Combusting Hearts

Chapter 5

Today has seriously been hell. It's been one week since Mr. Lehnsherr came to visit. So far, all of today has been a mess.

People just won't leave me alone, and I know that Slick has something to do with it. They just keep pestering me to no end. It was stupid question after stupid question. Not to mention, it's already bad enough that I've been waking up every night in the middle of the night from a nightmare.

My mind just can't seem to stay calm, and as a result, I haven't been getting much sleep. I've constantly been thinking about things and why I'm even here.

The Professor's been trying his best to help me calm my nerves, but it hasn't been doing much good.

I sighed as I stepped out of my classroom. All that I wanted to do was just go up to my room and lay down. Though as fate would have it, it wasn't going to happen.

"So, how'd you end up here anyway, huh?" one of Slick's friends asked me as he shoved me a bit.

I glared at him.

"Leave me alone Ram," I growled as I pushed away from him, trying to head up stairs. His other friend blocked my path, staring at me with deep purple eyes.

"Did they send you away and give you some stupid excuse? Or did you run away, huh?" the other one asked.

"Shut up…" I growled. They just gave me a strange look, before grinning.

"Huh? What's wrong? We strike a nerve?" Ram laughed. "Hey Sham, I'm starting to have fun with this one," Ram said to his purple eyed companion.

"I bet your parents were too afraid of you that they kicked you out of the house," Sham laughed.

"Shut up!" I yelled as I shoved them away from me. They just laughed at me as I tried to get around them. Though when my hands started to glow red, they backed away, or at least Sham did. Ram just stood there taunting me until I hit him, burning him in the process. Even part of his shirt caught on fire.

"Witch!" he yelled, trying to put out his shirt. Sham came toward me, only to have a small explosion go off, followed by another.

I couldn't stand it anymore, so I ran. I didn't really care where I was going, I just ran. I was running away from things again like I always do. Then again, what could I do? All that I ever do is cause trouble and destruction where ever I go. I was tired of it and just wanted to disappear from everything.

T

"Professor, Elaine's gone missing," Kurt said as he burst into the office, Logan soon following.

Charles looked at the two of them for a moment, before concentrating on something.

"She has to be here somewhere…" he started, before his brows furrowed. "She's gone…"

"Professor?" Kurt questioned, watching as the man quickly wheeled out from behind his desk, and headed to the door.

"I'm going to try and use Cerebro to find her. At the moment, she's not only a danger to others, but also to herself," he said, quickly wheeling down the hall. Logan and Kurt followed behind him to the elevator, where they went down to the basement.

Kurt let out a small shiver as the cool air made contact with his skin.

"Come on blue boy," Logan grunted as he grabbed Kurt by the back of his jacket and pulled him along.

They stood there as the system preformed a retinal scan on the Professor's eye, before granting him access to Cerebro.

"Welcome Professor," came the automated voice that belonged to Cerebro.

Charles let loose a small smile upon hearing the female voice that had been programmed. He then wheeled in front of the helmet that rested on a small pedestal, awaiting for him to use it.

"Just stay where you are boys, this should only take a few minutes," Charles said over his shoulder, before positioning the helmet on his head.

Images of red and white soon projected in front of him, showing him every person in the United States. The images ranged from men to women and children, people of all age, mutant and human alike. Though, that was not what he wanted at the moment. No, he wanted to find Elaine. With that in mind, he narrowed down to the red images, sifting through the ones in the surrounding area.

Her image appeared before him when he locked onto her. She looked scared. She was trying to run away from everything.

"The train station," the Professor whispered. Before they could even do anything, Logan was gone.

T

"One ticket for the next train out please?" I asked the teller. She obliged, handing me a ticket in exchange for my money.

I let out a sigh as I looked around me. There were so many people here, and they were all going somewhere. I watched as a lady got up from a bench with her daughter, walking away toward a train that had just arrived. Her little girl left her teddy bear behind without realizing it.

"Ma'am," I called, trying to get her attention. She didn't hear me as I called for her. I looked down at the little brown bear, before looking over at the train that they had entered. It was my train.

T

Logan sped down the road, the train station in view. He hoped that he would get to her before her train left. Once he got inside, he looked around, but there was no sight of her. So, he made his way to one of the ticket windows. He asked the lady if she had seen anyone matching Elaine's description, and was pleased when she said yes, pointing him in the direction of her train.

T

"Um, excuse me Ma'am?"

The lady turned around upon hearing my voice. She raised an eyebrow in question as she looked at me.

"I think you forgot this," I said, holding the bear. The little girl burst out with joy upon seeing it.

"Teddy!" she cried, shooting out of her seat.

I smiled as I knelt down before her, holding the bear out to her. She took it gratefully.

"Now, say thank you, Emma," the woman insisted.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around me in a hug.

I froze upon feeling her small arms around me. A child was actually hugging me, a complete stranger at that. She smiled at me as she let go, hopping back up into her seat. I nodded my head, before going and sitting a few seats back near the end.

I sat next to the window, closing my eyes as I brought my knees to my chest. A few minutes later, I felt the seat shift.

"This seat taken?"

"Logan…?" He smiled at me a bit as I sat there.

"So, why ya runnin'?" he asked, pushing the hood of my jacket off of my head. When I didn't answer, he decided to take a different approach. "You know…running's not everything kid," he said.

"Yeah…but it's the only thing I'm good at," I whispered.

"Bull. Everyone's good at something," he pushed, inconspicuously resting his arm behind me on the seat. "Personally, I like being a pain in Scott's ass," he joked as he wrapped his arm around my neck tightly, giving me a noogie. I laughed as I tried to push him off.

"Yeah, and mine too," I said, pushing against him. He just chuckled, before letting go of me and sitting back in his seat.

"So, feel like going back now or should we see where this train takes us?" he asked.

I looked at him for a moment, thinking over my options.

"Let's go back," I said, standing up with him.

"Good, cuz I really didn't feel like having to drag your but back there," he said with a grin.

"Hey!" I huffed, shoving him towards the door. He didn't care though.

"Well, what's life without any fun?"

That's it. He's had it. With that, I chased him off the train and outside into the open air. I felt a lot better not being in a crowded area anymore. Being around so many people at once makes me highly uncomfortable.

"You ready kid?" Logan asked as he held me by the back of my shirt. I just groaned.

"Yes! Now, will you put me down?" I yelled, throwing my arms around. A moment later, he dropped me on the ground with a thud. "Ow…" I glared at him, only receiving an innocent grin in return.

"Now, put this on," he ordered as he pushed a helmet into my hands. My eyes widened in fright.

"Oh no…you've GOT to be kidding me?" I exclaimed. I didn't realize that he had ridden here on the back of a motorcycle.

"Not scared are ya?" he laughed, throwing his leg over the seat, and mounting it. He started up the engine, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.

I just turned my head away from him, before placing the helmet on my head.

"You wish," I muttered, getting on behind him. I caught the sight of a smirk as he revved the engine.

"I suggest you hold on," he warned, before taking off. The moment that thing was in motion, my arms were wrapped tightly around his waist, clinging to him for dear life as he sped down the road at high speed.

As if my fears weren't bad enough, about half way back, we heard a loud roar. The sound of a tree being unearthed soon followed, and before we knew it, one was crashing and landing in front of us.

"Hang on!" Logan yelled, but it did little good as I went flying to the ground with a scream.

I swear, I am so thankful for helmets because my head was the first thing to hit the ground. The pavement sent a wave of pain through my body and head, causing my world to spin and rush out of control. I couldn't even see straight as I lay there, staring through the cracked visor of my helmet.

"Hey kid, you alright?" Logan called, but I didn't answer him. In fact, I couldn't answer him.

I didn't know if anything was broken or not, the only thing that I did know was that my head was throbbing.

"Hey kid, can you hear me?" he asked, kneeling down in front of me and flipping the visor up. He could see my unfocused eyes as he stared at me, guilt written all over his face. "Sabertooth!" he cried out in anger. It was obvious that he was furious and the beast seemed to relish that fact.

"Such a weak frail," Sabertooth growled, circling around us.

I couldn't really see him as I lay there, trying to will away the blurriness of my eyes. From what I could tell, he was a large man, taller than Logan actually. He also had a long mane of untamed hair that rolled past his shoulders. What seemed to be an animal pelt was wrapped around his shoulders.

"Your fights with me, leave her out of this," Logan growled, trying to block me from the beasts view by standing in front of me. It did him little good though, since the man continued circling around us, drawing ever closer to us.

"So weak…" Sabertooth breathed, kicking dirt and rocks up in my face.

I let out a groan as I tried to move, but I only caused myself pain. I'll be surprised if after all of this, nothing is broken.

I watched as the man crouched down on all fours like an animal, looking ready to pounce at any given moment. To say that I was frightened would be an understatement. I was like a bird with a broken wing, while he was the quick, cunning cat that wanted to catch me in his paws and eat me. The sad thing is that the bird would have at least had a chance, while I was basically backed into a corner with no escape.

"I wanna…go…home," I whispered quietly, trying to keep my eyes open.

"Hey kid, don't fall asleep on me," Logan said, trying to get my attention as he glared down Sabertooth. I didn't really hear him though as the beasts gaze remained locked on mine. I barely caught the gleam in the man's eyes as my unsteady breathing gave away my weakness and vulnerability.

"Wan…go…home…" I murmured, unable to keep my eyes open, my body slowly trying to close down.

"Elaine!" Logan shouted, my eyes pulling back open a bit.

"Why don't we play a little game of…cat and mouse?" Sabertooth suggested, his eyes traveling from Logan, then back down to me. The predator vs. it's prey. This was not a good position for me to be in. That thought was soon proven as he lunged forward, barreling straight into Logan, knocking him off his feet. I could do nothing but lay there as Logan was thrown into a tree yards away.

"Hello…frail," he purred, coming to hover over me. He gazed down at me with a murderous look in his eyes, scaring the crap out of me. I whimpered when he tried to pick me up, grabbing hold of my forearm in an iron grip.

As usual, when I'm scared or something happens, my powers act up. Within moments, he was dropping me back onto the ground, letting out a murderous cry as I set his arm aflame, burning it. Like Logan, I watched as his skin grew back, repairing and healing itself. Then, out of rage, he threw me across the ground.

I could feel tears falling from my eyes as I lay there, my body twisted uncomfortably from the way I landed. Now, something might possibly be broken. I then watched as he slowly made his way over to Logan, cracking his neck and knuckles as he got closer. I couldn't let him hurt Logan…

Please…for once in my life…work when I need you… That's what I prayed in my head as I reluctantly pulled my hand up, gazing in Sabertooth's direction. I drew in a shaky breath, willing my powers to work.

"Please…" I whispered, tears slowly falling from my eyes soaking the ground.

Work! I shouted desperately in my mind, the word seeming to echo all around me as explosions and fire suddenly emerged.

An explosion separated Logan and Sabertooth, before flames flew at the beast, making him growl in rage. He stood there, fighting at the flames as Logan got to his feet, slowly backing away and coming towards me.

"Hey…you…okay kid?" he asked hesitantly, covering me as a large explosion went off, sending debris everywhere.

My breath was heavy and tired, body sore and bruised, skull pounding to no end. I couldn't move anymore, my arm finally falling flat on the ground, and my eyes slowly fluttering closed. I had reached my limit and was completely drained. There was absolutely nothing left that I could do…nothing but let the tempting darkness take over me.

Ok everyone, I hope you liked this chapter. For those of you that have been desperately waiting for Gambit, I'll try to squeeze him into the next chapter. Please REVIEW? I want to know what everyone thinks. Constructive feedback is always good when it comes to my stories and helps me make them better. So please don't hesitate to let me know your thoughts and opinions? I want to know everyone's feelings on this story. Thanks everybody. :)