Chapter Text
They get the news from the evening news. The report is short and glosses over the violence, but the footage speaks for itself.
Hank McCoy, the Secretary of Mutant Affairs, an avid defender of mutant rights since the 1970s, was seen last night dragged outside his house and beaten to death by the Friends of Humanity.
It leaves everyone in shock. Hank McCoy was a beacon of hope for mutants everywhere. He, alongside with Charles Xavier, defended their rights most fiercely. That is why he was targeted even more violently. A blinded man couldn't defend himself from an enraged mob, no matter his mutation.
The whole Brotherhood has been looking at Pietro with disgust since. He pointedly ignores them, as he always does. Erik can't tell if his son even regrets his actions or not.
Eventually Pietro holes himself up in his and Erik's shared bedroom, tired of the remarks.
At first Erik lets Pietro be, but the unease starts rising and the anger bubbling within Erik.
It's like he doesn't care.
Pietro maiming Hank was partly justified from Erik's perspective as he had supported a cause that directly caused Erik to lose his powers.
But to show no remorse about a fellow mutant being brutally murdered while defenseless and that defenselessness being a result of Pietro's actions?
That isn't like Pietro in the slightest.
But Erik doesn't say anything.
He cooks for Pietro as if nothing changed.
Makes sure he looks after himself.
And he still doesn't say anything.
Until the fourth day of Pietro's self-imposed solitude.
Erik came home from another unsuccessful foraging excursion to find Peter sharpening his dagger.
The dagger he used to -.
The dagger he used on Hank.
Before Erik can even think about what the consequences of his following actions could be, he rushes to where his son is sitting and pulls him up into a standing position - the small dagger clattering on the floor - while he shoves Pietro against a wall.
"Do you even care? That another mutant died - indirectly caused by your actions?" Erik spits out.
Pietro shoves him back hard enough to stumble. "You're one to talk. How many of them died in Alcatraz under your lead?" His eyes are blazing with anger. "How many of them my friends?!"
Erik knows who has died under his command. But unlike Pietro, he mourned them. He did not regret his actions, but he did regret the fallen soldiers. Dying in a war was different than getting mutilated in the safety of your home when defenseless. "That was different. That was war, this was a targeted attack. A slaughter you were partially responsible for!"
Pietro stares him down, his chest heaving with rapid breaths. "I did that for you. Did you forget?" He takes a step closer but makes no move to reach for the dagger. He wouldn't need it anyway if he wanted to hurt Erik. "Why should I care that he's dead?! I didn't kill him." He looks away, looking almost bored.
"Your actions caused it! Do have no regret in your body? No compassion?" Erik can barely believe it. The same Pietro that wept silently in the night, who called for his fallen friends from his nightmares, shoved no remorse for this?
"Why would I regret defending my father?" Pietro challenges.
Erik shoves him harder towards the wall, Pietro's head hitting it.
His next words are delivered with cold anger. "You defend me, yet you are always harsh with me. Even Charles told me it would be better if I left. And I stayed. Because you are my son. But you are doing nothing to show your care. I only stay because of my love for you. I would've been better off with Charles."
Erik regrets the words as soon as they come out. The anger is gone as soon as he meets Pietro's eyes.
Pietro's brown eyes flicker with hurt for a short second.
"My son-" Erik chokes out.
"No. You're right. You can be with Charles." Pietro says.
Then he's gone. Only a small cloud of dust is left behind.
Erik desperately reaches out with his powers but he can't feel the buttons on Pietro's jacket. Will he return?
Pietro doesn't return for mealtime, nor when the sun has set. Erik starts to truly worry. Has something happened to him? Pietro was good at hiding, but nobody was perfect.
He can feel the stares of the Brotherhood on him as well. Nobody dares to say the question out loud. Would Pietro come back?
Erik hoped that he would. His son was hot and cold, easy to upset but also quickly calm after an outburst. His anger was as volatile as he was.
He can't sleep at all in the night. He reaches out with his powers every few minutes, hoping desperately to feel his son returning. But nothing comes back.
When Erik trudges to the breakfast table - a rare appearance since he tends to have breakfast with Pietro in their room, he wordlessly sits down next to Pyro.
Pyro doesn't look up from his breakfast - if you can even call it that - before asking "Where is your lap dog? Asleep?"
Erik doesn't entertain that insolence with an answer and simply reaches for the food closest to him, already having planned to leave to look for Pietro.
First planned stop is the X-men, because Charles may not be able to read Pietro's mind but he can still sense him.
"I need to locate the X-Men. I expect you to look after the Brotherhood in my absence." He tells Pyro plainly. "You have a plan for possible safehouses, move if you have to."
Pyro frowns. "All that for him? He's a liability. Both as a person and as a drain of food."
Erik stops his talking with a raised hand. "That is my son you are talking about and you owe him your life. You would do best to remember that." His voice is low but firm. He won't let anyone criticise his son, not unfairly.
