Fic: Beneath the Surface (14/~16) - Charles/Erik
Title: Beneath the Surface (14/~16), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Fandom: X-Men: First Class, Charles/Erik
Genre: AU; Drama/Romance
Rating: R for language and mention of inhumane crimes.
Word Count: 5736
Summary: Charles is a young marine biologist and activist that, one day, makes the find of his lifetime. Inspired by this fanart
Author's Note: Still un-beta'ed. Yes, um, it's going to be 16 chapters at least. And an epilogue ^^ As you noticed in the last chapter, Darwin had a brief cameo. I'm afraid that's all it's going to be, though. The idea presented itself to me quite spontaneously.
Furthermore, I'd like to ask you all something. The story has been only Charles' POV with one, now two scenes Erik's POV so far. I've been outlining the showdown and realized it will be difficult to stick to those two POVs only if I want to show everything that's happening. How would you feel about this sudden change in the showdown, if, let's say Sean or Moira would get a scene from their point of view?
A numb pain in his back was the first thing he felt when his mind slowly drifted back to consciousness. It stung when he rotated his shoulder, somewhere right above the blade, but it was no more than an unpleasant ache. What hurt more was his head, throbbing faintly through the fatigue that still had a firm grasp over his entire body and mind. As he tried to move, slowly blinking his eyes open, he felt that he could not move his arms, and that was when he fully came to with a stab of shock running through his every fiber, wide awake and stone sober.
He was lying on a cold stone floor somewhere in dark hall, high ceiling above and only a faint blueish glow illuminating it. His wrists were bound behind his back by some metal shackles, and whatever had numbed his body was still making it difficult for him to move his legs to struggle and get up, get away.
Shaw had taken him. He remembered now, remembered how something had hit him into his back, shooting through his skin, and how all the muscles in his body had started quivering right after, not obeying him anymore as he had frantically tried to look around for an attacker and remain upright. And then he had come, that man that had been on the boat the day Erik had been attacked by Shaw, and Erik had been able to do nothing but collapse into the arms of the stranger, feeling the painful sting of whatever had been shot into his back being pulled out.
After that, his memories blurred and faded out into blackness.
He moved again, drawing his knees up and, despite that odd numbed feeling still in his body, managed to roll himself around and get onto his knees, struggling against the shackles that made it difficult to keep his balance.
Where was he? The thought seemed to pull all air from his lungs because Erik realized then that even if he managed to get up and walk, Shaw would not leave him lying around somewhere where he could escape so easily. But he had to try it anyway, had to force his body to obey him fully again, shake himself free of that heavy tiredness that still made all his muscles tremble. And finally, he stood on both feet, facing the long and dark hallway and blinking against the blackness in front of his eyes.
“Ah, you managed to get up by yourself, how convenient.”
The soft but cool voice made Erik spin around, and he had to lean his shoulder against the wall not to collapse immediately again when he saw a figure in the dark, just the silhouette showing against the faint blue light. He only noticed then that it came from a large rounded glass pane, from the blue waters behind, light streaming through them somewhere high above.
The figure stepped closer, and Erik could finally see his face. Shaw.
Dread and hatred coursed through him and fought off most of the remaining numbness, making the hairs on his neck stand to end and his skin prickle with rage. And Erik did not think anymore.
He heard a loud, hoarse scream, a split-second before he even realized it was his own as he lunged forward. His hands bound behind his back, he had no real means to attack, other than run him down, push him with the weight of his own body, kick him, smash him into the wall, bite him. But before Erik even crossed the distance to Shaw who stood perfectly still, another figure stepped from the shadows and aimed something long and pointed at him.
Little malicious fires ran through his entire body, making his muscles twitch and contort, and Erik collapsed back onto the ground with a gasp of pain. He pressed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth as he tried to breathe against the pain searing through his body, a pain that made him want to scream in sheer agony as the stick was touched to his chest once more - just for good measure. He had almost forgotten what it felt like, what this pain, short-lived as it had been every time he had been shocked with electricity, could do to him. How it burned and stung so that in those few short moments he wished he could die.
“Erik, Erik,” Shaw said, sighing in mock sympathy. “You should know me better than to think I'd be so careless. Really, Erik. Have you forgotten everything already?”
Panting out growled breaths, Erik tried to regain control over his body, over his breathing, but when he looked up at Shaw, rage and anger made it nearly impossible to prevent his heart from hammering in his chest.
“Look at how you've grown,” Shaw said almost fondly, but his words caused bile to rise in Erik's throat. “You're not a small boy anymore. You're smarter than to fight me when you have no chance, now, aren't you? I'd regret it if I'd have to let my men protect me and submit you to unnecessary pain.”
A part of Erik didn't care. The desire to hurt Shaw burned through him so strong that he almost didn't fear the consequences. He'd gladly take another wave of that splintering pain if only he could do something to Shaw in return. But then he realized that he wouldn't even get that far, and all that his attempts to fight would do were make Shaw laugh and taunt him.
“Where am I?” Erik asked instead, his voice strained and low with suppressed rage.
“Ah, feeling a little more cooperative now?” Shaw asked and leaned in a little closer. The other man did not draw away and still held the device close to Erik's body. “You seem rather domestic and tame all of the sudden. I bet your new friends had a little something to do with that.”
Suddenly, a quite different kind of fear and anxiety made Erik's stomach twist and his chest clench.
Charles.
“Where are they? What did you --”
“I did nothing,” Shaw cut him off and spread his hands from his body. “Erik, what do you think of me? If I was a man that didn't step short of murder I could have killed you all a long ago. And what would I gain by it? Nothing. They're of much more use to me as long as they are safe and sound.”
It took Erik a few moments to understand the implications of Shaw's words, and the dread in him became even stronger. As long as they were safe Shaw could use them to have Erik cooperate, to threaten him every time he didn't want to comply or would attempt to get away, and that thought made him sick to the stomach with how helpless it made him. Completely at Shaw's mercy because he would never forgive himself if Shaw did something to them, to Charles.
Charles. He'd never see him again.
“Now, can we risk helping you up so I can show you your new home?” Shaw asked with that always kind and soft voice of his that made it impossible not to despise the man.
All Erik could do, however, was nod slowly.
Another man stepped closer while the first still held the electroshock harpoon, and he yanked Erik up to his feet, causing a stab of pain to shoot through his back. It felt almost comforting against the numbness of contained rage.
