TITLE: Haven
AUTHOR: Macx
RATING: NC-17
SERIES: Shifter 'verse
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belongs to me, sadly. They are owned by people with a lot more money :)
FEEDBACK: Loved
SUMMARY: Charles pays a visit to their closest neighboring town, Haven. A place where mutant powers are suppressed by a kind of natural shielding. Curious as to how something like this can exist, Charles starts digging into the past.
AUTHOR's note: I'm using the tv show Haven for a crossover, but not the current season. For those who know Haven they'll notice right away where in the past I am. For the ones who have no idea about Haven: this is about thirty to thirty-five years before the pilot episode.
You don't really have to know the show to read the fic and hopefully enjoy it!
All musings and speculations about what Haven really is comes completely from my wired braincell.
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Going into Haven was always like pulling a thick blanket over his head. Charles had been to the town a few times in the past four years, but every time he had felt like something was trying to neutralize who and what he was. At first it was almost a relief to open his mind, to drop his shields, but after a while it was simply… disturbing. The effect wasn't limited to the town center either. It encompassed a wide area around Haven and the weird feeling began about five miles before the town's official limits.
Charles had wondered about Haven from the first moment he'd heard about it. It was a town for the Cursed, it was a true haven for them, and they lived peacefully together with those who had voluntarily moved into the fishing village. Those without a Curse. Those who maybe had a relative or a friend who was a mutant.
But where Westchester was filled with Cursed who lived and worked with their very active mutations, who trained and wanted to understand what they could do in the safety of a small community who didn't shun them, Haven seemed to dampen whatever the man or woman or child in question could do.
How?
Charles had yet to find a good answer to that question. And even if there was one, did he want Westchester to be like Haven?
No, he didn't. The Shifter felt that to accept a Curse meant to live with the potential, not lock it away.
"Less trouble with the Troubles," Chief of Police Garland Wuornos had said when Charles had remarked on it the first time.
"But when they leave, their gifts will come back, Chief."
"Haven't heard of anyone leaving voluntarily yet."
And that had been that.
Ever since that first visit, neighbor to neighbor, Charles had come back from time to time. Only briefly, never to stay overnight, and always talking to the residents, to their family and friends, trying to find the source of this neutral zone.
So far, no success.
x x x x x x x
Erik had never accompanied Charles before, but he had been aware of the effects the town had on his lover. So this time he had come along. It was a nice day, sunny, blue sky, cool winds. Ororo had mentioned a shift in the weather and that they might have to consider cutting their visit short.
The Shark didn't think he would mind getting out of Haven as soon as possible if it truly neutralized who and what he was.
The trip to Haven was spent almost silently. The landscape went by unnoticed. The road needed repairs and some potholes were bone-jarring. It snaked along the rugged coastline with breathtaking views of the ocean and the rough rocks jutting out of the water. Erik had come this way as a shark before, but he had never gone to land. He had never been to Haven, this far north, in all his restless moves from one house to another.
The town was located on a neck of land reaching east from the coast. The long stretch split in two further out and only a few people lived there. Charles had mentioned Haven Beach, which seemed to be a nice location. Three larger islands dotted out into the sea, none of them inhabited, though not for lack of trying, but the rough seas and the lack of regular supplies made it impossible to survive the winters.
Maybe it had been instinctual on Erik's part to make a wide detour around the place; maybe it had been the fact that so many people lived here. With almost a thousand inhabitants, Haven was one of the largest towns along the coast. Charles had mentioned that the people there were a tightly-knit group, not welcoming to strangers. Cursed were always greeted openly, but those without an affliction were seen as dangerous outsiders.
No wonder, he mused. The Cursed were shunned, cast from home and families in some areas and towns, and some were even hunted. He understood the reservations about newcomers.
The moment the dampening took effect, Erik tensed. Charles looked strangely confused for a moment, then a steep line appeared between his eyes, as if he was trying to pierce the shield that was making him… normal.
