Prue L. Lawrence—1/9/2015

**Disclaimer! I did not create these

Rogue got up. "I am."

Bobby sighed. "Elsa, will you help me?"

"Yeah." She put her arm under his, and stood up slowly.

"What happened to you, Iceman?" Blake asked, his tone sounding arrogant. (

Bobby scowled. "Shut up, long story. Where is everyone?"

Blake pointed out the door. "See for yourself.

The four of them stepped out of the room together. Students were out of bed; some in nightgowns, others in their bare boxer shorts. Either way, it didn't seem to bother anyone. The school was in pandemonium. Several students passed by, and one girl asked Rogue what was going on, but Rogue shook her head mutely.

"Where is Xavier? He'll be in the middle of this," Blake said, glancing back and forth.

"That's what we're asking you," Rogue replied bitterly.

Blake grunted, and beckoned them forward.

Jean reappeared, and her face darkened at the sight of them. "I thought I told you to stay in Rogue's room!" Her red hair was flowing back from her face in sweaty clumps, ironically resembling fire. She was furious. "Get back!"

"Jean, what's going on?" Elsa asked, desperately. "We're all scared, please."

"Xavier has everything covered. Now, go!" She ushered them back into the room. A lock clicked, and Elsa knew they were locked inside.

"Now what?" Bobby asked, irritably.

Rogue sighed, exasperated. Blake's expression could barely be read for his glasses. Elsa stared at Bobby. An idea suddenly clicked in her mind.

"Why don't we just freeze the lock? It would break, wouldn't it?"

"What good would that do?" Blake asked. He imitated Jean in a high pitched voice, meant to sound female. "Shoo, go!"

"No, it could work," Bobby said, light coming into his eyes. "Elsa, we should do it together."

"Jean would want us to stay here," Rogue said, frowning.

"If anywhere's safe, it's with Jean, or Xavier, Rogue.," Bobby told her. She scowled.

"How do you know? We're in a locked room."

"What about the tunnels underneath the school?" Elsa asked. Everyone turned to look at her.

"How do you know about those?" Bobby asked.

Elsa felt heat rise in her cheeks. "Xavier told me about them once. When a man… Xavier said he came after Logan." She paused. "You don't think there are more men like him after this school, do you?" Her blood turned cold at the thought.

"No, I don't think so," Bobby said. "At any rate—"

The door burst open, and Logan stood there, heaving; he was dressed in a sleeveless white shirt. Muscles rippled through the shirt, and Elsa saw how big this man really was. His chest was the size of a barrel. Elsa opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. "Change of plans, kids. Come with me."

Logan guided them down the hallways. From what Elsa could see, he had his metal claws out. His expression was feral, his dark eyes glinting dangerously as they darted across the hallways, into doors, and out of windows.

"Logan, what's going on?" Bobby asked. His eyes shone through the dark, brightly blue.

"I dunno," Logan replied, gruffly. "Some psycho."

"What would they want with this school?" Elsa blurted out. Logan turned to look at her.

"Are you serious?" He asked, his eyes boring into Elsa's. She took an involuntary step back. He continued anyway. "You kids, with powers like yours, there are plenty of reasons someone would want to invade this school. First of all, you're human weapons. Second—" He stared at Elsa. "They could be here because of you.

"You don't know that," Bobby spat, glaring at Logan. "Don't act like this is Elsa's fault. She's innocent. Xavier brought her here. Or did you forget?" His brow furrowed, staring acridly at Logan.

"No one's blaming anyone," Rogue said hastily. "Do you, Logan?" Her eyes bored into Logan's. Elsa had a fleeting memory come up to the surface, Bobby telling her how close Logan and Rogue had become.

Logan's eyes hardened. "I'm not blaming anybody. Those are the facts, Rogue."

Rogue quieted at this, and Logan turned back to guide them along the hallways.