“I built this all for you, Erik,” Shaw started as they had walked a few steps up the hall, and Erik could get a full view onto the window. As far as he could look, the glass stretched along the hall in a long curve, tall as a house. Behind it, deep blue water led into an infinite distance, and Erik realized that this could be no ordinary tank like the ones he had seen at the aquarium. There were weeds and rocks which looked like they had been planted there, but there was also plankton, small fishes and just the exact texture and color of ocean water.
Erik looked at Shaw, unable to hide his confusion. “Do you expect me to stay there and swim around so you and whoever will pay to get into this place can watch me?” he asked incredulously. Even with the premise of the threat to Charles' and the others' lives, Shaw could not expect that of him, could he?
A faint chuckle came over the other man's lips and he briefly shook his head. “Ah, Erik, you thought that's the open ocean, didn't you? Well, to be fair, it is a portion of it, but it's framed with a metal fence that I'd recommend not getting close to unless you want another set of electric shocks. I had this all built for you. It is even bigger than the Monterey Bay open sea exhibit. And aside from this window where people can stand and watch there's a tube walk through the center of the compound. And we'll even have submarine tours. This place will attract families from the whole nation, even from abroad.”
Unlike the aquarium at Myrtle Beach, this place actually imitated a natural habitat nearly perfectly, and Erik could imagine that other marine animals would at least not feel as caged and trapped as in those places. For him, however, such an existence was far from what he could simply accept, let alone appreciate which, according to the way Shaw smiled at him, the man seemed to expect.
Erik gave a low snort. “You really believe people will pay to see me? That they will just stand back and watch a being half like them being put on display like a mere animal? Charles said that could never happen. There are laws, and...”
“Oh Erik, you really are still quite naïve,” Shaw interrupted him. “Or you think me naïve. Either way, you don't understand what I am planning with you. Come on. I will show you.”
A sense of dark foreboding made his skin prickle, amplified by the coolness of the place and the fact that he was wearing nothing more but his swim trunks. But Erik had no other choice than to follow, walking around the entire width of the window. From there, the narrower hall led into a well-illuminated round one with stairs and platforms on two levels, lots of exhibits all around, models of sharks and other fish, big boards with graphics and descriptive texts. It really did seem like just another aquarium.
They walked off the main hall through a door into a narrow passage and up a set of stairs. Unlike the main hall and that around the glass window, the floor here was just gray, the walls white and undecorated, just like the staff passages at the Myrtle Beach aquarium had been. Then, another door was being pushed open and Erik felt cold dread run through his body at the sight that presented itself to him. There were shelves with technical and other equipment, a low sideboard and a small, metal desk with a chair. And right in the center of the room a medical bed with shackles for hands and feet. The room reminded him horribly of the lab on Shaw's yacht where Erik had been experimented on every day. Where his mother had died.
“What are you planning to do with me?” he asked between gritted teeth, trying to push back the fear that rose in him and made it difficult to breathe. He concentrated on his anger instead, a feeling he had grown accustomed to throughout all those years as his silent companion while he had been alone. A feeling that he had almost forgotten about completely during the past weeks with Charles.
Shaw smiled coldly at him before he nodded toward a corner of the room that had been out of Erik's view until he was pulled farther into it by one of the two guards, and with surprise and shock he saw another person standing there, a white lab coat over his slacks and shirt, and a stethoscope hanging around his neck.
“Erik, may I introduce you to Dr. William Stryker. He's a renowned neural surgeon and scientist. He's retired but I could convince him to pick up his research,” Shaw said conversationally.
Stryker stepped closer toward Erik but not without an air of anxiety. His heart was beating so loudly that Erik could feel it.
“Dr. Stryker will examine you now. I strongly advise you not to struggle, Erik, or things will stop being pleasant and easy for you.” It was the first time Shaw made a direct threat, and it almost gave Erik a sense of satisfaction, odd as that seemed. As if Shaw dropping his polite facade for once made him more tangible, made it easier to hate him.
“Examine me for what?” Erik asked with that same low, strained voice, not flinching as Shaw stepped even closer.
“Not to worry,” the doctor said. “Just a general... eh... health check-up. Before...”
“Before what?” Erik's voice rose now, and he realized that beneath all his anger his fear started surfacing with great impatience.
Shaw drew in a breath and put his hands behind his back, walking over to the medical bed with slow strides. “Well, Erik,” he said then and turned around, tilting his head. “I suppose it is only fair to tell you everything now. You see, I have come up with just the most brilliant plan I could ever have imagined.”
~*~
Had Charles not been completely shocked, he would have contemplated the fact that he very often, recently, found himself standing rooted to the spot and staring at people like an idiot. Just as Emma started to become impatient, the sweet smile slipping from her features and her eyebrows raised, Moira came up to them, wiping her still moist hands on her jeans.
“Who are you?” she asked, politeness and hospitality not as important these days as usually.
Without replying, her chin raised, Emma Frost walked past Charles and into the open living room where the others stared at her in as much surprise and skepticism as Charles - though aside from Raven none of them had seen her before.
“Please, put this somewhere where it won't stain,” she said with that sweet and arrogantly superior tone that seemed to be her trade-mark as she handed a befuddled Alex the light, white summer coat she had held over her arm. The only thing not white on her outfit were the red soles of her otherwise white pumps and the beige checkers on her white handbag.
Charles finally found his speech again. “That's Shaw's girlfriend,” he said, not able to hide the disdain from his voice as he approached her, arms crossed in front of his chest. Though the last words she had spoken to him resounded in his memory, making his heart beat with excitement and impatience. And a glimmer of hope.
“Well, technically I'm his daughter,” she said before she looked around, her pretty, doll-like features screwed up as she couldn't seem to make up her mind on where to sit. She chose the sofa, in the end, sitting down with crossed legs, draped onto the piece of furniture as if she required to look pretty no matter what she did.
“Excuse me, but what?” Raven asked, her own features displaying much greater disgust than Emma's. “Eww!”
“Oh don't get your two-dollar panties in a twist,” Emma retorted. “I'm adopted. And we didn't see much of each other until I finished school. Besides, he's better looking than Woody Allen, so you can hardly blame me.” Another of those sugar-sweet smiles. Charles was vaguely reminded of a Barbie doll.
“What is going on?” Turning towards the open staircase that led to the dining area, Charles saw Irene slowly descending the steps, holding on to the arm rail and then carefully feelign her way toward the dining table.
Raven was at her side in an instant. “We've got a visitor. Shaw's adoptive daughter, slash girlfriend. I'm just not sure why we're not kicking her out right away.”
“Because I have valuable information for you, honey. So you'd do better to sit your ass down and listen.” Though her tone remained sweet, there was a biting, snide edge to it that made Charles not like this woman at all. Yet, he would listen and not risk upsetting or offending her. Not if she really could help them find Erik.
“Please, sit down,” he said softly in Raven's direction, also nodding at the others, especially Moira who eyed the whole scene with great skepticism and distrust. “Where's Hank?”
“Bathroom, I think,” said Irene who had by now taken her seat at the dining table with Raven.
“Oh, well, if we're going to wait you can get me a drink. I don't suppose you have any champagne?” Frost asked and Charles hoped the annoyed huff Moira let out behind him was all she'd do.
“We have beer,” Sean replied, grinning somewhat stupidly as he got up from his own chair and walked over to the fridge.
“Well, water will do,” she said, barely disappointed.
The next two minutes or so seemed the longest Charles could remember; he was tingling with anxiety and anticipation while everyone took a seat and waited for Hank to finally come down the stairs. Sean had poured their guest a glass of water and, as he sat back down beside Alex, mumbled - oddly loud enough for everyone to hear: “She's really pretty.”
“Way out of your league, sugar,” Frost said dismissively but with a smile, a quite frosty one indeed, still on her lips.
Raven groaned and rolled her eyes.
Finally, Hank joined them, and, after he took the introduction with as much surprise as the others, sat down on one of the two arm-chairs facing the sofa. Charles had occupied the other.
“Miss Frost here was just going to tell us where they've taken Erik,” Charles prompted impatiently, but to his surprise Frost raised her eyebrows and chuckled.
“I said I knew where they were taking him, not that I'd tell.”
“Please don't play games with me,” Charles said indignantly. “Unless you've come here merely to taunt us I'd assumed that's the reason of your visit.”
She nodded in acknowledgment. “It depends on what I get out of this deal, though. I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart,” she said.
“I hadn't assumed so.”
“Alright, here is the deal. I will tell you everything I know, and I'll tell you what I want in return. And then you decide whether I'll get it or not, and I'll tell you the location. Otherwise, good luck at finding him. Or better... getting him out of where he's being kept.”
Charles exchanged a brief glance with Moira and Raven, and he could see that they were probably asking themselves the same thing: was this merely a trap or could he trust her? And what would she ask of him? There was no point in contemplating this before having listened to what she had to say, though, and so he suppressed a sigh and nodded, prompting her to continue.
“Alright. As you may know, Sebastian built a facility where he's going to keep Erik. It's an aquarium like the one at Monterey Bay. It's of course also a high security facility. You would not get in or out without being seen, let alone freeing him without someone that knows a few tricks around the place.”
“I take it, you're that someone?” Alex asked. From all the ones present he seemed calmest and least impressed by her arrogant attitude.
She smiled at him and nodded. “As I said, that depends on a few things. You see, Sebastian and I have a bit of a... well, one-sided relationship. He doesn't care much about anyone or anything but himself and his goals. Can't really say I'm a lot different there, but that's where our objectives clash.”
“How do we know this isn't a scheme?” Raven cut in, and Charles shot her an admonishing glare. “How did you even get here without him knowing?” Which she apparently decided to ignore.
“Raven, let her finish.”
“I'm sorry Charles, but I don't trust this... this skank for one second.”
“Sweetie, the shoes I'm wearing alone are worth more than your entire wardrobe. Careful who you're calling skank here.”
“Alright, that's enough. Raven, let her finish,” Charles reasoned as calmly as he could muster. A part of him wanted to yell at Frost to stop beating about the bush and tell them where Erik was, if he was alright, but he needed to stay calm through this, and he needed his friends and family to do the same.
“Please, Miss Frost, continue.”
Frost's cool eyes remained on Raven's for a moment longer before she nodded, turning her gaze back on Charles. “It has come to my attention that Sebastian intends to change his will. I always thought, after his divorce from my mother I was his sole heir, but I've found out - through an assistant at the law firm that takes care of his legal business - that he's planning to overwrite all his assets to his enterprise upon his death.”
“Why?” Sean asked, his naïve eyes even displaying something akin to concern and sympathy. “You're his daughter, right? So you should inherit his money.”
“Aww, aren't you a cute. And stupid,” Emma chuckled. “Like I said, Sebastian doesn't care about anyone but himself. He knows I'm his for as long as he lives, and that I'll stay because he buys me all the pretty things I want - by the way, to answer your earlier question: I'm officially on a shopping trip and will take a flight home tonight, so we only have one hour left. Anyway. I think he's doing this to piss me off. Or because he thinks that someone should continue his work after he's gone so that he can still be famous and influential even when he's worm fodder.” She shrugged. “Or some other crazy scheme of his, but I'll get to that later. The point is, I'm done with that. Kissing his ass and knowing that as soon as he bites the dust I'll be left with nothing.”
“You... you're not asking us to kill him, are you?” Hank asked, his voice trembling ever so slightly with worry.
Emma shrugged but chuckled. “At this point I couldn't care less, but no, that was not my idea.”
Charles felt relieved, letting out the breath that he hadn't even noticed he'd been holding in. As much as he hated Shaw, loathed him with a passion, he didn't want to become a murderer or for anyone of the people close to him having to live with that on their conscience. There had to be another way.
“You see, the rise and fall of his newest project depends solely on the presence of your shark friend. If Sebastian loses Erik, his place will be just another aquarium. He might still earn money with it, but most likely not nearly enough to cover the expenses he's already had to build the place and prepare everything. If your friend can escape, Sebastian will not put all his remaining wealth into that place, and then he'll have to think something else up if he wants me out of his will. But there's something else I was sort of hoping on.”
Hearing her motives, which, to Charles' relief did make sense and sounded convincing enough, was helping to put light into the darkness, but it was still far from satisfying information, not nearly enough to help them find and free Erik. And Charles still had no idea what exactly Shaw was going to do with him.
“And that would be?”
“If he ends up in prison, I, as his heir, will be administrating his assets,” Frost replied. “And during that time I could put enough of it aside so that I don't need to worry about him changing his will in the end, anyway.”
“So this is all just about the money?” Raven asked in disbelief. “You don't give a fuck that he's a person that's being caged like an animal?”
“What difference does it make what my reasons are?” Emma retorted, and for a tiny moment her voice trembled with more anger than Charles would have expected. Almost as if the accusation hit home in a way. “You'll get your friend back, and I get what I want. Everyone wins. Except for Sebastian. But he should be used to losing by now.”
Charles took a deep breath and looked at her. “What exactly can we do to help you achieve that goal then? What do you need for us to fulfill our side of the deal?”
Emma leaned back against the sofa, her hands on her knee. “You will have to be patient. I can't do anything for you until the day after tomorrow. And you will have to follow my plan exactly.”
