Warnings: Cussing. I cuss. Too bad, so sad. And more violence.
Wow, long time no update.
Sorry about not getting to reply to all those who reviewed. I really appreciate them a lot!! They certainly motivate me.
As always, reviews are appreciated.
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Retrieval of Self: Chapter7
Logan opened the door as silently as possible. He'd rather tug it open with a huge jerk and watch it imbed itself into the wall, but right now stealth was more important than any healthy venting of frustration. Maybe later he could find a guard and beat him into a bloody pulp.
As soon as Logan opened the door, the blaring sound of sirens hit their ears, and they were all momentarily blinded by the intensity of the red flashing light compared to the darkness of the closet. Logan put a hand up to his head, rubbing at his temple. The small headache that had started to form ever since the start of their escape intensified with the added sensory into a pounding pain. He could see the others groaning at the loud claxon, and he saw Kurt close his eyes and bury his head into Scott's shoulder. Logan went over and put a hand to Kurt's shoulder, drawing his attention. He was sure that the flashing lights and sound made Kurt feel even worse, but right now it was more important that Kurt kept awake. As Kurt looked up over at him, Logan gave a quick jerk of his head. Satisfied at Kurt's sigh and small nod of understanding, Logan gestured for Jean to lead the way.
They went as silently and as fast as they could, their pace quite noticeably slower now that Scott was carrying Kurt. Jean led as best as she could to the location of the guards she had heard earlier. It was tough, not knowing the layout of the hallways, but she was sure they were getting closer and closer to the garage; the guards' thoughts were getting progressively easier to make out. She could taste freedom on the tip of her tongue. She would've loved to run flat out straight to the exit, out of this horrible place, but besides Scott's slowed pace, she had to concentrate on locating any guards that might be between them and their escape. She could hear Scott talking to Kurt about something, but she blocked them out, concentrating all her attention on getting them out without any more close calls. She wasn't going to slip and fail her friends again.
Knowing that Logan's order to not let Kurt fall asleep was prudent considering what just happened in the storage closet, Scott figured the best way to keep Kurt awake was to engage him in conversation. Besides, it had the added bonus of letting Scott know that Kurt had definitely not passed out on him. It's not like Scott had eyes in the back of his head to tell him when Kurt closed his eyes. He hadn't eaten any strange walnuts.
But, he could tell just how tired Kurt must be feeling by the boneless way Kurt was laying against his back. Scott figured it was time to put his plan in action. It was just kinda hard, though, to find a topic of choice. It wasn't like they were yakking at school during lunch. Well, Scott guessed he might as well pretend they were. He could taste the school's cafeteria "surprise" on his lips. Sure, it always seemed scary the way it would jiggle on the plate, but after weeks of gruel, Scott bet it taste like the finest ambrosia.
"So, um, Kurt," Scott began, then stopped. Really, was talking to Kurt about food right now the best…especially since Kurt was on his back. Scott cringed thinking of how drawing Kurt's mind to food might have consequences on Scott's t-shirt.
"Ja?" came the tired and strained reply.
Scott searched his mind for a quick question. "So, how are classes going for you?" Argh, really, that's all I could come up with. Scott wanted to hit his head. Kurt must think he was loony.
And Kurt did make a bemused expression for a second, wondering why Scott was asking now of all times on how his classes were going. After a few more seconds, Kurt's muddled mind realized what Scott was trying to do. Kurt did appreciate Scott's help at keeping him engaged in their escape, but he really didn't feel like making conversation. He had a hard enough time trying to keep his eyes open. He'd rather just concentrate on imagining cool rivers and ice cold lemonade, anything to take his mind off of the fire in his chest or the jackhammer in his head. Or the feeling in his stomach or the ache- maybe it was better not to concentrate on everywhere he was hurting. With a sigh, he answered Scott, "yeah, they're fine."
Scott let out a frustrated sigh. Couldn't Kurt work with him here? "Er, how about you tell me about them a bit more?"
Knowing that Scott would never give up on a plan once he started, Kurt resigned himself to his fate. With a frown, he concentrated on gathering his scattered thoughts. Well, at least the conversation should keep his thoughts off the pain. "Vell, I think mein History teacher liked my paper."