"What about Shifting?" Erik asked.
"I actually never tried." Charles looked torn. "I'm not sure I want to do it now. Try, I mean."
Erik's lips became a thin line. He concentrated on a coin in the centre console and tried to lift it, but his powers seemed like switched off.
Anger curled through him.
How could anyone be this cruel? How could anyone think that dampening or taking the Curse away would help those afflicted?
The coin trembled a little and he huffed a dark laugh. Charles raised an eyebrow.
"Anger helps," the Shark commented. He focused it on the coin and it shot through the air, through the truck's roof, and away. "Whoops."
"Erik," came the mild chiding.
"You're all for training," was the only reply. "I'm training. Against this shield."
Charles fell silent, clearly thoughtful. "We're two miles from town. The closer we get, the more the effect takes place."
"You want me to repeat it while in Haven?"
It got him a neutral look, but Erik knew he would do it again. He was angry enough and he suspected it would work.
x x x x x x x
It did.
Actually, it worked really well. The twisted metal that had been the police station's guard rail was proof of it. Charles looked intrigued, as did Wuornos.
"Anger, hm? Explains a few odds and ends here or there."
"Anyone ever get angry enough?" Erik asked, ignoring the twisted remains.
Wournos, who was maybe in his thirties, shrugged. "Here, you get all kinds of people. And all kinds of weird. Some's normal, some's the Curses. We call them Troubles. They've been here for a long, long time. People came to this town because it had something that neutralized whatever Curse was afflicting them" He turned to Charles. "Got what you asked for. It's quite a collection and I'd appreciate it if you read it here."
"I will. I wouldn't ask you for the originals to take with me, Chief. I know how important those documents are."
"Then follow me, professor."
Erik smirked at the title. While Charles had graduated and had two doctorates – which had floored the Shark the first time his lover had told him – he wasn't a real professor.
At least not a college or university one. He had no official classes or students. Everyone called him 'professor', though.
The Chief led them into the three-story red brick building that housed the Haven police. Haven was a lot older than Westchester and there had been people living here continuously. Charles had told him that the first settlers had come from Europe, cast out and looking for a new home. They had found it here. The old houses that made up the town center had been restored, but the newer ones were brick. The harbor still existed and people made a living from fishing.
Charles and Erik were led to what looked like an old storage room and now held an ancient desk the size of a billiard table, several shelves, and two chairs. A moth-eaten couch had been shoved against one wall. Boxes were stacked one on top of another.
"All of that?" Charles asked, surprised.
"All we could find. I believe there's more."
"Wow," the Shifter murmured.
Wuornos chuckled. "We got a nice little Bed&Breakfast. Have fun, you two. Lemme know if you want something to eat. Emmi makes a mean chili."
Charles smiled. "I will."
And then they were alone.
"I think we should have brought Hank and Raven along," Erik muttered as he studied the boxes, then took one off the stack. "Anything you're looking for?"
"Anything on the founding days of Haven. Who came here, what were their Curses. Anything that can tell us how this town neutralizes a Curse so much that it seems to disappear."
"Not neutralized. Dampened. Anger undoes whatever this is. And the question is, can you still Shift?"
Charles looked uneasy again. Erik closed the distance, sliding a large palm along his jaw, rubbing his thumb over the smooth cheek.
"What do you fear?"
The other Shifter was silent, then closed his eyes, leaning into the caress. "What if it doesn't work completely? What if I get stuck somewhere…. Halfway?"
Erik leaned in, kissing his forehead. "With cute little rat ears and a tail?"
"Erik…"
"I understand, really. Can you feel the Shifter?"
Charles was silent, apparently looking for that point inside him, then finally shook his head.
"Neither can I," the Shark said.
Blue eyes met gray. Charles wrapped his arms around the other man's lean waist, hugging him.
