Remy pulled the car onto Greymalkin Lane. It was late, 2 or 3 in the morning, with only the waning moon to light their path. Pulling into the long driveway, he stopped the car and allowed the boy to take in the mansion.
Inside the Institute Jean woke with a gasp. Careful not to disturb Scott, she pulled on her dressing gown and eased out into the hall, meeting Emma coming out of her bedroom.
"He's here," Jean said softly, and the two women turned and silently padded down the hall, past the rooms of their sleeping comrades, down the main stairwell and into the foyer. Jean opened the door as the Jesse approached the front stoop, gazing up at them out of the shadows of his cloak.
"My name is Jesse," the boy said haltingly, his voice raspy as though he had been burned by smoke. "I read about your professor. Is the place where mutants are helped?"
"Yes, it is, my name is Jean, this is Emma, we teach here at the institute, why don't you come in?" Jean asked, careful to keep her tone neutral.
They lead the teenage boy into the living room off the foyer while Remy headed for bed. Jesse stood nervously in front of the two telepaths, his bag at his feet.
"Why don't you tell us about yourself and what brought you here," Emma said carefully, trying to get a psychic reading on the boy.
"My name is Jesse Augustus, I'm 16, from Chicago," the boy said carefully. "I used to work at the Killgare Hotel as the boiler man, but Remy came and told me about this school. He said that I could read here, that I would be safe. Am I safe here?"
"Of course you are," Jean said, her tone warm and friendly. "Every one who comes here is given a safe place, a chance to find their own way with friends by their sides."
"Why don't you take off your cloak Jesse," Emma suggested softly.
Hesitating only briefly, the two women watch as the boy lifted his charred and scaly hands up to his head to pull back his cloak. He stared down at the women defiantly, begging them to say something cutting, to prove some preconceived notion.
"Isn't that better?" Jean asked, smiling up at him. "Why don't you come with us and we'll get you a room in the boys dormitory. You're excused from classes tomorrow, and we'll get you a schedule and a chat with the professor in the afternoon."
"Are you sure?" He asked warily, trying to look hostile while the two telepaths looked right through his act.
"Yes, we're sure Jesse," Jean said, getting up out of the wing backed chair she had been occupying.
The two women lead him through the darkened hallways up into the boys dorm.
"Glenn and Carlos are in those two rooms, but all the other ones are available," Jean said softly. "The bathroom is through there, and the boy's common room is at the end of the hall."
"Thank you," Jesse said before turning and going into one of the rooms near the common room, leaving Jean and Emma standing alone in the dimly lit corridor.