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Constance tried the phone in the office of the warehouse she and Kevin were hiding in while he was out getting supplies. It was working!

Dialing a number she bit her lip hoping that he'd answer. She didn't even know if he was using that safe house.

"Erik, I've run into a little trouble. They're dead..." She sank to the floor the realization fully hitting after everything else that had happened in the past month. "I escaped Hydra, have one of their projects with me. We're in Alaska, ten miles south of Anchorage, I don't have chalk with me. If they find us I'm useless in a fight. They damaged the seal I use to activate the Alchemy." She was watching the door from where she sat on the floor. Right now this was the best he'd get for her asking for help.

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Erik gripped the phone so hard it would crack the second he let it go. "Is anyone with you or near you," he asked as every piece of metal near him vibrated. "Can you get outside to hide."

"There's one person with me, he helped me escape Erik. We're hidden now, well he went to get food." She could hear the rattling in the background. "Erik, calm down before you alert someone to where you are." She didn't want him getting caught. "I'm not wounded too bad. Just a sprained ankle from running in the woods." She leaned against the wall, still watching the doorway from where she was hidden.

"There's a ski park not far from where I am, there's no one there. I can get to the lodge there. It should take him a few hours to get back from the town. I'll be gone by then." She bit her lip. "Erik, I'm sorry, I can't remember the layout of the facility I was in, and I don't know if they were there."

"It's alright," Erik soothed gently, "I'm just glad you got out alright. My children can wait for now, but you are no good to me dead or badly hurt. Get to the ski lodge and I will meet you both there."

"We did, and in the woods I can work with larger sigils if I have to, it's easier in this area to draw water, there's a lot of waterfalls." She touched the bandage lightly. "We'll try to get there then as soon as he gets back."

She's silent a moment. "Erik, you'll have to be careful around him. I don't think that he's had much interaction with people. He's also a fire element. I can't tell if he's more like me or you." She saw the door open. "I have to go, he's back. It will take us at least a day on foot. The lodge should be empty."

When she hung up she struggled to stand, her hip and ankle bothering her. "Kevin, we're going to move alright? I don't feel safe here, there's a lodge some distance away, we get there should be safer at least for a while." She limped to the main room. "Please say you got coffee though, we can wait until after lunch then leave."

Kevin had actually gone to report in, not to get food. He met his handler across town to report that he'd completed the mission. At least, as far as he knew, he had. His handler had given him a bag of food to take back.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "But what's wrong with here?"

She watched him a moment. "Considering how open it is, I don't want to get dragged back to that compound." She winced slightly putting weight on her ankle as she moved to his side.

"We'll stay there a few days before we try to head south." She wouldn't ll him Erik was coming yet. "It'll be okay, I won't let them take you back either." She rummaged through the bag. "You forgot the chalk."

He made a face. He hadn't looked through the bag before he got back. "Sorry. Didn't see any."

"It's alright, I can probably come up with some makeshift way to work it without chalk, a stick might work better if the ground's soft enough." She gave a small smile. "Hungry? Or you going to refuse to eat again? I might be able to catch fish later if that's the case."

He gave her a tiny smile. "I might drink something."

He didn't know if he'd ever get the chance again. He wanted to enjoy tasting things while he still could.

She nodded and pulled out one of the two bottles of juice holding one out for him. "Orange juice then? I'll take the cranberry." She sat on the edge of the counter pulling some fruit from the bag. Taking some of the grapes she put a few near him.

Hours later the two were in the woods, Constance having to lean against him heavily because of her ankle. She was determined to not stop until they got to the lodge though.

"Okay one good thing about where we are, it's not too dark. I'd hate to be trying to get anywhere out here in the pitch black." She slapped her arm again, killing another mosquito. "Though the anemia isn't recommended." Her hand slipped into her pocket feeling for a coin, hoping that if Erik was there already he'd find some subtle way of letting her know he was there. Though the last few days with Kevin hadn't been completely horrible.

The coin begins to vibrate like it is trying to get her attention without being too obvious about it. It should act like a gentle hum against her side. At the same time Erik slides out of the darkness and stands in Constance's line of sight waiting for her to see him and trying not to look worried.

She feels the coin move and her eyes scan the area, when she spots him she relaxes slightly.

"Erik, I didn't think you were that close." She let go of Kevin limping a few steps towards Erik. Her ankle decided then it was going to finally give out on her and she managed to catch a nearby tree to keep from falling on the ground.

Kevin froze when he saw the newcomer. He reached for Constance, not at all convinced about the safety of approaching the man. "Who...?" he asked quietly, eyeing the man warily.

