Stephanie held her breath as the plane touched down at JFK. She'd seen to New York before, with her Girl Scout troop years ago. She vividly remembered seeing the Statue of Liberty with ten year old eyes, wondering how something that big could have managed to make it across the ocean. Remembered looking at the ant-sized people from the top of the Empire State Building and wondering at the people who could build such things.

At no time could she have thought that her father was little more than a stones-throw away. Had she known that he lived outside of New York, she probably would have spent the fifty dollars her mother had given her for souvenirs on a cab to Westchester, ten years old or not. As it was all she had as a memory of her trip was a cheap plastic rendition of Miss Liberty and a couple other smaller statues from the Museum of Natural History.

She would have preferred her father.

Looking around briefly, she watched as the parents of Cynthia, a little girl that had taken a particular liking to her on the three hour trip, gathered the sleeping bundle with the rest of their carry-ons, careful not to wake their small burden. Blinking she looked away, quelling the small hopes that still struggled to the surface of her mind, of what it might have been like if she had known her father. Would he have carried her like that while she slept, as if she were something precious and utterly breakable?

Sighing, Stephanie gathered her small carryon and laptop and headed for the exit. She still had a long way to go before she could relax on the long drive to Westchester.

______________________________________________________

Charles Xavier was nervous.

It wasn't a slight, 'didn't take the time to study for the quiz last night' nervous either. It was an, 'oh my God this place is full of landmines and it's the middle of the night and I cant see shit but I have to keep moving' nervousness.

At least, that's the way Bobby Drake pictured it.

At the moment, he was sitting in the Rec Room, idly twining an ice tether across it, wondering how thin he could make the leads before they broke. It was one of the things he did when he was tense, and that morning had been entirely too tense for everyone.

Charles had tried to contact Stephanie several times, but the numbers he'd tried always came up busy or with no one home, and she hadn't returned any of his calls. He'd wanted to make sure she had a ride into Westchester without having to deal with New York cabs. He'd even gone as far as to try and find her with Cerebro, with no luck. It turned out that this stranger was just as much a sensor ghost as Gambit.

'Guess that means she's a mutant,' Bobby thought. He wondered what kind of powers she had, then curbed himself. It took a lot to hide from the professor, the only two people he'd ever known to do it were Gambit and Legion. He shuddered, remembering Israel all too vividly. If she were anywhere near as powerful as David had been he wondered what kind of person she would be. Would she be withdrawn? Outgoing? Crazy

Cute?

'Whoa, slow down. Bad idea dating the bosses daughter,' he thought to himself. Beside, what if she was loony like David?

'Bet Sinister would kick himself in the ass for not thinking about how powerful the Prof's kids would be.' Just thinking about Legions powers in Sinister's hands made him sick.

"Please don't even think something like that, Robert."

Bobby jumped, loosing his hold on the ice that made a fine sheen glimmer in the sunlight drifting through the windows. He hated the way Xavier could sneak up on him. Sometimes he thought the man did it deliberately, just to make him jump. "Hey Professor. Any luck?"

Charles shook his head, "As far as I know, she could arrive any time. Marianne said she was to arrive sometime today, but even she didn't know the details of Stephanie's flight plan."

Bobby blinked, trying to absorb what the professor had just told him. Usually, he spoke very calmly, smoothly, with enough serenity in him to make Storm look like a nervous wreck. Those two sentences however, were spoken with a speed that made them almost unintelligible.

Yeah, definitely nervous.

_____________________________________________________

Stephanie had drifted to sleep sometime before they were out of New York, with the tall shadows of the skyscraper still creating a long shadow on the ground. Now, she watched as they passed several lakes, the surface of them smooth as glass. They'd been through some smaller towns, most of which still boasted the mythical 'Main St' in full swing.

Now they were outside of most of the cities, just having passed Salem Center and still heading north. All she could see were forests and small glades, and was entranced by the colors of the leaves on the trees that towered around them, seeming to crowd the small street they were on. Occasionally through this wall of vegetation, she caught a glimpse of large colonial houses, bigger than the plantation house she'd grown up in. Their sheer size astounded her, and she wondered who could possibly have enough children to fill such places. When she and her mother lived at home, the place always felt so empty, as if there should have been dozens of children running through the halls, dogs and cats chasing them, begging to be petted.

She sighed, staring into the smoky ceiling of the cab. Her mother hadn't even allowed her to keep the animals that always seemed to follow her home.

"Hello, Xavier's School for Higher Learning."

Stephanie looked through the windshield, becoming aware that they had stopped. In front of them stood a tall gate, the brick sides seeming to disappear into the undergrowth.

"What you want me to say lady?" The driver asked, looking expectantly at her.

"Stephanie Tarrington."

The driver sighed before leaning out the window to the console, "Yeah, I'm carrying a Stephanie Tarrington. I think she's expected."

The gates opened with none of the squeaking that she had expected. Ominously silent, she judged them as they drove through, onto a private drive. The trees here seemed even taller, and Stephanie fought a bout of panic. She would do this, this was what she had wanted for a long time, her whole life, and she wouldn't let panic get in the way.

"Jesus, how big is this place," she whispered, almost smiling when the cab driver nodded in assent. They'd been on the private rode for almost five minutes, and not going slowly either. The trees were just as dense here as they were on the rode, without a sign of giving up their hold on the land.

Stephanie blinked when sunlight poured through the windows. Abruptly, the trees fell back, revealing a huge house sitting on top of a slight hill. Looking around she took in the sheer size of what she was assuming was the spread of the place, and caught a slight glimmer of water in the distance, another place, what she thought was a boathouse, rising behind the main house.

"People don't actually live here, do they?" the driver asked as they pulled into the circular driveway, past a stone sign that read, Xavier's School of Higher Learning.

Stephanie shook her head, "Apparently, my father does."