It was sometime later that there was movement from the sofa. Both Liesel and Charles had sat in the living room in relative silence, drinking the drinks that she had made for them. They'd chatted here and there, but for the most part both waited for Gretchen to wake up. Only when she did, they did not expect her to wake up and upon noticing them, shout and scream at them, some words were in English, others in German, all in all; she was making a lot of noise and nothing they said to calm her down would stop her.

"Seriously, Gretchen! Shut up! I see there's nothing wrong with your lungs!" Liesel shouted while standing in front of her sister with her hands up. She hoped the innocent stance would calm Gretchen down, it did to a point. She stood and looked her up and down with grey blue eyes. Her breathing was coming out in short sharp gasps. "Don't you dare hyperventilate on me now...I didn't come here for that. Though I didn't come to be shouted at either."

"Or fainted on." Charles piped up from the side.

 Liesel glanced at him and let out a quiet, "Ah, yes, and that." Before looking back to the woman in front of her. "Surprise!" Liesel held her arms out with a grin. Her grin slipped though when Gretchen continued to stare at her with hard eyes, a firm expression was on her face and if Liesel wasn't mistaken, she looked very, very displeased. "Erm," scratching the back of her neck awkwardly, she shifted uncomfortably and glanced at Charles for help. She really couldn't do this alone, hence why she asked him to accompany her. There wasn't many times in life where Liesel needed support, but this was one of those few times.

"Miss Jäger, please." Charles said while gesturing to the sofa which she had sprung up from. Gretchen slowly sat down with a hard look. "We apologise for the sudden appearance, this must come as a shock to you. We should've called in advance, but you see...circumstances arose that meant we couldn't." Charles explained cryptically. By circumstances he really meant that neither himself nor Liesel were wholly sure whether Erik would try and come back for her. That being the case, she needed to get away from the manor as soon as possible in case he did come for her. But as Liesel stated, she was pretty certain he wouldn't do that. Regardless, better to be safe than sorry!

"It doesn't take long to pick up a phone." Gretchen spoke simply, unlike her sister most of her native accent had disappeared; though there was still a slight twang, which mixed with the current American accent oddly.

Charles smiled, "I know. But both of us have currently gone through a slight transition. I am not saying that that's an excuse to not find a way to warn you, but you must understand we partially didn't for safety's sake."

"You're not in trouble with the law, are you?" Gretchen looked sharply to Liesel.

She had been listening to their few exchanged words with a simple expression. Now that she was being addressed, she perked up and shook her head quickly. "Nein! No, no...no."

Gretchen looked her up and down with a frown. "Why don't I believe you? You always did get into trouble when we were kids, even when you weren't looking for any; it always found you, and it always got me involved somehow too." Though she still looked serious, her tone had turned to one of lightheartedness. Liesel hummed and hung her head. "So what? What's happened for you to just pop up after years?" Gretchen asked seriously, although her tone faltered. She was trying so hard to stay levelheaded here, but it was so hard. She thought Liesel was dead. She remembered seeing her small sister run off in another direction, and she was then never seen again.

"It is perhaps best you don't know." Charles said while looking to Liesel who looked in two minds whether to say anything. He shook his head. The less her sister knew on the troubles that they'd left behind the better. This was a chance to start anew, not start anew while dwelling on the past.

"Gretchen..." Liesel said quietly in a small whine. Gretchen turned and looked to her. "I thought you'd be happier to see me." She pouted and looked at her with wide bright green eyes.

Gretchen sighed and looked at her sadly. "Poppet, I'm in shock. For years I tried to find you, yet I couldn't. I could not find anything about you. I resigned myself, I told myself that you had passed away somehow. It made life easier for me to accept that seems I failed to find you. But you're here...and look how much you've grown up!" Here Gretchen's eyes started to water and her tone bordered on breaking as the realisation kicked in that her sister was here, her twin was alive, and here right in front of her.

"I didn't know you were alive! That day...that day I fell in a ditch, and...and I heard the shots and I couldn't go back. If I went back I would've got shot at too, and I would've surely died. I thought you were gone...I didn't want to believe it...but I accepted it, like you did with me, that you were gone. I never forgot you though! I always thought of you." Liesel said while her eyes watered slowly too, she missed out any moment which involved Erik, Gretchen didn't need to know about him.

"Come here," Gretchen stood and waved a hand at her. Liesel didn't need to be told twice, she leaped out of her seat and ran into her sister's arms. She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in Gretchen's shirt. After a few moments they pulled away and looked at each other. Liesel grinned and Gretchen rolled her eyes.

"Well," both of them turned and looked to Charles who'd been watching the moment with a small smile on his face. He was happy for Liesel, and he was happy for Gretchen even though she shouted his way several times earlier on. He was genuinely pleased that seemingly at long last, Liesel had a proper place to settle down in, with someone who wasn't likely to use her for some sort of gain. "I am happy I could play a part in this reunion. But I really must go now, I did promise Hank I'd return as soon as I could." He said while looking up at Liesel as she looked saddened.

