Sins of the Father

Sins of the Father Chapter Eight (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE (tm), Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch and Uberbeta... Have you figured out the arm movements yet? InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink and Dracena get squishy naked muse glomps for archiving/hosting! ProPhile assures me he likes plot just fine, too! Readers/Reviewers: The Killer Kitties (tm) have revealed they are behind the conspiracy known as Real Life (tm)... I'm afeared...

Pietro felt, to use the vernacular, icky. A quick trip back the way they had come showed that Poena had indeed been retrieved. Tarot had dialed Magneto's number so quickly that even he, the mutant known for his speed, was impressed. From what he could gather, Magneto was praising his new pet to high heaven and telling her how to access their new account at Bayville First Federal Bank. Piotr had been a silent mass of flesh and disapproval for the entire trip to and from town and now he was sulking. Seeking to break some of the tension, Pietro hazarded, "So...going to see what's her face this summer?"
"Anja," Piotr responded. "And da." He shoved himself to his feet and took his plate of rather suspect pizza to the trash can. "Anyone want this?" He did not give them a chance to respond before he dropped the whole thing into the trash can and trudged from the room.
"I don't know what his problem is," Tarot sighed, picking at her salad. Magneto had given them quite a bit of money-quite a bit for them, anyway-and they were having actual food for the first time in days. "We just do one little thing for Magneto and Piotr becomes a huge baby!"
Pietro opened his mouth, then shut it, deciding to think carefully before he spoke. After a moment, he said, "Maybe it's because we're kind of unclear about what we're doing now..." He did feel jealous, he admitted to himself. Magneto was doting on Tarot now, his little pet, the one who would do his bidding without asking or trying to make it her own...
Tarot arched a brow and pushed her plate to one side. "Pietro, I know you're very...stressed...about the new way things are being run but you must understand the vision Magneto has for the Brotherhood."
Pietro felt the color creep up his neck to his face at her words. "Maybe if the two of you weren't thick as thieves all the time..." He shoved himself away from the table and turned to stalk out of the room, pausing and turning back to snap, "I think you forgot who he put in charge!"
Tarot narrowed her eyes as Pietro disappeared up the stairs, his rapid steps ending in a door slam. She liked him well enough and some days she thought she might feel more than that if she let herself, but he was becoming annoying. Magneto cared for him in his own way but she fancied that she could detect a tinge of disappointment in the older man's words and actions at their last meeting. He was annoyed that the Brotherhood in Bayville was a joke, annoyed that his own son seemed to be content with poking at the situation with the proverbial stick by harassing the Institute denizens once in a while but otherwise remaining seemingly lazy about the whole thing. Tarot smiled to herself. Poena had been her idea. Magneto had loved it. Maybe, she thought to herself as she picked at a crouton, this could be her first major stepping stone in removing the taint of the Hellions from her soul and name, the first step to fulfilling her true potential. She, Tarot continued inwardly as she shoved her plate into the dishwasher, was the one who convinced Magneto to give them money based on performance of duties instead of the measly and sporadic monthly stipend he had been sending. Mystique's accounting be damned, the Brotherhood could not be run on less than a thousand dollars per month.
"Ah, there you are..."
"Speak of the devil," Tarot murmured, not caring of the older woman heard her. "Yes, Mystique?"
"I will thank you not to take that tone with me, young lady," Mystique snapped in her most authoritative tone, just short of full on scary. "It seems Magneto is pleased with your intelligence for some reason I've yet to discover and has asked me to tell you that you can have the weekend off of house duties if you choose and go into the city for a bit of recreation."
Tarot thought for a few seconds. "I'd like to take Pietro with me." She pushed away from the counter and moved towards the door, ignoring Mysitique's proximity. "And we'll leave tonight."
"Just you," Mystique replied coolly. "He has a task for Pietro. You, however, are free."
Tarot pursed her lips in thought. She had already formulated a plan for Pietro herself, something to make him a little less irritating and a little more amenable to her way of thinking. She could not, she thought, do that without the subject of the plan present. "Then I stay."
Mystique swallowed an invective. "No, you go." As if to emphasize her words, she pushed Tarot out of the kitchen and into the den. "You go because you are told to. Pack a bag and take a fucking break!" Tarot had been a thorn in her side for some time now and she wanted the girl out, even if it was just for a few days. Her face the picture of agitation, she continued "Magneto is not in the habit of giving out rewards, Tarot. Take it and be grateful!"
The red head dug her heels into the threadbare carpet and snarled. Her cards were too far away for once and she felt naked without them. Mystique had several pounds and inches on her, not to mention skill and strength. Tarot did the first thing that came to mind and let her legs buckle, dropping to the floor with a dull thud. Mystique's forward momentum drove the woman to the floor beside her, though to her credit the older woman did not let it slow her down. She rolled to her feet and was in front of Tarot in one smooth movement. The younger woman smiled in a feral manner and said, "Pietro and I will leave at seven."
Mystique gritted her teeth. "Fine. Go." She waited until Tarot was upstairs before exhaling. Two down, two to go...

A/N Next up, Rogue/Todd-ness (smut), Kurtty, and what did Dr Beck want with the Professor?