Archive of Our Own

Ororo Munroe was tired of sitting back and doing nothing. Peter had vanished into thin air days ago and nothing seemed to be happening. Initially, it had been shrugged off by some, like Scott, until Kurt had set down the Walkman and goggles that Peter never went anywhere without. Even his jacket was still haphazardly thrown on his chair. Thunder rattled the window as she looked at the two men in the professor's office. 

"Ororo, I know this is hard for everyone," Charles Xavier started, "but we must remain level-headed."

"Level-headed?" Ororo repeated. Lightning hit so close both men were surprised nothing was broken.

"Ororo," Charles approached her to try and calm her. 

"How can you be so calm? Have you even told his mother? After everything she has lost." Her eyes flicker to Erik. "You should feel something."

Erik bristled at that. 

"Ororo, now is not the time, especially for that. It is not-" Charles began, but she didn’t let him finish.

"The time for secrets ends when they risk the team, does it not?" She asked him.

"Yes, but you have to consider how Peter would feel about it.”

“But he isn’t here, and that’s the problem.” Ororo thought about her friends, the ones that accepted her despite her having aided Apocalypse. They accepted her. She thought of the family she had lost. She thought of Peter's little sister, never knowing why her brother would stop calling, stop sending her stupid cards, stopped visiting. No, it wasn't fair. "His family deserves to know." 

"They are better off not knowing, at least for now. We don't even know what happened yet."

"Secrets, more secrets." Ororo storms out.

Charles sighs. He already had Hank following every lead possible. He knew the team was just waiting for a chance to fight and get their friend back, but there was nothing to fight as of yet. Peter was just gone. He couldn't even locate the speedster with Cerebro. The storm raged on outside.

"She has adjusted well," Erik stated, earning a glare from Charles. 

"She grew quite fond of Peter while his leg was healing." He was sure Erik could relate to the weather witch's guilt. They had aided the man and could not really help Peter as the silver-haired mutant faced a man who was basically a vengeful ancient deity.

Erik seemed to consider something but said nothing.

"I do not think you grasp the reality of the situation, old friend," Charles stated. He knew Ororo, and at least a few of her teammates knew the truth about Peter's parentage. Ororo had one of the first to know. Raven and Jean had known. Charles’s heart hurt just thinking about them. He put his own grief and mistakes aside. They had returned to help them, not make things worse. Hank had appeared alongside Kurt in Charles and Erik's new home after Peter had vanished. Erik had shrugged it off as the boy being restless. Charles hated that Erik didn't know the truth, but he had promised the boy he would let him do it his way. 

Hours passed, and though the storm outside settled, the sun remained hidden. Ororo's point hung over the telepath as her clouds clung to the sky.

"Where are you?" Erik finally asked. The metal bender had watched as the telepath stared at the goggles that Kurt had given him in Paris. He met Erik's gaze as he pondered the reality in which he found himself. Erik didn't understand how easily his world could fall to pieces. Seeing Peter's prized possessions held so carefully by the younger mutant had tugged at Charles' heart. They all knew that Peter hated being separated from his music, only begrudgingly allowing it when training in the danger room. Only letting it stay behind when forced to admit it was for his team's safety. He couldn't risk not hearing an order or a cry for help. So he agreed to leave the Walkman behind on training and missions. He had a team to protect now. But the goggles had concerned Charles. Hank had taken them while he was recovering. Only returning them when he was sure the speedster had recovered from the injuries. Peter had begged to get them back. Promises of behaving and going slow on his lips. But Hank had known better. He'd been forced to patch the seemingly fearless, speed-loving mutant too many times already. But he had returned them. Hank had assured Charles, one of the few times he had called and checked on the boy. Erik may not know Peter was his son, but Charles did. He would care for his friend's son. Someone had to. That was why Charles had agreed to return. He had agreed to help. The severity of the situation weighed heavily on his mind. His oldest remaining friend was losing his only son and didn't even know it. Charles could understand Ororo's feelings. 

"Charles?" Erik was beginning to get concerned.

"I am sorry, my friend," Charles said sadly. 

"What for?" Erik asked. Charles fiddled with the edge of the goggles.

"Is it to do with whatever secrets she said you were keeping?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Charles said as he set the goggles on his desk. Before he could reply Kurt appeared. 

"Hank found something," the teleporter stated. Without hesitation, Charles took the younger mutant's hand. Erik sighed and did the same. They were in Hank's lab in an instant. 

