As James walked through the streets of New York he pulled out his print off from Google maps for what felt like the thousandth time that day from his pocket. He new he was going in the right direction. He just didn't know which street he was on, not that that would help of coarse because he had been an absolute  twit and printed the map off way too small.

  He had been fine for the first ten minutes, walking in a straight line, directly towards Xavier's Sister School. He had thought that he couldn't go wrong.

  Just a straight line, James had told himself. What could go wrong? But that had been the problem, it was in a straight line.

 James wouldn't have been walking to the school in the first place if he hadn't fallen out with his mother earlier that evening. Their relationship had been distant, even hostile since he had discovered that he was a mutant and eventually it had gotten too much. James had confronted his mother about her lack of interaction with him and she didn't take it well.

  She had screamed at him about the fact that he was a freak and that no son of hers could ever turn their body into metal. She had then proceeded to grab his packed bags and throw them out of his window, the whole time ranting about James being an imposter and that her James would never speak to her like that.

  Then James lost his temper. Those bags contained his iPod, Nintendo DS and a few of his books which he had done his best to keep in good condition. He had yelled at her, which he was now ashamed to admit. He had said things to her which he didn't really mean but could never take back.

  oh well, it could be worse. She could have thrown me out without anything. James had told himself this about ten times since leaving his house for the mansion and was starting to believe it. The original plan had been for him to go there in a taxi early in the morning but now he had to walk through the streets, in the near dark, with all his valuables while rioters ran around like headless chickens in a mad frenzy of...well, rioting.

  Which is why James had diverted from his original simple and straightforward track. He had seen two groups of rioters on the way and had to doge into alleyways and change his coarse quite drastically.

  Now he was truly lost. James had lived in New York for 2 years but he had never really left his houses general vicinity, well not often enough to know his way around the rest of the city.

  James was now running on the hope that he would find some fellow mutants who would know their way to the mansion before it got dark. He was running on the hope of an unlikely encounter which most people would have given up on by now but if James was anything, he was an optimist.

  James slapped a self-encouraging smile on his face, pulled his backpacks straps tighter and zipped up his jacket in an attempt to fuel a burst of optimism.

  Naturally that's when a group of rioters decided to turn around the corner about fifty meters behind him and start shouting in his general direction.

  This can only get better. James reassured himself, Once i get away from these idiots. He looked around for another alleyway or building to dive into. Luck was on James's side as there was an appropriately placed alleyway on his left which branched out in to directions.

  Stopping only to turn around and give the rioters the finger, he dashed into the alleyway where he took couple of lefts and then a right and came back onto the street outside of Central park. He stopped to catch his breath and then keep walking in the mansions general direction, Hoping to find someone who knew their way and didn't want to take all of his belongings.
 

For a first day in a new city it was starting to look up, he had met another mutant. Even if Serena's mutation was a little..creepy. Although he wasn't really one to talk about creepy mutations, with him eating ash and what not.

So for a while Leon and Serena talked. They talked about England and what life was like before the USA. This conversation quickly became very one sided with Leon detailing parts of his life to her, from how he went from prized son to the mutant to be hidden away. As all of these little facts and memory's came out it was like someone had lifted a weight off of his chest, with each word becoming easier to speak and each memory less painful.

That's when they bumped into the man.

Leon had just been explaining how Americans had no taste for tea, "They always put in far too much mil-."His sentence was cut short as he felt his legs come out beneath him, as he fell he caught a glimpse of a figure directly in front of him although it was too dark to see the face. By the general build it was defiantly not Serena.

Today is just not my day. Thought Leon as he scratched his head, and looked up to the figure now directly in front and above him. His thoughts fluttered back to the mob that had attacked him and Serena, the way it had started with a single mugger who when beaten went to get backup. 

Looking at the man now it was clear it was a teenager. Although the mugger had also been a teenager so that was no reason to trust him.

"Sorry man i didn't see you there." He said with no hint of kindness in his voice. This man had no reason to be trusted and for all Leon knew he could be the start of another attack. As far as he was concerned the only trust worthy person was Serena, after all she had saved him from the rioters and a mugger.

Serena had already had an eventful day. Spent the morning at her apartment going through stuff, saved a mutant teen from a mugger, saved the same person, Leon, from a group of Mutant hating rioters. And had a discussion with him about England.

