There's nothing quite like New York City traffic Alex thought while driving in front of the Mansion. He had called the headmistress on his cell phone in a gas station, having finally considered the fact that perhaps popping up at the mansion uninvited hoping for a teaching job was not the best course of action. In retrospect, he did not know what he was thinking that lead up to "Why don't I just show up there?"

Now at least he knew that he had a job there. The headmistress, Tricity she was called, had told him to meet the assistant headmistress, Neena, at the mansion. And here he was, right in front of the place. It was a beautiful sight.

As he looked at it, something had occurred to him: perhaps the "X-men" that he had heard so much about in the news were in some way connected to the very mansion he wished to teach at. It was a silly thought, but he could not help but entertain it. What if it turned out to be true? Would he finally be able to fulfill his childhood dream of being a superhero teacher? He laughed at the thought of it. He was tired from the long drive, so he was thinking of strange things.

Oh well. Now to find this Neena person.

Neena sat, cross-legged, atop the estate's privacy wall, just to the left of the iron gates. Because of the day's brightness, her almost-white eyes were closed behind her dark glasses. A book lay spread on the wall besides her, and a computer keyboard occupied her lap.

Tricity had warned her of a new teacher's arrival, and asked her to meet him in her stead. Neena loved meeting new people, and gladly agreed. She had no official classes today, but even if she had, they could wait for a few. The Mansion was slowly getting back to its feet, and a new science teacher would be another great boost.

Thus she waited, trying to come to grips with her least favorite mechanical contraption in this world. She frowned slightly, trying to remember what position her hands should be on the keyboard. Something about 'adfs' and 'jlkm'. Or did she have those scrambled....?

A car drove up to the gates. She waited for its occupant to exit the vehicle before greeting them with a cheery, "Hiya!"

"Hiya!"

Alex stopped. Who said that? He looked around, literally doing a 360 degree turn before finally seeing the woman sitting on the gate.

"Hello up there!" he said cheerfully, "Are you Neena?"

She chuckled a bit as the man turned a full circle, looking for the mysterious voice.

"Hello up there! Are you Neena?"

"That I am. And I'm guessing you must be Alexander."

Despite her eyes being closed, she could still see him very clearly, and gave him the once over she normally gave visitors. He seemed quite cheerful, a plus since most visitors to the Mansion seemed nervous on first glance.

She set her equipment aside, and pushed off of the wall, landing in a crouch with a grunt. She stood, dusted herself off, and extended her hand.

"Welcome to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, m'friend. We've been expecting you."

"That I am. And I'm guessing you must be Alexander."

He nodded in reply, and before he could say anything, he was surprised to see her jump off of the side of the wall.

"Welcome to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, m'friend. We've been expecting you."

She held out her hand, and he shook it.

"Glad to be here. It looks like a great place."

They did quite a fantastic job rebuilding it, he thought, but stopped himself from saying. How many times have they lost and rebuilt this school? Six times? Seven? and they're probably pretty frustrated about it. Alex would have become part of the program sooner if it weren't for this recurring problem. With mutant tensions as high as he had experienced them in the past, however, he could stand his school being demolished every once in a while. It's better than getting kicked out, he thought.

"Glad to be here. It looks like a great place."

Neena's grin widened at that. "Yeah, the kids have been working hard for the past few months." She took pride in their efforts and teamwork. In her mind, it proved that mutants and humans shared the same resilience, a vital quality for survival in the current world.

She pressed a button on her keychain to open the gates for Alexander. She pointed to the side of the building.

"There's a garage you can park in on that side. I'll meet you at the front door, 'kay?" Then she set off across the lawn in a straight line for the front porch.

Once he reappeared, she led him inside to the foyer.

"So, Tricity tells me you're the new science teacher, right?"

"Yeah, the kids have been working hard for the past few months."

"It shows."

___

After parking his car. He followed her into the foyer.

"So, Tricity tells me you're the new science teacher, right?"

The fact that she knew this was a good sign to Alex. So many places that he had taught at almost refused to keep all of the staff informed about what's going on.

"Yes, and you're the Assistant Headmistress, correct?"

"Yes, and you're the Assistant Headmistress, correct?"

Neena wrinkled her nose. "Well, I guess I'm supposed to be, among other things. Personally my favorite are Tour Guide and Moving Target. More fun, ya know? Speaking of which...." She picked up a New Resident file from the foyer table.

"This is the file we give all new arrivals. Did Tricity go over this with you on the phone?"

She flipped to the map at the back. "This will help you when you get lost, since its a pretty big place. Where here...." she pointed to the appropriate area, then motioned toward the nearest doorway, ".... and this is the living room-slash-entertainment area."

"This is the file we give all new arrivals. Did Tricity go over this with you on the phone?"

"She said you would fill me in, actually."

"This will help you when you get lost, since its a pretty big place. We're here... and this is the living room-slash-entertainment area."

Alex nodded, beginning to form a mental map of the area. It certainly was a nice room, but he would probably end up not getting the opportunity to use it often due to the planning, grading, et cetera that comes with his job. But he had a hunch that it was intended more for the students than for the teachers anyway.

"She said you would fill me in, actually."