"What did you find?" Charles asked, dismissing Kurt as he did.

"I've never seen levels like this before," Hank said.

"Levels of what?" Erik asked.

"Radiation, cosmic microwave background radiation to be exact."

"And you were monitoring it, why?" Erik inquired.

"Well, after everything that has happened recently, we have expanded our observation range," Hank told him. Monitoring the skies had been added to Hank’s tasks after what happened to Jean. "I looked back at the readings from when Peter vanished, or as best as we knew, and there was a spike. The level has remained high since, but there's something off about it. I know that it isn't much, but it's the only lead we have."

"Then keep digging," Charles said. 

The three of them looked up as alarms started going off.

"What is that?" Erik asked.

"Perimeter alarm," Hank looked his system over. "Whatever it is, it is headed toward the front door." They rushed out of the lab.

The front doors flew open in a burst of red. A figure with glowing red hands walks through with arms raised. A blast hits the figure, knocking her back a few steps, but red shimmers around her as she remains upright.

"Where is he?!" The figure asked.

"One more step, and I hit you again," Scott stated, his hand raised to his visor. She scanned the gathering mass of people, seeming to ignore the threat he made.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Scott added.

That got a reaction from her. She glanced at him as she spoke. "My brother, where is he?" Her eyes land on Kurt. His distinct look was recognizable to her. "You, he spoke of you, he-" 

Metal wrapped around one of her wrists. She raised her other hand and, using her powers, wrenches her arm free before her feet lift off the ground. Fists and eyes were glowing red. Charles and Erik move to take point. Hank not far behind them. Her glowing eyes narrow on Charles. "You," she spoke, her voice harsh. "You told us he was safe here." 

Charles' eyes went wide. "We will find him," Charles said. She raised her hand, but before she could do anything, the lights flickered, and her wrists were twisted and dragged toward the door.

"Erik," Charles cautioned. "She is afraid."

"She is a threat," Erik stated as more wires begin to bind the intruder.

"She is Peter's sister," Charles grabbed Erik's arm. Erik released the wire that had snaked around the woman's neck but kept her arms bound until Charles added, "Please let her go." He did as was asked of him.

"Wanda," Charles said as he approached her. With a flick of her wrist, she stops him. Red angry marks marred the skin where the metal had bound her. She wasn't sure who to trust. She was angry and in pain, only a fraction of it from the confrontation. 

"If this is how you treat your children, I'm starting to think my brother and I were lucky to never know you," Wanda spat, glaring daggers at Erik. "No wonder, mother never told you." 

"What?" Erik stared at her.

"Wanda, please," Charles said. She used her powers to put more space between herself and the people who failed her brother. She would deal with them later.

Wanda's eyes met Ororo's. "You are his friend," Wanda took a step towards her, holding up a letter. "He always spoke such kind things about you all. What happened to Peter? Why is he not here?"

"Wendy?" Kurt asked. 

She nodded. "I have always felt him. Until now. Where is he?"

Ororo looked at Charles. Charles nodded. The X-Men filled her in on what they knew, which was very little. She turned to Hank. "Show me, please.” She was calmed some by the information she had gained. People were looking for him. Hank looked at Charles. The telepath, again, nods his approval. 

"Sure, follow me." Hank leads her to the lab.

Erik's mind is reeling. Pain and anger at Wanda's words. His fists clenched and his knuckles white. 

"Erik," Charles put a hand on the metal bender's arm. 

"Is it true?" Erik asked, jaw clenched.

"I…" Charles starts but stops. After a moment, he states, "Peter wanted to tell you himself."

"You knew, and you didn't tell me." Erik stared at him. 

"I wanted to, and I tried to get Peter to tell you, but he was-"

Erik held out his hand, Peter's goggles now in it. "Secrets," Erik repeated Ororo's earlier sentiments. "Secrets are choices." Erik, despite his anger, carefully wrapped his fingers around the goggles. The small metal pieces humming against his palm. "And you kept that choice from me." Erik turned on his heels and headed towards the lab.

"Peter never said you were so powerful," Kurt said once they had reached the lab. 

"He never said much of anything about you," Scott added.

"He thinks he's protecting me," Wanda said a sad smile on her face.

"Because of...well," Scott's sentence trailed off. Wanda studied Scott. She didn't need to see into his mind to figure out what he meant.

