(OOC: Musical link for the following post www.youtube.com/watch?v=abzbVFuxigg)

IC:
The windows were down on the navy blue Dodge Charger as it cruised down the road following a path that was all to familiar for the driver but one that he hadn't taken in quite a while. Flipping on the radio a ghost of a smile crossed over the man's face as a well known chorus began to blare through the speakers.

Who says you can't go home
Theres only one place they call you one of their own
Just a hometown boy born a rolling stone
Who says you can't go home?

Who says you can't go back
Been all around the world and as a matter of fact
Theres only one place left I wanna go
Who says you cant go home?
Its alright, its alright, its alright, its alright, its alright.

Being gone for almost a year couldn't change the fact that this was the place he most considered home. Sure he had an international business and even had an uncle that worked in his New York offices but when it really came down to it, his family was right here at Xavier mansion. It had been far to long since he'd been in contact with anyone back home and so he'd chosen to keep his arrival a secret. He wasn't looking for any sort of party or major welcoming committee, just a few smiling faces would be more than enough.

Went as far as I could tryin' to find a new face
There isn't one of these lines that I would erase
I left a million miles of memories on that road
Every step I take I know that I'm not alone
You can take the home from the boy but not the boy from his home
These are my streets the only life I've ever known
Who says you can't go home?

Pulling up to the gates he leaned out the car window and pushed the button that would let whoever was up in the security office know that a vehicle was waiting. In just a matter of moments an all to familiar voice came over the loudspeaker and he quickly turned down the music so that it wouldn't drown out either voice.

"Can I help you?"

"Johnny! It's good to hear your voice. It's Luke Jacobs. Mind letting me in?"

"Luke?! When did you get back in town? I'll have to let everyone know!"

"Calm down Johnny." Luke said with a laugh, "Open the gate first and do the notifying later."

"Yes sir!"

There was a slight click from the lock and then the well oiled gates swung open silently. Leaning back in the driver seat, Luke gently pressed the accelerator to start rolling into the place he had come to think of as home.

***

In a matter of moments the vehicle was parked in a designated space and Luke stepped out. Black cowboy boots peeked out from beneath designer jeans while his shirt was untucked with the top two buttons undone to reveal the white t-shirt he wore underneath. His brown hair was cut short and neat while his eyes were covered by a pair of sunglasses. Of course anyone that knew him would know his eyes were cloudy looking and blind beneath those sunglasses but his mutation more than made up for the physical blindness that had come along with it.

"Home sweet home." Luke said with a smile as he moved away from the car and started walking toward the steps that would take him to the front door, "I wonder who's around."

I'll tell you who was around. There was a big stray cat around. The annoying type of stray cat that kept hanging around once she felt she'd made friends. That's who was around.

Sara was leaning on her elbows out the open window of her room. She'd spent very little time in it since she'd decided to start calling the mansion the place where she staid, but it was still hers. Something that she appreciated. Despite the fact that she found herself often wondering.


Roxy, the German Shepard, laid stretched out on her side over a patch of Sara's carpet. Sara mean while watched lazily out her window as a truck pulled up to the gate. Most of of the form was hidden inside the truck and from this angle Sara had trouble seeing his face. Curiosity got the better of her and she leaned a little farther out her window, straining her ears to hear the conversation with the button box.



Luke.... Wait! Luke!?

Sara shoved herself away from the window. Roxy only lifted her head a quarter of an inch off of the ground to blink at Sara. "I think it's Luke, Luke." Sara told Roxy and the dog laid her head back down on the floor to resume sleeping. Mean while Sara went off down the hall. Taking the steps two and three at a time as she did her very best not to speed down the halls but also not going anywhere near a speed that would be slow either. Just a hop skip and and jump around hall ways. Then she was outside.

Sara hesitated at the base of the mansion porch for only a few seconds. "Luke?" She yelled waving. "Where the hell have you been?"

The familiar sounds of children playing outside filled the air and helped to remind everyone around that summer vacation was well underway. Everything about the mansion just magnified the fact that this was a place of happiness and sanctuary. It was almost enough to make Luke forget about the battles that had been fought on this ground... almost.

Just as his foot touched the first of the mansion steps the front door swung open and a very familiar figure stepped outside. Even for a blind man like Luke there was no mistaking the felined that had become one of his closest friends and companions before he had been forced to travel on his extended absence.

"Luke? Where the hell have you been?"