She noted how Leon had begun to talk about himself a lot, and was completely okay with that. If he needed to talk, she would be there to listen, that is just the kind of person Serena is.

Besides, she wasn't really in a mood to discuss her family. Especially not her brother after what had happened. It didn't hurt nearly as much as it used to, but loss still left an empty void which took a very long time to fill, Serena wasn't entirely sure that it ever completely would.

He began to speak of how Americans did not know how to make tea. Serena smirked. She had nothing against Americans, and was not massively patriotic. At least, not outwardly.

She was very proud to be English and she loved her accent, but there was nothing wrong with American's, and she had lived her for quite a few years now.

Leon was cut off by bumping into another teenager. Who was smaller than Leon. He was a little taller than Serena, a couple of inches maybe? He had shaggy, unkempt, dark brown hair, and did not look particularly hostile.

Serena giggled light heartily "Leon, you should watch were you are going." She followed with another light hearted giggle.

 

James was walking along and thinking about what it would be like at the mansion when someone walked into him. His first thought was that he had been silly and let some rioters get the jump on him, as a result James felt the tingling feeling that always came with the use of his mutation as the watch on his arm allowed it to turn to steel. He felt it go up to his elbow and then it stopped. As James stumbled to the left he turned quickly, raised his arm slightly to defend himself but stopped, Realizing he had jumped to conclusions.

  What he saw in front of him was not at all what he expected to see, it was a guy, about his age, probably older wearing a posh looking waistcoat. He had brown hair and was a bit taller.

  James's muscles relaxed as the guy apologized, not with much enthusiasm, which was acceptable considering the cities current situation. He nodded at the teenager awkwardly and noticed the attractive blonde girl in a teal coloured dress standing next to him as she giggled at her companions clumsiness.

  Oh gosh, a girl, a good looking one too. James thought as he felt the feeling of his body going rigid and awkward. Which always happened when girls were around.

  "Aha, its no problem" James laughed self-consciously as he offered the guy a hand up, not thinking properly as he didn't realize that he had just offered a stranger a hand up with an arm made from steel.

A metal arm, seriously? Somebody must have not told this guy people are out to kill mutants. Oh well if this guy is a mutant, which he fairly obviously is, it does mean that he isn't an immediate threat to them. 

"Thanks. So i guess your from the mansion?" Said Leon with a touch of kindness, after all he is a mutant. And he highly doubted a mutant would work with the rioters. 

As he looked at the man more closely now he noticed more features about him, most noted was his height. He was smaller than Leon and he knocked him over...by walking. Damn that's embarrassing. But at least Leon wasn't being awkward over Serena. 

 Well someones a bit self conscious. Thought Leon as he watched the guy stand a little taller and become slightly rigid. The laugh with the comment. nothing was more obvious than a nervous laugh. 

Oh well if he was from the mansion they would be spending more time together, so maybe he could get some help about the whole self confidence issue. And possibly stop going metal arms at people walking into him. 

Serena was smiling up until the point she noticed his arm had started to become metal. This meant two things. One, he was a mutant. Two, he was an idiot.

Serena quickly moved so that she was to the right slightly, as to cover his arm from prying eyes. What was he thinking? Using his mutation in broad daylight... That was so silly.

Normally, there was the odd human about who was anti-mutant, so if you could help it, generally speaking it was a better idea to keep your mutation hidden. And that was under Normal circumstances, this was not normal circumstances. This was a rioting New York, caused by tensions to do with mutants.

So showing your mutation in broad daylight, in the middle of a street... Not a good plan. "I don't recognise him, then again though, I might not know everyone at the mansion. It is a big place." She said to Leon, keeping her voice low.

She turned to the teenager who they had just (Literally) bumped into. "Hi, um, it's probably a good idea if you don't do that in broad daylight while the city is in the state it is in..." Serena said to him, keeping her voice low, but with a distinct warmth in it, gesturing to his metal hand.

 James was relieved these two seemed to know their way to the mansion. He was saved! "Yeah i know I'm sorry"He replied because really, he was sorry that his mutation had activated at such a bad time. he didn't want the only other mutants he had met to think he was an imbecile.

