The soft sound of crickets chirping in the high grass made the evening's gray coloring a more neutral progression with nothing ominous or dangerous about the sun slowly sinking into its bed of twinkling stars. Eric Lehnsherr walked down the gravel road at a steady pace a confidence in his step that did little to belie the nervousness waiting below the surface.
Silky stalks of grass swayed in the cool breeze that brought with it the smell of cattle farms which dotted the county he was currently traveling through. It was a beautiful country with its hills falling gracefully against the horizon on arches of green dusted by early snows. Patches of fields brought color and movement to the world around him. Erik appreciated the aesthetic, his gaze flicking back and forth to take it all in.
It had been a long week for the mutant and he was looking forward to some rest. There was an abandoned house several miles down the lonely road that he could use to catch a couple of hours sleep. The retired Nazi couple had not lived there in seven years, they no longer lived anywhere. A dark amusement sparkled in Erik's gray eyes.
Terrible years spent under the Nazi thumb of Hitler had made Erik into the man had become. Angry, embittered and seeking retribution for the treatment of people like him. ((The lost and betrayed)).
Gravel crunched under the shoes that were well kept but visibly aging. Everything about the mutant's appearance spoke of self-control, self-awareness and a passion for detail. He looked practically militant with his regal posture and straight lines. As a man he took pride in everything he set his mind to and at that moment walking through the growing cool of evening his mind was set on killing a rather infamous Nazi. Sebastian Shaw.
Ferociously wild blue eyes kept returning to the brunette woman at the bar even as they tried desperately to focus on the drink Charles Xavier held in his hand. The academic had a young blond woman, possibly a student he had not stopped to check at this point, enthralled with his usual spiel on evolution.
"- and you see, Tanya-"
"Professor, it's Tabitha."
"Well, you see, Tabitha, evolution is the vehicle that took us from single celled organisms to the most dominant form of reproductive life."
Her dainty nose wrinkled. "I don't really like kids."
Caught off guard, Charles blinked rapidly. "I fail to see how that impacts the theory of mutation."
"Reproduction is such a waste of evolution. Why couldn't we have evolved to do something cool like fly or..." She shrugged.
"Certainly, certainly."
The brunette was ordering another martini and Charles could have sworn she winked at him.
"But you see, Tabitha, without reproduction there would be no life on Earth and subsequently no 'cool mutations' such as flying or telepathy for that matter."
Tabitha leaned closer to him, her warm body rubbing against his blue cardigan, and she put her mouth right up to his ear, breathing labored.
"This subject is so boring. Why don't we go back to my place and there we can..." She bit his ear.
The professor disentangled himself from the woman feeling slightly frustrated that after all his hard work she wasn't his type after all. Her brows arched in confusion when he finished off his drink in one gulp and stood.
"Enjoy your evening, dear."
"Thanks, I guess."
He left the girl and made a beeline for the bar and took a seat several stools down from the brunette woman. Charles lifted his hand and motioned for the bartender to re-fill his glass.
"Come here often?" the brunette made no effort to hide her sarcasm.
"Yes, on the occasion."
Charles lifted his newly poured drink to his bright red lips and sipped. She moved to his side.
"I over heard something about mutation."
"Yes, I was simply enlightening my friend over there as to the origin of our current forms of mutation."
"How did she respond?"
"Unfavorably, I would say." He tried for a chuckle.
She looked him up and down an appreciative grin marking her face. "Want to enlighten me, sugar?"
His blue eyes lit up like Christmas lights and he took another sip of his drink.
"Mutation, you see, it's a part of us all – red hair, green eyes, five toes – and it is mutations like those that took us from single cell organisms to the most dominant form of reproductive life on the planet."
"Really?" Her grin was all crimson lipstick and pearl teeth.
Charles was mesmerized by her mouth. "Indeed. Over the course of millions of years mankind has steadily progressed to the point where we are now. I dedicated my thesis to the theory of mutation."
"Sounds sexy."
This got a real grin out of Charles. Finally, someone to appreciate his views. He covered her hand with his own.
"How would you like to come back to my place and hear all about it?"
"Sounds groovy, professor," she said, standing.
Charles beamed. He liked this woman.
The floor was hard and dug into Erik's side where he lay facing the door, his knees curled up to his chest to conserve body heat. The place was more weathered than he remembered with water damage to most of the ceiling and a few boards that bowed dangerously in places. Rodents had come and gone from the building after having picked it of every last scrap of food or nesting material. He supposed they would return when winter finally fell.
