Chapter Four

Erik stared at the girl- Wanda- dazedly for a few seconds, as if his mind had just had enough and couldn't process any more shocks.

Wanda folded her arms, waiting for him to speak first. He just shook his head, looking from her to Raven. Then, abruptly, he pinched his own arm, closing his eyes briefly. "I'd like to wake up now."

Wanda rolled her eyes. So he was hoping this wasn't real? Just her, or Peter as well?, she wondered.

Raven sighed heavily. "Erik, this isn't a dream."

"No," he agreed. "More like a damned nightmare."

Wanda huffed angrily. "I assure you, Peter and I aren't that bad!" She glared at Erik. "And just so you know, telling you about us was his idea, and if you act like this around Peter and hurt him because of it, I will make you sorry."

Erik flinched slightly. Whether it was due to her threat or the idea of hurting Peter, Wanda had no idea. But he nodded slightly, so he'd gotten the message.

A strong gust of wind blew through the kitchen, leaving all three of them looking dishevelled. Wanda pushed her hair from her eyes to see Peter himself perched on the kitchen counter, grinning as always, but with a worried look in his eyes.

"Everything OK in here? Wanda, when did you meet Erik? What's going on?" He looked from Erik, to Wanda, to Raven. It wasn't clear who he was speaking to, but no-one replied. "Riiiight..." He focused on Erik. "Look, I'm sorry. We-"

Wanda narrowed her eyes at him. Peter corrected himself. "I thought you deserved to know about Wanda and me, I didn't know it'd shock you that badly..."

Erik inhaled deeply. "It's... alright." Well, it wasn't, obviously, but he had to say something. "I didn't mean to run away like that, and I was wrong to lash out like I did when we met," here he looked at Wanda, "I had no intention of hurting you, even before I knew that you were..." My daughter. He raised his hands as if fending them off. "Just, please, may I have a bit of time to think? We can talk later..."

Wanda's brow furrowed. For herself, she had no idea if she actually wanted to talk to Erik or not but it would be expected now that he knew about them. And she knew Peter wanted to get to know him, that's why this whole thing had started. "Fair enough. We're all really emotional right now. I think we all need time to calm down."

Raven rolled her eyes. "You couldn't have thought of that before you two started fighting?"

Wanda shrugged. She had no intention of apologising. Erik had been the one to start it. "It won't happen again."

Peter sped between her and Raven. "Fight? What fight? Who was fighting?"

"Nothing. It's over, forget it." Wanda caught Peter's arm, pulling him from the room. "You heard Erik, he needs time." She couldn't resist a parting shot, though. "Twenty-seven years without us wasn't enough."

Erik flinched as Wanda yanked Peter from the room, then glared after her. Had that remark really been necessary?

Raven was watching him with concern. "Erik-"

"Raven, just go, please. I need to be alone right now." He buried his head in his hands, listening to Raven huff and leave the room with a muttered 'fine'. Could this really be happening? A father, again... or still, technically, since he'd been a father long before Nina... He gritted his teeth, forcing memories of his baby aside, trying to imagine Wanda and Peter when they'd been little, all the years that he'd missed. But the only image his mind wanted to show was the little girl he'd raised, loved and lost... that horrible day in the forest...

Unbidden, the memory altered. A flash of the same scene, but instead of Magda and Nina being impaled by the arrow, it was Wanda and Peter...

Erik ground his hands into his eyes. Why had Peter insisted on telling him? Didn't he realise that fortune was never kind to anyone Erik loved or called family? Wanda, for all her sarcasm and attitude, seemed to want to keep him at arms' length. And she was the smarter one. Nothing good would come of Erik being in the lives of Marya's children. He'd do better to stay far, far away.

That isn't true, Erik. Charles' voice was earnest. Peter at least is desperate to get to know you. He wants you to be a family...

After what happened to my last one? No, Charles. I can't. Erik's voice was weary, almost pleading with his old friend to understand.

Erik...

I CAN'T! The all-too-real image of dead Peter and Wanda flashed behind Erik's eyes again. I can't lose anyone else.

So you just refuse to let yourself care again? Erik, you're intelligent enough to know that won't work.

Erik groaned. Charles...

Give them a chance. Give yourself a chance. What happens may surprise you.

Erik sighed heavily. Are the twins alright? I didn't upset or scare them with my... outbursts?

