{Author's Note: This has to be the most random update ever, but I desperately need an escape from reality right now, so here ya go. Sorry for the lack of updates. My life has been hectic lately, and I apologize for any errors. I'm a little distracted right now.}
X-MEN WANDA POV
Wanda heard him before she saw him. The blood-curdling scream cut through the air like a knife, and flew straight into her heart.
Pietro!
Wanda turned toward the sound of her brother's scream that had nearly made her heart stop. She unconsciously released the hold she had on her two captives. They were now forgotten by Wanda, as was the rest of humanity, save one individual.
Whirling around, Wanda was greeted by the sight of her brother and another figure slightly above him and closer to her, plummeting through the air toward the unforgiving concrete below.
She didn't have time to comprehend why or how her brother had come to be free falling toward the earth. Wanda merely reacted based on nothing more than the protective instinct she had felt toward her brother since birth.
Wanda thrust both her arms out toward her brother's falling body. If she had had time to think about what was happening, Wanda would have been terrified of using her powers on Pietro, but without the luxury of time, there was only one thought in her head: save Pietro.
There had always been at least a small seed of terror inside Wanda whenever she used her powers, but doing whatever she could to keep her brother safe, that had always been as natural as breathing.
Unfortunately, although Wanda reacted almost instantaneously, there was still a fair amount of distance separating the twins, and though she had certainly refined her abilities during her time with the Avengers, using her powers across a distance greater than the length of a room had not been something she had really worked on…which now seemed to be a fatal, fatal error that might haunt her forever.
But Wanda's efforts were not completely in vain. Training with the elder Wanda, coupled with her unparalleled desperation to prevent something that would surely end her world, pushed her powers farther than she knew they could go.
The wave of swirling red psionic energy that shot from Wanda's outstretched hands, crossed the airport over the scattered remains of destroyed airplanes and other debris before connecting with Pietro mid-fall.
The result was not as perfect as she would have hoped…if she had had time to hope.
The energy smacked into Pietro, enveloping him, but Wanda was too far away to maintain control, stop her brother's decent, and lower him gently to the ground. Instead, the red chaotic force merely changed Pietro's trajectory and prevented him from descending in a completely vertical freefall. The cloud of energy Wanda sent out pushed the boy sideways and slowed his descent, but Wanda didn't know if it would be enough. The unyielding force of gravity still pulled Pietro toward the ground…just in a slightly more arch-like manner.
The boy still hit the concrete…and when he did, his screams abruptly ended, but the silence was short-lived, as Pietro's screams were immediately replaced by his sister's.
"PIETRO!" Wanda cried out, sprinting across the terminal toward where her brother lay, oblivious to the other falling figure's nimble landing on the ground next to the boy's still form. A jet soared over Wanda as she ran, and three men took off into the air after it. The masked man in all black who had landed gracefully next to her brother froze for a moment as he looked down at the boy. Though it was impossible to tell because of his mask, the man, known to his people as the Black Panther, seemed to be suffering through some great internal battle with his conscience. He took one final look at the young silver haired speedster and the girl rushing toward him, before he took off. The image of the boy's motionless form was difficult to push from his mind, but in the end, the man's memory of his father's bloodied and lifeless body was what remained in his mind and allowed him to leave his guilty conscience on the tarmac with the boy as he took off once again in pursuit of revenge. Not that Wanda noticed any of this, she had eyes for only her brother.
Reaching Pietro, Wanda quickly knelt down beside his still form. His head was turned away from her, causing her to hesitate for just a moment, afraid her brother's eyes would be open and unseeing in a cold gaze of death. Putting aside her fears, Wanda gently turned his head toward her. Thankfully, that particular fear turned out to be unfounded, but that didn't calm Wanda's racing heart. Pietro's eyes weren't staring blankly into space, but they were shut, meaning he was at the very least unconscious.
"Pietro! Pietro! Please be alright! Wake up! Please…" said Wanda begging her brother to respond, while holding his head carefully between her hands.
Tears streamed down her face as she hugged her brother's body more closely to herself, running one hand through her brother's terribly mussed up hair as her pleas became more desperate and less articulate. "You—you have to wake up Pietro…P—Please wake up. I only just got you back….I can't live without you again…please…"
Suddenly, the elder Wanda appeared across from her on the other side of Pietro. Wanda hadn't even heard her run over, too engrossed in her own despair.
Wanda raised her eyes to meet the older girl's that seemed to reflect just as much fear as she felt.
"He—he won't wake up…I tried—I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't c—catch him—" Wanda choked out with a sob. "I don't know what to do!"
The Avenger reached out and gently tried to remove the younger girl's hands from Pietro, but that only made Wanda pull her brother's seemingly lifeless body more tightly to herself.
"Wanda. Tell me what you feel." The older girl said curtly and anxiously in her heavy Sovokian accent.
"Wh—why—I don't—why does that matter?! I have to do something! My brother—" Wanda could barely speak. Why was her mentor asking her how she felt! Obviously she felt like her world was falling apart because her brother could very well be dead, and she couldn't do anything about it!
Oh God. No. Please don't leave me, Pietro. Please. You can't be gone. You can't. I'm so sorry I ever left you. Please please don't leave me!
"It matters," said the older girl, "because if you still feel whole, and you still feel your heart in your chest, even if you can only feel the pain there, then your brother is not dead! Do you understand me?! He's not dead! Because if he was, you wouldn't feel alive at all! And he needs you to be strong for him, and to let him go so I can look at him and try to help. This is not your fault Wanda. I should have been watching him, but you need to let him go so I can check his vitals and do everything possible to help him."
"O—oka—" Wanda started to say as she began to lower Pietro's head off of her lap, when a small whimper rang out between the girls, and Wanda's eyes shot down toward her brother just in time to see the boy's eyes slowly open.
"Pietro!" Wanda said smiling through her tears.
The boy didn't really answer, instead he gave another groan of pain. Wanda was just about to question her brother as to where he was hurting and what she could do, when a shadow passed over Pietro's face, blocking out the sun. Wanda lifted her head upward to see the form of her father adorned in his cape and helmet, his usually carefully composed face the picture of worry.
A little while earlier...
ERIK POV
At long last, Agent May stated they were closing in on their destination. Finally, he was close to the two people who had once more given him a purpose in life. He was drawing nearer to the two people that were the last thing on his mind when he went to sleep at night and the first thing on his mind when he woke up in the morning. Though the pain and anger of his past were still there, being a father once more had made him realize that his children would forever motivate him in a way revenge and hatred never could.
Erik was just starting to question whether Agent May had been being truthful about their proximity to the airport, when they came out of a cloud and there it was, mere miles ahead of them on the earth below.
Erik let out an inaudibly breath of air that he didn't realize he'd been holding. God help him, if he ever let his children out of his sight again after all of this.
"What are you doing?" Erik asked suddenly, his powers alerting him that the aircraft was slowing down, and beginning to descend. Though it was in sight, they weren't nearly close enough to the airport to consider landing. Nowhere near close enough to see that Wanda and Pietro were alive and well.
"Repaying my debt to Agent Hill as I agreed to." Answered Agent May unemotionally, as the jet completely stopped its forward progress, and began to lower toward the ground.
"And you agreed to get me to the airport, did you not? We're still a good ways out." Replied Erik in growing frustration but trying to remain calm.
"I am aware of that Mr. Lensherr." answered May.
"Then what is the issue? Take me the rest of the way!" Erik replied trying and failing to keep his anger in check as he plastered May with a cold stare.
"The issue is that I'm not an Uber. I work in the shadows, and I don't intend to go announcing my participation in something in which I should not and would not be involved had I not owed Agent Hill a favor. We can't all go around wearing capes, Mr. Lensherr. Some of us have to work behind the scenes in order to keep the world turning, and it's not hard to guess, based on the skills that you possess and your attire, that whoever you are meeting at that airport and whatever goes down is likely to be reported to people I'd rather not encounter." Said May unmoved by Erik's obvious disdain and intense glare that would have lesser men cowering in their boots.
"This is ridiculous. Trust me, whoever we run into, I will have their full attention." Said Erik. "I cannot waste valuable time walking from here!"
"Be that as it may, it's an unnecessary risk. My jet. My choice." Answered May much more calmly than Erik.
"Fine, then." Said Erik, standing up as the jet touched down, his cape whipping around behind him.
May hit the button to open the back of the plane, but Erik forced the metal door down more quickly, too impatient and annoyed to wait. He accepted that he had no other option but to walk the rest of the way to the airport, but that didn't mean he was happy about it. He considered forcing the jet toward the airport, but that would only waste his energy and it wouldn't really be quick enough to justify commandeering the jet. He also reminded himself that it would be a bad idea to anger Agent Hill's allies because Erik had no idea how long he would be in this universe and he couldn't afford to make enemies at every turn, since he already seemed to make them without even really trying; nor could he justify killing May. Up to this point, she had been helpful and killing her wouldn't accomplish anything…though it might bring Erik momentary satisfaction.
Erik exited the plane without any other departing words by either party. He didn't look back as he felt the jet rise behind him. He just started off at a steady pace toward the airport steeled with renewed determination.
