*Continued From You Don't See Anything (Planned)*

The conversation between Luke and Calley had deffinately helped eat up the time that it took to arrive at their destination. Calley was filled with curiosity about Luke's abilities and so she shot off question after question with barely any pause between them.

"The Sanctuary? Seriously, you haven't heard of the Sanctuary? Gigantic homeless shelter, opened the November before last, lots of cops died at the Grand Opening? The Isabel Duskmoor v. the State of New York trial this summer? The big golden doors? You can't live in New York and miss the golden doors. Well, I guess maybe some people can. Ah, not to be rude, but--how blind are you? I mean, you're obviously not actually-need-your-cane blind. Can you basically see everything fine, just without your eyes, or does it work different? If you don't mind me asking. And what was with those ghost things I saw? Are you a sort of illusionist, or something? I'm kinda nosey--you don't have to answer that."

"I seem to remember hearing something about that trial and those cops dieing but I may have been over in Europe right then. We had several security system installations earlier this year... one in London and one in Paris so I might ahve been out of the country right then." Luke had replied, the slightest hint of a smile on his face, "As for my blindness... I'm completely blind with my eyes. I can't see color or flat pictures so I've never been big on television. My mutation is actually what robbed me of my sight, but at the same time it gave me a... sense... a kind of sonar to sense the world around me. When I'm angry, upset, or in a fight the frequency just happens to match the human eyes causing the ghosts or wraiths that you saw earlier."

Outside of the vehicle Luke could sense the landscape getting nice and more manicured. While he couldn't appreciate the beauty of marble or granite he could appreciate people that kept their lawns well mowed and their bushes well trimmed. Finally the vehicle pulled up to the gates and Calley fell silent, the car idleing for several moments.

"Umm... So, we'll probably have to talk to Miss Neena. She's kind of the Assistant Headmistress. She's cool. But, ah... I've probably got a few things I should maybe tell her. Some of them might not go over so well. I've... kind of been gone for a few days. I think I've missed her class about twice, not to mention my other ones, and I didn't tell anyone why. It kind of goes back to the whole 'drugs would be easier to fix thing' I mentioned earlier. She's usually pretty cool, but I'm probably going to blurt out a lot of stuff on her. So... if I get sent to my room or something, then... Thanks. For your help."

Luke turned his head towards Calley, nodding slightly in acceptance of what the younger man had said. "I'm glad we got our differences straightened out for the time being. Good luck."

Seeming to hurry out of the car, Calley was soon right in front of the intercom. "Hi. It's Calley. I've got two guests. One's kind of sick. The other's here to look around. Could we get the gates opened? Thanks."

Reaching out Luke gripped the handle on his door, tugging at it to get it to open... nothing. Thinking it might just be a little old he pulled a little harder... still nothing. "No way am I gonna get stuck in this thing." Luke thought to himself, pursing his lips in annoyance as he gripped the handle and yanked it will all his strength. There was an ominous creek from the handle as though it might snap but by some miracle it held and the door opened. With a silent sigh of relief Luke climbed out of the vehicle and leaned up against the car, his folding cane in its broken down form gripped firmly in his left hand.

The night was cool with a slight breeze... he could feel the slight pressure that indicated it might rain later but the clouds weren't quite ready to give up their cargo just yet. Somewhere in the distance an owl hooted followed quickly by the screech of bats. Someone had found their dinner for the night. "I wonder what this... Neena person is like. Should be an interesting first meeting." Luke thought to himself as he waited for someone to respond to Calley's page.

The night found Neena in her favorite perch; atop the roof of the school, staring out across the landscape. Things were quiet for a change. Most of the students slept soundly, and even those of nocturnal persuasion had found peaceful perches to claim for the evening.

She scanned the estate, enjoying the luxury of not needing to protect her eyes. The darkness soothed and rejuvenated her being. The cares and worries of the day faded with the daylight, leaving her to bask in the peaceful shadows.

Her phone buzzed at her hip, tickling a bit.

"Hi. It's Calley. I've got two guests. One's kind of sick. The other's here to look around. Could we get the gates opened? Thanks."

Calley, eh? Neena quirked an eyebrow. The boy had vanished several nights ago, with no warning. It wasn't unusual for the more nomadic mutants to wander away for a few days, the ones that were in residence mainly for a bed and food. But Calley was a registered student. After twenty-four hours she'd dutifully reported him missing to the police department, careful not to mention that he was a mutant. After all, news of a tiger loose in New York would spread quickly enough that she didn't need to report that part of his persona. She'd also charged Chad with nightly sweeps to see if he could spot the missing teenager-slash-tiger.

