I absolutely love all the responses I'm getting from you guys. Please keep it up. I made this chapter longer than the last few, so if it bores you please tell me.
Pietro came to around 15 minutes later. Wincing, he managed to push himself into a sitting position with all the strength he could muster. Someone must have pulled him out of the maze while he was still unconscious, because he was sitting on the far end of the Danger Room; with his back against the wall, and the closest wall of the maze at least 10 ft away. Blinking a few times, he looked to his right and saw that a girl with red hair separated into pigtails was stirring from consciousness as well. Pietro recognized her as one of the girls he had seen Lance and Tabitha take down. Sitting next to her, Tabitha looked very angry as she was pouting and had her arms crossed in front of her chest. The tips of her hair were singed, which was obviously the handiwork of Ray, and next to Tabitha was the red-haired girl's partner who was still unconscious. In fact as Pietro's gaze shifted along the wall of the Danger Room where they were sitting he saw that the majority of the mutants who had entered the maze had failed to reach the endpoint without being eliminated. As far as he could tell, Evan and Scott were still in the maze because they couldn't be seen in the line-up of defeated teens who were sitting with their backs against the wall just like Pietro. The few who weren't were either unconscious or standing. Pietro looked to his left and almost yelped out because of how close his face had come to colliding with Logan's kneecap. Logan was standing with one shoulder against the wall, ankles and arms crossed, and his head turned towards the maze. He was wearing his alternate dark blue uniform, and the look on his face was a mix between boredom and his usual grumpiness. That is until he looked down and saw Pietro gaping up at him.
"You're awake. Few more minutes and I mighta been worried," Logan said in his gruff manner, although a small smile was slowly finding a place on his face.
Pietro nodded his head, still at a loss for words. After nodding his head throbbed painfully and as he clutched it a groan escaped his lips. His body had been in bad shape to begin with, due to a lack of sleep and food, and since he still hadn't fully recovered from the incident in the medical ward Pietro had been put off physically even before enduring Evan and Scott's attack. Everything hurt, especially his head and chest, and the open wound on his shoulder was begging for medical attention.
"Maybe you should check in with Hank, just to be safe," Logan said, as a flicker of concern took hold of his features, but it was quickly disguised as an angry frown.
Pietro wouldn't have realized Logan was concerned anyways; his hands were now covering his face, and he moaned a little before his breathing changed to slow, deliberate breaths in order to ease the pain. Pietro was quite accustomed to dealing with pain, so he knew the damage he had sustained wasn't life-threatening. Nevertheless, it still hurt like hell.
"Do you think you can walk?" Logan asked calmly, reaching out a hand to help him up.
Pietro lowered his hands and looked up into Logan's face, nodding his head gently. He took Logan's hand and pulled himself up to his feet, biting his lip to keep from screaming out in pain.
"Listen, I want you to know that the stunt Evan and Scott pulled back there…they didn't get away with it. They're talking with the Professor right now, and I already got 'em booked for a month's worth of extra sessions with me."
There was a bit of an awkward pause. Pietro couldn't speak, and although Logan had realized this, he wasn't a big talker, so finding the right things to say was hard for him.
"Nobody gets away with that kinda stuff around here, and Chuck, I mean the Professor, wants you guys to feel comfortable living here, so he wanted me to tell you that. You should probably get yourself into Medical, that thing on your shoulder don't look too good," Logan continued, his voice trailing off as he used up the last of his compassion. The distinct sounds of a struggle were coming from inside the maze now, and it looked as if Logan needed to get back to his monitoring duties.
"Yeah, I know. How do I get out of here?" Pietro asked forcefully, through clenched teeth.
"Over there," Logan answered, pointing to the two big doors where they had entered the Danger Room.
"Thanks," Pietro whispered, walking past Rahne, Tabitha, Amara (who was still unconscious), Lance and Jamie as he made his way to the exit. Lance tried to catch Pietro's eye, giving him a look of sympathy as he watched Pietro's battered form pass by, but Pietro was having none of it; refusing to look at him at all. After all, this was mostly Lance's fault. He had pushed Pietro into going with him, without thinking once about the danger he was putting the both of them in. It could've very well been Lance cornered in the maze by Scott and Evan, and exactly the same thing would've happened to him. Realizing this, Lance felt guilty as he watched his 'best friend' limp out of the Danger Room, the fresh blood on his shoulder red and shining.
Pietro reached the large reinforced doors, and they slid open, allowing him entry into the hallway of the lower floor of the Institute. A few lights dangling haphazardly along the hall leading to the elevator provided shabby lighting that cast everything in shadows. Besides the elevator that Pietro was heading to and the doors to the Danger Room the corridor was considerably empty. Pietro stood in the elevator silently agonizing over his injuries with only the whirring of the devices that were lifting the elevator to comfort him. He wasn't mad at Lance, although he had every reason to be. Pietro wasn't stupid; he knew that something had been bound to happen, since his old rival had been plotting against him ever since he had word of Pietro's arrival. The elevator dinged and the doors sprung open, alerting Pietro that it was time to get out. Instead of going to the medical ward, Pietro proceeded up the large staircase, battling his way up each and every step. He really wasn't in the mood for reliving how he managed to have the crap beaten out of him for Beast. Pietro knew that Beast would already be upset, since he had advised Pietro against doing anything physical after his last examination. All Pietro wanted to do was lie down in his nice warm bed, safe from the disapproving looks of loathing he was so used to.
He was walking through the corridor at the top of the stairs when he heard a man's voice coming form inside one of the rooms. Pietro paused and drew closer to the room with a door that was curiously ajar. The voice was familiar; charming and smooth, and Pietro could recognize it anywhere.
"Gambit," he muttered, pushing open the door abruptly to see that it was indeed Gambit who had been talking. He was standing awfully close to Rogue and it looked as if he had been trying to persuade her into doing something she didn't want to. Gambit looked annoyed at Pietro's unexpected entrance, but Rogue seemed grateful for the interruption.
"Well, well, well," Pietro said, plastering an amused smirk over the pained expression that had been in its place only seconds before. He leaned against the doorframe so that he was able to appear haughty and disguise any sign that he had been badly hurt at the same time.
"Wait Cherie, don't go," Gambit pleaded, but to no avail. Rogue exited the room rather quickly, pushing past Pietro without saying a word, and looking extremely embarrassed. Once she was gone, Gambit glared at Pietro angrily, his black and red eyes narrowing into dangerous slits.
"So what brings you here? Oh, let me guess, you just happened to be in the neighborhood and you thought that this was the perfect time to break through all of Xavier's security so you could talk to your dear friend Rogue. Am I right?" Pietro asked contemptuously.
"You and I both know what brought me here. Magneto. Now stop being stupid, and let me tell you what I was sent here to tell you…" Gambit said, keeping his voice low.
"Me? Being stupid? Hey I'm not the one soliciting sex from a minor who can't even touch you," Pietro said with a laugh.
Pietro watched Gambit who looked as if something had just exploded inside of him. He didn't let his emotions get the better of him however, and was maintaining control very well from Pietro's perspective.
"Now listen, Magneto sent me to warn you. If you don't start shaping up and giving Magneto the results he wants, heads are gonna roll. You know he isn't just sayin' that either," Gambit said grimly, handing a new comlink to Pietro, "He wants to talk to you about this. Face to face. Make it sooner rather than later this time."
Pietro took the comlink grudgingly, staring at it as if it was the most despicable thing on the planet. When he looked up Gambit was gone.