"Oh, that's great." Scott said as he hung right around a corner behind Jean. "What'd you write about?"
"Tulips."
"Um… okay," Scott frowned puzzled. Worry seeped in that Kurt had completely lost his hold on reality and had escaped in his mind to a field of tulips. Scott didn't realized Kurt liked tulips that much. Well, at least he was getting some reply from Kurt, so he continued his questions. "How about your other classes? Doesn't your English teacher have it out for you?"
"Ja, he does," Kurt replied vehemently. Kurt figured rather than getting 20 questions from Scott, he could engage in a favorite pastime and started ranting about his evil English teacher. That way, Scott would be appeased to hear Kurt talking and Kurt could let his mind drift as he let his mouth do the talking.
Scott was pleased. Kurt was making sense again, easing his worries about the state of Kurt's mind and tulips. Also, now that he didn't have to come up with anymore questions, he could focus on following Jean and keeping hold of Kurt. His arms were already beginning to ache, but he knew he would never let go. His arms would have to fall off first before that happened. Scott just hoped it didn't come to that point. He didn't think Hank had the technology to reattach arms.
Meanwhile, Logan was hanging back behind the others, protecting the rear. Logan didn't show it, but his hopes were high for their escape. He trusted Jean and knew that she'd pull through for them. He just hoped they didn't meet much resistance on the way. Though he'd preferred if they ran as quietly as possible, he figured Scott's approach was the best way to keep Kurt awake, and they probably weren't very audible over the blaring siren. If Logan couldn't make out what they're saying, then it's unlikely a nearby guard would.
After running down several more hallways, Logan thought that maybe their luck had changed for the better. So far, so good. No guards in sight and –
Logan, there's two guards about to turn down the hallway we just came from. Logan grimaced. He knew he shouldn't have started feeling optimistic. Optimism is only for people who actually want to drink the water. He'd rather have a beer.
Got it. I'll head them off. You keep leading the way. And with that, Logan quickly turned and headed back down the hallway. In a quick sprint, he made it to the corner where the two hallways met, and flattened himself against the wall. He'd take the guards by surprise. They'll never know what's coming to them. Logan smirked, ready for some action and some punching bags to take out his anger a few seconds, he could hear their shoes tapping on the floor as they rushed down the hallway. Logan barred a ferocious grin then started to slide his claws out before reminding himself of the kids' reactions when he had killed the guards at the cells. The looks on their faces was enough to cool his temper some, and one thing for sure, he wasn't going to break his promise to them. Besides, his fists would do enough damage.
Clenching his fists tight, Logan tensed as the guards grew closer. Any second now. As if a signal, one of the guards sneezed, marking his exact location. One more second.
Now! With a leap, Logan spun around the corner and planted his fist straight in the face of one of the surprised guards. The other guard was so shocked at the attack, he just stared slack jawed for a second before a fist crashed into his face. The first guard, bleeding from a broken nose, had recovered quickly and started to bring up his gun before a solid punch to the gut knocked the wind out of him. He collapsed onto his knees, and dropped his gun to grab his aching stomach. Logan turned again just in time to catch the gun of the other guard before it hit his head. A look of malice passed Logan's face before the guard met with excruciating pain via a knee to his groin. The comical look on the guard's face as he clutched at his groin was satisfying to Logan.
With a few more punches and kicks, Logan had incapacitated the guards in just a few seconds. Reaching down, Logan divested the guards of their walky-talkies and guns and with much relish, slammed his foot down on top of them. This time he did unsheathe his claws and turned the guns into a six piece set. He turned back to the unconscious guards and spat at them, "you're the animals here, bubs," before running to catch up with the others.
Scott hadn't even noticed that Logan had disappeared by the time Logan returned. Scott was concentrating too much on holding Kurt up and following Jean. Scott was still "talking" to Kurt too, though talking could only be used in the loosest sense of the word. At some point, Kurt had started mixing German into his speech, which was already hard to understand with his heavy accent. Even if Scott was taking German in school, his mind was a bit preoccupied to try and translate words. Besides, it's not like Scott considered himself even half-way decent at the language, he just didn't have the mind for languages. So, the conversation had turned into Scott nodding or pretending he knew what Kurt was saying. At least Kurt kept talking about… well whatever it was. Hopefully not tulips.