James as he pulled up his left sleeve as he said  "it seems to have a mind of its own and does it without me wanting it to" as he said this he placed his right palm on his left forearm and willed his skin back to normal. He felt his sense of touch return as human flesh pushed back the steel.

  suddenly James realized the accent. "Are you...you are British!" this just kept getting better. He had found other mutants who seemed nice and just happened to be British.
 
  better than i could have hoped for, James grinned mentally.

"Um yeah... we are British, any reason why you ask?" Said Leon with much more warmth to his voice, failing too notice the accent the man spoke with. He though to himself that there was no need to be worried after all I doubt this guy even qualifies to be a rioter. He's to...twitchy 

However that may be a problem. he thought looking at the arm. With a mutation that can activate on its own and one that's so noticeable, traveling to the mansion could get tricky. Why is today so stressful! He thought to himself angrily, pulling out his pack of cigarettes and lighter, I mean come on  first a mugger then rioters and now this. If i was religious i would call it a divine test.

"Want one?" He asked the new guy as he put a cigarette in his mouth. Looking at the pack he realized with shock that it only had 3 left. He knew that he had allot more in his bag but really he had burned through allot today. On the other hand he would start to slow down when he got settled at the mansion. Until then these where the way he was keeping it together.

I sorta hope that he takes one, he really looks like he could use it. 

As he looked at the man and lit his own cigarette. Taking a long deep inhale. Feeling the calmness spread through him like blood flows through his veins. Looking at the guy more closely now he noticed that he couldn't be older than him or Serena. upon noticing this he felt slightly bad about offering him a cigarette, as it is a bad habit. But hey its legal in England so he wasn't doing anything wrong to his knowledge.

She smiled at the kid. He seemed nice enough, if not a little nervous, and she understood that mutations could be a pain in the ass to control. Because her mutation was certainly not the easiest thing in the world to utilise.

Hers, in fact, seemed to push back against her will when she was using it. Although, earlier that day, when her and Leon had been surrounded by rioting mutant haters on all sides, and she had controlled it, she had actually done it. She protected her and Leon and had not badly injured anyone.

She grimaced. "I know what that'slike..." Serena said, in response to his comment about 'A mind of it's own'

She looked directly at Leon as he offered the slightly younger looking teenager a cigarette. "Leon, if you hadn't noticed... There are different laws on smoking here." She said it not in a patronising way, but in a careful, diplomatic tone.

The blonde then nodded at the new mutant. "Yes, we are both British, I take it you are too?" she said with a warm and friendly smile.

James was relieved when the girl told him she knew what having an  annoying mutation was like, good. They wont be angry then. Sure enough  she told the other guy that smoking laws were different here. James felt like agreeing but he didn't want to sound like a kiss ass so he said nothing.

He shook his head at the other British teen "No thanks, i don't smoke" Didn't he know that the laws here for smoking were different? oh well, i suppose he will find out soon enough. James thought smoking was disgusting but had no problem with it unless they blew the smoke in his face, that REALLY got on his nerves. Sure enough the girl told the other guy that smoking laws were different here. James felt like agreeing but he didn't want to sound like a kiss ass so he said nothing.

To her comment on their nationality he replied "Yeah, I'm British, from Nottingham. You know...Robin Hood?" he felt the awkwardness returning so he changed the subject.

"Anyway, my mum just kicked me out. I was supposed to be going to the mansion in a taxi tomorrow but...well i don't have to explain, you get the point" He pulled out the Print off out of his pocket again and looked at it, feeling stupid about the fact that he couldn't even follow a map. He tore it up into five pieces and dropped it on the ground.

"Ugh, Cant even follow a damn map" James muttered to himself as the pieces blew off into the distance. Looking back up at the others he pulled his right sleeve up and undid his watch then dropped it into his shorts pocket.

"My name is James by the way, nice to meet you" James thought introductions were in order, considering he wanted these peoples help.
 

Leon shrugged, although it was true america had different laws on smoking he just chose not to follow them. After all he had been smoking for over a year and wasn't going to stop now. "Oh well, it's your choice." He replied to the guy who had identified himself as James. A part of him was thinking that James is to young to smoke and it was wrong to offer, but he had started off at 16 so it was a rather hypocritical thought.

Another British person. And their a mutant, today's either very lucky or I got on the wrong plane. 

"Nottingham huh, never really been down there. I'm from London you see." Said Leon with a slight smile, remembering the tales and cartoons of Robin Hood. especially one where he was a fox. then more questions started to rise in his head.

