Walking up the wooden stairs that led to the thick wooden door, Liesel let go of Erik's arm so he could open it. He looked at her and then the entrance, he moved in first. Formality for ladies first did not apply this one time. Though he did keep the door held open for her. He even went as far as taking her cardigan and hung it up with his coat on the stand which was by the door. His hat quickly followed as Liesel shifted and looked around the large room they now stood in. Despite all of the sunlight from outside, it didn't actually penetrate in through the windows much. One half of the room was bathed in warm light. But further back by the bar was dimmer. Ball lights were alight on the wall, glowing a warm orange which really didn't bring much to the room. Even as she stood there, Liesel could feel that it was a fair few degrees cooler in here, which she was thankful of. Yet she wasn't thankful for the sceptical looks which were being sent their ways.

She went to take a step back, yet was met with a gentle hand on her lower back, Liesel followed Erik's cue and walked slowly towards the bar. There was a pair of men sitting at a nearby table, one of which Liesel recognised as her man from earlier. It was a little disconcerting that he was still here. She had watched him for the better part of an hour without him knowing, and here he was, face to face as it were. He merely gave her a passing glance. That was all she got, he returned to looking down into his glass before drinking some of its content.

Sitting at the bar, Liesel crossed one leg over the other and leaned against the bar with one elbow. She merely watched as the bartender poured the drink Erik had ordered. She smiled sweetly and accepted one too, though she had no intention of drinking it. She wasn't exactly a beer fan, although from odd looks the bartender was sending her way, she took a hesitant sip from it. Looking about the room she double took and as casually as possible made eye contact with Erik before flicking her eyes to the item she spied. He looked over too and looked at the black and white photograph. There were three men in the picture, all of which seemed very buddy-buddy and close. Arms around each other's shoulders, big smiles on their faces. Caspartina – Miami was written underneath in faded lettering. It wasn't that, though Miami was worth noting, it was the fact that in the middle stood Schmidt.

Liesel took hold of her glass, suddenly feeling like she needed that drink now, and tore her eyes away from the photograph. She tuned out of the conversation which Erik was participating in, albeit begrudgingly. Even as he drunk a good majority of the beer which was poured for him, his eyes and expression darkened considerably. The only time she stopped drinking was when one word caught her attention: Düsseldorf. Casting a sidelong look at Erik, she wasn't surprised to see him turned in his seat looking at the two men. One of which was apparently a tailor.

"My parents are from Düsseldorf." Erik said while holding an arm out and gesturing to the table. He sent a quick look to Liesel, getting the message; she stayed put. She turned in her seat though and held her glass in her lap. Watching him go, she merely sipped at her drink. The beer was tasting better to her with each mouthful, it was a good coping mechanism and was definitely calming her fraying nerves.

"What are their names?" The tailor asked while leaning against his hand. He looked with a curious friendly expression at Erik, seemingly interested to meet someone from the same part of the country he originated from.

"They had no names," Erik replied with a wry grin as he sat down. The two older men tensed and looked suddenly uncomfortable. Liesel's man looked directly at her as she merely smiled and waved a hand at him. The tailor on the other hand slowly exhaled smoke from his cigarette as he looked to his friend. "Their names were taken by...pig farmers and tailors." Erik said while toasting his glass and clinking it against Liesel's target, before smiling and leaning across the table to toast his glass against the tailor's too. 

All three males lifted their glasses then and begun to drink the contents. Whereas the tailor and apparent pig farmer cast wary looks in the other's direction, Erik just stared straight ahead at the tailor opposite to him. As if to make the moment clearer for the two older males, Erik turned his arm on the table and showed them both the tattooed numbers which were forever etched onto his skin. Things moved quickly then, with wide eyes and a sudden burst of energy, the dagger which Liesel's stalking target suddenly brandished reflected brightly in the room as he made to attack Erik. He was naturally quicker and pinned the man's arm to the table while easily snatching the blade away.

He turned it in his hands and looked at the expertly carved letters on the silver metal. "'Blood and honour'. Which would you prefer to lose first?" He looked away from the dagger in his grasp and looked to the man.

His face contorted into a mask of pain and seriousness. "We only carried out orders." He said through gritted teeth as he strained to get his arm free.

"Blood it is then." And without a second thought Erik plunged the knife into the man's hand. He screamed and writhed in the chair. Tearing his eyes away from him when there was a quiet cough, Erik frowned at the barman who had appeared and went from pointing the gun at him, to Liesel. She had merely coughed to get his attention, though truth be told she looked rather scared. It had been years since she last had a gun pointed at her, the same feeling of dread still remained though.

