Vow of Silence

[aelimir]

Title: Vow of Silence
Author: Aelimir
Pairing: Erik/Charles
Genre: Romance/Drama/slave!fic
Rating: NC-17
Summary: AU. All mutants were enslaved during a Holocaust. (no Jewish Holocaust) Shaw killed Erik's parents but let Erik go, believing him human when he showed no outward signs of mutation. Erik sets out on a quest of revenge. One night, he meets a compelling mutant with big blue eyes, enslaved in a brothel, launching him into a journey of love and discovery he never imagined.

Notes: Starting with chapter 13, I have a beta, usakeh, who is totally awesome!

Also, I promise this will be the last mutant with speech problems. Lol

Chapter one: http://erik-charles.livejournal.com/398890.html#cutid1

Chapter two-thirteen: see my journal.

Chapter fourteen:


Chapter 14: America

In Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, there stood a grey two story house in a modest, peaceful neighborhood. Few people ever saw inside it, however. The Greys liked to keep to themselves. The mysterious reason they did was once cause for much speculation for their neighbors. Now, few gave it little thought, having long accepted their determination to keep to themselves.

Inside the house, acceptance of their self-imposed ostracism had not yet come.

"Honey, we've just got to do something about Jean," said John Grey as he sat at the wooden breakfast table with his wife, Elaine, face lined with worry.

"But what? Nothing we've done has worked!" Elaine responded in anguish.

"We haven't tried sending her to school. I think that if she made new friends, she would get past losing Annie and her sister."

"It's too risky!" Elaine insisted. "What if they discover her abilities? It's difficult enough hiding them as it is, just homeschooling her!"

"We can't lock her up forever! That's no way to live life." John frowned angrily, poking at his eggs with his fork.

"Being enslaved isn't a good life either," Elaine shot back fearfully.

Just then, a little red headed girl with a sad, lost expression wandered into the room, effectively stopping the argument.

"Hey, Jean, honey. What would you like for breakfast?" Elaine's eyes were soft and fond as she smiled at her daughter.

Jean didn't respond, just went over and sat by her mother. John got her a plate of eggs and bacon and set it in front of her with a smile. "I've got to get to Bard. Have a good day, okay, honey?" John told Jean.

Jean smiled sadly at her father as he left.

Elaine put an arm over the back of Jean's chair while she ate. "Your father and I are discussing sending you to school. But you probably already know that, don't you?" she said gently. "What do you think? Do you want to go to school? Play with other kids?"

Jean shrugged and continued eating.

Elaine wrapped her arms around Jean, setting her head on her little shoulder, and tried not to cry. She loved her little girl so much. How could the world reject someone so beautiful, just because she could read minds? If only there were a special school for gifted youngsters like her. Then, maybe, she'd hear Jean laugh again, and talk like she used to. Before Annie died.

Before Shaw came.

******

She was in the middle of a smoke filled bar, trying to find the exit. If she could just find Erik, she'd be safe. But no matter where she looked or how hard she fought to get through the crowd, she just couldn't find him!

"ERIK! PLEASE! WAIT! Where are you?" she called out, starting to panic. "PLEASE, LISTEN TO ME!"

She found his gun, smoking on the floor. She tried to pick it up, but it was unbearably hot to the touch. Pain exploded in her head. "Erik, I love you, why aren't you here?" Someone grabbed her and forcibly dragged her away, but no matter how hard she fought, she couldn't get free.

Amy awoke with a jerk. Ever since she'd discovered that Erik and Logan had left the night before, she'd been feeling unsettled, but she'd chalked it up to the fact that they'd left so rashly before she could gather all the facts and make a good plan with them.

This was more than that. This wasn't the first time Logan and others had been rash, and while it had caused her anxiety it had never caused nightmares of this caliber. Her thoughts drifted to her new, telepathic guest.

Could he be projecting?

It made sense. She'd never had those feelings about Erik, but she knew Charles did. He certainly was defensive and protective of him, and trusted him. Not things she necessarily felt herself, though she did think Erik was pretty cute - in both looks and behavior - at times. Too bad he was so volatile and gay.

She got up, deciding to visit Charles and see if Hank had those test results she asked him to work on yesterday. She found the young scientist carefully putting away the expensive lab equipment she bought for him.

"Hank?" she said gently.

