Baptized In Fire

[ruth]

North Salem, New York, looked nothing like Warsaw, but in the dark of the night, with only street lamps burning, Ruth’s memories imposed themselves on the too quiet, too still streets. The smooth pavement turned into cobblestones, she could practically see the Germans’ anti-Jew propaganda pasted onto the walls of the buildings, broken glass from store windows shattered by vindictive young mutants glittered in the street lights, and there were bodies in the streets, humans who had been murdered without thought or care ever since Magneto took over the country.

She gripped the scarf covering her hair and swallowed hard before stepping away from the relative safety of her clinic. Ruth was one of the people who hadn’t fled to the Xavier School yet; she’d been too busy trying to save the people she could when the take-over first started. Even now, when most of the violence had simmered down to occasional bursts of violence against the humans too stubborn to flee (much like herself), Ruth wasn’t sure what to do.

If she were forty years younger, she’d be taking up arms and fighting tooth and nail to spare her family from the camps and get the invaders out of Warsaw. ...North Salem. But she wasn’t a teenager anymore, and Magneto’s identity was more than enough to take the wind out her sails. Her own brother, who had suffered in Auschwitz for nearly a year, had become the new Führer of a rising mutant Reich. As a girl, she’d longed to kill Hitler—especially after her family was taken away—but now...she couldn’t imagine killing Erik, no matter what he’d become.

Ruth shoved her thoughts to the back of her head and focused on her mission. Supplies were needed for the refugees still hiding in her clinic, and she was going to get as much as she could to last them for at least the next twenty-four hours. Her daughter’s satchel was slung over her shoulders, holding a first aid kit, a gun, and a ceramic knife—a knife Ruth had stolen for a purpose she knew very well she might never be able to carry out.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

Magneto had ventured out to clean up the streets . . . quite literally. There had been a massive brawl in the area; mutant versus humans of course. And it was fairly evident from the corpses which team was victorious. He would speak later to the mutants about what caused the fight. If he was to continue to effectively rule the country, then he needed to be made aware of as much as possible in regards to what occurred on the streets. He was accompanied by other Brotherhood mutants, moving along side and behind him as he walked ahead. He was not one to cower away from being in the front line. He would not leave others to do all his work. As he walked along, the mutants with him were disposing of the bodies, ensuring they were off the streets and that the mess was being cleaned up -- broken glass, litter, lifeless bodies . . . yes. They needed to fix up this area so that there was no trace of a fight ever having broken out. It would most certainly make headlines tomorrow. Even with all his power and might, he could not stop the press. But in a country ruled for mutants; a thriving nation for them . . . he was not overly concerned with the press. He knew from which bias the story would be told from.

As he walked forward, he saw a rather familiar person, and though it was only from behind, he would recognize her anywhere. He could feel the metal among her belongings. A loaded gun, a knife . . . and Magneto took advantage of that. He extended his hand, using his powers -- for they were at a significant distance -- and pulled the two weapons out of her bag, levitating them into the air a she slowly moved them closer to her. Hopefully it was enough to catch her attention since her back was faced to him. "Going somewhere?" He questioned, knowing full well why she was so armed. Though she was his sister, Magneto knew she was the one human he would never be able to kill. The one human's death he could not justify. And that was part of the reason he distanced himself from her, especially while taking over the country. Because he could not explain why he couldn't kill her. Yes, she was family, but it was something that went far deeper than that. For he could not vocally explain why he could not kill his human sister. Even now, in this moment, he would not raise a hand against her. He was merely inquiring why she was wandering the streets alone, late at night, in an area that was clearly unsafe. Especially for her race.

[ruth]

Ruth felt the objects in her bag shift and she stopped short as her gun and the knife (she should have better inspected it for traces of metal) floated out in front of her. She swallowed and immediately straightened her posture as she was once again staring down the barrel of a gun. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest as she focused on maintaining steady, level breathing. If there was one thing Ruth’s pride would never allow, it was giving indication of how much her own brother frightened her.

“Going somewhere?”

She closed her eyes and swallowed again before speaking.

“I’m in need of supplies; the violence has finally died down, so I thought I would run out and get what I need while I had the chance. Is that a crime?”

The last bit slipped out before she could stop it, an impulsive bit of rebellion more characteristic of the Ruth who possessed a childish arrogance when it came to war and duty. And yet...it was her own brother. That alone, despite the fact that he had control of two very deadly weapons, was enough to embolden her just a bit. She would cling to the hope that there was still enough of Erik in Magneto to afford her some immunity until he aimed and pulled the trigger.

“Please, Erik, let me go,” she tried again, her voice softer but still strong. “I have no intentions of do anything more than defending myself if the need arises.”

Not all mutants valued her life as much as her husband and children, or even her brother. While she could trust any mutant in league with the Professor, but it was mutants like the ones who had started the day’s riot who she was wary of. At least the Nazis had had the good grace to wear uniforms when they set to terrorizing the general populace; there had been no need to question the allegiance of a man who wore a red armband. Mutants had no uniform, no symbol to identify their loyalties. It made life under Magneto’s rule much more untenable than life under the Nazis had ever been.

At the moment, all she could do was stand tall and breathe.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

Ruth explained that she was going to gather supplies now that the violence had died down. He could also tell that despite the threat that was surrounding her, she sustained her strength. Which, did not come to a surprise. She had after all endured World War II, and was still alive as a human during this time where mutants dominated. Then again, he was also very aware that she was the one human that he could not and would not harm. But that did not mean he still would not protect his fellow mutants. Instead of returning her gun to her, he kept it in his control and further used his powers to disassemble it into many pieces. He also curved the dagger's point so that it looped to the handle, rendering it a rather useless weapon as it no longer had a pointed tip.

