Still reeling from the prior conversation with his son, Erik marches up the basement stairs, expecting to find Pietro and Marya, but instead he comes face to face—figuratively speaking—as she was much shorter than him—with a little girl.
"Mommy says you're Wanda and Pie's daddy. Is that true?" she asks gazing up at him.
"Er, yes." Erik replies feeling rather uncomfortable under the curios eyes of the child.
The girl nods a little. "I thought it was true. Mommy wouldn't lie, and you have Pie's eyes. Are you speedy like him? He's going to be a superhero once he's all grown up. Are you a superhero? What's your name? Pietro's name is Quicksilver and Wanda is the Scarlet Witch."
"Um, not exactly. My ah talents lie elsewhere…and I'm just Erik." Erik answers.
This response doesn't seem to satisfy her though, so she asks, "What can you do then? You have to be able to do something, because mommy says Aunt Magda wasn't speedy or magically."
Erik watches the little girl gaze up at him expectantly. He'd really rather not put his powers on display, but he has a feeling little Mila will continue to interrogate him until she is satisfied. I guess Pietro has had a bit of an influence on her.
Finally, Erik decides to levitate a metal slinky that was sitting on top of the toy chest and fly it over to the young girl.
Mila watches seemingly unafraid, but her eyes harden slightly as she says, "Are you the man from the TV? The one with the cape and the shiny helmet? He moved stuff like that too."
The start of another awkward conversation. Splendid. This girl is too smart for her own good.
Erik considers lying, but realizes Pietro will probably tell her the truth eventually anyway, so it is better to get it out in the open. "Yes, that was me." Erik replies curtly.
The little girl looks inquisitively at him before saying "You…you were kinda scary." She looks down for a moment, for the first time appearing shy, but when she looks up again she says, "You scared Pie too. He didn't say so, but I could tell he was scared. He had the same look when he got his powers, and when…and the night before Wanda ran away."
"That—my attention was never to frighten Pietro." Erik says feeling ashamed. Will nothing good come of my appeal for mutant liberation?
"Hmm. I think you're telling the truth. You did act like a meanie on TV, but I think you might actually be nice. I think you were just pretending to be scary but you're actually good…My—Pietro says my daddy pretended to be nice, but he was…he was very bad man." Mila shivers a little before declaring, "well I'm going to go play princesses and ninjas now. Bye Mr. Erik."
Erik watches Mila skip off done the hall, wondering what Pietro and Wanda…and Anya…would have been like at that age. He starts to walk toward the kitchen, but pauses when he hears Pietro and Marya talking.
"Please can I go Marya? You said yourself he wouldn't hurt me, and you know I can run away from any danger. Don't you want to find Wanda? We finally might be able to find her and convince her to come home. You won't have to worry about me anymore either if I'm with Erik. I mean, he can just drop a stadium on anyone who even looks at me funny."
"Oh Pietro, of course I want Wanda to come back, but do you honestly think I won't worry about you if your not here. I'll always worry about you Pietro. It's my job. I worry about Wanda everyday. Are you sure this is what you want to do though? I know Erik will protect you, but please don't feel like you are obligated to go with him to find Wanda. That's not your job. Your job is to be a kid. Wanda will come home when she's ready, and Erik…well your father isn't the same man I once knew. I have no doubt in my mind that he will look out for you, but he doesn't have to be a part of your life if you don't want him to be. If you're not ready to have a relationship with your father that's okay kiddo." Marya says.
Erik hovers near the kitchen doorway waiting apprehensively for Pietro's response. He's reconsidered. He doesn't want me in his life, and why should he?After another second of dead air, he hears Pietro reply.
"Well…I…I don't know. A few days ago I'd never even met another person like Wanda and me, and then out of the blue three guys show up who can do stuff too, and I end up breaking a guy that can move metal out of prison, and he turns out to be my dad! It's just…yea it's a lot to take in I guess, and I'm still pretty weirded out by this whole situation, but I finally feel like maybe I can make a difference in the world or something, even if that just means bringing Wanda back. I think…I have to do this Marya. I have to find Wanda. I know this sounds corny and I mean this completely platonically, but it's like I'm missing half of myself when she's not here, and…and sheMakesTheWorldNotSeemSo Sloooooow. I don't how I feel about…about Erik, but I'm never going to figure out how I feel unless I spend time with the guy."
Marya remains silent for a moment, before replying, "Alright sweetheart, if that's how feel, you can go with Erik, but you have to be careful and promise you will listen to him. He'll keep you safe, and I expect a call from you at least once a week! And Wanda or no Wanda, YOU are coming back here at the end of the summer and going to school. Do I make myself clear young man?"
"Yes, yes, yes. Crystal Clear. Got it. Promise." Pietro replies.
It was at this moment that Erik decides he has been eavesdropping long enough, so he clears his throat and walks into the kitchen.
As soon as he hears Erik enter the kitchen, Pietro whips around to face him. "Took you long enough. Whatcha do? Stop and kick a puppy or something?"
"No, I ran into your sister actually, or er cousin I suppose. She seems to have picked up on your interrogation skills." Erik replies.
"Yea the squirt gives me a run for my money sometimes, but she's alright." Pietro responds.