"Thank you, Charles."

"Yet again, you don't need to thank me."

"I do. You know I do."

"I know," he sighed and shook his head gently. "Look after yourself, well, look out for each other." He said in second thoughts, they had each other, they'd be fine. "Remember though, if you ever need me, or us, just phone. You are always welcome to visit too, remember? Only because you're here, it doesn't mean we have to fall out of contact." Charles smiled and got a firm nod from Liesel, she evidently agreed with everything he'd said, whereas Gretchen just smiled and realised that this was something more directed at Liesel than herself.

"Bye, Charles," Liesel walked over and leaned down to hug him, Charles looked around with wide eyes, yet another random hug from her, maybe this was becoming a new thing? "Look after yourself, and give everyone a hello and all that. I hope we see each other again, I do actually quite like you, though I must admit to begin with you did annoy me."

Charles laughed and let her go when she moved away. "I won't take that to heart." He said while smiling up at her.

Liesel smiled too. "Good, don't. I consider you a dear friend. No one else would've done this for me, so if there's anything you ever need, please don't hesitate to ask."

"I'm not holding you in debt, Liesel." Charles frowned gently at this.

"But," Gretchen moved forwards and looked at him. She glanced at Liesel and then back at him. "We do owe you. So yes, if you ever need anything just ask."

"Fine," Charles held his hands up with a gentle laugh. "Fine, seems you're not dropping this." Though he doubted he'd need their help, if it meant they'd stop then he'd agree. He had both women smiling happily at him, he looked from one to the other, if it wasn't for the eye colour and hair, it was literally like a mirror.

----

"Something has happened." Naturally being in complete darkness standing against a wall, Liesel jumped at the sound of the voice over the small homemade earphone intercom she wore. She never replied, instead she moved from her hiding space and crept along the corridor, all the more aware to the on-off flashing lights. This power grid was really unsteady, which really did sort of work in her favour. 

Honestly, one would think that with the current break ins and break outs which were happening, these people would learn to upgrade their security. Yet she had to always remind herself: security wasn't really an issue. What was the point of security pads, keycard swipe zones, and anything or everything else when she just needed to touch it with a finger, short-circuit it and waltz on in?

"The President's dead." The voice continued, which caused Liesel to pause as she peered through a grimy window. These people downgraded in parts it seemed. High-tech looking warehouses were clearly ditched and abandoned, despite the fact that they were more reliable for keeping people in check, more like imprisoned.

"Dead or killed, Newt?" Liesel whispered as she placed a black gauntleted hand against a door handle and tried it. She rolled her eyes behind heavy duty black lensed goggles, honestly, the security here sucked.

"Assassinated." The voice belonging to someone called Newt said lowly, Liesel was rather sure that if she could see the slightly reptilian looking male he'd be shaking his head.

"Where?" She moved into the room and took to typing on the keyboard in front of her. She frowned and continued on, even as she was met by protection measures.

"Dallas."

"Huh."

"I tell you the President has been killed, and all you can say is 'huh'?" Newt sounded shocked.

"I meant it in the sense that they've moved everyone from this facility. It would explain why it looks like a hunk of complete shit." Liesel said while looking up and around herself. "It's falling apart, Newt. I don't think people have been here for a while. Which begs the question of: where is everyone?" Liesel fisted her hand and punched it into the keyboard, slowly sparking up she watched the bright light travel through the ducts she had made in the gauntlets before the machinery before her started to spark and small flames slowly erupted from it. "Waste of time!" She sung while swinging around on her heels.

"I could've sworn-"

"Whatever!" Liesel continued in her sing-song tone as she skipped along the corridor. Turning suddenly she halted and shot back behind the corner when she was suddenly met with a gunshot. "Not a waste! So not a waste! There are people here...or at least a person. He looks like a bad guy, Newt. I'm pretty sure he's a bad guy. He wouldn't be shooting at me otherwise, would he? What is wrong with you, man?!" Liesel rambled rather quickly while turning a dial setting on her gauntlets. "Full force, minor force, or minimum force?"

"He's a guard trying to stop anyone from getting to locked up mutants. Use any force possible."

Liesel stuck her tongue out and nodded, even though he couldn't see the action. "You've got it!" She said happily while aiming a shot upwards, the unstable power grid got wiped out with one attack. 

In that moment when everything went dark, night vision flared up on her goggles. She could see, whereas it was clear the man couldn't. She peered around the corner and watched as he nervously shifted from foot to foot, aimed his gun upwards and slowly started to move forwards. Liesel sighed quietly, and rounded the corner, her boots were noiseless as she made her way down the long corridor towards him. Just when she was within reach, she flared up and shot forwards in a blink of an eye. The man got temporarily blinded by the white light emitting from her, then of course there was the fist suddenly through his chest.

