Chapter Five
It had been several days since the twins' revelation to Erik and things had been (relatively) calm. There was still an awkwardness between him and his newfound family, and the two subjects that were unanimously ignored were Marya, and Magda and Nina, but, he reflected, things could be worse. Peter could be irritating, and had recently been causing havoc with practical jokes, and Wanda seemed to relish challenging every single thing that Erik said, but they weren't actively shunning him, and so far, his world hadn't imploded again. He was starting to feel faint stirrings of hope that maybe, this time, he had something that might last...
A shot of cold wind nearly knocked Erik off his feet, disturbing his thoughts. He steadied himself, then looked around for Peter, recognising the wind as the speedster's having run past him, but the boy was long gone.
"PETER MAXIMOFF!" Hank's yell echoed through the hall. "How many times do I have to tell you not to run in my lab?!" The blue-furred mutant stomped into view. Erik quickly (deliberately) stepped into Hank's path, blocking his way.
"That's three weeks worth of lab samples you've smashed, Peter, you menace!" Hank caught sight of Erik and froze, probably realising that yelling at/about Erik's son within earshot of Erik himself wasn't the smartest move. "Uh... Erik, do you have any idea which way Peter might have gone?"
"No, but knowing him, he's probably at the other end of the school grounds by now. Unless he stopped in the kitchen for a snack. You might find him there if you're lucky." Erik didn't move from the centre of the corridor, forcing Hank to edge slowly round him (thus giving Peter more of a head start, not that he'd need one, really.) Hank nearly seemed to be growling as he stomped off.
Once he'd gone, Erik grinned wryly, shaking his head. One of the things he'd learned about Peter the last few days was that, despite being within sight of thirty, the boy was remarkably immature. He had a strong suspicion that Peter had messed with Hank's lab on purpose, as one of his jokes, and Erik supposed he should go and have a word with him about that. It was what fathers did with misbehaving children, after all... and he did have a good idea where Peter might be.
He headed to the main part of the school, then made his way up to Wanda's room, as that was where Peter usually bolted to when hiding after a prank went wrong. Erik braced himself for another battle of wits with his daughter as he knocked on her closed door. He thought he heard movement inside. "Wanda? Are you there?"
"No, the door's opening and I'm talking to you because I'm on the opposite side of the school right now." Wanda opened the door, greeting Erik with her customary eye-roll.
"Hilarious. Is Peter there?"
She shrugged. "Maybe."
"Can I speak to him?"
A slight grin curled her lips. "I don't know, can you?"
Erik inhaled deeply. "Fine. May I talk to Peter, please?"
She made a show of glancing behind her. "Sorry, no."
Erik assumed Peter had told her no, and he counted to ten in his head. "I think you and I would both rather I discipline Peter for wrecking the lab, than let Hank do it."
Wanda's eyes darkened. "Discipline?"
"I just meant talk to him! If I don't, either Hank or Charles will. You don't need to make this difficult." Erik tried to use a reasonable voice.
Wanda shrugged. "Maybe I'd rather the telling-off came from Charles or Hank. They're the actual staff members here, after all..."
Erik made a conscious effort not to grind his teeth. She was so infuriating at times! And to make things worse, she was trying not to laugh, clearly enjoying this. Fine. He'd play her at her own game. (How did it always end up coming to that? He'd yet to win a dispute with her...) He shrugged casually. "Well, if I speak to him, as a family member and not a member of the school's staff, he won't get much of a punishment, will he?" He tried for a friendly smile. "But if one of the teachers deals with this, he will likely be in considerably more trouble." He tried to peer past her into her room, hoping Peter could hear this- he might take the hint and stop hiding.
Wanda sighed, pushing the door open. Erik stared at... an empty room.
He turned back to Wanda. "Why didn't you just say he wasn't here?!"
She actually laughed. "You didn't ask."
Erik counted to ten very slowly in his mind, to calm his rising pulse. "Do you have any idea where he is?"
"Yeah."
A pause.
"Are you going to tell me?!"
"Hmm..." Wanda tilted her head to one side with a grin, considering the matter.
Erik's glare softened immediately and a small smile appeared on his face. The way she tilted her head, that grin... Nina... Wanda blinked, surprised, at the change. "What?"
"You just looked... a lot like Nina just then. That gesture..."
Wanda scuffed her foot, unsure what to say now. Her and Erik's verbal sparring usually ended when someone butted in and/or one of them stormed off. Nostalgia about Erik's other family had been a taboo subject so far, as well. And to hear that she reminded Erik of his lost little girl... that she in some way resembled Nina, and so by default resembled him... Wanda was left at a loss for words.
The silence grew uncomfortable. Finally, Wanda swallowed, speaking quietly. "Peter said something about the stables, and a joke. He's probably still there if you wanted a word."
