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“I’m sorry you want to find who now?”
“I want to find Magneto.” Peter explained… again.
“Why do you think I would just tell you where he is?” Charles asked, folding his arms across his chest. “He’s dangerous Peter, not that I think he would hurt you, but it’s too big of a risk.”
“But-”
“But nothing Peter, you can stay here and if he comes here you are more than welcome to talk to him then.”
“But he’s my father.” Peter said for a last ditch effort that maybe Charles would tell him where Erik was.
Charles’ eyes widened as he looked at Peter. “Pardon me, he’s your what?”
“He’s my father.” Peter sighed and sat down in one of the chairs in Charles’ study. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need to find him.”
“Peter-”
“I know he’s dangerous, I know it’s probably stupid to go after him. He probably doesn't even remember me from the pentagon.” Peter stood up from his chair and started walking towards the door. “You know what, it is stupid to go after him. You were right, sorry to even bother Charles.”
“I’ll help you.”
Peter froze mid step and turned to face Charles. “You will?”
Charles nodded. “Yeah I will. Though I must know; does Erik know you are his son?”
“No, he doesn't.”
It was a few months after the almost killing the president again fiasco that Peter finally found out for sure that Magneto or Erik , as his mom called him, was actually his father. He had his suspicions on the day Magneto’s speech and show of almost killing the president was broadcasted on TV. He knew there was more to his mothers reaction, it wasn’t right for mutants being revealed to the world. She had looked mad, it seemed personal.
It took Peter a few months to finally confront his mom, to finally ask if there was something more to Magneto, something more to the man who could control metal that his mom once knew. Turns out there was and it wasn’t the answer Peter was expecting to say the least. It was shocking that after 18 years he had finally figured out who his father was and it just so happened to be the man he had broken out of prison a few months prior.
After finding out, Peter wasn’t sure what to make of the information at first, but after almost 6 months of sitting on the information, Peter made the decision to go find Erik, wherever that may be. His mom wasn’t very supportive of his decision to do so, but it wasn’t like she could stop him even if she tried, especially now that he was 18. After countless hours of arguing Peter gave up and left with no notice other than a note. His mom was going to have to accept the fact that he was going after Erik whether she wanted him to or not.
In the cold of winter, Peter made a beeline up to Westchester, New York to the address on the business card he had stolen from Charles all those months ago with hopes the man would be able to help him out. And worst case it was at least a place to start.
Following everything with the Pentagon and breaking Erik out of prison, Charles had stopped by a few weeks after, looking much more sober and in a wheelchair this time, telling Peter that if he ever needed anything to come find him. At the time Peter had brushed him off, very content with his life of living in the basement eating Twinkies and playing video games. Now it was a different story and Peter was glad that Charles was holding up his end of the bargain, even if it took a bit of convincing on his end.
“Why do you want to find him?” Charles asked as he and Peter made their way down to Cerebro.
“I don’t know.” Peter answered truthfully. “I think it’s because my whole life I never knew who my father was and now that I do I just need to know that I tried even if he wants nothing to do with me.”
“I think it might take him some getting used to, but I don’t think he’d want nothing to do with you.”
Peter and Charles stopped at the end of the hallway and after a moment the door to Cerebro slid open and Peter followed Charles inside the room.
“But why would he want anything to do with me?” Peter questioned. “To him I’m just some random kid who broke him out of the Pentagon.”
“Right now yes, but if there’s one thing I know about Erik it’s that family means the world to him. As I said, it may take some time for him to get used to it but I highly doubt he would ignore you.” Charles stopped at the end of the walk way and picked up the Cerebro helmet before turning back to glance at Peter. “Are you sure you are ready?”
Peter nodded. “Yeah.”
Peter was sure there was some hesitation in his answer, but if it was there Charles seemed to ignore it. He was going to figure out where his father was and even though that’s what he had set out to do it was still terrifying to think it was actually going to happen. What he did with the information was an entirely different question. The plan was to actually go to wherever Erik was and tell him that he was his son. However, if Peter went through with that plan was up for debate. As much as he wanted to tell Erik, what if the man just wasn’t in the right mindset to find out he had a son? And maybe that is where the plan would go astray. He would find Erik but just wouldn’t tell him if he thought it wasn’t the right time, then again was there ever a right time?
Peter was pulled out of his thoughts as the room lit up around him when Charles turned on Cerebro. It was absolutely breathtaking. It was crazy to see how exactly Charles’ mind worked as he filtered through person after person searching for the correct mind. After only a few seconds the light wound down and Charles took the helmet off his head.
“He’s in Tromsø, Norway.” Charles said, putting the helmet back on the control panel.
“Huh, Norway. I wasn’t expecting that.”
Charles turned his chair so he was facing Peter. “If you are going to go to Norway you are going to need some warmer clothes.”
