{Author's Note: Gracias for all the new reviews and follows/favs! To Marvel-Tolkien Fangirl: Thanks for your honesty. This story is turning out to be a lot longer than I planned, but if you stick with it, I can't say when, but they still will eventually return to their own universe and have their own problems to deal with there. To yuki-no-hibi: I'm glad you enjoyed the previous chapter so much!
Sorry if the beginning of this chapter seems rushed. I wanted to move things along. Also, because I forgot to mention it before the last chapter, in addition to not owning the x-men. I also do not own Marvel or any of the Avengers. So without further ado, in honor of X-men Apocalypse's release today. Here's another chapter. :) WARNING: Once again there are very minor spoilers for Captain America Civil War.}
TONY POV
It had been no easy feat getting off of Al Walker's farm unscathed. Unlike the mystery man, Mr. Walker had known exactly who Tony Stark was, but he had not seemed to care in the least. He did however seem to care a great deal about the three unconscious individuals lying in his front yard. Thus, the fact that Maria, Darcy, and Tony had been able to leave with their unconscious burdens in tow, without tranquilizing, icing, or tasering the farmer was nothing short of a miracle.
Initially, there had been some heated words exchanged by both Tony and Mr. Walker, before Maria had stepped in and defused the situation. It turns out, when she wants to be, Maria is a lot more personable than Tony.
After Maria had explained that the three individuals who Mr. Walker evidently knew, were perfectly alright, just unconscious, it had still taken awhile to get him to lower his gun. It had taken even longer to convince him not to go running to the local authorities or the media to report a kidnapping if they left with the three enhanced individuals.
At first, Mr. Walker had tried to stick to the same story the mystery man had spouted off about him being Al's nephew and that the boy and girl were the mystery man's children—that part Tony actually thought was probably true—but Tony, unable to hold his tongue completely, had smugly stated that if they were related, then he wouldn't mind doing a DNA test. After all, that would clear everything up, prove the man really was his nephew, and then everyone could be on their merry way.
Of course a DNA test would show the two weren't related and though Tony already had surmised this, Al's look grim look of defeat confirmed it. Fortunately, at this point, Maria had stepped in again, and explained that taking them away now was for their own safety as much as anyone else's. If they had recognized that something abnormal had happened on the Walker farm, then other not-so-friendly people may figure out the same, given time.
Nevertheless, Mr. Walker refused to be convinced, but in the end they just really didn't give the farmer a choice. Either he could cooperate and they would take the three enhanced individuals with them and send updates to him about their well-being and allow for correspondence, or they would take the three enhanced individuals away anyway and keep Al forever in the dark.
With this statement, the farmer seemed to realize there was nothing he could do besides let them take away the family he'd grown close to in the past couple of weeks, but he still refused to share anything about the three individuals who had been staying with him, saying 'he had no right to share a story that was not his own, and that he didn't know much anyway.' He did however divulge the unconscious individuals' names, which Tony figured was mostly because the man was tired of Tony referring to them as the enhanced individuals. So Tony learned that the mystery man's name was Erik, and his children were Wanda and Pietro. With Mr. Walker's announcement of the last two names, Tony and Maria had shared a look of trepidation.
Just as they were about to go, the farmer made one final plea to Tony to get them to leave empty-handed, 'They were going to go home. Just…please let them go home. That's all they want.'
To which Tony had replied, 'I'm sorry but I can't allow that. It's about time that people who can do extraordinary things were put in check, and that doesn't mean leaving people like them…people like me to their own devices.'
With that proclamation, Tony, Maria, and Darcy had left the Walker farm. Despite her protests, Darcy had been sent back to New Mexico, where Jane was awaiting her return after finishing up her most recent lecture in London. The whole situation was now set at a need to know basis, and Darcy—in Tony's opinion—already knew more than she needed to, but she had been granted permission to inform Jane about what had occurred, since it had been her expertise that had led them to the farm in the first place.
Darcy had still furiously protest her forced sabbatical, expressing her very adamant wishes to visit the Avenger's Compound and 'see if this whole shindig ended like A New Hope or more like The Empire Strikes Back.' In the end though, she had relented and agreed to head back to New Mexico, on the condition that if Vader didn't turn out to be a total crazy they'd give him her number, just in case things didn't work out with Ian.
Once on the plane, Maria caught Tony up on what had occurred in Lagos, showing him a video of the event, to which his only response was 'shit.'
