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Chase paused contemplatively. Could he turn into a lizard-man?

"I guess I could," Chase mumbled, "I mean, they're still people, right? So, I could still look like them, I suppose... I don't know, I've never tried..." He really, never had. Chase wondered if it would hurt to change so drastically, or if it would be just like turning into anyone else? He'd have to find someone who'd entertain his curiosity in that department. He watched as the two of them battled over the flowers, which the green-haired boy was force-feeding to the gecko. Chase shuddered. Shades of bullying past.

Jude then showed him to the secret sneak-out by a tree, which made Chase feel rather like some sort of spy or a secret agent. The whole pretend-secret-agent mental image was only reinforced by the nighttime defenses. It almost made sneaking out a game. He committed the information to memory, and nodded his head.

They looped around towards the building, and Chase was ushered in by Jude. Chase smiled and trotted ahead, but only just, and he waited for Jude to catch-up once they were in. He listened attentively as Jude gave the grand tour, eyes roving around curiously. When Jude proposed a tour, Chase's eyes lit-up, and he bobbed his head enthusiastically. He would, of course, venture about later, so didn't need a "grand tour", but if Jude gave him a basic lay of the land, Chase would be most grateful.

>> "It's okay... It's okay, you are right where you need to be. I'll take care of that, all right? Just tell me the whole story, and I'll make sure you can stay."

Chase didn't wince or pull away when Gemma half-hugged him. He knew he wouldn't shift if she touched him, or even if he did, he knew she wouldn't freak out. He nodded lamely, rubbing at his eyes with his sleeves. He wasn't going to cry over it, they weren't going to get him-- but he was still frightened that they would. He remained nestled in Gemma's arm.

>> "So, you are in the foster system? You have no family?..."

"Everyone has a family," Chase mumbled still hiding behind his sleeve. He sighed shakily, "M-my Mom and Dad, they..." He looked for the right words. For adult words. Again, he was only eight, so it was hard for him to wrap his head around or put into words, "Didn't treat me right, because I was 'different'... the CPS called it abuse and... there was another one... neglect, I think?" Chase rolled his lips, the words feeling awakward on his tongue. His parents had done awful things to him but Chase had, in some warped way, thought that he deserved it up until the CPS stepped in, "They were bad. And so, I got taken away, and put into my first home."

He continued to fuss with his sleeve, "I was moved between too many homes to keep track of, because they couldn't decide what to do with me... so they just kept moving me again, and again..." Chase focused on his jeans, picking at the worn knee, "I didn't like it there, and nobody--" Nobody wanted him, Chase nearly said, "--Nobody knew what to do with me."

He looked towards his backpack, then up at Gemma. She wasn't going to let them take him back, this was a safe place. But, his eyes were still the same, solid black, betraying his fear. Chase averted his gaze.

"So I left."

>> "Okay, here is what we are going to do. You will get a room, and some clean clothes. You already know where the food is. I will talk to the teachers, and sign you up for classes - as long as you are here you will need to go to school, okay? But not right now, we will talk about it later."

Chase listened attentively, quietly consuming his sandwich. Everything sounded all well and good... a room, new clothes, food, school... It sounded so nice, so splendidly normal. Chase nodded his head, and agreed, "Okay."

But there was something in Gemma's tone that implied that there was something else to be said.

>> "Chase. If you want to stay here, you will need to tell me where you came from, okay? I need to know so I can make sure you stay here, and nobody shows up to take you away. I think this is a good place for you, as long as you would like to stay, but I need to know more about you."

Chase's gaze began to get overwhelmed by a fearful, glassy black, so that his entire eye seemed a single stretch of black. His greatest fear was being found and sent back. He trusted Gemma yet didn't. In his childlike understanding of the situation, if he told anyone anything, they would send him back to his former life.

"S-Syracuse," was all that Chase replied, averting his gaze. Were they still looking for him? Was anyone? If they were, Chase was certain that they would take him back, if they found him. He fussed anxiously with his hair, tucking his knees to his chest. He liked it here. He wanted to stay here, where it was safe.

But that meant that he had to tell Miss Gemma where he'd come from.

"I-if the CPS finds out I'm here, they're going to take me back to those homes... I don't want to go back."

Chase set his half-eaten sandwich on the table, on a tissue. He wasn't hungry anymore. He looked scared, and maybe on the verge of tears.

"I like it here, Miss Gemma," Chase shifted his gaze towards Gemma's face searchingly, "Please, don't make me go back. I'll do anything."