The wanderer shivered in the chill of night, but he felt lucky indeed. So many poor bastards from the camp would have given a limb for a night of freedom shivering under the light of the moon. A famous few had escaped the work camps before the end of the war, but Erik had not been among them. His captor, Sebastian Shaw, had been much to smart to let something like that happen.
The man's wrists still ached with the phantom pull of plastic cuffs that had kept him tight to the experiment table all those years ago. Metal had been too easy for him to manipulate after a while and so Shaw had gotten creative. The pale pink scars on Erik's wrists were invisible in the darkness, but he felt their presence like a fresh burn.
The past was a horrible place to spend the present, but Erik felt that the choice was made for him. To forget, to banish it to a rightful time and let himself live now would feel like a betrayal to all those who had suffered and died. He would not let their memories be snuffed out the same way their lives had been. Millions dead and left unburied.
Her hands were soft and the brightly painted nails traced the angle of Charles' jaw as he relaxed in the afterglow of their love making.
"You are a beautiful creature."
She blushed at the quiet compliment.
"And you're a womanizer, Charles Xavier."
"Am I now?"
He pushed himself up on his elbows. She smirked and withdrew her hand.
"Yes, most definitely."
"Should I settle down and have a couple of kids, you think?"
She lay her head on his bare chest and listened to his heartbeat.
"And squander what I believe will be a truly brilliant career? I think not."
He took her hand and put it to his lips, sucking on one of the fingers.
"My thoughts exactly," he said.
They lay like that for a long time with nothing else needing to be said. The silence was comfortable and after a while they drifted off to sleep.
England's heart bustled with heavy traffic and Erik kept his eyes open for any sign of danger as he traversed the sidewalks. It had been three days since his night at the abandoned house and he had finally reached his destination. A lead had sent him to London where he hoped to find one Amelia Scottsdale, Shaw's lawyer.
Nobody gave Erik a second look and he liked it that way, he was nondescript enough to go unnoticed to the eyes of the locals. If things went south and the police were called to question potential witnesses, no one would think to mention the tall gray eyed man in the suit and hat. He was invisible.
Turning towards the business center of the town, Erik pulled a scrap of paper out of his pocket and studied it for the hundredth time.
Amelia Scottsdale
27 Redcliffe Gardens
London, England
Ten minutes later he was standing before building twenty-seven on Redcliffe Gardens. It was beige with white framing the windows and door, a bit of a letdown all things considered. He knew that appearances were deceiving – god, how he knew – but the woman represented one of the evilest men on the planet. Beige did not seem monstrous enough.
Erik entered the lobby with a briefcase in his hand that contained a gun should such violence become necessary. He approached the desk where a redhead, her hair curled up atop her head, nodded a greeting.
"I would like to meet with Amelia Scottsdale. It is a matter of some urgency."
The woman behind the desk glanced towards the door a frown pulling down the corners of her mouth.
"I am truly sorry, Mister, but Mrs. Scottsdale is running a little late this morning. I can get you registered and then you can take a seat if you don't mind waiting. I am truly sorry for the inconvenience."
Days of walking across the countryside and then this. Erik gave the woman a reassuring smile.
"My name is John Smith and I don't mind waiting at all."
"Thank you, for being so understanding, Mr. Smith."
Pleasantries completed, Erik turned and walked over to a high-backed chair set along the far wall and he sat down. He could be patient.
She dressed frantically, hopping on one foot as she struggled back into her red pumps. Charles rolled onto his back and groaned at the ceiling. He could hear her worried thoughts in his head and he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
"Don't worry about calling a cab, I'll drive you."
Her relief was palpable.
"Thank you so much. I don't know why I let myself sleep in so late, I -"
"No need to apologize. I'm sure I had something to do with it," there was a wink in his voice.
She laughed.
Five minutes later he was dressed in his usual jeans, button up and cardigan and they were hurrying out the door. London was busy at that hour and it took longer than anticipated to reach the law office where she directed him to drop her off. He studied the beige building critically, the color was ugly.
She gave him a peck on the cheek before rushing inside.
"Hello, goodbye, thanks for the memory," he murmured.
Charles had his hand on the gear control when a murderous intent flashed from inside the building. He jumped across the seat and pushed his way out the passenger door, stumbling once before running up the stairs. He rushed inside, blue eyes searching for danger as he mentally tried to pinpoint the source of the thoughts.
"Amelia!"
A redheaded woman stood up behind the welcome desk with a startled gasp, Amelia was standing in the center of the room facing a man. The man. Charles could read it in his mind, the man was Erik Lehnsherr and he had a gun.
"Charles, is everything alright?"
