"You're awfully quiet," Erik commented when they returned to their hotel room. Charles had pleaded with the pair of them to join him at Division X, a CIA base where he said they could be something like the new mutant decision. Annalise didn't like the sound of it and she knew that Erik didn't either. He didn't want to work with the humans but if it meant getting closer to Schmidt then he was willing to go and see what they had to offer. He was a man possessed.

"I'm thinking," Annalise replied flatly, packing her case once again. She had showered quickly and dried her blonde hair, tying it back as she went into her shoulder bag. Her hand was unconsciously playing with the locket she had resting on the black dress she now wore. It suddenly seemed like a heavyweight on her neck.

"Well would you care to share?" Erik wondered which caused a slim brow arched whilst he waited her to finish her chores. "You can look into my mind and I can't see into yours."

"I can't imagine how torrid that is for you," Annalise said sarcastically and Erik sighed once, rolling his eyes and allowing his hand to push through his hair before he flapped his arms to the side.

"Whatever," he replied. "Don't tell me what is wrong. It isn't like I even care that much."

"Fine," Annalise snapped back quickly. "Now are we going to be guinea pigs for the CIA or not?"

"I think we are more like lab rats," Erik muttered.

...

Annalise stood by the car which Erik had climbed into along with another blonde girl who went by the name of Raven. She rocked back and forth on her heels, her hands smoothing out the skirt to her dress as she wondered what to do. Charles walked over to the car after a brief conversation with Moira as she settled a few things before they could leave.

"I'm not coming," Annalise whispered to Charles suddenly. "I can't."

"I cannot force you," Charles replied to her. "Yourself being a fellow telepath would have something to say about that."

"You know why I can't come," she hissed to him as she heard Erik open the car door and climb out. His sunglasses were perched on the end of his nose as he rested his folded arms on the roof of the metal object.

"Are we planning on going anytime soon?" he snapped. "I don't fancy losing Schmidt again."

"Moira is just talking," Charles informed him, the morning sun blinding them as Annalise looked at Charles and then back to Erik.

"I'm sorry," she said and turned on her heel. She had her patent designer bag resting on her shoulder as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Erik raised a brow, beginning to walk around the car and after her, wondering what she was doing. Charles raised his hand, resting it onto his shoulder and stopping him from going after her.

"Leave her be," he demanded. "I shall go and see her. You need to go with the others back to their base."

"Why?" Erik replied, watching her retreating figure move past the buildings in sight before he turned back to Charles. "I know when something isn't right Charles and I know that something happened when I wasn't on that yacht."

"I will go and talk to her," Charles pronounced to Erik. "I'll get her to come back with me to the base."

"Why can't I go?" Erik simply asked him. "She was the one who asked me if she could come along."

"I am aware Erik," Charles sighed. "Just allow me to go and all shall be explained in good time. I am sure of it."

...

"Chocolat Chaud," Charles nodded when he finally found Annalise in the midst of a concrete jungle. She was sat on a seat outside of the little cafe which reminded her of one she had previously been in when she had lived in France. She sipped on the drink, looking up at Charles as he sat down on the spare seat, his hands clasping themselves together as he undid the button to his suit jacket, the grey material then hanging by his sides. "Missing France?"

"Oui," she nodded. "I thought I was cut out for this. I thought killing Schmidt would just be a matter of finding him. I believed that would be the hardest part. I never suspected that this would happen...all of this..."

"You believe what Shaw told you, don't you?" Charles asked her, his hand resting on the table as she placed the white cup down onto the metal, looking into the telepath's blue eyes and wondering what to say to him.

"I have thought about it," she nodded in agreement. "But I was eight...when they were in that office...he spoke German to my mother. I have never spoke German and I have never heard her speak it."

"I think you shall find the odds are stacked against what you want to believe my dear," Charles told her and she tightened the bobble which was holding her hair back as she tried not let out a loud snort.

"I don't know what to believe," she sighed lightly. "It would make sense why he never tortured me. I looked into Erik's mind and the things he did to him..." she trailed off, words not being able to convey her disgust with the man. "I can't be related to that. I just can't."

"I believe that genes shape who we are today," Charles informed her, sitting back on the chair and crossing his legs, his hands resting on the top of his thigh. "I think that our personalities depend on who we were born from and we often cannot help the way we are. But to stop us from being like our parent's there is something else which we need."

"Hm?" Annalise asked him. "And what is that?"