“And why is that?” Charles asked, despair rising up within him amongst the hope he had started to feel. A whole day of just sitting around and waiting, two nights. So much could happen to Erik during that time. Even if his life wasn't immediately threatened he could be in pain or fear, and it nearly physically hurt Charles to think about it.
“Because in the morning after tomorrow something will happen in the facility that, if we can get the authorities there in time, would send Sebastian to prison for many, many years.”
Everyone seemed to hold their breath, waiting for her to elaborate.
A faint smile lay on her features as she looked at each of them, seeming to enjoy the attention. “You see, your shark friend won't be the only one held prisoner there.”
~*~
Erik stared at Shaw in such disgust that he felt his stomach turn, an icy sensation of shock and dread creeping down his spine as he processed what he had just heard.
"Why?" was the only question that left his lips, and he hated himself for how breathless and weak his own voice sounded. For how much Shaw seemed to enjoy Erik's fear and helplessness.
"Oh Erik, is that really so hard to understand?" Shaw chuckled and let his fingers run along the metal edge of the sickbed. "You're the last of your kind, aren't you? It would be such a shame to let that go to waste."
A knot formed in the pit of Erik's throat, and he gulped it down, forced his voice to obey his command so that it would come out firm and determined. "You can't do that. Not if I don't cooperate," he said, raising his chin in defiance. There was no way he was going to let this happen, to just follow Shaw's every wish, sick and cruel as his suggestions were.
"I though we had covered that, Erik. You have no other choice. Unless… " He shrugged and gave a mock regretful sigh as he looked Erik straight in the eyes, and the cold shivers were back, weakening him and his resoluteness.
"But even if you didn't, there are ways. Of course they'll be less pleasant than if you just fulfilled your duties obediently. And who knows, you might even enjoy it. The women I've selected are all of perfect health and youth, strong and beautiful. Just the right mates to bear your children."
Erik felt seriously sick. He wanted to sit down, or lean against the nearest wall to get his breathing and heartrate under control, but he could show no weakness. If Shaw was intending to use him as a puppet, experiment on him, use him as a breeding animal, he would at least not break him. Not more than he already had. Not for Shaw to see. Erik would not give him that satisfaction, though he wasn't sure yet how he'd accomplish that.
He had to think of Charles again, and for a very brief moment Erik wondered what Charles would say about all of this. Would he be grateful that Erik took it upon himself to endure and accept everything Shaw had planned for him so that Charles' life would be spared, or would he feel betrayed if Erik… He could not even think about it, not right now. Could not face the moral dilemma that presented itself, inevitably. Was he really willing to do this? To inflict the same fate he would have to suffer on children that would be born into this world only to be the playthings of a sick, deranged person?
"What do you intend to do with them?" Erik asked, another thought suddenly in mind as he remembered where their conversation had left of before Shaw had led him into the lab. "You can't plan to put them in that same tank for people to see. They'd be half human. There are laws and -"
"Oh, did Charles tell you that? Did he make you think that the majority of people are like him and his faithful little friends?" The mocking contempt in his voice was sharp, making the hairs in the back of Erik's neck stand to end.
"People can be bought, Erik. You just need enough money and you can buy pretty much anyone. Not Charles, I had to find that out myself, unfortunately, but he's a rare and hopeless case," Shaw went on. "Others however. You'd be surprised what some people are willing to do for only a few thousand dollars. Like those women who seek to escape a life in poverty in a third world country. Or my friend at the police station back at Myrtle Beach. Did you know that Charles and his friends went to report you missing? My contact called me right away. And that's just one minor example. I have people in many high places that are working for and with me."
Regret and sympathy washed through Erik among the anger and hatred that never seemed to vanish, and he felt his heart grow heavy at imagining how worried Charles must be, how desperate to even contact the police while all along they had all said it would be futile. If only he could get a message to Charles, tell him that he was… well, he wasn't alright, but he'd survive. At least he thought so, almost hoping the opposite with a small portion of his mind that he could not shut up.
"What about the people that will come to see this place. You mentioned families… Do you want to pay all of them a sum of money just so they will tolerate what is happening here? I thought you were intending to increase your wealth with this, not lose it."
"Erik, Erik. You're still under the impression that I want to show them everything. Ah, forgive me, I haven't mentioned the most important part yet."
Shaw nodded to the doctor who, to Erik's mild satisfaction opened a cabinet next to him with shaky fingers, his heart beating fast and irregular with anxiety. At least one of them was afraid of Erik.
"It is true that I intend to show what you are to some people, but they will be a select clientel. As for your offspring and yourself in that tank, should you ever decide to betray me and our arrangement… Well, I have just the thing that will prevent it. You see, those past sixteen years I haven't been exactly idle. Building this place and trying to find you wasn't all I've been doing. You remember that I took samples of your blood and tissue when you were with me last time, do you not?"
How could he have forgotten? The needles, the knifes. Endless hours of pain and fear. Erik didn't nod or speak; he only stared at Shaw without letting any of his dread surface.
The doctor now approached him but still stood more than an arm's length away, and in his hand he held a syringe with a large needle and a clear liquid inside.
"After the examination, we will bring you up to the enclosure so that you can get accustomed to your new home. But before we put you in the water, Dr. Stryker is going to inject you with this serum he and a few other scientists developed for me. It will prevent you from transforming back into your human form once in the water."
It was impossible for Erik to keep his fear completely locked up within his mind; he felt his eyes widen and his lips open in shock. Shaw laughed, a cold, breathy sound with no joy in it. Just malice.
"There's an antidote, too. Of course, we'll need you in your human form from time to time. Just don't think you can escape it. We have guns that can be loaded with the serum positioned at three spots around the enclosure. You can't escape them. Oh, and I also recommend not getting too close to the outer fence, as it's charged electrically. Ah, I already said that. Well, I'm sure you'll feel that once you're in the water. And now, will you let the doctor examine you?"
One of the two guards grabbed his arm, but Erik shook himself free of the grip, noticing with at least a tiny portion of grim satisfaction that the man drew back in fear. The other held the electrical device close to Erik's chest. If Shaw had thought of everything, if there was no option for Erik to fight or refuse then at least he would not be dragged away and tied to a table like the frightened little boy he had been the last time.
"I just hope for your sake that your plan doesn't have a flaw," Erik spoke evenly as he got to Shaw's side, his quiet, low voice with a rough and threatening undertone that cost him all his strength to maintain. "Or else I will find a way to destroy you. This time I won't run away."
Shaw only smiled as he stepped away from the sickbed where Erik sat down, but he could not miss the sound of Shaw's ever so slightly elevated heartbeat.
