Touch of Death Chapter 8: Calm Before a Storm, a x-men fanfic

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The X-Men used in the following really awesome text do not belong to me.

A/N: And once again, I have slacked off in my writing…well, that's what freshman year of college will do to ya. But! Here it is, in all its lack-luster glory…thanks to Laura, Bryan, and Joey! (As usual )

The lab was almost silent, save for heavy breathing coming from A.J.'s direction. Dinah continued to stare in shock at the charred and bloody mess on the floor. Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and she snapped back to reality. Liz was crouched next to a young man. He had severe burns and was covered in blood. Dinah looked passed them and saw A.J., still in her animal form, battered and broken.

"Liz," Dinah spoke in a shaky voice. "Who's that?"

"Simon Leavy. He's an alumnae from this school." Liz didn't even look up as she checked Simon over for broken bones.

Dinah turned as she heard Rebecca's voice from the back of the room. She walked in and stood stunned at the site of the wreckage. All she could do was look from the floor to Dinah.

"D-Dinah…what…" Rebecca could barely speak. Dinah cut her off.

"Rebecca, listen carefully. I want you to clean up an area as best you can. Get together medical supplies and plenty of blankets. Get Jack to help you."

Rebecca nodded and looked away, still visibly shaken. Dinah watched her a moment longer, till she met up with Jack, then turned back to help Liz. By this time, Liz had gotten Simon onto his back and some of the blood cleared away from his face. She had moved on to A.J., and was crouched down, listening near her chest cavity.

"What's the situation, Liz?"

"Not good. Heartbeat is weak; she's struggling to breathe. She's got some really serious burns. Simon's got them bad too."

"Alright. Rebecca and Jack are cleaning up what they can and getting stuff together. Pip is…"

"Right 'ere. What do ye need?" Pip cut her off and put on his best expressionless face. He tried his best to ignore the smell of burnt flesh and blood."

"First, help Rebecca and Jack clean up an area. We need three beds…or as close to beds as we can get. Once that's underway find Darius and keep him out of here."

Pip nodded and headed towards the other end of the Med Lab. Dinah looked down at Liz and noticed that she was staring at Simon's body, seemingly lost in thought.

"Liz? Liz, are you alright?"

Liz remained motionless for a moment, and then blinked a few times before looking up at Dinah.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine."

"I need you, Liz. Don't leave me hangin'."

"I won't. I'm good." She nodded to herself then to Dinah, and then looked back at A.J. "Alright…we don't have any way to coax her back into human form, and the strain would probably kill her anyways. However, we gotta get her cleaned up and bandaged up before she gets any worse."

"What about Simon?"

"He's not in as bad a shape. A.J.'s first priority. I can lift her if I morph, and bring her into the lab."

"Alright, sounds good. Now," She looked around. "Where the hell is Touch? He came down before you didn't he?"

"Yeah. He could hardly wait to jump down here." Liz gazed around the room quickly, confused, and then looked back to A.J. She closed her eyes and drew her mind down to a spot deep inside her. The spot was festering, and if she prodded enough, the spot almost became alive in anger. If she continued to prod, there was a sensation of enormous pain, and then it would stop, leaving only the spot. She opened her eyes again and growled. She stretched her claws and flexed her newly formed muscles as she reached down and gently lifted up A.J.'s body. Even in her dragon form, she strained slightly at the weight.

Dinah looked her over once to see if she was all right, then led Liz towards the main room. Touch was nowhere in site, and Pip was just heading out to check on Darius. Jack seemed quieter than usual, though he put all his effort into clearing out the room. Rebecca had managed to put together a couple makeshift beds and was gathering linens. Liz gently laid A.J.'s body on one of the mattresses on the floor. Dinah and Rebecca immediately began to clean her up as best they could, and dressing her wounds.

Liz returned to the back room and picked up Simon's body. He stirred slightly, but seemed too weak to regain total consciousness. She laid him on the bed near A.J.'s and left him in Rebecca and Dinah's care. She stalked to the other side of the room and tried to get a trace on Touch. His scent ended about halfway across the room, like he had just vanished. Another scent lingered in the air; a female scent, though it was hard to get a solid lock on. Something else was troubling Liz. Very little of the blood on Simon was his own. He smelled heavily of Ziska's blood and she had a hard time imagining why. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind. Jack met her, carrying a large, white sheet.

"She's gone, ain't she?"

"There's not a whole lot left of her." Liz spoke in a low, growl.

Jack nodded and walked over to Ziska's body. He shook out the sheet and laid it over her body. The white sheet almost immediately became soaked crimson.

"It's not much, but she deserves that at least."

Liz nodded as Jack wandered back towards the main lab area. Liz closed her eyes again. She groaned slightly as she morphed back to human form. Feeling weak, she slid down a nearby wall and sat on the cold tile floor. She tasted blood in her mouth as she stared at the stained sheet on the floor.

Liz awoke to a cold, wet sensation on her face. She slowly opened her eyes and was surprised to see Logan staring back at her, holding an empty glass.

"Rise 'n shine, kiddo. We need you."

Liz thought he spoke a little more gruffly than usual. It took her another moment for the reality of what had just occurred to sink in. She squinted her eyes and rubbed her forehead.

"You did a couple of morphs in a short amount of time and without any break in between. You pretty much burned yerself out. Now you gotta suck it up and do it again."

Liz groaned as she shifted onto her knees and slowly started to rise. Logan offered a hand and she held on a little more tightly than she would have liked to admit.

"What do you need me for?" She shook away the last of the cobwebs and blinked her vision into focus.

"Blackbird went down. We need fliers to get everyone back here, and from the looks of it, supplies."

"How'd you get here?"

"Ororo was strong enough to bring me and Hank. He's gonna be busy takin' care o' the injured. Ororo was hurt bad too, but didn't want anyone t'know about it." Logan glanced over at the woman, lying down on a burnt mattress.

"Alright. You comin' or stayin'?"

"Well how else are ya gonna know where they are?"

"Alright, alright…give me a sec…" Liz concentrated like she did before but struggled even more to reach that spot. Several moments passed. Logan grew even more anxious.

"C'mon kid, I know it's tough but you gotta pull through."

Liz growled in frustration and was quickly loosing confidence. Finally she opened her eyes and stared blankly at Logan.

"Hit me."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"How the hell is that gonna help?"

"Just do it."

"Kiddo, look…"

"Just hit me, Logan. Pop the claws if you want, just give me your best shot."

"Liz…"

"Hit me, Logan!"

He sighed, then pulled back and decked her square in the jaw. There was a resounding pop as her jaw snapped out of alignment. She steadied herself against the wall, and for a moment Logan figured it was for nothing. The familiar glow began to surround her however, and within moments she was crouched before him growling and wiggling her jaw side to side.

"You alright, kiddo?"

"Just peachy. Now hold on."

She grabbed him and flew up through the hole in the ceiling. Once outside, they headed towards the smoky horizon in the direction of New York City.

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