Erik held up his hands trying to show the young man he isn't here to hurt him. "My name is Erik and I am a friend of Constance...she asked me to come and help you. I swear I mean you no harm."

She kept an eye on Kevin and Erik, ready to move in between them if she had to.

"Kevin, we can't go back there alright? Erik can help us get away, once I'm healed up we can go after them, make sure they can't hurt us again." She watched him carefully, still trying to figure out how free he was from HYDRA's control. "You'll be free to do whatever you want."

He shook his head. "Don't need help."

Even if he really could just leave, he didn't trust this new person. He takes a step back. "We don't need him."

Erik nods hands still out. "You can come with us if you wish," he says, "or you can go your own way.....I will not force a choice on you."

"Kevin, please, having him around makes me feel safer alright? He's part of my family." She shifted so her back was against the tree and she could watch both of them.

"Though can we please talk about it elsewhere? I'm starting to feel my heartbeat in my ankle, pretty sure that's not a good thing."

As soon as she mentioned her ankle, Winter Flame was by her side. He wrapped his arms around her, taking her weight off her feet.

He watched the new man for another moment. He didn't trust him. But she said she needed this man to feel safe. Even if they would never be safe anymore. "For now. He should go soon."

Erik stayed back letting this Kevin handle Constance but he doesn't say anything about leaving. He has no plans on going anywhere for a while. "Lead the way then," he says calmly, "you two know the area better then I do."

When she was picked up she yelped, there was no way she'd be carried. "I can walk really!"

When Erik said they lead she tried to remember from the maps. "We're still a mile from the lodge. Kevin really you get tired you're putting me down."

At the lodge HYDRA agents moved into position, the weapon and it's companion would find the place empty until the trap was sprung.

"Make sure to incapacitate not kill."

"I won't get tired." He didn't get tired. That was something that happened to people, not assets. "Which way now?"

Erik's ability not only allowed him to manipulate metal but to sense it as well and as they moved to the lodge he opened that sense and didn't like what he found. "Stop," he hissed to them both, "we are not alone."

At Erik's words Constance motioned silently to be put down. She wasn't going to be a hindrance to the pair. She knelt, wincing slightly, but found a branch sturdy enough to hold her as well as use for her alchemy. It had been a while since she had done sigils, but she was sure that she could still do the work.

"Can you tell how many?" She was already tying to figure out which of her tricks to use, with her ankle as it was, she figured a multi-legged water beast would work best. "I can give us a safe zone if you buy me a few seconds."

The boy tensed. No. This was too soon. They shouldn't know about the retrieval team, not yet. She would never trust him again after this but he couldn't risk letting her get away. He clenched a fist and her branch started burning. He kept the flames far enough away from her hand that she shouldn't get burned but that branch would be useless to her.

"A team of twenty possibly more," Erik says with a frown, "but how would they know we were here already?"

When the branch in her hand caught on fire she actually dropped it, stepping just a little closer to Erik.

"Really, I don't need you protecting me like this, I can handle myself in a fight." She spoke calmly, not wanting to start anything, but the flames had spooked her a little.

"Erik, they might have tracked us, I wasn't awake the whole time they had me, so it's possible they are tracking me or him. We'll have to deal with it later right? Get out of here first."

Edited Date: 2014-07-08 01:49 am (UTC)

"Might not be for us."

Of course, he knew it had to be the retrieval team. There was no one else it should be and he'd told them to follow him now. But it'd be easier if he could convince her to trust him for a little longer.

Erik is liking this less and less. If it was just himself and Constance he would have scooped her up and run through the team without blinking, but there is this unknown variable now and he is actually somewhat afraid to make a move at the risk of getting someone he cares about hurt or worse killed. "How would they be here for then," he asks daring the boy to say someone that he can sniff out as a lie.

Constance sighed. "Can we argue about this after we're somewhere a little less open?" She glanced at Kevin, she wasn't trusting him that much, but she knew she didn't want to leave him there. Moving closer to Erik though she hoped he'd understand.

"We figure out's what going on, but it's your call." She said simply to Erik, making it clear she was going to fall back to her role as one of the Brotherhood unless he suggested otherwise.

A shot rang out from nearby in the woods. Even if Erik tries he can't change the trajectory of a plastic bullet, which tears through Constance's thigh, they want her back alive, and if they can, they'll take Erik too.

The boy didn't even get a chance to answer Eric's question before someone shot at them. He reacts instantly, stepping in front of Constance. "No!"

He reached to push Eric away. "You should go."