The voice as enough to split his face wide with a smile as he suddenly incrased his speed, bounding up the stairs to join his friend on the porch. "Sara!" He said with a welcoming laugh in his voice as he moved forward to give the feline a quick hug, "I've missed that toothy grin of yours!"

There would be plenty of time for a full recount of where he had been, why he had gone, and what he had done but for the moment Luke was quite happy to just be around trusted friends. THIS was what was important and what really mattered.

"What are you doing at the mansion today? Visiting Sam or one of the others?"

Unlike most times when Sara was touched, She didn't flinch. She'd known that the hug was coming and this was really Luke. He talked like Luke, he smelled like Luke, and he even had that annoying sonar buzz just like Luke. Sara didn't miss the buzz but hey! She wasn't going to complain right now. Sara returned the hug before pivoting on her left so she could walk next to them as they went inside.

At Luke's question about what she was doing today, Sara just sort of shrugged. "I've had a room here ever since you found me after the accident." For some reason it was easier for Sara to cope with the hole being shot in the head thing by talking about it as the accident. "Though I'm in and out so much that most people who live here don't seem to know I have a room here either."

Sara pushed open the mansions big doors and moved inside, holding them open as she passed for Luke. "By the way. I have a dog now too." Sara grinned again. "Thanks to Sam anyways. Four were too many for him to take care of."

Ah yes... the accident. Even though Luke had been gone for over a year he could still remember finding Sara laying on the ground with a bullet buried in her skull. Her battle with blindness and her new way of perceiving the world and then the miracle of her sight returning. It was something that could pop into his mind with instant recall even after such a long absence.

"I always hoped you'd start to feel more comfortable at the mansion and more like this could be something of a home for you." Luke commented with a smile as they walked through the doors and into the main building.

Extending his sonar, Luke did a quick sweep of the mansion entryway and nearby rooms, smiling at how almost everything was just like he remembered it. This was a place where few things changed in order to provide stability for all those that came here. Truly, it was something special.

"A dog?" Luke asked, a slight chuckle in his voice as he brought his sonar back into tight rain so that it extended only a few feet from his body, just missing Sara who he knew had very sensitive hearing, "That's got to be quite a sight when you take it for walks. What kind of dog is it? And is it a boy or girl?"

It had been to long since Luke had been able to simply enjoy idle conversation with a friend. While in Europe all his conversations, even the idle ones, seemed to focus on business expansion, employee issues, and so many other things that all had to do with Jacobs & Jacobs. Finally he had a chance to set aside business thoughts and just focus on the friends he had left behind.

"I suppose it's as home as a place could be." Sara said with a shrug. It was the place that her bag had sat in the longest since she'd left her first home. The truth was that Sara still wandered.

Sara's ears flicked back instinctively to protect her hearing. It took the initial edge off of the pain, and other than that, she did her best to ignore it. knowing the sonar wave would pass.

"A dog?"

Sara smiled and gave Luke a light shove on his arm as they walked. "It shouldn't be that shocking." The truth is it sort of was. Especially with Sara and her history with dogs. Not just because of the hole cat thing, but because they had been used for security work against her in the past. Specifically Roxy's breed.

"That's got to be quite a sight when you take it for walks. What kind of dog is it? And is it a boy or girl?"

"Her name is Roxy. She's a German Shepard. You want to meet her?" Sara started leading Luke to her room weather he said yes or not, because he really had no choice in the matter. Asking was just polite. "Sam gave her to me when he didn't think that he could give her proper attention."

So Sara wasn't quite ready to call the Mansion home... well that was OK. Just the fact that she was willing to have a semi-permanent room was definitely a step in the right direction. Maybe with him hanging around he could start to give her a few more nudges to go this direction.

"A German Shepherd?" Luke said with an obvious grin. Already he was imagining the sight of a huge cat being led around by a large dog on a leash. That had to be quite a sight.

Suddenly his hand was seized in Sara's furry paw and she was leading him to the stairs and up toward where her room must be.

"Roxy... well, I hope my sonar doesn't bother her. I don't think I've really done any testing on how it affects dogs."

Suddenly Luke's mind was full of images of his sonar driving the beast mad and making it come rushing toward him, mouth open with sharp fangs just screaming their intent of ripping out his throat. Maybe meeting this dog wasn't such a good idea... but how in the world could he say no to Sara?

"Does she always stay at the mansion or does she roam the city with you?" Luke asked, trying to keep any trace of nervousness out of his voice. He had just never really gotten along with big dogs. There was definitely respect but that was about as far as it went.