Erik marched quickly, his boots causing the coarse grass to crumple beneath him. As he crossed the open field, he couldn't help but feel something was wrong. He hoped it was nothing, but it was frightenly similar to the feeling of walking into the Maximoff household and finding Pietro gone or coming home to find his home ablaze with his baby girl inside.
Erik quickened his pace; as he did so, he felt the distant presence of metal soar threw the air off to his left.
Erik looked over, expecting to see May's jet returning, but instead he saw a different jet speeding away from the airport with three flying figures that could only be members of the Avengers following it. It immediately occurred to Erik that there was at least some possibility that his children could be inside. If that was true, he would once again be separated from his only family.
Erik thrust out his arms, attempting to hold the jet back, but he couldn't do it. It was too far away. He could just barely feel the tingle of metal running through his body.
Erik dropped his hands and took off running toward the jet and its followers with a desperation that only a parent could feel. His cape billowed behind him as Erik's long legs nearly flew across the field.
Then suddenly, a bright gold stream of light hit one of the flying figures causing him to tumble out of control toward the ground below, while the other two figures dove toward the falling man.
Erik paused momentarily in indecision. The jet—and quite possibly his children—was growing farther and farther away. Erik made one more frantic attempt to latch onto it, but his attempt was futile.
It took all of Erik's strength to push the fierce loss of having potentially let his children slip through his fingers again, but he knew if they were here, they wouldn't even hesitate to help the man falling out of the sky, so Erik tried to be the man that they believed he could be, and he started running forward again with one arm outstretched.
It was clear the other two Avengers weren't going to catch their falling companion, so that meant Erik was his only hope. But as fast as he was running in an attempt to get close enough to control the man's metal suit, he knew he wasn't going to be fast enough…at least not completely.
As he ran, Erik pushed his powers as far as they would go. He felt himself make contact with the man's suit, and Erik hastily tried to stop his fall, but he couldn't do it. He wasn't close enough to have complete control. The best he could do was slow his descent, but the man still crashed into the ground at far too great a speed.
When the man made contact with the ground, Erik stopped running forward. There was nothing more he could do anymore. The man was either dead or critically injured, and Erik would be no help to him. So, unnoticed by the Avengers,—who Erik was now able to identify as Stark and Wilson—Erik changed his direction and set off toward the airport once more. Hoping beyond all hope that his children were still there.
As Erik reached the edge of the airport, he slowed his pace from a jog to a hesitant walk. The place was a mess. It looked as if a tornado had raged through it.
Erik's heart beat faster. Maybe it was better if his children were on the jet he had been unable to stop. Better that than them lying crushed somewhere beneath the surrounding wreckage.
As Erik walked around a plane that was still partially intact, his eyes came to rest on something that surely should have stopped his heart for all of the fear it caused to rise up inside him.
His daughter and the Wanda of this world were kneeling down on the ground with a body between them, and though his daughter's back blocked most of his view, there was no mistaking who the skinny legs and silver clad feet that stuck out between the girls belonged to.
Pietro.
Once again Erik found himself running. He crossed the tarmac faster than he would've thought possible, but neither girls' focus left Pietro for a second. It didn't seem that they had even heard him as there was nothing more important to them than the boy between them.
When he came to stand behind his daughter, the tightness in his chest lifted, but only slightly, at the sound of pained groan emanating from the boy.
Erik saw his son's eyelids struggling to open as his shadow cast over Pietro's face, and his daughter finally noticed his presence. She looked up at him, fresh tears along with despair and worry were all blatantly present on her face, and Erik wondered if his own fear was just as clear.
"What. Happened." asked Erik trying to keep the tremor out of his voice, while failing to keep the metal in the surrounding area from shaking along with his growing fear, as he knelt down beside his daughter, and ran a hand through Pietro's hair.
"Ow." Pietro let out quietly. It looked like it took a great deal of effort, but the boy's eyes finally came fully open, though his gaze seemed out of focus, but the boy tried to sit up nonetheless.
Erik felt the pressure in his chest ease off a little more, relieved that his son was capable of making an effort to sit up, but Erik still placed a firm but gentle hand on Pietro's chest to prevent him from doing so.
"Easy Pietro. Lay back. Don't try to sit up." Said Erik.
"What happened?!" Erik asked again more forcefully this time, tearing his gaze away from his son momentarily to look at his daughter. He wasn't angry at his daughter, and he didn't want her to think that he was, but that didn't mean he wasn't angry just in general.