Kurt, actually, didn't really have any idea what he was talking about either. At some point, it seemed that his mouth and brain disconnected, and while he talked away, his mind was concentrating on not feeling so dizzy and trying to stop himself from wanting to claw out of his skin. His toes kept clenching and unclenching and his tail was squeezing his leg, anything to drive away the pain. His hands had grabbed hold of his arms which were thrown around Scott's neck and began tightening.
"Kurt," Scott chocked out, "need to breathe here."
Some part of Kurt's mind must've still been aware because the chokehold he had around Scott loosened. But, it must not have been too aware because instead of an apology issuing forth, Kurt asked, "don't you think the lights are too Hollywood-ish?"
"Er, what? What are you talking about?"
"I think so too," was the only answer Scott received. After that, Kurt started prattling off in complete German, leaving Scott completely perplexed.
After more bleak hallways, Jean raised her hand and brought them to a halt. Her mind was exhausted. She had probably already passed the normal limits of her strength, but she kept on pushing herself. They had to escape now. Jean wouldn't accept any other outcome. Perhaps her strength came from her guilt over her feelings and reactions since their capture, but she didn't care where the source came from, just as long as she could keep going. With some strain, she focused her thoughts onto the guards. The guards' thoughts were now crystal clear in her mind. There were five of them guarding some vehicles. One of them kept wishing how he could take the armored van out for a spin and see if he could do donuts in it. The other guards seemed to be focused on their task, eyes peeled towards the sole entrance to the garage. Except… wait. Jean swerved her mind back to one other guard there. She almost wanted to burst out laughing, hearing such thoughts in such a tense situation.
It was that young recruit again. He was still thinking in Star Wars terms, but this time Jean actually found the thoughts insightful and hopefully beneficial to them. Seemed that the kid was doubting whether he really was serving on Skywalker's side. That maybe Dr. Falk and Leader Kemp were the Emperor and Darth Vader in disguise. The kid was having quite a mental break down over his dilemma. Jean wasn't going to be picky over any type of help they could get, and hopefully when they bust into the room, the kid would hesitate to attack.
As Jean was preoccupied, Scott had lowered himself and Kurt to the ground, and had turned to face Kurt. As soon as Kurt hit the floor, he stopped his ongoing babbling, and rubbed a hand across his face, trying to focus on the now. Everything seemed to be coming through muffled, like he was underwater. With effort, Kurt concentrated on Scott's lips, trying to make out the words Scott was saying to him. Eventually, they got through.
"-okay? No more talking, but you still gotta stay awake."
Kurt nodded his head to show he understood, not wanting to speak anymore anyway. It was taking too much effort already to keep his mind focused on the present.
Scott squeezed his shoulder and gave a tight smile. He turned his head away when Jean turned back to them.
Jean crouched down to them and Logan followed her lead. She could've relayed the information all through telepathy, but she wanted to conserve as much energy as she could for their rush at the guards. Instead, she spoke low and told them of what she had read.
Logan grunted in approval. "Alright, Jean keep a look out as we go over a plan. Here's how it's gonna go down." Logan looked to each of them, making sure that they were all paying rapt attention to him, particularly Kurt, before continuing. "Jean, you got enough energy to do a bit of telekinesis?" At Jean's nod, Logan explained. "Right, then me and Jean are gonna head closest to the entrance first. Jean, you try and pull as many of their guns away as you can. Next, I'll go in and knock out as many as I can." Logan turned to Scott, "Cyclops, you stay with Kurt crouched near the entrance. If all else fails, then bring out that beam of yours."
"Right." Scott was feeling useless again. He couldn't even back up the team without his visor unless they wanted him to unleash his full power and blast half the room away. He clenched his fists in frustration.
"We ain't gonna be able to stop them from calling on backup, so our goal is not to kick all their asses… no matter how much I want to," Logan added under his breath. "Our goal is to get to the van, hijack it and get the hell outta here. Understood? No heroics or revenge." Logan got three nods.