Hank tensed a little and turned around, shoving his glasses up the top of his nose nervously.

"Do you have the results?"

"Y-yes," he said. "I tested the swab of dried red substance you found on the Caspartina, and it is indeed human blood. However, there are anomalies in it that lead me to believe that it belonged to a mutant."

Amy shifted back, a little surprised. "Really? Are you sure it's not Charles's? He came in here, bleeding."

"No, I compared it against his and it is not a match," Hank explained. "I also compared it against - against Erik's, and it wasn't his, either."

"How did you test it against Erik's?" She also wanted to ask why, but years of experience with Hank cautioned her from overwhelming him with questions.

"Swabbed the saliva on his beer cans," Hank informed her a bit sheepishly. "I compared the DNA, and it was not a match. However, studying his saliva also leads me to believe he is a mutant."

"Really?" Amy questioned. Logan had mentioned the possibility, but she did not take it seriously. She liked solid proof.

"Yes, the cellular structure was quite fascinating. I've never seen anything like it."

"Thanks, Hank." Amy sighed. "At least now we can rule out possible telepathic illusion. SOMEONE was shot there a couple nights ago. I just hope it wasn't some kind of decoy, a shape shifting mutant or the like." That would certainly be a devastating mistake, though she would think Charles would have caught it. Perhaps, if it had been a shapeshifter, it had a way of fooling telepaths? "Well, I'm going to continue investigating. You just keep him stable, all right?" she said, gesturing to Charles. "Ask Sean to help you if you need it."

Hank nodded and moved to the other side of the large, pristine room. Amy smiled softly and combed Charles's hair away from his face in a motherly, affectionate manner, thinking of the nightmare. "I don't know if you can hear me," she whispered. "But Erik is away, retrieving Raven. He'll be back." She did not feel as confident as she sounded, however. She recognized survivor's guilt when she saw it, and Erik had it in spades. Even if everything went well, she had no idea if he still would feel that he could have a relationship with Charles, or whether he’d stay away in some kind of misguided attempt to protect him. Either way, at least she would be there for him.

She removed her hand, eyes soft. This was why she was here. Helping mutants. She would never forget the day she found a girl, enslaved only because she could change her eye color on command. It struck Amy that she wasn't so different from herself. So she'd come to realize, that it wasn't abilities that defined people, but their choices. Thus she became a double agent, continuing her service to Shaw but secretly helping mutants whenever she could. It seemed she had natural leadership abilities, for it wasn't long before the chain of safe houses scattered across the map looked to her for leadership. It was a stressful job, but she wouldn't trade it for the world. This was her calling. This was how she would make a difference.

She only hoped Logan and Erik knew what they were doing.

****

Long evening shadows blanketed the white sidewalk as a jet lagged Logan and Erik trudged wearily to the front door of a two-story house in the suburbs near the Hudson River.

Erik turned to Logan, exhausted and dead on his feet, but determined. He could not delay. Every second that passed lowered Charles's chances of survival. "I'll do the talking. With luck, they'll just let us buy her."

Logan gave a short, careless nod.

Erik rang the doorbell. They waited for a minute, and finally the door opened.

A tall, black haired, muscular man opened the door. He glanced between the two of them. "I'm not buying," he said, then shifted to close the door.

Erik grabbed it before he could close it all the way. "No, but I am," he said.

The man stopped, interest peaked. "Oh?"

"Yes," confirmed Erik. "Mr. John Grey, I presume?"

The man gave him a confused look, brow furrowed. "Who?"

"John Grey. Or Elaine Grey," said Erik. At the continued blank look, he pressed further. "How about Raven Darkholme?"

"I think you have the wrong address," said the man.

"No, this is the address I found at the library for the Greys. It was the latest edition of Consumer Reports." Erik showed him the address on a piece of paper.

"Well, that's this address all right," confirmed the man, scratching his head. "Let me ask my wife. Maybe she knows something."

Erik and Logan were left standing on the first porch, feeling frustrated and uneasy.

The man returned a few minutes later. "My wife recognized their names. We bought the house from them. Must never have updated their address. Unfortunately, I have no clue where they moved to. Sorry. Have a good night." With that, the man shut the door in their faces rather rudely.

Erik and Logan exchanged a glance.

"Look, bub... Let's call it a night," Logan suggested.

