Chapter Text
Jubilation Lee, aka Pietro’s best buddy, had been missing for two weeks.
The X-Men were looking for her, plus his father, which made zero sense because wasn’t he supposed to be the enemy?
Anyway, even with his help, they weren’t doing much, because every time Pietro asked one of the “grown-ups,” they either ditched him or said they were doing their best, which, surprise surprise, got him nowhere.
Even if Pietro had been avoiding his so-called father ever since he arrived. Cuz this is how their every conversation went:
Erik (in his usual nonchalant voice): “Has Charles been taking good care of you?”
Pietro: “Yep. Totally fine. He feeds me and everything, so… good care, I guess.”
Erik (still nonchalant, like ugh, show some emotion): “That’s good! Have you been behaving?”
(Of course that’s all he cares about.)
Pietro: “Of course. Perfectly behaved.”
(Translation in Pietro’s language: I do what I want, thank you very much.)
However, he had to go talk to his dad again. Maybe this time he’d actually help.
And when Jubilee got back… yep. Chores for a week. Totally fair.
Updates: It went… horrible. Interesting words, a little glaring, and Erik repeating the same sentence like a broken record:
“Don’t do anything on your own. We’ve got it under control.”
Which, of course, solved absolutely nothing.
So that’s why Pietro Maximoff decided to activate the Superman in him, or more accurately, the Quicksilver, and assemble his own Justice League to get jubilee back home.
So, in his room after classes finished, he gathered Jean Grey, his Wonder Woman; Kurt, his Martian Manhunter; Ororo, his Hawk Girl; and Scott… oh wait, who was he supposed to be again?
“Aren’t I supposed to be Superman? I shoot lasers out of my eyes, not you!” Scott Mr. Always-Right shouted, bouncing on his heels.
Jean raised an eyebrow, calm as ever. “I agree. By logic, you should be the Flash.”
“I’m the leader, okay? Just like Superman,” Pietro said, waving his hand like duh, obviously, it was him.
“Isn’t Batman the leader of the League?” Kurt asked quietly, arms crossed.
“No, you idiots, it’s Wonder Woman!” Ororo snapped, flipping her hair dramatically. like it was the most serious thing ever.
“It’s Superman! No—Batman! I told you, it’s Wonder Woman!”
“And I told you, it’s Superman! He’s stronger and has the coolest powers!”
“Wonder Woman has much cooler powers and she can beat him!”
“Superman is the strongest one of them! How can she beat him?” Scott said, mimicking Ororo’s voice. making her glare at him.
“Batman is richer, so he’s probably the battery. Therefore he’s the leader,” Kurt tried to reason.
“Superman! Batman! Wonder Woman!”
“THIS IS RIDICULOUS!” Pietro yelled, nearly vibrating with speed. Five people and none of them were listening to him. This was supposed to be his Justice League.
“It’s Superman!” Scott yelled.
“No, Wonder Woman!” Ororo snapped, rolling her eyes so hard it was almost a weapon.
“Batman! Batman makes sense!” Kurt whispered, looking around nervously.
“I’m the one who made this team, which means I’m the leader now !” Pietro screamed, slamming both hands onto the table and leaning in, making sure everyone got the point.
“Um… Mr. Leader why are we here again?” Scott asked, shrugging.
“Jubilee,” Pietro said quickly.
Scott raised an eyebrow.
“We’re here to look for jubilee ,” Pietro explained, slower, like Scott needed subtitles.
Jean sighed. “The X-Men are already doing the best they can. And Professor said we should stay out of this.”
Pietro stared at her. “Yeah, and they’ve been doing their best for two weeks. How’s that working out?”
Jean crossed her arms. “Even so, they’re following a plan. We can’t just interrupt.”
“What plan?” Pietro shot back. “The wait-and-hope plan?”
“Okay, let’s say we agree with you,” Scott said, squinting at him. “How on earth are we supposed to get him if they’re still struggling?”
Pietro opened his mouth, paused, then shrugged. “I know, but they’re not really taking their next step. They’ve been stuck in Cerebro for two weeks and nothing’s progressed .”
Ororo frowned. “That doesn’t mean they’re not trying.”
Kurt shifted on his feet, rocking a little, eyes flicking around like he wasn’t totally sure he should say anything. “Peter is right,” he said, quiet but fast. “I… I heard them talking.”
Pietro’s head snapped toward him. “You heard them?”
Kurt froze. “I mean—by mistake,” he blurted. “Totally by mistake.” he repeated, a little louder, because Pietro was still staring at him
Pietro grinned anyway, sharp and way too pleased. “Uh-huh. Accidentally.”
Scott scoffed loudly. “Can he finish?” he snapped, clearly annoyed.
Pietro didn’t even look at him. He just turned back to Kurt and made a little circling motion with his hand, like go on, go on.