That silences Pyro.
Erik leaves the same day. Charles welcomes him to their base camp. There aren't many of them left, but he sees some familiar faces - Wolverine, Storm, Iceman and Colossus. There are some children with them as well.
Charles must be able to read what happened from his mind, as he tells the others to leave them alone.
"I'm sorry about Hank." Erik tells his old friend. He knew Hank since he was a student but he knew that didn't compare to how well Charles knew him. They fought together, lived together. Hank was like a son to Charles, as he was his first student.
Charles nods tiredly. "But that isn't why you're here."
"I know he brought you pain." Erik says weakly. "And I know he's responsible for this, but please. He is my son."
Charles' eyes bear into his and he nods. "I know, Erik. I... I will do what I can."
"I am sorry for doing all this to you and still coming back for favours, but I said something I regret and didn't mean and it has been a day since he disappeared and he isn't here" Erik deflates.
"You shouldn't have told him that you would rather be with me" Charles gently states.
Erik runs a hand through his hair while starting to pace around the room.
"I shouldn't have. I want you both here. I am a selfish man. But you can't get everything you wish for." Erik acknowledged.
"You are not a selfish man, Erik. You just want the people you love next to you. That is not selfish." Charles said.
"I never got to keep anyone. Not you. Not Pietro. Not-" Anya. His breath hitches.
Charles rolls closer to Erik and pulls him down directly into his arms.
Erik stiffens no longer used to gentle touches takes a minute until he melts into it. Letting everything go. The weight of being a leader of the Brotherhood. The weight of being a father. The weight of loving Charles.
Charles keeps Erik in his arms. No words are spoken between them. They don't need it, they never did. There are no words left to say.
Charles does try to find Pietro with the small Cerebro in Blackbird. It isn't as effective, but Pietro's mind is very loud, although unintelligible to him.
He finds nothing. Blackbird does have smaller reach, if Pietro is on the other side of the planet, or moving around, he wouldn't be able to catch it.
Erik takes it with quiet grace. He asks to stay and asks him to try again. And Charles does. He stretches his abilities as much as he can, but he finds nothing that day. Or the day after. Or after that.
On the fifth day on Pietro's absence, Erik finally crawls into Charles's bed. Charles felt Erik's desire. Until then he had been staying in a guest room. In hope that Pietro would be found soon and come back.
But when the silence becomes too loud, Erik's thoughts fill it instead of the occasional chatter from Pietro, he walks over to the other man's bedroom, going in without hesitation despite the late hour.
When Erik crawls in under Charles's covers, the other man croaks out "Erik?"
Erik simply shakes his head and shuffles closer to Charles.
Charles wraps his arm around him. "We will find him, Erik." He soothes him. "I promise that we will." The closeness reminds him the lifetime ago when they were searching for their first students. They also ended up sharing a bed most nights.
"Don't." Erik's voice is muffled. "Don't give me promises you can't keep, Charles. Don't give me hope. If he's dead..."
Charles wanted to reassure him, to promise that he isn't dead, but he had to be realistic. Pietro's face was well known. If he was reckless or just unlucky...
Charles isn't sure if those thoughts are his or Erik's. He didn't wear the helmet these days, nor did he put any particular care into keeping his mental shields up. "I will try again tomorrow." He promises.
Erik nods, holding onto Charles like a lifeline.
Charles waits to hear Erik's breaths evening and the older man falling asleep but Charles could still sense Erik. Not his thoughts. Erik's shields are still active, even without him trying.
"I want to visit. I still want to stay with Pietro when we find him. But I don't want to stop seeing you." Erik confesses.
"Erik, but the Brotherhood-"
"I don't care what they think. I only care about you and Pietro and if they complain about us, I will be stepping down as a leader." He declares.
"You don't have to." Charles' whispers.
Erik lifts his head from Charles' shoulder to be able to look at Charles.
"I don't have to. I want to. I want you and Pietro by my side. The Brotherhood follows my cause. But I would rather be here now"
"Erik. You can't mean that"
"I do. I had only stayed with the Brotherhood as I had thought you dead. How much more do I have to lose and sacrifice for the cause of mutants being able to live freely? And Pietro - he is with the Brotherhood because of me" Erik once again confesses.
"So if you leave, he would follow?" The hope in Charles's voice badly concealed.
"I hope so." After what I said, goes unsaid. "He stood by me in the past years. He follows me."
"And you would leave them? Truly?"
Erik thinks back to Pyro, to Mastermind, to Ash. They were capable mutants. He trusted them to survive. "Yes." He whispers. "If it meant I could be with you, Charles. We fought each other for too long."
Charles could agree with that. Decades wasted fighting each other. Decades of pain and suffering, not only for them but for everyone involved.
They deserved rest now. As much of it as they could in this war.