Erik nodded dejectedly. But, all was not lost yet. They could ask around town about the Greys. Surely someone knew who they were and were they'd gone.

Yet, over the next few days, they learned that this wasn't the case.

No one seemed to know who John and Elaine Grey were. They were not listed in any phone book or public directory. To make matters worse, the mutants Erik managed to question weren't telepaths and didn't know anyone who had that ability. But Erik refused to give up, questioning people by day, drinking away his sorrows at night, trying to forget those blue eyes, trying to ignore the empty place beside him that Logan could not begin to fill.

When Erik wasn't questioning people, he and Logan were scouring local papers and magazines at the library in hopes that the Greys were mentioned somewhere. As the stack in front of him got taller, Erik felt increasing hopeless. Without a lead on the Greys, how would he ever find Raven?

As he scanned the latest paper, his eyes were drawn to a headline: "WSC Debate Draws to a Close." Erik, remembering the article he read weeks ago, read on with a mix of curiosity and alarm.

After weeks of debate, the strongly divided World Slave Council has finally found a compromise. This was, in no small part, due to the recent unfortunate escape of the mutant some call "Juggernaut," who proceeded to take many innocent lives before his recapture. In light of this, William Stryker received permission to reinstate the death penalty for the most dangerous of mutants that are kept in the government facilities. In exchange, he agreed to abandon his sterilization campaign, at least for now. We expect Juggernaut to be the first on Stryker's list, followed by the rest of the mutants held detained by the government. The UN leader, President Alfonso Kuran, will sign it into law later this week.

A red haired college kid sat next to him at the table in a hurry, dropping his bag of books down none too gently. "Sorry!" the kid hissed at Erik's irritated look for the interruption. Ginger did a double take at Erik's mountain of papers. "You know, if it's the town history you're interested in, you might want to check out the South wing - "

"I'm not interested in history," interrupted Erik brusquely.

"Right now, I wish that I weren’t either," Ginger groaned. "If I don't have this paper done by tomorrow, Professor Grey is going to -"

Erik was on Ginger, standing up and gripping his arm so fast, the poor kid nearly fell out of his chair. "Your Professor is named Grey?" he demanded, interrogation habits taking over.

"Uh, yeah," Ginger said, his eyes huge. "Um, could you let go of me?"

Erik let go and eased out of his space, eyes still intent on him. "Is his name John? Does he have a wife named Elaine?"

"Yeah, his name is John. Don't know his wife's name, though now that you mention it, it might be Elaine. Or maybe it was Elizabeth," the kid babbled nervously, hoping to appease him. "I was in his office, you see, and he was talking on the phone, and- "

Erik made a negating motion with his hand, cutting him off. "Where does he live?"

"I don't know, I don't stalk my professors," Ginger objected.

"But he's a professor? Where?"

"At Bard. Why do you want to know anyway?" The kid frowned suspiciously.

"He's an old friend," lied Erik.

The next day, Erik stood outside of the doors to Bard while Logan sat waiting in the car. With the help of a few students, Professor John Grey was easy enough to spot. Erik took note of the car John drove, and within minutes he and Logan were following him at a discreet distance. They'd decided not to confront him at Bard in case he refused to sell. This way, they would get invited inside the house and be able to scope it out in the event they needed to take Raven by force.

They arrived near the house several minutes later, only a few miles from the wrong address they'd been given in the first place. The house and neighborhood did not seem that much different from the first. Erik wondered, then, what prompted them to move.

When they decided enough time had passed to ease any suspicions, Erik and Logan approached the door. Erik's excitement mounted. Of course, there still was the chance that this was the wrong John Grey, but somehow, Erik doubted it. Somehow, he could feel this was the right place.

He knocked on the door, heart beating in anticipation, though none of it showed on his face.

A middle-aged woman with long black hair greeted them at the door. "Hello, is there something you need?" Her eyes looked a bit red rimmed, like she'd been crying.

"We have a business proposal," Erik said.

"Sorry, but we're not buying," she said politely, moving to shut the door.

"No, I'm the one that wants to buy," replied Erik with a sense of deja vu.

"Well, all right," she said. "Come in, I'll get John. I'm Elaine, by the way. Elaine Grey."

"Erik Lehnsherr, and this is James Howlett, but he likes to be called Logan," Erik introduced, smiling broadly in relief when he heard her name.