"My brother thinks it is his job to protect us, but he is always too late. And so am I." 

"You said you could feel him," Scott said.

Wanda nodded. "He jokes it's a twin thing." She shook her head. "I'm pretty sure it's a powers thing." She waves her hand, and red surrounds her fingers.

"And you think it might help us find him," Hank turned away from his computer to ask.

"I have to try," Wanda said.

"Wanda." They turn to see Erik in the doorway. "A word, please?"

"Peter would say that was already 3, technically 4, but sure."

"Wanda," Erik started to say when she joined him in the hallway.

"You didn't know," Wanda said. It was a statement, not a question. "Peter kept a lot from you. They both did." She gestured towards where Charles had joined Hank. "They didn't mean any harm. How does one tell someone that has lost everything they missed more than they knew." Wanda leaned against the wall and sighed. "You know, the last time I saw him. He was looking for you. He said you had settled down in Poland, not too far from where I was. I think he forgets how far places are apart because he can get anywhere so fast. He was going to find you," Wanda shook her head. "But he was too late." She looked up at him. "I'm sorry for what I said. It was unfair."

"You were angry."

"Mom says I get that from my father," Wanda smirked. Erik didn't know how to respond to that. "But the professor was right, I am afraid. I...I just don't know how to be me without him."

"Wanda," Erik started.

"Wendy," she corrected. "No one calls me Wanda unless something explodes. Like Peter, no one calls him Pietro unless he is doing something reckless, stupid, or both." 

"Okay, Wendy," Erik said with a nod. 

"And again, I'm sorry. You have suffered a great loss. It was not my place to say that."

The raw-edged wounds in his heart feel fresh and tear at him again, but not just for him this time. For her and Peter as well. The family he didn't get to have, and the sisters the twins would never know. It threatens to steal the air from his lungs. "They were your family too," Erik said sadly.

Wanda nodded tears in her eyes. "Peter is my only true family now," Wanda admitted. "Mama tried, she really did, but...she, it was too much." 

"What happened?" Erik asked. He genuinely wondered what would have caused the woman he used to love to push her daughter away, especially after what had happened to Anya.

She let out a shaky laugh. "She thought it would be safer if I stayed with family." 

"Why?" Erik wanted to understand. Why bring a child into the world just to send them away? Erik had no idea the twins were his. If he had, he would have gone to them.

"Because our stepfather was never a fan of...chaos, especially after my sister was born." She held up her hand, letting the magic flow through her fingers. "I couldn't stay. Peter wanted to go too, but she wouldn't let him. So I went to live with my aunt and uncle on a different continent." She smiled sadly. "They were kind and patient. They helped me learn, and what they couldn't do, well they knew people who could. But they're gone now. It hurt to be sent away, to be separated. It hurt Peter as much as it did me. To have your world wrapped around another person, from before you were even born, is something I can't even begin to explain." She rubbed at a spot on her chest, above her heart. "Being apart was not easy. When he was hurt, and I couldn't be there, it was awful." Her fist clenched, and tears fell. "But this...this is worse, he's gone and I'm empty and alone."

Erik can't help but hear the pain in her voice. So much like her mother's. The heart-shattering sobs after losing Anya echo through his mind. Instinct has him pulling his daughter to him. His living, breathing, and currently crying daughter. "You're not alone. We'll find him." Erik tried to assure her. He'd find his son if it was the last thing he did. He owed them that.

Erik managed to get his daughter settled in her brother's room. They had offered her a room of her own, but she just wanted Peter. Being surrounded by the things he enjoyed, it was like the residual energy eased her mind enough to rest. Erik almost envied her, almost. His world had been turned upside-down since she'd burst through the doors. He wasn't sure his own mind would ever settle. So many questions and lost opportunities weighed on his mind. Old wounds reopened and new ones inflicted. He wondered if Anya had lived, would she have looked like Wendy. It tore at his soul but at the same time made him feel light. He had not one but two children. Two children, he might have a chance to get to know, to love. Or would he just bring them pain? But they already knew pain. Peter had his bones shattered multiple times, and he still stood alongside his team, ready to save a world that had taken so much from him. Wendy, torn from her other half because a human thought she was too dangerous. Uncontrollable. If he had known, what would have been different? He'd have died before he let them be separated. But would he? He wasn't able to save Anya or Nina. They had been the light of his life, but he lost them to darkness, fire and arrows. Humans filled with hate. He had sought vengeance, but it never eased the pain. The pain he could see in his still-living daughter. They knew pain. 

"They also know love," Charles said as he neared him. "I know you don't like me in your mind."

"But I'm not doing a good job of hiding it," Erik sighed. 

"Your mind is far from quiet, but I don't think anyone here holds it against you, especially not today." Charles reached over and squeezed Erik's hand. "I'm sorry, Erik. I should have told you."

Erik nodded but didn't say anything. He'd already accepted how it happened. He didn't care that his friends had known and didn't tell him. He didn't care that his own children knew and didn't tell him. He just wanted his son home. He needed to get Peter back. 

Hank called them to the lab the next morning. "How did you discover this?" Charles asked as he looked at Hank's equipment.

"When she was showing Scott and the others her powers,” Hank explained, “the meters picked it up. I had been trying to figure out why the CMBR wasn't normal. It’s because it is more than just the radiation. Something was boosting it or utilizing it. And whatever it is, is similar to her powers."

"And you think we can use that to find Peter?" Charles asked. 

"In theory, yes," Hank said with a nod. 

"I don't like this," Erik stated. His arms crossed over his chest, almost like he was trying to keep his rapidly pounding heart in his chest. Doing his best to keep his outward appearance stoic. No one needed to know how anxiety-inducing this was. He was watching his daughter being hooked up to the machines in Hank's lab. Sensors and wires all around her. Hank and Charles were hoping that if they amplified her powers in a way similar to Cerebro, it might heighten her connection with Peter.

"All she has to do is say the word, and we'll stop," Charles assured him. "We don't want to hurt her any more than you do." 

"I'm not just going to sit here and do nothing," Wendy interrupted.

"There has to be another way," Erik said.

"But this we can try now, Dad," she told him."I want to do this."

Erik was sure his heart skipped a beat and his breath caught at being called dad. He didn't do an excellent job of hiding it by the way Charles was looking up at him with amusement. Thankfully, he didn't mention it. 

"I'm sure you can," Erik managed to say. "But I still don't have to like it." 

His daughter chuckled. "Does he always act like that?"

"More or less," Charles grinned. 

"No wonder Pete likes messing with him." 

"Your brother does love pranks," Charles nodded.

"And collecting things that don't belong to him. Wherever he is, I'm sure he has quite the collection." She grinned. "A bit of a criminal, just like his dear old dad."

Erik goes to defend his past but is stopped by Hank.

"Ready?" Hank asked.

"Yes."

Charles and Erik moved behind a glass divider. They had only seen a fraction of the powers she possessed. Wendy moved, cognizant of the machines she was attached to. She closed her eyes and called upon her powers. Magic. Chaos. She could feel it move through her, surrounding her. She could feel the change in the air, the raw power and potential at her fingertips. She let it flow through as machines hummed around her. She let it ground her, connect her. She could feel the forces that tethered her to reality. It was funny in a way. Her brother was always tethered to time. He could use it to his advantage. But she had something more vast, yet just as infinite, reality. She could feel those around her. Her eyes open, glowing red and focus on the swiftly beating cadence that comes with existence. Heartbeats, breathing, fidgeting fingers. She was feeling more bound to the world than ever before. She focused back on the physical tethers she had, the wires connecting her to the machines. She focused on that energy before reaching out into the fabric of reality, searching for anything that could connect her to her brother. She kept searching, reaching as long as she could. 

Erik watched as his daughter glowed bright red. Energy swirling as her hands moved. She was seemingly reaching for something just beyond her grasp. He wondered if this is what others saw as he would use his powers to feel the metal around him. 

"The resemblance is a bit uncanny," Charles answered his unspoken question. "Although, she is a bit more colorful." 

Erik didn't even have it in him to scold Charles for reading his mind. He was too caught up in watching the display of power before him. His children were so talented. In ways he could never be. He watched as the wires and objects around her seemed to rise with her. Her toes no longer meet the ground. He could feel the machines working. He could feel the metal nearest her moving. Then he could feel it fading. The red swirl of magic fading at the edges as he watched. He was glad he was paying attention when like a puppet that strings were cut, whatever energy she seemed to harness vanished. Erik called on his powers, using the metal on and around her to catch her. 

"Oops," she said with a breathless laugh.

"Yeah, oops," Erik grumbled as he helped her find her feet and supported her weight.

