on the name Erik for awhile… it stuck.."

"….and Lensherr was my mother's name always….you said it took it after you got married…" Pietro said picking up a photo of his mother with Erik and Anya.

"You have a good memory." Erik said smiling wistfully.

"She looks a bit like Wanda, but more like you than our mother."

"Yes, Magda used to say that too…Anya was always asking us for a younger brother or sister to play with. She would have loved to have met you…" Erik said with sad smile on his face.

Pietro picked up the photo of his grandparents. "He looks like me…or I mean..I look like him"

"Yes, you have his eyes" Erik agreed "He was a good man… very kind and brave…he was also very witty…he used to have us in fits of laughter around the dinner table. He always tried to see the best in people…unfortunately in the end it was to his detriment…" Erik concluded his voice taking on a hard edge " He paid some soldiers to smuggle us over the Polish border, but they betrayed us to the Nazis…they shot him and sent me and my mother to the camp."

"..and your sister?"

"She'd died about a month before of a fever…we were unable to get her any treatment while we were in hiding….perhaps it was a mercy….at least she never had to face the horrors of the camp"

"…your mother died in the camp?"

"Yes. She was killed by a man…a mutant…named Shaw" Erik said his eyes darkening.

Pietro had heard the adults mention that name before in passing, mostly in low voices.

"What happened to him?"

"I hunted him for a long time…Then a year and half ago I finally caught him."

"What did you do him?"

Erik was silent. Pietro could guess the result of the encounter. They sat in silence for a while, until Pietro spoke.

"Eri-I mean um…" Pietro trailed off and it dawned on Erik that Pietro hadn't used his name since he'd found out that they were related. Perhaps the boy now didn't know what to call him…. Erik sighed and steeled himself. They really had been dancing around this topic long enough. The conversation had unintentionally taken a gloomy turn and he tried to steer it back towards a happier tone. Not that Erik did cheery very well…but he could try for Pietro's sake.

"I've always meant to make copies of these…but never seemed to be in one place for long enough…I shall ask Charles next week if he's able to help with that…in the meantime you should feel free to look at these whenever you wish." Erik stated, then he cleared his throat and continued "also…I want you to know…if there's anything else you want to ask me about, you should feel free to….we haven't talked about anything that happened on your birthday…I understand if you don't want to but…I think it natural that you have more questions for me…?"

Pietro didn't give any response at first, started fiddling with a thread at the bottom of his t-shirt, frowning. After what felt like an age he finally spoke.

"That guy….Sabretooth…he kept calling you boss…did he really used to work for you?"

Erik shifted "…Yes…in a…freelance capacity, some time ago…Before I realised the extent of his psychosis then he was dismissed." Erik said glossing over the details.

"What did he do?"

"..Security mainly.…occasionally he had…other duties.."

"Why did he hate you so much?"

"I…stuck some metal through his throat to prevent him from killing Raven, he's had -a perhaps understandable- grudge against me ever since. But he can't hurt us now. I've taken care of it."

"He said a lot of stuff about you in the sawmill"

"I'm sure." Erik said his mouth forming a grim line

"…he also seemed like he was …a bit afraid of you…."

Erik smirked. "As well he should have been"

"Do you have any other questions?"

"What did you call your dad growing up?"

"Popa"

"What did Anya call you?"

"The same, well almost it was Papa.."

Pietro nodded seeming to mull this over, like he still couldn't decide what to call Erik.

"I have no preference to what I'm called…" he gave Pietro's shoulder a playful bump with his own "As long as it's polite" he added.

"How are your ribs?"

"Fine, well healing quickly at least….I've had much worse"

Another long pause filled the air. Pietro looked thoughtful and started fiddling with his t-shirt again. Erik suppressed an overwhelming urge to tell the boy to stop fidgeting. He knew had to give Pietro space to talk and feel comfortable.

"W-When you saw Wanda before.. do you think she looked happy….like I mean really happy? Like she was safe had enough and toys and food and stuff? And like people were treating her good?"

"She did. She seemed very content and cheerful."

"-I think maybe we should stop looking for her.." Pietro said suddenly, frowning deeply and twisting his t-shirt.

"What?"

"If she's happy…and safe…..maybe…maybe it's better if she stays where she is … with Mayra.."