Sara's spirits were soaring now. She'd began leading the way up to her room, but the change in Luke's attitude when she mentioned him meeting Roxy had her hesitating in the middle of the stair way.

"I hadn't thought of that." Sara said with a thoughtful tilt of her head as she turned half way to continue their little chat. The corner of her mouth twitched into a smirk as she thought. "It can't be any worst than my reactions to your sonar, can it?" It was a joke. An awkward one at best, and Sara let it hang in the air for a moment. most of the time Sara did her best to ignore the ache that Luke's sonar brought her but there had been moments when Sara knew that her emotions had.. .. .. errr ahhh.. .. .. Gotten the best of her.. .. ..

Sara shrugged. Her attitude suddenly became more serious. No joking or poking fun. "Wouldn't you want to know that sort of thing? You never know when you are going to run into a dog when you're out running around." Sara asked. "Not that I really want Roxy being a test subject but I should be able to tell if your sonar is going to be too strong."

"Weather Roxy stays here or comes with me for the day depends on what I know I'm doing. You know just wondering is fine, but not every place is dog friendly. There's kids here who watch her for me when I need them to."

OK, it was silly. This dog had been raised first by Sam and then by Sara. How dangerous could it really be? There was absolutely no reason to be nervous or scared. No reason at all. "But if that's true, why is my mouth feeling a little dry?" Luke wondered to himself.

"No... come to think of it, I was around these dogs when they were puppies. Sam introduced us. I'm sure it'll be fine." The words were being spoken with Luke's voice by his very own mouth but they still felt like the words of a stranger. There were lots of good dogs in the world so why did he get so nervous? It wasn't like he was afraid of them... was he?

Squaring his shoulders, Luke moved forward, doing his best to ignore the small bits of worry that continued to nag at the back of his mind. "I'm sure the kids love watching her for you. There's just something about kids and dogs... they just love one another."

"Oh to be one of them." Luke thought as he and Sara closed in on the door that hid the menacing pile of teeth, fur, and muscle. "Just breathe... nothing to worry about. Breathe and be relaxed. Try a joke or something."

"So... why'd you pick the name Roxy? It would have been great for you to be out on the lawn calling, 'Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty!' and then have this huge dog come bounding up to you. That would have been great." It was a desperate attempt to lighten the mood and though there was definitely the possibility of making Sara laugh, Luke knew he was to far gone. This was the make or break moment. Did he survive making Roxy's acquaintance once more or did he end up as lunch meat. Only time would tell.

So Luke had met the dogs before Sara had. "Well. How were they as puppies? I didn't meet them till I was taking Roxy."

Luke had passed Sara with his shoulders squared. He wasn't really acting like himself. This was Luke. The owner of a company who could talk to the press, could act like batman and go after gun weilding maniacs using nothing but a stick! And he was afraid of a dog. Go figure.

Sara crossed her arms as she watched Luke continue and making a joke no doubt. The tip of her tail twitched. "Actually Sam named her." Sara smirked. They'd been together for less than five minutes and Luke had already insulted her. But she didn't think he was thinking straight so she could forgive him.

.. .. .. But could he forgive her?.. .. .. "But if I were naming her after my mutations, I suppose I could have also named her Blindy." Sara started following Luke. "Heeeeeere Blindy Blindy Blindy Blindy.."

"They were... active as puppies." Was the only response that Luke could come up with. They had been cute little things back then but something always changed when they went from a puppy to a full blown dog. They lost that cuteness and become something much more menacing.

"But if I were naming her after my mutations, I suppose I could have also named her Blindy. Heeeeeere Blindy Blindy Blindy Blindy.."

Luke paused mid-stride and turned his face back toward Sara with a completely blank and dumbfounded look on it. Huh? What? He'd just been talking about how funny it was to call a big dog 'Kitty' because of the looks of astonishment that would appear on other people's faces. How in the world did 'Blindy' connect to that?

"How... wha..." Luke asked as his somewhat frazzled mind tried to make the connection and then suddenly it hit him. If he had told the joke to anyone but Sara it had would have been taken one way but she was a giant CAT who, he was sure, had heard more than her fair share of 'Kitty Kitty' jokes.

"No... that's not... I didn't mean... Not you..." Luke stammered, trying to explain but failing completely due to the fact that one side of his mind had shut down from what he knew was waiting on the other side of that door. "Oh, forget it." He finally finished lamely as he turned back around, "It wasn't that funny anyway."

Sara shrugged. The small smirk on her face spread into a smile. Luke was entertaining when he was all flustered. "It's fine Luke." This time it was Sara with a chuckle in her voice.

