James let "the girl" take the lead and began following just behind her on the right. He knew he wasn't actually supposed to be at the mansion until tomorrow morning but considering the situation he had decided going there was his best shot. Rather than trying to find somewhere warm to sleep on the streets until the next day, something he never intended to try.

James hoped that arriving a day early wouldn't be a problem. If it was he could just ask to charge his phone and call his mum, he could apologize for the way he had spoken to her and maybe she would forgive him. I'm going to have to eventually. She is my mother after all and i cant just let the fact that I'm a mutant stop that. Even after telling himself this James still wasn't sure if it would be that simple, his mum didn't have any problems with any other kind of person. She had always accepted people of all races and of, well any social variable at all and James had been brought up to think the same way.

So why does she hate mutants so much? He asked himself, does she think they are dangerous? Evil? He simply couldn't get his head around why his mother hated mutants so much.

The only two other mutants i have met are these two, well I'm guessing they are mutants. Leon and this girl were obviously quite nice people. Leon seemed to be friendly, if you got past his dirty habit. "The Girl" also seemed to be nice and willing to help.

"Ugh, mum you make no sense" James muttered to himself without meaning to.

Then The Girl spoke to them. asking if the staff knew he was arriving.

"Hmm, kind of. I'm expected to be arriving tomorrow morning but the plan changed. My Mum might have called to let them know but i wouldn't count on it." James said the last part with more bitterness than he had probably intended.

When she said she had arrived at the mansion at midnight for the first time it made James question the severity of his own situation. He looked over at Leon and realised that he must be in a similar situation himself. The thought made James feel foolish, here he was, complaining about his own situation with someone else who was probably in exactly the same one. Leon didn't look at all upset or worried.

In The Girls case he couldn't even begin to imagine what situation would make you turn up at that time. It must have been considerably worse than his own.

Pull yourself together James and stop being pathetic. He told himself. James took a deep breath and blew it out, slapped a smile on his face and again, for what felt like the hundredth time, hitched his bag higher up his back. Now, He scolded himself. I have nothing to complain about. Besides it could be worse, a lot worse.

Leon hadn't thought of that. Did my parents bother to phone ahead? Or am I just supposed to sort it out my self? Thinking about it he hadn't spoken to his parents apart from organizing the plane ticket, even then they had seemed a bit...distant. 

"Well I only arrived in America today so I'm not sure if my parents called ahead or not." He said bluntly. There was no reason to hide the fact that he was new in America, his accent already gave away the fact that was British. To him being British was a badge that he would wear with pride.

As he walked he noticed that he had finished his cigarette. Looking around the be sure that no one else was looking at them, mainly checking for potential anti-mutant rioters. After confirming that no-one was looking in their direction, he continued to put the burnt remains of the cigarette in his mouth and swallow the ashes. 

He smiled slightly as the familiar sensation of spicy heat flowed down his neck before settling in his chest. Then he realized that that could not look healthy to James. Or for that matter Serena. After all smoking was unhealthy in itself, but eating the leftovers to anyone else that would just be plain nasty. 

Serena shook her head and sighed at both of them. "Do either of you have any idea of what the mansion is like? Or rather have you even seen a picture of it?" She gave them a small smile.

If not, they might find it a tad overwhelming, Serena certainly did at first... She remembered, getting out of the cab, with Tses and seeing the front of the mansion, and being shocked.

When she had heard it referred to as the mansion, she had expected like a big boarding house or something, but the mansion was actually massive, it had a huge interior, and Serena also expected that there were a fair few rooms below in the interior.

The danger room, for one, she had not expected at all. She wouldn't mention that. They either wouldn't believe her, or would be completely shocked by hearing of the massive steel dome with hardlight constructions that appeared inside of it.

Serena smiled to James "Sorry, I'm being rude, James. My name is Serena, it is a pleasure to meet you."

The blonde haemokinetic gave the boy a warm and friendly smile. People often wondered why the girl smiled so much. Or at least... She assumed they did.

James was surprised that Leon had only arrived in America today. It must have been a bit overwhelming for him, to come to a completely alien country and then be expected to find his way in a city which he knew nothing about. James certainly remembered his first time in New York and how mind blowing it was, but then again he did have his mother with him at the time and she did know where she was going.

Then even more surprisingly Leon looked at his cigarette, then at the area around him too, presumably to check for onlookers and crammed it into his mouth. Daaammmnnnnn, that's gotta be nasty. James commented mentally, Yeah, definitely a mutant. Normal people cant eat hot cigarette ash.

