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"I don't know karate... but I know crazy."
"You're exhausting yourself." Erik said abruptly, interrupting Peter's treadmill run.
"Oh, hey Lehnsherr!"
The older mutant blinked at the title, but shrugged. "You've been down here for hours, you know that?"
Peter couldn't stop his eyes from widening. Hours? It had felt like mere minutes. Something was seriously wrong. (Then again, he supposed, it might just be the fact that he had been running. He did loose track of time when he trained.)
Instead of coming off all surprised, though, he just grinned. "Yep! Working out those leg muscles, man. I'm gonna be ripped!"
Erik snorted, waving a hand to slow down the machine. Hank had custom-made one specifically for Peter so that he could actually run on it and go fast. Peter's grin faltered as the treadmill slowed, feeling adrenaline drain out of his body and sore, plain exhaustion creep in. Erik noticed his expression and laughed.
"It's two in the morning."
"I don't sleep anyway," Peter shot back without thinking. "My mind moves way too fast for something like that!"
He got off the treadmill and took his goggles off, shaking off the tiredness he felt. Erik was frowning in confusion. "You have to sleep sometime. I've seen you sleep, last month on the jet home!"
Damn. He forgot about that.
But he was not having this conversation with his father-who-had-no-idea-he-was-his-father. No way.
"Uh... alright, sometimes I sleep. But usually I can just speed through it. Otherwise, I sleep like the Professor."
(Erik's grim smirk was telling. Everyone in the school knew that Charles hardly slept; the voices in his head kept him up night after night, he woke up with nightmares that nobody but Erik, Raven, and Hank could get him out of, and sometimes he projected rather loudly.)
"I didn't know they let people into the training rooms after dark," Erik finally conceded.
Peter full-on burst out laughing at that, ruffling his hair with one hand. "I bust you out of the Pentagon and you don't think I can steal a set of keys?!"
"Right."
His heart thumped loudly and suddenly he realized that he wasn't making it any better for himself. He wanted to come across as a good kid, just to make things easier when he finally told Erik he was his son. Because he would tell him. Eventually. He would. Really.
"Ah- so, anyway. Why're you down here so early?"
Erik looked slightly sheepish and blushed, immediately turning his head away. And wasn't that interesting? (Peter was definitely interested.)
"What?"
"It's... nothing."
"What is it? C'mon, tell me. Tell me. You can't leave me hanging. I know there's something. Why are you down here? Why are you-"
Erik sighed. "Pietro-"
He froze. Jesus Christ, did he just call him Pietro?!
Peter was gaping at the other, eyes blown wide. 'Pietro... my real name. I'm not supposed to use it anymore because... s'dangerous... how the hell does he know?'
"Uh," Peter dragged out the noise for quite some time. This really wasn't the right time to tell Erik...
"Sorry- that just... for a second, I-"
"No, man, it's cool, I, uh..."
They both trailed off awkwardly. Finally Erik sat down on the bench next to Peter and let out a deep breath. "No. Listen, it's just... back when I had my family, my wife, Magda, and I, discussed naming our son Pietro."
Peter gulped. "Did you?"
Erik shook his head, sadly. "No... we never had a son, or a child, for that matter. Before we could, my daughter died in a fire and Magda left. It was for the best... but still. I'm sorry for calling you that, it's just... sometimes I forget you aren't related to me. You remind me of my family, my daughter..."
How the hell was Peter supposed to respond to that? (Not crying, obviously. That would be the worst way to respond.)
(He was nearly choking on sobs.)
"Christ- Peter, are you alright?" Erik had noticed the tears rolling down his cheeks, apparently. He shook his head furiously, mind spinning. He tried to calm himself down; think about what Raven told him to say when he finally got it out.
Don't run away.
"Ag-" He choked, but he still gently pushed away Erik's hands that were there to comfort him. He had to get this out. Spit the fucking words out, if he had to. "Y-You... ah... my real n-name is P...Pietro."
Erik's jaw flew open, gaping like a fish. He opened his mouth before closing it again.
"My real m-mother's name is Magda..."
When Erik still didn't say anything, Peter continued, blurting it out instead of running away like hell was chasing him. The fact was, he wasn't sure he could walk. His legs and hands were shaking so bad they were blurring. "I'm your son! Magda was pregnant and she didn't tell you and she changed my name to Peter, and I found out a couple years ago and- I know this is sudden but I just... you should know and I'm sorry!"
It took several more minutes before Erik started crying too, and Peter finally let him wrap his arms around him. (Was he Pietro now? He wasn't supposed to use that name because they didn't want his father finding him... but Peter wanted Erik to find him. He wanted a father.)
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Erik paused, shuddering and looking for a name. Peter or Pietro?
Peter thought he would be fine with anything.
If anything, he was relieved. No matter what Erik's final response was, he was still here so far, and Peter had finally said it. Raven would be so proud.
"Pietro."
The speedster felt his heart rocket at the name. He folded into Erik- his father's- embrace, letting fingers card through his hair and god he had waited forever for this and for a father and...
"You're my son?"
His father didn't sound disappointed. He sounded... he was in disbelief.
"Uh-yeah."
"You know, the real reason I was down here... it was because I had a nightmare. That you died. I checked your room and you weren't there."
"You were worried?"
"Terrified."
It was strange, hearing that Magneto was terrified of Peter dying. Erik Lehnsherr wasn't supposed to fear anything. He wasn't supposed to have anything to loose. No family, ruthless, things like that. He wasn't supposed to have nightmares about a boy he was friends with dying. He was supposed to be invincible.
There was a sense of calm that filled Peter at the notation that Erik was human, for the lack of a better word. The notation that Erik was just like everyone else, and he cared about people, and he could get hurt, and he could feel things. He could be a father.
And yet... Peter had a family. Not his 'adopted' family, or Magda, who really was his mother, but still... he had a sister!
Peter breathed in heavily, smiling in distraught horror, tears springing into his eyes. It was bittersweet, really. He had another sister and he had missed every second of her life because she had burned to death.
"What was her name... my sister?"
Erik looked surprised, but then a warm smile drifted across his face, holding Peter closer.
"Nina."
"What was she like?"
"Compassionate. She loved animals, music... dancing and singing. We had a lovely home, right by a forest. She talked to the animals, deer and such." With a jolt Peter remembered that he still had a half-sister, of sorts. Different father, but Wanda was still his sister. And Erik's step-daughter. "You know... I have a sister." Erik nodded. "She was beautiful."
"No- I mean, yes, she sounds amazing- but I have a sister. Her name is Wanda."
For a split second, Erik looked absolutely stunned- borderline horrified. "Twins?"
Peter choked on a laugh. "No. She's a lot younger than me. She's your step-daughter I guess."
They had both mutually agreed telepathically not to go into those two conversations much. It wasn't said, and no actual telepaths were involved, but it seemed like an agreement. So Peter continued.
"I'm not- um... I'm not asking you to drop everything and be my dad or whatever... I mean if you want to be my father that's great. But, just... I needed you to know."
"You've been keeping this secret for years?"
"Yeah-"
"Sounds like you had to have a painful amount of patience."
"Well, I mean, sure, but-"
"And I would be honored to be your father, Peter."
There was a long, long pregnant pause and Peter had to put a hand on his pulse to make sure he was still breathing. His heart had stopped, and new tears burst before he finally hugged his father in return and mumbled,
"It's Pietro."