Disclaimer: I do not own Erik Lehnsherr or any other Marvel Character.

Author's Note: This is a work in progress. Please Read and Review. The more reviews I get, the more I can get done and faster.

Chapter 1: The Closest Thing to Hell on Earth

1944- Auschiwtz

In its three years of use as a death camp, Auschwitz would claim over one million lives. Everywhere you looked, death and suffering greeted you. This was most definitely the closest thing to Hell on Earth. It was here that many learned that death was not the worst thing that could happen to you. Sometimes living could be worse. In death, the suffering was finally over. Death was a kindness that many prayed for and longed for in this place.

Then there were those that refused to give in to the longing for death. They were those that were determined to survive and overcome all the odds. To die would be to give the Nazi's another victory. Some would rather continue this great suffering and live rather than die and let their tormentors have another victory. Erik Lehnsherr was one of those people. He was a survivor and a fighter.

He would not be overcome by all the evil and hatred that was around him. His resolve was only strengthened each and every time he seen another prison treated cruelly. It was strengthened every time he watched families being separated. When the strong and young were sent to work, while the older and sickly were sent to the gas chambers. His resolve grew each time he removed and checked the bodies in the crematoria. He would survive this Hell on earth, and he would have his revenge on these monsters.

These thoughts ran through his sharp mind on this starless night. The stars were hidden by the clouds on this night, just like everything else that was bright and brought hope was hidden in this place. The young man stood next to one of the many barb wired fences in this place, thinking. His tattered striped prison clothing hung loosely from extremely thin limbs. Every prisoner in this place was malnourished, underfed and sickly looking. There was barely anything but skin and bones left of them. Men that had come here young and strong now looked old and frail. That's what happened in places like this. Auschwitz sucked away all that was strong and in exchange left old and broken things. It demolished everything that was associated with prosperous times. It was a place where things were broken. That was the purpose of this place, and it served its purpose very well.

This young man refused to be broken by this place though. Each and every day he told himself that he would not fall to evil of this hell. He would rise above it and survive it. He was drawn from such spirited thoughts by the sound of muffled weeping. That was not a very uncommon sound in this place. It was one that he had grown used to. Grown used to, but not accepted. Every time another wail reached his ears, he cringed inwardly and then quickly stored away the rage that rose up in him. What right did these men have to torture and murder their fellow human beings? Of course, these monsters did not think of their prisoners as human beings. Erik knew that they prisoners were more human than the monsters that brought about such hell would ever be.

Silently he looked around for the source of the crying. It was late and most people were already sleeping. He himself was up only because this was a good time to think. The noises were very few at this point in the day and he was less likely to be disturbed. It was dangerous to do too much thinking while he was working. If he were caught drifting off into his own thoughts instead of solely focused on his work, he would probably become one of the bodies headed for the crematoria, rather than the man that moved the bodies there. That was his job in this place. He moved the mangled and tortured bodies to the crematoria. It was a horrid job that he would not wish on anyone, but it kept him alive. He stayed out of the way from such men as Nosferatu that way.

He feared the albino man they called Nosferatu. Some thought of him as their own Oscar Schindler, saving those that he took away for a time to take blood from and then giving them candy. Many of the children went to him and gave blood, only thinking of the candy that was promised. None of those children were ever seen again. Many thought that he had helped them to escape, but Erik did not think so. He had no evidence of this man's evil, at least not at first, but his instincts told him to avoid this man. So he had become a Sonderkommando, a man that brought the bodies to the crematoria and then cleaned it out. It had been there that he had found the mutilated bodies of his friends. Those poor children that had gone to Nosferatu. He had made them monsters, and then murdered them.

He shook his shaved head slightly, drawing himself forth from such thoughts. Now was not the time to think on such things, he told himself as his eyes finally landed on the source of the muffled weeping sound. Curled up on the ground was a young woman, muffling her tears by bending her head down into her chest. Like all the other prisoners at this hell on earth, her head was shaved bald. She was unnaturally thin and he could have counted every bone on her body. She was a rather pitiful sight, and his heart was moved with compassion for her.

Silently he walked over towards the young woman, crouching down next to her and laying a dirty hand on her shoulder. With a jolt she uncurled and looked at him, large brown eyes staring at him in a frightened matter for a moment. Large brown eyes, just like his sister's…. She tried to hold back her sobs, though the tears still ran freely down her dirty cheeks.

"Shhh. Don't cry. Everything's going to be alright," he said in a gentle and hushed voice. As she continued to stare at him, he offered a small smile.

A small and shaky smile appeared on her face, though tears continued to run down her cheeks.

"There now. Why are you crying?" he asked, his voice still soft and gentle. The poor girl was obviously frightened and scared. He felt the urge to comfort and look after her, just like he had tried to do with his sister. After a few more choked subs, she managed to speak up.

"My…my brother…my brother was taken to the…to the…the gas chambers," and here a few more sobs were bit back. "He'd fallen sick…so they took him…there. He…he promised to look after me. But now he's gone…" The girl's voice trailed off into sobs once again and she buried her face between filthy and slender palms.

A great wave of compassion washed over Erik. Like many others here - like himself - she had lost family. He could understand that pain. So many of them here could understand that pain. And now she had lost the one person that had promised to protect her. He had once promised his sister that he would protect her. He'd tried so hard to do just that, but he had only been a boy at the time. She'd just gotten so sick, from the lack of food and horrid conditions they lived in, that she'd simply faded away. A small tear came to his own eye at the remembrance of such times.

"I'll look after you now. I'll make sure that you're kept safe. I'll protect you now," he whispered to her, gently moving her so that she was cradled in his arms.

She turned her head towards his chest and continued to cry, nodding her head at his words. There was so little hope now that even when small amounts of it were offered, like this small bit had been offered by this stranger, you had to accept it and hold on for dear life. It was all they had left now. It was all she had left now.

Erik continued to hold her, comforting her as best as he could. He wasn't sure why he had felt so moved to protect her, but he had. Maybe it was the fact that he had not been able to protect his sister before this, and so now that he had stumbled upon this weeping young woman, he was going to try again. He was going to make up for his failure to protect his sister. Maybe it was the fact that she looked so lonely and weak, sitting there weeping to herself. He couldn't quite be sure, but whatever the case was, he had vowed to protect her and take care of her, and that was what he was going to do.

After a few more minutes of her crying, she leaned back slightly and looked up at him. Her tears still fell down her cheeks, but not so strongly as before.

"Thank you," she whispered, leaning her weary head against his shoulder. For some reason she trusted this man. She believed him when he said that he was going to protect her and look after her.

A small smile came across his lips when she whispered her thanks.

"Your welcome. I'm Erik," he said, realizing they did not yet know each others names.

"I'm Magda," she said, her own voice no more than a tired whisper. Before anything else could be said, the young woman had fallen asleep, exhausted from her tears and no doubt the long days trying work.

Don't worry little Magda. I'll look after you. I'll protect you. I promise.

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