There was a brief pause, then Erik found he could hear the twins' voices. Charles must have been near enough to hear their spoken conversation and was playing telephone for Erik's benefit. He listened, trying not to feel guilty for listening- he wasn't eavesdropping, Charles was! And, now he was somewhat calmer, he was feeling curious about these two strangers that were his children... He should stay away, yet, despite knowing that, he wanted to be nearby, protecting them... He listened closely, smirking a bit at the twins' banter.


"... telling Erik was your idea, and now you're too scared to admit to Mom what you've done?" Wanda laughed as she sprawled on the couch.

"No, I'm not scared!" Peter protested, flinging his head back so it hung over the edge of the chair he sat sideways on, legs dangling over the armrest. "I just think we need some time to get used to Erik before we tell Mom he knows and open that can of worms. You know what she'll be like."

Wanda nodded. "OK, but when we- and I mean we, not just you making the decision- decide to let her know, you're the one making that phone call."

"Just kill me now, why don't you?" Peter muttered. He could already hear Mom's lecture, her voice tinged with panic. She didn't trust Erik, he knew that, but the man was his and Wanda's father. He deserved to be in their lives, no matter what Mom thought. His mind darted to something else. "Hey, what was Raven saying about you and Erik fighting?"

Wanda shrugged. "Nothing really. He came marching into the kitchen, looking for booze- I'm assuming right after you told him- and I... may have got the wrong idea. I get now he didn't realise who I was, but didn't know that then. I said something sassy, he got mad, it escalated to us both using our powers to scare each other. But I won." She couldn't suppress a grin. "Blocked his abilities like I used to block yours. Then Raven interrupted, she introduced me, then you barged in."

Peter shuddered. "Seriously? I hated how that felt!" His eyes lit up. "But hey! You used your powers and nothing bad happened!"

She rolled her eyes. "Peter-"

"I'm just saying, it's not all bad! Just like I've been telling you for years."

"Fine, yes, occasionally my freaky impossible-to-really-control powers have their uses. Still doesn't mean I'm going to start using them as casually as you do."

"But if you just relaxed and stopped being so tense about using them, maybe-"

"Peter!" Wanda nearly yelled. The lightbulbs overhead exploded, showering sparks and glass powder on the twins.

Wanda arched a brow ironically. "...Still think I should use this power without thinking?"

Peter swallowed. "At least it was only a lightbulb, not the whole ceiling. This I can fix in a heartbeat." And, just to prove it, he did.

Wanda sighed. "Thanks. Now, can we please get off the subject of my powers?"

"'Kay. Want to come hang out round Erik tomorrow? I'd say 'with' but he never lets anyone except the Prof hang with him, so we'd just have to hover."

"No." Wanda shook her head. "You dealt with the first hurdle, telling him. I think we need to back off a bit, let him figure out how much he wants to be involved, if at all. Let him handle things at his pace, not yours."

Peter stuck his tongue out at her. "You sound really nerdy when you go all 'Psych degree' on me."

She smacked him in the arm. "Doesn't mean I'm wrong. I didn't get my degree from an arcade machine, little brother."

Peter scowled. "You're seven minutes older than me, and you never let me forget."

"Nope, never." Wanda smirked, before twisting to grab the TV remote. "Wanna see if there's any good movies on?"

After some bickering, (Wanda wanted to watch 'Malibu', while Peter wanted to see 'Carpool'), they decided to watch 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'. As the movie started, classes ended for the day and they were joined by Scott, Jean, Jubilee, Kurt and Ororo. (Wanda noted with some amusement that the young white-haired African woman was happy to squeeze on the same chair as Peter, despite there being plenty of room on the couch and other chairs. She'd have to tease Peter about Ororo later, as he seemed a little too pleased to have her curled up with him...)

The atmosphere was relaxed as the movie progressed and the students chatted softly, including Peter and Wanda in their discussions when possible. Wanda began to see what Peter meant, about this being more a family than a simple school. It did feel like a home here...

A metal mixing bowl filled with popcorn floated from the doorway, hovering in front of everyone. Most of them, focused on the movie, helped themselves without thinking, though Jean wore a knowing smile. Wanda's eyes flickered to the doorway, to see Erik hesitating, then slowly entering the room and taking the last chair, apparently planning to join in the movie night. He moved slowly, as if expecting to be asked to leave. But only Wanda and Jean seemed to have noticed his arrival.

