Author´s note:

Oh, first of all, sorry guys, there was a major thing in the last chapter that bothers me and which I unfortunately did oversee before posting it: by the end of the chapter, I somehow slipped into spelling Erik´s name with a "c". Don´t ask me why this happened, as I should be familiar with that name as I am German and here we always do spell it with a "k". So... me being uncapable of changing the document, I hope you won´t mind too much ;-) Here you go for the next chapter.

Oh, two new readers as I see. :-D

Deus X Machina: Just what I thought. I could just keep myself from shouting that aloud in the cinema. Thanks and here you go, another chapter. Hope you enjoy.

Crafty: Well thanks a lot :-D Glad you like it!

Chapter 4:

Encounters

When the morning came, nothing reminded of the storms that had shaken the night. The rain clouds were gone, just as were the clouds that had hung over the conversations of the two persons staying at the lair. John had carefully avoided Erik´s presence as he noted with a mix of grim satisfaction and complacance. It had been high time, he thought, to tell the boy where he belonged and who was the superior of the two of them. After all it had only taken a short time for Pyro to get into testing his powers against him which made it all the clearer for Erik that people like this young mutant were indeed to be taken seriously... at least when it came to not underestimating their simple-mindedness. For John this was all a game, this was a chance for him to test how strong he was as a mutant, but Erik very early had decided not to get himself involved with this kind of game. He had indeed underestimated the boy´s foolishness, he thought, if his young companion was bound to believe that once Magneto was gone it would be easy for him to take over.

After several days of sunshine, the day promised to be overcast. It was not cool, but still a little windy when Erik put on his elegant, black cloak and hat to leave the lair. He had always liked fine clothing, but now this outfit seemed to painfully remind him of the ordinary man he had become.

"You´re leaving?"

When he lifted his head, the boy was standing a short distance away from him, hands crossed in front of his chest, but apart from that with only a minimum of his self-asserted, cocky appearance of the night before being left. He gave him a short look.

"If you are talking about leaving permanently, I must say you might be disappointed of the answer, as it is no." he replied with a low voice, again giving in to his typical sarcasm. "I have errands to attend to. What about you? Any plans to get the troops back on stage, St. John?" He smiled grimly, not missing out a faint hint of mockery in his voice.

John did not answer, yet he did not return an angry stare, either.

"I was just wondering where you were going." he said instead. "Wondering what would happen now that the brotherhood has split." Something in the way he was saying this did not approve Erik, but he did not pick on it. "I... did not mean to offend, I was just asking myself whether this would be a permanent stay." John added in a manner that made Erik know the boy had been pondering these words since he had seen him prepare to leave.

"What do you want to tell me?" Erik said in a manner that left it open to the young mutant to regard his words as a simple question or as an implied thread underlying his utterance.

"Nothing." The answer came too quick to be ´nothing´. "I was just asking myself whether you would go on living here or move somewhere else, I mean with all...well..."

"With everything around me reminding me of Magneto." he stated. "That´s what you wanted to say, isn´t it?"

John nodded. "I could understand it." he simply said, yet his words made Erik scowl inwardly. There was something more to the younger man´s words. Something underlying... like... a slight nervousness about something Erik was unable to grasp. "I could understand if you wanted to leave." Erik could not help to notion John´s voice was sounding irritated... nervous indeed. Well, he would have to wait and discover the reason for this, he thought. At least for the moment he did not the least feel in the mood to pick on this boy´s little subtleties.

"Well..." he then added. "I think you will have to cope with an old man´s company, St. John as I have no plans whatsoever of looking for a new place to stay." When had he made up his mind, he asked himself. The night before, the thought of staying here had been a much more difficult one to bear. Him staying here and being constantly reminded of what he had lost had troubled him deeply. Now it almost seemed to him that there was no alternative. Not only was he unwilling to leave his former realm to an over-eager youngster, it also appeared to him that any place apart from this one would be a much worse reminder of Magneto´s death.

He turned around and for a moment caught himself in wanting to extend his right hand to open the door without touching the hilt as he had done all his life, but he realized what he was about to do in time and opened the door as every human would have done to step out into the cold morning.

His thoughts, though they had not really gotten any nicer turn towards the recent events, had brightened up a little. The rain was gone which was always a good reason to cast dark thoughts aside. Walking through the streets in the morning almost seemed like a normal thing, yet he was angry with himself of even slipping into any thought of regarding his miserable human state as ´normal´. What had happened to him? Was that occursed ´cure´ already showing a more psychological effect on him? Was whatever had erased his powers when entering his veins now even extinguishing the haughty self of the mutant he had once been? This would mean that soon there might be nothing left of whom he had been proud to be all his life. Erik knew that if this moment ever came he would not be able to bear it.

