The left leg of her pants had torn open. Both knees had been blown open for ages, but now the left was open from knee to ankle, leaving a flap that would undoubtedly catch on everything, and Liz wasn't entirely sure that was something she wanted to deal with. However, cut offs had never been her favorite style, and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to allow anybody and everybody to see the hilt of the dagger that was always stuck in her knee-high boots. The holes in her pants had always given her easy access to the weapon, while keeping it hidden, and that element of surprise wasn't something she wanted to give up in this strange new place, where she was separated from her friends.

Katie and Christinia had been assigned to a room together, but Liz was alone for now, Kit being in the infirmary at Ms. Monroe's insistence. She had been hit by a bit of flying concrete and broken her arm. The doctor was to give all of them a thorough check-up, and because Kit was the youngest and already injured she was voted to be taken care of first. It had been years since Liz had truly slept alone, though, and the sensation of an empty room was unsettling to say the least. Sleep had been long in coming and anything but restful the night before, despite being exhausted and worried for her friends. And now she realized that her pant leg had torn open almost completely in the chaos.

She'd crawled out from behind her concrete slab when she heard Hemlock screaming for Christinia, and managed to dive out from under a huge metal foot, just before it hit the ground. She looked up just in time to see someone in a cape grab Katie off the Sentinel, and someone else set Christinia down next to her, before she turned away to look for the others. She found Jeezer off to the side of the street with David and Monster, apparently healing various scrapes and bruises, and Jason was running over to Christinia and Katie, but Anissa remained out of site until the end of the battle. By the time she inched out of the bookstore across the street from their coffee shop, Jeezer was swaying on his feet and only had enough energy left to stop the blood flow and set the bone. Liz had had to dodge several pieces of shrapnel and flying glass and concrete after emerging from her hiding spot. At some point her pants had caught on something, but she didn't what or when. Such a mystery…

But what to do about it? Somberly, she glanced in the drawer of her bedside table – nothing. Oh, well. Maybe somebody out there would have some safety pins.

Sighing she stood and picked the class schedule off of her nightstand. She'd missed her first class, and wasn't too keen on showing up twenty minutes late to her second one. Had anyone been to see Kit yet, she wondered.

Decided, she pocketed the schedule and walked to the door, but stopped with her hand on the knob, unable to turn it and open the way to the hallway. It was the middle of second period, but who was to say that everybody had class right then? Navigating her way through a house full of strangers wasn't all that appealing an idea. But she really wanted to see Kit, or at least ask somebody how she was. She didn't want to be alone in here. She wanted even less to be alone out there.

…still…

Cringing she opened the door, and slipped into the empty hallway. Not ten minutes later she hit someone rounding a corner. She shrieked and backed away, apologizing profusely before recognizing the man she'd run into. It was the man who'd shown her to her room. The one with the strange red sunglasses – Scott. He didn't seem to be upset at all, in fact, he was chuckling as he said his 'I'm sorries'.

"I was just looking for you," he said calmly. "You missed your first class. I know it takes a while to get used to things here, and you're not in trouble. We just wanted to make sure you were all doing okay."

"Oh." She nodded slightly in understanding.

"Are you alright?" he asked, and Dream realized she must look terrified.

"Oh," she said, trying to calm down now that she wasn't alone. "Yeah, I was just trying to find the Hospital Wing. I, well, I wanted – I just wanted t-to see Kit."

Scott nodded in understanding, and walked down the hallway the way she had come.

"It's this way," he said. "And your friend's alright. Jean – Dr. Grey, put her arm in a cast last night, and started the check-up about an hour ago."

Dream nodded, then realizing that she was walking behind him and that he couldn't see her, said, 'oh.'

My, but her vocabulary was wonderful today, wasn't it?

Scott lead her through the mansion, pointing out places of interest. From the Library to the Rec. Room, and the Dinning Room, but Liz was hardly listening. Instead she focused on not meeting the gazes of whoever else they happened to pass. Finally they came to the infirmary.

Freaky stainless steel. The place was built out of shiny silver metal. Freaky. Thankfully, Durango was kind enough to speak up before the look of the place managed to really seep through the layers of shock surrounding her and become truly intimidating.

"Hey."

"What are you doing here?" she asked. While she hadn't really thought of it, logic dictated that Durango should still be asleep.