And here he was, appearing at the gates with.... 'Two guests. One's kind of sick'?

"Be there in a sec. Lookin' forward to this explanation, kiddo," she spoke through the intercom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roughly five minutes later she appeared out of the shadows near the gates, dressed in her normal all-black garb, with a large white owl blazoned across the front of her t-shirt. She eyed the two males as she approached. Her initially blank expression gave way to what would be considered surprise on anyone else.

"I'm guessing I don't need to ask which one is sick?" she quipped as she entered the gate code.

>> "Be there in a sec. Lookin' forward to this explanation, kiddo."

Calley cringed a little as the intercom fell silent again. She was looking forward to his explanation, huh. Honestly, so was he. He hadn't had much time to think about it. Before the fight, he hadn't been thinking this far ahead. The future had been rather a blank slate. Now that he was living it... he was still waiting for it to feel exciting and new, he guessed. Like the world had somehow realized what had happened, and had changed because of it.

He had a good five minutes to try and get his thoughts to form in the foggy mess of his recently shredded brain. Luke was standing at his side the whole time, but he couldn't bring himself to look at the older man, much less try and strike up another batch of small talk with him. Had the gates always looked so heavy? Had he ever cared before? A familiar face walked down the path, and opened them with ease.

>> "I'm guessing I don't need to ask which one is sick?"

The air was damp with a promise of rain. Each breath in and out seemed harder than it should be. The woman was a little over a decade older than him. She'd been one of the first people he'd met, when he'd come to the Mansion as a permanent sort of infiltrator, instead of an in-and-out operator. She'd been invisible at the time, due to some trick of Danger Room magic--he'd only known she was there by scent. She'd petted him. It had been the day he'd documented all of the new X-Men Trainee's abilities for the Kabal's viewing pleasure, while simultaneously slinking his own way onto the team.

For a moment, he stood perfectly still, like a spider playing dead so the bird will pass by. Then he opened his mouth, and tried to be as truthful with her as he could without getting himself tossed on the street. The Mansion was a pretty forgiving place. He knew that. But with some things, it was better not to ask forgiveness at all. Let the jumbled truths begin.

"Hi, Neena. So... I guess you might have been wondering where I've been. These last few days. If you noticed I was gone. Which... I guess you did." It wasn't the most eloquent beginning. He swallowed--hard--and plunged along: "Okay. First off, this is Mister Luke Jacobs. We met earlier tonight, just sort of by the usual accident--he helped me out a little, and was interested in the place, so I brought him here. He's got nothing else to do with me. Just so we're clear." Disassociation: it was soon to be a favor.

"Umm, and about me. So." He gulped in a breath. His blue eyes were locked on the woman's nearly white gaze, like a fox staring at a trap. "Pretty much everything you know about me is a lie. And by pretty much everything... I mean pretty much everything. I'm not an orphan--my parents didn't die in some fire, like my records say. My mom died in traffic accident. My dad is still alive, and doesn't much care to have me in the family; hence why he was willing to pay to forge my records. He kind of insisted, in fact. He kind of pays me a lot to keep away--I, ah, actually have my own apartment in the city. A pretty nice one. If you've ever wondered where I'm sleeping, when I'm not here some nights. So... sorry for freeloading without paying tuition. I can. Umm, and my name isn't Caleb Yeldham. It's Caleb Swartz. I do go by Calley, though." That was the only true thing she knew about him, in all likelihood.

It got better.

"Also, I'm not a tiger shifter. I'm a multi-shifter. Always have been. I can change to any animal I've met, as far as I can tell. Tiger isn't even my favorite. I like house cats, personally. Umm... but about that." He had the good decency to pause a second to slam a palm into his face. "About that," he repeated, trying to figure out how to phrase this. It called for delicacy. "Isabel Duskmoor. You know Isabel Duskmoor? The girl who stabbed all those cops? Well, I kind of lived in the Sanctuary for awhile. As her cat. I kind of lived as a cat for awhile, period--probably about two years, maybe a little more. I lost track of time. And I'm really sorry about lying to you about my power and all, but I'm pretty sure she might stab me when she finds out that little cat who was there when she was sleeping and taking showers and getting changed was little old me. Oh," he let his palm drop, with a little laugh. "And I'm dating her. Ah, as a human. I have been since before I registered here. I was actually living around the Sanctuary as a human a little, too. Some of the Order are pretty good friends of mine. Like Abyss, and Geo. Not so much Syn. I, ah, tried to steal her hairbrush once. It was a joke. I was a monkey. She... nearly brained me with a shoe, actually. I'm pretty sure she's on the waiting list to stab me, too, so profuse apologies about lying about my power, but I've got several scary women from an evil faction just waiting to kill me, as soon as they figure out who I am, and it didn't seem smart to advertise."

