Institutionalized

INSTITUTIONALIZED CHAPTER FORTY (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies and BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE (tm), it's official. I've gone crafting mad. I may even crochet the mermaid a tail cozy. InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink are groovy for archiving. :) Readers/Reviewers: Downhill slide to the next fic from here on out, lol. The menagerie is in hiding from the heat, but I suspect they will become more active at night now. Damned nocturnal critters... ;) And mille, mille, mille grazie for reading and reviewing and not throwing blankets over my happy naked pagan dance. :)

"Just let me sit down...please..."
Kurt nodded distractedly and helped Tabby ease herself to the floor. He was honestly a little turned around and needed to get his bearings. They were on the second floor of the complex and he had no idea where the exit was yet. He did not want to chance going back to the exit Sam had made in the off chance he would run into resistance in the form of the Native American again. Everything was starting to tumble together in his mind and he had no idea what day it was or even if it was day or night anymore. Kurt's survival instincts were kicking into overdrive and he was very nearly willing to give over to them entirely; the fact that Tabby seemed to be in growing distress was the only thing that stopped him. "What is it?"
"Cramps...oooooh...oh, God. This hurts so much!" She wrapped her arms around her stomach and doubled over, pressing her forehead to her knees as she moaned.
Icy fingers of reality crept into Kurt's fevered thoughts. As calmly as he could, he asked, "Tabby, do you think you're in labor?"
"I don't know...something's wrong, though..." She gasped as new pain wracked her body. "This is karma, isn't it?"
"Vas?"
"For what I did to Amara...Karma."
"I don't think it works like that, Tabitha," Kurt said as kindly as he could. "We need to keep moving and I don't want to port with you like this..." He was fairly certain that he could do it at least once if he had to, but now he did not want to chance further disruption to her precarious health.
She looked up at him with blazing hope in her eyes. "Do it...get us out of here, damn it!"
"Tabby, I can't do that. I don't know what it will do to you or the baby..."
"Kurt, if we stay here, something wore might happen..." She gritted her teeth and used his arm to pull herself up. "I need to get to a hospital. Now."
"Tabby..." He felt sick at the prospect of what could happen, the unknown effect of porting on pregnant women and on one in such a state as Tabby to boot. "Okay," he finally sighed. "We have to get out of here. I'll take us to the spot in the woods where the others hid...I know where that is."
Tabby nodded and gripped him tightly. Kurt could not be sure but he thought she might be praying under her breath. He had no idea if it were possible to port gently but he tried, the familiar tug and pull, the moment of uncertainty and then reality brought them to the dark, slightly damp woods. The scent of pinesap and a slightly singed aroma wafted through the air, mingling with the sulfurous odor of teleporting. Tabby made a gurgling noise, shoved herself away from Kurt and promptly vomited on the carpet of pine needles surrounding them. Kurt politely averted his gaze and focused on his own state of well being for the moment, feeling slightly dizzy but better than before. His strength was slowly returning but he was not quite up to par. "Where," she finally asked, "is everyone else?"
"I have no idea..."

Sam motioned for the others to join him by running across the open foyer. Todd made it in one leap, taking Scott with him by great dint of will and ability. He was going to be sore in the morning, he knew, but it was the least he could do for someone who kept Evan from killing him after the Great Soda-Game Cube Incident of 2003. Lance and Evan came next, Evan still not talking and looking worse for wear, then St John and Jamie came in a rush, a little noisier than anyone would have liked. "Where'd you learn the hand signals, yo? _Full Metal Jacket? _ "
Scott snorted. "Oh, geez... I can't believe I'm trusting my life to someone who uses commando signals culled from movies."
Sam fought down the urge to lash out and instead said as quietly as he could manage, "Tell you what, Cyclops, when you get your little sunglasses back, you can lead us all to death. Right now, I'm the de facto leader..."
"How do you figure?" Scott snapped.
Drawing himself up to his full height, Sam, not much taller than Scott but a lot larger in the way of muscles, said ominously, "I'm biggest."
St John rolled hyes yes and said, "Why do the straights always think bigger is better?"
Bobby elbowed him and said, "Look, we can have a pissing contest later...we need to find the girls!"
Scott, swallowing his pride, nodded. "Okay, if anyone has latent telepathic ability, speak up now..." When he was met with stony silence, he shrugged and said, "Well, it was worth a shot..."
"Should we split up?" Jamie asked softly.
"No!" Bobby shook his head emphatically. "We're missing all the girls and Kurt...If we split up, we run the risk of losing more."
"If we stay together," Sam said, "we run the risk of getting caught."
Scott found it was possible to get tired of keeping his eyes closed. His face was aching and he was trying to block out the memory of what Emma had forced him to do, with the help of Incubus. She had tested the limits of his powers, pushing him to exhaustion and pain before letting him go and bringing in another to work on. Scott wanted nothing more than to collapse into a tired heap and either cry or sleep. Or both, if he were to be honest with himself. "Look, I agree with Bobby but I think Sam is right here. As risky as it is to move as a group, we need to stick together in order to make sure we all leave together!"
Everyone but Scott looked down as a black poker chip rolled into view. "Shit," Todd said loudly as Roulette came, smirking, around the curve of the stairs behind which they were hiding. "Hello, my little puppies...nipping and barking...you're so loud even the dead could hear you."
"Roulette," Scott said grimly, trying to appear stern and in charge despite have his eyes screwed so tightly shut. "I would've thought you'd be gone by now, rats leaving a sinking ship and all that."
Sam surged forward, a rumble shaking the house as he moved, "Where are they?" he snarled, grabbing hold of Roulette and shaking her so hard her teeth rattled.
Black poker chips spilled to the ground and Roulette twisted from Lance's grasp. "Your luck's taken a turn for the worse." She called out, "Warpath! Firestar!" A long moment of tense silence ensued, Lance's fingers twitching at his sides as he debated another pounce at the girl. "Warpath!" she called even more loudly. "Firestar!"
"Looks like it's you that's out of luck, sweetcheeks," Todd grinned a moment before he spat a mouthful of slime at Roulette, covering her face with the quickly hardening goo.

Jean panted slightly, drawing to a halt beside Rogue and Rahne. Rahne, in full lupine form, sat down and swished her tail through the pine needles, also panting but looking far happier than the other two girls. Rogue spoke first. "Can you use your powers to find 'em?"
"If I do, every telepath for miles will pick up on it...I'd have to broadcast to make sure I hit everyone."
Rahne whined a little and looked at Jean as meaningfully as she could and Rogue nodded. "Yeah, me too..."
"What?" Jean raised a brow. Rahne, in lupine form, was hard to read telepathically. It was not that she thought as an animal but rather the wolf in her made her thoughts more abstract, feelings and images rather than logical progressions. The Professor had no problem reading her or receiving messages from her in that form, but Jean knew her true strength lay in telepathy and did not even try to decipher the Scottish girl when she was transformed.
Rogue said, as if it were the simplest thing on the planet, "Do it...we can book if we have to. If push comes to shove..." Rogue spread her arms. "I'll go au naturel and let 'em try and catch me while y'all run. Even if they succeed, they're in for a hell of a surprise!"
Jean sighed. She did not really want to chance it but she took a deep breath and sent out her thought. _* Scott? Kurt? Todd? Lance? Any of you guys out there? Answer me, please! Anyone at all... _ * She felt like the teacher in _Ferris Bueller's Day Off _ as she waited with held breath for a response.
_*Jean? _ *
_*Scott! Thank God! _ * The rushing, sweet relief flowed both ways. _*Where are you? _ *
_*At the moment, in what looks like the study...or an office or something. We're trying to peel slime off Roulette's face so she can tell us where you are... _ *
_*Slime? Oh...Todd got her...Well, leave it there and bring her. We're outside. _ *
_*How'd you get out there? _ *
_*Long story... _ *
There was a tight pause before another voice came into Jean's mind. _*Oh, please tell it Jean * _ , Empath snarled telepathically. _* We'd love to hear it... _ *
_*Empath! Where are you? _ *
_*Enjoying the company of your husband and his friends. Do come join us...we're having quite the little party in here. _ *

Kurt stiffened when he heard Jean's call. Her voice in his mind was such a sudden thing that it caught him off guard, the realization that he had let his mental shields down more surprising than the actual call. Looking at Tabby, who was huddled on the forest floor, he moved a few feet away and sent out his response to Jean. _*Jean? Can you hear me? Tabby and I are in the woods, hiding from that big guy...She needs a doctor quick. _ * The silence was too absolute when he had finished to be a pause in the conversation. _*Jean? _ * He felt it then, a block as solid as a brick wall between them. "Shit," he breathed. _Someone else is out there, blocking us...damn it! Who is it? _ Making sure his shields were firmly in place, he returned to Tabby's side. "Can you walk yet?"
"I don't know." It was disconcerting for Kurt to see her crying so abjectly. He knew Tabby as brash and loud and fearless and often crude and it was easy to forget that she was not much older than he was and was human underneath all her bravado. "I hurt..."
Kurt bit his lip. The danger around them was very real and very close, but he could not risk making her move anymore. Throwing his head back, Kurt prayed. _God, please send us a sign...something to guide us, let us know everything is going to be okay... _ He nearly fainted when he heard the steady thump of wings beating air and actually felt the world tilt on its axis as the angelic figure slowly lowered through the thick branches of the trees. "Kurt Wagner, I presume?" the angel smiled.
"Warren?" he said, giddy with relief. "How..."
"Cerebro is lighting up like Christmas, everyone using their abilities and all..." Warren's eyes drifted to Tabby and his countenance changed. "Where are the others?"
"We don't know!" Tabby sobbed.
Warren nodded. "Right. Banshee is here, coming in from the west side of the compound. I'm supposed to meet him in the middle but I saw her blonde hair through the shadows..." Squatting beside Tabby, Warren folded his wings behind him and said, "I'll get you out of here, okay? Think you can hold on to my neck and not let go?"
"I think so," she said in a tiny voice. "Kurt?"
"You go with him, I'll find Banshee...um, what does Banshee look like?" He had an image of a wraith drifting over the grounds and shuddered.
"Red hair, a bit pissed...you'll know him when you see him!" Warren carefully picked up Tabby and held her while she gripped his neck. "I'll come back for you..."
Kurt nodded, watching them disappear into the night. _Mysterious ways... _