AN: So I just want to say up front that I'm basing Magneto's prison off of what I can remember from X2 when Xavier visits him...but it's been a while since I actually watched it, so...I hope it turned out okay.
Chapter 5: Sins of the Father
November 22, 1994: The McGonagalls landed in the back of an empty alley about a block away from the prison. "Come along now," Minerva instructed her children, transfiguring her black robes into a simple dress with a wave of her wand and storing the yarn in her bag.
The small group walked together in silence down the lamp lit street to the visitors' entrance. "We're here to visit Erik Lehnsherr," Minerva told the guard at the main desk.
"All of you?" said the large man, cocking an eyebrow curiously.
"Yes," said Minerva curtly. "We're his family."
XXXX
Rouge finally left Remus' room around dinner time. The pair had decided to meet up again in the morning so that Rogue could give her brother a tour of the school and introduce him to her friends. In the meantime, Remus decided to turn in early, leaving Rogue to wander down to the kitchen on her own. Though the dining room was full (as always this time of day), the kitchen had only one occupant. Logan sat on one of the bar stools at the marble-topped island, nursing a beer and staring at the wall with an intense frown on his face.
"Hello, Marie," he said gruffly without turning when she entered.
"Hi Logan," she said, pulling out a plate and filling it from the pots on the stove (tonight was spaghetti with breadsticks, meatballs, and a vegetable medley). Once that was done, she grabbed a can of Diet Coke from the fridge and sat down beside him.
"How was your day?" Logan asked, taking a deep gulp of his beer.
"It was nice," said Rouge. "Ah like Remus; he's a nice guy. He showed me pictures and told me stories about our parents and the rest of our family."
Logan grunted. "He still think I'm yer dad?" he asked.
"Yeah," said Rogue, "an' if the pictures are anythin' to go by, either you've got an identical twin out there somewhere…or you really are our dad."
XXXX
"I'm sorry ma'am," said the nervous young guard outside Erik's plastic prison, "but I have to search you for metal. We can't allow any in there."
Minerva stared down her square spectacles at him. "Young man," she said, "I am quite aware of the particulars of your job. If you would be so kind as to make this quick, I would greatly appreciate it. I would very much like to speak to my husband."
"Yes, ma'am," replied the nervous guard, quickly scanning her with his metal detector. "You're clean."
"Thank you," said Minerva primly. "Now, children, please cooperate with Mr.," she peered down at his badge, "Bentley, so we may get on with this visit."
"Of course Mother," replied Mattie, stepping forward and allowing Mr. Bentley to scan her. Lorna was quick to follow her sister's example, as were Malcolm and Pietro. Wanda required a bit of nudging from her twin before she grudgingly allowed the guard to scan her as well.
"You're all clear," said Mr. Bentley. He nodded to the second guard in the control booth and the man flipped a switch which extended a clear plastic pathway from the entrance out to Erik's clear, plastic cell.
Once the pathway was locked in place, Minerva led her children toward it. The door of the cell swished open automatically when she reached it. "Hello, Erik," she said. "It's been a while."
XXXX
Remus' mind was too wired to sleep, though he certainly tried. Finally giving up on the futile endeavor, he decided to go for a stroll out on the grounds. Making sure to dress warmly, he made his way through the vast halls of the mansion to the ground level, where he finally found a small back door that led out into a well-kept garden. He had already settled against the trunk of a particularly large oak before he realized he was not alone in his quest for solitude.
"I'm sorry," he said softly, pushing himself back to his feet, "I didn't mean to intrude."
"Nein, it is no trouble," said the friendly voice in the mellow baritone of a young man. "Please stay."
Remus paused and let himself slide back to the ground. "Thank you," he said.
The pair sat in silence for a while until the man in the shadows finally spoke. "Vat brings you out here tonight, mein freund?" he asked curiously.
"Too many memories," said Remus with a sigh. "I can't sleep."
"I understand," said the other man. "Sometimes mein memories grow too much for me as vell."