Tilting his head to the side, Erik stared the man down, his gaze didn't waver even though the barman's did. He looked most confused that his aim was being thrown off, and it realigned to point at the tailor who had stood up from his chair moments ago. With ease Erik made him pull the trigger, the tailor fell to the floor with a thud and the barman followed soon after when the knife was sent in his direction with such speed and pierced his stomach. As soon as it had stabbed him, it was it back in Erik's hand and then roughly pushed back down into the man's hand. He naturally screamed again at the sight and feeling of his own knife impaling into his palm.

Sweeping a hand through his hair, Erik reached out for his drink. Finishing it off, he placed the glass back down on the table and looked to the man as he struggled to speak. "Who...what are you?"

Without much delay, Erik easily replied; "Let's just say I'm Frankenstein's monster." With swift motions he stood up and moved over to the photograph. Looking at it he simply continued, "And I'm looking for my creator." Holding out his hand he received the gun which he manipulated to come to him. Quickly turning on his heels he pointed the gun at the impaled pig farmer and pulled the trigger, there was a thud a second later.

"Erik?"

He glanced down at Liesel as she slid off of the stool and stood by his side. "What?" His voice was tense, his whole body still stood tense, every muscle rigid from the actions which he had just done as he stood there.

"You can put the gun down now." She placed a hand on his arm, he hadn't realised that after shooting the man his arm had locked into position. Slapping the gun on the bar, he nodded at her.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his strained tone still present. Putting everything on the back burner for the moment, Erik recalled the fearful expression she had at being held at gunpoint. It was a look Erik had vowed years ago, that she would never need to suffer with again. He had broken that, and felt slightly sickened by it. Although he wouldn't let her get harmed, she almost had been, and that was too much for him.

Liesel patted herself down and nodded. "No bullet holes today." Erik sighed, he released a breath he didn't know he was holding, he felt himself slowly relaxing, although he didn't appreciate her words.

"Do not even joke about that." He said sharply at her as he held onto her arm and led her back to the door. Retrieving their things they swiftly left and walked back out into the bright sun light of the day.

"Erik," Liesel ran and jumped in front of him. Placing her hands on his shoulders, she tightened her hold when he made to sidestep her. "Erik!" She exclaimed and got a look shot her way for it. "I'm fine. Truth be told...I should've paid more attention to the barman."

"No, you weren't to know he was going to try and pull a gun on us."

"You, mainly."

"You're an accomplice."

Liesel shook her head, "Should've known considering the company which goes into that building." She said regardless, looking at him again she smiled though. "I'm fine! It's going to take a lot more than a barman to take me down."

"That doesn't reassure me." Erik said while removing her hands and picking up walking again. He paused for a moment though when Liesel appeared by his side suddenly, she had tiptoed up and kissed him briefly on the cheek before briskly skipping off through the shin high grass of the field.

"Thank you for worrying though, Erik!" She exclaimed over her shoulder before turning and grinning back at him. She pushed her hair out of her face and over her shoulder when it had escaped the tie. 

He stood at the bottom of the hill she had started running up and just looked at her. It hadn't dawned on him actually, that he could've lost her in a second if that barman had actually shot her. He could stop a bullet now, that he was more than sure of. But yet, he found himself uncertain if he could've stopped that particular one. Inadvertently he had put her in danger, and it caused a restricting feeling to take hold of him, all over again. For really the first time since finding her again and bringing her on board with this mission; he was regretting it. He didn't want her hurt, she'd been hurt enough. Nor did he want to see her in any other dangerous predicaments like that one. He could look out for her, and protect her to a point, yes. But even still; he found himself questioning himself, as well as disliking the sudden contradictory feelings which were winding through his mind.

As if the sudden feeling of dread wasn't enough, Erik watched with wide eyes as something appeared behind Liesel in a cloud of dark smoke. She turned and stepped back with her arms up ready to fight back, only to have her arms clutched onto. She tugged and pulled as Erik was already running up the hill to her, time seemed to slow down as he glared down the red skinned man who as suddenly as he appeared disappeared with Liesel in tow. The last thing he heard was her shouting out to him, and the quiet sound of her cardigan hitting the grass.

Erik pulled to a stop and looked around. There was nothing, no sign whatsoever that the man had even been present, or Liesel for that matter, all apart from her cardigan. Leaning down he picked it up and turned it over in his hands. Looking up at the horizon he narrowed his eyes and walked back the way they came with new found determination. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together. That man was something to do with Schmidt. Which meant that even through the years he had kept tabs. Erik didn't know which was worse. The fact that they were being watched. The fact that Schmidt had taken it upon himself to separate them, despite being so pleased with them bonding when they were children, or the fact that Liesel was now going to be within close vicinity with Schmidt and knowing she wouldn't be able to do anything. Her bark was worse than her bite at times. When she was afraid, truly afraid, she'd freeze. Schmidt was the lone person Erik knew that had that affect on her. Which meant that she would be powerless, again. And that...that struck him harder than all of the other things combined.

----

Edited: 7/June/2019

Reedited: 16/August/2021