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Pietro drops on the couch in his new place. A shitty apartment in Phoenix, but at least the guy wasn't asking questions.
He runs a hand through his hair. He dyed them brown so people would stop gawking, but it didn't work as well as he'd wish. But so far he managed to stay unrecognised.
He bites into a Twinkie while planning his next move. The Brotherhood was most active in Washington. Definitely a place to avoid if he didn't want to run into his father again.
Avoiding Winchester would be smart too. He had little to do with the X-Men. So far he worked well alone, there was no need to bother with team ups. Though maybe Xavier would be able to protect him from the constant harassment of the FBI.
He stretches out on the bed, hoping to get a moment of peace, but someone knocks on the door. He sits up, concerned. He rented the apartment two weeks ago. How do they have his address already?
He checks who it is by slipping out by the fire exit and looking at the knocking man himself. Black hair, black beard, white but tanned skin. He doesn't exactly look like an FBI. He's leaning on a walking stick.
He checks his pockets. No identification, thankfully no arrest warrant, just a map with a marked place of Pietro's new apartment and a wallet with no ID. That also tells him nothing.
He goes back to the apartment and opens the door. "What do you want? I'm not buying or selling anything."
The man looks a bit surprised at how quickly Peter opens the door. "Peter Maximoff?"
"The one and only. Are you FBI?" He stays in the door, blocking him from entering.
"No. Brotherhood." The man says with more grace.
Pietro is in half a mind to smash the door in his face and run off. Hanging out with members of the Brotherhood is the last thing he needs while the FBI is already suspecting him. On another hand, he does owe Magneto. "Not out there. Come in."
The man follows him in. He's not limping so the cane must be a decoration. He stops right behind the closed door. Pietro leans on the wall. "So what does Brotherhood want from me?"
"To offer you protection and security." The man says graciously. "A man of your talents will be useful for us."
"Uh-huh." Pietro rubs his neck. "I don't have a knack for murdering people like you guys do. Besides, if Dad wants me to join, he can ask himself." Not that he hasn't before. It was the first thing he did when he broke him out.
"He's busy." The man says shortly.
Isn't that the truth. "I know. Busy murdering, I watch the news." Pietro retorts. "There's no reason for me to join. I don't like taking orders." Especially not from murderous psychopaths.
The man scans the plain apartment. "You wouldn't have to hide like a cockroach. You'd do something bigger than you."
Pietro feels his irritation growing. "It's because of you and your activities that I have to hide. If that's all you wanted to say, you can go right back. Sorry for the wasted time."
"Is this really what you want to do?" The man asks. "Sit on your ass while our kind suffers? Hide while they experiment on us and butcher us?"
Pietro turns to the window so he doesn't have to face him. "I'm not a fighter. I can't help you, sorry." His mom and Wanda were already questioned enough. If he joined the Brotherhood, they'd be used against him. He doubted that Magneto of all people would agree to help two humans.
"You're a coward. Do you think hiding will solve anything? They hunt us."
Pietro grits his teeth. "I have people I have to think about too. Go away."
"They'll come for you too. Now it's interviews and letters but how long do you think you'll be allowed to run free? You have a target on your back, Peter."
Pietro keeps looking out of the window. There are children playing on the street. "You sound just like him. He must be training you well." He mocks so that he doesn't have to think about the words. "I told you to leave me alone. You being here puts an even bigger target on me."
"Then why let me in?"
Pietro considers throwing the man out. But he's going to report to Magneto himself. When will he get another chance? "I owe him a favour."
The man seems surprised. Magneto must be keeping that one a secret.
"Tell him that I know I owe him but that everything has it's limits. I'm not risking my family for him."
"You don't have any other family." The man says bluntly. "They'll leave you when it's convenient. Or report you."
Pietro's jaw clenches. It already happened. But no matter what hell mom send him to anytime he tried to talk to her, it didn't protect her and Wanda from questioning. "Out."
The man doesn't leave. "You know he's right. But it might be too late when you admit it to yourself. You'll be sorry-"
Pietro doesn't remember throwing the punch but the man is laying on the ground unconscious. He rubs his forehead. "You just had to push, didn't you?"
He takes the man outside, far enough from his apartment so it isn't suspicious. He sits him in a darkened alley.
He checks his pulse. Stable, he's not dead. Pietro will have to control himself next time.
He goes back to the apartment. He feels strangely hollow. The man's words - his father's words really - hit deep. The man called him a cockroach. That was fitting. He slipped through the cracks, he always had, hiding from the foot that tried to stomp him. He was too fast for anyone to catch him. Or kill him.
If that was what it took to live, he'd be a cockroach.
A coward.