Sister Dearest

I do not own anything that belongs to the X-Men Franchise (that goes for chapter one as well)

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Oh my goodness! I never expected to get such an astronomical reaction to my first chapter of the story! I was so excited when I woke up in the morning and saw that I had 13 reviews already, and more continued to file in after that! Honestly, reviews really do make my day and make me work all the faster on new chapters. As I promised this is a much better edited, longer chapter compared to the first chapter that I posted. I hope everyone really does enjoy it!

Annabelle could feel the needles poking her skin, along with the cold head brace holding her head in place along with the rough material of the straps around her ankles and wrists. She felt cold, colder than she had for days as she lay on the table, semi conscious. It felt like she'd never be warm again, like all the life was slowly being drained out of her. Why wouldn't they just leave her and Erik both alone?

"It's some sort of healing factor that comes with her mutation, that's why she is recovering so quickly Mr. Shaw." She heard the Doctor's voice above her as she opened her eyes slightly, his blurry outline to one side of her.

"Then why are we not experimenting on her more? If she can handle it I want to see more progress." Came Shaw's voice from her other side, as she looked and saw a much darker, blurred outline above her. His voice alone made her body wrack violently with shivers.

The Doctor had obviously seen her shivering as he pointed it out. "That is why, Mr. Shaw. She may have a healing factor, but she still needs to recuperate after exhausting her powers. After she has used her power her body's core temperature decreases dramatically, varying all on the amount that she exerts. The more she does, the more her body's temperature drops. If we don't give her time to rest, to warm back up, her body will become hypothermic and her heart will stop." The Doctor explained calmly. "She's just a baby, Shaw." He added with a growl.

"You knew what you were signing up for when you came into this." Shaw replied easily then as he sighed some, and Annabelle closed her eyes as Shaw turned from the table, unable to keep them open even the little bit that they were any longer.

"No!" The Doctor spat out then. "No, I didn't! I didn't sign up to experiment on children." He hissed angrily at Shaw.

"And what is really the difference between children and adults?" Annabelle heard Shaw ask coldly as she started when a fist suddenly came down on the medical tray near her bed.

"A whole hell of a lot, Shaw! Annabelle is just a baby! Erik is only a kid! They should never have been brought into this!" The Doctor hissed out at him. "They are not at fault for who they are!"

"Why don't you try preaching that to the Nazi party and Hitler? Maybe then he'll let all the Jews go." Shaw replied with a laugh then as he shook his head some.

"Damn you." The Doctor growled lowly, and Annabelle heard a bunch of shuffling and shouting, the sound of flesh meeting flesh hard as she felt her heart start to pound in her chest and she felt the cold, dreading feeling of fear entering her system. She could hear what was going on, but she couldn't move. Why couldn't she move? She couldn't even open her eyes, they were so heavy...Suddenly she heard the clicking of a gun.

BANG

Annabelle gasped loudly as she shot up in her bed, looking around wildly as her heart thundered in her chest, almost feeling as if it might simply leap out at any given moment. She slowly calmed her breathing down as she took in her surroundings, relief flooding through her at the familiar sight of her room. The sun was shining through her curtains as she stood shakily from her bed, grabbing her robe and tying it around her securely so it hid the night dress underneath. She walked over to the window, pulling the blinds open gently and sighed softly as she looked at the streets of Geneva, Switzerland below. The people were bustling around as they tried to fight their way through the crowds to get to the supermarket or to work. It was a far cry from how things had been all those years ago during the war.

The world was alive again, but not without leaving small reminders behind.

Annabelle sighed once more then as she turned away from the window, crossing her arms as she walked towards the door that adjoined her room with Erik's. She knocked a few times before opening the door, smiling softly seeing her brother sitting on his bed with his own robe on as well, starring at the wall across from it and the pictures that littered the map he had pinned there.

"Morning, Erik." Annabelle murmured softly as she walked over, and Erik finally looked to her, laughing some as he saw her.