Erik's eyes met Wanda's as the popcorn bowl hovered in front of her. She peered down. Salt, ugh. She made a tiny gesture at the bowl and it turned to toffee popcorn. (She hoped that was all she'd done.) Satisfied, she helped herself to a handful and nodded tersely at Erik before returning her gaze to the movie.

Erik did not smile. Such a tiny victory didn't need a smile. But no-one had ordered him from the room, no-one was afraid to have him there, and he could enjoy watching the movie adaptation of one of his favourite author's books, while spending quality time with his new found-children, and he and Wanda had a possible truce- courtesy of popcorn. It was a start.

(Even if Peter and Ororo were making out in an armchair, apparently completely oblivious to their audience.) Erik smirked. He would tease Peter mercilessly later, threaten to give him 'the talk'...


Colonel William Stryker looked around at the tiny military base he and his men had been forced to relocate to after Alkali Lake was wrecked, sighing. There was nowhere near enough space or equipment here, not for what he had planned.

"How go the repairs at Alkali Lake?" He snapped at no-one in particular. Someone would answer.

"They're coming along, sir." The young lab technician sounded nervous. "The base should be usable again in a matter of days."

"About time," Stryker muttered darkly. "Any progress on the location of Weapon X?"

"N-no, sir. No sign of it. But t-there is one piece of good news..."

"Spit it out."

"The mutant you wanted, with the powers you planned to graft onto the younger one..."

Stryker's heart rate picked up. "What about it?"

"R-records show the mutant is at Xavier's school now."

Stryker frowned. "We'll never capture it out of there, that place is too secure." He straightened. "I'll send a strike team to shadow our target, to acquire it when it leaves the school grounds." He stepped forward, pressing a hand to a panel of one-way glass, looking at the tiny figure huddled in the corner of the bare white room. "And how fares our other small guest here?"

"Still not speaking, very traumatized. But no longer malnourished, and the fever's gone."

"Good. We were lucky to find this one before it died for real." Stryker chuckled at the irony- Magneto had gone on a rampage and joined that Apocalypse thing because of his daughter's death, when in fact the freak had lived. He'd buried her alive! And if it hadn't been for Stryker's men, then, however the kid had managed to heal and dig herself out, she wouldn't have survived long, alone in the forest.

As if the kid sensed his gaze, it looked up. Wide, scared, brown eyes stared up, unblinking. Stryker smiled eerily, even though he knew the kid couldn't see him. Finding this mutant had been a massive stroke of luck- it would make it far easier to gain control of the powers of the primary target, once they were implanted into someone younger, more tractable. Controlling the mutant born with the power he needed would be all but impossible- that freak was far too old. Giving the power to another? Far simpler. That kind of power, in a mutant that would be totally under his control as it grew up? It was Stryker's dream come true.

He looked back at the scientist. "Just keep the little one healthy until the primary target is acquired. That thing is no use if it's too weak to handle the genetic transference."

"Y-yes, sir." The young man stammered as Stryker marched away.


Nina huddled in the corner of the cold room she'd been in since the bad men brought her here. She wasn't sure what had happened. The bad men had wanted to take Papa away, her bird friends had come to help, then it all went black. She'd woken up later, in a hole in the ground, buried, with Mama. There had been a pain in her chest. She had cried and cried for help, but Mama hadn't woken up, but then her friends the deer had managed to dig her out. The hole was surrounded by dead birds and squirrels, which had made her cry. They weren't hurt, so why were they dead? Had they all gotten sick? She'd put them in the hole with Mama, then gone home to find Papa, but he wasn't there. The bad men must have taken him! She had run back into the woods, determined to wait until Papa got away from the bad people and came and got her. She knew the deer would take care of her til then.

Then, a couple of nights later, she'd heard lots of loud noise- cars, and a weird whirring noise she didn't recognise. She'd told the deer to go hide, in case it was hunters- she didn't want the deer hurt! Then there had been lots of lights in the woods, and men's voices. She'd inched closer, to see if Papa was with them. But all the men wore black, and had guns. She'd tried to run- it was the bad men again, and now they'd come to get her! Something had pricked her neck, she'd fallen, it went black again, and then she'd woken up in this cold place. They kept giving her injections and yucky food, and she had to wear this metal collar thing that hurt her if she called for any animals, but no-one talked to her, and there were no animal friends here, and it was so cold.

She whimpered, curling up even smaller, rocking back and forth. Why hadn't Papa come to save her yet? Had he forgotten her? Didn't he want her at all anymore?

Nina began to cry again, helplessly. Papa! Where are you?!

To be continued...