We Need To Talk for iwillcatchup

It did not take long for Peter to run to Baltimore. He skidded to a stop just outside of the bar, his thoughts still going a mile-a-minute.

He pressed the stop button on his walkman, and removed the ear buds and goggles, before heading into the bar itself. He took a second to check out his surroundings, catching more about the place in one second than it takes most people to do in a few minutes.

It was not that hard to spot Erik. Peter huffed a little under his breath. And then headed over to where the other mutant sat.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

"I was going to ask you the same question," Erik told him with a wry smile. "I'll have a beer."

"Least I can do..." Peter chuckled. He ordered two beers. And felt a slight moment of relief when he wasn't asked for ID this time.

"Thanks for agreeing to speak in person."

"I've never turned away the inquiring mind of a fellow mutant," he replied, taking his beer when it was handed to him. "What did you want to talk about?"

"My mind has a lot to inquire about." Peter warned him. And sipped at his beer for a moment. Sorting out the chatter in his head.

"Tell me a little bit about how you want to make a difference."

"This feels like a job interview," he joked. "I've never done one in English." He watches Peter's face for a moment, his own expression sobering. "When I was a child, I saw what happens to people who are 'different' from the ruling class if their power goes unchecked. Mutants have to hide what they are or fear the same kind of lynchmob persecution that preceded institutional persecution all those years ago. Dissident voices are already being forcibly silenced: like mine." A beat. "Like President Kennedy. The CIA murdered him because he was one of us and he was about to make a speech that introduced us to the human world as equals and allies. I'd gone there to save him. Two birds, one stone."

He took a sip of his beer, then looked Peter in the eye.

"If this establishment won't let us live in peace, then we tear it down and replace it with one that will. Our people shouldn't have to be ashamed of what they are; we should be walking proud."

"Never been on one of those myself..." Peter refers to being on a job interview.

"I never cared about who saw me using my abilities. But then again... when you can move as fast as I can, most of the time they don't see you anyway."

"But I get it. It wasn't until Charles and Logan came knocking on my door, and told me that I could actually do something, that I felt different. That I didn't have to be hiding in the basement of some foster home."

"Why didn't you come to Paris with us?"

Erik wasn't involved in that. By the time he'd gotten changed out of his prison uniform, the young speedster was gone.

"They thought I didn't need to be involved in the other part of their mission." Peter shrugs. Of course, he had seen TV reports about what happened, but can only speculate since he was not there in person.

"Shortsighted of them. You have rare gifts," Erik said plainly. "And now you're restless. You want to do something with your life?"

"Definitely."

"I want to find a direction for myself."

"The only direction that lies with me is the one where we work to protect our people from human prejudice," Erik told him. "Is that the sort of thing you want to work on?"

"Protecting mutants is important. I have a sister out there somewhere... who needs protecting. I have family who I want to know."

Peter runs a hand through his silver hair. "I am a little tired of being lied to, just because they are scared of me."

Erik canted his head slightly. "Lied to? By whom? How did you find out?"

"I have spent most of my time growing up in Foster Homes. I was being lied to the entire time." Peter frowns, and drowns his sorrows in a little more beer.

"My sister and I were separated, because apparently taking care of two mutants was too much for some."

"And all this time, Marya knew who our dad was. Never told us."

"But you found out," Erik surmised. "Did you figure out how to get in touch with him? ...Or is that something you even want?"

"I think I have. And I do want to get in touch with him."

Peter stares down at his beer for a moment. So many different scenarios play out in his head. And he needs the time to quiet down the mile-a-minute thoughts.

"I really do not know if it is another lie or not. But after you appeared on TV... Marya recognized you. Told me that you were our father."

Erik watches him carefully for a moment, reassessing him, seeing if this new information fits or not.

After a moment, he took a sip of beer and said "What's your mother's name?"

Peter's face is pretty serious right now. This information changed his world. And the quest to learn if it was the truth or not has consumed him.

"Her name was Magda." He answered softly.

"I knew a woman named Magda," he admitted. "A long time ago. I traveled a lot for my... work."

Hunting Nazis was more of a vocation than a job, but it was what he did at the time.

"One day I came back and she told me to leave. Said she didn't want to see me again. Slammed the door in my face. I never knew why." A beat and he took a sip of beer. "I guess we know now."

Peter frowns into his beer. He won't ever understand his birth mother's reasons for doing that.

"She died when we were pretty young. Wanda and I." Peter wishes he knew where his sister was right now. Wishes he could help her.

"And once our powers started to show... we were separated."

She didn't want them associated with the dangerous mutant and his lifestyle, probably.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Both parts." He studied Peter's face for a moment. He could see it. He could see her in it. "We should find your sister."

"She is locked up right now." Peter hisses through his teeth. He has to move his hands off the beer glass, they are shaking so much. He doesn't want to vibrate it into breaking.

"Her powers... scare others." He would have been locked up too, if he wasn't so fast that they never caught him.

"Is that so?" Erik isn't okay with any mutant being imprisoned for existing and certainly not his daughter. His expression goes stony. "Do you know where?"

"They just moved her. But it won't take me long to find her again." Having sonic speed helps. There is also this unspoken connection between him and Wanda. It is like playing 'Hot-and-Cold', all by himself.

"We'll get her out," Erik promised him. "There's no fortress in the world that can keep us out." Between the two of them? No way. And once they had freed her? Good luck to anyone. "Then we'll protect our people from the same fate. Together."

Peter relaxes for the first time in a long time. Just knowing that Erik wants to help free his sister is a relief. And in a way, it validates the fact that the man sitting on the other side of the table is his father.

"Thank you." The two words don't seem enough.

"You don't know what this means to me."

Erik leans forward slightly. "You don't know what it means to me," he says. He sits back, taking a drink from his beer. He'd been a man without a family for most of his life. This time, he would save his family, not watch them die. "How are they dampening her power?"

Peter nods. Hopefully they can help Wanda. And then spend some quality family time together.

"They are using one of those dampening collars."

Erik's expression becomes stony.

"I thought those were still experimental," he replies.

Clearly his intel is not up to date. He needs Mystique, but he doesn't know where to find her.

"When did they start forcing mutants into them?"

Peter frowns in his beer. "She is the first one to be experimented on... with the fucking collar."

"And when they came for me... I ran..." He shakes again. "I just need to get her out. Make sure she is not fucked up."

"You did the right thing," Erik tells him. "You couldn't help her if you were locked up in one of those collars in the next cell."

Peter touches his neck in reflex at that statement. And nods.

"I am glad I was able to talk to you." He nods. Erik will take action. And Wanda will find her freedom.

And maybe, Peter will have his family back.

"Mutants need to stick together," Erik says simply. He met Peter's eyes. "And families need to stick together."

The first statement was expected. The second makes Peter smile. He needs to hear that. More than anything.

He reaches across the table to touch Erik's hand lightly. "Thanks."

"Did you say you don't have anywhere to stay?" he asks.

"No. I don't." He can't return to the foster home. Not after learning everything he did. Not with Wanda out there... somewhere.

"Do you want to travel with me?" Erik asks. "Not just until we save Wanda. But. After."

"Really? That would be great."

He could truly be himself, by traveling with Erik. Learn how to harness his power better. And become stronger.

We Need To Talk for iwillcatchup

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