@N: Hey, great! People do actually read this! Thanks, a lot! Keep them coming so I know you want more. And by the way, I don't own x-men: evo in case you didn't know. Onward the fic:
History Lesson
Chapter Two: Crossing the Lines in the Sand
It had been fun at first, the idea of whipping the Brotherhood into shape. He had thoroughly enjoyed his entrance, proclaimed the team's success and, in turn, the x-men's defeat. They listened to him because they wanted in, but it was still nearly the same. No discipline, no focus and they didn't even take training seriously, but atleast he was in charge of them. He was, until she returned.
~
"Mystique! We thought you were-"
The liquid voice of the infamous shapeshifter cut Lance off. "Well, as you can see I'm not." She turned to Pietro who was leaning against the nearest wall, eyes narrowed in contempt. "As for you, I'll assume you got the message, given your warm welcome."
"Oh, I got it," Pietro muttered.
~
"This is – this is – this is nuts!" Pietro exclaimed.
Magneto eyed the boy from where he sat but said nothing.
"You're giving the Brotherhood back to her? What about me? You put me in charge, remember?"
"I'm perfectly aware of that, Pietro." Magneto stood. "But things are now changing. Mystique is in my employment again, and you know as well as I do that she needs to think she possesses some level of power in order to be of any use to anyone."
"But you don't trust her – but you gave the Brotherhood to me!"
"I don't have to trust her in order to employ her. I have you to keep an eye on her for me. As for your other concern," his tone deepened indicating the subject had become forbidden territory. "That has already been addressed. The Brotherhood is no longer your direct responsibility." Pietro opened his mouth to say something but Magneto beat him to it, "And this will not be discussed again."
~
The fun slowly slipped away from him. Just slow enough that he didn't notice, until one day he realized it had all disappeared. The fights and constant bigotry seemed to intensify or maybe he just paid more attention to them, gave them more thought. And then . . . and then there was Wanda.
~
*
"Pietro! Where is he? Tell me!" she demanded as she entered the small café.
Pietro turned in his seat, dropping the newspaper he had been reading and the bagel he had been eating. He flew off the chair and backed away from his sister. With a single utterance, the café vacated, leaving the two alone. Pietro put his hands up in defense but it was no use. "Wanda! Wanda, I don't know. That's not how it works, he comes to me."
"Then I'll have to give him a reason to come to you!"
~
And then she was different and though Pietro suspected something, he didn't dare confront Magnus about it. She was happy but she remembered things that never really happened. Love replaced hate too much, too quickly.
~
"Pietro!" Wanda called as she waltzed into his room.
Pietro jumped from where he had been sitting, nearly leaping into a stance ready to fight, or zip through the nearest exit at the very least. "Ah, Wanda! Jeez, don't do that." He straightened out his clothes, trying to look as though he hadn't been startled. "What do you want?"
"Some money and your butt in Lance's jeep. We're going for pizza."
"Sorry, not interested," Pietro replied, settling back down into his seat.
Wanda frowned and stalked over to him. She gave a look as she rest her hands on her hips, a look that meant she wasn't taking no for an answer. "Well, we need the money whether you come or not, so you might as well." She turned and left the room. Pietro watched her leave, wondering if it was safe or not to move yet. He cautiously straightened in his chair just as it was engulfed by his sister's hex magic. He froze, fearing the worst. The chair merely slid out of his room, down the stairs – with slight turbulence – then literally dropped him into the back of Lance's jeep. Wanda laughed from where she sat beside him.
~
Presently, she sat watching the monotonous television with the rest of the Brotherhood. Mystique had disappeared into her re-claimed bedroom, once again leaving her charges to their own. There was nothing on no matter how many different ways Toad contorted himself into. Tabitha had exploded three tvs for lack of entertainment, the fourth was steadily approaching its end. Then again, she did call herself Boom-Boom for a reason.
"Hey, why can't the bossman afford us some cable?" Toad complained as he returned, having given up at Wanda's beckoning.