"Pietro…this is all you've wanted since we met each other…"

"It's just …it seems like…all this bad stuff happens to us because we're mutants…I mean I can handle it but..don't want bad things to happen to Wanda…What if Sabretooth or Rossivich come to find me again? What Wanda gets hurt because of me?"

"Like I said, I've taken care of Sabretooth. He won't be coming back, not this time." Erik said flatly

"I was also thinking….maybe Mayra didn't really want to see me again after all you know? Maybe she believes that same stuff that Mama believed about you, about our powers being from somewhere bad, maybe she doesn't want me to come near Wanda-"

"No-Pietro listen to me, the conclusions your mother jumped to about me were unfortunate, but they were influenced by many other things…it is hard for to imagine her ever reacting the same way with you…She was intelligent, and it was infuriating that she let such primitive superstitions influence her…but sometimes religion has a way of warping people's minds…" Erik said feeling his anger rising at the injustice that he and his son had faced " In any case Mayra's feelings towards you are of no real importance….she is not your real mother…and has no claim over you and your sister…" Erik had been about to add that if she had had a part in setting him up she would pay, but he stopped himself just in time… that would only upset Pietro more, and the boy looked like he was getting more and more distressed with his tirade.

Pietro swallowed.

"Mama made me promise to keep Wanda safe…if she's safe and with Mayra and she's happy and stuff…then maybe it's better that she stays away from me….has a normal life…" Pietro said in a small quiet voice, that tugged at Erik's heart strings.

Erik put an arm around his son. He decided he would say no more on the topic for now, but a feverish desire now burned in him to see what was left of his family reunited. If he couldn't do that then what had been the point of all their suffering? His old idea to try and get the Furys to adopt Pietro had been foolish, he'd thought that they were good people but he had been deceived. They'd pay for that…While Charles and Hank might want to believe that Wanda was ok with them, he wasn't so sure… Erik decided he would return to the Furys' ex-residence that night after Pietro had fallen asleep and search for clues himself. Hank's initial investigation had been useful, but perhaps he'd missed something obvious or was deliberately hiding something from Erik.

"Wanda belongs with us…You'll see that when we're all together." Erik said quietly.

—-

Later that night Erik sat in the Cottage's small living room waiting for Azazel to arrive. After the tension of their conversation, Erik had tried to distract Pietro with supper, but the boy had remained quiet and picked at his meal, and said little for the rest of the evening. Pietro had fallen asleep on the couch watching television and Erik had carried him upstairs hoping his sleep would continue uninterrupted for the rest of the night.

At two thirty in the morning, Azazel materialised in his usual puff of smoke, and teleported Erik to back to the Hamptons.

"You want I come with you? In case of anymore surprises?" Azazel asked.

"No I'll be fine…Just pick me up in forty minutes, I'll meet you back here. Also I'd appreciate it if you could go back to the cottage while I'm gone, just so someone is there with Pietro….he hasn't been sleeping well of late and didn't tell him I was coming here. I don't want him to panic if he finds himself alone in the house"

"No problem" Azazel said before disappearing again.

Erik made his way from the end of the street that Azazel had materialised on, to the crime scene that had been Furys' former residence, taking care to conceal himself in the shadows. There was now a police car parked outside and yellow and black police tape stretched around the perimeter, warning of dire consequences if anyone crossed into the property. Thankfully the cop on duty didn't look particularly vigilant, he was sitting in his vehicle reading a newspaper and sipping a cup of coffee…. occasionally he'd look up and glance around, but as this part of the Hamptons was usually very quiet at night didn't seem overly concerned about trespassers. The murders had shocked all the neighbors, but neither the police nor the residents believed that they had been committed by anyone that lived close by, or that the criminals would be foolish enough to return, so security around the residence remained low.

Erik had little problem sneaking past the officer and through the Furys' backdoor. The house still reeked of blood, but it was easier knowing that none of it was human.

As Erik walked around examining the house for any clues that might have been left behind, he noticed that the house was missing the usual personal artifacts that made it a home. There were no pictures of the family on the walls, no drawings or notes on the refrigerator…none of the small personal items that he had seen on his last visit….the Furys' may have left in a hurry…but they hadn't been unprepared.