Neena nodded. "Ah! Okay, no worries. You should fill one out, too, anyway, so I'll explain while we walk. Basically we have all newcomers fill out this file, then drop it off in Tricity's office later. It has all the basics. Age. Date of Birth, if you know, and place. Family, home address other than here, all that stuff. Plus a few other things"

As she spoke, she led him through the living room, to the dining room, then to the kitchen.

"As I'm sure you can imagine, some of the kids and adults who come here have had.... issues, with the outside world. And their pasts. So we're not super picky about filling in every teeny tiny detail." She smiled at him, her grin indicating she had a few past issues of her own, so she could sympathize.

"These questions here are the only ones absolutely required." She pointed to the block of questions that asked, 'What is your mutation', and 'Is it dangerous to yourself and/or others?'

"Also, not everyone here is a student. Some of them just need a bit of a haven from the world for a bit, until they get themselves straight." She grabbed an apple from a basket as they passed through the kitchen.

"Mmm, there's no set mealtimes, really. And some of the kids' diets are.... unique. So help yourself anytime you'd like. Anything not initialed is fair game."

She led Alex back out into the hall, and paused there for any questions so far.

"As I'm sure you can imagine, some of the kids and adults who come here have had.... issues, with the outside world. And their pasts. So we're not super picky about filling in every teeny tiny detail. These questions here are the only ones absolutely required."

Alex paused. This reminded him of a past student of his who had lost control of his powers and had unintentionally caused the death of one of another student. He had known both of those involved, and he knew that there was no hostility between them, but the jury had thought otherwise, even convicting him as an adult of premeditated murder. Alex had later learned that this youth had escaped his wrongful imprisonment, and now thought that perhaps he would meet him here.

"That's a very... thoughtful policy" he said eventually, his own smile gone. He followed her lead and took an apple, trying to mask his momentary discontented-ness.

She led Alex back out into the hall, and paused there for any questions so far.

He considered asking about the X-men, but thought against it. If such an operation was occurring in this area, he would figure out about it soon enough. Besides, it still seemed rather silly to him. However, he did ask:

"I know this seems really tacky, but I'm just too curious. How do you get the money for all of this?"

"That's a very... thoughtful policy."

Neena couldn't quite tell if she heard concern or relief in Alexander's tone. From the expression on his face, she decided to go with the former. She'd have to find a way to explain that the school wasn't purposefully harboring fugitives from the law, or hiding runaways. It's just that, sometimes, mutants were not given the benefit of the doubt simply because there were.... well, mutants.

"I know this seems really tacky, but I'm just too curious. How do you get the money for all of this?"

"Not tacky at all," she countered easily. "The school's founder, Proffesor Xavier, takes care of the basic needs. Anything extra we receive is through donations, mainly from families whose children go to school here full-time. Every now and then we get the random donor as well."

She continued on toward the back door, and onto the back patio. "The grounds are pretty huge, so I can take you on a more extensive tour later, if you like. Or you can explore on your own. That's more fun, in my opinion." She grinned, then began pointing out the directions to follow to reach places like the pool, lake, tennis and basketball courts, gardens, and the like.

Finally she walked back inside, and headed toward the classrooms. She paused besides one, and opened the door.

"This is the Science Lab," she explained, "Your own personal domain. Hey, are you one of those hands-on, blow-'em-up type science professors?" she asked, almost eagarly.

"This is the Science Lab, your own personal domain. Hey, are you one of those hands-on, blow-'em-up type science professors?"

Alex's smile returned. "Definitely! Students seem to like labwork much more than just reading stuff out of a book, and they seem to remember it better that way. And to be honest, I like teaching it that way much more."

"By the way, while we're on the topic of the hands-on, what's the policy on field trips?"

"Definitely! Students seem to like labwork much more than just reading stuff out of a book, and they seem to remember it better that way. And to be honest, I like teaching it that way much more."

"Excellent! The kid'll love it, I'm sure. Erm.... though there are a couple I'd be careful what you teach them. Or, at least, you might want to hold class in the Danger Room when you do. Just in case."

Neena momentarily forgot that Alexander was new; her ambiguous warning likely would provoke another round of questions, if not now, later.

"By the way, while we're on the topic of the hands-on, what's the policy on field trips?"

Neena pushed herself atop one of the counters. She shrugged. "You just need to clear it with me or Tricity first, is all. You know, budget restrictions and all that. Plus, depending on where you want to go, we may need to get permission before hand, what with all of the human/mutant nonsense going on now."

She continued to grin. The more she talked with this man, the more she liked him and his methods. Depending on her schedule, he might find a very enthusiastic student of the older age class in attendance quite often.

"Excellent! The kids'll love it, I'm sure. Erm.... though there are a couple I'd be careful what you teach them. Or, at least, you might want to hold class in the Danger Room when you do. Just in case."

"Uh... Danger Room?"

Alex had some guesses as to what that could be. Perhaps a good place for mutants with dangerous powers to gain control over said powers? Perhaps a place for the X-men to train? It was still a viable possibility that the X-men worked here, and he now had a hunch that those non-student residents may be linked to it, known by the school or no.