Chapter 9
Erik rushed through the helicarrier with his daughter’s limp form in his arms. He could feel the warmth of her blood run down his arms as he used every nerve in his body to keep from panicking. He had made every attempt to slow the hemorrhaging using his powers, cape, and medical supplies that Natasha had in her belt but it did little.
“Erik” said the equally shocked and relieved voice of his dear friend but he had no time to linger.
The medical bay was at the heart of the transport. It was relatively small for the number of workers on the site but very well equipped. The place was unpleasant to say the least. Flooded with fluorescent lights that reflected off the white walls and smelling of antiseptics, it reminded the Holocaust survivor too much of the chamber he had been tortured in as a child. Three staff members covered head to toe rushed to him the moment they saw him and rushed him to an examination room.
“Can you give us information about the patient?” the head asked.
“Fourteen, female, mutant” Erik responded, “Was used as a lab rat by…”
He was interrupted by the team working his daughter out of his arms and onto the hospital bed. They hooked Wanda up to an IV and began to draw blood that was sent away for testing. Magneto felt his anxiousness boil into rage. The light began to flicker and several of the instruments around them were crushed under his anger. The three other people looked at him with horror and backed up.
“What are you doing?” Erik demanded.
“S-Sir” the head quivered, “We need to know what…”
“Erik!” someone cried out.
Erik let his powers relax and turned to see Charles at the doorway.
“That’s enough,” his friend said, “Your daughter is in good hands. They will take care of her.”
The three medics nodded anxiously before getting back to work and preparing the little girl for a stomach pump.
“S-She was pregnant” Erik managed to choke, “And recently gave birth.”
Looking back at his daughter he felt his entire being being covered in grief. Wanda was so small, the idea that she was forced to not only carry but birth a child as well was sickening. When the medics began to change her into clean clothing, Erik caught sight of the red stretch marks that snaked across her abdomen.
“Pietro,” Erik gasped, turning around suddenly, “My son”
“Is fine” Charles put a hand on Erik.
“Where is he?” he asked, “He was injured.”
As if by cue, another team of medics burst in with his son laying restlessly on a gurney. A blossoming blood stain bloomed around his feet that had been caked in grime and shredded till there was more flesh than skin on the soles.
“Tata” Pietro muttered, reaching out for his father.
A blossom of warmth that Erik had not felt since he had felt his family all those years ago. Last time he had seen his babies, they had just turned three and had been attacked by the village that feared him so much.
“I am so sorry to leave, my boy” he cried, allowing the tears to flow freely. “I only wished to protect you and your sister.”
The team stopped for the two to have their moment and one of them began to clean Pietro’s wounds. Erik brought his eldest to his chest and stroked his silver hair, ignoring the smell of chemicals and smoke.
“Daj always said that you would return” Pietro nuzzled into his father.
“But not soon enough” Erik choked and carefully rearranged his son so he could look into his icy blue eyes.
“Don’t worry, I heal fast” Pietro said, “Can we get something to eat?”
The question was innocent enough but it meant the world to Erik. He hugged the boy tightly which squeezed a squeak.
“I can get him something,” Charles offered, beginning to wheel towards the cafeteria. “He needs the energy but make sure that you get something easy to digest.”
Erik looked at the med bay and felt the various metal tools being used on his daughter with urgency. He wanted nothing more than to be able to burst through the walls and shield her from everything but for all his powers, he was no doctor. His attention was drawn back to his son as Pietro let out a sharp breath.
“Sorry,” the medic winced, “Anti-infectant.”
Pietro shook his foot a bit. With the area now clean, Erik could see his son’s wounds already beginning to heal though still a ways away from being safe to walk on.
“Is there anything else we should be treating?” the medic asked, wrapping the appendage with gauze. “Any-um- medicines or things they gave you?”
Erik tightened his hold on his son hoping that it would bring the boy some comfort.
“No,” Pietro shrugged, “I burned through anything they gave me and as you can see, I heal fast.”
He flashes a surprisingly cheeky smile to the medic who blushed before ushering to Erik and moving them to a room.
“What about Wanda?” Pietro asked, looking nervously towards the ward that she had been taken to.
Erik sighed and looked at him.
“I don’t know,” he admitted, “The doctors are helping her but there is so much we don’t know.”
“Tata, she was pregnant” Pietro said frantically, “She had gone into labor just before…”
“I know,” Erik said, hugging his trembling boy who was full of emotions. “I know.”
“The baby, are they alright?”
Erik froze. While aware of his daughter's pregnancy and subsequent birth, he had not given much thought of his grandchild. In fact, he hadn’t even bothered to look for any signs of a fragile new life. Stark and that winged military man had broken the news to him but they also gave no indication that they were going to look when he rushed away from them to clear his head. It was very likely that the child had been killed in the explosion.
“I don’t know,” he whispered to Pietro.
The boy seemed to have deflated and looked fearfully towards his sister, whom he could not see.
“She loved them” he muttered, “Goddamnit, Tata, she loved them even though she didn’t want them!”
Erik felt his heart break.
“She would sing them the lullaby that Daj would every night and cradled them whenever she got scared” Pietro looked at Erik fearfully. “She killed them, didn’t she?”
Erik bowed his head and said, “We don’t know”
“But?”
“But it is the most likely scenario”