「 The Professor & I 」VOLUME II

(335) Professor X

Charles' POV

"Dammit!" I hissed under my breath, straining everything in my arms to wheel myself and Lynn forward.

Swiftly dragging Jimmy along, Kitty sprinted up to the lobby with a bloodied knife securely clasped in her hand and hurriedly slammed on the call button. By the time I arrived, the bell promptly dinged and the doors of elevator nicely glided apart for me to enter.

While Lynn remained dreadfully unconscious, thoroughly worried expressions hung on the faces of the kids as we steadily ascended. Surely, the traumatised youngsters were in dire need of consolation but I had neither the mood nor capacity to deliver the required inspiration.

As the lift chimed again and the incandescent illumination of the backlit 'R' dial extinguished, I quickly planted a loving kiss to Lynn's forehead before firmly grabbing my rims. The rectangular aperture opened to a secluded side of the rooftop and immediately, the cacophonous ruckus of a raging war blared to our eardrums.

Expeditiously, I exited and scanned the surrounding darkness, faintly spotting our modified blackbird in the distance. Although the magnificent aircraft was parked on the far end of the terrain, the barren ground was much easier to conquer compared to the labyrinth of hallways.

In a direct path, I rushed towards the plane and Kitty conscientiously dashed ahead, readily unlatching the ramp as I approached. Thankfully, its gradient had been specially designed with our abilities, or disabilities, in due consideration and the moderate climb was not significantly more taxing than the rest of the journey.

"I can handle things here, Kitty," I claimed nonchalantly, striving to conceal my incessant panting, as I strenuously mounted up the gentle slope.

"Go downstairs and help the others," I ordered in a harmonious tone as she safely stowed away Lynn's dagger into a concealed storage compartment beneath the table.

Meticulously settling Jimmy into a seat by the long meeting desk, however, the teen faced around, staring at me with a timid gaze; even without telepathy, it was clear from her face of blatant uncertainty that she was, for every imaginably warranted reason, skeptical to leave.

"I said, go," I repeated with a stern expression and after a split second of deliberation while receiving my provoked glare, she urgently nodded, scampering out of the cabin.

Tediously traversing across the sleek interior, I slipped my hand under the lacquered top, clicking on the obscured switch that activated the circumferential chairs to back away towards the wall, and scooted myself into the conveniently vacated space.

Unmistakably, the next step was more than tricky from my problematic seated posture but Jimmy remained still, hesitant to offer assistance, as he apparently sensed my unyielding determination to accomplish it independently.

I prudently hooked Lynn's arm over my neck and slowly snaked my other hand under her knees. Although the desired motion was terribly awkward from my inevitably lowered position, I adamantly hoisted her up from my lap but my arms trembled vigorously, attempting to transfer her onto the polished veneer.

Usually, her petite weight was never an issue to grapple but the ill combination of my compromised height and substantially exhausted condition was definitely not the best to achieve the envisioned assignment. Before I actually raised her onto the desktop, my triceps inappropriately cramped up and I blurted a yelp, involuntarily losing my grasp on her legs, as I lurched forward in agony.

Lynn spontaneously burst her eyes wide, screaming wildly, as her severely wounded limb crashed harmfully into the side of the table. She gasped for air difficultly, as if every breath ruthlessly stabbed her a large shard of glass through her body, and reflexively clutched the back of my jacket while an expression of immense discomfort rapidly proliferated across her face.