"But I guess that doesn't explain why I've been missing the past few days. So. Why I've been missing is this: I kind of went to visit my dad. Because I was kind of sick of pretending I didn't exist in exchange for some anonymous checks into a bank account, and I wanted to see my sister, and maybe even some of my old friends. And... he may have overreacted."

Calley scratched at the back of his neck. A little. Yes... His 'father' may have overreacted 'a little'. "Umm, turns out he's actually a mutant, too. Just really, really deep in the closet, and not keen on having around a kid who can't help but wake up furry most mornings. Too much potential for it to reflect back on him, I guess. And apparently he's pretty strong, too, power-wise. We kind of fought. And I kind of had a power growth. And... I think I might have come really close to dying. I passed out for awhile, and I couldn't use my powers at all for about a day, and I my brain still feels like some raw oozing scrape. And... I really didn't want you to see me like this, but I figured I should come back and explain things before I chickened out and made up a whole new slew of lies." Perish the thought of doing that. "If I'm off the X-Men Trainees list in the morning, I'll understand. Completely. Either way, I'm going to try and make a new start of things, if you'll still let me stay here."

"Oh," he added, almost as a surprised after-thought. "And I stole a dog. He's in the back seat over there. He's the one that needs help--his owner sucks, and he's probably going to die soon if the DocProf can't do anything for him. I don't know how much he can do with animals, but... I think that dog's the reason I got the power growth, and I think the power growth saved my life in that battle no matter what else it did to my head, so I'd appreciate it if the Doc could at least try."

Calley stopped talking. His breath was coming short and quick--that's what long, wide-eyed nervous spillways of information sewage will do to a teen. None of that information was probably wise. None of it was even necessary. But the Mansion was the best place he'd ever stayed, and it would feel beyond good to be able to give these people some version of the truth. To be able to sit down at conversations and admit to having a sister and a mother who loved him; to be able to curl up for a nap as a cat. To be able to try and train his new power growth in the Danger Room; something every other student here seemed to take fore granted.

He caught his breath, his eyes still locked on the woman. The woman who'd petted a purring tiger, and done absolutely nothing to deserve being catalogued in the Kabal's database. Description, powers, leadership style, late-night habits: everything Calley knew about the woman, the staff at Mondragon Labs knew. But anything he learned from here on out was his own, and just his own, unless he choose otherwise. A sudden grin cracked over his face. "It's good to see you again, Neena. Really. I... wasn't sure I would." It was the most honest thing he'd ever said to her. She was the first familiar face he'd seen since leaving Mondragon Labs. Calley had an urge to hug her, or be hugged. Stupid.

Luke stood quietly as he simply enjoyed the night air. There was something special about being out at night when most of the world was tired or asleep... there was something different and just more wonderful about the world while it was shrouded in darkness. It was true that Luke enjoyed the sunshine but the shadows were his home and had been for some time.

From off in the distance Luke suddenly felt an approaching figure. "I'd wager a guess this must be Neena." He thought to himself as the figure continued to move closer.

As Calley and Neena began to speak, the blind man remained in the background simply listening. Amping up the power of his sonar he looked over the woman that had arrived. A nice figure and from what he could make out, nice facial features. This was one of the times he would have liked having true vision but unfortunately that was not to be. Sighing inwardly Luke brought the power of his sonar back down so that, while he could still 'see' the two figures conversing there was no way he could see actual facial features.

"Calley's unloading on awful lot on her... of course I don't know most of this either but I'm sure it must be a shock to be hearing this kind of information from someone you thought you knew." He thought to himself as he began to quietly hum the main muscal score from 'Phantom Of The Opera'. The feeling of rain was beginning to get a little more oppressive but Luke was still sure that it must be at least another twenty to thirty minutes away. Craning his neck slightly he concentrated, listening as hard as he could but his enhanced hearing just wasn't powerful enough to detect the sound off in the distance. As he gave up on such a wild idea Luke turned his attention back to the conversation to find Calley finally trailing off into silence. For a moment the blind man was tempted to speak but decided that for the moment he had better just let Neena and Calley deal with the current situation before he joined in.

(OOC: My apologies for the length. Calley.... that post radiated Win. ;D)

"Hi, Neena. So... I guess you might have been wondering where I've been. These last few days. If you noticed I was gone. Which... I guess you did."

Neena didn't reply to the obvious.

"Okay. First off, this is Mister Luke Jacobs. We met earlier tonight, just sort of by the usual accident--he helped me out a little, and was interested in the place, so I brought him here. He's got nothing else to do with me. Just so we're clear."

She nodded at the man next to Calley. "Nice to meetcha, Luke. Thanks for helping him out."

Before she could say anything further, Calley began speaking once more, and started an impressive imitation of a breaking dam. Very slowly, Neena's expression reverted to the blank stare she'd arrived with.

"Umm, and about me. So. Pretty much everything you know about me is a lie. And by pretty much everything... I mean pretty much everything...."

First crack in the cement, leading to a small leak. So the kid did have family after all. No harm, no foul. A lot of young mutants came here searching for refuge from hateful families. She couldn't fault him for keeping that secret. The apartment and a solid cash flow? That would have been nice to know before alerting the police to his disappearance. Still, on the whole, not such a big deal.

"Also, I'm not a tiger shifter. I'm a multi-shifter. Always have been. I can change to any animal I've met, as far as I can tell. Tiger isn't even my favorite. I like house cats, personally. Umm... but about that."

Again, not such a big deal. Would have been nice to know, especially since such a versatile mutation could be helpful to his teammates, moreso than simple tiger-shifting.

"About that.... Isabel Duskmoor. You know Isabel Duskmoor? The girl who stabbed all those cops? Well, I kind of lived in the Sanctuary for awhile."

..... And there was Crack Number Two, setting into motion a much, much larger leak.

As she listened, Neena couldn't help but narrow her eyes slightly, though not to full 'glare' status. More like.... 'You did what?' type narrowed. It wouldn't be far fetched to say that she was not pleased with his revalation that he had involvement with the Sanctuary, the source of the midnight intruder, who had nearly killed a good friend and put the entire Mansion in danger in the process.

All right, so a small bit of anger was beginning to surface slightly.

"....But I guess that doesn't explain why I've been missing the past few days."

There was more. Lovely. She crossed her arms to watch the rest of the dam crumble.

Fighting with Father fell into the earlier category of 'Stupid, but Not Surprising'. There seemed to be a pattern developing here.... She would be very interested in seeing this new power growth, though.

"If I'm off the X-Men Trainees list in the morning, I'll understand. Completely. Either way, I'm going to try and make a new start of things, if you'll still let me stay here."

Yeah, they'd need to talk about that one. At length.

"Oh!"

.....

"And I stole a dog."

And there goes the dam. Lovely.... Just lovely....

Her gaze flicked over to the car that looked about ready to die itself, and its equally 'tunnel-traveling' passenger.

"It's good to see you again, Neena. Really. I... wasn't sure I would."

She pegged the scraggly youth with a supremely neutral look, totally devoid of any emotion, good or bad, for a full thirty seconds.

Finally she placed a hand over her eyes, and let out a resigned sigh so deep, it made the Grand Canyon look shallow.

"All right, kiddo. Take it inside, and tell the Doc I'll be right there. Then get your multi-shifting rear to you room and keep it there, until we can talk. Understood?"

She waited for the young man to retrieve his wheezing package, before turning to the older man and shaking her head.

"Well Luke, welcome to Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters." Her tone indicated that 'gifted' might not be quite the appropriate word. 'Troubled' would be a good substitute....

Was poker ever played in teams? Because Calley wanted Neena on his team. Ten seconds into her reaction to the end of his little speech, he could still hear his heart rate. It had gotten pretty fast while he was talking. Now that he was just calmly standing there, under her gaze... it was getting significantly faster. And louder. He swallowed, trying to wash the noise down from his ears. What was this about, anyway? Lies didn't matter to him. He could tell them in front of any sort of super-senser mutant, and pass their organic polygraph with no problem. No. The problem here wasn't his lies. It was the truth: he'd just told an alarming amount of the truth, just then. He could always correct a lie. Once the truth was out there, though, there was no bringing it back.

