Disclaimer: Neocolai does not own X-Men or anything related to the franchise.

Erik assumed Hank would have three days of peace before the silver nightmare vibrated his bunk to pieces. Heaven knew that kid was probably a menace to his teachers. Erik wouldn't be surprised if he had failed preschool.

"Hank, let me gooooo!"

Eight hours. Eight hours since they had taken sanctuary in this mold-infested, crumbling, abandoned motel, and already the chaos had begun. Erik turned his eyes heavenward, grateful that the kid wasn't his responsibility.

"I can walk just fine!" the protests continued. "Look, all I have to do is – "

A clatter, a painful thud, and the sprinkling of broken glass incited three thoughts. Hank could look after the brat. Stupid kid was going to kill himself someday. Thank goodness he'd never fathered a speedster.

A fourth, subtler thought prodded Erik towards the chipped doorway. He leaned against the frame, shaking his head as Hank detangled the kid from an IV line and swung him back into the creaking bunk.

"This is why I said stay down," Hank said exasperatedly. He righted the nightstand, kicking glass shards aside.

Peter twisted in discomfort, no doubt regretting the sudden pull on a newly broken limb. "Hank, I can't stay here all day! There's nothing to do!"

Nina had been creative in entertaining herself. Back before the animals became her friends, though, she used to carry the same tone on rainy days.

Strange that he would think of her at this time.

"Kid causing problems?" Erik spoke to distract himself. Charles was wrong. He would never find peace.

Peter jolted, stunned as a bird that had slammed into a window. Hank's expression hardened.

"Can I do something for you, Magneto?"

Ah, yes. The furry, placid giant still knew how to bear a grudge. Erik folded his arms nonchalantly.

"I overheard a cataclysm."

"I'm fine," Peter enunciated, glaring at Hank. "I just wanted a little breathing room."

"Your left ankle is sprained and your right was snapped and electrocuted," Erik stated pitilessly. "Movement outside of the bed is strictly forbidden for the next forty-eight hours."

Admiration lightened Hank's scowl, while Peter's contorted into a sneering pout. "Yes, Dad."

Immediately his sass vanished. Brown eyes widened, traced with anxiety and a margin of relief.

Wounded or not, Erik had sparse tolerance for any more cheek. "Watch your mouth, Boy."

Satisfaction drained into mollification as Peter shrank into the pillows. His hands twitched with that infernal restless energy. Erik fixed him with the stare he reserved for Nina when she deliberately snuck out of bed after being told 'No'.

"Look, Kid, I don't know what manners your family cared to instill, but where I come from respect is assumed. When I was a boy– "

"Okay, okay." Peter held up his hands, suddenly complacent. Earnestness leveled his tone. "I don't need the lecture. I'm sorry, I swear. I just… I guess I meant to say that…"

He was stammering again. Erik shouldered the wall and waited.

Closing his eyes, Peter gushed, "It's just that… I think you should know I'm –"

"Peet-ehr?"

A fizz of blue and Erik spun from the door, barely avoiding a mist of dark hair and curling tail. Kurt balanced himself and proffered a package that looked grotesquely like the over sweetened, chemical infused blobs of cream and corn syrup sold at gas stations.

"I found what you asked for, but they did not let me leave without paying for it. The professor would not be pleased if I stole from them. You owe me a dollar twenty-five."

"Kurt, you blasted – " A few unsanctified oaths followed the tissue box that bounced off the blue mutant's head.

"Hey – hey!" Hank shouted, holding out his arms as Kurt hissed. "This is a hospital room!"

"Fleabitten – " Quicksilver's tirade ended in an umph! as the bedframe curled around his waist and tethered him to the pillows. Kurt's teeth bared in a cackle as the speedster vibrated furiously.

"This isn't fair!" Peter whined, looking querulously at Erik.

"No more arguing," Erik stated, finally entering the room. He jabbed a finger in Peter's face and emphasized, "Bedrest. Listen to the nursemaid…." deliberately he glanced at Hank, earning a longsuffering glower, "…. Do as you're told, no speeding, no quarrels."

The kid stared at him like an awestruck follower. "Okay…."

Unsettled by the sudden attention of the room's occupants, Eric straightened and nodded curtly. "Good."

"Can this come off now?" Peter piped up, gesturing to the impromptu 'seat belt'. He snagged the box of twinkies from Kurt and stuffed one whole into his mouth. Eric had the impression of Nina when she had to sit in the corner, only the imp seemed a tad mopeyer with a blob of cream smudging his nose.

Rolling his eyes, Erik recoiled the metal, giving one final warning to, "Stay put."

Peter fell back against the pillows in a huff and glared at his peer.

"Ye-as, stay put, Quicksilver," the blue-tailed mutant taunted.

An empty twinkie box rapped him on the nose as six wrappers fluttered.

Erik rolled his eyes and evicted the room, leaving the mutants to settle their childish squabble.

After all, the kid was Hank's problem.