Good.
~ TBC ~
Chapter 15
Fandom: X-Men: First Class, Charles/Erik
Genre: AU; Drama/Romance
Rating: R for language and mention of inhumane crimes.
Word Count: 5736
Summary: Charles is a young marine biologist and activist that, one day, makes the find of his lifetime. Inspired by this fanart
Author's Note: Still un-beta'ed. Yes, um, it's going to be 16 chapters at least. And an epilogue ^^ As you noticed in the last chapter, Darwin had a brief cameo. I'm afraid that's all it's going to be, though. The idea presented itself to me quite spontaneously.
Furthermore, I'd like to ask you all something. The story has been only Charles' POV with one, now two scenes Erik's POV so far. I've been outlining the showdown and realized it will be difficult to stick to those two POVs only if I want to show everything that's happening. How would you feel about this sudden change in the showdown, if, let's say Sean or Moira would get a scene from their point of view?
A numb pain in his back was the first thing he felt when his mind slowly drifted back to consciousness. It stung when he rotated his shoulder, somewhere right above the blade, but it was no more than an unpleasant ache. What hurt more was his head, throbbing faintly through the fatigue that still had a firm grasp over his entire body and mind. As he tried to move, slowly blinking his eyes open, he felt that he could not move his arms, and that was when he fully came to with a stab of shock running through his every fiber, wide awake and stone sober.
He was lying on a cold stone floor somewhere in dark hall, high ceiling above and only a faint blueish glow illuminating it. His wrists were bound behind his back by some metal shackles, and whatever had numbed his body was still making it difficult for him to move his legs to struggle and get up, get away.
Shaw had taken him. He remembered now, remembered how something had hit him into his back, shooting through his skin, and how all the muscles in his body had started quivering right after, not obeying him anymore as he had frantically tried to look around for an attacker and remain upright. And then he had come, that man that had been on the boat the day Erik had been attacked by Shaw, and Erik had been able to do nothing but collapse into the arms of the stranger, feeling the painful sting of whatever had been shot into his back being pulled out.
After that, his memories blurred and faded out into blackness.
He moved again, drawing his knees up and, despite that odd numbed feeling still in his body, managed to roll himself around and get onto his knees, struggling against the shackles that made it difficult to keep his balance.
Where was he? The thought seemed to pull all air from his lungs because Erik realized then that even if he managed to get up and walk, Shaw would not leave him lying around somewhere where he could escape so easily. But he had to try it anyway, had to force his body to obey him fully again, shake himself free of that heavy tiredness that still made all his muscles tremble. And finally, he stood on both feet, facing the long and dark hallway and blinking against the blackness in front of his eyes.
“Ah, you managed to get up by yourself, how convenient.”
The soft but cool voice made Erik spin around, and he had to lean his shoulder against the wall not to collapse immediately again when he saw a figure in the dark, just the silhouette showing against the faint blue light. He only noticed then that it came from a large rounded glass pane, from the blue waters behind, light streaming through them somewhere high above.
The figure stepped closer, and Erik could finally see his face. Shaw.
Dread and hatred coursed through him and fought off most of the remaining numbness, making the hairs on his neck stand to end and his skin prickle with rage. And Erik did not think anymore.
He heard a loud, hoarse scream, a split-second before he even realized it was his own as he lunged forward. His hands bound behind his back, he had no real means to attack, other than run him down, push him with the weight of his own body, kick him, smash him into the wall, bite him. But before Erik even crossed the distance to Shaw who stood perfectly still, another figure stepped from the shadows and aimed something long and pointed at him.
Little malicious fires ran through his entire body, making his muscles twitch and contort, and Erik collapsed back onto the ground with a gasp of pain. He pressed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth as he tried to breathe against the pain searing through his body, a pain that made him want to scream in sheer agony as the stick was touched to his chest once more - just for good measure. He had almost forgotten what it felt like, what this pain, short-lived as it had been every time he had been shocked with electricity, could do to him. How it burned and stung so that in those few short moments he wished he could die.
“Erik, Erik,” Shaw said, sighing in mock sympathy. “You should know me better than to think I'd be so careless. Really, Erik. Have you forgotten everything already?”
Panting out growled breaths, Erik tried to regain control over his body, over his breathing, but when he looked up at Shaw, rage and anger made it nearly impossible to prevent his heart from hammering in his chest.
“Look at how you've grown,” Shaw said almost fondly, but his words caused bile to rise in Erik's throat. “You're not a small boy anymore. You're smarter than to fight me when you have no chance, now, aren't you? I'd regret it if I'd have to let my men protect me and submit you to unnecessary pain.”
A part of Erik didn't care. The desire to hurt Shaw burned through him so strong that he almost didn't fear the consequences. He'd gladly take another wave of that splintering pain if only he could do something to Shaw in return. But then he realized that he wouldn't even get that far, and all that his attempts to fight would do were make Shaw laugh and taunt him.
“Where am I?” Erik asked instead, his voice strained and low with suppressed rage.
“Ah, feeling a little more cooperative now?” Shaw asked and leaned in a little closer. The other man did not draw away and still held the device close to Erik's body. “You seem rather domestic and tame all of the sudden. I bet your new friends had a little something to do with that.”
Suddenly, a quite different kind of fear and anxiety made Erik's stomach twist and his chest clench.
Charles.
“Where are they? What did you --”
“I did nothing,” Shaw cut him off and spread his hands from his body. “Erik, what do you think of me? If I was a man that didn't step short of murder I could have killed you all a long ago. And what would I gain by it? Nothing. They're of much more use to me as long as they are safe and sound.”
It took Erik a few moments to understand the implications of Shaw's words, and the dread in him became even stronger. As long as they were safe Shaw could use them to have Erik cooperate, to threaten him every time he didn't want to comply or would attempt to get away, and that thought made him sick to the stomach with how helpless it made him. Completely at Shaw's mercy because he would never forgive himself if Shaw did something to them, to Charles.
Charles. He'd never see him again.
“Now, can we risk helping you up so I can show you your new home?” Shaw asked with that always kind and soft voice of his that made it impossible not to despise the man.
All Erik could do, however, was nod slowly.
Another man stepped closer while the first still held the electroshock harpoon, and he yanked Erik up to his feet, causing a stab of pain to shoot through his back. It felt almost comforting against the numbness of contained rage.
“I built this all for you, Erik,” Shaw started as they had walked a few steps up the hall, and Erik could get a full view onto the window. As far as he could look, the glass stretched along the hall in a long curve, tall as a house. Behind it, deep blue water led into an infinite distance, and Erik realized that this could be no ordinary tank like the ones he had seen at the aquarium. There were weeds and rocks which looked like they had been planted there, but there was also plankton, small fishes and just the exact texture and color of ocean water.