“Is this really necessary?” Peter asked, staring at the excessive amount of clothes that Charles gave him.
“Yes, it’s very cold in that part of Norway this time of year as the sun doesn’t rise.” Charles answered. “I can also buy you a plane ticket, so I will take you to the airport as soon as you are ready.”
“I can literally run across the ocean.” Peter deadpanned. “As much as I appreciate it, I don’t need a plane ticket. You’ve already helped me enough.”
Charles looked like he wanted to protest but then his face softened and he let out a sigh. “If you say so. Good luck Peter.”
“Thanks for the help Professor.” Peter said, slinging his backpack over his shoulders giving a half salute before slipping into superspeed and running out of the mansion.
When Peter arrived in Norway it wasn’t as cold as he expected. It was still cold nevertheless so he packed on the layers that he was now thankful that Charles forced him to pack. It didn’t take long to find Erik, Peter knew exactly where he would be even though Charles had just given him a city. He was sure that Charles likely put in an exact location in his head at some point when he wasn’t really paying attention.
Peter walked through the city before coming up to the door of a local coffee shop at the edge of town. It was close to the mountains, the view was one like no other with the sky illuminating the colors of dusk with the sun below the horizon. Although it was technically considered the polar night, as Peter had been told, the sun was still close enough to the horizon during some parts of the day that it wasn’t complete darkness all the time.
He walked inside the building and immediately froze as he came through the door. He saw Erik sitting in the corner sipping on some sort of drink and Peter’s plan immediately went out of his head. How was he supposed to tell a man that he only met once that he was his father. If someone had come up to him and said something like that, he was pretty sure he would immediately slip into super speed and run away having no clue what to even think, let alone say.
Erik looked peaceful and not murderous like he had the last time Peter had seen him on TV. Who was Peter to ruin that peace? Even though he thought it was the right thing to do, to tell Erik, well the right thing for him at least. Who's to say it was the right thing to happen to Erik, to find out after 18 years that he had a son he never knew about.
With one final glance Peter walked out of the café.
Erik left the mansion and Peter had still yet to tell him the truth. He had an entire month to do so, an entire month where they actually became pretty close by Peter’s standards and yet every chance Peter got he chickened out too scared of how Erik would react. Even now almost 10 years later he still wasn’t sure if it would ever be the right time to tell Erik that he was his dad. After all, the man had just lost his family only a few months prior and once again Peter was at a loss of how the man would potentially react to finding out he had a son he never knew.
According to Charles and according to Raven and according to pretty much anyone who knew Erik prior to anything that had happened with Peter's involvement with the X-Men, Erik was a family man. Family was always a top priority to Erik and he wouldn’t react badly to finding out that Peter was his son and yet here Peter was still debating on what to do and now he wasn’t sure if he would ever have the chance.
The first month or so after Erik had left the mansion Peter just sat around pretty much moping, though he would never call it that, over the fact that he hadn’t told Erik. After that Peter pretty much let it go, but from time to time he would still think about what would’ve happened if he did tell Erik. He ranted to Charles about it on multiple occasions and Charles would just nod along to Peter's rambling and every once in a while he would give some advice. Peter was thankful Charles still cared enough to do so. After all he had helped Peter all those years ago trying to find Erik the first time around. The time when Peter gave up. When he was only moments away from being able to tell Erik. Maybe it would’ve been better if Peter had told him then. Even if it meant life could’ve turned out much differently, but then again he wasn’t sure if Erik would’ve wanted anything to do with Pete at that point.
And now it was almost December and Peter was still not completely over it. Peter was laying in bed one morning when he suddenly had an idea. He shot up from his spot on the bed and slipped in to super speed to get to Charles’ study where he found the man sitting at his desk and he looked up as though he wasn’t surprised to see Peter in front of him.
“You don’t happen to have a bunch of ridiculously warm clothes do you?” Peter asked, causing Charles to scrunch up his face in confusion.
“ I do, although they may be a little small on you as they were yours from a few years back.” Charles answered. “May I ask why you need them?”
“I’m going to find Erik.”
This time around Peter didn’t even bother asking Charles if he knew where Erik was. Peter had a feeling he knew exactly where Erik would be. So after gathering the clothes that Charles had gotten for him all those years prior Peter set off once again to Norway.
Maybe it was a long shot to guess that Erik was in Norway again after all these years. However when Peter came upon the café that he was at years prior and saw Erik sitting inside at the same table Peter knew that his suspicions were right.
Peter walked into the café and this time he immediately walked up to the counter and ordered a coffee. When he received his drink he went over to the table that Erik was sitting at and sat down across from the man.
“Hey man.” Peter said.
Erik looked up from his drink, not startled one bit, although he did look surprised to see Peter there.