"This is where my schedule told me to be."

"Oh." Wait! "You woke up and looked at your schedule? And you did what it said?"

Durango shrugged and raised both eyebrows, apparently surprised with himself as well.

"I've only been here ten minutes, maybe," he said. "Besides, I wanted to see how Kit was doing."

"Where is she?"

He nodded his head towards a door to his right in true Jeezer fashion, refusing to take his hands out of his jean pockets. He hadn't once moved from his spot, leaning against the wall next to the infirmary entrance.

"In there, getting her check up."

"Oh."

Liz moved over to the wall next to her friend and sat down to wait. It figured he'd been there early (and it still was early for him) to see Kit. Although she was twelve, she was still the youngest of them, and everybody loved to dote on her. She was downright cuddly, something her fluffy tail and soft coat of fur would never let her outgrow. Not to mention she was rather short, standing just barely at 5'3". She, Liz, and Durango had all joined the Runaways within a two week stretch and being new at the same time had become close quickly, or at least as close as Jeezer allowed people to get due to his sleeping and attitude.

If it weren't for his constant naps, Liz thought, Katie would have killed him quickly and with little remorse. At least she would have before she noticed the healing energy he radiated. It came off him like heat and was (the group had decided) why he was so tired all the time, but if you were sitting close to him, even uninjured, you tended to feel calm and at peace with the world. That did have the unfortunate side effect of any argument with him needing to be done from half way across a room, at least, making all of them loud.

As it was, sitting there with her arm brushing lightly against his jeans, Liz felt her fear and shock melting into anticipation of learning her way around this new place, and continuing her education.

"Yay! You're here already. I was worried I would have to find my way around this place on my own."

Standing, Liz opened her arms for a hug from her friend, happily ignoring the scratch of the neon pink cast against the back of her neck. Jeezer got a similar greeting.

"Well, hello there."

The red haired woman stood in the middle of the room, smiling slightly at the trio.

"I am Dr. Grey," she said, and nodded towards Durango. "I take it,you are…Jeezer?"

"Yeah." She smiled and nodded again.

"Good. You were supposed to be here earlier, but we can over look that for today. Please try not to make a habit of it though. You're going to learn basic first aid with me in the mornings."

Dream smiled. She would be having a few talks about punctuality with him before their time here was up, that was for sure. Dr. Grey turned to her next.

"And you're one of the new students as well, I take it?"

"Yes. I'm," she paused for a moment, unsure of which name to give. The woman seemed nice enough, but Liz didn't think she wanted to get to know her anymore than she did now, meaning only by name and profession. "I'm Dream."

"Ah, yes," she said, sifting through the pages on the clipboard in her hands. "You're scheduled for a check-up later today."

Liz nodded then pulled her wrinkled itinerary out of her pocket. Indeed, she was supposed to come back there after dinner. Was there anyway around that? She didn't like hospitals much, and this one happened to have a worse vibe than usual. Everything was steel.

"Can I go now?" Kit asked. "I want to go see my room, and explore."

Dr. Grey's smile brightened a bit.

"Yes, you're free to go. You need to eat more, but you'll be fine."

The fox girl cried triumphantly, grabbed both Liz's and Durango's arm, and lead them quickly out the door and down a few hallways.

"What's the rush, Squirt?" Durango asked testily. Having to run never sat well with him. Kit shrugged.

"Well, you didn't want to stay there did you?"

Unable to argue the other two shrugged and continued walking.

"So….do either of you know where my room is?"

"You're rooming with me," Liz said trying to recognize the hallway they were walking down. "I think it's this way."

Two tentative left turns, and one right turn later, they were passing by the Rec. Room and Liz had her bearings again and Kit's laughter was finally dying down. By the time they made it to the room, she was at it again, while Liz tried half heartedly to defend her sense of direction. Inside, Kit promptly flopped onto her bed, while Jeezer flopped on the other, apparently tired from their trek across the house. Liz rolled her eyes at him, and then at her self when she noticed what looked like a map of the mansion laying innocently on her nightstand where it must have been sitting just below her schedule that morning.

"Hey! I get to take an art class. Neat!" Seeing that Kit was checking out her new classes, Dream pulled her itinerary out again, as well.

She had missed Biology and U.S. History. Third period was P.E. then, came English, and then study hall until she chose her electives.

She glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes until third period.