His shivering was back, at a low but steady level that sent his hands ducking into his pockets for cover and started a light, sickly sweat on the back of his neck. Twenty seconds had passed. She was still just... looking at him. Watching him. Staring at him. Directing her multi-talented orbs at his person. If he knew he had a solid ten seconds of this treatment left, he might have given in to that rising urge in his stomach. Instead, he braced his shoulders, and swallowed. Bile: not the best taste in the world.

He'd never heard of the Mansion kicking anyone out. Ever. She wasn't really going to kick him out, was she? He should have lied more. He knew it. He knew it, he knew it, but he still went ahead and--

>> "All right, kiddo. Take it inside, and tell the Doc I'll be right there. Then get your multi-shifting rear to you room and keep it there, until we can talk. Understood?"

Until we can talk. Calley swallowed again. "Yes, Ma'am." He got out on the third try. The first two had died in his throat, before he'd even gotten his mouth to open. Not that it mattered. Not that he cared. He didn't need this place. Who did? He had the Sanctuary still, and his apartment. This place was just a... a big government-and-hate-group target on a fancy lawn. There wasn't anything special about it. Though honestly, if he wanted to find so many hypocrites in one place ever again, he'd be pretty hard pressed.

Calley gave a sharp nod, and spun on his bare heel. He marched back to the car, not glancing at Luke. The man had been wisely star-gazing. Or... not. Probably not. That whole 'blind' thing and all. Calley lodged a foot against the side of the Volvo, and vindictively yanked at the door. LURCH! It opened. Quickly. The Italian teenager stumbled a few steps back, putting down a quick set of hands to keep his rear from planting itself. Stupid car. It was such a rust-bucket. Why had he picked it, anyway? He had money. That's one thing employment with Hunter had going for it--he had more money than he knew what to do with. He could have had any car with a price tag, and he went for this one? Why? It was the worst, ugliest, trashiest, rustiest, most pathetic car ever. No one could ever like it, unless they were a master of self-delusion.

What had he been expecting? On-the-spot forgiveness? Maybe he'd have liked that served with a few radiant beams breaking through the clouds, and a chorus of angels descending from the heavens? He grabbed the dog unceremoniously, and heaved, and stumbled but stayed upright somehow. What he'd told her hadn't even been the worst of it. If a few measly Order ties had him confined to his room until they could 'talk', then he'd have loved to see the look on her face if she knew about the Kabal. About his collar, and its camera. About most every student in the Mansion being catalogued and neatly filed, courtesy of li'l Tigger. The look on her face would have been worth it, if nothing else. What was with her, anyway? All that, and all he got was the poker face? Neena sucked. And she was boring.

He should have just said his car broke down.

>> "Well Luke, welcome to Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters."

With a bare maximum of annoyed grunts and wheezes, Calley started lugging the dog up to the Mansion's doors. He didn't look at Neena as he did so. He did look towards Luke. "Thanks again," he muttered. "Hope you like the place." He tried to wash everything he was feeling out of that little statement. It ended up sounding washed of all emotion at all. Perfect. He readjusted his grip, and stormed on.

He didn't ask for any help in getting the dog inside. What good was getting help? It just made you expect things from people. Like, maybe, that they didn't suck.

He'd never liked Neena, anyway. She liked those stupid Danger Room training robots too much. What kind of teacher at a school that preached harmony and co-existence used robots that projected human holograms as training dummies? Half the test to get on the X-Men team was destroying those things. At least the Order and the Kabal were honest: if they hated something, they made like a green-ribboned girl and stabbed it. What did the Mansion do? It scheduled him into an Ethics class the next period. He went from destroying humans with his claws to trying to spout out pretty sentences about how valuable they were.

He was so sick of this place. It was time to move out, anyway. He'd just ditch the mutt with the DocProf, and that was it. No more ties here. He'd go to his room and wait for her little 'talk', but only because it would be good for a last laugh. As he violently shouldered open the front door, he couldn't even bring himself to care what she was planning to say. What was there to care about?

He was so stupid.

He kicked the door shut behind him. Exit scene.

((ooc: When you're game on a 'in Calley's room' thread, Neena, just PM me. Enjoy the rest of the thread, you two! *wave*))

"Well Luke, welcome to Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters." Neena finally spoke to him as she turned her focus away from the young man. She had put emphesis on the word gifted and it didn't take a genius to figure out that she was more than a touch annoyed with Calley.

