The next day, a letter was waiting in the Kincaid's mailbox when Mrs. Kincaid came home from the grocery store. She had seen it sticking out of the mailbox when she pulled into the drive and thought it odd because the mail wasn't delivered until much, much later in the afternoon. She came down the drive, pulled the letter out of the box and about fainted when she recognized the handwriting.

It was Danny's.

Mr. Kincaid arrived home shortly there after. One of his children had called him at work and told him to come home immediately but hadn't said why. When he got to the house, he found the children standing in the front yard, quiet as church mice. They told him what had happened, which sent him into the kitchen, where his wife sat at the kitchen table, crying. Danny's letter lay on the table in front of her. Wordlessly, she looked up at her husband and handed him the letter.

Mr. Kincaid sank into a chair next to his wife and read:

'Dear Mom and Dad,

I don't want you to worry about me. I'm fine. I'm where I belong, finally. I'm sorry I made such a mess at Emma Willard but I didn't know how to clean it up. I didn't want you getting in trouble because of me, Mom, so, I left.

I know I shouldn't have left without saying where I was really going but I couldn't, just try and talk me out of it. I was tired of being the oddball. I just wanted to fit in somewhere and now, I do.

Please don't be unhappy or start looking for me, you won't find me.

I'll write again soon, I promise.

I love you, Mom and Dad.

Your son,

Danny '

Mr. Kincaid blinked and read Danny's letter twice more, then he looked at the envelope.

Nothing.

Not so much as a stamp to tell him where his son was. He sighed, put the letter down and reached over to hug his wife, his own tears mingling with hers.

"The case of missing 15-year old Danny Kincaid has come to an odd end." A male newscaster said to an empty room at the Xavier Mansion. Scott had turned on the news but had been called away, leaving the room empty. Danny had come along behind him, heard his name and poked his head into the room.

A picture of himself, followed by a picture of his house appeared on the screen while the newscaster continued on.

"A letter with no stamp, no postmark, no return address was found in the Kincaid family mailbox this afternoon. The letter, addressed to Danny's parents, appears to have come from Danny himself and assures them that he is all right and will write again soon. In response, Mr. and Mrs. Kincaid have asked to speak to the public one more time."

The picture shifted to a video of his parents standing at a bank of microphones.

"We just wanted to say 'Thank you' to everyone who helped us." Mrs. Kincaid said. Then she looked directly into the nearest camera and said "Danny, I'm glad you're safe and that you're happy and that you feel that you finally fit in. But I feel so bad you weren't able to tell us how unhappy you were. I wish you would let us know where you are. I love you. Please write again, soon."

Danny's eyes started to burn with unshed tears.

Mr. Kincaid spoke next. He too, looked directly into the nearest camera. "Danny, son, you know the door is always open. We love you and miss you. Give us a chance, you won't be sorry. Call the house, you know the number."

Tears started to roll down Danny's cheeks. He turned and ran from the room as fast as he could. He had heard all he could bear. Scott came back into the room just as Danny left. He watched Danny disappear around a corner, then turned his attention to the newscast and understood.

"Danny Kincaid is the boy who disappeared from Troy, NY nearly a week ago after a suspicious explosion at his mother's place of work." The newscaster said.

"What a strange end to the typical runaway story." A second newscaster said to the first one.

"Strange indeed but, it's a happy ending, sort of." The first newscaster said.

Except that Danny's disappearance wasn't that strange at all. He was simply looking for a place to belong and he found that place at The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters.