Fire and Water

Chapter Four

Sometimes in his dreams he saw people from his childhood. Though it was painful, sometimes his mother came to him. "I'm so proud of you, Erik," she would say in Yiddish, which they had spoke at home, "You've grown into such a fine young man." She never said anything hurtful to him, and was always so encouraging when he needed it most. In dreams, she was just like she was in life.

Other times, his father would come to him. Yitzhak Lehnsherr had been a gruff man, and spent most of his days at work where he did manual labor. He rarely had a good word for Erik in life, and whenever Erik was feeling down his father would berate him in his dreams. Tonight was no different.

"She's only a girl, why are you doing this to her?" he said, "You're some kind of idiot, boy, sleeping with her and expecting all this to just go away. I raised a damn paskudnyak, is that it? Are you some kind of pervert, boy?"

"No, father! It's not like that -"

"Get your head on right." he'd growled, "I should've left a freak like you at the orphanage."

"I can make it right, Papa, I can -" Erik cried.

"Then, go." his father said, "Go tell that girl what she needs to hear."

Erik opened his eyes, confronted to his own room. Once again he was alone. He stood and paced around his bed, deep in thought. His heart was calling out for Raven, but his head was telling him to stay put. The girl was going undercover for them, for him, and he was the one acting ungrateful. He thought about the reality of their situation; she might be dead soon. He couldn't let this end unfinished.

He padded down to her room, the door creaking as he pushed it open. Raven stirred slightly, "Hello?" she mumbled, turning her head towards the door.

"Raven," Erik said, "It's me."

"Erik?" she said confused, "What do you -?"

He came and sat on the bed with her. "I'm sorry," he said, "I'm sorry for what I said earlier and how I've been acting. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."

Though he reached out to embrace her, but she swatted him away. "Go to bed, I'm tired."

"Raven,"

"In the morning, Erik," she hissed, "Now leave."

She rolled over and yawned, falling asleep as easily as she had awoken. For a moment he just sat watching her, listening to her breath. He wondered what she was dreaming about lately, and if she was as upset as he was. Was she dreaming of his harsh words, or possibly the strange events that had befallen her lately? Erik yearned to know every thought passing through her head, and for a moment he truly envied Charles. Charles never had to play a guessing game, and never had to decipher the silent treatment when it was directed at him.

Since she wasn't going to hear him out, Erik ignored his father's advice and dropped the issue for the moment, deciding instead to go outside to catch some fresh air. They had to leave soon anyway, as soon as possible. The house was suffocating and maddening, and it gave Erik the creeps. At least outside he felt a bit better.

It was impossible to tell the exact time, and Erik wasn't wearing his watch, but he knew that somewhere Charles was probably in a fitful slumber. He wasn't wearing his helmet, and half hoped he'd feel the little pull of the other man's presence in his mind. The more he felt for it, the more fleeting it was.

Here's a confession Charles, I don't know what I'm doing. Erik thought, sending it out into the universe, wondering if Charles could catch the essence of it somehow. I'm sorry about your sister. I shouldn't have taken her. She was always yours. Forgive me, for everything.

XXX

At day break they'd gathered, and after joining hands they dissipated into the air. Their destination was a remote bunker in Nevada; one famed for investigating the paranormal and other idiosyncratic cases. Janos had claimed he'd been there once with Shaw, specifically looking for files on other mutants.

The fortress was so isolated that agents and other workers had to be flown to the site. The airfield was bustling with the commuters for the day, mostly men in perfectly pressed suits with large briefcases. Erik pondered at what was in those briefcases, shivering at the thought of surgical knives and other equipment; he'd once been at the mercy of men just like these.

They were hiding behind a walled off area not far from where the jets were landing. "Look," Janos pointed towards a plane where passengers were leaving, "That man, Thomas Rydon. He's in charge of the 'Human Anomalies'. Just about all mutants captured or interrogated go by him. He must have the files."

Raven nodded, "Alright then. Do you know where he's headed?"

Janos thought for a moment, "The building is shaped like a hexagon. He's on the second floor in the most northbound wing, his office at least."

"Then I'll get there." Raven said, turning herself first into a handsome young man in a tailored suit to fit in until she reached a more secluded area.

"Take care of yourself," Erik said, "We've only got one of you."

There was a brief moment of fear in her eyes, but it was quickly gone. "I won't let you down."

And she was off.

XXX

"What was that?" Angel said, turning her head to hear something that none of the others could pick up.

Raven had been gone for less than ten minutes at this point. Erik's heart began to pound, "What?"

"That noise," she said listening, "Shit! It's alarms!"

Sure enough, the alarms were getting louder, as if they were going off one by one in every wing - every wing that someone was running through.

She'd been found! Erik began to panic, his mind kicking in to overdrive. He wasn't going to leave Raven here simply to save his own hide, but he knew he couldn't ask the others to follow him this time. It was simply too dangerous.

Knowing it might be a lost cause, Erik made his final choice. "I'm going in!" he shouted, and ran towards the building. He ripped the locks of the front entrance and quickly pulled the small revolver out of the security guard's hands when he felt it aimed at him.

Just follow the alarms and you'll find her, he thought, running as fast as his legs could take him. There were agents staring down the hall in amazement, talking amongst themselves. Some were scared, most were excited. Few noticed the man running, and as far as he could tell, none could see he was manipulating metal. That, at least, was a good thing.

The screeching of the alarms was so loud it made his eardrums thump, but he ignored the pain and continued on. After a myriad of endless hallways, finally he could see at the end of the hall there was a group of SWAT officers holding down a person who looked to be Agent Rydon. Erik knew better, of course. He twisted the barrels of their guns and in one swift motion of his hand, picked them up by their helmets and threw them across the room. He ran to Raven.

"Are you alright?" he said, looking down to see her scales turning back to her normal form.

She only nodded, tears rolling down her face. Erik picked her up, holding her close to him. There was more of the SWAT team coming but he simply rolled his eyes and used their own guns to buck up and knock them out. One hadn't gone down and he felt the bullets spraying towards him. He lifted his hand and deflected them, hearing them fly around him with a distinct ping. The gunman gave a cry of surprise and fell to the ground; one of the bullets had bounced back at him, hitting him in a weak spot in his armor. Erik was oblivious to the man's suffering in his final moments, he was too wrapped up in the girl in his arms, hoping she wasn't injured in a severe manner.

Suddenly Azazel appeared in front of them, "What are you, crazy?" he said to Erik, "Drawing more attention to us?" he grabbed the two and teleported back to where Janos and Angel were, quickly grabbing those two as well and taking them all back to their hiding place.

Erik fell to the floor, exhausted, his arms and legs tired and strained, his ears still ringing like crazy. "Oh no," he said, checking her over for wounds or marks, but there was nothing visible. "Did they hurt you? What happened?"

"I'm alright." she said, a little smile on her face, "They just roughed me up."

Sighing, he pulled Raven close, thankful the situation wasn't worse. "If you didn't get any information it's okay, you tried."

She lifted her hand and showed him what was in it. There was a thick file with labeled with a single marker - FROST.

Erik grinned, "That a girl."