Kurt swallowed. “They said…” He hesitated, then rushed the words out. “They said it’s not possible to evacuate her. Not right now.”
Pietro blinked. “What’s evacuate?”
Scott dragged a hand down his face. “Oh my god.”
“Like—” Jean started.
“—moving her,” Scott cut in, already exhausted. “Getting her out. Safely. Without everyone dying.”
Pietro tilted his head. “You could’ve just said that.”
Scott shot him a look. “You could’ve paid attention in Mrs. Moore’s class.”
“Can we focus?” Ororo said sharply. She turned to Kurt. “Did you hear where they’re trying to evacuate her from? Exactly.”
“No, I… I teleported before the professor could even feel me,” Kurt said nervously.
“How many times do I need to tell you that’s a lie you made up to scare us?” Pietro said, hands hovering in the air, fingers wiggling like he was conducting an invisible orchestra.
“I’m… I’m sorry. I just didn’t—” Kurt hurriedly said, stumbling over his words. okay, he feels bad about it.
Pietro looked at him for a second, eyebrows furrowed like he was weighing something. Then he nodded. “It’s… okay, Kurt,” he said, trying to sound serious.“ Let’s just focus on our mission.” Mission. Jubilee . Justice League.Focus, Quicksilver.
“Mission? You’re still holding onto this?” Scott stood up, throwing his hands in the air. “I’m not planning anything , and I’m not doing anything with you! And if you’re joining him, you guys are just complete idiots!”
They all shot looks at each other, the kind that didn’t need words. Pietro understood immediately. No Justice League.
He rushed in before anyone could say it out loud. “Guys, this is not idiocy, okay? I know what I’m doing—”
Scott scoffed loudly. Again. Honestly, how many times had he done that today? Alright, fine, this wasn’t working, so Plan B. “Okay but listen,” Pietro launched before anyone could stop him, “just think about how proud they’d be when we bring Jubilee back, like officially proud, hero proud, and then we’d be certified heroes which means statues obviously like all over the mansion, and a raise in our allowances because heroes don’t work for free, and also unlimited Burger King and Pepsi because you can’t expect people to save lives on mr McCoy’s stupid salad, and—”
“I’m sorry, Peter,” Jean said, way too calm about it, “but it sounds like you want to get us all punished.”
Scott and Ororo nodded immediately.
Pietro stared at them. “Hello? Guys? I literally just said they’d be proud,” he said, confident, already satisfied with his logic. “Like… the kind of proud where they can’t yell at us because we saved someone.”
He smiled, clearly pleased with himself.
They did not look convinced.
“Kurt,” Pietro said, turning to him quickly. “You’re with me, right?”
Kurt hesitated. “I—well… it’s kind of like a fifty fifty chance. I just don’t—”
“ think it’s worth the risk,” Scott cut in flatly. He leaned forward, close enough that Pietro could see he hadn’t brushed his teeth that morning. “And we think so too.”
Ororo crossed her arms. Jean nodded once.
Pietro stared back at them, his smile slowly fading. Okay. Last attempt . He straightened, looking each of them in the eye. “Not even for Jubilee ?”
Not joking. Not rushing. Just serious.
Jean inhaled like she was about to say something then stopped.
Ororo shifted her weight, one foot edging forward before settling back.
Kurt’s hands curled into his sleeves, eyes flicking between Pietro and the door.
Scott opened his mouth… and closed it again.
Pietro nodded once.sharp, final. “Right,” he said softly.
Then, quieter, almost to himself, “Fake friends.”
He vanished without another word.
————————————///———————————
Pietro Maximoff was many things: fast, incapable of shutting up, loud, and according to Scott Summers and his so-called Justice League, a complete idiot. So, to prove them wrong, he cooked up a plan. Two seconds. Literally.
Scott and Jean would’ve said that a two-second plan isn’t a plan, but who cared? They weren’t in his Justice League anymore. In fact, he was his own Justice League now.
In conclusion, his plan was simple: get as much info as he could about why the X-Men and his dad couldn’t “evacuate” anyone, figure out exactly where Jubilee was, and then zoom, get her out before anyone could even blink. Ta-daaa. Mission complete before anyone even realizes what happened. Flawless.
Alright, first step—the hardest one. Pietro had to eavesdrop on the X-Men without the professor catching him. Thanks to his mutation, His mind moved so fast it was like the world was on pause while he zipped through it.Xavier’s reach could only catch the slow, steady tick of ordinary brains. Pietro? He was a blur, a whisper the professor couldn’t touch… as long as he didn’t let emotions leak or project anything loud.So keep it quick. Keep it quiet. And it’s a piece of cake… probably.
According to Alex and Hank’s conversation, there was supposed to be a meeting in Charles’s office to discuss their next step. Pietro hit the hallway at the exact time Alex mentioned, a blue blur sliding along the walls, breath held, thoughts razor-thin. He didn’t stop—didn’t need to. He skimmed the sound instead.