"It feels strange," he murmured into the black shirt. "I've been like this all my life and in Haven… it's like I'm living someone's dream. Maybe I dreamed I'm a telepath or a Shifter."
"If you're dreaming, so am I. We're sharing a dream." Erik chuckled, disturbing the wavy hair. "Let's get to work on this. I'm not planning to stay here over night."
Charles smiled thinly. "Neither do I."
x x x x x x x
As it turned out, they couldn't leave. The weather annihilated their plans of going back to Westchester. Fog so thick you couldn't see your hand in front of your eyes made it impossible to walk safely, let alone drive. Charles looked extremely unhappy.
They had dinner at a local restaurant, which was currently not really busy. Anyone with any sense had stayed home. Hettie, the owner, cook and waitress for the evening, served them delicious steaks and cold beer. Charles was trying to act normal, but anyone who knew him would have realized he wasn't on his game.
Hettie asked them a few pleasant questions, then bustled off to clean the kitchen. Erik played with his nearly empty glass, eyes drifting to the windows now and then. The fog was getting even thicker, if that was at all possible.
"You boys have a good night," Hettie said when they left after paying.
It wouldn't be, Erik knew. Charles had gone completely silent as they left the restaurant and he looked lost.
Even the cozy, warm and generously large en-suite room they rented for a night couldn't make up for having to stay in this place. Any other time the charming, ever-green overgrown house that overlooked a now invisible bay – the fog shrouded everything in a world of white that was almost disconcerting – would have been lovely, but now it was more like a trap.
Erik watched his partner as he undressed for bed. The Shark always had a bag with spare clothes in the old truck and it came in handy now. Charles was moving like he was on automatic, but now and then he stopped and seemed to mentally reach for something, then find it missing.
The anchor.
The connection to Erik.
His psychic powers in general.
Gazing out the window, there was nothing for them to see. The porch lights were nothing but faint blobs in the whiteness and beyond that, the world seemed to end. The next house might or might not exist.
Already changed into shorts and a t-shirt, Erik walked over to the semi-undressed Shifter and pulled him into a hug.
"I'm here," he said, brushing his lips over one temple. "I'm here."
The telepath held on to him like Erik was his lifeline. "I know. I know you're there, but it's… " He stopped, pressing his head against Erik's shoulder and inhaling sharply. "I feel like… I'm not me. I've been a telepath all my life, Erik! All my fucking life! I'm not any more. I'm missing a limb." He raised his head, the blue eyes swimming with despair. "And you. You've been there for so long…"
Framing the pale face, kissing the soft lips, Erik knew it was wrong to feel this good at the words while Charles suffered from the dampening effect. But hearing those words, knowing how important he was…
Normally Charles would chide him now, aware of his thoughts, open and loving and accepting. But there was nothing and it brought Erik back to reality.
"I'm still there."
And if Charles got angry enough, he might just pierce the shields. But if he did, things might turn out to be a lot worse than a night of cut-off powers. Anger was never a good controller. Anger was hard to control on its own; add the Curse and it was downright suicidal to hope for a blast of fury.
Charles kissed him again, almost desperate. His hands slipped under the black shirt and Erik was quite aware that this was only going to be a replacement for the loss the telepath felt, nothing more. Well, a little more. He loved Charles and Charles loved him, so it wasn't meaningless. Still…
But he gave in. He gave Charles what he craved, a sensation other than the emptiness and silence in his mind. He let him feel with his other five senses and he let him guide everything until the other Shifter was ready to be led.
Lying together later, listening to the exhausted man's soft breaths, Erik cursed the town. Haven might be a safe place for the Cursed, but wasn't in any way helping. It suppressed what these people had been born with. Erik was one of them and he was proud of what he could do, what he was.
Focusing the anger on the bedside lamp he rearranged the metal into something a lot less pleasing and artistic. Charles moved uneasily beside him and he ran a soothing caress over the floppy hair.
They would leave tomorrow. He would make sure of that.
tbc...