"He—I—" Wanda couldn't seem to find the words to speak. Erik didn't blame her, when someone you loved was hurt, it was hard to think straight, but Erik knew he couldn't afford to lose focus when Pietro was injured.
"He tried to stop a man who was attempting to board Steve and Bucky's jet, and—and he got him off of it, but he fell from—from…too high." Said the other Wanda her voice heavy with regret. "I'm sorry…I wasn't paying attention. I didn't—I didn't see. Your daughter, she slowed his fall. He'd be dead if she hadn't."
Erik felt his chest swell with pride at the knowledge that his daughter had probably saved Pietro's life, but that didn't lessen his worry for the boy as he tried to comprehend what he had just been told.
"Da-Dad? Wanda? Wh't's go'n on?"
Pietro's voice sounded small, wounded, and confused and it tugged at the edges of Erik's hurting heart.
"Shhh, Pietro. It's alright. You're going to be fine. We're going to get you help. Don't worry." Erik said as his son's dark eyes finally focused on Erik's own. Erik ran his hand soothingly through the boy's hair once more.
"Kkkay." Said Pietro quietly, closing his eyes again.
"No, Pietro." Said Erik running his thumb over the boy's forehead to coax his eyes back open. "You need to stay awake, Kleinen Geparden1. You probably have a concussion." At least, Erik hoped that was all that was wrong with his son. There was a cut above one of the boy's eyes, though it wasn't bleeding too badly. A rock or something had probably hit him when he made contact with the ground. But as far as other injuries went, Pietro was starting to shift his legs and arms around a little restlessly or more likely in pain, but Erik took that as a good sign that he hadn't suffered any major damage. Though Erik knew enough about anatomy to realize that internal injuries weren't always readily apparent, so he knew that he had to get Pietro checked out as quickly as possible.
"He needs a doctor. Where can we take him?" Erik asked turning his gaze on the elder Wanda.
"I—I don't know. I'm sure when the Tony's reinforcements get here, they'll help him. They'll arrest the rest of us, sure. But he's just a child." Replied the older girl, looking back down at Pietro in concern.
"She is right." Said Vision gliding gracefully toward the huddled group, his unexpected presence catching all three of the kneeling individuals off guard.
"I deeply apologize for the injuries your son has sustained, Mr. Lensherr, but Wanda is correct that Steve's companions must be held liable for their actions under the law. Yet, regardless of your son's misguided actions in attempting to assist Captain Rogers, I assure you he will receive the finest medical care available. I feel great guilt for young Peter's suffering...among other things." Said Vision turning for a moment to look off into the horizon toward the direction of where the man Erik had tried to save had fallen. "I should have made a greater effort to ensure your children remained behi—"
As Vision turned back toward the group, he stopped speaking abruptly as Erik, with his powers, threw the remains of a giant airplane's wing directly at Vision, which of course passed straight through him much to Erik's annoyance.
"He will not be going with you!" said Erik heatedly getting to his feet. Somewhere in his mind, he knew Vision wasn't to blame for his son's current situation. Much like Erik, when his children set their minds to something they wouldn't be moved from that decision, so he knew there was nothing anyone could have done to stop Pietro and Wanda from trying to fight for what they believed in. But that didn't stop Erik from needing someone at which he could direct his anger, and he was level-headed enough to realize he couldn't blame Wanda of this world as he had in fact directed her to stay away from his children, but he had made no such comment to Vision.
Erik continued, "If it were not for Stark and all of you who supported him, my son would not be in this situation in the first place! I will find somewhere else to—"
The sounding of retching cut Erik off mid-rant, and he returned quickly to his son's side to find him sitting up and puking quite nearly on the elder Wanda, who seemed unconcerned by the vomit but extremely concerned about Pietro, as was his twin.
"It's alright Pietro. You're okay. It's just a side effect of the concussion. You're alright." Said Erik trying to assure himself as much as Pietro. As the boy finished vomiting, Erik took the end of his sleeve and wiped the remaining residue from around Pietro's mouth. Then he carefully scooped Pietro up bridal style and stood up once more, wondering as he did so if there would ever come time when it took any effort at all to pick up his son. Erik cringed momentarily at how easily he could still feel Pietro's ribs, despite the little bit of weight he had managed to put on in the past few weeks, but he had to deal with one crises at a time. Right now the fact that he could feel the steady rise and fall of the boy's chest against his own was the more important factor.
His sister had risen right along-side Erik and clutched Pietro's outer hand tightly in her own. "Stay awake, Pietro. You've got a stay awake, remember?"
"Cn't fo'get…guys k'p remindin' me. D'nt get why th'o. 'mm tired." Pietro managed to mumbled from his position against Erik's chest, causing Wanda to dawn a strained smile, a little reassured by the fact that her brother was still conscious, even if he was confused.