The streets were not too busy as it was still quite early in the morning. Not of all the shops had opened yet and the peaceful silence which hung over the place was calming and disturbing at the same time. It was a Saturday which meant that while the one half of this city´s population would use the early hours to gain some extra sleep, the others (most of them families) had already left the house and were beginning to fill the streets with bustling life. Soon, Erik knew, peace and silence would be gone. Crowds would fill the city, but crowds also promised anonymity which was no bad thing for someone like him. The glance the mother of that little girl had given him had warned him that he was still someone people might recognize all too easily and as much as his old self stood up against the shame of him having to hide in public, he nonetheless caught himself being glad to have taken his hat with him. An old man with a hat would not cause much suspicion, he thought. Maybe they would not know him and simply let him at peace.

While he thought this, he realized he did not even have a destination. He did not know why he had left the lair nor where he was heading. He had just been following his intuition, his urge to leave those dark walls and wander under the sun again. Even though it was a sun that shone down not on a mutant, but just another ordinary homo sapiens on this earth.

Two hours later he felt tired for a reason he could not even name. He had taken a walk through the same park he had so lonely sat in the day before, searching for something he could not name. Was it hope? Maybe, but hope for what? These were the thoughts of a fool, he told himself as there was nothing he could possibly hope for. He even did not know what to think about. All these years there had been things to plan, to ponder, to evaluate and to rethink, but now... it seemed to him his head had become empty and meaningless with no more thoughts left worthy to occupy his mind.

He then had found an empty table in a small café a little away from the crowds which had increased throughout the morning. The waitress had been one annoying thing, talking in a bored manner that was almost insufferable. But at least she had not cared about whom she had served the cup of coffee. She had not once glanced into his face but kept chewing her chewing gum in an ordinary manner and at the same time shooting glances at some random boy at the other side of the café whom she seemed to fancy. Humans were so ordinary.

And so the morning had passed without anything really happening when Erik Lehnsherr had finally decided to bring this misery to an end and head back to the lair. He had however decided to walk most of the way. At home, noone but an over-anxious and power-greedy young mutant was waiting for him so why hurry to once more listen to his talking? When he was walking along the main street, shoving his way through the crowd, he, however, changed his plans. This place was too busy. Restlessness had gotten the better of him, so he pondered taking one of the taxis that were waiting for customers by the street. He would not drive the whole way, just a short way, a mile maybe, but it would be more than enough to escape the crowds, to feel safe again as much as he hated himself for this cowardice.

He had just lifted his head enough to scan the people around him. Some family with two younger kids, the boy an insufferable ordinary human brat annoying his mother because he wanted yet another ice cream, the girl a sweet but equally ordinary child, well-behaved, a perfect example for those who ´fit´ into this absurd society. Some young adults hurrying towards a bus stop, university students maybe, shouting and laughing as they ran. A man with a mobile pressed to his ear and a briefcase pressed to his chest, talking hastily while walking. Them... and dozens and dozens more.

He raised his right hand and one of the taxis reacted to it immediately, the vehicle leaving its parking place and driving towards him. It was a weird feeling to get into the car, knowing he was that powerless... on the other hand the driver was just another human who did not impose a threat to him... no more.

He opened the back door of the car. Behind him, as he recognized absend mindedly he thought to hear someone run into his direction quickly. For some reason this caused him to be uneasy. Without looking around anymore, he climbed in and shut the door quickly. The driver did not even turn his head, but looked at him through the driving mirror.

"Where is the journey supposed to go?" he asked good-natured. Erik told it to him and kept his eyes low, his eyes hidden in the hat´s shadow. The man shrugged his shoulders; obviously he had understood his customer was not in the mood for a conversation. Erik heaved a sigh and leant his had against the head rest of the back seat. Suddenly he wanted nothing but to close his eyes, but when he tilted his head to the sight, looking out of the window, his mind zapped alert again. In the matter of a split second he had the feeling his heart was racing for there had indeed been someone who had followed him. This very person had tried to reach him for whatever reasons he did not dare to think about, but she had been too late. The taxi was already on the move when their eyes met. He knew those eyes well, yet they were now so utterly strange to him. No longer like a reptiles, yellow, mysterious... beautiful... but dark as her hair was now which had once been like fire. Mystique. No, Raven, he told himself as their eyes locked for a moment, emotions, thoughts racing through his mind. He did not know what to think or what he would have said, had she gotten hold of him in time. He only knew for some reason that he was glad of him being inside this taxi and herself outside, for there was something in her eyes which he had never seen there when she had looked at him. And whatever it was, it made him shiver.