Stepping away from the car and turning to face the woman Luke smiled slightly, "Thank you very much... Neena I believe Calley said."

"Thanks again. Hope you like the place." Calley muttered just loud enough for Luke to hear before he walked off towards the mansion.

"Take care Calley." Luke called after hime before turning his attention back to the young woman once more.

"I probably need to appologize to you for being involved in that... I'm sorry if I heard anything that I shouldn't have." The blind man said rather apologetically as stood easily with his cane broken down and gripped in his left hand, "He seems like a good guy... a little messed up on his idea of right and wrong but a decent guy. But, you're probably wondering why I'm here when I'm well out of school... I've had a couple of people mention about a mansion where other mutants were trained and when Calley said he actually knew where it was I was curious enough to hitch a ride. I hope that's not a problem."

Inwardly Luke had braced himself just in case things didn't work out. It was quite possible that he would be told visiting hours were over or that this was a private accademy that he couldn't enter without either being a student or a student's guardian. Really he had no idea how this place worked so inwardly he was ready for the worst. As Wraith he could easily slip in past the walls but there was no way he would even attempt something like that. As he had told Calley before... breaking and entering was deffinately a crime and trespassing fit in that same category.

Sometimes a void devoid of emotion spoke volumes more than one charged with it. At the moment Neena and Calley's lack of vocal tone seemed to put them on equal levels of 'thrilled with each other'.

Her eyes followed his path toward the Main House.

"Take care Calley," Luke called after the youth.

"I probably need to appologize to you for being involved in that..." he then turned his attention to her. "I'm sorry if I heard anything that I shouldn't have." She shook her head at him.

"I don't think he would have let you hear if he minded."

"He seems like a good guy... a little messed up on his idea of right and wrong but a decent guy."

"Yeah. I know." The emotion returned to her face all at once, in the form a somber frown. "I'm gonna have to apologize to him when we talk."

Neena tried to make it a habit to keep her personal feelings from showing with most people. It was actually a form of protection for both her and others. Teenagers and mutants were a touchy breed, and confrontation tended to end badly. Put the two in the same body and you were sitting on a landmine. However, it appeared that Calley managed to find one of the few chinks in her armor, as well as hit a sore spot in the process.

"But, you're probably wondering why I'm here when I'm well out of school... "

She blinked and turned her focus back to the visitor. She'd try and talk to Calley in a bit, preferrably before sunrise, but for the moment the role of hostess needed to take precedence.

" ....and I've had a couple of people mention about a mansion where other mutants were trained and when Calley said he actually knew where it was I was curious enough to hitch a ride. I hope that's not a problem."

She smiled at him, and shook her head. "No, it's not a problem. I'm afraid I can't give much of a tour, with the majority of the residents being asleep. But you're welcome to come in and talk."

She made a motion for him to follow her inside, and all at once noticed his eyes. She finally registered the cane as well. It appeared Calley's flood of information had done more than simply hit a sore spot. Annoyed as she was, she had to give the kid mental kudos for throwing her off-balance, simply by talking.

"My apologies," she told Luke. "I didn't notice your eyes before. Are you completely blind, or just in the eyes?"

<"Then again, he might not be blind at all,"> she told herself mentally. <"After all, your eyes are white, and you're not blind. A bit clueless, but not blind.">

Ah well. It didn't seem to be her night for finesse anyway. May as well roll with it....

As the young woman made a motion for him to follow, Luke began to take a step forward only to stop as the woman apparently saw his cane and glasses.

"My apologies. I didn't notice your eyes before. Are you completely blind, or just in the eyes?" She said in a rather appologetic sounded voice.

Chuckling softly Luke shook his head and removed the sunglasses, sliding them into the breast pocket of his shirt with practiced east. "Visually... I'm completely blind. Can't see a color, shape, or anything else." He replied with an easiness that he rarely felt. This was a mutant friendly place so why should he try to hide what he had been given? "But I've been blessed with enhanced hearing and a sonar that keeps me from running into anything. It's difficult to make out actual facial characterics unless I'm up close but I can still identify people from a distance by their movements and actions. Since I can't see the face I've become rather adept at noticing people's habits."

Moving forward without the slightest stumble Luke pushed his collapsed cane into the back pocket of his jeans and then shrugged off his sport coat and held it folded over his left arm as he moved to stand near Neena, though not so close that she would think he was attempting anything. "I'd enjoy talking with you about your organization and its purpose if you have the time. It's become so normal for me to hide my ability that it's nice to just act free for at least a few minutes."

