The paperwork was complete. His beloved manor had been sold. Roland was quite pleased with the proceeds, considering the outrageous profit. He had gotten it at a steal due to a bit of creative blackmail. The Realtor knew this as well, the burning of said blackmail evidence a condition of the sale. The valuables and most of the 'extras' of the house had been removed and covered up prior to the sale. Cages that sprung from the ceiling usually didn't help a house to sell. Usually.

The Z3 hummed as it carved through the curves that looped the labyrinthine roads to the Mansion. Roland had been obsessively checking his messages for something from Nehanda. He doubted that she would completely ignore him, considering all they had shared. Even with all of the people gunning for him and the lack of logistics involved with showing up in such an impromptu fashion, Roland had to know what was going on.

Stepping from the sleek BMW and activating its security with the little squeaky whistle of its alarm activator, he walked to the gates. Those white irises remained as a presence in his mind. Even sweating in the Colombian spa, those eyes kept him sane and alive. He had to know something and the Mansion would give him his answers, one way or the other.

The gates were not open. He stood at them, dressed in khaki slacks and a white button down. He wondered who would answer the call once he pressed the button. Should it be Vega, he would be Orlando. Anyone else and he would be Mr. Hornbuckle. Still other options presented themselves in his mind. Whatever the case, as stupid as brazen as it was, he was not leaving without knowing of her whereabouts. His finger depressed the call button.

((Hope you don't mind a little girl in your scene, she's just there for temporary entertainment until you find someone to have a decent conversation with))

Trees flashed by in an instant as Millie pressed her nose against the window, her eyes following the trees frantically, causing a slight headache, but she didn't care! She was going to what her mommy called Day Care...and Night Care...well, it just seemed like it should be called Year Care. She was pulled out after being diagnosed with Multiple Personality, but her mother decided that her position in the government would not be beneficial to have a little glowing mutant running around her house, blowing bubbles in her chocolate milk. So Millie was being sent back to the Mansion.

The trees passed by slower and slower and she jumped to her feet when she saw the gates to the mansion only to realize that she was strapped into her car seat and she was barely able to even wiggle.

"Stop squirming, Melissa," her mother huffed. All of Millie's favorite household attendants were not allowed to come, it was possible they did not even know Millie was being sent away again.

"But mama! I wanna go tee trikiddy!" she squirmed more.

"I will not let you out until you sit quietly and still," her mother growled, without looking at her daughter. Millie huffed in frustration and crossed her arms, but she did not make a peep and she just sat there, staring at the seat in front of her. When the car stopped, her mother unbuckled herself and got out of the limo. She saw a man standing at the gates, but the only thought that crossed her mind was that he was someone who now had Millie to take care of, the Congresswoman's work was done. Briskly, she walked around the limo, opened Millie's door and unbuckled the girl. Millie reached out to grab her mom's hand to help her get out of the car, but her mom folded her arms so Millie couldn't reach. With a stubborn snort, she climbed out herself.

Cute little Millie was wearing a pretty blue dress and her blonde hair was in pigtails. Tightly, she clung to a little teddy bear, Merlin the Wonder Teddy, her best friend. Her mother shut the door, walked up to the man at the gate and spoke firmly

"Here, if you need any paperwork to readmit her back to your...institution, just contact my secretary. She needs her medication, it's in her little rolly back pack. Don't forget her name is Millie. I don't know when I will return for her, but this should pay for tuition," she passed the man a couple hundred dollars. "I'll send the rest in a check, good day."

The encounter was all too fast as Millie's mother was a busy woman and never enjoyed a two way conversation. Her voice was firm and directing and any slight facial expression change from the man was immediately ignored and covered by the snotty woman's harsh words. Even if the man attempted to speak, she walked off, treating him like she treated everyone else, like a common peasant. Who voted for this woman anyways?

Millie waved goodbye to the limo as it pulled off and immediately went silent. Don't talk to strangers. So instead she hugged Merlin and put her head through the bars of the gate to look at her old Year Care home. A giggle erupted from her lips and her skin began to glow lightly from her excitement. She pulled her head away from the bars to glance at the man, but it was only for a second and she immediately looked back at the mansion. Quite the opposite of her brutish mother, Millie was extremely shy unless she was around her house attendants or her best friend at the mansion, Mama Emmy.

The button was pressed and nothing happened. Roland looked at the gates and imagined that the nearby tree branches would give him the access he needed. That would also bring angry X-Children out, blasting at everything in sight. He had seen how violent they could become at the birthday celebration he had filmed. He decided he would give the gate buzzer another try before making any further attempts to gain entrance.