It was some time later that Tony and Maria, along with their precious cargo arrived at the Avenger's compound. The three enhanced individuals had remained unconscious all the way to the compound, whether that was by chance or Maria had kept them out of it on purpose, Tony didn't know.
Upon their arrival, it was decided that the teenagers would be separated from the man for their safety. Although during their brief interaction back at the farm the kids had seemed pretty upset that the man—their father according to Mr. Walker and confirmed by the quick DNA test Tony conducted—had been rendered unconscious, it had been obvious after further examination that the boy had extensive injuries beyond just those that were visible, including wounds that were fairly new, as well as other much older scars. Maria and Tony didn't want to endanger the kids unnecessarily in case, Erik, was indeed the abuser and the kids were perhaps suffering from a case of Stockholm syndrome.
Thus, at is stood, Erik had been placed in isolation in a room of Tony's own creation. It was a little project that Tony had begun working on shortly after Loki's invasion. The room was meant to render magic and enhanced individuals powerless, and though he hadn't yet been able to test it on an actual person, it seemed to work on all alien tech, so Tony was confident—well fairly confident—in its capability. After all, he created it.
Either way, he was quite pleased with the schematics of the room in which the mystery man was being held. In theory, Tony had created it in such a way that one just had to take a bit of an individual's DNA, isolate the part that produced their power and program the room to suppress that ability. Consequently, the detainee wouldn't be able to use his powers in the room since Tony had taken Erik's DNA and locked the room onto the most intriguing part of it—a variant in the 23rd pair of the X-Chromosome—that he believed held the source of the man's ability.
The kids had been taken to a more comfortable room and left under the supervision of Vision, who Tony hoped would be more than capable of handling any outbursts, enhanced or otherwise that might arise when the teenagers woke up. Tony was just glad Vision had offered to take up that post because Tony was in no shape or form interested in babysitting, nor did he feel qualified to do so.
Tony gave an exaggerated sigh. He was tired of waiting. The Avengers were set to have a meeting with the Secretary of State, Thaddeus Ross, which was scheduled to start shortly, and Tony didn't like to imagine how long that was going to last. It could be hours before he got a chance to question this 'Erik,' and Tony didn't want to wait that long. He also needed something to occupy his mind right now, and what better way to do that than by questioning Erik.
So Tony unlocked the first set of doors that led to the unique room holding Erik, and after they closed behind him, he opened the next set of doors and walked into the room that was empty, except for a chair in which Erik was currently sitting in and a table on which Erik's hands were resting in handcuffs chained to the table itself. The handcuffs still allowed for some mobility, as they were chain-linked, but not much.
Erik's eyes rose to meet Tony's as he entered. "Good! you're up. I hope you got some beauty sleep. You were a tad cranky the last time we spoke." said Tony making his way to stand in front of Erik.
"Where are my children?" said Erik. The question was not spoken loudly, but there was such malice in those four words and in the man's eyes that Tony had to stop himself from taking a step back. Though Tony liked to think he didn't frighten easily, he did find himself feeling grateful that the man was in handcuffs and that his power suppressing room seemed to be working, as evidence by the fact that Tony wasn't being throttled by an invisible force.
Tony also noted that beneath the man's anger, he looked awful, and for a moment Tony felt a tad guilty that he may have been sitting in here awake for some time, worrying about his children. But Tony couldn't yet rule out the possibility that the man was an abusive father, so he pushed that feeling of guilt aside for the time being. He figured he had enough guilt already without adding to it.
In addition to the lines of anger and worry etched on the Erik's face, the man also seemed perplexed. Tony guessed that he was probably wondering why his telekinetic powers weren't working.
Not so tough when you can't just wave your hand and magically get what you want. Are we? Hmm, I guess that's technically the power my money and genius give me…
"Easy papa bear, they're perfectly fine, well as fine as they were when we first met. Your boy is really not in the best shape. Was that your doing?" asked Tony not wasting any time.
Fick dich. Du idiotischer, arroganter, kleiner Mann!1 I would never hurt my children! I cannot say the same for you though, if you do not release me and tell me where they are!" said Erik in growing frustration and volume.
"Hey. No need to get angsty." Replied Tony. "I'm not a father—at least I hope not—but I can see you're worried about them, which gets you parenting points, but we've got to talk to them first to make sure you're really not the one who hurt the kid. Oh and you're probably wondering why your abilities aren't working. It's this room. My own creation actually. It has the ability to suppress your powers while your within it. Pretty cool, right? I'd elaborate, but I can tell you're on a one track train of thought right now." stated Tony approaching the table where Erik was sitting.