"Alright then, Kurt –" Logan got a tired gaze in return. Logan still found it eerie at the drastic change to Kurt's eyes and worried about what other changes the serum might be having, but he had to brush that worry aside for now. He could see that Kurt was having a hard time focusing, and he didn't want to add anymore strain to him, but Logan had to ask this of him. Logan knew that with all of them at full strength, they'd still have a difficult time escaping if more guards showed up. Now, with all of them tired and weak from their imprisonment, he needed as much as everyone could give. "You think you can run any?" A weak nod. "Good, then Scott, you stay close to Kurt, and you both run in when the guards are down. Everyone keep an eye out for car keys. We won't have time to hot wire." Logan could see everyone was ready. "Right, we got one shot at this. Just remember this –" everyone perked up at Logan's commanding voice, "-we're the best at what we do." Logan let loose a fearsome grin, and got equally determined looks in return.
Jean led them a little further down the hall, and gestured to show that once they turned the corner, they'd be in vision with the guards. Logan nodded and unsheathed his claws. He'd have to be careful with where he hit the guards, but right now they needed all possible weapons on their side. With another nod, Logan signaled Jean.
Jean steadied herself, then as quick as possible, turned to take a look at the guards' positions and where the guns where. Immediately, turning back, Jean raised her hands to her head and with an intense look on her face, pulled at the guns she had seen. As soon as two guns came clattering towards them, Logan spun around the corner and with a ferocious roar, ran towards the men. He looked quickly to see who had guns still left in their hands and careened towards them.
The guards were caught so off guard, Logan was able to quickly cover ground and knock a gun out of a guard's hands. This guard, though, wasn't a pushovers like the others Logan had faced before. The man recovered quickly and was throwing mean kicks before Logan could even finish cutting the tranq gun in half.
Jean also didn't waste anytime to join the fray. She had run in after Logan, quickly throwing her all at stopping any tranq bullets that were flying towards Logan. She could see out of the corner of her eye that the green recruit still had his gun, but was standing there, looking unsure of what to do. Jean couldn't wait for him to decide which side to fall in line with, so with a strong push from her mind, she knocked the recruit off his feet, crashing him into boxes several feet behind him.
The remaining guard with a gun was trying to take advantage of her and Logan's distraction and had taken aim in his direction. The first shot missed as Logan followed through on one of his punches to his opponent. The second shot grazed Logan's back, adding a cut to Logan's white wifebeater. Before he could get another shot off, Jean used her mind to hurl the guard across the room, causing him to drop his gun. This gave Logan enough time to quickly finish dispatching the guard he was fighting and moved on to one of the unarmed guards. Jean could feel high hopes swelling up in her chest, and she turned to the remaining guard and used her telekinesis to throw him against the wall. He hit it with a loud crunch, and slumped down to the floor. Maybe this would be easier than they thought.
Scott and Kurt were crouching near the doorway. Scott kept twirling the keyring to his collar on his fingers, anxious to help. He was impressed, though, at how quickly Jean and Logan took down the guards. There were now only two guards left and both were engaged with Logan and Jean. Scott decided now would be the time to make his and Kurt's move into the garage, but before they could take one step, the sound of heavy running boots came to their ears. It seemed like backup had been called. Kurt and Scott exchanged a look before shooting up and running into the garage. Seeing Kurt's staggering gait, Scott kept a hand on Kurt's shoulder, being sure to keep him steady. They scanned the garage, looking for any place where the keys might be stored, but before they could complete even one scan, the backup had arrived.
Scott turned quickly to the entrance and saw about twenty men racing towards the fray, all armed with tranquilizer guns. Scott could see despair cross Kurt's face and knew his own probably reflected just as much. He had no idea how they would ever cope with so many. He began fingering the key ring, flipping to the smallest key. He still hesitated to take off his collar, though. A blast from his eyes could certainly take out all the guards… as well as half the room. The key to the van could be lost in the rubble or the whole room could become unstable. He didn't know whether to risk it or not. He could feel Kurt crouching down behind him as if seeing these guards had sucked out all of his hope. Scott decided then he had to risk it. There was no way he was going to let Kurt, let his friends be taken back to that dismal cell.
Just as he was about to unlock his collar, a huge, sudden wave of energy blasted across the room, and all the guns went flying out the guards' hands. The sound of twenty guns scattering across the floor filled the room. Scott, mouth agape, turned in surprise to Jean. She was down on one knee, her hand clutching her head as if in pain.