Erik and Logan were ushered into a nicely decorated living room, and they sat down on the couch, waiting. Erik stared at the fireplace to his left contemplatively. John Grey came in the room shortly, and he settled down with his wife on the couch across from them.

"Hello, I'm John," he introduced himself, shaking their hands. "Elaine tells me you want to buy something from us. The house?"

"No," Erik said. "I'm interested in buying Raven."

John and Elaine tensed slightly, and Erik took note. "She's not for sale," said John firmly.

"I assure you, I am willing to pay top dollar," insisted Erik.

"Sorry, but no," said John with finality. "Is that all?"

"May I at least see her?" asked Erik. He didn't even know what she looked like, and he didn't want to kidnap the wrong person.

"No," said John. "I never allow her visitors. How did you find us, anyway? What do you want with her?"

"I have my sources," said Erik, deciding that sounded more impressive and threatening than the fact he bumped into one of his procrastinating college students.

John and Elaine exchanged a quick, reflexive look of terror. Erik caught that too. Clearly, they were hiding something.

Were they mistreating her? It certainly seemed a possibility with their behavior and the fact they didn't let anyone see her. If that was the case, Erik did not want to leave Raven here another second. He owed Charles that much, and more. Besides, they had been delayed enough. It would be two on two, and he and Logan were armed and experienced fighters. Good odds.

"I don't ask for favors," said Erik, repeating something he'd once heard Shaw say, smiling viciously. "I express my expectations." He drew his gun, and in a flash, Logan did the same, pointing them at the terrified couple. "You will lead us to Raven. You will release her to us. Then, we will leave peacefully."

Such was the fear on their faces that Erik did not expect what happened next. "NO! YOU WON'T TAKE HER!" John roared, lunging at the pair of them. Elaine leaped to support, fists clenched, face pale.

Erik didn't want to kill them; still, he was prepared to, if necessary. He twisted out of the way, cocking his gun. Logan did the same, shoving Elaine to the floor. John, having landed awkwardly on his side in the middle of the couch, drew back to slam his fist into Erik's face, heedless of the danger.

Before he could, though, the voice of a little girl interrupted. "STOP!"

Almost involuntarily, everyone froze, their fight forgotten.

Elaine was the first to react, picking herself off the floor. "Jean?" she said, in wonder and disbelief.

Taken aback, Erik and Logan couldn't help but turn to the newcomer, wondering what could have arrested Elaine's attention to the point she forgot the guns pointing at her. John stood up beside his wife, staring.

A young, redheaded girl walked up to Erik fearlessly, gaze locked with his. Something about her expression sparked recognition in Erik. Just as the possibility began to form in his mind, she spoke again, resting her hand gently on his knee. "You're sad," she said to Erik.

Erik lowered his gun, and Logan did the same. John and Elaine continued to stare at Jean with shocked expressions.

"Jean?" Elaine repeated, as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Don't be sad," she said to Erik, gaze still locked with his disarmed, disbelieving one.

"What do you see?" asked Erik, as if in a trance. He could feel her presence in his mind.

"Your mind is a box," she said. "A metal, unfriendly, sad box."

"Oh my god," sobbed Elaine.

Erik glanced at her as she hugged her husband, burying her face in his shoulder. Then he returned his attention to Jean. "You can read minds." His head spun, rapidly attempting to reassess the situation. Once again, he'd jumped to the wrong conclusion.

"It's just a figure of speech she uses -" John started, trying to explain it away. Logan interrupted him by unsheathing his claws.

"No worries, bub," he assured him. "We ain't sayin' nothin'."

John and Elaine stared at Logan's metal claws in shock. Jean barely glanced over, unsurprised, most of her focus still on Erik.

"Why don't you stay for dinner, and we'll talk," suggested John after an awkward minute.

Erik met his gaze, his mind still trying to catch up with how quickly things went from friendly to violent to friendly again. He gave a short nod.

"I'll get everything ready," said Elaine, leaving for the kitchen, but not before she gave Jean a hug, saying, "It's so wonderful to hear you speak again, honey.”

John settled back down in the chair, off to the side. Erik wondered, rather belatedly, why he didn't show more concern over his daughter entering such a threatening scene; then again, if she had any of Charles's abilities, perhaps such concerns would be unfounded anyway. "Why do you say my mind is a box?" Erik asked her.

Jean crawled onto his lap fearlessly. Erik set his gun on the table beside him, clicking the safety back on, so that she would be comfortable. He held her gently, smiling kindly.

"There's something trapped that wants out," she explained simply.

"Can you free it?" asked Erik curiously. This would be a good test of her abilities. He would volunteer to be the guinea pig, not Charles. He had already started to plan ways to get this little girl to Europe, though his mind still spun in confusion about their reaction to his inquiries about Raven. They were obviously accepting of mutants, so what was really going on?

She smiled shyly and touched her fingers to his temple.

Erik's hand dug into the armrest, gasping sharply. Jean's presence in his mind differed greatly from Charles's. Charles had seemed to consume him, entering and leaving erratically. Jean was much more direct and focused. Something in his mind melted, expanded, squirmed loose. His awareness changed, heightened, Logan's presence especially lighting up in his mind.

The room abruptly faded. Instead, he found himself outside the closed city gates in Dusseldorf, Germany, when his mother had been arrested. He reached desperately for the metal. It groaned, groaned, groaned. He was doing that. He was doing that. It had been him, all along. Moira had been right -

A flare of panic, of anger, swelled up, but Jean's voice breathed: It's okay.

Erik let it all out with a long breath. The gates burst open, revealing the events of that day exactly as Moira had described to him in the park. He felt Jean's little fingers leave his temple, and his awareness returned to the room.

But it wasn't the same room as he'd sat in before.

This room was full of metal, real to him more powerfully than it ever had been before. He blinked a few times, trying to settle his thoughts, to adjust to the immense power unleashed in him. He thought back to the metal gates opening without him touching them, and then felt for a penny under the couch.

A moment later, the penny floated in the air in front of Erik and Jean, with all four of the room's occupants staring at it in wonder.

"You doin' that bub?" questioned Logan, intrigued.

Erik took his eyes off the penny, meeting his partner's eyes for a moment. Overwhelmed, unable to speak, he simply called it to his hand, making that his answer, returning his gaze to the copper in his hand.

When he looked back up, Jean was smiling at him brightly.

"Elaine!" called John urgently.

"What?" said Elaine, rushing into the room. "What is-?" then she caught sight of Jean. "Oh, honey," she said in delight, smiling and blinking back tears. She turned to Erik. "You know, I haven't seen her smile or speak like this in ages. Who did you say you were again?"

"Erik Lehnsherr," he responded. She seemed to want more of an explanation than that, so he continued. "I'm here visiting from Europe. I thought I was human, but your little girl has just revealed to me -" he held his hand up, floating and weaving the penny through his fingers, "this."

"Still doesn't explain the Raven situation," commented Logan, wanting to return to the task at hand. Erik, thoroughly derailed, had almost forgotten about it.

"Dinner's ready. Why don't we all just talk about it over the table?" Elaine suggested. She glanced at the gun, then back at Erik. "Consider explaining yourself first, next time, and asking nicely. You might be surprised at what people will do for you," she scolded him.

A few minutes later, they all sat eating at the dinner table. Jean had insisted on sitting next to Erik. She kept glancing at him shyly, and he smiled gently at her, feeling something protective well up in his chest.

His now overpowering sense of metal drove him to distraction, destroying his usual sense of singleminded focus, so he did not start conversation right away, more than preoccupied with new questions. How did his mutation escape Shaw's notice, and his own, after all these years? He eyed the silverware, bright in his mind, giddy at what he could now do.

"So, Raven," spoke up John finally, interrupting him. "Why are you looking for her?"

"Her adopted brother is injured, and we thought she could help," explained Logan.

"Why the theatrics?" John pressed.

"Logan is trying to save face for me," Erik admitted. "The truth is, he's dying, and it's my fault. He's in a coma. We thought - hoped - that Raven's presence might draw him out of it. Save him. We don't have much time before it will be - too late." Reality returned to Erik full force. He might have discovered new superpowers, but even they might not be able to save what was precious to him.

John and Elaine stared at him, horrified.

"I can help," whispered Jean, placing her little hand over Erik's large one. Erik met her gaze, hope welling up in him. Now if only her parents would agree.

John and Elaine glanced at each other, not having heard Jean's offer. "Raven isn't here," Elaine admitted. "Hasn't been for years."

"What?" said Erik, not expecting that. "Who has her, then?"

"Shaw."

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