"Did you just roll out of bed, Anna?" Erik asked teasingly as he took in her disarrayed chocolate waves, the brightness of her green eyes and the redness of her freckled face. You would not believe her to be the spindly young girl he had met all those years ago at the camp. When they had been finally released at the end of the war, and after months of better nutrition, Anna had started to plump right up. Now, she stood before him, slightly larger than average and curvier as well. She had a pretty face, but no men had sought after her due to the shape of her body, which Erik was grateful for.

He didn't need to be killing young men while trying to find Shaw as well after all.

Most people often mistook them for a couple when they saw them together, and though Anna is indeed pretty, he could never think of her in such a romantic fashion. She is his little sister, his confident, and his best friend. She was the only one that ever truly understood him and what he was doing, though she didn't always approve of his methods. He couldn't really say that he blame her.

"Yes, in fact, I did." Annabelle sighed softly as she walked over to his bed, crawling onto it and flopping down against his side, resting her head on his chest then as she sighed once more. "Nightmare woke me up." She added quietly, knowing that he'd find out one way or another. She felt a comforting kiss being placed on the top of her head in her messy waves as she turned her eyes to look at his hand. She smiled softly watching the way he passed the coin between his fingers effortlessly, using his mutation to make the silver coin weave between his fingers magically. "How did you sleep?" She asked softly then.

"How do I ever sleep, Anna?" Erik answered her tiredly as he sighed softly himself, shaking his head slightly.

"True enough." Annabelle murmured in agreement, knowing they both often suffered from regular nightmares. She chewed some on her lower lip as she let her eyes trace down lower to the tattoo of numbers on the inside of his forearm, shifting some and placing her arm with the same tattoo design (different numbers) beside his own. She pulled her robe sleeve up, letting her eyes look between their arms, and feeling that Erik was doing the same. "We're going to have to move on sometime, Erik...you know this." She told him gently as she looked up to him. "They were bad people Erik, they did horrible things to millions of people, but we're only letting them win by continuing to let what they did all those years ago affect us now. Chasing after them...killing them...it'll never be the answer to what you're looking for, dear brother." She sighed as she sat up a bit more, so she could look to him eye to eye. "They will get what's coming to them in the end, but it should not be by your hand." She told him firmly, watching his eyebrows furrow tiredly hearing her.

"Anna, we've had this discussion a hundred times, if not thousands. I need to do this, and you know why." Erik told her as he looked to her then, knowing she'd know. Shaw killed his Mother, right there in front of him. He hadn't been able to move the very coin he was levitating effortlessly now in time, and Shaw had killed her. He thought it only right that he returned the favour. "You know you can leave whenever you want to, I'm not going to drag you into this without your consent. You know my motives and you know what I'm going to do. Nothing, Anna, not even God himself could stop me." He growled out the last bit then as he flicked the coin that was at his fingers, sending it straight into the forehead of Shaw's picture on the wall. Anna winced at the sound of impact as she watched on, sighing softly then as she looked back to Erik.

"I'm not leaving you, not now. You never left me Erik when I needed you back in the camp; I'm not going to leave you when I know you need me now." Anna murmured softly to him then as she sighed, scooting back down and tucking herself into his side, gazing at the picture and the coin. She felt him press another kiss to the top of her head then as she sighed once more. "I love you, brother."

"And I you, sister." Erik murmured softly as he wrapped both his arms around the girl at his side, looking on at the wall with her as he did. He was going to get Shaw, and when he did he was going to make the man regret killing his Mother, regret hurting him, and most of all...

He was going to regret ever laying a single finger on his little sister.

"Get dressed, Anna, we're going to make a deposit to the bank."

Anna sighed softly as she walked alongside her brother down the street, her black heels clicking along the sidewalk at a faster pace than his own shoes were heard.

"Erik? Slow down, please, I don't have long legs like you do!" Anna got out breathlessly then as she sighed some in relief when he finally did slow down, his arm coming around to wrap around her shoulders and hold her into his side as they walked. She smiled, resting against him easily as she walked with him at the much more capable pace for her.

"I keep forgetting how short you are." Erik chuckled some at her then as he smiled more when she stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

"Just because you are freakishly tall, doesn't give you the right to call me short." Anna grumbled lightly as she strode alongside her brother, turning with him up the path and through the front doors of the bank.