Before his finger could press the button again, a long black limousine pulled to a stop near the gates. It had State tags, meaning some sort of lawmaker(lawbreaker, same difference) was inside. He watched as a cranky looking hag of a woman came out of the car and quickly unbuckled a small child from a car seat inside the car. Roland looked into the woman's eyes as she shoved paperwork and several hundred dollar bills into his hand. He listened to her explanations and then watched as she promptly careened off into the distance. Just like that. With a murderer. Parents these days.

Looking down at the cheerful little toddler and pocketing the bills, Roland noticed a strange glow coming from her skin. She definitely belonged here. Looking back at the grounds along with her, a good idea came along and parked itself in his mind. An excellent idea, indeed. Turning to the girl, he squatted down on his haunches."Hello, Millie. My name is Jordan. I am here to make sure that you get into the Mansion safely. Make sure when the people answer the door, you tell them that your mommy left you here with me and I am here to help you. Okay?"

A smile caressed Roland's lips. One moment he was concerned about whether or not he would have to break in. Now , he could go right in the doors and walk around freely. He even had insurance should things turn ugly. Standing again, he pressed the call button firmly, holding it for several seconds and then releasing it. He wore his innocent guardian face as if he were born with it.

The camera made a whirring sound as it zoomed out. A crisp image of a middle-aged man and a young girl came into focus on the screen. A chair spun as Shin sat down to take his first shift of the night. He scrolled the mouse over the computer screen, dragging a box to the upper right quadrant, and shifting another window up behind it. Impatient shuffling at the front gate caught his attention as a buzzer rang.

“Hmm,” Visitors. Right at the start of his shift, too. Usually, they came earlier in the day when he was at Full Circle. It hadn’t been easy shifting his Mansion Greeter schedule around to get the night shift, either. Combine that with his morning routine of the mile-or-more run, and his days were quite busy. His feet came down on the floor as the chair jerked to a stop. He leaned forward to respond on the intercom that spoke to the front gates. “Hi. Be with you in a second. Wait there.” The voice crackled on the other end.

Backing the chair up, Shin tugged the chest of his red sweatshirt up to his mouth and spoke into the communicator pinned there. “Hey Johnny. I’m leaving Sam’s desk for a bit to check on some people at the front gate. Watch the cameras while I’m gone.”

“Sure thing.” The techie replied amiably on the other end. He shifted his chair, pulling up to the console. Muffled typing clicked away in the darkness of his room.

~*~

A few minutes later, Shin jogged up to the front gates. “Hey,” he ran in place. “New recruits, or old ones coming back?” It didn’t matter, really. An older guy and young girl. Perhaps it was a little of both. The gates stayed locked for security’s sake until he got his answers. Smiling, he nodded to the pair. “First off, what are your names?”

Millie listened intently to what the grown up had to say and whispered the name quietly to herself so she wouldn't forget. She was taught not to talk to strangers, but she was also taught not to disobey a grown up. Her glow eventually faded as she was a little shy to say hello to the man on the other side of the gate. Then again, he was on the Mansion side, he had to know Tricity.

"Hi, mitter!" She piped up, her lisp didn't allow her to pronounce her s's, so instead she would studder over them with t's. "My mommy taid te had work and I had to come back here and tay wit Trikidy and Mama Emmy! Te dropped me off wit Jordan and he taid he would help me find my friendt! Thit it Merlin, Merlin te Wonder Teddy, he maket me glow when i need him! Have you teen Trikidy or Mama Emmy? I want to show them my new booboo!"

If there was one reason why her mother did not allow her to stay around the house, it was that when Millie started talking, there was hardly any stopping her, unless a grown up raised their voice, then she would get scared and run away to her room with Merlin until she wanted a cookie. She rushed over to the man next to her and grabbed his hand. With a giggle, she unclenched it and put her backpack on his hand before opening the front zipper and taking out a bottle of pills. "Tank you, new friend," Millie smiled before putting the backpack on again. "Here, my mommy taid I had to give tete to tomeone when I got in, but I don't wanna wait!" Excitedly, she ran back over to the gate and squeezed her head through the bars before tugging on the Mansion Greeter's pants and holding up the pills as high as she could. Funny how such a young girl had doctors prescribing her medications. Most people did not show symptons of Multiple Personality Disorder until around 18, but her mutation sped up the mental dilemma. Nightmare and Gris, her two other personalities, were silent, so long as she took the meds with a donut every morning. "My name it Millie. What it your name?"

Success. A form of it, anyway. Roland could hear the child making monkey chitter below him. Then he felt little fingers uncurling his hand and putting the strap of a backpack into it. His cold eyes hovered over her blond locks for a moment. Footsteps shuffled toward the gates, and he looked up to see a spry Asian boy jogging up to meet them. He asked if they were new recruits or old ones. Was the turnover that bad here? And why wasn't it Nehanda meeting people at the gate? It wasn't a good omen in his search for her.