"Oh for God's sake, he had better not be feeding candy to the horses or something..." Erik headed off, already worried about what Peter might be up to now. He glanced back at Wanda. "Feel like coming to knock some sense into him with me?"
"No, I promised I'd play escort to Jubilee- she's got an afternoon free of class and wants to go to the mall, but everyone else is busy, so I said I'd take her. And good luck trying to knock sense into Peter. I've been trying for years- total lost cause."
Erik nodded once, heading off.
Wanda fidgeted with a curl of her hair. "But, um, thanks." Man, this feels weird. "Maybe we can hang out later or something? You could tell me about... Nina," Just saying the name felt like defiling a shrine. "If you wanted. She sounded like a very special little girl."
Erik paused, his eyes shining. He spoke without looking back at her, his stance rigid. "She was. And she'd have liked you. She often wished for a sister." He swallowed the lump in his throat, before coughing to hide the emotion in his voice. "I'd better go hunt down Peter. We can talk later. Have fun at the mall." His voice was as stern as ever as he walked away.
Wanda sighed heavily, leaning on the doorframe. Her first real conversation with Erik (that didn't involve trying to one-up each other) and she had no idea if she'd made progress, or not. She did want to hear about the little girl he'd loved so much, her little half-sister who she'd never know now, but did Erik want to discuss his past with her, really? He'd seemed emotional, but then had shut down seconds later. She shook her head slightly. All she could do was wait. The ball was in his court. If he came to find her to talk, great. If not... that was up to him, if he was ready or not. She couldn't force him.
Anyway, she thought as she checked her watch. Better go and meet Jubilee. We have to leave in five minutes if we're going to avoid taking half the students with us- their classes end soon. She darted back into her room, started dragging a brush through her mane of curly hair, heard Jubilee calling from the front hall, and gave up, yanking it into a ponytail instead, before grabbing the keys to the rental car that she still had, pulling on a jacket and running down the stairs.
In minutes, she and Jubilee had left the grounds. Wanda made light conversation with the teen as she drove. Her problems with Erik could wait until she got back.
They headed up the streets, then into the city. They never noticed the black cars tailing them the whole way.
After a couple hours of window shopping, Wanda was kind of bored, but Jubilee seemed to be having the time of her life, and she didn't want to burst the kid's bubble. She glanced around for escape ideas and settled on the food court.
"Hey, Jubilee? Wanna get something to eat and sit down for a bit? We can come look round more stores later." Though just what was so enthralling at looking at clothes and accessories for hours totally baffled Wanda.
Jubilee looked around wistfully. "OK. I am kinda hungry. But we're not done, right? We can come back later?"
"Yeah, sure." Wanda steered her towards the seating in the food court. "You go ahead and order. I want pizza, not fussed on toppings, but no anchovies. I'll be back in a sec." She headed for the restroom as Jubilee waved a waitress over.
Wanda only got as far as the narrow corridor that had the 'Ladies' and 'Gents' signs on the doors at either end when the outer door slammed open and three black clad men came in, surrounding her so she couldn't leave the way she'd come, or move in either direction. They stared at her in silence, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
"Can I help you guys?" She drew on the tiniest fraction of her power, in case it was needed.
A static burst from a handheld radio on one of the guy's belts made Wanda jump.
"Shadow Team, report, what's your status?" The voice coming from the radio was ominous. Wanda backed up a bit. This was not good. She could fight her way out if needed, but the thought of losing control in a busy mall, of hurting someone by accident, made her hesitate. Her powers could easily kill someone... maybe it would be better to try and call to Xavier telepathically instead?
One of the men sneered at her before speaking. "Target cornered, but not yet acquired. Civilians nearby. Request permission to cover our tracks, sir."
"Granted. Just don't make too big a scene. And do not lose primary target. The General will have our heads if it gets away." The radio went silent, and the black-clad team moved swiftly, as if they'd choreographed this. One of them seized Wanda's hands, effectively rendering her powers useless, as hand movement was required for her to use them, another smashed the fire alarm with his elbow, sending the alarm screeching, and the last guy lunged forward, something small flashing in his hand. Wanda felt a sharp prick in her upper arm, and immediately felt woozy.
"What..." Her knees buckled. She felt the guys grab her arms and legs and lift her, and tried to struggle, but her limbs weren't listening to her brain and she was so tired... Through the closed door, she could hear the staff evacuating the food court, leading the customers to wait outdoors until the fire department came.
The men were moving now, carrying her somewhere. She had no idea where, her eyes wouldn't focus. One of them was speaking into his radio again, but his words made no sense. Her head swam.
Xavier! Charles! Help! She screamed the thought as loud as she could, praying that he heard. They're taking me...
Everything went black.
To be continued...