"Where are you taking us?" Elsa asked, frantically. Though his earlier statement stung, he did have a point, and she wasn't going to hold it against him. He was right. Those were the facts, and she wouldn't deny them. It was possible that the army outside of the school was meant for them.

"To the tunnels," Logan replied. "You'll be safe there, momentarily."

"Are you sure?" Rogue asked. The school around them was eerily quiet. "What about the rest of the students?"

"Already there," Logan replied gruffly. "Be quiet, will you?"

Rogue continued, but in a whisper. "But Jean—"

"Jean was panicking, she didn't know what she was saying." He stopped, and Elsa nearly ran into him. She couldn't see his face, but she heard him sniffing the air. Elsa's eyes widened. Is he mad?

"Get down!" he yelled, and forcibly shoved Elsa down when she heard a gunshot. Her heart stopped, hearing Logan grunt, coughing and sputtering. His eyes were glassy, staring at something Elsa couldn't see. Blood flowered on his shirt. Elsa could smell the copper, the sickly sweet smell.

Logan had been shot. And at her expense.

"Logan? Logan—" His body slumped. Elsa cried out, rushing forward to stop his head from striking the ground. "Logan, Logan, no, please."

"Elsa," Bobby said to her quietly. "He's alright."

She turned to him, scared. "What?"

"Trust me, he's fine. We have to get out of here. "

"We can't leave—"

"Elsa, come on!" Bobby grabbed her arm forcibly, turning her body towards him. "You just got shot at, remember? We can't stay here." Elsa looked towards the others. They had ducked, looking frantically around at their surroundings for the sniper.

Elsa heard a gasp behind her, and she twisted around to see Logan starting to get up, as though nothing had happened.

"Let's go," he said. Elsa furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"But—but you were dead!"

"Long story. Come on!" Logan picked her up by the arms, and turned to run down the corridor. Elsa couldn't question any of this, she was ushered down the hallway by Bobby, who was pressing into her back firmly with the palm of his hand.

The hallway was silent again, but Elsa had no doubt that the sniper was right behind them, somewhere. Where they could have been hiding was hard to tell. The classrooms? She could barely think as she ran along the hallways, getting seemingly longer and longer. Panting, Elsa had a stitch in her side.

Logan stopped in front of them, holding his hand out against a wall, his fingers splayed. Elsa was about to question this, reminded all the while of the blood still staining his shirt, when the wall slid, as though a button were pushed. A secret door.

Of course, Elsa thought. Before she could wonder whether there were other doors similar to this, she felt Bobby pushing into the small of her back, urging her forward.

I hope Logan's right, Elsa thought, frowning. The tunnels descended lower and lower into the darkness, but as they did so, lights flickered along the narrow hallways like sputtering candles. She squinted in front of her, but Logan's large figure was difficult to miss. Tired though she was, Elsa kept following Logan, determined not to slow down, not to let him and the others down.

Bobby's voice rang through her head. You—you've never fought a mutant, have you? Her heart clenched. She had never fought anybody. Most of her life, she spent her time in a locked room because her parents were afraid of her powers. Bobby didn't know what he was talking about. She didn't know the world, she told herself. But she couldn't help but wonder if it were all just an excuse. Was it the same for the other mutants? Bobby's father had no support for his powers, but he never shut him out entirely, she thought, bitterly.

She had to stop abruptly again as Logan's body came frighteningly close to hers; he had stopped, and Bobby grabbed her to stop her from running into him.

"You okay?" Bobby gasped, breathing heavily. He put his hands on his knees, but his beautiful blue eyes were fixed on Elsa's.

"Yes, I think so. You?"

He nodded.

"Come on, guys," Logan said; though slightly out of breath, it seemed as though he was just barely starting to get tired. "We need to get moving."

Elsa finally saw what he had stopped for. A door similar to the one Logan had opened what seemed ages before loomed in front of them again. He had pressed his hand against it firmly, and a sound like escaping air filled her ears, and the wall opened.

Bobby nodded, and turned back to Blake and Rogue. Blake was in better condition than Rogue, who was panting.