“What are you doing here Peter?” Erik asked
“I came to see you.”
“How did you know I was here? It was Charles wasn’t it?”
“Well kinda. This time no, he didn’t help me, but he did help me a while back so I just had a feeling that this is where you would be.”
Erik nodded and to Peter's surprise he didn’t look mad at the fact that Peter showed up, if anything he actually looked a bit happier.
“It will be nice to have someone up here with me again.” Erik spoke looking down at his cup with a sad smile before looking back at Peter. “I took Nina up here one time.”
“I bet she loved it.” Peter said although he still wasn’t sure why exactly Erik came up here
“She did. She asked if we could come back but then…” Erik trailed off and Peter knew what he meant.
“I’m sorry.” Peter said cause truly he was sorry that Erik had lost his family but also he wasn’t sure what else to say.
“It’s okay. It’s happened, nothing anyone can do now.”
“I know but you still didn’t deserve it.”
“Thank you Peter.” Erik said before taking a sip from his drink. “Now you haven’t asked why I’m up here. You must be curious.”
“I am.” Peter answered truthfully. “Why Norway of all places?”
“Just wait until it’s fully dark and I’ll show you.”
It didn’t take long for it to be completely dark and when it was Erik and Peter left the cafe. Peter wasn’t sure where exactly they were going but he followed Erik anyway. It took a bit of effort to not go into superspeed because Peter wasn’t used to actually walking places, but he refrained and kept in step with Erik. It didn’t take long for them to reach their destination which was the end of a dock by the water facing the mountains. Peter looked around trying to see what exactly they were here for but he didn’t see anything that stood out.
“I don’t get it.” Peter said. “Why here? I don’t see anything.”
Erik closed his eyes and took a breath. “Just wait.”
They waited in silence for a few minutes before Peter started to see green and blue hues flow across the sky. His eyes were glued to the sky in awe as the colors waved through the air. Next to him Erik was doing the same and Peter could feel a sense of calm radiating off of him.
“It’s beautiful.” Peter breathed out. “I can see why you come here.”
“Do you know how the northern lights are created?” Erik asked and Peter shook his head. “It’s when charged particles collide with the gasses in the Earth’s atmosphere. I can always feel the Earth’s magnetic field, but this is something else. It’s so strong compared to what it normally is.”
“It doesn’t overwhelm your powers?”
“No, it’s just calming. It’s like I’m fully grounded for once instead of floating.”
“I definitely don’t get it like you do, but something about it feels nice, feels different from when we first got here.”
Maybe it was something about what Peter said, but Erik turned to look at Peter. “Why are you here?” He asked. “You said you came to see me, why?”
“I-” Peter trailed off, unsure of what to say, how to answer. “I’m your son.”
The lights in the sky froze as Erik stared at Peter with a blank look.
Peter looked away from Erik. “I’m sorry that was stupid to say. I shouldn’t have dropped something like that on you.”
Peter stood up to walk away but was stopped by a hand grabbing his wrist.
“Peter, wait.” Erik said and Peter thought he heard a hint of desperation in his voice. “Please sit down.”
With a deep breath Peter sat back down next to Erik though he kept his eyes glued to the sky with rapidly moving colors.
“You’re my son?” Erik asked, Peter could feel Erik’s eyes on him as he nodded. “How long have you known?”
“About a year after the pentagon.” Peter replied. “I tried to find you then. I did find you then, here actually, but it didn’t feel like the right time. You didn’t even know me then, how was I supposed to tell a complete stranger that I was their son.”
The lights in the sky slowed down a bit as Peter heard Erik take another breath.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you growing up.”
Peter snapped his gaze to Erik. “You’re sorry? Why are you sorry? You didn’t even know that I existed.”
“If I had known you existed I would’ve been there. And I’m sorry you felt you couldn’t tell me all those years ago.”
Peter shrugged. “I don’t think I was ready then either to be honest. I froze the second I saw you. How was I even supposed to talk to you?”
“I’d- if it’s alright with you, I’d like to get to know you more. Be in your life.”
“I’d like that. A lot actually.”
Erik wrapped an arm around Peter’s shoulder and pulled him close. “Thank you for telling me. I didn’t think I’d have a family again.”
“Thank you for wanting to stay.” Peter’s breath hitched when he saw hues of pink start to flow in the sky alongside the greens and blues. “And thank you for showing me this, it’s breathtaking.”
“I’m glad I get to share it with my son.”
For the next few hours Peter and Erik sat watching the lights in the sky. Peter had completely forgotten about the fact that he had even been cold because now he was filled with so much warmth. He wasn’t sure if it was because his father had accepted him and they were happy together or if it was from the lights themselves or maybe it was a little bit of both. Regardless, he was happy to finally have told Erik and it was a bonus that Erik wanted to be part of his life.