1962 - charles xavier

F O U R T E E N

I look at the last second to see Erik raise his hand and stop the dozens of missiles, leaving them all hanging in the air in silence. He turns them back to face towards the ships.

"Erik, you said yourself that we're the better men. This is the time to prove it," Charles says in an attempt to save the lives of the soldiers. "There are thousands of men on those ships. Good, honest, innocent men. They're just following orders."

"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders," Erik turns to look at Charles and I. "Never again."

He tosses the missiles towards the ships, and I lift my hands in an attempt to stop them. I get a grasp on them, but my feet begin to be dragged through the sand.

"Erik, release them!" Charles shouts, latching onto my waist more firmly with his arms to prevent my sliding. When Erik does not cease, Charles lets go of me, running to tackle the tall man into the sand.

I fall backwards when Erik releases the missiles, and the two men roll a few feet in the sand. Some of the missiles explode in the air and fall into the sea, missing the targeted fleets. Henry, Alex, and Sean try to intervene when the two friends begin to fight, but Erik tosses them back using the metal on their uniforms. Erik pins Charles down before regaining control of the remaining missiles.

"Erik, stop!" Charles screams, pushing at the man who has him down.

Erik punches Charles in the face, and I run towards them to try to put a stop to it. I catch Erik off-guard and manage to shove him off of Charles, but he just reaches out and takes better control of the missiles that haven't exploded yet. I reach towards the missiles, but Erik sharply hits the back of my head, making my ears ring as Charles tries to stand.

I hear a gunshot, and I look up to see Moira aiming a gun at Erik. She shoots again with a determined look on her face.

"Moira, N-" I start to shout, knowing that Erik could use the weapon against her.

Erik deflects a bullet with his hand, and I hear Charles cry out in pain as he falls back down beside me, hit by the bullet on his lower back.

"Charles!" I scream as he falls into my arms, crushing me underneath his weight.

Erik drops to his knees beside us and Charles grunts when he is flipped over by him.

"I'm so sorry," Erik grits out, propping Charles' shoulders up on his lap. "Back off!" he yells to the boys, who try to walk closer. Erik looks up, locking eyes with Moira. "You," he snarls. "You did this."

Erik lifts her metal dogtag necklace, wrapping it tightly around her throat as she begins to choke. I try to fight his grip that he has on it, but cannot fight it off.

"Please," Charles whispers to him. "She didn't do this, Erik. You did."

Erik releases Moira, and she falls to her knees on the beach, gasping for breath. He looks down at Charles mournfully.

"Us turning on each other... It's what they want. I tried to warn you, Charles. I want you by my side. We're brothers, you and I... All of us together. Protecting each other. We want the same thing."

"Oh, my friend," Charles chucked ruefully. "I'm sorry, but we do not."

"Charles! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry Charles!" Moira cries out.

"It's alright." Charles assures her as Erik gets up.

He rests his head against my lap, pulling my hand to his lips and pressing a kiss to my palm.

"This society won't accept us," I hear Erik begin to address the kids. "We form our own. The humans have played their hand! Now we get ready to play ours... Who's with me?" he pauses before holding his hand out towards Raven. "No more hiding."

She nods, walking towards him slowly, looking at where Charles and I are huddled before looking at Erik's outstretched hand. She looks back towards us and Charles lets out another moan of pain. She kneels down beside us, grabbing his hand.

"You should go with him," Charles pants out. "It's what you want."

"You promised me you would never read my mind." She says.

"I know." Charles says. "I promised you a great many things, I'm afraid... I'm sorry." he kisses her gloved hand.

Raven leans down and kisses his forehead before looking up at me and saying. "Take care of him."

"I will." I whisper, my heart thrumming in my chest as she gets up and takes Erik's hand.

I watch as Angel, Azazel, and Riptide walk over to Erik, grabbing each other's hands.

"And Beast!" Raven calls out to my brother. "Never forget: Mutant and proud."

Erik nods to Azazel, who makes the five of them disappear with a puff of red and black smoke. Sean, Alex, and Henry all run over towards us, trying to help Charles up off of the ground so we can get him to a hospital.

"Wait, don't-" Hank says as Charles screams in pain. "Charles, don't move."

"I do- I- Actually, I c... I can't feel my legs... I can't feel my legs... I can't feel my legs." Charles says, hugging himself closer to me, burying his face against my stomach.

꧁꧁꧂꧂

The elderly couple lie in bed with each other for the last time. The man falls asleep, overcome by his physical and mental exhaustion. The woman weakly turns her head to face him, a fond smile pulling at her thin lips.

"I love you so much, Charles," she whispers to his sleeping form with tears in her eyes. "I hope that Heaven is just going to be the two of us together... Young and playful again," she chuckles, her shaking hand squeezing his gently. "I think I would like that," she closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I'm ready now," she says, looking up towards the heavens. "Goodbye, Charles. I love you."

With these last words passing over her tongue, she closes her eyes one last time, knowing that if she fell asleep, she wouldn't wake in the morning.

As she allows herself to be pulled into her eternity, she squeezes her husband's hand one more time with a gentle whisper.

"I love you."