"Logan, wait," she gasped.

"We can't stop!" Logan snapped.

"I said I can't!" Rogue shot.

Logan started to move, then hesitated. He then pushed past Elsa, Bobby and Blake, and turned, crouching, his back to Rogue. "Come on, kid."

Rogue was confused. "What?"

"I said come on!" He exploded. "We don't have time!"

"But—"

"You won't touch me kid, don't worry about it. Get on."

Rogue hesitated, then wrapped her arms around his neck. Her arms were fully covered by her gloves, but she still climbed onto his back warily.

Grasping her at the knees, Logan stood and started moving towards Elsa again. "Come on. We don't have time." He disappeared through the door with Rogue, Elsa, Blake, and Bobby following.

Elsa found herself in the fresh air again. The dark night was a shock opposed to the flickering lights before. She blinked her eyes rapidly.

Logan was gone.

"Logan?" she called in the air. "Lo—" a hand clamped over her mouth, and Bobby's voice hissed close to her ear.

"Be quiet!"

Her heart beat against her ribcage madly. She blinked rapidly, and strained to look towards Bobby, but he had already slowly, but surely, removed his hand from her mouth.

Elsa's chest heaved, but she forced her breath to be more silent, quelling it in the darkness. She slowly turned to see Blake as well, the dark outline of his head darting back and forth, searching for Logan.

Elsa scanned the area where Logan had disappeared with Rogue. A flicker of movement caught her eye, the sound of boots crunching the mineral on the pavement. Without thinking, she grasped Bobby's hand and pulled at him urgently. Bobby complied, to her relief. The pair ran into the darkness towards Logan who had just barely turned back, scowling.

"Where's Blake?" he asked gruffly. Rogue peered over his shoulder into the darkness; Elsa turned as well. She wasn't thinking, she knew.

"I'll find him. Wait here," she told them.

Before the group could protest, Elsa's small figure disappeared into the blackness.

It was difficult to see, Elsa thought. Her stomach clenched at the thought of leaving Blake behind. That hadn't been her intention.

A figure began to make itself known in the darkness. Elsa reached it, seeing the shock of blond hair, the transitional glasses. Much as she felt uncomfortable around him, she wouldn't leave him behind.

"Blake, come on!" She tugged at his arm.

"You left me," he said bitterly.

"I'm sorry, but I wasn't thinking. I'm here now."

"You still left me," Blake scowled at her. "What does our friendship mean now?"

Elsa was baffled at first; then came a slow aggravation. "Look, I'm sorry—" the words were out of her mouth before she could think: "Do I really need to hold your hand to get you to come with us?"

"Funny how you'd hold Bobby's hand," he retorted.

She couldn't believe how petty Blake was being. "We don't have time for this, Blake. This is ridiculous. Come on."

He made a show of sighing, then stood up straighter, folding his arms and scowling at her, as though the world had stopped revolving and it was somehow Elsa's fault.

Elsa couldn't stand this behavior. Didn't he know that they were under attack? "Look, I'm going to start running to where Bobby and Logan are. If you don't run with me, then you can fall behind and be the tragic hero who chose for the dumbest reasons no one knows why, to stay behind." Elsa knew her words were harsh, but if it kept them both alive, she didn't care what came out of her mouth.

She turned and ran into the darkness, keeping her pace relatively slow so that Blake could keep up. It felt as though a stone had dropped into her stomach when she realized how far they had travelled. She did feel horrible for leaving Blake behind, even though it wasn't a conscious action. Bobby was the closest to her when it happened—and she was more attached to Bobby than she was with Blake…

Thankfully, she heard the steady beat of Blake's footfalls behind her. His scowl, more intensified by his irritation loomed up in her minds eye. She did leave him behind… Her heart clenched at the thought. She left him behind.

You came back for him, a reasonable thought told her.

You still left him, another said.

Stop, she finally told herself. Get to Logan. Just get to Logan. He'll know what to do.

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