Erik glanced into the review mirror to check on Mila. She had fallen asleep almost instantly upon leaving the D.C. area. Now, almost four hours into their journey, she was still out, and part of Erik wished he could succumb to sleep as well, but he knew that wasn't an option. He had to stay awake, not only because he was driving, but also because every minute that passed was a minute longer that Pietro had been missing.
The thought of Pietro all alone and being held who knows where undergoing God's knows what, made Erik sick to his stomach. At one point, he had actually had to pull the car over to the side of the road, where he proceeded to throw up the entire contents of his stomach. Fortunately, at which point, he was able to continue driving once more, as he had nothing left to dispel from his stomach.
Now, back on the road, Erik and Mila were drawing ever closer to Westchester County. Erik debated putting on his helmet. He didn't know how Charles would react to him showing up on his doorstep, but he guessed he wouldn't be welcomed with open arms or an invitation for a drink and a chess game. But in the end, he decided not to don his helmet. Maybe if Charles sensed him coming, he'd be better prepared to face Erik, that is if Charles had managed to stay off Hank's serum, and still had his powers. In any case, one way or another he would have to face Charles. It was the only possible course of action. Erik knew that without any leads, his only hope of finding Pietro was if Charles agreed and was able to use Cerebro. If that failed, he didn't know what he'd do, but he refused to let himself consider that possiblity.
When they were a few minutes out from Charles' estate, Erik woke Mila.
"Mila." He said quietly but loud enough to rouse her, "Mila, you need to wake up. We're almost there."
The little girl yawned and stretched her arms, "Where? Your friend's house who is going to find Pietro?" she asked, her voice filled with hope.
"Yes, but Mila I need you to do something for me…" said Erik making eye contact with her in the review mirror. "Don't tell my…friend that I am Pietro's father, or anyone else we might encounter at his home, okay?"
"Why not? Don't you want people to know you're his daddy? " asked Mila.
"It's…complicated Mila, but just know that the less people who know I am Pietro's father, the safer he will be. I may end up telling my er friend at some point, but let me handle that if and when the time comes."
"Hmm. Okay. I won't tell. I'm really good at keeping secrets. I've never told anyone what Wanda and Pie can do."
"Good. That's…that's good Mila." Erik replied as he approached the gates of Charles' estate. The gates were locked, but being made out of metal, Erik had no trouble manipulating the lock, so the gates would open and then he and Mila proceeded up the driveway.
The estate itself looked a lot more rundown then he remembered it, but it also gave off the appearance of being recently restored, as if someone had been working hard in a very short amount of time to restore the grounds and house to its former glory.
Erik parked his car right outside the front door, took a deep breath, and then stepped out of the vehicle. He went to let Mila out of the back, but she had already hopped out and come to stand beside him.
Erik turned to walk up to the front door, but before he took even one step, he felt a small hand close around his own. He glanced down at Mila, but didn't say anything as he advanced up the main stairs. He would never admit it, but in that moment, he wasn't sure who was finding more comfort in that small gesture, Mila or himself.
When they reached the main entrance, Erik lifted his hand and gave the door three hard knocks. Erik didn't have to wait long for an answer, but each second standing there felt like a lifetime, and the passing silence turned Erik's thoughts to his son.
Just when Erik was going to use his talent with metal to break the lock and barge in, the door opened enough to reveal Hank, who was currently in his human form, but from the look on his face Erik didn't think he would be for long.
"Erik. You have ten seconds to leave this property before I tear you limb from limb." said Hank looking like he was turning slightly blue.
"I—" Erik started to respond, but was cut off by a much calmer sounding voice, although it too contained no hint of warmth or welcome, coming from inside the mansion.
"Stand aside and tone it down Hank. Erik's not alone."
"What? There's no one else out there." said Hank
"Look down Hank." Charles replied
It was at this prompting that Hank turned his gaze downward and noticed a little girl, anywhere from six to nine years old, hiding behind Erik's legs.
"Erik." Charles said. Now that Hank had opened the door to its full expanse, Charles could be seen in full view. He was using his old wheelchair, which evoked conflicting emotions inside Erik. He still felt guilty every time he saw Charles in his present condition, unable to walk, but in this case it also made him hopeful. Now there was a chance he could find Pietro. The fact that Charles was in a wheelchair and that he had known Mila was hidden behind Erik confirmed in Erik's mind that Charles was back to using his powers.
"Erik." Charles repeated.
"Wh—what?"
"I asked you a question, but your mind seems to be elsewhere, not that I would know for certain. Your recent actions forced me to break this promise, but I'll make it once more, I'm never getting in your head again, so I'll repeat myself and keep this conversation cordial in light of the present company, but what in God's name do you think you're doing here and why on earth do you have a child with you? Who seems so distraught by the way that I'm having trouble picking up her thoughts."
"I…I can explain. I—"
"Isn't that Peter's sister?" said Hank, interrupting Erik once again. "Aren't you Peter's sister?" he asked again, this time addressing the little girl.
Mila nodded quickly before ducking back behind Erik.
"Yes. She is Peter's little sister, Mila. That's why I'm here. It's about Piet—I mean Peter, he's been taken. By whom, I don't know, but they murdered his aunt. Mila was probably only left alive because she was hidden at the time, but please may we come in? We are already wasting time. Charles, you need to use Cerebro to find Peter immediately." Erik finished in a rush.
Charles stared at Erik intensely for a moment, while Hank just stood there still looking angry and slightly confused, while attempting to seem unthreatening most likely for Mila's benefit. Erik didn't blame him; their last encounter, just under two weeks ago had not been very friendly.
Finally Charles said, "Alright. Come in. I'm still rusty but we'll head down to Cerebro now, if Peter is truly missing then of course I want to help find him. I expect more of an explanation though Erik. Why were you at Peter's house in the first place? Were you so beaten down after your little stunt in D.C. that you've resorted to recruiting children?"
"No of course not. I wouldn't…that's not why I was there. I just…I wanted to thank him for getting me out of that prison cell. After all, you and Hank and that Logan fellow wouldn't have been able to free me without him." said Erik as the group headed toward the elevator to the fortified basement beneath the house's main floor.
"I see…" said Charles looking extremely unconvinced.
"Look, believe me or not, the reason I was there is not really important, what's important is finding Pietro."
"Pietro?" Hank questioned as the elevator doors slid open to reveal the white washed walls of the basement hallway.
"That's Pie's real name. He just likes people to call him Peter. He says he's weird enough already without a weird name too." Mila piped up.
"Oh, uh got it." said Hank as they approached the vault containing Cerebro.
Charles leaned forward allowing the locking mechanism to scan his retina then a computerized automated voice said, "welcome, professor." With that the vault doors opened to reveal a large circular room, empty except for the wonder that was Cerebro.
"Alright Hank. Fire it up." said Charles as he placed the odd device on his head.
Instantly images of many white and some red blurs appeared on the walls around them, representing all the humans and mutants in the world.
Erik watched Charles close his eyes in concentration. Praying to a God he wasn't sure was listening that he would be able to find Pietro.
"I'm not sensing him. It could be I'm just still rusty…" said Charles.
Erik felt his heart quicken in panic.
No. no. no. Charles can find him. He has to.
"I have an idea." said Charles opening is eyes. "Mila, do you mind coming here for a moment. I believe if I have contact with you while looking for Peter, I may be able to find him since you share some of the same DNA."
Mila looked up at Erik, who nodded. Then Mila stepped forward, allowing Charles to raise to fingers to her temple.
Again Charles closed his eyes. For several minutes he stayed very still. Everyone else in the room was silent too. Not wanting to break his concentration.
Slowly Charles opened his eyes, dropped his hand, took the helmet off his head, and wheeled around to face Hank and Erik.
"I can't find him. He's either shielded from me somehow…or…"
"No." said Erik. "He's not dead. I'm sure of it. Whoever took Pietro wanted him alive. You have to keep looking."
"Endless searching won't make him anymore visible to me, Erik. If I couldn't find him using a relative as close as a sister—"
"Technically we're cousins." said Mila. "My mommy is his aunt. She adopted Pie when his mama died a long time ago, but he's still the best brother in the world!"
