“I- I won’t do it again-! I promise!”
TWACK
A slap came to Pietro’s face. Tears and snot rolled down his face as he pleaded. His vision distorted, he didn’t recognize the man standing above him. An authority figure? A monster? He had a vague sense of fear. His cheek burned, he brought his hands up to his face to shield it.
“I’ve given you too many chances.” A stern voice said above him, “You deserve nothing.”
Pietro felt so tiny under it all. He wanted to sink into the floor and disappear. Before he could do anything else, he spoke.
“Daddy please-!” His voice begged.
Pietro had no connection to this voice that was clearly his, he felt a sense of disconnection from this body. He let out a sob, his whole body shuddering.
“Look at me.” The voice demanded
So he did, seeing a face he recognized. Stray white hair in his face, his bright blue eyes, it could only have been his father, Magneto.
“You are a worthless child.” He said, “If I had known any better you’d be with your sister.”
“But-“ Pietro sniffled
“You’ve been nothing but trouble for me. I work my ass off for this and you can’t even do anything right?! Absurd.” Magneto yelled
Pietro’s ears rang, “Stop!” He pleaded, “Stop, stop, stop, stop!”
He felt himself curl into a ball, his breathing heavy. Pietro felt the world around him fade away, slowly. He was awake.
He woke up crying, Lance sitting up next to him looking shocked. Pietro gripped his own shoulders, sinking his nails into the skin. He was shaking, not in the normal non mutant way, but in a way where his whole body vibrated. He sucked in a shaky breath.
“‘Tro? What’s wrong?” Lance asked
Pietro just sobbing into himself, he was just being reminded of what happened.
“Pietro? Baby?”
Those words rung in his ears. ‘Baby’? Did he mean it like that?
“You woke up screaming, what happened?” Lance put his hand on Pietro’s shoulder.
The speedster just shook his head, continuing to let his tears fall.
“Was it a dream? Like a memory kind of dream?”
That got a nod out of him, this was getting somewhere at least.
“About your father?”
“Mhm.” Pietro sobbed pitifully.
Lance grabbed him, pulling Pietro into his arms.
“Baby,” He hushed, petting Pietro’s hair, “He’s not here. He can’t hurt you now.”
Pietro gripped onto him, resting his head on the brunette’s shoulder.
“Just breathe with me ‘Tro,” He took a deep breath in, “Like that hun, you’ve got it.”
Pietro took a breath as well, his shaking continued. He sobbed onto Lance’s bare chest, quickly losing control of his breathing.
“Baby,” Lance mumbled comfortingly, “Pietro, dear, it’s ok now. He can’t hurt you. He’ll never hurt you as long as I’m here.” Lance ran a hand through Pietro’s hair.
Pietro began to calm, breathing slowly. He loosened his grip on Lance’s shoulders, realizing how much his fingernails had dug into his skin.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Lance asked
Pietro nodded.
“You start when you’re ready baby.”
Pietro sighed, his breath hitching.
“After-.. after Wanda was taken away.. I- I could never do anything good for him,” He explained, “He-.. he used to h-hurt me. I’d beg him not to.. I- I promised I’d be better. But it was never enough for him.” He sobbed
Lance moved one of his hands to rub Pietro’s back, “I’m so sorry ‘Tro… Back when I was bouncing between foster homes I had a few families like that..” He admitted, “They told me that I’d always be a freak, told me I’d never change.”
“Oh..” Pietro seemed surprised, “That’s awful, I’m- I’m so sorry.”
Lance smiled weakly, “It’s ok baby, it’s been a while. I’m over it for the most part.”
Pietro nodded, continuing, “He’d h- hit me.. a lot. Sometimes, when I see him, he still does.” He whispered as if he didn’t want Lance to hear.
Lance furrowed his brow, “He won’t, he won’t do it anymore. I won’t let him do that to you.”
Pietro laughed, tears rolling down his face, “Don’t try to stop him, he’s too powerful. You’d get hurt, and I don’t want that.” He frowned, hugging Lance tightly.
“‘Tro,” He frowned, “I don’t care how powerful he is, that doesn’t give him the right to hurt you. I will protect you, no matter what it takes.”
Pietro shook lightly, “Dont-..” He warned, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
Lance scowled, “I’m being serious, I won’t let him do that to you.”
Pietro’s breath hitched, he began to sob again.
“Shhh,” Lance mumbled, “It’s ok baby, I promise you’re safe here.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Pietro pleaded
“You don’t need to be sorry, I’m here for you hun.” Lance whispered, rubbing his back.