If he's from England maybe he hasn't been in the country long. But he said he was thrown out so how could he of bought a plane ticket. 

"So James. I guess you live in around here then?" He asked with genuine curiosity, if he did live around here then maybe he could help to get to the mansion faster. No that couldn't be right. Could it? He looked as lost as they did, and he already said he was supposed to get a taxi to the mansion in the morning. All of these questions and ideas started to make his brain hurt.

Looking at him he really did look lost. Weird considering by the sounds of it he lived in america, oh well the best guess is that he just didn't get out much. That aside he looked like a nice enough guy, maybe a little awkward at times and that's fair enough with the whole metal arm thing. Thinking about how James mutation could activate on its own made Leon feel grateful that he had a decent level of control over his.

Serena gave the boy a reassuring smile, yet at the same time did a playful roll of her eyes to both of them. "So both of you are due to arrive at the mansion, but neither of you know the way... Guess I'm bringing two more people home with me today..."

She grinned to them, noting how the boy had cursed and torn up his map. He had been thrown out. That was awful!

But Serena decided that she would not press the subject. It was probably at least a mildly sensitive subject. Just like her family was a sensitive subject. She guessed, at least these two still have family, she had none left to speak of. Just an apartment payed off by a clever brother, which she could't really live in. And a sweet roommate.

She looked at the two boys with her, after glancing up and noting how the sun appeared to be getting lower in the sky. Not good, more rioters would be out soon, and then things got messy. "Look guys, I'd love to continue this conversation, but perhaps we should do it whilst moving? It's getting dark, and I would rather get back to... Home. Before it gets too dark and the violent groups become even MORE active." she made it clear that she wanted the mansion to be said out loud as little as possible.

It was dangerous enough as it is, without mutant haters overhearing them and starting even more trouble. Like they had earlier that day, in central park, with her and Leon.

James nodded at...Leon, that's what the Blonde had called him. "Yeah, that's right. I moved here when I was fourteen, with my Mum. She had a dodgy breakup with her boyfriend and needed to get away" He shrugged "I didn't really have much to leave behind to be honest, so it was no biggie"

He turned to the blonde girl and noted that she left out the word mansion. right, why hadn't i thought of that? He nodded to...what was here name? she still hadn't told him. The girl, I will just have to call her "The Girl" for now.

James started to walk in the mansions general direction, Checking over his shoulder to make sure they were following. They were, Good. "Alright" He said over his shoulder to the blonde girl "you should probably lead, considering you know the way"

Well that cleared things up, kinda. The way James talked about his family as though they where just parts of his past with no real connection. It was as though he had cut himself off from the past before he left for the mansion, at least that's what it sounded like to Leon. 

And that really started to annoy him. 

After all your family is flesh and blood, you can pick your friends just fine but your family is something else. With bonds much stronger that shouldn't be broken so easily. Some times it is easy to loose your temper with family members, Leon has had many arguments with his family but it always worked out. He always made it right. 

Even this, being sent to America was just another bump in their relationship. The way he had just dumped such a large secret on his family, it was easily understandable that they needed some time away from him. And in a few months or years he would make amends with his parents.

But the way that James spoke seemed to be something different, it was as though he wanted nothing more than to be away from his family. To never see them again. After all James didn't look like he came from a broken home, reasonably well dressed and fed, so as much as Leon tried to see why he would hate his family so much, he just couldn't. It was like it he just didn't care.

With a glance he realized that James had started to move, to what he assumed would be the mansion. He made his way to catch up with James. With a quick glance to see if Serena was following. Having no intention to get caught by more rioters. Especially alone.

She begun walking as he seemed content with her leading them to the mansion, and Leon had previously agreed to go the the mansion with Serena. She wondered what they would think of the mansion...

The staff might actually put them in the same room as they will arrive simultaneously, just for ease. Hopefully they would both like it there. Serena rather liked it almost instantaneously apon arriving, however these two might not. Especially if they didn't like crowded areas, the mansion had plenty of that.

As she walked she turned her head slightly to the two of them. "Do either of you know if the staff have had any prior warning to your arrival? That would make things easier when we get there. Because it is still light though, we should be able to find someone."

Serena smiled. "When I first arrived, we had to search the mansion for someone, and then ended up having to wait till the next day to get me accepted, but to be fair, I did arrive after midnight." she giggled.