Erich had been waiting, staring at the ceiling. The moonlight strew about the room was scattered through the threadbare curtain hanging in the window. He and his sister had worked quite a bit and were making a decent living now, but every penny they pinched felt like it was being sent up as tribute. Erich let his sister take care of all of that, he never had a head for what wheels to grease, only how to grease them.

But his sister was not here, not tonight. Tonight the Gott Mutter's men came to get her. They told her to explain that she had a job to do and that he was not allowed to come. He would have put up a fight too, but Adele had insisted. So, he sat alone with his thoughts tonight. Every thought he had run through his mind for the past few hours was a thought that had run through his mind before.

"Where will I go? What am I going to do? I was supposed to protect her, what if she doesn't come back? I can't do this without her. I don't want to do this without her."

He had let some tears fall, and only because he was alone. He had also thought about going and drowning his sorrows in the arms of a woman. He liked doing that more often than he was willing to admit to anyone, including himself.

He listened as the latch of the door clicked open. Only one person in the world had a key to that door. Except in that moment he realized that wasn't true. The whole building belonged to the Gott Mutter, she probably could have a key as well. It was her men who had come for his sister after all. It would be her men who came for him.

"Adele?"

Thinking her brother might be asleep, Adele had tried to enter as quietly as she could so as not to disturb him.  When her brother called out to her, however, she dispensed with the effort.  

"Ich bin es, Erich."

The room was pitch black except for the little light from the hall way, but that too went away when she closed and locked the door behind her.  She did not need to turn a light on to know her way around.  She had the entire layout of the apartment memorized and could move about with a blindfold on.  However she knew that a light was going to be needed for what laid ahead.  Erich and she needed to have a conversation about what had just happened to her.

Turning on a small lamp, she joined her brother on the couch who shielded his eyes a bit at the onslaught of light that filled the part of the apartment they were in.  Erich moved to give his sister space enough to sit down and only then saw the gauze she had wrapped around the palm of her left hand and some blood that had soaked through.

Adele saw the look of concern flash across her brother's features and she quickly said, "Es ist nicht ernst, aber wir müssen reden."

Erich furrowed his brow and nodded. He held up one finger.

"Wir können reden, aber zuerst konnten wir beide etwas Wasser verwenden."

He made his way into the small kitchen area and poured two glasses from the faucet before returning to the couch and taking a sip of his.

"Das einzige, was ich wissen möchte, ist, geht es dir gut?"

He put a hand over her bandaged one and kissed her on the forehead.

"Danach können Sie mir alles sagen, was Sie wollen, und ich werde alle Ihre Fragen beantworten. Wenn ich ehrlich zu mir und zu Ihnen bin, haben wir in letzter Zeit nicht genug geredet. Nicht wie früher und ich vermisse meine Schwester."

Adele smiled and sat the glass down without taking a drink.  She never could eat or drink when she was excited.

"Mir geht's gut. Besser als in Ordnung, um ehrlich zu sein. Heute Abend ist etwas ganz besonderes passiert und es wird alles für uns ändern. Heute Nacht habe ich meinen Button erhalten. Ich bin nicht mehr nur ein Freund der Familie, ich nenne sie einen Mann, den sie gemacht haben." 

Her face was lite with pride at the accomplishment and for the first time in a long time, Erich saw the light of life in his sister's eyes.

Ist das nicht eine gute Nachricht?

Erich nodded.

"Ja, es ist eine sehr gute Nachricht für Sie, Schwester."

He smiled at her for the first time since Germany, though he could not bring himself to happiness. Not after this.

"Also sag mir, was bedeutet das für dich? Wo wirst du hingehen? Was wirst du tun?"

He sipped at his water and waited about half a second before continuing.

"Und denke nicht an mich oder mach dir keine Sorgen. Ich werde in Ordnung sein. Ich werde meinen Weg finden. Denken Sie daran, ich sagte Ihnen, Sie könnten mich etwas fragen und ich würde antworten."

Erich nodded solemnly.

"Du bist jetzt einer von ihnen. Sie werden Sie Familie nennen und Ihnen jetzt vertrauen. Nicht ich. Nicht deine wirkliche Familie. Ich schaue nach draußen. Sie brachten mich ins Ghetto und diesmal nahmen sie meine Schwester von mir."

He finished his glass of water, sighed and stood up.

"Aber wenigstens werden sie dich am Leben erhalten. Das ist gut."

He made his way into the kitchen then and began to rinse out his glass. He did not want to cry in front of Adele. He promised himself he would be strong for her.

Adele frowned and followed him to the kitchen. Moving behind him she slipped her arms around him and laid her cheek against his broad shoulders. She just held him for sometime in silence. Then she spoke quietly. “Sie können Familie sein, aber Sie sind Blut. Niemand wird uns jemals eine Rolle spielen. ich möchte Sie nicht.”

She quickly blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. She hated seeing her brother hurting, but the big brute refused to open up with her. They both needed to heal, but he refused to even acknowledge his wound. It was so damn frustrating! Stepping back she turned her brother around to look at her.

She put on a smile for him. “Außerdem ist es nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis sie auch für Sie aussendet. Sie vertraut dir. Verdammt, du hast sogar eine Kugel für sie mitgenommen. Es fällt mir leichter zu glänzen, weil ich ihre Sprache spreche.” She spoke confidently, “Sie brauchen sich keine Sorgen zu machen. Ich werde dafür sorgen, dass alles klappt. Sie müssen nur geduldig sein. Es wird passieren.”

Erich looked at his sister, and then hugged her.

"Was ist, wenn ich nicht will, dass es passiert? Was ist, wenn ich will, dass die Dinge so sind, wie sie waren?"

He let the tears fall then as he held her close. At least she couldn't see him cry if he just held on forever.

Adele closed her eyes and held her brother. 

"So sehr ich möchte, dass die Dinge so werden, wie sie waren, können wir nicht in der Vergangenheit leben. Alles, was wir haben, ist, was uns bevorsteht. Sie und ich werden es ergreifen und zu unserem machen, und wir werden es gemeinsam tun."

She stroked his back softly and comforting. 

"Du hast mir so weit vertraut. Bitte glauben Sie mir jetzt, wenn ich Ihnen sage, dass dies eine gute Sache für uns sein wird."

Erich pulled in a breath deeply and held it. He did not breathe in nor out for a solid thirty seconds. He sat there controlling his sobbing and allowing himself to calm down before nodding to his sister.

"Ich vertraue dir, ich habe es immer getan. Ich wäre auf keinen Fall hier, wenn ich dir nicht traue."

He gestured toward the couch again.

"Kommen Sie. Lass uns reden gehen. Sag mir, was du kannst und worüber ich nicht mit dir reden kann. Dann können Sie mich alles fragen, was Sie wollen, und ich werde Ihnen sagen, was in Detroit passiert ist."

Adele nodded and moved back to the couch.  She so desperately wanted to help her brother, but she felt at a loss on how to do it.  Despite him being the large silent-type, he was a much more emotionally complex individual than she was.  She pushed the horrors of the past deep into the recesses of her mind, then she closed and locked the door, and finally jumped up and down on that door for good measure.  Emotions so often confused her and she found them rather draining.

"Ich bin sicher, dass es einige Dinge geben wird, die ich nicht mit Ihnen besprechen kann, aber ich sehe keinen Grund, warum Sie nicht über irgendetwas sprechen würden, das Sie mit mir wollen."

Adele curled her feet up under her as she sat sideways to be able to look at Erich while they talked.  She could still see the moistness in his eyes, but she did not draw attention to that.  He would not like it if she did.  She reached out to take his hand in hers.

"Was ist also in Detroit passiert?"

"Nichts Gutes."

Erich scratched the back of his head.

Ich habe dort eine junge Frau getroffen. Ihr Name ist Sarah und sie war sehr nett. Ich glaube, sie kennt Will Byrne. Als ich sie das letzte Mal sah, wollte sie mit Gavin arbeiten. Sie und ich verbrachten eine Nacht zusammen."

Erich blushed a little then, though he coughed to cover that up. It was not something he talked about with his sister, but he was beginning to understand that if he could get close to women using his charm and looks, he might be able to use them for information. Women did like to talk when their head hit the pillow after all. At least, the ones he had been with did.

"Sie kennt unsere Sprache. Es könnte eine gute Sache sein, sie kommt aus Los Angeles, nicht aus Philly."

And just like that the memories came flooding out of that door she thought she had barred shut.  She got a distant look in her eyes as she remembered that night on the farm just outside of Cologne as they fled Germany.  The farmer had made certain that Erich was occupied cutting a a half a cord of wood as payment for his room and board for the night.  Adele was suppose to be helping the Farmer's wife prepare the evening meal as her part of the deal, but the Farmer had had other plans.  When they were out of sight of Erich he had quickly covered her mouth and pushed her up against the side of the barn.  She had not be able to stop him and even if she could have he had threatened to turn them over to the Brown shirts if she refused him.  She had never told Erich what had happened.  She had been to ashamed too.  She blamed herself for not being smart enough or strong enough to resist.  

A shiver brought her out of her memories and she quickly rubbed her upper arms.  "Ist es Ihnen hier kalt?"  She quickly stood to go get a cover, but in truth she had to move.  Her nerves would not allow her to sit still.

"Sie sagten, sie komme aus Los Angeles? Glaubst du, du wirst sie wiedersehen?"

Erich nodded.

"Eine Decke wäre schön."

He held his arms out when she had grabbed one so that she would come and lean on him when she sat back down. Sometimes, this was all he wanted in the world. A blanket, a roof, some food, and his sister. He could let everything else go if he had this.

"Als ich sie das letzte Mal sah, wollte sie bei Gavin Byrne einen Job bekommen. Ich bin mir sicher, wenn auch nur aus diesem Grund, werden wir sie wiedersehen. Ich dachte, es wäre klug, es dir zu sagen. Ich möchte nicht, dass du dich aufregst, wenn sie sehr nahe kommt, wenn ich sie wieder sehe."

He leaned his head back against the couch and closed his eyes. His arm fell so that he was gently embracing Adele around her waist. It rested there, and he rested as well. Sleep threatened to take him. It should have done hours ago, but he was so afraid that his sister wasn't coming back. After all, the last time men came for their family in the night, they were the only two who had survived. He didn't want to be the last. His sister could stomach that, she was stronger than he was. He would find a way to join the rest of his family if that happened.

Adele adjusted herself to snuggle in closer to her brother.  His arms, his protection was all she needed in this world.  In them she could forget about the horrors she had witnessed and experienced.  He was always the stronger of the two of them.  He would be okay without her, but would she be okay with out him?  This Sarah...

On one hand she hoped that her brother would find happiness to light his darkness.  He had been so angry of late.  Never towards her of course, but she could see it eating away at him.  If this woman could do what she could not, she would be happy for him.  Despite what it would mean for her.  Somehow she would figure out how to stand on her own.  For now though she took comfort being with him and allowed his silent, strong presence to drive away all that was wrong and allowed sleep to come.