All he caught were pieces.
Professor X’s voice—low, careful.
“—division’s stretched… anti-telepathy—”
“—too many strong mutants already—working for them—”
Static. A shift. Someone pacing.
Then his father—sharp, nonchalant as usual.
“—mutants turning on their own—”
“—willing—against their kind—”
“—Cerebro—collect—”
“—more allies—”
Mystique. Late. Calm.
Alright. That was it. That was the big scary reason everyone was frozen in place. Anti-telepathy. Traitors.
Which—okay, sure—sounded bad. For them.
Pietro wasn’t a telepath. he did broadcast thoughts, just too fast to grab and he could outrun literally anyone in the room before they even finished blinking. So really, where was the problem? If anything, this sounded like a them issue. Turns out he didn’t even need any of the losers he’d asked for help anyway. Joke’s on them he’d get all the praise to himself.
Easy. Flawless. Untouchable—
He could hear Charles pausing mid-sentence.
Oh.
Oh no.
Okay, wow, that was closer than expected.
Pietro’s pulse kicked hard. Okay, okay, breathe, don’t let him feel it, don’t let him feel it… His thoughts were zipping, too fast even for himself. Just a fraction of an emotional spike and—bam—he’d be toast. Slow it down. Way too close. But also kind of amazing. He bit back a laugh, already zipping away.
Note to self: maybe don’t get cocky before you’re out of range.
Still worth it.
All he needed now was the rest of it. The Division where Jubilee was, how locked down the place actually was. Locations. Entry points. One solid map and the rest would be easy peasy lemon squeezy.
He’ll just have to—
“Hi!” Pietro said, popping into the doorway of his father’s office, trying to act casual even though he’d basically crashed through the wall at super speed and narrowly missed smacking his head on the frame. He froze for half a second, realizing—oh, yeah, he was actually here. In Erik’s office. Alone.
He didn’t think he’d be here. Damn it.
Erik looked up from his desk, his sharp eyes narrowing and for a fraction of a second, they softened. He paused, just for a heartbeat, before speaking.
“Pietro.”
Pietro froze for a split second—too slow for him, of course, but enough to feel a weird, tiny tug in the air. He blinked, thought about zipping past, then decided, nah, he needed info.
“Uh… hey, D—Mr. Lehnsherr,” he said, grinning like it was no big deal. His words zipped out faster than usual, a little stutter in there because—oh—wait, what was that? He could’ve sworn he caught a tiny hint of… something. Care? Since when does he do that? Whatever. Focus, Pietro. Mission.
“Just Erik. And why don’t you try knocking next time?” he said, in his usual tone.
(Oh, sure. Because slowing down from super speed to politely knock is exactly what he wanted to do.)
Pietro’s mouth curved into a perfect little O, which was probably stupid, because his father was very clearly expecting an apology. So he should apologize. Right? Or maybe say he got the rooms mixed up. Or blame it on a draft. Wait—why does he even have an office? He doesn’t even live here—
“Yes,” Erik said, reminding him that he was still very much listening.
Well, it wasn’t a reminder. It was a slap.
“I just wanted to— I mean— I thought maybe—“
Ughh Why does he always stutter around his father? Pietro’s thoughts zigzagged.
Erik didn’t interrupt. He waited.
“Are you worried about Jubilation?”
“What? No—l mean— yes,” Pietro said quickly. “She’s my friend. That’s… normal.”
Erik blinked, just once. “Of course. I wasn’t judging you, Pietro. I’m simply—”
He paused, words stalling in a way that felt wrong on him.
“—wondering,” he finished after a beat.
All Pietro managed was a small nod.
Erik returned to his work.
Pietro took that as his cue to leave.
“Sit,” Erik said, without looking up. voice a bit…tender??. Pietro froze.
Without thinking, Pietro found himself seated in the swivel chair behind his dad, spinning just a little before remembering—oh yeah, maybe he wasn’t supposed to be doing this.
Erik arranged the papers on the desk and stopped. Without turning toward him, he said softly,
“I know it feels like you’re failing her by not helping, but I promise you, Pietro… she is alive, and soon, when the time is right, we will bring her back. I swear, no one will be hurt.”
Pietro’s fingers tightened slightly around the armrest, and for the first time since his mother’s death, he felt a small, steady warmth being with his father.
Erik returned to the papers on the desk, finding a place to hide them, his attention entirely on the work before him. Pietro leaned forward, curiosity tugging at him. In a blink, he snatched a few sheets and slid them into his lap. not all of them, just enough to peek at what they contained.
The papers were filled with names, diagrams, and neat lists. And most importantly, one name stood out: Division Zero — Polar Urals, Russia
Before Erik could even notice, Pietro was gone, streaking off with the papers in hand, a grin lighting up his face.
He knew where he was heading tomorrow.