Penelope…was…excited! She had been able to talk to Chase’s mom about possibly going to school at the mansion and it seemed like such a good idea! After the incident at her old school, Penelope had been stewing the idea of going to Chase’s school in her head. Though the idea quickly came to her, it was a bit longer before she could actually act on it. She was scared, to say the least. What if even a mutant school didn’t take her? What if they thought that she was far too dangerous? It was entirely possible, right? Look at what Penelope did to people just because they assaulted her with snowballs! Imagine if she were picked on by mutants with powers of their own!

The whole concept was terrifying. But Penelope knew that she shouldn’t get so worked up. She needed to keep her calm and she had to focus and believe that everything was going to work out. Chase’s school dealt with dangerous mutants all the time! Surely she wasn’t the first who ever wanted to get an education.

No, they could handle her. She believed it, she got Lilith to believe it, therefore it would be okay. It had to be.

She sighed though. The day came and she still had her doubts. As much as she didn’t want to have them, they were there. Standing outside the gates to the school with her sister Lilith at her side, Penelope looked at the mansion. So many times she had been to the school before to see Chase, to hang out with friends, and now she was looking at it as a possible home and school. The thought was intimidating but Penelope knew it was her best option.

Taking a deep breath, Penelope looked up to Lilith and smiled, tugging at her jeans. When Lilith looked down (obviously worried if this last shot didn’t work), Penelope gave her a warm grin and patted her leg.

“It’ll be okay,” she said gently. “Just let me do the talking.”

Lilith arched a brow but finally just chuckled and nodded. “Go on, baby girl.”

Penelope nodded as she marched herself over to the guard house and waved at the guard with a smile. “Hi!” she said brightly to the man. Dressed in her overalls, tie-dyed t-shirt, and white beanie, Penelope looked as bright as her smile was. “My sister and I have an appointment with Chase’s mom? To see the school?”

The guard looked down for a second before smiling and looking back up. “Ms. Taylor, correct?”

Penelope nodded eagerly.

“Okay sweetheart,” he said as he buzzed them in through the gate. “Just head up to the doors and she will meet you. I’ll ring her that you and your sister are here.”

“Thanks mister!” Penelope sang as she raced back over to Lilith and grabbed her hand. Pulling her sister along, Penelope pushed her way into the gate and nearly skipped to the mansion doors.

She was excited.

Now this was an interesting development. Gemma, once again, was grateful for her powers.
The news about a little girl tearing up her school traveled fast, especially in mutant circles. Gemma was even more surprised that the "major threat" turned out to be no other but Penelope, one of Chase's best friends. now it was personal, and if they had not called in to ask about the school, she would have done it herself.

When her phone rang to let her know the visitors were there, Gemma left her office and walked down to the front door, just to see Penelope bounding up the steps, dragging the other girl in tow. Gemma smiled at both of them.

"Hey there" she greeted Penelope "Nice to see you again. Chase is in class right now, but he says hi."

Penelope was bouncing. She couldn’t wait to get into this place again. Everytime she came here to hang out with Chase or any of the other friends that she had managed to make, she always had a blast. It was so comforting to be around people who knew what it was like to be different. Sure humans liked to SAY[/b] they understood but that was never true. They couldn’t understand what it was like to be a mutant. To know that you were so different from everyone else.

Humans were liars.

…

Ahem.

She had just reached the door when it opened up to reveal that very tall woman again. Gosh, she was just SO tall! The first time she met her, Penelope thought she was staring at a giant. She was continuously impressed by her height and smiled up at her with a toothy grin when the pretty woman loomed above her.

>> "Hey there…Nice to see you again. Chase is in class right now, but he says hi."

“Hi Ms. Taylor!” Penelope beamed.

Lilith smiled a little shyly, though obviously a little nervous about how this meeting will go. “Afternoon, Ms. Taylor, thank you for seeing us.”

Penelope grinned. She was sad that she was going to miss seeing Chase, but she was still happy as a clam to be here! She hoped and hoped that they would be able to find room for her.

>>“Hi Ms. Taylor!”

The little girl with the bright smile was impossible not to love. Gemma returned the smile.

>>“Afternoon, Ms. Taylor, thank you for seeing us.”

"My pleasure" she smiled at the older sister too, and opened the front door wider to invite them in "I have some cookies in the kitchen, if you are fast enough, there might be some left" she winked at Penelope and walked with them down the hall. Most of the students were in class or ourside. She chose this time of the day for the moment of peace.