Erik looked at Shaw, unable to hide his confusion. “Do you expect me to stay there and swim around so you and whoever will pay to get into this place can watch me?” he asked incredulously. Even with the premise of the threat to Charles' and the others' lives, Shaw could not expect that of him, could he?
A faint chuckle came over the other man's lips and he briefly shook his head. “Ah, Erik, you thought that's the open ocean, didn't you? Well, to be fair, it is a portion of it, but it's framed with a metal fence that I'd recommend not getting close to unless you want another set of electric shocks. I had this all built for you. It is even bigger than the Monterey Bay open sea exhibit. And aside from this window where people can stand and watch there's a tube walk through the center of the compound. And we'll even have submarine tours. This place will attract families from the whole nation, even from abroad.”
Unlike the aquarium at Myrtle Beach, this place actually imitated a natural habitat nearly perfectly, and Erik could imagine that other marine animals would at least not feel as caged and trapped as in those places. For him, however, such an existence was far from what he could simply accept, let alone appreciate which, according to the way Shaw smiled at him, the man seemed to expect.
Erik gave a low snort. “You really believe people will pay to see me? That they will just stand back and watch a being half like them being put on display like a mere animal? Charles said that could never happen. There are laws, and...”
“Oh Erik, you really are still quite naïve,” Shaw interrupted him. “Or you think me naïve. Either way, you don't understand what I am planning with you. Come on. I will show you.”
A sense of dark foreboding made his skin prickle, amplified by the coolness of the place and the fact that he was wearing nothing more but his swim trunks. But Erik had no other choice than to follow, walking around the entire width of the window. From there, the narrower hall led into a well-illuminated round one with stairs and platforms on two levels, lots of exhibits all around, models of sharks and other fish, big boards with graphics and descriptive texts. It really did seem like just another aquarium.
They walked off the main hall through a door into a narrow passage and up a set of stairs. Unlike the main hall and that around the glass window, the floor here was just gray, the walls white and undecorated, just like the staff passages at the Myrtle Beach aquarium had been. Then, another door was being pushed open and Erik felt cold dread run through his body at the sight that presented itself to him. There were shelves with technical and other equipment, a low sideboard and a small, metal desk with a chair. And right in the center of the room a medical bed with shackles for hands and feet. The room reminded him horribly of the lab on Shaw's yacht where Erik had been experimented on every day. Where his mother had died.
“What are you planning to do with me?” he asked between gritted teeth, trying to push back the fear that rose in him and made it difficult to breathe. He concentrated on his anger instead, a feeling he had grown accustomed to throughout all those years as his silent companion while he had been alone. A feeling that he had almost forgotten about completely during the past weeks with Charles.
Shaw smiled coldly at him before he nodded toward a corner of the room that had been out of Erik's view until he was pulled farther into it by one of the two guards, and with surprise and shock he saw another person standing there, a white lab coat over his slacks and shirt, and a stethoscope hanging around his neck.
“Erik, may I introduce you to Dr. William Stryker. He's a renowned neural surgeon and scientist. He's retired but I could convince him to pick up his research,” Shaw said conversationally.
Stryker stepped closer toward Erik but not without an air of anxiety. His heart was beating so loudly that Erik could feel it.
“Dr. Stryker will examine you now. I strongly advise you not to struggle, Erik, or things will stop being pleasant and easy for you.” It was the first time Shaw made a direct threat, and it almost gave Erik a sense of satisfaction, odd as that seemed. As if Shaw dropping his polite facade for once made him more tangible, made it easier to hate him.
“Examine me for what?” Erik asked with that same low, strained voice, not flinching as Shaw stepped even closer.
“Not to worry,” the doctor said. “Just a general... eh... health check-up. Before...”
“Before what?” Erik's voice rose now, and he realized that beneath all his anger his fear started surfacing with great impatience.
Shaw drew in a breath and put his hands behind his back, walking over to the medical bed with slow strides. “Well, Erik,” he said then and turned around, tilting his head. “I suppose it is only fair to tell you everything now. You see, I have come up with just the most brilliant plan I could ever have imagined.”
~*~
Had Charles not been completely shocked, he would have contemplated the fact that he very often, recently, found himself standing rooted to the spot and staring at people like an idiot. Just as Emma started to become impatient, the sweet smile slipping from her features and her eyebrows raised, Moira came up to them, wiping her still moist hands on her jeans.
“Who are you?” she asked, politeness and hospitality not as important these days as usually.
Without replying, her chin raised, Emma Frost walked past Charles and into the open living room where the others stared at her in as much surprise and skepticism as Charles - though aside from Raven none of them had seen her before.
“Please, put this somewhere where it won't stain,” she said with that sweet and arrogantly superior tone that seemed to be her trade-mark as she handed a befuddled Alex the light, white summer coat she had held over her arm. The only thing not white on her outfit were the red soles of her otherwise white pumps and the beige checkers on her white handbag.
Charles finally found his speech again. “That's Shaw's girlfriend,” he said, not able to hide the disdain from his voice as he approached her, arms crossed in front of his chest. Though the last words she had spoken to him resounded in his memory, making his heart beat with excitement and impatience. And a glimmer of hope.
“Well, technically I'm his daughter,” she said before she looked around, her pretty, doll-like features screwed up as she couldn't seem to make up her mind on where to sit. She chose the sofa, in the end, sitting down with crossed legs, draped onto the piece of furniture as if she required to look pretty no matter what she did.
“Excuse me, but what?” Raven asked, her own features displaying much greater disgust than Emma's. “Eww!”
“Oh don't get your two-dollar panties in a twist,” Emma retorted. “I'm adopted. And we didn't see much of each other until I finished school. Besides, he's better looking than Woody Allen, so you can hardly blame me.” Another of those sugar-sweet smiles. Charles was vaguely reminded of a Barbie doll.
“What is going on?” Turning towards the open staircase that led to the dining area, Charles saw Irene slowly descending the steps, holding on to the arm rail and then carefully feelign her way toward the dining table.
Raven was at her side in an instant. “We've got a visitor. Shaw's adoptive daughter, slash girlfriend. I'm just not sure why we're not kicking her out right away.”
“Because I have valuable information for you, honey. So you'd do better to sit your ass down and listen.” Though her tone remained sweet, there was a biting, snide edge to it that made Charles not like this woman at all. Yet, he would listen and not risk upsetting or offending her. Not if she really could help them find Erik.
“Please, sit down,” he said softly in Raven's direction, also nodding at the others, especially Moira who eyed the whole scene with great skepticism and distrust. “Where's Hank?”
“Bathroom, I think,” said Irene who had by now taken her seat at the dining table with Raven.
“Oh, well, if we're going to wait you can get me a drink. I don't suppose you have any champagne?” Frost asked and Charles hoped the annoyed huff Moira let out behind him was all she'd do.
“We have beer,” Sean replied, grinning somewhat stupidly as he got up from his own chair and walked over to the fridge.
“Well, water will do,” she said, barely disappointed.
The next two minutes or so seemed the longest Charles could remember; he was tingling with anxiety and anticipation while everyone took a seat and waited for Hank to finally come down the stairs. Sean had poured their guest a glass of water and, as he sat back down beside Alex, mumbled - oddly loud enough for everyone to hear: “She's really pretty.”
“Way out of your league, sugar,” Frost said dismissively but with a smile, a quite frosty one indeed, still on her lips.
Raven groaned and rolled her eyes.
Finally, Hank joined them, and, after he took the introduction with as much surprise as the others, sat down on one of the two arm-chairs facing the sofa. Charles had occupied the other.
“Miss Frost here was just going to tell us where they've taken Erik,” Charles prompted impatiently, but to his surprise Frost raised her eyebrows and chuckled.
“I said I knew where they were taking him, not that I'd tell.”
“Please don't play games with me,” Charles said indignantly. “Unless you've come here merely to taunt us I'd assumed that's the reason of your visit.”
She nodded in acknowledgment. “It depends on what I get out of this deal, though. I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart,” she said.
“I hadn't assumed so.”
“Alright, here is the deal. I will tell you everything I know, and I'll tell you what I want in return. And then you decide whether I'll get it or not, and I'll tell you the location. Otherwise, good luck at finding him. Or better... getting him out of where he's being kept.”
Charles exchanged a brief glance with Moira and Raven, and he could see that they were probably asking themselves the same thing: was this merely a trap or could he trust her? And what would she ask of him? There was no point in contemplating this before having listened to what she had to say, though, and so he suppressed a sigh and nodded, prompting her to continue.
“Alright. As you may know, Sebastian built a facility where he's going to keep Erik. It's an aquarium like the one at Monterey Bay. It's of course also a high security facility. You would not get in or out without being seen, let alone freeing him without someone that knows a few tricks around the place.”
“I take it, you're that someone?” Alex asked. From all the ones present he seemed calmest and least impressed by her arrogant attitude.
She smiled at him and nodded. “As I said, that depends on a few things. You see, Sebastian and I have a bit of a... well, one-sided relationship. He doesn't care much about anyone or anything but himself and his goals. Can't really say I'm a lot different there, but that's where our objectives clash.”
“How do we know this isn't a scheme?” Raven cut in, and Charles shot her an admonishing glare. “How did you even get here without him knowing?” Which she apparently decided to ignore.
“Raven, let her finish.”
“I'm sorry Charles, but I don't trust this... this skank for one second.”
“Sweetie, the shoes I'm wearing alone are worth more than your entire wardrobe. Careful who you're calling skank here.”
“Alright, that's enough. Raven, let her finish,” Charles reasoned as calmly as he could muster. A part of him wanted to yell at Frost to stop beating about the bush and tell them where Erik was, if he was alright, but he needed to stay calm through this, and he needed his friends and family to do the same.
“Please, Miss Frost, continue.”
Frost's cool eyes remained on Raven's for a moment longer before she nodded, turning her gaze back on Charles. “It has come to my attention that Sebastian intends to change his will. I always thought, after his divorce from my mother I was his sole heir, but I've found out - through an assistant at the law firm that takes care of his legal business - that he's planning to overwrite all his assets to his enterprise upon his death.”
“Why?” Sean asked, his naïve eyes even displaying something akin to concern and sympathy. “You're his daughter, right? So you should inherit his money.”
“Aww, aren't you a cute. And stupid,” Emma chuckled. “Like I said, Sebastian doesn't care about anyone but himself. He knows I'm his for as long as he lives, and that I'll stay because he buys me all the pretty things I want - by the way, to answer your earlier question: I'm officially on a shopping trip and will take a flight home tonight, so we only have one hour left. Anyway. I think he's doing this to piss me off. Or because he thinks that someone should continue his work after he's gone so that he can still be famous and influential even when he's worm fodder.” She shrugged. “Or some other crazy scheme of his, but I'll get to that later. The point is, I'm done with that. Kissing his ass and knowing that as soon as he bites the dust I'll be left with nothing.”
“You... you're not asking us to kill him, are you?” Hank asked, his voice trembling ever so slightly with worry.
Emma shrugged but chuckled. “At this point I couldn't care less, but no, that was not my idea.”
Charles felt relieved, letting out the breath that he hadn't even noticed he'd been holding in. As much as he hated Shaw, loathed him with a passion, he didn't want to become a murderer or for anyone of the people close to him having to live with that on their conscience. There had to be another way.
“You see, the rise and fall of his newest project depends solely on the presence of your shark friend. If Sebastian loses Erik, his place will be just another aquarium. He might still earn money with it, but most likely not nearly enough to cover the expenses he's already had to build the place and prepare everything. If your friend can escape, Sebastian will not put all his remaining wealth into that place, and then he'll have to think something else up if he wants me out of his will. But there's something else I was sort of hoping on.”
Hearing her motives, which, to Charles' relief did make sense and sounded convincing enough, was helping to put light into the darkness, but it was still far from satisfying information, not nearly enough to help them find and free Erik. And Charles still had no idea what exactly Shaw was going to do with him.
“And that would be?”
“If he ends up in prison, I, as his heir, will be administrating his assets,” Frost replied. “And during that time I could put enough of it aside so that I don't need to worry about him changing his will in the end, anyway.”
“So this is all just about the money?” Raven asked in disbelief. “You don't give a fuck that he's a person that's being caged like an animal?”
“What difference does it make what my reasons are?” Emma retorted, and for a tiny moment her voice trembled with more anger than Charles would have expected. Almost as if the accusation hit home in a way. “You'll get your friend back, and I get what I want. Everyone wins. Except for Sebastian. But he should be used to losing by now.”
Charles took a deep breath and looked at her. “What exactly can we do to help you achieve that goal then? What do you need for us to fulfill our side of the deal?”
Emma leaned back against the sofa, her hands on her knee. “You will have to be patient. I can't do anything for you until the day after tomorrow. And you will have to follow my plan exactly.”
