Erik rubbed his forehead and sat staring at Peter, who after explaining almost everything, left him with a minor headache. He left out the pheromone and a few other more personal details but now Erik was in a worse mood than when Peter had assaulted him.
"So. Aliens, Armoured Suits, Gamma Enhanced and regular Enhanced as you call them, and finally Gods. Do I have that right?" He asked as Pietro sat listening to Peter while Pietro ate what looked like a sandwich to Peter, or well a plate of sandwiches, and Peter nodded,
"Yup, that about sums it up, plus a whole lot of violence," Erik had shaken his head when Peter had gotten to John's death but had sat still listening to the rest, even when Goblin and Harry attacked.
"And as it seems you aren't lying then I also owe you an explanation. While I will not be as forthcoming, another faction exists within these powered individuals. Mutants. We have extraordinary powers, from birth in some cases. I control magnetism, and it is generally considered rude to share the abilities of others without permission. If Pietro or Wanda wishes to tell you their powers, that is up to them."
Peter was stunned. Was the Oscorp formula and the Super-Soldier serum based on research into mutants? A small shiver of apprehension ran through him, the '40s were not a good time to be experimenting on a formula that could have been created in a nazi lab, and with MGH on the rise, he wondered if it was all connected. Without missing a beat Erik continued,
"Charles is the leader of one faction within the mutant community, and he may have interfered with you as he is resident in New York. That is all I am willing to share for now. I will share more after you have proven yourself at least to be slightly trustworthy, and attacking me, invading my mind and that little psychic stunt has not made you any friends Mr Parker."
Peter shrugged though, "Erik right? All I care about is making sure Laura is safe. Good guy or not, he took her, no explanation just took her. In my book, that makes him a dick," and Erik shook his head and sighed,
"If what you say is true, then Charles probably thought you were out to harm her. He is an idealist Peter, not a bad man." and he paused for a second, "he is, however, as you said, a dick." and Pietro stifled a laugh and even Peter had to snort and smile.
"Well, there are a few things I need to finish here but, young man, it seems that I need to return to the states," Erik said and Pietro sat upright, "and yes, once we find Wanda you'll both be coming as well." and Pietro smiled and vanished from his seat, returning with several packed suitcases.
Erik smiled as he saw his son standing with the cases. "Not quite yet, and you, Peter. My help has a price, a fairly steep one but. I'll help you get to Charles, even introduce you, find your friend but you must find my daughter for me. I cannot leave the farm, not undefended and you and young Pietro here will go find Wanda while I stay and tend to Ms Romanov. Once Wanda is safe then we can leave."
Peter thought about it. Pietro was a bit young, maybe a few years younger than him, just as tall, just as skinny but with silver hair that unlike Felicia's platinum blond was actually silver, cut into a scruffy mess on his head. As he zipped around the house, gathering everything into cases, he wore a pair of aviator goggles, and his attire was just as strange as the boy himself. Silver jacket and black jeans, a belt covered in various tools and a walkman, and to top it all off a band t-shirt from some group from the '70s. If there was a walking fashion disaster, it was Pietro.
"So, me and the weirdo then?" Pietro asked, "uh, so, what's your power huh huh? Must be good if Dad wants you to save Wanda, but," and Pietro sniffed and leaned in close, "hands-off, okay, that's my sister," and Peter smiled and chuckled. He'd missed out the part of the story where he had four girlfriends, and doubted very much that either Erik or Pietro would be happy to listen to it. Saving one girl wasn't that big of a price to pay to find out what happened to Laura, he just hoped that Erik kept his end of the bargain.
Peter could feel the animosity rolling off of him like a storm, barely contained and thick to Peter's normal and telepathic senses. When Peter attacked him he offended the man and he was fully expecting a betrayal at some point. Right now they needed each other and that was good enough, Natasha would be safe enough here and as she was healing nicely she wasn't out of the picture just yet.
"So, any ideas where Wanda is?" Peter asked, ignoring the hyperactive Pietro.
"Of course, Shield has her," Erik said as if it was the most normal thing in the world
"What?" Peter shouted and stood, "Why the hell does Shield have her?" and as he yelled Natasha stirred,
"Ughh, quiet." was all she said before closing her eyes again. It was a good sign that she was healing and that even if she wasn't able to join him, that she should be up and mobile by the time he got back.
"What the hell is going on here?" Peter asked angrily but with a more subdued voice. "Shield is supposed to be protecting the people here, not kidnapping them." and Erik shook his head.
"Wanda was in town and saw the flyers and never came home. Pietro saw her enter a Shield recruitment office and never come out. Over the past year, Shield has been very impatient with its recruitment policy. Flyers everywhere, and hints at people going missing. A few days ago, they got a delivery. I could feel the power it radiated from here and we haven't heard from Wanda since." Erik explained. "Other than the usual excuses they give, that Wanda would contact us when she had finished her training, but I know she would never willingly go with those people, not after what happened."