"That was awesome." She grinned. Erik rolled his eyes. Just a few words she sounded so much like her brother. The two of them would probably be the death of him at this rate, and they hadn't even gotten Peter back yet.

"In due time, my friend, in due time," Charles nodded.

"How'd I do?" She asked as Erik helped her sit back on the table so they could remove the sensors connected to her.

"You did wonderfully," Charles smiled.

"Yeah?" She looked at her father.

"Without a doubt," Erik nodded. "Up until that last part." 

She laughed, stilling to let Hank remove the wires.

"I have an idea, but give me a day or two, and we'll try again," Hank told them.

"Two days?" She repeats.

"Yes, two days. I have to modify some equipment, but," Hank said, stopping as he glanced over at Erik. "No, yeah. You also might want that time to recharge." She snorted a laugh as she hopped down from the table she was sitting on, swaying slightly on her feet as she did. Her father gripped her elbow to steady her. 

"He might be a living electromagnet, but-" she looked at her father and his stern expression. "Fine, I'll take it easy,” Wendy acquiesced. 

"Good idea," Charles stated. "Thank you, Hank. Let us know if you need anything." He looked at Wendy. "You must be famished." 

"Yes, thank you." Wendy nodded.

"So alike, but better manners," Charles grinned.

"I tried to take your front doors off their hinges, and he nearly strangled me." She gestured to her father. 

"But the door remains and you survived," Charles stated.

"Is he always like this?" She asked her dad.

"More or less," Erik shrugged.

"Yes, do forgive me for trying to see the best in people," Charles shook his head. 

"We'll try," Erik replied.

"But not too hard," Wendy added. "At least not until after food." 

Erik laughed. 

The next two days felt agonizingly slow to Erik. He hated having to just sit back and wait. He hated not being able to actively help get his son back. But even if he could help, there was no guarantee it would work. They might fail and they would have to start over, grasping at straws. He was thankful for one thing. Wendy had something to fill her time. She spent time getting to know her brother’s friends. They were all appreciative of the distraction it offered, but it lacked the jovial nature it would have had if Peter was there. The crazy stories she shared brought a painful longing instead of the warmth of a joyful memory. They were all grateful when Hank finally told them to suit up and get to the jet. 

"Now! Wanda do it now!" Hank shouted as the gauge he was monitoring peaked.

"I'm right here with you," Erik said, full armor on. The X-Men were near but farther away from the target. Erik had refused to budge. 

Wendy drew on her powers quickly. Red rapidly appears as she aims at the amplified target in the center of a clearing outside a small New Jersey town. Charles was doing his best to deal with anyone who might notice or have an issue with what they were doing. Hank had noticed an increase of radiation in the atmosphere in this particular area and found a way to use it. 

The target began to grow as the red of Wanda's powers engulfed it and began to expand, the center began to clear. 

"Come on," Wanda said through gritted teeth. She directed as much power and energy forward as she could. A pulse rapidly rippled from the target, knocking most of them back. Erik caught his daughter and braced them both through his armor with his powers. They had just managed to properly right themselves when they were nearly knocked back by a blur of a hug. Erik's brain took a moment to register what had happened. Before him was his daughter, on her knees and clinging to the form of her twin brother. 

"We did it," she laughed. Cheers came from the team, but neither Erik or his children seemed to notice.

"Please tell me, you're you, Wendy?" Peter stated as he gripped his sister's face. 

"Who else would I be, Pete?" She asked. Peter seemed to hesitate, causing Erik to step in. Magneto’s helmet clatters to the ground along with most of his armor, just before Erik drops to his knees and reaches out and pulls them both to him. Wendy chuckles when her brother freezes. "He knows, Peter." 

"I can explain." Peter started to pull away to try and explain, but Erik pulled him back to them. 

"Later," Erik said. And for once Peter doesn't argue because he can feel his father's heart-pounding erratically in his chest. He can hear the sniffles from his sister. And, though he wasn't sure he'd admit it out loud Peter could feel his own tears in his eyes. Once Erik's heart was no longer trying to beat out of his chest, he let himself relax. He let go of the twins and sat back on his heels. 

"Uh, hi guys," Peter said as he stood up to greet his friends. The speedster was quickly mobbed with hugs and bombarded with questions. Erik stood up, ignoring the protest in his knees as he did. And without hesitation, he reached out to help his daughter up. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, so her shaking frame could lean against him.