"And just because you're a midget doesn't mean you get to call me 'freakishly' tall either." Erik deadpanned playfully as he walked up to the desk, murmuring something about an appointment to the lady. Anna's French was limited at best, but she could usually get by, by watching people's body languages and piecing together what she did know to understand what they were saying. She was definitely not as fluent as her brother Erik was, though she did very well with English.

"Come on, Anna." Erik's gentle hand on her arm made her look up to him, starting from her process of being deep in thought. She smiled and nodded, following him around the front desk and down the hall, looking around as she did. It was a beautiful building, but then again, Switzerland had always been one of the prettiest places she had ever been to, and she had been to many what with traveling with Erik.

She stopped as they came to the huge oak doors, knocking politely despite the sceptical look that Erik gave her as she did. She frowned some at his look though. "What? It doesn't take much energy or time to be polite." She sighed some then, hearing the man speaking French from behind the door, obviously beckoning them in as Erik opened the door for her, nodding for her to go in first as she grinned some. "See, was being a gentleman really all that painful?" She murmured lightly to him as she patted his arm gently before stepping on into the room.

"More than you'll ever know." Erik murmured into her ear as he pressed his hand to her lower back, guiding her over to the desk and letting her sit down first before taking the chair next to her's.

"Bonjour, Monsieur." Anna murmured softly as she nodded her head politely to the man, watching him as his pudgy face nodded back to her, giving her a friendly smile.

"Bonjour, Mademoiselle-"

"Annabelle Lehnsherr, et Il est mon frère, Erik Lehnsherr." Annabelle murmured softly as she sat comfortably in her seat.

"Ah, oui. Vous avez tous les deux tient à me parler de quelque chose d'important?" You both wished to talk to me about something important? The man asked then as he leaned back in his own chair, and Annabelle watched as Erik dug into his briefcase and pulled out the block of gold, the Nazi symbol imbedded into the precious metal for them all to see. The man behind the desk looked shocked as he gazed upon the block, looking back up to Erik accusingly then.

"Possession de cet or est illegal!" Possession of this gold is illegal! The man growled out then as he frowned more, looking between the both of them accusingly. "Voulez-vous que je d'appeler la police?" Do you want me to call the police? Annabelle frowned some as she tried to make out what he was saying. She knew the gold was illegal, so the first sentence was easy enough to understand, and she definitely understood the threat he made with mentioning the police. Erik, though, remained incredibly calm during the whole ordeal.

"Il ne faut pas jouer à ce jeu." Let's not play this game. Erik replied calmly as he lifted an eyebrow at the man behind the desk. Annabelle, meanwhile, was clutching at the arms of her chair slightly, nervous now more than ever that this might go horribly wrong. Erik noticed as he looked to Annabelle out of the corner of his eye, reaching over easily and placing his hand calmly over the one nearest to him.

"Où avez-vous donc?" So where did you get it from? The man behind the desk demanded then as he sat back calmly in his seat, and Annabelle chewed some on her lower lip as she frowned while watching him.

"Don amis" From friends Erik replied easily as he tilted his head some, raising an eyebrow at the man. "Ils ont recommandé que j'en viens à votre banque" They recommended that I come to your bank. Annabelle frowned some as she watched the men then, looking to Erik once more to make sure things were under control, before looking back to the banker.

"Entendu. Vous savez que notre mandat, monsieur?" Understood. You know our terms, Sir? The man replied easily as well as he watched the both of them carefully.

"Oui." Erik replied easily as he nodded some, and Anna did the same regardless of the fact if she was, or was not, being addressed as well. Erik the leaned forward, taking a picture frame and looking at the picture of the sweet child placed within it.

"No, Erik, please, you promised not to do this." Annabelle sighed inwardly, knowing where this was going.

"Et vous savez mine." And you should know mine. Erick murmured back to the man easily as he looked over the photo in his hand. He set it down then with a grin as he tilted his head some, looking down at the cube of gold. "Cet or est tout ce qui reste de notre peuple." This gold is all that is left of our people. He stated matter-of-factly, motioning between himself and Annabelle. Annabelle frowned more as she inwardly cringed, knowing that once Erik brought up the sufferings of their people, he was on the trek of a deadly road. "Il s'agissait de leur propriété. Pris hors de leurs dents." It was their property. Taken out of their teeth. Erik began to explain, his voice becoming graver as he talked on.

