Daughter of Steel

Chapter Nine

When I eventually track down Peter, I'm severely pissed off. He's decided to hide in the most obscure place; the rafters in the gym, which is actually locked up for the night. Luckily I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Yeah, I guess I could teleport, but I'm super tired and drained.

When I finally climb up into the rafters, I spot him. Peter is hunched up in the corner playing a Gameboy- I can here the stupid beeping from here.

I go and sit down next to him.
"Peter-", I start, but he interrupts.
"Why did you get him?" His voice is quiet, but I can sense the anger in it. And that's not even one of my mutations.
"What?"
"Why. Did. You. Get. Him. Why did you get to grow up with a father, get taught all that self defence and gun shit. Why did you get to celebrate father's day with him, whilst all I got was an empty hole in my life and a mom that didn't understand why he left her? You got all this attention from him, you said it yourself, "You do know who my dad is right? He taught me everything I know.". So what I wanna know is, why did you get all this, whilst I got shit?"

With each word he says I feel the anger levels in me rise like a tide. Does he seriously wanna blame me for this? What makes him think that I controlled which kid my dad stayed with? I can't hold it in any longer, and as Peter begins to turn away I speak my mind.

"Y'know what Peter? Do you wanna know why I got a dad, and you didn't? Well here you go. My mum is dead. There you have it. When I was born, I'd come into my mutations already, not like other mutants. So every time I had a tantrum as a little kid, shit would fly around, sometimes I'd cause electric fires, on really bad times I'd move cars. It became my parents job to protect me, even more than regular parents would. They'd calm me down, pacify me, just so it'd stop. But one day, when I was six, we were out, just at the park, like any other family. I started to get upset about something, I can't even remember what. All I remember is that no matter how hard my parents tried, they couldn't calm me down. I was crying, and couldn't stop. That's when I made the bus crash."

I have to stop and catch my breath, as it seems that I'm crying and crying.

"There was 50 people in that bus. 50 people I almost killed. I didn't though, I know that now, I looked it up. For years I thought I did and the guilt would almost suffocate me. But not as much as the guilt of what happened next. You see Peter, people were scared of mutants back then, more then they are now. They started crowding me and mum and dad. Soldiers pulled up in tanks and trucks, with weapons meant for me. Me, a six year old kid! But in their minds I was a monster. Maybe I am. The next few seconds are a blur. I remember my mum shouting at the soldiers that it was her, she did it, she flipped the bus on purpose. Then they were dragging her away, and my dad was shouting her name, and I was screaming. When they threw her in the back of the truck I saw her...I saw her mouth "I love you" at me. And I never saw her again. Dad picked me up and we ran through the crowds, away from the police, and the soldiers, and the people. We haven't stopped running since, until now. So there you go Peter, that's why I got to have a father and you didn't."

By this point I'm breaking down; I sit down, hug my knees, and start crying and rocking myself. Overhead I can hear the bulbs in the lights flickering as my emotions rage. I can probably stay like this all evening but Peter's here, and I don't need him judging me. I try and control my breathing as I lean back against the wall. I look at Peter; he's giving me a sympathetic look. He reaches over and places his hand on my arm.

"Hey, Abi. I didn't know about your mom. That really, really sucks. Seriously, I'm so sorry."
"That's ok, you didn't know, lots of people don't know."
"But still, it was a total dick move. I don't want us to be angry with each other, I want us to be friends, even if we're not ready to be siblings yet."

And with,this he puts an arm around my shoulder, and withdraws a Twinkie from his pocket. He holds it out to me, "Truce?" I take it from him, and take a bite out of it.
"Truce."

When we've climbed down from the rafters, and are walking back to the dinner hall to get some food, Peter turns to me.

"Hey, Abi. What you said earlier, about, you being a monster? Not true. Not true at all. You, Abigail lensherr, are not a monster."

"Peter Maximoff, that may be the nicest compliment I've ever heard."

And with that, we walk in to get our dinner.