When The Girl asked them if they knew anything about the mansion James didn't know what to say. Mainly because for the first time he realized that he actually knew nothing about it. He had seen a picture from far away but apart from that, no. Nothing. "Honestly?" He asked "I have seen a photo, but Ive never seen it in person, I don't really know anything about it either. Now you mention it." James felt foolish for the third time today after admitting that. He was going somewhere that he was going to be living, but didn't know a thing about.

Then, probably not so surprisingly, the girl introduced herself. She smiled at him too, which made him feel awkward. The awkward tensing was threatening to return but he pushed it back as best he could, attempting to look natural in the process. Serena, that was a nice name. James thought so anyway, the name suited her. Serena was the right kind of name to give a person who was friendly and smiled a lot.

To his amazement, James smiled back. A proper, natural smile. Not one that was twitching or over done or awkward. The awkwardness seemed to flood out of his system as he came to notice that these people were being kind to him, something that nobody out of his family had really done to him before.

Well, I suppose I have just made a couple of friends. That was a nice thought, and not one James had the joy of thinking often.

"No. I haven't seen much of the mansion at all." He said, he hadn't thought to look up the mansion before flying out here. As his transport to the mansion had been arranged before hand, but it left without him when his plane was delayed. It was a rather stupid move to not research where exactly the mansion was, and he was just glad that he wasn't the only mutant to make that mistake.

After hearing Serena introduce herself to James it dawned on Leon that he didn't introduce himself. Well not formally at least, he guessed James knew his name as Serena had called him by his name in front of James. "Oh sorry, I never introduced myself I'm Leon." He said with a slight smile. 

As they walked this thoughts turned to the mansion, what would it be like? Would he find more people like James and Serena. He would certainly find more mutants that much he already knew but what would they be like? All of these questions started to form in his head, but all at once not quite able to dwell on one before a new Question takes its place. 

Serena smiled at the two boys who were walking with her. She wondered what they would think of the mansion, she assumed they would probably be overwhelmed by the sheer size of it. She certainly remembered being overwhelmed at first by the massiveness that is the mansion.

She giggled. "Well, the first thing I think you will notice is the sheer size of the mansion, honestly, it is massive. It's got pools, massive gardens, a green house, and some other stuff." the girl said, while keeping a wide smile on her face the whole time.

Serena's mind wandered back to the first night she had arrived at the mansion, she had lost her brother, lost her life and herself. All in one night.

She had then met a blonde girl named Tses, who helped her and brought her to the mansion after finding her crying in the alley, covered in her own brothers blood, and well, from there one thing led to another and she quickly found a place at her new home.

James felt a bit relieved to find out that he wasn't the only one who knew nothing about the mansion when Leon revealed that he knew just as little about it.  He nodded at the other teenager when he introduced himself, even though James thought it was pretty obvious that he had already picked it up.

James wasn't sure what to think when Serena said the mansion was huge, he thought that this was also pretty obvious. but then again, the fact that it had swimming pools and other stuff around it meant that he had probably underestimated its size. James had thought that the mansion would have been as large as the average school, probably with a couple of extra floors. Maybe he had the right mental image but still, the idea that it might be even larger than that made him feel a bit excited about arriving.

Turning to Serena James asked "Me arriving a day early wont be a problem will it? Its just, I kinda don't have anywhere to go to if it is" He made a self mocking smile and shook his head "Oh well, I suppose that's what you get for arguing with your mum. Could be worse though, to be fair"

Leon nodded to James. Everything could be worse was a philosophy he knew well, the question was and always will be worse for who?  "Yeah it could be worse, you could be someone in a new country with no money or place to live." He said to James with a small smile. Determined to not let the fact that until he reached the mansion he was technically homeless sink in. 

With that he started to focus more on specifics of the Mansion. Taking the questions in his mind and answering them one at a time. As he noted off different things about the place that seemed to make sense to him, a mental image started to built in his head.

OK OK lets think, mutants...powers...protection. That makes sense i guess? He thought as an image that vaguely resembled a mansion formed in his mind. A mansion with more....military to it. Once he had taken the places he knew it had and added them to his mental image it looked more like Hogwarts than a mansion. Well if Hogwarts had been made of steel and run by the military.

Don't be stupid I would have noticed a giant metal fortress from the sky. He thought to himself with a sigh. Disregarding his mental image, Leon couldn't believe that he had actually considered the Mansion looking like that, it was rather comical in its own way. Like a idea a cartoon character would come up with.

"So Serena with all of the guests doesn't the place get wrecked allot? Even if it is by accident." He asked curiously hoping to disprove the mental image he had built. 