"I can not allow such weapons to be used against mutants. My trust for homo sapiens in what they deem as 'self defense' is quite low." And she was no exception. Before he had control of the United States, humans claimed that they were 'defending themselves against the threat of mutants' when in actuality, it was all based on the fear of what they could do, rather than any legitimate act against them. That concept had not changed now. The main difference was that he could control it; that he had the power and authority to regulate it. Such as he was doing now. "So instead, I will accompany you." To see what she was gathering, and where she would be taking it. With that, he turned and gave a slight nod to the mutants who had accompanied him, before approaching Ruth, letting the now ruined weapons fall to the ground. "Shall we?" He asked, motioning with his hand for her to start walking, as he would be alongside her, hardly giving her a choice in the matter.

[ruth]

She closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip as he destroyed her methods of defense, turning the gun into nothing more than a jumble of useless parts and curving the knife in one itself. She’d have to start carrying around a shard of glass for protection, as that seemed to be the only weapon her brother couldn’t destroy. And like hell she was going to try managing without some way to defend herself.

“I cannot allow such weapons to be used against mutants,” Magneto said as Ruth swallowed again and opened her eyes, taking a deep breath. “My trust for homo sapiens in what they deem as ‘self-defense’ is quite low.”

Ruth forced back the urge to let loose a bitter laugh at that; she thought of the refugees her sons ferried over to the Xavier School. None of those people were dangerous, only afraid for their lives and for their families. Ruth sympathized with them heavily; she’d been much the same back in Warsaw, when she was plotting to keep her family out of the Nazis’ hands. She wished them far better luck than she’d had.

“So instead, I will accompany you,” he added, letting her former means of defense clatter to the ground like the useless scrap they now were. “Shall we?”

She wanted to refuse, to run back to the safety of her clinic and isolate herself in a dark corner so she could properly mourn. But food was running low, and she was out of bandages and antiseptic. As much as she wanted to scream and rage and try to get it through his head that he was turning into a mutant version of Hitler, Ruth couldn’t afford to do any of that. One word from him, and she’d be dead. Hitler and all of his soldiers couldn’t kill her, but her own brother could. It made her heart clench painfully in her chest at the irony.

“What will your subordinates think,” she muttered as she began walking, “seeing you refrain from murdering a human.”

Ruth thought about her clinic; they’d have to abandon it as soon as they were able, now. Charles had offered her shelter at the school whenever she needed it, and if she couldn’t shake Erik before making it to her supplier, then they would both have to flee to the estate as quickly as possible.

One day, Magneto’s soldiers would tire of the human he could never seem to kill. They’d do the job for him, and Ruth would finally take her place in an unmarked mass grave, just as the S.S. would have wanted. Would that make him realize what he’d become? To learn that his sister had been shot into a shallow grave that he will never be able to find?  Or was he too far gone for that?  

[Erik Lehnsherr]

As they started walking, Ruth questioned what the others would think at him not killing a human -- mainly her. "They will see that there is no need to frivolously kill a human." Before, it had been necessary to start eliminating humans who threatened mutants; who posed the threat of human dominance over those who had mutations. But now, mutants were thriving. They were living free from fear of human dominance and that was the kind of world Magneto had wished to create. Humans had waged the war against them, trying to eradicate the race and cause them to be extinct. Only, mutants were victorious in the end. And now, they knew what it was to be on the other side.

"Do not provoke them or give them a reason to, Ruth," he advised her. Now that he had control, he did not need to kill more humans. It was only those that threatened mutants or threatened the world that the Brotherhood had fought to create: a safe haven for mutants to live free. "There is only so much I can do to protect you," he added. Because at the end of the day . . . she was his sister. They were raised by the same parents, in the same household, sharing a strong bond . . . until war had broken out and changed everything. Granted this war created a far stronger tension between them, but still. It didn't mean he would so easily be able to kill her. Even though she was human, even if she was a resistor . . . but despite that, he would not be able to stop others should she do something to antagonize them.

[ruth]

“They will see that there is no need to frivolously kill a human,” Erik answered, and Ruth felt a humorless laugh rise and die in her throat. “Do not provoke them or give them a reason to, Ruth. There is only so much I can do to protect you.”

“You give your followers far too much credit,” she replied, keeping her eyes everywhere but where he walked at her side. “I provoke them simply by being alive. The people who were murdered today, they weren't looking for a fight. An old man tripped on a crack in the pavement and bumped into a mutant—the reaction was instant and violent.”

Anxiety built up in her as she remembered the start of it. Memories of Jews in Warsaw and their ill-fated encounters with the German soldiers kept superimposing themselves onto the scene. She squeezed her eyes shut, the familiar stinging sensation strong behind her eyelids.

“We tried to defuse the situation, to convey that the man meant no harm, that it was an accident, but they wouldn't listen,” she continued. “It was Warsaw all over again.”

How many men, women, and children had she seen gunned down in the ghetto? How many more would she have to witness before they finally came for her? Her heart ached for the poor old man, for the dozens of others who perished for no reason whatsoever. An accident, and it resulted in widespread murder. No doubt any mutant Erik asked would spin him a tale where the evil humans attacked the poor, innocent mutants. Maybe he’d already been told the lies.

“If you really want to protect me, Erik, you’ll kill me now and give me a decent burial before I look at the wrong person.”

She hadn't feared for her life or for the lives of her loved ones so much since she and Mama sewed yellow stars onto their clothes, Mama’s tears darkening the damning fabric. When would the mutants demand for humans to wear such obvious signs? When would she be forced to sew an H onto her clothes and the clothes of her human children?