"Oh…I didn't realize…I just assumed the woman we met at your home was Peter's mother too…All the same, that doesn't change the fact that he is for some reason shielded from me." said Charles. "Perhaps if I was able to use someone closer to him in DNA as a reference then I would be able to find him, but seeing how that's not an option, we'll have to take our search elsewhere…Perhaps…I really don't want to, but maybe I should try contacting Moira. She might be able to help, Hank go—"
"Use me." said Erik. He'd barely been listening to Charles ramble on, instead he'd been having an internal battle. He was trying to figure out how he could help Charles look for Pietro without revealing their connection, but he realized that there was no other option. And in all honesty, he didn't really care what Charles and Hank would think of him. He just wanted his son back. He only hoped they wouldn't now judge Pietro based on his lineage alone.
"What?" Charles said confused.
"Erik, I don't think your whole, 'we are all mutant brothers and sisters' will really apply to making Cerebro more effective. I should know. I designed it." said Hank.
"Just…try please…" said Erik.
"Look, Erik, as you said, we shouldn't waste anymore time. We've already established Cerebro is a dead end, and I'm afraid both being mutants won't enhance my ability to find Peter. Afterall, I'm a mutant too, and that obviously isn't enough of a connection with Peter to find him. We should—"
"He's my son." Erik suddenly blurted out.
"What!?" responded Charles and Hank in unison.
"Could you repeat that? I don't think I heard you right, because it sounded like you said—" Charles started to say.
"You heard me correctly. He's my son." Erik repeated running a hand through his hair in frustration and awkwardness. "I'm his father. Now use me to find him GOD DAMN IT!"
There was a moment of awkward silence. Even Mila who had been humming quietly to herself until Erik's escalated declaration, went completely silent.
"That's—you're—what? " said Hank unable to form a coherent sentence.
Charles was still looking incredulous. "You're serious?...You're actually Peter's father? And you just both failed to mention that when we had him break you out of prison? God, this is rich…You can't be a father! You're not fit to be a parent. You tried to kill howmany people in the past few weeks and you dropped a stadium on the White House for Heaven's sake!"
Erik's eyes narrowed. "I was a father long before I met you Charles, and thank you for that opinion, by the way. Trust me when I say, I am certainly aware of my ineptitude as a parent without you reminding me of it. Now, could you please put aside your feelings about me for the moment, and just find my son." said Erik, his voice breaking slightly at that last statement, as he felt tears threatening to well up in his eyes.
"I…yes alright, of course, but we aren't done talking about this Erik." responded Charles.
Like Mila had done before him, Erik took a step forward and kneeled down to allow Charles to be able to reach him.
Charles placed Cerebro back on his head, then hesitated momentarily before placing his hand on Erik's temple and resuming his search once more.
Barely a minute passed when Charles eyes sprang open, and he said, "I've got something…but…it's not…no it's not Peter. It's a girl, but she feels a lot like Peter—"
"Wanda." breathed Erik.
"Who?" asked Hank.
"My daughter. She's Pietr—"
"Another kid!? Jeez Erik, have some self-restraint! How hard is it to keep in it your pa…" Hank trailed off remembering there was a little girl in the room who had a mildly bewildered expression on her face.
"As I was saying, I think it might be my daughter Wanda. Pietro's twin sister, Hank." said Erik looking defensive.
"Is it really Wanda? Did you find Wanda?" Mila squeaked out.
"Yes if Peter really has a twin sister then I have definitely found her. She and Peter are too similar in DNA for it not to be her. I can't reach her mind though. It's completely…chaotic…" said Charles.
"But do you know where she is? From what I know of her ability, I wouldn't think you would be able to sense her at all, but maybe she has a connection to Pietro that comes from being his twin and mutants. Perhaps she felt that he was in danger and it caused her to let her…guard down so to speak."
"Yes…she's on a train from Chicago…headed to D.C. What's the nature of her ability Erik?" Charles asked deciding to take the information that Erik had another child running around in stride rather than dwell on it too much for the time being.
"I'm not exactly sure...I've never actually met her…I just know that if she didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be found. But I have to stop her. She's probably headed back to their house, and whoever took Pietro could still be watching it. She may be the key to finding him too. You're really not getting any sense of him at all?" asked Erik.
"I'm afraid not. Whoever took him could have another psychic working for them, or maybe he's just being held in a specially built facility. It's hard to say…I'm...I am sorry Erik." replied Charles.
Erik remained impassive, but Charles thought he saw a flicker of complete and utter despair in his eyes.
"Watch Mila, would you? I…I need to go for a walk." said Erik as he stormed out of the room, the metal in his path seeming to warp a bit as he did so.