Author´s note:

Uhm.. okay, this has been quite a delay, I´m sorry. So I hope you´ll like this chapter. Wow, 6 reviews for the last chappy, thanks a bunch, guys. :-)

Meow: Yeah, certainly would be interesting... if nothing delays him from doing so.

Blue Flyhight: Oh, thanks a lot. :-) I might consider sending you the next chapter for beta reading if you don´t mind. Just out of interest, are you a native English speaker for if so you´d really be better than me at spotting language errors as English is only my second language. So please let me know if this chapter was okay language wise

Pyro... okay, I might have made this obvious... ;-)

On a final destination. To be honest... no, I don´t have one right now. Hope that doesn´t take away enjoying the story.

Psycho Spiff: Awww, thanks. You make my day with reviews like that :-D

Emperor K. Rool: New reviewer, yay. Welcome and thanks for reading and reviewing. Sorry, not come around to read your story yet, but I well, promised! Yup, I´m somewhat of a Tolkien geek I must admit :-)

Feartoxin: Thanks ;-)

2wingo: Exactly my thought, but he seems to be a little desperate right now, so... hope I keep this logical.

Chapter 13

Fallen God

When he strode out into the night and felt the wind on his face, Erik could not abide the odd feeling that there was something strangely familiar to this situation. Although the figure of the young man walking next to him in silence did not tell it, he could make out the grace in his walking that was Mystique´s own and that even the disguise of the young soldier could not hide totally. And still, there was something in the air he could not name, something that made him uneasy. If he was honest with himself he was not sure whether he should be glad or suspicious that she had chosen to join him.

The night was calmer than many of those that had come the days before, yet the wind typical for this small piece of rocky land made it hard to talk in a normal volume which was the reason why Erik kept his thoughts to himself, until they had mounted the helicopter, Mystique climbing in before him, not even looking back. The shape she had acquired only added to the feeling of pride and independence she seemed to be eager to show. He knew what this meant. She wanted to show him that he would be foolish to take her companionship for granted after all that had happened. After what you have done to me, every avoided gaze of the young soldier spoke only too clearly.

Not even waiting for him to settle, Mystique swiftly slid into the pilot´s seat, adjusting the headset and as she began to operate the penals to start the machines, acting as if he were not present. She had not spoken a word since they had left the lair and was most obviously unwilling to change this, yet Erik was not willing to tolerate this situation either. When the rotor blades started spinning, he used his powers to slow them down again and abruptly brought them to a halt. The pilot did not react but only stared in front of him when Erik approached the pilot´s seat from behind.

"Why did you come?" he asked.

"I already told you so." the pilot answered with Mystique´s voice. "I wanted to kill you first..."

"I didn´t mean this and you know it, Mystique." There was no need to keep his voice low... neither was there a need to keep it soft and without any hints of hidden danger. "Why did you come with me tonight?"

He had expected her to ponder her answer for a while, but she didn´t. Instead of it, her reply came quickly. "We have a common aim, don´t we Erik?" It was more a statement than a request. The pilot turned around to look him straight into his eyes and in this moment he understood she was using her disguise also to show him that she was blocking against him. Never before had she felt uncomfortable in her natural form when he had been there, never had she hidden it, ever had she trusted him. Now she preferred a mask, a costume to show him his borders to her trust. "And you better not take a common aim as a proof for common thoughts... or feelings."

He had to admit he had expected something like this, yet he was a little taken aback by the rashness in her words. "You´d do better not to trust me too much, Erik."

"Neither should you." he gave back with a low voice. "You needn´t have followed me."

"And you could have left me at the lair. Abandoning those that are close to you has not been a problem for you at late or has it, Erik?"

And with these words the young military pilot changed into a slender, pale and young woman with dark hair, wearing the same uniform. Raven.

He regarded her with another long look and finally sat down into the co-pilot´s seat. Raven was eyeing him and for a moment the familiar yellow flash entered her eyes. She was angry. He could tell she was, but she concealed it well.

Erik released his grip on the rotor blades and asked himself when he had ever been as careless as he was tonight. There had been times when he would not have taken anyone on his missions he did not trust entirely. There had been times when his life had depended on these bonds of trust. It still did, he now realized, only times had changed. One became desperate with all but one companion gone for the moment. Briefly he asked himself whether his choice to risk taking Mystique along resulted only from his need to get back to action... or if there was more to it. Magneto´s aims had never left any space for regret or pity, so... had his short time as a homo sapiens taught him regret? Was the reason he was so blindly (and foolishly) trusting Mystique not to strangle him in the next moment resulting from practical reasons only? Or was it the desperate attempt to make up for what he had done to her when he had abandoned Raven Darkholme?

The night found the helicopter flying nearly without making a sound at all, the flapping of the rotor blades being kept down by Magneto who was slightly using his powers on them.

Neither of the two of them spoke and Erik only briefly wondered how Mystique knew where they were heading, yet he had not yet had a reason to correct their flight route. He looked over to her and felt the urge to tell her to change her appearance, yet his pride kept him from doing so. If she was preferring to have it her way she should. He would not give in to yet another power struggle. The one with Pyro had been enough.

"How did you know?" he asked, his arms folded across his chest, his eyebrows slightly raised but not even looking at the woman next to him. She knew perfectly well what he was referring to.

"Your computer." she said "it was clear to me at once what you were up to when you prepared to leave."

His eyebrow travelled a bit farther up. "My computer?"

"I didn´t know that plans concerning the brotherhood had become a secret to all but you recently." she said. He did not reply. She had always had a thinh for computers, ever since he had taken her in. He did not know when or how she had acquired her skills as a hacker and he had never asked. Maybe, Erik thought, she had spent more time in her room or in front of a computer than was good for a girl, not having friends to share her spare time with.