"You did amazing," Erik told her, voice soft like it was just for her. She nodded as she wiped away the tears on her face. They remained that way as they watched Peter interact with his friends until Charles told them all they needed to go. The portal and pulse had not gone unnoticed by the town, and unless they all wanted to be interrogated by local law enforcement, they should all head out. Erik and Peter helped get Hank's equipment back to the jet, and they were gone before the flashing blue and red lights reached the clearing. Erik watched as Wendy dozed off, her fingers entwined with her twin’s despite being strapped into her own seat and asleep. Peter's grip firm as he talked with Kurt. His gaze flicking back at his sister as she would shift in her sleep, adjusting his stance and grip if needed. Erik thought his heart might genuinely burst from the warmth that spread through his chest at the sight. How had he gotten lucky enough to have not one amazing kid but two? The twins were more than he had ever let himself dream of having, yet here they were. Together. Safe. He barely wanted to blink, let alone look away, or he feared he might wake up, and all have been his traitorous mind in his sleep. 

This is very much real, my friend . Charles' voice spoke clear in Erik's mind. 

Almost too good to be true , Erik mentally admitted.

Almost, but very real , Charles agreed.

Erik gently woke his daughter up as they approached the school. The sleepy smile it earned him brought a joy he hadn’t felt since he lost his Nina. As if sensing his emotions, Wendy took her father’s hand and squeezed it. He returned the gesture before returning to his own seat. He looked at Peter and chuckled when Peter quickly looked away. The speedster was clearly not used to Erik knowing the truth. Erik thought back to the interactions he had with the younger mutant in the past. He was trying to find the hints he had missed along the way that Peter was his son. It seemed painfully obvious at points now in hindsight. Mentions of how Peter’s mother had known a metal bender. The way Peter had corrected himself as told him that he joined the fight in Cairo to protect his family. 

It is hard to see things that you don’t know you should be looking for, Charles mentally reassured his friend. Don’t beat yourself up over it. They wouldn’t want you to. Charles nodded at the twins.  

The entire team insisted on sitting in on the somewhat informal mission debrief. They had told Peter about how they managed to utilize his sister's powers to essentially bridge the two realities. It helped that her counterpart was doing the same thing on the other side to try and help Peter get home. In turn, Peter told them all about the other realities version of his sister's warped town reality in her reality. How he had not only that Wanda's voice in his head, but Agnes, or rather Agatha, and her stupid necklace controlling him. He had three realities in his brain and boy was that a real headache. 

"Hold on, you were married in that reality?" Scott asked.

"I wasn't," Peter said, "Ralph Boehner was." 

"But that was you," Scott said.

"Who then was pretending to be the dead version of that reality's me."

"And your wife was like an ancient witch," Ororo stated. 

"With a weird pet rabbit," Kurt added. 

"So we're just ignoring the name,  'Ralph Bohner'?" Scott asked.

"You would have a dick joke for a fake name," Wanda laughed.

"Hey, I didn't pick it," Peter smirked. 

"And yet, I'm sure you find pride in it," Ororo said. 

"You know it," Peter nodded. Erik just shook his head. This was his son, his reckless, kleptomaniac, and somewhat immature son. And Erik wouldn't change him if he could. Erik wouldn't trade either of the twins for the world. He'd made that mistake before, never again. They were his world now, and he planned on fighting to keep it that way. 

The rest of the day was spent with the team and the students, seemingly celebrating Peter’s return. 

"He is hurting," Wendy said as she walked into her father's room. 

"How so?" Erik asked his mind immediately on edge.

"He said the other Wanda, that she…" she seemed to be trying to figure out what to say. "She had lost everything. Her parents. Her Pietro. Her soulmate. She didn't mean to hurt them  or anyone but she couldn't control it. She…" 

Erik pulled his upset daughter into a hug. He could relate to this other Wanda's pain. He had lost everything on multiple occasions. Grief had driven him to do unspeakable things. He held his daughter tight.

"He said she was like me, but at the same time different. She chose to be like us, to let people make her powerful. They made her into something like me. The way he spoke, what if he...you said…" Wendy began to full on sob. "Am I...like her...a threat?"

It was like a punch to the stomach. His own words, stupid and arrogant words. 