"The knowledge between the difference of what is right and what is wrong," Charles simply responded and Annalise looked at him as he leaned forward, his tone becoming hushed as he spoke to her once again. "You may be the daughter of Shaw but I can see that you are nothing like him. Just because you're related to him by blood does not have to make a difference about the way you feel about him."

"But I can't come back with you," Annalise shook her head. "I'm his daughter Charles. I'm the daughter of the man who the CIA want dead."

"You're forgetting something," Charles whispered, his voice soft and kind along with the encouraging smile which was resting on his lips. "You're not who the CIA want."

"It doesn't matter anyway," Annalise replied. "As soon as Erik finds out then I'm done for Charles...he will think that Schmidt is using me to get to him...he won't trust me about anything..."

"How long have you known Erik?"

"Let's just say it has been a case of hours rather than weeks," she replied cryptically. The time length was incredibly short.

"I see," Charles nodded. "Then if you haven't known him that long why do you worry what he will think?"

"Because...he's...he can be an arse," she admitted and Charles took in the way her French lilt became more pronounced. "But he's also kind when he wants to be...he's taken care of me whilst we have looked for Schmidt."

"The bond that you two have is not a healthy one," Charles promised her. "You two are bound together on your mission for revenge."

"Oui," she agreed. "But I don't want him to know about Schmidt and I. He wouldn't look at me the same way...every time...he would just see Schmidt's face, wouldn't he?"

"It would dent his view of you," Charles said, not bothering to lie to her as she looked down into her drink which was turning cold. "But I think he would be able to see past that."

"I don't think so."

"You won't know if you don't try," Charles shrugged. "If you leave now then Erik will think no more of you, I can promise you of that. You need to come back with me. I can see that you want revenge and by taking it then I don't think it will bring you peace...but I cannot stop you from feeling how you do...if you come back with us then you can find Schmidt...on your own...he can find you."

...

"And where did you go?" Erik asked as he stood beside Annalise as they walked down the halls of Division X. The agent in black was leading them through the hallways to meet a man named Hank who was apparently some kind of super smart scientist. Erik had dropped back to walk beside the small blonde who was staring straight ahead, her eyes looking onto Charles's back as she shook her head.

"Nowhere important," she promised Erik. "I just needed time to think."

"And this is Hank," the agent suddenly declared as Annalise and Erik lurked at the back of the crowd and Charles stepped forward, grabbing Hank's hand and informing him how wonderful it was to have another mutant working with them.

"What?" the agent asked, his voice confused as Charles shook his head apologetically.

"I am so sorry," he said quickly and Hank shrugged.

"It's fine," he promised him. "You never asked so I never told you."

"So what?" Raven asked him. "Your mutation is that your super smart?"

"I would certainly agree," Charles nodded quickly. "Hank graduated Harvard when he was fifteen."

"That's not all it is," he muttered as Charles told him he was with friends.

'This is certainly turning into an interesting ordeal,' Erik muttered in his head as he looked onto Hank's large feet which were now out in the open. Annalise nudged him in the ribs which caused his hand to grab onto the spot as the pair of them stepped back, watching as Hank moved about.

'You should keep your thoughts quiet Erik...and besides...we can't all have normal mutations, can we?'

'I didn't say anything about him being weird...although seeing him jump and hang onto the model is slightly interesting...I don't know whether to laugh or cry.'

'How about shut up?'

'Now you're just being rude. I still want to know what is going on with you.'

'I keep telling you that it is nothing.'

'And I keep telling you that I'm not an idiot.'

'That is very debateable.'

'Don't make me do something I may regret.'

'You're forgetting that I could control you. You don't need to worry about doing anything regrettably.'

'Whatever. Just meet me outside the Division tonight, would you?'

'I know you plan to leave them here and go after Schmidt on your own.'

'Are you in or out?'

'I'll tell you tonight.'

...

"I guessed you would be out here," Annalise informed Charles as she pushed the door of the building open with both hands, her bag on her shoulder. Erik had told her to lose the large case she had been using for her clothes and she had reluctantly agreed. She had managed to fit some clothes into her black bag but that was all.

"And I guessed you would buy into Erik's scheme," he said back to her. "What are you going to do when he finds out who you are? Shaw isn't likely to keep it a secret."

"I'll tell him when I need to," she said quickly back to him as the door opened again and Erik walked through it, seeing Annalise and Charles having a quiet chat. He raised a brow, lines forming on his forehead.