The only vaguely personal items left were the bland landscape paintings on the walls.. it seemed either Nick or Mayra had thing for lakes and mountains…one particular picture drew his attention…it was painted in a cruder style than the rest, and it was the only one that featured building… a large lake house surrounded by forests and mountains in the distance…Something about it reminded him of Vinnytsia…and made him vaguely homesick for the life he had lost long ago. Erik pushed the thoughts from his mind and continued with his search, heading upstairs to the bedrooms.

Erik found nothing in the spare rooms, or in Nick and Magda's rooms save for a few odd clothes. Wanda's bedroom had a few old toys and a dollhouse that looked far too young for her, and on closer inspection it was covered in dust, it was obviously not something she had played with recently. He searched the wardrobe and chest of drawers, and found that they only contained items of clothing that looked like they would have been too small for the girl. The Furys' had left disused items and clothing around to make it look like a real crime scene, but they'd taken any items they'd cared about or still used with them.

Erik sat on bed and thought, his time hiding from the Nazis when he younger and then his experience tracking them when he was older had taught him that children often left more clues than adults…children were careless… he felt sure if he was to find a clue revealing the Furys' new whereabouts it would here, in this room….

Erik spotted a toy chest in the far corner. It looked dusty and hadn't been disturbed in a while. He opened it and found it rammed with an assortment of dolls and boardgames… Wanda had certainly not lacked material comforts while at the Furys' …it was with a pang of guilt that the realised that Nick had bought his daughter more toys than he could ever have afforded to buy Anya at the when she was alive….

Riffling through the belongings, Erik found nothing of interest until he reached a child's scapbook. He flicked through the pages finding it filled with brightly colored drawings, a few photos and (more helpfully) a short description in Wanda's childish handwriting… they were all fairly standard things…pictures of her friends…her parents…what they did that day…then Erik came across a section of five pages of outdoor activities. Fishing, hiking, riding…and a photograph of a large lake house that matched the painting in on wall downstairs…Written on the page were the words "Redwood Lake California"…

Erik knew that people on the run liked to return to familiar places… it was illogical yes, but when your life was turned upside down, the longing for somewhere familiar and comfortable was often irresistible….and in this case maybe the Furys' thought it would be easier for Wanda to settle in a place that she'd visited before…maybe even regularly.

Erik put things back as he'd found them, then exited the house the same way he came in, taking care to make sure nothing looked like it had been disturbed.

—-

Pietro awoke in the morning and limped into the kitchen find his father pouring over a stack of maps which were spread out on the large wooden dining table. His reading was now good enough that he could make out the word "California" on one of them.

Erik looked up and greeted him as he entered.

"How are you feeling today?" Erik asked leaving what the was doing and walking over.

"Ok I guess…" Pietro answered with a lack luster shrug. The boy still looked very tired. Though Azazel had said that he hadn't heard Pietro wake during his brief period of babysitting the night before. Erik hoped the boy had not just been silently lying in bed worrying all night.

"What do you want for breakfast?"

"I don't mind…" Pietro said "Whatever you want"

Erik felt himself frown slightly but was quick to hide the expression. He wanted Pietro back to his expressive old self…the one that actually had opinions and expressed his desires on things…but he knew he couldn't force the boy to feel happier.

"I'll make us an omelette" Erik said patting Pietro on the shoulder. "You go sit at the table and rest your leg" Pietro nodded and complied, looking at the maps.

"I need to go away for three days or so…" Erik said as he took out a frying pan and started cracking eggs.

"You're leaving?"

Erik sighed. "Not LEAVING Pietro… I just need to take care of some business…I'll be back as soon as I can. Charles will make sure you're well taken care of, and the mansion is very safe. I'm to ask Raven to come stay with you for awhile." He didn't want to tell Pietro where he was really going as he suspected it would just worry the boy further.

"Where are you going?

Erik sighed again. "I can't tell you right now. Listen, I don't want to leave, but this is important… I need you to be a brave soldier for me ok? It's just three days? Then I'll be home. You can do that right?

"I- I guess….can't I …can't I come with you?"

"Not this time….look when I get back, I'll give you some shooting lessons ok? Just don't tell Charles I let you fire a gun on his property "

"Just three days?"

"Just three days."

"Ok." Pietro said, but he didn't feel ok at all.

"Good" Erik smiled, and returned to the omelette.