Tony blamed himself for what happened next. He had distracted himself with his love of science, so he didn't have time to react when Erik unexpectedly slipped his hand out of one of the cuffs grabbed Tony by the collar and slammed his head into the table, before clasping his throat between the fingers of his free hand.
"Take me to my children now." demanded Erik pulling Tony close, so that they were practically face to face and also close enough that he was then able to whip Tony around and put him in a chokehold.
Groggy from the impact to his head, Tony found himself unable to break the man's hold—Tony was a lot of things when you took away his suit of armor, but physically, he wasn't a very big guy once the armor was gone—and with no other ideas at the moment other than to buy time by using the source of power he always had on hand: his charm, because that always seemed to work out well. "Did you just dislocate your thumb to get out of those cuffs? Bold move MacGyver. I underestimated you. Definitely not the smartest thing of ever done."
"And it will be the last thing you do, if you do not release me and take me to my children immediately!" said Erik, his demanding voice resonating throughout the room.
Tony felt the pressure around his throat increase. "I hope you realize that your violent tendencies are really not helping your case as an upstanding, non-abusive father." Tony managed to wheeze out. "And once again, I can't really take you anywhere when your holding me like this."
"Then open the door and I will find them myself!" demanded Erik once more.
"Nope can't do that either, not without an electronic device, which I didn't bring with me. It locks from the outside, and I didn't tell anyone I'm in here, so you're stuck with me, which is fine. I really didn't want to go to my next meeting in case you couldn't tell." As Tony finished that statement, he felt the pressure on his throat increase even more, to the point where it became more difficult to breath, and black dots began to cloud his vision.
Fortunately for Tony, at that moment Steve burst through the room's doors followed closely by Maria Hill.
Thank God for Captain-fuckin'-America
STEVE POV
A little while earlier…
Steve's week was not off to a good start. First of all, he'd been caught off guard in Lagos when Rumlow had managed to distract him by mentioning Bucky. That lapse of focus had ultimately led to the deaths of innocent civilians, and though Wanda blamed herself for the incident, Steve knew it was really his own fault. If he hadn't let Rumlow's words get to him, he would have been able to prevent Rumlow from deploying the bomb in the first place.
No matter who was truly at fault, Steve knew there was going to be repercussions, and he had a feeling he was about to face those repercussions very soon when he and the rest of the Avengers met with Secretary Ross, but first, he had to deal with the second matter that was contributing to Steve's dismal week: the three enhanced individuals currently being held in the Avengers facility, so he turned his attention back to Agent Hill who was currently engaged in the task of debriefing him regarding he current situation as they headed toward where the enhanced man was being held.
"We don't know much about them, or where they come from other than Ms. Foster's data on the energy spikes in Iowa, what Tony and I witnessed ourselves, and what we've gathered from our analysis of their DNA." stated Maria.
"Alright, so give me the rundown of what you do know." said Steve.
"According to the farmer, the man's name is Erik. By evidence of his near stranglement of Mr. Stark, he seems to have some sort of telekinetic ability. As far as identifying features, he has a tattoo consistent with individuals who were in concentration camps during WWII. However, we were not able to match the number to a definite individual in any of the camps. The kids, a boy and a girl—his children, as verified by a DNA test and both enhanced—look to be in their mid teens. They are currently on the other side of the Avenger's compound still unconscious and under Vision's supervision. We thought it was best to separate them from their father, as the boy seems to be recovering from extensive injuries, and also shows signs of past abuse. The boy also has a tattoo similar to that of his father's, but it is more recent and he's been branded with a letter X as well." said Maria pulling up images of Erik, Wanda, and Pietro, along with images of the markings on Erik's and Pietro's arms to show Steve. "Additionally, all three individuals possess an irregularity in their genetic code located on the 23rd pair of the X chromosome, which seems to indicate that they were born with whatever powers they currently posses, rather than having developed them from experimentation."
"So are they aliens?" Steve really hoped they weren't aliens. Not that that would making them lesser beings or not worthy of humane treatment, it was just, one alien invasion was enough per lifetime. "And what is it exactly that the kids can do? And you haven't mentioned their names. Did this Al Walker only share the man's name?"
"That's where it gets interesting." replied Maria.
"It wasn't interesting already?" asked Steve raising an eyebrow. Interesting and distressing. Anything that involved abused children rubbed Steve the wrong way. He knew what it was like to be young, small and unable to defend yourself, and no kid should have to experience that, enhanced or otherwise.