 Liesel pulled her arm free and smiled slowly. "Auf Wiedersehen!" She said while jumping over him and making her way down the corridor. With the lights out, it had bought more people out. "Bang," she appeared beside someone and placed a finger to his head, the result was rather messy to say the least. "Where are you keeping the mutants?" She grabbed a man and pushed him against the wall. "Where are they at?"

"I ain't tellin' you-"

"Bye, bye!" Liesel said while squeezing his neck, the result, yet again was messy. Whistling she kicked away and continued to run about. "This is boring now..."

"You're not meant to find enjoyment in killing, need I remind you?"

"Er...you are when they're bad men...and women!" Liesel replied quickly when she got suddenly charged into by someone of a lighter frame. She rolled off of her back and looked at the woman, "Oh come on..." Liesel whined and dodged out of the way of the knife the woman tried slashing her with. She did get her, but in that split second of contact Liesel was already charging up energy and it travelled along the metal to the woman and she went shuttling backwards.

"There's a basement area."

"I don't like basements." Liesel said while trailing a hand along the wall as she made her way down, following the instructions which were given to her. Her path got crossed several times before she reached the area she was looking for. Literally clapping her hands, she looked up at the lights when they flickered on. Returning some energy to the dodgy power grid caused her to inspect the situation down here. With a heavy sigh she looked at the cages, people were treating mutants like animals, or perhaps worse, all because of some man she'd never heard of until a year or so ago.

Bolivar Trask was probably on the top of the hatred list right now. She didn't think anyone could ever upstage Sebastian Shaw, but hey, he's dead and gone and no longer a threat. Trask was a current threat. A very big one which needed dealing with. Walking along, Liesel looked in at the occupants, some of them were children, some were her age, some were even older than her. With a sigh she looked at the lock on a door and frowned. "I don't have a key." Clicking her tongue in thought she looked to the boy on the inside. "You might want to stand back-"

"You can't zap at the lock! The cages are metal, yeah? You're electric. Think about it. Do you really want to fry everyone?"

"Shoot." Liesel stood back and scratched her head in thought. Hearing footsteps she suddenly smiled at a man in a lab coat as he stumbled down, seemingly completely ignorant to what was going on. "Hey!" She cheered and disappeared from her spot to appear before him. "You look important. Do you have a key I can borrow?!" She smiled, the man went to ramble something out and got a hit to the head. He collapsed to the floor and she took the moment to rummage for the key.

"You didn't kill him?"

"No. I quite like to think that waking up amongst loads of dead people will mentally scar him enough that he can do whatever..."

"You're a very cruel woman."

"Oh well. Experience makes the man...and all that." Liesel mumbled and set to freeing the twenty-odd mutants which were housed here. Frowning she nodded her head and started leading the way out. "Can any of you do explosions? Or fire?"

"So much for leaving him alone..."

"He'll die of smoke inhalation before he burns." Liesel whispered in response so the others wouldn't hear.

"He's in the basement..."

Slapping a hand to her forehead, Liesel looked at those gathered. "So?" A tentative raise of hands greeted her. She smiled, "I think you may just be my favoured group of rescuees to date." Liesel gestured a hand and stepped back. "Blow it up. Break it down. I don't care." She stood back and watched as the small destructive group of six did just that. Liesel nodded slowly and took to twiddling a piece of shortly cropped auburn hair around her fingers. She'd been doing this for a while, and she wasn't lying when she said she may have liked this group the most. So far they hadn't interrogated her. And they had destroyed the place which was keeping them captive.

As soon as the aptly dubbed mutant threat surfaced, Liesel was naturally on high alert thinking the worse. For the last couple of years she had been living in peace in suburbia with Gretchen. Life was good. Life was brilliant. Life was boring. She had succeeded in getting a job, a decent one, she did a lot of researching for reporters for the local newspaper. She was good at information gathering. Always had been, always will be. So she put that skill to good use, only it did go further than just using it to help out reporters. She had a collective of reports and snippets of information involving mutant-kind.

Admittedly she had information on those she knew, those she did know that had been taken and killed, and anything and everything in between. Shaking her head she looked to the group. Rummaging in her pocket she pulled out her keys, she nodded back along the deserted street. "I don't think going home is a good idea. It isn't safe. I don't know anywhere that is anymore, apart from several places. Trust me, I'm not lying because I'm the one who found them all...I'll take you to the nearest one, and from there you can either stay as others have, or you can go. I will not stop you. I just wanted to get you out of there." Liesel explained while moving towards the people carrier like car with a trailer on the back, the small caravan like space had been gutted out and lined with more chairs than the usual cupboards and whatever else was in there.

"Why..." Liesel looked to a woman of a similar age to herself. "Why did you do this?"

"Because I know what it is like to be held against your will in a place of utmost terror, and barbarity. I would not inflict this pain on anyone, let alone people who are the same as me." Liesel explained while checking no one was around before ushering everyone into the vehicle and trailer present.

----

Edited: 13/June/2019

Reedited: 24/August/2021