“And why is that?” Charles asked, despair rising up within him amongst the hope he had started to feel. A whole day of just sitting around and waiting, two nights. So much could happen to Erik during that time. Even if his life wasn't immediately threatened he could be in pain or fear, and it nearly physically hurt Charles to think about it.
“Because in the morning after tomorrow something will happen in the facility that, if we can get the authorities there in time, would send Sebastian to prison for many, many years.”
Everyone seemed to hold their breath, waiting for her to elaborate.
A faint smile lay on her features as she looked at each of them, seeming to enjoy the attention. “You see, your shark friend won't be the only one held prisoner there.”
~*~
Erik stared at Shaw in such disgust that he felt his stomach turn, an icy sensation of shock and dread creeping down his spine as he processed what he had just heard.
"Why?" was the only question that left his lips, and he hated himself for how breathless and weak his own voice sounded. For how much Shaw seemed to enjoy Erik's fear and helplessness.
"Oh Erik, is that really so hard to understand?" Shaw chuckled and let his fingers run along the metal edge of the sickbed. "You're the last of your kind, aren't you? It would be such a shame to let that go to waste."
A knot formed in the pit of Erik's throat, and he gulped it down, forced his voice to obey his command so that it would come out firm and determined. "You can't do that. Not if I don't cooperate," he said, raising his chin in defiance. There was no way he was going to let this happen, to just follow Shaw's every wish, sick and cruel as his suggestions were.
"I though we had covered that, Erik. You have no other choice. Unless… " He shrugged and gave a mock regretful sigh as he looked Erik straight in the eyes, and the cold shivers were back, weakening him and his resoluteness.
"But even if you didn't, there are ways. Of course they'll be less pleasant than if you just fulfilled your duties obediently. And who knows, you might even enjoy it. The women I've selected are all of perfect health and youth, strong and beautiful. Just the right mates to bear your children."
Erik felt seriously sick. He wanted to sit down, or lean against the nearest wall to get his breathing and heartrate under control, but he could show no weakness. If Shaw was intending to use him as a puppet, experiment on him, use him as a breeding animal, he would at least not break him. Not more than he already had. Not for Shaw to see. Erik would not give him that satisfaction, though he wasn't sure yet how he'd accomplish that.
He had to think of Charles again, and for a very brief moment Erik wondered what Charles would say about all of this. Would he be grateful that Erik took it upon himself to endure and accept everything Shaw had planned for him so that Charles' life would be spared, or would he feel betrayed if Erik… He could not even think about it, not right now. Could not face the moral dilemma that presented itself, inevitably. Was he really willing to do this? To inflict the same fate he would have to suffer on children that would be born into this world only to be the playthings of a sick, deranged person?
"What do you intend to do with them?" Erik asked, another thought suddenly in mind as he remembered where their conversation had left of before Shaw had led him into the lab. "You can't plan to put them in that same tank for people to see. They'd be half human. There are laws and -"
"Oh, did Charles tell you that? Did he make you think that the majority of people are like him and his faithful little friends?" The mocking contempt in his voice was sharp, making the hairs in the back of Erik's neck stand to end.
"People can be bought, Erik. You just need enough money and you can buy pretty much anyone. Not Charles, I had to find that out myself, unfortunately, but he's a rare and hopeless case," Shaw went on. "Others however. You'd be surprised what some people are willing to do for only a few thousand dollars. Like those women who seek to escape a life in poverty in a third world country. Or my friend at the police station back at Myrtle Beach. Did you know that Charles and his friends went to report you missing? My contact called me right away. And that's just one minor example. I have people in many high places that are working for and with me."
Regret and sympathy washed through Erik among the anger and hatred that never seemed to vanish, and he felt his heart grow heavy at imagining how worried Charles must be, how desperate to even contact the police while all along they had all said it would be futile. If only he could get a message to Charles, tell him that he was… well, he wasn't alright, but he'd survive. At least he thought so, almost hoping the opposite with a small portion of his mind that he could not shut up.
"What about the people that will come to see this place. You mentioned families… Do you want to pay all of them a sum of money just so they will tolerate what is happening here? I thought you were intending to increase your wealth with this, not lose it."
"Erik, Erik. You're still under the impression that I want to show them everything. Ah, forgive me, I haven't mentioned the most important part yet."
Shaw nodded to the doctor who, to Erik's mild satisfaction opened a cabinet next to him with shaky fingers, his heart beating fast and irregular with anxiety. At least one of them was afraid of Erik.
"It is true that I intend to show what you are to some people, but they will be a select clientel. As for your offspring and yourself in that tank, should you ever decide to betray me and our arrangement… Well, I have just the thing that will prevent it. You see, those past sixteen years I haven't been exactly idle. Building this place and trying to find you wasn't all I've been doing. You remember that I took samples of your blood and tissue when you were with me last time, do you not?"
How could he have forgotten? The needles, the knifes. Endless hours of pain and fear. Erik didn't nod or speak; he only stared at Shaw without letting any of his dread surface.
The doctor now approached him but still stood more than an arm's length away, and in his hand he held a syringe with a large needle and a clear liquid inside.
"After the examination, we will bring you up to the enclosure so that you can get accustomed to your new home. But before we put you in the water, Dr. Stryker is going to inject you with this serum he and a few other scientists developed for me. It will prevent you from transforming back into your human form once in the water."
It was impossible for Erik to keep his fear completely locked up within his mind; he felt his eyes widen and his lips open in shock. Shaw laughed, a cold, breathy sound with no joy in it. Just malice.
"There's an antidote, too. Of course, we'll need you in your human form from time to time. Just don't think you can escape it. We have guns that can be loaded with the serum positioned at three spots around the enclosure. You can't escape them. Oh, and I also recommend not getting too close to the outer fence, as it's charged electrically. Ah, I already said that. Well, I'm sure you'll feel that once you're in the water. And now, will you let the doctor examine you?"
One of the two guards grabbed his arm, but Erik shook himself free of the grip, noticing with at least a tiny portion of grim satisfaction that the man drew back in fear. The other held the electrical device close to Erik's chest. If Shaw had thought of everything, if there was no option for Erik to fight or refuse then at least he would not be dragged away and tied to a table like the frightened little boy he had been the last time.
"I just hope for your sake that your plan doesn't have a flaw," Erik spoke evenly as he got to Shaw's side, his quiet, low voice with a rough and threatening undertone that cost him all his strength to maintain. "Or else I will find a way to destroy you. This time I won't run away."
Shaw only smiled as he stepped away from the sickbed where Erik sat down, but he could not miss the sound of Shaw's ever so slightly elevated heartbeat.
Good.
~ TBC ~
Chapter 15