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked them.

"No," Charles told him. "I was simply telling Annalise that you two fighting this on your own is not going to help you get what you want. I've seen your mind Erik."

"And what have you seen?"

"Everything."

"Then you should know to stay out of my head," he snapped back quickly.

"I know that revenge is eating you up. It is getting to both of you...but killing Shaw shall not bring you the happiness which you so require." Charles said, the voice of reasoning emerging from him as Annalise looked at Erik, wondering what he was thinking but not wanting to look into his mind.

"Happiness is something which doesn't interest me," Erik growled and looked at Annalise. "Are you coming?"

"Yes," she nodded as she began to follow Erik.

"Shaw has friends...you two could use some..."

...

"We've been sat here for an hour," Annalise whispered into the darkness. Erik had managed to take a car from the base but he wasn't driving it. He was sat in it as he remained on the quiet lane which led up to the CIA base. Annalise had remained quiet until that moment, waiting for Erik to say something to her but he hadn't. He had been thinking deeply about Charles's proposition for him.

"I'm thinking," he muttered.

"I can see," she said dryly back to him before he looked across to her.

"What do you think?"

"I think Charles has a point," she admitted. "But I also know that the CIA will simply want to use us."

"That's the problem," Erik replied. "I've never needed anyone before. I don't need to start needing people now."

"By not needing anyone before you haven't managed to achieve what you want," she whispered to him. "Maybe help can change that."

"Help," Erik snorted, shaking his head. "I've never been helped before."

"Then why not try now?" she enquired. "I know what you went through Erik...and I can't begin to fathom how hard it was for you..."

"You were there too," he reminded her and she shook her head at him.

"He didn't use me like he did you. He killed my mother and that's why I want him dead...but...Charles is genuine...he does want to be able to help you."

"I know," Erik sighed. "I know."

"I think you should give him a chance," Annalise admitted. "I was about to do the same thing which you want to do now this morning."

"Why?" he asked her. "What is going on?"

Annalise looked at Erik for a moment, his blue eyes looking into hers as his hands rested on his lap and clenched together into fists, the frustration of her not telling him anything was eating up at him. He detested not knowing obvious things. It was even worse considering she knew everything.

She could see the annoyance radiating off of him and she knew that telling him would be the right thing to do. But doing the right thing didn't always lead to the result which she wanted. She shook her head at him once.

"I was scared," she admitted. "I didn't...last night...we could have died...I didn't know if I could continue. But Charles told me everything would be fine."

"Last night we came close to what we want," Erik told her. "But Charles is right. The next time we face Schmidt it will be different."

"How do you know?" Annalise worried. She didn't want to face him again. She didn't want the fact that she knew to come up to the surface. She didn't want Erik to hate her.

"I just do," he shrugged. "Intuition."

Annalise laughed once at that and Erik managed a small smile before he saw her yawn.

"So what should we do?" she asked and Erik shrugged.

"I don't want to go back yet. I need to think about this," he told her. "But you're tired. You haven't slept in a long time."

"Neither have you."

"I don't need to," he replied. "Just go to sleep here."

"How?" she asked him, looking at the backseat which was cramped considering Erik had chosen one of the smallest cars to steal. There were no headrests on the front seat which was also close to the dashboard.

"I don't know," Erik complained. "Just do something."

"Fine," she said and went into her black bag, fiddling around inside of it. Erik gritted his teeth together, the noise becoming annoying to his already pounding head as he rolled his eyes, grabbing onto her arm and pulling her across to him.

"Just lay down," he snapped at her as she shrugged her cardigan from her shoulders, screwing it into a ball before she dropped it onto Erik's lap. "I didn't mean there," he told her.

"But there isn't enough elevation on the other side and I would end up getting a crick in my neck," she pouted as Erik resisted the urge to once again roll his eyes.

"Since when did you have OCD?" he wondered.

"I don't," she replied. "I just believe there is a correct way to sleep."

"Whatever," he spoke back. "Just be quiet."

"You know you can be rather rude sometimes," she pointed out, pushing herself onto the seat, resting her head onto the cardigan which was in Erik's lap. She pulled her legs onto the seat, her feet just managing to not hit the other door as she bent her knees. She lay on her side, stuffing a hand under her head and allowing the other to dangle off the seat by Erik's legs.

"Now will you settle down?" he asked her.

"Goodnight Erik," she simply said back to him and he chuckled once, not replying to her as he went back to his own thoughts.