No Good Deed Goes Unpunished {Pietro}

[Erik Lensherr]

His heart ached; he had been supposed to be able to take care of his family, to protect them from anything that would cause them harm...., but in the end, he had failed them, he had failed all of them. Pietro was still alive, but Erik had still failed him; his mother and his twin sister were dead, and there was nothing he could do to take that pain away.

His own grief was still fresh, still raw, but he shoved it down, he buried it deep inside himself. He needed to be able to care for Pietro, and he wouldn't be able to do that if he lost himself in his grief. He would allow himself to grieve, over time, but right now, his main concern was the little boy he held in his arms, the boy that shifted to rest his head on his shoulder.

Pietro tried to tell him that he wasn't tired, but Erik could see otherwise. At his son's question, though, Erik paused to consider his answer. They had planned to go to Romania, the four of them, but now....with just the two of them, where would they go? They could go to Russia; that was farther away than Romania, but Pietro did not yet speak Russian. No, right now, Romania was their best bet.

<"Yes, Pietro,"> he responded, his voice still soft, <"We're going to Romania."> He bent to kiss the top of his son's head, closing his eyes for just a moment as a single tear slipped down his cheek, into Pietro's hair.

<"Go to sleep, little one; I'll keep you safe,"> he murmured. He would travel as far as he could while Pietro slept, and they would be in Romania soon.

Just in case, though, he started singing softly, choosing one of Pietro's favourite Hebrew lullabies. Even though the twins had technically outgrown lullabies, he still sang to them every night. He hoped that doing so now would be soothing to Pietro rather than bringing back floods of memories.

[Pietro Maximoff]

Pietro's brow was furrowed with worries far too great for a boy his age... but when his father kissed his head his expression softened.  Pietro wanted to stay awake.  He didn't want to go to sleep just in case something else bad happened.  What if there were more arrows?  What if the men came back to hurt papa?  Pietro wouldn't let them.  He wouldn't!

But Papa was singing one of the old songs.  He hadn't done that in a long time, but Pietro still knew the words.  The melody was like a warm blanket over his heart.  Pietro focused on the words, on his father's voice, and let all the other thoughts fall away.

<"I love you, Papa.">

The words were mumbled as Pietro began to fully drift off to sleep, his head heavy on Erik's shoulder.  By the time the song ended, Pietro was fast asleep.

[Erik Lensherr]

Erik continued to sing to his son, the melody familiar and dear to him, some last remnant of his own parents who were long since dead, murdered in Auschwitz. He tried not to think of that, but the number on his arm was a reminder to him, every day, that he could not let such a thing happen again.

And now, more of his family had been taken from him. He vowed that he would not let it happen again; he would stand against the humans. His mutant brothers and sisters should not have to fear what they were just because the lesser of their race was frightened of what they could never understand.

But he was brought back to the present by his son's words, words that broke his heart and made it overflow at the same time.

<"I love you too, my son,"> he whispered, and his tears started flowing freely once more. He wanted to change the world, for his son. He wanted to make this world a better place for his son to live. And he vowed that he would do whatever it took to make it so.

Erik flew through the night, and by the time it was morning, they had reached Romania. They had to find somewhere to stay; he was exhausted. But he refused to let that show; he would be strong for his son.

[Pietro Maximoff]

Pietro woke up slowly.  His body felt heavy and at first when he tried to move he found that his body simply would not obey.  Grunting with effort, Pietro rolled over and opened his eyes.  Every part of his body ached as if he'd fallen down a flight of stairs.  The boy didn't know how long he had been asleep, but his mouth was dry and fuzzy and he badly needed to use the bathroom.

He slowly sat up and looked around.  He was in a big room and the walls looked like they were made of logs.  There was a kitchen and a fireplace and a table and chairs and one big bed, which he was sleeping in. Someone had put on his pajamas and cleaned the ash off his face.

Pietro scooted to the edge of the bed and stood up, the wood floor surprisingly warm on his bare feet.  He padded over to the window and looked out.  There were trees all around and a lake at the bottom of the hill.  He could see mountains.

The more time that passed without any sign of his father the more anxious Pietro felt.  He went to the big heavy door and pulled it open.  There was a porch outside and a big stack of firewood.  Pietro lifted his hands to his mouth and called out.  "Hello??"

[Erik Lensherr]

It hadn't taken him long to find an abandoned little cabin, deep in the woods. He'd have to find some sort of civilization nearby, if only so they could get some food, but for now, this would do. There was a lake at the bottom of the hill where they could fish, and they both knew plenty about gardening and foraging, thanks to Magda.

Before he could sleep himself, he needed to take care of Pietro. He washed his sleeping son's face, and very carefully, tenderly put his pajamas on him. His young son had had quite the eventful day, and he would do what he could to make sure that the boy was as comfortable as he could be.

Once Pietro was seen to, Erik fell into the bed, sleeping hard for several hours. He arose when the sun did, and set about making sure that they had enough supplies. There were plenty of trees nearby that he could fell for firewood; that would keep him busy at least until Pietro woke up. Then they could go find out how far the nearest town was from here. But he wasn't about to simply leave his son sleeping, without any word at all; that would be far too cruel.

It would have been easy enough to chop the wood using his powers, but Erik decided to use his own blood, sweat, and tears. It helped to keep his mind off of ... everything.

But soon enough, he heard the door swing open, followed by Pietro's voice. A small smile slipped onto his face, and he put the axe down, moving so that his son could see him.

<"I'm right here, little one,"> he said softly in Romanian, moving to the porch to stand next to Pietro. <"Did you sleep well?">

[Pietro Maximoff]

At the sound of his father's voice, Pietro turned to face him.  He ran up to him and put his arms around his middle, hugging him tightly.  After a moment he quietly spoke in perfect Romanian, <"I thought you were gone too, Papa.">

Erik asked how he slept and Pietro pulled away from his father enough to look up at him.  <"Good, I think.">  There hadn't been any bad dreams, he had simply been to exhausted for that.  His body still ached and his mind was firmly avoiding certain thoughts.  Otherwise... he was fine.

Pietro peered around at the trees and the lake and the mountains.  <"Is it just us here?">  It was very quiet.  Pietro stepped closer to Erik without really thinking about it, thinking of the men who had come out of the trees around their cottage the night before.  <"... will they come here too?">

Pietro wasn't sure why the men wanted to hurt Erik and why they had set his house on fire.  Still, what if they came back?  What if they came here and set this house on fire too? 

[Erik Lensherr]

Pietro ran over to him, throwing his arms around his middle, holding him tight. Erik's heart broke at his son's words, but he knew that there was nothing he could do to fix that. It would take time for them both to heal, and all he could do was reassure the boy that he wasn't going anywhere, that he wouldn't let anyone hurt them again.

<"No, Pietro,"> he murmured, <"I'm not gone; I'm not going anywhere."> And while it was a risky promise to make...., he would make it. Because he would die before he let anyone hurt his son.

He smiled very slightly when Pietro said that he had slept decently; that much was a good thing. They were both going to need rest, after what had happened, to mend their hearts and souls.

At his son's question, Erik looked around, too, taking in the mountains, the trees, the lake. This was a peaceful place. And he intended to keep it that way.

<"It's just us,"> he confirmed. And he felt his heart break again when Pietro pressed closer to him, asking if the people would come here too. <"No, they will not come for us here. They don't know where we are."> He didn't mention, of course, that he had killed the men who had hurt them, but...., he would do what he had to in order to protect his child.