Pietro sobbed harder, “I- I was a good kid.”
“I know, I know, baby. You always have been.”
“W-why did he h-hurt me..?”
“I don’t know baby, he’s just messed up.”
“I-… I want my dad back!” He cried
“Baby, baby, baby.” Lance hushed, “It must be so hard.. I’m so sorry. I’m here for you, I promise. I won’t let you go.”
Pietro began to calm again, his breathing slowing.
“Listen baby, It’s 3am so how about we try to get more sleep?”
Pietro nodded, he all of a sudden felt too tired to sleep.
“Good, good. I’ll hold you hun, I’ll keep you safe.” Lance promise
The speedster smiled, nuzzling into Lance’s chest.
“Goodnight baby.”
“Night..” Pietro mumbled back
~•~•~•~•~•
Pietro came home from basketball practice, setting his bag on the floor. He whipped the sweat off of his forehead with his white tank top. He walked further into the house, going into the kitchen.
Todd and Fred sat across from one another, chatting away. Wanda sat at the chair farthest away from Todd. All of them had bowls filled with soup. Lance was leaned against the countertop, one bowl was left on the counter. Pietro walked up to him.
“How was practice?” The brunette asked
“Fine, Daniels was a pain in the ass though.” He huffed
“As always.” Lance chuckled
“Is this for me?” He asked, pointing to the last bowl.
“Yep, go sit. I’ll come with you.” Lance smiled
Pietro picked up his bowl, taking it to the table where Lance sat next to him.
“Sorry, all the spoons are dirty.”
The speedster shrugged, “‘S alright.”
He brought the bowl to his lips, taking a sip. It was hot, but it wasn’t bad. They usually had soup when they were too poor to afford anything else.
“Where’s yours?” Pietro asked
Lance brought his knees to his chest, sighing, “I got it all dished out for everyone and there wasn’t enough. I didn’t want anyone else to go hungry.”
Pietro frowned, “You should have mine then.” He said, pushing the bowl towards Lance.
“No,” The brunette pushed it back, “You need to eat. I’m used to it.”
“What do you mean?” Pietro asked
“When I was in between foster parents, sometimes, I wouldn’t eat for days.” He explained, “I got used to it, I guess I still am.” He shrugged
“Lance-“
“It’s ok, ‘Tro.” He assured, “Just eat please.”
Pietro crossed his arms in protest.
“Please Pietro.”
He shook his head, “No, you can’t just not eat!”
Lance sighed, “I’ll be ok ‘Tro. Just go on, eat, please.”
Pietro uncrossed his arms, reaching towards the bowl. He grabbed it again, bringing it up to his mouth. He took a long sip, feeling the warmth flow through his body.
Lance smiled, “How is it?”
Pietro set the now empty bowl down, “It’s good, thank you for making it.”
The brunette nodded, “Of course.”
Pietro reached into his pocket, “Oh, I have something for you.”
Lance cocked his head to the right, “What is it?”
The speedster pulled a pack of Marlboros, placing it in Lance’s hand, “Here.”
Lance looked at him, slightly shocked, “You didn’t spend mo-“
“No, of course not. Those things are death sticks and aren’t worth money. I just got it since you.. you know, helped me last night.”
“Pietro,” Lance mumbled, “You don’t need to thank me.”
“I do though, I’m a lot to handle.” He frowned
Lance shook his head, a smile on his face, “No, no. You aren’t ‘Tro. I wouldn’t have you any other way.”
Pietro smiled, “You mean it..?”
“I would never lie about that, I promise.” Lance grabbed his hand, squeezing it.
The speedster chuckled, “Aw, you’re going all sap on me.”
Todd and Fred peaked over at the pair, both of them making faces.
“Yo, could you maybe.. take this somewhere else, dawg?” Todd asked
Lance glared at him, but agreed. He led Pietro up to his room, picking him up and tossing him up on the bed. Pietro giggled, pulling Lance close to him.
“Can I tell you something?” Lace asked, wrapping his arms around Pietro’s hips.
“Sure.” Pietro smiled
Lance kissed him quickly, “I love you.”
The speedster kissed him back, “I love you too Alvers.”
The brunette kissed his cheek, “I love this.”
“You’re cute.” Pietro giggled, “You should come to one of my games sometime.” He suggested
“I’d love to,” Lance smiled, “You’re the best on the team anyway.”
“Aw, you flatter me.” Pietro kissed his forehead.
The brunette chuckled, “Only the best for you.”