Serena smiled at both of them reassuringly. No where else to go... Could be worse? They had no idea. Every time one of them complained about their situation it only served to remind Serena of what situation she was in about 5 months earlier. Around her birthday. Heck, she hadn't even gotten a chance to celebrate it.

She had gotten presents from her brother... after he had died.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Leon's comment on the mansion. She chuckled slightly. "Well yes, occasionally. After all, not everyone has perfect control over their mutations, but people rarely get hurt, or stay hurt for that matter. We have a kind old man who is also a healer." She smiled.

Serena had remembered to check that nobody else was around when she said that. This was ridiculous, they shouldn't have to be afraid to talk about her home. At all. The two young mutants had picked a really bad day to travel to the mansion...

She smiled again at James "It shouldn't be a problem James, really, I arrived completely out of the blue with nowhere to go at midnight... And I got taken in. I even ended up with an awesome roommate."

What Serena had said wasn't entirely true, she hadn't actually officially got taken in on her first night, but that was because it was unimaginably late and most of the staff were asleep.

Again, sour memories rose for Serena. These two kept dragging them to the surface. Even if they didn't mean to. But, Serena continued to smile regardless. Even if she felt like curling up in a corner, there was always someone to be helped, so she would bare it, because that is just the kind of person she is.

When serena confirmed that the Mansion sometimes got wrecked every now and then he felt glad that his  mutation wasn't particularly destructive. He had no idea what the other two could do, he was going to ask but decided it was probably rude, like asking someone what colour  underwear they were wearing...which would be weird.

James mentally shoved away that train of thought away when Serena mentioned roommates, that made him feel a tad nervous. He was bad at meeting people and didn't send across a very good first impression to most people and he thought that the only reason he hadn't awkwardly pushed these guys into disliking him was because they had something to talk about. It would probably be a different story if he was put with a random person and expected to get along with them, it wasn't that James disliked meeting new people, only that he never knew how to start conversation...or how to converse at all really.

He wondered if he would be shoved in one with Leon, considering they were arriving at the same time. That would be alright considering they were already met, the smoking might get on his nerves but Leon seemed like a nice guy.

"That's a relief"James said to Serena. He wanted to ask what had happened to make her arrive at midnight out of the blue, it sounded like a story she wasn't going to want to share so he left it out.

Instead James turned to Leon "So, Leon. I'm guessing you just arrived?" He smiled and shook his head "If that's the case I have nothing to complain about, at least I've lived in this city for two years"James looked at his arm then, remembering the night he found out that he was a mutant and the way his mother had distanced herself from him because of it.  "I'm going to also assume your parents are embarrassed about you being what you are too, eh?" James kept his voice down on the last bit, so that no passers by got what he was saying.

Leon's first feeling was relief, if the building could be wrecked then it probably wasn't made out of metal. Well at least he hoped it wasn't or there are some crazy strong people at the mansion. The feeling of relief was short lived however when he was asked if his parents tossed him aside like some broken toy, it was an understandable conclusion to make but it still made Leon angry.

"No actually I told them and then we all decided it was best if I came over here." He said with all the previous kindness gone, It wasn't nice to lie to James about what really happened. But it was the easier than trying to explain what really happened, mainly because what really happened supports what James said. And as much as Leon tried to deny that he was cast aside or put out of sight, he just couldn't. The very idea ate away at the core of him spreading like a wildfire through his veins.

He could feel his hand clenching into a fist, inside he knew that he wasn't angry with James. Just himself, angry with the way he ruined his life in England, angry at not being given a chance by his parents after all it was still him even if he could do more than the normal human. To hide his anger he put his hand into his pocket hoping they wouldn't notice, or if they did they would pass it off as a fact that he's cold.

Leon knew that if he didn't calm down fast he would start to do his thing. And not by choice, it wasn't the fact that he would hurt both Serena and James that bothered him, it was the feeling when it happened the way he looses control of his muscles and mind. Again he thought that he shouldn't be so inconsiderate of Serena and James but it was more in his nature and he just couldn't help it, living in a dog eats dog society had made him slightly numb to the selfishness of the thoughts.


"So Serena, what can you do around here to pass the time?" He asked failing to keep a bit of the anger out of his voice. He knew that they would pick up on how fast and abrupt he was in his speech, but in his own little way he just failed to care.

Serena smiled to the two of them. Sympathetically. She knew what it was like to be distanced from your family... Sort of. The constant talk of family was beginning to make Serena feel unwell.