Jean looked up and gave a grimaced smile towards Scott. She had put everything she had into that one move to give them some possibility to escape. She was so exhausted now, and she felt as if her heart was beating so fast, it would explode under the pressure. She watched as Logan gave her a tight nod and then turn to the guards, taking them on head to head. Jean might not be able to use her powers, but she could still put up a mean fight. After all, Logan had trained them well. She took a few staggering steps before regaining her strength. She went straight at one of the guards, letting furious kicks and punches fly. The guards were not easy pushovers, though. They weren't stupid to take her on one by one. With a rush, three of them run towards her, ready to pile on top of her. With one large sweep of her leg, Jean took them all down. She knew, though, they weren't going to last long in this battle. She had only taken the three down, and still more ran in to take their place.
Scott watched as Jean struggled with the guards. He wanted to help her out, but he also didn't want to leave Kurt unprotected. There was no way Kurt was going to be able to take down even one single guard in his shape. So he stood there, hesitating, a strained look on his face.
Kurt could feel Scott's indecision radiating off of him, but right now Kurt had other things on his mind. As soon as he saw the guards, Kurt knew there was no way that they'd be able to take them all. There only chance was to commandeer the van and hightail it out. So, he was frantically scanning the room for the keys while the others fought off the guards. As his eyes passed by the left wall again, he saw them there, dangling. He didn't know how he missed them before, but he didn't care. Kurt stood up and with a push, shoved Scott towards the battle. Scott turned to him surprised, his mouth opening as if to say something.
"I see the keys. Go help them!" Kurt said before Scott could get a word in.
Scott looked hesitant, worried about leaving Kurt's side.
"Go!" Kurt ordered with another strong push. Scott nodded and took off to help Jean.
Jean was so tired and she knew it wouldn't be long before she went down underneath the guards. She could feel bruises and cuts forming from where the guards had gotten in several good hits. One guard had punched her right across her face. She had given him as good in return with a solid punch to his liver, but now her face seemed to throb in time with her heart. Just as one guard rushed at her, coming in low for a hard hit to the stomach, Scott appeared, pushing the guard roughly away. He grinned at her as he put his back to hers.
"Need some help?"
Jean tried to smile in return, but they just made her jaw hurt even more, so she settled on smirking. "My hero." At least now they had a better chance of defending themselves. She just hoped that either Kurt or Logan had time to locate the keys because she didn't have a moment to spare to look for them.
Scott and her worked together in synch. Having worked out together so long in the Danger Room, they knew how to complement each other's fighting style. Jean took one guard out with a low kick to the leg then followed by a high kick to the head. She then quickly switched places with Scott, so he could finish her guard off with a powerful upper punch and she could take his guard out with a kick to the chest. They were slowly taking the guards out together.
As soon as Scott had joined Jean, Kurt hadn't wasted anytime. He ran straight over to the keys. All he wanted to do when he got to the keys was lean against the wall and pass out. Just that short little run had taken a harder toll on him than he thought possible, but Kurt just shook his head, keeping his pain under tight wraps. Escape was all that mattered. Luckily, it seemed this garage was not that heavily in use. There were only two sets of keys hanging off hooks. Kurt had no idea which set belonged to which of the two vehicles, so he grabbed both. He turned around just in time to watch a guard run straight at him and crash him into the wall. Kurt hit the wall hard, and he thought he could see black spots dance in front of his eyes. But, he still kept a tight hold on the keys. There was no way he was going to give them up. He slowly sank onto his hands and knees, trying to blink his vision clear. Meanwhile, the guard looked down at him in disgust.
"You ain't gonna escape, ya mutie," the guard sneered as he flicked out a knife he had hidden on himself.
Kurt could hear the telltale signs of a knife, and looked up to see the guard looming over him with a malicious look on his face. Kurt knew he would be too slow to dodge any thrust towards him. He certainly knew he didn't have enough power to catch any blow coming towards him. So, with no recourse left, Kurt drew in any remaining energy reserves he had and teleported away.