"So." He was a little bewildered that she was taking up the conversation again. "Strange how time changes things, isn´t it?" She gave him a short glance, then concentrated on flying again. "I doubt Magneto would have thrown himself head over feet into an adventure like this when the brotherhood was still backing him. Running off into the night, Erik. Without scarcely a plan even from what I could make up."

"You should know better" he replied coolly, annoyed because her remark had been closer to truth than he was willing to admit. His planning had been rather hasty, he knew only too well and in this moment he realized that his plan to confront Warren Warthington resulted more from his own selfish impatience of doing something than from truly having planned anything.

"Should I?" she answered, sounding plain.

He did not say anything in return.

The helicopter continued passing through the night, leaving almost no sound of its presence for the people in their houses underneath to wonder what was going on. Warthington´s estate was situated in the most wealthy part of the city and when Erik concentrated his view on the landscape outside the number of lights below them told him, they did not have far to go. They were flying over the city centre by now, leaving the centre a little to their left with its lamp lit streets shining throughout the night reminding him almost of an airport runway. Everything looked normal for an ordinary night... except the red glow that was emerging from somewhere below them. Fire.

"To the left" he told Mystique suddenly feeling a bad foreboding rise inside him. Something was going on there.

Harder than it had been necessary, Mystique slammed the joystick to the side which made the helicopter fall to the left so suddenly that Erik had to bite back a curse. He gave her an angry look, but all he got in return was a menacing smirk. He found it was nonsense to give in to her mood and looked out again. He had not been mistaken. As the helicopter sank lower to scan the main street, he spotted a number of people who had flocked together in smaller or larger groups on the ground. Flames were erupting unsteadily from a shop window and seemingly the crowd was in an uproar. Whatever was going on down there stank of trouble and Erik had a feeling that was going on down there, concerned him. Before the helicopter even landed on the roof of a three storey house he knew what was awaiting them. Down below in the streets there was the proof that he had always been right. What had begun as a rather verbal battle with debates and demonstrations had now become a public concern. After the first glance he knew that both humans and mutants were involved in a furious street battle. There were about two hundred or so people in the streets, shouting, flying at each other, some armed with nothing more than bricks or bottles but half a dozen of the humans actually carrying guns with them. It took him only one swift look to know the mutants were hopelessly outnumbered. A group of maybe a dozen of them were cornered on the other end of the street fighting furiously... yet it did not seem they were defenseless... or even fighting a lost battle.

For a moment, Erik just stayed where he was, unwilling to enter into battle before he knew what was actually going on. He had not encountered another confrontation between homo sapiens and homo superior since his recovery and now for the first time began to understand how weak and defenseless those humans had to feel against the few mutants they were attacking...

A blast of fire enlightened the night and hit two men among the humans who were standing at the front square across the chest. Pyro, Erik knew with an instant and in the blazing fury of the fire he believed to make out the shapes of the two teens he had seen him with days ago. Shade and the other one, the boy. A scream of triumph came from Pyro and when Erik watched him, he had the feeling his blood would freeze.

During all these years he had told himself how necessary it was to harden himself against any emotion for any homo sapiens he might have to fight on his way to achieve his noble aim. He had always told himself emotions would betray him if he gave in to them, but now he saw something that made him falter. With horror he realized that there were not only adults on the streets below. Besides the three teenagers there were other kids even younger, eleven or twelve maybe, hungry, ragged creatures fighting desperately like animals... on both sides although the number of very young ones was higher on the mutant side. Still, watching Pyro, Erik saw him step closer to a man who in this moment threw a brick into his direction. Pyro ducked and avoided being hit, letting out a cruel laugh that made the man spin around and grab for the hand of the small boy by his side. The kid was young, younger than anyone Erik could make out in the scene. He had not been involved in this battle on purpose. This boy and his father had only been at the wrong place at the wrong time. The man´s attack resulted not from a hatred against mutants but from pure fear for his and his boy´s safety.

"Hey, coward!" Pyro yelled after him, his voice echoing above the battlefield. "Don´t try to run." But the man ran, screaming when his son stumbled over a stone and fell. The kid hit the ground and an instant later Pyro was close, pointing at the little one with his lighter hand. The man stared in pure horror, his eyes wide, silently mouthing a "No"

"That will teach you not to stand in my way, human." he said, smiling evilly. Erik lifted his hands, leaving the flat roof where the helicopter had landed and hovered to the ground, his heart pondering. He extended his hand when Pyro said: "This will teach you not to mess with a God among insects."

In the same moment the fire was erupting from the young mutants hand, a metal bar, left idly by someone who might have used it as a weapon, slammed against the young mutant´s ribs and knocked Pyro to the ground where he let out a muffled scream. The shot of fire never found its desired aim, but hit a nearby trash bin and set it on flames. Pyro gulped. The man ran for his son, grabbed him and his eyes met with Eriks for a second ere he turned and fled. His eyes widened. There was gratitude in this human´s face... and disbelief. The stranger had just realized who had saved his boy´s life.

Distantly Erik realized the battle ground was beginning to clear and most of the humans and mutants began to run off when he stepped a little closer, so close that his boots came to a halt only inches away from the young mutant´s face. The boy was coughing, holding his ribs, writhing in pain but he would be okay soon. He never looked up when Magneto spoke.

"I must have been mistaken." Erik said with a low voice while in a distance the sirens of police cars began to yell. "There are black sheep everywhere. Even among the Gods."