I'll always be there when you need me.
The words were written down on the paper. He had ripped a page from one of her pupil's exercise book and had hastily scribbled them down onto it. She looked at the paper, her eyes never leaving the words which he had left her. They were the words which she didn't want to be true. She didn't want to need Erik Lensherr. She hadn't needed him before and she shouldn't start to do so now. But as she sat in the corner of her small apartment, her legs crossed and her eyes tearing, she could not help but admit that she did indeed need him. Slowly, she dared to glance up, looking at the wooden mirror which stood near her open patio doors and she caught a glimpse of herself. She saw what had happened to her and the floodgates automatically opened. Her face was coloured purple, reflecting off of the light which was moving into her apartment. Her arms were covered in red scratches, the tearing of skin visible at some points. And her neck was covered in red marks. She was a complete mess. She had been turned into this by the person she thought she could trust. Evidentially he wasn't who she had previously believed him to be. Before using the back of her hand to wipe away her tears she nodded once, knowing that she needed him. She needed the only person who had truly shown care and concern for her.
'Erik...if you can hear me...please help...I need you Erik...I need you so much...please...'
3 months earlier
"Pardon!" a sudden voice blurted out. Annalise Dubois stood still in her tracks, pushing her sunglasses down her nose, her blue eyes peering over at the man who had called over to her as he demanded attention. She watched how he moved over to her, his hands shaking slightly as he held onto a map, his eyes nervously looking down at it and then occasionally glancing over to the woman stood before him. "Je...please...ou..." he tried to speak to her in her native tongue and she managed a small smirk, quickly disguising it, not wanting to man to think that she was laughing at him.
"I speak English," she assured him and he took a deep breath of relief as people moved past them on the small walkway. He placed his hand over his heart in mock relief, the map dropping to rest by his side. Annalise looked at him. He didn't look like a typical tourist to the city of Paris for he wore a smart suit. His tie was hanging loose around his white collar where his top button was undone. His black hair was cut neatly and his eyes were a dark green, complimenting his pale complexion and high cheekbones. His looks were certainly mysterious but Annalise began to find something stranger. She couldn't read his mind. She was a telepath, a skilled one at that, but there was nothing. It was like he had built Hadrian's Wall around his mind to keep people like her out.
"Oh thank God," he huffed. "I've been trying to speak to people but they only speak French!"
"Well monsieur, considering you're in France I don't find that a surprise," she said and smirked lightly as he raised his hand into the air once, shaking his head quickly as he did so.
"I didn't mean it like that," he promised her. "I'm not some ignorant tourist who thinks that everyone should-"
"-It is fine," she promised him, interrupting him before he had the chance to continue on with his babbling nonsense. "I imagine you stopped me to ask me a question, oui?"
"Yes...yes...oui..." he agreed, lifting the map up as he turned to stand beside Annalise, towering over her with his height as he pointed a finger onto the map. He was quite lanky and was struggling to hold the large sheet of Paris and show her what he needed at the same time. "My colleague informed me that the solicitor firm I seek is down this road...but...I somehow managed to end up here and I'm quite lost..."
"I see," Annalise said, holding onto the other corner of the map and looking at the street, her eyebrow raised as she noted the street name.
"Place de Vinci?" she cocked a brow and he nodded once as she sighed, running a hand across her forehead as she looked at the man. "Is it Hague and Martinez you seek?"
"Yes!" he said, giddy excitement in his face as he swung his briefcase slightly. Annalise took one more look at him, trying to crack into his mind but not succeeding. He surely couldn't be another mutant. She had moved to Paris to escape the life of mutants. She didn't want to join them. She wanted to join society and luckily for her being a telepath was not visible for them to see. She could grace the Earth without people knowing what she was.
"I was heading that way," she told him with a shrug of her shoulders as if she didn't have a care in the world. "I can take you there if you wish."
"Yes...I mean...thank you so much...miss...mademoiselle," he garbled and Annalise began to walk forward, pulling her black bag strap further onto her shoulder. The man followed her, taking in her appearance from her black heels to the pastel pink dress which clung to her frame, a belt going around her waist. She had her blonde, curly hair hanging loose around her shoulders and her face was one which showed slight tiredness.
"My name is Annalise," she simply said to him. "Just in case you need to know the name of your rescuer."
"Yes," he nodded; stuffing the map up, trying to fold it back correctly but finding it would have none of it. "Oh sorry...I'm James...James Mendel."
"Nice to meet you," Annalise greeted him. "You're not really that lost. You just took a wrong turn unfortunately."