She skipped two and three steps at a time with her strides going up the stairs till she'd caught up to Luke. She ducked around his side placing a quick light hand on his shoulder. "Luke if you walk into any situation like this, you've got more of a chance of.. .. .. Well.. .. ..? Making a bad first impression." To put it lightly. "Animals included."

Sara stopped on the step that was just above Luke's feet. "You're Luke Jacobs of Jacobs and Jacobs. How is it that you can talk to the press, business partners, rivals and generally complete strangers with ease?" Sara pulled back crossing her arms. "you're cordial and you've got confidence in those situations."

Ah Sara... the little sister Luke had never had and never even really known that he wanted. There was actually something reassuring about the banter and teasing that flew back and forth with so much ease. Sara was one of the people that Luke continued true family. There were others here at the mansion at well and they made up the mutant family that accepted him as he was. They weren't like Uncle Oliver, wanting him to hide what he was, but instead they embraced him and took him in with ability and disability alike.

"People are predictable, whether they realize it or not." Luke replied as he paused on the stairs and leaned up against the railing, "People will almost always treat you cordially when they first meet you while they size you up. Then, once they get a feel for you they'll either be your friend or they'll try to manipulate you in getting what it is they want. It's only after multiple dealings that true anger or disgust will begin to show. Most people don't like confrontations and so they'll smile and try to ignore things that offend them. Animals don't and dogs this size have the option of expressing their displeasure violently."

His voice almost had a clinical feel to it as he recited off the information, but that was probably a good way for him to approach this situation. By stepping away and looking at it logically instead of emotionally he was able to distance himself from the nervousness and even fear that tried to gnaw at his mind.

"If a dog likes a person, then its loyalty is unwavering. It will never turn its back on the person it loves. But if a dog doesn't like a person, its hatred is just as unwavering. That first opinion is the one that stays in their mind and it is almost impossible to change it."

Sara listened with her arms crossed still and the tip of her tail twitched in thought. Unlike her, it seemed that Luke was more afraid of finding out right away what people thought of him than finding out later, if at all. Sara on the other hand. she'd rather know right on the spot. The longer that she was fooled into thinking someone else did liked her, or at least tolerated her, the longer the chance for that other person to stab her in the back.

"Wouldn't those facts make it the other way around?" Sara asked. Her gaze had drifted away from Luke and had traveled to gaze at a space on the steps above her feet. "With an animal, no matter what happens after that first meeting, good or bad, there is a sort of trust there. You are going to be able to trust that the animal is going to react because they don't like you, or you know that they will react, loyally, because they do. There is little that changes in an animal after the first meeting other than growth. Even if there is a growth of hate, based on what you've said, an animal is more predictable than a human."

And now, Sara was starting to touch on part of the reason why she had trouble with the trust issues. She'd accused Luke of turning on her just like this, on more than one occasion. Sara sighed. "Humans keep their thoughts bottled up very well. Too well. They are much more likely to do something sneaky to avoid confrontation, or wait until they have the power to change, and do so. Traps, Manipulation, Mind games.. .. .. Lies."

Who would have ever thought that Sara would be the one trying to talk sense into Luke. Most people, had they been willing to bet, probably would have put money down that Luke would be trying to talk sense into Sara, not the other way around.

"I give up." Luke replied with a slight chuckle as he threw up his hands in mock exasperation, "You're right... I'm being totally irrational but for some reason fears are rarely rational. I know that dogs are less dangerous than most people I can ever deal with and I know that even if a dog did attack me I could probably take it down with a sonic blast. But even though my conscious mind knows those facts, my subconscious mind refuses to accept them."

Pausing, Luke listened as Sara gave her last thoughts on humans and he found himself wondering what in the world he could say to that. He wanted to tell her that was an exaggeration and she was really only talking about a small percentage of people but unfortunately then he would have been telling a lie. He knew just as well as she did that most people tried to manipulate those around them. Some were far better at it than others but everyone tried their skills at manipulation from time to time. Even he, Luke Jacobs, had been guilty of it on more than one occasion.

"That's why it's important to find real friends that you can spend time with." Luke found his voice by focusing on the things that he really believed in. Friendship, trust, and truth were what kept people going and if you couldn't find those things then you were completely alone. "Friends are there for you. There's no pretense and there's no manipulation just someone that'll listen to you when you need to talk and stand by you when you need someone to lean on. That's all you can really ask for in life, isn't it."