"Have you—have you ever run across a piece of your past you'd rather forget?" asked Remus hesitantly. "Something that draws out old hurts and causes you to second guess everything you thought you knew?"
"Ja," replied the man after a moment. "I have."
For the first time Remus looked up, peering into the shadows created by the dim evening light and the high brick wall. With his keen, wolfish eyesight, he could make out the tall form of a man, but there was something strange about him. "It was my father," admitted Remus. "I saw him die when I was a child, but now he's suddenly here and he doesn't even know me."
The man in the shadows shifted slightly into the light. "It was meine mutter," he said, stepping fully into the light. "She abandoned me as a child and when we met again as adults, she still did not vant me."
Remus smiled sadly at the blue skinned man with glowing yellow eyes and a forked tail. "Sometimes I wonder if it would have been easier if I'd never known him," he said.
"It is not, mein freund," said the blue man, stepping closer and gingerly sitting beside Remus. "Mein vater died before I could know him. Now I vill never know if he loved me or not."
Remus place a gentle hand on the man's shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "I suppose it hurts no matter how or when you lose your parents, eh?"
"Ja, mein freund," he said, smiling a smile that was full of sharp, pointed teeth, "it does."
XXXX
"Hello, Minerva," said Erik. The man was sitting tiredly at his small table, fingering the plastic pieces of his chess set with long, elegant fingers worn with age.
Minerva's face softened and she sat down across from him. "How are you, dear?" she asked gently. "You didn't sound well when we talked earlier."
"I've been feeling a bit under the weather," he admitted, "but the doctors assure me that it's nothing to be concerned about."
"I'm glad," said Minerva sincerely. "Has Charles been to visit lately?"
"He stops by every week, if he can," replied Erik. "How are your students?"
"They're a good bunch this year," said Minerva. "No over-the-top troublemakers as of yet, but I've been keeping an eye on that Charlie Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks. Malcolm's been hanging around them."
"Has he now?" said Erik, a twinkle of amusement in his clear blue eyes. "How is the boy doing?"
"He's well," replied Minerva. "He loves it at Hogwarts."
"Have his powers been bothering him?"
"No," replied Minerva. "He's finally getting the hang of shifting at will." She paused a moment, glancing back at the walkway; the children were already halfway across. "The children are coming, dear."
He looked up, startled. "All of them?" he asked.
"Yes, dear, all of them."
"Even Wanda?"
"That was implied in 'all of them,' Erik."
"Oh, yes, right." He stared up at the door as they drew nearer. "How did you convince her?" he asked.
She raised an eyebrow. "Maternal guilt," she said dryly.
Erik chuckled. "My mother would have loved you," he said, not for the first time. She patted his hand in comfort and he squeezed back his thanks.
"We're here, Pops," said Pietro, the first to enter the cell, with his usual exuberance and dramatic flair. "Now we can get this party started."
Erik raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware prison was a party to you, son."
"Eh," he said, waving his father off, "you've been to one, you've seen 'em all."
"Oh really now?"
"Boys, behave," said Mattie serenely, passing past her brother to hug her father. "It's good to see you, Dad."
"You as well, Mathilda. You're looking well. That husband of yours is treating you right?"
"Of course, Dad," she said, rolling her eyes fondly. "You scare the crap out of him every time you meet."
"Yes, well, just looking out for my little girl," he said, meeting blue eyes that matched his own and smiling.
"You gonna get out so you can do that for me someday?" asked Lorna, stepping forward to take her sister's place by their father.
Erik hugged the only child to share his powers and ran a hand over her vibrant green hair. "You know I'd love to, dear one, but I can't make any promises."
"I know, Dad," said Lorna softly, "but a girl can dream."
"Hi Daddy," said Malcolm, pushing past his taller siblings to make his presence known (at thirteen, he hadn't yet hit his major growth spurt yet). "I miss you." He hugged his father tight.