"I never was any good at geography even as a little boy," he said to her. "It was way over my head...remembering all of these places...no...not my area."
"But law is?" she checked, unable to contain her nosiness as he chuckled, pushing a hand through his hair.
"International Law. Clients who get into trouble abroad...all of that..."
"I see," Annalise said and took the turn in onto the correct road before she pointed across the street.
"And there is the firm you seek," she said to him and he nodded once, a smile of gratitude on his face as he held his hand out to her. She placed hers into his, allowing him to shake it before he dropped it down and indicated to where he needed to be.
"I should go...no rest for the wicked..." he said with a wispy smile and Annalise nodded at him.
"Well I shall see you later Monsieur Mendel." Annalise said with a small wave, folding her arms and pushing her sunglasses back onto her eyes as she walked down the street. The young solicitor watched over her before he began to cross the road after a car had passed him.
'She's here. I've found her.' He silently communicated before walking in the opposite direction of Hague and Martinez.
...
"How is she?" the regular question was asked. The blonde woman sighed inwardly once, glad that no one could read her thoughts as she closed her eyes, looking thousands of miles away as she had been commended to do so. After a moment she opened her eyes, shaking her head as she shrugged once, the martini in her hand shaking from side to side as she did so.
"She's the same," she told him and he nodded. He took a seat on the large cushioned chair on the private yacht which they had rented, needing some space to think about things. Mutants had a lot more to worry about than humans could possibly comprehend. He dropped his sunglasses from the top of his head onto his eyes, covering up his emotion as he held the scotch in his hand. He managed to crease his cream trousers as he crossed his legs, enjoying the sunset on the calm sea before he leaned back on the white cream chair, drinking his alcohol. The blonde was lounged on the sofa which went around the boat, her white swimsuit fitting her perfectly and her sunglasses hiding what she thought. Erik remained seated as she quickly stood up and walked past him, shifting into diamond form as she did so. It wasn't long before he was joined by the blue mutant with vibrant red hair. She sat down on the bench the blonde had just left and she leaned forward, intercepting the man's view of the sunset.
"Are you intent on annoying me Raven?" he asked her lowly and she shook her head.
"I needed to get away for a moment. Angel is in her room and complaining that she doesn't have much to wear," she rolled her eyes as he chuckled once, the sound gruff and extremely rare from his lips.
"I thought you enjoyed girl time?" he asked her and she shook her head at him.
"When I looked like I did then I didn't mind. Now that I am stuck in my blue form it doesn't interest me. Not in the slightest...and besides...it is either sit here and annoy you or go and mope around with Azazel and Riptide," she complained again, her voice slightly annoyed.
"You're missing Charles," he stated simply to her as he saw her look down into her lap. She allowed her eyes to rise back up and look into his.
"And you're missing Annalise," she deadpanned and he chuckled again, drinking some more of the alcohol, allowing it to wash through him and hopefully take some of his pain away.
"It seems we both miss things from our past," he drawled.
"I know how much she meant to you Erik," Raven whispered as he narrowed his eyes and she could tell even from under his sunglasses.
"I thought it was Magneto now?" he replied and Raven snorted once.
"Don't try to change the topic," she huffed. "You ask Emma to look into her mind every day...you can't let go of her..."
"I've let go," he said, his voice full of anger and annoyance with what Raven was talking about. But she was brave. She shook her head, still looking at Erik.
"You're in denial," she said to him. "I just...I worry for you Erik..."
"Well you have no need to," he snapped back at her, standing up from his seat, fed up with the way this conversation was turning. No one spoke to him about Annalise. He liked it that way. He simply needed to make sure she was okay and not in danger. He had pleaded with her to join him. He had begged her not to hide who she was. But she was accepted into society and that was the way she liked it. He had said anything to make her come with him but he refused to say the one thing she wanted. He refused to join her and live with the humans. He couldn't do that.
"Everybody needs happiness," Raven called out to him. "Even if they have to make sacrifices."
Erik listened to her words as he walked down the wooden deck of the boat, his feet heavily stomping against the surface as he passed by Angel who was floating around. He ignored all of them until he came to the stairs and followed them downwards, his mind taking him straight into his own room. He didn't want their company after his discussion with Raven. He was doing his best to push the telepath from his mind but Raven always had to make her move back to the front of his thoughts. As he clenched his fists he pushed open the small window on the boat, allowing the fresh evening air to enter his cabin before he began to look at the setting sun again. And with Raven's words echoing in his mind he couldn't help but wonder what Annalise was doing.
...
A/N: So...please do review! It would mean a lot! Pretty please! Ta!