Names. He wanted names. The curtain had rolled back, so the benevolent face and manner of Jordan Hornbuckle slid on easily like a mask. " My name is Jordan Hornbuckle. This is Millie. The congresswoman dropped her off, as she is a former student returning. Those pills are hers, she is to take one a day. I am here to escort her in and also to seek out a friend of mine." Everyone seemed friendly enough, so hopefully it would be a pleasant visit. If he would just open the gates.

Millie seemed like she might squeeze completely through the gates or get stuck between them. " Careful Millie, pull yourself out of there so you aren't hurt once the gates open." He tousled her hair briefly and smiled at the jogger." She's quite excited about being here. kids, you know. Think you could open up before she gets stuck in there?" Roland didn't want to push things, but little was going to be accomplished from this side of the fence.

Glow?… Wonder teddie? Booboo. A bottle of pills was thrust into his hands. The older man explained the situation. Shin stopped jogging to listen. It seemed the -little girl- was the returning student, and the middle-aged man was the fresh one… or rather, her escort and in search of someone else. Shin couldn’t help but appreciate the irony of the situation.

“Ah, I see. So you’re sort of her guardian right now, then. After we’re done getting her all settled in, I can help with your search.” He shifted the pill bottle under his arm and leaned forward, punching a few buttons on the other side of the gate. His finger hovered over the last button as he waited for the little girl to pull her head back out of the bars. Once she was free, his finger pressed down. Blades of grass bowed as the gate swung open smoothly. “Come along, Mr. Hornbuckle. Mille.”

Flowers seemed to pop their heads out of the ground to greet them, as Shin led the two across the lawn. A bird sang somewhere in the trees, and a yellow butterfly danced around Millie’s head. The two circles of black on its wings hovered in the air in front of her like eyes, then landed on “Mr. Hornbuckle’s” back. Across the lawn, a squirrel chattered, tiny hands clutching an acorn as it whittled away at it with front teeth. It blinked once, watching them in a blur of easy excitation. It really was a cliché Spring, wasn’t it? Jerking to a halt at the front doors, Shin turned to face them with a smile.

“This is it.” The mansion loomed up behind him as he spread his arms, tourist guide style. Pulling the door open, he ushered them in.

Jordan introduced himself while Millie struggled to get her head free from between the bars. In a cutsie kind of way, Jordan rustled the girl's blonde hair and immediately her hands flew up to make sure he didn't make her hair look too messy. Her mother was all about appearance and if she did not look well, then her mother was angry, so she tried her best to look amazing every time. Still, the tickling feeling she got from her hair being swished around made her giggle and start to glow a little bit again. "Oh look, Mitter No Name! Tee? Merlin it making me glow!"

When her head was finally free, the man on the other side opened the gate and she gladly skipped onto the Mansion grounds, singing Ring Around the Rotie. As the butterfly began circling her head, she giggled and jumped up, attempting to catch it. The scare from her flailing arms caused the butterfly to take refuge on Jordan's back and Millie sighed when she couldn't play with the butterfly anymore. However, she quickly went back to skipping and singing along, trailing Merlin behind her as if she was holding his paw. When they stopped at the Mansion door, she hurled through the front door, making a car noise as she sputtered by.

"Trikidy!? Mama Emmy!?" She squealed in excitement. When she got no answer, she shrugged her shoulders and whispered to Jordan and the X-Men, "Maybe tey are playing Hide and Teek!" Quietly, she put down her packpack and pulled a Capri Sun from the side pocked before sticking the straw through and sucking in the yummy kids' drink. "Want tome?" she asked, holding up the Capri Sun to share with her new two friends.

The glowing child, finally free of the gates' hold on her little head, began gleefully skipping around the grounds as soon as entrance was granted her. It was hard not to appreciate her youthful exuberance and unmarred innocence. Roland wasn't completely stonehearted, he merely kept his mind occupied with money and the trappings of adulthood. Almost as if Nature felt this sentiment, a butterfly flittered through the air and appeared to land somewhere behind him, judging from the grabs at the air from Millie and the bemused look on the greeter's face.

The doors loomed before them, there oaken face opening wide as Millie sputtered through, making a sputtering engine noise nad looking for old friends. The two of them had that in common, at least. The lack of Nehanda's presence was still a loss to Roland. The little pixie returned, offering some her fruity drink to the two of them. he smiled at the other man, and then looked back down to her. "No, thank you. You drink it up. You seem to need the energy." A polite chuckle, not completely false. The subtlety would be all but lost on the child.