"From what we've been able to determine during their paralysis, the boy has increased metabolism and improved thermohomeostasis. We can't determine much about the girls' ability in her unconscious state but based on what I witnessed, my best guess is that her thing is neuro-electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation."
"Wait. That sounds really familiar, are you saying that—"
"He's fast, and she's weird." answered Maria straight faced.
Steve stopped in his tracks. The feeling of de ja vu was threatening to suffocate him.
"You're serious?" asked Steve
"Dead serious, and oh, their names are Wanda and Pietro."
At this, Steve was rendered speechless, and it took a bit for him to form a coherent thought again. "Are they clones?"
"No. They do not seem to be. Their genetic code is in ways similar to the Maximoffs, but it's more like they are cousins. But based on their genetic analysis, this new Wanda and Pietro also seem to be twins."
"Any theories?" asked Steve, forcing himself to continue gathering the facts, as if this were any other debriefing and not one that was becoming intricately more complicated. Not to mention the fact that he was at a loss himself, so he really hoped Maria had a better handle on things.
"My guess, well more like Tony's, is that they came from another universe that's similar to ours, but not quite the same."
"Really? This is what we've come to? Alternate universes? Sometimes I miss the simple days when I just had to worry about hunting down Nazis…Have you told our Wanda?"
At that question Maria let out a quick chuckle. "Haha. No. And I'm not sure that she should be informed. After all, how exactly do you say, 'Oh hey Miss Maximoff! Apparently there are other universes out there, and there's one where your brother is still alive in some form or another and he just happened to end up in our universe, and now he's currently in the Avenger's compound under Vision's supervision.' That's not exactly a conversation I care to have."
"I see what you mean." stated Steve as he started to walk forward once more.
Then a small voice behind them spoke just loudly enough to be heard, a voice that belonged to the Wanda Maximoff of their own universe.
"Wh—What?"
"Crap." Said Maria turning around to meet Wanda's wide eyed gazed before taking off in the direction that led toward Vision's living area.
"Wanda! Wait!" Steve called as he made to go after her.
"Crap." said Maria again. "Wait Steve."
"I have to go after her Maria. She can't just go bursting in on those kids before we know what's really going on. She's going to be devastated when she sees its not really her brother. Not to mention meeting an alternate version of herself is sure to be weird and mess with her mind."
"Vision can handle her. I need you to come with me. I just pulled up surveillance on our telekinetic's holding room. Tony disregarded my recommendation to wait until I'd informed you of the situation before confronting said telekinetic, and now he's currently not far off from once again being strangled to death."
"Dammit Tony." said Steve, sending one last glance down the hallway where Wanda had disappeared. "Alright, let's go."
Back to the present…
Barging into the holding room, Steve easily pulled Tony out of Erik's clutches. Though Erik was by no means a weak man, his strength couldn't compete with that of a super soldier's.
Steve lifted Tony by his shirt's collar and all but threw him out of the room before turning to address Erik, "Please excuse us for one moment." Steve then turned and walked out of the room, letting the doors close behind him, and leaving a baffled looking Erik inside with one hand still chained to the table.
"What the heck Tony?! Maria said not to go in their alone! What were you thinking?" asked Steve. He never understood why Tony had to be so impulsive. Sure, Steve was impulsive at times, but not when he didn't have to be.
"Well, I was thinking that I wanted answers and there was no use waiting for another person to do a one-man job." stated Tony unperturbed.
"Right, and that plan of action seems to have been working out perfectly." Replied Steve sarcastically. "Exactly what have you learned? And why would you antagonize the man unnecessarily? You've likely made it nearly impossible to get him to negotiate with us!"
"Well it doesn't really matter, I just gained enough evidence to support what I already knew. The guy's an asshole. He probably has some diabolical plan to take over and/or destroy the world, while using his children as accessories to his evil plan." replied Tony.
Steve was trying and failing to rein in his growing irritation. With everything that had happened in the past 48 hours, he just did not have any sense of calm left to deal with Tony's personality right now. "You just assume the worst in people, don't you? Try for a second to put yourself in his shoes. You barged onto the farm where he was staying with his family, started bombarding him with questions, knocked him and his children unconscious, then separated him from his children! Dangerous or not, he's got a right to be upset. Let's not turn him into our enemy before we learn more about him! And did you ever think that maybe he's acting like an asshole because you're being an asshole?"
"Hmm. Well he started it." Stated Tony indifferently.