Peter rubbed his forehead, "So, teenage rebellion and you think she's been kidnapped?" and Pietro snorted and as Erik glared at him, quickly hid his face.
"People have been going missing for years since Shield got here, and if there is one thing I am very good at is making connections, I've seen police states like this, and the way they are acting, it's just like the war."
Peter frowned and looked at Erik, "the war? Like 70 years ago war? were you even alive?" and Erik nodded.
"Oh very much so, it's not something you forget, and right now, Wanda is in danger but," Erik paused, "Pietro, sorry." he sighed. "I am a wanted man, very much wanted alive or dead, and cannot leave the farm. I need you to find her, I need you to save her. If they're rounding up mutants for experiments or worse then I need to save my daughter and after your little outburst, I'm less inclined to help you unless you do this."
"Fine, I'll go after your daughter, I'm supposed to head out there anyway, so adding in rescuing a damsel in distress isn't too much extra, uh, but I will need Pietro to show me where it is. Natasha was lead on this mission and everything went up in smoke when the quinjet got blown up," Peter explained and Erik shook his head.
"It's too risky, even with his speed I don't want to lose both my children," but Pietro had already run off and came back with a backpack, which Peter could smell was full of food. As Erik stared at the expectant looking Pietro, "Fine. He can show you the way to town, but after that, Pietro. Please promise me you will stay away from Shield."
"Nuh-uh, my sister, I'm helping," and he put a hand on Peter's shoulder, "ready?" and before Erik could raise a complaint, he moved the pair of them at super speed.
Peter never even felt himself move as Pietro dragged him along, and he didn't even realise they were a distance away until he saw the smoke rising from the chimney, it looked like they had travelled 30 or 40 miles but Pietro was gasping and sweating.
"How much do you weigh?" he said, unslinging the backpack and grabbing two large bars of chocolate out of it, unwrapping them and taking a huge bite. "I mean, I've moved a car and it wasn't as heavy," he said with his mouth full.
"Its muscle, plus, uh, yeah," Peter said, grinning with embarrassment. He was used to being denser than a normal person, even the girls didn't complain as they were the same. Small and wiry hid Peter's true strength. He didn't weigh as much as a car though, the lazy jackass was just weak.
"So, uh, super speed, neat," Peter said as Pietro emptied the bag of various snacks, Peter wishing he'd been able to grab his own bag with the high-calorie protein bars that Gwen made for them all, super calorie dense and supposedly healthier than eating a bunch of junk food.
"Don't try and kiss my ass. My dad is pissed at you. Attacking Magneto? Are you mad? He can control electromagnetism, like zzz, suck all the iron out your blood stuff, I've seen him do it, like, for real. He doesn't know but Wanda and I know." he said, stuffing a handful of potato chips into his mouth, "But what's your deal, big badass, hunting drug dealers and flying around in a jet, must be nice to be that rich," and Peter burst out laughing.
"Rich?" Peter laughed, "Nope, just unlucky. Shield grabbed me after a few things went wrong and so, working for them. But your dad, really?"
"Yeah, Sokovia got internet a few years back but as dad doesn't get out to the capital he doesn't know, but Wanda and I looked him up. He killed a senator or something, his girlfriend got killed thanks to that Charles dude and so he hid here, mom got killed a few years ago when soldiers came for him, it was really intense. Dad, yeah, dad gets super focused when he's pissed, so really, don't or he'll fuck you up and smile the next day." Pietro was taking a swig of Gatorade, "oh, uh, sorry dude, not enough for two, but uh, maybe get something when we hit the town?" he said, gathering up all the empty wrappers and stuffing them back into the bag.
"Ready for round two?" he asked, but before Peter could even say no he was grabbed and moved again.
Pietro was panting and sweating as they stopped again, "shit, sorry dude, you're just too heavy, gonna have to walk the rest of the way, unless uh, you've got money?" and Peter noticed they were close enough to the outskirts of town the lights were visible.
"No wallet, jet go boom, remember?" and Pietro tutted,
"Always have gas money dude, always," he said, shaking his head. "Right, towns about 10 miles, I can run but uh, you're walking."
"It's fine, I might not be as fast as you but I can still move" and stretching first, Peter began to run towards the town, much slower than Pietro but even he had to admit that Peter was moving faster than he expected.
As the houses became more than just farms and the roads became asphalt Peter and Pietro both slowed down, beginning to walk. "Uh, you have a passport right, I.D? Cause these assholes will throw you in jail for being a bum if you don't," Pietro asked and Peter stopped and stared at him.
"You might have mentioned that before we left, you dick." was all Peter could say.