"No," Erik said. He sat her down and knelt in front of her, both her hands in his. "You never were a threat, Charles knew that. He also knows I am a stubborn fool. But you, my daughter, were born for this. You were born with this power inside you. And it is beautiful. I watched you in the lab and out in that town. You are stunning. You can feel and control things most people only dream about. And you were designed for it, destined for it. You said yourself, she chose it. She let someone do this to her. But you, my child, you were always meant to be this version of you. You were always meant to be a powerful and radiant being. Your heart and mind only make you even more amazing. You have been through so much, for someone so young, and like your brother, you still see light and goodness in the world. It is truly beautiful. You both make me see a better world than I deserve. You are not her. Peter is not her Pietro. But you both are mine, and I will do everything I can to keep you from facing their fates. I know I have made mistakes." His fingers carefully brush along the bruises she had on her wrist from his metal bindings. "And I can only hope someday you can forgive me for them, but if you, your brother, even Charles, still see half as much goodness in me as I see in you, then I consider myself the luckiest man alive."

Wendy smiled. "We clearly get our dramatics from you." 

Erik chuckled. "Well, there are worse things to inherit."

"And I do forgive you," she pulled her hands free from her father's grip and hugged him. "You could have killed me in an instant and it would have been justified. You were protecting the students, and Charles, and the team. I was not thinking rationally. The fact I am alive is because you don't give yourself enough credit. We really are quite alike." 

"I guess we are," Erik agreed.

The next morning, everyone seemed to be trying to find normality. Wendy and Peter had talked about her officially moving stateside. 

Later that day, Charles had called Peter to his office. 

“Don’t worry, man. I know Wendy told him,” Peter said as he dropped down in the chair, Charles had offered him. “So no hard feelings.”

“I appreciate that, but it is not the reason I asked you here,” Charles told him. “You know that your mind is not one I could easily read if I were to try.”

“You say that like it is a bad thing,” Peter grinned. “So, uh, why am I here then?”

“Because we wanted to be sure that you are truly alright,” Charles told him.

“We?” Peter asked.

“Your father is also concerned,” Charles stated. 

“Why?”

“Because you look exhausted,” Erik said from the doorway. Peter nearly jumped out of his skin. “And you didn’t sleep much last night.”

“I never sleep much,” Peter stated. Erik sighed as he made his way into the study, closing the door behind him. 

“Peter," Charles spoke, drawing the younger man's attention back to him. "You have been through something that none of us could possibly imagine. No one expects you to simply bounce back as if nothing happened. You said you had memories that weren't yours, including death. Feeling someone's death as if it were your own would be traumatizing, add in everything else you went through, it would be understandable if you were having difficulties." 

"Peter," Erik said, his son's attention snapping to him as he sat down in a chair beside him. "Wendy came to talk to me last night. Even she was rattled by what you went through. I want you to know, you can talk to me, and if that is too much, I know we have a strange history, and it probably is weird for you to do so…" Erik looked at Charles for help.

"You can talk to me as well," Charles offered. 

"Wendy went to you?" Peter asked his father.

"She's worried about you," Erik said with a nod. "She is also afraid."

"Erik, I'm not sure…"

"No secrets, Charles," Erik said. "Peter, your sister loves you. You know that, but she is worried that you might think of her differently now, like-"

"What? No. Even when we were kids I was never scared. That Wanda wasn't Wendy, I know that. Just like Jean wasn't either. They were a lot alike, but they aren't Wendy. Even they didn't really mean to do what they did, they just couldn't control it. But Wendy can. I'm not scared." 

"I know that, and I told her that she isn't like that other Wanda. I told her she was never a threat and that she is who was always meant to be." Erik tried to assure him. "Both of you are filled with light and goodness that is beyond anything I could dream of. I just want you to know you can come to me, just like she did. Nothing you say or do will ever change the fact that you are my children, especially now that I know it, even if I am the last to know." His last statement earning a laugh from his son. "So if you need to talk about the insane shit-"

"Erik! Language," Charles scolded, earning another laugh from Peter. Erik smirked. "As I was saying, you can find me. I've seen my fair share of crazy."

"And your sister is welcome to stay here," Charles said. "If she so chooses."

"Really?" Peter grinned.

"Of course, no need for you two to remain separated now," Erik said. 

"What about you? Are you guys going back to Paris?" Peter asked. Erik looked at Charles. 

"I don't see why we can't stay a bit longer," Charles stated, earning smiles from the father and son. Oh, that was not going to end well for Charles. 

"I'm going to go tell Wendy," Peter said before vanishing.

"Thank you," Erik said.