The guard was shocked. Not because the mutant had teleported away. The guard had known about that little skill from over the walky-talkies. It was the leaping flames along with the cloud of smoke left behind that surprised him. The guard had been moving forward to stab the mutant when the kid had teleported, and though the flames and smoke was dissipating, he couldn't stop his arm fast enough from entering the flames. With a loud scream, the guard watched as the flames danced across his sleeve, and he started waving his arm around, trying desperately to put the flames out.
Logan had been fighting hard, and staying quick on his toes to block any guard from diving towards their guns across the room. So far, he had held them back. At the same time, he had kept his eye on Jean, making sure she was handling her own. He had been relieved and worried at the same time when Scott had joined Jean. Relieved that Jean had received the backup she needed and worried about Kurt being left alone. He had darted his eyes to find Kurt and was at first pleased to see Kurt grabbing the keys; but, his satisfaction soon turned to a terrible dread as he saw the guard approach Kurt from behind. There was no way he could get there in time. He had desperately tried to fight his way over there, and he felt his stomach drop out when the guard pulled the knife. This feeling was soon quickly followed by a cool wave of shock and concern. Shock from Kurt's strange and fiery teleportation and worry when he saw that Kurt had reappeared by the vans, unmoving.
Luck, though, was with them. The guard's screams had quickly drawn everyone's attention, and there was a pause in the battle. Logan caught Jean's and Scott's eyes and gestured for them to run to the vans and Kurt. Logan then took advantage of the guards' shock and ran over towards the alit guard. Taking a hold of the guard's collar, he threw him towards the others, catching them all off balance. This gave him time to punch several buttons that were next to the keys, turning them all from red to green. He hoped that he was correct in guessing these would open the garage doors. He grinned when he heard the cranking of the doors and took off towards the van.
By then, Scott had found the correct key to the armored vehicle and was helping Jean lift Kurt into the back seat. With Jean and Kurt settled in the backseat, Scott waited for Logan to slide into the passenger seat. The guards, having put out the guard on fire, had retrieved their guns and were now aiming them at the van. Scott didn't want the guards to keep dogging them and with the garage doors open, revealing a black tunnel, he figured it was now or never. With a quick twist, he unlocked his collar and let loose a blinding optic blast towards the guards. Not wasting time to see the effects of his blast, Scott snapped the collar back on and hopped into the driver's seat. The garage was filled with smoke and Scott could hear objects clanging as they hit the ground. The room smelled charred, and he could barely make out any movement of guards behind the smoke.
"Let's move it, Slim."
Scott nodded at Logan, and soon they were flying down the dark tunnel that ran underground. White lights broke apart the blackness at segmented intervals. The white lights set off a strange fragmented pattern of white then black in the car, and with the car speeding so fast, it was almost as if they were under a strobe light. Scott hardly even noticed. He had no idea how long the tunnel was or where it would eventually lead to, just as long as it led out.
Jean was in the backseat with Kurt's head in her lap. She knew she was hurt, she knew Scott had also been badly injured when fighting, but she couldn't feel anything but her heart racing. She looked down at Kurt, worry creasing her features at his unresponsiveness. She brushed back Kurt's hair from his face and tried calling out his name. Funny, it seemed to her that his fur almost looked pitch black in the tunnels. Like he could just fade away into the background. This thought led her to tighten her grip on his arms, and she tried calling out again.
"Kurt, please. Can you just open your eyes?"
No response.
"It's not use, Red. Looks like that last port did him out. As soon as we escape, Hank'll sort him out." Logan kept his voice even, trying to keep them all calm, but he knew he didn't fool anyway. Heck, even he heard the worry underlying his tone. Logan sighed and bent around his seat to take a look at Kurt's and Jean's conditions. Kurt didn't bear any visible injuries, but Logan could smell his sickness rolling off of him in waves. He had said that Hank would fix Kurt up, but a small doubt nagged at his brain that whatever the serum did to Kurt might be permanent.
Turning his gaze away from Kurt, Logan took in Jean's appearance. Unlike Kurt, she looked like she had fallen into a WWF ring and barely escaped. "Hn, looks like you got some nasty bruises yourself."
Jean raised her hand to her face and could feel the throbbing heat coming off her injuries. Jean just shook her head. She didn't need Logan to start to worry about her now too. "I'm okay."
