"So what're those numbers printed on your arm, Erik?" Lydia didn't look at him as she casually asked the question. From Erik's reaction earlier, she knew it was a serious topic.

They were in a car on their way to France because that's where Erik said he had to go first. Lydia had went back to her apartment and got a 2 sets of clothes and all the money she had. In an hour and a half, she met Erik in front of his apartment complex with a rental car. The German looked immaculate in his grey suit and briefcase. His hair was, as always, closely cropped to the side.

"Are you ready there, hot stuff?" Lydia curiously asked the man beside her. He had a steely look on his face and was only focused on the road, even though he wasn't driving.

"Ready as a man who's been planning a revenge plot for years will ever be, Lydia."

Lydia chuckled. "Mm, I see." She adjusted the orange and blue turtleneck that was making itch. The American didn't know how to dress for an extreme occasion like this. All she was dressed in was a turtleneck, bootcut jeans and ballet-flat shoes.

It was an hour into the drive when Lydia had asked the question that made Erik a wall of silence. All he did in response to her long-waiting question was just blink. Even though, Lydia had to keep on her eyes on the road, she thought she saw some tears accumulate in his left eye.

"You know you don't have to say anything i-if you don't want to, Erik. It's fine." But all he did was shake his head.

"It's fine, it's fine. I-I, uh..." His hand reached over and rubbed the sleeve that concealed the tattoo.

Erik's brow furrowed when he tried to explain. "I don't know if the news reported it at the time, but you remember one of Germany's past leaders, Adolf Hitler?"

"Y-yes..."

"The man was the devil incarnate, is what I'll start this off with. He and his regime reigned down on Germany until '45. He tattooed the German Jews, took away our names, took away our identities, starved us, and killed millions of us with no remorse. That...thing...wanted to erase us off the face of the earth."

Lydia's heart beat faster and faster with each thing Erik said. "E-Erik, I-I, don't know what to say..." She looked at him with watery eyes. "Sorry just doesn't seem enough."

"No, I know your feelings. But the person responsible for the reason I am alive today is the same person I am taking revenge on. Sebastian Shaw, or Klaus Schmidt as he was known as back then, recognized my abilities and took me in to run tests on me. He understood that the only way my powers would manifest if I was in distress or angered. So, to let me show him the maximum strength of my power at that age, he killed my mother."

Lydia's hands tightened on the steering wheel, her knuckles turning lighter than what they usually were. Erik's eyes stayed on the road, his jaw tightening, telling Lydia that he was caught in a distant memory.

"Fuck that man." Lydia blurted out.

"What?" Erik turned to her with a slight smile on his face.

"Fuck that man! How dare he take advantage of you and do something like that. If we ever do get so much as an inch in front of him, I'll throw a punch at him."

Erik laughed wholeheartedly. "No, Lydia. You're already helping me enough as is."

"Are you kidding me? If anyone even thought about messing with my mom, I would hit them over the head so damn fast they wouldn't know what fucking day it was!"

Erik finally put his briefcase in the backseat. "Thanks, Lydia. I appreciate it."

"I vow to you, Erik, we will get Shaw."

It had been three hours since they left Geneva and the American and the German had to have a rest stop. Erik went to go take a piss away from the car and Lydia just stretched and looked up at the sky. The sun now high in the sky and turning her soft hued mocha skin into golden. She breathed in the rays and thought about what Erik had told her.

At the thought of Erik's mother, Lydia thought of her own parents. Their bright smiles and laughter at her graduation echoed in her mind. She could only begin to imagine the amount of anguish one would feel if their parents were killed right before their eyes.

Lydia's hands balled into fists just at the thought. However, the scent of roses that the slight wind sent past her nose relaxed her. It might be a cold night.

As she got in the car and watched Erik walk back to the car, she began to realize her life wouldn't be the same after.

A/N: This chapter is short because I want to get quickly to the action or the interaction with other characters. But I actually finished Star Wars: The Force Awakens! And boy oh boy, do I have some Finn x OC with jealous Poe in mind. Anyways, as always, don't forget to leave me feedback and to put me in your alerts when I upload a new chapter! Ta-ta for now, lovelies c: