(no way Julian lore?)

     All it took was one bumbling scientist, tripping over their own shoes to cause an evacuation. Julian hadn't even been awake when it happened, only awoken when the scent of smoke crowded his nose and alarms rang through his ears. He opened his eyes and saw that, to his horror, everything outside was ablaze, no one in sight.
     He scrambled up and ran to the glass wall, throwing himself against it as hard as he could until the heat of the fire stung him with each hit. At some point in his panic he hadn't even noticed his body's shift, growing fur and horns as he hyperventilated. Despite the burn he rammed himself against the door again while screaming, both in pain and just hoping someone would hear him. No one came.

     He staggered backwards. He was coughing and crying, trying to think of someway to get out of here when he heard creaking, then the snapping and groaning of something above him falling apart. He barely glanced up in time to see a burning pillar barreling down towards him.

...

He thought he heard something, like a voice, pleading. He opened his eye to see Patches, and he could've sworn he saw something else there too. Maybe he was hallucinating. His head was pounding. How much time had passed? Why couldn't he feel the right side of his face? Eventually the pillar on top of him eased enough for him to take a few wavering, heaving breaths before he crawled out. He saw patches set the pillar back down after.

     There was so much smoke, he was so confused. Patches was trying to say something to him, but he was too tired to hear it. Shouldn't he be dead?

     Then he heard a thump. He looked over to the door to see a figure slumped over the keypad, trying desperately to swipe the card. They succeeded with the door letting out a small 'beep!' before they fully collapsed to the floor. Julian immediately grabbed patches and ran out the door before glancing at who saved him.

     Crumpled on the floor, crutches at an awkward angle, was the project head himself. Xavier had a gas mask loosely covering his face(though not nearly on well enough to filter the smoke.) Julian ran through a ton of emotions at once, and had several dilemmas too; If he ran now, he could possibly find a way out before the ceiling collapsed. But what about Xavier? The man fucked up his life. Hell he was the reason he was here at all! But why would he go through all this to save him?

     Julian eventually came to the conclusion that he couldn't just leave him there. As much as he was tempted to. He made an attempt to pick him up but quickly noticed upon trying that he was in fact a beast right now, quadrupedal with no opposable thumbs. Teeth it is then.

     With a grumble Julian bit the scruff of Xavier's sweater and lifted him slightly off the ground. Patches had hopped off Julian's back and started motioning him to follow, which he did. His heart and head were pounding. He felt like he was on fire which, granted, he just might be. He pushed through the best he could, the crackling heat and creaking lab architecture were no help. But then he saw it, the exit in clear view. With one rough shove he was out of the lab and onto the grass surrounding it. He took a few extra steps before finally collapsing to the side, dropping Xavier as he did.

     He didn't know how long it'd been since he'd seen the sky. He hadn't appreciated it enough before. Now it was all he could look at, ignoring the smoke. Coughing and hacking made him turn to where he had dropped Xavier. He opened his eyes and when he saw Julian, he cried. Julian was in disbelief but here he was, watching the man who made his life hell for years weeping, muttering about how "he's alive. thank god, he made it!" between his wheezing and tears. Julian growled. He forced himself back to his feet and shot Xavier a glare before running into the tree line, never to look back again.

(I wrote this in half an hour at 3:00am. Hope you enjoy(ed))