Institutionalized: Chapter 9-Ashes
Here I sit
Waiting for you with a cold cup of coffee
And a burnt cigarette
That has fallen like ashes
Slowly from me
I search myself alone
Here I sit
Waiting for you with a suitcase packed
And an eight by ten
That reminds me of ashes
It's grey and faded
I search myself alone
*****
A great big firey explosion errupted, shaking the entire building. There was a tremendous boom, making it seem for a long time that everything turned black and white in a big puff of smoke and nothing moved.
"Oh God." Jean gasped, bracing herself against a wall as they entered the building.
Rogue froze for a second before she mimicked her teammate's actions and braced herself due to the shaking and the loud, frightening sound. "What the hell was that?!"
Putting her hands to her temples to scan the area, Jean's eyes widened and she turned to Rogue with a worried look on her face. "An explosion." she whispered, gaining a new sense of dread and taking off down the corridors in a run, shorting out surveilance equipment along the way.
*****
A hazy, thick, black, screen of smoke and debris engulfed Cell Block-C from the explosion. There were hunks of wall and ceiling scattered everywhere, and some parts of the corridor remained on fire. Almost every cell on the block was destroyed from flames, all except for the cell that Jethro was supposed to be in, because the locked room was fire-proof due to his unique abilities. It was unsure exactly how he had gotten out and even been able to use his powers, but the fact was that he was probably off his meds and had escaped while being taken to the showers or something.
A pile of rubble near the enormous hole where the recent explosion took place started to shake, a muffled groan escaping the dirt, debris, and flame. Logan pushed more of the broken up concrete and ceiling off his fallen body as he tried to free himself, coughing from all the dust and smoke.
Logan shakily got to his feet, continuing to cough from the smoke. He tilted his neck to the side until it cracked loudly, and he had to brace himself against the wall because of shaky legs. He then realized that his hands were burned, and the bubbly, scarred skin hurt like hell, especially with the metal cuffs still rubbing against the tender flesh. Logan looked himself over, noticing his badly burned chest which had received most of the blast from the explosion since he was facing the wall that blew. He felt scrapes and gashes along his back from the chunk of ceiling and roof that had collapsed on him, and knew that his healing factor was working at a snail's pace since he had no fuel for his system.
Struggling to get to his feet, Logan peered with narrowed eyes through the smoke in search of the fiery mutant that had caused the big boom. Because of all the smoke, he couldn't use his sense of smell to detect if Jethro was around, but he had a feeling he was alright and had taken off. Stepping out of the rubble he had all around him, Logan pressed his scarred bare feet on the ugly green tiles. The floor felt hot to the soles of his feet, still burnt like the rest of him and the entire corridor, from the flames that flickered in random places all around.
*****
"Come on Rogue, here's his cell block!!" Jean shouted anxiously as they approached the door that had long since been blown apart. She coughed, putting a cupped hand over her mouth and using her other arm to screen out the smoke over her eyes.
Rogue ran after her, the leather uniform making her sweat, but protecting her skin from the harsh flames as they ran into the smoke-filled hall through the space where the door used to be.
The lingering thick black smoke was overpowering, and Jean had to create a telekinetic field around herself and Rogue so they'd have breathable air. All she could do was think about Logan being trapped in this. Stepping over debris and walking past the empty cell where Logan should have been, Jean spotted a staggering figure where most of the flames and smoke were coming from.
"Jean?" Rogue started, noticing the same thing that her teammate was looking at. "Is it him?" she asked urgently, afraid that it wasn't.
Jean silently moved forward, urging Rogue to stay close so she could keep her in the telekinetic air bubble. Once getting through the smoke and more debris, she was sure who it was. "Logan!" Jean cried, rushing towards him and opening the air bubble quickly to allow him access, trying hard to keep the smoke from following him in.
Coughing harshly and dropping to his knees, Logan wiped the dust from his eyes to make sure that the people he was hearing and seeing were real and that he wasn't imagining it. "Jean?...Rogue?" he called out weakly.
With a relieved sigh, Rogue smiled greatfully. "Yeh Logan, we're here ta get'cha out."
"I thought...I was gonna...gonna hafta start..lookin' fer ya...myself." he managed to get out through coughing fits.
Jean smiled with hot tears trailing down her cheeks as she knelt beside Logan, noticing his scrapes and burns. She gently touched his shoulder, a part of his body that hadn't been scarred by burns and was barely scraped. "Logan you're badly burned. These haven't healed yet?"
He shook his head side to side slowly, looking up and seeing Rogue's concerned face as she hovered behind Jean. "Healin'...slowed down. No..energy." he said slowly, grimacing as he managed to get to his feet. He barely noticed his faded blue pants, torn and burned in a dozen places. Logan looked up sharply when his sensitive ears picked up a distant sound from outside.
"What is it?" Rogue asked, looking behind her to check for guards. Luckily, none of the guards or orderlies were brave enough to enter this tunnel of fire, or they'd have more problems then they could handle.
"Sirens." Logan coughed out before clearing his dry, scratchy throat.
"The fire department." Jean confirmed out loud, mostly to herself. If so, that might actually give the three of them a way out. With firemen rushing in to evacuate everyone, they might be able to get away unnoticed with all the scuffle. "We have to leave..right now." she told both Rogue and Logan, looking to each of them with glazed and determined green eyes.
Rogue sadly glanced down at Logan's bare feet. "Jean, his feet look pretty bad, can he even walk?" she asked nervously.
Logan grunted and began stepping forward slowly without any help. "I'll manage, as long as..we get outta here."
Jean nodded, and she and Rogue immediately got on either side of Logan and draped one of his arms over their shoulders to help him along.
Grimacing at every step he took, with some help Logan managed to hobble along the way Jean and Rogue had entered the building, protected by the telepath's TK shield.
*****
Outside the psychiatric hospital, the atmosphere was loud and chaotic. Patients were kept in small groups with orderlies and guards, some being taken into ambulances for injuries or to be controlled. There was shouting and confusion, firemen and paramedics rushing all over the place, heading in the building to contain the devastating fire.
Jean, Rogue, and Logan snuck around the back of the building as they made their way to the car on the street away from all the commotion. Just to be absolutely safe, Jean put a telepathic cloak around the three of them so that if anyone looked their way, they wouldn't see anything but air.
Jean noticed a very furious looking Mr. Cross standing outside near a fire truck with his arms crossed, shaking his head at the destruction. She couldn't help but smile wryly at the thought of him realizing he'd lost such a valuable patient when it was all done. No matter though, because Professor Xavier would take care of everything.
"Hey Jean, what ever happened ta the Professor? He's still comin' right?" Rogue asked as they helped Logan lay across the back seat of the car before he passed out from exhaustion.
Lost in her own thoughts, Jean looked to Rogue, closing the back door of the car and walking around to get into the driver's seat. "Huh? Oh, he's going to pick us up at the hotel. He wasn't able to get here in time." she tapped the side of her head. "I contacted him when we got here, luckily we didn't need his help getting Logan out. We will need him tomorrow though to explain why Logan's gone missing from the hospital." she received a nod from Rogue as she started up the car and quickly began driving away.
Jean couldn't help but glance back at Logan lying asleep in the backseat, feeling a little guilty about what had happened to him. After all, it was the fact that she had previously loved Scott and not him that drove Logan away. Jean had to wonder though, now that she and Scott had been drifting apart...was Logan a possibility as her new love? Or had Jean always left part of her heart with him?
Who's out there waiting for someone to take them away
If I search long enough
I might find that someone
Waiting to take me away
........yeah but not today
*****
