Arc Five. Chapter One Hundred Thirty. Survivor Guilt

"Uh right, Magneto, great, more made-up names, so Erik, can we get somewhere safe before those assholes fire at us again?" Peter asked, moving over and checking on Natasha. She was bloodied, unconscious but otherwise stable. Peter knew her enhanced physiology would provide her with the means to survive, as long as they got somewhere safe. His concern was the jagged piece of wreckage sticking out of her back. From the blood and lack of smell, Peter knew it hadn't pierced anything major but it was still a bad injury.

Erik hmphed and nodded at the boy, who vanished in a blur returning a moment later with a first aid kit. "She will be fine," he said "but you and I are going to have a talk first, Peter, or are you really Raven?" he asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"Uh, nope, definitely Peter, I uh, would show you my phone but it's part of the big fucking fireball, so cut the crap Erik, why do you have powers? why does he? and why the hell are we arguing about it when people are shooting fucking missiles at us." Peter ranted. Interrogations were fine, he owed the man for saving them but right now there were more pressing issues.

As he watched the man, Erik collected several pieces of wreckage and straightened them out and then curved them, making a stretcher that Peter gently lay Natasha on, making sure the metal in her back wasn't disturbed. He sprayed her with Gwen's bio bandage formula and symbcells to aid in her healing but until they got the metal out, she would be better off unconscious and immobile.

"Because this isn't the first time someone shot a missile at me" and as he nodded Peter looked up and saw four more missiles all hanging in the air.

"Wow, that's uh, kinda cool, so telekinesis?" he asked and Erik shook his head and the missiles floated further into the sky before exploding.

"That is my secret, and you really aren't her?" Erik asked again,

"Nope, no idea who that is, but uh, is she a symbiote as well?" Peter replied, confused

"A symbiote? No, a mutant, like us. You're not a mutant?" and he sighed again and shook his head "maybe I've been out of the world for far too long if mutants aren't the only powers now. Come on then, let's get back to the farm and you can see your friend"

"You can't teleport like your friend then?" Peter asked, hopeful

"Teleport, no Pietro might be fast but he is just that, fast. We, however, walk" and Erik moved off towards a building Peter could see in the distance, smoke lazily drifting from its chimney.

The strange youth appeared again and lifted the makeshift stretcher, disappearing, wow, he is fast Peter thought as even his enhanced senses couldn't keep track of him, only the disturbance of the air as he moved.

The pair walked back towards a farmhouse Peter could see in the distance, Peter knew the man was enhanced, he could feel the disturbance around him as he walked but he didn't understand how. Was Shield conducting experiments in Sokovia, or was this another research company? Taking the plunge, Peter needed answers.

"So, uh, if someone had claws, would they be a mutant?" Peter asked, hoping to find out more about mutants and Laura but Erik stopped,

"You met someone with claws?" and Peter nodded.

"Was he with a bald man?" and as Peter's eyes went wide, his fist clenched.

"She, but yes."

"Let me guess. You were sheltering a friend and he came and took her, gave a flowery speech about her being safe with him and then took her, and you just agreed, but were left wondering why?" but Peter shook his head as they kept walking.

"No, the asshole turned up, took her and wiped everyone else's mind. I only remember, cause of, uh, stuff," Peter explained, hoping to get more.

"Wait? He took her and wiped the memories from you and your friends?" Erik said, stopping and putting a hand on Peter's chest.

"Yeah, him and some red glasses asshole, no one remembers except me." and Erik shook his head.

"Things are bad in the states if Charles is using his powers like that. What's been going on?"

"Uh, a bunch of superheroes, Harlem got trashed, robot suits and," Peter sighed, "a few powered individuals, maybe making a mess of things," not wanting to admit that he was one of them.

"So, no wonder. Well, once your friend is healed I want no part of it, my times as a 'superhero' as you put it are over. I just want to live in peace." Erik said, moving off once more. Peter could feel something was wrong, some tragedy had occurred and the man was hiding from it, and hiding something else.

"I have had Charles in my mind often enough to feel when someone else is trying. Please stop or I will hurt you, young man." Erik said without even turning around to look at Peter,

"Uh sorry, I can't help it, it's new and a bit iffy at times." Peter tried to explain.

"Good, then if you do it again, pain will be an excellent motivator for you to get it under control then won't it?" Erik said matter of factly and at that moment Peter was reminded of Felicia, who preferred to do rather than teach.

"So, who's Charles?" Peter asked, finally getting a name to the face, just a surname and he should be able to find out who he was on his own.

"Someone powerful enough to erase a person from your mind, don't even think about it, young man. Charles is someone I respect greatly and if he did that to you and left you unharmed and only missing a tiny piece you should be grateful." Erik said calmly, but Peter had had enough, missiles and being blown up were bad enough but listening to this pompous windbag was grating his nerves.

