Death was an incurable disease, it had been so for hundreds and hundreds of years. The only cure that had been found was to not procreate if you even only suspected you carried the gene. A terrible disease, really…And society looked down upon those that had it. They didn’t respect them, isolating those people on a planet once called The Earth, but now called The Quarantine.
Of course, the High Society didn’t want to torture them by starving them, the fact that they died no matter what was already a high enough price to pay. So, they assigned humans with the task of looking after the planet of the dying for a couple of years. Usually, no one lasted more than two or three years. Until him.
…
Charles Xavier had enrolled into this job, he always wanted to be a psychologist. And what better way to test those abilities out than making sure the dying will go with a nice thought about their life? It wasn’t the perfect plan, but it was one thing. Besides, Charles couldn’t say he cared too much about the dying’s lives, so he got through talking with each one fairly easily.
That was, until he met Erik Lehnsherr.
Erik…wasn’t the same as the others. The others, they were desperately trying to find a reason to live, a way to keep their lives, something. They wanted a cure, they wanted to come back to their families, their loved ones.
And yet…This man, Lehnsherr, he had no such wishes. He was awaiting death with a smile on his face, with a calm heart, with a peaceful mind. And Charles…Charles couldn’t understand. How could a man be so calm about dying, about suddenly not existing? It was far too weird, far too…exciting. Xavier had to find out more about this human.
‘So tell me,’ He started, looking into Erik’s eyes as he spoke. ‘How…How aren’t you afraid of death? Everyone I’ve met had been and you…you expect it so calmly?’
‘Well, my good friend, if I can even consider you a friend, what’s the point of living if you have no purpose to?’ Erik had answered, the same calm tone as always, the tone that drove Charles mad because how could he not want to live?!
…
Days, and weeks, and months passed, and Charles…He couldn’t say he hadn’t grown attached. Everything, from how Erik greeted him in the morning, to Erik’s beautiful green eyes (or blue? Charles could never tell.) drove him mad with love, with attachment, with…with something he never felt before.
Grief.
The thought that Erik would soon enough be gone was a fact Charles couldn’t accept, no matter what. He couldn’t bear the fact that the man, the german with such a beautiful heart and mind, wasn’t going to be there with him forever. And that wasn’t even the most painful thing from seeing Erik.
The most painful thing was the fact that Erik wanted it. He expected it. It made Charles want to break something, to scream at Erik, to run back to his home planet and find the fucking cure.
‘Why?’ He eventually screamed, one day, out of nowhere.
‘What?’
‘Why don’t you want to live? Why do you accept death so easily? Is it that easy for you? I can barely bear with the thought of you not being here and you accept it so fast, so easy, so…’ Charles was at a loss of words, trying to stop himself from crying. How…pathetic. The main reason he had been recruited was because he had sworn not to get attached, and look at him now…
‘Charles, Liebchen…’ Erik started, putting his hand on Charles’ face as he moved the shorter one’s chin up, looking into those beautiful blue eyes. ‘I lost…everything. My mom, murdered when I was no more than 10 by a man long gone now, dead from the same thing I will die from. And you’re wrong to think I want to die. Ever since I met you, I never wanted more than to live, live with you…Charles…’ The man’s heart was breaking as Charles pulled him into a kiss, tears running on his cheeks. He didn’t even care now, the fact that there was a chance he could get the virus too, he had to feel those lips once before his one and only love died.
‘I shouldn’t have done that, Erik, I’m—’ He murmured, letting go of his lover’s lips as the other grabbed his hand. ‘I’m glad you did. I can at least feel a little joy before I die.’
It wasn’t long before Charles swore to stay with him until the inevitable. He didn’t want to leave Erik, never, he knew there was no cure, and at this point, he wanted to get the disease himself. What was the point in living in a world without him?
…
Erik’s death was short, unexpected, and full of pain for Charles. Xavier hadn’t contacted the virus, something he was congratulated for. For the rest of his days, he would be haunted by Erik’s last words.
‘Don’t let him go through the same thing.’
The man had had a son with a woman, a son he never got to meet, but he knew existed. And Charles was determined to find a cure, to keep Erik’s son alive. But the first thing was to make sure he would never fall in love, would never feel the pain Erik and Charles felt due to each other.
Peter. His son’s name was Peter.
…
Those that do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.
The Quarantine was emptier than ever, but sadly, the cure wasn’t working on everyone. Peter was anxiously waiting for his results, a dark feeling in his chest that they wouldn’t be what he had hoped for.
Next to him, holding his hand, was a blue boy with uncommon yellow eyes, repeating over and over in german that it’d be fine, although not even he was sure of it.
His name was Kurt Wagner, and he didn’t have the heart to tell Peter that the cure had failed.