Erik shook his head as he looked around for the shooter. "No," he says, "I will not leave her just because Hydra wants to complete the set. I still have the ability to fight even without enough metal around to do it."

Constance was looking too, while it wasn't the best medium, she held her hand over the wound, tracing the sigil she'd need for a barrier with her blood.

"Erik, I can buy a little time, but you might want to grab m when it starts. Might have another man made lake here."

She looked at Kevin, she was doing her best to stay standing. "I will not go back there."

"I know," he admitted reluctantly. He didn't care. Not even that any child they'd have would probably get the ice and the machine like he did. He was an asset, he didn't have feelings. And he had a mission to complete.

Erik nodded as he glanced around using what tactical skills his possessed to work out their next move. The plastic bullets told him he was just as much a target as the others, in fact he had a feeling they had planned for this from the start though he couldn't confirm it outright.

"Do what you need to do," he told Constance, "I sense metal somewhere in the group...if I can get my hands on that or get us to the lodge we have a better chance of fighting them off."

She tapped the seal she had made on her pants with the complete seal on her wrist. Water shot out from the ground around the three of them writhing like snakes, weaving themselves into a wall. The wall started extending towards the lodge, the strain making her stumble more, the four foot thick wall stayed in place though, she was hoping that it would slow the bullets enough that they wouldn't hurt.

She ignored her bloody nose for now. She'd have a killer headache later. She collapsed, the pain in hr leg from the bullet too much.

The asset swallowed as he watched the wall of water form. They'd told him that she could control water like he could fire but he'd thought it would be like this.

He caught her as she fell turning to Erik again. "Go. I'll take care of her."

Erik glanced at the two young people saying so much without saying anything at all and then he's gone into the trees ready and willing to hunt. He meant what he said that he could fight without using his ability as screaming and shots are heard from far away as the man called Magneto protects his friend.

Constance would have fought Kvin if she could put weight on her leg.

"So... what are you doing with me? Handing me to them... Or helping me escape? Because I will drown us both if I see any of them come close." Her control on the wall around them was probably the only thing keeping her from screaming at the moment, and it wouldn't be hard to bend the wall inward on them, at least Erik would probably be able to find her in the water before it was too late, she doubted they sent more teams for the two of them.

Though plastic bullets, they knew I'd call Erik... The thought had her still a moment. She may have been the bait all along... The wall shuddered a moment, one of the men Erik hadn't gotten managed to slip into the barrier.

She caught sight of him and lifted a hand, a spout of water slamming into him, while another separated her and Kevin. Constance was thrown back a hundred yards by it, crying out when she landed on her bad leg. She quickly sealed the wall up around her, thickening it, making sure no one else was with her.

He'd never admit it but he'd actually planning to help her get away. But the water threw him through the wall of water she'd made earlier. He landed, coughing water from his lungs. He managed to roll to his knees. He couldn't see anyone but the screams sounded a little closer.

Erik charged through the woods throwing one of the Hydra's men before him. His eyes are cold chips of fury as he pins the man to the ground and growls. "Go back and tell your masters that if you come after me and mine again you will pay a worse price then this." He then lets the man up as he stalks towards Constance and Kevin.

Constance was leaning up against a tree, about ten bodies littered the ground around her, some with sections of the trees that had been standing through them, others looked torn apart, amazing what damage she can hide with one of her 'spells' when she wants to.

Hearing the footsteps she tried to move the water one more time, but it was clear she didn't have the strength to even move her hand to create a new sigil, the water surrounding her was about a foot deep, and cold, She hadn't willed it away, hoping that the could would help keep her from bleeding out. "I don't know where he went off to. I tried throwing him so he wouldn't get hurt." She was shivering as she spoke, trying not to look at the damage she had done. "At least there's no lake this time, it should slip back into the ground or to sea in a few hours..."

Kevin was still coughing when the Hydra agent found him. He didn't protest anything when he was pulled to his feet.

"Where's your target?"

The asset shook his head, still coughing, and pointed at the wall of water. "Threw... me," he choked out between coughs.

Erik wrapped an arm around Constance to help take her weight off her injured leg. "We don't have time to wait for him," he told her softly, "we need to get somewhere safe and quickly. You'll die if we don't. And I'm not doing well either." The shows her several bullet wounds in his side and back. "They knew I was following you...I don't know how or why but they knew."

Shivering she leans against him.

"They, knew I was one of your people. Kept asking when they questioned me." She couldn't move her fingers without too much difficulty. "Next town is a bit far, either direction, might be why they let the two of us ..." Her sluggish footing caused her to trip on a tree root, almost spilling her back to the ground.

"I'm sorry, this is my fault."