"At least I haven't been thrown out on my ear... that's a positive." Luke thought to himself as he waited for Neena to respond, "Maybe there's a chance I can do some good here... at the very least provide some extra funding or something but we'll have to see what she says about the place."

"Visually... I'm completely blind. Can't see a color, shape, or anything else."

Neena nodded at the description. She smiled slightly as he removed his glasses. With it being night, her own glasses already resided in her hair, rather than over her eyes. It felt slightly odd to see one of her own quirks replayed by another person.

"But I've been blessed with enhanced hearing and a sonar that keeps me from running into anything. It's difficult to make out actual facial characterics unless I'm up close but I can still identify people from a distance by their movements and actions. Since I can't see the face I've become rather adept at noticing people's habits."

"And habits are much harder to disguise than features," she agreed appreciatively.

Assured that his lack of eyesight wouldn't obscure his vision, she continued on toward the Mansion Proper, treating him as any other sighted person.

"I'd enjoy talking with you about your organization and its purpose if you have the time. It's become so normal for me to hide my ability that it's nice to just act free for at least a few minutes."

She nodded agreement. "Everyone needs a place to let their hair down once in a while. And I can assure you that you won't need to worry here."

Since he'd has association with Calley, she couldn't be sure which 'organization' he spoke of: Xavier's Institute or the Xmen. She decided to play dumb for the moment, and stick with the School.

"Professor Xavier founded this school as an extension of his first. We basically offer classes up through high school graduation, connections for college if needed, and a refuge for ousted mutants," she explained, keeping her voice quiet in respect for those sleeping.

"Most of our residents are teenagers, actually, but there are ages as young as six and old as late sixties. That's our resident healer, the DocProf."

A shadow swooped overhead. Neena waved to Chad, the raptor shifter, returning from his nightly hunt to perch on the roof. She spotted Jeramya, the resident gargoyle, on the roof as well, but wasn't sure if he was asleep or just watching.

"Professor Xavier founded this school as an extension of his first. We basically offer classes up through high school graduation, connections for college if needed, and a refuge for ousted mutants. Most of our residents are teenagers, actually, but there are ages as young as six and old as late sixties. That's our resident healer, the DocProf." Neena spoke in a soft voice. If it was up to Luke he would guess she was maintaining a soft voice in order to keep from disturing anyone sleeping in the mansion. Reflexively Luke turned down his sonar so that he was only reading about five or six feet around him... that should be enough to keep from disturbing anyone sleeping in other rooms but still far enough out to keep him from actually running into anything.

"I spent most of my school years in Europe attending different private schools that would help me with my business studies. Uncle Oliver didn't really want to have a whole lot to do with me since he was more interested in running the family business." Luke replied softly but still loud enough for Neena to hear, "I was blessed that my mutation wasn't extremely obvious and I could still blend in... not knowing about a place like this I have no idea what I would have done if the situation had been different."

For several moments Luke fell silent before speaking up again. "What do you do for funding, if you don't mind my asking? I know a lot of parents, not all but quite a few, have problems with their children having the X-Gene. Do enough parents pay tuition to support the school or do you have outside donors?"

The thought of a whole school devoted to mutants was still extremely new to Luke and as he listened to Neena talk he tried to wrap his mind around this whole development. He had deffinately beeen blessed as a kid but there were lots of people that had mutations that kept them from blending in with most humans. It was absolutely necessary someplace like this operated in order to provide them support and an education so that they would have a chance in the future.

Neena opened the front door, and motioned for Luke to precede her inside.

"....I was blessed that my mutation wasn't extremely obvious and I could still blend in," he was saying. "... not knowing about a place like this I have no idea what I would have done if the situation had been different."

She nodded agreement. "Unfortunately, there seems to be an upsurge of mutation that is quite visible. We attract a lot, and we do our best to help them control and feel comfortable with themselves."

Then she grimaced. "Now if we could just get the rest of the world to ease up, too, we'd be golden."

"What do you do for funding, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Not at all." She picked up a New Resident folder, and flipped on the lights in the living room.

"I know a lot of parents, not all but quite a few, have problems with their children having the X-Gene. Do enough parents pay tuition to support the school or do you have outside donors?"

"Quite a bit comes from outside donors," she answered. "There are a lot out there who support the School's endeavors, but want to remain anonymous. Again, because of the prevalent world attitude. And then, whatever we lack, Professor Xavier makes up for us. And, believe it or not, the majority of the kids like to contribute of themselves, in various ways."