He felt a bit breathless, but forced himself to remain calm. "I think you left your purse in my car."
She frowned and raised a red handbag. "No, it's right here. Charles, what is going on?"
I think you're in danger. I can read that man's mind and he means to murder you if you don't tell him what he wants to know...and maybe even then. Charles motioned towards the far office doors.
"Nothing. Nothing at all. I just...can I speak with you privately for a moment."
He could tell she was becoming less worried and more annoyed with his unusual behavior. She, understandably, did not want to lose the bank account of a new client because a one-night-stand was feeling jealous.
"Give me a minute with Mr. Smith and then I'm certain we can -"
"No. I need to speak with you first."
Charles knew that if the gray eyed man got in a room alone with Amelia it would be too late. He moved to her side even as she glanced to the receptionist with a guarded shake of her head. His welcome quickly running out, Charles tried to pull the lawyer away from the man.
"Just a moment, I promise, Amelia."
She looked into his eyes and he knew at that moment that they would never sleep together again. He had crossed a professional line and she would never forgive him for embarrassing her in front of a potential client. At that moment he did not care as long as she survived the encounter.
"Fine." She turned to the other man. "I do apologize, Mr. Smith, but it seems I have to confer with my associate rather urgently. I will return in just a moment."
Charles felt the man's gaze following them out of the lobby and into the office room. Once the door was shut behind them Amelia turned on the professor with a cold glare.
"What do you think you are doing, Charles?"
"I'm trying to save your life. That man has a gun and he means to use it on you."
"What?" her voice shook.
"His name is not Smith, it is Erik Lehnsherr and he means to kill you because of a client of yours. A -"
The telepath put two fingers to his temple and focused.
"-A Sebastian Shaw."
The brunette stiffened visibly. "How do you know about him? About any of this? What are you, a spy?"
Charles gasped out a laugh at the absurd suggestion.
"No. I'm – I just know things. Look, I can't explain right now, but I need you to trust me. That man out there wants to kill you."
"What do we do?"
Charles' brow furrowed and he paced in front of the door.
"Give me a moment. I need to think."
A calm settled over the lobby once the agitated man, curly haired and bright eyed, whisked Amelia into the room beyond. At first Erik had been concerned that somehow he had been recognized.
"Is there anything I can get you, Mr. Smith? A tea, coffee perhaps?" the receptionist asked.
"I am fine, thank you."
The door to the office opened letting out both the man and the woman. Erik stood to his feet.
"Everything alright, ma'am?" the receptionist asked.
"Yes, dear."
No one has to get hurt here, Erik.
The German started when he heard the man's voice in his head. He backed towards the door, gray eyes flicking between the lawyer woman and the man, Charles.
"What are you doing."
I know what you are planning. You don't have to do this.
"You're in my head?"
The two women were watching the silent exchange with wide eyed fear. Amelia's hands shook.
"No one is in your head, Mr. Smith. I think, maybe, you had better come back another time."
We can be gentlemen about this, Erik. Lets go outside and sort it there...I know where you can find Shaw.
Intrigued and frightened by the turn of events Erik nodded and kept backing towards the door, keeping the man in his sight at all times. If this was a trick of some kind he could kill the blue eyed man outside. Witnesses be damned.
"Stay here, Amelia, I'll take care of this," Charles said aloud.
She nodded silently and watched as the two men retreated out of the law building and down the short stairs to the sidewalk. Erik kept a safe distance from the other mutant. The roar of traffic and city life settled between them as he tried to think of what to say.
"I thought I was alone," Erik said.
"No, you're not alone, Erik."
"And Shaw? You know where he is?"
Charles shook his head.
"You said -"
"I don't know where he is, but Amelia told me where you can find him. Apparently he frequents a club in lower London when he had business in the city. Honestly, she knows nothing more. I read her mind."
Erik's mouth parts in a harsh smile full of teeth. "Is that what you did to me? Read my mind?"
"Yes. I sensed you were a danger and I needed to know more."
"What do you know about me now?"
"Everything."
There was a weight to the word and the way Charles said it that made Erik shiver.
"You lied to me."
Erik could feel the anger boiling inside of him like hot magma. Charles held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture.
"I know how much finding Shaw means to you. I know what he did to you – I saw it all, Erik – and I want to help. We can work together to find him and stop him."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because no one should have to live through what that man did to you and...and I want to help you find closure."
Erik studied the man before him who looked like a professor in his button up shirt and blue cardigan. How would this man be able to help defeat Shaw? Erik shook his head.
"I don't trust you, Charles."
"I'm not asking you to trust me. I'm asking you to give me a chance."