"I've missed you too, little man," said Erik, smoothing back the unruly black hair atop his youngest child's head. "Have you been good for your mother?"
Malcolm rolled his eyes. "Yes, Daddy," he said. He leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "Momma doesn't tell as good of stories as you…even if I am getting to old for them," he hastily added.
Erik chuckled. "Of course you are. Now where's…" He looked up and there was Wanda, in all her pregnant glory, staring at him with a stony expression on her face. "Hello, Wanda," he said.
"Hello Father."
XXXX
"Are you so sure you're not our dad?" Rogue asked Logan curiously as she rinsed off her plate and put it in the dishwasher.
Logan grunted. "Kid, I'm not sure of anything in my past," he said gruffly.
"So you could be," she persisted.
"Why are you so stuck on this?" asked Logan.
Rogue shrugged. "Ah just think it'd be cool to have a dad again and, well, you're already the closest thing ah have already. Besides, from the way he talks about him, Remus really looked up to our dad." She smiled crookedly at him. "He's a nice guy, Logan," she said. "Ah think he deserves to at least know for sure if you're our dad or not."
"Marie, you're awfully accepting of this whole thing," he said warily. "Are you sure he's not after you for your powers?"
"Logan, that was one time," said Rogue, sitting back beside him and placing a gloved hand on his broad back. "Besides, Remus isn't like that."
Logan snorted. "You don't know that, kid."
"Actually ah do," said Rogue. "He's a lot like you, actually, and you're a good person, Logan."
"Apparently I'm not," said Logan gruffly. "Good guys don't just abandon their kids—if he even is my kid," he added hastily.
"I'm sure you had your reasons," said Rogue logically.
"Not sure that's gonna be good enough this time, kid."
XXXX
"You look well," Erik said, looking over his elder daughter carefully. "How is the baby?"
"She's good," said Wanda shortly. "I'm due in three weeks."
"Wonderful," said Erik. "I'm glad to hear it." An awkward silence filled the small room. "How's your husband?" he asked, desperate to keep the brunette woman talking to him.
"He still hates your guts," said Wanda bluntly. "He didn't even want me to come, but Mother insisted."
"Well, whatever your reasons, I am glad to see you, Wanda."
She snorted in a very unladylike fashion. "It's a little late for that Dad," she said. "You weren't there for me growing up, you don't get to try and worm your way into my life now. I've done just fine without you thus far."
"Perhaps I'd like to make it up to you now, Wanda," said Erick calmly, keeping his expression even with practiced ease.
"Well, you should have thought of that before you chose your damn-fool crusade over your own daughter," she snapped, eyes flashing and hands crackling with red energy. "I'm done with you and your lame-ass, weak excuses. Call me when you get that personality transplant, Father…or not. I don't really care one way or the other." With that, she whirled dramatically on her heel (if she'd been wearing a cape it would have billowed magnificently) and stormed out of the cell.
"You've brought this on yourself, Erik," sighed Minerva. "Frankly, I'm surprised she spoke to you as much as she did."
"So am I, Minerva. So am I."
"Pietro, will you go after your sister and make sure she's alright?" Minerva asked her eldest child.
"I'm on it, Mom," said the silver-haired man, zipping out and back before anyone could so much as blink. "She's royally cheesed off, but otherwise fine," he said. "She doesn't really want to talk to anyone right now, so she's just gonna hang out in the lobby til we're all ready to leave."
Minerva patted Erik's hand consolingly. "Someday she may forgive you, Erik," she said. "Until then, do remember that you have four other children who love you dearly."
He smiled a small smile. "And a lovely wife I don't deserve," he said.
Minerva smiled back. "Yes, that too."
AN: I'm assuming here that Kurt's parents are Mystique/Raven and Azazel and that Azazel died at some point between 1962 (FC) and 1973 (DoFP) as the latter movie seems to imply.
AN2: I don't know German at all, so I've used Google translate for all my German needs. If you notice something wrong, please let me know!
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