Aedus was smart enough to ask the questions that Chase didn't think to ask for himself. He just stared in silent wonder as the trio came into the foyer, still fastened to Aedus' side. He was tall, and he'd already proven that he was tough, so he was thereby a "base" that Chase could fasten onto for protection.

>> "So, there are classes on anything Chase could want to learn, and you go at your own pace, but how does it work in free time? I guess what I am asking is how large is the staff?"

>> “It’s a fully running school. Chase or anyone for that matter who needs it, can come in a gain a standard education that the state requires. So that pretty much means there would be classes he has to take as well as some other courses that would be just for fun or to help with his powers. And the staff is fairly large. Mainly made up of ex-students and other mutants.”

It was grown-up talk. Chase didn't pay much attention to what they were saying, except for the occasionas where his ears perked up at his own name. Chase-this and Chase-that and standard education bla, bla, bla. That's what Chase heard. He was too busy letting his curious gaze go as far as it could reach up stairways and down halls, and if someone passed into view, his gaze would fasten on them until they left his line of vision. All this, he did without straying from the side of Aedus, or if he did, he was within arms' reach of both of the older kids.

>> "Zat's good. I wouldn't want to turn into goop."

Chase smiled and giggled. Jude said somethings that were really funny. Or, at least, they sounded when funny when Jude said them. He'd have to ask him why he spoke so funny later. Maybe after he said something else funny-sounding. As the bus continued to rocket down the road, Chase watched as the world flew past the windows. It was fun to ride in cars or buses. You could get to places faster than just walking, which had been Chase's primary mode of transportation ever since Syracuse.

The bus came to a halt at a particularly bleak-looking corner. Chase trailed off of the bus behind Jude, gaze roving about inquiringly. So, where was this place?

>> "Zis is it. Zis is only ze corner. It's a little bit of a walk to get to ze gate... sorry."

At first, Chase was confused. Was this man pulling his leg? this wasn't a mansion, this was a street corner. But then, when Jude clarified that they would have to walk to the gate.

"That's alright," Chase assured the ability copier. He walked. A lot. Walking wasn't as much of a big deal to him as it was to people that could afford the commodity of taking some other form of transportation. He waited for Jude to lead the way, in one direction or another, before trailing along beside him once again.

Once the door was shut, Chase simply laid down. The beld felt completely alien to him—it was so soft, and secure, and warm. Was it wrong to feel unnerved by that. As an afterthought, Chase realized that most took their shoes off before laying down to sleep in a bed, so he sat back up, and removed his shoes, before laying back down once again. He burrowed under the blankets, hood still drawn about his head, and promptly crashed, much in the fashion of an exhausted child.

Chase might have been more exhausted than he’d originally expected, too. It had been a long time since he’d truly slept, and thus when provided with a bed to sleep in, he slept solidly—for a good two- to two-and-a-half hours—before waking up.



He awoke groggily, uncertain of where he was, but also uncaring. He knew he was safe. Chase rolled over, looking towards the door. He saw his sandwich, and his discarded bag and shoes.

Oh, Xavier’s. He smiled, skirting at the edge of wakefulness and sleep. Chase had missed beds, and wasn't in any hurry to leave the one that he was stretched out on. The bed was bigger than his old bed, too, which made him like it all the more. Finally, after dozing for an extra ten or fifteen minutes, Chase finally roused himself from the bed, and retrieved the sandwich off of the plate, munching on his sandwich as he ventured about the room. He investigated the bathroom, and the simple furniture, inquiringly.

Chase then padded to the window. The sun was setting. He shuffled over to his shoes and slid back into them, and slid back into his backpack. Was he supposed to leave his stuff in the room, or take it with him? Chase left the room and shuffled groggily down the hall, sandwich in-hand. He woke up slowly, when otherwise uninspired to wake up quickly. He made his way to Miss Gemma's room, and knocked faintly on the door. He was awake now.

The third apartment was dead silent, and dark. Locke led Chase straight past it, to which Chase only looked at the door and followed Locke onward to the fourth door.

If the third apartment had dead silent, the fourth was its complete opposite. Noise was practically throbbing through the closed door, and loud voices could be heard over pulsating music. Chase lagged behind Locke, but Locke stepped aside for him.

>> "Take the lead Kid Death, I'm just here to watch over you."

Chase sighed and nodded, skipping up to the door and leaping to a stop.

"Will they hear me?" he inquired. Not that it mattered. Chase rapped his knuckles against the door three times, for good measure, before stepping back a couple of strides.