Steve glared at Tony. "Just stay out here while I try to salvage some semblance of diplomacy before we have to meet with Secretary Ross."
Leaving a disgruntled Tony in the hall with Maria, Steve re-entered the holding chamber.
"Sorry about that. Tony isn't great at making new friends. My name is Steve Rogers, though most people know me as Captain America. You can call me Steve, or whatever you're comfortable with. Despite the impression you may have gotten from Tony, he and I are actually part of a group that serves to protect the safety of the planet. We're known as the Avengers, and you're being held in our home base right now. I understand why you felt the need to strangle Mr. Stark, God knows I've wanted to a few times, but I think we can have a civil conversation. You have every right to be angry. We essentially kidnapped you, and separated you from your children, but please understand that this is potentially only a temporary precaution. Your son has some serious injuries, and we need to speak with both of your children first before we let you see them to make sure you're not the one who caused those injuries. I can assure you they are receiving excellent care, and I can have Agent Hill bring up surveillance evidence for you to show that they are indeed alright in just a moment, but the sooner you clear some things up for us, the sooner you can see your kids," said Steve, while nodding for Maria to join them.
Maria unlocked the inner holding door and walked inside. Tony tried to follow, but Steve pushed him back out again.
"Come on Rogers! I found him first that means I get first dibs on interrogation. That's the rule." Tony practically whined.
"Well, you already had your time with him, Tony. It's not my fault you mucked it up." Stated Steve closing the doors once more and leaving a miffed Tony outside.
Meanwhile Maria brought up a video on her tablet, which she held in front of Erik, just out of his reach. The video showed Wanda and Pietro lying on two comfortable looking twin beds in a plain but warm looking room, while Vision sat in an armchair nearby reading a book.
"I assure you, though they are both unconscious for the time being, they have not been harmed, and they should be waking up any minute now." said Maria.
"Why should I believe you. You could be showing me their dead bodies." Growled Erik.
Steve responded before Maria could. "I understand that you don't know me, but trust me when I say, I would never stand by and let children be harmed or murdered. I will personally take you to them, once we figure out just what your story is and that you are not a threat to them, but the only way I can do that is for you to cooperate. And I don't think this will be necessary." said Steve gesturing to the remaining cuff that held Erik in place. "Though I advise you not to try anything. You're not the only one with abilities…so if you could just start by telling me where you came from I'd greatly appreciate it" Steve finished, and as he did so, he reached down and easily broke the other cuff holding Erik to the table. "And maybe you could step back outside Maria." Steve didn't think Erik was aware that Maria had been the one to render his children unconscious, but all the same he felt it better to talk to Erik alone.
Erik looked down at his freed hands and back up to meet Steve's eyes as Maria exited the room. Steve could tell he was weighing his options, and trying to get a read on Steve. Whatever he saw in Steve's eyes must have been acceptable because after a moment he answered in a calm, steady voice, "My children and I are from a different earth, similar to yours but different in a number of ways. In our world, there exists special individuals known as mutants, who have extraordinary abilities, but we are outnumbered, feared, judged, and on too many occasions, harmed simply because we are different. That is what happened to my son. He was taken by a group of people who either wanted to study, suppress, or emulate his abilities. The injuries he bares are a result of his time imprisoned by those people, and his older scars are the result of growing up in the presence of a cruel worthless human, in the time before I knew he existed. We did not mean to come to your world. My daughter cannot always control her abilities, and upon seeing her brother in a state much worse than he is now, she inadvertently brought us to this world and time. All I want is to return with my children back to our own time and universe."
Now it was Steve's turn to study Erik. His story was insane, but this was an insane situation, and though there was a lot of anger and hate radiating out of Erik's eyes, Steve also thought that in those cold eyes he could see that what Erik said was the truth.
"Wow…that's…quite a story…You say you want to return to your own time as well. What time are you from?" There was a brief moment of silence before Steve trudged on when the man didn't reply, "I noticed your tattoo, and Agent Hill showed me the tattoo your son bares as well, which is similar to yours, along with the word mutant and a brand in the shape of an X. I hope you don't mind my asking, but could you explain those?...It's just, I'm a man out of time as well. I know I don't look it, but I was born in 1918. I fought in WWII in was frozen in ice for nearly 70 years. I won't pretend to try to understand what it might have been like for you if you were in one of their camps, but I might understand what it feels like to be thrust into a new world."