She looked a little upset about something for a moment, then quickly regained her composure. "There is lots to do. Obviously it depends on what you like doing, but there are pools, places to chill out, there is a well stocked big kitchen, there are big malls scattered about and other stuff like that. Personally. I love finding a quiet area outside in the sun, maybe a bench by a tree and reading a good book."

Even as Serena spoke her mind spiraled with plans. All of the talk of family had gotten her thinking about what she would do for her brothers funeral. Who would she invite? She didn't exactly have any family members left alive.

Didn't her brother have a partner? Yes. Now that Serena remembered, her older brother had a female partner, she was the one who gave Serena the stuff from his will. She could invite her and ask her to bring anyone that knew him from the precinct.

After he small mental distraction she focused back onto the two teens with her and grinned to the two of them. "We're almost there."

As soon as James asked Leon the question he knew he was right. Leon's reaction told him everything he needed to know, the cold tone to his reply, the clenching of his fists and the way he shoved them in his pocket in an attempt to hide his anger.

James probably wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been feeling the same way for the past half a year, Somewhere down the line loneliness had turned to bitterness. Regardless of how he felt James's heart went out to the other teenager, being rejected by your parents wasn't nice and the only reason he had been able to deal with it himself was that he had grown accustomed to spending spare time alone.

He was about to apologize to Leon for prying and make a witty remark about his offer of a cigarette earlier but he didn't get the chance when Leon began asking a question to Serena about the mansion. James would apologize later when he had the chance. Deciding that he should probably know as much about the mansion as he could he turned to listen to Serena's answer.

After Serena had finished talking, admittedly he was a bit sceptical about the whole idea of there being malls on the mansions grounds, Surely she meant NEARBY and not literally in the mansions grounds. It couldn't be THAT big. However the idea of finding a nice place to read a book sounded like a good idea to James, looked like Serena and him had at least one thing in common. I wonder if they like games too...although they don't really seem like the gamer type. James considered inwardly, Well, to be fair. Neither do I...so their appearance doesn't really mean much.

Then Serena told them they were almost there. James had wanted to ask more questions, but realized that was probably pointless as they were almost there, he would see everything for himself.

"Right" James said to Serena "I can put this back on now." Putting his hand back into his jacket pocket he rooted out his watch and strapped it back on, feeling back to normal, He rarely took his watch off and it felt wrong when he did.

Almost there? Can't be, I can not see anything that looks like a mansion.

He could feel the fire in his vein's calming as he pulled the veil over the comment about his parents, the veil being the lie about his parents hating him. Some part of him wanted to still be angry, after all in his own way he liked the anger. It made him feel strong and independent, as though he didn't need anyone else to support him.

But then there was the other side of him, the side that was still loyal to his own flesh and blood, the part that wanted to keep up the whole show of calm and collected and act as if his parents hadn't kicked him out. That was the part that triumphed in his own minds civil war.

... Was that a watch? when not annoyed or angry Leon would have just passed it off as a normal action, but alas he was angry at James and the way he inadvertently bad mouthed his parents. "Why could you not put it on before?" He asked James with a half smile, more mocking than friendly. "It's not like a watch could do much damage to someone, and I don't recall any laws about not wearing a watch. This however can burn down buildings and I think it's illegal for me to carry it." He continued to tell James with that half cocked smile. Pulling out his lighter and gesturing to it and the watch now attached to James wrist.

As they turned the corner, the mansion was clearly visible in the distance, the long road leading up to it and the massive iron gates, preventing any un-satisfactory visitors coming to the mansion.

During the riots they seemed to be mostly closed. Serena suspected that this was because of the mutant hate that had come about as a result of the news reporters claims. The lines of the reporter had been played over and over in her head since the broadcast.

It.Made.Her.Furious.

Serena's patience in general was wearing thin. She noted Leon's edge in his speech. As if he thought being cynical would be amusing. Serena just looked right at him, without the usual smile, just at him. It wasn't a glare, just a look of disappointment. "Firstly Leon, he clearly put it away because he was shocked by you walking into him because you were not watching where you were going. So I would appreciate it if you would drop the cynical tone and be friendly, you are clearly both in a similar and bad situation. So you could use him to make a friend in New York, they are particularly good to have, and as an added bonus, he is British;"

Serena paused for a moment. Her tone had not been harsh, but honest. "Secondly, we are nearly there, so we should pick up the pace. I wouldn't be surprised if there are people lurking nearby trying to catch mutants as they try to escape." She siged.

A look of regret passed her face and she smiled apologetically. "Hey, I'm sorry if that came across as harsh, I'm just a little high strung with what's been happening recently."