Requiem

48

"May I ask you something?" The calm tone of Shaw did little good to put Erik at ease as the door behind him finally slid to a quiet close. He did manage to glance back one last time, he frowned gently and looked a little worriedly at Liesel. He wasn't so much worried for himself, rather, he was worried about what she could possibly get up to now that she was out there on her own. He wouldn't put it past her to go find a fight to get involved in.

Looking slowly back in Shaw's direction, Erik merely gave the slightest of nods. Honestly, he wasn't wholly caring about what question was going to get posed to him. Any question was surely going to be something highly idiotic, right? Since when had Shaw ever really spoken any sense? Erik struggled right this second to pinpoint a particular nugget of truth and honesty that he'd ever spoken to himself.

Shaw smiled though, seemingly happy and content that Erik had allowed him to continue talking. Not that he expected otherwise. Shaw knew that deep down a small part of Erik was curious. He was curious about what Shaw had to say. He was somewhat curious as to why he had taken to doing these actions. Shaw had said that they were all back together again, and though it was the blatant truth, he did mean it that way. He wasn't being sarcastic to get a rise out of either of them, even though that seemed to happen anyway. He knew, though it sounds presumptuous, that those two imprisoned Jewish children would appear at the end of his little mission here. He knew that they'd cross paths. He'd set them on a path, and they really didn't disappoint.

"Why fight for a doomed race who'll hunt us down as soon as they realise their reign is coming to an end?" Shaw retreated from his thoughts. He couldn't keep getting lost in thoughts, not with everything that was going on around him. And especially not now that in return he could exorcise the niggling curiosities that lurked within him over Erik's choice, and even maybe Liesel's, with siding with the humans. 

The tone he used was void of anything. He would freely admit a small part of him was somewhat ashamed of them. The last thing he truly expected though was the retort to come in the form of a fist. Erik punched Shaw and stood back in a small amount of shock as the attack was simply absorbed. Liesel had briefly explained what happened when she attacked him, but he had not seen it first hand. Now that he had, truly he could admit that it was more interesting, and startling than he expected. 

Shaw sighed casually, "I am sorry for what happened in the camps." He continued on as if nothing had really happened. Erik's composure was slowly returning as he registered what was being said to him. The usual frown and emotionless expression he had previously, returned as he simply stared at Shaw with unblinking eyes. "Truly, I am." Shaw furthered on, he expected Erik to react to that simple sentence. Yet he didn't. He remained unmoving, or at least he was unmoving until Shaw unleashed the absorbed attack and sent it back at him.

His form flew backwards in the small brightly lit space, and collided with the mirrored wall behind him. The reflective material didn't stand a chance, and shattered with his body impacting against it. He crumpled to the floor, with shards of glittering mirror falling with and around him. Clearly the sound was heard outside, this space was evidently not soundproof because banging commenced where the door was.

"She sounds worried. Sure I can't invite her in too?" Shaw glanced stoically from Erik's form, even as he slowly pushed himself up, to the door where Liesel continued to hit and shout for him.

"You're not hurting her. Not again. Not ever." Erik said while finally recovering enough to find his voice and answer. 

"Erik, whatever you're doing, keep doing it. It's starting to work." Charles's voice encouragingly sounded in his mind. With a frown, Erik looked about. The only thing different was the shattered mirror. Looking about again with sudden realisation, he shook his head. So the void was slowly breaking, one mirror at a time. In other circumstances Erik was sure he'd smirk over the moment at hand, but that moment was lost because he continued to stare Shaw down.