"C'est argent du sang!" This is blood money. Erik finished angrily then, though his outer appearance remained disturbingly calm for the emotion in his voice. Annabelle felt the shivers running up and down her spine as the hair at the back of her neck stood on end. The man behind the desk didn't look much better, as she could visibly see apprehension, and even some fear, leaking into his eyes. He slowly started to unfold his hands as Annabelle watched them intently. "Et vous pouvez m'aider à trouver les salauds responsable de cela." And you can help me find the bastards responsible for it. Erik finished calmly then as Annabelle continued to watch the man intently. It then that she noticed his one hand stretching for what she would guess would be the alarm.

"Erik!" She exclaimed as she looked to him, but she knew he must've already foreseen it. He started to tut at the man, wagging his pointer finger back and forth as the watch the man was wearing on his wrist allowed Erik to control his hand, sending it flying back into his temple.

"Ne touchez pas le bouton." Do not touch the button. Erik warned the man calmly as the man looked on wide eyed, clearly in shock from what had happened. Annabelle sighed softly then as she watched Erik stand, slowly standing as well then.

"Erik...remember what you promised me." Anna murmured to him softly before he got too far away, a little apprehensive when he didn't even send her a look to even say he heard her. She gripped onto the edge of the front of the man's desk then as she frowned, watching on.

"Nous avons besoin d'un Schmidt. Klaus Schmidt." We need a Schmidt. Klaus Schmidt. Annabelle spoke up as she frowned while watching Erik as he moved around to sit before the man on his desk, hitting his chest lightly, letting him know that he was not a force to be reckoned with.

"Où est -il?" Where is he? Erik cut in then as he frowned down at the man. Annabelle sighed softly as the banker started to ramble of some excuses by the sound of it. But the fear was there, and Erik knew how to work with the fear of others.

"Nos clients n'ont aucune adresses. Nous n'avons pas ..." Our clients have no addresses. We do not... His fearful rambling was cut off as Erik leaned forward, his face hard as he pressed his hand to the man's chest.

"Pas une banque?" Not a bank? Erik asked angrily then as he glared down at the pudgy man. Suddenly, Annabelle saw his eyes lock onto something on the man's face as Erik raised his other hand. Gasping she realized what he was doing when the man's face started to screw up painfully and she could hear the tiny cracking noise of teeth.

"Oh, Erik, please! Don't do this!" Annabelle begged as she frowned deeply and winced, looking away while covering her ears, unable to watch the sickening sight, nor listen to the sounds of it either. Knowing what he was doing was enough to get her stomach feeling a little queasy. Annabelle looked over once more, hoping that Erik hadn't continued as she saw in horror that he indeed was. "You promised me Erik, just remember that, you promised me no more unnecessary killing." And with that she departed from the room, unable to stomach the torture that Erik was putting the man through, wondering if he would indeed keep to his promise. She only had to wait a few moments longer before the door opened and Erik calmly walked out, only to be met by her accusing stare.

"He is unharmed, though his dentist bill may suffer for his lost filling." Erik murmured easily, showing her the metal piece before throwing it somewhere as Annabelle slumped against the wall, sighing with relief.

"Thank you, Erik." Annabelle murmured softly to him as she smiled looking up to him, and he shrugged, looking indifferent. Though she knew he had done that for her, he wasn't going to admit it. She stood back up then as Erik placed his hand on her lower back, leading her back on down the hall towards the front of the building. "So, where to?"

"Argentina."

Okay so, we will leave off there and next chapter we will be introducing Erik and Annabelle to the one, the only, Charles Xavier! *audience roars in the background*. I hope to see as many reviews if not more to enthuse me on starting that third chapter all the sooner! Thanks again everybody for your enthusiastic reviews and support! I hope I keep continuing this story up to everybody's standards!

Until the next chapter then

Ciao!