When Kiri next opened her eyes, the sight that met her was so confusing as to be almost incomprehensible to her. There was what appeared to be an arm covering a good deal of her field of view. It would have been a perfectly normal arm, except for the fact that it was blue. Beyond the arm, she saw white. As she swam back into alertness, she realized it was a white ceiling. A syringe floated across the white ceiling.

Wait, floated?

Kiri blinked and stirred, and the blue arm abruptly pulled back, blinding her for a moment as the fluorescent light that had previously been hidden shone directly into her eyes. Her eyes adjusted quickly, and the shapeless blurs hovering around her resolved into faces.

One of them was blue, the same shade as the arm – she made the mental leap to realize they must come from the same person. He, for it was very clearly masculine, wore wire-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, and despite the shaggy mane of hair framing his head, appeared rather pedantic. The other head was an almost complete contrast. Short, dark red hair, and elegant, almost delicate features bore a look of intense concentration. The object of her concentration came into view. A clipboard and pen floated right into her hands, as easy as feathers on the wind.

"Well, my dear, it's good to see you waking up," said the big blue one. "How are you feeling?" He laid one overlarge hand on her forehead gently.

"Um… thirsty," Kiri managed to rasp out before subsiding into a fit of coughing, her throat bursting into flames of pain. The red-haired psychic disappeared from her view, returning seconds later with a cup of water. Big Blue helped her sit up with an arm behind her back so she could gulp down the room-temperature liquid. As it soothed her raw throat, she managed to blink back tears enough to get a look at the room she was in.

The walls were as white as the ceiling, and lined with tables and various complicated looking medical equipment. A clinic of some sort, perhaps? Double glass doors led out of the room into a hallway that ran several yards straight away before making a sharp ninety degree turn to the left. There were several other beds in the room, although hers was the only one currently occupied. Her survey of the room finished, she looked back at the two people – doctors? – attending her.

"Where am I?" she asked.

Big Blue answered her. "You're at Xavier's Institute for the Gifted, my dear, in the clinic." The redhead took her arm and checked her pulse, her fingers cool and gentle. "My name is Dr. Hank McCoy, I'm the resident physician and one of the teachers."

"And you?" Kiri asked the woman.

"I'm Jean, Jean Grey. I also am a teacher here," she answered, smiling reassuringly. "You've no need to worry, you'll have a place here if you want one."

Kiri looked from one to the other. Her mind was still having trouble processing all that she had just learned. Add to that the fact that one of the doctors was blue and furry and the other could move things with her mind and, well, nothing really made sense. So she asked another question. "What is this place?"

"It's a school," Jean replied. "A school for people like you, and like us. Mutants – those with powers. As you can tell, Dr. McCoy's mutation is fairly obvious. I'm a telepath, and I also have some telekinetic abilities." Kiri nodded slowly. That made sense, although she wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen evidence of Jean's abilities already.

"And what about me?"

"Yours is what we call a feral mutation, animal based." Dr. McCoy moved as he spoke, standing in front of one of the impressive-looking computers and tapping at the keyboard. "An avian feral, specifically, as you appear to be able to shift your shape into that of a bird." At her puzzled look, he continued. "Logan gave a full report when he brought you in."

"Ah. Does he teach here too? Is his a, what did you call it… feral mutation as well? He showed me his claws."

Jean laughed and shook her head, wrapping a blood pressure cuff around Kiri's upper arm and pumping it up slowly. "Yes, he's a feral also, although he can't change his shape. His primary mutation is an accelerated healing ability. As for teaching, well, he'll occasionally lead self-defense classes, or run sessions in our training room. Usually he just hangs around and makes a nuisance of himself, when he's not off on a mission for the Professor." There was a certain degree of affection in her voice when she spoke of him, but it was mixed with exasperation and long-standing frustration.

Kiri tensed as the blood pressure cuff reached its maximum expansion, digging into her arm painfully, then relaxed as it eased off. She was coming back to herself slowly but steadily, becoming more alert and lucid by the moment. For once, she actually managed to ignore her instinctual response to flee the confines of strange walls. These people had done nothing but help her, and, for some reason, she felt… safe. Almost as if, any time she tried to panic, her mind was gently turned away towards a more positive emotion. No sooner had she realized that then she heard a soft, warm voice in her head.

Yes, I am helping you deal with your new experiences. My name is Professor Xavier; this is my school you have stumbled upon. Please, when you feel ready, come speak with me. We have much to discuss, you and I.

The voice and the presence that came with it slowly faded, leaving behind a sense of peace. It should have felt intrusive or wrong, but it didn't. It felt natural and easy. Kiri blinked a few times, fighting an odd sense of loss at the ending of the psychic contact. She realized that both Dr. McCoy and Jean were watching her, smiling.

"I see the Professor has welcomed you himself," Dr. McCoy said.

"Y-yes. He did. He said to come speak with him when I'm ready. I think I'm ready… if I'm allowed to leave, that is."

"Well, you have a clean bill of health from me. There was nothing wrong with you but a bad case of exhaustion and dehydration, which resting took care of. Your feet may feel a bit odd, though. They were quite torn up, so I bandaged and numbed them – if the pain comes back, just come see me." Jean flipped back the blanket to show her the clean white strips wrapped around her feet.

Kiri nodded mutely and swung her feet off the side of the bed. Placing her hand on the arm Dr. McCoy offered, she stood shakily. Her head spun for a moment, but settled quickly, and she managed a tentative smile. "I think I'll be fine from here. How do I find the Professor's office?"

Jean smiled secretively. "Oh, don't you worry. You'll find it just fine, just start walking."