Erik looked at Steve with his steady gaze again before replying, "In our world it is 1973, and I was in Aushwitz as a child that is what my tattoo is from. My son's is a result of his more recent imprisonment, as is the brand. The X stands for the X-gene. It is what separates homosuperiors from homosapiens."
"Homosuperiors?" questioned Steve
"It is rightful name for mutants." answered Erik.
"Speaking of names, I was told your name is Erik and your children are Wanda and Pietro, but Mr. Walker didn't reveal anything else about you beyond that. Is that information correct, or is there something else you'd rather be called?" asked Steve. He felt it vital to address this man by his proper name. This man, who as a child was stripped of his identity and given a number instead, deserved at least that much respect, no matter his actions.
Erik hesitated for a moment. "That is correct."
"Okay. Just one more thing…is your last name Maximoff?"
For a second Erik looked startled before regaining his composure. Steve wondered if it had been a mistake asking him to confirm that fact, and he wondered if it had caused him to lose the little trust he had gained from the man, but Steve was just as curious as anyone as to how similar the teenagers under Vision's care were to the Maximoff twins of this universe. Steve still carried the loss of Pietro heavily in his heart. It was one thing to lose a soldier in battle, but Pietro had just been a kid, older than Erik's children, but still too young to die. If there was a chance that the Pietro he had only briefly known lived on in the Pietro that was currently unconscious in the Avenger's facility, then it might make the guilt Steve carried just a little lighter.
"How do you know that name?" asked Erik in an accusatory voice. "I did not even tell Al that name."
Steve pondered for a moment whether he should tell Erik about the Maximoffs he knew. He didn't know how the man would react to that information, but he couldn't just leave Erik in his current sense of distrust.
"Believe it or not, this universe already had twins with extraordinary abilities in it named Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. That's the only reason I knew that name."
Erik narrowed his gaze before slowly addressing Steve in a low voice "You're saying in this universe there are children here who are copies of my own?"
Steve could tell that this information did not sit well with the man, so Steve quickly tried to clarify. "No they're different than your children. They're older than your kids for one thing, still young though, and there are other differences, like the fact that they weren't born with their abilities. But they survived some rough experiences too...Even if they had the exact same DNA as your kids though, they really wouldn't be the same, would they? They grew up in different worlds, in different time periods even…" Steve trailed off suddenly realizing he had been talking more to himself than to Erik, and he felt his face redden slightly under Erik's gaze. "Sorry, it's just part of me hoped they were the same…Our Pietro died in battle a while ago, and…well it's being really hard on Wanda…but she's doing the best as can be expected. She's actually a member of the Avengers too."
Steve watched Erik take in all this information. He could tell Erik was probably imagining what his children's life would be like without the other twin, or maybe he was realizing how close he'd come to losing his own son.
"That's…I don't…" started Erik. Steve could tell Erik wasn't the type of man who was often at a loss for words, and he wished there was something else left to say, but there really wasn't. Steve had always been a God fearing man, but more and more recently it seemed like some divine being was just playing a great cosmic joke on everyone's lives. Was their meaning to any of this at all?
Steve pulled himself out of his thoughts and glanced at his watch realizing the meeting with the Secretary of State was set to begin in just a few short minutes, and hoping Vision was handling Wanda. He also hoped Erik's kids had woken up by now, so Vision could have hopefully started corroborating Erik's story with them before the meeting. "I'm sorry, but I have to go now. I'll be back as soon as I can, and once your story has been confirmed by your children, we'll get you reunited." Said Steve as he made to leave the room.
It looked like to Steve, Erik was still considering trying to take on Steve and make a break for it, but as Steve had displayed his strength by easily taking out Tony and breaking Erik's cuff, he figured Erik knew that wouldn't work.
"Again, please don't worry. Your children are in good hands." Steve said trying to reassure the worried Father.
To which Erik replied, "I'm trusting you Captain Rogers. Do not make me live to regret it because if I do, when I get out of this room, you will regret it."
The doors shut behind Steve, as Erik finished speaking, and though Steve didn't plan on breaking his word to Erik and find out for sure, he felt 100% certain that the man could fully live up to that promise.
1: Fuck you. You stupid, arrogant little man!
{Author's Note: I realize there was a longer time period between the event in Lagos and the Avenger's meeting with Secretary Ross, but once again I wanted to move the story along. I apologize if the German is incorrect in this chapter. One kind reviewer helped me fix my German from Chapter 6, and he/she may review this chapter's German, so if he/she does then I'll will update it. Also, sorry if there are punctuation errors. I didn't spend as much time reviewing this chapter as I probably should have.}