Penelope liked Chase’s mom. She was very sweet and always had a kind smile on her face. She didn’t know if she was a mutant or not, but even if she was human, she doubted that she was all bad. After all, not every human was a danger to mutantkind, were they? That would just be a little thought. Even if her parents had drilled such things into her head, Penelope didn’t really believe them. It was just more silly things that they said.

In the meantime, though, she liked Ms. Taylor. And she hoped that the notion was mutual.

>> "My pleasure…I have some cookies in the kitchen, if you are fast enough, there might be some left"

Penelope. Beamed! Cookies! She loooooved cookies. Taking the hint that she needed to rush, Penelope bounced up and down before dashing off towards the kitchen.

“Thanks Ms. Taylor! I’ll save you and Lily one!” she laughed as she ran off.

Lilith, on the other hand, was left behind, smiling a little as she watched Penelope dash off towards the kitchen. Lilith had never really been inside the mansion but merely stood outside after Ms. Taylor and Penelope met the first time. It seemed as if the circumstances were far different now.

Smiling a little shyly at the much taller woman, Lilith tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before turning back to meet her.

“Um, again, thank you for seeing us,” Lilith said as they walked on. “As you know doubt know…we’re a little desperate now.”

>>“Thanks Ms. Taylor! I’ll save you and Lily one!”

Gemma chuckled as the watched the little girl bound off. She was pure delight. A lot of children, especially after manifesting powers, tended to be shy, or confused, or even depressed. Penelope was none. She was a ray of sunshine.
And, apparently, quite a destructive ray too.

>>“Um, again, thank you for seeing us. As you know doubt know…we’re a little desperate now.”

"We are a mutant school" Gemma smiled a little "We do very well with desperate. But before we go into the details... do you want to tell me a little bit more about your side of the story?"

Lilith smiled as she watched Penelope run off and disappear in some hallway that must have surely led to the kitchen. Lilith had been inside the mansion only once before but she was so preoccupied with whether it was a mistake or not exposing her sister to such a place that she didn’t get to take all of it in. But, now that this was their only option, she paused and took in the scenery. It certainly was beautiful…and homey.

She was suddenly beginning to get the feeling that if anyone could offer Penelope a safe haven…it was here.

Her attention returning to the older woman, Lilith smiled a little nervously as she tried to get her bearings. What was there really left for he to say? They were desperate but she didn’t want the woman to think that that was the only reason they were here. Maybe she should have said something different?

>> "We are a mutant school…We do very well with desperate. But before we go into the details... do you want to tell me a little bit more about your side of the story?"

Lilith side. It was no good keeping anything from her. After all, if this place could help Penelope, it was probably best that she just come out with it.

“I…I don’t know much about what Penelope went through,” she admitted. “Other than what she told me. But Penelope is such a ray of sunshine that it is difficult for to say anything negative. But…I know what I went through…”

She thought for a moment. Pausing, she played with the hem of her shirt before she took another relaxing breath and went on.

“Her…or rather…our parents were some rather nasty mutant supremacists back up in Washington D.C., went by the names Hellfyre and Goldfox,” she muttered. “They did everything they could for mutants and harmed whatever humans they could. The biggest thing of their lives was that they wanted to continue to proud, mutant bloodline with their children. I was their first failure.” Lilith shrugged. If Ms. Taylor didn’t catch from that that Lilith was 100% human, well, she should. “I was kicked out and I have been living in New York since I was 18. Honestly I didn’t even know they had Penelope until…well…IT happened. She won’t talk about it either. All I can gather is that some SWAT tracked down our parents, broke into their house to arrest them, and all hell broke loose. They killed our parents…right in front of her…”

Lilith sniffled…she hated her parents. But no one, no one should have to see their parents die in front of them…

That was... a pretty dark and gruesome story, even for a mutant child. Gemma's eyes narrowed as she looked after Penelope happily scampering off to the kitchen to eat cookies. She had dealt with traumatized children before. It was never fun, and sooner or later, sometimes it ruined a school.

"Does she talk about it?"

She needed to know more. Every motherly instinct she had was telling her to take the girl, but she could not allow an unknown threat into the Mansion. Kids could be cruel, and sudden, and then they got hurt.

"What happened at her school exactly?..."