"Guess what!? While you were lollygagging, Marya said I could go! So that means you can't get arrested between now and next week. No uprooting any stadiums. I don't think baseball ever did anything to you anyway, so you should really leave athletic arenas in peace."
"I'll do my best." Erik replies with a hint of humor in his voice.
"So you got any tunes picked out for our road trip man?" Pietro asks.
"We literally just decided to go find your sister two minutes ago, so no, selecting music has not been my top priority since then." Erik states.
"Meh grumpy much. No worries. I've got it covered." Pietro disappears for a second, and when he returns he is holding a stack of 8-tracks. "So what do you like dude. I've got Pink Floyd, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Beatles, Queen, The Who, Jim Croce, and like a dozen more…what do you like? Who's your favorite? Do you have a favorite album, song, lyric?"
Erik's head was spinning. I don't think I'm ever going to get use to his thought processing speed, but at least I have the chance to try."I don't know who half of those people are."
"Whaaaaat? Dude that is not okay." Pietro says looking personally offended by Erik's lack of cultural knowledge.
"Well, you may have forgotten, but I have been in prison for the past ten years, and keeping me up to date on the current music was not exactly on the top of their to do list." Erik replies in his defense.
"Hmmm. Valid point, but I still refuse to acknowledge that as an acceptable excuse. Don't worry though, you can borrow these, and I'll go swipe some replacements and some new ones for our quest." Pietro says.
"Pietro! What have I said about stealing?!" Marya says having been listening to their conversation in silence with a little bit of blissfulness forming in her heart at the easy banter being exchanged between the father and son.
"Don't get caught?" Pietro states with conviction.
Marya rolls her eyes, "Well I wouldn't have to say that if you would listen to my request to stop stealing in the first place, Pietro."
Pietro shrugs and grins, "Eh, Kleptomania is a condition Aunt Marya. It's in the dictionary and everything. As they say with driving: no cop, no stop, let your foot drop. So I say with stealing: no cop, no stop, gotta raid the shop."
Although he does not necessarily approve of his son's excessive stealing, Erik knows he doesn't have much room to talk in terms of following the law, and Erik finds himself actually having to hold back a chuckle at Pietro's quick wit. The kid changes his mood as fast as he moves his feet.Erik thinks finding it hard to believe that less than half an hour ago, he was confronting his dejected son in the basement.
"I better go. I have been here for awhile, and your neighbors might find me suspicious." Erik says.
"Please. You give yourself too much credit man. You're not that famous. No one is going to recognize you without your gladiator get-up." Pietro proclaims.
"Nevertheless, I'd feel better if I didn't linger. When exactly are you done with school?" Erik asks addressing Pietro.
"Next Tuesday! We even get an early out, so I'm done at one!" Pietro replies enthusiastically.
"Alright. I'll be back early Wednesday morning, before dawn."
"Ughh. It'll be the first day of summer! I'm supposed to sleep in. It's like a law." Pietro argues.
"I think it'd be better if no one sees who you are leaving with. We shouldn't give anyone reason to ask questions. This way, Marya can just say you went off to camp or a relative's for the summer without having to explain why a strange man, who you may or may not resemble, is picking you up. Besides, you can sleep in the car if necessary."
"Okay, okay, but I should be allowed to have coffee if I have to get up that early. Marya never let's me have any." Pietro says with a pout.
"I can't imagine why." Erik replies. "I think I'll have to agree with Marya on this one. I don't care how early you have to wake up. No coffee. Period."
"You and Marya are no fun. I don't see what the big deal is. I could totally handle it. Totally. Sure there was that one time when I drank Marya's coffee on accident one morning, and ran to—well I'm not really sure where I ran to. It's all sort of a blur, but I calmed down eventually and it was like the best feeling ever. I only put one hole in the wall too, which I fixed later, so you can't even really count that. Besides, I was only thirteen at the time so it was practically foreeeeever ago. I'm way more mature now. ICouldTotallyHandleIt." Pietro finishes without having taken so much as a breath throughout his entire imploration.
Erik continues to look at Pietro unfazed, "Like I said, no coffee."
"Whatever man. You'll cave eventually."
"Right, sure he will. Just like I did, huh Pietro?" Marya says sarcastically.
Pietro just shrugs.
Erik glances at his watch. "I really need to go. I'll see you next week Pietro. Be good."
"Really? Be good? That's what you're going with? You're one to talk, but whatever see ya old man." Pietro smirks at Erik then disappears, presumably back to the basement, or maybe off to procure some more 8-tracks.
With Pietro gone, Erik address Marya. "Marya. Goodbye then. It was…it was good to see you." He turns to leave the house, but is stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"Erik wait." Marya says. "You better be here next week. If you disappoint that boy, so help me I will track you down myself. I don't care if the government can't find you. I most certainly will."
"Duly noted." Erik replies. "Don't worry. I'll be back. I want to know my son. He seems like a good kid. A bit spastic, but he's definitely his mother's son. Thank goodness for that." Erik finishes with a small sad smile.
Marya returns the smile, "Don't be so blind Erik. He's the best of you too, as is Wanda." With that, much to Erik surprise, she kisses him on the cheek before opening the front door to show him out.
Erik steps through the doorway. He hears Marya shut the door behind him, and for the first time in a long time, Erik finds himself looking forward to what life has in store for him.
I have a son….and a daughter. A family. I'm not alone anymore, and neither are they.