"D'nt feel v'ry good th'o." Pietro slurred
"I know, Pietro. You'll feel better soon. We're going to go…" Erik trialed off.
Where were they going to go?
Erik had no idea where the nearest hospital was, and even if he did, he didn't want them poking and prodding Pietro, which once they inevitably discovered he wasn't quite normal would probably be all they'd want to do. But he didn't want to go back with the Avengers either. He didn't want to be forever entangled in their web of coercion, but it was seeming more and more likely that if Pietro were to receive adequate medical attention, they would be the only ones who could provide it.
That's when a familiar voice behind him broke the silence, "It looks like you need a ride again."
Careful not to jostle Pietro, Erik turned toward the owner of the voice: Agent May.
"Don't." said May holding up a hand. "Before you say anything. I did not come back here because I felt guilty for making you walk. After I dropped you off I just happened to cross paths with another aircraft, which was piloted by none other than Captain America. From that it wasn't hard to deduce that you were either here as a friend or foe to him. Based on recent events and the 'conversation' you were just having, I think it's safe to assume the former. And against protocol or not, if the boss ever found out I didn't do everything I could to assist the Captain America and his allies, then I'd probably be out of a job. So. It looks like you could use a doctor. I happen to know a good one who's close by. If you can trust me, then I'll take you to her."
Erik tightened his hold on Pietro. Should he trust this woman who he barely knew? The woman who had delayed Erik from reaching his children sooner and possibly prevented him from stopping his son's fall, but who had also ferried him to another continent. Or did he go back with the Avengers who, as capable as their medical staff might be, were controlled by people who at the very least would no doubt continue to try to exploit him and one day, quite possibly, his children.
"Erik." It was Natasha's voice that pulled Erik from his thoughts this time. He hadn't seen her approach, but there she was, standing in a skin tight jumpsuit where Vision had been a minute or two before but was no longer. He had probably taken off to assist Stark or inform him of what was happening here.
"You should go with her." Said Natasha. "Vision's right. We would help your son, but Ross won't be happy with everything that's happened and you being less than cooperative. He needs to hold people accountable. And whether that means coercing you to work for him or locking you up, it definitely doesn't mean letting you go home, if you do somehow find a way to go back to your own universe."
Natasha lip turned up into a small smile. "You don't have to deal with this world's problems Erik. I suspect your world has quite enough to occupy you. Besides, you've literally got your hands full already."
Erik knew what Natasha was saying was the truth. If there was one Avenger he actually trusted, it would be her. But he didn't know what to say to her, so he just nodded as the sound of sirens started to pass through the air. Evidently the Avenger's reinforcements, were getting close.
"I'll take that to mean you're accepting my offer." Said Agent May. "Let's go then. Surprisingly, I don't actually feel like fighting my way out of here today."
"I'm coming with you." Said the elder Wanda.
Erik was about to say no, but then she continued before he could.
"Please…I need to know that he'll be okay." Said the girl looking up at him. Her words laced with more sadness than anyone her age should ever carry.
Erik was still going to argue with her; He remained unsettled by the idea of having her around his children, knowing who she really was, but he didn't really have time to argue and if someone tried to follow them, it wouldn't hurt to have another superpowered individual on their side.
"Alright." Said Erik gruffly, causing the young woman to break out in a relieved smile and head toward Agent May, but a man with a bow and arrow who had been hanging back unnoticed by Erik until now and who Erik didn't recognize but assumed was another Avenger—apparently there were a lot of them—pulled her to the side and exchanged a few quick words with her before letting her continue on her way and gazing at Erik rather accusingly.
Erik paid him no mind though, as he—with Pietro in his arms—headed off to follow Agent May toward wherever she had left her jet.
"Erik." Said Natasha approaching him as he turned to leave.
"Try to remember to be a father, before a fighter. Now go." Said Natasha giving him a shove, gentle enough to not actually cause him to move or anyway threaten his grip on Pietro.
Erik nodded once more, looking down at the child by his side who still looked terribly distressed as she whispered reassurances to her brother in an effort to keep him awake and the child in his arms who was struggling to remain conscious.
"I will." Said Erik as he finally headed off toward where the other Wanda and Agent May were waiting, thankful that whatever was to come, he had the two most important people in his life—in this world or another—back with him.
1: Little Cheetah
{Author's Note: I feel like people are a little out of character in this chapter. I struggled to get into their heads this time for some reason…I had a fun time writing Erik and Wanda's parallel struggles though.
Comments bring light to my life. Thanks for reading.}