She handed over the map in the back of the folder, which showed the common areas and such.

"For example, the School was damaged pretty badly during Registration. When we were allowed to finally come back, the students and residents did most of the restoration." The pride in her voice could be clearly heard.

Luke took the offered map and paperwork without comments, making a show of running his fingers over the map as though he could feel the difference in texture. Sadly, as he expected, the map was printed on a laser jet printer like most documents in the current day and age, keeping him from being able to discern any difference in texture. "To bad... I'll just have to take it to a print shop and have them copy it into a texture form that I can feel." Luke thought to himself as he folded the paper and tucked it in the rear pocket of his jeans.

"Well if funds are ever running low please give me a call." The blind man spoke up as he fished a business card out of his side pocket and then held it out to Neena, "'Jacobs & Jacobs Security' may not be as big as some companies but we pull in enough profits that I'm sure we can work out some arrangement. My Uncle Oliver may not be the happiest decision but I can over rule him, thankfully."

Extending the range of his sonar just a touch Luke took in the size of the entryway as he tried to guess just how big the mansion really was. Obviously from the size of the grounds and the size of this room it was extremely large and able to house plenty of mutant teenagers and youngsters.

"Does a girl named Vega live here?" Luke suddenly spoke up as he remembered the girl he had met several days before at a bookstore, "Or... she said she's known as Ghost."

It took Neena a short moment to register Luke running his fingers over the paper without looking at it. She rolled her eyes and smacked her head.

"Pfft! This is what happens when you do the same thing over and over again," she laughed at herself. "My apologies, Luke. I'm so used to saying and doing the same thing over and over again."

"Well if funds are ever running low please give me a call. 'Jacobs & Jacobs Security' may not be as big as some companies but we pull in enough profits that I'm sure we can work out some arrangement."

She took the business card, and tilted her head slightly. Why did that name sound so familiar to her?

"My Uncle Oliver may not be the happiest decision but I can over rule him, thankfully."

"Thank you very much, Luke," she replied gratefully. "That would be very much appreciated. Security, eh? Hmm...." The Mansion had basic security measures, but more would certainly not be objected to, something more effective.

"Does a girl named Vega live here?" The young man's question brought her thoughts back to the present.

"Vega?" That sounded familiar as well....

"Or... she said she's known as Ghost."

That right, Vega was the identity Ghost had taken for employment reasons. He must have met her in the city recently.

"Yes, she does. I'm not sure if she's asleep or not, though. Do you work with her?"

"No, I don't work with her." Luke replied with a smile as he turned to face Neena, "She's employed at the Full Circle Bookstore and I happened to go in to pick up an audio book. It turned out that since she's an air elemental she can get very distracted and nervous because of my sonar. I think she said it vibrates the air molecules so much that it gets to her or something like that."

Silently Luke had to tip his hat to Ghost. If was because of her sensitivity to his power that he had been forced to train harder to gain more control over this sonar sense he'd been gifted with. If he hadn't met her and others like her that could feel his sonar, he never would have known that he needed any more control than what he already had.

"I'll come back during the day some time to say hi. She helped me realize there was more work to be done with my sonar... kind of inspired me I guess you could say." It was strange being this honest with someone but it was a nice change. Out in the world even when people knew you were a mutant they didn't want to many details but here he could feel comfortable and talk about everything naturally.

"But on a more serious note..." Luke continued, his face turning serious again, "I would like to know what kind of stand the school takes on different world events. Obviously this is a school for mutants but how does everyone here feel about humanity and the rest of the world? I met a young man several weeks ago... Fausto or something like that and he had the idea that killing for revenge qualified as justice. He also felt that anyone that even voiced problems with mutants or any other hate speech should be jailed or killed. I tried to set him straight but he wasn't interested."

Luke could still remember the conversation like it was yesterday just like he could remember watching the young boy take on a whole gang by himself. He had no idea what had happened to Fausto after he left the hospital but maybe the injuries he had suffered had helped to set him straight... maybe.

"Do you run into those kinds of problems with your students or do you agree with and teach that kind of thinking?" There was nothing accusatory in Luke's voice, just an honest question from someone looking for just as honest an answer. The blind man had grown up in a world where for the most part, things were divided into black and white but tonight the gray area had begun to grow larger. He had even helped Calley steal a dog but there were still certain lines in his mind that he wouldn't cross.