"Why don't you call him up and ask him, Pietro?" Lance remarked.
"I bet those Acolytes got cable," Freddy commented as he folded his arms across his chest.
"Is he in charge? Go talk to Mystique if you've got complaints," Boom-Boom exclaimed.
Pietro regarded her for a moment. He was never sure who's side she was on since she come to the defense of every one of them at one point or another. None of the others said anymore all the same. He eyed the group, then stood, ready to leave for the sanctity of his room.
A violent storm of glass stopped, stopped everyone.
Shouts of varying derogatory remarks suddenly exploded all around them. Another brick came flying through a window. Everyone dived for cover, save for Pietro who stood where he was, with one hand in his pocket and the other idly brushing glass out of his hair.
"Somebody call the cops, yo!" Toad yelled from where he had shoved himself under the couch.
"We don't need the police," Lance muttered, rising to his feet in a rage. He clenched his fists, eyes rolling back in his head as the ground began to shake. Wanda stood as well, her own abilities finding weapons of opportunity amidst the broken shards of glass scattered around the floor. Blob stood. A brick broke another window and bounced off his girth. He picked it up and whipped it back in the direction it had come. "We are not putting up with this!" Lance snarled. He stalked out of the house to meet whoever-it-was that had issued the bricks. The Brotherhood followed, everyone but Pietro.
~
It was Jason and his crew, some others and their affiliates. They yelled and taunted, then ran away. The Brotherhood was gleaming from their victory, however small, however insignificant. Pietro was watching tv again.
"Hey, thanks for the help, yo," Toad commented, entering the room in mid-leap.
"He never helps anymore," Freddy added.
"What's the point? Scare them off, they'll just be back again," Pietro stated dryly as he surfed through the ocean of blurry images.
~
The bell rang. Another ordained transition of learning modes summoned by the singular resounding noise of an electronically synthesized 'ring' swept through the school. The halls filled and classrooms emptied in its wake. Not as individuals, however, did the student body travel from class to class; no, masses adhering to stereotypes – some not – grouped together in conglomerates of the teen hierarchy. Jocks found other jocks. The cheerleaders, the academics, they all flocked to their own kind. Mutants found mutants.
Solidarity or something. You got them alone, or else you'd have to face a whole horde of them. Common knowledge was the key to surviving highschool. If you knew, you knew what to avoid, and who to avoid. It worked in theory atleast.
It wasn't always Jason. He was just a prominent figure on the chessboard. It was always everyone, or so it seemed. If you weren't with them you were against them but Pietro couldn't remember when something you had no control over had ever drawn the line. (There had been many of course.) He strode through the halls too confident to be bothered. Untouchable. But really, he was too tired of it all to care. He just hid it well. He just hid.
~
Wanda screamed his name over and over again, having given up on her father. All he could do was stand in the rain and stare at his own reflection in the puddles. Magnus stood beside him, saying nothing. Pietro wished for anything but silence. Anything at all. He stood in the rain for a long time. Magnus sat in the car waiting for him, Wanda had long disappeared into the building across the street but her screams still echoed in his head.
He walked to the car slowly, taking one last look of the ominous building before getting in. Magnus said nothing and didn't bother to even after his son had returned. The ignition roared to life and the car sped away in the rain. Pietro sat in the corner of the backseat with his knees tucked to his chest, wanting only to disappear alongside his sister.
~
Pietro walked into Mystique's office, a solid, steady gait of pure determination. Even she seemed to notice something different about the teen as she looked up from her work. Putting away the new folders Magneto had sent her, she leaned back, inviting whatever Pietro had come to say. He looked at her pointedly, blue-eyed stare matching her yellow gaze point for point. Mystique said nothing though the boy's own silence was beginning to unnerve her.
With finality, he ran his fingers through his hair as he said his piece. Turning on his heel, he stalked out in the same fashion he had entered. Mystique watched him leave, somewhat dumbfounded by the one-sided exchange. She picked up the phone and dialed a number.
~
"I quit this all."