Looking back to the greeter, Roland resumed his own goals. " The friend I am looking for is Nehanda Jenkins, the Assistant Headmistress here. She and I had a ..relationship once and I'd love to see her again." Looking around inside the foyer of the Mansion, the nostalgia of following the Nubian goddess around made its way back into his mind. He could almost look over and see her. Just the pleasant greeter, who strangely remained nameless. " Oh, I didn't catch your name. What was it again?"

All but lost on the youth, yes. But Shin couldn’t help but smirk at the subtlety of the joke. “Indeed. None for me either, but thank you Millie.” He wondered if the pills she had to take one of each day were for hyperactivity, or something else… His gaze returned to the man named Hornbuckle. He closed his mouth to listen.

>>“The friend I am looking for is Nehanda Jenkins, the Assistant Headmistress here. She and I had a ..relationship once and I'd love to see her again."

For a moment, the man’s eyes seemed so much older than he appeared to be. Shin turned the name over in his mind while the reminiscing man looked elsewhere. Nehanda… Nehanda… the name was familiar, yet totally alien to his ears. She was the headmistress, though? Strange. The only headmistress he’d ever heard of was Neena, and she was on vacation, so… His thoughts trailed off as Mr. Hornbuckle asked him another question.

“Oh, that’s right.” He nearly slapped his forehead. “Sorry. My name is Shin. I always seem to either forget that, or state it right-out…” A nervous laugh escaped his lips. “But anyways… about your friend? Did she also go by the nickname ‘Neena’. Neena’s on vacation right now. I wasn’t told when she’d be back.”

The corners of his mouth turned downwards apologetically. It wasn’t ever any fun giving bad news.

Of course, Roland's comment on her energy level went straight over little Millie's head and she smiled, taking it as a compliment. "Tank you," she giggled before drinking the rest. While the adults continued their boringness, Millie strolled around the foyer, jumping up on the chairs to sit for a moment and test then, then jumping right off. Occassionally, she'd show back up to see if they had become interesting, but none of them were sprouting flowers or singing or dancing or playing leap frog.

Attempting to look like them, she stool firmly and folded her arms, turning her head to the side and raising an eyebrow as if she knew exactly what was going on. This routine quickly lost it's appeal and she ran forward to give them each a little hug and dart off through the house. After she left the room, small pitter patters could be heard down the halls as she couldn't contain herself. No running in the house, but this wasn't a house, this was a GIANT house!

The child buzzed about like a bee in spring. Sugar and youth, an excellent combination. Free of his tiny key to the Mansion, Roland focused on the boy in front of him. Shin. Likely a nickname, but it was logged in with the other names and faces kept neatly compartmentalized in the man's mind.“But anyways… about your friend? Did she also go by the nickname ‘Neena’? Neena’s on vacation right now. I wasn’t told when she’d be back.” A genuine look of disappointment crossed Roland's face. Vacation could mean many things, especially to the uninitiated.

She had left on vacation and not so much as a phone call. It appeared that Nehanda would become a memory, along with very few other women who had made an actual impact on the otherwise cold man." That's rather unfortunate. No idea when she will return, eh? I suppose I didn't make the impression I thought I had. " The attempt at conversation was failing as the twinkling of actual emotion moved uncomfortably through Roland's chest. His work was usually of a solitary nature. The idea of having such a warm and vibrant woman to forget about it with was appealing. Now, it would just be back to the program.

Stepping away from the young Asian, his mind turned to the future. The grounds were relatively quiet as the mutant children were undoubtedly learning inside. What little spark of humanity wavered for a moment was soon snuffed by the stark realization that he was now free on the grounds. No masks or stealth this time. His blue eyes became cobalt, mirroring the icy touch of regret inside him. One straggler down. He turned and relighted the fires of friendliness as he spoke to the boy again. " You may want to keep an eye on her, she's a handful. I'll let myself out. I just need a few moments to reflect." To reflect and observe.

"Yeah, sorry. Wish I knew more." Shin scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. Mr. Hornbuckle honestly looked disappointed about the information Shin had shared. A passing thought strolled through the back of his mind. I wonder if they were a couple... The sound of footsteps racing haphazardly down the hall brought him out of the reverie. Mr. Hornbuckle suggested Shin follow Millie to keep her out of trouble. Shin blinked and cast a glance down the hall at the speck in the distance. "I suppose you're right. I'm sorry I couldn't be more of a help in finding your friend. Good luck."

And with that, he rushed down the hall after Millie. Hopefully in the five minutes she'd been gone, there hadn't been too many things to break...