Call me Peter. The dog is Piotr now.

[agodlesscommie]

WHO: Peter and Pietro
WHERE: The City
WHEN: Sometime in the near present
WARNINGS: Likely none
SUMMARY: Peter can't believe everything he's hearing about M-Day. So he's going to the person closest to the source he can get to.
FORMAT: Para

Comments

[oncemercurial]

With some trepidation, Pietro arrives at the agreed upon restaurant. He's relatively sure this is a bad idea. Angelica mentioned Colossus wanted to talk, and Pietro was almost sure he knew what it was about. It's the only thing the X-Men ever want to talk about. But Colossus had been one of Magneto's acolytes at one point. Perhaps he could understand at least some of what had happened. Still, that's a long shot and Pietro isn't willing to take the chance just yet. Better to keep his answers to whatever questions Piotr might have guarded.

He's easy to spot. Colossus is massive, regardless of his form. Pietro takes the seat across from him easily, unwilling to betray exactly what's been on his mind as he made his way to the table. "Is there anything here you'd particularly recommend?"

[agodlesscommie]

The big man looks up, noting the differences in Pietro's face and demeanor since last he saw him - which was years ago, at this point.

"I have only been in this world for a couple of weeks," he replies, with a shrug. "Every place is new to me. We will risk our palates together."

That comes with an amiable half smile. He has no wish to be antagonistic if it can be avoided.

"I am trying the corned beef."

[oncemercurial]

"Fantastic." The sarcasm in his reply isn't biting, just habit. Pietro studies the menu, eyes quickly scanning for something tolerable before darting back to Piotr.

"Angelica is quite impressive to have organized this." Pietro mirrored his associate's slight smile. He had no qualms with playing nice for the moment.

[agodlesscommie]

"She is. I can see why you would be taken with her."

Why she would be with him is not quite as evident, but perhaps he will learn that today as well.

"Is she recovering well from her affliction?"

[oncemercurial]

"As well as can be expected. Some days are, of course, better than others." He fidgets with the edge of the table cloth. Absent movement to keep any tension he felt felt from reflecting in his expression. "She's very brave. I envy that quality in her."

[agodlesscommie]

"You envy that," he repeats, evenly. Certainly more humble than the man he remembers, prone to arrogance as he was.

"Your exploits haven't lacked in bravery, as I recall. Turning away from terrorism at great personal cost, service with the Avengers as one of the most publicly accepted mutants in the world, paving the way for so many of us. I've never known you to be at a loss for courage."

[oncemercurial]

Well intended though the other's comments may have been, they only serve to remind Pietro of everything he's lost in the past several years.

"Youthful arrogance, or possibly even stupidity, is hardly the same as the bravery Angelica has
displayed when facing her illness. Now as pleasant as this discussion is, Angelica isn't what you wanted to speak with me about." He speaks quickly, patience finally breaking.

[agodlesscommie]

That stuns him silent for a moment. He views all of that heroism, all he's done for mutant-human harmony, as arrogant stupidity.

A knot forms in Peter's stomach, as it's really starting to hit home how much has changed, and how far the Maximoffs must have fallen.

After a moment, he takes a deep breath and looks Pietro square in the eye, as is his way.

"I am told that you had a role in manipulating your sister into making mutants nearly extinct. I could not believe such a thing possible from the two of you, who were heroes and inspirations to us all. No matter how much my friends stressed this, I could not reconcile it with what I know of you. I wished to speak with you directly rather than believe hearsay."

[oncemercurial]

It's highly tempting to rattle off some psychotic confession and then disappear in a whirlwind of kicked up dust and overturned laminate tables. But hearing about it later would no doubt upset Angelica and that isn't what Pietro wants. He is considering devising a canned, default response to questions about M-Day and his sister's sanity

[agodlesscommie]

Piotr listens to Pietro's story, taking no umbrage to the sharp tension of the man's tone. Even in better days, he was never a sociable man. Discussing horrors like this, he did not expect a pleasant conversation.

The idea of taking her to Genosha of all places seems anathema to him - but he is aware that there's something more to that island than he knows anymore. Emma hinted at some sort of catastrophe there that he was not ready to hear about until he could accept this madness with the Maximoffs. If Xavier had relocated to Genosha for some reason, things could be vastly different than he recalls.

When he speaks again, it is in a respectful, quiet tone.

"Are you certain that your sister's... fall was not engineered by someone with a dark agenda? Ultron has those beams that directly affect the brain... and Mr. Sinister has always sought out the most powerful mutants to manipulate, and he has culled those who do not suit his theories."

[oncemercurial]

Pietro almost laughs. "Does it matter? I do not think your X-Men would care even if she were experiencing some outside influence that caused her madness."

No, the X-Men would want to kill her regardless, of that he's entirely certain. Just when had Colossus come from to be asking these questions? "In New York, the Avengers had called a conference to decide her fate. The X-Men, Doctor Strange, essentially anyone who thought they could offer insight on the matter were invited. My father stayed in Genosha to sit with her. My father who should have been dead, but that was really the least of their concerns, I suppose."

Pietro swallows tremulously. The way Wanda's illness had been treated so insensitively by people he regarded as family would never stop hurting.

"They decided to kill her. No one could control her, not even Xavier or Doctor Strange. So, within seconds they were at Genosha. I could hear them coming, talking about what they would do to her. I didn't know what else to do, but something had to happen. I couldn't

[agodlesscommie]

"It matters to me," is the firm response.

He remembers very well having to kill Proteus, a madman with similar reality-bending abilities, although he was much more malevolent about it. If there is any way her suffering is not through her own faltering mind but through a villain's assault, it should be known.

"In her broken way, she believed eliminating all mutants was the way to do that?"

[oncemercurial]

"No," Pietro begins again after considering Piotr's answer. He doesn't really believe it, but he supposes it's a nice enough thought.

"My sister remade the world. She create a universe in which we could all be happy. The two of us, the Avengers, the X-Men, our father and the rest of the mutants... All of us. But our father had to spoil it somehow. You see, in Wanda's new world mutants were the dominate species. Humanity's future was clear and we were it. Naturally, Magneto was their leader, and we were the royal family of sorts. Most everyone loved us, excluding the few remaining sapien groups. He has a truly black heart, you see. Give my father everything he could ever possibly want and he still needs a group to abuse."

[agodlesscommie]

Reshaping the world that way is never the avenue to happiness. In fact, it sounds disturbing. As to Magneto's black heart... he once believed that maybe Erik had good ideas, and that if he joined the Acolytes, he could steer them towards a moral application of them...

Or so he told himself when he was heartsick and furious and frustrated after losing his family.

"So before exterminating mutants, she tried exterminating humanity. I take it that attempt at that twisted paradise did not last."

[oncemercurial]

"We gave everyone what they wanted!" Pietro snaps sharply at him across the table. "Magneto wanted a world where mutants were in control and that's what she gave him. His desires shaped that world, not ours. Our only wish was to not be bothered."

[agodlesscommie]

Peter doesn't let his voice raise, despite Pietro's snap.

"What Magneto wants is not what everyone wants," he counters, briefly wondering if he himself was even alive in Wanda's new reality.

"It does not sound like humanity's happiness was considered in this world."