Lilith couldn’t believe that she had actually related this whole story. She had never spoken it out loud to anyone. Why? It really wasn’t her story, it was her sister’s. But maybe it was because Penelope couldn’t talk about it. She couldn’t voice her fears or her issues with everything that had happened. Penelope was far too sunny and energetic to let such things prevail through her head. She loved everyone too much to express any anger.

And, well, the few times she did were very…unpleasant.

Head down, Lilith continued to walk on next to the woman and waited for her reaction. As she did she began to think about the situation again. She knew why she never spoke about it…because she herself had been in Penelope’s place long ago. She was the child of those two as well and in a way they died before her eyes when she was thrown out of their house for not being a mutant.

>> "Does she talk about it? ...What happened at her school exactly?..."

Lilith sighed. The answer to both of those questions was pretty much the same.

“She doesn’t talk about it,” Lilith replied, “but…SHE does.” She took a second to let her comment sink in before she continued. “There’s a reason she doesn’t get mad, or angry, or at least does her best not to. At the school she just lost her cool.” Lilith shook her head and grumbled a little about stupid kids before she turned her eyes back to Ms. Taylor. “There was an incident…at a movie theater. Penelope was pressured to sneak into some stupid scary movie by some idiot friends of hers. She got too scared and…she changed. After that, well, news gets around in New York…”

She sniffled as she remembered seeing Penelope that day. After Mrs. Tickle appeared and nearly took apart half the school, she found Penelope, exhausted and bruised over by snowballs. To think at how cruel these kid’s had been was almost too much for the young woman to bear. But she pushed past such thoughts and continued.

“Apparently the girl who was the ringleader arranged some kind of snowball prank on Penelope,” she whispered. “Most of her class had ganged up on her and pelted her with snowballs. And, you know, that’s when it happened.” Nervously she licked her lips before she turned and Gemma again. “I have two sisters…Penelope…and the woman who lives inside of Penelope’s head; the monster that causes all the damage…Mrs. Jezebel Tickle…”

Almost as if by magic Penelope then stuck her head out from the kitchen, grinned with chocolate staining the corner of her lips. She was smiling wide and waving two chocolate chip cookies at them.

“Come on, slow pokes! Or I’m gunna eat them all up! Hahaha!”

Gemma listened to the story. Even though she had known the basic idea before, hearing it in detail was none the less disturbing. Lilith seemed very apologetic about her sister's condition. And very protective.

>>“Come on, slow pokes! Or I’m gunna eat them all up! Hahaha!”

"Just a minute, honey" Gemma smiled at the girl. It was impossible not to love her "There is milk in the fridge."

As soon as Penelope retreated, Gemma turned back to her sister.

"You did good with bringing her here. People like me are rare, even in New York. If anyone can control her ability, it's me. But you will have to tell more about... her, later. For now, let's just talk."

With that, she nodded towards the kitchen. Maybe there were some cookies left.

>> "Just a minute, honey…There is milk in the fridge."

Penelope beamed wide! She LOVED to have milk to dip her cookies into! With a smile on her face, she nodded as she dashed back into the kitchen. She wasn’t REALLY going to eat all the cookies herself, she was just trying to provide the two women with some incentive to move a little faster. Penelope disliked it when people were slow, especially when there was something sweet on the line. But, with a smile on her face, she bypassed the plate of cookies and reached for a mug that was already cleaned and dried.

She rinsed it out, went to the fridge, and poured herself a little bit of milk. She could already taste the cool liquid pouring down her throat. She couldn’t wait to mix the chocolate chip goodness with it! Mm!

***

Lilith sighed as she looked at the tall woman out of the corner of her eye. She knew that she was someone that they could trust, but would that be enough to handle what Penelope can do? Penelope herself was as sweet as pie, but the second that Jezebel came out, all bets were off. Penelope didn’t have control of that. And what could she do in a school like this? All these things, all these people, so much damage could be wrought if Penelope didn’t control Jezebel.

God, maybe this was not the best of ideas. She smiled as Penelope slipped back into the kitchen and sighed. She wanted to be enough of a sister to help her on her own, but every day it was proving to be more and more impossible.

>> "You did good with bringing her here. People like me are rare, even in New York. If anyone can control her ability, it's me. But you will have to tell more about... her, later. For now, let's just talk."

Lilith nodded. She would discuss the rest of this later. For now, they needed to consider whether or not Penelope would even be happy here. Taking a breath to calm her nerves, Lilith nodded as she walked along with the older woman.

“I trust you. I just…I hope you guys can do enough to give Penelope the life she deserves.”