Logan nodded and switched his attention back to Kurt, but then the tunnels began to lighten, as if they were approaching the exit. Logan twisted around and could see they were speeding towards the outside. The autumn sun cast a grey light over everything, lending an almost ethereal feel to the surroundings. Logan could make out the outline of trees and a road now, and he could see the bright fall colors decorating the trees and ground. He had no idea how much time had passed while they had been captured, but seeing the sun out and the surrounding, colorful nature after the harsh white lights of their cells was like a cool balm. He could hear Jean and Scott also take sharp breaths at the sight. Logan had gone through this once before when he had first escaped the Weapon X facility, and once again he felt that overwhelming peaceful feeling return at seeing the outside once again.
It didn't last long, though. As soon as they had cleared the tunnel exit, they saw other similar, armored vans and vehicles powering their way towards them.
"Oh fucking hell!" Logan cursed, slamming his hands onto the dashboard. "Pour on the speed, Slim. There's no way we're gonna get caught now."
Scott had already put the pedal to the floor, and they were zooming along the road. But, they still weren't losing the other vehicles.
"Damn it!" Scott swore. "I can't go any faster!" Scott could feel the vibrations from the engine as the van strained at its top speed.
Jean only held tightly to Kurt. She tried to reach for any power she had left, even just a smidge, but she came up empty. She'd be useless in a fight.
Now guns, actual guns, were raining down on the car. Scott hoped that the van's armor held up. They'd be safe and could maybe get to a busy part of town, just as long as one of the tires weren't –
The vehicle swerved widely and Scott barely was able to get it back under control. Scott knew he shouldn't have though that. Of course just as soon as he did, a bullet had found its mark in one of the tires. Scott gripped the wheel tighter, trying to keep the car on the road, but with the popped tire, their speed was drastically reduced. There was no way to outrun their pursuers.
Logan felt he could tear the dashboard right out of the car when the tire was hit. Everything had been going pretty smoothly, and now one fucking tire was going to ruin their escape. He strained at his seat, itching to do something, ready to jump out of the van and maybe take a few guards down with him. Maybe buy some time for the others to escape. Suddenly, a loud engine noise filled the air. Logan turned his gaze upward and saw one of the best things he'd seen in what felt like ages: the X-jet. He let out a loud whoop, which he later would deny. Scott and Jean also let out cries of joy at seeing their salvation.
The X-jet hovered for a second before taking off in a new direction. Scott followed it closely, knowing they were being led to a landing area. He didn't know, though, how they'd get rid of all the guards. The vehicles would just pursue them to where the X-jet was heading and take them all then. Turns out Scott didn't have much to worry about.
As he looked in the side mirror, Scott let out a relieved breath. He could make large funnels of wind being raised all behind them, and in the center of them all, Storm floated in the middle, white hair blowing every which way. Their escape was covered.
It wasn't too far from where they were for the X-jet to find a landing area. Scott quickly parked next to the jet and saw the warmest of welcomes when the jet's door was opened and there stood Hank, Evan, Kitty, and Rogue, all there ready to help. As he tried to take a step towards them, his left leg went out underneath him. He hadn't even realized it was even injured. Evan quickly ran over to him and helped him limp inside. Jean followed closely behind, leaning against Rogue and falling heavily into the nearest seat. She leaned her head back as silent tears of pent up emotion were released.
Logan came in last, carrying Kurt in his arms with Kitty on his heels. He set Kurt down on the floor. "We gonna wait for Storm?" Logan asked Hank, a hand still resting on Kurt's shoulder.
Before Hank could answer, Storm appeared in the doorway, her eyes slowly losing their white glow. "I've slowed them down, but let's go before they can regather themselves."
"You fly, Ororo," Hank said as he began examining Kurt.. "I'll look after the kids back here."
Ororo took a quick glance towards their reunited friends, everything being said in her relaxing posture, before nodding and heading to the cockpit. Soon they were off into the air, flying quickly away from their living nightmare and back to the mansion, back to home.
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Notes:
- "He hadn't eaten any strange walnuts" – reference to the famous Dick Van Dyke episode.
- Kurt's reply of "Tulips" to Scott: Kurt is actually not out of his gore at this point. Tulips is referring to Tulip Mania, a pretty interesting history event. Look it up on wiki.