"Grateful? Listen you dick. I rescued a girl, barely older than me from a factory, and you know what they were doing? Killing fucking kids, draining their brains to make a drug and then some bald-headed shitbag comes and takes her from me like he was some fucking messiah. So no, fuck him and fuck you if you don't help me. I'll find him and make him pay with or without your help,'' and as Erik turned, fully intending on teaching this whelp a lesson a fist closed around his neck, black and larger than his head. "So get off your fucking high horse and help, or I swear to whatever fucking god you believe in I'll rip your fucking head off."

Venom took a breath, he hadn't been this angry over anything since the rooftop and Huntress being hurt. Calming himself he let the rage slide back and thinking of Nat and the help he needed to let the fire run from his blood. stupid, he thought, needed more time to adjust. After telling everyone else to take things slow after being bonded and enhanced, he neglected his own advice and was now threatening an old man over something he had no part in.

Venom towered over Magneto and as Erik reached out with his power he realised the boy had nothing metal on him at all, he however was different. Three ball bearings circled around him. "Release me or I will hurt you," he said through crushed lips.

"Ball Bearings?" Venom squeezed and one sped at him. He caught it with a sticky tendril and used its own momentum to spin it around and back at Magneto who caught it.

"Hmph, electromagnetism, accelerate metals to near ultrasonic speeds, pity the distance isn't far enough to get good speed. Now do that again and I'll squeeze harder. All I want is a name, Charles who? And I don't give a shit about anything else. He took a girl who had been traumatised, he didn't ask, he took her, so he gets my foot up his ass whether you like it or not. This little act, this pompous asshole bit is tiring. I'm going to let go. You saved my boss and for that I owe you but I want a name, not a lecture."

Venom slipped back and Peter brushed dirt from Erik's shirt.

Erik stared at Peter, "Nice trick, but next time I will hurt you and for the record, Charles Xavier is no friend of mine, we were, once." and Erik continued walking, "but his little group got a friend of mine killed, got a lot of my friends killed, so no, go ahead but don't think he'll let you even touch him. Strength alone won't faze Charles, he's more powerful than you can imagine." Erik cried out and clutched his head as images of devouring jaws and rending teeth filled his mind.

"So am I old man," and Peter helped him to his feet as Erik glared at him, "so am I." He had no right to be angry with Erik, but he was tired of everyone talking to him like he was an idiot, and telling him what he could and couldn't do. He needed Erik's help, but Charles was a completely different matter to be dealt with.

Erik considered killing the boy there and then, but he needed him. Charles was brazenly using his powers so things at the mansion must be worse than he imagined. If Shield was here and if the missiles were anything to go by, the situation in Sokovia was about to get a whole lot worse and right now he needed all the allies he could get. The female agent was out for the count, her injury was too severe for her to even survive, let alone fight, and a fight was coming.

Without saying a word Erik stormed off back to his farmhouse and Pietro was wiping down Nat's forehead with a cloth, "uh, she's got a fever and seems pretty out of it," he said, and Peter could see that she didn't look too great.

Peter put a finger to her neck and felt her pulse, it was strong and thumping, turning her over he checked the bandages and while they were bloody they were clean, he couldn't smell an infection and Nat was unconscious, not comatose. "She needs glucose or sugar, anything is fine, any high calorie liquid, honey maybe?" Erik and Pietro looked at each other. "Oh come on, Whizzer here must burn thousands of calories an hour, so come on, cough up," and Erik looked to one side while Pietro looked pissed.

"It's Quicksilver, not Whizzer and uh, sure," and in a blur he vanished, coming back with two large jugs of syrup. "This enough?" and Peter shrugged but nodded. He had no idea if it was or not, and made a mental note to read up on a few medical journals. With the Mind stone, he really needed to expand on his fields of expertise. Gwen and the rest proved that their symbiotes reacted to their physical and mental abilities, and as their creator, he should be the same.

"Cold water too, she needs to be able to swallow it." and the boy vanished again returning with a half-filled jug, "great, thanks" and Peter split the syrup into the jug and mixed it, "uh, don't freak out" Peter let the symbskin form over an arm and closed a hand over Nat's forearm, as small funnel formed and pouring a little of the syrup mix into the black waited until it filtered into Nat's blood though a small puncture he had made. Better this than making a funnel into her stomach, he concluded, unwilling to freak out a super fast teen and his metal controlling father.

"Now we wait, so uh, sorry about the mind thing and the strangling you, it's been a bad day," and Erik shook his head scowling.

"Wait, you attacked dad?" Pietro asked, "uh, why is he not dead?" and Erik shrugged.

"Call it a side effect of old age, now shush and make tea, walking so far is hard on an old man," and Pietro laughed. Even Peter looked at the huge buff man shook his head, if he was half as fit at that age he would be thankful,

Pietro whizzed off once more, coming back with teacups and an empty pot. As he waited, looking extremely bored, for the water to boil, he opened and began to eat what looked like sugar cookies. "Want one?" he offered Peter, speaking with his mouth full, but Peter smirked and shook his head, watching as the boy ate the packet immediately after offering.

Erik leaned forwards, pouring hot water into his cup, over the strainer full of loose tea leaves. "But now young man, before an apology is accepted, I would like a full story from you, and not just about Charles but about everything, and I will know if you're lying."